What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 168

#168

Exit (4)

*Thwack!* Duke Cecil Blanquer jammed his staff between the gravel and tree roots.

Then,

*Faaaash!*

A dazzling flash of light illuminated the forest once more. It was the power of a mage specializing in light.

Cedric instinctively lowered his eyelids and hid behind a tree.

It was something that had already happened several times.

*Roar, Kaaawk!* The magical beasts that had escaped from the dungeon couldn’t withstand the pure white light and emitted painful cries.

The air vibrated, and the leaves trembled.

One, two, three. The Crown Prince opened his eyes at the precise moment the light faded.

And, simultaneously releasing his cover,

*Spot!*

He slashed his sword horizontally. From the jet-black blade, crimson sparks erupted like a swarm of beasts.

*Whoosh!*

*Kieeeek!*

*Keok! Keoooook!*

The lion-like magical beasts screamed, their bodies engulfed in holy fire.

It was a sight he had seen more than ten times already.

A few with thick hides resisted death and charged towards the Crown Prince.

The man didn’t evade. From the tip of his sword, blood-like embers dripped.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

*Thud!*

*Swoosh!* Elizabeth, appearing in an instant, swung her rapier.

Because the magical beast’s muscles were tough, she couldn’t cleanly sever its neck, but,

*Kwaak!*

*Keoheok, kek, kireureu······!*

The *Maingauche* [a type of dagger] in the Countess’s left hand successfully cut off its windpipe.

*Thud!* Confirming the magical beast had fallen, Cedric immediately surveyed the surroundings.

He saw intensely gleaming blue-gray eyes.

*Kwaaaak!*

“Next!”

Christel shouted roughly. Her pink hair billowed like a raging wave.

Drawing water from the nearby stream, she created several ice daggers and relentlessly stabbed them into the heads of the magical beasts.

Here, there was no need to control her power, so she was clearly rampaging as the Blessing of the Sea led her.

‘Kueeeek!’ When a raccoon-like magical beast evaded her ice shards and tried to run away,

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

*Thwack!*

Christel swung her whip with a terrifying voice.

*Whirlick, Snap!* The leather strap wrapped around a tree trunk became taut.

The magical beast, desperately trying to escape, couldn’t stop before her trap.

*Thud!*

Its two front paws got caught in the rope, and

*Kuweeek!*

The creature tumbled wildly over the dirt and stones.

Christel leaped as if flying and thrust a sharp icicle into the magical beast’s neck with a *crack!*

The creature couldn’t even utter a final scream.

‘Ha! Hoo!’ She blew her bangs back and met the Crown Prince’s gaze directly.

Both were on edge, making each other’s aether [magical energy] feel even more uncomfortable.

But they could tolerate this much.

Their partner didn’t like unnecessary conflicts between them.

“······.”

The large and dangerous ones were being taken care of by Cedric, Elizabeth, Christel, and Duke Blanquer in this manner.

The Imperial Guard and the Blanquer Knights took care of the stragglers escaping to the sides or rear.

Even if they were small and insignificant, they were still terrifying existences to ordinary people.

It was an endless repetition.

Unlike the Great Subjugation, where tricky magical beasts of superior rank occasionally appeared, here, creatures between lower and middle ranks poured out continuously.

Cedric sheathed his Blessed Sword and headed towards the place where the priests were waiting.

Until the next attack, he had to use the short break efficiently.

“Y-Your Highness. I will offer my aether.”

The priest who had followed from the Lord’s Castle bowed deeply, opening a circle.

Cedric was a man accustomed to receiving obeisance, but somehow, it felt uncomfortable when someone gave him aether in this way······.

It seemed he had become accustomed to someone who never broke eye contact.

As expected, the aether of the priests here was also incredibly impure.

Still, he didn’t express his dissatisfaction this time. He was a quick learner.

He had heard so much about ‘actions not to be taken with priests’ from his godmother, his disgruntled teacher, and his partner that it was practically ingrained in him.

At some point, Sant no longer avoided him or made a face when he saw him.

“It would have been nice if Marquis Dhiem had stayed.”

Christel, sitting on the opposite side and receiving aether from another priest, suddenly spoke.

Elizabeth, standing next to her, smiled and nodded.

