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Bermuda Chapter 38
🕑 Added 2024-04-07 13:37:31 +0000 UTCChapter 38
"Leonardo, you..."
Hugo, who had been unable to continue speaking for a while, couldn't decide how to look at him with the indescribable emotions mixed inside. The framework of thought that he had solidly built up until now had completely misaligned at the guy's last words.
He had already pressed his lips tightly together several times, at a loss for words. Hugo, who had been looking down at the messy ground while organizing his thoughts for a moment, met the gaze of the guy in front of him again as if he had made a decision. Then, just as he slowly opened his mouth to confirm if what he had thought was correct...
A wooden vine, looking slightly different from the ones Leonardo had easily burned before, burst through the ground beneath his feet and tightly wrapped around his legs. The speed was extraordinary, and before Leonardo could even lift his foot, it had already climbed up to his calves.
Although one might have expected him to be caught off guard in the sudden situation, Leonardo looked down at his legs with an indifferent expression and waved his hand once as if the repeated pattern was ridiculous, extending it downward. Then, a blazing flame sword appeared in his hand once again.
He lightly swung the sword he had grasped to cut the vine. However, contrary to expectations, only about half of it was cut, which he thought would be easily severed. As a result, the sword he had swung down got stuck in the middle of it.
Moreover, the texture of the vine transmitted to his fingertips felt much thicker and harder than before. Sensing something strange, Leonardo immediately tried to pull out the sword.
At that moment, another vine rapidly grew from the cut surface of the wooden vine and wrapped around the sword as if to absorb it, climbing up to his arm. Convinced that the movement was clearly different, Leonardo immediately tried to incinerate the vine by igniting flames all over his body, but far from burning, the fire wouldn't even properly catch on.
In a hurry, he grabbed the wriggling vine with his hand, trying to tear it off by force, and at that moment, he felt the surface of the vine was much damper than before, as if it had absorbed a lot of moisture. It had even become more tenacious inside, and no matter how hard he pulled, only a few strands would break, making it impossible to escape.
In the end, as it became difficult to break free, Leonardo glared at Hugo, who was right in front of him, with his eyes wide open. However, even while he was being restrained, Hugo showed no intention or action to attack him.
Before he could find it strange, he immediately felt a murderous aura approaching him from above, so Leonardo hurriedly lowered his body, bending his waist while still tightly bound by the vines.
In the last view he saw when he raised his head, two battalion commanders wearing the Council's uniform were flying towards him at a fast speed.
Thud!
As soon as Leonardo twisted his body to avoid them, a strong force grabbed his shoulders on both sides, pressing him down and slamming his head into the ground.
In an instant, handcuffs were placed on his hands, which were restrained behind his back, and swords were crossed above his neck, as if he would be cut by the blades if he moved even slightly.
From underground, Andreas' wooden vines continued to rise, absorbing the water that had soaked the square's ground, tightening around his body even more strongly. Once again, he was in a state where he couldn't even move a finger.
"Hugo, you've retreated a lot."
A cold-looking woman with long, wine-colored hair fluttering appeared and spoke to Hugo. She was Loren Opience, the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the Council's Central Branch.
The calm, medium-low tone of her voice flowing from her, combined with her cold face, created an unapproachable atmosphere. Her tone was closer to puzzlement than criticism.
"Leaving the target right in front of your eyes untouched, it's unlike you."
"..."
Loren approached Hugo while saying that, but he didn't answer her words at all. Hugo's gaze was solely directed at Leonardo, who was lying face down on the ground, restrained once again.
Leonardo had a slightly resentful expression, but as if he thought there was no way out now or had given up, he no longer resisted.
Meterion Clinder, the commander of the 3rd Battalion who had appeared along with Loren Opience, looked down at Leonardo and then raised his head, opening his mouth as if he found it pathetic.
"You struggled with just this guy?"
"Just this guy, you say? I also got careless like that and ended up with a completely useless left arm."
Although Meterion had spoken to Hugo, the one who responded to those words was Andreas, who was walking over from a distance with a relaxed demeanor. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood after capturing Leonardo, and while showing his shattered left arm, he waved it in front of Meterion's eyes as if it were a glorious medal.
"Look at this. It's this guy's work. I'm telling you, it's terrifying."
"You're bragging about every little thing."
Looking at the limply dangling arm, Meterion coldly retorted as if it wasn't even worth listening to. However, Andreas, who seemed accustomed to Meterion's attitude, didn't pay much attention to it and approached Leonardo, his original target, slowly bending his body.
"Blaine, although wood is good fuel for fire, it becomes quite strong when it absorbs water. You also underestimated me a bit, didn't you?"
Andreas, who had briefly knelt down beside his restrained head, looked down at him and spoke with a smile of victory.
At the sound of their voices coming from above, Leonardo glared at Andreas' feet while lying face down.
'Damn it, again...'
