Chapter 171: My name is... Azrael
Meanwhile,
Back to Leo.
After dealing with the blood and washing up, everyone finally gathered around the sofa near the table. Ophis had been laid in Leo’s room, still unconscious.
Once refreshed, Leo stood before Raphael and her friend. They, too, had washed and settled themselves, but their faces were etched with serious expectation as they looked up at him.
"Now... tell me. What the hell is going on here?" Raphael asked with a serious face. Her friend leaned forward, eyes wide, nodding in agreement.
Leo drew in a long breath, his mind replaying the nightmare of the past days. Then, slowly, he began to recount everything that had happened—every trial, every horror, every secret from the hellish game he had been dragged into.
Raphael listened intently, her expressions shifting with every twist of his tale—shock, fear, awe—as though living each revelation for the very first time.
And her friend... well, she was shocked once, surprised again, horrified, then taken aback... her face shifted through so many expressions that it almost seemed like a play in itself.
So much... dramatic reaction she was showing there.
Anyway, after finishing the talk... silence fell over the room.
Everyone turned quiet. Essa stood in the corner, silently watching them.
Raphael slowly processed the words, her mind struggling to believe what she had just heard. Meanwhile, Raphael’s friend blinked, her brows furrowing as she nodded faintly... as though she was thinking of something else entirely.
Her eyes roamed around Leo again and again... as if she were studying him, checking him for something hidden.
Just then,
Ring~ Ring~
The trio flinched at the sudden sound.
It was the landline.
All three stood from the sofa at once. Raphael stepped forward, lifting the receiver and pressing it to her ear. "Hello?"
A pause.
Then her expression shifted as she listened."Oh? I see... is that all? Okay then." She nodded a few times.
She turned back to Leo and her friend, "It’s from the hospital. They said they received a patient a few hours ago and treated him and..." She faltered, her voice trailing off.
"Is he dead?" Raphael’s friend asked quickly, as she already knew who it could be.
Raphael’s lips twitched. "He is alive, for god’s sake. But... he lost his leg. Forever."
Her friend hummed. There was no trace of sympathy in her eyes. After all, she believed he deserved the punishment. Living with one leg for the rest of his life... it felt worse than death.
A perfect sentence for people like him.
Anyway, sitting down...
Raphael’s lips twitched again when she saw her friend settle herself beside her nephew.
Leo, though feeling uneasy at her sudden closeness, didn’t move away.
He couldn’t bring himself to hurt her feelings. After all, they had been crawling through the sewers for who knew how long... of course, they smelled like filth.
No matter how much you washed... that stench lingered.
But as a gentleman, he wasn’t going to point that out.
"So the magic and monsters... they were real after all," she muttered. Her curious eyes glimmered as she glanced at Leo, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She leaned closer, her lips curving into a gentle yet subtly seductive smile.
Leo returned a soft smile of his own. "What can I say? I was just as surprised when I first heard that."
Her friend nodded, her body inching closer, shifting on the sofa as though drawn to him. "So... there’s a war going on right now. And whoever wins... they can wish for anything?"
Leo nodded again.
Her friend leaned in hurriedly, so close her face nearly brushed against his, "You mean... literally anything?"
Leo forced an awkward smile, "That’s... as far as I know."
Raphael’s fingers clenched tightly, her nails digging into her palm. ’This woman... she’s doing it on purpose,’ she thought, teeth grinding as she watched her friend inch closer to her nephew.
If her brother knew of this... he would kill them both on the spot—for daring to seduce his son.
Wait? Both of them?
’I—I didn’t do anything,’ she quickly corrected her thoughts, her heart jolting as though she had almost caught herself confessing to something unspeakable.
Anyway,
Raphael frowned, forcing her voice steady. "You mean... even a lost life?"
Leo shrugged, "Maybe. After all, you can wish for anything, right?"
Her friend nodded as well, her eyes shifting toward Raphael, who seemed to be lost in thought. "You’re thinking of bringing back your parents, aren’t you?" she asked, but her gaze slid sideways, landing on Leo.
Raphael flinched, her body stiffening as she turned to look at him... That was what she had wanted to ask but hadn’t dared to.
Leo hesitated.
