Book 1 Chapter 248

248

Whoosh-

A gust of wind swept through.

Leo twisted his head, dodging the storm of aura that swirled around.

And he swung his arm.

Clang-!

With a massive sound of aura colliding with aura, Xian was sent flying.

“Ugh!”

Xian glared at Leo, his eyes wide open.

There was only one entrance to the stone chamber.

Leo was guarding the entrance.

Xian had just experienced an overwhelming power difference.

But…

'That guy got through Artkhan and came here.'

He didn't think Artkhan had been defeated.

'Perhaps he let him go to deal with His Majesty. But he wouldn't have let him go easily.'

Xian knew Artkhan's power.

The ability to collect corpses and make them move with the abilities they possessed in life.

'Dirge.'

Each time he cleared a hero's world, he would test his newly acquired powers using Artkhan's authority.

Thus, he was well aware of the power of his authority.

Indeed, Leo had large and small wounds all over his body.

His face showed fatigue, and his shoulders were heaving as if he was out of breath.

'In comparison, I'm perfectly fine.'

Artkhan had perfectly restored his stamina as well.

'Moreover, I now have the sword used by the Hero of Beginnings in my hand.'

This sword was not merely hard and sharp.

Xian, holding the sword, could tell.

Weapons made by Dweino, the blacksmith of the gods, are called divine artifacts.

The reason is that they contain immense power beyond imagination.

'Though I don't yet know how to use the power of this sword.'

Xian gripped the sword more firmly.

'If I can use it, I can defeat Leo Flobe.'

Thinking so, Xian aimed the sword at Leo.

"It would have been better for your well-being not to come here."

Step- step-

Leo took a step.

At that, Xian flinched and stepped back.

However, he soon flushed with anger and shouted defiantly.

"You'd better be prepared. It'll be different from before now."

"What's different?"

"Now I have the sword of Kail, the Hero of Beginnings."

At Xian's words, Leo looked at the sword Xian was holding.

It was a rather peculiar sword.

The length of the blade was so short that it wouldn't be strange to call it a dagger.

But the hilt was as long as a typical longsword.

It was a strange sword, with the blade-to-hilt ratio being almost 1:1.

Of course, it wasn't the first time he had seen the sword.

"That sword isn't the Hero of Beginnings' sword."

"What did you say?"

Xian's face twisted.

"That sword's name is Erkwint. It's the sword of the Fairy Knight, Berkhia."

Erkwint is a sword more deeply connected to Luna than Kail.

Originally, Erkwint was a sword Dweino gave to Luna.

Luna then gave her sword to her disciple, Berkhia.

Berkhia was also a disciple of Kail, so it can't be said there's no connection, but it's still not the artifact of the Hero of Beginnings.

'By the way, you found it.'

Leo smiled bitterly.

Berkhia lost Erkwint in the Battle of Tarmetia.

The last battle the Great Hero participated in before departing for the subjugation of Erebus.

Biharu had told the disheartened Berkhia, who had lost the item her master had given her as a gift, that he would find the sword for her.

'It seems he couldn't return it.'

After Erebus was subjugated.

The two must have spent hectic days rebuilding the world, upholding their masters' wills.

"Nonsense, why would my ancestor keep the Fairy Knight's sword!"

"There must have been a reason. Anyway, it's certain that that sword is Erkwint, as we learned it in Lumen Hero Studies class."

Last year, Artiyan, the Hero Studies professor, had given a lesson on heroes' artifacts unknown to the world.

Erkwint was among them.

"And you can't properly handle that sword."

At Leo's words, Xian's face contorted.

"Don't talk as if you know everything!"

An enraged Xian charged at Leo.

Powerful aura erupted from his body as if exploding.

Quagagagak-!

Xian began to move at an incredible speed.

Moving so fast as to be invisible, Xian aimed for Leo's vital points.

"You're exhausted! You won't be able to keep up with my movements!"

Mocking Leo, Xian accelerated even more.

Leo exhaled lightly and raised his sword.

Slash-! Grab-!

Xian slashed Leo's back and curled the corner of his lips.

A head-on confrontation was clearly a losing battle.

'I'll accumulate small injuries this way.'

Xian quickly vanished into the shadows, avoiding Leo's eyes.

The power of shadows.

He used the power of shadows, which he had so despised, but Xian didn't care.

What was important now was to defeat the monster in front of him.

But Xian's attack did not last long.

