Chapter 84: Good News, The Anti-Armor Evolves Little Cotton Jacket

At the entrance, Leon attached the black pouch to his waist, filled to the brim with heart-protecting dragon scales.
He and Noia approached the entrance one after another.
Seeing them, the guards disabled the barrier to let the pair exit safely.
“My lord, how was the inspection? All the dragon scales are accounted for, right?” the guard asked with a smile, his tone full of desire for recognition.
Not a single one missing?
Wrong.
Not a single one left.
Correct.
Though General Leon had never been a thief, he well understood the principle that thieves shouldn’t leave empty-handed.
In response to the guard’s inquiry, Leon gave an almost imperceptible nod and grunted, “Not bad. Keep up the good work. I’ll put in a good word for you with the higher-ups.”
“Th-thank you, my lord!”
Leon kept his composure, secretly glancing at Noia, their eyes communicating:
See that? He’s even thanking us~
Noia rolled her eyes in exasperation.
“My lord, it’s getting late. We should head back,” Noia said.
“Mm, let’s go.”
Just as Leon was about to step forward, he seemed to suddenly remember something and turned back to the guards, “Don’t forget to restore the barrier. Be careful of enemies sneaking in.”
“Thank you for the reminder, my lord!”
The guard immediately turned around and worked with his companions to restore the barrier to its original state.
“Safe journey, my lord.”
“Mm.”
The father-daughter pair exchanged a glance, then started to leave.
But after just a few steps, they suddenly heard a young guard call out, “My lord, what… what’s in that pouch at your waist?”
Leon’s footsteps halted, and he helplessly closed his eyes, letting out a slow sigh.
The other guards had also noticed something amiss and became alert.
“My lord, you didn’t have that pouch when you went in, did you? Please let us check it.”
“My lord, please cooperate and slowly step back—oof!—”
Before he could finish speaking, a black shadow flashed in front of the guard and delivered a lightning-fast punch to his stomach, giving him no time to react.
The guard beside him reacted quickly, “Qu-quick, sound the barrier alarm!! Intruders! Intru—urgh!”
Noia pushed off the ground, leaping into the air and driving her knee directly into his face, instantly knocking him unconscious.
Meanwhile, the guard trying to use the barrier to sound the alarm was easily subdued by Leon.
Only one guard remained.
Seeing his three colleagues taken down in the blink of an eye by these two people, he immediately surrendered, dropping to his knees.
A wise man knows when to yield – better to live and fight another day!
Leon snorted coldly, stepped forward, and knocked him out with a chop to the neck.
“Good thing we had them restore the barrier before acting. If it had stayed open too long, it definitely would have attracted those sorcerers’ attention.”
Leon looked at his daughter, “Let’s go, Lady Noia.”
Noia gave him a reproachful smile and rolled her eyes, muttering, “Tch, drama queen.”
The father-daughter pair had worked together seamlessly, securing the dragon scales and making their escape.
Retracing their steps, the secret passage out of the royal city wasn’t far ahead.
If they could just get through it and find a way to leave the empire, they could use the stolen scales to help Aurora complete the reversal magic.
And then… return to the past—
“Who’s over there?!”
“Stand still, don’t move!”
“The royal family just issued orders – due to the disappearance of an important official, no one is allowed to move freely within the royal city.”
“State your name and position, then slowly walk this way.”
Leon’s heart jumped.
But he quickly calmed down.
“Of course… things wouldn’t end so smoothly.”
Leon said, “Noia, climb over the wall and leave here directly – don’t worry about the sensing barrier anymore. After leaving the royal city, find your sisters, then find a way out of the city and return to your mother to complete the reversal magic.”
With that, Leon handed the pouch containing the dragon scales to Noia.
The empire’s response and actions had been too quick – barely two hours after Nacho’s disappearance, they had already issued orders to lock down the entire royal city.
Earlier, Leon had been able to fool those few guards with the password he’d obtained.
But in the current situation, such tricks would no longer work.
This was ultimately the empire’s home ground – even with Leon being extremely careful, there was still a high risk.
Of course, this was a risk they had anticipated before coming to the empire.
Trying to take something as important as the heart-protecting dragon scales couldn’t possibly go smoothly.
So in the current situation, the best solution was for Leon to stay behind to hold off the empire’s pursuit, allowing Noia and her two sisters, who had flight capabilities, to leave first with the dragon scales.
Noia looked at the black pouch in her hand, her expression serious.
“No, this plan won’t work.”
For the first time, Noia rejected Leon’s proposed plan of action.
Leon looked at her with surprise, just about to tell her something like “your old man is awesome, I’ll definitely fight my way out to see you all.”
