"No!"
Leonel shook himself awake, dragging up what reserve strength he had managed to regain while allowing Aina to lead to swoop her into his arms. He tried to cover Aina completely, hoping that her ax could block the rest of the attack.
BOOM!
Pain like nothing Leonel had ever felt in his life before assaulted his body. Without suspense, he was sent flying. He couldn't even tell up from down anymore, let alone telling just how far it was he had flown.
The Quasi Bronze chain necklace on his neck splintered. It was just a tiny crack, but it came with a sound almost as loud as the bomb itself. Or, maybe Leonel's sense of sound had just been completely thrown off as well. He really couldn't tell.
"Aina? Aina!"
Leonel roared, barely able to hear his own voice. Only after shouting with all he had did he faintly hear himself.
Aina's state was far more sorry than his own. He had tried his best to cover her back while her ax had covered much of her front, but her legs and some of her arms had been completely exposed.
Leonel's blurry vision teared up when he saw her, a lump quickly swelling in his throat.
Her legs had been charred beyond recognition. What was once delicate, fair skin was blackened beyond recognition. It was so bad that she didn't even bleed, even her blood itself seemed to have burnt to ash.
Her arms were in a slightly better situation, but this somehow made it more gruesome. Severe burns of the fourth degree almost exposed her bones. Her flesh bubbled almost like water, producing a scene that made one's stomach upturn.
Leonel's knees and palms surrounded her almost like a mother protecting her cubs. He wanted to scream and roar, but his inner organs didn't seem to want to allow that.
Blood leaked from his orifices, partially obscured by the soot and grime that coated his body.
Leonel quickly shuffled around in his pockets. When he found the bracelet he was looking for, he slipped it onto Aina's wrist as gently as he could.
Regret filled his heart.
'I'm so stupid, I'm so stupid. I should have given it to her earlier. Why didn't I give it to her earlier?'
He felt as though something was clawing at his chest and eating his flesh.
He had had this bracelet ever since he exited the Mayan Tomb. It was only a Tier 4 Black treasure, but since it was one time use, it was countless times more powerful than other treasures of its tier. He chose it just for Aina, so that he could protect her and help her.
But, when he saw her kill Conrad like that, he began to question everything. Even after he learned that she had killed Conrad for the sake of protecting Yuri, he still couldn't forget that scene.
Leonel knew that he liked Aina more than even he, himself, could put into words. But, there was always a piece of himself that remained restrained, a part of him that couldn't accept her. So… He never gave her the bracelet he saw as the symbol of his feelings.
He was so stupid. Impossibly stupid. Regret was seeping through his veins like a venomous poison.
Leonel roared like an enraged wild beast, ignoring the pain of his inner organs. He could hardly hear it himself, but it spread throughout the Fort like a shockwave.
"Fire."
Miles coldly watched on, a disdainful glint lighting his eyes. His only regret was that such a good treasure would likely not survive the wreckage and would have to be buried along with them.
To the side, Simeon's expression was far more sadistic. He remembered Leonel's voice when he shot that bullet toward him just two hours ago.
'Unfortunate'. Those were the words he had said. As though the interaction had been meaningless to him. Watching Leonel suffer like this after humiliating him like that made him the itch in his heart lessen.
'It's too bad the child of that whore will die without repaying the family for the genes she was given. But, so be it.'
Leonel's maddened roar was drowned out by the explosion.
BOOM!
Leonel felt the bones of his body fracture and crack as he slammed into something heavy. His vision was too blurred to see where he was, he could only barely tell with his Internal Sight. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was holding onto Aina.
"Li…"
Leonel heard a weak voice by his ear along with the splintering of another treasure. The gem of the bracelet he had just slipped onto Aina's hand fractured and dimmed, falling from its socket.
At first, he thought the voice was trying to say his name, but this wasn't true.
"Little fool… Take it."
Leonel blinked, feeling something pressed against his chest. It was only after his senses were barely half recovered that he realized it was Aina talking and she was pushing something against his chest.
He looked down to find a tall and slender piece of paper between her hand and his chest. No, it looked too much like a piece of fabric to be called paper. However, all Leonel could see was Aina's hand. How she managed to continue holding on to her ax in one and lift the other to give him this thing, whatever it was, Leonel had no idea.
"This… Is a tick… et. Just pour… your Force into… it and… it will ta… ke you to… an… other… world. I've al… ready vet… ted it… it shou… ld be sa… fe."
Leonel's expression flickered, his throat running dry.
"Fire." Miles once more said coldly.
"Ju — Junior Governor Duke, we can't do that. They've been blown too close to the walls. If we shoot again, we'll compromise the safety of the Fort. Some Invalids have already been attracted by the noise."
Within the tower, the commander of the post hesitated but still clenched his teeth to explain. He was already horrified by Miles' actions. Now that he had found such a good excuse, he had to make use of it. Miles might not care about the common people, but he at least cared about his own safety… right?
"Who cares, we'll just build another wall." Miles said coldly.
They had built such a great wall in such a short period of time. They could easily do it again. Not to mention the fact that it would just have to be a repair and not a complete reconstruction
This time, another official stepped in.
"Junior Governor Duke, the alloys we used to build the wall were all from emergency stores in case of a Class 9: Red event like this one. They've been used up already and we won't have the technology or safety to mine such ores again in the short term."
Everyone held their breaths, waiting for the Junior Governor Duke's response.
"… Send all available units down."
They all sighed breaths of relief.
"You heard the Junior Governor Duke! Send down the orders!"
"Wait." Miles suddenly stopped them, causing them to feel nervous once again. "Call Tier 5 Admiral Bennett as well."
By the Fort walls, Leonel still hadn't realized he had been sent so close to his original goal. But, even if he had, he hardly had the strength to move now and there were enemies all around.
"… Take it!" Aina spoke firmly. "They won't… kill me. The… Bra… zinger family ne… eds me…"
She fumbled around weakly and also managed to find a pill.
"This can … stimulate your… po… ten… tial for five minutes… but it… will leave… you we… ak for th… ree days af… terwa.. rd. Only take it if… you fi… nd dan… ger on the oth… er side…"
Aina coughed violently.
"I look like… I'm in a … bad state but my … body will… heal soon… Don't… worry…"
Leonel gripped Aina's hand which had pressed against his chest once more.
"What world is it?" Leonel asked with a gruff voice.
Aina's soft lips curled into a smile, seemingly happy that Leonel would ask this.
"It's called… Terrain…" She laughed a little before chuckling. "… It seems that… we aren't the… only ones with bad… naming sense…"
Hearing that Aina's voice was slowly getting steadier, Leonel smiled, the grip he had on her small hand tightening slightly. It seemed she hadn't been lying. Her body really was recovering at an astonishing speed.
"You're right, Earth and Terrain really are bad names." Leonel responded lightly. His words seemed to put Aina at ease for a moment. But, she froze at what she heard next.
"Wait for me there. I'll come to get you with a present far better than that bracelet, I promise."
Aina didn't have the time to react before the paper turned fabric she had pressed against Leonel's chest was pasted onto her forehead.
The last thing she saw was Leonel's smile and the gentle, loving looking in his eyes before she vanished.
A teleportation ticket could only work for one life form at a time. Even the Metal Spirit Aina had been holding onto for him couldn't follow her in.
But, Leonel was calm as he looked at the red pill in his hand. Without hesitation, he weakly stood and swallowed it.