Book 1 Chapter 145
145.
“God?”
Elena tilted her head.
“Are you talking about Erebus?”
“Do not carelessly speak His name with that filthy mouth of yours.”
“My mouth is clean. I brush my teeth every morning, noon, and night.”
Elena, revealing her teeth, gave a bright smile.
“Ah, you people have no culture, so you wouldn’t have such a concept, would you? What’s more, among the demons, you’re a necromancer who just picks up corpses, so your smell must be especially terrible.”
Elena wrinkled her face sharply as if she had smelled a terrible stench.
At that reaction, the necromancer, Biner, trembled violently.
“Th-this damned bitch…!”
There was something in Elena’s tone that subtly irked Biner.
More precisely, it was Elena’s attitude.
Having lived as a demon, Biner was accustomed to all kinds of curses and insults.
No matter how harsh the insults, it wouldn't be enough to make her lose her reason.
But Elena’s gaze and attitude.
That condescending manner, as if she were truly dealing with an insect, was enough to make her furious.
In reality, Elena treated Biner as nothing more and nothing less than an insect she could kill at any moment.
“A mere insignificant human dares to insult me, Biner, chosen by the Necromancer King, in such a way!”
Kwagagagagagak-!
As Biner unleashed her dark magic, a black magic circle appeared.
And from within it, blades of bone poured forth.
“I’ll tear you to shreds and kill you!”
Kagagagagagagak-!
The dark magic devastated the surrounding area and engulfed Elena.
Hardin, seeing that, narrowed his eyes.
‘A considerably high-ranking demon. Class 3. No, at this level, is it Class 4?’
The demon ranks are divided into a total of 7 classes.
And a Class 4 demon is a high-ranking demon who could easily annihilate the vanguard knight orders of most countries.
It was, literally, an object of terror.
It wasn't something to be treated as an "insect," as Elena had said.
“Ahahahaha! You blabbed whatever came out of your gaping mouth! Serves you right!”
Biner pointed a finger at the pile of bones as if feeling thoroughly satisfied.
Each one of those bones was a sharp and hard weapon, capable of easily tearing human flesh with just a graze.
Having been engulfed by such bone blades, there was no way she could have survived.
“You’re next.”
Biner’s venomous killing intent was directed at Hardin.
“How shall I kill you, you bastard?”
Hardin said, looking at the taunting Biner.
“Regrettably, you cannot kill me.”
“Hero candidates these days don’t know their place.”
Biner shook her head.
“Do you know how many hero candidates I’ve killed? The likes of you are no match for me. You’ve heard of me, haven’t you? Biner. I’m famous among you, aren’t I?”
“Biner the Bone-Eater?”
Biner the Bone-Eater.
An infamous demon who has been active for 100 years, killing countless hero candidates.
“That’s right. This very body is Biner the Bone-Eater.”
Biner flicked her tongue.
All the hero candidates she had met were like that.
‘At first, they’d boast as if they were already heroes. There were many youngsters who spoke impertinently, just like that bitch just now.’
But that only lasted for a moment.
The moment they heard her name.
They were either terrified or busy trying to escape.
The moment those confident faces were painted with fear was the moment Biner felt the greatest ecstasy.
Hardin wouldn’t be any different.
Biner harbored such expectations.
But the moment her eyes met Hardin’s, she paused.
Hardin wasn’t looking at Biner.
He wasn’t even glancing her way; he was stroking the head of the terrified Merin.
“Don’t worry.”
“But… the angel… En…”
“Ha? Quite composed, aren’t we?”
Biner made a dumbfounded expression.
“This isn’t the time to be concerned about such a fake, is it?”
“You’re the one who shouldn’t be concerned about me, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“If she were a woman who could be defeated by this much, she wouldn’t have been worth me targeting.”
Clack- Clatter-
The pile of bones began to tremble.
Biner’s complexion changed instantly upon seeing that.
‘What? She’s alive?’
Biner’s magic isn’t simply sharp.
Each one of those bone blades is heavier than an average adult male.
She was engulfed by such things head-on.
There was no way she could be alive.
No, even if she were alive, there was no way she could have gotten out.
But…
Kwaaaaaaang-!
The pile of bones shot up into the sky as if exploding.
