By Zephyria 
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the three of them were airborne. Leonardo had leaped from the ground, carrying Taylor and Finder with him. Leaving Nero behind—knowing the monster’s power—he gripped his two hesitating comrades in his arms and traversed the low altitude at full speed.
“Hyung!”
As Nero, left alone, shouted in a wounded tone, Leonardo glanced back halfway and urged him on sharply.
“Keep up!”
He was heading toward the slope at the entrance of the swamp. He had suggested avoiding flight as much as possible to prevent landing in the wrong place or getting lost, but did that even matter now?
Kugugugung—
Meanwhile, the creature’s claws pried through the cracks in the void. The form that had seemed to peek out eerily from behind beaded eyes was now lifting the veil and crawling outward. Each time it did, ripples like an earthquake spread across the water-logged swamp floor.
Shedding the shell of space-time, the core lowered its posture by folding its joints. It looked as if it were preparing to leap downward; Taylor, held by the captain, stared blankly at the creature’s overwhelming size. Fluttering hair flickered in his vision along with the yellow smoke the beast exhaled. Just as Nero’s tales of heroism, which he had heard dozens of times, flashed through his mind, she belatedly snapped out of it and asked.
“Wait, you said run? Why?”
“No time to explain, for now—”
Piiing—
Suddenly, a sharp noise pierced their eardrums. Leonardo’s eyes widened, and he instinctively twisted his shoulder.
Kwaaaaang—!
The beam missed its target and slammed into the ground, piercing the soft soil. Splashing mud and boiling steam surged violently in all directions. A hole nearly 20 meters deep was gouged out, and inside, lava glowed like a festering wound.
Cold sweat ran down the spine of Leonardo, who had barely avoided the hit.
‘It’s not an illusion.’
He had been unsure, but if it were a simple illusion, it wouldn’t have caused physical damage. If he had been hit by that attack, it would have been a fatal wound at best. Had the thing truly returned to life? How on earth? Many questions surfaced, but there was no time to think. The resulting deluge of water surged instantly above the three of them.
Seeing the looming shadow, Leonardo slowed down. Taylor, startled by the overwhelming power, stepped forward and urgently extended his palm.
“Lacuna.”
Chwaaaak, the wave that had spread like a canyon split majestically. In that gap, a secret cylindrical escape route was formed. Leonardo, still carrying Finder, instinctively threw himself into it. Nero, following late, was no exception.
“Geez, wait for me!”
The shaking red hair leaped into the gap, firing a fireball behind them. Simultaneously, the passage that had been slowly narrowing closed completely.
Kkiaaaak—!
The wings chasing them collided with the fireball and crashed violently into the wall of waves. Splash, splash. The deluge that had swallowed them could not overcome gravity and slammed into the ground. Every time the struggling bodies tangled, fierce bubbles rose and burst with thick pops, and the moisture mixed with lava repeated a cycle of vaporization and explosion.
Before long, the swamp boiled and sizzled, dyed a deep crimson and filled with screams.
The remains of the demon beasts that had been blown apart swirled in the chaos. Just as the overflowing swamp of corpses surged like hell.
Kuung—
A demonic claw landed on the ground. The soil, crushed by the weight, sank deep, and hot steam rose wherever the claws touched.
The monster that revealed itself opened its jaw, where tentacles waved, and scooped up the corpses at its feet in one giant mouthful. The creature’s protruding neck expanded and contracted repeatedly, swallowing even the weakest of the remaining struggles.
As if that single bite weren’t enough, it rolled its red pupils back and forth, searching for other prey.
It was then that the gold light wandering through the darkness touched its grey vision.
Its spine cracked as muscles and flesh reassembled, and as soon as its shriveled wing-bones unfurled, the massive body leaped in the blink of an eye.
“Captain, we’re going to get caught at this rate!”
Nero, clinging closely to Leonardo’s back, shouted. Unable to look back, Leonardo slowed down for a moment and reached out to Finder toward Nero.
“Grab him!”
The moment Finder, acting as a remote-controlled extension, reached out and barely caught Nero.
Pit—, with a flicker of light, the four of them vanished, and their place was covered by a dark red breath erupting from the maw.
Haze rose in the empty midnight air.
They thought they had shaken off the pursuit, but what those who emerged from the light on the other side faced was a completely unexpected sight.
“What the….”
A horizontally slit pupil was already right in front of them. The distorted space-time had instead delivered them right into the demon’s range.
「Looks delicious.」
The thoughts of the four came to a temporary halt. The core, with its prey before its eyes, took advantage of the gap and opened its drooling maw wide. Just as it was about to swallow them whole, Finder reloaded his modified rifle.
