Book 1 Chapter 283

283

The next day.

Tarkam's streets were filled with vitality.

Parties preparing to go on an expedition to Mt. Erdien.

Parties investigating inside Tarkam, and so on.

Students were tackling this mission practice in their own ways.

Leo, along with his party members, also sought out witnesses of the monster sighting that night in Tarkam's central plaza.

"I found the hospital where the guards are hospitalized."

Kal approached with a grin.

Dryana exclaimed, "Ooh-!"

"You. You're more capable than I thought."

"Information gathering is my specialty. It's nothing."

"Amazing, Kal!"

"Hmph, flatter me more."

A smug Kal wiggled both hands.

'Ugh? He's better than I thought?'

'How does he get information so quickly like that?'

Lunia looked at Kal with a flustered expression, and Ar, while pretending to be uninterested and yawning, secretly kept glancing at Kal, seemingly concerned.

When Leo recommended Kal as party leader yesterday, Lunia and Ar were quite dissatisfied deep down.

It wasn't that they looked down on him, but it was true that Kal's abilities were the most lacking among the party members.

Despite Leo's explanation, the two proud girls couldn't easily accept it.

"How about it? Kal has abilities, doesn't he?"

When Leo asked with a gentle smile, Lunia crossed her arms.

"He is competent."

Leo chuckled at her words.

"Take this opportunity to observe Kal carefully. You'll surely find a lot to learn."

"A lot to learn?"

"Yes."

Leo looked at Kal.

"Kal, the weakest in Lumern, surviving until sophomore year isn't just because of luck."

Competition among students at Lumern is fierce.

Infinite competition.

If you can't keep up, you naturally fall behind.

But Kal had been the weakest since enrollment.

However, defying many people's expectations that he would be the first to drop out, he still proudly remains the weakest sophomore.

This is by no means a result achieved simply by effort and luck.

"Kal possesses strengths that you don't."

"What are they?"

"The ability to devise strategies to win against opponents stronger than himself."

The environment of Lumern unintentionally made Kal acquire such an ability.

Every moment was a challenge to his limits for Kal.

So Kal naturally acquired abilities that honor students did not possess.

Giant Killing.

Kal had definitively acquired the abilities heroes should have.

Ar listened to Leo's words and crossed his arms.

"Hmm. To overcome one's limits… so that's it."

Ar, who spoke Lumern's motto, looked at Kal.

Leo patted the two on the shoulders and followed Kal.

Following Kal's guidance, they soon arrived at the hospital.

Visiting the guards was prohibited.

However, with the authority of hero candidates, the party members were able to meet the guards without much difficulty.

"In times like this, being a hero candidate is really good."

Kal muttered in admiration.

The status of being a student at the Hero Academy was a free pass for most situations.

So the five people stood in front of the hospital.

The doctor in charge glanced at the party and said,

"I've allowed the visit, but I'd appreciate it if you finish your business relatively quickly. The patient's stability is our top priority."

"Yes, we'll finish quickly."

Nodding their heads, the group entered the hospital room.

There, a dwarf was trembling in a corner of the room.

The furniture inside the room was already a mess, as if there had been a rampage.

Seeing this, the party members looked bewildered.

This was because the guard's condition was more serious than expected.

"In that state, it looks like it would be hard to even talk to him properly, wouldn't it?"

When Kal spoke cautiously, Lunia, with her lips tightly shut, approached the guard.

"Excuse me, I have something I'd like to ask…"

"Oh, don't come! Don't comeeee!"

As Lunia approached, the guard started struggling madly, his face filled with terror.

"Let me out! Don't hold me, just let me out of here! The monster! The monster will come again! The monster will come!"

"Calm down! We are students from the Hero Academy! We just came to ask about that incident!"

"Ughhhhhh!"

The guard began to thrash about madly.

Dryana, who was watching him carefully, muttered,

"It's a curse."

"A curse?"

"Yes. That guard is not simply in a state of delusion, but under a curse of fear."

"Wait? This guard just saw that unknown monster, didn't he? He got such a strong curse just by seeing it?"

Lunia showed a bewildered expression.

Kal checked the patient chart he received from the doctor, his expression serious.

"It's not just a strong curse. It seems that even after being prescribed curse-breaking potions and rituals, they couldn't lift the curse."

