Book 1 Chapter 1030
1030.
Due to Tartaros's attack on Rhodia, Lumerne came to meet Seirune.
Before secluding himself for magic research.
Seirune only gave Lumerne a hint.
‘Seirune would never tell such a thing to other friends.’
Lumerne thought of his close friends and gave a bitter smile.
Lumerne arrived at the fortress guarded by Seirune, thinking of his friend who had cut off contact with the outside world and was engrossed in magic.
However, Lumerne's senses soon detected an anomaly.
Suddenly, Seirune used a spell and then canceled it.
Looking at the flow of magic power, it wasn't canceled by himself but was counter-spelled.
The moment he realized that, Lumerne sharpened his senses to their maximum.
And he felt Seirune's presence disappear.
If he hadn't known from the start, that would be one thing.
There was no way Lumerne would miss a mysterious intruder he had once detected.
But the unidentified intruder was beyond imagination.
It felt like if his concentration wavered even slightly, he would lose track of the presence.
Because of that, he had no time to notify those in the fortress of the emergency.
‘What in the world is this after Tartaros?’
Lumerne, who had fought alongside Seirune, knew Seirune's strength best.
Even for a mage, being abducted like this was a major incident, close to a disaster.
Lumerne bit his lip hard and sharpened his senses even further.
‘Did Tartaros still have demons with such power?’
The enemy's identity was still unknown.
But from the moment Seirune was abducted, Lumerne judged that the opponent was likely a demon.
‘Or… Tamus?’
He recalled the hero who had left the party.
He didn't want to think that.
He squeezed-!
Power entered Lumerne's hand clutching the sword hilt.
‘I’ll save him.’
Determination filled Lumerne's eyes.
At that very moment.
He felt the fleeing opponent stop.
Lumerne's face hardened, and he tensed all the muscles in his body.
There was only one reason the fleeing enemy stopped.
*Shing!*
Lumerne drew his sword.
Someone entered Lumerne's sight as he blinked once.
‘A human?’
Lumerne's eyes twitched.
It was someone with pure white hair and red eyes.
It wasn't Tartaros's demon, nor was it Tamus, the hero who had become an enemy.
It was the appearance of someone completely unexpected, but Lumerne didn't care and raised his sword.
*Woong-!*
Grey aura formed at the tip of Lumerne's sword.
*Swish-!*
Lumerne's sword was swung with a sharp sound.
Leo swung his sword in response.
*—!*
Swords imbued with grey aura and pure white aura crossed.
For a moment, silence fell over the surrounding area.
There was no shockwave or noise that should have followed the clash of immense power.
It was as if time itself had stopped.
The silence was broken after Leo and Lumerne were thrown back by the clash of power against power.
*KWA-ANG-!*
A huge explosion sound belatedly spread in all directions.
And a shockwave no less powerful swept through the surrounding area.
*KWAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAK-!*
Grasses fell in opposite directions, centered around Leo and Lumerne, as if a massive explosion had occurred.
Trees and piles of stones couldn't withstand the force and were uprooted.
A storm raged from just a single clash.
Lumerne's face hardened.
‘What is this guy?’
He had never imagined that his single blow would be nullified.
‘Demian or Ajonia would have found it difficult to withstand this level, wouldn't they?’
Increased vigilance arose on Lumerne's face.
Meanwhile.
Leo looked down at his left hand, where a tingling sensation was spreading.
It was just one clash, but he learned a lot.
‘He's more than I thought, isn't he?’
He knew he was strong.
But after actually exchanging blows, he was far beyond his expectations.
*Swoosh-!*
Lumerne pointed his sword at Leo.
He threw the sword in his left hand to his right hand.
*Thwack-!*
Leo, having switched hands, shook his left hand.
Lumerne looked at Leo and said.
“Why did you abduct Seirune?”
“Abduct? I didn't do that?”
“What do you want?”
“What I want, huh.”
Leo, who pondered for a moment, lowered his stance and smiled.
“A test?”
At the same time as he spoke, Leo disappeared.
Leo, who moved at a speed invisible to the eye, reappeared directly above Lumerne's head.