But Noia burst out saying, “I don’t want to be separated from you again. Let’s go together.”
That strong attitude and look in her eyes was exactly like Rosvitha’s.
After a pause, Noia hurriedly added, “And- and besides, only you can use reverse magic to return to the past. If you die here, even if we successfully escape with the dragon scales, it would all be pointless.”
Well, even though the objective situation should have been explained first, she chose to judge this decision based on her subjective feelings first—just like Rosvitha!
She really is my daughter after all, General Leon thought fondly.
But there was no time to dwell on such sentiments. Leon nodded, “Alright, then we’ll go together.”
He had originally planned to put on a classic performance of “hero stays behind, buys time, and when everyone thinks the hero is done for, comes running back waving, leading to everyone embracing in tears.”
However, his eldest daughter rejected his dramatic behavior and directly stated she didn’t want to be separated from him again—even though she still hadn’t called him “dad” once in these three months.
But her stubbornness and tsundere nature didn’t affect Noia’s strongest conviction:
To always be together with her family.
As their brief discussion ended, they heard someone shout from the group ahead:
“Quick, get them!! That- that guy is Leon Casmode! I’ll never forget that face!”
Sure enough, someone had recognized Leon.
“Oh? Is it because my face is too handsome?”
“Stop joking around, old man.”
With that, Noia spread her dragon wings, supported Leon’s arms from behind, and easily carried him over the imperial city’s outer wall.
In the instant they leaped over the wall, both Leon and Noia felt that invisible barrier.
And forcibly breaking through the barrier meant that more people would soon come to pursue and intercept them.
After crossing the high wall, Leon said,
“Dragon form is too large and obvious, we should only use it when we reach the empire’s city gates. If we use it within the city, it will just point the patrol teams in our direction.”
Noia nodded, folding back her wings.
The father and daughter had directly scaled the wall, while the pursuers on the other side still needed to set up ladders or find alternate routes, giving Leon and Noia enough time to circle around.
The two quickly left the imperial city and ducked into a dark alley, where Muen and Aurora had already prepared a carriage waiting for them.
“There’s no time to go back for those two hostages. We need to leave the empire before daybreak.”
Leon jumped onto the carriage, “We have the dragon scales now, so avoid fighting if possible. There’s no need to get entangled with these people.”
The thing to avoid most when fighting away from home territory is a prolonged battle. Even though Leon had recovered some of his strength, he didn’t want to take bigger risks by staying to fight the empire’s forces.
He had never forgotten the purpose of this risky return to the empire—the heart dragon scales.
Now that they had obtained the scales, it was time for a lightning-fast escape.
Aurora cracked the whip, and with a horse’s neigh, the carriage shot forward.
Sitting in the violently shaking carriage compartment, Leon suddenly felt nostalgic, “This scene… feels familiar.”
Noia looked up at him, “What? Have you been caught stealing things before?”
Leon didn’t elaborate, instead joking, “I stole your mother’s heart, then got caught and was held captive by her for three years.”
“Thanks, I’m going to be sick.”
Why is it that when mom tells the same love story it’s so captivating and emotional?
But when this guy tells it, it’s full of comedy?
Leon’s bad joke temporarily eased the tense atmosphere.
He stood up and walked to the outside of the carriage compartment to look back, seeing that patrol teams had already responded and begun pursuing them.
Leon raised his right hand, gathering magical power in his palm.
The next moment, a wolf made of lightning leaped from Leon’s palm, pouncing toward the pursuers behind them.
A-Rank Lightning Magic: Lightning Wolf Breaking Army
But just as Leon had thought, fighting in enemy territory meant they were at a complete disadvantage.
More and more patrol teams poured out from both sides of the road, all pursuing them.
However, this wasn’t even the most troublesome part.
Noia looked up and saw three figures jumping across the rooftops, steadily closing in on the carriage from both sides.
“It’s the Dagger Trio…” Noia said quietly.
Leon followed Noia’s gaze and sure enough, those three’s mobility was many times stronger than the ordinary patrol teams.
“Hey hey hey, uncle down there racing the carriage, could you stop for a bit? I’d like to hitch a ride!” The trio’s leader Gini called from above.
Leon started, immediately retorting, “Who are you calling uncle!”
“Leon Casmode, I know about you, you should be in your forties now, right? Someone in their forties is an uncle, isn’t that right?”
“Captain, although according to time he should be in his forties, why does he only look like he’s in his twenties?” Another member, Gitai, said.
“Don’t know, maybe… he takes good care of himself? Doesn’t matter, after I knock him down, I’ll ask him the secret to eternal youth!”
Leon narrowed his eyes slightly, saying softly, “Such big talk.”
