Book 1 Chapter 1026

1026.

Rhodeia watched the young man before her with her arms crossed, her gaze silent.

Snow-white hair and red eyes.

His face still held a youthful trace, making him seem a little too young to be fully called a young man.

But despite that, the reason Rhodeia felt Leo seemed like a young man was due to the aura he possessed.

'So mature for his age.'

Rhodeia, staring intently at Leo, who had an aura more mature than his age, opened her mouth.

"So, Seirun. What you're saying is… you've found someone with 'All Class' ability. The power of Purity?"

"Yes."

Seirun nodded.

"Someone with the same power as Lord Kyle… That's good, with the fight against Erebus not far off!"

Rhodeia's eyes sparkled.

Despite the sudden appearance of an All Class, there wasn't much doubt about Leo's existence.

After all, the one vouching for Leo's identity was none other than Seirun.

One of the heroes of the Great Opening, personally chosen by Rhodeia.

A comrade who had risked their lives fighting alongside each other during the Great Opening War, and one of her closest friends.

"You said your name was Leo?"

"Yes."

"Is that so? Is that so?"

Rhodeia blinked slowly at Leo's words.

Then, she let out a deep sigh.

"I understand you have great power at a young age. And I can understand your confidence, given you possess the same power as Lord Kyle."

Rhodeia crossed her arms.

"But the one before you is none other than Rhodeia. Rhodeia, the Dragon of the Great Opening."

Rhodeia smiled faintly.

"The successor to Lord Lissinus, the King of Wisdom. You wouldn't be unaware, would you?"

"I know well. And you saved the world."

"I haven't saved the world yet. But I will soon."

Rhodeia shrugged.

"Regardless, if you know that well, shouldn't you show me respect?"

'Ahhhhhhh!'

Seirun let out a scream in his mind upon hearing Rhodeia's words.

The first time he met Leo.

While he had spoken rudely out of his temper, it wasn't as if Seirun felt comfortable with Leo.

On the contrary, Seirun genuinely respected the great hero, Kyle.

Back then, Leo had taken it as the cute grumbling of a junior, and he was truly grateful for that.

That was why Rhodeia's attitude, treating Leo as a mere youngster and demanding respect, naturally elicited a scream from him.

He felt like striking Rhodeia on the back of the head with his staff right then and there and making her apologize with her forehead to the floor.

Rhodeia would probably have turned pale and bowed her head if she knew Leo's true identity was Kyle himself.

But it couldn't be done.

The current situation was that they had traveled to the past, 3000 years ago.

When they returned to their original time, a magical perception alteration would occur, making them forget about those who came from the future.

However, they still shouldn't act in a way that excessively influenced the past.

And the reincarnation of a great hero in the future was a major event that could have a tremendous impact on the past.

Crucially…

'Even at this point, Rhodeia… no, we thought we could defeat the fragments of Erebus.'

The heroes of the Great Opening, including Seirun, believed they could extinguish the embers of calamity that had persisted since the Age of Calamity.

They knew that the power of Purity was necessary to completely defeat Erebus.

'But it was only one fragment.'

One of the six fragments, not the complete form.

They believed that if they had a power that could overwhelm the fragments of Erebus, they could completely annihilate a fragment that had achieved an incomplete resurrection.

In fact, it seemed to hold true in the first battle against Erebus.

Afterward, the heroes of the Great Opening were planning to find the remaining fragments.

'But it wasn't like that.'

The fragment of Erebus resurrected again.

In the form of a weak flame.

Of course, it resurrected in a state far weaker than when they had defeated it with the combined strength of five people.

The one who dealt with the resurrected fragment was none other than Seirun alone.

However, even after that, the fragment of Erebus, which they thought had been annihilated, resurrected.

Eventually, they knew the power of Purity was needed, and Lumeren tried to inherit the characteristic of Purity through Kyle's world, but it was impossible.

'In the end, they chose sealing.'

While Seirun was reminiscing about the past.

"We will soon defeat the resurrected fragment of Erebus."

Rhodeia smiled faintly.

"And then we will find and defeat all the fragments of Erebus."

The Dragon of the Great Opening laughed confidently.

Leo looked slightly surprised.

This Rhodeia was a little different from the one he knew.

She was full of confidence and seemed to shine brightly.

"Lord Lissinus… we will fulfill the unfulfilled wishes of the great heroes."

"Oh?"

Leo exclaimed in admiration.

"The people of the world praise our achievements recorded in the Hero Record, but… even those achievements will soon be mere beginnings."

Rhodeia revealed her confidence and smiled brightly.

Seirun wore a bitter expression as he watched her.

'Yes, this is what we thought at the time.'

They would fulfill the wishes of the great heroes and usher in a new era.

They were full of such dreams and spirit.

That was why Seirun didn't want to tell Rhodeia… or themselves… about the future.

The future might be shaken.

The failure to defeat Erebus was that shocking.

'No. Perhaps I don't want them to know the suffering we will endure.'

The heroes of the Great Opening ultimately chose to be sealed in the world of the Great Opening along with Erebus.

