Book 1 Chapter 242

242

“He moved?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Interesting. Very audacious.”

The moment Leo exited the annex he had been guided to, his movements were reported in real-time to the Emperor, Shaou.

Upon receiving the report, Shaou curled the corner of his lips.

“What should we do?”

A student from the Four Great Heroes Academy receives VIP treatment no matter which country they visit.

Moreover, Leo was not just an ordinary hero candidate, but none other than the student council president of Lumen.

However, even so, exploring the Imperial Palace arbitrarily without the permission of Shaou, the master of Shan, was not tolerated.

It was a serious matter that could lead to diplomatic problems.

But Shaou didn't dislike Leo's behavior.

Furthermore, he didn't think Leo would be able to find Chen Xia.

‘Finding Xia, who hides her body in the darkness, is not easy even for the most outstanding shadows.’

The imperial family of Shan lives in darkness from the moment they are born, striving to become a more perfect shadow than anyone else.

‘That child dreamed of being a hero and had the talent to become one… but her talent as a shadow was even greater.’

Shaou was confident.

Before long, his daughter would reach a realm incomparable to himself or any previous emperors of Shan.

Thus, he was certain she would fulfill Shan's long-cherished wish.

‘To have her name etched in the Hero Record.’

Long before Shan was founded.

He was confident that his daughter would achieve a feat that even their ancestors, who were active since the Age of Calamity, had failed to accomplish.

‘She will be able to achieve that feat, which the first shadow accomplished, once again.’

The reason why the emperors of Shan have been obsessed with having their names in the Hero Record.

It was because a shadow whose name was in the Hero Record existed in forgotten history.

A truth beyond history that had been passed down only to the emperors of Shan.

Among the legacies left by the great shadow Bihar, there was a Hero Record with a name erased.

A record from 5000 years ago, when the Hero Record was first created.

It was merely that a forbidden spell had been placed on it to prevent anyone from knowing, so it could not be revealed to the world.

The great shadow who left a record in the Hero Record had clearly existed.

That is why the emperors of Shan could not abandon their obsession with the Hero Record.

His daughter possessed a talent rare even in Shan's long history.

Because she was such a daughter, he spoke words he knew would hurt her.

‘You can never be a hero. Do you think the gods would recognize one who has stepped into darkness as a hero?’

He ingrained those words in her repeatedly.

And recently, his daughter gave up on becoming a hero.

But if she met Leo, she would waver.

So he prevented them from meeting.

‘Even if he's amazing, it's normal that he wouldn't find her, but I can't let my guard down. Leo Flobe has always made the impossible possible.’

Shaou closed one eye, recalling Leo's actions.

People around the world referred to Leo's generation of peers as Lumen's Golden Generation.

‘It is exceptional for so many talented individuals to gather in a single generation.’

But it wasn't just Lumen that was unusual.

‘Seirun too, Azonia too, Damian too.’

Shaou's eyes narrowed.

‘That generation has too many exceptional children.’

If all of them became heroes.

The continental power dynamic might change.

It would not be strange if the long-maintained balance of power with Tartaros collapsed.

‘No, the balance of power has already cracked significantly.’

The subjugation of the Monster Queen.

One of the world's 5000-year-old aspirations, once thought impossible, had already been fulfilled.

It was an era where great heroes and legion commanders from the past reappeared.

An era where new functions of the Hero Record were discovered.

Just as the Age of Calamity ended 5000 years ago.

And a calamity arrived 3000 years ago.

Perhaps the world was once again facing a period of great upheaval.

‘And the person who stands at the very front, leading the hero candidates, is Leo Flobe.’

They say heroes are beings who make the impossible possible, but even a hero has limits.

However, Leo's limits were not visible.

Every time he faced a limit, he conspicuously overcame it.

‘Leo Flobe might be able to find Xia.’

That would be troublesome.

‘She finally gave up on the path of a hero and decided to become a shadow.’

“Make him wander in the darkness until morning.”

“Understood.”

As Shaou's command fell, the captain of the guard vanished into the darkness.

‘We must not instill unnecessary emotions in Xia.’

A chilling murderous aura clouded Shaou's eyes.

‘Because Xia, too… might turn traitor, just like that fellow.’

***

A room dimly lit by moonlight.

In that room sat a small girl, demurely.

The room was filled with storybooks.

All books related to heroes.

Biographies of heroes that Chen Xia, who had loved fairy tales since childhood, had read.

When she struggled with difficult training, she found strength by reading stories of many heroes.

