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Bermuda Chapter 97
🕑 Added 2024-05-12 10:38:13 +0000 UTCChapter 97
Hugo's brow furrowed slightly at Leonardo's cold words, telling him straight into his eyes to not interfere. It seemed Leonardo was putting on a brave front again despite being exhausted to his limits.
Hugo also stared straight into his eyes, conveying that he wouldn't let go easily either. As invisible sparks flew between their locked gazes, the nearby liaison officers took a step back, distancing themselves from the two.
As Hugo looked at the fierce golden eyes that showed no sign of backing down, he suddenly noticed a redness from fatigue in the corners of Leonardo's eyes.
In that moment, rather than feeling threatened, he felt a strange urge to caress those reddened eyes, as if that sight inspired more pity than intimidation.
Hugo closed his eyes tightly and then opened them, letting out a small sigh. This staring contest was meaningless.
Normally, he would have chosen to give an order to force Leonardo to rest, even against his will. However, having decided to respect his opinion to some degree, it didn't seem like a good idea to now control him oppressively.
Leonardo maintained eye contact with sharp eyes until Hugo let go of his arm. In the end, Hugo gently released his grip on the arm he had been holding. Instead, he earnestly entreated Leonardo.
"Don't go too far. Stay nearby so that I can know right away if anything happens to you."
Leonardo found it strange that Hugo let go of him so easily, contrary to expectations, but he deliberately didn't answer because he didn't like being spoken to as if he were a child being dropped off by the water's edge.
No matter how tired he was, he wasn't so weak that he couldn't take care of himself. Leonardo scowled, finding it unfamiliar how Hugo seemed to suddenly be concerned about him, as if he had a change of heart. However, he soon turned his back again without a word and leaped from his spot.
This time, Hugo didn't grab him. He only spoke softly behind him.
"Be careful, Leonardo."
Hearing the worried voice from behind him once more, Leonardo paused for a moment in the air and glanced back at Hugo.
However, it was only for a brief moment before he turned his head away and quickly flew off somewhere, lest he be grabbed again.
Hugo watched his receding back with a displeased expression. He wasn't confident that this was the right thing to do.
Seeing how Leonardo was paying attention to the radio, Hugo had a feeling that despite saying earlier that he wouldn't go to save them, Leonardo would head to where the other members were to provide support.
Hugo was very dissatisfied with Leonardo's actions, trying to go straight to the battlefield with a tired body, but thinking positively, it might be better for him to be with the other members rather than leaving him alone.
And even if Leonardo was tired, he would still be stronger than most of the average members. Hugo decided to put aside his worries about Leonardo for now. Right now, he needed to go check on the situation of the vanguard of the Southern Branch as soon as possible.
When Hugo finally turned around to head there, the two liaison officers from the Southern Branch were silently looking at each other with eyes full of questions.
As they exchanged unspoken words about the situation, they were quite startled to make eye contact with the Commander who had turned around, but they tried to hide it.
Hugo glanced at each of them, who seemed to have been caught exchanging strange looks, and then, recalling the urgent matter, spoke.
"Let's go quickly."
***
How much time had passed?
Leonardo was wandering between the towering peaks.
As Hugo had predicted, Leonardo had immediately tried to find the location of the coordinates he heard on the radio, but even after quite some time had passed, he still hadn't found that location.
The reason was that unlike teleportation tools that moved based on coordinates, teleportation magic that used the caster's unique mana was based on the caster's consciousness, so it was impossible to move at once to a place one had never been before unless it was within the caster's field of vision.
Moreover, because he had been continuously using a vast amount of mana without rest, he didn't have enough mana left to use teleportation as freely as usual, which also contributed to his wandering situation.
Furthermore, in the case of remote areas like the Elder Millie Peninsula where topographical changes frequently occurred due to natural influences, the coordinates themselves were less reliable because the height from the ground was inconsistent and there were no designated reference points, making it difficult to gauge the exact location even if one knew the coordinates.
So Leonardo was moving only short distances within eyesight as much as possible and tracking the faint mana of the 1st Battalion members, who were already in the midst of battle, by referring to the coordinate system he possessed.
He really wanted to ignore it now, but it was very awkward to just leave them alone after realizing that the voice on the radio requesting support was the voice of that naive kid who had thanked him the night before.
'What a tiring life, really.'
Leonardo frowned and roughly ruffled the back of his head as he looked around. He was quite dumbfounded at himself for heading in that direction.
In the end, he was once again doing something tiring of his own accord, even though no one had told him to. However, he tried to convince himself that this was also part of the subjugation as he gradually approached the coordinates he had heard on the radio.
After wandering for a long time, it seemed he had found the right place, as the mana of the members was felt more and more strongly not far away. In addition, the sound of explosions and the cries of the Dermocas could be heard intermittently.
He followed the loudly echoing sound into a deep valley in the middle of the mountain. It was shrouded in something hazy, either fog or smoke, so even though it seemed relatively close, he couldn't see an inch in front of him.
Before long, he encountered Dermocas crawling out of the crevice of the split cliff in a group, trying to make as little noise as possible. Seeing the repulsive creatures huddled together, Leonardo frowned and lightly fired off two beams of light.
Kwaaang-!
The beams of light that flew at a speed the creatures couldn't perceive pierced right into the middle of the wriggling mass. Then, from the impact, a few of them fell down the cliff along with some of the shattered rock into the unseen valley below. The ones nearby that were hit felt the threat and made bizarre noises before hiding back into the crevice.
Leonardo quietly observed the scene. Whether it was because the monsters had dug a cave or because it had rained a lot recently, the rock face and soil looked quite weak, making it a perfect environment to get killed if a landslide occurred during the battle.
Thinking that prolonging the battle would not be good, Leonardo immediately flew further down and heated up the surrounding temperature. As the condensed water vapor temporarily evaporated due to the increased temperature, visibility was slightly secured, and soon, the battle in full swing could be seen on the hollowed-out mountainside ahead.
However, the sounds of destruction from magic and the roars of the creatures could be heard not only there but also behind it and near the bottom of the cliff. Perhaps because there were so many of the creatures, the members seemed to be fighting separately in the vicinity.
Leonardo immediately flew to the nearest battlefield, gathering flickering flames in his hand. As soon as he fired the flames at the repulsively swarming group of Dermocas, the creatures, unable to escape the fast speed, were directly hit and burned to death, screaming hideously.
A member of the 1st Battalion who had been struggling alone suddenly raised his head at the powerful magic that abruptly flew in, and upon discovering Leonardo, unknowingly showed a delighted expression. Seeing that expression, Leonardo muttered with a dumbfounded face.
"Why are you smiling, do you think I came to help you?"
As their nearby kin were instantly incinerated, the Dermocas, perhaps remembering Leonardo's threatening mana from when he had slaughtered their kin before, scrambled to crawl back into the burrow they had come out of in order to survive.
Leonardo turned his head from side to side, searching for the naive new recruit who had been the purpose of his coming here. However, only a faint mana could be felt, and he was nowhere to be seen, so it seemed he wasn't here.
As soon as he confirmed his absence, Leonardo lightly ignored the member who was waving at him and left the spot to head to another battlefield.
And at that moment, from below the cliff obscured by white vapor, the sound of a large explosion along with collapsing rocks could be heard.
Comments
Jesse Gibson
Leo to save the day!
