Book 1 Chapter 1027

1027.

Leo was walking on the fortress wall.

"Wow, this is the Dragon's Wall from the history books."

"I've never seen such an absurd fortress wall in my life."

As Lena exclaimed, Luna, who was following her, also spoke with surprise.

The Dragon's Wall.

It was a wall connecting fortresses that existed in the northern part of the continent 3000 years ago, built by Draconia with all its might to confine the Fragment of Erebus in the northern continent.

The wall, stretching endlessly, was a spectacle in itself.

"Does it still exist in your era?"

"Sadly, it was all destroyed in the battle between the Hero of the New Dawn and the Fragment of Erebus. Now, only faint traces remain that a wall once stood there."

"That's a shame. I bet it would have become a tourist attraction."

At Lena's explanation, Luna clicked her tongue.

Listening to the chattering conversation of the two behind him, Leo looked at the Dragon's Wall.

'It's like the walls of Gadsworth.'

Compared to the colossal Gadsworth, the Dragon's Wall was enormous in scale.

Looking inside the wall, one could see the horizon instead of the opposite wall.

Given its immense size, there were no soldiers guarding the wall.

But it certainly fulfilled its role of holding back the Fragment of Erebus.

If the Fragment of Erebus tried to cross the wall, or if external Tartarus forces attacked, heroes would be summoned from the five fortresses connected to the wall.

'That's why that Erebus hasn't been able to escape recklessly.'

"Huh? What's that?"

At Luna's question, Leo turned around.

Frightened, Luna was pointing inside the wall.

Within the wall, a vast winter forest stretched out.

And beyond the horizon in the direction Luna pointed.

A gray sky unfolded.

Lena also saw it and shivered slightly.

Krrrrrr-!

An ominous thunderclap echoed, and a dark red lightning flashed across the gray sky visible in the distance.

"It looks like Erebus is passing by."

The Fragment of Erebus, resurrected in this era, was moving.

Leo fiddled with the hilt of his sword.

'Should I fight?'

After a moment of such thought, Leo shook his head.

Even if he fought and won now, he couldn't know how the future might change.

And if the future changed, it might be a future where he wouldn't reincarnate.

'Or perhaps others would reincarnate, like in that parallel world I reached.'

Whatever the case, unpredictable situations must be prevented.

As he thought that, Leo's expression turned bewildered at Luna's sudden action of burrowing into his arms and burying her face in his chest.

"Aren't you embarrassed with a child watching?"

Luna, sensing Erebus's aura, was terrified.

The young Luna was even more sensitive to the flow of mana than in the era Leo knew.

Moreover, she wasn't strong enough to fight Erebus, so she was scared by Erebus's aura.

Despite Leo's words, Luna trembled.

Meanwhile.

The adult Luna, watching the scene, shook her head.

[You get scared and just cling to him? If it were Kyle, he'd coldly shake you off…]

Leo put his hands under young Luna's armpits and lifted her straight up.

Then he sat Luna, whose eyes were wide open, on his left shoulder.

"Huh? Huh?"

"Can you see better?"

When Leo asked with a mischievous smile, Luna frowned.

"You're not shielding me, but making me see better. What's that supposed to achieve?"

"You don't need to be afraid. Your magic in the future will make that guy tremble."

At Leo's words, Luna made a pouty face.

But thanks to him, her fearful expression was gone.

Instead, she gripped Leo's white hair tightly, as if she didn't want to come down.

Watching that, the spirit Luna's mouth hung open.

[This bastard! You're not Kyle!]

"My other self says you're not Kyle."

"Then what am I?"

[You must be something in Kyle's form! Kyle isn't this affectionate!]

"She says you're not such an affectionate person."

"I'm usually kind to people who show me affection."

[Don't be ridiculous! You didn't even know my feelings!]

"If someone had expressed their affection well, I might have noticed their feelings."

"Oh. If I had just expressed my affection well, things would have worked out between us?"

"Probably, yes?"

Leo laughed and retorted to young Luna's playful remark.

[Don't make me laugh! There's no way this idiot would have!]

Luna was fuming by herself.

Just then, Lena, who had been gazing at the scene, spoke.

"Things didn't exactly go smoothly between the two of you, did they?"

Leo turned his head towards Lena.

"Because Lady Lysianas was there. If Lady Luna had been assertive, my grandfather would probably have been beaten to death by Lady Lysianas and Lady Luna."

"Do you think I'd just take a beating?"

"Yes."

"I'm not the obedient type, though."

"There'd be no need to be obedient; if both of them decided to beat you up, do you have the confidence to endure it?"

"…"

Leo couldn't answer Lena's question.

A moment later.

The gray sky disappeared, perhaps because Erebus had completely left the vicinity.

