What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 509

#509

Therefore, the disaster came suddenly.

You want to conquer the sea?

Talk about it after you win against the sea first.

That was our plan.

– Swishhhhhh!

“Hut!”

The heat was so intense that my neck and back felt scorching.

The surroundings became humid, and suddenly it felt like I was in a sauna.

Beeeeee— A short ringing sound followed the impact.

The noise, as if the world was turning upside down, still echoed in my eardrums.

I barely managed to steady my staggering legs and slowly raised my head.

The surroundings were hazy with explosive steam, and weak-minded territory residents had fainted and collapsed here and there.

Fortunately, everyone inside the Holy Ground was safe.

Ms. Gain was probably nearby, but I couldn’t see her right now.

The red-hot beach was smoldering with flickering flames.

‘Keegeeegeeeek!’ ‘Keeeek······!’ Beyond the thick fog, the shadows of tall monsters were writhing in pain.

It was the result of their skin being burned by the sacred fire and their mucous membranes being exposed to seawater.

At the grotesque sight of blood splattering, Dduk-ssim thrashed its wings in my arms.

The lizard kid climbed up my chest.

“No, no. Shh. Be quiet for a moment,”

At that moment,

– Swaeeeeeng!

“Gasp!”

In the dim vision, a sharp silver light shot out.

– Kwaaaang!

– Kkyaaaaaaak—!

‘Kkyaak, kkyaak, kkyaaaaaak······!’ The griffin’s scream echoed as if to shatter the sky.

I instinctively stopped breathing and tensed my whole body.

Then, a very grand shadow—

– Whoooooosh!

Slowly fell from the sky towards the coast.

I squeezed my eyes shut again, hugged the children, and turned my back. Careful!

– Kugugugugung······!

– Chwaaaaaaa!

“Ugh, uh-heok! Uphuh!”

Ugh, completely soaked! Only then did I open all my pores as much as possible and cough and gasp for breath.

The griffin’s corpse was truly enormous, and the wave caused by its body turned everyone on the coastline into drowned rats.

My hands and feet were freezing, then suddenly as hot as a sauna, and then suddenly cold water was poured over me again, so I was completely disoriented.

The saltwater burned and stung my nose. Wow!

“Cough, are you okay? Are you guys okay?”

– Bbee bbee bbee

– Tok tok

The wren, with its bangs wet and plastered to its face, poked its head out and chirped.

The fire lizard wiggled its head, going back and forth from my left hand to my right hand, and from my right hand to my left hand.

Both were pests, but one was an air elemental, so it wasn’t greatly affected, and the other seemed fine, perhaps because it didn’t have Physis [a magical energy source or life force in this context].

Only then did I finally breathe a sigh of relief and turn around.

– Whoooooosh······

At the same time, a warm and light breeze blew.

Anyone could feel that this was not the air current of the North Sea.

“Haa······.”

It was Lord Johann.

– Saaaaa······

As the fog cleared with his divine power, the desolate and quiet scenery of the sea finally came into view.

I barely swallowed what I almost screamed.

The sea surface, where clear ice fragments had been floating, had become a ruin filled with the poison and corpses of monsters.

Among the small boats that Lord Johann had provided, the wreckage of broken ships could be seen.

The luggage that the territory residents had hurriedly packed was also visible. But they no longer had owners.

As if scratched by the claws of monsters and pierced by beaks······.

“Aaaaa, aeuuu······!”

“Sob, Dad! Dad! Open your eyes!”

The North Sea was now bleeding red.

People immersed in pain and sorrow were screaming everywhere.

I raised my trembling gaze and looked up at the sword on top of the house-sized monster.

He looked like a gray wolf that had devoured a massive prey.

“······Grandfather.”

– Swhooooosh!

Flap flap flap! The greatsword that had pierced the griffin’s throat was pulled out, splattering dark blue blood everywhere.

His Highness Stanislav’s two eyes, with different colors, were filled with murderous intent and sorrow.

The elder’s heavy monster leather cloak fluttered in the wind. I blinked slowly.

“······.”

The silver light that had pierced the fog a moment ago was that man’s aura.

The elder had delivered the final blow to ensure the mythical monster’s demise.

Everything was according to plan, but this kind of ending could not be prevented.

– Kkagaaaak!

Flinch!

“Where do you think you’re going, you bastard!”

– Paaah! Crackle crackle!

