Bermuda

Dudududu-

Even while floating in the air, Hugo felt the air around him vibrating irregularly. For a moment, he doubted his senses.

Something unidentifiable was causing a ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) chain of vibrations, surging up from far below. And it was an unmanageable number of somethings.

Hugo's eyes quickly scanned the fog at that anxiety-inducing vibration. At the same time, the cries of monsters, more like bursting out than simply being uttered, converged in one place, constricting his heart.

Hugo immediately created a thin, long sword that he rarely used. The environment here was literally like hell, and because the ice formation speed was particularly slow, it was too much to maintain a greatsword.

As if to prove this, water droplets formed and dripped from the melting ice at the tip of the sword extending from the handle. The dull blade that hadn't completely frozen glinted momentarily due to the moisture on its surface.

At that moment, as if their position had been exposed, a familiar monstrous cry rang out right behind him.

Kyaaaak-!

Hugo, gripping his sword tightly, reflexively turned around and swung downward at high speed.

The Ilaptor's neck was impaled straight onto the sword, stopping the charging creature right in front of him. As if regretting not reaching its target, it kept snapping its jaws while convulsing, but due to the ice piercing its gasping throat, it could only make hissing sounds.

Soon after, viscous venom dripped from the tips of the teeth embedded in the twitching gums. The part below the sword handle that came into contact with the venom sizzled and boiled, then snapped off, falling down with the creature.

Hugo's eyes, which had been following that end with his gaze, suddenly widened.

"Commander!"

At that moment, a voice calling him came from above with perfect timing.

As he immediately looked up, Isabella, the 12th Battalion Commander, and Meterion, the 3rd Battalion Commander, were approaching one after another, cutting through the fog nearby. Unable to locate the commander's position, they had come after hearing the voice calling for Liner.

However, there was no time to welcome the grateful colleagues who had followed, as Hugo immediately sent them a hand signal to go up while shouting,

"Deploy RAID 2 barrier at 100m altitude!"

The two battalion commanders who were approaching hesitated at his order.

Isabella, unfamiliar with the commander's urgent demeanor, instinctively sensed the seriousness of the situation and quickly changed direction. As she went up above the thickly spread water surface along the path she had cleared, an ominous premonition pushed at her back, and she unconsciously turned her head.

Isabella's complexion instantly turned to shock as she looked down at where she had been just moments ago.

"What on earth is that..."

She could see the reason why the commander had shouted so urgently.

Black masses were bubbling up from below, filled with yellow gas. It looked like one large lump writhing, but occasionally small pieces of flesh broke off and leaped upward one after another with eerie cries.

As she stared silently, wondering what on earth that was, it turned out to be a vast number of Ilaptors, beyond estimation, raising the water level rapidly while devouring the walls.

They climbed up the walls, grabbing the heads of their own kind and using each other as footholds. The sight of them biting and tearing at each other, with claws embedded in their hides and eyeballs, was terribly reminiscent of pandemonium in hell.

Meterion, who had come up at about the same time, also looked down, following her gaze. Eventually, his expression crumpled miserably, and his eyes filled with contempt and disgust, as if looking at swarming insects.

Hugo, who belatedly revealed himself in the middle of it all, spotted the two people suspended in the air and shouted once again.

"Move quickly!"

As the commander raised his voice, the two snapped to attention and immediately went up.

Rising vertically at full speed without time to properly assess the situation, they slowed down and stopped upon reaching a certain position, as if by prior agreement. Then, despite it being their first joint operation, they skillfully made eye contact, nodded once, and moved apart to opposite sides.

As the two, pressed tightly against the wall, stretched out their arms towards each other on the opposite side, bright light flashed from their fingertips and thin mana flowed out like threads. It extended straight forward and collided in the center, tying into a single line.

The line thus formed expanded up and down, crossing the sky, and soon became a surface covering the vast space, filling all directions without gaps. A transparent barrier had been created to protect the inner walls from impacts.

Hugo, who had raised his head to confirm the completed barrier, looked down again. The wave of monsters was surging up at a terrifying speed, dyeing the rock walls and the ground beneath his feet pitch black.

