What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 685

#685

Coward and Catacomb (8)

-Swish!

From afar, Hwaseong’s Hyegeom [a type of sword or martial art technique] resonated clearly.

Ms. Gain and I, pale with fright, shook our heads and waved our arms.

“No! Cedric! Not that! Just run!”

-Thud thud thud thud! Thud thud thud······!

“It doesn’t work at all! We tried it! We tried everything, Aaaagh!”

We screamed our lungs out and sprinted, but these skeletons didn’t tire; their speed didn’t decrease but rather increased.

I glanced back for a moment, horrified, and sped up (almost miraculously).

The clattering of bones colliding deafened me like a disaster siren. The back of my neck grew cold, and my stomach churned.

The throng of white bones filling the passage relentlessly tried to grab our ankles, elbows, and hair.

Black, empty eye sockets, yellowing, decaying bones—corpses with only a few skulls left clicked their teeth up and down as they rolled forward. We gasped at the sight of maggots swarming out of someone’s teeth.

“Ugh······!”

-Rattle rattle, clack clack!

“Uweeek!”

Ah, I feel like throwing up! Jeong Hyeonseo······!

“What kind of trouble did the Princess cause this time?”

Ahead, Djibril Diop’s complaint erupted, followed by the sight of him waving his staff.

Ms. Gain and I squeezed our eyes shut and gasped for breath.

No! You son of a gun, listen to people!

-Fzzzzz!

“It’s no use, I tell you!”

We tried everything! It doesn’t work!

-Kwaaaang!

Sharp lightning, like a well-honed spear, flashed through the underground.

Simultaneously, from behind Ms. Gain and me, there was a crashing sound as something shattered and collapsed. It was the sound of the skeleton group close behind us being destroyed all at once.

Each time shattered bone fragments flew forward, I gasped for breath. But we didn’t stop running.

No, rather, we gritted our teeth and mustered every last bit of strength to dash forward.

François and Saint ahead of us wore faint smiles. They must have been relieved, thinking that attack worked—

“François! Grab your mace and get a grip!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs and pressed the button on my belt.

At that moment, two servings of chewy noodles shot towards us—!

“Eeeeh!”

“Uwaaagh!”

“Hold on tight!”

It was François’s magical tool, the ‘Friendship Belt,’ which we used to escape from the Yeriho black market back then.

As soon as the two of them were dragged towards me, I spread my wings wide.

The strength in my legs gave way for a moment, and then new propulsion surged.

The armor and robe parted, and all six wings opened, instantly lifting us high into the ceiling!

-Thud thud thud······

“Isabelle! Please take care of Duke Lasso!”

“Leave it to me!”

Even though all the skeletons were shattered and the passage was empty, everyone, sensing the emergency, mounted their horses.

From beyond the corridor in the pitch-black darkness, another ominous vibration echoed.

Smart Arum Hart quickly led Alison and began to run ahead.

I stretched out my arms towards the puddle of water splashing on the floor while supporting the two men.

The child was stretching out, trying to reach me.

“Just a little more, just a little more!”

-Clang, clang clang······

“Hang in there! Hang in there!”

Saint looked down at the trembling puddle and cried out anxiously.

I focused as much as possible and moved my wings to lower our altitude.

Meanwhile, at the end of the corridor, the march of the skeletons resumed. It was a legion that had run from another corner far away.

Doria, carrying Ms. Gain, neighed as if to release tension.

Moreover, even the white bones that Diop had shattered earlier—

-Click, click click

“······It doesn’t stop. Is it a curse?”

-Clatter clatter, clatter clatter······!

“Lord, how can such a tragedy occur!”

Scattered ribs, pelvises, and kneecaps were rising again, click-clacking.

Some bones moved alone, but there were also quite a few that were reassembling into the shape of a ‘body.’

Even bone dust swept across the floor, making a rustling sound. Meanwhile, the ant swarm was diligently scurrying towards the entrance.

Only then did Diop, realizing the meaning of ‘It’s no use,’ click his tongue.

As soon as the Crown Prince spurred his horse, Charlemagne dashed forward. Clatter, clatter clatter!

-Rumble rumble!

-Clack clack clack clack······!

As soon as the group started moving, the second wave of skeletons crashed in.

Just before a finger bone of one skeleton touched Doria’s tail—

“Got it!”

I succeeded in holding the puddle in my arms!

“Let’s get out of here! Mother!”

-Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter!

With Ms. Gain’s shout as a signal flare, everyone sped up like an arrow.

I clearly felt Sir John’s wind pushing my back.

Hugging François, Saint, and the puddle, I flapped my wings once.

In an instant, my friends receded into the distance, and the damp underground air struck my forehead.

The water mass squirmed and climbed up to my shoulder, looking back. Anxious that the child might fall, I shouted.

“Be careful, you’ll slip! Those skeletons never die!”

“Princess! What on earth are those beings?”

“We don’t know either! They have no souls, so divine messages obviously don’t work, and even if we freeze and shatter them, they come back to life like that!”

While François and I were shouting at the top of our lungs, the puddle, thinking something, came down to my chest again.

Saint, dangling from me, also raised his voice as much as possible.

“My, where did you meet such people?”

“It was a space like a room! It had a rotten wooden door, and the inner walls were divided into compartments where several people could lie down, like a dormitory. I don’t know how big and deep the bedroom was! As soon as I entered with a torch, those skeletons rose up in droves······!”

-Rumble rumble rumble······!

“Ugh, it seems much more terrible than His Majesty’s tomb!”

“Saint! The elders are listening!”

