By Zephyria 
The faces of the soldiers holding the ropes on both sides turned pale with shock. Some, unable to withstand the weight of the sagging footbridge, were dragged toward the edge of the cliff, their heels scraping the ground. Meanwhile, the surface of the magma cracked like a blackened crust, and the flailing hands of those below vanished into the crevices, leaving not even a bone behind.
“No!”
“Hold on tight!”
Screams of despair and urgent commands echoed simultaneously. However, there was no time to weep for the fleeting sacrifices. Soldiers were still clinging to the severed bridge.
With the survivors now facing the risk of falling, the forces evacuating beyond the peak rushed back in unison. Regardless of nationality, they became a tangled mass, winding ropes around their arms and wrists and pulling with all their might.
“Pull back on three!”
“Someone help over here too!”
The soldiers on the opposite side, who were fewer in number, waved their hands frantically. In response, some of Laina’s knights capable of flight flew across to assist. As they pulled the severed bridge from both sides in sync with the count, the planks of the footbridge were hauled up one by one.
The clinging soldiers could only gaze desperately at the faces of their struggling comrades. Amidst this, this body—that is, Leonardo—who had been knocked back by the recoil of the bridge snapping, stood blankly behind his fellow soldiers, observing the terrain.
‘Where did it go all of a sudden?’
Something felt off. No matter how hard they had been hit by the explosives, there was no way the presence of those who had been charging madly just moments ago could become this silent. Perhaps thinking the same thing, Theodore’s confidant, who was commanding the demolition squad, raised a clenched fist to signal a standby order.
Among those who hadn’t crossed yet, a few checked the condition of the remaining bridges and began to cross hurriedly. They seemed to be rushing for fear of being completely isolated if the other two bridges snapped, but it was around that time that the ground and the rock walls began to shake once more.
Rumble—
A heavy vibration surged, enough to make one suspect a volcanic eruption. Those straining at the ropes and those crossing the center of the bridge all froze in surprise.
With the boiling magma of a living hell directly beneath them, the soldiers who had already crossed repeatedly urged their comrades lingering in the middle of the valley to hurry. It seemed the speakers had not yet noticed the shadow looming over their heads.
The shadow gradually spread across this body’s face, which was already dull and streaked with grime.
“That is….”
The chin lifted and the eyelids widened further. The soldiers were unable to find the words. A monstrous creature, resembling a giant annelid, was slowly raising its head from a crevice in the rock wall.
Its cylindrical body looked like a fusion of an ancient earthworm and a larva. The problem was that its width was immense, filling more than half of the valley.
The soldiers’ gazes, following the massive body upward, eventually reached a height that forced their necks to bend. And then, a bald head—where the eyes and mouth were impossible to discern—gradually collapsed inward, and small protrusions and teeth emerged from within the body, twitching through the folds. That grotesque thing must be the mouth. In that state, it looked down at the humans on the bridge, dripping a liquid that could have been either saliva or mucus.
Sizzle. The liquid hitting the lava vaporized with a sharp sound. Someone, their Adam’s apple bobbing in a hard swallow, shattered the tense standoff in an instant.
“Run—!”
At the shout, those who had been standing dazed in the middle of the bridge began to run like madmen.
However, that served as a signal to the unidentified demon beast as well. Kieeeek—! Letting out a low-frequency shriek, the creature expanded its mire-like maw wide like a trumpet. Simultaneously, it twisted its body violently and slammed its head down as if to devour the bridge whole.
“No, it’s too late! Go back!”
“Just hold onto the ropes!”
As desperate screams flew wildly, a fluttering red cloak brushed past the heads of the soldiers, including this body.
Turning his head toward the familiar heatwave, he saw the dazzling spirit of the sun fly instantly in front of the demon beast to confront it. Gold Eyes shining within a helmet, accompanied by a blazing sword. It was Theodore.
Without hesitation, he thrust his arm upward. Then, he swung his sword in a wide horizontal arc, as if slashing through the air.
Slash—
Kuweeeeek!