This was because Leo had grabbed Xian's neck just before he disappeared into the darkness.

"H-how…!"

"Amateur."

Leo said coolly, his red eyes flashing.

"Don't you have anything else to show?"

Leo

Gooooooh-!

Zerdinger's flames roared.

Xian's face turned pale as he saw the flames swell as if to engulf even the user.

Quagagaga-!

Leo's flames mercilessly burned Xian.

"Ugh…"

Xian, who barely escaped, crawled on the floor and mumbled.

"It can't be… it's impossible… I… I was chosen… I was born with the talent to be a Great Hero… why…!"

Leo's foot blocked Xian, who was struggling and crawling towards the entrance.

Xian's face turned white.

"S-save me! You're a hero candidate, aren't you? I'm Sia's family! Would a hero candidate carelessly take the life of a friend's family member?"

Whoosh-

As if it wasn't worth listening to, Leo spat out flames.

Seeing that, Xian urgently shouted.

"I, I'll become a hero! You, you'll become a hero too, right? You'll fight against Tartarus, won't you? If there's even one strong person, it'll be a great help in the future!"

"That's certainly true."

"Th-then…!"

Xian's face brightened at Leo's affirmation.

"But I don't know if you're really that great."

Leo smiled faintly.

Xian immediately sensed that the smile was a death sentence.

"And I certainly don't know if you're worth keeping alive."

Kuaaaaaaa!

"Aaaargh!"

Phoenix's flames engulfed Xian.

Xian, who had been writhing and rolling around the room, stopped moving and soon turned into ashes and disappeared.

Leo picked up Erkwint, which was lying on the floor.

'I'd like to give it to Eiran if possible.'

Eiran, the second-ranked student in Seirun's second year and a descendant of Berkhia.

It would be best for Erkwint to be entrusted to Eiran's hands.

'Biharu would want that too.'

Although he couldn't return it to him directly, Biharu would surely want it to return to his descendant.

Leo looked around the chaotic record room.

"What are these?"

"They are all… records of shadows."

At Chen Sia's explanation, Leo picked up a book lying on the floor.

When he opened it, it spoke of the deeds of a certain shadow.

"Indeed."

Leo nodded and carefully placed the records back onto the bookshelf one by one.

His actions seemed like a tribute to a hero.

Chen Sia, who had been staring blankly at his back for a moment, spoke.

"Young Master Leo didn't need to dirty his hands."

"Is there a need to say I dirtied my hands?"

Leo said indifferently.

"Executing a traitor is a perfectly natural thing."

"…"

"Let's go back. If we skip any more classes without permission, it won't end with just a letter of apology."

"Thank you for coming to pick me up. I'm truly happy."

Chen Sia gave a bitter smile.

"But I am a shadow. I cannot become a hero."

"Why?"

"Because the gods will never acknowledge me."

Chen Sia spread out her hand.

"I've done more dirty deeds than Young Master Leo can imagine. And I am a cruel woman."

Chen Sia smiled faintly.

"Xian, even if he was a traitor, he was my twin. I saw him die, but I can still smile like this."

No matter how deserving of death he was.

He was a blood relative she had spent her entire life with.

Despite his death, Chen Sia remained unfazed.

"Is there a hero candidate like me?"

"Probably not."

"See? I'm not suited to be a hero candidate."

Chen Sia's smiling face looked eerily chilling somehow.

"Will the gods acknowledge someone like me?"

"They won't acknowledge you."

"Yes, I will never be able to list my name in the Hero's Record…"

"But is that important?"

"Huh?"

"Is the gods' acknowledgment so important?"

Chen Sia's eyes wavered at the unexpected answer.

"Didn't you enroll in Lumen because you wanted to become a hero? Why did you want to become a hero?"

"…Because I wanted to be someone who helps many people."

Chen Sia answered, casting down her eyes.

"So? Now that you think you can't be a hero, you don't want to help people?"

Chen Sia replied, flustered.

"Oh, no. In the way of shadows…"

"Where are there ways to help people?"

Leo chuckled softly.

"If that feeling hasn't changed, you still want to be a hero right now."

Chen Sia's shoulders trembled slightly.

"You will surely become a hero loved by people. Whether you put your name in the Hero's Record or not, that's not important."

Her heart stirred.

He affirmed the dream she herself had denied.

It felt as if he was reaching out a hand to her, who had hesitated to move forward with her feet submerged in darkness.

