Book 1 Chapter 140
140.
Leo, who had left the Tower of God, walked through Varhallun and thought.
‘It’s clear that the Hero Records were divided not just to establish the Hero Academy.’
3000 years ago.
When a fragment of Erebus revived, the existence of the hero’s world became known.
Afterward, after subjugating the fragments of Erebus, the Hero Records were divided into five.
With the power of those Hero Records, Hero Academies were established to nurture heroes of each race.
Leo found that questionable.
‘Was there really a need to divide the Hero Records into five?’
Furthermore, a significant number of pages were lost during the process of dividing the Hero Records.
During that process, many pages meant to inherit the powers of great heroes were lost, and Kyle even became a forgotten hero in the process.
Moreover, the page Leo found of himself was so damaged it was almost unrecognizable.
A literal fatal loss.
Seeing that, Leo intuitively knew that the Hero Records were not divided simply to establish the Hero Academy.
‘The founders of the Hero Academy couldn't possibly have not anticipated the Hero Records would be damaged.’
Even if they didn't know, they would have anticipated the side effects of dividing an intact Hero Record.
Yet, they divided the Hero Records.
To find out why, he had intended to look into the hidden history of the past in the Great Archives.
‘An object made by a god wouldn’t simply be damaged by being torn. There must be a group searching for and destroying the lost pages. It’s obvious. It’s Tartarus.’
The reason so little of his page remained must be because Tartarus specifically targeted Kyle’s page.
Erebus was like a god to them, and Leo, who had subjugated that god… from Tartarus’s perspective, he was both an object of hatred and fear.
‘Just look at Gardsron. You can see that the demons are erasing the traces of their struggle against them during the Age of Calamity.’
The races on the surface now only know about that era through literature.
‘Conversely, Tartarus has legion commanders who have lived since then. They know exactly what was where.’
Leo narrowed his eyes, recalling the legion commanders of Tartarus.
‘One more questionable point here is… how could Tartarus influence the Hero Records?’
The Hero Records are objects made by a god.
No matter how strong the legion commanders of Tartarus are, they are objects they cannot carelessly touch.
Leo stopped walking.
‘Let’s set aside the questions for now.’
What’s important now is to conquer Luna’s world.
Leo looked at the Folium in his hand.
The magic staff that Luna, his former friend, used.
The strongest staff, made with divine knowledge, was an extremely difficult object to use on its own.
It had powerful amplification effects, of course, and was a staff that contained powerful magic on its own.
An object even great mages found difficult to handle properly.
‘Luna handled it effortlessly, though.’
Recalling Luna handling the Folium, Leo cast a spell on the staff.
This was the city of the High Elves.
And the Folium was the symbol of the great Elf King, known to everyone in this city.
Even if it hadn't chosen the Folium, the fact that this staff belonged to the Elf King remained unchanged.
If Leo carried such a Folium, there would undoubtedly be a big problem.
‘Luna transformed it into a bracelet form because it was too heavy to carry.’
Leo cast a transformation spell on the Folium.
Kiiing-
The Folium reacted to Leo’s magic and transformed into a bracelet.
He put it on his wrist.
‘I never thought the day would come when I’d directly use the Folium.’
He let out a self-deprecating laugh and headed to Akint’s laboratory.
‘First, I need to get Hardin out of the dungeon, and I need to find Lunia and Elena too.’
Regarding the conquest of Luna’s world, Leo had one thing in mind.
As far as Leo knew, the Star Magic was completed nowhere else but in Varhallun.
Before the Age of Calamity, elves were not called the race of magic as they are now.
But thanks to their racial characteristic of being familiar with mana from birth, there were many powerful mages among the elves even during the Age of Gods.
And Varhallun was also a place where the magical history of such elves was gathered.
Even though many High Elves were corrupt enough to walk the path of depravity, the heritage left by their truly noble ancestors was not defiled.
Leo looked at the tall tree extending in the center of Varhallun.
A tree that no longer existed in the current world.
It was the World Tree that the elves loved and nurtured.
Luna, who inherited the legacies left by countless elves of the past, eventually completed the 'Star Magic'.
‘It means it’s been passed down from the distant past.’
The great legacy of the ancient elves to Luna.
The 'Star Magic', which developed that legacy, to the current elves.
The will passed down through generations did not stop being inherited.
‘If the goal of this world is for Luna to complete the Star Magic, then the conquerors just need to help from the side.’
This could be considered a fairly simple conquest condition, but in fact, the conquest conditions for the 'Prologue' of any hero's world were often simple.
Leo arrived in front of Akint’s laboratory with a puzzled expression.
Then he called the name of the girl who was hesitating in front of the laboratory.
“Luna.”
“Ah…!”
Luna looked back at Leo with surprised eyes.
“Professor Akint.”
“What is it?”
“It’s Prince Ergen’s birthday today.”
At that, Leo paused.
The birthday of the Elf King Ergen.
This period was like a festival for all elves.
“There’s a party at the World Tree Plaza… but… I haven’t received an invitation.”
Luna fidgeted with her hands.
Luna’s face, as she looked around, was gloomy.
“Could you perhaps come with me? I really want to meet His Highness.”
At that, Leo felt a sense of unease.
‘What is it?’
In Varhallun, Luna was an unusual existence.
A genius girl who entered Varhallun solely through overwhelming skill and talent, not through family.
As such, she had many enemies within Varhallun.
On the other hand, there were also many who felt affection and respect for Luna and spared no support for her.
The prime example of such a person was Akint, whom Leo was currently possessing.
‘She bragged that she received the Elf King’s patronage as soon as she entered Varhallun.’
Even though her status was that of a student, Luna received the same treatment as the teachers.
