al_squad
patreon
Bermuda Chapter 222
🕑 Added 2024-07-30 08:24:48 +0000 UTCChapter 222
"Liner?"
Isabella, the 12th Battalion Commander of the Southern Branch, was the first to notice his movement. At her voice, which sounded like a self-mutter, those nearby turned their heads.
Others realized that Liner had woken up when the medical officer examining the injured tried to stop his actions in alarm. Liner, who had been letting out small groans with a furrowed brow, sat up abruptly as soon as he saw the darkened sky, almost as if having a seizure.
"Huk-, heuk... The mother body, where is the mother body?"
"9th Battalion Commander, you mustn't move! The bleeding hasn't properly..."
Although pain like being stabbed in the abdomen with a knife arose, Liner had no time to pay attention to such things. Already searching for the mother body that had vanished, he looked around with hazy vision and a dazed mind.
Immediately, the medical team and commanders of the Southern Branch's 9th Battalion approached and closely examined his condition, his pupils dilated. Then, while calming him down as he seemed ready to rush out to fight at any moment, they carefully explained that the battle situation had ended.
Liner, listening to their story with a dumbfounded face, inhaled sharply and tensed his tingling abdomen. He couldn't believe just by hearing that the creature, which had seemed absolutely unkillable, was already dead.
However, the commanders gathered before him, the injured sprawled around, and the mountain of corpses beyond the densely erected barrier stones gradually came into his view. Eventually, the last thing he discovered was Charlotte Hastings lying next to him.
'...Deputy Commander?'
The sight of his subordinate, who was usually so confident that she sometimes even tried to climb over him, now limp in such a miserable state. It was a horrific sight and mental anguish enough to stimulate his trauma once again.
Liner, his complexion turning pale, immediately bent over to check his subordinate's condition. But before he could touch even a fingertip to Charlotte, he collapsed face-first onto the dirt ground. The medical staff, startled, quickly supported his shoulders, but only after gritting the sand that had entered his mouth did Liner fully realize the absence of his left arm that should have supported his body.
"..."
From that moment, Liner's mind turned cold. He finally faced reality.
Even as the medical team brushed off the dirt and hurriedly changed his blood-soaked bandages, Liner couldn't take his eyes off his amputated arm. Below his shoulder, which was bluish like necrotic tissue, blackish flesh and coagulated blood were dried and stuck.
As he stared at it, he recalled his powerless self who couldn't do anything in the last battle.
He had lost his reason and rushed at the mother body, rendering the painstakingly established plan useless, and for a while, he had been out of his mind on the battlefield from the shock of having his arm torn off. Then, barely coming to his senses and joining the battle with Charlotte's support, the result he faced afterward was too miserable to even recall.
The monster's claws piercing his abdomen at the edge of his consciousness still made his body tremble with horror.
Retracing the quickly passing fragments of memory, Liner silently lowered his head with a distant feeling. He felt ashamed to be here, having survived without doing anything despite being a battalion commander of the Council.
His only remaining hand pressed firmly against his eyes, filled with self-reproach. He wanted to organize his thoughts for just a moment. But someone's shout that followed didn't give him time to contemplate.
The successive unknown explosions, the ominous vibrations of the ground. These made him somewhat doubtful that the battle situation had completely ended. And soon, a familiar figure approached Liner as he was assessing the situation. It was Deputy Commander Bruno Amos, who had been considering countermeasures while receiving one-sided criticism from Nero.
"Liner, there's something you must help with."
When Liner first heard Bruno's words, he was in a state stained with self-loathing and couldn't immediately understand his superior's meaning. But when he heard that the Commander and Leonardo Blaine were trapped inside the barrier, his eyes, which had been clouded with dull energy, gradually regained their color.
"I know it's still difficult in many ways, but we need your strength to save those trapped inside."
"Deputy Commander. I understand the situation is urgent, but Liner's current condition is serious. Although he's regained consciousness, he's practically a severely injured-"
"I'll do it."
Isabella intervened midway, asking Bruno to reconsider and find another way, but Liner cut her off abruptly and answered firmly.
"I'll do anything. Whether I can do it or not. I'll do it no matter what."
There was no particular expression on his face as he answered. Only each word he uttered blindly gave the impression of desperation. Because of this, both Isabella who was trying to stop him and Bruno who was asking him, were momentarily at a loss for words.
