Book 1 Chapter 142

142.

Elena approached the elven girl wriggling on the floor.

The slave girl, Merin, who had been kicked in the stomach, was bleeding from her mouth.

Elena raised her magic power.

Woong-!

With a soft light, Merin's face became much more peaceful.

"En, En. You could use magic?"

Merin couldn't hide her surprise at seeing her friend, with whom she had lived since childhood, using magic.

"I'm not En right now, Merin."

"What?"

Elena smiled brightly as she watched Merin's confusion.

"I've borrowed your friend's body to punish the wicked."

Merin was bewildered as Elena gently stroked her head.

She didn't understand what her friend was saying.

But the girl, still too young to understand the world, believed Elena's words.

"Are you, an angel?"

"Oh, how good you are."

Elena smiled brightly and stroked Merin's head.

Splish-!

Then a squelching sound was heard.

Elena, hearing the sound, spoke with a radiant smile.

"Merin. Now, close your eyes until I tell you to open them, okay?"

"Yes, yes."

Merin shut her eyes tightly.

Elena stood up and turned her body.

And, seeing Sarman standing up with his upper body blown off, she said,

"Why didn't you just stay lying down? It would hurt less."

"You damn bitch!"

His half-blown-off face regenerated, forming a hideous smile.

It was a grotesque appearance, unlike his neat look from earlier.

A normal person might have screamed or retched at such a sight, but Elena was unfazed.

"You're speaking carelessly."

Elena smiled faintly.

"Do you not want to die peacefully?"

Elena's eyes began to emit a deep pink aura.

Sarman flinched at the sight.

The pink light emanating from Elena's eyes gradually deepened, then began to emit a red light.

Hardin smiled bitterly at the sight.

'Again… has she gotten stronger?'

Up until his first year, Hardin was a typical Seirun student.

He was proud to be a Seirun student and never doubted that he was a chosen elf.

A species-centric mindset that elves were the best.

From admission, when he became a representative of his grade as a top-class student in Seirun, he never doubted that he was one of the chosen elves.

'I dreamed of being a hero.'

If you were a Seirun student.

No, if you were a student of the Hero Academy, it was the natural goal to aim for.

Up until his first year, Hardin's goal was to be a hero.

Then, in the school competition between Lumern and Seirun, he met a girl from the same first year.

Elves are all beautiful due to their racial characteristics.

This girl possessed a nobility and beauty that even those elves would gaze at, mesmerized.

In the contest for school pride, Hardin was thoroughly defeated.

'I couldn't do anything. It was literally a different league.'

It was the first 'gap' Hardin had experienced in his entire life.

Since then, Hardin's goal had shifted to Elena.

He was now chasing a first-year girl, not the outstanding seniors at Seirun, nor the many heroes who had left their names in history, but someone like himself.

'It was never a feeling of admiration.'

From the moment he first met Elena, Hardin could tell that she was twisted in some way.

The perversion and cruelty hidden beneath her beautiful appearance.

She was never someone to admire.

Nevertheless, Hardin didn't stop making Elena his goal.

The more he did, the more painfully he realized.

'That he could never stand on the same level.'

Hero academies often met outside of inter-departmental competitions.

Especially for students in the same year, their paths overlapped even more.

He chased and chased.

But each time they met, he saw an even wider gap.

He didn't even feel despair at that fact.

Only a hollow laugh escaped him.

They were born that different.

Because she was his goal, it was even clearer.

The girl before him, admired and praised as a genius, couldn't simply be called a genius.

She was literally born that way.

'A chosen one, born to be a hero.'

He could never catch up.

Despite knowing that, Hardin didn't give up.

"You, you bitch…!"

"So."

From her eyes, which had somehow turned blood-red, a suffocatingly intense killing intent flowed out.

But unlike that chilling killing intent, Elena's face was very serene.

With a loving smile, Elena covered her lips with her index finger.

"I told you to watch your mouth."

Flash-! KWA-GA-GA-GA-GAK-!