And the heroes of the Great Opening regretted their choice countless times.

An unimaginably distant loop.

They had long forgotten how many loops it had been.

The emotions upon remembering everything after the defeat were only despair.

How many times would they have to repeat this?

Would it ever end?

No, how long could they hold out?

Terrible times filled with anxiety and distrust.

They didn't want to ruin this shining time, where failure was unquestioned.

That was why Seirun wanted to hide the fact that he came from the future.

'I want to hide that fact and resolve it somehow.'

While having such thoughts…

"That's truly amazing."

Leo said with a faint smile to Rhodeia, who showed a displeased expression.

"Oh? Look at this? Why is your reaction so dry? Do you get told you're rude often?"

"I do, sometimes."

"I knew it."

Seirun trembled, watching his friend commit rudeness as if it were breathing.

"Anyway, learn a lot from Lumeren. Lumeren knows a lot about Lord Kyle's techniques."

"Learn from Lumeren?"

"Yes. I know you easily defeated the Rock King. But that's because you possess a power that's like a natural enemy to the Rock King."

'Please… Rhodeia, stop!'

Seirun pleaded inwardly.

"That's true. It was too easy for a Legion Commander."

Leo agreed with Rhodeia's words.

"Oh? You're more humble than I thought. That's good. You're more receptive than I expected."

"Am I?"

"Yes. You have great power, but you still lack experience, so you need to learn more. Believe me."

'Please stop!'

Rhodeia looked at Leo, her eyes sparkling.

"By the way, I thought we would be the greatest heroes of our generation… but in a few years, you might become the greatest."

As a selector of heroes, Rhodeia predicted that Leo would become an outrageous monster.

"Speaking of which, the same mana characteristic as Lord Kyle… are you also dense?"

A vein bulged on Leo's forehead.

"Hey! You damn lizard!"

At the same time, Seirun, who could no longer stand it, rushed at Rhodeia.

"What are you doing! You damn pointy-eared… *cough*!? Keekekek?!"

If it were a simple physical fight, Seirun the elf couldn't defeat Rhodeia the dragon.

However, Seirun genuinely used magic to subdue Rhodeia.

"Wh-what suddenly… *cough, cough*!"

Rhodeia, being choked by Seirun, struggled.

She had never dreamed that Seirun would make such a surprise attack, so she was utterly helpless.

"Wh-what did I do wrong… *hack*?!"

"You'll thank me later!"

"Don't talk nonsense… *gasp*."

Finally, Rhodeia, with her eyes rolled back, fainted.

"Huff! Huff!"

Seirun gasped for breath, sat down with a thump, and moved away from Rhodeia.

"You're being too harsh, even if you didn't know what you were doing."

"Ignorance is also a sin."

Saying so, Seirun smacked Rhodeia on the forehead.

Just then, with a knock, the drawing-room door opened.

"Rhodeia, Seirun… I brought some snacks… Oh my?"

Annelie exclaimed, covering her mouth, upon seeing the unconscious Rhodeia.

"Did you fight again?"

"Yes."

"Rhodeia and Seirun are quite close. I'm envious of your intimacy."

Annelie glanced at Rhodeia with a hint of envy, then placed the snack tray down and left the room.

"You said it was an important discussion, right? Wake her up and talk over snacks."

With those words, Annelie waved to Leo as well and left the room.

Leo poked a fruit with his fork and said,

"She's kind. Even looking after the woman who's trying to steal her husband."

"I told you it wasn't an affair!"

Seirun shouted, his face bright red.

Then, he covered his face with his hands.

"By the way… Leo, do you know why the Rock King and the Glutton King appeared?"

"I have a guess."

"What is it?"

"It seems the fragments are records from the future, from the legions."

"What? Legion Records?"

Seirun's expression shifted to surprise at the term he'd never heard before.

Leo explained the Legion Records to the surprised Seirun.

"Because of us, the Hero Record…"

"It's not because of you. If it weren't for you, the next generation wouldn't have continued."

Leo said firmly.

"I did tear apart the fragments of Erebus, but the sealing isn't perfect."

Leo said, crunching on a fruit.

"If I had stalled, other fragments might have resonated and revived. In that case, the world might have truly ended."

Seirun smiled bitterly at his words.

"Regardless, put those thoughts aside. Let's talk about now."

"Yes."

"If you're going to hide the fact that we came from the future… what do you plan to do about yourself in this time period?"

"My self in this time period is probably unaware that an emergency has occurred."

"Why is that?"

"If you look at the date, this is when I was secluded in an underground room for magic research."

"Rhodeia doesn't know about that?"

"Yes. I did it secretly because she would nag me."

"Hmm."

"So the solution is simple."

Leo chuckled at Seirun's words.

Watching Leo chuckle, Seirun said,

"It seems Leo-nim is thinking along similar lines to me."

"Yes. We can kidnap her and lock her up somewhere, right?"

"Please do."

"You really are Luna's junior. How can you think so alike?"

"Hehehe."

Leo sighed, watching Seirun genuinely delighted.

"I wasn't complimenting you."