Chapter 188

Savage flames erupted from the queen's entire body. The creature's body, properly struck by lightning, instantly bounced up with the recoil of trying to withstand the pressure.

Instinctively, the creature hardened its skull to avoid the striking electric shock, but because its entire body was soaked in rain, there was no place where electricity couldn't flow, leaving the rest of its body fully exposed to high voltage. Gray smoke and the smell of burning meat emanated from the blackened, twisting hide.

Muscles and flesh twitched in the gaps of the split hide that accompanied the roar. Soon after, as if trying to rearrange tissues to fill the wounded areas, the inside of the creature's skin began to move grotesquely.

Hugo, who was hurriedly distancing himself, stared at that moment at the mother body's suspiciously undulating neck. The rounded form that had bulged above the neck when struck by lightning smoothly moved down to the belly covered with thick flesh.

As soon as that outline disappeared, what came into view was Leonardo rushing towards the creature, grasping a long lightning spear.

Perhaps unable to sense presences due to its protrusions being cut off, the mother body showed no reaction to the human approaching right up to its nose.

At that moment, when the creature was writhing in the pain of electrocution, unable to take a defensive stance,

The sharp tip of the spear extended at full speed towards the exposed nape.

Kwadeudeudeuk-!

The battalion commanders being pushed back and the commanders surrounding the area blankly stared at the scene, forgetting even to breathe.

Hugo, who was turning to fly in again, and Leonardo, who was right in front, were the same.

The vivid sound of piercing through tough flesh penetrated everyone's ears through the rain.

The shape of the writhing lightning cleanly penetrated the thick neck. It all happened in just a few seconds.

"Ha-"

As a clear sensation transmitted through his fingertips with a tingle, Leonardo exhaled the breath he had been holding. As his trembling breath flowed over his lips, the spark half-buried in flesh flashed fiercely with a sharp sound.

The tip that had pierced through the back of the mother body's neck was completely covered in red blood, but the pouring rain gradually washed its surface clean. The lightning spear, regaining its color, became even more vivid in the gap of the dark hide. Soon after, the commanders' whispers, unable to hide their expectations, followed.

"...It struck the vital point."

"Did we finish it off?"

Leonardo, soaked to the bone and at the center of that wish, breathed heavily, forgetting even the trembling under his eyes. He stared at the mother body's eyeballs, which had stopped moving with their pupils fully contracted.

Ten eyeballs fixed on him were flashing with an ominous light. As he faced them, Leonardo's excited mood was short-lived, and he felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

'...No, this isn't it.'

He had clearly struck the vital point, but his instincts were telling him this wasn't the end.

Just as he was about to apply force again to his grip, where anxiety was lingering, wanting to finish it off for certain, the queen's front paw, which had been still, suddenly grasped the golden spear that had pierced its neck. Then, pushing it deeper into its neck, it made the human grasping the end instantly be pulled towards itself.

"As expected"

There was no sign of fear or bewilderment in the streamlined head facing death. Rather, the creature's voice was full of both intense anger and ecstasy, as if it had deliberately aimed for this timing.

"I sense him from you."

Suddenly pulled right up to the monster's head and facing its grotesquely grinning face head-on, Leonardo furrowed his brow deeply, his mind becoming not just complicated but blank.

"...What?"

Why wasn't the creature dying and still moving after being stabbed in the neck, or was the neck not a vital point to begin with, and if so, how on earth should he kill it now that even the last hope had disappeared in this situation? All sorts of thoughts followed one after another.

But more than anything else, what he couldn't understand was what the monster in front of him was saying while looking at him.

"It's certainly the same energy as him, though far inferior."

'Him?'

"Don't tell me, are you perhaps his bloodline?"

Leonardo, who had no idea who this "him" was that he kept hearing about, felt an unpleasant sensation gradually creeping up. But soon after, because of the monster charging at him with its mouth open while its neck was pierced, he had no choice but to hurriedly widen the distance without being able to ponder the source of that eerie feeling.

The queen elongated its neck and snapped threateningly to bite Leonardo's legs. The fiercely growling monster soon seemed to change its target and began to charge madly towards him as he moved away.

"Leonardo, get away from it!"

Hugo, sensing the ominous momentum, blocked the mother body's front and once again temporarily froze the surface of its hide. However, due to the creature suddenly spewing flames explosively, the effect was minimal, and the mother body passed right by the annoying human who had planted dozens of ice spears in its flesh, surging solely towards the small golden shimmering point in the air.

