Leona's Ultimate Awakening
South Korea, the nation where Leona had acquired her ultimate skill, was the first country to expand its evacuation shelters immediately after the assaults by Amducias and Aktoa. They had installed an staggering number of underground bunkers nationwide and made shelter installation mandatory for every building. The emergency action protocols established after the Earth Defense Treaty were distributed to all citizens. And now Korea’s painstaking efforts were finally bearing fruit.
The urgent disaster broadcast reverberated across the sky. People hurried toward the shelters prepared throughout Daejeon, flustered yet perfectly orderly. The streets emptied in the blink of an eye. Even those inside buildings raced down via emergency elevators. It was the result of a mature civic consciousness.
And I was circling the perimeter of my adorable monster gate aboard a fighter jet alongside Dr. Cash. Dozens of South Korean Air Force fighters had scrambled to provide escort. The Earth Defense Treaty had enabled every nation to establish rapid-response defense systems with their defense ministries, making this coordinated support possible. Command authority over them normally rested with Dr. Cash, though it transferred to the on-site commander in true emergencies.
“The Evilion gauge has stabilized at forty-two percent.”
“No sign of further increase?”
“None. But that dark smoke rising around the maw suggests it’s about to open.”
The moment my calm observation ended, a thunderous creeeak split the air. The monster gate gnashed its thousands of teeth and gaped wide. From within poured dozens of blurry, shadow-like creatures—Parax’s subordinates, the Hope Eaters.
Grrrrr…!
The three-meter-tall Hope Eaters slammed into Daejeon’s streets with heavy thuds, kicking up clouds of dust. They swiveled their heads, clearly hunting for humans.
Poor things… tsk, tsk. The humans had evacuated long ago.
While the Hope Eaters searched for prey, a brilliant flash erupted from a portal atop one of the fighter jets. Leona materialized. Sky-blue radiance surged from her eyes as she charged the creatures and began carving them apart.
Slice!
Kwaaaaang!
One Hope Eater split cleanly in two and died with a final shriek. At forty-two percent, these monsters registered as D-class on the scale I had created. From a human perspective they were formidable, yet right now they appeared utterly powerless. Of course, that was only because Leona’s strength was overwhelming. These creatures could casually chew through tank armor. Conventional firearms were useless against them, and their plating could even deflect cannon shells. If the human military had to handle them alone, the casualties would have been catastrophic.
Striker 1 was Dr. Cash’s callsign. She pressed the comm button, and her voice came through modulated and calm.
“Are the air-to-ground missiles ready?”
The instant the pilot ended the transmission and issued the order, dozens of fighters unleashed their air-to-ground missiles. With a crisp whoosh, the heavy ordnance streaked downward and detonated.
BOOOOM!
The earth-shaking roar made the entire city tremble. At this intensity, even the citizens deep inside the bunkers had to be worried. Each missile possessed a massive blast radius and devastating power. Yet only five Hope Eaters fell. Those struck directly were pulverized, but the rest remained energetic. The ones that had kept proper distance showed not even a scratch.
—What the…
The moment the Falcon squadron commander faltered in confusion, slash—rip— Leona’s arm blurred. She tore a Hope Eater into bloody shreds.
The pilots’ awed voices and chatter spilled from the speakers of the jet Dr. Cash and I occupied.
Yes, burn the sight of my Leona’s strength into your retinas. The sword of humanity’s guardian deity will one day turn its edge toward every last one of you.
Beep! Beep!
At that moment, another gate materialized beside the one that had released the Hope Eaters.
“Doctor! New Evilion signature!”
“I see it! Gauge reading?”
“Ten percent… twenty… thirty, forty, fifty-five… seventy-four percent. The gate is opening!”
Seventy-four percent placed it in B-class range according to the rating chart I had designed to become the future standard.
Creeeeak!
This gate yawned far wider than the previous one. The monster that emerged was…
“UHAHAHA! At last! It has finally appeared…! For Lord Tyrat!!”
Parax’s bull head boomed in the common tongue of Erandel. To humans it would sound like an unknown language, yet they would instantly recognize the presence of a highly intelligent lifeform. They were going to have quite the headache in the days ahead.
Returned to his true size, Parax stood roughly ten meters tall—smaller than Amducias. The instant he appeared, Leona locked onto him.
“Haaap!”
With a heroic cry befitting a magical girl, she exploded through the air and closed the distance. She gripped her sword with both hands and struck the vital point of any living creature—the neck.
But…
CLAAAANG!!
The blade bounced off without so much as scratching Parax’s hide.
‘Parax’s skin is on an entirely different level from the Hope Eaters…’
“Uuuuugh!!”
It seemed to have hurt regardless. The way he twisted his neck while groaning proved it.