‘I used to think that one day I wanted to become a shadow protecting such heroes.’

Xia opened her eyes and smiled faintly, gazing at the bookshelf filled with memories.

That thought soon sparked another desire.

The desire to become a hero herself.

She thought of saving many people and stepping forward in front of them.

Eight years ago.

The day she first had such a dream, when she turned 10.

She killed a person.

It was the day she eliminated low-ranking mages who had made a pact with demons to research black magic.

‘Perhaps I had already crossed a point of no return back then.’

When other children were admiring heroes and their eyes sparkled brightly.

She, as if it were natural, killed people.

Until that moment, she didn't know what the problem was.

She took other people's lives at too young an age to learn about killing, but she felt no guilt.

Traitors are to be executed.

That's how she was taught, and that's how she lived.

It was a day she protected world peace by eliminating black mages tainted with evil.

Just as she was rejoicing, thinking she was like the heroes in fairy tales.

‘Tsk, this isn’t what a hero does!’

Her fraternal twin, who had always been with her, said those words.

Those words came as a great shock to Chen Xia.

Not what a hero does?

‘Heroes don’t kill people like this!’

Her twin, who had lived the exact same life as her, denied everything they had learned until then.

‘Heroes eliminate evil in the bright world!’

In the bright world?

‘Eliminating evil in this manner has no value whatsoever!’

No value?

‘This is just simple slaughter, isn’t it? It’s not cool at all! People won’t acknowledge it!’

Simple… slaughter?

Ten-year-old Xia looked down at her blood-stained hands.

Only after returning to the Imperial Palace did the young girl finally feel the weight of having killed a person.

Even if it was the life of a traitor.

The people who knew him.

His family didn't know that fact.

Her twin's words were right.

Heroes don't eliminate evil that way.

The twin later became discontent with work as a shadow.

And she sang to their father, clamoring that she wanted to be a hero.

At such times, Shaou would only offer a troubled smile.

Even when the twin whined like that, Xia remained silent.

Perhaps she had already given up on becoming a hero back then.

She quickly recovered from the shock of her first mission.

Perhaps because of her strong mental fortitude, trained since childhood.

Or perhaps her emotions had worn away, making her indifferent.

Days of eliminating traitors and walking a bloody path continued.

And a new mission was given.

‘Betrayal…?’

‘Yes.’

A new traitor had appeared.

It was the twin she had thought of as her alter ego her entire life.

It was a shock.

The news of Sian's betrayal, who longed for and dreamed of being a hero more than anyone else, was deeply shocking to Xia.

She knew Sian hated being a shadow.

And that she would give up everything and run away to become a hero.

But the means being betrayal was undeniably shocking.

‘Xia.’

Shaou, calling his daughter, spoke with a chilling gaze.

‘Eliminate Sian. And become the Empress of Shan.’

She received the command.

Xia knew Sian's skill and talent better than anyone.

If Sian became a traitor, she would probably grow into a monster capable of annihilating countless heroes.

Xia pursued her twin to eliminate her.

And…

Ache-

As the memory resurfaced, Chen Xia placed a hand on her right chest.

That had been two years ago.

‘She must be dead.’

A bloody fight between kin.

At the point where both their strengths gave out, she barely managed to push her off a cliff.

To Chen Xia, who returned, Shaou promised the position of empress and one wish that could be granted as empress.

At those words, Xia said.

‘I want to be a hero.’

Shaou seemed surprised.

‘I want to enroll in Lumen.’

‘You can never be a hero. Do you think the gods would recognize one who has stepped into darkness as a hero?’

Shaou endlessly denied his daughter's dream.

But perhaps because he had seen Sian, who had eventually become twisted out of a desire to be a hero?

Shaou gave her one single chance.

To enroll and become the top student of her grade.

The restriction was not to use her abilities as a shadow.

With that condition, he allowed her to go to Lumen.

So, a year later.

Chen Xia was admitted to Lumen, a place she had dreamed of.

Everything went smoothly.

She easily secured the top spot in the East.

On the day her peers gathered.

She saw the top students from other regions, all formidable, but she was confident.

And then she met him.

A boy with white hair, a stark contrast to herself.

‘Young Master Leo.’

A boy from an ordinary rural border kingdom, Leo, seemed unremarkable at first glance… yet was strangely familiar.

But on the first day of enrollment, he showed an impressive performance in the fight against the Kraken.

He was even the class representative.

If she could defeat Leo.

She thought she could take one step closer to the position of a hero.

But…

‘He was someone I couldn't surpass.’

