Chapter 133: Terror Rune Realm [ 10 ]
This wasn’t what Leomaris wanted. The victory was something Raine and Charlotte should have earned. Not only was this a terrible idea for him, but the moment he and Lucius exited the Terror Rune Realm with the Endbringer’s head, his chances of survival would drop dramatically.
There wasn’t much he could do about it.
He couldn’t simply tell them that Instructor Moon wanted him dead or that this entire training exercise had likely been arranged to kill him. Not when everyone else was focused on gaining experience and securing victory. Especially not Charlotte, whose future depended on winning.
Within the pouring rain, Leomaris faced Charlotte amongst the ruins of the ancient city. She had cast enhancement spells across her body, strengthening herself as she unleashed one powerful attack after another.
Even with Hyper Boost active, Leomaris was no match for her physically. He knew he could resort to several offensive techniques, but that wasn’t part of his plan.
Instead, he remained on the defensive, avoiding attacks powerful enough to shatter walls while putting up a convincing enough fight to prevent Charlotte from thinking he was going easy on her.
’Everything is going too smoothly... and no matter how I look at it, that’s a problem. Instructor Moon’s expression before I entered the realm made his intentions clear enough. He wanted me dead in here. Yet the Endbringer is paralysed, and everything is unfolding exactly as I expected. That isn’t a good sign. If something goes wrong, I’ll need all the energy I can save.’
As his thoughts wandered, Charlotte launched another attack. Leomaris reacted quickly enough to block it, but it was as though that had been her intention all along.
She traced her finger through the air, writing several glowing words that immediately transformed into chains.
They wrapped around Leomaris before he could move. Without hesitation, Charlotte wrote again. This time, the words dissolved into countless arrows that shot towards him.
Leomaris gritted his teeth and channelled most of his strength into his arms. The chains shattered under brute force, and he immediately sprinted away. Most of the arrows missed, but several continued after him, curving through the rain as though they had locked onto his position.
Charlotte pressed the attack, appearing ahead of him and unleashing another volley, this time in the form of glowing bullets.
As he dodged through the rain, Leomaris caught sight of the anger and frustration in her eyes. He knew Charlotte wouldn’t intentionally try to kill him, but at that moment, he found himself questioning whether he truly knew her at all.
There was a desperation behind her attacks that made them feel far more dangerous than before, as though she were fighting for something she couldn’t afford to lose.
Leomaris clicked his tongue in irritation.
"If this continues, I will either die or be seriously injured. Either outcome means my end."
While avoiding another barrage, he glanced towards the rest of the battlefield. Lucius was still doing everything he could to secure the Endbringer’s head. Raine, meanwhile, had Alfred and Warner exactly where she wanted them. The heavy rain made it increasingly difficult for either of them to avoid her attacks.
Leomaris steadied himself and prepared to use his innate ability. It wasn’t something he had ever intended to reveal this early. He had hoped to keep it hidden for years, using it only when absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, survival took priority over secrecy.
Jumping from one piece of debris to another, he made his way towards the remains of a collapsed building. The moment he slipped inside, he activated Conceal, erasing his presence entirely.
The attacks pursuing him continued forward before crashing into a ruined wall, unable to track him any longer.
Charlotte’s expression tightened with confusion as she searched through the rain. Leomaris knew the confusion wouldn’t last. She was intelligent enough to work out what had happened if given enough time.
He had no intention of giving her that opportunity.
Using the rain, the ruins, and his concealed presence to mask his movements, he circled behind her. Charlotte remained focused on searching the battlefield ahead, unaware that he had already closed the distance between them. By the time she sensed something was wrong, Leomaris was standing directly behind her.
A controlled strike landed against the side of her neck, and her body immediately went limp. She collapsed onto the rain-soaked stone, unconscious before she touched the ground.
Leomaris didn’t waste a beat. He deactivated his ability, grabbed Charlotte and pulled her close, then turned his attention to Alfred and Warner against Raine.
Raine had done enough damage to Warner’s fallen beast to have it disappeared, and the dragon was riddled with wounds besides.
"Spirits won’t die as long as their master is alive, but fallen beasts can. That must be what caused Warner’s fallen beast to vanish. Still, Raine and Alfred remain a problem if Lucius fails to secure the Endbringer’s head quickly enough."
As if on cue, Lucius’s voice tore through from somewhere distant, and Leomaris turned toward it without a second’s hesitation.
"I’ve got the head, Leomaris!"
That should have put a smile on Leomaris’s face. Instead, he frowned. Why had Lucius yelled it out? It was as though he’d done it deliberately, letting the others know exactly what they were about.
Lucius joined him at the top soon enough, holding the mantis’s head. Pitch dark eyes, human skin pulled taut over every inch of it, unsettling in a way that was hard to put a finger on, and yet impossible to look away from.
Lucius gestured toward the distance. "There, I can see the portal forming."
Leomaris nodded, sending Lucius ahead first. He turned toward the others, and sure enough, Alfred’s dragon was already bearing down on them.
He thought about leaving Charlotte behind; Raine could bring her through the portal after all. But one belch of flame from Alfred’s dragon gave him all the reason he needed to take her with him.
He held on tight and fell in behind Lucius, minding his footing on the slippery, pitted floor while keeping clear of Alfred’s attacks. Even so, something else was gnawing at the back of his mind. What happened after this? What did Instructor Moon have planned for him?
Raine followed but stopped after a few steps. She took in how close the dragon was to the ground: how close it was to the people it was bearing down on. Leomaris was among them. Not just her fiancé, but her sworn ally as well.
She drew her Divine Aura through her body and clothed her sword in it. A blink later, she was in the sky, and when close enough, she sent a single powerful attack, severing one of the dragon’s heads in the process.
