Bermuda [bl]

Leonardo swallowed hard as his eyes met the red pupils. The distance was so close that if the queen were to open its mouth and charge right now, they could be swallowed in an instant.

As he lowered his posture and watched the creature's movements while holding his breath, contrary to his expectation that it would pounce on them, the eyeballs that had been scanning the inside suddenly rolled to the side.

After the squishy sound of the eyeballs and eyelid membranes rubbing against each other, the cool energy rippling in the air brushed against the skin of the two people. At that moment, as if the mother body had also sensed the air current, its figure visible through the crack in the crevice disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Kwaaang-!

Kyaaaak-

Soon after, a strong shockwave mixed with sharp monstrous cries echoed throughout the vast space. Although it wasn't visible due to the ice pillars blocking the view, it seemed that Agrizendro had threatened the mother body and driven it away to another place for the time being.

Knowing that he was buying time, Leonardo immediately stepped on the end of his cloak with his foot, tearing the fabric lengthwise. Then, he twisted the strip of cloth vertically to make a tough string and tightly wrapped it around the upper part of his shoulder wound, applying pressure. He had to stop the blood flow somehow.

If the mucus that had formed at the tip of the long needle had the same composition as the poison of the monster in the crater, his current situation was extremely serious. It was no different from pouring Ilaptor venom directly into the wound.

'I should have looked for some Degalianif on the way here.'

Leonardo blamed his past self from a few hours ago for carelessly searching only for the mother body, as he bit the end of the cloth strip and pulled it tightly to tie a knot. Then, he drew heat into his hand and cauterized the blood-soaked wound area with flames.

He didn't know if it would be effective, but he had to hope that the poison reacting to the high temperature would weaken and slow down its spread. At this rate, he might become incapacitated before they could even catch the queen.

Meanwhile, Leonardo glanced to the side and examined the condition of the 12th Battalion Commander of the Southern Branch next to him. It was quite troublesome to worry about that woman in the current situation, given how unusually fast the queen's movements were.

"Get a grip. Don't just stand there dazed."

At his voice mixed with a sigh, Isabella, who had been staring at the gap where the long needle had been pulled out, turned her head sharply. Her eyes, which had been frozen in belated realization of the situation, rippled with complexity for a moment. Then, her final gaze fell on Leonardo's left shoulder, thoroughly soaked in blood.

Seeing that, she moved her lips a few times before finally speaking with difficulty, her voice heavy with mixed emotions.

"I'm sorry about that."

Leonardo's eyebrows rose smoothly. Isabella, who met his eyes with a hardened expression, spoke once more in a serious tone, as if she had made some decision.

"I'll get my act together from now on."

Fierce poison energy rippled around her as if projecting her will, her gaze suddenly changed. The savage energy wrapped around the giant sickle in Isabella's hand, deeply coloring its icy blue blade.

"Thank you, Blaine. I won't be a burden to you."

Her gaze, which had uttered her resolve as if making a vow, wandered around Leonardo's shoulder area several more times afterward.

Leonardo, who had glanced down at his own shoulder following her gaze, then stared at her now clear eyes and nodded once. Then, due to the lack of time, he immediately recited the scenario he had been thinking of to her.

"For now, we need to buy as much time as possible until we can contact the outside, so the commander and I will lure the mother body first and drive it towards one side of the wall. Then, you go back up and-"

"No, there's no need for that."

Isabella, who had been listening attentively, cut off his words and turned her head straight ahead. Leonardo looked at her with puzzled eyes as she grasped her sickle and lowered her posture.

"The members who arrived here with me have already gone to inform the liaison officer waiting nearby about the situation. It seems the 9th Battalion's Deputy Commander Hastings is also moving separately."

"..."

Leonardo suddenly realized that the deputy commander who had been with the 9th Battalion Commander of the Southern Branch was nowhere to be seen. Come to think of it, after the scream was heard earlier, he remembered seeing only one figure jumping down from the position where the 9th Battalion commanders had been.

