Free Web NovelChapter 180: All Four Of Us
NukEncore froze at Martin’s question. Cassandra, unfortunately, understood it.
NukEncore’s golden eyes widened, shining brighter as Martin’s reflection filled her irises. For once, she did not rush forward or blurt out the first thing in her head. Shock held her still, and the longer the silence lasted, the harder it became to answer.
She wanted to say something, anything at all, but no answer felt safe.
If she laughed it off, Martin might think she didn’t care. If she took it too seriously, he might notice how much the question mattered to her. If she answered too quickly, she might reveal feelings she still wasn’t ready to admit.
Cassandra understood him faster than she wanted to.
His insecurities are showing. He hasn’t been himself this whole time.
Of all people, Cassandra knew Martin best because she had already peeked into his private life. He had allowed it at the time since it helped him earn more, but now that knowledge showed her the truth in a way she didn’t like. Jealousy was there, but fear sat underneath it.
The people around him had things he didn’t: influence, confidence, money, status, and secrets he still didn’t understand. He didn’t even know who some of them truly were outside the game. In Martin’s position, anyone could step in and take his place before he even realized what he had lost.
He was scared of losing his place, and perhaps even Elisebeth.
Should I keep this misunderstanding going and even add to it so I can take Elisebeth out of the equation? That way, only Alexandra and Katherine will stand in my way when it comes to Martin’s heart.
Cassandra choked on her own thoughts.
"Cough, cough!"
Martin immediately pushed his own worries aside and rushed over to check on her. "Is everything alright, Miss Cassandra?"
She gave him a wide-eyed, sidelong look. "Yes, of course. Thank you."
The concern in his voice hit her harder than it should have. Even with his own problems eating at him, he still reacted the moment someone near him seemed unwell. He was awkward, insecure, and easy to misunderstand, but he had never been cruel.
He’s been too good to us. I can’t plot behind his back for my own selfish gain, not in this case and not in this war. It’s not just my war.
Opening her system window, she sent a private message to Rias.
[Cassandra Selfmore: Could you please defuse the situation calmly?]
[Flash Fang: That’s my intention.]
Flash Fang coughed and drew Martin’s attention back toward him. He kept his tone light, letting Martin recover without making a scene out of it.
"I’m too busy to meet friends this month, but if you happen to be in New Dawn next month, I’ll take you out to a gym and a pub. Deal?"
"Ah, yeah... thanks..." Martin nodded.
Martin relaxed for half a second before embarrassment caught up to him. He knew he had asked something stupid and childish out of nowhere. The question had slipped out before he could stop it, carrying all the ugly feelings he had been trying to bury. Yet Flash Fang didn’t mock him, laugh at him, call him weird, or make him regret opening his mouth.
Instead, he answered Martin like the question hadn’t been strange at all, which somehow made him feel worse and better at the same time.
He’s such a nice guy... I need to apologize later and explain everything. That’s gonna be awkward as hell, but that’s my fault.
Cassandra stepped in before the silence could become uncomfortable again. "We can continue leveling up."
"Yes!" Martin answered like a soldier reporting in, and the way he grabbed onto the next clear task made NukEncore smile. "Do you want to build around my Hold the Line skill? It’s my best skill so far."
He was speaking to Flash Fang, which made NukEncore beam from ear to ear. After everything that had just happened, seeing him turn to Flash Fang so naturally helped her find her voice again.
"Then show it properly," NukEncore said, trying to sound bold. "I want to see what you can do with it."
Martin blinked at her, then smiled. "Yeah. Leave it to me."
Flash Fang smiled as well. "Show me the skill description first. It looked pretty cool from a distance."
"Haha, it’s a pretty long one. Here we go." Martin smiled and showed Flash Fang the skill description.
The first few minutes afterward were awkward, mostly because Martin couldn’t stop thinking about what he had said. NukEncore kept glancing at him, Cassandra pretended not to watch either of them, and Flash Fang kept the conversation moving without giving the mistake more attention than it deserved.
Once the next wave came, however, Martin finally had something to focus on.
Enemy movement, Angel’s support, NukEncore’s attacks, and the steady pressure against his shield kept his mind busy. He stopped worrying about how pathetic he might have looked and stopped wondering whether he had ruined the mood. He only had to hold the line.
To Martin, Flash Fang was still new, but that didn’t mean he was useless. Martin had already seen enough to know the guy had good instincts. He lacked practice, not talent. So Martin didn’t throw complicated calls at him or expect him to read the whole fight at once. Instead, he used his shield and positioning to shape the battle into cleaner moments Flash Fang could actually use.
Whenever a monster shifted too far to one side, Martin dragged its attention back. Whenever one lost balance against his defense, he angled his body to expose it. Whenever the pack bunched up, he held them there just long enough for the others to punish them.
Once his shield came up and the enemies crashed against his position, the fight became easier to understand than his own feelings.
"Angel, cover the left side!"
Ao Tenshin answered with an eager squeal and shifted her massive body toward the gap, her shell scraping against the ground as she blocked the ants from slipping through.
"NukEncore, hit them when they bunch up!"
"Already ready!"
Martin caught the next monster on his shield, forced it half a step to the side, and opened a clean line straight to its back.
"Flash Fang, this one! Now!"
"Got it!" freёweɓnovel.com
Flash Fang moved in, struck through the opening, and finished the monster before it could recover.
NukEncore saw it happen again and again. Martin was not trying to look cool anymore, and he was not trying to prove he belonged beside them. He was simply watching everyone, stepping into danger before it reached them, and shaping the fight so others could shine. Her smile kept growing before she could stop it.
Mm. The stage Martin creates is one I want to shine on too.
The clumsy way he cared, the way he forgot himself once someone else needed help, and the way he turned his own shield into a place where others could breathe all made it harder for NukEncore to look away. Martin never made a show of being kind. He just kept choosing it, even when nobody asked him to.
From the side, Cassandra watched him recover piece by piece and felt something in her soften. This was the version of him she had the hardest time resisting. Martin did not seduce, flatter, or scheme. He simply made room for people, treating their strengths and flaws like they were both worth holding onto. Even now, while hurting, he was still trying to lift someone else up.
I need this kind of Martin like I need my morning coffee.
The honesty of that thought irritated Cassandra more than it should have. It also made her feel ashamed for even thinking about using his misunderstanding for herself.
"Good," Martin said, already stepping into the next attack. "Same idea. I’ll make the opening, you take it."
With every exchange, Martin sounded more like himself. His voice steadied, his movements sharpened, and even his smile returned little by little, awkward at first, then more natural after each successful play.
NukEncore watched him from behind her glowing attacks, and the tight feeling in her chest finally eased. This was the side of Martin she trusted most. He could be awkward, messy, and impossible to read at times, but underneath all of that, he was honest.
Afterward, the group tore through the overflowing nest together. Angel covered them whenever pressure built, NukEncore blasted apart anything that slipped past Martin’s shield, and Flash Fang kept using the openings Martin carved out. A few guild members joined in along the way, and before long, Martin was having more fun than he expected.
By the end of their leveling session, the earlier tension hadn’t vanished, but every sentence no longer felt dangerous. freewebnσvel.cѳm
Cassandra opened her system window again, but this time, she didn’t type immediately. She stared at the empty message box for several seconds.
Once she sent this, hints, jokes, and careful silence would no longer be enough. Martin had been hurting in places they kept pretending not to see, and if they ignored it again, they might not be able to fix it later.
So Cassandra sent a single message to Elisebeth.
[Cassandra Selfmore: We’ll have a call in real life now. All four of us.]
