Chapter 228

Thrown out of the rough currents, Leonardo embraced the master of water with pure survival instinct alone.

Near the heads of the two people combined as one, a bird of prey that had been washed ashore with them fluttered, shaking off water droplets from its wings.

"Cough, cough-"

As a large amount of air suddenly entered his lungs all at once, Leonardo coughed repeatedly, sprawled on the ground. With each cough, his chest and abdomen twitched as if in pain, and water he had accidentally swallowed while struggling underwater came up his esophagus and into his mouth.

Because of this, Leonardo, curling his body into a ball and trembling his upper body, pushed away the navy blue chest nearby with his hand. Only after securing a small space did he vomit clear liquid in gulps. It was mostly lake water, but mixed in between was blood that had leaked from damaged organs.

Meanwhile, the other's cool mana, which he had been forced to swallow until the heat subsided, also flowed through his teeth.

His lips, which had been violated for quite a long time, were slightly swollen with clear traces of someone left on them. The tips of his lips, which occasionally twitched due to the stinging sensation, intermittently moved as if unable to escape from the strange sensation.

As he continued to pant with saliva dripping from his mouth, a red tinge gradually appeared on his pale complexion. Moreover, because he had kept his eyes open in the salty water, his narrowly revealed golden eyes were heavily bloodshot.

"Co-Commander!"

"We've found the missing persons!"

As the blonde man appeared entangled with the Commander's silhouette, nearby members who had been in confusion discovered them and ran over with surprised steps.

Their fuss made Leonardo's head, which had just regained hearing, buzz. Annoyed by this, Leonardo furrowed his brows and tried to tense his neck to look around, but with his soaked body out of the water, even a single nod of his head felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Seeing how difficult this seemed, the blue hawk that had been drying its wings approached Leonardo with quick steps. It gently pecked at his wet blonde hair, not causing pain, and rubbed its beak lightly against Leonardo's head as if to encourage him. Then, as its master next to it moved slowly, it seemed to think its role was done and returned to formless mana, instantly absorbed by Hugo.

"Commander! Are you alright?"

As the running footsteps and murmurs drew closer, Hugo's relaxed brow gradually furrowed. Having been swept away by the waves his divine beast had recklessly created, he too was dizzy and on edge.

Hugo quickly regained his senses, rubbing his eyebrows while holding his wet face with his hand. Then, his half-open blue eyes first examined the violent golden light in his arms.

Although he didn't look particularly well, the red spots that had covered his pale face had completely disappeared. Moreover, seeing that he was breathing properly, it seemed that the dreaded seizure had stabilized and he was fortunately safe.

Hugo, staring at the other's furrowed forehead, pulled the golden head towards him with a low sigh. After putting him through all sorts of hardships, it seemed he had somehow succeeded in bringing him out. With his nose and mouth buried in the other's wet hair, Hugo closed his eyes for a moment and thanked the heavens.

Although it was a bit unfair to have been hit underwater, he still felt proud and grateful that Leonardo had endured the pain so well.

However, the increasingly clear shouts of the members soon pierced Hugo's muffled ears. Their voices, sounding quite urgent, made him realize that the situation was not yet over.

"Commander, you need to get away!"

"The barrier is collapsing!"

At the sound of 'barrier', Hugo's half-closed eyes flew open. At the same time, flustered members grabbed the two entangled people and helped them up. Thanks to this, Hugo, who had half-raised his upper body, looked towards the lake where he and Leonardo had been swept.

There, he could witness the scattering of dazzling light, with the huge barrier stretching to the sky flickering and undulating as if about to break at any moment. The sight of it cracking savagely and rattling reminded him of the precarious situation just before the sealing magic circle inside Peak 118 broke.

Moreover, within a 100m radius, more than 30% of the barrier had already lost its function and was riddled with holes. Although members who had confirmed the two people's escape hurriedly activated auxiliary barrier stones, the lake water gushing out like a waterfall was much faster than the speed at which the new barrier was being created.

Liner Molten and other senior commanders were guarding the front, barely preventing collapse, but they seemed unlikely to hold out much longer as they staggered each time water surged through the cracks.

Leonardo, who had also witnessed this scene, instinctively grasped Hugo's collar tightly. Then, patting the thick arm embracing him, he urgently shouted as if to hurry.

"Cough, Hugo, get up!"

As if this was a signal, Hugo, who had been assessing the situation, stood up in one breath. Then, helping Leonardo to his feet, he ordered the surrounding members in a solemn voice.

"Everyone, climb to high ground where the water can't reach. Not a single person left behind."

"What?"

"Spread out and inform the commanders, hurry!"

