What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 722

‘I can’t learn right now.’

Suddenly, Johan Seine’s voice echoed in her mind.

It felt like a signal flare Gain was sending to herself.

-Kwaang!

-Kwarururung······!

“Ugh, crazy!”

No sooner had Gain slammed the door open and entered the first stone tower than a thunderous sound reverberated from the high ceiling.

Startled, she hunched her shoulders, then realized it wasn’t thunder but the sound of the tower collapsing.

She hastily looked around the interior, which was dim without any magical lights.

The torches that had once hung on the walls had been removed by the soldiers, leaving the space almost completely dark.

The only thing that dimly illuminated the interior was…

-Hwareureureu!

-Kiyaaaaaak······!

-Kaang! Kagagang!

…a fire. Whether it had spread from somewhere or someone had deliberately set it, she couldn’t tell.

Every time the flames danced, flailing their red tendrils, the chained magical beasts screamed and writhed as if their throats would burst.

They slammed their bodies and beaks against the iron bars arranged in a circle around the tower’s interior, desperately trying to escape this hell.

‘Kieeeek!’ Gain stared blankly at an unknown beast engulfed in flames, its death cry piercing the air.

She knew this was happening, but the sight was so terrible it left her speechless.

…How can people wear human skin and do this?

-Kakakang!

Hmm! She snapped back to her senses at the sound of a magical beast scratching the iron bars with its teeth.

As if on cue, a sign hanging nearby caught her eye.

‘The Rasau Duchy’s Iron Rules for Producing Perfect and Ultimate Magical Beasts.’

-Kweeeeeek······!

“What the, shit.”

‘Iron Rule 1: The feed for adult beasts must always be less than the fixed quantity.

: Customers prefer beasts with sleek figures, free of excess fat and grease. For the development of younglings, feed them magical beast meat, but separate them from their mothers thirty days after birth so that they can be handled by guests…’

‘Iron Rule 2: Claw removal should be done periodically.

: Customers want safe beasts above all else. After completely removing the claw bones, embed custom-made magic stones to effectively suppress growth…’

‘Iron Rule 3: Do not administer sedatives when skinning alive.

: Sedatives for high-level magical beasts are harmless to humans but have long-term adverse effects on the muscles and skin of magical beasts. Therefore, with the magical beast firmly fixed in place, use professional equipment to peel the epidermis [outer layer of skin] to a set depth…’

‘Iron Rule 4: Always check the breeding schedule to avoid confusion.

: The higher the grade of the magical beast and the purer its bloodline, the easier it is for customers to choose. Thoroughly manage to prevent the mixing of hybrid blood…’

‘Iron Rule 5: The killing of magical beasts that have not been sold by the appropriate age is…’

She had only read the words, but suddenly her whole body felt weak, and she was covered in a cold sweat.

Gain brought her pale, frozen palm to her forehead.

For a moment, her eyes flashed red and blue. The goosebumps wouldn’t go away.

“Crazy bastards, what the hell are they saying…?”

-Kakakang!

‘Kagagagak―!’ The iron bars right next to Gain rattled as if they would break, and a scream like sandpaper scratching echoed.

The paladin jumped back and immediately drew Aether [her magical energy/weapon].

“Oh, oh, I’ll help you right away!”

-Swaaaaa······!

No sooner had the words left her mouth than freezing mist spewed out from her entire body.

If she recklessly poured water from the ceiling, all the magical beasts would melt or drown, so this was the only way to minimize the damage.

‘Ssaaaaa······!’ The water that touched the hot flames instantly vaporized into steam, and the magical beasts thrashed as if struck by lightning as soon as it touched their skin.

Gain shouted at the top of her lungs so that everyone could hear.

“Just hold on a little bit! Everyone, just hold on a little bit! I’ll let you out soon!”

-Keuhaaaak! Haaak, haaaaak······!

For a long time after that, she ran breathlessly down the tower’s stairs.

‘Ppajijik, jjaenggeurang!’ She froze all the iron bars she touched with ultra-low temperature and shattered them like glass, and after subduing the magical beasts wreaking havoc with fear and pain, she cut off all the shackles.

Their skin, reddened and peeled from contact with water and fire, smelled of rot and burning at the same time.

Black smoke, bright red flames, hot steam, and freezing ice fog.

And a desperate cry.

-Kweaek, kkuwe, kkuweeeek!

“Go! Get out quickly, this place might collapse, hurry!”

