By Zephyria After that, Leonardo became unusually quiet. As if the tail of the formation was his place, he only followed quietly from the very back. But when he encountered a horde of demon beasts, he fought more fiercely than anyone else. His fighting appearance was so fierce that no one dared to approach him for fear of getting caught in the crossfire.
And ironically, unlike when he was fighting anxiously worrying that someone would get hurt, he was now using his magic without hesitation, so he was gradually regaining his remarkably sharp control ability from before.
Leonardo felt that himself, so he felt self-deprecating. It was because it was so empty that he had felt so burdened and tried so hard for what.
The route the formation had chosen at first was a path that went straight through the active volcano zone, but some of the members complained of difficulty breathing or dizziness due to the temperature that was so hot that it took their breath away.
Because of that, they changed direction to a dense forest path where tropical plants were overgrown and could block the heat, rather than an open path. Such places had the danger of demon beasts hiding and ambushing, but it was better than being directly exposed to the heat of the volcano zone, so there was no other way.
Some members, including Squad Leader 8, went ahead by a certain distance and made a path by cutting through the bushes with their swords at the forefront.
The rest were following the cut path, but suddenly they heard the cry of something from the front, followed by a loud impact sound that seemed to be attacking it, so everyone became alert and watched the front.
Hugo was in the center of the formation to check on Leonardo, who was at the very back, so he immediately asked Squad Leader 8 about the situation in front with a wireless.
“What’s going on?”
―A demon beast ambushed us, so we killed it for now. It’s a deformed species.
At that news, Hugo flew up and increased his speed, and the others followed him closely. Leonardo also followed behind and flew quickly to the front.
When they caught up with the lead to some extent, they could see Squad Leader 8 and three members at the end of a cliff where the path was cut off, and a figure of an unidentified demon beast lying in front of them.
The back was only a foggy void, and steam was periodically ejected from somewhere with a hissing sound.
The size of the demon beast was about 5 meters, its neck was quite long, and it had wings like a bird. Hugo approached it and grabbed its wings and lifted it up. The spread wings were quite large, so it seemed to be a species that could fly. Hugo, who was examining it, asked Squad Leader 8.
“Was it flying when it was discovered?”
“It was flapping its wings, but it wasn’t flying.”
“Hmm, this is the first time I’ve seen a winged one in the peninsula….”
With those words, Hugo turned his gaze to Leonardo, who had followed him. Leonardo approached the dead demon beast’s corpse and was touching its long, stretched-out neck. Judging by his expression, it seemed to be a first for him as well.
“If it could fly, wouldn’t it have been seen from the border of the peninsula?”
“Normally, yes. If it had wings, it could travel far in a short time to find food.”
While Hugo and Squad Leader 8 were talking, Leonardo slowly stroked the demon beast, gradually moving closer to its torso.
‘The neck is long but relatively light, and there are traces of it being bent. The center of gravity is in the chest area, and the wings are relatively large. It’s one that can fly.’
Having determined that it was a flying creature, Leonardo frowned and stood up, looking down at the demon beast.
‘But if this thing can really fly, why isn’t it going outside the peninsula and staying here?’
He moved a little further, to the area where the demon beast’s belly was located. The others simply watched what Leonardo was doing. He bent down in front of the demon beast, pulled a dagger from his waist, and immediately stabbed the beast’s belly with the blade.
Squad Leader 8 was about to say something about his actions of handling the demon beast’s corpse without permission, but Hugo extended his arm in front of her, conveying a silent message to let him be.
Leonardo grabbed the sparsely scattered feathers and completely cut open the beast’s belly, causing organs to spill out from the split abdomen.
Flynn frowned at the unpleasant sight. However, Leonardo fearlessly lifted the belly skin and examined the inside of the demon beast’s body, splitting what appeared to be its stomach once more to examine the contents.
This was because by looking at what was inside the stomach, he could understand the approximate habits of what this demon beast ate and in which area it mainly lived.
However, after checking the split stomach, Leonardo narrowed his eyes.
‘There’s no trace of it having eaten anything.’
‘There’s no trace of it having eaten anything.’
Hugo had the same thought. There was no sign of it having eaten anything for a long time.
Leonardo fell into deep thought again.
‘If it has wings, it should be easy to find food. Why is there no trace of it eating? Is it a failed individual?’
He shifted his gaze to the demon beast’s wings again.
‘No, in the first place, it would be more suitable to live in another remote area rather than continuing to live here…. Since the peninsula is densely populated with demon beasts, going somewhere else would reduce the competition for food.’
‘…Thinking about it that way, the other guys are strange too. Even if they can’t go inland because of the humans, they should be able to go out to sea. Why aren’t the ones that can move in the water going out and staying here?’
Hugo, who had been looking down at Leonardo lost in thought, wondered if he had figured something out and, knowing it was a bit premature, called his name.
“Leonardo.”
Leonardo’s golden eyes, who had been kneeling, looked up and met Hugo’s. Perhaps because he was looking up, his gaze was extremely cold, but it was not covered in the same rage as before.
Just as Hugo was about to open his mouth, Leonardo suddenly reached out towards Hugo, and a spark flashed from his hand as a fierce beam was fired in a straight line. Hugo reflexively twisted his body and barely dodged, the beam passing by the side of Hugo’s face and flying into the misty void behind him.
“Squad Leader―!”
The entire 1st squad was shocked by Leonardo’s actions and immediately drew their swords, pointing them at him.
The beam he fired seemed to disappear into the thick fog, but then a sound of something exploding as it hit something in the unseen distance was heard. And with it, the death throes of what was presumed to be a demon beast echoed from far away.
Leonardo lowered his outstretched arm and curled up one corner of his mouth.
“So there was something there.”
