Chapter 84: Good news, anti-armor evolution little cotton-padded jacket( Part 1 )
Just as Leon was about to take a step, he suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned to the guard and said, “Don’t forget to restore the barrier. We wouldn’t want enemies sneaking in.”
“You’re right, my lord!”
The guard immediately turned to his companion, restoring the barrier to its original state together.
“Take care, my lord.”
“Mm.”
The father and daughter exchanged a glance, then began to walk away.
But they had only taken a few steps when a young guard suddenly called out, “My lord, what… what do you have in the pouch at your waist?”
Leon stopped in his tracks, closed his eyes in resignation, and let out a slow sigh.
The other guards also began to notice something was amiss and grew alert.
“My lord, I don’t recall you having that pouch when you went inside. We need to check it.”
“My lord, please cooperate and slowly step back—ugh!”
Before the guard could finish, a shadow flashed before him, and in an instant, a fist, too fast for the naked eye, struck him hard in the gut, leaving no time for him to react.
The nearby guards reacted quickly. “Sound the alarm! Someone’s infiltrated—!”
“Ahh!”
Noa, springing off the ground, delivered a flying knee to another guard’s face, knocking him unconscious instantly.
Leon swiftly subdued the guard attempting to trigger the alarm.
One guard remained.
Seeing his three colleagues taken down in the blink of an eye, the last guard dropped to his knees in surrender.
A wise man knows when to retreat—better to live and fight another day.
Leon snorted coldly and walked up to the guard, delivering a karate chop to his neck, and knocking him out.
“Good thing we made them restore the barrier before we acted. If it had stayed down too long, the mages would have noticed,” Leon said, looking over at his daughter. “Let’s go, Miss Noa.”
Noa shot him a playful glare, muttering, “Showoff.”
Father and daughter, working seamlessly, had secured the dragon scales and were ready to flee.
They retraced their steps, heading for the secret passage to the imperial city not far ahead.
Once they passed through, they could figure out how to leave the empire and use the stolen dragon scales to help Orlora complete the reversal spell.
Then… return to the past—
“Who goes there?!”
“Stop where you are!”
“The royal family has issued a decree: due to the disappearance of a key official, no one is allowed to roam freely inside the imperial city.”
“State your name and rank, and step forward slowly.”
Leon’s heart skipped a beat.
But he quickly regained his composure.
“As expected… it won’t be that easy to end this,” Leon said. “Noa, scale the wall and get out of here. Forget about the sensory barriers. Once you’re out of the imperial city, find your sisters and figure out a way to leave the empire. Get back to your mother and complete the reversal spell.”
With that, Leon handed the pouch of dragon scales to Noa.
The empire’s response was swift, far too swift. Nacho had been missing for only two hours, and they had already locked down the entire imperial city.
Just moments ago, Leon had managed to fool a few guards using the stolen passcode.
But now, in this situation, these little tricks wouldn’t work.
This was the empire’s home turf, and no matter how careful Leon was, the risks were still high.
Of course, they had anticipated such risks before entering the empire.
Stealing something as valuable as the heart-protecting dragon scales was never going to go smoothly.
The best course of action now was for Leon to stay behind and hold off the empire’s forces, while Noa and her two sisters, who could fly, escaped with the scales.
Noa stared at the black pouch in her hands, her expression serious.
“No, that plan won’t work.”
For the first time, Noa rejected Leon’s proposed course of action.
Leon looked at her in surprise, just about to say, Your dad’s pretty awesome; I’ll make it out to see you again.
But Noa cut him off with, “I’m not leaving you behind again. We’ll go together.”
Her determined tone and fierce gaze were almost identical to Rossweisse’s.
After a brief pause, Noa hurriedly added, “Besides, only you can cast the reversal spell to go back in time. If something happens to you, even if we manage to escape with the scales, it won’t matter.”
Mmm, the rational explanation should’ve come first, but she led with her emotions—just like Rossweisse!
Ah, she’s truly my daughter, Leon thought, filled with paternal pride.
But there was no time for sentiment. Leon nodded. “Alright, then we’ll go together.”
He had originally planned to stage a heroic last stand, sacrificing himself to buy time, only to miraculously reappear when everyone thought he was gone—setting the stage for an emotional reunion.
However, his eldest daughter had rejected his theatrics outright, insisting they stay together—even though she still hadn’t called him “Dad” in the three months since they reunited.
Yet, her stubbornness didn’t diminish her strongest desire:
To always stay with family.
Their brief discussion concluded, and they heard someone from the group up ahead shout:
“Get them! That guy’s Leon Casmodeus! I’ll never forget that face!”
So, someone had recognized Leon after all.
“Really? Is it because I’m too handsome?”
“Cut the crap, old man,” Noa said with a smirk.
With that, Noa spread her dragon wings and lifted Leon by his arms, easily carrying him over the imperial city’s outer wall.
As they soared over the wall, Leon and Noa both felt the presence of an invisible barrier.
Breaking through the barrier meant more pursuers would soon be after them.
After clearing the wall, Leon said, “Using dragon form would make you too conspicuous. Save it for when we reach the city gates. If you use it in the city, it’ll only point the patrols in our direction.”
Noa nodded and retracted her wings.
Noah might have grown older, but her love for her family remains the same. 🥲