Everyone Except Me Is Hiding Their Power-Chapter 109 : Forest of Secrets (5)

Chapter 109: Forest of Secrets (5)
What on earth had happened?
When I came to, a massive pillar of fire was surging up before my eyes.
A sight so majestic it bordered on surreal.
Perhaps that was why—or maybe my brain had been paralyzed—I found myself a step behind in grasping the situation.
Cecilia stepped forward as if to block our way.
The name that came from her lips—
Taranis.
The Spirit King of Fire.
Only then did I begin to understand what was happening.
And once I understood, goosebumps spread across my entire body.
Taranis.
So she had summoned a Spirit King.
At that realization, all the tension and strength drained from my body in an instant.
At the moment when I had resigned myself to death, the sudden hope and relief that I might live instead overwhelmed me.
“Urgh…”
What brought me back to my senses was the sight of Cecilia, clutching her chest and gritting her teeth.
Even as she frowned in pain, she desperately kept her gaze fixed in the direction the pillar of fire had erupted.
Ah.
Now was not the time to be dazed.
No matter how powerful Cecilia was, it would be difficult for her to defeat an ancient dragon alone.
Of course, summoning a Spirit King might be enough to turn the tide in her favor, but…
If asked whether Cecilia could endure until then, I could only shake my head.
More likely, she would faint after having exhausted all her strength.
At the very least, she had bought us precious time.
Right now, I had to move, even if it meant pushing myself beyond my limits.
“Gah—argh…!”
I poured divine power into my broken arms with reckless intensity.
Thanks to that, the shattered limbs began to heal rapidly, but in return, I had to endure the pain that felt like a red-hot poker was raking through my entire body.
“Haa… haa!”
Gasping for breath, I quickly scanned my surroundings.
Yuran and Lancia were still unconscious on the ground.
For now, I lifted each of them with one arm and slung them over my shoulders.
“Ghh…!”
My body was clearly in terrible shape.
Even after flooding myself with the Miracle of Vitality and enhancements, I barely managed to stand.
“Cecilia!”
At my shout, she turned to look at me.
“We have to get out of here!”
“…Urgh.”
She didn’t answer, just furrowed her brow and nodded.
But before she could take more than a few steps, she staggered and collapsed on the spot.
It seemed that summoning the Spirit King had drained her far more than expected.
There was no other way.
I approached her, crouched down, and turned my back to her.
“Get on!”
“…What?”
“Hurry!”
At my urgent call, she instinctively wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
Her hands gripped clumsily at my neck, prompting me to urge her on.
“Hold on tight! Use your legs too!”
“Ah.”
With my prompting, her grip tightened.
She even wrapped her legs around my waist as I had instructed.
That should be good enough.
After taking a few deep breaths, I rose to my feet.
“Hrgh!”
With the weight of three people on me, my legs trembled.
A ragged breath escaped me, and my vision blurred for a moment.
But I clenched my teeth and endured it.
Good.
I could still move.
“Now then…”
I swallowed the rest of my words and began to move away without looking back.
Or rather, I tried to.
Boom!
—KRAAAHHHH!!!
A deafening roar, as if the world itself was collapsing.
Followed by a scream more chilling than anything I had ever heard.
“Kh…?!”
The sound made my legs give out, and I collapsed to my knees without realizing it.
A sensation as though something unknown had gripped my heart.
Then came a sound, like something slicing through the air, moving away—headed somewhere not here.
The repetition of that bizarre and thunderous noise, utterly devoid of realism, made me turn around without thinking.
And behind me unfolded a sight even more surreal than the sound I had just heard.
—KAAAAAH!!!
A dragon.
A dragon with golden scales flashing brightly was trying to burst out from the massive pillar of fire.
Each time it beat its enormous wings with all its might, embers scattered and a wave of heat spread in all directions.
Even from a considerable distance, my skin tingled from the heat.
—KRAAH!!!
Then, its eyes met mine.
Airos narrowed his eyes upon spotting me, and the next moment, he opened his jaws wide toward me.
He intended to unleash his breath—what was also known as a dragon’s breath—straight at me.
But he never got the chance.
—KAAAAK!!!
Because a massive hand stretched out from behind him.
A colossal hand, shaped as though molten lava had melted into form.
It gripped Airos’s open jaws and, without pause, forcibly clamped them shut.
Then another hand emerged and tightly seized his neck.
—KRAAAAHHHH!!!
Airos let out another thunderous roar.
But despite the intimidating sound, the enormous hands firmly held onto him and dragged him back into the pillar of fire.
The dragon thrashed wildly, struggling, but in the end, he was sucked back into the flames.
It was a scene far too surreal to feel real.
As I stood there, stunned, I could feel Cecilia’s ragged breath behind me.
“Hurry…”
Her energy drained in chunks, as if sliced away all at once.
She had sent an overwhelming amount of mana to Taranis to stop Airos just moments ago.
Perhaps because of that, I felt her body—carried on my back—sag heavily and go limp.
“…Urgh.”
I urged my legs forward once more and somehow managed to rise to my feet.
All the while, the pillar of fire continued to sway and churn.
A prison to confine Airos.
Even now, it still blazed fiercely, casting brilliant light and searing heat all around.
Yes, thanks to that—
I could see the shadow of someone approaching us.
“…Die!”
Did they realize I had noticed them?
