What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 529

#529

Dragon King’s Onslaught! (9)

“…What?”

Since there were no paladins among the group, it took a few seconds for them to fully grasp the meaning of her words.

A chilling north wind sharply grazed Francois’s chocolate-colored cheeks.

For some reason, it felt like the wind’s direction had shifted.

At the same time, an indescribable discomfort crawled up the back of his neck.

The moment Jibril Diop grimaced—

-KWAH-KOO-AH!

-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA…!

Without any warning or premonition, a disastrous water bomb crashed down from the sky.

The Strategist instinctively snatched the Marquis next to him and threw himself backward.

There was no time to think or consider anything else.

The two were practically flung away.

The centuries-old rock they had been hiding behind shattered into pieces, unable to withstand the tremendous force.

The pitted, frozen earth formed a miserable crater, and the shrubs and moss huddled around it were torn to shreds, forever losing their original form.

‘Puh-uhk!’ The combat mage nearly slammed into the frozen ground.

His back and waist ached as if they were about to break, but he bit his lip until it bled to protect the non-combat personnel.

His instantly soaked hair felt burning hot with a sense of crisis.

White breaths escaped through his teeth.

“Cough, damn it!”

-Kee-kee-kee-keek…!

Before he could assess the group’s situation, a chilling noise scratched at his eardrums from behind.

The mage’s amethyst earrings quickly cut through the darkness.

From above, a voice he had never heard before echoed down.

“What, a greatsword? That’s a rare weapon to see.”

-Kkee-geeg, kkee-geeg, kee-gee-gee-geek…!

“There are a lot of interesting guests today. Did you all come from the Rose Garden?”

“……”

Swordmaster Stanislas Riester was single-handedly enduring the onslaught of ice pillars, greatsword in hand.

No, it was more like a house-sized ‘ice stake’.

The tip, falling vertically from the celestial palace, gleamed like a well-honed blade, constantly quivering as if it had a will of its own, plunging downwards.

Jibril was certain that he would not have survived if that had struck the earth.

The woman standing on top had her arms crossed and was leaning to one side, not even using a fraction of her power, judging by her demeanor.

Her boots, covering half of her thighs, were a dark navy blue, and overall, she was dressed like a noble.

“I wonder what kind of people you are. I’m almost tempted to dissect you one by one.”

“……”

“This is a rare place for outsiders. Especially a water-attribute paladin.”

It was a strangely seductive yet authoritative voice.

The veteran did not retreat a single step, but the opponent was a young and energetic paladin.

Jibril urgently pulled on the collar he was holding.

A bright red blood vessel was throbbing in Francois’s temple.

His half-closed eyelids had no strength left. Damn it!

“Hey, are you okay? If you die, the old fogies in my family will kill me too!”

“I’m okay, I’m okay, so stop shaking me…”

-Jeeeeeeng!

Along with the faint voice, a cherry blossom-colored defensive magic circle activated. Only then could he breathe.

He had saved one for now. The combat mage gripped his staff as if he would break it and looked around.

It was dark, making it difficult to distinguish objects.

“Hey! Pink Princess!”

“J-Just, just shut up…”

‘Rustle, crash!’ Not far away, a figure covered in dirt and gravel slowly rose.

Her pink hair, always tied up high, was half-down and soaked, and a crude hair tie that her partner had given her was clutched in one hand.

Her white cheeks were stained with dirt and scratches.

Her robe, which she always treated roughly, was torn vertically, and the whip, covered in sticky impurities, hung long on the floor like seaweed.

However, her water-blue eyes shone fiercely, glaring at the sky.

A scene flashed through Jibril’s mind like lightning.

‘These two are unconditionally a team.’

Princess Juliette, smiling as she looked back and forth between him and Christel.

‘What? Why?’

‘Water and electricity are the ultimate combination. Please remember what I’m about to say. You may not have practiced together, but you’re both strong in real combat, so you’ll quickly learn.’