Yet, Luna didn't separate from Leo.

They walked on for a long time until darkness fell.

Since the Dragon's Wall was so long, Leo's group had no choice but to camp on top of it.

"It's inconvenient not being able to use warp gates."

Currently, Leo's group's objective was to abduct this era's Seirune.

Therefore, gates that left traces could not be used.

That wasn't all.

Using spatial movement magic on the Dragon's Wall would be detected by nearby fortresses.

As for the Seirune of this time, they could simply abduct her and imprison her.

'The problem is Rhodia.'

Rhodia is not an easy-going dragon.

If they were to leave the fortress using warp gates or spatial movement magic, she would view it suspiciously.

No matter how much Seirune vouched for their identity, if the unfamiliar Leo and his group showed suspicious movements, she would eventually become doubtful.

Given the situation where they had to hide the fact that they came from the future, they had no choice but to travel on foot.

It was a daunting distance, but if Leo was determined to run, he could cover it in a full day.

However, considering the stamina of Luna and Lena, who were traveling with him, they had to camp midway.

"Why didn't you just leave us behind?"

Luna said, eating the stew Leo made.

"Rhodia is quick-witted. If you show even the slightest opening, she'll immediately notice something's off."

Luna and Lena were still inexperienced.

If they were to talk while Seirune wasn't paying attention, she would sense something strange.

Ultimately, to completely deceive Rhodia, keeping them separate was the best strategy.

At Leo's words, Lena nodded in agreement.

So, Luna and Lena went to sleep in their sleeping bags, taken out from the subspace.

Crack-crack-

Leo sat in front of the blazing campfire and dozed off.

When dawn arrived.

Lena woke up.

Still half-asleep, Lena glanced towards the campfire and paused.

She saw an elf woman sitting next to Leo, who was sitting in front of the campfire with his eyes closed.

'Huh?'

Lena rubbed her eyes once, and the woman's figure vanished.

'Did I see wrong?'

As Lena tilted her head.

"Are you awake?"

"Yes."

Lena, who nodded at Leo's question, came out of her sleeping bag.

"I'll take over the watch. Please get some sleep."

"Don't worry about it and sleep."

At Leo's reply, Lena sat in front of the campfire.

And she shivered once, warming herself by the fire.

Leo looked at Lena with one eye open.

'My granddaughter, huh.'

Honestly, Leo was perplexed by Lena's existence.

He had only recently started thinking about what would happen after he defeated Erebus and restored peace to the world.

But he had never once thought about descendants.

Loving someone and leaving proof of that love in the world was hard for Leo to imagine.

"You said your name was Lena, right?"

"Yes."

"Are you really my granddaughter?"

At Leo's question, Lena blinked her red eyes and replied.

"Yes."

"Then who's your grandmother?"

"It's a secret."

"A secret? Is your grandmother…?"

Leo hesitated, unable to finish his question.

"Grandmothers… You're asking about Lady Lysianas and Lady Luna, aren't you?"

"That's right. The Dragon etiquette you use is exactly what Lysianas taught me."

"…"

"And elf blood flows in you too. So, I'll ask you directly. Was your mother, by any chance, born from me and Luna?"

If Lysianas and Luna were revived in the future, everything would make sense.

Lena using dragon etiquette.

And inheriting elf blood.

"Sadly, I did not inherit Lady Luna's blood. Nor Lady Lysianas's."

"…"

"But I can't say there's no connection."

"What?"

"My mother asked me not to tell grandfather… but since the past has been twisted this much, I have no choice. Since grandfather is not someone who will change the future, I will tell you about the future."

Leo focused on Lena's words.

"After grandfather completely defeated Erebus, he ushered in a new era. In this new era that began, two things disappeared."

Lena held up two fingers and showed them to Leo.

"One is the legacy of the gods. And the other is the heroes chosen by the gods."

Belian's words came to mind, that the world had regressed because the Great Hero's will and teachings were not passed down to later generations.

"So the Hero Record disappears in the future?"

"Yes. It's an item that doesn't exist in the future."

"Well, it was already completely torn and much of it gone. It's not unreasonable for it to completely vanish."

"No. The Hero Record could have been sufficiently passed down to later generations."

"Then why did it disappear?"

"Grandfather destroyed the Hero Record."

"…"

Leo understood why Belian had blamed him, calling him the one who severed the Great Hero's will.

"Why did I destroy the Hero Record?"

The Hero Record was beneficial to the world.

Leo couldn't help but be puzzled that he had destroyed it with his own hands.

"To be precise, grandfather used the Hero Record for personal reasons."

"What?"

"My mother was raised by Lady Lysianas."

"That means…?"

"Yes. After defeating Erebus, grandfather used the Hero Record to revive Lady Lysianas."