Bermuda Chapter 86 (Patreon)

Chapter 86

The 8th Platoon leader, who had come up to the surface with him in an instant, was startled as her ears became muffled for a moment due to the pressure difference caused by Leonardo's formidable speed, but she quickly finished assessing the situation and shouted to her platoon members who were on standby in the air.

"Now!"

At the same time, Sawtooth Fish that seemed to number in the hundreds gathered in the shape of a huge fish and leaped out of the water surface.

The members poured long-range attacks mercilessly towards that massive swarm of Sawtooth Fish. The attacks flying from the air caused chain explosions due to friction with the water surface, shattering the creatures that had jumped out of the water. A bizarre death cry echoed endlessly throughout the entire lake.

Leonardo came out onto land while spitting out a mouthful of water. The 8th Platoon leader immediately leaped back into the air and joined the attack with the members. As the strong mages unleashed attacks all at once, the creatures were torn to shreds and pulverized.

After a few coughs cleared his airway, Leonardo roughly caught his breath that he had been holding. Then, he sat with his arms behind him, his hands on the ground, and looked around with a frown as if searching for someone.

'I can feel mana nearby, but why can't I see him?'

A short distance away from him, the member who had lost consciousness after hitting the wall seemed to have regained consciousness and was vomiting water, and the member who had been hit by the venomous stinger and fallen from the air earlier had also come to his senses, gotten up, and was receiving treatment from a healer.

Judging from the wound on his exposed arm, it didn't seem to be as serious as he had thought.

As the members in the air stopped their barrage of attacks, chunks of flesh and debris floated up in the center of the lake.

However, before long, black shadows were seen approaching the water surface again, and as the members took a combat stance, this time the Sawtooth Fish that had remained in the water leaped low and tore at the monster's flesh and the corpses of their own kind.

The sight of the water surface teeming with them was not a pleasant one at all.

Leonardo let out a sigh, thinking the crisis had been resolved for now, and swept back his wet hair.

However, the relief was short-lived, as a sudden sound of rocks splitting was heard. As everyone turned their gazes towards the loud noise, they saw the ground right next to the lakeshore cracking and fissuring, and the water near it surging as if it would spill over at any moment. Leonardo was dumbfounded.

It was because he remembered the monster's massive body strongly colliding with the wall underwater earlier and that the area below was a hollow cave.

If the ground collapsed like this, a tremendous amount of water would fall down, and the water pressure and weight would cause a chain collapse, which could harm other processions that might still be inside the cave.

Before Leonardo could decide what to do, as if urging him, a huge boom was heard in succession. The cracks crossing the ground also widened more and more. Then, starting from the small hole that had been punctured from below when ascending from the cave to this crater, the ground began to sink gradually.

Leonardo bit his lip and immediately placed his hand on the ground. Earth magic was the least compatible with his mana, so he had rarely used it in his life, but now he couldn't think of anything other than using whatever he could to block that hole.

At that moment, a vast amount of water poured down like a waterfall through the split cracks. It was the moment when a magic circle had just begun to unfold from Leonardo's hand.

"Freeze."

A cold air that could freeze one's hands and feet filled the area in an instant. The one who chanted the spell was not Leonardo.

The water that had been rushing towards the sunken ground was frozen in place, down to the last water droplet. To be precise, it had all frozen the moment it splashed up.

Even the Sawtooth Fish that had come up to the surface of the lake were rapidly cooled in the air. Falling to the frozen ground, they shattered like glass, scattering fragments in all directions.

Leonardo felt frost forming on his wet hair and eyelashes. However, without even having time to pay attention to such things, his gaze was captivated by the sight of the entire vast crater lake in front of his eyes, as if time had stopped.

The time it took for this vast amount of water to freeze was less than a mere second in his perception. He stared at the wide lake frozen in its dynamic form, then turned his head towards where the voice had come from.

The two members who had gone to scout the surroundings, Flynn, and Hugo Agrizendro were approaching this way. Seeing Leonardo sitting on the ground in an awkward posture, Flynn hurriedly ran over.

"Blaine, are you okay?"

Leonardo stared intently at Flynn's face, who was asking with a worried expression without even blinking. As he showed no reaction, Flynn's face became a bit puzzled.

