Leonardo, spinning in the air, shot up as if to pierce the night sky. Hugo watched him become a small star in the darkness, then threw compressed cold air toward the center of the crater.
When the volcano's heat met the cold air, a temporary whirlpool of white steam formed. It pressed against Leonardo's back, sending him even higher into the sky.
The only person who had ever picked him up and thrown him like this was Diego, the former captain of Armsilver's 11th Squad, so Leonardo was almost in a daze, feeling that sensation again after several years. As he came to his senses and twisted against the air resistance to regain balance, he was swallowed by rough winds and suddenly found himself settled in the upper air.
"Captain!"
A figure flashed before his dizzy eyes. Nero, who had flown up swiftly, lightly caught his staggering body.
Though it was a small sound, Leonardo turned his head with a start at the familiar word. Seeing Nero quickly close his mouth and put on the face of a squad member, Leonardo thought it was remarkable he hadn't been discovered until now.
Leonardo blinked his spinning eyes while staring at him, then shifted his gaze downward to the thick smoke sweeping around them.
Because of the cold air Hugo had created, everything below was filled with pale steam. Although the blue lines cast by the Council's commanders occasionally flashed, the fog obscured the view, making it impossible to properly grasp not only the situation, but even the target's position.
"How am I supposed to aim at anything when it's all covered like this..."
Leonardo, muttering in disbelief with a hand on his head, suddenly stopped and twitched his brows. His lowered golden eyes rose again and moved to Nero, pressed close at his side.
'...Could it be?'
Leonardo's expression hardened, and his Adam's apple bobbed once. Noticing it, Nero stammered, trying to preempt him.
"Wh-what? This level of voice can't be heard down there anyway."
'Was it intentional?'
Leonardo, scanning between Nero and the area below, lifted one eyebrow at the thought that had crossed his mind. Then, suddenly remembering Hugo's words about holding it for "10 seconds," he widened his eyes and shoved Nero's shoulder away. This was not the time for this.
"Nero, quickly. We need to do it right now."
"What? Now?"
Leonardo formed two daggers of flame in his hand and handed one to Nero. Nero, who had worn a bewildered expression at the captain's grave voice, took the dagger—and his eyes sharpened as if nothing had happened.
Leonardo suppressed the mana that felt ready to burst and honed the flickering blade to a razor edge.
He hadn't had time to receive information on how to capture the monster, but the spell "Pentagon" he had just heard seemed to be the key.
It was magic he'd been familiar with since the days of fleeing the Council's pursuit. He'd heard it was a high-difficulty binding spell cast simultaneously by multiple people, so it took time from casting to completion.
Only when the forces were evenly matched and steadily maintained could the target be perfectly bound. It seemed that was also why Hugo had thrown him unnecessarily high.
Of course, he'd heard only the Council's senior commanders could use it, so # Nоvеlight # with their skill it would be completed relatively quickly. If so, the time given to him wouldn't be long either, and he needed to hurry and bring out "that" to eliminate the monster.
In the moment their gazes briefly crossed in the air, Leonardo spoke to Nero in a solemn voice.
"Nero. After we kill it according to plan, you leave first, before the barrier stones are activated. And get out of this peninsula entirely. So that no one from the Council can find you."
"What?"
Nero asked back with a puzzled face. This was completely different from the plan they'd made together just earlier.
"Captain, what are you saying? We agreed to stay together until we left the peninsula, didn't we?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't have time to explain everything now. I'll somehow take care of what you're worried about, so answer quickly. After the operation succeeds, leave the peninsula. Understood?"
"...If I leave alone, it might raise more suspicion. I should stay and at least match our stories."
"Nero."
Leonardo, looking down anxiously, cut Nero off in a somewhat authoritative tone. But Nero couldn't readily open his mouth, his thoughts tangled with hesitation.
Honestly, even though they'd prepared temporary measures, there was still much to clean up—things the captain didn't know about. If he disappeared like this, he didn't know what problems might surface.
"Captain, I mean—"
"It's for you, no, for us. There's no time. Just listen to me this once. Okay?"
The swirling smoke around them, and the ominous energy rising from below. The captain's urging voice made it clear there was no time for conversation, just as he said.
But Nero, looking just as anxious, only scanned below once, and his tightly closed mouth showed no sign of opening.
Leonardo grasped his hand—still unable to answer—and added urgently.
"Promise me."
The reason Leonardo insisted on even a verbal promise was because he knew Nero, who had stayed on the peninsula because of him until now, wouldn't easily listen. But the power of words was strong, and he clung to the small hope that an answer like this might at least put the brakes on any rash thoughts.
Nero's brow gradually furrowed at the sight of the captain demanding an answer again and again. He couldn't understand why the captain was suddenly changing his words. Since he wasn't the type to be capricious over trivial matters, Nero felt a needless dread that there might be a problem he didn't know about.
Finally, just as Nero, who had hesitated a moment, painfully opened his reluctant mouth—
Kyaaaak-
An ominous roar rose from below. The chilling howl, as if clawing at the throat, made the fine particles floating in the air tremble.
If the binding spell had been properly cast, even such waves shouldn't have leaked out, and the two, sensing something was going wrong, looked down at the same time.
Feeling there was no end to this clash of words, Nero met the captain's eyes again and reluctantly nodded.
"Alright. I'll do as you say, Captain."
As soon as Nero's answer, laced with a sigh, fell, Leonardo nodded once. Then the two raised their dagger hands and their empty opposite hands in front of their faces at the same time, and instantly sliced their palms with the honed blades.
Chwaaak-
It happened so fast that the blood smeared on the blade scattered into the air along the dagger's arc. With their palms cut, they extended their left hands, dripping blood, forward. Then they gripped each other's red-soaked hands with all their might.
Their blood mixed thickly, and at the same time, intense mana gathered in their hands. Fierce flames spread around Leonardo and Nero, and their hair shook roughly in that hot yet chilling energy.
As their golden and red eyes were stained with the other's flame color, Nero spoke first.
"Let's go."
"Yeah."
After the brief exchange, explosive energy burst from the two. Perhaps because the surroundings were boiling with ultra-high heat, the air distorted like a heat haze.
Leonardo and Nero drew their clasped hands toward themselves, bringing their faces close for a heartbeat. Then, putting weight into their tightly held hands, they pushed each other away with violent force.
In the blink of an eye, a heavy wave, as if space were splitting, erupted at the fingertips pulling apart on both sides. It scattered the swirling dust in all directions, clearing the dark sky to transparency.
A red thread of blood stretched long across the night sky, and that vivid diagonal line drank in the air and gradually widened the gap.
Soon, from the strange space that appeared with an eerie purple light, a mysterious form revealed itself.
