What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 742

Rendezvous (2)

-But, Poppy child.

-We’re hiding so well.

The spirit of Iran smiled gently and shook its branches.

-Budddd······

“······.”

-Crack, crack······

As the Divine Relic gently released its power, the large soul body clung tightly to the barren canyon.

The presences that shimmered like hair instantly turned into earthy, green, and autumn-colored leaves, concealing themselves.

Carmel swallowed hard, ignoring the soldiers’ tearing screams.

Now, the spirit was no longer a form that imitated humans to anyone who looked at it.

It merely looked like an oak tree, unfortunate enough to be born and rooted between the puppeteer’s paths, with thick branches and sparse leaves.

It was a fitting sight for the front lines, where terrible screams echoed.

“Waaaaaa! Yaaaaa······!”

-Come here.

“······.”

‘Squeak.’ The tree opened a large knot hole.

It was the miracle of the Divine Relic, repeated dozens of times to get here.

Carmel looked back at the end of the narrow alley, barely wide enough for one person to enter.

‘Swoosh!’ Someone’s sword flew from right to left, and at the same time, someone’s spear and arrows rushed from left to right. ‘Thwack! Thwack, thwack!’ Blood gushed out like a fountain.

Above the attacks of the paladins who wield water, fire, air, and earth, death throes repeatedly overlapped.

“Ugh!”

“Aaaagh!”

“Cough!”

Like a god’s gambling game, throwing bad cards on the floor.

“······His Highness is with us! The righteous Crown Princess is with us!”

“Kill! Kill all the rebels and seize victory!”

-Carmel.

“Iyaaaa······!”

“Okay, okay!”

The paladin gnashed her teeth, but she raised both hands and feet at the signs of soldiers approaching closer and closer.

She quickly threw herself into the arms of the spirit and hid snugly.

As soon as she crouched inside the knot hole and hugged her knees, the blue sky was instantly covered with black bark. ‘Crack.’

“Hoo, heok······.”

Closing her eyes tightly in the darkness and taking a deep breath, her pounding heart finally began to calm down little by little.

The spirit’s embrace was so warm and cozy that it felt like she could fall asleep forever.

The terribly miserable screams and blood-soaked battlefield were magically fading away.

-Hoo, haa.

“······Are you copying me? Divine Relics don’t need to breathe like humans.”

-Umm, I’m trying to calm down too.

“······.”

Hearing those words, Carmel quietly sniffled.

When she thought about it, this was a more serious situation for the spirit than for herself.

So, the great adventure of two people—no, one person and one Divine Relic—leaving Liester’s main camp and coming all the way here wasn’t actually that difficult.

To be precise, the ‘escape from the barracks’ part was much easier than Carmel had thought.

In the empire where paladins were not born, there was naturally no one who could sense her and the Divine Relic’s aether [a subtle, all-pervading medium believed to fill the universe], so there was no one to stop them from deciding to run away under the cover of night.

To be honest, they almost got caught several times when passing by the commanders’ barracks······. But Carmel was a person who did what she had to do.

Of course, she was someone who had survived by committing all sorts of misdeeds in the neutral zone.

“Yeah, just do what I do. Humans feel a little better when they do this.”

-Okay.

From then on, it was always like this.

“Hiss, hoo······.”

-Hiss. Hoo······.

The spirit gave Carmel food and shelter, and even provided a place to hide properly.

But even that help couldn’t completely obscure their vision.

Carmel had to witness scenes hundreds and thousands of times more miserable than all the sordid things she had experienced in the desert, day and night, and the spirit was sometimes so frightened that it couldn’t move a single step.

In fact, it was absurd for a being who feared iron and blood to come to the ‘battlefield’ in the first place.

“······Honey. You know what we talked about before we left.”

-Huh?

“That you planted some seeds in the rose garden, and now it’s time to harvest them.”

-Yes.

“Is that about war? Like, you know a trick to stop the fighting? Or, like, something amazing will happen if you go to the royal capital and cultivate the field?”

