What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 370

#370

If You Hold Me Like That Day (2)

We were stunned into silence.

“……”

The shocking horror nearly stopped my breath.

The startled Lesser Pandas clung to Christel and Lady Elisabeth.

I hurriedly hid Sadie, who was stiff with alertness, deep within my formal dress.

The thought that Yuliter was pretty or that her revival was surprising didn’t even cross my mind.

The group of priests, whose eyes met ours, gently curved their eyes as they looked at us.

Without an inch of deviation, simultaneously.

“Come in.”

“Come in.”

“Come in.”

“Come in.”

“Come i-……”

“Close it again! Close it again, François!”

‘Thud!’ The Marquis frantically used magic to restore the door that had been knocked off!

“Heok.”

-Squeak!

“Wow, crazy!”

“Good Lord, Holy Arian!”

“Oh my god. Dozens of Yuliter Statias……”

The entire group groaned and leaned against the doorway.

We didn’t say it to each other, but everyone seemed terrified that the door would fall off.

I patted Sadie, who wasn’t recovering easily—it had been 14 years since her vessel had run out of Ether [a magical energy source]—and gasped for breath.

Christel stared at me with eyes as big as saucers.

“Marquis Yeseo, is this also part of the plan?”

“No, not at all. I’m completely surprised right now. I never expected them to be waiting like that.”

“Then closing the door alone won’t solve the problem, will it?”

“Perhaps. But…… we have the Messenger of the Main God. It would be good to weaken their power like this.”

I answered quietly and turned to look at Lady Elisabeth.

She smirked and took a breath.

Gain still looked like she didn’t understand.

Demi and Perry wagged their tails and hopped with their front paws.

They seemed to be enjoying the chance to be active for once.

“As I mentioned earlier, when we arrived in Mankrans and found Sadie, Yuliter wasn’t there. That’s because a very frightened Leah erased her existence in a flash. I only barely saw her from behind before she turned into a flower.”

“……Yes?”

-Squeak!

As if she knew we were talking about her, the clever Divine Beast quickly clung to Christel’s waist.

I smiled slightly at Leah.

“According to my hypothesis, this place is a fake space created by taking advantage of the day when the moon closes its eyes [a metaphorical term for a lunar event]. A very small gap to avoid the Main God’s gaze. And these troublemakers are her errand runners. In other words—”

“Oh my god. Are these guys Yuliter’s natural enemies? The crackdown team?”

‘Ghostbusters?’ Gain’s face brightened as she whispered that.

I didn’t need to pretend I didn’t understand anymore, so I nodded brightly as well.

Then, Sadie’s prickly gaze touched my cheek. I immediately gave her plenty of Ether.

Eat a lot and grow up quickly.

“So Sir Johann just let us go. It didn’t seem like there was anyone here who could beat these little ones. No matter how strange the order here is, I think the Divine Beasts are an exception.”

“Then why are we doing this right now? What good will it do to weaken their power specifically? Are we just scared like this?”

“Madam, this way we can time it without being harmed by the witch! There’s no reason for us, the Emperor’s knights, to feel a blood-chilling fear in front of a ghost legion.”

François, who had stolen glances at the pocket watch until his fingertips turned white, said quickly.

The area under his eyes was trembling slightly. Anyone could see that you were the biggest scaredy-cat here!

“Aren’t you coming in?”

“Aren’t you coming in?”

“Aren’t you coming in?”

“Euaaagh!”

I became a second-rate scaredy-cat and screamed!

On the other side of the heavy wooden door, the Yuliters were speaking kindly to us.

Ssssss…… As a signal, a bluish-white pollen like venom began to leak through the cracks in the door.

Sreung! The Vice-Captain of the Imperial Guards, who was wearing a mask again, drew his rapier and aimed at the door.

Jiiing! François deployed an elaborate defensive magic formula to prevent the powder from reaching us.

Demi and Perry stood guard with solemn tails, pacing around his mace.

The dark, sparkling eyes looked particularly mysterious today. I licked my lips.