These neurotic types were never easy to deal with.
Leon had no desire to engage in battle.
After trading a few verbal jabs, he stopped paying attention to those three lunatics.
But now that the Dagger Special Operations Team had appeared, it meant things wouldn’t end so easily.
“Hey! Casmode, where did you hide Nacho? He still owes us a meal!” Gini continued to provoke.
Leon ignored him, raising his hand to cast another lightning spell, clearing away some of the pursuers behind them.
“Hmph, you dare ignore me, you old guy who should’ve been buried long ago… Take this!”
As the words fell, Gini raised his hand to gather magical energy.
A white sphere of light formed in his hand, then was hurled fiercely toward the racing carriage in the street.
The sphere crashed into the ground beside them, causing a violent explosion and shockwave.
Of course, this was just the appetizer.
The next second, more energy spheres rained down from the buildings on both sides of the street.
Aurora controlled the carriage, dodging at high speed.
“Dad, shouldn’t we fight back?! I almost got hit just now!” Aurora called from the front.
“You just focus on driving, let dad figure something out.”
Leon’s mind raced as he quickly reviewed his repertoire of skills.
Soon, Leon thought of a strategy to defeat the enemy.
He flipped onto the carriage roof, taking a bow stance and lowering his center of gravity to maintain balance.
“Oh, uncle, finally decided to get serious with us?” Gini continued to taunt.
Leon made no response.
He could be seen raising his right hand high, gathering lightning power in his palm.
Gini raised an eyebrow, “What move is that, uncle? Heaven-Calling Thunder? Lightning Wolf Breaking Army? Or is it your proudest technique, the Thousand Birds? Let me tell you, none of those moves work on us!”
As Gini finished speaking, his two teammates also prepared to attack.
However, just as they were about to launch their next wave of attacks, the lightning in Leon’s hand suddenly burst forth with an extremely dazzling light.
That light illuminated the entire night sky, making it bright as day.
The Dagger Trio’s vision was instantly filled with light, making it impossible to see the situation on the street.
B-Rank Lightning Magic: Extreme Daylight
It was a very useful support technique.
Several seconds later, the light dissipated and Gini regained his vision.
Looking at the carriage that had already raced away down the street, he realized that Leon had played him.
Gini gritted his teeth and ordered, “Chase them! Chase that guy down! I want to see if the former strongest dragon slayer only knows these little tricks!”
The trio increased their speed, pursuing the carriage.
Yet they completely failed to notice that in a nearby alley, Leon’s group of four was secretly watching their retreating figures.
During those few seconds when Gini and his team lost their vision, Leon had led the girls in jumping off the carriage and ducking into the alley.
But this was only a temporary measure.
While Gini might be somewhat neurotic, he wasn’t stupid, and would soon realize the carriage was empty.
“Quick, let’s move before other patrol teams find us.”
“Yes, dad.”
The father and daughters slowly crept toward the other exit of the alley.
However, just as they were about to leave the alley, they heard voices coming from the exit.
“Did you hear Nacho-sama has gone missing?”
“Yeah, seems he was taken by that guy called Leon Casmode.”
“Leon… Casmode? Didn’t he die twenty years ago?”
“Who knows, I just know that guy is ridiculously strong. Sending us to search for him is basically like sending us to our deaths. So if we spot him, just fire the signal flare and call for reinforcements.”
“Understood!”
It was a patrol team.
Their shadows cast by moonlight drew closer and closer to the alley exit.
Leon couldn’t determine their numbers, so he didn’t know if he could take them out precisely like the four guards from earlier.
If they couldn’t be eliminated instantly, the patrol would fire their signal flares.
Then the Dagger Trio who had just left would immediately return, and a fierce battle would be unavoidable.
Leon stared intently at the approaching shadows, slowly gathering energy in his hands.
He wasn’t afraid of facing the Dagger Trio, but he worried about being delayed here and eventually being worn down by the empire’s forces.
But at this point… they could only gamble.
The footsteps grew clearer, and the three sisters also prepared to pounce.
But the next second, several screams came from the alley exit.
“Signal flare! Quick, fire the signal—”
Bang—
A muffled gunshot, sounding like it had a silencer attached.
Leon’s heart jumped. Had… someone taken out the patrol team?
“I just heard a familiar name.”
A mature female voice came from the alley entrance.
Low-heeled boots lightly tapped against the stone bricks, stepping over the bodies to stand at the alley exit.
She wore a coat, and while not very tall, her body proportions were quite perfect.
The silenced handgun in her hand reflected the cold moonlight, her blue-green ponytail swaying gently in the night breeze.
She looked at Leon, her eyes flickering, “Long time no see… Captain.”
“Rebecca……”