It didn't make sense for a perfectly fine deputy commander not to show up when their superior's arm had been torn off, so it seemed certain that they were currently in a different location and thus not visible.

"Once the news reaches the liaison officer at the entrance, the barrier activation preparation will be completed throughout the peninsula within 10 minutes. So we'll push the mother body to the extreme like this and execute Phase 1 of the operation."

At Isabella's feet, who had brushed back her fallen hair, intense energy gathered as if about to burst out at any moment. The rocks around that area began to gradually crack, unable to withstand the pressure.

Leonardo's eyelids blinked very slowly, as if trying to organize his thoughts as he stared at that sight. Eventually, his golden eyes, which had briefly gone up and come down, flashed sharply like lightning for a moment.

Fierce mana energy that heightened the tension rippled around him as he grasped the situation.

"You should have said that earlier."

Isabella's head turned involuntarily as an unusual current suddenly rippled nearby.

Scorching ultra-high temperature gushed out, causing the golden hair to flutter in the hot wind. However, the chilling current brushing against the skin was by no means just a flutter.

Black sparks flew from Leonardo's fingertips as he lightly loosened his neck by holding it and turning it left and right. He gestured towards Isabella's sickle and said,

"That thing's tail is annoying. Just scratch its surface a bit like before. I'll take care of the rest."

Isabella, who had glanced at her own sickle, looked back at him with an expression of incomprehension for a moment. She had clearly seen the creature's hide hardened just now, so she couldn't imagine how he intended to deal with it.

However, since his very existence possessed abilities beyond common sense, and he was emitting an aura that seemed capable of making it possible, Isabella, who had been quietly silent, simply nodded briefly without adding any further comments.

Kwaaang-!

Another roar spread out after that. Recognizing the urgency, the two immediately exchanged signals with their eyes and drew mana throughout their bodies. In that state, they watched the front and prepared their attack stances side by side.

And at that moment, one of the divine beasts that had gone to find Nero returned to Leonardo's mana.

* * *

"Platoon Leader, are we really supposed to keep following like this?"

The 8th Platoon Leader and three platoon members were urgently chasing after the member who had joined them earlier. The two who had originally been with them had gone to inform others about the situation elsewhere, so they were moving separately for a while.

To the platoon member's question mixed with rough breathing, the 8th Platoon Leader answered with an uncertain face despite being at the front,

"The direction seems right for now. The turbulent air currents are getting closer and closer."

Her breathing was also noticeably more labored than usual. The reason was none other than the one member ahead of them, who seemed like he might disappear if they took their eyes off him even for a moment.

Having just turned another curve and disappeared from view, he had been racing through the cave interior like mad since the impact sound was heard. According to his claim, the commander would be where he was heading, but it was puzzling how he knew and was finding an energy that even the direct subordinates couldn't detect.

Kwang-!

Meanwhile, as if the member ahead had smashed another wall, dust that had accumulated in the cave rushed in with a roar.

Having seen him kick down walls that obstructed his path quite often, they were now used to it, but when they first witnessed that scene, they truly thought a monster had broken through the wall.

Even now, watching the member rampaging like a runaway locomotive, the 8th Platoon Leader once again solidified her doubts.

'He's at least a platoon leader-level, no, a company commander-level or higher ability holder. This is not the movement of an ordinary member.'

The platoon leader, who had been constantly gauging his abilities and identity, was convinced that he must be hiding something.

What ignited her suspicion was not only his unusual first impression, but also when she saw flames briefly flaring up and instantly dying down in front of him after they had barely caught up. The scene she had witnessed at that moment still wouldn't leave her mind.

In that place where an unusually hot backdraft was blowing compared to other locations, the member was emitting a dangerous aura that seemed unapproachable as he looked down at something in his hand.

Then, out of nowhere, he turned around and explained the situation, saying he seemed to have found the mother body's location, but from that appearance, she felt an indescribable sense of pressure as if facing a completely different person than before. And she even had the illusion that his eyes, which had clearly been green with a blue tinge, had turned red for a very brief moment.

