Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Backlash and Ambitions
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132
6
Kwaaaang!!
The explosive roar bursting right in front of me slammed into my eardrums.
My auditory cells must have died off one after another, because sounds felt distant.
Only a piercing ringing tore through my mind.
Someone shouted in surprise.
But with the sounds not coming through properly, I had no idea who it was.
I didn’t even have the strength to lift my head and check.
My head, completely drained of power, swayed limply.
I gasped for breath, but it wouldn’t come properly.
It was like someone was strangling me—oxygen just wouldn’t enter my lungs.
Instead, blood gushed out of my mouth.
The ground was dyed a vivid red.
In the spreading crimson puddle, my battered reflection stared back.
Fresh blood streamed from my mouth, and it wouldn’t stop from my eyes or nose either.
Probably because the bomb had gone off at such close range, blood trickled from my ears too.
It was a sight so gruesome it was a miracle I was still alive.
“……! …!!”
Leon, supporting me, shouted something.
Not hearing properly, I strained to roll my eyes.
Leon, yelling desperately, had his eyes wide like a startled rabbit.
Who knew he could make that face.
It felt oddly new, like I was seeing it for the first time.
“Don’t… die…….”
Spitting blood, I forced my tongue to move.
Only then did he calm down, stopping his shouts.
My body completely limp, I entrusted myself fully to Leon.
Lifting my drooping eyelids, I checked on Lucius and the child.
The child was sobbing pitifully but unharmed.
Lucius, soothing the child, was safe too.
Thank goodness.
The moment the bomb detonated, I’d forcibly squeezed out my depleted mana to isolate it in the dimensional veil.
It was an application of the mechanism I usually used to hide, but… the scale and depth were incomparable.
Even normally, fully containing the explosion’s aftermath in the dimensional veil would have been tough.
Doing it without even the incantation for ritual stabilization—and with mana completely exhausted—the backlash hitting my entire body was inevitable.
I’d be stuck in bed all weekend.
Honestly, even resting the whole weekend might not cut it….
If not, I’d take sick leave and crash properly.
Ugh, I vomited another mouthful of blood.
As my head throbbed and spun, Lucius gently held the child, patting their back.
The twisted expression I’d never seen on the usual Lucius starkly showed his fury.
For the first time, Lucius looked like a blaze.
His fiery scarlet hair and eyes stared at the devastation from the explosion.
His anger must be immense, given how much he cared for his people.
Cain seemed much the same.
I couldn’t hear properly, but from his lip movements, he was spewing harsh curses.
Noel had gone pale, clutching his gun and trembling.
Ludwig tried to stay composed the most, but the look in his shaking eyes was far from normal.
Using the innocent—let alone a child—like this was taboo across all ages and lands.
Even I couldn’t forgive Fayen Flo for this.
I’d catch him and make him pay.
I tried to grit my teeth, but even that was impossible.
By the time I had no more blood to spit,
My consciousness cut out.
7
“…No injuries?”
“No time for that…….”
Voices drifted into my ears.
I dazedly listened, then suddenly snapped to.
What was I doing?
My body felt heavy, first off.
My head wouldn’t think straight.
Given how half-dead I must’ve looked, I’d collapsed, obviously.
Rifling through fuzzy memories with my pounding head… I recalled collapsing in a pool of blood.
Right, caught in the explosion.
I’d pushed my body to the limit to block it somehow, and blacked out.
The Earth Dragon’s Heart strengthened my body, but it didn’t solve the mana issue.
I’d held out with stamina alone, but… it wasn’t a fundamental fix.
Keep vomiting blood and collapsing, and no amount of physical training would overcome the limits.
A spirit medicine could solve the mana problem.
But now, to get meaningful results, it’d have to be Earth Dragon’s Heart level.
Not something easy to obtain… so gear to compensate was more realistic.
I’d planned to let Mephis grow freely for a while….
Before collapsing again, could I ask for one mana-related accessory?
Something simple would do.
More importantly, why did my body feel jostled around?
The conversation lingering in my ears bothered me too.
They’d been saying I was incredibly strong, considerate, deserved a public award, nonsense like that.
I forced my eyelids open.
The world was blurry, like a camera out of focus.
Taking time, it finally sharpened.
First thing I saw was Riverflow’s streets dyed navy in the twilight.
Despite the bomb terror, Riverflow at night was quiet and peaceful.
Staring blankly at the view, I realized.
Someone was carrying me on their back.
The broad, firm back wasn’t comfy but rode okay.
Pretty warm, too.
“You’re awake.”
Leon’s voice came right beside me.
Rolling my eyes the other way, I saw his profile.
He was the one carrying me.
“As you… see…….”
My voice wouldn’t come out right.
My throat felt clogged, like the blood I’d spat had hardened.
Noel waved from over Leon’s shoulder.
They’d been talking to each other.
“Don’t abuse your body.”
Leon said stiffly, eyes fixed ahead.
