What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 651

Sub Male Lead’s Hiatus – Episode 651 (651/920)

#651

Religious Distancing (8)

-Thwack!

What!

“Cedric, you…!”

Before she could even raise her voice properly, the sound collided with her uvula and she gasped.

‘Hukk.’ Elisabeth reflexively gasped.

Before she knew it, the cold and fatigue were completely forgotten, and she didn’t even realize her lips were trembling.

“Oh my god. This scar, could it be from back then…?”

“……”

Beneath his shirt, his pale belly and abs were clearly visible, and the scar on his right side, the size of an adult man’s fist, also caught her eye.

The Deputy Commander stared at it in surprise.

Unlike ordinary scars, this one had a yellow and red aura like a living flame, and its shape was as ornate as if a flame had been planted there.

Upon closer inspection, the skin tissue in the very center was white and protruded. It was clearly the mark of a sharp sword stab.

Elisabeth couldn’t bring herself to touch Christel and only felt sorry for her inside.

As a knight and soldier, she also had various scars, but none were as desperate and sad as this one.

Until now, she had only known about the injured situation and had only seen him bandaged and recovering, so she felt even more sorry.

“……He seemed to be in pain when it rained.”

“How do you know? Did you see it yourself?”

“……”

Elisabeth asked with hurried breaths. Cedric was silent again.

Since losing Serenite, there had been countless days when the sky wept, and the imperial physicians and healing priests stayed at the Stroda Palace day and night to care for the young paladin.

Especially in the early stages of recovery, the pain was so severe that even tranquilizers for low-level magical beasts had to be used, she had heard.

This was all David’s message.

‘News about Lord Rambouillet’s critical condition’ flew to the Imperial Palace in real time, and the Grand Duchess wrote down the contents and sent them to her.

However, Cedric did not take to heart any private messages coming to the front lines. Several times, he burned them without even reading them.

He didn’t want to see it anymore. Forever. Nothing.

‘-Swishhhhh…!’

‘This is a disaster. At this rate, we’ll be stuck here all night.’

It was a very long time later that he first noticed that Rambouillet’s condition was not normal.

They hid in a cave in the land of the Holy Kingdom, where heavy rain was pouring down.

It was the time when they became acquainted with the apothecary couple who raised dogs. It was also after Serenite had returned.

The paladin of water pretended to be fine every time he saw his priest.

He didn’t show any signs of pain, and he didn’t bother to ask for aether [a mystical energy source in this world].

However, on a day when it rained for days as if the sky was falling, Cedric clearly felt her energy fluctuating rapidly and floundering.

Every moment when the Duke’s eyes were not on her, Rambouillet bit her lip to hide her complexion.

‘…….’

She also wrapped her side and swallowed painkillers without the others knowing.

‘…….’

Cedric witnessed all of those scenes and pretended not to notice.

Perhaps Rambouillet wanted him to do that too.

“Cough! Cough, cough! Keuheok…!”

-Crackle, crackle…

“Cedric! Please hurry, whatever it takes! Quickly!”

“……”

The boy, startled from his thoughts, looked down at the pale face.

Bluish blood vessels were protruding roughly on the paladin’s forehead and cheeks, and red blood was flowing from his purple lips.

The half-open eyeballs were now completely turned over.

White frost began to form again on the tips of his fingers, which were as thin as twigs.

It was the umpteenth time for the freezing. The divine artifact, ‘Blessing of the Azure Sea,’ was doing its best to subdue its master’s rampage.

“Keuheuk, keuk, keuheok…!”

Alone, in a place without the priest’s warmth or familiar affection.

-Crackling…!

“Seidi!”

Even if his master were to fall asleep for a long time.

“There’s a flame dwelling in the wound, so he must have suffered when it rained.”

“That…!”

“Move.”

“Huh? Uh oh!”

The Deputy Commander, who had made eye contact with the boy, hurriedly stepped back, and the boy extended his left hand without hesitation.

Finally, it was the moment of resolution. There was no reason or room to deny it any longer.

The Crown Prince decided to accept it humbly.

-Thwack!