“Christel, I’ll tell you everything I know before we go in. Including the answer to your question just now. After we charge in, I don’t know what will happen,”

-Kwaang!

“Ugh! Because I don’t know!”

-Thud!

“Yes, I’ll listen with my ears wide open!”

-Kwaaang!

Gain answered bravely. Inside the small chapel, the resistance gradually grew stronger.

Tsutsutsutsu……! The entire corridor except for where we were standing was covered with bluish-white pollen.

I checked Sadie’s temperature and calmly formed sentences.

I did my best to explain the situation quickly and concisely.

The day I heard the news of my two friends’ disappearance. The moment I started searching in the ruined Mankrans.

The discovery of the stone tablet with their names engraved on it and the ‘SOS’ pebbles. The misaligned timeline.

The huge cluster of moonflower, the remains of the Holy Knights buried underground.

Bakari’s cooperation. The appearance of the Holy Stone in the closet that surprised everyone.

And the ‘rift’ and the Main God’s sword.

-Taang!

“The sword? The one that fell from the hole in the sky?”

-Kuuung!

“Yes, that’s what I used to cut through the gap and come in! We can use the same method to go back!”

Now it was to the point where we couldn’t hear each other unless we shouted.

Sadie groaned softly and buried her face in the formal dress. Her head seemed to hurt.

It was the first time I had seen her struggling so much, so I was very worried.

I patted her back and hurriedly looked around.

Paah! François’s mace was pouring out power, emitting a brilliant light pink streak.

-Kuuung!

“Ugh!”

There’s no time for Yuliter.

She knew we were trying to interfere, so she would try to stop us here no matter what.

She would lure us into the room and try to do something. She couldn’t possibly focus on Karme.

On top of that, she had ‘trapped’ herself in the chapel. She had created that situation on purpose.

She must be anxious and uneasy because she was all alone.

For her, who had never even been a cardinal in her lifetime, to withstand this much pressure—

-Kwagwaang!

“Please don’t torment me!”

“Please don’t torment me!”

“Please don’t torment me!”

“Please don’t torment me!”

“Keuk!”

A chilling sensation ran through me at the pathetic and grotesque cry.

The powder piled up in the hallway gave off a cold light, and the inner walls were as pale as our faces.

The colors felt entirely uneasy and cold, and my heart pounded.

Gain turned to me and asked in a rush.

“But how did you know? That, whatchamacallit. The fact that this place even existed!”

“Yes?”

“Usually, when you see a rift like that! Ah, you don’t think, ‘Oh, there’s another space here!’”

‘Has she watched too many movies?’ She added, shaking back and forth.

I immediately thought of the Prophet. Our talent who was greatly shocked when he saw the closet.

The bespectacled teenager who must be anxiously waiting for the group right now.

‘Bakari, what’s wrong?’

‘Marquis, danger…… Keuk, the World Tree……!’

-Thud!

“The Fleur de Lis Commander gave me a clue! The World Tree!”

“What was that? The tree in the Temple of the Boundary?”

“Yes! I messed it up a bit back then!”

“Oh my god!”

François, who was drawing up the mana in his body, looked at me in surprise.

Lady Elisabeth was now just about to have her jaw drop.

At the time, the guardian spirit of the maze had also reacted very sensitively.

The one who had borrowed the appearance of Prince Yeseo was horrified to see me tearing apart a part of the World Tree.

-It’s a reckless idea. No matter who you are, you can’t destroy the World Tree…….

-Aren’t you afraid? The World Tree is the source of life! It’s the only thing that protects the world line!

-Not only did a rat get into the maze, but the one who is loved by the Main God is disturbing the world.

……But there was no other way at the time.

Crown Prince Cedric was suffering from the trials of the maze, and I wasn’t the type to know that and silently move on.

It was the worst thing to torment a sick person’s mind like that, even if I thought about it again.

So I didn’t regret making a hole in the World Tree.

I didn’t even know what it meant to ‘disturb the world.’

It was just as they say, ignorance is bliss. Hmm!

“It seems that our world has become a little imperfect because of that! Yuliter aimed for that!”

-Pajijijik!