As the Commander raised his voice without explaining the reason, the confused members hesitated for a moment. However, they immediately answered loudly and quickly dispersed, grabbing every person they passed to spread the Commander's order.

Meanwhile, Liner, who had been holding out with one arm in front of the barrier with his eyes tightly shut, felt he had reached his limit even as he squeezed out his mana to the end. A bitterness came over him at the thought that he could have held out longer if he had two arms, but the situation was too urgent to dwell on past events.

He turned to look at Bruno, who was holding out a large barrier beside him. Bruno, feeling the gaze, turned to look at Liner at almost the same moment.

The two exchanged glances and nodded lightly. Then, they shouted simultaneously so that all the commanders holding out nearby could hear.

"Get away from the barrier!"

At their shout, numerous streams of water burst from the gaps in the barrier. The vast amount of water, pushing over with tremendous pressure, fiercely slammed the hurriedly scattering commanders to the ground.

Nearby members also scattered in panic, and even those activating the auxiliary barrier stones leaped into the air, their survival instinct taking over.

As most of the personnel fled before him, Leonardo slipped out of Hugo's arms and concentrated mana in both hands. The dark red flames rotating at ultra-high speed soon plunged into the soaking wet ground.

As the overflowing water met the flames and evaporated, it spread fierce steam like a gas explosion. At the same time, the muddy ground dried up for a very brief moment, and Hugo, not missing that instant, created a huge magic circle in front of the barrier.

At that moment, the ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and a massive ice wall rose along the barrier line. The pouring water froze in the blink of an eye, and icicles like demon claws hung from the ice wall like savage sculptures.

The writhing streams of water completely sealed off the cracks in the broken barrier. The lake, frozen in the very shape of trying to overflow, stood still, imbued with such vividness that it seemed about to devour those facing it. Occasionally, pieces of ice falling to the ground and turning to powder made one realize that time had not stopped.

"..."

In the wake of the two people's mana, an uneven wall like melted glass stood tall, asserting its presence.

As a chilling wind quietly brushed by, a momentary silence fell over the chaotic scene.

Hugo's eyes, looking up at the wall, quickly scanned the surroundings. Although he couldn't freeze the entire lake due to lack of mana, it seemed he had succeeded in temporarily blocking the broken parts of the barrier with ice walls and ice.

Bruno, who had been looking up at the frozen barrier with a dumbfounded expression, looked around for the one person capable of using such abilities. When he discovered the Commander in the middle of the ice field, he held his head with indescribable relief. He squeezed his eyes shut with a deep sigh, then opened them and ran towards his superior, calling out.

"Commander!"

Following Bruno's voice, the commanders and members one by one turned their heads in that direction. They too discovered the highest-ranking commander who had safely returned and even prevented the barrier's collapse, and moved hurriedly, murmuring among themselves.

At the same time, Leonardo was standing a little distance away, blankly looking up at the barrier. Nero, who had been desperately searching for the Captain, finally caught sight of him.

"...Ah!"

Nero, who had almost jumped out with his eyes unconsciously glowing red, barely suppressed his excitement and first scanned his surroundings. After confirming that everyone's attention was focused on one side, he quietly approached Leonardo alone.

"Ca-, no, Blaine!"

He almost called out "Captain" but, thinking he shouldn't make a mistake, he deliberately changed it to an unfamiliar form of address. Still, he quickly approached Leonardo, who was standing blankly, and grabbed his arm firmly.

Leonardo's gaze, which had been directed upward, turned to Nero with a somewhat surprised look. His face was quite flushed with contracted pupils, and Nero realized that he was still in a state of tension due to the chaotic situation that had just swept through.

"It's me. Are you okay?"

Nero cautiously spoke to him, who seemed to be in a strange state. However, although Leonardo clearly recognized him, he had no response or noticeable change in expression for a while.

Instead of answering Nero's question, he turned once to look at Hugo in the center of the large crowd. There, navy blue battle uniforms were swarming like bees, but perhaps because the Commander was such a striking person in many ways, he stood out at a glance even among them.

Leonardo fixed his gaze on him and lightly clenched and unclenched his dry palm. After staring in that direction for about 5 seconds, he shifted his gaze back to Nero.

"...You-"

The first thing Leonardo wanted to say to Nero was to nag about why he was still here.

But he couldn't get the rest of the words out of his mouth. The voice lingering in his throat wouldn't come out.

Meanwhile, although he seemed to be standing firmly on both feet, for some reason Nero's figure kept shaking. Along with this, his vision, which was gradually becoming blurry, was suddenly enveloped in darkness the moment he lost strength.