The gentle touch, contrasting with the subdued golden eyes, slowly caressed the other's strong jawline. Hugo's gaze lingered briefly on that hand before meeting the frowning eyes again.
"You're more severely injured."
"..."
Hugo stared at Leonardo, feeling the familiar yet strange sensation roaming over his face.
Somehow, he felt as if he were being scolded by a much younger child, but oddly, it wasn't so bad, so instead of answering, he softened his expression.
Thanks to that, Leonardo's hand, which had been lingering in the same spot for a while, moved up a bit further and touched Hugo's lips.
The lips, which seemed like they would be as cool as his chilled skin, were extremely hot, perhaps due to the blood on them. Although his fingers flinched in surprise, Leonardo didn't show it and lightly wiped away the beads of blood.
Afterward, Hugo's gaze followed the receding warmth as if reluctant to let it go. When their eyes met again, the silence that followed subtly colored the space.
However, the atmosphere in the cave didn't last long due to a mysterious roar that followed.
Kung-kung-kung-!
The two, their eyes suddenly sharpening, turned their heads toward the cave entrance simultaneously.
All kinds of attacks were still pouring down like heavy rain out there, but something strange caught their eye. In the brief moment they had looked away, the shadow of the creature that had been writhing violently had vanished without a trace.
Instead, as if announcing its position, a mysterious collision and a fierce roar immediately echoed from above. Then, a gale that cut the skin like a blade swept through, instantly piercing the long narrow passage behind them that extended past the two. Mixed within it were clearly ultrasonic waves.
Dududu-
'Could it be...'
Leonardo, his eyelids wide open, rolled his eyes and scanned the surroundings. Just as he thought this was no time to be idle, another ominous sign rapidly approached.
Moreover, this time the scale was extraordinary. As if the /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ cornered queen had finally begun gathering the scattered bees, intense vibrations that constricted the heart arose fiercely from all directions. The intensity was even growing stronger as time passed.
Feeling the tremors running through his entire body, Leonardo instinctively sensed that the long-awaited moment was approaching. Just as he placed his hand on the wall to deduce the direction of the vibrations, Hugo suddenly grasped his hand and said,
"Leonardo, I'd like you to help me."
The gaze that had been fixed on the trembling wall shifted to Hugo. Leonardo, who briefly looked down at their joined hands, asked, puzzled,
"With what?"
"You already know from seeing it that the mother body can use hardening techniques, right?"
Leonardo nodded silently at the follow-up question.
"When I launched an attack to drive away the mother body earlier, it seemed to act as if it were trying to protect its nape with hardening techniques, even at the cost of sacrificing other parts. And in the ancient records the investigators briefed a few days ago, there was this passage: The dazzling sun exerted its might and pierced the creature's neck-"
"Piercing the creature's neck and sealing it in the deep abyss."
Leonardo, who had been listening attentively, immediately recited the next line. Hugo, who had paused briefly, nodded and continued.
"Yes, combining all of that, the most likely vital point of the creature is its neck. So if you and I target that area and attack together, even if it's not instant death, we might be able to deal a significant blow."
Leonardo recalled Hugo continuously rapid-firing at the creature's nape from the sky just before he went down to try to cut off the queen's tail. At the time, he thought it was just to pin the creature to the wall to prevent it from escaping, but now he began to understand that action.
However, thinking about it differently, it meant that even though the strongest ice mage had concentrated attacks on one area, the creature's hardened hide hadn't been penetrated. And the same was true for the lava mass he had thrown. Although it seemed to have had some effect on other parts, from his fleeting memory, there hadn't seemed to be even pale steam around the creature's nape.
As he recalled the situation, Leonardo soon wore an uncertain expression.
"...But, even considering elemental compatibility, it seems ice is more effective against that thing than fire. If you couldn't penetrate it, can we really do it even with my help?"
Hugo answered firmly to the doubtful question.
"We can do it. A high-speed water jet fired under strong pressure is powerful enough to cut even diamond. If you add heat pressure to my attack and send high voltage through it as well, the probability more than doubles."
"..."
"And above all, it's better to try something than to do nothing at all."
The blue eyes were utterly calm, but they were filled with determination and desperation. Leonardo, facing those pure emotions up close, somehow felt as if he were being drawn into them.
Certainly, he absolutely agreed it was better to try something, as Hugo said. However, they were both injured, and with their mana controlled, it was clear that trying to use powerful magic would significantly slow their casting speed.
Moreover, while the mother body was rampaging out there, aiming for a single moment to strike a specific part of its body simultaneously—easy to say, but it required extremely precise control as well as considerable luck. The creature wouldn't just stand still and take the attack.
Leonardo bit his lip hard for a moment, his mind crowded with various thoughts. However, he soon ended his deliberation and nodded lightly while brushing back his wet hair.
"Let's do it."
As the clear answer came back, a faint smile appeared on Hugo's lips, who had been swallowing his pain all along. Soon after, he immediately stood, took Leonardo's hand, and pulled him up in one smooth motion with a gentle but strong force.
Now seemingly accustomed, as he rose half-led by him, Leonardo felt that this situation of facing Hugo somehow seemed familiar.
It wasn't long before he recalled the time when he had walked through the cave side by side with him.
