Chapter 856

A moment later, a massive explosion erupted from where Hosanra had been.

But it wasn’t a simple explosion. It was the aftermath of a single person—an Awakener—having every ounce of power in their body swell to the limit and then burst all at once.

Yuder, who had been the closest, was thrown back by the full force of the blast. After tumbling a few times, he came to a stop, only for chunks of hail that had lost control to rain down heavily on top of him.

Beeeeep—his ears rang with a sharp, high-pitched noise, and a piercing tinnitus echoed in his skull. His vision flickered as if going dark. For a moment, he genuinely thought he was going to pass out, but a desperate will not to collapse here somehow forced his limbs to move despite the pain.

Once the hailstorm that had swirled around Hosanra finally finished pouring down and quieted, Yuder drove the sword he’d still been holding into the ground and staggered to his feet. He had to see for himself what had just happened.

Drawing in a ragged breath, he closed ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) his eyes tightly and opened them wide. Finally, the landscape before him came into clear focus.

A large stretch of ground centered around where Hosanra had just been was sunken as if a massive stone had crashed down. The entire area was soaked in a dark crimson stain.

Red earth where not a single strand of hair remained.

Yuder immediately understood what that meant.

His final strike had definitely pierced through Hosanra. But...

‘Hosanra succeeded in using his ability at the last moment.’

If he had died without having the chance to activate his power, the aftershock would have taken on a slightly different shape. At the very least, Hosanra and Naham’s bodies would still be lying where the attack had struck.

But there wasn’t even a shard of bone left in the wreckage. That meant Hosanra had managed to use his ability at the last second—and that in doing so, his body had been torn to shreds beyond intervention.

Until now, the destruction caused by Hosanra wasn’t the result of his own will. It was more like he’d been unable to control the power that swelled within him, and it had lashed out at the surroundings. But this time was different. In the end, he had clearly intended to use all his strength to send Naham somewhere. And so, it was exactly as Yuder had predicted: that the moment Hosanra used his power, he would not be able to endure and would explode and die.

What decisively confirmed that assumption was the fact that Naham’s body wasn’t in the blood-red crater either. Even if he had been caught in the blast, it wouldn’t be the same as someone who’d exploded—there should’ve been at least some trace left. But there was truly nothing there.

Nothing at all.

Yuder stared down into the empty crater and exhaled with a faint tremble.

He had hoped it wouldn’t be too late... but in the end, he failed to stop Hosanra properly. The only reason the blast wasn’t stronger, despite Hosanra’s explosion, was because Yuder had stabbed him and cut off his breath at nearly the same time. But aside from that, almost everything had gone off course.

No—this wasn’t just a deviation. It was... nearly a failure.

Yuder couldn’t be sure if Naham was truly dead. That wasn’t all. He didn’t even know where the man’s body might have gone. Hosanra had muttered something about the Southern Nation, but was it really possible to teleport someone else such a far distance without moving himself?

If they were lucky, and the power hadn’t worked properly in the end, maybe Naham would be found at the edge of the nearby area. But if they were unlucky...

The one thing that was clear was that there was no energy to spare for a search in the current situation.

Ha... The breath he let out reeked of thick blood. Yuder clenched his teeth and gripped the sword hilt tightly—then relaxed his hold again.

A wave of crushing exhaustion washed over him, but it didn’t shake him emotionally. He was disgustingly used to despairing situations. In fact, up until now, everything had gone so strangely well that this fury and frustration felt more familiar—more natural—to Yudrain Aile.

‘Still... the aftershock range was narrower than I expected. Probably because Hosanra and I both activated our powers at the same time. At least no one here should’ve been caught in it and died... Kishiar, too.’

Kishiar. Only now did the thought come to him—that he had to return to where Kishiar was. Yuder tried to turn his body immediately, but just then, Cavalry members rushed in and surrounded the area, forcing him to stop.

“Yuder!”

Thankfully, none of them appeared to be seriously wounded either. Kanna, who ran to him first, scanned his entire body with a face gone pale. The other members were also shouting indistinct things, panicked and overwhelmed.

“Your clothes...!”

“Your body!”

“Your face, your face...!”

Only then did Yuder realize that his limbs and clothes were completely soaked with dark red fluid. The remnants of Hosanra’s explosion.

Blood dripped from his clothes and hair, soaked from head to toe. Not all of it was his—but to an outsider, it would look absolutely horrific.

“God. Somebody go grab any priest you can find—!”

“It’s fine. I don’t need a priest... Just take care of the aftermath and prepare for a search first.”

“What? What are you saying?”

“...Hosanra used his power at the end to send Naham somewhere. If we’re lucky, he’s nearby... If not, we won’t be able to find him.”

The others seemed too stunned to comprehend what Yuder meant. But Kanna wasn’t like the rest. She was able to read between the lines of Yuder’s exhausted words.

“Do you think Naham... might not be dead?”

“...Possibly.”

“But Yuder, even I thought he looked dead. No matter how strong Hosanra and Naham’s powers were, that’s...”

Kanna trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. Then she closed her eyes tightly and opened them again.

“...No. We’ll be more certain after analyzing the traces. Fine. I’ll take care of that for now, so... Yuder?!”

“Yuder! Where are you—?!”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

He didn’t have the strength to answer. Yuder shook off the hands reaching for him and turned his body. Of course, the direction he headed was where Kishiar was. Only when they realized Yuder’s intention did the others begin to follow after him with worried cries, trying to support him—but Yuder shook his head and firmly rejected them, walking forward on his own.

He’d worried Kishiar might have been caught in the aftershock. Fortunately, Kishiar didn’t seem more injured than before. Two Cavalry members were helping him stand. The man who had stayed exactly where Yuder had told him to wait slowly raised his head and looked at Yuder approaching him. His crimson eye, sunk so deeply it looked almost black, was—just as always—only one.

The perfectly handsome face that had never once been marred now stood with half of it drenched in blood, one eye closed.

Seeing that man, Yuder felt as if a blade had stabbed straight into his chest. That sharp, searing anger from earlier returned at the same time.

How could this possibly be called love?

The instant their eyes met, Yuder felt both immeasurable relief and unbearable pain—anger, anxiety, and wild emotion all at once.

Staring at Kishiar’s wounds, Yuder slowly opened his mouth.

“...I ultimately failed to stop the final move. I’m sorry.”

“......”

“I was a split second too late to stop Hosanra completely. It seems he managed to send Naham somewhere at the last moment. A search... will be necessary.”

“......”

“Even though the blast radius was smaller than expected, there may be a reaction from the crack soon. We’ll need to regroup with Sir Zuckerman and prepare.”

Kishiar’s gaze drifted past Yuder’s head, up toward the sky. A moment later, he spoke.

“...That last flame you released.”

“......”

“...Did you... choose something?”

Though he didn’t name it directly, Yuder knew exactly what Kishiar was asking. And Kishiar must have seen it too—that power Yuder unleashed in the final moment, the kind of strength he should not have been able to summon.

As expected, if no one else, Kishiar couldn’t be deceived.

Yuder slowly nodded.

Kishiar closed his eyes.

In the distance, a deep rumbling sound began to echo.