Bermuda

A firm arm wrapped around his waist.

Leonardo's eyes slowly shifted toward Hugo as he felt the touch.

Their gazes crossed in the silence where not even a breath could be heard. Instinctively, it seemed as if they could understand what each other was thinking.

Leonardo, half-embraced by Hugo, slowly lowered his palm that had been touching Hugo's lips. Then, taking a small breath, he placed the hand that had been supporting the back of Hugo's head on the floor.

As Hugo felt the tightened pressure of Leonardo's abdomen beneath the fingers wrapped around his waist, he too held his breath. His thick Adam's apple slowly moved up and down, and his blue eyes quietly waited for the right moment.

As if time had stopped, their closely intertwined gazes continuously sent signals to each other. It was only a few short seconds, but the tension running down their spines screamed incessantly in both their minds.

That they had to get out of here to survive.

Kwaaang-!

As they simultaneously kicked off the ground and leapt out of the cave, the large claw that had been caught in the entrance instantly dug into the inside. With an agility that didn't match its size, it was just a hair's breadth away from when the two escaped from the cave.

As soon as he was out, Leonardo exhaled the breath he had been holding and felt his hair stand on end as he looked down at the enormous creature's true form.

Rough skin that looked as if it had been burned was cracked along its grain, with yellow gas and flames surging from the gaps.

Four legs with exposed red muscle fibers and bent joints firmly gripped the wall, and the deformed protruding lower jaw kept clashing up and down as if constantly craving something, secreting an unidentified liquid. It was the very image of a hideous monster.

When he immediately looked at the narrow cave where they had been until just now, the demonic claw had scraped the inside as if trying to scratch out the contents, crushing it to the point where its original shape was unrecognizable. The outer wall had collapsed as if there had been a landslide, and the broken debris fell into the wave of Ilaptors holding their breath below.

That briefly unfolded scene brought countless thoughts to mind, but as the ten black eyeballs embedded in its head turned 180 degrees toward them, there was no time to mull over the situation.

Soon after, the thick tail that had been hanging limply began to writhe like a vicious snake and flew through the air. Leonardo reflexively pushed Hugo, who had been holding his waist, using the recoil to widen the distance between them.

Kwaaang!

At the end of the tail that brushed past their eyes were blunt and hard flesh and vicious thorns, making it look like a hanging mace. That terrifying weapon struck the space where the two had been just moments ago, then once again roughly destroyed the opposite outer wall.

Its speed was so fast that it seemed to receive no air resistance at all, and if they were distracted even for a moment and it grazed them, it seemed they wouldn't be able to avoid instant death.

Leonardo, who had barely managed to set foot on the wall, breathed heavily.

The image of the corpse dangling from the creature's mouth forcibly dredged up memories from past battlefields. Because of that, his heart beat extremely fast, and he could hear the abnormal pulse echoing from his neck in his own ears. Even so, his confused mind kept raising questions about the being before his eyes.

'How on earth?'

The creature was certainly the mother body, the queen. Nothing else could explain that massive body, the terrible appearance that created a sense of disgust, and the behavior of the Ilaptors crouching obediently below.

But the queen he knew should have been bound by the seal, unable to move freely. Yet the creature's movements now didn't seem to be restrained at all, even considering that part of the ruins forming the sealing magic circle had been shattered. Rather, it seemed poised to destroy all the walls of this fortress and escape outside.

The long, sharp claws that sent chills down his spine flew straight towards him, as if not wanting to give him time to think. Leonardo, who was once again throwing his body to dodge, recalled an ominous hypothesis as he saw the deep claw marks being engraved where he had been standing just moments ago.

There was only one thing that could explain those agile movements.

'Could it be that the seal has already been broken?'

A few days ago, when he had half-blown away part of the ruins while trying to save Kenis, a powerful gust of wind and a huge roar had echoed from the direction of this Peak 118. Just like now.

Regarding the situation at that time, the investigator had speculated that the creature hadn't been completely liberated yet, but that was just speculation, and in reality, the seal might have already been broken then.

If that was the case, the situation was truly the worst. He, as a mere human, couldn't possibly fathom the intentions of the queen who had quietly waited until the Council entered here despite being freed from the seal.

But now his mana was clearly more suppressed than when he was outside. If so, it meant that the effect of the sealing magic circle was still in place, yet he couldn't understand at all how the situation was unfolding.

The creature, which had momentarily stopped moving, swung its long tail and rolled its dark red eyeballs in all directions. It seemed to be gauging which side to catch first. As it looked as leisurely as if hunting a mouse trapped in a jar, Leonardo felt his ominous hypothesis gradually solidifying into certainty.

Soon, as the bright red pupils tilted toward Hugo, Leonardo immediately stretched out his arm. Although they shouldn't attack the creature for the sake of carrying out the operation until contact with the outside was established, there was no time to think about that now.

The moment the mother body's eyes turned this way, sensing the energy, two red beams of light formed at his fingertips and were fired. The beams, making a "piing" sound as they flew, directly hit the creature's head, and with the subsequent intense explosion, thick smoke spread in all directions.

Leonardo set his foot on the relatively intact railing and quietly watched the creature while spreading a barrier in front of him. While the overwhelmingly large body played a big role in creating intimidation, it also increased the area that could be hit by attacks, making it inevitably vulnerable in terms of defense.

However, the clear eyes that appeared from the smoke soon after made him realize that thought had been a big mistake.

"...?"