-Cheolseok, cheolseodeok cheolseodeok!

“Stairs over there! Run that way!”

Even the magical beasts in confusion—even the continent’s evil beasts that often did not hesitate to engage in cannibalism and infrastructure destruction—instinctively knew that this human was trying to save them.

When the paladin desperately pointed the way, whipping the floor, the beasts limped towards the entrance with faces covered in saliva and snot.

Then Gain could look around the surroundings for a moment.

A space without a single skylight, only breathing holes with a few stones removed from the wall.

The magical beasts’ excrement fell to the floor under the iron fence, but blood and bone marrow were sucked out with straws for the ‘customers’ in this living hell.

“Haa······. Heoeok······.”

It was the first time that the empty eyes of the already dead lives weighed so heavily on her heart.

-Kwaaang!

When she started liberating the second ‘zoo,’ Gain’s whole body was soaked with sweat.

This was because the speed at which she consumed Aether was overwhelmingly faster than the speed at which the Blessing of the Sea cooled her body.

Again, the man’s voice echoed in her eardrums.

‘As you know, the past that has flowed once cannot be caught again.’

‘It’s really fair, that. Awesome.’

To be exact, it was the conversation between Johan Haines and Ham Gain. She didn’t know why it was surfacing now.

-Cheolkeodeong, cheolkeong! Kwaaang!

“Go! Get out, run away!”

-Keureureureung!

“I said run away! Are you just going to die here?”

Most of the magical beasts here were already inhaling smoke and losing consciousness.

Gain, with her mouth shut, shouted at the top of her lungs to wake them up.

The arm muscles holding up the whip trembled and then burst out with strength.

-Hwiriririk! Cheolseok cheolseok!

“Wake up, get a hold of yourself! You have to run if you don’t want to die!”

‘Instead… I could change the flow.’

The next prison was the same. Gain did what she believed she had to do.

-Keong! Keoheong, keong! Keongkeong!

“Yes, that’s right! Go! I’ve released the chains, so go outside now!”

-Tteonggeurang!

“Hurry!”

‘It doesn’t matter how much mud there was under the surface. It’s the same even if there were those who recklessly threw garbage into the water.’

The next, next,

-Jjaenggeurang! Udangtungtang!

“Put strength in your legs! That’s right, run! You have to live somehow if you’re still alive!”

-Keeeek, keeeek······!

“Again, stand up again. Straighten your hind legs!”

‘You can run again while creating a new waterway.’

The next prison too.

-Wadangtangtungtang!

“Again! I’ll push you from the side!”

-Kkigigigit······

“You, you have a baby here. Are you going to close your eyes before this nursing baby? Can you do that?”

‘Of course, it will flood during the rainy season and become a lost child during the drought. You’ll be quite lost at first.’

A beast that had fallen with its back burned black blinked weakly at Gain.

A baby magical beast smaller than the palm of her hand was trembling in its arms.

Unlike its mother, the baby was very healthy.

Its fur, untouched by soot, was clean, and it was plump.

A faint moisture formed in the eyes of the mother magical beast. Gain let out a creaking shout with her face blackened with soot.

‘But now there’s someone to apologize to.’

“Get up! Aren’t you upset about dying like this? You can go outside and start over!”

-······

Why are you silent?

“I said get up!”

-Kwaaaang!

“Kteut!”

-Ureureureung······!

At that moment, a loud noise hit her earlobes, and a strong tremor occurred.

Gain staggered back and forth but hurriedly picked up the baby magical beast in her wet face.

The ‘zoo’ outside had been a mess for hours, but that sound just now somehow made her spine tingle.

She closed the eyes of the dead mother magical beast, recited the prayer she had learned from her teacher, and quickly squeezed into the corner of the iron bars.

“Keuk······.”

Then, she tried to bury her face in the ventilation hole where one brick was missing.

She also rubbed her blurry eyes.

Fortunately, the baby magical beast was quiet without raising its claws. What on earth is going on outside…

-Kwagwagwagwang!

“What, that······.”

-Kwareureureu······!

The huge tower that had been blocking her view until a few seconds ago was collapsing like a sandcastle, raising a hazy cloud of dust.

Her whole body was shaking like crazy, not from thrills but from vibrations.

She couldn’t immediately understand what was going on.

No, because of Gyu. I know that the foundations of the towers were weakened because of Gyu’s movements.

Isabelle heard it, and so did I.