But they didn’t scatter in all directions.
Elena, enveloped from head to toe in pink magic, smiled brightly.
Biner’s eyes widened when she saw that.
Biner had heard the rumors too.
‘There’s a wicked woman with pink magic in Lumerne.’
“Elena… Zerion.”
“Ding-dong, correct.”
Elena, who had smiled cheerfully, unleashed her magic.
Biner’s face was painted with horror.
The pile of bones, suspended in mid-air by Elena’s magic, trembled violently and began to emit black smoke.
It was none other than Biner’s dark magic.
Along with that, Elena’s magic permeated the bone blades.
Necromancer magic primarily consists of two types.
Necromancy, which controls corpses.
Corpse magic, which uses corpses.
Whichever it was, it was impossible for the terrestrial races to seize control of necromancer magic.
But…
‘She seized control of *my* magic?!’
If she had simply dispelled it, it would have made sense.
But to seize control of the magic?
“This, I don’t need it, so I’ll return it to you.”
Elena smiled brightly and pointed at Biner with her finger.
In an instant, the bone blades turned toward Biner.
“W-wait… Kyaaaah!”
Kwagagagagagak-!
Biner’s desperate scream echoed as she was engulfed by the bone blades.
“Humans would die if they took a hit like that! As expected of a cockroach, your vitality is just different.”
Elena turned around huffily and approached, grumbling.
Then she approached Merin and stroked her head.
“Were you worried about me? Oh~ How thoughtful.”
Elena, having said that, then glared at Hardin.
“It seems you weren’t worried about me at all.”
“Is there any reason to waste my mental energy worrying about you?”
“Oh my, look at what you’re saying?”
Elena, who had been pouting, paused.
Jeojeojeok-
Cracks began to appear on Hardin’s body.
It wasn’t just Hardin.
Elena’s body was the same.
Both of them made surprised expressions simultaneously.
Paching-!
As if glass were breaking.
Fragments of their bodies shattered and scattered.
Along with that, Elena and Hardin shed their appearances from the fake world and returned to their true forms.
“What in the world is this…?”
Hardin made a surprised expression.
Elena looked at Merin.
Merin was also disappearing, turning into fragments of light.
‘A similar phenomenon to when we cleared the Hero’s World.’
But it was clearly different.
“Kikikikikik.”
At that moment, laughter was heard.
Elena glanced at Biner.
“Inferior beings… How dare you have been so arrogant until now?”
“Weren’t you the one who didn’t know your place and was arrogant?”
“This damned bitch!”
Biner’s eyes became bloodshot, seeing Elena taunt her without losing a single word.
But soon, she gave a twisted smile.
“Your arrogance ends now!”
Biner’s face was filled with ecstasy.
“The God… the great Flame of Calamity awakens!”
Hwareureuk-!
Suddenly, black flames ignited on Biner’s body.
“Ah! I can hear His voice…!”
Biner’s body trembled violently, and her eyes rolled back.
“Ahahahahaha! The voice! I hear the voice! Kya hahahahahaha!”
Seeing Biner erupt into mad laughter, Elena waved her hand.
Kwaduk-!
Particles of light fell from the sky like a guillotine and struck Biner’s neck.
“Hahahahahahahaha!”
But Biner didn’t stop laughing like a madwoman.
“It seems… the ‘god’ she’s talking about is Erebus after all, isn’t it?”
Elena narrowed her eyes.
“It seems so.”
Hardin, with a tense expression, unleashed his aura.
Kkumul- Kkumul-
Biner’s body twisted and began to swell.
“So this is its true form.”
Elena clicked her tongue.
“Doesn’t seem sane, though.”
“Elena. We must clear this dungeon.”
“Yes. It doesn’t seem to be merely a matter of whether or not to clear the world of the Great Hero.”
Elena unleashed her magic.
“It’s clearly deeply connected to the Great Calamity.”
***
Leo and Lunia noticed the anomaly when they were discussing Erebus.
“Leo… you!”
Lunia’s eyes widened as she saw Leo, who had returned to his original form.
Leo, too, furrowed his brow as he looked at Lunia, who had returned to her original form.
‘What is this?’
He looked up at the sky.
