My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 220

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Father conceals his strength
Chapter 220
At Leon’s words, which sounded like a deathbed plea, Kyle went numb.
Kyle understood perfectly well what this gesture meant—handing over his military insignia like some final farewell.
“I…”
I did this to him.
A man I met for the first time today fought to save my life.
And he might die.
No—odds were high that he would.
This man had experience, after all.
He must have sensed his own death coming and made this request because of it.
“I… I…”
“No time. If something happens to you too… if you go wrong… then everything I’ve done so far… *cough*… all of it becomes… pointless, you see…?”
Kyle surged to his feet. Tears kept streaming down his face, but there was no time to stand here weeping like an idiot.
“Just… wait a little longer, please.”
He steadied himself and wiped his eyes roughly with his sleeve.
“I’ll… I’ll gather people and come right back. I promise. I’ll be *quick*, I’ll—”
“Ha… ha… okay…”
Kyle gritted his teeth.
Then he began running with every last ounce of strength in his body.
If something happens to that man, I’ll carry the guilt for the rest of my life. I’ll never live a normal day.
So I can’t stop, not even if my legs shatter. I have to run, no matter what, and find people who can help.
—With that thought driving him forward.
* * *
At that same moment.
Jem, who had joined up with the main retreating force, was helping the Commander Alfredo reorganize the troops.
They couldn’t simply flee blindly.
Most of the forces would continue the retreat.
But those few with decent combat ability were assigned to turn back and rejoin the vanguard positions.
Unlike himself, who had to go to the front lines, Lilis needed to keep retreating.
Which meant they would have to split up.
“Li… no, Rosalind…”
Jem glanced to the side and his eyes widened.
“…Rosalind?”
She was gone.
Jem spun around, searching in all directions.
“What… what the—”
In the brief moment he’d been organizing the troops, Lilis had vanished.
“Where the hell did she go!!!”
* * *
While Jem’s attention was elsewhere, I slipped out of the crowd and checked my bracelet while keeping my body concealed.
‘Leon… no, teleportation via the enchantment on his sword! How long will it take?’
8 minutes
Lifeforce required to teleport to Leon’s side: eight minutes.
Why was it so cost-effective?
‘Partly because I came to the battlefield myself, so the distance is shorter…’
But mostly, it was thanks to the magical device I’d attached to Leon’s sword.
Leon was Rank Dos.
Casting my abilities on someone of Dos rank was an enormous drain on lifespan.
‘But if I cast Teleportation while imagining an inanimate object—the enchantment itself—I can save far more lifeforce!’
‘Imagination’ and ‘thought’—those were the foundations of my Primera abilities.
With this property, attaching such a device let me use lifeforce far more efficiently.
I never would’ve guessed such a workaround would actually work.
It was the fruit of countless experiments alongside this useful magical bracelet—blood, sweat, and tears all compressed into one discovery.
‘Thank goodness I had that bracelet.’
Unlike the Emperor, who couldn’t quantify the lifeforce costs of his abilities and thus couldn’t run these kinds of experiments, this was probably a life hack he’d never discover in a lifetime.
8 minutes 2 seconds
8 minutes 3 seconds
……
The numbers on the bracelet kept changing.
This meant Leon was frantically leaping away even as we spoke, putting more distance between us.
‘Time to get ready.’
I conjured the appearance of Lilis Versache, the form I’d painstakingly customized.
A willowy frame.
Bewitching crimson hair.
Eyes that gleamed like gold.
10min/sec
Since I had to conceal my true identity, I’d mask my appearance with Illusion.
‘Next, then….’
Running into a Tyrannosaurus out there would be terrifying.
‘I need to be invisible to Demon Beasts—completely unregistered as a target.’
10min/sec
“No, wait! Hold on!”
My body, which needed to Teleport in front of Leon and Kyle with a pop—
‘They’d be shocked, naturally.’
Teleportation Magic.
The genius Magic Tower Master had created it long ago, but unfortunately, it remained top secret, known only to a select few.
‘In that case, why not just go full Invisibility? That way Demon Beasts won’t see me, and neither will Leon!’
30min/sec
“Twas! What’s going on with the cost-effectiveness? Thirty minutes of Lifeforce draining every second?”
Well.
Invisibility was such impossibly useful magic that this drain felt almost reasonable.
“Sigh. Can’t help it. I’ll just drop it once we arrive and hide nearby instead.”
Next consideration.
‘My body is precious. I need a shield.’
A Grade A Fluid Shield.
I activated it.
1sec/1sec
With all preparations complete, I measured the distance to Leon once more.
8min 12sec
“Hm?”
The life-force timer, which had been steadily increasing as the distance grew, was now frozen in place.
This meant Leon had stopped running.
What could have happened?
Had he encountered a Demon Beast?
Mulling over possibilities, I shook my head firmly.
