What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 789

The Decisive Battle (4)

“The King is said to be suffering from madness, but he seemed quite fine? Oh, get lost!”

*Thwack!* Gain kicked an enemy trying to subdue her with one leg.

Her strength had increased so much in the meantime that there wasn’t even a slight wobble from the recoil. ‘Cough!’ The knight kicked by her couldn’t even scream properly and collapsed.

Immediately, a blue whip flew in, wrapped around his body, and yanked him away, throwing him somewhere!

“Kuh-ahhh!”

-Crash, bang!

“Not even a mosquito, so annoying, really. Why do you keep crawling up?”

“It seems the cause of the internal strife in the royal castle was the King’s awakening. Are you hurt?”

-Squeak?

I quickly checked on Gain.

Demi cried in a questioning tone, but I had to double-check just in case.

My partner smiled at me, feigning exaggeration, while looking back at Cedric and Sir Johann.

I was relieved that she seemed okay enough to smile.

With the cooperation of King Christanher Venetian, we finally arrived at the heart of the royal castle, right in front of the main keep.

Amidst the maze-like winding paths and the dozens of spires, the fact that we pinpointed the direction so quickly was already a hopeful sign.

Beside us, the horses, including Areumhart, were neighing, trying to calm their excitement.

The group took advantage of a brief lull in the commotion to look around.

-Kwa-ga-ga-gang!

“Yaaahhhhh!”

-Koo-goong!

“Waaaaaah!”

“……”

At the very top of the towering main keep, the Venetian royal family’s flag was hung, and in the moonlit night sky, dozens of lanterns still flew as if a festival was being held.

Below that, a world that was entirely broken and collapsing came into view.

Flames constantly rising from somewhere, embers floating in the sky like the first snow. Smoke rising blackly from various places.

The terrifying roar of barriers and buildings collapsing, and Kyu’s roar tearing apart the earth.

Imperial partisans. Royal Guard. Those who turned to the Sneider faction. Shouts, screams, cries……

-Boo-oo-oo-oo……

-Doom, doom, doom……

And the faint sound of horns and drums.

We were the only ones who had come this deep into the royal castle yet.

Even the gatekeepers guarding the main keep had gone to fight—some were seen collapsed and dead inside the building—and I kept getting a creepy feeling.

The sensation of being detached from the world yet still belonging to it was so unfamiliar.

I could make many analogies, but we didn’t have time for that now.

First, I left Areum, Doria, Charlemagne, and Esprit outside the main keep, repeatedly telling them to run far, far away if anything dangerous happened.

The children seemed to be completely ignoring me, but it was a story I had to tell.

I put Demi down on the floor so she could run around freely, and carefully retied Tete in the swaddle.

Rea and Perry pawed the ground, ready to start bravely.

Lopi, along with Jibril Diop, was tasked with blocking the Sneider rebels entering the royal capital.

I was worried that it might be too much for them, but since the ‘Self-Defense Force’ was with them and the Imperial Army was approaching, they wouldn’t suffer for long.

There were quite a few partisans to help them too.

“……”

Before entering the main keep, I looked for the moon in the night sky one last time, but it was still not visible.

Perhaps even the chief god, the creator of the continent, didn’t want to see this sight.

So he might have completely closed his eyes.

“Dawn is coming.”

Sir Johann whispered, looking at the east, which still felt dark.

I forced a smile and made eye contact with my friends.

“……Shall we go in then?”

*

Some time later.

“Cough! Ugh……”

-Thud!

“Argh! These bastards, really……! They’re so vicious, so vicious!”

From down the hallway, Gain cursed under her breath.

I was trying desperately to calm my racing breath. Seriously.

“Hah, hah…… Oh my.”

-Awoo, awoo……

“It’s okay, Tete. It’s okay.”

‘It’s okay, shh……’ Then, I hugged the trembling baby and slid down to sit.

I didn’t think that everything would be magically solved once we entered the main keep.

But I also didn’t expect that royal guards would be ambushing every hallway we stepped into, every landing, every path leading to the basement.

Moreover, since the Holy Knights’ aether [magical energy] was blocked—special aether use was impossible within the castle, so we couldn’t receive help from the Divine Beasts—most of the enemies were suppressed in a much rougher manner than usual.

‘Poof, poof, poof!’ Several daggers wrapped in Cedric’s mana [spiritual energy] flew through the air, splattered with blood, and Sir Johann had already cleared away more than a dozen people with his bare hands.

Gain was copying her teacher’s movements in these difficult moments and growing rapidly, and when she performed consecutive roundhouse kicks in the exact same rhythm as Sir Johann, I couldn’t help but be amazed.

And as for me……

“Boss, let’s calculate this together as a two-plus-one deal!”

-Swish! Kwa-kwang!

“Haaaah!”

“Thanks!”

Actually, I wasn’t in the best condition.

I was just listening to my friends’ actions and breathing quietly.

“Hoo……”

-Kkia?

“……Hyung [term of endearment for an older brother or male friend] is okay too. I guess I just used too much aether.”

I don’t have time to rest here.