The whites around his fierce amber eyes were red with bloodshot. Although he looked precarious as if out of his mind, Bruno couldn't bring himself to dissuade Liner who was volunteering.
The biggest problem that could occur when releasing part of the barrier was that the energy interwoven to maintain hardness and density might break, risking the entire barrier shattering from the impact. Like when drilling glass fails and it shatters into pieces.
Therefore, to prevent the worst-case scenario, the area around the barrier release point, including the release part itself, had to be made solid enough to withstand the air pressure and fluctuating energy waves connecting inside and outside. And the only person here who could easily accomplish this was Liner Molten.
Bruno, his mouth firmly closed and his resolve hardened, knelt on one knee in front of Liner who said he would do anything. Then, placing a hand on his right shoulder and meeting his eyes, he nodded briefly.
"Will you go too?"
The question that followed from Bruno was not directed at Liner. His gaze, slowly turning, had now reached Nero, who had been indignant.
Nero, who had been panting, hesitated for a moment and quietly looked at Bruno. Then, feeling the pouring gazes, he suddenly scanned his surroundings.
The Council's commanders were all staring at him now. It was a situation he had wanted to avoid as much as possible, but somehow he was facing the worst situation since entering the peninsula.
But was this the time to worry about such things? At that moment, Nero firmly resolved that rather than entrusting the Captain to these bastards and leaving the peninsula alone, he would rather flee with him before mounting the scaffold and become a permanent exile.
After that, there was nothing more to think about.
"Yes, I'll go too."
His voice, clearer than the explosions, reached Bruno and the commanders.
***
The trajectory of the ejecta drew a pale parabola across the dark view. Every time the sound of boiling steam passed by his head, Leonardo's body curled up tightly.
Feeling his body stiffen more than necessary, Hugo glanced at his face. Eventually, he embraced Leonardo's back and thighs more firmly, just enough not to hurt, pressing their bodies together without any gaps. Sticking together like one body, the shaking also subsided relatively.
The place Hugo was heading towards now was not the northern plains area but the southern coastline direction. He had passed through several portals and reached somewhere on the northern barrier line, but that area was already perfectly sealed off to the point where not even an ant could pass through.
He had considered breaking through, but Hugo, harboring the same concerns as Bruno, couldn't bring himself to act on it. He wasn't sure if he could handle the damage that would occur if his attack became a butterfly effect and broke the entire barrier.
Having no choice but to change direction, Hugo decided to opt for finding a gap to escape rather than breaking the barrier. Unlike the north, the southern coastline had relatively weaker barrier solidity, so he thought that if he examined that area carefully, they might be able to escape without using force.
Thus, he opened a portal heading south again, but the energy of the teleportation device was discharged midway, and Hugo, who had no time to sit quietly and charge it, was now crossing the southern area and heading towards the coastline.
Kwaaang-!
Whenever rock chunks flew up to right in front of them, the barrier he instinctively spread barely blocked the collision. But if he were to let his guard down even for a moment, they could both suffer quite serious injuries, so Hugo advanced quickly with his nerves on edge, all the while continuously checking Leonardo's condition.
"No need to be tense. It's okay."
He could feel the hands around his shoulders and neck flinching every time a shockwave burst. Hugo thought the successive roars were stimulating Leonardo, so he often said various things to reassure him.
But Leonardo, with his face buried in Hugo's shoulder, was tense for a slightly different reason. The heat emanating from his heart now felt like it was tearing apart the skin of his entire body.
Leonardo's trembling hands gradually became covered with red spots.
Comments
Jesse Gibson
I knew it was too convenient for Leo to have the booster and stabilizer and sure enough they got rid of the stabilizer and now he’s critical… I wonder how they’ll deal with the mana overload? Lmao I know martial art stories have it where they have to have.. cough cough.. spicy moments In order to either absorb some of the mana or “inject” the opposite type to balance it 😂 is our Hugo gonna halfta give our Leo an “injection” of cold mana?
Ahbrimone
Oh no Leo. You have to hold on. I can’t imagine the amount of pain he is going to further be in once the drugs wear off. Hugo’s gonna be pissed if he finds out the danger and strain you caused to your body.
Mkslushi
Leo’s gonna scold you Nero ~ I wonder if the spots on Leonardo is a sign of berserking, a side effect from the drugs, or something else 🤔
