Book 1 Chapter 171

171

"Do you know me?"

"I know you very well."

Silatuna crossed her arms, watching Leo answer with a snort.

Silatuna asked in a voice filled with clear mockery.

"Come to think of it, a mage with the Evil Eye defeated another fragment of mine in Rumelia City not long ago. Were you there then?"

Silatuna let out a chilling chuckle and said,

"But wasn't that brief encounter the end of it? What kind of relationship do we even have?"

"A very beautiful one."

Thump- thump-

Leo walked right up to Silatuna.

"I'm going to rip apart all of you, including the Legion Commanders and Erebus."

"Oh my. Such ambition, you have no grasp of your own standing, you whelp."

Silatuna burst into laughter.

"Do you think you're something special just because you're an All-Class and a bit of a hotshot? You're nothing but a trivial bug…"

Thwack!

Crunch!

Leo kicked Silatuna in the shin without hesitation.

Thud-

As her shin broke, Silatuna lost her balance and knelt down.

If it had been a full, intact fragment of Silatuna, Leo wouldn't have been able to handle her so easily.

But this fragment of Silatuna was at the brink of destruction by the Sword Saint.

Being extremely weakened, she posed no threat to Leo.

"How dare you."

Silatuna scowled and looked up at Leo.

"How dare a freshman like you…!"

Silatuna stopped mid-sentence.

Her expression hardened.

She sensed something strange in Leo's gaze as he looked down at her.

Silatuna, the Demon Queen.

A commander of Tartarus, who reigned as a terrifying disaster even before the Age of Calamity.

For thousands of years, countless heroes had feared Silatuna.

Great figures who etched their names in history tried to defeat Silatuna, but none ever succeeded.

No, Silatuna was the one who hunted heroes.

The Hero Eater.

Another epithet of the Demon Queen.

She possessed the strongest power among the commanders, but was insidious and rarely appeared on the front lines, unlike the Commander King.

She had power equal to Silatuna, but was cautious, the Giant King.

Unlike those two commanders, the Demon Queen was reckless and brutal.

She had appeared on the front lines and devoured countless heroes.

Now, Silatuna reigned as an even greater terror than the Commander King and the Giant King.

But Leo's gaze upon Silatuna was different from anyone else's.

'Is this… the look of a freshman?'

The hatred and anger in his eyes were no different from anyone else's.

Normally, Silatuna would have responded with a scornful laugh.

But she couldn't do that with Leo.

Leo's gaze at Silatuna was that of someone looking at prey.

It was the same as how she looked at the heroes she had devoured until now.

Silatuna felt a shiver.

'What is this brat?'

Hatred and anger welling up from the depths of her heart.

And with it, a sense of ominousness.

"A mere human."

Killing intent flickered in Silatuna's voice.

"How dare a mere human look at me like that… don't leave me…"

Crunch!

Leo's sword was thrust into Silatuna's mouth.

"Stop barking. It's annoying."

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Gasping and spewing blood from her mouth, which she clutched with both hands, Silatuna's eyes flickered with killing intent.

Her broken knee recovered.

As Silatuna tried to stand up, Leo kicked her other knee.

Crunch!

"Kneel."

Thud!

Losing her balance, Silatuna fell forward this time.

Gasping and sputtering, blood poured from her mouth.

Thump!

Leo stomped on Silatuna's head with his foot.

Silatuna's body trembled.

She felt immense humiliation, but her trembling wasn't solely due to that.

From the depths of distant memories.

A certain scene flashed in her mind.

At that time, Silatuna had been trembling in fear.

The being that made the fearsome commander tremble.

At that time, when she had bravely set out to eliminate the last remaining greatest threat.

Silatuna had faced fear and despair.

It was the same as now.

'No way… no way…'

Thump!

Silatuna put strength into her arms and head.

Pushing away Leo's foot pressing down on her head, she barely managed to lift her gaze.

Leo stepped back a few paces.

'It can't be. It's impossible.'

Silatuna, with her head raised, stared directly into Leo's eyes.

For a moment.

She felt as if the scenery had changed.

A gloomy, ash-colored sky.

A world heading for destruction.

It was the scenery she had longed for, but it was also the most terrifying scenery for Silatuna.

A human stood before the kneeling Demon Queen.

The Great Hero, the Hero of Genesis, Kyle, looking down at her with cold eyes.

Flash!

She snapped out of that illusion in an instant.

"Unbelievable…"

Silatuna's body trembled.

The terrifying Hero of Genesis and the brat before her overlapped in her vision.

She denied the situation that had arisen in her mind.

But as if to mock her denial, Leo smirked at Silatuna's words.

"Kai…le!"

Leo said, watching Silatuna spit out the name.

"This time, I won't leave a single one alive."

Crunch!

"Gasp?"

Leo's sword pierced Silatuna's chest.

Swoosh!

Leo raised his sword and brutally cleaved Silatuna's upper body.

Sizzle!

Silatuna's body disintegrated into black dust.

She had met her end.

A clone that disintegrated in this manner cannot convey the situation to the main body.

Silatuna's body collapsed.

"Hee-hee-hee!"

Silatuna's shoulders shook.

"Heeheehee! Hahahahaha!"

The fragment of Silatuna, disintegrating in a fit of mad laughter, spoke in a voice filled with insanity.

"It's you! Kyle! So? What can you do all by yourself!"

Holding her head and shaking her body, she burst into mad laughter.

"Who is by your side? Always terrified Arion? Dwenno, who only made crude garbage? The disgusting bluffer Luna? Or the utterly foolish Lisinas? Who is it? You alone will defeat us! The great Flame of the Beginning! What a grand dream! Kiihihihihi!"

Swoosh!

Disintegrating into black dust, Silatuna mocked Leo.

