Chapter 53

Celine anxiously waited for Leonhard’s response.

Even though he may or may not believe it, he had to accept it. She hadn’t even reached half of the true ending route yet. If Leonhard couldn’t accept the fact that she was the only one who could break the curse, she would have to pay a severe price.

“…Wouldn’t the same thing just happen again?”

“You saw it. I can get rid of it.”

“And, you almost fell into lava.”

“….”

Celine thought, biting her lip, but she couldn’t resist.

“Can’t you teach me, and I have to cross over first?”

“That is…”

She hesitated.

It was because she didn’t know the answer herself. So far, she had always cleared the stage before Leonhard. This was because if he reached the end of the stage first, there was no guarantee that she, who followed, would clear the stage.

‘…It’ll be fine if it’s at the same time.’

But, it was impossible for her to skip at the same time.

It was a rock of such a small size that she felt a little uneasy if they were standing close together. Suddenly, Leonhard hugged her hesitatingly and lifted her up.

“Leonhard…!”

Celine was horrified.

His firm hands supported her shoulders and legs with stability, but the situation itself was burdensome. He was calm as if wondering what the problem was.

“There should be no problem with this, right? I think you just need to show me the direction.”

“But, but when a monster appears…!”

“Will there be any monsters?”

“…It was in my dreams.”

“Then, I’ll drop you off when it comes out.”

Celine wanted to get off immediately, but she stopped.

‘Maybe, this is the best.’

If it were Leonhard, he would be able to get through this stage well, even with holding her. Moreover, according to her memory, the section where she had to jump over rocks would end soon.

In the end, she nodded her head and pointed to the rock she was supposed to go to, and he started running briskly rock and rock, holding her as if she was as light as feathers.

‘…Uaah.‘

Celine swallowed the scream inside, and she clung to him.

They must have run three or four more. Again, there was a lump of charcoal bouncing out of the lava. Leonhard immediately gently lowered her onto the rock and swung Rashir to blow up the coals. It happened in just a few seconds.

Although she tried to thank him, instead of saying it, she smiled.

Leonhard’s clean face, covered in charcoal powder, had turned blacked. He hugged her again.

“Where next?”

“There… Ah!”

Celine let out an exclamation.

Finally, there was a land that looked rather wide, not a rock where they could barely stand on one person.

“Is it over?”

“No. Careful. There’s a monster…”

The next moment, Leonhard landed on the ground and lowered Celine. At the same time, a huge shadow fell over them.

—Boom!

Celine blinked her eyes.

The next moment, the monster that she thought would fall on her was shattered and scattered everywhere.

“It’s nothing. Are the monsters here only on this level?”

“No.”

Celine swallowed her saliva.

“Things made of lava will rush in.”

“Lava…?”

Leonhard’s face frowned.

“Really? No matter how much you can predict…”

It was only natural that he did not believe her.

After Celine had been in this world for several months, one thing was that the people here were not accustomed to the supernatural. It was surprising considering that magic and monsters were everywhere in their daily lives.

Even Leonhard, who could be said to be the closest to magic, was the same.

Celine shrugged her shoulders.

“Even if you don’t believe it now, you will see it when you see it. Still, please believe this… Never attack it.”

“What?”

“Neither Ringzor, nor Rashir, nor magic work. When attacked…”

Celine’s words got blurred.

This was because, in the game, she remembered the character who ran into the lava monster without thinking, then got thrown into the fire. It turned out that the lava monsters were [ invincible ], enemies that were designed to take no damage from the system.

Leonhard’s eyes narrowed.

“Is it because it was in a dream?”

“No.”

Celine shook her head.

“I died a few times.”

“….!”

She continued speaking while Leonhard was shocked and speechless, “If you still have to attack… Be honest, Leonhard. I will do it first.”

“What nonsense…”

He could hardly escape from his astonishment, but Celine was sincere.

‘If he attacks the lava monster prematurely, Leonhard will really die.’

Celine gazed into the twinkling blue eyes as his face turned black with charcoal dust.

“Yes, I will die. If you really want to attack, see how I die and then decide.”

“…I will do as you will.”

Celine sighed in relief. She wanted to avoid as much as possible as much when she melted into the lava and died. Eventually, they walked slowly over the ashes.

“Ack…!”

Celine jumped up. The place that had been solid ground until a while ago was instantly extinguished, and lava filled up. Had it not been for Leonhard holding her, she would surely have fallen into the boiling lava.

A cold sweat ran down her.

