Book 1 Chapter 140

Leo walked out of the Tower of God, pondering as he strolled through Barharun.

'It definitely seems like the Hero Record was divided for reasons beyond just establishing a Hero Academy.'

3000 years ago.

The existence of the hero world became known when a piece of Erebus revived.

After subduing the pieces of Erebus, the Hero Record was split into five.

With the power of those Hero Records, Hero Academies were established to nurture heroes by race.

Leo found that puzzling.

'Was there really a need to divide the Hero Record into five?'

Furthermore, a considerable number of pages were lost during the process of dividing the Hero Record.

Many pages that would inherit the power of great heroes were lost in the process, and even Kyle became a forgotten hero during that time.

Moreover, Leo's own page, which he found, was damaged to the point where its form was barely recognizable.

Literally, a fatal loss.

Seeing that, Leo intuited that the Hero Record was not divided simply to establish a Hero Academy.

'It's impossible that the founders of the Hero Academy didn't anticipate the Hero Record would be damaged.'

Even if they didn't know, they would have anticipated the side effects of dividing the intact Hero Record.

Yet, they divided the Hero Record.

To uncover the reason for this, he had intended to investigate the hidden history in the Great Library.

'An object created by a god wouldn't be damaged just by being torn. There must be a group destroying the lost pages. It's obvious. Tartarus.'

The reason why his own page was almost gone was likely because Tartarus specifically targeted Kyle's page.

Erebus was like a god to them, and Leo, who subdued that god… from Tartarus's perspective, he was both an object of hatred and fear.

'I can tell just by looking at Gardesron. The demons are erasing traces of their fight against us 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 where things were.'

Leo narrowed his eyes, recalling the Legion Commanders of Tartarus.

'Here's another thing that puzzles me… How can Tartarus influence the Hero Record?'

The Hero Record is an object made by a god.

No matter how powerful the Legion Commanders of Tartarus are, it's an object they cannot casually tamper with.

Leo stopped walking.

'Let's set aside the questions for now.'

What's important now is conquering Luna's world.

Leo looked at the Polyum he held in his hand.

A magic staff used by Luna, his former friend.

The strongest staff, created with divine knowledge, was an extremely difficult item to use on its own.

It not only had a powerful amplification effect but also possessed immense magic on its own.

An item that even Archmages would find difficult to handle properly.

'But Luna handled it effortlessly.'

Recalling Luna handling Polyum, Leo cast magic on the staff.

This is the city of High Elves.

And Polyum is the symbol of the great Elf King known to everyone in this city.

Even if it wasn't chosen by Polyum, the fact that this staff belonged to the Elf King remained unchanged.

If Leo were to carry Polyum around, there would undoubtedly be major problems.

'Luna, that girl, changed it into a bracelet because it was heavy to carry.'

Leo cast transformation magic on Polyum.

*Kiiiiiiing-*

Polyum reacted to Leo's magic and changed into a bracelet.

He wore it on his wrist.

'I never thought a day would come when I'd have to use Polyum directly.'

Letting out a hollow laugh, he headed towards Akint's laboratory.

'First, I need to get Hardin out of the dungeon and find Runia and Elena.'

Regarding the conquest of Luna's world, one thing came to Leo's mind.

As far as Leo knew, the completion of the Star Magic was none other than in Barharun.

Before the Age of Calamity, elves were not called a magical race like they are now.

However, due to their natural affinity with mana from birth, elves had many powerful mages since the Age of Gods.

And Barharun was also where the magical history of such elves converged.

Even though many High Elves had become corrupted, the legacy left by their truly noble ancestors was not defiled.

Leo looked at the tall tree stretching towards the sky in the center of Barharun.

A tree that no longer exists in the world.

It was the World Tree, loved and nurtured by the elves.

Luna, inheriting the legacy of countless elves of the past, eventually completed the 'Star Magic'.

'In the end, it's been passed down from the distant past.'

The great legacy of the ancient elves to Luna.

The 'Star Magic' that developed that legacy to the elves of today.

The will passed down through generations has not stopped being inherited.

'If the goal of this world is for Luna to complete the Star Magic, then the conquerors just need to assist from the side.'

It could be considered a relatively simple conquest condition, but in truth, the 'Prologue' of any hero's world often has simple conquest conditions.

Arriving in front of Akint's laboratory, Leo wore a puzzled expression.

Then he called out the name of the girl hesitating in front of the laboratory.

"Luna."

"Ah…!"

Luna turned back at Leo with surprised eyes.

"Teacher Akint."

"What is it?"

"Today is Prince Ergen's birthday."

At those words, Leo froze.

The Elf King Ergen's birthday.

This period is a day of celebration for all elves.

"There's a party at the World Tree Square… um… I wasn't invited."

Luna fiddled with her hands.

Luna's face, her eyes darting around, was somber.

"Could you possibly go with me? I really want to see the Prince."

At those words, Leo felt a sense of unease.

'What is it?'

In Barharun, Luna was an anomaly.

A genius girl who entered Barharun solely through overwhelming skill and talent, not family background.

As such, she had many enemies within Barharun.

On the other hand, there were also many who felt admiration and respect for Luna and offered her unwavering support.

The most prominent example was Akint, in whom Leo was currently possessing.

'As soon as I entered Barharun, I boasted about receiving the Elf King's patronage.'

Even though she was a student, Luna received the same treatment as the teachers.

Thanks to being able to focus solely on magic research without attending classes, Luna completed the foundation of Star Magic here.

And yet, Luna was not invited to the Elf King's birthday.