-······I don’t know either. I’m really sorry.

The spirit replied in a faint voice.

-But······. But it’s definitely time. I can feel it.

-I have a destiny to harvest the seeds, and the empty seeds will no longer be empty.

Carmel shrugged once. I have no idea what you’re talking about!

“······Yeah, that’s life. What’s there to be sorry about?”

Then she untied her flowing hair and tied it up tightly again.

It wasn’t like she was expecting a great answer anyway.

“When I think about it, I’m pretty funny too. What does the spirit’s bad dream have to do with me that I came all the way here? I might die if I’m not careful.”

-······Poppy······.

The spirit’s call echoed in the pit.

Carmel snorted and took out dried sweet potatoes from her waist and bit into them.

“Don’t worry. I’ll prostrate myself before His Majesty the Emperor and beg like a fly, saying that I did it at the request of the great spirit, that I’m really innocent. Then the Divine Relic will take my side, right?”

-Of course. I’ll protect Poppy child!

‘No matter what!’ The Divine Relic swore as clear as a child. It was then.

-Kugugugung!

“Oh my······!”

-Ah!

Suddenly, the ground rumbled tremendously, and as a result, Carmel’s body bounced about a handbreadth from the floor.

The two were shocked at the same time and opened their mouths wide.

Even though the treasure of the Divine Relic was supporting them, it was such a shock!

“What is it? Did an explosive go off outside?”

-Oh, Lord of Dawn and Moonlight. Carmel, hold on tight!

-Kwaaaang, kwaaaang······!

“Oh my god, oh my gooooood!”

Before Carmel could ask anything more, a terrifying vibration struck their oak fortress.

The Divine Relic was not an existence that could be hurt or destroyed by mere human weapons, but such a fierce attack was definitely the first time it had experienced it since coming out of the barracks.

Carmel rolled around inside the knot hole like a lunch basket that had lost its owner.

Her flimsy luggage and a knife she had stolen from someone’s barracks poured out.

-Kwaaang, kwaaang, kwakwakwakwa······!

“They really don’t know when to stop, those crazy people! Ack!”

-Ugh······!

-Kwakwakwakwa······!

Agh, what is all this! Tell them to stop!

-······.

“······.”

-······.

Huh? Carmel blinked her eyes, lying flat on the floor.

“······Huh? Did it really stop without warning?”

-The lives born in the land of the Divine Relic, in the remains of the children blessed by the Divine Relic······.

-They crammed the power of the Divine Relic into it. It’s a sad thing.

······I have no idea what that means this time either.

The paladin scratched the back of her head and groped for the branches inside and stood up.

Anyway, somehow, I survived today, right?

At this rate, I think I’ll have a heart attack before I reach the royal capital.

“Ugh, I’m going to die.”

-Squeak······

At that moment, the spirit moved the knot hole.

Carmel frowned at the stinging sunlight and shrank her shoulders.

“Honey, is it okay to open the door like this? Is the crisis already over?”

-Yes, it’s okay.

The spirit said kindly.

Since she could always trust those words, Carmel grabbed the leaves again and slowly came out of the hole—

-Whoosh!

“Hwaaaak!”

At the same time, something flew towards her forehead!

“······What, the criminal Carmel? Why are you here?”

Huh? This voice is······.

Carmel covered her head with both arms and slightly lifted her left eyelid (she had also activated a crude defense magic formula).

A familiar hairstyle and cat-like clear eyes came into view.

She was so surprised that her eyes widened. Oh my, thank God!

“Who is this? Isn’t it the pretty Vice Captain Elizabeth?!”

Long live the Imperial Army!

“Shh! Shut up.”

‘Flick!’ Elizabeth, who shook the blood off her rapier, narrowed her brows and looked beyond the alley.

Now that she saw it, the identity of the murderous energy that had rushed at Carmel was her sword energy.