“Oh! If it’s a place where so many Holy Knights are buried, it’s definitely a good place to start something!”

-Peoeok! Ujigeun!

Finally, a large crack appeared in the thick door.

Whiririk—! François swung his mace 멋들어지게 [with flair] and checked his pocket watch.

Of course, it was a top-of-the-line product.

“Now is the time, Marquis Serenite! Elisabeth!”

“Yes!”

As if we had promised, we all dodged.

The swordsman, who had been guarding all sides, fired sword energy with his nimble rapier. Swish, swish, swish—!

-Kwagwagwagwang!

The chapel door was torn to shreds as if it had exploded, and the moonflower pollen that rose like mist dyed the surroundings bluish-white.

Demi didn’t miss the moment.

He bravely led the other Lesser Pandas and advanced. ‘Squeak!’

-Kkia!

-Kkiheung!

-Kururureung!

Kugugugu……! The climbing roses that had grown through the temple floor surged up!

Stems as thick as a person’s arm and sharp thorns rushed towards the room like harpoons. Ssaekssaek, sswaeaaeaek—!

-Pat, pat, pat, pat!

“Ah……”

Paat! It was definitely that sound.

Every time a blood-red rose pierced Yuliter, every time one of them disappeared, a small sigh and a moonflower were left behind.

Dozens of women fluttered their bluish-white hair and disappeared one by one.

‘Oh.’ François let out an exclamation that contained many meanings.

We quietly held our breath and waited for them to be cleared away.

For the Divine Beasts to clean up the existence that had defied the order of the Main God as they pleased.

……Watching was not easy.

-Pat!

“Thank you……”

-Paa!

“How could this be!”

Some Yuliters smiled brightly at us, while others had faces that cursed us.

Some feared us, while others greeted us with a nod. Their expressions were very apologetic.

One thing was clear: even though they were all the same person, they all looked strangely different in age.

The Yuliter glaring at us looked like a girl in her mid-teens.

The woman reaching out to me from nearby looked like a young man in his early twenties, and the one watching us from afar felt like she was in her thirties.

Of course, everything might just be my imagination. But,

-Paaaa……!

When the last rose pierced the last Yuliter, and she closed her eyes and disappeared into a flower.

Finally, the moment when only a hazy mist embraced us.

-Hwiriririk!

Cheok! The woman whose ankle was caught by Demi’s vines at the end remained without disappearing.

She turned to look at us very slowly.

Through the climbing roses that hung like spiderwebs all over the chapel, a dazzlingly beautiful person appeared.

I felt like my breath stopped for a moment.

「……」

She was clearly the same as the other Yuliters.

Beyond the thorns that tore the wallpaper and kicked the curtains, hair that sparkled like a beaded screen was piled up on the floor.

Clear beauty was evident in her glass-like transparent skin and long eyelashes.

The luxurious priestly robes were as beautiful as water lilies by the water.

She was someone who didn’t fit words like ‘villain’ or ‘witch’ at all.

She was just like a fairy living on the moon, like an angel of the Main God…….

「No……」

At the same time, she looked like a very young child.

Tears were dripping from her jewel-like eyes.

Like someone I had met before, she had no voice, but I could clearly read her lip movements.

We were speechless for a moment and stared at her.

The priest was sitting alone in front of a long sofa.

The person lying there unconscious was someone we knew well.

“……Karme.”

Christel murmured as if she was sick. I was momentarily flustered and examined Karme.

She must have had her Ether stolen like Sadie.

Sir Johann had said so, and the other friends had felt it too.

But now that the full moon was up, Yuliter couldn’t do anything under the Main God’s gaze.

If my theory was correct, this space would soon disappear.

We had rushed in right before moonrise.

We drained her energy at the moment she was trying to do something with all her might, instilled fear, and—

“Ah……”

Thud! Something fell from Yuliter’s hand and rolled on the floor. It was a scarred rabbit doll.

I blinked slowly. That is…….

「Mom, Mom…… Mom……!」

Yuliter burst into tears and buried her face in Karme’s palm.

Like a child who has lost the person she loves most in the world.