He still had no idea why the creatures that had been invisible all along were now revealing themselves. However, whatever their purpose, he had to absolutely prevent them from getting out.

After making his decision, Hugo immediately cupped his hands together and assumed an attack stance. Then suddenly, remembering Liner who might be down there, he hesitated for a moment.

Although he believed that Liner wouldn't die because he knew his abilities, it was uncertain whether he, who still hadn't shown himself, could safely withstand his attack.

However, the black wave surging up gave no time to think, and Hugo muttered quietly with clenched teeth.

"Please hold on."

Eventually, in his hands filled with tension, a cold and fierce wind rotated, gathering spiral-shaped mana into a single point. The icy blue energy rippling around met the hot air rising from below, creating invisible sparks and increasing the flow speed, causing a destructive vortex.

Hugo, grasping that condensed energy in both hands, stretched his arms towards the swarming creatures and chanted a spell.

"Excelayon."

A high-speed blue beam emitting a "kiing-" sound was fired towards the wave of black monsters.

As the powerful energy approached, the creatures that had been gathered like a swarm of bees scattered in all directions, but the subsequent attack swallowed up the area, rendering their struggles futile, and caused a violent explosion.

Kieeek-

Kyaaaak-

Part of the wall where the beam passed was completely destroyed, and Ilaptors that had been climbing over their own kind fell to the precipice with a thud. Some burst open, screaming bizarrely, while others pierced by ice shards hung limply, decorating the wall.

Even at a glance, the impact was considerable, but veins stood out slightly on Hugo's neck and jaw as he watched.

If it had been at its original power, more than half would have been blown away. Due to the influence of the sealing magic circle, his mana was suppressed, preventing him from exerting his full ability. Moreover, the barrier created by the battalion commanders also seemed to be affected, unable to properly block the impact from attack magic.

Soon after, other creatures appearing from below endlessly crawled up, trampling over the corpses. Thanks to that, the traces of the attack were quickly covered, and the situation hadn't changed at all from a moment ago.

But there was no time for disappointment, as Hugo once again drew mana into both hands. He saw the creatures clinging tightly to the narrow holes between the pillars, trying to crawl in.

Although the barrier was blocking it, if they concentrated on digging into one point, even the strongest barrier was at risk of being breached. Hugo immediately changed direction and stretched his arm towards that spot.

As pale smoke swirled ominously and the intense magic heightened at his fingertips was about to be fired-

A clear shout from above pierced his ears.

"Dodge-!"

Hugo, with wide eyes, reflexively looked up.

It was Leonardo.

After being momentarily flustered by the sight of him rushing towards him at full speed, Leonardo quickly approached right in front of him, grabbed both of Hugo's shoulders, and pushed him back with all his might.

With that strong force, Hugo's body, which had been floating in the air, was driven back, and the mana swirling in his grasp was fired in an unintended direction.

Although the sound of the wall crumbling made his ears ring for a moment, the face he encountered in that instant showed clear signs of anxiety, and Hugo couldn't take his eyes off him with a puzzled look.

As if time had slowed down for a moment, the golden hair fluttered like in slow motion.

Through the parted golden light, something that had surged up from below brushed past his vision.

It was something so bizarre and enormous that his pupils dilated instantly.

Kwaaang-!

The two entangled people collided with the railing and pillar as if thrown. However, the pushing force was so strong that they broke through the rock and were buried in a narrow cave. At the same time, the entrance and ceiling collapsed, and dust and smoke swirled chaotically inside and outside.

Feeling the strong impact of his whole body colliding, Hugo instinctively pulled the one who had rushed towards him into his arms. He wrapped Leonardo's head and back, burying them in his shoulder and chest, and he too buried his face in Leonardo's hair.

When they finally realized they had stopped after rolling frantically through the narrow gap, they were tightly embracing each other like one body amidst the collapsed debris.

Pushhhhh-

Hugo, who had exhaled his held breath through the thick dust, felt extreme dizziness but didn't loosen his arms. In that state, he craved the other's scent intertwining with his fingertips and cheeks along with his breath.

As he painfully opened his eyes and looked into his arms, golden hair, close enough to mix breaths, flickered as it raised its head.

