In This Rebirth, The Male Lead Is Mine [BL]
Chapter 120: Hunt

Chapter 120: Hunt

"How is she?" Rise immediately asked the healer that the Lionheart Clan sent after she examined Thalia. The other members were also in the room, but he was only mostly concerned about her.

The healer was quite startled at the strong tone, but seeing the worry in Rise’s gaze, she calmed down.

"I already healed most of her injuries, and some would heal in a few days. However..." She paused and looked at Thalia’s body lying on the bed and clasped her hand. "She might not wake up for a couple of days, and I’ll continue to check her condition."

Thalia’s condition was by far the most critical out of all the Evergreen members.

Rise’s fist instinctively clenched, calming himself. Yet, his expression remained dark and gleaming, scaring the healer. Although the other knew this fierce expression was not directed at her, it was still scary.

"We understand." Kamille was the one who cut in, sensing Rise’s mood. And his expression was not much different from his.

After the healer saw this as her dismissal, she immediately fled the room. The aura between the two Espers was truly too much for just a support like her.

"G-Guild Leader..." A low voice called, hesitating.

Other than them, the party members were also inside who witnessed their arrival, carrying the injured women.

Kamille glanced at Hayes, not saying anything but his gaze carried inquiry.

"Uhm..." Hayes bit his lips. He sneaked a glance at Rise, who was standing by the side, looking at Thalia. Even he was pressured by the unintentional force exuding from Rise.

He quickly shifted his eyes, afraid that Rise would vent on him, and returned his gaze to Kamille.

"Do... We need to do something?" Hayes swallowed, subconsciously lowering his voice.

Kamille’s eyes were not focused on him but on Rise, but he answered even without looking at him.

"Just wait for my orders." Kamille paused, staring at Rise’s figure, sensing the other’s increasing fury. "You all may leave for now."

Kamille knew that only he could withstand the oppressive force coming from Rise and chose to dismiss the others, which made the others sigh in relief.

Hayes looked a second to Rise before bowing his head respectfully and dragging the others to leave. This was not their battle, and they needed to continue helping the city fend off the monsters first.

A moment later, Kamille and Rise were the only ones left inside, with the Evergreen members resting on their beds, sleeping, or maybe unconscious was the right word.

Kamille did not speak and only stood by Rise’s side, who also did not say a word for quite a while.

Rise’s clenched fist was trembling from the fury he wanted to vent but was not able to. Eventually, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself.

He could not just let his forcefield seep out, especially as Thalia was resting and recovering here. Otherwise, he might unintentionally destroy the whole room from the rage he was feeling.

When he returned, most of his plans were centered on Kamille and the plot. In fact, Rise did not want to have too much contact yet with Thalia and made her involved with his plans. If it was possible, he did not want to get too close to her and bring her into this mess.

He knew full well that Thalia’s mind was indescribable, and she was overly loyal too; what happened in the past would only repeat itself. Thalia was very capable of doing that, helping her with all her life.

In the future, he wanted to change and create, and Thalia was always a part of it. His silly number one fan who sacrificed so much for him... In this life, he wanted to protect her this time, and now...

Suddenly, seeing her injured when she was not supposed to be in Rise’s memory truly shook and angered him so much. Rise felt like his heart was boiling from intensity—so intense he wanted to spit out fire, which was not logically possible as that was not his ability.

"Guild Leader, what to do?" Rise, who was not saying anything for a few minutes, finally spoke. His voice carried a kind of coldness that Kamille heard for the first time. "I’m so mad, I’m about to lose my shit." Rise clenched his teeth, suppressing his urge to rampage.

He felt like he failed. Rise felt so useless, failing to protect Thalia. He had become complacent, the thing he hated the most. Why? He neglected her too much.

As though sensing the rage and self-blame deep inside of him, Rise suddenly found himself in the other’s embrace. It was not too tight though, Kamille only letting Rise lean on him.

Kamille also did not make an overly big move; it was as though he was only letting Rise know that he was there, letting him know of his presence.

"Thalia’s not weak." Rise continued, rambling. Kamille also let him. He just stood there with Rise leaning on his chest, listening to the other’s ramble.

Kamille nodded his head, agreeing since it was true.

"She’s an S-class Esper, and she’s not alone. With her are her party members, who are also elite Espers. I can’t quite grasp the reason how they got to that situation—everyone being injured and the others are missing."

With the ten party members, only five women managed to escape.

