Bermuda [bl]

Leonardo threw his body with all his might from the inside to damage the seals surrounding the iron cage.

Due to the impact, the heavy chunk of metal dragged on the floor and seemed to gradually move to the side, but at some point, it stopped moving as if blocked by a solid wall.

Thinking that his body would be the first to break down at this rate, he stopped his actions and immediately sought another way while rubbing his aching forearm.

At that moment, what caught his eye were the handcuffs and shackles attached to his wrists and ankles.

Magic stone handcuffs were known for being so sturdy that they wouldn't easily shatter. So, if one tried to remove them with physical impact, other things would usually get smashed instead. However, looking at it differently, it meant that if struck against something as hard as the magic stones, one of the two might break.

Immediately changing his posture by bringing his hands together, he started swinging the handcuffs tied to his wrists toward the iron cage like a madman. Then, the joints of the supposedly sturdy magic stone handcuffs gradually opened up, and before long, they fell off cleanly with a clattering sound.

"Damn, they wrapped it up tight."

Leonardo frowned while rubbing his sore wrists. It wasn't something he could do twice.

Still, with the handcuffs off, he felt that mana manipulation had become much easier, so he took a light deep breath and immediately moved on to the next step.

With his freed hands, he grabbed one of the two bars each. He had wondered why it wouldn't budge no matter how much he struck it, but it felt particularly sturdier as if other components had been mixed in to harden the bars.

As he gripped the bars tightly and endlessly emitted heat, the surface softened very slightly. Although his mana was draining away because of that, it was somewhat bearable unlike before, perhaps because the situation had changed.

Leonardo's physical strength was inferior to Hugo's, but it was strong, not weak by any means. Eventually, as he added his body's inherent strength and pulled the two bars apart with all his might, the metal made a sizzling sound, and the iron pillars bent to the side.

However, the black tarp wrapped around the outside of the iron cage was also not ordinary, as it repeatedly caught fire and extinguished, and he felt discomfort as his mana was absorbed as if his hands were being sucked in.

Hastily removing his hands, he placed the back of his hand against the surroundings and sensed the magic stone nets wrapped around, letting out an irritated sigh. Nothing was easily coming undone.

"How do I get out..."

Leonardo took two steps back, plopped down on the floor, and thought about a way out. As he grabbed his stiff neck and turned his head from side to side, there was a cracking sound, and the stiffness seemed to ease a bit.

However, the fact remained that there was no way out due to the tightly wrapped tarp and magic stone nets. After pondering for a moment while roughly running his hand through his hair, he suddenly hypothesized that if he changed the volume of this rectangular metal box he was trapped in, cracks might form in the things tightly wrapped and fixed on the outside.

In other words, if he succeeded in deforming the iron cage by completely crushing it, the taut nets would loosen, and he could escape through the gaps without exerting much force.

However, the problem was that there was no way the guys outside would silently wait for his escape attempt.

They would immediately launch an attack at the slightest sign of something unusual. In a way, this iron cage also served as a fortress, so he wouldn't die, but it was obvious that it would become even more difficult to escape if that happened.

Therefore, all of this had to be accomplished in a very short time without them noticing.

'Only one chance.'

Having organized his thoughts, Leonardo slowly stood up again. In the midst of that, through the gaps of the tightly woven magic stone nets, a bone-chilling cold mana flowed in abundantly.

That mana, deeply imprinted to the point of recognizing whose it was with a mere brush, let him know that 'he' was watching him even without seeing with his eyes.

The direction where the energy was felt was upward. In that case, it was best to avoid a head-on confrontation upward.

A smile crossed Leonardo's lips as he thought that far.

It was because a good idea had come to mind.

* * *

Hugo, who had called for support, became puzzled when the guy who had been causing a commotion in the middle of the ice wall suddenly became quiet.

The sudden silence was extremely suspicious, but when there was no particular movement even after observing for a while, it was Andreas who spoke first.

"Is he tired?"