He seemed concerned in his own way… but hearing that from Leon of all people, I couldn’t hold back a laugh.
My head hurt too much to actually laugh.
“Not words coming from you.”
“…What do you mean?”
This guy, no self-awareness?
A glance showed he genuinely didn’t know.
A sigh escaped naturally, but I held it—one wrong move and blood might come instead.
“You’re the one who always… puts your body last.”
“Never happened.”
“It has, though…?”
Fool who you can fool.
I knew well how harshly original Leon treated his body.
He’d throw away his life to protect someone.
Leon Hillpenberg was the type to swing his sword silently even with countless blades in his back, for what he had to guard.
That’s why I liked Leon Hillpenberg, but there were limits.
Even playing, I’d often wonder why he fought so desperately and foolishly.
In reality, against Onitsusen too, he’d charged without regard to protect me.
If the holy sword’s second form hadn’t unlocked then, we’d both be dead.
That scene still burned in my memory.
Leon’s back blocking surging chains, Exwise spilling two radiant beams of light, Leon’s fierce face charging ahead.
Reliable, yes—but fleeting too.
Leon Hillpenberg ultimately threw himself not for himself, but others.
If he died fighting someday, it’d be sacrifice for others, not himself.
That’s what bugged me.
I had no intention of denying his core.
I just wished he’d look after himself a bit.
“No fighting…!”
“We’re not fighting.”
“We’re not fighting.”
Noel jumped in to mediate.
My voice and Leon’s overlapped.
The words that would’ve followed vanished, leaving an odd silence.
Didn’t feel awkward.
My body wasn’t in a state to feel awkward anyway.
“…I’ll be careful from now on.”
Leon suddenly whispered.
I heard it fine, but just in case.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Brushing it off, Leon kept staring ahead.
Not repeating twice, huh.
“Then keep the promise.”
Chuckling made my body go slack.
Unknowingly relaxed, my mind hazed.
Sleep crashed like fog, no resisting it.
…Sleepy.
New incident happened, tons to worry about.
Mental fatigue piled up, so of course I was sleepy.
Just a bit.
Not too long, though.
Who knows when another incident hits—exactly 30 minutes……
8
In some unknown darkness.
Fayen Flo untied her indigo hair and flung open the rickety door.
She descended the stairs beyond slowly.
The space at the bottom was a unique blend of magic and magitech.
A massive gyroscope-like device spun ceaselessly—this was the secret hideout of one of Fayen Flo’s few allies.
‘Gloomy guy, but useful.’
Muttering that, Fayen Flo spotted a slender man.
Between his tanned skin and curly dark brown hair protruded a twisted white braid asserting its presence.
“What brings the real you instead of a doll?”
“Not your concern.”
The puppeteer Anirza adjusted his round glasses and replied coldly.
Fayen Flo just shrugged.
“Not asking out of curiosity. Mission success, anyway. Exploded spectacularly.”
“No, the bomb exploded, but the mission failed.”
“What?”
Fayen Flo’s delicate features scrunched.
Anirza didn’t even glance at her.
Instead, May burst between them, emerald hair whipping.
“I’ll explain!”
“You were there too, May?”
“I’m everywhere and nowhere! Ahaha~ Watched the blast site! No clue how, but Theo Agrit intervened—assassination failed. Ludwig, Lucius, all alive? Not a scratch!”
Unharmed in that explosion.
Fayen Flo reflexively furrowed her brow.
“I nearly got locked up because of Theo Agrit too. Whew, good thing Anirza was there!”
“Interfering last time too… Have I been underestimating him?”
Light faded from Fayen Flo’s indigo eyes.
Meeting his calmly sunken gaze, May cheerily wagged a finger.
“Nope~.”
“What’s nope?”
“Theo Agrit’s mine. Gotta pay for toying with me. Don’t poach.”
Fayen Flo scoffed at May’s equally icy tone.
“And if I say no?”
“Wanna decide who’s top dog right now?”
“Bring it if you’re confident.”
Crackling his knuckles, Fayen Flo gripped a bomb.
May spread mana with a eerie smile.
The space vibrated, on the verge of explosion.
“Both of you, stop. We still need Theo Agrit to claim the First Rune.”
“First Rune?”
Fayen Flo questioned the unfamiliar term.
Seeing that, May covered her mouth and laughed openly.
“Pfft, you don’t even know that?”
“You joined recently; haven’t explained. The First Rune is the very first rune to appear in the world. The most perfect proof—and fragment—of the god of genesis creating heaven and earth.”
“First I’ve heard of it.”
Fayen Flo narrowed her eyes skeptically.
Anirza stared motionlessly at the spinning gyroscope.
“The First Rune is the power of god itself. Thus, god destroyed and sealed it across the world. But if destroyed, just restore. Gather all First Runes and restore—the original rune’s power becomes ours.”
Emotion mixed into Anirza’s expression for the first time.
In a voice laced with ecstasy, like savoring aged wine, he whispered.
“Gather the First Runes… and I will become a new god.”