Book 1 Chapter 806
806.
Rea’s eyes trembled uncontrollably.
Rea, who had been staring at Leo with disbelieving eyes, soon let out an awkward laugh.
“Was it… a dream?”
She couldn’t simply be happy.
She was afraid.
Afraid that the being before her eyes would vanish like a mirage.
Afraid of the emotion that might surge into boundless sorrow after a moment of joy.
That fear made Rea deny the one before her eyes.
Leo merely smiled silently at her reaction and extended his hand.
A moment later.
Rea, gritting her teeth, asked.
“Is it really Kyle?”
“Then would it be a fake?”
A somewhat curt and annoyed response.
Rea’s eyes blurred at the extremely Kyle-like demeanor.
Suppressing the tears that threatened to burst forth, Rea painstakingly opened her mouth.
“If so, why… Why… Why now… did you appear?”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“How much I’ve… missed you until now…”
Leo reached out his hand to Rea, who was speaking with difficulty, holding back her sobs.
As Leo’s hand touched her, Rea flinched.
‘It’s warm…’
Rea felt her heart stabilize from the warmth conveyed on her cheek.
“It’s really… Kyle, and… Ugh?!”
Leo, who had been caressing Rea’s cheek, twisted it and pulled.
“Hey, you con-artist lizard.”
“Uh, huh?”
“You tricked me into signing the marriage contract, so you deal with it. I can’t handle that Luna girl.”
Leo growled fiercely.
“Are you blaming me for this, on top of tricking me?”
“…”
Rea could only gape.
And she was 100% sure.
‘This guy, it really is Kyle.’
From his foul temper to ruining an emotional reunion.
Rea thought he was more like Kyle than anyone.
***
Chirp- Chirp-
As the chirping of birds tickled her ears, the eyelashes of the beautiful elf girl lying on the bed fluttered.
Rune opened her eyes and slowly sat up with a bleary face.
‘What is it? Did I drink too much yesterday and my memory cut off?’
She scratched her belly with a rumbling sound and yawned widely.
It seemed she had really drunk a lot yesterday for the first time in a long time.
Then…
‘I talked with Rea… and then…’
The moment her thoughts reached that point.
Rune’s hazy eyes suddenly widened.
“That’s right!”
The corners of Rune’s eyes curved upward fiercely.
“What? Marriage? Marriaaage?”
Rune, who was trembling with anger, dropped her head.
‘…Yes, so they had that kind of relationship.’
Honestly, even as a woman herself, Rea was captivating.
A sense of emptiness washed over her.
And.
Rune’s ears kept twitching.
‘So, that bastard played with my innocent heart, didn’t he?’
A rage that felt like it would turn everything to ashes at a touch boiled within her.
Rune was not an elf to fall into such despair.
Instead, she simply unleashed her anger at Leo, whom she judged to have hidden the truth.
“I’ll get this damn bastard!”
Rune sprang to her feet and kicked open the door, storming out.
“You’re dead!”
Rune, who came out of the room as if spitting fire, looked to her side.
Just then, Leo was coming out of the room next door, scratching his head.
“You’re awake?”
“Hoo? Look who it is? Isn’t it the married man?”
A vein popped out on Rune’s forehead.
Seeing Rune, Leo closed his door and said.
“Calm down first. Licinas just fell asleep. I stayed up all night dealing with him too.”
“Stayed up all night? Oh, so you had a very hot night, didn’t you? Did you enjoy your reunion as a couple?”
Leo sighed, looking at Rune who was growling as if she would bite him at any moment.
“It’s not like that.”
“Not like that! You damned scoundrel! Playing with an innocent elf’s heart?!”
Rune grabbed Leo by the collar.
“You’re not exactly innocent.”
At that, Rune flinched.
It was true, after all.
The undeniable words irritated her even more.
“Take responsibility! You played with me, so take responsibility! You adulterer bastard!”
“Anyone who hears that would misunderstand.”
Leo sighed, looking at Rune who was shaking him violently, and said.
“Let me make one thing clear.”
“What?!”
“I didn’t even know it was a marriage contract.”
At Leo’s words, Rune paused.
“You mean?”
“I was tricked too, by that damned swindler.”
At that, Rune stared intently at Leo’s face.
Rune, who had been looking for a lie in Leo’s words, soon realized it was true and let go of Leo.
Then she smiled sweetly and tried to enter Rea’s room.
Leo grabbed Rune by the scruff of her neck.
“Leave her alone.”
“Why? This is a complete betrayal! I need to tell her a thing or two!”
“She’s probably tired from many things. Address it later.”
“Are you taking Licinas’s side now?”
“It’s because if you and Licinas clash, it’ll be noisy and I won’t be able to sleep.”
Leo scratched his head.
Seeing Leo like that, Rune paused.
“Let me rest too.”
Even Leo, with his steel-like stamina and unshakeable mental strength, hadn’t slept since the fight with the Erebus fragment yesterday.
As such, his fatigue was at its peak.
Leo, revealing his utterly exhausted face, furrowed his brows.