That this was their chain, their cruel bond.

-Whoosh—!

Skin met skin without a gap, and an invisible ripple spread out in a circle over the flame-shaped scar, throughout Christel’s body.

At the same time, a warm breeze blew, scattering Elisabeth’s hair.

She blinked, not fully understanding what had just happened.

Christel’s breathing was stabilizing quickly, as if by a lie.

The chaotic atmosphere stopped moving abruptly—

-KWAH-KWANG!

“Kugh!”

-Clang!

“Ugh!”

‘Thump, thump! Crash, crash!’ The bodies of the two people were thrown back by the powerful compression wave.

‘Squeak!’ The warehouse building also groaned loudly and staggered.

Elisabeth hit the cold wall hard with her back and rolled on the floor several times.

‘Ugh, ouch!’ Her shoulder blades throbbed, and her back, which had been bent over for a while, also ached, but fortunately, she did not suffer any fractures.

It was also fortunate in many ways that the warehouse did not have lighting or a fireplace.

She hurriedly raised her eyes and looked around.

Meng Gosh seemed to have been thrown somewhere in the meantime.

Hair was getting into her mouth, and the surrounding air was hot and humid, like inside a boiling cauldron.

It was hard to believe that it had been as chilly as the North Sea just a moment ago.

Her vision was hazy like a steam bath.

…Cedric?

“Cedric! Seidi! Where are you!”

“Ugh……”

“Are you okay? You’re still a kid, so you don’t have any muscles in your body!”

“……Shut up.”

When she saw a lump sprawled over there and made some random provocation, a decent answer came back.

The Deputy Commander was greatly relieved and groped for the distant bed with her eyes.

Again, she had an ominous feeling. Then what about Sir Christel’s condition…?

How did this all happen?

“Aigo, siba*……” [Korean slang expressing frustration]

“God have mercy!”

A very familiar curse was heard. A bright expression spread like paint on her hardened face.

“Sir Christel!”

Elisabeth rushed to the bed without even realizing that her coat had become a rag.

Wham! The body she hugged was magically warm, unlike her expectation that it would be colder than usual, and a smile like a gourd naturally appeared.

It was a miracle that she had woken up like this, as all the priests had mentioned the possibility of a rampage.

Thankful prayers and moist breaths kept flowing from her lips.

Gain slowly blinked, hugging Elisabeth’s waist, who was strongly embracing her.

For her, she couldn’t even tell if this was a dream or reality.

“Uh uh……”

“God, thank you. Thank you so much.”

Her vision was all red and hazy, as if she had entered an incredibly hot salt room.

Is this a sauna?

“Sir, are you alright? You’ve suffered for too long. You’ve really worked hard…!”

“Eee…… Yee……”

She had no idea what was going on.

She remembered being cold all the time she was unconscious, but now everything felt as hot as a desert.

On the other hand, she had no strength in her body and her limbs were limp.

Her joints were throbbing and her head was heavy, as if she was getting a cold.

For some reason, her throat was hoarse and she was extremely thirsty.

It was strange because she had never felt thirsty since she gained the power of water.

“Augh……”

And above all, her right side was so hot.

It was as if she had a red bean bread stuck there.

“Oh, am I sick…? That can’t be……”

I have the toothpaste of blessing… No, toothpaste. Something similar……

“Yes, you were a little sick. But you’ll be fine now. You’ll get better soon if you eat and take your medicine. I’ll get a healing priest right away……”

My throat hurts. Sir Elisabeth’s voice was waving and fading away in her ears.

Her kind touch, wiping her wet forehead and supporting her waist, was also quickly fading away.

But she wanted to hear an explanation.

Gain poured all her remaining strength into just lifting her eyelids.

She tried not to miss the questions that came to her mind even in her fading consciousness.

How she ended up here, whether the Duke was safe. What about the little divine beasts?

What happened to Johann Sam, who lost consciousness before her?

No, is our Duke really okay? And Isabel……

“……”

Just before her blue eyes were captured by the water demon, her gaze tangled with red eyes.