"I know how tenacious she is, Guild Leader." Rise bit his lips and closed his eyes before opening them again; the fierce gleam on his eyes shone brightly. "There’s no way any other human or monster could injure her to that extent."

Rise excluded the human Espers, or the natives of this world. The truly strong humans were from the clans, and they were on their territories; Thalia would not be dumb enough to provoke them.

So, that leads to most probably suspect. The Three Nations, or... most likely...

"Nobles." Rise muttered the name, his tone tinged with blatant hostility.

Rise was not dealing with them yet, and here they were already provoking him. His hatred for nobles was as intense as that of Epsilon. For him, they were both minions of the author to manipulate his life.

This time, Kamille finally reacted; his expression bore a kind of darkness hidden in the depths of his gaze.

"We’ll find out after asking them."

These were mere speculations, but the chances were high of them being correct.

Rise did not respond; his thoughts were unknown. Kamille could not figure it out but had a clue.

Nobles...

Kamille lowered his gaze; his eyes flashed. Yet, the bloodlust within them... were apparent. There was a glimmer of hunger in them.

The Lionheart had become so busy on the first day that Rise woke up, and also by the next day, they were still running around. Zenos was not around; he needed to lead the members to raid the unmeasured gate once and for all to stop it from leaking mana, which would stop the monster activity around the city.

Zarilan was not around; after Rise discussed the plan, he and Halwyn left the city with a few elders to gather the other important clans. This was the fate of their world, and not only the Lionheart clan was supposed to fight for it.

Rise’s day passed, and most of his plans were set aside, choosing to be by Thalia’s side. Of course, Kamille was with him. He did not request personally but that the other did not leave, easing most of his dejected mood.

While the whole city was buzzing with activity, only this room remained constant with a peaceful atmosphere, although just on the surface.

"Our plans were to explore the world." Sheena, upon waking up, was immediately questioned. She also did not complain and told what happened.

"The first day, we did not go too far, just cleaning the monsters around us." Their starting points were the same as everyone else’s. Sheena put on a bitter smile.

"We knew that something big might happen at the center of this world, and the Guild Leader did not intend to participate in it, like most of us top guilds." Sheena was spot on with that.

"We wandered around for the first few days... then..." Sheena clasped her hand tightly, shuddering. "We suddenly stumbled upon a group of corpses; they were human Espers."

Sheena took a deep breath. "We became curious, and since we had nothing to do, the Guild Leader also saw this opportunity to know more about this world. We also knew our strength; even if worse comes to worst, we can still escape intact."

This was when her voice trailed off more, her lips quivering. Regret filled her gaze.

"If only... if only we didn’t become curious." Sheena’s tears then welled up in her eyes. "We saw so many corpses, not just human Espers... perhaps the natives as well, even monsters."

Sheena embraced her knees, lowering his gaze; fear now was fully displayed in her eyes.

"It’s so horrible... They were piled like a mountain. And then... and then we saw..."

Sheena’s pupils shrank, as did her body, gripped with terror.

"Someone standing before them... talking to a huge monster..." Sheena lifted her gaze and looked at the two who were listening to her. "He... He only took the piled corpses as his pet’s food."

Sheena finally sobbed right then. "Then he noticed us; I still can remember the gleam from that terrible monster’s eyes. I can’t even move from the first seconds, if not for... If not for the Guild Leader, we would be wiped out."

At the last minute, Thalia’s abilities were activated, summoning a huge shadow python and trying to buy them time. However, the man merely smiled through it, and soon... They were already escaping for their lives.

They fought along the way to try and widen the gap, but the man only leisurely trailed behind them, the huge monster roaring at them with hunger.

To be able to make their escape, some members finally sacrificed themselves. Thalia even exhausted herself, summoning all sorts of shadow monsters before she managed to summon a rare shadow monster capable of teleporting them at a long distance, but the cost was not light.

"He’s a monster..." Sheena wept, her body trembling with fear and despair, recalling such a traumatic experience. "The members..." Sheena knew their fate was already decided, but she hoped they were still alive.

Rise was frowning the whole time, and the moment he heard the description, his heart sank slightly.

What the fuck? How come...

No, he was not surprised by the fact that a noble was capable of leaving the gate and terrorizing this world. He was more shocked by the identity of the man.

Rise instinctively looked up at his Guild Leader who also happened to look at him after sensing his gaze.

He knew this noble, but he should be appearing next year!

Danich, a noble Count. The one Kamille hunted with Rise for the first time. And oh, they might do it again this second time, and earlier.