Treatment for curses, one of the most powerful weapons of the demon race, has been a field of study for a long time.

Therefore, most magic doctors were knowledgeable about curses.

No matter how powerful a curse, it can be broken given enough time.

However, despite receiving proper treatment, the guard's curse was not being lifted.

While everyone was bewildered, Leo spoke.

"Eiran, can you lift the curse?"

"I-I'll try."

Eiran stepped forward with a tense expression.

Fairy magic has long been anathema to curses.

Therefore, the people of the Ersard family, descendants of Belkia, the last Fairy Knight, naturally possessed strong resistance to curses.

They were also natural curse breakers.

"Please hold him so he can't thrash around."

At her words, Ar and Dryana grabbed the guard's arms.

"Grraaah!"

Then the guard thrashed even more.

But he couldn't overcome the strength of Azonia and Demian students.

Light green magic flowed from Eiran's hands.

It was the power of a life-giving fairy.

The moment Eiran extended her hand towards the guard.

Sizzle! Pop!

Eiran's hand was flung back with a strong, dark red spark.

"Eiran!"

Lunia cried out in surprise and rushed to Eiran.

"I-I'm fine."

Eiran smiled and looked down at her hand.

Her hand already had blisters, as if burned.

Watching Eiran heal her hand with healing magic, the party members' faces turned serious.

The curse of fear is not a difficult curse to break.

Yet, a user of fairy power could not break this curse and instead suffered damage from the rebound.

'Just how powerful is this curse?'

Leo, who had been observing the situation, stepped forward.

"L-Leo. Be careful! The power of the curse was activated by the influence of my power."

Eiran said urgently.

Sparks flew from Leo's hand as well.

Sizzle-!

But Leo, undeterred, raised his grey magic and pushed back the curse's power.

Thump-!

"Ughhhhhh!"

Leo's magic flowed into the struggling guard.

Leo quickly analyzed the curse.

'It's going to be hard to break.'

It was a curse composed of complex spell formulas.

Of course, with Leo's ability, he could certainly break it.

However, a spell formula that further strengthened the curse was overlaid the moment an attempt was made to break it.

Ultimately, it was a curse that would cause the curse-bearer to die if it ran wild.

'If it's not Lysinas or Luna, I won't be able to completely release it.'

Leo clicked his tongue.

Of course, there wasn't no solution.

Sizzle-!

Dark red sparks flew from Leo's hand.

But Leo, undeterred, used his magic to envelop the curse spell formula.

And slowly, he pulled out the curse spell formula.

Swoosh-!

He removed his hand from the guard's head.

At Leo's fingertips was a dark red sphere of black magic.

Inside, the curse spell formula was densely engraved.

He had extracted the curse from the body without breaking it.

Everyone's eyes widened.

Leo's eyes narrowed as he carefully examined the curse.

Sizzle-! Pop!

He strongly @squeezed and destroyed the curse's power, which had taken the form of a sphere.

With that, the guard's convulsions stopped.

"W-What is this?"

Ar and Dryana carefully released their arms, watching the guard who was looking around bewildered.

"Amazing! Leo! You extracted and destroyed the curse itself! That's truly incredible magic control!"

Leo chose to destroy the curse itself rather than breaking it.

At first glance, it seemed simple, but it was a highly difficult technique that required understanding the characteristics of the curse and mana control close to divine skill.

Leo spoke, looking at the guard who had returned to normal.

"Now you'll answer the questions properly."

"Okay."

Kal approached the guard with a serious expression.

"I apologize. But I have some questions."

Leo wiped his cold sweat and looked down at his palm.

In the process of destroying the curse, he realized whose curse it was.

'…I hoped my prediction was wrong.'

Leo's face hardened.

'Giant King.'

***

After completing the inquiry, Leo and his party members immediately headed to the entrance of Mt. Erdien, where the guard had seen something.

Leo was lost in thought until they reached the location.

'What on earth is the reason for *it*'s appearance?'

During the first-year entrance exam.

Leo had clearly seen Erebus here, in Gewin's hero world.

'But that wasn't the complete Erebus. No. It was closer to a residual thought than Erebus.'

5000 years ago.