The criminal stared blankly at the blood-soaked cloak and dark green bobbed hair of the Vice Captain, who was catching her breath, and then, startled, turned her gaze to follow her.

There······.

-Kurururung······

-Kwarararar······

Hmm?

“There was definitely a cliff this high in front of me, I swear······. This was a canyon?”

“Not anymore.”

“······.”

The Vice Captain wiped the dried blood from her cheek and replied coldly.

Carmel was unnecessarily intimidated and rolled her eyes around. Anyway, Elizabeth’s words were true.

The cliff that was once a canyon had completely collapsed and been brutally gouged out in a few minutes, cut off as if it had been eaten by a giant monster.

The shouts and screams that had been pouring down like a shower nearby had also disappeared like a lie.

It was as if this entire alley had died as it was. Looking at the transparent pebbles rolling around like toys and covered in dirt······.

Wait, ‘transparent’ pebbles?

“That’s got to be, Holy Stone? Isn’t that Holy Stone? Why is it in a place like this······. Ah.”

Even Carmel, who had lived her whole life as a petty criminal, knew quite a bit from what she had heard here and there.

Those pieces were definitely the remains of Venetian bombs [powerful explosives used during wartime].

They were said to have poured the terrifying power of grandmaster-level or higher paladins into them, loaded them onto catapults or hung them on crossbows, and poured them towards the enemy······.

“Mass destruction weapons of the war era.”

Elizabeth muttered.

“The Sneider rebels have started bringing them in from somewhere. Depending on what His Majesty decides now······. The schedule for the fall of the royal capital will change.”

“······.”

Wait a minute? Then this sister blocked all of that with just one sword?

Carmel was shocked, lost in her own thoughts.

In an instant, a small silver light flickered and disappeared from the sharp blade.

······Did I see it wrong?

“I also got separated from Crown Princess Eliser because of that bombing.”

‘She’s not in her right mind······. She’s burning herself out.’ The swordsman’s murmur that followed was so small that Carmel couldn’t be sure if she had heard it correctly.

“······But you.”

Twitch!

“I’m really innocent!”

The sharp gray eyes aimed at Carmel like a blade. The novice farmer was so frightened that she hugged the spirit’s torso.

Then, the Divine Relic, also frightened, grew flower stalks and vines and firmly embraced its partner.

The spirit’s innocent face popped out from the oak trunk.

Elizabeth silently stared at the two for a while.

A choking dust wind swept awkwardly between them. ‘Whoooo······.’

“I’m telling you, pretty sister? It’s definitely not Divine Relic kidnapping or Divine Relic theft! Who would do such a thing in this war and hasten their death? No matter how much of a kidnapping expert I am—”

“What brings you here? Where are you going?”

“······Huh?”

That word did not belong to any of the many reactions Carmel had expected.

Elizabeth only looked up at the spirit with a gaze that had been further refined in the meantime.

Then the Divine Relic finally revealed its true form. ‘Sararar······.’

-······To the paradise where roses bloom profusely.

-I’m going to harvest precious seeds, child. This is not Carmel’s fault.

“······.”

“······.”

Several minutes of silence flowed from then on.

Elizabeth and the spirit did not take their eyes off each other for a while.

-Kwagwaang!

“That scared me······.”

And finally, when the sound of explosions began to echo again from afar—

“······From the current location, it will be difficult with that person’s power alone. I will escort you.”

The Vice Captain declared firmly.

Carmel had the experience of splitting her lips as she gaped her mouth open.

*

And not long after, an old piece of paper was placed before our eyes.

-Flutter!

“······What is this?”

I blinked my surprised eyes and looked up at Duke Leopold Lasso.

My friends, with their arms crossed, were also sitting around seriously, waiting for his answer.

“Nobles who came to attend their mother’s birthday celebration and ran away······. One of them was caught in the territory. This is what was found in his carriage.”

“······.”

“The entire royal capital is in an uproar because of this.”

The Duke said heavily. We quickly looked down at the paper.

‘The Crown Princess has gone mad.’