And that ominous momentum,

"It doesn't matter. If you're related to him in any way,"

As if about to tear apart the target's entire body right then and there,

"You must die here."

Seemed like it would devour him into its maw.

* * *

Urureung- Kugoong- Kung-

Cordelia suddenly raised her head at the energy she felt for a moment.

This was near the foothills of the northern plains of the Elder Millie Peninsula.

It was where the Hareth Knights and Parren cavalry had gathered and were in the midst of engaging with monsters to block their retreat and drive them south.

Cordelia, who had been riding on horseback in red armor and cutting down monsters with her longsword, stopped in the middle of the urgent scene and quietly stared at the southern sky alone. The bodily fluids of monsters cut down by other knights splattered on her helmet and flowed down stickily, but she had no time to care about such things.

The sky of the peninsula was gloomy to begin with, but the area her gaze fell upon was particularly full of dark clouds. Moreover, as if the weather conditions were quite bad, lightning occasionally struck between the mountain ranges, followed by threatening thunder that shook the surroundings.

At the familiar energy spreading from that gap, she stared at the distant hazy clouds and absently moved her lips.

"...Blaine?"

Kieeek-

At that moment, a monster that had targeted her while she was stopped charged straight towards her.

Cordelia, immediately coming to her senses, gripped her sword firmly with one hand and tightly held the horse's reins to respond head-on. However, there was someone who moved even faster than her as she charged: a cavalryman who suddenly emerged from the bushes rushed fearlessly towards the monster.

The cavalryman swept away the monster and charged for quite a distance, then immediately turned back and trampled the seemingly already dead creature with his horse's hooves. Finally, he didn't forget to stab its neck and head once each with his sword to confirm the kill.

Seeing the other's splendid armor and horse saddle, Cordelia could instantly recognize his identity. Soon, the one who approached her side spoke in his usual gentle voice while taking off his helmet drenched in sweat.

"To think that even Your Ladyship has moments of carelessness, it's quite unusual."

"...Careless? That's not the case. I could have handled it, but the General just happened to appear."

Hearing Cordelia's response, the cavalryman, the Parren general, showed his characteristic faint smile. Soon after, the reply "If Your Ladyship says so, then it must be so" came back, but he didn't seem to believe it.

"But what were you looking at?"

At the General's following question, Cordelia turned her eyes again to the southern sky she had been staring at earlier. Then, looking at the flashing thunderclouds, she muttered in a worried voice.

"It seems like something big is happening over there."

"Hmm... Indeed, the state of the clouds doesn't look good."

"Yes. Moreover, the signal fires were lit earlier than expected... For Blaine to emit this much mana..."

Cordelia trailed off, biting her lip hard. At that moment, the General, who had been looking in the same direction while listening to her words, suddenly turned his head towards Cordelia. Then, erasing the smile that had been on his face, he questioned what he had just heard.

"Blaine?"

Cordelia also turned her eyes to the General at the sound of his voice.

"Yes?"

"By Blaine... do you mean Leonardo Blaine?"

Cordelia stared silently at the General's face, showing a puzzled expression. It was because the person who usually smiled faintly no matter what was said now wore a very serious expression for some reason.

As it didn't seem like a reaction one would show just from hearing someone's name, Cordelia momentarily fell silent, wondering if she had inadvertently revealed something unnecessary about the internal affairs of the empire.

But as the General seemed to be waiting for an answer, staring intently at her, she, trying to gauge the intention behind his question, nodded carefully after a short while. She thought there was no reason to hide it now that they were even receiving their assistance.

"...Yes, that's right. But... why do you ask?"

"Then are you saying that Leonardo Blaine is here, on this Elder Millie Peninsula right now?"

Unlike his usual composed self, the Parren general seemed quite excited. Unable to judge whether this was good or bad, Cordelia found herself holding back her words once again without realizing it.

Kugoong- Kung-

And at that moment, another unusual discharge phenomenon crossed between the clouds in the southern sky.

The Parren general reflexively raised his head and naturally shifted his gaze to the southern sky that Cordelia had been staring at. Cordelia quietly observed the General's hardened expression, which was rarely seen, while slowly blinking her eyes.

"...Haha, ha."

After a moment, what gradually spread across his face was a bright smile quite different in texture from what she had seen so far.

"To think that he is here."