Volume 6 Chapter 96 This is Also a Kind of Narration Death
Around the time Randy and the others reclaimed Ellie's body...
"So? When will it finally wake up? That so-called 'moment of destiny'?"
Catherine was boldly confronting Leonius, her voice sharp and unwavering.
Despite all his claims about some grand 'moment of destiny,' nothing significant was happening as the solar eclipse dragged on──still nothing.
The dappled sunlight cast shadows, yet they revealed one truth: the sun was more than halfway out.
"Bet they got stopped by those guys."
"Don't rush──that Battle Demon were always expected to resist a bit."
Leonius shrugged, and Catherine snorted, dismissive.
"Blissful ignorance, huh?"
That remark made Leonius frown for the first time, surprise flickering across his face.
"Anyway, once we brought those guys along, your calculations were already off."
"If that's the case, it's seriously troublesome. This just got a lot more complicated..."
Despite his calm words, Leonius's confidence never wavered.
It was as if he cared little if this entire plan failed──Catherine and the others couldn't hide their slight concern.
"Are you just bluffing?"
Catherine goaded, and Leonius nodded calmly, saying, "Yeah, maybe." But his face betrayed him──no way he was just pretending.
And that confusion wasn't lost on Catherine or Lucius.
This was a war──an elaborate scheme that had dragged countless people into chaos.
Yet now, it was on the verge of falling apart, and yet, Leonius showed no sign of panic.
It was as if he still had a secret weapon up his sleeve...
As the 3 focused on reading Leonius's unreadable expression, the forest deep behind them suddenly stirred with noise.
The clinking of metal sounded as if armored knights were charging through.
"Everyone, don't move!"
What surrounded Catherine and her allies were countless Imperial Knights, advancing in perfect formation.
"Eh? Why are they here──?"
Catherine's stunned voice was totally understandable──this was unexpected.
The latest intel this morning only confirmed that the war in the kingdom's outlying provinces had truly kicked off.
Even if some faction had lost, it didn't make sense for imperial troops to be streaming so close to the royal capital, to the town or street right nearby.
And them coming from the depths of the forest──not just the entrance──that was impossible to explain.
This here's an island floating on a lake, that's what.
If there was a possibility, they'd have stayed hidden in the forest all along, but the Empire is still──well, that's enough of that.
In this utterly impossible situation, only Lucius and Leonius stayed calm, scanning the surrounding knights.
"...Could it be, a royal teleportation gate?"
"Not at all. It was my impulsive older brother."
As Leonius sighed, a man draped in lavish clothes and a mantle emerged from among the knights.
With a face strikingly similar to Leonius', Catherine exclaimed, "Huh? Wha?" as she compared the two.
"To come all the way here, it must've been tough, Big Bro Ragnar."
Leonius glared at the man he called Ragnar.
Leonius, with the ruins at his back.
Opposite him stood Catherine and the other 2.
And from the forest behind Catherine, Ragnar appeared.
In this fully encircled-by-the-Empire situation, Leon clicked his tongue and shifted to shield Catherine, alternating his glare between Leonius and Ragnar... yet Ragnar paid no mind to Leon or Catherine, focusing solely on Leonius.
"Sneaking around in a place like this... Did you think I wouldn't recognize your dirty schemes?"
Snorting in discontent, Ragnar ignored Catherine and Lucius right in front of him and began walking straight towards Leonius.
Leonius and Ragnar faced each other.
The two, similar in all but attire, each revealed a mocking smile.
"I heard that this area was supposed to be a burned-out wasteland by now?"
As Ragnar sneered at the failed plan in the dark, Leonius shook his head, "Would've been, normally," when the sound of footsteps echoed from the entrance leading to the ruins.
The echoing footsteps were singular.
At this fact, everyone readied themselves──
"What's this? Quite the crowd waiting for us."
Randy, carrying Liz and Ellie under each arm, slowly lowered them to the ground.
"You──!"
Catherine couldn't help but shout, to which Randy raised his hand in greeting.
"We pulled it off somehow. Liz pushed herself too hard, and Ellie's still waking up, so her body's not tracking well yet."
And so, Randy carried them this far, prompting Catherine to glare with a suspicious look, saying, "That's such a lie."
"You just wanted to show off to me, didn't you!"
"Yeah, right. I'm as worn out as you are."
Frowning, Randy glared at Leonius and Ragnar, saying, "That's why..."
"It'd be a real help if you just backed off now."
Even as those words left his mouth, the hostile aura radiating from him crackled through the air, making the surrounding atmosphere hum with tension.
The knights who had followed Ragnar's lead instinctively drew their weapons, unnerved by the bizarre energy exerted.
"Stop it."
Ragnar, who had stepped in to de-escalate, shot a quick glance at Randy before turning back to Leonius, his expression grim.
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