After hearing the details, the trio were unable to utter a single thing, their throats tightening, their breaths shallow.
Obviously, what Leo said was true... they were the only survivors except the man who had lost his leg. Still, considering Leo and Ophis were involved, they could not deny it. Those things... those monsters... would definitely co back for them.
One way or another... they had to face it.
And if the so-called wish-granting thing truly empowered those monsters, then... who knew what kind of nightfire they would drag themselves into.
The image of monsters tearing through flesh and bone lingered in their minds... a nightmare waiting for its stage.
"That’s it... I’m leaving my job!" Azrael was the first one to speak. Her voice was cold, sharp enough to cut the air, her eyes locked on Leo. She muttered with a convicted face,
"I cannot wait and sit behind being protected... It’s my life and my..." her voice dipped low, whispering sothing too quiet to catch, before she suddenly lifted her chin and declared, "So I will do whatever it takes."
Seeing Azrael’s resolute face, Raphael was taken aback, "B-But... we are nothing—"
Azrael’s hand rose and pointed to Leo, her gaze burning. "He did... without any magic, with his hands and skills. If so... I could do it too," she snapped, her fingers curling into the shape of a gun aid at Raphael. "Didn’t I say... I am very good at aiming!" The gesture carried both pride and challenge, as if daring anyone to doubt her.
Raphael bit her lip hard before muttering, "B-But still... this is the only option? Can’t we just leave this place once and for all... I an... we could live abroad, far away... I will ask the board... Please," she begged at Leo, her voice trembling as her hands pressed together as if in prayer.
Things would be more dangerous than anything she had seen before...
This was not a ga where one could respawn or start over.
Death would be final!
However, Essa added, her voice low and grim, "The deal with the devil... You cannot escape, no matter where you go." She leaned towards Leo and muttered, "I... I am sorry for the previous outbreak."
Leo smiled faintly and patted her shoulder, his tone softer than expected. "It’s fine... after all, you were worried about . I understand that."
Essa stared at him from beneath her hoodie. She shook her head slowly, then leaned back with a breath, saying, "Well then, count in. If that’s what’s going on... I’ll gladly help you."
Ophis shrugged, her arms crossed, "I have no choice but to help you... you weak human," she said with a haughty tone that masked a strange flicker of concern in her eyes.
Raphael clenched her fist so tightly her knuckles whitened. She couldn’t allow her nephew to face the danger.... But if this was the only choice... the only way to get out of this nightmare...
"Fine." She nodded stiffly, her voice breaking with restrained resolve. "However, if anything happens, you’re leaving first!"
Leo blinked, eyes wide, as he looked at everyone gathered before him. "Guys... I don’t need your hel—"
"Oh, please, shut up!!"
Everyone shouted at the sa ti!
Ophis’s face turned furious, her sharp teeth bared. "Last ti you tried to be solo, you almost freakin’ died there!!"
Essa added bitterly, "Please don’t be a hero. I really hate them."
Azrael said in a serious tone, "Believe ... I am doing this for and... my prince." The last words ca as a whisper, so faint that only Raphael’s ears caught them, yet they struck like an arrow.
Raphael twitched before shaking her head violently. "No, I am not leaving you in any danger!! This is my family, and I will protect it!!" she declared, her eyes blazing, her voice like a vow carved into stone.
Azrael nodded, "That’s right... Now all that remains is to create a na for our team."
Everyone looked at her weirdly.
"This is not play—" Leo was about to say sothing, but Azrael cut him off, "... The Curse of Prince!" she declared with a proud expression, her chin tilted upward as if unveiling sothing legendary.
Everyone blinked again. The entire room turned silent for a second. Azrael’s confidence cracked, her heart pounding as she wondered if they didn’t like it.
Her cheeks turned red in embarrassnt.
Say sothing!!
She too could feel embarrassnt, you know!
"Ha... haah!!"
Everyone suddenly burst into laughter. Leo chuckled, then broke into a loud smile he couldn’t hold back. After all... they were idiots to do that.
Idiots who willingly tied themselves to danger.... Idiots who wanted to get near death again.
They had lost their minds... Yet he couldn’t help but love them more for it.
His family was... indeed a weird one.
After so serious talks and a few boosting words, everyone ate while discussing the issues at hand. The al was simple but warm, the conversation drifting between strategy and foolish banter. Unlike the others, Raphael was still nudged by unease and... Azrael’s involvent with gun gangs.
Still, they talked and enjoyed the night before drifting back to sleep... or at least attempting to. More like Leo was the only one who wanted to sleep.
