What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 278

Sub Male Lead on Strike-278

#278

The Last King of the Thousand-Year Kingdom! (2)

Goosebumps rose, and my teeth chattered. I swallowed hard.

Don’t look back. Don’t answer.

-Kki?

“Demi, come here.”

The lesser panda obediently ran over and clung to my leg.

It seemed to feel my anxiety and shock completely.

I hugged the little one tightly with the arm that held the staff. And I walked diligently, only looking forward.

I focused only on Christel’s hair fluttering a few steps away.

It was too clear a voice to say I misheard, too clear to be a delusion.

And it came from directly behind me. The back of my neck was cold and scary, and I wanted to turn back right away.

If my friends weren’t here, if I wasn’t thinking about India somewhere in this place, I would have run out at full speed right away.

“Your Highness, what’s wrong?”

Startled, Marion on my left stared up at me.

My expression seemed unusual even in the child’s eyes.

The side of her face, filled with worry, flickered with the Crown Prince’s flames.

But I could be sure after seeing the girl’s reaction.

“…It’s nothing. Aren’t you cold?”

This kid didn’t hear it. That was really a ghost. Mom!

“I’m okay. Anyway, so this place has just become an abandoned ruin. But it’s not a special case.”

“I see.”

I barely maintained a calm voice.

Whirr, whoosh! Crown Prince Cedric, walking ahead, created a few more flower flames.

The fireballs that flew to our side brightly illuminated the surroundings.

He must have done it because the visibility was poor, but my heart felt much lighter when the surroundings became bright.

Behind me, the footsteps of Sant, Joan, and Sir Johann echoed regularly. I unknowingly took a deep breath.

Good job holding it in, Ye-seo. Let’s not act like a cliché from a horror movie here.

You know you’ll die quickly if you do that. I have to go home alive.

“If it’s not a special case, does that mean other ruins are abandoned too?”

Christel turned to us and asked.

The spirited eyes and lovely face were just as I knew them. That side is the real one after all.

She was even bickering affectionately with the Crown Prince earlier.

“Yes. The Papal States no longer study the ruins in the neutral zone. They don’t protect them either. They said it’s difficult because of the undead and it costs a lot of money.”

Marian answered clearly. Sant sighed.

It was a frustrating reality, but it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

The leader’s seat had been vacant for a hundred years, and the national schism between Liester and Venetian had lasted for 30 years.

The prestige of the Papal States, caught in the middle, was falling to the bottom day by day.

Although there was Ronald Lüpert, the Secretary-General who oversees the neutral zone in place of the Pope, he was ultimately just a manager focused on maintaining the status quo.

No. Considering that Archbishop Eugene Kessie acted as a spy through the Papal States…

Corruption must have progressed quite a bit. Maybe they can’t even maintain the status quo.

“Oh? Prince. Stop for a second. Crown Prince and Princess Rose too!”

At that moment, Joan urgently called us. I immediately turned around.

She was standing, looking at the wall with a deeply furrowed brow.

Sant’s face was already pale, as if he had grasped the situation.

Christel and the Crown Prince quickly approached as well.

“What’s wrong, Joan?”

“This. It’s the tulip I drew when I first came in. I marked it just in case. But it’s here again.”

“……”

“Look, there’s charcoal on my finger too.”

“……”

Christel’s mouth dropped open. Goosebumps rose all over her body, and her eyes reflexively closed tightly.

Marian and Demi stuck to me like glue.

Somehow, there were no traces of people throughout the walk, and the surroundings felt excessively clean.

We’ve been going around in the same place since earlier.

Tite whimpered weakly, ‘Aeuu.’ It was the little one’s alarm that this wasn’t a dream but reality.

I quickly lifted my eyelids again.

My palms were so wet that the staff was slippery, but I had to stay calm.

“…There must be a path. Whether it’s a path to the burial chamber or a path to the exit. Since the entrance we came through is certain.”

We can’t be trapped in a place like this. The author wouldn’t leave us like that.

There must be another route somewhere.

The Crown Prince nodded seriously and looked for his teacher.

“Is there anything you’ve confirmed from the rear?”

“……”

There was no reply, which was strangely unusual. We immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Starting with Sant, everyone slowly turned around.

“Ha……”

Sir Johann, who had been standing there, was gone. My breath caught in my throat.

There were definitely three footsteps following behind. But the knight was nowhere to be seen.

Marian, hanging on my waist, trembled.

I barely pulled myself together with the single thought that I had to support the child.

When I opened my mouth, it seemed like a voice was coming out.