Whether it was because of the absurd mana that had frozen this vast space in just that fleeting moment, or because of the eerie chill surging and coming over from the frozen lake, or because of the growing rage that his premonition seemed to be correct, Leonardo could clearly feel his body trembling slightly now.

The 8th Platoon leader and the members spotted their Commander and all descended from the air, flocking to his side.

"Commander!"

The 8th Platoon leader flew over first, suppressed her urgent demeanor, and calmly conveyed the situation.

"A monster appeared in the lake, so we had to deal with it urgently. You told us not to go inside, but... a member was dragged in, so given the situation, we had to act first. I apologize."

At her words, Hugo looked around and said,

"It's alright. The injured?"

The 8th Platoon leader silently shifted her gaze to the injured members who were receiving treatment. Both of them were conscious, and one was in the middle of having his wound treated.

Hugo also looked at them and asked,

"How are the wounds?"

"He was hit by the venomous stinger the monster had, but it only grazed him lightly, so it's okay. Most of the poison was expelled when he fell into the lake in the first place, and there will be no problem once the external wound is healed."

The member in charge of healing answered while treating the injured member's arm, as if it wasn't a serious wound. The member who was receiving treatment with his arm out was the new recruit who had dozed off while on night watch last night. Perhaps because of that, he looked dejected and had a gloomy expression, as if he was confused by this situation he was experiencing for the first time.

After checking his condition, Hugo turned his eyes back to the 8th Platoon leader.

"The type."

"Ah, yes. It was a mutant we had never seen before..."

The 8th Platoon leader paused for a moment, glancing at Leonardo, then looked at Hugo and continued.

"It had regenerative abilities, so it seemed impossible to capture it alive, so we prioritized extermination and couldn't leave the corpse. And there were Sawtooth Fish in the lake."

"Sawtooth Fish... I suspected it, but it's as expected."

Hugo scanned the members once and said,

"You fought well without major injuries. Good work, everyone."

Leonardo silently stared at him while sitting on the ground. The ice that had frozen on Leonardo's face and hair due to Hugo's mana gradually melted, wetting his body again. Water dripped from the tip of his chin, and his lips were slightly tinged with purple.

Hugo approached him as if to help him up and held out his hand.

"Good work, Leonardo."

Instead of taking his hand, Leonardo just stared at him blankly, then asked Hugo with a slightly cold gaze and voice,

"Where were you until now?"

At the question that sounded like a reprimand, Hugo calmly answered while still holding out his hand.

"I encountered a mutant monster while scouting the surroundings for route selection. It is the principle of the subjugation team to annihilate mutants immediately upon discovery, so as a result, it seems I returned a bit late."

Leonardo looked straight into Hugo's eyes as he said that. As the air current felt from him was somewhat strange, Flynn and the other members tensed up a bit and watched the two. Eventually, Leonardo blinked slowly and asked Hugo again slowly.

"No, what I mean is, you clearly arrived here, but instead of showing up right away, where were you?"

This time, there was no answer. Flynn was startled and looked back and forth between the Commander and him with a wary eye.

As the person in front of him didn't answer his second question, Leonardo suddenly let out a hollow laugh. Then, without taking his outstretched hand, he got up from where he had been sitting on his own.

Leonardo ignited flames around him, instantly drying his wet body, and patted the dirt off his clothes. The sneer that had been lingering on his lips gradually disappeared.

Soon after he finished dusting off his clothes, he suddenly turned serious in a frightening manner and stared at Hugo with a cold gaze. And in a low voice, he said to the eyes that looked merely calm.

"Hey."

At his chillingly changed demeanor, everyone was on high alert, not knowing why he was acting like that. Flynn was momentarily flustered, thinking he was calling him, but Leonardo's gaze was clearly directed at the Commander.

Even in that atmosphere, Hugo showed no particular movement and straightened his slightly bent waist, withdrew the hand he had held out, and looked at him with tranquil eyes.

Leonardo took a step closer to Hugo with a fierce momentum. Unlike Hugo's calm gaze, Leonardo's eyes were blazing hotter than ever, glaring at him as if to devour him, just like when he had faced him in the Frost.

In the suffocating silence, Leonardo spoke first, suppressing his anger.

"You, you were testing me, weren't you?"