Chapter 388: Gold Mine [4]
Leon, Evelyn, and I couldn't take on so many people at once.
This much was clear to the three of us. Especially since we were under orders to not kill them.
However, stalling wasn't that much of a problem.
Leon... He was the perfect meatshield.
Bang! Bang-
He didn't even let out a sound as spells rained down on me. He just stood in front of me, protecting me while...
I bit my lips and mumbled,
"Your sacrifice will not be forgot-"
"I'm not dead."
"It-"
"Go."
"Fine."
I closed my eyes and the green and red orb floated in front of me.
I brought my hands together, pulling the orbs closer as power started to surge right through
me.
It was an experience I had once felt as my entire body crackled and popped as the muscles and bones adjusted to the added strain.
The world around me slowed down as my arms bulked up.
Yellow Anger + Joy ||Mania||
"Hoo."
With a deep breath, I pressed my foot to the side and shot towards the soldiers ahead. Bang! Bang-
Spells continued to rain down in my direction, but I was able to dodge every single one of them as I locked my sight on the nearest and weakest soldiers.
....In essence, the mages.
Those who wore heavier armor were not soldiers that I could take care of quickly.
Bang!
The ground shattered beside me as I shifted my center of gravity and direction. Several spells flew past me as I clenched my hand.
Several dozen threads shot forth, covering the surroundings as some of the soldiers were unable to act on time and were promptly cut by the threads.
"Ukeh! Akh!"
But because I couldn't kill them, I was only able to injure them.
Still, this was acceptable since I was able to ease some of the attacks that were headed my way and was able to get near the mages.
Swoosh!
Arriving behind one of the mages, I threw my fist down.
A shield formed around them the moment I attacked but it shattered almost immediately. Cra Crack!
"Akh!"
Landing a solid blow on their head, I shifted towards the next mage and repeated the same motion.
Cra Crack!
"Ukeh!"
Screams reverberated throughout as mage after mage fell under my attacks.
Despite my exhaustion, I continued to attack the nearest soldier near me which birthed more chaos as the communication between each soldier fell apart.
Cra!
I shifted from one mage to another.
Memorizing the location of every soldier that was next to me, I didn't even look before pressing my foot down and shooting their way.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Bang!
"Нааа... Наа..."
My lungs were on fire and my body started to show signs of tear.
Cra Crack!
By the time I was able to get rid of another mage, I realized that my body was extremely heavy. My 'Concept' shattered and the power boost I previously felt disappeared alongside it.
"Haa..."
When I looked around me, my heart pressed at my throat as I realized I was surrounded from all sides.
Weapons and magic spells were pointed at me.
The situation was the same for Leon who could only remain still as his eyes had returned to normal.
Evelyn wasn't faring that much better.
'Fuck...'
I cursed in my heart, looking at the numerous soldiers that we had managed to get rid of.
In total, I could count about twenty. Perhaps there were more...
I wasn't sure.
Still, feeling the numerous gazes directed my way, I didn't have it in me to feel down. I had accomplished my mission as I slumped down on the ground and smiled,
"You fools."
I mumbled, turning my attention towards the bridge.
"...You were so focused on us that you forgot that we aren't the only ones here."
As those words left my mouth, the ground trembled.
hanging in the sky.
"How long has it been since we last went to the mine? We used to play there quite often when
we were young. I can't believe we're going to blow it up soon."
"...Almost t-ten years." Leon replied next to her. He gave me a quick glance, telling me to not talk.
I understood what he meant but Evelyn already knew that I wasn't the previous Julien. Well, in
any case, I still pretended to understand.
"We used to play hide and seek all the time. It was pretty fun, and-"
All of a sudden Evelyn paused, her brows furrowing as she turned her attention towards me.
Noticing the peculiarity in her gaze, I kept my expression firm.
Eventually, Evelyn shook her head.
"Nevermind. It's in the past. It's not worth talking about..." 'Especially since you're not him.'
She mumbled softly under her breath.
Patting her clothes she slowly stood up and headed towards the guards. I watched her back
alongside Leon who continued to stare at her before finally turning his attention towards me.
"What was she talking about?"
"....She's probably thinking about what happened in the past."
"I got that. What exactly happened?"
"Well..."
Leon frowned, his brows furrowing as he seemingly recalled what happened. Then, with a
bitter smile, he spoke,
"You kind of forced us to play hide and seek in the gold mine. In the end, we all ended up
getting lost for a long time. We were gone for so long that the family Head had no choice but
to send a rescue party to look for us."
"...Ah."
Such a thing happened?
'No, thinking about it... perhaps it was during this time that he was lost that Julien found something
within the case. The strange liquid most probably.'
Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!
My heart rate sped up at the thought.
It felt like I was getting closer to the truth.
"How did you end up finding your way back? Did the rescue squad find you...?"
"For me, yes."
"What about me...?"
"Hmm."
Leon frowned, turning his attention towards Evelyn who was speaking to the guards.
"You can ask her. The two of you came back together."
Shifting my attention towards Evelyn, I opened my mouth but closed it shortly after. Asking
her was the same as admitting that I wasn't Julien.
While she already knew, she had no definitive proof.
...Perhaps she was baiting me into telling her.
"Haa."
I let out a long breath and leaned back on my arms while staring at the moon in the sky.
'If only there was a to look through the old Julien's memories.'
The more I learned about the previous Julien, the more shrouded his past seemed to be.
Things would've been so much easier if I was capable of looking through his past, but sadly it
wasn't possible.
The second leaf...
It didn't work for me.
I had tried it in the past, but it did nothing. It would just extinguish with each attempt.
'It didn't work for Leon as well. Is there some sort of reason for this...? The second leaf worked
with everyone that I've tried it with but Leon. The only leaf that worked on Leon was the thir
My thoughts came to an abrupt halt as my breath left my body.
A sudden thought occurred to me as I lowered my head to stare at my forearm where a clover
tattoo appeared, closely wrapped by my illusion to make it hard to see that there was a tattoo
present.
"Hoo."
I let out a cold breath as an idea sprung up in my mind.
"The second leaf didn't work on Leon, but the third leaf did. What if...'
Pursing my lips together, I looked around me before pressing my right arm against my left.
Then...
I pressed the third leaf.