It felt as if the darkness was receding in a dazzlingly bright light.

'This is why… I didn't want to meet you.'

She had finally made up her mind.

But seeing Leo affirm the dream she herself had denied, that resolve crumbled in an instant.

Unconsciously, she reached out her hand towards the light.

"Let's go back, to Lumen."

"…Yes!"

Chen Sia answered unconsciously.

'Even if I can't put my name in the Hero's Record… I'll try.'

What was important wasn't the Hero's Record.

Realizing that anew, Chen Sia found herself unconsciously breaking into a smile.

Leo, who had been smiling faintly at Chen Sia, paused.

'Divine power…?'

He turned his head with surprised eyes.

A bookshelf in the corner of the record room.

There, an old leather cover was visible.

Leo walked to the bookshelf and took out the book.

'Seal of Aura?'

Seal of Aura.

An ability that imbues aura with will, allowing only the chosen one to open it.

'It's Biharu's aura.'

Leo felt his disciple's aura and generated grey aura.

The seal naturally unfurled in response to Leo's aura.

And what was inside was…

"Hero's Record…?"

Chen Sia looked surprised, seeing the page emitting divine power.

The moment Leo was flustered.

[Would you like to open your world?]

A message appeared before his eyes.

Leo looked surprised at it.

It was different from the Hero's Records he had seen until now.

He had entered the world of heroes several times, but this was the first time he had seen such a message.

'And my world?'

Flustered, Leo replied with his will.

'No.'

With that word, the message disappeared.

Leo looked down at the Hero's Record.

The bundle of hero pages before his eyes contained powerful divine power.

It felt as if he was looking at a complete Hero's Record.

Chen Sia, who hurriedly approached Leo and checked the contents of the Hero's Record, gasped.

"This… looks like a shadow's record?"

The deeds recorded in the Hero's Record.

The name was erased, but it was full of content about executing traitors.

He considered if it was fake, but as a Lumen student, this Hero's Record looked real.

"What in the world…"

Leo gripped the book tightly, looking at the surprised Chen Sia.

'My… record.'

The contents of the page were all things Leo had done in his Kail days.

'I see…'

Looking at the Hero's Record, Leo understood the situation.

'Did Biharu take all my records, which remained as a shadow, for himself?'

Among the Great Heroes, only Kail executed traitors.

Naturally, there were many records among them that would make one frown.

It was something someone had to do.

Even so, there was no guarantee that everyone would understand it.

If these records had remained intact and been passed down to future generations, he would have been remembered as a Great Hero who did dirty work, compared to his other friends.

Biharu did not want his master to be recorded that way.

'So he hid it?'

He smiled bitterly.

'It would have been better if he had left it alone.'

Then perhaps the shadows would not have been denied.

If it had been known that even the Great Hero had worked in the darkness for the world.

If it had been known that the achievements as shadows were also acknowledged by the gods.

The treatment of shadows now might have been different.

'Biharu himself might not have disappeared behind history.'

It was when Leo sighed deeply.

Flutter-

Suddenly, the pages began to turn automatically.

And at the end, a blank page was created.

'What is this…?'

[Would you like to record a hero's achievement?]

Leo narrowed his eyes, looking at the message that appeared before him.

Chen Sia, flustered by the unfamiliar situation, stared at the blank page.

'Record.'

The moment Leo thought that.

Biharu

Biharu's name appeared at the top of the page, and her achievements began to be recorded on the page.

Woong-!

The Hero's Record glowed and floated in the air.

Drdrdrdrdr-

The records of shadows stuck in the record library began to shake and then all pulled out simultaneously.

The shadow records swirled around the Hero's Record as their center.

Woowoong-! Flutter-!

A pure white light emanated from the Hero's Record.

All the shadow records were sucked into the Hero's Record.

Paaat-!

A powerful light filled the space and then disappeared.

The shadow records that had filled the library were also gone.

"Wh-what in the world."

While Chen Sia was surprised.

A large book fell from the air.

Thump-!

A black-covered book fell onto Leo's hand.

Chen Sia's mouth dropped open as she saw the cover.

Leo ran his hand over the cover.

'I see.'

Leo let out a hollow laugh.

Pibua's words came to mind.

The Hero's Record belongs to Kail.

Meaning…

'Does that mean I also have recording authority?'

[Hero's Record - Book of Shadows]

It was the moment when the achievements of the shadows who had worked in darkness all their lives were acknowledged.