However, Hugo couldn't answer hastily.

It was because he had clearly felt the guy's mana gradually being released when he was near the iron cage earlier. The current flow he sensed was too weak to consider the guy completely free, but he couldn't overlook the fact that he had excellent abilities in revealing and concealing his own mana.

"The guy I've faced never gets tired to this extent. Don't let your guard down."

At Hugo's solemn words and expression, Andreas also nodded his head gravely.

And then, as if waiting for them to let their guard down, a sound of metal bars creaking and rapidly bending was heard. As the two of them immediately shifted their gazes, the corners of the iron cage were visibly caving in.

With that, Hugo instantly flew into the center of the ice wall and extended his hand towards the iron cage where Leonardo was trapped, saying,

"Burster Splash."

A blue magic circle then covered the entirety of the ice wall's airspace, from which a giant whirlpool of water emerged, crashing down to the ground with a roar that shook the surroundings. The sharply frozen tip of the whirlpool struck the bars, tearing the area around them apart.

Streams of water, like cannonballs, consecutively hit the ground, causing the ice wall to rise and the split earth to burst open under the pressure, turning it into a mess. The ejected earth mingled with the whirlpool, turning into a muddy flood that made it impossible to see even an inch ahead.

Eventually, when the inside of the ice wall had completely turned into a sea and the iron cage was deeply submerged in it, Hugo withdrew his hand. As the water became still and the movement disappeared once again, Andreas spoke with a displeased expression.

"Hugo, no matter what, this is too much. The goal isn't to drown him, right?"

Hugo didn't respond to his words and stared at the murky water.

The huge magic circle below him descended, passing through the entire ice wall. Then, the impurities mixed in the water sank to the bottom along with the magic circle, clearing the water and revealing the submerged iron cage once again.

When in water, resistance increases, and everything slows down. Moreover, since Leonardo mainly used fire, Hugo thought that whatever magic he used, the current situation would be very fatal for him.

However, the guy's subsequent actions made him realize that it was a huge miscalculation.

Bubbles rose from the iron cage, bubbling to the surface. Sensing something strange, Hugo and Andreas immediately assumed a combat stance.

Before long, a few muffled thumping sounds were heard faintly, buried in the water, and suddenly, cracks started to form on the ice wall. It was the moment when Andreas hurriedly wrapped tree vines around its surroundings to prevent the wall from shattering.

Kwaaang!

With a tremendous sound of destruction, a part of the ice wall exploded, causing an explosion. The force was enough to completely blow away the lower side of the ice wall, which was tightly wrapped with tree trunks.

As the aftermath of the explosion caused a fierce splash of water to reach the sky, Andreas hurriedly cast a barrier in front of himself and Hugo.

"Ahhh!"

"Run away!"

As sharp ice shards flew and the ice wall was punctured, the vast amount of water that had accumulated inside began to pour out. Upon seeing this, the people watching from a distance screamed and fled, and the center of the Imperial Capital instantly turned into a chaotic scene of a large-scale flood.

And in the midst of that, golden hair entangled with hundreds of tons of water was swept out through the cracks of the punctured wall, rushing into the middle of the square.

"Cough- Ugh... I thought I was going to die."

Sprawled on the ground, completely drenched, Leonardo coughed incessantly and raised his head with a pale face. Perhaps because he had been in the darkness for a long time and suddenly came out, the strong sunlight entering his vision was excessively dazzling.

Squinting his eyes, he staggered to his feet, supporting himself with his hand on the ruined ground. Then, he immediately looked around, regained his senses, and instantly dried his wet body by igniting flames.

The water evaporated rapidly, and hot steam surged in all directions, and the scattering of light created by it further flaunted his presence.

Frowning and catching his breath, Leonardo immediately shielded the sunlight with his hand and looked up at the sky as if searching for something. Eventually, when his eyes met Hugo's, who had been watching him from above, he shouted at him with a confident smile.

"You know, hydrogen is a great explosive material. Thanks to that, I survived!"