Chapter 205

As Hugo's gaze, unlike when looking at him, turned cold and focused downward, Leonardo twisted his waist and followed its end with puzzled eyes. Whether he hadn't noticed it because it was buried in the chill enveloping his body, a beam that had pierced through the black smoke was now stretching towards them.

Leonardo, who had stretched his neck and peeked out his head, suddenly widened his eyes and leaned his upper body backward. Then, unconsciously, he hit Hugo's shoulders with his fists repeatedly, urging him to move quickly.

"Go back, back!"

Hugo, furrowing his brow at the somewhat violent urging, glanced at Leonardo and retreated lightly.

Piing- Ping-

Two beams that flew in a straight line soared into the sky with a time difference.

As the hot heat barely grazed their faces, Leonardo, with one hand on Hugo's shoulder and the other extended outward, aimed his palm towards the gap in the dark smoke. Then, concentrating all his senses on his fingertips, he drew out seething mana in a short time.

A heavy voice, as if scratching his throat, flowed out between his lips along with a drop of blood.

"Dragon's Breath."

The dark red energy undulating in his grasp was fired towards the ground in the blink of an eye.

Emitting a destructive light, it split a third of the nearby peak vertically and instantly swallowed up the traces of collapse spread on the ground.

Seawater that had temporarily surged up and evaporated formed a thick fog covering the ground. All sorts of rock fragments and earth dust mixed within it, soaring to the sky at once due to the shockwave.

That terrifying power pushed even Hugo, who was holding Leonardo, back about 30 meters with a strong recoil. Only after he spread a magic circle in the air and stepped on an ice wall he created in mid-air could the two who had been almost flying finally stop.

Hugo, inwardly surprised by the pressure that had pushed him without giving him time to react, realized why Leonardo had bounced back from his own power earlier. But as ultra-high temperature steam gushed out madly right after, he had no time for other thoughts. His eyebrows, which had been enduring the heat, momentarily contorted in pain.

Chiiik-, a sharp sound that grated on the ears dug between them as if about to sear their touching arms and chests. As the ice rapidly vaporized, a low groan escaped from Hugo's mouth.

Although it was quite a small sound, it was clearer than any other to Leonardo's ears, who had been watching the monster. Leonardo, startled once again, tried to forcibly escape from Hugo's arms by pushing them away.

"Let, let go, will you? Do you want to die? You'll get burned!"

"Wait a moment, Leonardo. I'm fine-"

The smell of burning fibers brushed their noses through the roughly rising smoke. Afraid that it might lead to the smell of burning protein, Leonardo struggled in urgency. However, the firm forearms pressing his upper and lower body showed no sign of letting him go. Rather, the more he struggled, the more they seemed to tighten, which seemed to have an adverse effect.

Leonardo was bewildered by the Commander's incomprehensible behavior. Eventually, he tried to suppress his own energy rather than use force. Meanwhile, Hugo's gaze was fixed on the red bloodstain that had flowed and hardened at the corner of Leonardo's mouth.

He wanted to wipe away that trace, which looked as painful as his own internal injuries, but if he did, this guy would surely run away again. Unable to do so, Hugo left his bound hands where they were and only swept over it with troubled eyes. When Leonardo's energy had relatively calmed down, he opened his mouth.

"I said I'd explain later, so I won't ask what happened now. But if you keep using mana like this, your body won't last."

Hugo's face and voice were filled with urgent and sincere concern. The hands supporting Leonardo's lower back and firmly grasping his forearms conveyed earnestness rather than an intention to admonish.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious too. But at times like this, we need to be more careful with our attacks. You might think plans or strategies are meaningless in a situation that has already become a prolonged battle, but I believe we need a method other than this indiscriminate close combat to eliminate a creature with high physical abilities and intelligence."

"...What method?"

"First, I'll create an opportunity based on the situation, and then-"

Kugung- Kung-

At that moment, successive explosions from underground and the mother body's roar interrupted Hugo's words. The two people, who had been looking at each other in the air, looked down again.

Various types of mana were causing explosions at regular intervals, perhaps from the commanders who had followed attacking the mother body. Although not clearly visible due to the smoke screen, other monsters drawn by the roar also seemed to be screaming as they were caught up in the attack.

Leonardo, looking at the ground covered in black smoke and sizzling, slowly rolled his eyes to assess the situation.

Originally, he had intended to settle things with the mother body alone, but as the sun set, the situation turned unfavorable for him. Although he could annihilate hundreds of monsters with a single strike, it was difficult to land an attack on that one creature. The reason was this light constantly emanating from him.

As the sky darkened, the brightening light exposed his position, making ambushes difficult, and since the places where the creature hid its body were mostly shaded, he had to rely on intuition rather than sight.

Meanwhile, surprisingly, the Council's commanders were showing a higher hit rate than him in sniping the creature. Not only were they much smaller than the monster, making it easier to hide their appearance and presence, but it seemed the mother body's attention was focused on him floating in the sky.

