Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Leonhard pressed forward, clutching Rashir tightly. Not only was Rashir burdening him, but his own legs felt as if they were weighed down by heavy bags.

If it weren’t for Bart’s presence, his steps would have been even slower. However, as Bart appeared unexpectedly, albeit in Leonhard’s opinion that it was under Celine’s strong influence, he couldn’t ignore the situation any longer.

“Leonhard.”

Celine’s voice came, but Leonhard ignored it. It was something he had done so many times that he couldn’t count it anymore.

Some of them were close, like Mathias.

Celine was no different from them…

At the thought, he swung Rashir, ignoring his tightening heart.

—Chaeng.

The broken blade fell to the ground.

It was Bart’s sword.

Leonhard blinked his eyes. Meanwhile, Bart was trying to confront him with a determined face, holding a half-cut knife.

Even though he was a little startled, it was not enough to be dazzled. Then, Leonhard pushed Bart roughly and headed towards Celine. Since the enchanted ones would revert to normal when the warlock died, so he had no intention of hurting Bart.

“Lute, go!”

Bart shouted, blocking Leonhard with his body.

“What are you doing now?!”

“Lord Leonhard, please kill me. If you kill Lute… Lord Leonhard will never be able to forgive yourself.”

“I have no intention of killing you.”

Leonhard answered firmly.

This wasn’t the first time a warlock had done this, and he was used to dealing with it. He just needed to kill the warlock as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Just then, the cry of another warlock, not Celine, was heard.

“Commander, stop! That person is not Lord Leonhard!”

“Go, both of you!”

Leonhard was taken aback. The situation now was a bit difficult to understand. Bart was now misled by the warlock, so he was doing what they wanted. However, why did that warlock look like she was trying to convince him?

There was only one possibility.

It was not that warlock, but another warlock who had misled Bart.

‘…It’s Celine.’

A heartbreaking realization astounded Leonhard.

…The warlock who misled Bart was Celine.

“Commander!”

Rose shouted at Bart, but Bart didn’t budge.

“Rose, we have to go!”

“Are you saying you want to throw away Commander Bart?”

“…Leonhard will not kill him.”

“Celine, how many times do I have to tell you? That person is not Lord Leonhard!”

Celine begged urgently.

“Listen to me this time. That is Leonhard…”

There was no more time to delay. Although Bart gave them a long time, there must be a limit to that. When Leonhard’s patience lasted, they had to keep their distance from him as far as possible. Fortunately, Rose seemed to realize something.

“He doesn’t hurt the commander.”

“Because it’s Leonhardt.”

“…All right.”

One word was enough.

Celine ran with all her might to the other side of the cliff. After a while, she felt that her memories was slowly coming back.

‘Right, these patterns came out…’

On the walls of the maze, intricate patterns without a clear shape flickered. The more they ran, the more complex the patterns became. The maze stage in [ Celine’s Nightmare ] was also like this.

Her heart started pounding.

‘I’m on my way.’

Now, Rose was clearly lagging behind Celine. She was heartbroken, but she couldn’t afford to care.

‘I have to clear the stage as quickly as possible…!’

Leonhard was now moving not by his own will. So if she cleared the stage, he would be freed, but he could have suffered irreparable damage before that.

Celine ran.

…To save him, even if it was just a few seconds faster.

It seemed that even ‘Hermes’ shoes’ had run out of power before she knew it, her breath was rapid and the soles of her feet felt seemed like they were burning. Still, she couldn’t slow down her run at all.

“Celine…!”

It was more like a scream than a cry.

Celine’s body staggered greatly.

‘Rose?’

Celine reluctantly stopped and looked back. She wanted to run, ignoring it, but she couldn’t ignore Rose calling her anxiously.

“….!”

Her heart fluttered

Rose, half-rolling on the floor, grabbed her ankle.

Her ankle, which was strangely bent even by its appearance, seemed difficult to restore with any magic.

“Hu, hurry…..Go.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“I should have held it in… I’m sorry. Run away Celine. Hurry.”

“…Rose.”

Celine shook her head and pulled a little vial from her chest.

“This…?”

“Drink it.”

Rose widened her eyes in surprise, but without even a moment to question what it was, she didn’t refuse. Hastily uncapping the vial, she quickly downed its contents.

The effect was immediate.

“….!”

Rose turned her ankles around with a face of disbelief.

“Are you okay?”

“Celine, this is…”

“There is no time.”

Celine cut off all of her questions with a single word.

They wandered long enough to picture the entire structure of the maze in her mind. Fortunately, unexpected situations such as cliffs did not happen anymore by the time both of them were exhausted and just ran without saying a word.

