Bermuda [bl]

"Kyaaaaaah–!"

"E-everyone, step back!"

Panicked screams from the medical staff echoed inside and outside the examination room. Broken glass shards were trampled miserably under fleeing footsteps, scattering like sharp powder.

Amidst the occasional vibrations and falling medical equipment, voices of struggle trying to calm someone leaked out. However, they were soon suppressed and buried under fierce shouts and unleashed mana, unable to exert any strength.

"Commander, this way!"

At the same time, outside the infirmary, hurried footsteps were just entering through the main entrance. Among the medical staff heading straight for the examination room, Hugo's face showed clear signs of anxiety.

The root of the problem was that he had been delayed since early morning, finishing incomplete reports to the higher-ups including Abraham, and discussing the handcuff issue with Deputy Commander Shorendo.

'I should have accompanied him...'

As the vibrations shaking his heart grew closer, Hugo's mouth became parched.

He shouldn't have left him alone. His mind was filled with negative thoughts.

Fearing that the same nightmare as before would unfold, he disregarded decorum and overtook the medical staff, crossing the corridor at full speed. Finding the examination room wasn't difficult. Following the commotion and screams, the energy of Leonardo engraved within him led him straight to his destination.

"Oh, y-you're here!"

"Commander!"

In front of the tattered examination room door, which had been opened and closed repeatedly, medical staff were huddled together, trembling in fear. Some greeted Hugo with faces that had found a savior, but most just stared blankly at one spot with pale faces, unaware of his arrival.

"Blaine!! Calm down, please–!"

Meanwhile, Flynn's voice sharply grated on the eardrums through the broken window. Hugo's spine went cold for a moment.

"Move aside."

As he immediately pushed through the crowd and moved forward, from the moment he approached the entrance, the smell of blood persistently assaulted his nose.

His heart was beating violently, and indistinguishable clamor lurked close by. Then, as he stepped into the examination room, the scene of devastation that had disrupted the interior unfolded before Hugo's eyes.

Finely shattered glass fragments threateningly pricked the soles of his shoes, but he had no time to pay attention to such things right now.

"Haa, ha."

"Stop, stop it!"

Broken furniture and medical equipment were strewn about as if a beast had clawed at everything. Scattered glass shards and transparent cylinders on carts were engulfed in flames, exploding with a boom. In this scene of pandemonium, bright red bloodstains were stretched out long on the floor like splattered paint.

In the midst of it all, Flynn, his voice hoarse from shouting, was embracing a panting blond man and pleading almost in screams.

Hugo could only stand frozen in place with a shocked expression.

Leonardo, breathing in and out, had become a face of a fierce yaksha, dripping blood from his chin and fingertips.

"...Leo."

He moved his frozen lips with difficulty and barely called out his name. Then, the fierce eyes of the beast taking rough breaths looked at Hugo with contracted pupils.

An alien killing intent was felt in those golden eyes. Hugo instinctively held his breath, just like when he first encountered Leonardo.

The two stared at each other, locked in a standoff for a while. Amidst the silence that had suddenly fallen, a tense atmosphere lingered, and soon after, a growling murmur pressured the other first.

"Did you order this?"

It was a single sentence that nakedly revealed taut nerves and wariness. Hugo hesitated for a moment.

"What?"

A breath mixed with a metallic sound wafted around again, and an exhausted Flynn buried his face in Leonardo's shoulder, gripping the upper body he was embracing.

Hugo, not understanding what he was saying, furrowed his brow and asked again.

"What do you mean, Leonardo."

"Did you order them to put me to sleep and draw my blood?"

No sooner had the words ended than red lips questioned monotonously, filled with anger. Hugo was silent for a moment in response.

Silence is affirmation. But it was unclear whether Leonardo was enraged about having his blood drawn, or about the fact that they tried to forcibly put him to sleep. Either way, there was enough reason for anger since they had acted without his consent. However, calming his excitement to prevent him from getting hurt further was the priority.

"Yes, I did give that order. But Leo, listen to me."

Hugo answered calmly, but Leonardo's eyes trembled beneath. Blood that had flowed down his fingertips dripped onto the floor one or two drops at a time, as if indicating his dwindling patience.

"To check if there was any toxicity left in your blood, there was no other way but to draw blood. If you were asleep, you wouldn't feel any discomfort, so I ordered them to draw blood while you were sleeping."

While explaining in the gentlest tone possible, Hugo also quietly gestured to the medical staff behind him to step back. As trembling footsteps moved in a rush, Leonardo's eyes quickly shifted. Hugo quickly stood with his back to the door and continued.

