Book 1 Chapter 175

175

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Returning to his dormitory room, Leo sat at his desk.

Before he knew it, the sun had set.

'Is summer coming to an end soon?'

Feeling the cooling weather, Leo looked up at the sky bathed in moonlight.

Then, he took out an old notebook from his pocket.

Rustle-

He gently ran his hand over the leather cover.

From the moment he first met Lisina.

He had often seen her writing here every evening.

Taking a light, deep breath, Leo opened the notebook.

Just like he had seen in the forbidden library earlier, there were blank pages with nothing written on them.

Seeing this, Leo raised mana to his fingertips.

A faint light emanated from the page, and Lisina's neat handwriting appeared.

The notebook began before she met Kyle.

More precisely, it started when the age of calamity began.

Rustle- Rustle-

'These are all stories I heard from Lisina a long time ago.'

Rustle-

Memories of stories his friend had told him flooded back.

Leo's hand paused as he recalled the stories he had shared with his friend.

[I met the 'Hero Who Survives' today. Just as rumored, he's a guy with a really twisted personality. His abilities are certain, but how on earth am I supposed to fix this pessimistic personality? How on earth am I supposed to lead this guy?]

'This guy. He intended to drag me into the subjugation team from the start?'

Leo let out a hollow laugh.

He recalled his first meeting with Lisina in Gardeslon.

'Our first meeting was at the mercenary guild.'

Lisina at that time was called a fool.

In a world full of despair, Lisina, who boasted that she would subjugate Erebus, probably didn't seem sane to people at that time.

'It was that desperate an era.'

It was a desperate time, where people just lived day by day, hoping that Erebus and Tartarus wouldn't invade.

Kyle, as usual, was busy drinking at the mercenary guild.

'You're Kyle, the Hero Who Survives, aren't you?'

'Then are you the lizard they call the fool? What business do you have with me?'

'Would you like to be my comrade?'

He was surprised by the sudden proposal.

The 'Hero Who Survives' at that time was a symbol of misfortune.

No one wanted to become Kyle's comrade.

A hand was extended to him, who was used to being alone.

However, Kyle did not welcome Lisina's proposal.

'Sorry, but I'll have to refuse. I have no taste for suicide.'

"Our first meeting was the worst."

After that, Lisina persistently sought out Kyle for several weeks.

The notebook, written sporadically, contained daily records for that period.

'She wrote a whole lot of curses. Well, I can't help it. I was so prickly.'

Licking his lips, Leo recalled the memories of that time.

Despite being able to give up, Lisina did not.

Then one day.

Tartarus launched a large-scale invasion of Gardeslon.

To repel that invasion, Kyle and Lisina formed a party for the first time.

And on a plain littered with corpses, Lisina said.

"No matter how I think about it, my choice was not wrong."

Lisina looked up at the gray sky and said.

"It really is you, Kyle."

Lisina smiled brightly.

For some reason, Kyle saw a light in that smile.

"You are the beginning."

The white, delicate hand that she had extended countless times without giving up.

"Let's go together, Kyle. I need you."

A world full of only despair.

Lisina's hopeful smile in that world was initially annoying.

Kyle at that time was no different from others.

He thought the world's destruction was not far off.

It was a time of endless downfall, where he lived recklessly, just trying to enjoy each day.

Perhaps it was natural for Lisina to be annoying.

If Kyle was stepping into darkness… Lisina was stepping towards the light.

"Why me?"

"Because you are strong. You will survive until the end, and…"

"And?"

"Even though you have given up and despaired, your eyes are still alive."

Lisina smiled faintly.

"They shine in the darkness."

It was the first time in his life.

A moment when someone seemed so noble.

"What you desire is too foolish a wish, impossible."

But until the end, Kyle denied Lisina's wish.

However, despite such denial, this foolish woman remained consistent.

"That's right, Kyle. My wish is a very foolish wish."

Without any thought of retracting her outstretched hand, she said.

"But Kyle, we will save the world."

That unwavering heart.

That consistently noble appearance.

"Let's go together. You won't have to see your comrades die before your eyes anymore. Because I am strong too."

It saved Kyle.

When he took the outstretched hand, Kyle thought.

He wanted to fulfill this incredibly foolish wish.

[Finally, this incorrigible bastard joined the subjugation team. He's a stubborn one. But still, he's taken one step forward. This meeting will undoubtedly change the fate of the world.]

The notebook continued after that.

The day Luna joined.

The day Aeron joined.

And the day Dwenno gathered.

The subjugation team took shape,

And as Lisina had boasted, the world regained its light.

[Tomorrow, the final expedition begins. All preparations are complete. We have done everything we can. Now, only subjugating Erebus remains. I earnestly hope my ideals can be fulfilled.]

The notebook ended there.

Lisina left this notebook behind when she departed for the final expedition.

After reading the entire notebook, Leo flipped through the blank pages.

Then, he paused at the last page.

[To Kyle]

Leo held his breath.

It was clearly a letter Lisina had written to Kyle.

'It's a letter Lisina left for her comrades… The reason I could see the letter addressed to me is because it reacted to my mana.'

Taking a deep breath for his friend's letter, Leo turned the page.

[If you are reading this letter instead of me… it means the world has been saved, but I died on the final expedition.]

