Chapter 209

Tadak, tadak-

A tree so large that its end couldn't be seen blazed fiercely, consumed by flames. The once lush leaves had long since turned to ash, and sparks flew from the cracked base.

Some branches that had once stood strong were now transformed into black lumps of charcoal, bending lifelessly. With a cracking sound, a fallen branch crumbled more than halfway upon hitting the ground.

Leonardo, who had been quietly watching this scene, stepped onto the parched tree roots and into the flames. He slowly placed his hand on the burning tree trunk and silently rolled his eyes while holding his breath.

'It should be around here somewhere.'

The trunk caved in where Leonardo's palm touched. However, he paid no attention to this and merely adjusted his energy while continuing to sense the surroundings.

He felt something lurking within a wide radius, traveling along the tree roots that had dug deep into the ground. The screams of the burning tree and subtle movements were faintly transmitted through his heated fingertips.

At the scene that had become a sea of fire due to the meteorite's fall, two fire mages and the swarming monsters were engaged in a thrilling game of hide-and-seek.

With more than half the land engulfed in flames, the queen and her minions, having lost their darkness, were secretly moving, hiding their bodies in the gaps between heated rocks. Leonardo and Nero were using the flames swirling everywhere to heighten their senses in search of these creatures.

Just then, a black shadow quietly passed behind a pile of stones nearby. It was a busy movement trying not to be followed, but it was enough to catch Leonardo's attention as he concentrated.

His savage golden eyes rolled at a terrifying speed, staring in that direction as he removed his hand from the trunk he had been touching. Then he extended his index finger forward, lightly flicking it upward as if drawing a V in the air.

Kwaa-!

At that moment, the pile of stones flew away in the blink of an eye as if an explosive had been detonated. Along with this, the monsters hiding behind scattered in panic like cockroaches.

As there weren't as many as he had expected, Leonardo clicked his tongue as if unimpressed. Then he spread his palm, aimed it at the creatures, and fired about three seething fireballs.

The fireballs, which had been small at first, expanded instantly and stretched out at the speed of sound, sweeping away the creatures all at once. The horde of monsters that had been covering the ground, undulating like waves, completely vanished with a single gesture of his hand, screaming.

Even the surrounding terrain was pushed back by the impact's aftermath, and holes were punctured in the sizzling ground and hills. But this seemed to have revealed their position, as the massive presence hiding not far away fled somewhere again.

Leonardo lowered his extended arm and briefly surveyed the surroundings before leaping up from where he stood. Rising to near the treetop in one breath, he stepped on a branch and leaped once more, scanning the land engulfed by the fire demon.

Not only the mother body but also minions who had come at the queen's call swarmed in this area. He could frequently spot groups of black shadows busily moving about between the burning vegetation.

The creatures couldn't move of their own will even under the threat of death. They were merely buying time for the queen's survival, faithfully sacrificing themselves.

Because of this, he often lost sight of the mother body before he could even approach, but Leonardo's immediate goal wasn't just to chase after it.

'Less than 5km left to the target point. If we keep driving it like this, it should somehow come within range...'

He had certainly expected the number of monsters to have decreased significantly as the area was devastated by the aftermath of Armageddon, but that was a huge miscalculation.

No matter how many corpses were crushed, new creatures would swarm in to fill the gaps, so even if he could annihilate a hundred with a single swing of his arm, it was impossible to gauge when he would see the end of it.

Therefore, what Leonardo was trying to do now was to continue stimulating the mother body and drive the monsters towards the volcano until he received the signal that the barrier stones had been reorganized. Logically thinking, if he kept threatening the queen and dragging her to the target point, the monsters reacting to this would gather here in succession, naturally following to the queen's side - this was his prediction and goal for now.

But as always, reality didn't flow according to plan. More than anything else, controlling the mother body's movement pattern wasn't as easy as he had thought.

Kwaaang-!

A violent explosion occurred at a point about 700m away. Soil containing sparks flew up and then plunged down like rain.

Even without trying to assess the situation, it was clear that Nero was the source of the attack. However, as the screams of the small fry that should have followed weren't heard, Leonardo guessed that Nero's target was not the minions but the mother body.

For it to have fled that far in such a short time, its movements were so fast and agile that one might wonder if that monster was using teleportation.

However, as Leonardo's eyes swept over that direction, his brow gradually furrowed as he caught something. He had noticed that it had been persistently roaming all over the place, frantically fleeing, but when he carefully traced the path it had taken, he saw something strange.

The creature showed a pattern of fleeing from indiscriminate attacks as if trying not to get close to where the volcano was, but then quickly turning around and coming back in the opposite direction.

Whether it had instinctively sensed danger or guessed the humans' plan, Leonardo couldn't accurately grasp its intentions, but judging from its movements so far, it was clear that it had noticed it was being driven somewhere and was trying not to play into their hands.

If the creature were to recognize the existence of the volcano in this situation, things would become even more serious. There was a risk that the monsters they had gathered might also be led away by it and scattered elsewhere.

Feeling that this wouldn't do, Leonardo rose higher into the sky. Then he shook his right hand downward once, grasping a blazing flame sword in his hand.

'This is why you shouldn't give intelligent creatures time to think'

It seemed he needed to push relentlessly without giving it time to think, before it could grasp the behavior patterns of himself and Nero and deduce the direction they were trying to drive it. Although he had deliberately let the mother body loose to buy time for the Council, it seemed he shouldn't be lenient anymore from now on.

And just then, his own body, which had been enduring explosive mana, also signaled that not much time was left. A tingling pain occurred twice in succession near his heart, which was boiling hot.

Leonardo reflexively squinted one eye and raised his trembling left hand to press hard on his chest area, to the point of pain. It was a somewhat crude method to call a temporary measure, but it seemed to hurt a little less if he applied pressure like this.

This pain spreading throughout his chest was also gradually shortening in interval as time passed. Feeling anxious, Leonardo turned his head to look beyond the northern ridge. Pale lights stretching into the sky were now densely coloring the air above the plains.

However, no matter how long he waited, he couldn't find the signal indicating that the reorganization was complete. Therefore, Leonardo, who had been staring into the void, bit his lip and turned his body again. Just as he was about to move quickly towards where the mother body was,

Piing-

Along with a sharp sound cutting through the air, light stretched out from behind his back. Without needing to turn around, as blue light draped over his head, Leonardo opened his eyes wide and raised his chin to confirm the signal covering the sky.

Nero, who had also been launching attacks towards the mother body, stopped his movements upon seeing the flare Hugo had fired. And at that moment, with the white light of teleportation, Leonardo appeared before his eyes.

Flicking a small spark to lightly touch Nero's arm, he said:

"Nero."

As the brilliant light colored his vision, Nero's gaze, which had been squinting for a moment, quickly fell on Leonardo. Leonardo, hiding his pain and forcing a grin, asked:

"You remember everything I said, right?"

"Of course. Who do you think I am?"

The two, exchanging light words, nodded to each other while maintaining eye contact filled with trust.

Eventually, flames containing energy of a different dimension from before rose from the two humans floating in the air.

Brushing back their fluttering hair, Leonardo and Nero lowered their postures. Then, towards the final act of this battle, they rushed forward, using Leonardo's voice as a signal.

"Alright, let's go!"