A magic circle formed in the air, and chains of light poured out.

A thousand years ago.

The magic that was a symbol of the elven hero Tiara, known as the Iron-Blooded Mage.

Eisen Unblut.

It was the hero-magic version of that spell.

This magic, which crushed an opponent's bones and flesh, was treated as heresy among elves, despite being a magic left by an elven hero.

Tiara had clearly risen to the rank of hero with this magic, but the magic was too cruel.

Even then, and even now, she was a hero condemned for defiling the Star Magic created by the progenitor.

Naturally, among elves, learning her magic was forbidden.

But its power, regardless, was certain.

'Magic designed solely for hunting Tartarus.'

Elena's magic cruelly ravaged Sarman.

Splish-!

Seeing Sarman reduced to blood and gore, Elena smiled brightly and clapped her hands.

Despite creating a gruesome festival of blood and flesh, her appearance was so innocent.

"Still alive? What an interesting toy. You seem to have a curse, don't you? Let's see… it's a [Nullify] curse."

Elena quickly grasped Sarman's ability and wore an unenthusiastic expression.

"But other than that, there's nothing to see."

Interest faded from Elena's face.

A toy that had lost the queen's interest had no value.

Then, there was only one end.

Whoosh-!

Crimson flames generated at Elena's fingertips.

Sarman's face, which had been recovering, turned pale.

"Still, meeting you was interesting."

With a faint, lovely smile, Elena incinerated Sarman.

"Ho, how…"

Sarman, with only his face remaining, looked up at Elena with terror-filled eyes.

Looking down at such a Sarman, Elena, with a bored expression, gently twirled the ends of her hair and said,

"If you want to defeat me, bring at least a legion commander's close subordinate. A petty demon like you is no match for me. Well then, goodbye."

Smiling faintly, Elena stomped on Sarman's head with her foot.

Then, even the remaining head burned away, leaving no ashes.

Elena turned around and stood before Hardin with such light steps that it was hard to believe she had just displayed such a cruel demeanor.

And she wore an amused expression.

"You really are interesting, Hardin."

"What do you mean?"

Elena snapped her fingers.

Crack-!

The magic tool that had been restraining Hardin was easily destroyed.

"People who know my true self are one of two types. They either fear me or despise me."

Elena put her hands behind her back and primly clasped them.

"But you're the same as when we first met."

Spinning around, Elena approached En with light footsteps.

"You're making me your goal. Even though you know you can't catch up."

"Do you think I'm foolish?"

"No. I think that's your charm. And it's entertaining."

Elena smiled faintly.

"You will surely become a wonderful hero."

Elena, who had seen many heroes since childhood, was convinced of that.

Hardin, watching Elena, asked.

"Do you still have no desire to be a hero?"

At that question, Elena gently twirled the ends of her hair with her finger.

Then she chuckled.

"I admire heroes too."

There was no lie in her words.

"But my personality is so bad, you see. Perhaps the gods wouldn't recognize me as a hero?"

Elena shrugged her shoulders.

"Crucially… I don't really want to be a hero."

Leading others was something she could do easily.

But simply leading people didn't make one a hero.

'One must also be willing to sacrifice for someone.'

Elena admired heroes.

But at the same time, she disliked them.

No, she hated them.

'Because they took something precious from me.'

Therefore, while she admired heroes, she could not admire their lives.

"Let's get out of here first. Oh, and take this child with you."

Elena pointed at En.

"Why?"

"If we leave her here, something terrible will surely happen to her, you know? You've noticed it too, haven't you? That the noble elves you knew don't exist in this era."

Hardin sighed deeply, watching Elena tease him.

"Alright."

"But how did you end up in prison? Well, it's obvious. You got excited again and did something foolish, didn't you?"

"I have nothing to say."

"Admitting it so readily. How boring."

Elena grumbled and said.

"Anyway, Hardin. You know how serious the situation is right now, don't you?"

"Yes."

Elena approached En and took her hand.