Leona, I’ll give you a little help, so just buy time. Marcela and I have already prepared a weakness for him. Simply keep him from locating the humans hiding underground and feeding on their despair. If he succeeds, he will slaughter hundreds—thousands—of the people you are sworn to protect and grow even stronger.
I raised a hand to my ear and opened the channel to Leona.
“Leona! Do not attack recklessly! Probe him first!”
“But…”
“Your Device capacity has more than doubled. You still have roughly eight minutes of transformation time. There’s leeway. Keep his attention while you search for weaknesses. We’ll run scans on our end too.”
“Ah… understood.”
After replying, Leona backed off slightly and began expending anti-monster consumables. Good. Drag the fight out from range. Do not charge in blindly.
The central district of Daejeon had been reduced to rubble by the overwhelming firepower of the Falcon squadron and fighter jets. Almost no building remained intact. Still, there was a clear gain: every last Hope Eater had been exterminated.
“Withdraw. We will handle the large bull-headed demon.”
At Dr. Cash’s command the Falcon squadron retreated as though they had been waiting for permission. Missiles could not even scratch Parax. Staying would have meant dying without accomplishing anything, so they vanished gratefully at the doctor’s order.
And Leona was…
“Ha!”
Thud!
“Kugh! This bitch…!”
She was driving Parax back. Both of the demon’s knees rattled unnaturally, bones misaligned, thanks to the nanomachines Marcela and I had secretly injected. His patellae were being eaten away from the inside.
Pretending to have just noticed the anomaly, I issued orders to Leona. She faithfully continued hammering his knees, and the tide of battle steadily reversed.
Even so, killing Parax would be difficult. A late-game boss had been deployed too early; without her ultimate skill, incapacitating him temporarily was the best Leona could manage. She needed to awaken that ultimate skill—and I had already laid the groundwork.
‘All right, Marcela… you should be ready. If you overdo it like you did with Aktoa, I really will cut your tail off.’
A few hours of unconsciousness would suffice.
While Dr. Cash stared fixedly at the monitor, I secretly signaled Marcela. Parax’s gaze blurred by a fraction so small no one else would notice. Ignoring Leona’s attacks entirely, he thrust both arms toward the fighter jet carrying me.
And then—
WHOOSH!
Black magical energy jetted from all ten fingers. The thin, water-jet-like streams consumed stored despair—an attack Parax hated using except in true emergencies.
Why had he resorted to it? Because Marcela had ordered Amon to cast a forced hypnosis on him. Amon would be unable to use his power for some time afterward, but… if it served to awaken the ultimate skill, the sacrifice was acceptable. Let’s look on the bright side.
In the original story, Leona had awakened her ultimate skill when Yu Seunghyeon faced mortal danger. She had learned it naturally in the moment the person she loved was about to die. The current Leona loved both Yu Seunghyeon and me, so the condition should remain the same. If I reached the brink of death, she would cut Parax down in a single strike and rush to save me.
Crunch!
The black magic pierced the fighter jet’s sturdy armor. I, standing directly in its path—
“Urk!”
Five holes opened in my abdomen. I let out a short cry and clutched my stomach with both hands. A sticky warmth. Blood was pouring out.
This fucking… Marcela, you bitch. I told you not to go too far… Did you forget I’m currently in an ordinary human body? Or did you bear a grudge? Seeing how happily she wagged her tail when I pulled it, I doubt that… Still, it looks like I’ve reached the verge of death.
“Kyaaaaaaaak!!”
Leona’s scream rang from afar. I buried my face against the shattered monitor.
Ah… my vision is turning black.
The fighter jet was falling. Dr. Cash rushed forward and slammed the ejection button.
Fwoosh!
The cockpit blew open. My body, still strapped to the seat, shot into open air. The wind felt refreshingly cool. The holes in my gut were getting excellent ventilation as well.
Woooong! Woooong!
From the distant sky I saw streams of brilliant yellow light pouring forth. Leona’s sword, now enormously enlarged, was hurtling toward the center of Parax’s forehead. The radiance was too blinding to see clearly, but there was no doubt—she had awakened her ultimate skill.
I should give it a name… What would suit it? Since she learned it through the power of love, perhaps Lovely Sword? No, that’s too childish. Never mind. I’ll just keep calling it the ultimate skill for now. I can think about it properly in my dreams.
Thud.
Someone caught my falling body with gentle strength. Forcing my heavy eyelids open, I saw Leona’s sky-blue eyes right in front of me, overflowing with transparent tears.
You saved me. Of course you did.
Her lips were moving; she seemed to be saying something, but I could no longer hear. Still, seeing Leona’s face this close for the first time was a strange pleasure. With Sehwa’s features visible, she looked even more beautiful.
That bitch Marcela—I should have been able to examine this lovely, noble face in detail, yet she did this to me. When I wake up, she is finished. Actually, maybe I should punish Amon instead? Never mind. I’ll just scold them both.
With that final thought, I lost consciousness.