Tadak, tadak-
A tree so large that its Β°• N π v π l i g h t •Β° top couldn't be seen blazed fiercely, consumed by flame. 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 as it hit 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 trunk and silently swept his eyes around while holding his breath.
'It should be around here somewhere.'
The trunk caved in where Leonardo's palm touched. He paid no attention, only adjusting his energy as he continued 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.
In a scene turned into a sea of fire by 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 as they searched for 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 focused.
His savage golden eyes snapped toward it, staring in that direction as he removed his hand from the trunk heβd been touching. Then he extended his index finger, lightly flicking it upward as if drawing a V in the air.
Kwaa-!
In that instant, the pile of stones flew away as if an explosive had detonated. The monsters hiding behind it scattered in panic like cockroaches.
Since there weren't as many as heβd expected, Leonardo clicked his tongue, unimpressed. Then he spread his palm, aimed at the creatures, and launched three seething fireballs.
The fireballs, small at first, expanded instantly and shot out at the speed of sound, sweeping the creatures away at once. The horde of monsters that had covered the ground, undulating like waves, vanished with a single gesture of his hand, screaming.
Even the surrounding terrain was shoved back by the impact, and holes were punched into the sizzling ground and hills. But it seemed to have revealed their position, because the massive presence hiding not far away fled 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 answered the queen's call swarmed in this area. He could frequently spot groups of black shadows busily moving 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 that, 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 swarmed 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 keep pressuring the mother body and drive the monsters toward the volcano until he received the signal that the barrier stones had been reorganized. Logically, if he kept threatening the queen and dragging her to the target point, the monsters reacting to it would gather here in succession, naturally following back to the queen's sideβthis 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 erupted about 700m away. Soil filled with sparks flew up, then plunged down like rain.
Even without assessing the situation, it was clear that Nero was the source of the attack. However, since the screams of the small fry that should have followed weren't heard, Leonardo guessed 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 the monster was using teleportation.
However, as Leonardo's eyes swept over that direction, his brow gradually furrowed as he caught something. Heβd noticed it 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 the volcano, then quickly turning around and coming back the other way.
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 it had noticed it was being driven somewhere and was trying not to play into their hands.
If the creature recognized 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.
Knowing this wouldn't do, Leonardo rose higher into the sky. Then he snapped his right hand downward, grasping a blazing flame sword.
'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 struck twice in succession near his boiling-hot heart.
Leonardo reflexively squinted one eye and raised his trembling left hand to press hard on his chest, to the point of pain. It was a somewhat crude method, to call it a temporary measure, but it seemed to hurt a little less if he applied pressure like this.
The pain spreading throughout his chest was also gradually shortening in interval as time passed. 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. So Leonardo, who had been staring into the void, bit his lip and turned again. Just as he was about to move quickly toward 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, 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 toward the mother body, stopped upon seeing the flare Hugo had fired. And at that moment, in the white light of teleportation, Leonardo appeared before him.
Flicking a tiny 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 from a different dimension than before rose from the two humans floating in the air.
Brushing back their fluttering hair, Leonardo and Nero lowered their postures. Then, toward the final act of this battle, they rushed forward, using Leonardo's voice as a signal.
"Alright, let's go!"