Tang, taang, tang—!
As the cartridges, aimed precisely at the eye, embedded themselves near the skull, a sharp scream that shook heaven and earth scattered in all directions.
Kyaaaaak—!
The massive body, shaking its head in pain, barely managed to regain its balance. It immediately widened the distance and exhaled a suffocating flame from its cracked hide.
At the same time, Nero, stepping to the front, deployed an Aura before her comrades. Fragments of torn flesh and acidic liquid poured down like hail. As the liquid splashing from below melted the fibers, Taylor also moved to the bottom and deployed an Aura to protect his companions.
In the center, Leonardo was tightly hugging the waist of Finder, who had no flight capability.
The core, leaking brain fluid from its burst eye, trembled its remaining pupil and roared, sounding quite enraged.
「You stupid brat, what did you shoot!」
“Getting called a brat by a demon beast… that’s annoying.”
Finder replied leisurely, having pulled the auto-sear halfway with a clack.
“Next are the five eyeballs on the other side. The world has changed a lot while the Queen was asleep. For your information, I specialize in precision shooting, so even a snake can’t dodge my bullets.”
Taylor, letting out a short laugh at the line he had heard somewhere before, frowned and shouted while looking up.
“Stop posing and just shoot already!”
On the other hand, Leonardo, knowing the creature’s regenerative abilities, shifted his eyes with an anxious expression. While Finder’s harassment was working, it would only buy them a moment. As he feared, they were in a situation where they couldn’t use Teleport.
If they flew in a straight line, their absolute speed might be comparable, but there was the variable of distorted space-time. Just as he was anxiously biting his lip, Leonardo realized something strange and looked back at Finder.
‘Wait, this guy. Can he hear that thing’s voice?’
He hadn’t cross-verified it, but at the time on the peninsula, other Council members hadn’t shown any particular reaction to the creature’s voice. Not even Nero. So he thought this voice ringing in his mind was audible only to him…
“Captain!”
While he was spacing out, the core’s head swarmed like insect eggs and regenerated the wound. Then, with its restored vision, it twisted its body and slammed down its mace-like tail.
Taang—!
With the sound of a discharge, the four of them scattered in three directions.
Kwaaaaang—!
The bullet, fired like a bolt of lightning, flew toward the eye, but it was soon deflected by the blunt tail. The high-powered cartridge exploded in mid-air, and the heavy weapon of slaughter slammed into the ground. Immediately changing direction, the creature used the gunpowder smoke as a smokescreen and leaped from below.
Seeing that it kept its eyes closed and only vibrated the protrusions used for detection, it seemed to be protecting its vital spots. In that state, the monster, mouth wide open, caught up to Leonardo’s feet. If it closed its maw now, it looked poised to bite off at least an ankle.
“Dammit—”
‘I really have to do something…’
Extending one arm downward, Leonardo condensed intense Magic Power in his grip. Even if he couldn’t summon the Holy Spear in this state, he had to shove a thunder spear into the creature’s snout. Just as he gathered all his strength to confront the source of evil approaching in slow motion.
Kiiiiiiing—
A high-frequency noise, like glass being scratched, gradually intensified from somewhere. Leonardo, gripping the crackling thunder spear, and the core chasing him both shifted their gaze to one side, feeling energy being sucked into a single point.
Kwaaaaang—!
About two white flashes flickered in their vision, striking the core’s head directly. Immediately after the explosion, the beast’s cry fluttered, mixing with a gale. In the moment flames and afterimages scattered in the air like a plasma phenomenon, a strange creature appeared before Leonardo and Finder.
“Get on, quick!”
The winged form looked like a Dragon, and someone was riding atop it. It wasn’t a Sorcerer versed in curses or a Mage with strong Magic Power, but a small human.
‘A child?’
As the child reached out toward him, a bright light cast over the head of the bewildered Leonardo. Reflexively shifting his gaze, he saw a change in the cliff beyond, which had been his goal all along.
Bright light was filling the gap between the boulders that formed a perfect circle. And to Leonardo, who had been following the notes, it appeared as a familiar form.
“Boreum.”
Staring blankly, he let out a sigh.
“Hurry!”
As another urgent shout rang out, Leonardo finally snapped back to his senses. Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed the hand of the mysterious human.
Taylor and Nero, who had scattered to the sides, locked eyes in mid-air. Soon, as if they were in sync, they both rushed toward the captain. Just as their bodies touched, another flash of light flickered. Enveloped in the scattering light, the four of them vanished completely from the middle of the swamp.