Bermuda

"Let's do it, as you say."

Leonardo's face, which had been quite serious, brightened immediately upon hearing the positive answer. His eyes, which had widened along with it, even curved pleasantly toward the person in front of him.

That smile instantly melted Hugo's heart, which had been tense until just now. He felt like he had experienced a similar emotion before, but ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

Nothing had changed, but Leonardo's smile cleanly swept away the anxiety and distracting thoughts inside him. The fact that he had unconsciously recalled this face when standing before the mother body might have been a defense mechanism born of instinct.

Hugo didn't want to distinguish whether the reason for this was because of Leonardo's strength or simply because it was 'him'. He just decided to fully accept the fact that the person before him now, more than anyone else, was his solid support and resolve.

"Al-right."

Leonardo curled up the corners of his mouth brightly and then patted Hugo's shoulders a couple of times, as if thanking him for the decision. Recognizing what this meant, since it was something he often did himself, Hugo unconsciously let out a small, candid laugh.

Only after hearing the low voice mixed into that laughter did Leonardo use Hugo's arm for support to slip out of his embrace. Thanks to Hugo completely loosening his arm strength, he was able to come down easily, making his earlier struggles seem pointless.

The two, floating in the air, briefly met each other's eyes and took in each other's faces beyond the swirling white steam. Meanwhile, the mother body once again revealed its insistent presence with a sharp roar.

Leonardo, furrowing his brow, shifted his gaze in that direction and turned his body as if to step forward, lightly loosening his right shoulder. But at that moment, as if reluctant to let go, Hugo's hand reached out and firmly grasped Leonardo's forearm.

"Leonardo."

As Leonardo paused and turned to the side, Hugo's hand, which had already come closer, gently cupped his blood-stained cheek.

"Don't push yourself too hard alone."

A voice sweet enough to be out of place in the situation tickled his ear and brushed his skin. His fine eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and sorrow settled in the shadowed corners of his eyes.

The coolness he gave off spread faintly over Leonardo's heated skin.

The familiar sense of stability intertwined in his large palm. With the momentary bewilderment gone without a trace, Leonardo closed his eyes tightly and then opened them, slowly savoring that sensation.

Eventually, he lightly covered Hugo's hand on his cheek with his own. Afraid that Hugo's hand might get burned, he couldn't even cover it completely.

Leonardo, looking up at the worried face, smiled at him again, the corners of his eyes curving.

"Don't worry. I'm not alone."

Then, unlike before, with a relatively lighter heart, he uttered the word he had been unable to say so easily. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Do you trust me?"

The moment he heard that question, Hugo's eyes twitched. It wasn't just because he hadn't expected those words in this situation.

It felt like they had returned to that time when they were talking about different kinds of trust.

But the face before him no longer harbored the same resentment as back then. The pale day amid the same acrid smoke was gently asking him, as if giving him a chance.

Hugo grasped it even before gauging the implied meaning within. He answered sincerely, his eyes more certain than ever.

"Of course. I definitely trust you."

Hearing the answer, Leonardo smiled with satisfaction. Then, after lowering his hand from Hugo's, he left just one word and disappeared like the wind.

"Thanks."

The heat in his hand dissipated into the empty air along with that voice. Hugo instinctively turned his head toward the area below where the mother body was rampaging, following the vanished heat.

The light, brighter than anything else in the world, appeared again above the large peak shrouded in thick fog. Watching the back that fearlessly cut through the darkness, Hugo muttered softly as if speaking to him:

"Go, Leonardo. I'm counting on you."

After following the trajectory of the light he had left with his eyes for a while, Hugo soon discovered another shadow following closely behind. After watching it intently with narrowed eyes for a moment, he then shifted his gaze to the plains to the north.

He raised his right arm toward the sky and fired a huge blue flare.

By the time the light of the flare covered the entire sky, he too had disappeared from there like the wind.

*****

Pyung-

Leonardo, who had lowered his altitude and descended between the mountain ranges, looked up at the blue light bursting like fireworks high above. Fragments of light, scattered finely like sparks, densely embroidered the darkened sky.

Due to the thick clouds that even obscured the stars and moon, the shape drawn by the light was more clearly visible than ever.

'V'

At the shape that drew a sharp angle without gaps, resembling its owner, a chuckle escaped from between Leonardo's teeth as he looked up.

"V, huh. That's a good meaning."

The Commander's signal announcing the start of 'Plan 5'. It was like the prelude of 'victory' being widely proclaimed across the entire peninsula.