It didn't take long to realize that.

The boy who seemed to have no outstanding qualities was an unprecedented all-class.

Not only that, he quickly overtook her, and from a certain point, he became impossible to catch up with.

A despair-inducing difference.

But Chen Xia did not despair.

She had no time to feel such emotions.

She merely felt her heart flutter.

A shock akin to meeting a character from a childhood fairy tale.

Leo was too bright a light for Chen Xia.

One whose mere gaze could blind her.

Thus, someone she couldn't take her eyes off.

Just observing him was enough.

But others were different.

They gritted their teeth and chased after Leo.

When she realized that it was a challenge to the impossible.

Chen Xia understood.

She, who stood idly, content with just gazing at the bright light.

The people who tried to advance towards that light.

With her feet stuck in the darkness, she dared not even think of approaching the light.

‘I am different from these people.’

Her desire to become a hero remained unchanged.

But the more she felt that, the more she realized that she was a person suited to be a shadow.

Interacting with the hero candidates, she came to know.

The fundamental difference.

Their ways of thinking were different.

Their environments were different.

She felt the darkness accumulated from the past gripping her ankles.

‘Father was right. I cannot be a hero.’

Then, even if it meant doing all sorts of dirty work.

‘Because it's something heroes shouldn't do, I must do it.’

Even if she had to live in darkness.

‘Because someone has to do it.’

Even if it was merely worthless slaughter.

‘For Young Master Leo… for the heroes… wouldn't it have value?’

She yearned for heroes.

But she had to stop at yearning.

‘Because I won't be able to become a hero.’

Shaou's words were true.

The gods would never acknowledge her, who had done all sorts of dirty deeds.

“Princess Xia.”

“What is it?”

“I have come to deliver His Imperial Majesty's words.”

“Father's?”

Xia wore a perplexed expression.

“Is it a new mission?”

“Yes. He has given you the mission to hide yourself deep in the darkness.”

“Why?”

Xia looked bewildered by the unfamiliar mission.

To Xia, the shadow replied.

“Currently, Young Master Leo Flobe, the student council president of Lumen, is visiting the Imperial Palace.”

At those words, Chen Xia felt a stir in her heart.

The reason she came without saying goodbye was that she felt her resolve would waver the moment they met.

But now, he was said to be here.

“He has come to escort Her Royal Highness back to Lumen.”

Chen Xia's eyes wavered.

Her heart pounded.

“His Imperial Majesty's command is that you are not to meet him.”

“What are Father's measures regarding Young Master Leo?”

“He ordered him to be confined in darkness until daybreak.”

It was impossible to find her by breaking through the darkness of Shan.

All kinds of outstanding shadows would obstruct Leo.

So, there was no chance of meeting.

‘But… if it's Young Master Leo…’

He might find her even in that darkness.

If they met now, her hard-won resolve would surely waver.

A shadow could not be a hero.

If she clung to a fleeting dream, she would become a useless being, neither one thing nor the other.

Rather than that.

‘Becoming a shadow and helping Young Master Leo would be far more valuable.’

Rather than clinging to a worthless dream.

Chen Xia thought that becoming a help to the boy she admired was far more valuable.

“Understood.”

Chen Xia rose from her seat.

And opened the door and stepped out.

Pitch-black darkness spread before her.

The interior of Shan's Imperial Palace, where darkness had settled, was like a labyrinth of darkness where one could not see an inch ahead.

But for shadows, this darkness was too familiar.

Chen Xia vanished into the darkness as she was.

The shadow attending Chen Xia did the same.

Presence, sound, sight.

Chen Xia moved through the darkness where nothing existed, without much difficulty.

Following behind, the shadow marveled.

‘Indeed, Princess Xia is on a different level.’

He was confident.

‘Leo Flobe will never find the princess—’

“This is a bit much.”

Chen Xia stopped dead in her tracks.

Whoosh—

Behind her, the surroundings brightened due to light magic.

“I thought it was hide-and-seek, but it was tag? No wonder you were so confident I wouldn’t find you.”

The shadow turned around with a shocked expression.

“How?”

Could someone who lived only in light find a shadow in this darkness?

Chen Xia's fingertips trembled slightly.

Her heart pounded at the familiar voice.

The voice that made her dream, yet at the same time made her give up on that dream, spoke to her intimately.

“Chen Xia, let’s go back to Lumen.”

Chen Xia's heart was speaking.

“I came to get you.”

If she turned back now… she would endlessly reach out for an unattainable dream.