The others had already rested enough for the day. They wanted to spend ti awake, especially with Ophis.
Since Raphael was curious about Ophis... Ophis only gave a strange, weak smile at Leo, her expression twitching with discomfort as Raphael’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.
’Take care,’ Leo thought with an amused expression, watching Ophis’s tight face while both ladies barged into her with questions.
anwhile, Leo walked back to the room.
The casket was closed, its black wood glimring faintly under the dim light. He stepped slowly, his body heavy, before sitting down on the bed. With a long breath, he reached into his pants and pulled sothing from the place he had hidden at his side.
Thank goodness. He had put the book under there.
Arthurian Mythology.
His eyes traced the book’s cover, fingers brushing over the aged letters, before opening it slowly.
Arthur was no ordinary king.
He was the chosen ruler, the one who drew the sword from the stone when none else could. His destiny wasn’t won by chance—it was carved by fate.
The Lady of the Lake placed Excalibur in his hands, a covenant between king and kingdom, mortal and divine.
Leo’s breath slowed.
Excalibur... that must be the na of the sword she had.
Excalibur gave Arthur the right to rule and strength beyond mortal n. Yet the blade was not his greatest gift. It was the scabbard—the sheath—that made him untouchable. As long as he wore it, no wound could bleed him to death; his injuries sealed the mont they were struck.
Leo frowned... a sheath? He had never seen her sheathing her sword. It always just hung at her hip or appeared suddenly in her hand, shimring into existence as if from nowhere.
As he continued to read, the words grew darker.
But fate was crueller... The scabbard was stolen!
Leo raised his eyebrows.
Leaving him vulnerable to his enemies... as well as his closest ones.
Yet even in vulnerability, he still stepped forward for his people and protected his Kingdom!
So say he had no weakness... others say he was weakness itself... or that his trust in the sword and scabbard was the true flaw.
Leo’s hand hovered over the page, trembling slightly, his eyes narrowing at the final line. He whispered it under his breath,
"That’s who he was... the Once and Future King—Arthur Pendragon."
Leo humd in thought, ’Arthur... ah,’ he mused before clenching his fist and forcing his breath to steady. Slowly, he closed his eyes, pulling himself back from the spiral clawing at his mind.
Maybe this figure and the one he knew were different...?
"Caelindra," he muttered softly. He placed the book carefully on the table, then slid out the diamond-and-gold phone.
"Hmm... I should remove the battery and SIM," he muttered to himself. He pulled out a prying tool and pressed it against the case. Just as he started to work the back open, one of the small diamonds loosened.
It fell, glittering, and rolled soundlessly beneath the bed.
"Shit! My money!"
Leo cursed, crouching imdiately. His hand darted into the shadows, fingers searching blindly in the dust and wood until at last he caught sothing cold.
He pulled it back with a sigh of relief—until his eyes focused.
Not the diamond.
A pendant?
Leo’s eyes widened when he saw what was attached to it—a faintly glowing, green flickering... sword?
No. His pulse hamred.
A scabbard!!
Leo’s eyes widened further as he finally registered the design. The engravings, the divine shimr, the outline—he knew it.
"Don’t tell ..." he whispered, his voice cracking. He imdiately grabbed the book again and flipped to the illustration, his hands shaking.
There it was—Arthur holding both sword and scabbard. And the scabbard... exactly like the one now resting in his trembling palm.
Leo’s breath halted for a second in sheer horror.
"W-Why is this here? What is the aning of this?" His words tumbled out, half-whispered, half-panicked.
He wasn’t rely confused. He was utterly shocked—shaken to the core that sothing like this had been under his bed all this ti.
But when?
Why?
Did his Pride, Caelindra, leave it here?
Was this her way of telling him to save her?
Leo’s thoughts twisted in chaos, his chest tightening. So Arthur... was Caelindra then?
He was horrified, confused, and lost all at once, his fingers tightening around the pendant as if afraid it might vanish. It glowed faintly.
Just then—
’Interesting.’
The cold voice slithered into his mind, echoing like a whisper from the abyss.
Leo’s vision blurred, his strength drained. His other hand dropped the diamond-and-gold phone with a sharp clatter, but the pendant remained in his grip, clutched as if it were more precious than any treasure, more valuable than life itself.
________
Author’s Note:
Guys, do you feel any loss of quality here? Or unnecessary dragging? I’ve been dealing with so personal issues, so I couldn’t fully focus on the novel—that’s why there are delays and fewer Chapters. Please tell honestly if you noticed those things.
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