‘I’ll go and see for myself.’
I exhaled sharply through my nose and raised my arms toward the empty air.
“Let’s go!”
* * *
“Hah….”
Leon only allowed himself to breathe when Kyle had become too small to see behind him.
‘Can I actually survive this?’
Perhaps because he no longer sensed the Gleptors pursuing him, survival instinct had begun to kindle.
A fragile spark of hope took root.
‘But then again….’
His mind was swimming.
His external injuries weren’t severe apart from his right arm, which hung limp and useless, but his internal organs had clearly taken damage.
The Healing Mages existed, but they likely wouldn’t be able to mend a condition like this.
‘Then, the Magic Tower Master…?’
Survival instinct was a terrifying thing—it made him summon even the name and face of someone he barely knew.
The Magic Tower Master, Oscar.
Though they’d never been close….
‘He saved Theo back then. I wish he’d give me a chance too, for Lilis’s sake.’
As consciousness wavered, stray thoughts came unbidden.
‘But even that depends on me making it back to Jedo alive. I can’t lose focus….’
Crrrack—
Then an ominous sound reached his ears.
‘What—?’
The cliff face he’d been leaning against trembled ominously.
Leon forced his head up with difficulty, looking skyward.
“Ah.”
A Gorge with steep mountain terrain.
Until now, he’d cut through the crush of heavy-bodied Demon Beasts.
He’d unleashed Sword Aura countless times, while Kyle poured out Grade A Attack Magic without pause.
‘Am I an idiot…?’
Accounting for damage from collapsing terrain while fighting was basic—fundamentally basic.
Though of course, there hadn’t been time to worry about such things.
“Ha… ha….”
A hollow laugh spilled from his throat.
Rumble—crash! Crash!
Large boulders began to cascade down the mountainside with vicious momentum.
The surroundings were laid waste in an instant.
‘Damn it….’
Then, a massive boulder fell directly toward his head.
‘…they won’t even find a body.’
With that thought, Leon closed his eyes.
But then.
‘……?’
There was no pain.
The boulder that should have crushed his skull utterly—
‘What?’
Whoosh.
—crumbled to dust before it could touch him.
“Pfft!”
Leon, suddenly covered in stone dust, spat out the grit that had filled his mouth.
Rumble—crash! Crash!
The chaos around him continued unabated.
Boulders fell ceaselessly, striking the ground and shattering.
“Ugh! What—hack! Ptui! What the hell!”
But Leon was struck only by a shower of pulverized stone that fell like rain, crumbling before it reached him.
‘What in the world is happening?’
Bewildered, the devastation around him finally subsided.
Silence fell.
A faint rustling came from somewhere.
‘A Gleptors?’
No—a person.
Someone in a face mask and robe, their features carefully concealed, hopped over the collapsed and piled boulders as they approached.
“What… hey…?”
From what he could see of their slender frame, they appeared to be a woman.
And judging by their appearance, a Mercenary.
The woman seemed startled at Leon’s condition, hesitated, then suddenly turned sharply to the right.
His right arm hung partially torn and dangling.
“……?!”
Suddenly he felt a warm surge of Holy Power, and in the blink of an eye, the wound sealed shut.
‘What is this? That’s at least Grade B+ Healing Magic…?’
This woman—isn’t she a Mercenary?
If so, she shouldn’t be a combat-rank, so how could she possibly use Healing Magic at this level?
“Mph!”
The woman grabbed and examined Leon’s shoulder blade. The pain of a broken bone was sharp.
“What are you—ugh!”
Next, she jabbed his abdomen without hesitation, testing it.
She appeared to be assessing his condition.
‘Ouch!’
…He had no time to think that before Leon was shocked.
Pure Holy Power seeped into his body, and he felt the changes taking place.
His shoulder, his chest, his legs…….
Bones that should surely have shattered were reknitting in an instant—a sensation entirely foreign to him.
And the worst of his injuries—his abdomen.
That ache which had persisted as if something had ruptured badly—it vanished without trace.
“What the—?!”
Leon jerked upright from his half-reclined slouch, his hands flying over his own body in frantic confirmation.
What in the world was that?
A dream?
He blinked stupidly, and the woman began to rise, edging away.
“Hey!”
She looked like she was about to bolt.
“No you don’t!”
Leon grabbed the hem of the woman’s robe and yanked it hard.
“Oof!”
She tumbled backward, landing hard on her backside.
Leon immediately ripped the robe away from her face.
Crimson hair spilled loose in the air.
“Heh heh.”
The woman pulled down the mask she’d been wearing and offered an awkward smile.
Leon stared, dazed.
He gazed at the revealed face before him.
“Are you all right?”
……
There had been so many questions.
But now his mind was wiped clean.
‘Wow….’
In that moment.
One thought alone crystallized.
‘Good heavens—she’s breathtakingly beautiful……!’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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