Chapter 67

Leonhard didn’t ask every word.

After all, Celine’s plan was clear. She would take herself, Leonhard, and all of the Paradiso Knights, as well as the three boss monsters, and moved to the Imperial Capital.

“We might fall somewhere other than the training ground.”

“There’s no chance of that.”

She immediately denied it.

In the first place, movement magic had always been a set of two. Magic that allowed them to move anywhere they wanted and magic that allowed them to return to their original location.

His head spun quickly.

If Celine went back with the Paradiso Knights, she would be safe for now. However, what next? Would she alone be able to withstand the warlocks’ threat while waiting for him? And, if she got kidnapped… He would never be able to forgive himself.

Still, in terms of the mission, Celine was right.

Leonhard was well aware of his limitations. He couldn’t defeat all three boss monsters by himself. At best, the two weakest and conceivably get the other one hurt so bad that it was difficult to go back…

Nonetheless, he never mentioned any of these facts.

“…It wouldn’t hurt to give them a new building as a gift.”

“I see?”

Her voice brightened.

Although the building currently used by the Paradiso Knights was newly renovated after being selected as Carpathia, it was still the worst among the Knights belonging to the Imperial family. Then, Celine grabbed the magic stone imprinted with the movement magic.

The moment Leonhard notified the knights, he planned to move them immediately.

“Move now.”

“….?”

Celine hesitated. Even if Leonhard was the one who said it, she couldn’t help but hesitate.

“Please.”

However, there was no time, and she could see that the Paradiso Knights were getting tired every minute. In the end, she nodded her head and released her magic.

“Huh…?”

“Lord, this is…!”

“Lute!”

Shouts full of astonishment resounded in all directions for a moment but were soon mixed with the powerful flow of magical power. The next moment, the middle of the field, which had been filled with monsters, became empty as if there was a hole in it.

“Hoooo…”

In Celine’s eyes, the training ground she had seen before being thrown into the border area came into her eyes.

‘Thank god.’

She had answered confidently to Leonhard though she couldn’t help but feel uneasy inside. Even if there was an error, wouldn’t it be too big an error…?

Celine sighed and sat down on the floor as things seemed to be a bit of a stretch today. Today, she hadn’t even thought about fighting the boss monsters in the border area when she went to the Paradiso Knights’ quarters.

Leonhard gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Rest.”

“I can’t… Leonhard!”

Before Celine could answer properly, he strode toward the Paradiso Knights, who had not yet come to their senses.

“Lord, what is this!”

Commander Bart shouted as he slashed the monsters that were running towards him.

“Everyone would die if they were there.”

“Still, this—!”

“You guys, just focus on slashing the remnants. I’ll deal with the rest.”

It didn’t take long for Bart to respond.

“…Yes!”

The members also quickly formed a formation. There were still some members who looked bewildered, but in the situation, the monsters attacked them right away. Because of that, they were left with no choice but to straighten their mind and straighten their sword.

Leonhard glared at the boss monsters, who looked bewildered like the underlings.

‘…Meaningful intelligence.’

He had cut down many boss monsters. Among them, there were quite a few that he felt were intelligent. Still, all of their intelligence was based only on the instinct for killing and surviving. He didn’t like the fact that the current boss monster was observing all directions with a look of bewilderment.

‘Well, the Imperial Family will study it.’

All he had to do was slash these things as fast as a few seconds, extract the cores, and report them along with their behavior.

Leonhard started targeting the weakest-looking one.

‘I can’t leave them alone.’

Celine anxiously looked at Leonhard, who was charging at the boss monster.

Even though he was confident, he had already instructed the Paradiso Knights to defeat only the small monsters. Since the Paradiso Knights believed in him like a stone, they would never break his command. Even if it hadn’t been long since she met Leonhard, she would have also followed his advice.

‘…I know now.’

No matter what people in this world think, Leonhard Bernoulli was by no means immortal. Even though he himself didn’t even think he was going to die, he was a person who had almost died more than once or twice. Leonhard would still be seriously injured without help.

‘…Three boss monsters all at once. Does that make sense?’

Celine gritted her teeth and stood up.

Cold sweat dripped down like rain, and her legs trembled, but she didn’t care about trivial things like that.

Leonhard aimed for the giant wasp’s joints. As if they still couldn’t get out of the shock, the panicked boss monster soared up to the ceiling and soon crashed into the solid roof. Although the ceiling cracked and split in an instant, it did not collapse.

Seeing that, the corners of Leonhard’s mouth went up slightly.

‘I knew it would be like this.’

He stabbed the wasp that had hit the ceiling with Rashir like a wasp stuck on a pin.

—Boom.

At that moment, the biggest boss monster attacked him. Leonhard transformed Rashir into a giant shield, but he was pushed back by the impact.