A diagonal line was carved through the air, and the massive body slid apart like a fault line. A metallic, wheezing sound leaked from the severed vocal organs, scraping against the eardrums. Organs and filth surged from the diagonally sliced cross-section, but Theodore paid it no mind.
Because the severed chunks of flesh had pierced through the wooden planks, putting the two remaining bridges at risk of snapping. In one motion, he snatched the ropes of both sides as they drifted apart in mid-air. Then, using only the strength of his arms, he pulled the undulating bridge back and barely managed to reconnect it.
“Hurry!”
His voice, strained from the effort, commanded sharply. Those who had fallen due to the impact bolted upright upon hearing the King’s order. They then moved with trembling legs, stepping across the tilted planks as if walking a tightrope.
“Your Majesty!”
Following him, two of Theodore’s confidants retraced their steps toward the center of the bridge. Winding the ropes of the dying bridge around their shoulders alongside the King, they endured using only their arm strength so that the remaining personnel could cross. No matter how exceptional they were, it was a staggering sight to see only three men withstand the impact and tension that shook every time multiple people stepped forward.
“Move now! Get out of the valley quickly!”
In the absence of Theodore, Chief Edgard took charge of the vanguard. She calmly led the panicked allied forces toward the retreat path. This was possible not because she was abandoning her Monarch, but because she was a more well-trained commander than anyone else. She seemed to know that the King could only secure the bridge once the soldiers had evacuated to safety.
In truth, this was terrain disadvantageous for combat, and the priority to save as many people as possible was to escape the vicinity quickly. Leonardo, who knew about Santrea through the inscriptions on the monuments left on the peninsula, had also expected that casualties would be inevitable here.
However, those casualties could not be Theodore.
Behind the red cloak fluttering in the center, a large shadow writhed eerily.
It wasn’t clear due to the steam generated by the demon beast’s flesh plunging into the lava, but that was undoubtedly the creature that had just been sliced. He didn’t know how it was still alive, but Theodore, remaining on the bridge, was in danger.
Before he could even make a judgment, his legs moved first.
“Bram!”
This body shouted the name of a comrade standing atop the cliff. Bram, who had been watching the situation in the valley, flinched and turned his head. Whether he had some plan or not, this body ran toward him, waving his hand as if asking for something.
“Hurry!”
Then, his vision tilted, and he tripped, falling flat on his face after catching his foot in a groove.
‘…?’
He fell so spectacularly that even Leonardo, watching himself, was bewildered. Barely pushing himself up from the ground, he looked at Bram again, who looked back at the commander of the demolition squad with a troubled expression. Eventually, as if saying ‘whatever,’ Bram threw something toward him. It was a pouch of explosives permitted only to a few.
The moment he caught the pouch, Leonardo realized instantly what this fellow intended to do. From that point on, there was no time to delay. The palms he had used to brace his fall stung, but his two legs were now sprinting past the soldiers who had just crossed the bridge, racing toward Theodore.
Hands reached out to grab him from both sides, but no one could stop him.
“Your Majesty, behind you!”
Theodore, who had been hiding his struggle beneath his helmet, half-turned his head at the shocked reactions of his confidants. The pupils within his Gold Eyes, glancing toward the edge, contracted instantly. Through the acrid dust, the monster with its maw open had already approached within arm’s reach.
There were still soldiers on the bridge, and it seemed the ignition point of the ropes would not withstand the release of Magic Power. The moment he bit his lip and gripped the ropes he had been holding with both hands in one,
“Theodore—!”
Leonardo, leaping in like lightning, wrapped one arm around the King’s helmet. The thorns rising like radiance pricked his palm, but in that moment, it didn’t hurt. While hugging Theodore’s head, he threw the pouch in his other hand with all his might.
The fuse, which hadn’t even been lit, burned down, and the spinning pouch was sucked into the giant earthworm’s mouth.
Theodore, suddenly embraced in another man’s chest, had a look of confusion and bewilderment in his eyes. With wide eyes, he stared at this body’s profile. Almost at the same time, the King’s knights rushed in from all directions, crowding around their Monarch, armed with Auras and shields.