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Chapter 11 - Fireball

Leon's hands moved to Lara's wings; he trailed his fingers across them, drawing a soft moan from her lips, her hands wrapping around him tighter.

After a few moments of quiet, Leon decided to speak. "So... where did these come from?" he asked, looking down at her.

Lara sighed contently, a dreamy smile spreading across her lips as her fingers absentmindedly traced circles on his back. "I just… wanted to be closer to you," she murmured, her tone sweet but carrying her usual possessive edge.

Her eyes fluttered open, glinting faintly as she looked up at him. "So I thought… if you had wings, then I should have them too. That way… after all, I'm a dragon too, just like my husband." She giggled quietly. "Now you can't ever fly away from me, right?"

"I'd never run away from you," Leon said, placing his hand on her head. "And anyway—"

SKREEEEEE!

A harsh screech tore through the air. It came from the bird that was now on the floor, but it was in a terrible predicament.

Firstly, one of its right wings was barely attached and was severely bleeding from Leon's attack, and now it had large spikes sticking out of the rest of its body apart from its head, while Livia just stood beside it menacingly.

He had never seen Livia use her powers—I mean, she had just awakened about an hour ago. But as there was no one else there, he guessed that the stalagmites sticking out of the bird's body were her doing.

I should probably do something about that... hmmm… but she's so cute when she's serious. Leon was having a hard time deciding between putting the bird out of its misery or just letting Livia play with it until it died from bleeding out.

«Ahem... instead of wondering about that, why don't you get out of here before a stronger monster shows up?» Al cut into Leon's thoughts.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that." Leon let out a breath, then moved. He shifted Lara into a gentle hold and lowered them both to the ground.

The aura of death around Livia scattered immediately when she realized Leon's presence behind her.

She turned around, revealing her face, which was beaming with smiles. "Welcome back, my love," Livia said as she walked toward him. She draped her arms over his shoulders before planting a kiss on his lips.

Leon pulled back with a smile. "Livia, we need to go find the rest of your sisters. Could you wrap this up?" he said with a pleading expression. He could feel the anger that Livia was masking under that smile.

Hearing Leon's words, her expression saddened. This monster was trying to kill Leon—her Leon. The only thing it deserved was a slow and painful death.

Even Lara felt the same; she just wasn't as emotional as her sister, so Leon had a hard time reading her—albeit it was mostly because he wasn't focused on her right now.

The girls were angry, but they'd never go against Leon—well, most of the time, anyway.

Livia turned around, still holding onto Leon with one hand. She stretched her other hand toward the struggling creature. The ground began to tremor a bit, and then, soon after the tremors began, a stone spike shot out, impaling the bird in the head.

She turned back to Leon, looking up at him with a displeased look, to which Leon responded with a sincere thanks and a quick peck on her forehead, causing her to turn bright red before she buried her face in his chest, saying inaudible words as she hit him in the chest with the mana core she had been holding onto.

---

After about thirty minutes of walking, they had almost reached the sports complex. Their journey had been quiet; it seemed like there weren't any more monsters around, but they could never be completely sure.

Lara and Leon's wings had disappeared as a result of them not needing them anymore. Also, keeping the wings expended consumed a crazy amount of mana, so they were lucky they didn't have to find out the hard way, thanks to Al.

As they turned a corner, the sports complex was finally visible, but it definitely didn't look promising.

The massive double doors of the sports complex hung open, one of them half-torn from its hinges. The inside was dark, barely illuminated by the light coming from outside.

Leon stepped through first, his boots crunching on broken glass and debris. The smell hit him immediately—blood.

Lara's expression twisted; already she had begun to imagine the worst.

Livia didn't say anything. Her eyes swept across the large open space—the training area, now completely destroyed.

Bodies littered the ground, both human and monster alike. Some were burned, others mauled, and others… barely recognizable.

Leon's jaw tightened as he moved among them, crouching beside one of the corpses. The man's face was pale, eyes empty. From his clothing, he might've been one of the academy's defense team, but he didn't survive.

He stood up slowly, shaking his head. "None of them are alive."

Livia looked around, her gaze flicking from face to face as if searching for someone. But after a while, her expression fell. "And she's not here either," she whispered.

Lara turned toward her. "You mean—"

"Leah," Livia's voice trembled faintly. "She's not here."

The silence that followed was heavy. Only the faint crackle of distant fires filled the room.

Leon finally broke it. "Let's check the back." He pointed toward the far end of the hall—a smaller metal door, half-dented but still intact.

They approached it slowly, the sound of their footsteps echoing through the empty court. Leon reached for the handle, and the moment the door creaked open, something moved.

A blur of motion came from the other side.

Leon's instincts flared; he barely saw the flash of light before it hit.

A leg shot out from the doorway, wreathed in crackling lightning.

He caught it.

The impact sent sparks bursting around his arm. The air hissed. The smell of ozone filled the corridor again.

Leon looked up, noticing the pink and blue-colored sneakers on the leg of the attacker. He remembered giving those exact shoes to Leah, and the chances of someone else having the same pair were low.

"It's good to see you too, Leah," he said with a strained expression; blocking her kick was really hard.

Leah was frozen, her leg still in the air as she just looked at Leon and her sisters with a shocked expression.

Her eyes slowly moved from left to right—from Leon to Livia, then to Lara, and back again.

For a long second, she didn't say anything. The lightning that had gathered around her leg sputtered out in a faint crackle, fading into soft blue sparks.

"...Leon?" Her voice was hoarse, uncertain, like she wasn't sure if what she was seeing was real.

Leon gently lowered her leg, releasing his grip as his expression softened. "Yeah. It's me."

Before Leon could fully regain his balance, Leah suddenly lunged forward.

"Leah—wait—!"

She crashed into him with enough force to knock the air from his lungs, sending them both sprawling onto the cold floor.

Leon grunted as his back hit the ground, dust puffing up around them. Leah's arms were already wrapped tightly around his neck, her face buried in his chest.

"Leon…" she whispered, voice shaking. "Leon… Leon…" she kept repeating his name over and over, muffled into his chest, her tears soaking through his clothes.

Leon's expression softened immediately. His hand came up slowly, resting on the back of her head. He ran his fingers gently through her hair, speaking in a low, calm voice.

"I missed you too." Leah's sobs came harder at his words, the sound echoing softly through the broken hall. Her fingers twisted tighter into his shirt, like she was terrified he'd disappear again if she loosened her grip even for a second.

"I knew it... I knew Leon would come," she managed between shaky breaths. "But you took too long, idiot."

Leon let out a quiet laugh, the kind that rumbled faintly from his chest. "Yeah… sorry about that," he said, brushing a thumb gently across the back of her head.

"Hmph... I don't forgive you."

Leon chuckled under his breath, the sound warm and teasing. "Yeah? Guess I'll just have to earn it back then," he said, his tone light but his eyes soft as he looked down at her.

Leah puffed her cheeks, still clinging to his shirt like she didn't mean to let go anytime soon. "You better," she mumbled, her voice muffled against his chest.

They finally got up from the floor, dusting themselves off. Leah peeked over Leon's shoulder before walking up to Lara and Livia.

"Big sis, Livy, I missed you so much!" she pulled both of them into a bear hug while she began to cry again.

"Aww... we missed you too," Lara said, returning the hug, while Livia just silently rubbed her head like a dog—all while Leon watched from the side, slightly shielding his eyes as the sight was too precious.

"Excuse me," a soft, mature voice said, coming from behind Leon.

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