He was certainly a suspicious individual in many ways. However, for now, since the direction he was heading seemed roughly correct and he was performing the role of a swift guide, they were following him without complaint.

After running like that for a few minutes, suddenly, ominous vibrations began to surge from far away. Not only was the ground shaking, but a heavy weight that made the entire air seem to tremble climbed up their legs.

The member in the lead and the 8th Platoon Leader instinctively stopped running. Soon after, a sharp cry that stimulated their eardrums swept towards them at high speed.

Kieeek-

"It's Ilaptors! Prepare for battle!"

The platoon leader, who had immediately drawn her sword upon hearing the cry, shouted loudly towards those following behind. At her voice, swarming Ilaptors poured out from the darkness like a flood.

The 8th Platoon Leader was momentarily flustered at the sight of the creatures filling the passage without gaps while howling bizarrely, but she immediately burst the head of one that was charging towards the member in front by firing compressed air at it.

After that, overwhelmed by the wave of monsters with no time to assess the situation, she had to tightly grasp her sword and swing it mercilessly. In a situation where not only her head and shoulders but her entire body was being crushed, she barely secured space by spreading a barrier, then ceaselessly slashed at the monsters' bodies, regardless of whether her arms and legs were being scratched.

But after frantically resisting like that for barely 10 seconds or so.

They couldn't help but be dumbfounded. The Ilaptors that had been rushing towards them with a terrifying momentum had all fled past them and escaped through the path behind.

"...?"

The platoon leader, her hair disheveled in that brief moment, looked back at the passage they had just come through with a bewildered expression, still holding her sword. The reactions of the other three platoon members weren't much different. The sharp cries that sounded as if they were terrified quickly disappeared into the distance, making their previous tension seem foolish.

As all four stood blankly, immersed in bewilderment, one platoon member finally managed to speak.

"Those creatures... why are they just leaving?"

"...Well, I'm not sure either..."

The 8th Platoon Leader, experiencing this situation for the first time, trailed off as she blinked and slowly lowered her sword-wielding hand. She wondered if they had been rushing this way merely to pass through, as even though she had cut off the legs of several creatures, they showed no intention of counterattacking, let alone attacking.

As she pondered over the strange phenomenon that had swept by, the platoon leader suddenly became concerned about the condition of the member who had been at the very front and quickly turned her head.

However, she couldn't help but doubt her eyes once again. The member who hadn't been carrying any weapon was standing there looking even more intact than themselves.

Moreover, in that short time, he had somehow dealt with five or six Ilaptors lying sprawled around him, in addition to the one whose head she had burst.

The platoon leader, her eyes widened in surprise, quickly ran towards the member while still maintaining her vigilance.

The member was quietly staring in the direction from which the creatures had come, with a somewhat chilling expression. Just as she was about to ask if he was alright while examining him up and down, the sound of several people running came from deep inside the cave. This time, it was the sound of human footsteps, not monsters.

The 8th Platoon Leader immediately turned her head in that direction. Then she looked up at the member standing beside her again.

Because the swarm of Ilaptors had disturbed the air inside as they passed, she hadn't been able to sense anyone's presence until she heard the sound. But this member had been staring in one direction continuously as if he had known from the beginning that someone was approaching.

Just as she was inwardly surprised at the exquisitely coincidental situation, an unexpected figure soon appeared from the other side along with a light ball.

The face gradually revealed under the light was that of a superior who wasn't particularly welcome to the 8th Platoon Leader.

"Battalion Commander Clinder?"

Meterion Clinder and the members of the 3rd Battalion stopped in their tracks, catching their breath as soon as they spotted her.

The 8th Platoon Leader felt quite strange seeing the 3rd Battalion Commander, who usually didn't show a disheveled appearance as much as the commander, appear with rough breathing. At the same time, she guessed that the current situation was unfolding quite urgently.

Meterion, who had scanned the number of people standing blankly, exhaled a low breath. Eventually, he gestured with his hand and nodded towards the area behind him.

"Good timing. Follow me."