"You can do nothing! You'll just watch the world you barely saved burn again while sucking your thumb! Hero of Genesis, Kyle!"

Flash!

Silatuna's eyes flashed.

"You, in the end, will fail just like your companions! You will die in despair! Ahahahaha!"

Leo, with an annoyed expression, stomped on the head of Silatuna, who was spewing curses.

Crunch!

Her head was destroyed, like breaking pottery.

Swoosh!

Silatuna, with only her mouth remaining, sneered.

"I look forward to that time. Uhuhuhuhu."

Swoosh!

Leo looked down at Silatuna, who had vanished without a trace, and murmured.

"Alone…"

"Leo?!"

"Hey! What are you doing over there?"

Someone's hurried voice could be heard from afar.

Celia and Chloe could be seen approaching.

"Are you alright?"

Leo nodded at Chloe's urgent question.

"I'm fine. Are you two?"

"Of course, I'm perfectly fine."

Celia answered confidently.

"I've mostly dealt with the demons."

"Good."

"…? What's wrong?"

Leo chuckled at Chloe's bewildered question.

"Nothing, just…"

Leo reached out and ruffled Chloe's hair.

"You make me feel so secure."

Saying that, Leo walked forward.

Watching his retreating figure, Celia, with her arms crossed, tilted her head.

"Why is he acting like that all of a sudden?"

Then, seeing Chloe, whose face had turned red and her mouth was agape, she said.

"Chloe."

"Huh, uh, yeah!"

"Lucky you?"

Seeing her friend teasing her, Chloe lightly slapped Celia's shoulder and fanned her face.

'I'm not alone.'

Leo murmured, looking at the scenery of Rumel.

'I have new companions, and…'

Leo clenched and unclenched his fist.

'Our bond with them hasn't been severed either.'

The knowledge his friends had passed on.

And the power their friends had left behind remained in the form of Hero Records.

'You are still terrifying.'

Leo clenched his fist.

'The Great Heroes who disappeared long ago, and the Great Heroes who will be born again someday.'

***

Tartarus's invasion of Rumel.

This incident literally caused a massive ripple.

And the fact that the invaders were from the three major class academies also shook the world.

"Many countries must be in trouble."

Karl clicked his tongue.

"After politically pressuring them due to the incidents in the first semester, they are now in danger of being on the receiving end."

For the powers of other countries that had pressured Rumel, refusing to trust Rumel, who was threatened by Tartarus, this gave Rumel an excuse to refuse.

Chelsea wore a nonchalant expression at Karl's words.

"Well, Rumel won't use this as a political or diplomatic card. Rumel has always been neutral, right?"

"That's true. But they might tell them to stop whining."

Flap!

Karl chuckled as he folded the newspaper.

"By the way, the Principal's power is truly astonishing."

Kalian's sword strike, which split the sky with a single blow, was enough to shock everyone.

The Sword Saint's reputation was famous.

The achievements he left behind were also called living legends.

But even so, he had been retired from the front lines for a long time, so none of them had directly experienced the Sword Saint's power recently.

But in this incident, he revealed his true abilities.

"How is that possible with a sword?"

Karl muttered incredulously, while Chelsea crossed her arms.

"Hmm! My father might not be able to do that even with his maximum magic power."

Besides Karl and Chelsea, other students were also buzzing about the Principal.

Just then, Iliana entered the classroom with a dejected look.

"What is it? Why the long face?"

At Chelsea's question, Iliana's shoulders drooped.

"The mid-term exam schedule was posted on the grade bulletin board."

Hearing that, sighs erupted from all around.

Karl held his head.

The students of Class 5 also wore gloomy expressions.

Seeing their reactions, Leo said.

"You knew the exam period was coming soon, so why are you reacting like this?"

"That's right, that's right."

Chelsea chimed in with Leo's words.

"So, you guys are the top students, huh?"

"Lucky you! You top students! Teach us your study secrets!"

"We couldn't study properly because of the joint classes!"

As Iliana shouted on behalf of everyone, Teid said nonchalantly.

"You don't study even without joint classes…"

"How dare you hit me with the truth, you impudent mouth!"

"Let go of me!"

Teid shook off Iliana, who was grabbing his mouth and applying force.

Seeing the classroom starting to get rowdy, Chelsea said.

"Still, this mid-term exam is a bit better, isn't it? The practical exam has a higher weight than the written one."

At that, Karl rested his clasped hands behind his head.

"Indeed. The 'Sparring Evaluation' accounts for the most points in this mid-term exam."

"Right. Even if you lose, the score is high. It's literally a sparring evaluation, so how you fight is important."

"I heard that this sparring evaluation is conducted randomly, but you can also 'challenge' a specific opponent…"

Grind-!

Before Karl could finish his sentence, the door was roughly opened.

All eyes turned to the person who had opened the door.

It was none other than Duran.

Thump- thump-

Duran approached Leo.

"Leo Frobes."

"What?"

"You've heard about the sparring evaluation, haven't you?"

Duran's golden eyes flashed.

"This time, I'll clearly prove who's the best."

"Don't you ever get tired of it?"

Chelsea said with a defiant expression.

"Be quiet, Chelsea Lewallin."

"Hmph!"

It was when Duran and Chelsea were having a staring contest as usual.

Just then, the outside began to get noisy.

The students of Class 5, who poked their heads out with puzzled expressions, were surprised.

"Wait! Why is that person in the freshman classroom building?"

"Wow! Awesome! He's so handsome!"

Gasps erupted from all around.

A moment later, a young man entered the Class 5 door.

The entire Class 5 held their breath.

He was an extremely famous student.

Thump- thump-

"Leo."

"Brother Reiss."

Student Council President Reiss Gerdinger stood before Leo.

Reiss smiled at Leo.

"Shall we talk for a moment?"