"Of course, not asking for your consent beforehand was my mistake. You must have been shocked, I understand completely. But–"

"When I fall asleep, how much more were you planning to take?"

Leonardo interrupted, letting out a bitter sneer.

"Did that bastard tell you to bring it? Does he need more from me again? Ha, just how long..."

Leonardo, his face covered in blood, contorted his features greatly, suddenly holding his forehead as if in pain, shaking his head and rambling incoherently.

"...What?"

Hugo paused for a moment at his incomprehensible words. Instead, he hardened his expression and closely observed Leonardo's words and actions.

"Creepy bastard. I should kill him... Ah, fuck. I'm dizzy."

These were harsh words he hadn't heard recently. Hugo's eyes subtly crumpled. He unconsciously held his breath, afraid that these might be directed at him, but listening carefully, it didn't seem to be aimed at him.

But more than that, Leonardo's condition was somehow strange. Fortunately, he didn't fall because Flynn was holding him, but his legs were constantly staggering, perhaps due to excessive blood loss.

Dragging his feet and swaying, Leonardo staggered towards a surgical cart standing alone to one side.

Trembling but looking down indifferently at Flynn who was holding him tightly, he picked up a sharp piece of glass from the cart.

'...!'

The posture of holding it with the tip down, only the thumb up. It was clearly a stance as if about to stab something.

"Leo!"

Hugo exclaimed, instantly concentrating his mana to draw water streams from the pools of blood. Meanwhile, the glass shard Leonardo was gripping, so sharp it dug into his skin, was instantly covered in red liquid.

Whatever he was trying to do, both of them were in a very dangerous situation. Hugo ran towards him, firmly wrapping Leonardo's arms with water streams.

However, Leonardo's movement was even faster.

Splash–

A red line of blood splattered diagonally across Hugo's face, about a step away.

"..."

Leonardo had slashed his own left palm with the glass shard he was gripping. Bright blood gushed out like a fountain from the torn hand.

Hugo's face, seeing this up close, turned not just white but blue. The droplets of blood crossing his pale skin flowed down particularly vividly.

"Leonardo–!"

Hugo shouted sternly, instantly grabbing Leonardo's wrist and twisting it outward, breaking it. Feeling the sudden pain, Leonardo furrowed his brow and dropped the glass shard.

Clang–

The piece that rolled on the floor was completely covered in red, its shape indiscernible. Leonardo, who had been looking down searching for the piece, raised his eyes and held out his left hand, which he had only cut halfway. Then, as if squeezing juice, he clenched his fist.

Squelch, plop plop–

Blue veins stood out on the back of his hand, and the blood spreading between the lines of his palm made a squelching sound. After that, quite a large amount of blood oozed out in clumps and plummeted to the floor. It mixed with the already abundant puddles, soaking Leonardo's white examination gown and Hugo's uniform trousers red and damp.

At the same time, bloodshot golden eyes glared at Hugo and muttered.

"If you want it so badly, take it."

"..."

"But, in front of me."

Leonardo's appearance, pushing his blood-covered fist towards the other with a serious expression, was that of a madman itself. Unlike usual, his golden eyes had lost their light and had long since lost focus, though they were looking at the other person.

But the same was true for the blue eyes facing him. The intelligence had disappeared from his gaze, and it was not a situation to come to his senses.

Hugo lowered his gaze, following the drops of blood pouring like an hourglass beneath Leonardo's trembling fist.

It was enough blood loss that it wouldn't be strange if he died.

Although his hands and feet didn't move easily, Hugo, recalling this fact, gripped Leonardo's wrist strongly. It was to stop the blood flow.

Leonardo, who had been glaring as if to kill, increasingly contorted his expression, his eyelids trembling violently as his body swayed severely. He seemed to want to struggle and break free, but his limbs wouldn't obey due to dizziness. Eventually, gripping Flynn's collar who was clinging to him, he lost his balance and slowly tilted forward.

Hugo kicked away a nearby surgical cart, lowered his posture, and hurriedly stretched out his arms. Leonardo, who was falling with Flynn, limply fell into his arms, and Hugo succeeded in catching both of them by a hair's breadth.

The medical team watching the situation from outside peeked in and confirmed Leonardo's lack of consciousness. Immediately responding to Hugo's call, they moved in unison and forcibly administered a sedative to Leonardo's limp arm.

Even as they hurriedly treated his torn left palm afterwards, Hugo just knelt on the blood-soaked floor, blankly looking down at the two.

He had no sense of reality about how this moment was passing. He rather hoped it was a nightmare he was having from not getting sleep for several days.