Even to Rune, Leo’s current state was such that it wouldn’t be strange if he just lay down on the floor and slept.
And this was also a side he didn’t show to others.
What Leo had to show was an absolutely unwavering demeanor.
It was a slightly weaker side shown only in front of the Great Heroes.
Rune pulled Leo.
“Come here.”
“I’m tired. I want to go to my room.”
“Stop talking and come.”
Rune dragged Leo into her room.
And pushed the frowning Leo onto the bed.
“Sleep here.”
“How do I know what you’re going to do?”
“I won’t pounce on you, so sleep easy. No, wouldn’t you be grateful if I did pounce?”
Leo sighed, looking at Rune who was pushing his back with a snort.
‘It doesn’t look like she intends to let me go easily.’
“If you draw on me, you’re dead.”
“Am I a child?”
Leo tried to lie down on Rune’s bed.
Then Rune quickly sat on the bed.
“What?”
“Here, here.”
Rune tapped her thigh.
“I’ll give you a lap pillow.”
“It’s okay.”
“Oh, come on! If I offer a kindness, you should accept it!”
Rune pulled Leo, forcing him to lie down.
And she smiled broadly, looking down at Leo.
“It’s uncomfortable.”
“Even though you were tricked, you knew about it and didn’t tell me. You tricked me too.”
“…”
“If you just quietly sleep like this, all will be forgiven!”
Rune felt good knowing that Leo was simply tricked.
Looking up at Rune, who was smiling down at her, Leo shook his head and closed his eyes.
Rune stroked Leo’s head and murmured.
“It’s nice like this.”
“…”
“Kyle?”
Rune looked at Leo.
By then, Leo had already fallen into a deep sleep.
Leo, who was usually a light sleeper, had fallen into a deep slumber at this moment.
‘He probably won’t wake up easily now.’
The exhaustion of physical and mental strength from fighting Erebus.
Plus, the aftereffects of using activated Pure Mana to its extreme.
He must have been so tired that it wouldn’t be strange if he just passed out.
Rune poked Leo’s cheek.
Leo, in a deep sleep, showed no reaction.
Rune looked out the window.
It was a peaceful morning, almost unbelievable that a fragment of Erebus had been resurrected yesterday.
‘I wish this moment could last forever.’
***
“Black flame?”
“Yes!”
Karr, who arrived in Azonia, slightly furrowed his brow at Ar’s report.
Just thinking about it made his teeth chatter.
“According to the report, the Sayrun student council president went to investigate first, and the Lumerin student council president also went to investigate right after.”
“If there’s a problem, a support request will come. Thanks for organizing it well, Ar.”
“You’re welcome! If you need anything, just call me right away!”
Ar replied enthusiastically and left the student council office.
‘She was always a vibrant child. After meeting Kyle, Ar became even more energetic.’
Smiling faintly, Karr examined the documents.
It was the headache-inducing work of a student council president, but Karr diligently performed his duties.
He considered this also his responsibility in living his current life.
As Karr was examining the documents, he paused.
Something alien was detected by Karr’s transcendent senses.
Shwaaaaaaa-
Suddenly, it started raining outside.
The sound of raindrops hitting the window echoed.
It rains even in the desert.
As such, a sudden rain was not unusual.
‘But today wasn’t supposed to be rainy weather.’
Karr, with his hypersensitivity, was more sensitive to atmospheric changes than anyone.
There were no signs of rain today.
Crucially…
Shwaaaaa- Thud- Tudududududuk-!
Something solid began to mix with the rain and fall.
Tududududududuk! Kwagagagagagak-!
Ice chunks, hail.
It was this that defied Arion’s hypersensitivity.
‘Cold.’
Cold air utterly unsuited to the hot desert.
Due to the sudden hailstorm, the air around Azonia began to drop rapidly.
Soon the hail stopped, and then snow began to fall.
The moment Karr saw the snow, he immediately leaped out the window.
Whoooosh! Thud-!
Karr landed precisely from the tall building.
“Karr senior?”
Ar, who had just exited the student council building, opened her eyes wide as she saw Karr standing before her.
“…Ar.”
“Yes?”
“Issue a summons order to the great hall under my authority.”
“Yes?”
“Prepare for battle.”
Leaving those words, Karr immediately kicked off the ground and began to sprint.
Bells began to toll throughout Azonia.
Leaving that sound behind, Karr instantly arrived at Azonia’s main gate.
By now, the snow had turned into a blizzard.
Karr’s body trembled.
Not from the cold.
It was from fear.
“Hello?”
A woman in a hood smiled at Karr.
“Who… are you?”
Karr asked in a trembling voice.
“What is your relationship with Erebus?”
At Karr’s words, the woman showed a surprised reaction.
“To sense Erebus in me, how extraordinary.”
Karr’s senses told him.
The being before him was not Erebus.
But essentially, it was the same.
“My name is Nyx.”
Nyx said calmly.
“I am the Evil God known as the ‘Death’s Freezing’.”