But she saw me going into the tower, so she wouldn’t do anything dangerous consciously now.

But why…

‘Iron Rule 6.’

…Could it be.

‘We prioritize the value and rarity of the magical beasts we produce above all else.

: To prevent the leakage of handling breeds, production methods, facility management methods, etc. to the outside…’

No way, you bastards.

“Spraying of sedatives for high-level magical beasts completed!”

“Explosives placement completed!”

“Heok······.”

The moment Gain tried to deny her realization by gathering her remaining mental strength, such shouts were heard from beyond the opposite iron bars.

It was a sound blocked by a stone wall, but it could not escape the hearing of an archbishop-level paladin.

She hurriedly ran down the circular hallway and stuck her head into the opposite hole.

Her heart was pumping non-stop and pouring out Aether because of the excitement that had risen to the top of her head.

Her pale cheeks and forehead were scratched, but that didn’t matter at all.

“Those bastards have really given up on being human······.”

Despair flowed out between her chapped lips.

In front of the fourth tower that the paladin had not yet liberated, the Lord’s Castle soldiers were gathered like clouds.

Gain found a soldier carrying a bundle of magic stones on his back and running out from inside.

She gasped and reported busily.

“Captain! Just a moment! I think there’s someone on top!”

“What? Are you sure?”

The man called ‘Captain’ frowned.

It was a voice she had heard often when she first entered the Lord’s Castle.

“No, I’m not sure… Well, I think I saw a shadow of a person.”

“‘Think’ you saw it? Tell me exactly. Even while you’re causing confusion like this, dozens of our secrets are leaking out of the territory!”

“Euk, I’m sorry. Well, I think it was a small magical beast······.”

“‘Think’ it was a magical beast?”

“Hey! Tell me straight! Do you know how urgent this situation is right now?”

“Sorry, I’m sorry! I saw it wrong. It was baby magical beasts!”

As the frightened soldier stepped back, bowing, the situation was quickly resolved.

Gain clenched the whip with her calluses worn out.

Perhaps because she was too angry, the heat in her body was not easily subsiding.

It was as if the ‘Blessing’ had broken down for a moment.

Even when she was stirring the sea with Emma, or when she was fighting a landing operation with the marines, Aether had never been this rampant.

I was even freezing cold on the day I subdued that kid.

“Real bastards. How can they think of killing them all just because a magical beast escaped. The chains are still on in that building······.”

Are they going to collapse the building and bury them alive? Are those people? Did they all take drugs and go crazy?

Gain muttered like that but tried to catch her breath.

If those bastards come out like that, she had to speed up even more.

She had to empty the second tower cleanly and clean up those trash cans before she could stretch her legs and sleep well.

That way, she could face Isabelle and the Palace Lord…

“Fire!”

“Fireeeeee!”

-Kwaaaang!

Surprised! The explosion that erupted right in front of her made her tense back flinch.

Through the palm-sized hole, she could see the tower shattering to pieces.

It was a destructive combination of explosives and magic stones that was not commonly used even on the battlefield.

-Kwaaang!

-Kwaaaang, Kwagagang!

In order, the side of the building exploded, the knees collapsed, and the nape was cut off [referring to the tower’s structure].

The cries of the magical beasts trapped in the tower were as long as the ropes of the gallows [meaning they were prolonged and signaled death].

Gain couldn’t get up for a moment and captured the sight in her eyes.

‘Kwagagang!’ The bricks turned to powder and decorated the evening sky, and the burning beams and charcoal soared violently like lost arrows.

Among the corpses of the magical beasts that were bleeding and falling out…

-Kwakwakwaang!

“Uh······?”

People. There really were people in the tower.

“······.”

Gain’s surprised mouth dropped open. She saw a thin figure being thrown out of the building.

Probably unconscious…

-Hwiiiiii······

“······.”

Clothes covered in blood.

And green hair.

The paladin missed her breath.

“Uh······.”

No.

“Uheoeo······?”

It’s not.

-Biiiiii―

“No······.”

Lie. I saw it wrong. Why.

-Tuk!

The blood-stained whip fell.

Why?

“No······.”

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

No.

“Heok, heoeok, kulleok! Heoeoeok!”

-Biiiiiiiiii―

The tinnitus tore at her eardrums, her heart ripped apart, and Aether exploded.

The sky and the earth are turned upside down.

“Mommyyyyyyyyy!”

The scene in front of her eyes was white, red, and then blue again.