Leonardo looked with disbelieving eyes at the monster spewing hot steam right in front of him. The creature's body was clearly there, but its elongated neck had approached so close without him sensing its presence, peering into the narrow space as if observing him.

The mouth full of rotten blood and the pupils expanding as if about to swallow him whole gradually constricted his breath. Facing it up close, his lower eyelids trembled instinctively, and veins gradually stood out on his neck.

Meanwhile, the creature showed, surprisingly, no signs of damage.

Kiiiik-

A terrible sound that pierced the eardrums echoed as the hook-like claws scraped down the wall. The moment Leonardo frowned and covered both ears, the queen, seizing the opportunity, opened its mouth and charged as if about to bite off the wall along with him.

"Leonardo!"

At that moment, a blue light flashed from the opposite side, and sharp ice fragments that had been hastily created were fired with perfect timing towards the creature's nape.

Five of the queen's eyeballs on the opposite side rolled towards that direction. Having grasped the situation, the creature crawled upwards in one breath, almost leaping. However, ice pierced into the hide of its hind legs, which it hadn't managed to avoid, and a strange liquid splattered in all directions.

Kyaaaak-

As a pain-filled roar was heard, Leonardo, who had thrown his body to dodge, grabbed a pillar and watched the massive body writhing. Whether due to elemental compatibility or not, the reaction was incomparably more violent than when it had been hit by his attack just before.

However, smoke rose from the wall where the liquid had splashed, accompanied by a hissing sound. Then, the melted rock flowed down along the pillars and railings.

Cold sweat ran down his spine as well.

'Acidic?'

To make matters worse, the mother body, which had stuck tightly to one side of the wall, began to howl with an ominous sound while raising its head upwards. It wasn't the same monstrous cry as before, but a roar drawn from deep within the creature's body.

Hugo and Leonardo instinctively sensed the sharp wave mixed in the air that scratched their skin.

'It's ultrasonic waves.'

Soon after, a fierce gust of wind swept through the entire space, and yellow smoke explosively spewed out from the gaps in the creature's cracked hide.

Flames like lava surged from its body, completely vaporizing the ice embedded in its hind legs. Along with that, its tail, swung like a whip, mercilessly collided with the walls, crumbling the rocks all around.

Whether intentional or not, this caused ash and dust that had accumulated over the past hundreds of years to float up, obscuring visibility as if a smoke grenade had been detonated.

At the same time, the Ilaptors that had been lying flat at the very bottom began to emit cries close to screams, as if reacting to the ultrasonic waves.

Kiaaak-

Kieeek-

The black masses went berserk, causing vibrations as if about to collapse the entire space once again. As they began to climb the walls at a rapid pace, as if having lost their sense of self and become excited, Hugo detonated a compressed air sphere to secure visibility. Then he urgently called out to the two people who would be maintaining the barrier above.

"Meterion, Roslin!"

As if responding to his call, a bright light immediately came down from above, where nothing could be seen due to the swirling dust. That light, filled with mana, spread all the way down, instantly coloring the vast space, and a transparent double barrier filled the interior, seeping deep into the gaps of the collapsed walls.

As soon as the barrier was strengthened, Hugo once again drew mana into both hands to reduce the number of creatures even a little. And at that moment, a fierce and familiar shout echoed through the gaps between the swarming monsters.

"Uaaah!"

Liner, ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) with blood vessels bulging on his forehead and around his eyes, was soaring upwards at high speed.

Charging with a massive pillar in his hand, he was in a miserable state with his entire body torn and scratched. Covered in blood that could have belonged to anyone, he looked like a corpse returned from hell.

Without time to welcome his return from the brink of death, Hugo turned to look where the flashing amber eyes were directed. Seeing that what lurked at the end was the monster howling in a state of extreme agitation, Hugo quickly threw his body to try and stop Liner.

"Battalion Commander Molten!"

However, Liner, with bloodshot eyes like a madman, was in a state where his reason had flown away to the point where he couldn't hear anything. He charged relentlessly, targeting only the mother body, covered in nothing but rage and killing intent.

If they stimulated the queen, who was emitting ultrasonic waves, any further, there was a risk that the plan would go awry before the barrier stones could be activated. Therefore, Leonardo immediately pushed off the wall and rushed towards Liner, who was passing by Hugo.

However, this time, even though the eyeballs didn't move, the queen somehow managed to grasp their position, and as it leaped to the opposite side while gripping the wall, it swung its tail towards the two humans flying through the air.

Leonardo, who had hesitated, detonated a fireball in front of him to widen the distance from the creature with the pressure. Meanwhile, Liner quickly changed direction by temporarily solidifying the volcanic ash floating in the air to use as a foothold and leaping.

In an instant, Liner, who had avoided the giant weapon and appeared in the air, headed straight for the creature's head. The sharp tip of the pillar was about to pierce into the dark hide as it approached near the queen's skull.

Jjeueok-

The queen's skull, which had been hollowed out in the middle, split vertically with a strange sound. Through that gap, one of the protrusions that had been embedded there tore through the thin membrane covering it and wriggled out.

The mouth of the small monster, which raised its head while wet with mucus, tore wide open on both sides and swallowed Liner's arm, avoiding the tip that was trying to dig into the flesh of the main body.

At that moment, Liner was overwhelmed with shock and terror and couldn't move.

It was because the face of the monster at the end of the snake-like tentacle was all too familiar.

There was the face of his subordinate who had just been eaten by the creature and turned into a corpse.

Wageurak-