—Hrrrr.

Blue flames enveloped him and the boss monsters all at once. Not Rashir’s fire, which burned everything but himself though someone else’s fire.

‘…Celine.’

Leonhard’s face hardened.

His heart sank as soon as he saw Celine’s pale complexion immediately after the movement magic ended. Why, he didn’t even have to ask. It wasn’t the first time that her magical energy was drained. Still, she worked her magic again… to help him.

He tightened his grip on Rashir.

There was no point in reprimanding Celine now or later. It was because he didn’t have enough skills to easily handle the boss monster by himself. Because of that, he had no choice but to make the most of the help he had received.

Leonhard did not move for long.

Thanks to the powerful flames created by Celine, the wings of the boss monsters burned and fell to the ground. If given a little time, the boss monsters would have restored their wings in no time. However, he immediately found several vital points and did not hesitate for a second.

—Chang!

—Chang!

—Chang!

With a metallic sound, all the heads of the three boss monsters fell off.

It was ridiculously easy.

Leonhard immediately ran towards her. Neither the cheers of the knights nor Commander Bart’s voice of admiration could be heard. Standing against the wall, Celine put her head down, perhaps because she was not feeling well.

“Cel, Celine…”

As Leonhard’s voice trembled as he called her name, Celine raised her head. A feeling of relief enveloped him. She seemed fine, at least appearance-wise.

“Leonhardt, this…”

“….?”

She didn’t talk about the boss monsters or about her own condition. Her nerves were engulfed by the transparent orb in her hand.

“….!”

Leonhard’s eyes widened.

It was a crystal ball that he hadn’t seen for a while and didn’t exist until a little while ago. Every time it broke, there were phrases to follow.

“Where was it?”

“Lou spat it out.”

“Lou?”

Saying so, he glanced at Lou, the dragon wrapped around Celine’s wrist, with a surprised look. Lou seemed satisfied and let out a small ember, then closed its eyes and laid its eyes halfway down.

“Lord!”

They could hear Bart’s voice.

Celine immediately put the orb into her pocket. She was not enough of a fool to attempt suicide in the presence of the Knights. She had to wait until she got back to the hotel.

* * *

Leonhard knew something was wrong.

It was because Celine would frown and chewed her lips whenever she was in big trouble. There was something wrong with her behaving like this outside the battlefield.

“What’s the problem?”

“Yes?”

The blue-grey eyes widened.

“Aren’t you worried about something?”

“No, no.”

Celine waved her hand vigorously, only deepening Leonhard’s suspicion.

“Is it something that you can’t tell me?”

“It’s nothing. Really!”

Celine knew this much. This was not a matter to inform and consult with Leonhard.

‘Go into the room and stab yourself once with the Ringzor. Then, you’ll be able to receive the next quest.’

Even though she wouldn’t actually die, she didn’t know why she felt so uncomfortable. As so thought so, Celine bit her lip again.

…No, she actually knew well.

‘The crystal ball was my life in this game.’

Even now that she was in the game, things were not really different. If she didn’t attempt suicide, one day, this would save her life. Instead, she would find out about the quest late. However, Leonhard’s fate was at stake…

“Celine.”

Startled by Leonhard’s voice, she raised her head. The deep blue eyes had a mysterious aura as he watched her.

“It bleeds.”

“Ah, ah.”

She could taste the taste of blood in her mouth.

Celine was flustered, unable to direct her gaze. She felt uncomfortable because she seemed to be advertising in front of Leonhard that she was not okay.

“…There is a problem, something.”

At those words, she couldn’t bear to answer and hesitated. He had already noticed that there was trouble, so prolonging things would only make things worse.

‘I shouldn’t say anything…’

Still, Celine’s tongue betrayed her brain and ran wild.

“I was contemplating whether I should break the crystal ball or not.”

“As expected. I thought you might be worried about that.”

“Yes?”

Leonhard looked at her, who was startled, incredulously.

“You told me. The crystal ball prevents your death. So, that means…”

“Yes, it only breaks if I try to die.”

He immediately opened his mouth with a face full of words but immediately closed it. Feeling a little guilty, Celine avoided Leonhard’s gaze. He seemed to be struggling with words to speak to her, trying to hurt her as little as possible.

“When you break it, does it hurt?”

“Oh, no. I just seem to absorb it as it is. It’s just… the reason I’m worried is, if I have this, I can never die.”

“….”

As he stared at the crystal ball in her hand for a while, Celine seemed to know what was in his head.

‘I’m sure he’s thinking about how to convince me to wait until the crystal ball breaks on its own.’

Finally, Leonhard’s mouth opened slowly.

“….!”

The blue-grey eyes widened. Celine couldn’t believe her own ears. It was because unexpected words flowed out of his mouth instead.