His friend seemed to have taken it to mean ‘we’re short on manpower,’ but Cedric keenly grasped Christel’s meaning.

She wanted Marquis Dhiem to bring Prince Yeseo here. Right now.

“There was no way to hold him back.”

The Crown Prince replied.

Francois Dhiem was a great noble, and great nobles were not immediately arrested or investigated for any charges other than murder without clear evidence.

This was a powerful privilege and a long-standing custom.

Christel blinked as if his answer was unexpected, then chuckled and rested her cheek on her knee.

Even though the corpses of magical beasts were scattered everywhere, her complexion was fresh.

“I wonder what he’s doing?”

Although there was no subject, Cedric once again captured her meaning.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth had stepped aside to receive a report from the Imperial Guard.

The Crown Prince focused on the warmth near his heart and opened his mouth.

“He’s probably having dessert.”

“Please, just let me touch the necklace once.”

“That’s not funny.”

“You’re so stingy.”

Christel’s expression wasn’t bad as she said that.

She must have been joking, knowing full well she would be rejected.

Cedric kept the Sacred Stone necklace as it was.

He hadn’t consumed even a single strand of the aether inside.

Watching the Duke talking to the Knight Commander, Christel changed the subject again.

“He must be angry. Because we left him behind.”

“······.”

“But it couldn’t be helped. The Prince wouldn’t understand us, but.”

Cedric frowned slightly.

He was the heir to the Empire who didn’t need the Prince’s understanding, but that assumption was unpleasant.

Why couldn’t he accept a life of protection?

The partner of the heir to the throne should spend their entire life deep within the Imperial Palace.

Besides, he had been in mortal danger twice······.

“Your Highness, I am cautious, but I would like to deliver good news.”

Duke Blanquer’s even voice cut off his thoughts. The Crown Prince looked at her.

“It seems the First Dungeon has been sealed. It no longer seems to be causing mana reactions, and the Magic Tower has sent the same report.”

“Thank you, Lord God.”

The Duke’s soldiers, who had been staggering here and there, let out sighs of relief.

The Crown Prince withdrew his ‘vessel,’ which was not even half full, and left the sanctuary.

The priest was startled and looked back at him.

“Heal the soldiers.”

“Yes, yes. Your Highness.”

In any case, it was impossible to gain satisfaction from the aether of someone who wasn’t the Prince.

He had never had such an experience in his life.

Elizabeth gestured, and some of the Imperial Guard went out on a final patrol.

In another hour or two, it seemed that the situation would be over.

“Are you going back right away?”

The Countess asked the Crown Prince politely. Just as he was about to open his lips,

*Kwaaaang!*

A noise that tortured the eardrums echoed from beyond the mountain range.

Two or three soldiers fainted, unable to overcome their fatigue and shock. Simultaneously,

*Crack! Rumble!*

A ground tremor that couldn’t be compared to anything before shook the heavens and the earth.

It was as if lightning was striking from underground.

The intensity was such that one’s tongue could be cut or jaw broken if one closed their mouth wrong.

The Crown Prince supported himself with his scabbard, and Elizabeth threw herself over Christel, who had fallen.

She raised her gray eyes sharply and shouted.

“The Second Dungeon in the mountain range! It’s in that direction, Your Highness! Ugh!”

She groaned, hit in the head by a pebble.

Duke Blanquer, covered in dirt, deployed a huge defensive magic circle to protect the group.

Her lips were torn and bleeding. The Crown Prince gritted his teeth and stared ahead.

A sense of foreboding washed over him.

*Snap! Crack! Pa-ga-gak!*

Somewhere in the dense jungle, there was a terrible sound of old trees breaking one after another.

*Sreung!* Cedric drew his Blessed Sword and stood his ground. His intuition whispered.

‘This was not the right flow.’

But as the son of Frederick Riester, he did not understand the concept of retreating or running away.

So······.

*Koong! Koong! Koong! Koong!*

“······.”

No matter what came, no matter what hardship befell him, he would face it.

The aether within him was woefully insufficient, but he had the flames of the Blessed Sword.

At least he wouldn’t change his appearance or faint.

*Koong! Koong!*

*Flap! Kaaak!* Birds shuddered and flew away from afar. The man knew instinctively.

It was the sound of footsteps.

Something very heavy was approaching, stepping on, crushing, and conquering the mountain range.