A sky full of starlight.
There were cracks in it.
As if the world had been conquered.
But it was different from a conquest.
Instead of bright light, a gloomy black light flashed in the cracked places.
And that darkness was a color Leo knew all too well.
‘Erebus’s Flames.’
The unquenchable flame of calamity.
It bore too strong a resemblance to the color of the flames that had once burned this world.
‘In this world… there’s a fragment of Erebus.’
All of Pibea’s words made sense now.
Darkness had fallen.
‘It wasn’t talking about Tartarus or anything like that.’
Leo’s hand tensed.
‘It was talking about Erebus.’
A wicked fate that stretched from his previous life.
He clearly felt that the terrifying entity was present here.
The party hall, too, was abuzz as people looked at Leo and Lunia.
“Who in the world are you bastards?!”
“What have you done to the princess?”
Several elves raised their voices.
Sid, seeing that, shouted.
“What scheme do you have, intruding on this auspicious day?!”
Humans are in a place where humans can absolutely not enter.
On top of that, to the inhabitants of this world, Leo and Lunia would appear to be Akint and Princess Seizarr in disguise.
Killing intent arose among the elves at the sudden turn of events.
Normally, this would be a clear failure.
But now, such things don’t matter.
‘The world is breaking.’
Fragments of Kyle’s page flashed through Leo’s mind.
Like his own page, broken and only fragments remaining.
The evidence that Luna had existed in this world was disappearing.
What would happen if his friends’ pages broke and disappeared like his own?
In a world where only the Hero Record proves the existence of a hero.
What would happen if all the pages disappeared?
‘Everything we accomplished.’
Leo closed his eyes.
‘Our story would be forgotten.’
He didn’t care for himself.
Because he was already a forgotten person.
But what about his friends?
What about the Great Heroes who harbored their own ideals and tried to save the world?
Leo turned his gaze and looked at Luna, whose eyes were wide open.
Luna’s eyes were trembling at the fact that he wasn’t Akint.
That appearance overlapped with her final appearance.
Luna’s appearance, always smiling brightly.
But her eyes were trembling with anxiety.
This elf was always conceited but also an odd elf who could get disheartened more easily than anyone else.
‘Hey…!’
‘Kyle…’
‘Don’t.’
‘If one of us has to live… you know it’s right for you, who bears Arion and Dweno, to remain, don’t you?’
‘Don’t! You damned bitch!’
He shouted, spitting blood.
But that terribly disobedient elf, as usual, didn’t listen to his words at all until the very end.
‘This is for the best. If you were me, you would have done the same!’
‘No…! It’s not!’
‘Sorry for burdening you with me too.’
A friend who, if both were to die, unhesitatingly saved him, saying it was right for the one who bore more to live.
That damned friend who apologized with a face that looked like she was about to cry at the end.
If all the pages disappear.
She will be forgotten, just like him.
Leo approached Luna.
Luna backed away with a wary expression.
“Who are you? Where is Teacher Akint?”
“Luna.”
This world has already begun to break.
There’s no time for clearing or anything else.
The Progenitor’s page.
There’s only one way to protect Luna’s story.
‘Eliminate the culprit destroying the world.’
5000 years ago, even combined strength couldn’t defeat it.
But…
‘Now, I will defeat it.’
Leo placed his hand on his bracelet.
Hwaak-!
With that, Polium appeared in Leo’s hand.
That noble staff, said to choose the great Elf King, was glowing in Leo’s hand.
The elves who saw that gasped.
Luna also opened her eyes wide.
“It’s time to save the world once again.”
“What?”
“I need your strength.”
Leo handed Polium to Luna.
Beonjjeok-!
A light incomparably brighter than when Leo held it erupted.
As if it had met its true owner.
Leo said, looking at the astonished Luna.
“Help me.”
Kkwak-
Luna’s hand, gripping Polium, tensed.
An unfamiliar boy.
A human to be wary of.
But why?
Why does that voice, calling her so familiarly, make her feel a longing strong enough to bring tears to her eyes?
Why does that bright smile, looking at her, appear so sad?
She didn’t know.
A sound she couldn’t understand.
But… Luna’s instincts were telling her.
To that plea for help…
“Yes.”
She must respond.