I wasn’t quite at the point of aether depletion yet, but maintaining the Great Temple Noctiluca and deploying the Holy Ground while constantly supplying aether to my friends was more difficult than I thought.

I bit my lip and glared at the opposite wall.

Under the high ceiling and the splendid lighting, streaks of blood spread redly.

It was somewhat obscured by the purple patterns that filled the wall, but I quickly hid the children in my arms, worried that the Divine Beasts might look in and be surprised.

I knew they weren’t the type to listen even if I told them not to, but I kept regretting it.

“It’s okay. We’re almost there…… We’re really there.”

-Kkiwoo.

-Kkia.

I shouldn’t have brought them here.

Even if they cried and threw tantrums and protested that they were starving for aether, I should have ignored them and left them at Lord Rasso’s castle and come here by ourselves.

How could I be so short-sighted? It’s not like I didn’t expect the worst of the worst.

“……The war will be over soon. Then we can go back to the Imperial Palace and take naps to our heart’s content. And play in the pond.”

-Awoo?

“Of course. His Majesty Frederick, whom Tete loves, is coming. While we destroy the summoning circle, he will occupy the royal capital and clean up the battlefield. Then……”

“Then it will all be over, really. Nuna [term of endearment for an older sister or female friend] promises.”

Thud! Gain, who had just finished filming a Hollywood movie [acting dramatically], slumped down next to me.

The back of her hand, which familiarly held Rea, was a little red. I wiped the blood off her with my sleeve and smiled faintly.

Thump! Soon, Cedric also sat down to my left.

His gaze, immediately looking into me, was fluctuating redly. His thick wrist was bulging with veins.

I had a wry smile because I seemed to know roughly what was going on. Sorry.

“……The aether is flowing out like that day, isn’t it? The trace of the Crown, I mean.”

“Yeah.”

“I roughly expected it. These days, my eyes don’t turn brown easily. It’s still not easy to control the aether.”

“……”

“Please bear with it a little longer.”

The man didn’t particularly answer. The corner of his lips curled up.

I grabbed his and Gain’s elbows side by side and slowly poured aether into them.

It was for the sake of their physical recovery and mental stability.

Gain, who seemed stuffy, took a deep breath and swallowed hard, and Cedric clenched and unclenched his large fist, enduring.

On that staircase, Sir Johann was continuing the final ‘cleanup’. I could see his neck flushed as if it would burst.

‘Ultimate Bewitchment,’ was it? It’s a really troublesome side effect.

“……King Christanher, you know.”

Gain muttered, stretching out her legs.

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at her.

“Did he recognize Master?”

“……”

“I mean, I don’t think he would have recognized at a glance that Master is someone involved with Prince Yeseo. But he very easily…… He seemed to accept Master’s story faster than I thought. Is that possible?”

‘His Highness the Crown Prince took a long time to recognize Master,’ she whispered.

Seeing Cedric immediately light up his eyes, I shrugged my shoulders for a moment.

“……Perhaps his mother had a unique intuition? The Prince and I have the same voice, after all.”

“Hmm, maybe. Besides, Master’s eye color, the SSS-class wings, it’s true that it wasn’t a situation that needed a long explanation.”

‘That’s right.’ Gain wiped under her nose and nodded.

A few seconds later, she opened her mouth again.

“……But you know. It seems much harder to end a war than to start it. I’m realizing that anew now that I’m experiencing it.”

“……”

“Because there was a justification for starting it.”

Cedric, who had been silent all along, answered. We turned to look at him at the same time.

“There must also be a justification for ending it.”

“But it’s so hard to have that. Look at it now. Even though the King of the Divine Kingdom is openly helping us, the war isn’t ending. No, it can’t end.”

‘Why? Because we haven’t caught Werner Venetian!’ Gain whispered with a very angry face.

I sighed deeply and agreed.

“Moreover, the King hasn’t formally surrendered, and the Sneider faction, which is clearly the Divine Kingdom’s army, is still fighting against the Imperial Army.”

“The Corleone Principality also won’t try to withdraw until they get a clear benefit.”

“Ugh. They were there too, right.”

‘It’s complicated.’ My partner stuck out her tongue and leaned her head against the wall.

Cedric and I were looking down at the floor for a while.

Terrible war crimes. Entangled interests. Countless justifications……

……I wish we could end everything before I start to feel exhausted.

-Step.

“The cleanup is finished. Shall we move immediately?”

“Ah.”

When we suddenly raised our heads, the cardinal, as pure as could be, was standing with his hands behind his back, his necktie was stained with blood.

I smiled, pretending not to see the ends of his hair were wet.

“……Yes, thank you.”

*

At that moment, in the west.

In the middle of the royal capital’s entrance road, leading in a straight line to Cain Street.

“Yaaahhhhh!”

“Annihilate the Sneider faction! I repeat, we will annihilate the Sneider faction first!”

“Venetian—!”

“Waaaaaah!”

When Elysee Venetian raised her golden spear and shouted, the Divine Kingdom’s great army following her roared in unison.

In the distance, the royal castle, rising sharply and burning red, could be seen.