Kuuuuung! A monster that was struggling for the last time collapsed without even letting out a death cry from our protagonist’s punch.

In the distance, pink hair could be seen swaying.

Ms. Gain, who was as soaked as I was, staggered for a moment and then collapsed.

Huh! I ran to her in great shock.

“Stella!”

“Ugh, I’m going to die. Dizziness······.”

Thump! Her upper body collapsed onto the sandy beach.

I carefully held her thin wrists with both hands and quickly released Aether [a vital energy or life force].

Then, the faintly trembling eyelids slowly rose again.

Red blood was visible at the tip of her white nose. My heart sank.

Ms. Gain, you’re having a nosebleed!

“Beautiful······.”

“You’ve worked hard. You’ve used too much Aether at once. I’ll wipe off the blood for a moment. I’ll use my bag to support your neck.”

“Hehehe. This much is nothing. The Palace Lord probably doesn’t know······. I’m the idol of the Liester Navy, you know. Sniff.”

“I know. You’re an idol to me too.”

As I replied with a forced smile, she heaved, making a strange noise.

Maybe the comment wasn’t very good.

Still, thanks to the Blessing of the Azure Sea, Ms. Gain’s recovery was quite fast. It was always like that.

Small wounds healed quickly, and accumulated fatigue was quickly resolved, so on the surface, she had the same stamina as Lord Johann.

I felt the Aether leaving my fingertips and was relieved······.

– Thud!

Oh my gosh!

A broken sword hilt fell right next to me.

I stared blankly at the sword, which had become junk in just a few tens of minutes.

The sword blade, which had been as red as if it had been dipped in a furnace, was now as white as paper, emitting its last smoke.

It looked like it would shatter into pieces at any moment.

“······Serenite.”

– Thump!

“Gasp, crazy!”

God, seriously, no way!

“Here, lie down this way. That’s right. A little more to the left. That’s right!”

I hurriedly moved the Crown Prince’s body like Tetris.

Objectively, his condition wasn’t too bad.

If a stranger saw it, they would be horrified, but it looked different to me.

There was cold sweat on his temples, his skin was pale, and his breathing was unstable, but—

“You did well. You’ve worked really hard. You’ve accomplished great things.”

“······.”

Considering that he had exploded that much Aether without the Hwaseong’s Hyegom [likely a magical artifact or technique], and considering that he was still maintaining his original body like this even after that······. This was rather a remarkable development.

It was the result of noticeably improved Aether [magical energy] maintenance and circulation within his body, thanks to his master’s special training.

Dduk-ssuk [character name] went over and stroked his cheek with her wings.

I naturally took the ice from Ms. Gain [character name] and placed it on the Crown Prince’s forehead.

I felt relieved as he took deep breaths without showing any discomfort.

I diligently released Aether, delivering it directly to my teammates’ hearts.

With my left hand on his shoulder and my right hand holding Ms. Gain’s wrist.

“Rest for just 3 minutes.”

Just 3 minutes. Everyone will need us.

“Gungju-nim [term of endearment], aren’t you cold······?”

“I’m fine. The Crown Prince is keeping me warm.”

“Oh. I guess I’m not even a body······.”

“Oh dear.”

As the saying goes, the moisture on the floor and our bodies was disappearing quickly.

It was slower than usual, but it was enough.

While the two closed their eyes for a moment, I busily looked around.

Grandfather had already reached the shore and was having a serious conversation with the martial arts school teachers.

About half of the orderly 3rd-year barracks had collapsed beyond recognition.

Students were running around everywhere with stretchers and bandages.

The teachers, armed with swords and spears, were checking each monster corpse one by one, slaughtering any that hadn’t yet breathed their last.

Where are Lord Johann and Prince Dioph······.

“Heineken Guild Master.”

Just then, someone limped towards me.

I felt the blood drain from my arm.

“Oh my goodness, Teacher Tess! Is the Prince alright?”

“He’s alright······. He’ll be alright. Fortunately, the wound is shallow. The bleeding has almost stopped.”

Tess, the homeroom teacher of Class 3-3, was supporting the blood-soaked Prince Seme.

Their sizes differed by more than twice, but as expected, the teacher, being an archer, had good strength.

But that wasn’t enough to treat the injured.

I hurriedly checked on my friends’ conditions.

