Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are Are So Dangerous! [BL]-Chapter 316: The Price of Instinct

Now that he thought about it, they had never really discussed what would happen after sealing Deimos inside the prince.

Everyone had accepted the plan without hesitation, but why?

After all, it didn’t change the core issue—it just transferred Deimos’s vessel from Laxus to someone else.

How were they planning to deal with him?

But judging from Laxus’s confidence, he must have had a way.

Even so, Rocco couldn’t shake his unease.

He clung to Laxus, unable to let go.

Laxus gave him a slightly troubled smile and gently pried him off.

"I promise it’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about. A soul created through the ritual of the demon is nothing but an imitation. Controlling an empty, artificial soul with magic is actually quite simple."

"T-Then... couldn’t someone have just used magic to control Deimos while he was inside you?"

Even as Laxus pulled away, Rocco refused to give up, latching onto him again.

Laxus let out a small, helpless chuckle and stroked Rocco’s head before shaking his head.

"There’s a hierarchy when it comes to souls. The one with the greater magical power has the right to control the lesser soul."

A simple rule—if two forces clashed, the one with the stronger magic would win.

Rocco’s eyes widened.

Wait... does that mean...?

Laxus was actually stronger than Deimos all along?

"Ah... um..."

If Laxus truly had the upper hand, then there was no reason for Rocco to keep holding him back.

His grip weakened, and Laxus took that moment to swiftly pull away.

Rocco instinctively reached out again, but it was too late.

His fingers grasped at empty air.

Frustrated, he clenched his hands into fists and turned his gaze toward Laxus.

Laxus stretched out a hand toward the prince, who was being held down by several knights.

In the next instant, a chain of magic shot forward—brilliant like a ruby, yet ominously dark.

It was dazzling, almost mesmerizing, as it surged toward the crown prince in a straight, unwavering line.

The magic Laxus cast pierced straight through the crown prince’s heart.

At that very moment, Deimos, realizing this was his final hour, raised his hand in one last desperate act.

The crown prince’s magical power was likely on par with Laxus’s.

The spell he unleashed simultaneously toward Laxus was beautiful, shimmering with light and carrying a pressure nearly equal to Laxus’s own.

Both spells—Laxus’s and the crown prince’s—were launched at the same time, hurtling toward each other.

Laxus showed no sign of dodging.

That alone should have been enough to realize he had some reason for choosing to take the prince’s magic head-on.

But Rocco, in that instant, didn’t have the luxury of rational thought.

All that filled his mind was a single, panicked belief—

If Laxus gets hit by that magic, he will die!

And before he knew it, he was running toward him, driven by instinct alone.

"Rocooo!"

Of course, Rocco had no brilliant plan.

No clever trick up his sleeve.

Just his body, hurtling forward.

He threw himself between Laxus and the oncoming spell, shoving the other aside with all his might—

—and took the prince’s magic directly.

"Ghhk!"

It wasn’t like being shot by a bullet.

It was more like a beam of light had torn a hole straight through his body, fast as lightning.

A hole—he was sure of it, even in that instant.

His body was flung nearly two meters, landing hard with a dull thud.

He lay there, stunned, facing the sky.

Seconds passed before the pain caught up with the shock.

At first, it was just a dull ache, spreading slowly.

But it grew stronger, sharper, until his flickering vision cleared—and then blurred again—

And all at once, it transformed into searing agony.

"Ahh—! Aghh, it hurts! It hurrrts!"

He wanted to let out a cool, stoic groan, like the wounded protagonist in some kind of crime dramas.

Something like "Tch...!"

But reality was far less dignified.

Curled up in pain, he could only writhe and scream.

As he struggled, Laxus and the others, finally snapping out of their shock, immediately came over in a panic.

"Rocco!!"

Laxus was the first to drop to his knees, his face going pale as he leaned in to examine the wound.

Following his gaze, Rocco looked down at his own body.

He cautiously touched the area where the pain was slowly spreading, and then—

"Wha—!?"

His eyes widened in shock.

Just below his heart, a perfectly round wound had formed, and from it, a steady stream of bright red blood was flowing without end.

"Ahhh!"

"Don’t move! Stay still!"

The blood was gradually covering his entire body.

That terrifying fact looped in Rocco’s head until realization finally caught up with him—

And when it did, panic hit.

His body trembled uncontrollably as fear set in.

But then Laxus was firmly held him down, and for the first time ever, he was scolded by him with a terrifying stern expression.

The usual gentle Laxus had vanished and it replaced by someone desperate and strict.

That raw command, so unlike him, made Rocco freeze in place without thinking.

The tears began to well up in his eyes.

He was scared.

So scared.

What was happening to his body?

The more he imagined the damage, the deeper his fear and anxiety grew, and the more the tears began to fall.

"Ugh... uhhh..."

It hurt.

It hurt so much.

He was terrified.

Whimpering pathetically through choked sobs, Rocco felt a hand gently stroke his head—the same hand that had been trying to stop the bleeding.

"I’m so sorry... it’s going to be okay. I’m so, so sorry... this is all my fault..."

Rocco leaned into that large, warm hand.

Just that little bit of comfort helped ease his fear.

He had been lying flat on the hard ground for nearly a full minute now, and his back was starting to ache.

Still, he didn’t dare move—Laxus might scold him again.

Just as he started getting fidgety with discomfort, someone suddenly scooped him up.

"Rocco...!"

"Uhh... B-Big Brother..."

He turned his head to see who had picked him up—and found himself looking into a pair of beautiful amethyst eyes.

It was Sylas, his usual blank expression now crumbling into one of helpless concern.

The mixture of panic and confusion on Sylas’s face said everything.

And as Rocco stared into those eyes, the arms holding him tightened.

"You idiot...! Even if you hadn’t jumped in, that bastard would’ve dodged the attack on his own...!"

"Huh? R-Really...?"

Sylas’s pained voice twisted with emotion as he spoke, and Rocco blinked his eyes in surprise at his words.

W-What? No one told him that... Stuff like that should be said way earlier...

He had panicked and charged in without thinking at all.

"I-I’m shorry..."

Tears streamed down his face as he apologized over and over, voice trembling.

Through his blurry vision, he saw Sylas’s expression contort again, and then it looked like he shouted something to the people nearby.

Judging by their sudden movement, maybe he’d called for help.

As he tried to make sense of it, a strange realization hit him.

"...?"

Now that he thought about it—he couldn’t hear anything.

Well, it sounded like there were voices, but only faintly, as if from very far away.

Even though Laxus and Sylas were right in front of him, their yelling barely reached him.

"──...Rocco? Rocco...!?"

Huh? Why... why can’t I hear anything?

Wait, was Laxus talking just now? He was looking down at him, shouting something, but...

"Mm...? Wh-what are you... saying...?" Rocco furrowed his brow.

The sounds around him were fading, and his vision was growing dimmer by the second.

That’s when the panic finally started to rise.

"...H-Hey..."

Wait. Wait, what was going on?

Everything suddenly felt darker, and his eyelids were getting heavier for some reason.

The voices were completely gone now.

This... this might be bad.

Really bad.

Just as that thought began to take shape, his consciousness slipped away from him like a receding wave.