Chapter 83

Chapter 83

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Cadel's encounter with Lumen was more of a coincidence, as he prioritized the safety of Lydon and figured finding Lumen would come later.

Hence the road to the temporary garrison of survivors. The red thread, shortening with each quick step, was never meant to be.

“Lumen?”

The pulsating red thread pointed to a man standing on the side of the road.

Lumen Dominic.

He stared down at something in his hand, then looked up.

His stiff posture gave him the appearance of being unharmed, but the trembling of the thread indicated that his condition was serious.

“......Leader. You're here at just the right time.”

Up close, he was a sight to behold. His clothes were tattered and punctured here and there, and his skin was peeling away in patches to reveal raw, exposed red flesh.

But Lumen's expression didn't change, even though it must have been quite painful. Cadel was the only one who looked shocked.

“You look like.......”

“There was some fighting on the way to find Leader.”

Lumen looked at Lydon, who waved happily, supported by Cadel, and jabbed behind him.

As he followed his gaze, Cadel saw a flattened puddle of mucus. The area of the puddle was rapidly shrinking as the mucus evaporated.

‘Lumen must have met his clone. Crazy punk. How many clones did he have?’

Even when Ergo was not feeling well, he still managed to keep his enemies at bay by scattering his clone here and there. Cadel was afraid to find out the level of magic Ergo had achieved.

“Your end of the red thread may be calm, but mine is not. It has been flailing around like a madman ever since.”

The red thread of the ring showed the wearer ‘the status of the other person’. It was natural Lumen didn't know what his condition was. Lumen paused for a moment as if he hadn't already realized that, and then removed the ring from his finger, forcing it into Cadel's hand.

“I know my condition best, and I'm strong enough to fight.”

“Who says you can't fight? I'm telling you to come back with your wounds healed so you can fight well.”

“In the meantime, if the demon goes on a rampage.......”

Cadel took a deep breath. He glanced at Lydon, who rolled his eyes annoyedly as if their argument was noisy, and looked at Lumen again.

Suddenly, he remembered what Lumen had said.

‘Maybe I'm not that dependable.’

Who the heck was not dependable? The one who was not dependable was Cadel himself.

It was a disgrace, really. He, the commander, was the one who went off on a wild goose chase and was found collapsed. It seemed that there was no choice but to embed his newly upgraded power deep into Lumen's brain in order to raise his dignity.

Instead of persuading Lumen further, Cadel stretched out his finger and pointed to his face. And he said to the faltering Lumen.

“What I wanted in the Temple of Depollo was a rational, strong Lumen Dominic. Not the guy who doesn't know what he's doing and is acting like an idiot.”

“I, idiot?”

“You too, the person you wanted on that day wouldn't be the leader you're afraid of collapsing at any moment, right?”

The finger that had been pointing at Lumen suddenly pressed hard against the wound on his cheek. A pained expression twisted in his eyes, and Cadel spoke firmly.

“Go, Lumen. What you're worried about isn't going to happen.”

When Lumen was healed and backed in one piece, Cadel would proudly greet him with a more presentable appearance than now.

No more indecency in front of his subordinates.