Hugo blinked his blurry eyes and focused, ignoring the throbbing pain. The first thing that became clear was the softness touching the back of his head.

The one in his arms had also stretched out his arms and was somehow cradling his head.

"...Leonardo."

Hugo, with his eyes half-open, called his name softly while tracing his finely trembling eyelashes. As the husky voice lingered between them for a moment, Leonardo, who had been facing him, immediately pressed his upper body close.

Then, covering the lips that had called him with his hand, he whispered softly.

"Shh."

The hushed voice tickled his face. At that sensual touch, his breath was instinctively caught. Instead of expressing doubt, Hugo quietly gazed into the golden eyes. He could clearly feel the other's heartbeat through their touching chests.

The transmitted heartbeat was steady but quite urgent. Moreover, his eyes were full of tension, as if warning him not to say anything.

As he remained silent in accordance with that serious demeanor, a sudden sense of incongruity brushed past.

"..."

All the sounds that had been tiring his ears had stopped.

It was strangely quiet outside.

Until just a moment ago, there had clearly been cries so loud he wanted to cover his ears, but now the surroundings were eerily quiet. The only sounds spreading in the silence were Leonardo's breath tickling his ear and something chewing from outside.

Kkadeuk- kkadeuk- kkadeuddeuk-

Eujjeok, eujjeok-

Leonardo's wavering eyes turned towards the outside of the cave. Hugo, who had instinctively recalled what had brushed past his vision, slowly raised his body, following his gaze.

As they watched the outside of the cave with slow movements, the dark shadow that had been there came into view.

The eyelids surrounding the blue eyes gradually widened.

'Monster?'

Although he thought he had seen many hideous monsters before, a form that could only be described by that word was seated there.

One claw like an overwhelming hook was caught in the entrance, which alone was enough to guess the ridiculous size of the creature.

Dark red skin reminiscent of lava, cracked like a burnt old tree. Corrupt flames and yellow smoke spewed from between them.

A deformed lower jaw that not only protruded but was studded with thorns. Three large protrusions half-buried on top of the sleek, shiny skull.

Five black eyes on the side of the elongated, streamlined head. Two red pupils dotted in the middle.

It was the appearance of a huge and hideous monstrous life form that seemed to be a mix of all the types of monsters seen on the peninsula so far.

The upward-pointing protrusions began to wriggle like insect eggs, as if sensing air currents. Between the mouth torn so wide it seemed to reach the neck, about a dozen Ilaptors could be seen struggling while only half out of the body. However, with each movement of the bizarre jaw joint, those struggles gradually ceased.

Reddish tentacles undulated beneath the creature's mouth, with crimson blood dripping like saliva. Among the corpses stuck in the gaps, an upper body wearing a Council combat uniform was miserably pierced, as if shot, on teeth that had risen solely to tear flesh.

Organs that had spilled out hung below the ribcage that was half-crushed and protruding. The eyes were hollowed out black, and a human head with the cortex and brain matter exposed through skin torn in half as if bitten could be clearly seen.

"Hungry"

Soon after, the monster, which had straightened its body vertically, began to swallow what was in its mouth greedily while twitching its wrinkled neck. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Leonardo, exposed to that surreal scene and the piercing smell of blood, frowned at the auditory hallucination he heard again.

"Hungry"

This hallucination was much louder than anything he had heard before.

It was as if it were shouting inside his head, even trying to dominate his brain.

"Hungry"

A terrible pain squeezed his head as if fingernails were digging into his temples and eyeballs.

He wanted to scream at the feeling of something gnawing and drilling holes.

"Hungry"

The creature, having pushed the last morsel of meat into its throat, smacked its long and disgusting tongue as if satisfied with its meal.

Then, as if looking for new prey, it began to roll its five eyeballs around.

"Hungry"

"Hungry"

"Hungry"

"Hungry"

"Hungry"

Soon, those eyes rolled towards the two people who were holding their breath in the cave.

At that moment, the hallucination that had been driving him mad stopped again, and the creature's mouth tore even wider.

The two red pupils embedded in its eyeballs merged, drawing a horizontal line like a goat's eye.

That slightly curved line seemed to be grinning.