To carry that prelude's current perfectly to its conclusion, Leonardo quickly wiped the smile off his face and looked down with a serious expression.

The commanders who had been attacking the creature had also paused momentarily upon seeing the signal spread across the sky. They exchanged glances among themselves and then, according to the strategy, ceased their attacks and retreated northward.

The mother body, which had been chased by them, also stopped at one point to assess the situation, seeing the humans suddenly making unusual movements. Its dark red eyeballs, which had been busily scanning the surroundings, soon turned toward Leonardo floating in the sky.

Kyaaaak-

The queen of the peninsula's monsters, coiled atop the dormant volcano's peak like a snake, moved eerily.

It puffed up its body to the fullest and roared fiercely, glaring at the small sun before it with bulging eyes. Then it struck the rock it stood on several times with the heavy flail hanging from the tip of its tail. Rock fragments split by the impact fell and precariously caught on the mountainside.

Following this, the mother body's abdomen and neck area twisted suspiciously and undulated. Opening its maw as if to vomit something, it sprayed a mysterious bodily fluid flowing over its tongue abundantly onto the rock fragments.

It was hard to judge this as acidic liquid, as there was no noticeable change on the surface of the rocks where the fluid had landed. Leonardo raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes, quietly observing the scene.

Eventually, after spewing out all the bodily fluid, the mother body breathed black flames onto it. As if oil had been poured on it, the wet rocks instantly caught fire and blazed up.

Having created a powerful weapon, the creature quickly crawled down to the middle of the mountain. Then it violently swung its tail toward the pile of rock fragments, launching the burning rocks like artillery shells.

"Oh, so it can do that too."

Even with the blazing giant rocks flying toward him, Leonardo maintained a relaxed demeanor without even trying to dodge. Only when the meteor-like objects trailing long flames approached within about 50 meters did he slowly extend his hand forward, intending to shoot them down all at once.

At that moment, a familiar shadow appeared in the blink of an eye and suddenly blocked Leonardo's front. Then, without hesitation, it rushed toward the first flying rock fragment and threw a punch.

Kwaaang-

One rock hit by the fist cracked thinly from the point of impact outward, and before long, turned into perfect powder scattered in the air.

Seeing more rocks flying in succession behind it, Nero interlocked his fingers and raised both hands high above his head. Then, after moving to an appropriate position, he brought his hands down at the right angle.

Kwaaang-!

The rock flying horizontally fell vertically after being hit by Nero's fist. Even the remaining rocks were either kicked by his left foot to disappear into dust or bounced off half-shattered.

Nero completely shattered all the rocks with his bare body, ensuring that not even a single spark flew toward Leonardo behind him. Only after everything in his field of vision had disappeared did he lightly fly up and move to the captain's side.

Gazing intently at him as he stood silently beside him, Leonardo spoke in a voice lowered, half in jest and half in earnest.

"You're late."

Nero, who had been feeling triumphant after smashing all the rocks, turned his head and retorted as if wronged.

"Come on, how late could I have been? I came in time anyway."

"What were you doing to arrive just now?"

"...Umm."

Nero, unable to say that he had been unconscious and then woke up midway, being seen by someone, awkwardly laughed it off while scratching the back of his head. Then, to change the subject, he swept his gaze over Leonardo's appearance, which seemed clearly different from before, and asked back with genuine curiosity.

"What about you, Captain? What happened to you?"

Although it wasn't a detailed question, Leonardo could understand Nero's meaning at once. But this side also didn't have a story that could explain the whole situation, and it wasn't the time to leisurely engage in conversation, so he brushed it off.

"Well, various things happened. More importantly, cover for me from now on. Since it's come to this, there's something I want to try."

"Something you want to try?"

No sooner had Nero asked back with a puzzled face than a huge golden magic circle spread out in the sky. It was an enormous size, covering a radius of several kilometers.

The magic circle, with its surface seething fiercely like ultra-high-temperature lava, looked as if it was about to pour out something, brimming with threatening energy.

"Since that thing started it first, I should throw something similar back at it."

Leonardo, who had raised his right arm toward the sky, extended its end toward the creature visible in front. At that moment, a dark red light shone from the large magic circle, and from within it, huge boulders like real meteors began to pour out.

At the sight that covered everything his eyes could reach, Nero's eyes widened and his mouth opened unconsciously.

Then, as if to finish off the creature, Leonardo ominously chanted a spell.

"Armageddon."