We simultaneously looked back at the raging skeletons and squeezed our eyes shut.

The number was so great that the white bone horde was densely packed all the way to the top of the ceiling, surging like a tide.

I bit my lip, watching my friends running with their postures lowered a few measures away.

Are those skeletons perhaps gatekeepers guarding this place?

Did they rise up as a group like that to drive us out?

“Damn it.”

-Clatter clatter clatter clatter······!

Then, do we have to be pushed back to the entrance again? What will happen to our infiltration operation?

-Slap!

“Ugh, cold!”

I was flying with a serious expression when suddenly the water mass slapped my cheek.

It didn’t hurt at all, but it woke me up in another sense!

“Why, why? I understand even if you speak!”

Oh, you can’t speak. Sorry!

At my rude remark, François and Saint gasped simultaneously. I’m sorry!

-Splash!

The water mass put its hands on its hips as if it was dumbfounded (you really have to see this in person), then stretched out its arms and pointed far away.

Even amidst all the absurdly surreal situations—being slapped by water while flying, chased by a million skeleton army—I hurriedly shifted my gaze, following it.

-Kugugugu······!

“Could it be there? Are you telling us to go into the fork [in the path]?”

-Splish splash!

The little one seemed to openly want us to change direction. I immediately looked back.

Between the six wings, which were balanced low, I could see the bones rushing in, unable to control their speed.

The group had only been going straight so far, fearing they would get lost or things would go wrong—

“That makes sense. It might not be a bad plan!”

I immediately shouted to my friends. There’s no time to hesitate!

“Let’s go straight into the left fork ahead! The puddle seems to have an idea!”

“Roger!”

Ms. Gain answered clearly as a representative, and the other friends sped up, meaning they had no objections.

Hugging two people and a water mass made my shoulders stiff, and I began to run out of energy, but I had to put in a little more effort.

Finally, just as the corner came into view, I clenched my mouth and flapped my wings greatly once. Flutter!

“Waaagh!”

“Left turn! Left turn, let’s go left!”

“Princess Juliette, good heavens!”

The three people’s bodies, unable to overcome the inertia, leaned to the right, and the six wings desperately flapped to maintain direction and balance.

Before my body could stand straight again, I firmly gripped the base of the feathers.

And imagined shooting out like a bullet—!

-Whoosh!

“Uwaaagh!”

“Uaaaaagh!”

“Hervéeeee!”

Like lightning, we ‘plunged’ towards the fork.

Following that, Arum Hart and Charlemagne galloped in, their white and black manes flying.

Duke Diop, Isabelle and Duke Lasso, Ms. Gain and Doria also safely followed behind. The last runner was Sir John.

I urgently stopped in mid-air—this time, the three people’s bodies flipped forward—and called out his name at the top of my lungs.

“Sir John!”

Just as the only wind I trusted reached out, the entrance to the fork flashed white.

At the same time, the cardinal’s white hair scattered and he looked back this way.

I knew he had blocked that place. And—

-Rumble rumble rumble!

-Thud thud thud thud······!

As if we were invisible, the skeletons rushed forward from beyond the transparent wall.

“Ha······.”

It was the same for the swarm of black ants.

We slowly stopped in place and stared at the ‘outside’ scenery.

It felt unreal, like looking at a desktop monitor screen.

For a while, only heavy breathing, the horses’ neighing, and the sound of clearing throats swirled among the group.

“Huck, cough······.”

-Thudududud······!

The floor continues to rumble, and the stench doesn’t stop, but······.

Anyway, we survived this time too.

I staggered and placed my feet on the ground, then let François and Saint down.

“Good job, Arum. You even took care of a new friend, you were so mature. Whew.”

-Neigh

“Yes. As expected of a Mademoiselle [French term for young lady] who knows the etiquette of high society······.”

After stroking Arum Hart’s mane as she haughtily raised her nose, I freely released the water mass in my arms (not forgetting to thank it).

The friends were scattered again, trying to figure out the situation.

First, everyone took out their canteens and quenched their thirst.

I glanced at the skeleton horde running outside the air wall, then swept back my hair and took a long, deep breath.

Drinking clean water seemed to calm my brain down a bit.

“Haa······.”

What is this again? No, I’ve been struck by lightning here once a quarter······.

“What the heck? How did we get chased by those things?”

“Are you hurt?”

“Daughter, are you unharmed?”

“······.”

Diop opened his mouth gruffly first, then frowned at Cedric and Isabelle’s subsequent words.

We smiled at the same time and answered, ‘We’re fine.’

Meanwhile, François and Leopold Duke Lasso were observing the walls and floor of the new path.

“And until just now, I thought the skeletons’ goal was just us······. Now I definitely know that’s not the case.”

“Yes. They’re not interested in this side at all.”

“······They seem to be trying to get to the surface.”

Ms. Gain, glancing at the skeleton horde, shrugged, and the Crown Prince agreed in a low voice.

Then Isabelle spoke in a regretful voice.

“So many remains were underground, could they be the remains of New Empire citizens who died in the war era?”

“I thought so at first too. But if that were the case, there wouldn’t be any reason to bury the fallen soldiers so deep. It would have cost a lot too.”

“Agreed. The basic thing is to return the remains of the fallen to their hometowns.”

The lightning mage said nonchalantly, leaning against the wall.

The following sentence flowed out from the depths of the fork.

“Oh······. But it seems like this place is indeed a tomb.”

“Yes?”

Where we turned our startled gazes, François and Duke Lasso were standing with surprised faces.

In particular, the mage was holding the L-shaped iron bar in his hand.

“Here, I see a secret door that I can open.”