“These people can wait a little longer. If you hand the patient over to me right away,”

“No······. No, Priest, cough. Priest-nim [term of respect for a priest].”

The Prince waved his large hand. My mind went blank at the sight of the strained smile on his face.

“Thank you······. Thank you for fighting for the territory like this. I wanted to say that, definitely. I’m alright.”

“······.”

“As you can see······. The damage is significant······. But even this is fortunate compared to previous years.”

“······.”

“I will definitely, definitely reward the SoMaek Guild. Not right away, but······. Once the situation is under control······. Ugh.”

“Please rest for now, Prince-nim. We don’t need any rewards. We didn’t do it for that. You’re a patient, so you need to rest―”

At that moment.

-Kkirurururu······!

A very faint cry was heard from far away.

For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating.

I wondered if I was hearing things after being tormented by the griffins too much.

“······.”

But everyone’s expression was cracking.

“Ah······.”

“Heineken-nim.”

Swoosh— Around that time, the Cardinal, who had descended from the sky without a sound, bowed towards me.

I looked up at him with a dazed expression.

Lord Johann, who had consumed a large amount of Aether, had a sharper impression than usual.

His mint-colored eyes gleamed coldly, as if they contained glaciers.

I got goosebumps.

“You must make a decision.”

“Yes? What decision?”

Just as I asked that,

‘「Don’t worry too much. The end is approaching.」’

Suddenly, the words of the fortune-teller sisters flashed through my mind.

As a signal, countless sentences I had heard until now stabbed my brain at the same time.

‘As things turned out that way, the griffin clan became furious and pecked at every island in the North Sea.’

‘The griffin clan decided that they had to defeat the dragons first in order to dominate the sea.’

‘The north wind had a thick smell of blood on it.’

‘Gungju-nim, don’t shake bread crumbs on the floor. Ants will come.’

‘Something’s not right, Bakari-kun [character name]. The ants are heading south!’

“Gasp.”

Griffin ‘clan’.

And the omen of the natural disaster I saw in Lake Erie that day. The mass migration of ants.

“······That can’t be, Lord Johann. Maybe you saw it wrong. Didn’t they already sweep through once? Besides, the appearance of the griffin clan is only in the sea dragon legends,”

“Yes. But unbelievable things always happen to you.”

“······.”

Ms. Gain, who had already gotten up, was covering her head with both hands.

The Crown Prince was glaring at the blood-red coastline as if to burn it.

Both of them seemed to sense a powerful enemy.

I tried to calm down somehow, even while breathing erratically.

Tess and Prince Seme were watching us with expressions of disbelief.

The students and territorial citizens still had puzzled looks on their faces.

······So this wasn’t the end, but the beginning.

“Shall we retreat to the school for now? Or shall we fight here?”

Lord Johann whispered like a knight awaiting the Emperor’s command.

I clenched my fist, staring at the sky beyond where I couldn’t see anything yet.

The answer flowed from beside me.

Not in words, but in action.

-Rumble······

The damp North Sea sand began to move.

No, to be precise, the metal mixed in the gaps—

-Clatter, clatter, clatter!

-Whoosh······!

Like a single giant grotesque creature, they clustered together to protect the coastline.

The Crown Prince’s magical specialty.

Metal.

At that moment, the Sea Dragon Martial Arts School.

-Rumble······

“Hmm?”

François D’Hiemps, who was cradling Tete by the window, suddenly raised his head.

The ground seemed to have rumbled for a moment, but was it just his imagination?

“I don’t even have dizziness anymore.”

-Awoo?

“Hahaha, it’s nothing. Our baby-nim [term of endearment].”

The Marquis had been noticeably improving in the past few days.

His condition would miraculously improve every year as Emperor Frederick’s birthday approached, and this year was no exception. However, there were a few differences.

The pain this year was definitely less than last year, and the recovery was almost three days faster.

Antoinette and the other siblings would be overjoyed if they knew.

I should remember to write it in a letter. First, the introduction should be normal······.

-Haaack!

Flinch.

“Huh? Ananabiya Gong [cat spirit]?”

‘Did a rat come out?’ The magician looked under the dormitory bed with a puzzled expression.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the cat spirit just now definitely······.

-Haaack, haaaack!

“Good heavens. What did you see to be so afraid of? Come out here and receive my comfort.”

The man smiled gently and extended one hand. It was then.

-Tinkle, tinkle······!