Thanks to being able to devote herself solely to magic research without attending classes, Luna completed the foundation of Star Magic here.
Such a Luna said she hadn't received an invitation on the Elf King’s birthday.
‘What is it? Did Luna lie to us?’
No, that couldn’t be.
Leo knew Luna well.
She would never lie to save face.
Then what was it?
Did this mean she hadn't received the Elf King’s patronage yet?
‘No, Luna entered Varhallun when she was thirteen.’
Luna now looked to be in her mid-teens to anyone.
‘Then what the hell is it?’
Leo felt a sense of unease.
“Luna.”
“Yes?”
“Why haven’t you, who receives Prince Ergen’s patronage, received an invitation?”
“It’s already been a month since Prince Ergen’s patronage was cut off from me.”
Luna said in a slightly flustered voice.
Luna, who looked somehow powerless, slumped her shoulders.
Seeing that, Leo’s face hardened.
‘History has changed.’
In the hero’s world, history can be changed as much as desired.
If a conqueror changes it positively and achieves a greater feat than actual history, an over-achievement can be accomplished.
Conversely, if a conqueror changes history in the wrong way and causes negative effects, the conquest fails.
So, even if history changes in the hero’s world, it’s not strange.
‘But we only entered Luna’s world a few hours ago.’
During that time, the only event that could have influenced history was Hardin, who entered Zera’s body, pulverizing Hircan.
But that action twisting history from a month ago makes no sense.
‘Does history itself get twisted when a hero dungeon goes berserk and becomes a hero dungeon? No, I’ve never heard of such a case. Then what the hell is it?’
As Leo pondered, someone’s voice flashed through his mind.
‘Leo, this world, no. Darkness might have fallen upon the Hero Records.’
The divine revelation he met a moment ago.
Even if it was fake, its ability was real.
‘Darkness… could it be?’
The moment he thought of something, he felt goosebumps on his back.
‘Can Tartarus enter a hero dungeon?’
***
Hardin, imprisoned in the dungeon, was blaming himself.
‘I was foolish.’
He was too emotional when he saw someone insult the great Luna, who was practically the embodiment of elven history.
In a hero dungeon, every action must be careful.
But his emotions got the better of him.
This was the result.
‘Hoo. How embarrassing. To show such a disgrace to a first-year, even if it’s from another school.’
Hardin took a deep breath and looked around.
‘Even for a prison for criminals, it’s too dirty.’
No matter what, it was a prison for his own kind.
Yet, the environment was like this.
‘Is the distant past really different from now?’
Hardin felt a culture shock.
‘If I return to Seirun, I’ll have a lot to report.’
It was when he was thinking about the situation after the dungeon conquest.
Creak-! Thud-!
With the sound of the dungeon opening, someone entered the prison.
Thump- Thump-
Hardin looked at the two girls who appeared with somewhat lifeless steps, a puzzled expression on his face.
The two girls were clearly half-elves at first glance.
But their clothes were shabby.
“You are… what?”
“W-what kind of question is that… I am a slave?”
“A slave? Why?”
Hardin asked with a flustered face.
“You ask strange things. Aren’t all half-elves slaves?”
Hardin’s face turned aghast as he watched the half-elf girl answer calmly, her face devoid of any vitality.
‘Slaves? Was there such a low-class thing?’
Even in the current era, contempt for mixed-bloods exists.
But they don't treat mixed-bloods, who have half the blood of their own kind, as slaves.
However, in this era, elves mixed with the blood of other races were not treated as people.
This was a very natural thing.
Hardin’s body trembled at the incomprehensible wall of common sense.
‘This history… is it true? Did our elves have slaves?’
The other elven slave girl tilted her head, looking at Hardin who was trembling with intense disgust.
Just then, someone else entered the dungeon again.
Thump- Thump-
The owner of the footsteps was approaching the prison where Hardin was confined.
The slave girl who had been bringing Hardin his meal hastily moved aside.
But the other girl was slow to react and couldn't get out of the way.
Thump-!
The man’s steps stopped.
The high elf with beautiful white hair and blue eyes, and a noble impression, glanced at the slave girl blocking his way.
And then…
Wham-!
“Cough?”
He kicked the girl without hesitation.
The girl crashed into the bars, letting out a violent gasp.
At that, the other girl’s face turned pale.
“E-En!”
The girl hastily approached her best friend, who had been reacting a little strangely today.
“The slaves’ education is flawed.”
Wham-!
“Cough!”
The white-haired elf let out a bored breath and kicked again.
Hardin’s eyes flared at the sight.
“What are you doing?!”
At Hardin’s shout, the white-haired elf, Sarman, curled up the corners of his mouth.
“Isn’t she just a slave?”
Stomp-!
“Ugh…”
Sarman stepped on the head of the slave he had kicked, letting out a sneer.
“Or are you unable to accept that your ancestors did such an ugly thing in the past?”
“What did you say?”
Hardin’s face hardened at Sarman’s words.
“I don’t know how you got in… but, you dog of Seirun.”
Whoosh-!
Dark magic shimmered in Sarman’s hand.
Crack-!
His raised arm became the arm of a grotesque monster.
“You will die here.”
“Tartarus?”
Hardin raised his aura in shock.
But the restraints on Hardin’s arms interfered with the manifestation of his aura.
Of course, destroying them wouldn’t be difficult.
But in that fleeting moment, he could be in danger.
‘I must somehow defend and escape first…’
Crunch-
“Cough?”
Blood splattered, and a painful groan burst out.
“As expected, Hardin. It was you.”
The slave girl who had been kicked by Sarman smiled and got up.
Hardin looked at the girl, who smiled brightly and manifested pink magic, with a surprised expression.
“Elena?”
“What’s with that pathetic state?”