'What is it? Did Luna lie to us?'

No, that's impossible.

Leo knew Luna well.

She wouldn't lie just to save face.

Then what is it?

Is she not yet under the Elf King's patronage?

'No, Luna entered Barharun at thirteen.'

Luna is clearly in her mid-teens now.

'Then what on earth is it?'

Leo felt a sense of unease.

"Luna."

"Yes?"

"Why weren't you invited, you who have the patronage of Prince Ergen?"

"My patronage from Prince Ergen ended a month ago."

Luna said with a slightly flustered voice.

Luna, who seemed to lack energy, slumped her shoulders.

Seeing her, Leo's face hardened.

'History has changed.'

In the world of heroes, history can be changed at will.

If the conqueror changes it positively and achieves a greater feat than the actual history, they can achieve excess completion.

Conversely, if the conqueror changes history in a wrong direction and has a negative impact, the conquest fails.

Therefore, there is nothing strange about history changing in the world of heroes.

'But we only entered Luna's world a few hours ago.'

During that time, the only thing that could have affected history was Hardin, who entered Jera's body, making Hirchian a mess.

However, it made no sense for that action to alter history from a month ago.

'Does the world of heroes go berserk and become a hero dungeon, causing history itself to twist? No, I've never heard of such a case. Then what is it?'

As Leo pondered, someone's voice flashed through his mind.

'Leo, this world, no. Perhaps darkness has fallen upon the Hero Record.'

A divine revelation he had just received.

Even if it was fake, its power was real.

'Darkness… Could it be?'

The moment he recalled something, he felt a chill run down his spine.

'Can Tartarus enter a Hero Dungeon?'

***

Hardin, imprisoned in the underground prison, was blaming himself.

'It was foolish.'

He got too carried away by emotion when he saw someone insulting the great Luna, who was practically the embodiment of elven history.

In a Hero Dungeon, every action must be taken with caution.

But emotion got the better of him.

And this was the result.

'Hmph. How embarrassing. Even if it's another school, to show such a disgraceful display to a first-year student.'

Hardin took a deep breath and looked around.

'Even a prison for criminals is too filthy.'

Even so, it's a prison for one's own kind.

And yet, this environment.

'Is the distant past really different from now?'

Hardin felt culture shock.

'If I return to Seirun, I'll have a lot to report.'

This was when he was thinking about the situation after conquering the dungeon.

*Creeeak-! Thump-!*

The sound of the underground prison opening, and someone entered the cell.

*Thump- Thump-*

Hardin looked with a puzzled expression at the two girls who appeared with a somewhat listless gait.

The two girls were clearly half-elves.

But the clothes they wore were messy.

"Who… are you?"

"W-what kind of question is that… I am a slave?"

"A slave? Why?"

Hardin asked with a bewildered face.

"You're asking strange questions. Aren't all mixed-blood elves slaves?"

Seeing the half-elf girl answer indifferently with a face that showed no hint of life, Hardin looked astonished.

'Slaves? Such a lowly thing existed?'

Even in the current era, prejudice against mixed-bloods exists.

However, that does not mean that mixed-bloods with half their blood being of the same race are treated as slaves.

But in this era, elves with the blood of other races were not treated as people.

This was a perfectly natural thing.

Hardin's body trembled at the wall of common sense that he could absolutely not comprehend.

'Such a history… Is it true? Did we elves own slaves?'

Seeing Hardin tremble with intense disgust, the other elf slave girl tilted her head.

Then, someone else entered the underground prison.

*Thump- Thump-*

The owner of the footsteps was approaching the cell where Hardin was confined.

The slave girl who was bringing Hardin his meal hurriedly stepped aside.

But the other girl was slow to react and didn't move out of the way.

*Thump-!*

The man's steps stopped.

The high elf with a noble appearance, with beautiful white hair and blue eyes, glanced at the slave girl blocking his path.

And then…

*Pow-!*

"Gulp?"

Without hesitation, he kicked the girl.

The girl, crashing into the iron bars, let out a sharp gasp.

At that, the other girl's face turned pale.

"E, En!"

The girl rushed to her best friend, who had been acting strangely all day.

"The slaves are poorly educated."

*Pow-!*

"Gulp!"

The white-haired elf exhaled wearily and kicked again.

Seeing that, Hardin's eyes flared.

"What is this!"

At Hardin's shout, the white-haired elf, Sarman, curled the corners of his lips.

"They're just slaves, aren't they?"

*Thud-!*

"Ugh…"

Sarman sneered, stepping on the head of the slave he had kicked.

"Or do you not accept that your ancestors did such ugly things in the past?"

"What did you say?"

At Sarman's words, Hardin's face hardened.

"I don't know how you got in… but you're a dog of Seirun."

*Gooooo-*

Dark energy flickered from Sarman's hand.

*CRUNCH-!*

The raised arm became the arm of a grotesque monster.

"You will die here."

"Tartarus?"

Hardin exclaimed in shock and unleashed his aura.

However, the restraints on Hardin's arm interfered with the manifestation of his aura.

Of course, it wouldn't be difficult to break them.

But he could be in danger in that fleeting moment.

'I need to defend somehow and at least escape…'

*CRACK-*

"Gulp?"

Blood splattered, and a pained groan erupted.

"As expected, it's you, Hardin."

The slave girl who was kicked by Sarman laughed and got up.

Hardin looked surprised as he watched the girl, who was laughing with a grin and emanating pink magic.

"Elena?"

"What is that pathetic state?"