Chapter 141 The Extra(?) V/S The Protagonist

---(After Leon was told to secure escape route and Isabell alone went ahead for the infiltration)--

Leon dragged his body to the stairs.

He felt pain coursing through himself every time he moved. He coughed blood with every step he took.

Despite that, he moved downstairs.

Screech-

Opening the door, he entered the room, which had the portal they were supposed to use for their escape.

This portal belonged to Underworld. They knew about a few more of these portals thanks to their spies working in Umbra.

The device Goliaths used to shut down battery-based devices throughout the Underworld was fine-tuned to not interfere with portals, this was so that they could use any other portal in case of emergency during the mission.

However, this created an issue that not all battery-based devices would be shut down.

He closed the door behind him and sat with his back against the wall.

Breathing heavily, he brought out a vial in his hand.

"Should I have used it?"

Looking at the elixir he couldn"t decide if he made the correct decision by not using it earlier to help Mr. Pepe.

He was reluctant to use it.

If Seer or Huntress came to know about the existence of Elixir, he would be forced to tell them about the Stage-0 dungeon.

He was reluctant to break his promise to Nathan of keeping it a secret.

This was why he wasn"t using it on himself too.

"But what if it was someone else and not Mr. Pepe?"

Leon buried his face in his arms.

He didn"t understand why he was against Mr. Pepe to this extent.

"What should I do?"

Ever since he lost his family he had relied on his instincts, but for the first time, they were making him hate a person he didn"t even know.

He bit his lips.

The only thing he hated was Demons, who killed mercilessly without reason, but why? Why was he acting this way?

He buried himself in his thoughts.

Leon only reacted when he felt Huntress doing a big attack above the ground.

From there the intensity only increased, making him doubt if he should provide help.

"No, what can I even do?"

He could tell that whatever was happening above the ground was beyond what he could handle.

Finally, everything stopped and he no longer felt any signs of an ongoing fight.

While he was waiting for Huntress and Isabell to return he heard the sound of someone tumbling down the stairs.

Leon was about to rush outside but the door opened and he saw Mr. Pepe entering the room.

He immediately unsheathed his katana and took a stance.

"Why is he here? Shouldn"t be laying unconscious in the top-16 area?"

Leon realized that Mr. Pepe was walking half-consciousness. He hadn"t even recognized that there was another person in this room.

His guilt from earlier made him unable to stop Mr. Pepe. Mr. Pepe"s current condition wasn"t helping him in reducing his guilt.

There was a b.l.o.o.d.y gash on his back. Injuries ran all over his body, making rags look better than his robe. Leon felt a gust of wind would be enough to make him fall over.

-Yato..Phzzt…can you hear me?

"Seer?" Leon whispered.

-Leon, you should escape alone. We are following Mr. Pepe, he atta-hey give it back!

-Phzzzt.

"Seer?"

He tried to call her again however, he couldn"t connect with her. He routed his intercom to Huntress.

"This is Yato. Huntress, can you hear me?"

-Phzzt

"Huntress?"

-Phzzt

Huntress wasn"t replying.

Leon wanted to ask about the situation, but he couldn"t connect with Huntress too.

At the same time, Nathan kept moving toward the portal.

"Is he running away from Huntress? Is that why he is injured?"

Leon made his decision.

Screech-

Thud-!

Leon closed the door and moved in front of Mr. Pepe.

"Stop"

He raised his katana and took a stance.

"I said stop."

Yet when Leon saw how Mr. Pepe couldn"t even tell his location and was using his arms to find him, he couldn"t put strength into his hands.

Mr. Pepe was walking like a corpse, barely remaining conscious. He still didn"t realize Leon was standing in front of him.

Crackle-

He activated his stigma to bring Mr. Pepe out of his stupor.

"Stop moving or I"ll attack."

No matter how injured Mr. Pepe was he, escaped from Huntress, Leon knew he had to remain vigilant.

Nevertheless, watching his figure, which appeared like a dying flame amidst a storm, he couldn"t bring himself to attack.

That is why he didn"t dodge or block the punch, which even a 9-year-old could have dodged.

Thud-!

"…what are you trying to do?"

Suddenly, Mr. Pepe"s knees gave out and Leon instinctively held him before he could fall.

"Wait!"

"..k.."

Mr. Pepe was trying to speak something.

"What?"

He moved closer to hear him.

"..k."

"I can"t hear you."

Suddenly, his instincts warned him of danger.