On this land, he and Erebus fought their final battle, staking the fate of the world.

And ultimately, Erebus was subdued.

Divided into several pieces and sealed.

'They said his essence was a being close to a god, right? Then it's not strange if residual thoughts remained.'

Residual thoughts formed from hatred and resentment over being defeated with the world on the brink of destruction.

'But the Giant King wouldn't have moved because of that. Residual thoughts would be nothing more than powerless remnants of will.'

It was neither Erebus's will nor his power.

Just a lump of resentment towards the Hero of Beginnings, Kyle.

From Tartaros's perspective, it was a useless mass of consciousness that offered no help.

Of course, its symbolic meaning was great.

'If *he* moved… it's a more serious matter.'

Leo fell into contemplation.

"But is it really possible for a monster as tall as this mountain to exist in this world?"

Lunia looked up at the towering Mt. Erdien while exploring the surroundings.

"The largest creature in this world is Gigantes, isn't it? Come to think of it, you guys fought a Gigantes last year, right? How big was it?"

When Lunia asked, tilting her head, Kal answered.

"It was the top students of our grade who fought. I just watched the fight."

Kal shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as if disgusted.

"That Gigantes wasn't even an adult yet, but it was huge… but no matter how big an adult one is, being as big as a mountain doesn't make sense."

Ar bit her index finger and tilted her head after hearing Kal's words.

"Hmm. What if it was the Giant King?"

"That legion commander who hasn't appeared for 5000 years? Isn't that too random? There's even a hypothesis that he might have been subdued during the Age of Calamity."

Literally, to the people of this era, he was a legion commander who existed only in legends.

"Firstly, if a body that size teleported, waves of magic would inevitably remain. It's strange for it to disappear in the blink of an eye. There's a high probability he saw hallucinations. Of course, since he was cursed, it seems related to the demon race, but…"

Leo paused upon hearing Dryana's words.

'Disappearing without a trace in the world?'

Leo knew something about such a phenomenon.

'When entering a Hero Record.'

Leo's face hardened.

'What if one of the Great Heroes' Hero Records is here?'

Tartaros is attacking the worlds of Great Heroes and burning their Hero Records.

If that's the reason, it wouldn't be strange if the Giant King moved personally.

The moment Leo's thoughts reached that point.

"Leo! How long are you just going to think? Help with the search!"

Lunia protested to Leo in a sulky voice.

"There's something strange smelling here."

"Oh? Really? It smells more like a dog than a cat somehow."

"Who are you calling a dog!"

Cough-!

Kal exclaimed in admiration at Ar's words, who was sniffing around while exploring.

Ar, who immediately punished Kal, walked towards the source of the smell.

"Huh? Ohhhhh!"

At Ar's shout, Kal, who had flinched from being kicked in the side by Ar, got up.

"What did you find?!"

"Look at this! It's a Hero Record!"

"What?!"

"Where! Where!"

The party members rushed around Ar in surprise.

"Wait!"

Leo cried out urgently.

"This is… Sir Dweno's Hero Record! Such an intact Hero Record!"

"What? Show me too! Me too! Me too!"

A surprised Dryana jumped up and down.

"But what are those burnt-like marks here and there?"

The moment Eiran touched the Hero Record to show Dryana.

[Hero Record Open. Dweno's World. Chapter: ■■-■■■■ ■■■.]

A message appeared before their eyes.

"W-What is it?"

"Hero Dungeon?!"

The entire area was engulfed in a bright light.

All the party members let out shouts of horror, seeing the message that had popped up.

Whoosh-!

Their vision was obscured by a familiar light.

Along with that, Leo opened his eyes.

'What? Why did the Hero Record suddenly open…'

The moment Leo was flustered.

Clatter!

"Kek?!"

"Ugh?"

He lost his balance and collided with something, tumbling to the floor.

"H-Heavy!"

A clear voice came from beneath Leo.

Leo got up.

"Sorry. Are you not hurt anyw…"

"You! What are you doing, suddenly appearing like this!"

The girl shouted with an angry face.

Sharply raised eyes.

Tightly pressed lips.

And ears twitching as if angry.

It was the elf girl he knew so well.

The girl he had smacked on the head countless times for being insolent if she wasn't so endearing.

'Belkia.'