Book 1 Chapter 168
168
“What the hell?”
“Is that bastard crazy?”
People around them made bewildered expressions at the sudden, unexpected situation.
“Even so, isn’t he being too openly reckless?”
As Leo curled up the corner of his mouth, the male student grinned.
“It doesn’t matter. I plan to kill every single one of these brats in the vicinity, including you, at least.”
“Do you think that’s possible?”
Whoosh-!
Leo unleashed his aura.
Seeing the crimson, burning flame aura, the male student grinned and stretched out his hand into the air.
Goooooooh-!
Space tore open as if splitting in the air.
A pitch-black void opened, and from it, a dark-red greatsword shot out.
Leo’s eyes twitched at the sight.
‘A cursed sword? A melee-type demon?’
“Shall we see your skill just once?!”
The demon, who let out a roar, swung the greatsword.
Whoaaaaaang! Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak-!
A vortex of dark-red sword energy raged.
The attack of sword energy, which devastated the surrounding area, flew towards Leo.
Seeing this, Leo launched himself forward.
Kwaaaang-!
Leo pushed back the vortex of sword energy with his flame aura.
But the demon’s aura tore Leo’s flames to shreds.
Leo flung himself aside.
Thud-
Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gak-!
The dark-red vortex destroyed the spot where Leo had been, then vanished.
“Hmph. I had some expectations, being an All-Class and all. But you’re nothing special.”
Hearing the demon’s words, Leo gripped his sword tighter.
‘Demons of only this level are rampaging in Lumern?’
Leo narrowed his eyes.
The demon before him was strong.
But that was only by Lumern’s first-year standards.
Attacking Lumern with just this level of power made no sense.
The moment he thought that.
Kwaang-!
A loud explosion was heard from the cafeteria.
Students, who had been panicking at the sudden situation, looked towards the cafeteria with surprised expressions.
“Wh-what the hell is it?!”
“What’s going on?!”
It was at the moment when the students made astonished expressions at the unexpected turn of events.
Pazzzzzzzzzik-!
The sound of intense sparks flying was heard.
Along with that.
Pababababababat! Kwagagagang!
“Kyaaaak!”
Golden lightning struck down from the sky.
The demon, who had been targeting Leo, let out a scream of pain.
“You must be itching to die. To rampage in the middle of Lumern at this level.”
Hwaak-!
Durand, who landed from the sky, smirked coldly.
Along with him, several students from Durand’s faction prepared for battle by his side.
“Kekekekek.”
The demon, who had been twisting in pain, then glared at Durand.
“Durand Moira, I don’t have time to deal with trash like you. My target is Leo Flove, the first-year class representative.”
Durand’s eyes twitched.
“Hmph, arrogant. You dare target Leo Flove, ignoring me?”
Durand’s mouth twisted.
From his golden eyes, babababat-! Sparks flew.
The students nearby flinched and trembled.
“Ack!”
“Get back! He’s angry!”
While the students frantically scampered away, the demon stretched out his hand in the air.
Zzzzzzzzzing-! Crack-! Crack-! Crack-!
Space opened in the air, and from it, soldiers armed with armor and weapons began to emerge.
The students who saw this made astonished expressions.
“Spatial movement should be impossible within Lumern!?”
“How on earth did he summon troops?!”
It was at the moment everyone was astonished by the fact that the demon before them wasn’t simply rampaging alone.
‘He didn’t summon them from outside. These troops are all his pawns.’
Leo, with a frown, carefully observed the troops summoned by the demon.
‘Corpses.’
A being capable of using corpses for a large-scale invasion of Lumern.
A certain monster flashed through Leo’s mind.
‘Necrolord Hel Kaiser?’
But he soon shook his head.
The Necrolord was cunning and adept at crafting secret schemes.
‘No. This kind of brute-force method isn’t his style.’
Leo narrowed his eyes.
‘Rather, it’s something the Monster Queen would do.’
He thought of a reckless and cruel monster.
Whatever it was, the demon before him was neither a subordinate of the Necrolord nor the Monster Queen.
He felt none of the energy of the two Legion Commanders.
Crucially, what was moving the corpses wasn’t necromancy.
‘Then what is it?’
It was when Leo frowned.
“Prepare yourself! Leo Flove!”
The demon, leaving Durand to his subordinates, let out an eerie laugh and charged.
Leo blocked the greatsword swung at his neck.
Clang-! Thud-!
With a sharp sound, Leo’s foot sank-! into the floor.
It was when Leo, with swords locked, narrowed his eyes and tried to push his opponent back.
Pazzzzzzzzzzzik-!
“Daring to let your guard down for another while I’m here. You’ve got some nerve.”
Durand, having broken through the troops, aimed at the demon’s back with a cold scoff.
Instantly, the demon hastily created distance from Leo.
Kwa-ga-ga-gak-!
Golden aura adorned the air.
Clack-!
Durand, landing lightly on the floor, glared at the demon with flashing eyes.
“What did you do to my troops?”
“Are you talking about those pieces of trash?”
Durand scoffed and pointed with his chin at the troops the demon had summoned.
There lay corpses, melted and crushed by lightning.
“Durand. There are demon attacks elsewhere too.”
“I know.”
Durand curled the corner of his mouth.
“So you go deal with the others. This one is my prey.”
“Will you be alright?”
The demon before them was by no means an easy opponent.
“Huh?”
Durand made an expression of disbelief.
“Who do you think I am, Leo Flove?”
Durand curled the corner of his mouth.
Pazzzzzzzzzzzik-!
A lightning aura raged from Durand’s body.
“I don’t need your worries.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
At Durand’s words, Leo launched himself away.
“You!”
The demon frantically tried to chase Leo.
Pazzzzzzzik!