He tried to move away from Mr. Pepe, however-

"Ka-"

-he couldn"t get away in time.

Boom-!

An explosion ensued, throwing both of them away.

"Ar..gh"

A groan leaked from Leon"s lips when his body crashed to the ground.

Blood seeped from his body and started painting the ground red. He unconsciously moved his arm and felt that a part of his abdomen missing.please visit p(anda-n0ve1.co)m

Immense pain followed.

His head blanked and he couldn"t think of anything else.

He tried to move, but that only increased the pain. He felt as if he was being skinned alive. Someone was digging into his flesh while forcing him to remain conscious.

Leon kept thrashing around, but he quickly lost the energy to even do that.

His throat was on fire from all the shouting.

Splosh-

Abruptly, something grabbed his abdomen, and he finally lost consciousness from the pain.

*

"Again, I failed again"

A kid was sitting in a fetal position.

"Mom and dad died but I couldn"t do anything"

Tears flowed down his eyes as he gazed into emptiness.

"Anna was about to be killed but I couldn"t even move"

Sobs leaked from his throat and echoed.

"Lilith was driven to the point she decided to sacrifice herself and I was helpless."

His buried his head deeper into his arms.

"Nathan was about to die yet I was powerless to help him"

His nails dug into his skin as he clenched his fists hard.

"I"m never strong enough to save anyone."

"I can"t help anyone"

"Do you want strength?"

"Huh?"

Startling the kid was a loud voice.

Suddenly, he was standing in an unknown place.

Mountains that pierced the sky, clouds that hid the sun, and…

Crackle-

Omnipresent lightening, destroying everything that stood in its path.

"Do you require strength?"

He turned to the source of the voice.

"What!?"

He fell backward as he tried to look at the face of the being speaking to him.

The being was taller than those mountains, two regal wings adorned his back, and he was carrying a sword in his hand.

Orbs of lighting floated behind the giant"s back that the kid could see through his transparent body.

"Do you want strength to defeat that person?"

The kid quickly realized what the giant was talking about. That person, the one who defeated him with one blow, blowing a hole in his abdomen.

"I..I don"t know."

The kids answered back.

This place was his soul. Outside, he might have tried to suppress himself with the reasoning, but here he couldn"t hide his true self, the self that wanted to protect as many as possible.

The giant plunged in sword beside the kid in anger.

Tens of mountains were blown to smithereens as the lightning raged.

"Do you know why you feel repulsion to that person?"

"You know the answer to that?"

"That person is carrying the legacy of Mephistopheles, the Devil who plunged the Universe into the Dark ages and drove everything to the point of extinction."

The kid"s eyes widened.

"How is that related to me?"

"Your origins are greater than anybody. You are the Saviour, the "Sword" that cuts through all evil."

"W-what?"

The kid couldn"t understand what was happening. He was the Saviour? The Sword?

"We don"t have much time. You only need to know one thing."

The giant crouched and looked down at the kid.

"Do not let that abomination grow. It will only bring forth destruction. Do not let your kindness stop you, for it is the personification of Evil itself."

The kid clenched his fist.

The giant placed his knee on the ground and brought its face in front of the kid.

"Do you want power?"

Leon didn"t know what to believe. He couldn"t understand what was happening.

However, he knew he what needed.

"Yes."

He needed strength

*

Outside, in reality, Nathan crushed the vial of elixir.

He watched Leon healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Ding-

["Desire" has been detected. Conditions have been met.]

[???[Legacy] is awakening]

"I"m …not r..returning the cr..edits*cough cough* I… bor-rowed from you."

Nathan dragged his body toward the portal.

[Raikou Lvl.1 [Legacy] has been awakened]

Crackle-

Lightning emerged from Leon"s body.

Crackle-

An apparition started forming in the air.

A skeletal shield appeared around Leon as lightning kept condensing near him.

Above the ground, Aether moved in the air and crackled. The awakening of the skill resulted in the phantom of Raikaku, the giant Leon had met, being formed.

"I was wrong about you. You only know how to hurt others"

Leon"s eye were out of focus. He wasn"t in his sane mind.

Crackle-

Underground, more bones appeared and formed a single arm connected to the rib cage covering Leon.

"I won"t make the same mistake again."

Leon felt power coursing through. In his hazy state of mind, his body moved on its own.

Fwosh-

A giant fist descended on Nathan.

"[Golden Turtle]!"

Bang-!

The room shook.