“…Marquis. You take His Highness and go to the council chamber. No, it looks like His Highness will be escorting you now.”

The man forgot to breathe and quickly whispered. Francois’s eyes widened.

“What are you talking about? You’re going to fight without rear support? Have you forgotten that I’m an 8th circle mage?”

“Looks like the other side is water-attribute, and our princess is also water-attribute. So that’s the end of the support. There’s no need for four of us to be tied up here.”

‘You heard the explanation, right?’ Jibril muttered, wiping his forehead with his rolled-up sleeve.

The upward curve of his lips was unusual.

The Marquis calmly gripped his mace and looked at him.

He wanted to figure out if this young man had hit his head somewhere and gone crazy, or if he was truly prepared.

…Anyway, even to the ears of the magic scientist, it was a theoretically perfect plan.

“Of course, there’s no need to easily reveal that His Highness is a Swordmaster. The Griffin clan will be here soon, so he needs to arrive at the council chamber in advance.”

“Now you’re talking. You’re a genius, right? Let’s go quickly.”

The lightning mage smiled bitterly and raised his staff. Just then—

“HRAAAAA!”

-KWAH-KOO-AH!

With a shout that would shatter eardrums, the earth trembled dizzily!

The two men’s heads snapped upwards, but Gain’s speed was several times faster.

‘Pa-pa-pa-pat!’ Explosive aether [magical energy] and the muscles she had trained allowed her to run vertically.

The paladin leaped up the slippery ice stake as if it were flat ground and charged straight to the top.

Then, spinning half a circle at full speed in the air, she swung her whip like divine punishment. ‘Whiriririk!’

-KWAH-KOO-AH!

-Jeo-jeo-jeo-jeok!

The stake that had been pressing down on the old man split into thousands of pieces like well-baked bread, and

-Clang—!

Shattered into tens of thousands of pieces in an instant.

The glittering ice shards in the twilight looked like constellations in the sky.

Francois ran straight to Stanislas.

The woman, who had been maintaining her dignity at the summit, was caught by gravity and fell like an arrow. Even in that moment, her arms remained crossed, her composure unpleasantly relaxed.

However, Ham Gain was a disciple of Johann Haynes. She did not miss the gap and kicked off the largest piece of ice.

She must not give them even a second of leeway, that was what she had been taught! ‘Pa-deu-deu-deuk!’

“Haaaah!”

She rapidly caught up and stabbed an icicle into the enemy’s neck—

-Thwack!

Her wrist was grabbed in an instant. It was at a speed invisible to the eye.

‘Whoosh!’ Gain immediately gritted her teeth, bent her knees, and twisted her upper body.

‘Puh-puh-puhk!’ She slammed the edge of her opposite hand onto the opponent’s elbow, then plunged her freed right hand into the enemy’s chin. ‘Puh-uhk!’

Then, the moment her boot slammed mercilessly into the opponent’s shoulder,

-Pah-ah-ah-ahk!

“Keo-heok!”

Hood-deuk! Blood spurted from Gain’s mouth.

Her body, folded in half, soared into the sky against gravity. She didn’t even know what she had been hit with or where.

Her mind was dazed by the sudden pain. She needed to come to her senses quickly, but for a moment, her whole body felt paralyzed.

It sounded like someone was calling her name from the ground, but the shouts were only distant echoes.

Then, a very powerful aether began to press down on her from all directions.

Watching the opponent’s knife-like hair fluttering in the air, Gain slowly realized.

“Heut, you…”

That woman. I can’t win with my current strength.

“You’re cute, you know. Rushing in without knowing your place.”

“Keo-heok, heup…!”

This was the same pressure she had once felt from Elysee Venetian,

“Ah. I haven’t tasted this in so long, I’m getting excited.”

“Keuk, keu-heuk…!”

The Cardinal’s aura.

-Pa-deu-deu-deuk!

At the same time as her realization, the opponent licked her lips and clenched her fist.