The unpleasant memories he had experienced before crept up his entire body, wriggling and crawling. As he had to see the humiliating view of only being able to look at others' feet again, Leonardo gnashed his lips with a grim spirit.
Unable to act rashly due to the feeling of the cool blade on his neck, he stayed still for now, but he muttered in a low voice filled with murderous intent towards Andreas, who would be looking down at him.
"When I get free, I'll shatter that mouth of yours too."
Andreas, who had approached with a grin while watching his moving lips, stood up from his spot with a slightly frightened look at the terrifying words directed at him. Then, taking a step back, he rubbed his arm as if shaking off the goosebumps that had risen, and said,
"Gosh, there's nothing you can't say with that pretty face."
Loren, the commander of the 2nd Battalion, stared at Hugo with strange eyes as he had been silently looking down at Leonardo Blaine since earlier. However, since she had come to provide support, she had to do what needed to be done, so she immediately took out a photo from her inner pocket, compared it with Leonardo's face, and continued speaking.
"He looks exactly the same as the photo on the profile. Shall we escort him like this, Commander?"
At that, Meterion also alternately checked the photo Loren was holding and Leonardo's face, and then opened his mouth.
"There's no time to dawdle. Right now, all the Council members are in an uproar because of a single mage causing this much chaos in the Imperial Capital. Do you two even have any awareness of being the commander and battalion commanders of the Council's army?"
When he strongly reprimanded them, saying those words as someone who had belatedly joined their hard-fought struggle, Andreas unusually furrowed his brows and spoke with a displeased look.
"Hey, Clinder. You came after everything was over, so you may not know, but this is really the minimum damage. Can't you see the wound under the Commander's eyes and my shattered arm?"
"Save your excuses for when we return to the Council."
At Meterion's action of dismissing him with a cold response as soon as he finished speaking, Andreas, who had been glaring at him, turned his head away, letting out a hollow laugh. Although a blatant mutter of "that jerk" was heard from behind, Meterion paid no attention to it and once again fixed his gaze on Hugo.
"Agrizendro, you'll probably have to write an incident report when you return as well."
At that, Hugo, who had been silent until now, slowly shifted his gaze towards Meterion. His eyes were calm, but the cold air lingering around him exerted a strange pressure, as if telling him to mind his own business.
"Well, my incident report doesn't seem to be something you need to worry about."
Meterion, who had been bluntly speaking despite that cold atmosphere, responded with silence. Between Hugo and Meterion, whose gazes met, a tense yet subtle air flowed.
As always, Loren, who couldn't stand it, intervened between them to mediate.
"Save your power struggles for when we return. For now, let's hurry back."
*
"What kind of commotion is this in the Imperial Capital? The Imperial Knights and the military will all laugh at us!"
"There hasn't been a case of causing such a disturbance in the Imperial Capital for the past several decades. Commander Agrizendro, do you have any excuses to offer?"
Under the reprimands of the high-ranking executives and staff members belonging to the upper echelons of the Council, Hugo and Andreas were literally being shattered.
Although there were no fatalities, citizens who were fleeing collided with each other and fell, resulting in a surge of injuries. Since a massive amount of mana was used in the middle of the Imperial Capital, facilities were destroyed, and roads were paralyzed.
The culprits were none other than Leonardo Blaine, as well as Hugo and Andreas who had captured him, so they had to take responsibility for it in the Council.
Amidst the pouring criticisms, Andreas stood with a bitter face, awkwardly cradling his shattered arm. Then, after glancing at Hugo, who was silently lowering his head, he turned his eyes back to the front and carefully opened his mouth.
"However, don't you also know, esteemed staff members? Leonardo Blaine was originally classified as a high-risk mage. Even while confronting him, Commander Agrizendro tried to minimize the damage-."
"Battalion Commander Fredrick, you are also subject to disciplinary committee discussions."
At those words, Andreas' mouth closed on its own. However, he was by no means convinced.
No, when they were making a fuss about the Council's prestige being damaged because they couldn't catch Leonardo Blaine, where were they? And now, they were blaming the battalion commanders for not protecting them from external criticism. Why did they make such a fuss about capturing him in the first place then?
Of course, the sight of the northern square of the Imperial Capital, which was half-destroyed due to the battle of an unprecedented scale, was quite miserable. However, Andreas, who had directly experienced Leonardo's abilities, was rather surprised that there were no direct injuries caused by powerful attack magic.
Nevertheless, with them reprimanding like this, Andreas felt a bitter taste lingering in his mouth, wondering for what purpose his arm had been shattered.
Comments
Bernie Jay
He was pulling his punches too because he didn’t want to hurt the civilians. No one deserves him!
Jesse Gibson
I’m really upset. I reallllllly wanted him to escape. Ah man..
Tgcf_fan
This people barking around and those two who came in late. I dare you to go by yourself and attack Leo.. see if you can even scratch him.. 🙄🙄 stupid higher-ups 😑 😒
