Chapter 494: Curse

Wild fluctuations of red-violet aura surged around Leonel. A towering tornado of Force swirled around his body, bronze Runes flickering into existence across his skin.

The little mink woke from his nap, low growls standing its hair on end.

At that moment, everyone's sights focused toward the same direction. With how high up Leonel's shuttle had been, he was nothing but a faint black dot in the sky. But, there was no denying the surge of energy coming from that direction. Even those without the ability to see so far could feel the changes.

Leonel's shuttle morphed into a surfboard, streaking down from the clouds as though a meteor crashing toward the earth.

By the time he got in range for those without sensory abilities to see him clearly, the cold stoicism on his face was all anyone could seem to focus on. It felt as though it was a dam holding back the raging waters of his fury. Beneath that placid exterior, there was a volcano on the verge of eruption.

Seeing Leonel's appearance, Mordred was among the few who sighed a breath of relief. She knew that if Leonel was here, then that must mean that the situation on the other battlefield had already been dealt with. And, judging by his current appearance, it was also clear that he already had a minor grasp of exactly what was happening here.

'Isn't he... descending too fast, though?'

Mordred couldn't help but worry. She knew how deep Leonel's feelings for Aina were. In such a situation, she couldn't even be certain that he would care much about his own safety.

Just as Mordred was about to try to warn Leonel, his surfboard came to a grinding halt, causing her heart to stutter.

The sheering forces of such abrupt changes in speed would be no different to crashing into the ground. Was Leonel trying to kill himself?!

However, what was even more shocking than this was the fact that Leonel seemed completely unaffected. In fact, before anyone could wonder why he was still 20 meters above the ground, his surfboard vanished, leaving him to plummet to the ground on his own.

At that moment, Nile finally awoke from his stupor. He didn't know who this person was, but judging by the way his gaze had been locked onto Aina from start to finish, Nile could already guess what this unknown entity's goal was.

"Stop him! Long ranged units, fire!"

Nile had already been directing a small troop against Guinevere and the remaining five Knights of the Round Table. So, hearing his new orders now, the transition was seamless.

However, it was as though Leonel couldn't even see the arrows streaking toward him. He hardly said a word, yet a strong current of Earth Elemental energies formed a bronze bell around him.

PENG! PENG! PENG!

The barrage didn't even stand a chance. Let alone cracking Leonel's defenses, they rebounded away without suspense.

BANG!

Leonel crashed heavily into the ground. However, the sight of him breaking several bones or becoming a pile of mush never occurred.

A small crater splintered out beneath his weight. But, Leonel had hardly felt his two feet touch earth before he shot forward.

For a moment, he looked no different from King Arthur. His body almost became a streak of golden light, blazing a trail past Nile and his men to appear beside Aina in a flash.

No one could react. Not a single soul could even comprehend what was happening.

How had a single person managed to complete what so many of them had been trying to for the last several minutes?

Leonel fell to his knees beside Aina's convulsing body, his gaze finally giving way to emotion. Watching her in this state, he almost felt as though her pain was his own. The pain of opening his Lineage Factor, the torture he had put his hands through over the past months, even those savage beatings he had taken at the hands of Lamorak... none of those things could match the pain he was feeling now.

He didn't care about the foul odor coming from Aina's body, nor did he care that her face was completely unrecognizable beneath the inflamed scars that had begun to travel down her neck.

He slid a hand beneath her head, hoping that the tilt would help her expel more of the black blood without her choking on it.

"What do I do? What's wrong with her?"

Leonel's first instinct was to cast as many [Grand Heal]'s as he could. But, his instincts told him doing so would be useless.

[ *Ping* ]

[ Replying to Seed, One Star Mono-Layered Curse detected. According to analysis, Curse was implemented during infancy, making it near the strength of a Four Star Tetra-Layered Curse in efficacy ]

Leonel's pupils flickered.

A curse? He didn't know anything about them. He wasn't sure of what the nomenclature meant and what the difference between a One Star Mono-Layered Curse and a Four Star Tetra-Layered Curse was. But, this did confirm one thing to him: Aina's scars weren't so simple.

Before, he thought that the reason the Cleansing Waters managed to help their inflammation was due to the fact it had cured them of their infections.

To a layman, Aina's scars looked like infected wounds that might burst with pus at any moment. In fact, Leonel thought this was the case as well. Cleansing Water had the ability to rid the body of impurities, refresh the mind, and heal minor injuries. As far as Leonel was aware, anyway.

He never truly felt anything particularly special about the Cleansing Waters, especially since his supply was so abundant. It wasn't until Aina spoke of its specialness that he finally raised an eyebrow.

But now, it was exactly what Aina needed.

The Segmented Cube appeared. Under Leonel's control, streams of water exited and flowed into Aina's nostrils and lips.

The effect was slow and hardly noticeable, but with Leonel's senses, he easily picked up on them. Though the impact wasn't as great as Leonel hoped, it was still a small light at the end of the tunnel.

Leonel's gaze suddenly sharpened.

With calm movements, he sent Aina into the bathhouse of the Segmented Cube. If she was immersed in water, the process would be much easier.

"Take care of her, Blackstar."

Leonel sent the little mink in after her and slowly rose, his cold demeanor returning.

He looked over his shoulder, his eyes locking onto Nile's legion.

"Which one of you is responsible for what happened?"

The voice was emotionless and soft, but those who heard it felt as though they had been thrust into the pits of hell.