Squeeze-

Leo's grip tightened.

[You are a twisted person. You are sarcastic and curse all the time. Honestly, there were many times I wanted to punch you hard in the stomach, but I held back then.]

'…No. What was with you kicking me in the stomach all the time? Is that not counted as a punch, or what?'

He let out a hollow laugh and continued reading the letter.

[But… my choice was not wrong. If you are reading this letter, it is because of you that the world could be saved.]

"……I couldn't do anything alone."

He negated Lisina's words.

[Kyle, thank you for accompanying me on my reckless expedition.

And I'm sorry.

I didn't want you to be the Hero Who Survives.

But in the end, I showed you the death of a friend.

I promised it wouldn't be like that… I'm so sorry I couldn't keep it.

So, I hope your future is happy. So that you are no longer alone.

I hope you are no longer someone who survives alone.

It was fun being able to be together.

If the world becomes peaceful… I truly hope you become happy. Kyle]

Drip- Drip-

[I wish you blessings as you begin a new era. From Lisina.]

The contents of the letter became blurry.

Tears, which had already started streaming down his cheeks, wet the words of the letter.

"You damned lizard… you said you wouldn't show me the sight of you dying…"

He had never looked away from the death of a comrade before.

Nor had he overcome it or moved past it.

He had just thought he had become numb.

But his tears wouldn't stop.

How could he not shed tears at a letter from a dear friend who had already passed away…

Recalling his unreasonable comrade who had left first, Leo collected himself.

[P.S.: I really didn't want to say this. But I can't stand it anymore.]

Then, he read the words at the end of the page and, with a puzzled expression, turned the page.

[Bastard. Idiot. Moron. Halfwit. Don't breathe. Get lost and die. Drown yourself in water.]

The profanity and curses, written so large that they filled the page, shattered the touching atmosphere. Leo wore a momentarily bewildered expression.

Unlike the neat handwriting, it was very irritable.

"What the… suddenly…"

Feeling his tears stop, he turned the page with a bewildered face.

[I liked you. You never knew until the end, did you?]

"……"

Seeing Lisina's last words, Leo blinked.

And he reread the words several times.

Still, he didn't understand.

'So. This is a letter Lisina wrote, so I am Lisina. And this letter is only visible to me, so you are me? Then, 'I liked you' means Lisina liked me?'

"Huh?"

Uncharacteristically, Leo let out a foolish sound and leaned his face close to the notebook.

"Huh?"

Still with a foolish expression, he looked at the notebook from a distance, and then, finally understanding the content, Leo let out an astonished shriek with a flushed face.

"What the hell!!!"

***

Whoosh-

A foul-smelling wind blew.

It was the smell of corpses.

If it were an ordinary creature, they might have choked and died from the poison and smell the moment they smelled it.

This place was truly the most horrific place on earth.

It was the stronghold of the Commander-in-Chief of Tartarus, the Lord of Command.

"It's been a while, Hell Kaiser."

At the words of the Demon Queen, Silatuna, the Lord of Command, Hell Kaiser, curled up the corners of his mouth.

"Has it been 100 years?"

A duration of time so long that it spans a generation for humans.

But for monsters who had lived for thousands of years, it wasn't that long.

"I heard everything that happened in Rumeln this time. It seems you've lost all your subordinates."

"Not just subordinates. The Curse King has also been completely annihilated."

Silatuna crossed her arms.

"I went through quite a lot of sacrifices to 'bring them out'."

Silatuna's plan to revive the Curse King.

It was all ruined by this incident.

As a result, they lost everything they had infiltrated into Rumeln for a long time.

"I'm in such a bad mood that I was thinking of destroying a country."

"Which country?"

"That kid who calls himself all-class or something, what was his name? Leo Flov? His country seems to be a small kingdom on the frontier."

Silatuna spoke as if she were stepping on a passing ant.

"I was thinking of crushing that country."

"Although it's on the frontier, it's in front of the Rhodren Empire. It's not a place you can easily attack."

"But I'm bored."

The Legion Commanders.

They were terrifying monsters who, if they set their minds to it, could destroy a small kingdom overnight.

At Silatuna's words, the Lord of Command said.

"You still lack a lot to run wild. Silatuna. It has been many years since we started raising successor Legion Commanders."

"Yes. That's right. We raised them well 3,000 years ago, but those damned things were subjugated by them."

Irritation flashed across Silatuna's face.

When seven Legion Commanders were subjugated at that time, the power of the surface races was also halved.

However, Tartarus suffered even greater losses in terms of damage.

"After that, we were repeatedly subjugated… eventually, we're just treading water."

To the surface races, 'Legion Commander' evoked a chilling fear,

But from the perspective of the Lord of Command and the Demon Queen, they were still just beginners.

"So, what experiment have you conducted recently?"

"What kind of experiment?"

"It's about 'bringing out' our old comrades."

"Isn't that impossible?"

"The power of our god is growing stronger."

Hell Kaiser grinned, revealing his teeth.

As his crimson-black pupils flashed, a skull was revealed.

A white skull, as if embedded with large rubies.

"Then it's not impossible. Of course, it would be impossible in a complete state."

"It's worth a try. So, how far has that plan progressed?"

To Silatuna's question, Hell Kaiser chuckled, click- click- click-.

"Soon."