But a wall of golden lightning blocked his path.
“This isn’t the time to be distracted, is it?”
Durand said in a cold voice.
“I’ll make you regret crawling into Lumern.”
***
The area around the first-year dormitory was quite literally pandemonium.
Demons had suddenly begun to appear.
Each of them summoned numerous corpses and targeted the students.
Each time, skilled students quickly responded to the sudden demon attack, centered around the capable.
The biggest damage, as expected, was suffered by the students of the three major class academies.
Unlike the Lumern students, they could not quickly adapt to the sudden situation.
The difference between hero candidates and other students was clearly revealed.
‘Are only the first-year areas being attacked?’
Leo’s face hardened as he unleashed his spiritual power.
Woong-!
A summoning circle opened, and Arty appeared.
[What is it, Master?]
Leo quickly mounted Arty’s back and pulled on the reins.
“As high as possible!”
Hwaak-!
At his words, Arty shot up into the sky at incredible speed.
Hwaak-!
Leo, who had risen high enough to see all of Lumern, opened his eyes wide.
It wasn’t just the first-year area.
All of Lumern was under attack.
‘What is it? Why are they attacking so recklessly?’
Leo systematically assessed the situation.
Lumern was certainly in chaos from the sudden attack.
But that was only because of the sudden, surprise attack.
If they regained their composure and counterattacked, it was clear that all of them would be wiped out in an instant.
This was the stronghold of hero candidates.
There were even individuals with powers equivalent to heroes here.
‘Attacking Lumern will only waste their forces without inflicting significant damage. Why on earth?’
No matter how reckless Sillatuna was, she wouldn’t carry out such a foolhardy attack.
‘If she were this reckless, she would have been annihilated long ago.’
Something flashed through Leo’s mind as his face hardened.
‘Hall of Heroes.’
Leo pulled on the reins.
‘I don’t know what their hidden agenda is. But they plan to do something at the Hall of Heroes.’
Hwaak-!
Leo quickly flew towards Lumern’s Great Library.
***
Top floor of the Hero’s Tower.
Kalian and Reuben, who were in the principal’s office, noticed the anomaly in the school faster than anyone else.
Kalian, who had been sitting in his office chair, stood up.
Reuben too was about to quickly launch himself towards the principal’s office window.
Woong-!
At that moment, black magic enveloped the principal’s office, and both their eyes twitched.
‘Curse of Severance?’
At the powerful curse that suddenly unfolded, Kalian and Reuben simultaneously turned their heads towards the principal’s office door.
Creak-!
Along with that, the door opened, and the principal’s secretary, Ereena, appeared.
“Indeed. You were closer than I thought.”
Reuben sighed deeply, and Ereena smiled faintly.
“How was it? My acting? Wasn’t it flawless?”
“Where is the real Ereena?”
“Why, she’s right here.”
She pointed at her stomach with a finger.
“Inside my belly, for a long time.”
Seeing Ereena, whose tone had changed and was smiling, Reuben unleashed his magic.
Crunch-!
Suddenly, the demon’s head shot into the air.
“Lizards truly have no compassion, do they? To be so ruthless even after getting so close.”
Floating in the air, the demon’s head cackled-! with laughter.
Seeing this, Reuben, without any change in expression, spread his hand.
Thin, long lines of magic formed around the demon.
Clench-!
As Reuben clenched his fist, the magic threads began to gather like a ball of yarn.
Crack-!
Blood and flesh splattered between the magic threads.
Reuben withdrew his magic, seeing the demon crushed beyond recognition.
Thud-!
A grotesque lump of flesh fell to the floor.
Hiss-!
The floor of the principal’s office melted, and a powerful poisonous gas spewed forth.
Twitch-!
But the lump of flesh and blood quickly began to gather, taking on a human form once more.
Seeing this, Reuben frowned.
‘Incredible regeneration speed. With this kind of regeneration speed…’
“A Legion Commander?”
At that question, the demon, whose lower face had regenerated, smiled broadly.
“Correct. Kikihihik.”
With a chilling laugh, the lump of flesh took shape.
Squirm-squirm- Crunch-!
“Shall I introduce myself? Kikikik-”
The woman whose face had formed wore a look of madness.
“My name is Sillatuna.”
At those words, Reuben’s face hardened.
“The being you so fear, known as the Monster Queen.”
***
Step-step-
The Great Library was as silent as a grave.
It couldn’t be helped.
The sudden invasion of Tartaros.
Never in Lumern’s history had the school been attacked by Tartaros.
It was natural that all attention was focused on eliminating the Tartaros invaders in this unprecedented event.
‘Sillatuna will block the most troublesome Sword Saint and Dragon.’
Of course, she couldn’t hold out for that long.
The three Legion Commanders currently leading Tartaros.
The Monster Queen, the Necrolord, the Giant King.
Even among Legion Commanders, they were terrifyingly powerful monsters compared to those born after the Age of Calamity.
But even so, they were merely ‘fragments’.
It would be difficult for one such fragment to hold back the Sword Saint, who had once subjugated Legion Commanders.
‘Even so, a little time is enough!’
He just needed to infiltrate before someone discovered that Tartaros was targeting the Hall of Heroes.
‘If I can just get my hands on that hateful sword…! I will again! Again!’
His dark-red eyes flashed.
It was when he reached out his hand to the door of the Hall of Heroes with eyes filled with ecstasy.
Whoosh-! Crack!
“…!”
A sword enveloped in grey aura flew and pierced the back of his hand.
“As expected, you were aiming for here.”
A cold voice was heard.
“It seems my instincts aren’t dead yet. Seeing as I can still predict your action patterns.”
Turning his head, a boy with white hair curled up the corner of his mouth.
“Or perhaps you haven’t made any progress?”