"Ah-"
Leonardo's eyes suddenly widened as he looked down at his injured shoulder. Hugo, who was about to examine that area one last time before going out, hesitated.
Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, Leonardo grabbed his arm and abruptly asked,
"The Degalianif you found earlier, do you still have it?"
*****
Meterion, who had been reinforcing the surface by adding mana from the sky outside the barrier, gradually grew more serious.
Despite the attacks poured by over a hundred members, the mother body had crawled up to the upper part of the barrier and was enduring while tightly pressed against the edge.
Moreover, the creature's flesh that had burst from the successive attacks writhed like a living organism, and new flesh gradually grew from inside, slowly restoring the lost parts.
Seeing this sight, Meterion frowned and laughed bitterly with various meanings. He had never imagined it would even have regenerative abilities; it was getting worse and worse.
Kung-kung-kung!
The bigger problem amidst all this was that the creature kept ramming its hard skull against the ceiling as if trying to break the prison confining it.
Moreover, as the impact seemed to be dealing considerable damage to the barrier, clear cracks visible to the naked eye were forming on the surface of the barrier that had seemed to be holding up at first.
Because of this, some commanders hurriedly went down to help reinforce the barrier, but as the massive body's heavy force and weight persistently dug into one point, the speed at which cracks formed was overwhelmingly faster than filling the gaps. It was the same even when a considerable number of members positioned above stopped their attacks and joined in.
"Battalion Commander! At this rate, the barrier will collapse!"
"We need to stop all attacks and reinforce the barrier!"
Two commanders who were desperately struggling at the point closest to the mother body shouted urgently. However, even after hearing those shouts, Meterion couldn't readily give the order to stop.
Even now, the intensity of the attacks was gradually weakening as the members were growing exhausted and the ammunition for firearms was running out. But the more this happened, the faster the creature's flesh regenerated, and the frequency of its head-ramming increased. Meterion judged that completely stopping the attack now would be no different from openly giving the creature an opportunity.
And Felix Montero, or rather Nero acting as him, aiming his muzzle at the cave entrance across and adjusting the control lever, was thinking the same thing.
It was clear that the barrier wouldn't last long now that its surface was cracked. However, if they stopped attacking here, it seemed only a matter of time before the creature escaped outside the barrier. Meanwhile, even the rifle he was holding seemed to have run out of ammunition, as the gun barrel remained silent when he pulled the trigger.
Nero clicked his tongue with a "tsk" while shaking his head, immediately lowered his muzzle, and looked down below.
His face was completely colored with anxiety, and his teeth were grinding as if ready to chew and swallow even rocks. If he could, he wanted to throw away this annoying act and rush immediately to where 'he' was.
'Why hasn't he come out yet? Could it be because of the shoulder injury?'
Having briefly seen Leonardo's left shoulder area stained red earlier, Nero had already been out of his mind since then.
His head was completely filled with "Captain Captain Captain Captain," and the fact that the captain had been injured in the same place again was a bigger shock to him than witnessing that giant monster. He knew well what the meaning behind that wound was.
'Is it somewhat fortunate that the commander bastard is with him? That jerk, though annoying, knows how to use Recovery... No, no, no. Wow, what kind of nonsensical thought is this again? In the first place, if it weren't for that bastard, the captain wouldn't have come here.'
"What's wrong?"
Though the urge to rush out immediately surged hard, Nero could only frown without acting on it due to the woman's voice that immediately came from behind. In fact, the existence of this woman was a major reason he couldn't act freely.
She had been sticking close to him as if monitoring him all along, not leaving his side. Even now, as he had lowered his muzzle and was standing still, she had stopped her attack and approached, and her constant interference in his actions was more than just annoying.
But Nero, reminding himself that he was a professional who maintained composure in any situation, once again returned to the face of the innocent Felix and turned to answer the 8th Platoon Leader.
"Ah, well... I've run out of ammunition. There should be a few more where we stacked the supplies, I'll quickly go and get them. Platoon Leader, if you could just stay here for a moment-"
"I have spares prepared. Use these."
The 8th Platoon Leader nonchalantly opened the pocket of her protective gear and immediately took out two 30-round magazines. As she semi-forcefully placed the magazines in his hand, Nero, who had unknowingly received them, stared at them silently for a moment. The reason was none other than...
He was dumbfounded.
...He wondered if all the commander's direct subordinates were like this, and why someone who didn't even use a gun was carrying around magazines.
He had thought his previous answer was quite a good excuse. But whenever he thought he saw even a small hole to escape through, she would block it in some way, so he rarely had a chance to be alone.
Nero felt a vein bulging in his jaw, but he managed to smile innocently at her with a reluctant face. Then, after praising her with "As expected of the Platoon Leader," he bowed his head with a quiet sigh.
Afterward, he inserted the magazine into the rifle and once again loaded the bullets for the meaningless act.
As he stared at the Platoon Leader again with an emotionless gaze, she gestured toward the outside with her chin as if telling him to take an attack stance, while she herself took a step back.
Nero, who had been silent, nodded but scanned the area around the other's neck hidden by the collar with regretful eyes. And he quietly thought to himself.
'Should I just knock her out.'