The ice shards, floating in pieces, gathered sharply again at their master’s command.

Stanislas, who had been watching the situation for a few seconds, immediately adjusted his greatsword.

A faint ray of light was swirling at the tip of his blade.

Jibril clenched his jaw and shouted. Absolutely not!

“Grandfather! You can’t fight her here, you know what you have to kill!”

“Boy!”

“Leave this to us and go, hurry!”

The old man looked greatly embarrassed, but the young man did not back down, his expression more determined than ever.

The Royal Preceptor was a man who did not kill according to his beliefs.

In the end, he would fight without being able to cut her down, until he could get her to surrender, but at that rate, he could never carry out the operation.

Rather, all the efforts so far would be in vain.

The elder, who quickly accepted the situation, lifted Francois up in a flash. Then, without looking back, he shot towards the council chamber. ‘Koo-goo-oong!’

“Hmm? Where are you going?”

-Tak!

The water-attribute woman, who landed lightly, turned around and reached out her hand.

She was about to unleash another fierce attack.

“That’s disappointing. Weren’t you going to let me devour you?”

“Keu-ha-ah-ahk! Let go of this right now!”

At that moment, Gain, who had been embalmed in the air and was enduring the aether pressure, struggled.

The Cardinal’s eyes also rolled.

The sight of the girl struggling like a demon, with the sole will to overcome an unbeatable force with her own strength, caught her eye.

The sight of her screaming while clutching the same baggage as her own made saliva well up under her tongue.

“Aaaagh! Let’s fight fair and square, don’t hang people like this! Keu-heuk!”

“Looks like I’m lucky today.”

You look delicious. The Cardinal moved her arm as it was and aimed at Jibril.

He shuddered. His legs were paralyzed by the overwhelming pressure.

“You look appetizing too. What orders did you come with?”

“……”

“You’re different from the Roseharder I’ve known.”

…If she was misunderstanding it that way, this side was rather welcome.

Flashes of lightning, finer than dust, began to spark from the tip of the mage’s staff. ‘Ta-dak, tat, ta-dak—’

“What if I’m different? Even the prestigious High Priest family can do this much in wartime, can’t they?”

“……Aha.”

“The black market has collapsed, so your situation isn’t good, right? Why would you miss this opportunity?”

Jibril babbled randomly, watching the opponent’s reaction.

It was truly a word thrown out without any consideration.

It was too dark to see her expression properly, but judging by her quietly sinking gaze, it seemed that his provocation had worked properly.

If so, then from now on, it was a one-card game.

“……”

The moment he even stopped breathing and swung his staff—

“It’s okay, I’ll let you go.”

The opponent’s gentle whisper scratched his ears with a terrible sensation, and

“That opportunity.”

-Pa-pa-pa-pa-pat!

Before the whip of light could fall from the sky to the ground,

-Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—!

The ice weapons hanging in the air all soared vertically at once.

Towards a single target.

“Heuaaaaak!”

It was Gain’s scream that tore through the black curtain and echoed miserably.

Jibril’s pupils widened.

He flinched.

Cedric, who was hurrying through the underground corridor, suddenly stopped and looked back.

Rambouillet?

“……”

But there was nothing yet.

Neither his colleagues nor his friends, not even a strand of hair, could be seen.

Moreover, the underground passage, with its walls covered in transparent sacred stones, was designed to prevent even the internal aether from spreading properly, let alone the external aether.

However, it was clear that they had to hurry.

Not far away, the shadows of torches and crowds were approaching.

“Lord Pilsner?”

“…No.”

Johann called out to his disciple, who stood alone, and the Crown Prince fluttered his robe and walked again.

For some reason, he had an unpleasant premonition, but he had to suppress it now.

Princess Francisca, who had been walking diligently ahead with small steps, glanced back at the two.

“Um, I think we’re here. Or we came the wrong way.”

“……”

“The road is blocked…”

“……”

‘Step.’ The two masters and disciples stopped and looked at each other.