With a shrill and venomous cry, the shadowy figure hurled something toward me as if scattering it into the wind.
They were daggers, each with multiple items tied to their ends.
Even in that brief moment, I recognized them.
They were the same objects that had injured Allen in the past, and that had been used in the ambush on me.
Bombs that scattered shrapnel.
…No.
I was carrying three people right now.
Dodging was out of the question, and I had no divine power left to erect a barrier strong enough to block the explosion.
Yuran and Lancia were still unconscious.
Cecilia was barely hanging on, struggling just to prevent Taranis from being forcibly dismissed.
If we got caught in the blast now, I wouldn’t be the only one in danger.
All three of them could die—or be grievously wounded.
No.
I had to do something.
Somehow, I had to…
Please.
In that moment—
A voice rang in my ears.
—You’ll come to realize it in the end.
Immediately after, a sharp pain shot through me.
My collarbone.
Pain from the Brand.
And then—
BOOOOM!!!
With a thunderous blast, the spot where the four of us had been was engulfed by an explosion.
A blast so massive it left no trace behind.
Watching it unfold, the woman who had thrown the daggers—Lyslin—curved her lips into a smirk.
“…Got them?”
She had been waiting for a chance, and now the perfect opportunity had come.
With this, she had atoned for the mistake she made before.
“Then, should I return to Lord Yul right away…?”
A shadow.
Startled by the sudden presence beside her, she instinctively turned her head.
There stood Lian Gwendil, eyes wide open, swinging his mace.
Thwack!
A brutal sound rang out.
“Kyah—aaah…!”
A cry of pain escaped Lyslin.
The cost of blocking a full-powered mace strike—her arm had been crushed into a grotesque mess.
“How…?!”
How had he survived that explosion unscathed?
That was the desperation behind her shout, but Lian had no intention of answering.
Instead, he raised his mace high and brought it down toward the top of her head with all his might once again.
“Ghh!”
Lyslin barely managed to dodge by hurling herself to the side, but another scream of pain escaped her lips.
In the act of dodging, she had used her injured arm to brace herself on the ground.
Swallowing the cry that nearly burst out from the sharp pain, she quickly scanned her surroundings.
This can’t be…
Lian Gwendil.
She already knew from a previous encounter that he was capable of strange tricks.
That’s why she had considered the possibility he might survive the ambush just now.
In fact, she had remained on guard until the smoke cleared from the explosion.
I can’t believe he could move like that… and that he kept it hidden?
What a cunning bastard.
She muttered the words under her breath as though spitting them out.
Who would have expected him to appear right beside her without the slightest warning, like a phantom?
Ignorance had been the fuse of the crisis, and in exchange for escaping it, she had no choice but to sacrifice an arm.
Or perhaps she should be grateful her head wasn’t smashed in instead.
But what truly defied belief was what she now saw before her eyes.
How…?
It wasn’t just Lian Gwendil.
Cecilia Everglenn, Lancia Jintia, and Yuran—all three were completely unharmed.
She had seen them swallowed by the explosion with her own eyes, and yet here they stood, intact.
…Could that power extend to others as well?
Without realizing it, Lyslin swallowed dryly.
It seemed he could wield that mysterious power to some degree at will.
And if he could use it on others too…
Then there was nothing she could do now.
…A power similar to Lord Yul’s.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, the last flicker of her fighting spirit vanished.
All that remained was the obligation to complete the mission entrusted to her.
“…Nice to see you again.”
Catching his breath, Lian muttered quietly.
He seemed thoroughly worn out from the earlier ordeal, gasping for air again and again.
His face, soaked in blood, added a chilling aura.
It was almost strange that he was still standing.
Yet his presence remained as menacing as ever.
Especially the way the mace in his hand gleamed under the light—it was terrifying.
“How’s the cheek I hit? Still hurts? Can you eat something other than porridge?”
“…Someone hit me so hard I’m still sore, thanks for asking. But don’t worry, I can still chew bread and meat just fine.”
Lyslin gave him a sweet smile while glaring at him.
Lian grinned back in kind.
“Then to balance things out, how about offering the other cheek? I’ll make it count this time.”
“Mm, I’ll pass.”
Lyslin replied and glanced subtly around.
She was checking her escape route.
“If I let you go, you’ll just stab me in the back again, won’t you?”
Lian twirled his mace a couple of times and locked eyes on her.
“I figured it’s better for both of us to settle this here and now.”
“Sorry, but I already have a prior engagement.”
Lyslin murmured, gaze steady.
She’d located her escape path.
And judging by his condition, he didn’t seem capable of chasing her down.
Having finished her calculations, Lyslin suddenly lifted the hem of her skirt slightly and bowed politely toward him.
“And I must thank you and your people. Thanks to you… trapping that monstrous gravedigger in the pillar of fire, I got what I came for.”
In that instant, with no warning, Lian lunged at her again.
But Lyslin hadn’t dropped her guard.
Without hesitation, she triggered the smoke bomb she’d hidden in her clothes.
Concealed in the smoke, she made her choice—escape.
Yul Runberg.
The direction where her master awaited.
“Haa… haa…”
Some might have called it a disgraceful retreat, but she didn’t care one bit.
For Yul Runberg, her master, she was prepared to do this kind of thing as many times as it took.
“…I did it.”
She whispered, holding something glittering in her arms.
Philosopher’s Stone.
The item her master had ordered her to retrieve, no matter the cost.