World's Best Protagonist [BL]

[3rd Person’s POV]

The sound of crackling magic faded as the teleportation spell ended, the shimmer of the spell’s light leaving behind Claude, Jade, Etienne, the five Lewellyn knights, and the mage who had just managed their return.

The group arrived at the clearing near their base camp, but something was wrong.

The air was wrong. It was colder, much colder than Jade could remember. Then, it hit them before they could even take a full step forward.

The ground was frozen. The mountain rocks were coated in a sharp rime of frost. And the wind was unnatural, howling low like a beast ready to pounce.

Etienne murmured in confusion, "What’s happening?"

No one answered him. Jade had no idea. This place wasn’t like this when they left. How could it be winter already when it was clearly sunny when they arrived here first?

Suddenly, Claude’s sharp intake of breath was the only warning before he bolted forward.

"Stay here!" he shouted over his shoulder, unsheathing his blade.

"Shit."

Jade’s heart dropped into his stomach as he followed without thinking, his boots crunching over the brittle ice that had devoured the soil. Etienne gasped after realizing what it meant and sprinted after them.

The clearing where the group set a camp opened like a wound, and in its center, chaos reigned.

"Oh, my god," Etienne muttered, horrified.

"What is this sorcery?" the mage exclaimed, astonished at the sight.

The knight took position, preparing for battle, but Etienne held out his hand and warned them. His eyes were ablaze.

"You’re only here to make sure I return. Don’t even think of attacking."

The knights halted. Even the mage felt the air tense from the warning. So, in the end, they could only watch from a distance.

Terrius stood at the heart of it all, barely recognizable. His body pulsed with a dark energy that twisted his veins into black rivers under his skin. His eyes, once a clear, deep sea, were now drowned in inky black.

Ice spikes jutted from the ground and canopy alike—sharp, jagged stalagmites and stalactites forming a brutal cage of frost.

"Terrius!" Jade cried out, but his voice was swallowed by the shriek of the wind.

Allen and Lexie were still fighting off his uncontrollable attacks. Allen’s barrier cracked under pressure, his arms were visibly shaking from exhaustion.

Lexie’s exposed arms were covered in cuts. Yet her eyes remained focused, and she was unyielding, charging alongside the captain to get Terrius out of his unintentionally created web of ice.

"Captain, he’s not responding!" Lexie shouted, panting. "We tried to stop him, but—he’s gone berserk!"

Claude didn’t hesitate. He leapt through a burst of frost and closed the distance. The air shimmered from the heat of his energy clashing against the cold.

His sword clanged against a pillar of ice that had erupted from the ground, shattering it in a blink. He ducked, weaved, and struck—not to injure, but to destroy the large pillars of ice caging their comrade, lost in his nightmare.

Terrius roared—inhuman, distorted. A wave of frost exploded from him, sending shards slicing through the air. One nearly caught Jade, but Lexie pulled him back just in time.

"Stay behind me!" Lexie warned before turning toward the barely standing Allen.

Jade stood behind Lexie and started to cancel Terrius’s attacks. He couldn’t fully use his power, since it would all depend on him once Claude snatched Terrius away. Everything would be on him.

"It’s thinning," Etienne muttered from behind, referring to the ice slabs. Then, he grabbed Lexie’s wrist, pouring a steady, healing magic into her while checking Allen from a distance.

"Allen used too much of his ability, too. He’s slipping out. Jade." Lexie turned to Jade.

Jade gave a resolute nod. "Leave him to me."

He sprinted to Allen. The latter was clearly surprised, meaning he did not even hear them come and was probably too focused on restraining himself. He was barely holding back.

Therefore, as soon as his pupils recognized Jade, his arms fell by his side, and he let himself fall on him. Jade caught him just in time. The moment their body touched, Jade absorbed Allen’s dark energy, just enough to pull him away from his threatening nightmare.

His arms wrapped around Allen’s wounded body. He felt no resistance, just a light touch on his back, and a relieved murmur barely above a whisper.

"You’re back."

Jade patted the back of Allen’s head. "Yeah. Thanks for holding up, Allen. Leave the rest to us."

Instead of answering, Allen just buried his face in Jade’s chest. Jade’s heartbeat somehow calmed him down, and when he closed his eyes, he unconsciously drifted to sleep.

After noticing Allen’s relaxed state, Jade dragged him to a safe area. Etienne came rushing. He covered Allen with his black cloak and leaned him against the mountain wall.

"I’ll take it from here, Jade. Tend to Lexie, if you still can."

"Yeah. I still can. But where is she?"

Etienne fumed after not seeing Lexie on the spot he left her. "Where the hell did she go? She needs counseling!"

Jade tapped Etienne’s shoulder and searched for the reckless lady of their team.

Meanwhile, Claude surged forward again.

"Terrius, snap out of it!" he bellowed, his blade clashing with the frozen ground as he forced Terrius back with sheer strength.

Claude’s body steamed, thawing the creeping frost inch by inch. "You’re not a monster! You hear me?!"

Terrius let out another cry—this time lower, weaker. His form staggered. His blackened pupils and sclera glinted with awareness.

Jade saw it. The crack. The hesitation. He didn’t wait.

"Captain!" Jade called. "Hold him still—I’m going in!"

Claude didn’t ask questions. With a brutal twist of movement, he drove his blade into the ground, anchoring himself and grabbing Terrius in a grapple, muscles straining against the ice coating the other boy’s arms.

Jade rushed forward, kneeling before Terrius with both hands extended. He could feel it—dark energy pulsing wildly, ravenous and unstable. The signature of an Awakener’s Nightmare.

Too much power. No guidance.

"No wonder you snapped," Jade muttered, voice soft but urgent. "You’ve been holding it in too long."

He pressed his palms to Terrius’s chest. Absorbing his suffering, his nightmare. Jade flinched when he heard a voice in his mind.

A voice tinged with pain and sorrow. A sound so lonely.

I’m a monster.

Jade hasn’t pulled himself yet from that piece of memory Terrius unknowingly slipped on him, when he heard another voice—a familiar one, but kind and comforting.

Is there a monster who saves lives? You freak. You’re a hero. Cheer up!

It was Noir.