“Sir Johann?”

Sir Johann, Sir Johann, Sir Johann…? An eerie echo filled the black passage.

But there was no response.

The Crown Prince moved silently to block the group, and Christel guarded the rear.

Before we knew it, we were standing facing the opposite direction of our progress.

I whispered to the man, barely audible.

“Can’t you feel the Aether [a mystical energy or substance]?”

“Teacher doesn’t usually reveal his power in front of us.”

That’s news to me!

-Whooooosh…

A chilling energy blew in from the darkness.

Since we were constantly aiming at one place, the pitch-black path seemed to repeat, moving away and then coming closer.

It felt like someone was whispering something through the cool breeze.

We could just tell without talking. Just.

This isn’t Sir Johann’s wind.

“Should we, should we wait here until Sir Haines comes?”

Sant stammered.

Everyone nodded their heads up and down like excited parrots (except for the main male lead).

That was the wisest alternative.

If we went back to find him as we were, we might get even more lost, and it was unsettling to keep going on our own.

Why, isn’t it best to just wait quietly if you lose your family in a crowded place when you’re young?

He’s a cardinal, so he wouldn’t be caught by the undead without anyone knowing, would he…?

Could he have been?

-Thud!

“Aaaaaah!”

“Aaaaaah!”

Something came out!

‘Thwaaaack!’ We screamed all sorts of bizarre screams and clung to each other in a clump.

Sant jumped almost 1 meter [approximately 3.3 feet]. I was too scared to even look ahead.

Leah and Perry ran into the Crown Prince’s arms like flying squirrels.

‘Euhahaack! Hahahaack!’ The Crown Prince’s sigh mixed with Christel’s high-pitched screams, which were hard to tell whether she was laughing or crying.

It was hard to keep our balance because we were heavy as a clump.

The moment we stumbled and bumped into the wall,

-Kugugung…!

The inside of the tomb vibrated intensely. Did we trigger some kind of alarm?

“Crazy?”

“What! What was that just now!”

“Calm down, everyone.”

Sir Johann said calmly. Huh…!?

“Sir Johann, how long have you been here?!”

“Are you really Teacher? Tell me what was the first gift I gave you!”

Christel hugged my chest and screamed.

My face turned cold and then hot because it was scary and embarrassing.

Sir Johann tilted his head.

He seemed curious as to how we all became ugly sweet potatoes (except for the main male lead).

“There’s a hidden low door in the path we passed. It seems like we need to go down that way to get to the burial chamber. This path seems to be made in a circular shape…”

“I don’t believe you! Tell me the gift!”

The protagonist shouted clearly. Herit’s father smiled faintly.

What is it? Are they having a suspicious relationship?

“I remember exactly. opera theater box seat tickets,”

-Urrrrrr…!

At that moment, the tomb began to move!

“Your Highness.”

“Sir Johann!”

-Kwaaaaang!

A stone wall that popped out from the wall blocked my chin. We were horrified and stepped back a few steps.

The knight was so fast that he couldn’t be tracked for a moment, but the tomb’s attack was one step above that.

Now Sir Johann and we were separated by a thick stone wall.

Even this side wasn’t safe. The wall we were leaning on was slowly pushing out!

-Kwakwakwakwa…

“Aaaaaah!”

“Get out of the way!”

I shouted, hugging Demi.

Sant and Joan, who took care of Marian, rolled towards Sir Johann, and Christel and I ran out in the opposite direction.

As soon as we did, a heavy stone wall fell on the spot where we were. Kuuuuung!

“Keep running!”

-Kkiiiii!

“Yes!”

Christel shouted, and the divine beast cried out loudly as if urging us on.

Hugging the little one in my arms, I ran with all my might.

All thoughts evaporated, and all that remained was the determination to live.

The direction and speed are all over the place. If you get hit by that thing that pops out of the wall randomly, you’ll get at least a concussion.

If you get hit properly? You’ll just be flattened horribly!

“Kuh!”

-Kwaaaaang!

But there was a limit to avoiding it with ordinary human strength.

While my extremely ordinary body was gradually getting tired, the tomb’s attack was getting faster and faster.

In the dark passage, I jumped, did somersaults, and quickly bent my back back and forth.

The distance from Christel was also widening because I stopped in the middle to avoid the attack.

She looked back at me and widened her eyes.

“Prince Ye-seo!”

Then she gritted her teeth and took out a whip.

Tite, who had been in front, was turned around and carried on her back.

The eyes that were shooting at the moving stone wall and finding the beat were unusual.

It looked like she was going to grab me with the whip and pull me!