In other words, he was currently the one who could most concentrate the mother body's attention, while the Council's commanders could move stealthily, avoiding the creature's eyes.

So, judging that cooperating with them could provide quite a good opportunity, Leonardo suddenly put his arms around Hugo's shoulders and neck, which he had been pushing away until just now. Then, looking into the blue eyes that had become closer, he casually opened his mouth.

"You said you'd create an opportunity?"

Hugo, glancing down at his own shoulder, nodded lightly as he met the sparkling golden eyes.

"Yes."

"Then, you know, do you remember what I said in the meeting before?"

At Leonardo's sudden words, Hugo raised one eyebrow and asked back.

"What are you talking about?"

"Plan 5. The one everyone else laughed at."

Having answered thus, Leonardo raised his trembling left arm and pointed to a small volcano not far away. From the crater, which flashed red along its circumference, bright red magma was boiling thickly, its heat palpable even in the darkness.

Hugo looked at it with narrowed brows, then suddenly lowered his head and swept over the path Leonardo had been driving the mother body along. The traces of destruction from the north were heading towards the small volcano Leonardo's fingertip was pointing at. Moreover, it was in a position where damage could be minimized as it was quite far from other volcanoes that could cause chain explosions.

Realizing that he had not been launching attacks recklessly but moving with intention, Hugo looked back at Leonardo and answered his words.

"I remember. You suggested blowing up the volcano."

"Let's try that now."

"..."

"I know it sounds crazy, but as you said, you've seen it while fighting until now. Stabbing, poking, and launching vague attacks one by one doesn't work on that thing. We need to blow away all the parts where it might be able to move its vital points at once to barely have a chance of killing it."

Leonardo earnestly expounded his opinion. However, Hugo couldn't easily agree.

Blowing up a volcano. It might be as easy as saying it for this blazing golden fireball, but it was difficult to accept within the common sense of ordinary humans.

"But Leonardo, that's..."

"While I lure the mother body and buy time, reorganize the barrier stone positions, and use the explosion as a signal to reactivate the barrier, at least the damage won't reach the empire's mainland. The erupted lava sweeping away the other monsters that followed the mother body could also substitute for the already destroyed traps. Then the number of creatures trying to rush out after the queen dies will be greatly reduced."

As the explosions from below grew fiercer, Leonardo's words became faster and more unrestrained. Although anxiety was projected in his furrowed brow and voice, Hugo only met his eyes without giving any answer for a while.

Then Leonardo placed both arms on Hugo's shoulders. He brought his face a little closer and persuaded him with desperate eyes.

"Five seconds. Five seconds is all I need. I'll lure it near that volcano, so just hold it still for exactly five seconds above it. I'll take care of the rest."

In fact, five seconds was a very short time to kill the mother body, but ironically, it was an absurdly long time to hold it in place.

But if he could somehow make the creature and the volcano explode together within that time, Leonardo thought that even with some margin of error, they could eliminate the queen and most of the monsters.

Hugo, staring at the brilliant light Leonardo was emitting, moved his lips for a moment and then pressed them shut again. The golden eyes, which had been partially hidden by the white steam and fluttering golden hair, came into clearer view.

Leonardo's eyes were full of blazing determination, but Hugo couldn't readily answer that determination. In his opinion, the risk was too great. And honestly, he wasn't sure if this was even possible.

The monster in Peak 118, which they had entered pursuing less than a 10% chance of success, had brought unspeakably horrific results to this land. Since no one had predicted the situation would turn out like this, it couldn't be blamed on anyone, but Hugo, as the highest responsible person, felt the weight of Leonardo's hands on both his shoulders at this moment.

Hugo, trying to loosen his tightly pressed lips, unconsciously turned his gaze towards the northern sky. It was because the wind was blowing from there at that moment.

That wind was blowing the steam rising between Leonardo and himself towards the south.

Hugo slowly turned his head, following its end, and fixed his gaze on the southern coastline. As his profile looked very complicated, Leonardo waited silently without adding any words.

At that moment, Hugo recalled Delua's words defending Leonardo at the last meeting. Given the wind direction, the volcanic ash and harmful gases would head towards the sea rather than the territory, so while there might be problems like abnormal climate occurrences in the future, setting that aside for now, it was quite a good method, she had argued.

Thinking that far, it occurred to him that in reality, there was no plan or strategy to pin hope on other than Leonardo's. With the only light earnestly speaking to him, turning away from his intention would be no different from abandoning hope.

"..."

After a while, Hugo's gaze, which had been silent, returned to Leonardo.

Then, meeting the golden eyes that were looking at him steadily, he opened his mouth after a short sigh.

"Ten seconds."

Leonardo's eyelids moved slightly at the words that came from the tightly closed mouth. Hugo, closely observing that small movement, spoke clearly once more.

"I'll try to hold it somehow for ten seconds."

Hugo loosened his tight grip on Leonardo's waist and thighs.

Then, blinking his eyes slowly once, he conveyed clearly, prepared to take responsibility for whatever outcome came at the end.

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