*Swish-! Ka-ang-!*
Leo's sword, which was about to slash Lumerne's shoulder, was repelled.
Leo's eyes twitched.
The attack just now wasn't merely a fast attack.
It was an attack that even erased killing intent.
Yet, Lumerne reacted without difficulty.
‘Extrasensory perception?’
He had that thought but soon shook his head.
‘Did he react to a faint killing intent?’
Even if killing intent is erased, it doesn't completely disappear as long as it's an attack.
Even so, Arion was the only one who reacted to Leo's sword with erased killing intent.
It wasn't extrasensory perception, but it was Lumerne's innate detection ability, close to it.
*Thwack-!*
As Leo landed on the ground, Lumerne counterattacked.
*KAGAGAGAGAK-!*
Leo let out a hollow laugh, seeing Lumerne's swords scattering from all directions.
‘This bastard.’
Swords that blurred the eyes.
They looked like illusions.
Leo's extrasensory perception allowed him to easily discern the real sword among them.
But…
*KAGAGAGAGAK-!*
Leo quickly parried all the swords.
Among the dozens of swords, there was no deception.
Everything was real.
‘Magic.’
He had imbued the swords with magic.
The problem was that it even deceived Leo's extrasensory perception.
It was an anomalous attack that he might have fallen for if it weren't for Leo's acquired sense of danger.
Even though his attack was blocked, Lumerne didn't waver.
Lumerne had already grasped that Leo was an unusually skilled individual.
Magic power raged from Lumerne's body.
*Whirl-! Kwaaa!*
Lumerne opened a subspace and took out a sword.
A storm and flames raged from the tips of Lumerne's twin swords.
Seeing that, Leo paused.
‘This guy. He handles attributes freely, doesn't he?’
What was imbued in the sword wasn't aura.
It was the enchantment of fire and wind magic.
And on the sword imbued with fire enchantment, there was wind aura.
On the sword imbued with magic enchantment, fire aura was burning.
Aura and magic merged, increasing destructive power.
And then, those two swords, with increased destructive power, combined again, maximizing their might.
The perfect harmony of aura and magic.
*Hwaruruk-*
Phoenix flames imbued Leo's sword.
“An aura imbued with the power of the Phoenix?”
Lumerne's eyes twitched, having instantly seen through the true nature of Leo's aura.
Lumerne knew everything about Kyle.
That's why Leo was using the power he gained after reincarnation.
*Kwaang-!*
Flames clashed with flames.
And with that, it was Leo who was pushed back.
Leo clicked his tongue, looking down at his burned right hand.
‘Formidable.’
He could tell from this attack.
As a magic swordsman, Lumerne's talent was beyond Berkia.
Of course, Lumerne was not stronger than Berkia.
If one considered pure martial prowess, their strengths were equal.
However, unlike Berkia, who primarily used swords and magic as a supplementary means, Lumerne could freely change classes.
Literally an ideal dual class.
A capability close to Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings.
‘No. If we only consider the domain of handling aura and magic, is his versatility better than mine?’
*Woong-!*
While Leo was clicking his tongue.
Water spray raged from Lumerne's sword.
And from the other sword, darkness imbued.
‘He uses aura attributes freely too?’
Leo made an incredulous expression.
Leo also handles attributes freely.
But that was because Leo's mana characteristic was pure, capable of becoming anything.
Even if magic has specialized attributes, various attributes can be freely handled depending on one's efforts.
But for aura, unless one is born with a special ability, the attributes are usually fixed.
Even if one handles multiple attributes, two or three are the limit.
And even then, one can only learn compatible attributes, not opposing ones.
But Lumerne handles opposing attributes freely.
And what made that possible was the result of ‘effort’.
‘The problem is, that's not something you can achieve just by effort.’
A skill acquired through effort, unlike Leo who was born with it.
And what made that effort possible was ultimately talent.
Leo quickly moved out of Lumerne's attack range.
And he prepared for Lumerne's additional attacks.
However, Lumerne did not continue his attack any further.
He was staring at Leo with eyes full of astonishment.