-Kuuuung!

“Christel! I’ll run hard, so please save me!”

-Kuwaaang!

“Just trust me!”

Aside from trusting you, the difficulty is too much! Ugh, this wall is moving too!

“Cough!”

At that moment, my waist was lifted up. I widened my eyes because I couldn’t figure out the situation.

My body was folded in an instant and placed somewhere like a sack of rice.

Demi quickly got out of my arms and crawled onto my back.

What’s with the Pacific Ocean, is this a person’s shoulder?!

“It’s hard and my stomach hurts!”

“Don’t resist.”

A deadly baritone warned. My dignity was about to end.

“I can keep running. Give me a real last chance! A person only gets two chances in life,”

-Tat!

“Ugh!”

The man shot out like lightning. The blood rushed to my head.

In the meantime, Leah, Perry, and Demi tied me tightly to the Crown Prince’s shoulder.

Then they also hung around his waist. They learned how to use vines too well!

-Kuuung!

“Cough! Go easy on me!”

“Ugh!”

I was giving the ride 0 stars, but I heard a familiar scream from below.

I could see a pink wave under the fluttering blonde hair.

“…Christel?”

“It tickles! Ack! I can run well!”

“Lower your voice.”

Our protagonist was stuck in the male lead’s side like luggage.

Is he carrying two adults and four divine beasts alone right now!?

-Kugugugu…!

“That’s the secret door the teacher was talking about.”

The man’s sound box vibrated lowly. It seemed like we had gone around the same place again.

I wanted to see it too, but I couldn’t see it at all.

All that was spread out in front of me was either a vast back or a thick stone wall.

Now that it’s come to this, I had no choice but to trust him. I had to steel my heart.

Pride and everything else aside, I clenched the Crown Prince’s clothes tightly with my mouth shut.

Then the guy acted like that was a signal—

-Tatat!

“Euheok!”

-Kwagaang!

He knelt down like lightning and slid down to avoid the wall,

“Isabelle!”

-Kwaaaang!

He passed through the second wall as it was with a slide, spun around in a sitting position, and then,

-Kwaaang!

He kicked something hard with that reaction!

-Kkii!

-Kkia!

-Kkihu!

The kids’ reactions were amazing.

I wondered what he had done to make the lesser pandas admire him in unison, but swoosh!

“Euheok!”

“Kkeuhaaack! Prince! We’re falling!”

“Yes, I know!”

In a situation where the only safety belt was the dark Crown Prince’s body, we fell to a place where we didn’t even know where the bottom was.

Ssaeeeeek! A unique dizzying sensation ran from head to toe.

A cold wind, a musty smell, and darkness that couldn’t see an inch ahead rushed in from all directions.

The fall didn’t end in a few seconds, and the gravitational acceleration increased.

I finally gritted my teeth and closed my eyes. My throat was choked because I thought I was going to die like this.

I said I wouldn’t touch the ruins, but I broke them and even wrote graffiti, so I have nothing to say even if I incur the resentment of the dead…

-Thud!

“Kuh!”

“Oh, I’m going to die!”

“Aueok!”

I lived! I rolled and crashed somewhere.

Tangled vines tickled my cheeks and hair.

My forehead and shoulders that were hit were a little numb, but overall, I seemed to be mostly fine.

‘Kkiing! Kkiwoo! Kkieung!’ An excited Demi made all sorts of noises, licked my chin, and hit my stomach with its front paws.

Oh my, a lesser panda is killing people.

“I’m going to be sick. Aeu.”

I barely came to my senses and raised my body, relying on the gold ingot I grabbed… Huh?

-Jangling!

“What is this? Is it real gold?”

-Aueok!

I was greatly embarrassed, but Tite let out a strong cry from over there.

I fluttered my head and looked around. Everyone was safe for now.

The Crown Prince had already walked far away and was exploring the surroundings, and Leah and Perry followed him.

Right next to me, Christel, who was holding Tite again, had her mouth open.

I made the same expression as her. I really had no choice but to. Here is…

“It’s all gold.”

I mumbled blankly.

There were countless gold coins piled up like mountains on the floor, and the place we fell was a corner of the gold hill.

It was an excessively unrealistic sight. The whole area was glittering with gold, making my eyes sting.

Gold cups and plates, colorful treasures and ornaments were rolling around everywhere like roadside pebbles.

The towering ceiling was also gold-plated.

At this point, I had no choice but to be sure. 100%. No, 200%.

-Kkieue?

“Demi, don’t touch that!”

This was the perilous tomb of the king!