The face that had begun to regain its color frowned again. Uh uh……

“You, tasteless……”

Kid. Piece of junk.

‘Close your eyes.’

‘An explanation would be better next.’

The child’s lips did not move.

Nevertheless, Gain instinctively knew that the voice in her head was the boy’s. Tsk.

“Tsk. The ink on your family register isn’t even dry yet… How dare you tell your older sister what to do……”

‘Fly away……’

‘Ship fly away……’ That’s not it. That wasn’t the sentence. Cold. But hot. Dizzy.

She felt the heat from her side spreading throughout her body and closed her eyes.

Soon, her pink hair drooped and her arms and head fell down.

“Ugh……”

“Here, I caught you. Now get some sleep. Shh……”

Elisabeth, who was covered in water and sweat, received her friend’s body and patted her.

Seidi turned his head nimbly while she groped for a dry towel.

He could hear the knights approaching from afar, sensing the terrifying vibration from earlier.

They didn’t raise their voices, but the sound of quick footsteps was accompanied by the ringing of swords and spears.

The boy grimly held the Hyegeom [a type of sword] and moved to the door. Strength entered his young jaw muscles.

It was then.

-Kugugugu…!

“Oh my!”

His body staggered once with a loud rumble. The epicenter was nearby.

The boy quickly steadied himself by placing the scabbard on the floor.

Elisabeth, surprised, looked back at him, holding Gain.

One of her hands was already holding the sword belt on her waist.

“What is it again, Cedric?”

“……”

“Don’t tell me it’s an enemy invasion? Then tell me it is. Because I have to leave you here and go right away!”

“No.”

The boy’s small, white hand hung in the air.

Then, his crimson eyes became intense, as if they had caught something. Some air was moving.

Beyond the humidity and heat that filled the dark warehouse……

-Whoosh……

“……Wind.”

A very close, precarious flow was felt, as if it would break at any moment.

Dignity settled in the child’s young voice.

“……Leave this place immediately.”

“What?”

“The Grand Duke is about to go berserk.”

Elisabeth turned white.

That was an outcome that no one had predicted, or rather, no one wanted to predict.

“That can’t be.”

But everything was real.

While the Deputy Commander hurriedly carried her friend in a tattered state, Seidi put on his robe hood and fixed his shoes.

He looked back at his old friend one last time just before breaking down the closed door.

“Evacuate this entire area. Take care of David.”

“Then what about you?”

“……”

There was no obnoxious answer coming back as usual. The knight felt goosebumps on her arm.

“Why aren’t you answering? What are you going to do!”

‘I clearly warned you, Cedric Mercedes!’ The end of her voice cracked unpleasantly, but neither of them cared about that.

‘Kwaang!’ Elisabeth, who immediately kicked down the warehouse door, sprinted through the alley at lightning speed, carrying a person on her back.

‘Everyone evacuate! I repeat, everyone evacuate from the paladin area!’ The thunderous shouts and sharp commands were a bonus.

The boy left the warehouse only when his friend’s shouts faded away beyond the alley.

“……”

Then, hiding under the sleeves of the tilted roof, he quietly stared at another warehouse.

-Whew……

The most obvious and efficient way to subdue a paladin’s rampage was, of course, to pour in the priest’s aether.

Just before the rampage, it was best to block all senses and leave them alone in a solitary room, which he had actually experienced for many years.

However, once the rampage started, the story was completely different.

It was another problem for a priest to approach a paladin in a frenzy, and injuries and accidents often occurred in the process.

The only thing a fellow paladin could do was to make the opponent exhaust their aether and faint, or to sacrifice their life in front of the opponent to reduce the damage of the rampage.

‘Huk, heok……’

Like that day in the desolate temple, when he was holding a blood-colored droplet.

“……”

It was the calm before the storm.

He still lacked aether, and the way back to his original body still seemed distant.

There was nothing he could do without his partner by his side.

The boy took a deep breath, as if to engrave the lingering scent of the Crown in his heart.

Then he opened his eyes wide.

“Tsk.”

-Whee!

The child’s body soared again. This time it was for his teacher.