“Could it be…?”
“Huh?”
“Kyle…-nim?”
“…”
“Oh my. Isn't it really Lord Kyle?”
“No, it's not.”
“Don't lie! All your movements until now were clearly Lord Kyle pretending not to be Lord Kyle!”
‘What's "me pretending not to be me" again?’
“Literally, it's Lord Kyle pretending not to be Lord Kyle!”
‘This guy? Does he use telepathy or something?’
Leo made an incredulous expression, watching Lumerne, who saw through his thoughts and responded.
Any hostility from Lumerne had long since disappeared.
His eyes held infinite respect.
Leo sighed and put away his sword.
‘So my identity is already revealed.’
But at the same time, he felt a question.
“How did you know?”
“I know everything about Lord Kyle.”
“What?”
“Since childhood, I've only thought of Lord Kyle and only researched Lord Kyle! I know everything there is to know about Lord Kyle!”
“Saying that sounds creepy?”
“It’s an honor!”
“That was an insult.”
Despite Leo's words, Lumerne couldn't contain his joy.
“Seeing you like this, you must have reincarnated! Ohh. To think such a day would come! To meet the real Lord Kyle!”
‘This guy. He doesn't seem like the guy I knew before?’
Currently, Lumerne wasn't just worshipping Leo.
‘His eyes are definitely glazed over.’
An indescribable madness could be felt in Lumerne's clear eyes.
He was on a level of being a different person from the Lumerne he had seen before.
“You recognized me by seeing my movements?”
“Yes!”
“But I should have hidden it perfectly?”
“That's why I was even more certain it was Lord Kyle!”
His perfect acting didn't work at all.
It felt like he was seen through from head to toe.
While admiring Lumerne's insight, he also felt a biological repulsion.
‘Where have I seen this feeling before?’
Leo had definitely felt a similar sensation to this before.
Leo, pondering, soon thought of someone.
‘Rian.’
Rian, the administrator of the Hero Record, a severe Kyle worshipper, and a former god.
‘At least compared to that guy, he seems normal.’
To Leo, who had already experienced Rian, Lumerne's fanatical behavior was not surprising.
It was just baffling that, unlike what he knew, Lumerne was severely crazy.
*Chuckle.*
“Why?”
“You are too dazzling.”
‘No. Is he as crazy as Rian?’
“Lord Kyle.”
“Why?”
“Were you testing me just now?”
“…Yes. Did it make you feel bad?”
“No. On the contrary, it's an honor.”
Lumerne waved his hand.
And he asked in a voice that subtly conveyed expectation.
“How am I? Am I worthy as Lord Kyle's successor?”
“Well, seeing you fight…”
“Yes!”
“You seem closer to Arion than me.”
“…”
Lumerne paused.
“Should I say your senses are genius-level?”
Of course, he is fundamentally different from Arion.
But he gave a similar feeling to Arion.
“Rather, Ajonia seems to be more similar to me than you.”
Leo said with amusement, recalling Ajonia.
‘Looking at it this way, it's ironic.’
That his successor resembles Arion, and Arion's successor resembles himself.
At that moment.
“Ajonia!”
*Grinding-*
He heard the sound of teeth grinding and someone repeating Ajonia's name with resentment from in front of him.
“…”
Leo looked at the sky, seeing that sight.
Inwardly, Leo had been delighted by the fact that Lumerne was the most normal among the Heroes of the Genesis.
And rightly so, as every one of the Heroes of the Genesis was not normal.
Compared to other Heroes of the Genesis, the Lumerne he had seen in Lumerne's world was literally a perfect hero.
But seeing him today, that thought completely vanished.
‘Why isn't there a single normal guy among these juniors?’
Leo could only lament at the sight of Lumerne, whose eyes were blinded by jealousy, making an expression as if he would chew up and swallow his friend.
‘Indeed. Birds of a feather flock together, I guess.’
“Lord Kyle! I will research Lord Kyle more to reclaim my tarnished honor!”
Leo sincerely said to his burning-with-enthusiasm junior.
“It's creepy, so don't do it.”