Chapter 119
Clang! Clang clang!
The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the air.
Adel froze for a moment, dazed, before snapping back to her senses.
“We’ve been ambushed.”
She had no idea how much time had passed since she had formed the bond with the divine beast.
It had felt like an instant, but it was probably more than an hour.
Quickly adjusting to the sunlight, she surveyed the battlefield.
Seven companions were locked in a brutal fight, surrounded by countless monsters.
The mantises that had ambushed them yesterday.
Ka Rarc—a grotesque fusion of human and bee.
Humaneater—carnivorous insects.
All of them looked like horrifying hybrids of insects and humans, surging endlessly toward the group.
At the edge of a sheer cliff, one being observed the battlefield from above.
At first glance, it looked human—but the two antennae sprouting from its forehead betrayed its inhuman nature.
Adel immediately recognized it.
A being on a different level from the other monsters.
A Levercher.
Most Leverchers were shrouded in mystery, but some had known identities.
The sixth Levercher, Hav, a key figure in the war that led to the destruction of the Hieronymus Kingdom.
A king of insects commanding the half-human, half-insect “Them.”
Alongside the eighth Levercher, Marquis Rozof Vatenberg, he was one of the most active on the battlefield.
His cold gaze landed on Adel and the divine beast she held.
“Already bonded… too late.”
It was as if he had anticipated their arrival.
Her companions, noticing his appearance, quickly turned to look at Adel.
“Adel!”
Kan, fighting fiercely, slashed through a monster and leapt forward.
Another monster blocked his path.
But Kan was of the Emperor’s bloodline—no monster could harm him.
Thanks to the divine beast’s protective barrier.
The barrier drastically reduced the damage received from “Them.”
Ka Rarc’s venomous stinger pierced Kan’s shoulder, but the monster was thrown away by the counterforce.
Kan immediately swung his sword twice at the monster diving at him, cutting through the joint between wings and body, sending the bee-human crashing to the ground.
Adel shook her head at Kan’s sudden flurry of actions.
She, too, was protected by the barrier.
The important thing wasn’t her safety—it was the other bodyguards and Shuzer’s.
Those who fulfilled the prophecy, her precious friends, could not be injured or killed here.
Though the barrier would prevent death, it couldn’t stop capture or other dangers.
They had no idea what kind of being the prophesied child bonded with a divine beast was.
“Flamma ad cælum fertur.” (The blazing flame rises to cover the sky.)
Adel spoke the link spell while holding the divine beast.
The fire spirit appeared.
Unlike before, when it was the size of a small lizard, the fire spirit now resembled a massive dragon.
Even the summoner, Adel, was taken aback by its majestic presence.
Hiding her surprise, she spoke to the spirit.
“Burn them.”
Fwoosh!
The fire spirit exhaled a blaze reminiscent of a dragon’s breath.
The flames skillfully avoided her allies and struck only the enemies.
A whole group of enemies was incinerated in an instant.
Everyone present was stunned.
The child had only just completed Stage 1 growth (hatching), yet wielded such power.
“This… is the power to save the world…”
Shuzer muttered, as if witnessing a sacred sight.
“…Retreat.”
The sixth Levercher, observing from below the cliff, ground his teeth and spoke.
He likely intended to ambush them and kidnap the prophesied child before the bond with the divine beast was formed.
“Auróra, súbito.” (Wind, lift me.)
But Adel had no intention of letting him escape.
A stormy wind enveloped her body, lifting her rapidly into the air.
She appeared before Hav almost instantly, chanting the next link spell.
“Ei qui me gládĭus.” (For the sword that loved me.)
A massive iron sword, easily three meters long, appeared in her hand—still cradling the divine beast in the other.
Impossible for a thirteen-year-old to wield, yet to Adel it felt as light as a candy stick.
The Levercher calmly swung his scythe-like hands to attack, but Adel struck first.
Shing!
The iron sword shattered Hav’s body.
Though it cut with a sound, the being was utterly obliterated.
An absolute force, leaving no trace of the body behind.
This was the power of the prophesied child bonded with the divine beast.
“The power…”
Yet perhaps because Adel and the divine beast were still underdeveloped, Adel immediately felt all her strength drain and plummeted toward the cliff below.
“Adel!”
Everyone present witnessed and stomped their feet in alarm.
From that height, survival was impossible.
She had to be saved.
That was all that mattered.
Time slowed for Kan.
Her fall seemed almost within reach, but she was descending too fast.
“Please… someone.”
At that moment, a divine beast dashed forward at lightning speed, catching her just before she hit the ground.
It was Rogue.
Sliding, he caught Adel, then rolled with the impact, vomiting blood.
Ka Rarc nearby had struck him in the stomach with a sharp attack.
Rogue severed the attacking monster while seated, then dropped his trembling sword.
Clang!
“Hehe. When it comes to speed, no one in the Empire can beat me.”
The knights immediately surrounded and guarded the pair.
The leaderless monsters initially thrashed, then gradually dispersed.
Adel, trying to regain her senses, looked at Rogue—bright red blood flowed from his mouth.
“Rogue, Rogue! Are you okay?”
“Y-Yes… I’m fine, my lord.”
“Shuzer… quickly… treat him…”
“Hold on, my lord. You must be treated first.”
“No, it’s nothing. I’m just… exhausted.”
“I’m fine too. I’m quite sturdy.”
Shuzer, trying to treat Adel, hesitated at her urgent request.
Catching her fierce gaze, he finally looked at Kan.
Kan nodded that he was okay and handed Adel back to Rogue.
Her light body hung limp, completely drained.
“She’s seriously injured. The claw pierced her abdomen, and the bleeding is severe.”
“Can you… treat her?”
Adel’s trembling voice asked.
Shuzer merely nodded after assessing her.
“Am I not the next Pope? Sir Michael, can you remove the claw?”
“Understood. Rogue, bite down hard.”
“G-Gently, pl- Aaah!”
Michael swiftly removed the monster’s claw from Rogue’s abdomen. Rogue screamed and then went limp as if fainting.
Kan discreetly covered Adel’s eyes from the gruesome scene.
“Vos, meæ caríssimæ ánimæ.” (A life precious in itself.)
A brilliant light shone as the incantation was spoken.
“Cómmodo valetúdinis tuæ.” (Permit her to continue breathing.)
The treatment continued for a while, and Rogue, still trembling, calmed.
Soon he began breathing steadily again.
“It’s over. Fortunately, the treatment went well.”
Only then did the group exhale in relief.
Kan and Michael simultaneously shouted at Adel.
“What were you thinking?”
“It was dangerous!”
Adel flinched at their words.
“I’m sorry… I thought I couldn’t afford to miss.”
“You can’t control your power yet—how can you misuse it like that?”
“What if something happened to you while I was taking down a Levercher?”
“I… I understand…”
They seemed thoroughly angry.
Adel immediately bowed her head.
But then she smiled innocently.
“Still… I did my part.”
“….”
“….”
“Didn’t I?”
Perhaps she had started to resemble the prophesied child.
Her words silenced any further scolding.
Truly a lovable being.
So precious and simultaneously pitiful.
Both thought so at the same time.
“Of course, my lord! You were amazing! The best! Cute, pretty, doing everything yourself! I love you! Let’s get married—eep!”
Yet only Terra remained genuinely thrilled by Adel’s brilliant performance.
“Chirp chirp.”
“Oh, how cute. So you’re the divine beast?”
It seemed the divine beast agreed.