En's eyes widened.

Elena smiled radiantly at the girl.

Due to magic, En could not hear their current conversation.

"Tartarus has entered the world of heroes, just like us. This is an unprecedented event."

"That's right."

Elena narrowed her eyes.

"This could potentially overturn the world's order."

***

Luna entered Akint's lab.

"It's unlike you, Teacher Akint, to offer counseling."

"I thought our relationship wasn't that bad?"

"…That's true. Teacher Akint isn't just a teacher; you're like my magic mentor, and…"

"And?"

"No. Never mind."

Luna smiled awkwardly.

Leo knew what she had swallowed.

'Like a father.'

Yet, a slight distance could be felt between Luna and the current Akint.

Leo knew what that meant.

'History has been completely twisted.'

To the extent that even the bond with someone Luna cherished had grown distant.

Certainly, Akint was still Luna's strong pillar of support.

But because of that, she was under pressure within Valharun, which was evident from what happened in class earlier.

That fact must have tormented Luna.

'So, she isolated herself?'

Luna was the top student, sponsored by the Elf King.

Researching magic in a storage room made no sense, and looking for materials alone made even less sense.

Even if the elves of this era were corrupt, their minds weren't.

They all must have realized it the moment they first saw Luna.

That the greatest mage in elf history had been born.

Even if her status was low by their standards, Luna was an object of awe for the elves of this era.

Luna had been famous even before the Age of Disaster.

Such a Luna was being treated this way.

She had lost confidence, her shoulders and ears drooping.

'It's certain that the Tartarus guys entered here and changed history. But what's the reason?'

They were scheming in the world of heroes.

'It's probably deeply related to how my page turned out. Are they obstructing the 'capture'?' No. No one has even entered, so why would they obstruct the 'capture'? Wait, 'capture'?'

Leo, who was theorizing, paused.

For those on Earth, the 'capture' of the hero's world meant overcoming trials.

But if the conditions were the same, what would be Tartarus's 'capture' condition?

'For them, heroes are the most dangerous enemies. Overcoming and helping heroes' trials isn't their role.'

Tartarus's goal would be to obstruct heroes.

'Could it be… they're 'capturing' the hero's world in their own way?'

Even if it was a young Luna, she was still a powerful mage. Fighting Luna would be suicide unless it was a legion commander-class demon or a close subordinate of a legion commander.

Killing Luna was not an option.

In that case, it wouldn't be strange for them to perform bothersome actions to obstruct the heroes' achievements.

And the 'capture' goal of this world was to help complete the Star Magic.

If Tartarus's goal was to obstruct the completion of the Star Magic, then their actions made sense.

Thinking that far, Leo gritted his teeth.

'How dare they defile Luna's world?'

"Actually, I've been having a really hard time lately."

Luna, her head bowed low, fidgeted with her fingers.

It was an unconscious habit she had when in conflict.

"…Whether I truly am an elf worthy of Valharun."

Luna's eyes trembled.

"Whether the magic I pursue is truly great."

Seeing Luna, who had lost her confidence, Leo instinctively knew that Luna was broken.

Tartarus's plan was almost successful.

But Leo scoffed at them.

'Will breaking her just once be enough?'

"Luna."

"Yes?"

"I guarantee it."

Leo knew better than anyone.

There was nothing special about a great hero.

Even great heroes suffered setbacks, despaired, and their will was broken.

No, great heroes, more than anyone else, suffered setbacks and despair countless times and were broken repeatedly.

Yet, the reason they accomplished the subjugation of Erebus was simple.

They simply rose again each time.

And Leo knew the magic words that would lift Luna.

The words that only companions who had overcome those times together could say.

Leo knew them well.

'She used to say it like a habit.'

"Valharun existed to nurture an elf like you."

Luna's eyes widened.

"You will become an elf more revered than anyone in future generations. Why?"

Leo assured Luna, whose eyes were like a rabbit's.

"Because you are destined to shine like a star in the night sky."