Hugo, who had turned his upper body to look in the direction the beam had flown, turned back to him with cold eyes. Leonardo had a sneer on his face and was looking at him with a rather provocative gaze, as if to see how Hugo, who had tested him, would react.
All the squad members’ swords were pointed at Leonardo, but he didn’t seem embarrassed or afraid at all.
Hugo stared coldly at his face and then began to draw up strong magical power. Leonardo looked at the cool aura of magical power surging around him with surprise, straightened his bent knees, and slowly stood up. Then, with a spirited face, he asked.
“Wanna try?”
Hugo replied with a seemingly gentle smile.
“Of course not.”
With those words, he gestured to the squad members who were pointing their swords at Leonardo to lower them. The squad members hesitated, then slowly lowered the arms holding their swords.
Leonardo erased his smile and frowned at his relaxed smile.
‘He’s rational and relaxed to the end, isn’t he.’
After confirming that the swords were lowered, Hugo turned back and stared into the fog at the edge of the cliff. Leonardo was puzzled by his action of suddenly turning his back to him.
Soon, the magical power that had been gently surging around Hugo intensified and gathered together, creating a transparent, small sphere in front of him. Leonardo raised an eyebrow at the mysterious sphere, which had relatively calm movements for something meant for attack. He couldn’t grasp his intentions.
Then, the calm sphere flew into the fog on its own without any gesture from Hugo, and soon disappeared from sight. Leonardo watched the whole process, took two steps back, and deployed a barrier.
And Hugo also erected a huge barrier in front of the cliff where the ranks were standing. He had seen it once before entering the peninsula, but he didn’t use his hands at all when erecting the barrier. While Leonardo was watching it closely, a sudden, powerful burst of sound was heard, and a strong gust of wind blew around them.
With that, the thick fog near them instantly vanished, and the towering cliffs beyond the canyon revealed themselves.
Minute streams of lava trickled down, and in between them were nests of demon beasts. Hundreds of the same species as the demon beast that had collapsed beside them were sitting in those nests. The lower part of the canyon was filled with thick fog as the flowing magma touched the water and created steam.
The squad members were startled by the sight that filled their eyes and immediately prepared for battle. However, Leonardo was a little surprised, not by the swarming demon beasts, but by something else.
‘He’s not using his hands at all. And…’
He watched as only the fog was blown away, and the demon beasts weren’t startled by the magic and didn’t fly away, and he thought.
‘The control is exquisite.’
Leonardo had wanted to see Hugo use ranged attacks for a while now.
Because he hadn’t seen any ranged attacks other than creating ice walls or throwing spears. There was a moment when he seemed to have used one back in the Imperial Capital, but he was trapped inside a cage at the time, so he didn’t see the scale of the attack he used.
Just now, it wasn’t so much an attack as it was pushing the air to secure visibility, but Leonardo felt a considerably threatening sensation even from that.
His magic was all delicate and precise, and unlike himself, who was the emitting type, he subtly concealed it, making it impossible to know what he was thinking. In other words, it meant that its depth was immeasurable. Feeling that sensation, Leonardo was able to confirm one of the things he had been thinking about for a while.
‘I still don’t know this guy’s true abilities.’
The magic he had shown him was only superficial. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he hadn’t seen his proper magic yet. Of course, he hadn’t shown him everything either.
Hugo turned back and met Leonardo’s gaze again. Leonardo was still staring at him with cold eyes.
It wasn’t his intention, given his personality, but it was as if his gaze was saying that if he couldn’t handle this level of control, he would keep watching him. Leonardo felt his temper rising again as he looked at that face.
Just then, the ones sitting on the cliff flapped their wings and began to fly up, as if they had discovered the humans here. The fastest one flew forward, and Leonardo put his confrontation with Hugo aside and used teleportation to move straight into the air.
After he disappeared from view, Hugo calmly turned around and looked back to where he would be.
Leonardo grabbed the long neck of the demon beast flying closest to him. The demon beast, caught in his grip, coughed, suffocating. Leonardo showed no mercy and began to swing the demon beast’s body like a flail.
The demon beast screamed, and the ones flying nearby were hit by the body of their kin that he was swinging and fell.
The demon beast, with its neck caught, struggled to escape his grasp and bared its claws, but Leonardo pinned the demon beast’s head between his arm and side and punched its head hard several times. Gradually, his fist was stained with blood, and the demon beast’s head was completely caved in and disappeared without a trace.
Even though its head was already gone, he continued to punch it as if he were venting his anger. Blood splattered on his murderous face, and part of his white magic robe was soaked in blood and turned red.
Leonardo held the head of the creature, which could no longer make a sound because its mouth was gone, in one hand and slung it over his shoulder. A perfect weapon had been created.
The demon beasts, which had been flying up all at once, hesitated in the air at the sight of that brutal figure. Leonardo scanned them with his golden eyes, which shone like those of a beast, and said fiercely.
“I’m in a really bad mood right now.”
The demon beasts wouldn’t be able to understand human words, but they seemed to have realized that if they got close, they would die, since an example was in his hand. The demon beasts, which had been flapping their wings towards him, suddenly changed direction and began to retreat backwards. Leonardo grabbed his neck and moved it from side to side, making a cracking sound, and said.
“Let’s finish this quickly.”
The moment he jumped into the demon beasts’ nest, the cliff shattered, and the magma flowing through the cracks splattered everywhere. Squad Leader 8 watched the scene of carnage unfolding before her eyes with a grim expression. Then, with a slightly complicated face, she turned her head and asked the Captain, who was watching Leonardo.
“Shall we provide support?”
Hugo watched the blood and lava exploding like fireworks, and the golden flames raging in the middle of it, and shook his head.
“Let’s leave it to him for now. Being near him right now would only be a hindrance. We’ll focus on catching the ones that are escaping.”