Chapter 262 (2/2)

「Sir Grucel! Sir Gorja! What's going on here?! Why is the s.h.i.+p moving?!」

「Monsters were spotted, so we set sail. That is all. Please relax. There was a small fire, and—」Gorja was trying his best to come up with an excuse.

「Come on, you shouldn't lie.」

The s.p.a.ce beside Luke warped, and Hikaru, Group Obfuscation disabled, appeared.

『It's you!』

Soldiers readied their weapons all at once.

「Silver Face?! What are you doing here?」Luke demanded.

「Landon, they're lying. They did what they shouldn't have done. Lying on a national level.」

「What?」

Hikaru told Luke everything—the invaders' objective from the start was to get a Healer. There were no sick persons on board. They were sailing to Grand Dream where the Healer would be asked to cure their ailing king. The enemy even laid their hands on his own comrade.

Paula didn't have her mask, so instead she wore a black robe and pulled it low over her eyes.

「You expect me to believe you—」

「Emperor Kaglai and I share the same opinion. I mean, look at those guys' faces.」

Seeing Gorja's stiff expression, Luke realized Hikaru was telling the truth.

「I see… Very well. We will be heading back to Ville Zentra. Our s.h.i.+p is around here somewhere, right?」Luke immediately decided to return using their own s.h.i.+p.

「You think we'll let you go just like that?」Gorja wouldn't back down that easily.

They finally obtained the one thing they wanted: a Healer. Giving up was not an option.

Tension hung in the air.

「Hey, Silver Face.」Luke whispered.「You better have a plan.」

「I do. A plan where the both of us make it out for sure.」

「What about us?!」Luke asked.

「I'll create a distraction, but after that you're on your own. I'm sure a knight who serves Vireocean can manage.」

「Hmm… Very well.」

Satisfied by Luke's answer, Hikaru once again took out his revolver.

『Move back!』

『That thing's dangerous!』

Gorja and the other soldiers kept their distance from the masked boy. Hikaru shot a cursory glance at Grucel, who was positioned behind the crew, before turning his attention to Gorja.

「Gorja. You laid a hand on my friend. I hope you're prepared to face the consequences.」

「Heh. Don't act tough. We have you outnumbered. You seem to use some strange magic, but some fire is not enough to scare us.」

「I actually thought about killing all of you.」

Cold sweat beaded on Gorja's forehead.

「But there are people from Ville Zentra here too. They need time to escape. You better thank the Healer who happened to be on the same s.h.i.+p as you. Also to the Supreme Leader who approved of their being here. Whether you live or die now is up to you.」

Hikaru pointed the gun at his feet.

「Run.」he whispered at Luke.

The knight started running towards where their s.h.i.+p was towed, guarding the Healer all the way. Before Gorja and the soldiers could make a move, Hikaru pulled Paula close and squeezed the trigger.

Bang.

A bright, super-hot, orange beam with high penetrating power shot out from the muzzle—a spell called Flame Laser. When Lavia tried using this, she got blown ten meters back. For its incredible propulsive force, it also had a tremendous recoil. Hikaru had Lavia pack the spell into a bullet.

As a result, Hikaru, while carrying Paula, flew up, tracing an orange ray of light in the air, like a rocket.

Paula screamed, enduring the gravity on her body as she clung to Hikaru. In the blink of an eye, they were high up in the sky, looking down on the battles.h.i.+p.

Eventually, they stopped mid-air due to gravity. Paula breathed a sigh.

「One more.」

「What?」

Hikaru aimed the revolver sideways and fired.

「Whaaaaaaat?!」

They flew as fast as an arrow.

「Wh-What's that…?」

Luke couldn't believe what he was seeing, but indeed Silver Face caused a distraction. Now's our chance.

「Lord Luke! The enemy will be on us soon! We'll hold them back. Please take the Healer and go!」

「Tsk. I suppose there's no other choice.」

They didn't have much time, so a few remained to buy some more. Then suddenly, the floor shook. Hikaru didn't just shoot at his feet for nothing. He aimed at the s.h.i.+p's very power source. The laser pierced through, the high temperature speeding up the mana reaction exponentially.

「Wh-What?!」

The magic source started going out of control.

『Run! Take cover!』

『The s.h.i.+p's going to explode!』

The enemy soldiers escaped in a hurry. One after another, they jumped into the sea. The fire jetting out of the s.h.i.+p's side prevented the other s.h.i.+ps from getting close.

「G-Go!」

Luke and the knights, too, broke into a run.

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