‘I don’t think there was anything like this in the game…’

She tried to calm her beating heart and think calmly.

‘It’s just that I can’t remember.’

Even in the mansion, she died countless times. It was quite possible that the details of the stage in the middle got wrongly remembered.

Celine started walking again as if nothing had happened.

After a while.

As she walked for quite a long time and wondered if the lava monster would not appear, the ground shook violently in all directions.

Leonhard stopped immediately and pulled out Rashir.

“Go!”

Celine grabbed his arm, and she started running.

“You promised! Do not attack!”

“Then, this is…”

“Yes, it’ll appear soon.”

As she had expected, less than a minute later, a giant lava monster blocked their way.

Leonhard’s body stiffened.

It had been ten years since he has lived cutting down monsters and warlocks. Nevertheless, he had never seen such a daunting opponent before his eyes.

At first, he thought it would simply be the size of a gigantic tree filled with lava rising from the ground. However, the facial features that emit light, the hands and feet that move freely, and the heat that seemed to melt even Rashir…

His hand automatically turned towards the hilt.

“Leonhard!”

Celine’s urgent voice reached his ears.

“Go here, here!”

Celine was beckoning from a distance away from him. He didn’t think of it anymore and ran towards her.

—Poong!

A huge fireball fell and exploded where he had been a while ago.

“If you get hit, I won’t even be able to pick out the bones. Come on!”

She was pointing between the legs of the lava monster. It was a decision she made against her instincts though she didn’t have time to argue. Leonhard ran with Celine, hoping that she would indeed be the prophet.

As soon as she wiped the drops of sweat from her forehead, a new lava monster appeared.

Celine’s eyes narrowed.

Unlike the first lava monster, which had a human-like form, the second lava monster was in the form of a giant wolf.

“We have to run between the legs. Can you do it?”

“…I think you are more of a problem.”

Celine smiled slightly.

“I have no problem.”

She walked and ran for quite some time. Even though her legs should have hurt now, she still felt light, as if she was about to fly away. Thinking that, Celine casually glanced down at her shoes.

‘If it weren’t for this, I would have died sooner.’

When she asked why ‘Hermes’ Shoes’ was the stage reward, it was probably because of this stage. She then quickly entered the four legs of the lava wolf. There were small sparks all over the place though it was due to the shoes that she managed to avoid without too much trouble.

Leonhard, on the other hand, had to wield Rashir to deflect the sparks.

The distance naturally widened between them, but Celine concentrated her mind on passing the lava wolf, and she didn’t notice it until she had completely escaped from it.

‘…I need to slow down a bit.’

Leonhard was still wielding Rashir, struggling with the lava falling from the wolf’s belly.

However, Celine wasn’t worried. Since it was Leonhard, even if he were a little slower than her, he would get out without hurting a single hair.

Ten minutes later.

A smile appeared on her face as she saw him escape safely from the lava wolf, but then it was distorted. It was because a giant lava bird hit Leonhard.

His body was engulfed in flames in an instant.

“LEONHARD…!”

A tearful scream escaped Celine’s mouth.

‘This isn’t it. This is not…!’

Enemies on the stage were attacking Leonhard, not her, who was the real player and was ahead. Even he was the villain who tried to kill her in the first stage and in future stages.

She immediately grabbed Ringzor and ran towards Leonhard.

Now, his form was nowhere to be seen, only his form engulfed in flames and the massive wings that covered it. At that moment, a voice so familiar came from the fireball.

“Don’t come close.”

“Leonhard!”

A sense of relief filled Celine. His voice was calm, and there was no sign of pain.

‘He is fine. Because after all, it’s Leonhard…’

However, at his words that followed immediately, she froze.

“Have that medicine ready.”

Leonhard, who valued ​​the healing potion very much, required it first in this situation. Hearing his words, Celine’s body began to tremble.

“Are you hurt a lot?”

“….”

No answer was heard.

At the moment when the huge bird-shaped fireball attacked, Leonhard made the best decision. He wrapped himself with Rashir as a shield instead of attacking it.

It was a decision he could make because he trusted Celine more than he did.

‘How much longer can I last?’

While Celine shouted outside, he couldn’t understand exactly what she was saying.

He uttered only the necessary words.

Don’t come too close, and prepare the mysterious medicine she discovered.

Ironically, in the midst of this heat, he realized what Celine meant to never attack the monsters. So far, there was no magic that Rashir could not neutralize. However, from these fireballs, he could not read any magic. He didn’t even feel the evil energy that black magic should give off.

There was only one conclusion.

…These were not magic.