What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 559

Our Acquaintance (1)

Around the same time, in a certain valley.

Near the temporary military camp of Baleun-Atsuma Liester.

“Huff, cough! Huff, huff…”

-Clatter, clatter! Clatter!

A middle-aged woman covered in ash and dust was pulling a blue cart, heading south at a rapid pace.

Her bronze, shaved head was covered in blood from large and small wounds.

Her plain clothes, which she always wore neatly, were torn to shreds, and her calloused hands and feet were mottled with new scars.

Moreover, she was soaked to the bone, as if she had just been pulled out of the water.

However, she kept coughing and never stopped.

Without gloves or even a decent pair of winter boots, Martyr headed downwards without rest.

The northern region, which should have been thickly covered in snow, was damp with melting ice in places.

Between her faint breaths, her vanilla-colored eyes gleamed sharply without a single flicker.

Behind her, the wheel tracks of the cart emitted a faint light.

-Squeak, squeak…

-Clang, clang! Thud!

Then, finally, one of the wheels got stuck in a rough patch of rocks.

The cleric gritted her teeth and pulled the cart with all her might.

-Screeeeeech…!

-Clatter! Thud!

“Haa, hoo…”

“Are you sure… you should be doing that?”

As she took a deep breath, trying to free the stuck wheel, the man in the cart asked in a hoarse voice.

His giggling laughter and deliberate swaying of his body to shake the cart were a bonus.

Martyr rolled her eyes and glared at him. A hint of murderous intent flashed in her bloodshot eyes.

Seeing her, Werner cleared his throat roughly.

Tilt, tilt. Each time he moved, the cart emitted an ominous light.

“Aren’t you quite the one, cough! Cough, cough! A cleric, the right-hand of the Princess… abandoning the battlefield and honor, coming all the way up to this remote place alone to catch me, causing such a ruckus! Cough!”

“…”

“Yes. You’ve won. Your appearance truly, cough! Reveals the majesty of the victor!”

-Click!

‘Clack, clack!’ A cough that felt like a knife scraping at his lungs followed.

Martyr stood there, glaring at him with a face that seemed to condense all emotions.

Like her, Werner was also a mess.

No, perhaps he was in even worse condition than she was.

His magical prosthetic arm had been completely torn off and was stuck in Martyr’s backpack, and his prosthetic leg was twisted as if broken, making it look extremely gruesome.

Half of his face was covered in black ash, making it hard to even recognize who he was.

The forcibly removed armor lay scattered like trash on the floor of the cart, and the man himself was bleeding from shallow scratches here and there.

Tied tightly with worn-out ropes, his body was as thin as a skeleton.

His ragged robe had become the cleric’s outer garment a few days ago. She reflected on the actions she had committed to capture the national traitor.

Breakout. Rebellion. Murder. Theft. Betrayal and escape…

“My daughter… our eldest daughter, has a very faithful subordinate. Isn’t that right? Cough! Instead of helping the suffering people of the poor territory, even while clearly seeing them wailing in the chaos… even while seeing the entire island burning due to the rebellion…!”

“…Shut up.”

“You don’t even care about the life or death of the lord who takes care of them, cough! You’re just trying to catch me… Khehehe…”

“I told you to shut up.”

“Yes, does killing people make you feel better? To drag this body away, cough! Cough, cough! Soiling your hands so much!”

-Clatter, thud!

“…Shut your mouth when I tell you to.”

“Ahahaha…! Hahaha, kheuheuk! Ugh!”

The moment the man burst into a fit of convulsive laughter, Martyr hurriedly covered his mouth.

The national traitor reflexively struggled and resisted, but she suppressed his voice by force.

Then, a sharp whisper pierced his ear.

“Didn’t you hear me telling you to shut up? There are people nearby!”

“Ugh…”

“Don’t open that mouth until I tell you to. Unless you want to die a miserable death here.”

‘Or I’ll hand you over to the Imperial Army.’ It wasn’t sincere, but it wasn’t entirely a lie either.

Martyr rubbed her tired face against her shoulder and looked around.

To return to the capital alive, she had to be careful and cautious.

This cursed cart had a strange power, but she should never let her guard down.

Her instincts, honed by a lifetime of subjugation and combat, were screaming at her to be wary of her surroundings.

“…”

“…Wahahaha!”

Laughter.

Clearly, there were quite a few people not far away. Judging by the sound, they were at the 2 o’clock direction.

Martyr gathered all her remaining strength and quickly pulled the cart.

As her body moved with difficulty, her head and eyes were busy searching for a place to hide.

There!

-Clatter, thud! Thud! Clatter!

“Keup, keut…! Ugh!”

Running was not easy due to her ankle sprain, but this was nothing.

She desperately shoved the cart behind a snow-covered boulder.

Then, she squeezed her body next to it.

Her whole body was screaming, but now was not the time to focus on that.

“Huff, heuh…”

-Rustle!

“Oh, you should have seen it yourself. The three of them were so close!”

No sooner had she taken a breath than strangers appeared.

They were wearing the uniforms of the Liester Imperial Army.

Indeed, the southern part of Baleun was already in the hands of the enemy.

“Being hot and friendly when you’re young is fleeting. Look at me, I enlisted because I hated seeing my husband’s face.”

“Euhahaha!”

“…”

Martyr held her breath even more and craned her neck to assess the situation.

Werner also narrowed his eyes like a snake and licked his lips.

There seemed to be no knights among the group, and judging by their demeanor, even if there were, they were likely low-ranking.