‘It’s over, it’s over…’

Celine knew that the stage clear was just around the corner. Elaborate patterns adorned the walls, floors, and ceilings of the aisles. They constantly shifted and transformed, displaying an array of vibrant colors that even seemed to dazzle her eyes.

She slowed her run.

‘…Will the stage be cleared by me so easily?’

She had to be extremely vigilant from now on.

“Something is strange.”

Rose, who had found her composure now, murmured.

“What?”

“I don’t know? It’s definitely magic… I don’t feel any magic power.”

“Ah.”

Celine didn’t give much of an answer and just shut her mouth. She had no confidence in herself to look around.

“It obviously has something to do with Lord Leonhard doing that…”

Rose’s words stopped.

It was a dead end.

“We have to go back.”

“….”

Celine didn’t answer.

Something was wrong.

‘I’ve come this far, but it’s a dead end?’

They continued running along an uninterrupted, straight pathway for a considerable time. Turning back at this point would inevitably lead them back to Leonhard. Moreover, the ever-changing patterns that surrounded them reassured her that she was on the right path, as they didn’t indicate any signs of being off course.

‘By any way…’

Celine put her hand on the wall in front of them and gathered her magic.

‘As expected.’

Behind the wall, it was empty.

Celine focused her mind, attempting to bring down the entire wall, but despite her efforts, it only trembled slightly without showing any signs of cracking. Rose, understanding the situation without needing any explanation, approached and placed her hand on the wall, but the outcome remained unchanged.

“I guess we should go back.”

Celine put her hand inside instead of answering.

She had Ringzor.

As Rose quietly nodded her head, she hit Ringzor against the wall.

The walls started cracking right away.

‘It’s done…!’

She tightened her grip on Ringzor.

After just a few seconds, the wall that had firmly blocked their way was shattered and scattered at their feet. Again, the seemingly endless passage stretched out.

The two started running again.

“Lord, what are you doing now!”

Bart yelled at Leonhard, who was trying to get away from him and chase Celine and Rose.

“….”

However, all that came from Leonhardt was a cold gaze. He pursed his lips as if he wanted to say something, but then he sighed.

“Lord Leonhard!”

Nonetheless, Bart ran towards him, who was rapidly moving away.

Now, Leonhard didn’t even look at him. Instead, he lightly scoured the floor with Rashir.

“….!”

Blue flames soared from the ground to the ceiling. Bart knew that if he tried to walk through the flames, nothing would be left of his bones.

‘Lord…’

Bart scolded himself while staring blankly at Leonhard’s back blurring through the burning flames.

‘What are you doing, Bart?’

He turned and started running in the opposite direction.

He had to call people to stop Leonhard before he made a mistake that would eat away at himself.

‘…It’s taking too long.’

Leonhard thought as he mechanically pursued Celine and Rose. He knew the speed Celine was running at. She had gotten faster since wearing the shoes, but she was still on par with him. It wasn’t to the point where the distance wouldn’t be narrowed this far.

He closed his eyes for a moment and focused his mind.

He couldn’t have pursued her so ignorantly. Besides, the magic of a warlock would, of course, leave traces. If he followed the trail…

‘….?’

Leonhard frowned.

‘…What?’

There was no warlock magic anywhere.

Instead…

‘Celine.’

Leonhard’s face contorted.

It was because Celine’s magic was all over.

For a moment, the thought that Bart might be right crossed his mind, but he shook his head vigorously.

‘It can’t be.’

Celine fell from the tower, and in the time it took for her to meet him, she became a warlock. These traces must have been left by her before she became a warlock.

“Ah…”

Leonhard groaned softly.

He was in pain just thinking about it.

‘…It’s because of me.’

He clenched his fists. He couldn’t help her in that strange tower. Even after Celine fell here, he couldn’t find her, which helped her become a warlock.

‘Still, I have to stop it.’

Still, he had to stop her because no one else would be able to stop Celine.

An infinitely resilient warlock.

Leonhard’s pupils wavered. If he couldn’t subdue Celine now, sooner or later, he would die in vain from her. Then, he started running again at the thought.

He had wasted too much time in a useless way.

‘At last…!’

Celine’s heart swelled and fluttered with hope. At the end of the passage they reached, a strange green torch was burning.

‘There.’

How much did she struggle to get here? After that, walls appeared to block their path, she had to break them down with Ringzor, terrified that Leonhard was getting closer by the minute.

But now, everything was over.

‘Please wait a moment, Leonhard.’

Finally reaching the end, she gulped and picked up the torch.

‘….?’

Celine panicked and dropped the torch.

…Nothing happened!

“Celine?”

Rose asked with a more flustered face than Celine was, but Celine just talked gibberish.

“Thi-this, if you touch this… a road is created…”

Her head stopped, and she couldn’t think of anything.

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—Stomp.

Celine raised her head.

It was Leonhard.

__