Honestly, he had never thought about bringing back his parents... not even once. He had been forced into this game against his will. In the beginning, the only thing he cared about was survival....and maybe money.
Much less did he care about the parents of the previous Leo.
But still... Raphael’s eyes lingered on him, wide and trembling, silently pleading for an answer. He felt cornered. He had to give her something, even if it wasn’t the truth. So, reluctantly, he nodded his head.
Raphael’s eyes glistened instantly, tears welling as her lips trembled. She bit them hard to hold her emotions back, whispering softly, "Leo..."
Her friend blinked, then gave a slow nod of approval. "If you’re doing this for your parents... then I wonder what you would do for your future wife." Her words slipped out boldly, and she sighed as though speaking it into the air, though her gaze never strayed far from Leo.
Raphael’s lips twitched violently.
"That’s not how it works," suddenly Essa’s voice came. She stepped forward,
"For the Relic to grant your wish... it demands an exchange of equal value."
Raphael frowned, "You mean... equivalent exchange?"
Essa nodded firmly. She turned her gaze to Leo. "It’s true that the Relic can grant any wish. However, for it to grant that wish... it must take something of equal worth."
Leo’s brows furrowed deeply. "So that means... two for two?"
Essa inclined her head. "Kind of."
The room fell into silence.
Raphael’s face twisted with conflict, torn between hope and despair.
Leo coughed into his fist, "But hey... we already lost the champions. We’re not in the war anymore. So no wishes for me." He glanced directly at Raphael, making sure his words cut away any fragile hope she might be clinging to.
Raphael bit her lip hard... She nodded slowly, finally understanding.
However, Raphael’s friend leaned forward, eyes glinting with curiosity. "But what about those monsters? Are they aiming for it too?"
Leo and Essa turned silent.
After all, they didn’t know the goal of those fallen people... and with Dracula on their side, who hadn’t yet become fallen, that could only mean... they too might be searching for the Relic?
Maybe not?
Maybe something else?
Who knows!
Raphael and her friend’s faces turned pale. "Wait... what if they used the wish to create more monsters like themselves? And devour the entire world? OHH!! I’m so scared!!" she screamed before suddenly throwing herself against Leo.
"Hmmfff!!"
Leo’s face was smothered instantly between her two soft peaks!!
"I’m so scared!! Please protect me!!" Raphael’s friend cried, hugging him tightly, crushing his face against her bosom.
Leo gasped for air, barely breathing under the suffocating embrace.
Veins bulged on Raphael’s forehead. "What the hell are you doing?! Let him go!!" she shouted furiously.
"B-But I’m so scared~" her friend sniffled, her voice trembling like a child’s.
Raphael’s friend’s expression suddenly flattened, a deadly serious mutter. "What’s the number for child molestation again?"
"Yup, I’m alright!!" Her friend instantly released Leo, pushing him back with a bright smile. Her eyes lingered on his flushed cheeks. ’So cute~’ she thought, suppressing a giggle.
"What’s your name again?" she asked softly, patting Leo’s head gently as if he were a child.
Raphael could barely hold back her anger. "You already know his na—"
"But I want to hear it from him," she interrupted in a sweet, innocent tone, before turning her gaze back to Leo with a gentle smile.
Leo sighed, his lungs grateful he hadn’t died pressed against something so dangerously soft.
He straightened himself, then answered, "My name is Leo, Raphael’s..." His eyes flicked toward Raphael, who was staring intently at him. "...Nephew."
Raphael let out a sigh... disappointed? But then her cheeks flushed pink, realizing she had been expecting him to say something else.
’What the hell?’ she thought, shocked at herself, her heart pounding downwards into confusion.
Meanwhile, her friend muttered softly, "Leo? Hmm... good name. Like a King of the Jungle?"
Leo smiled gently. It was the second time he had heard someone compare his name to that. Then, curious, he asked, "I haven’t heard your name..."
Yes, he realized—he hadn’t heard her name once since they had met.
Raphael’s friend blinked, then nodded with sudden pride. Puffing out her chest, she announced with a confident, almost regal air,
"Oh, right... Let me introduce myself. The great doctor who excels in psychiatry and is a Master of Cardiology...
Azrael."