Christel, staggering to her feet, stood to his right.

Elizabeth took her place to his left, and Duke Blanquer, leaning on her long staff, emitted red mana from her entire body.

She hadn’t rested at all since last night, but she didn’t break, befitting her role as the bulwark of the border.

*Pa-deuk! Kugung!*

Near at hand, stone bedrock shattered and the ground tore apart.

Soon, the forest rapidly darkened as if covered by dark clouds.

Christel was the first to look up at the sky. She muttered, stunned.

“Crazy, what is that······.”

*Koong! Koong!*

‘That’ wasn’t even a magical beast in the first place.

There were no eyes, nose, or mouth on what appeared to be its head.

A golem crudely made by attaching huge rocks with mud.

That was the kind of description that suited the monster. Chills ran from head to toe.

The creature creaked as if being controlled by someone, indiscriminately destroying everything its hands and feet touched.

For the first time, a crack appeared in Duke Blanquer’s voice.

“······’Golem’.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s a golem. Jacques!”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

The Knight Commander, bleeding from the head, immediately stood at attention.

The Duke’s dark brown eyes gleamed fiercely.

“Send a message to His Majesty, quickly! You must go yourself!”

“I will obey!”

The Commander wiped the blood from his armor and quickly left the defensive magic circle.

Then, the golem immediately swung its moss-covered arm.

*Woo Woong!*

A heavy rock covered the Commander.

*Ssae-aek!* Christel swung her whip to pull him over. But it was too late.

The voices of the paladins and soldiers broke with grief.

“No way!”

“Commander, Commander!”

It was then.

[Halt!]

*Saaaaaa!*

Holy golden light burst forth in the air. It was as if the entire mountain range was being dyed in gold.

As soon as I landed, I hurriedly checked on the patient. I only sent the protagonists, and another disaster has happened!

“Are you alright? Were you grazed by anything?”

“No, it’s not that······. Prince, how did you get here······.”

The Blanquer Knight Commander gasped for breath and looked at me with a confused face.

I was alarmed because there was bleeding on his forehead, but thankfully, it didn’t seem like he was hurt by that ignorant boulder.

I’d like to open a healing circle and check him over, but I can’t release the Sacred Ground right now.

That’s right, a clean cloth. I brought a cloth.

“Just a moment, I have something to stop the bleeding in my bag.”

“Prince Yeseo!”

Christel almost screamed and ran towards me. Her eyes were moist, and she seemed quite surprised.

I should be angry since I saw her hateful face in just one night, but somehow, it was hard to be serious.

I handed the cloth to the Commander and pursed my lips.

“What’s going on? How did you get all the way here?”

“Thanks to that person.”

I gestured towards the sky. Sir Johann, who was floating in the air, waved his hand towards Christel.

The Crown Prince frowned.

“You disobeyed orders, teacher.”

“Didn’t you expect this? How could I stop Prince Yeseo, Your Highness?”

He smiled. Then, he gave the stiff, stone giant a cold glare.

It was a great relief that the oracle worked in time.

Of course, Sir Johann changing his position was the first stroke of luck.

He held Eva in one arm and said without a word.

‘This should be enough education related to the paladins. Now I can take you to Your Highness.’

‘······Pardon?’

‘Put this down! It’s fun, but I won’t forgive you. *Bapbo!* [Korean for idiot] White Fox!’

‘I gave my disciples education related to priests. Even if they want to keep their partner away from the battlefield, they should be thinking that they shouldn’t do that by now. Now that it’s come to this, should I make them write a letter of apology?’

So, sending the two men and women as they were and stopping me were all part of the teaching.

It was a different teaching method from my teacher in many ways.

“If that’s really a ‘Golem’······. His Majesty needs to know. I’ll send a message.”

“And I entrust the Lord’s Castle to you.”

Duke Cecil Blanquer said with difficulty.

It would be bitter to entrust the castle to a paladin from the Holy Kingdom, but it was a quick and wise decision.

Sir Johann nodded and disappeared into the sky in an instant.

Christel chattered her white, even teeth.

“I was wrong, Prince. I’ll write a letter of apology when we get back.”

Oh, really.

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

“Leaving you behind. But I was worried. You mustn’t get hurt. You’re our treasure, Prince.”