They were a group of soldiers carrying large loads, coming down from the northwest.

Fortunately, they were not combat personnel, so it seemed that no high-ranking knights were included.

“Since they fought so badly, maybe the new National Foundation Day is off the table…”

“Are you worried about National Foundation Day right now? We can’t even go home if we die in battle? We’re at war right now!”

“Hey, Bersachae-ho [Bersachae-ho is likely a legendary or highly respected figure in their military] will never die, even if he’s killed. Sir Ramboillet said so!”

“Haa…. I’m comrades with these guys…. Augh, it’s heavy.”

“No, listen. Lady Yeser Gungju spoke to His Majesty earlier, didn’t she?”

“What? Really? I bet a whole bag of salt on her!”

At the expression ‘Lady Yeser Gungju’, the two fugitives’ expressions stiffened.

Among them, Werner’s cheeks and fingertips were turning as white as paper.

The soldiers were constantly chattering as they carried frozen meat wrapped in rice straw, large boxes and sacks, and thick firewood.

“What are you talking about? Our captain said that His Majesty spoke to her first.”

“Ah, is that important! So, are the two of them reconciling? Is it all over now?”

“They’ll reconcile, right? Originally, holy knights and clerics were said to be extremely special to each other.”

“Sir Ramboillet must have worked incredibly hard in the middle. I heard from the older sisters in the next barracks that the two of them are so awkward when he’s not around.”

“Well…”

“Is it that bad? Lady Yeser Gungju is surprisingly good at talking, isn’t she? Her personality is also approachable, and she’s a prince, so she must know a lot.”

“Well, her background is Venetian, after all. There must still be something awkward between them.”

“Hey! How many adventures have the two of them gone on together, risking their lives! Didn’t you get treated by her the day before yesterday, and you’re still saying that?”

“That’s right! You guys can’t be swayed by those rumors!”

“Do you even know what ‘swayed’ means?”

‘Ahahaha…!’ At the sharp remark of a certain low-ranking knight, the soldiers laughed so loudly that the valley seemed to shake.

Martyr barely managed to control her increasingly erratic breathing and clenched her fists.

Her eyes were trembling with great intensity.

It was too difficult to accept the story she had just heard.

Really, she had suspected it. It was a rumor that she wanted to believe and didn’t want to believe at the same time….

“Good heavens, Prince…”

His ‘resurrection’ was real.

“Ha…”

It was not a hollow propaganda of the Liester Empire, nor a false fabrication.

Her eyes were stinging, and it felt like a sob would burst out at any moment.

The middle-aged woman pressed down on her throbbing shoulder and looked to the side.

Werner’s eyes were twitching.

He looked like a corpse whose breath had just been cut off.

It was then.

-Kwaaaaaang—!

From the sky not far away, an enormous roar erupted.

‘Uwaaaah!’ The startled soldiers stumbled, terrified by the ground shaking, and dropped their luggage in all directions.

‘Swish!’ ‘Swish, swish!’ The sound of swords being drawn could be heard from all directions.

‘Don’t panic!’ ‘The higher-ups said that there would be a flight operation today!’ The quick shouts of the young knights followed.

Martyr gripped the dagger in her arms tightly and looked up at the sky.

And she was horrified.

-Kugugugung…!

“…Is that what they call an operation?”

-Ssaeeeeek!

‘Wheeeee!’ Beams of blue, white, and gray light were shooting out, drawing a giant spiral tornado.

To be exact, it was aimed at the square apocalypse [Likely referring to a significant, destructive event or entity] that had been floating in the sky for some time.

It looked like a Milky Way rising from the ground. Or it was the shape of humans confronting God head-on.

However, far from being blasphemous, it was so beautiful and intense in itself that she could not take her eyes off it.

The cleric’s mouth opened wide.

The spectacle did not end there.

-Paaaaaaa…!

After some time, brilliant golden ether burst out from the highest point.

In an instant, a premonition sharply pierced Martyr’s spine.

“Ah…”

It couldn’t be. Surely not—

-Ssaeeeeeeek…!

However, a red beam of light that newly soared from the ground completely cut off her thoughts.

In the moment when the greatly bewildered cleric stirred—

-Kwakwakwakwang—!

“Uoooooo!”

“Everyone, duck…!”

The divine revelation [Referring to a powerful, possibly supernatural, entity or event] let out a terrible scream. Everyone’s shouts echoed faintly.

Then, the whole world was covered in white as if buried in an avalanche.

*

「Stop waking up.」

Flash!

“Heoeok!”

I hurriedly took a breath and jumped up.

Then, like a madman, I looked around wildly.

I’m really not dead! Where am I? Where did everyone go? The kids? My friends!

“Demi! Tete! Leah! Peri!”

-Kkia!

“Demi!”

When I shouted at the top of my lungs, the little divine beast found me in the white space and ran towards me, jumping up and down.

Fortunately, Leah and Peri were also with me.

I crawled towards them, not caring about my scraped knees.

By the time the small, warm troublemakers were hugging me tightly, my nose was tingling, and the words ‘thank you’ came out on their own.

I swear it wasn’t a dream. This warmth could never be a lie.

“Wow, thank you so much…. Where’s Tete? Didn’t you see the other friends?”

「Are these things to be thrown away?」

Huh?

“Yes…? No!”

-Kkiheung!

I blankly turned around and was appalled to see a stranger holding my growth [Referring to something significant the character has achieved or is carrying].

The man was looking back and forth between the dropped Gaga bag [Likely a bag with sentimental value or important contents] and the cane, clicking his tongue.