Book 1 Chapter 354
354
*Woosh-!*
Black flames spewing from the Hero Record engulfed the entire auditorium.
"Wh-what is this!"
Rehagan's voice erupted in shock.
*Fwoosh-!*
The rampaging black flames soon spread to the audience seats.
*Flash-!*
But there wasn't a single person there who could be easily taken in by the black flames.
*Crackle-!*
A wall of ice shot up.
A chilling cold emanated from the elf mage seated in the front row of the audience.
Those around him gasped in admiration.
"The Northern Tower Master!"
All eyes turned to the Northern Tower Master, Algren.
*Grooooan-!*
An icy aura flowed from Algren's body.
*Crackle-!*
The ice wall began to move freely, like a living slime.
*Fwoosh-!*
Algren's ice, moving at incredible speed, instantly wrapped around the black flames.
Seeing this, Rehagan shouted.
"Northern Tower Master! What are you doing!"
Algren, looking at Rehagan whose eyes were bloodshot, replied in a cold voice.
"Can't you see? Black flames are spewing from that Hero Record. The culprit behind this incident is none other than the Hero Record. It's only natural to eliminate it, isn't it?"
"Are you trying to deface the record of the Great Seirun right now!"
"If it's black flames, there's only one thing that comes to mind. It's only natural to eliminate the culprit, isn't it?"
Everyone held their breath at Algren's words.
They were all flustered by the sudden turn of events, but they realized upon hearing Algren's words.
Black flames.
A symbol of disaster, too difficult to even speak of.
"Black flames are not necessarily the primordial evil!"
Rehagan shrieked.
"This is the Hero Record of Seirun, the Great Comet Mage! A hero's record that has never been found except in the possession of dragons until now! It is an outrage to destroy this record with infinite possibilities!"
Rehagan screamed with malice.
At that moment.
*Crackle-!*
Algren's magic cracked.
Algren's expression changed drastically.
'Already?'
The moment Algren was surprised.
*ROOOOOOAR-!*
The black flames pierced the ice and burned everything around them.
Everyone in the auditorium used magic.
They deployed magic to extinguish the black flames somehow.
But as if to mock their efforts, the black flames devoured their magic and burned even more fiercely.
"This can't be! How did we get our hands on the Comet Mage's Hero Record! What is this!"
Rehagan roared with bloodshot eyes.
But no magic worked on the black flames.
As they watched the black flames burn uncontrollably.
*Grooooan-!*
Pure white flames blocked the black flames.
The momentum of the unbridled black flames died down.
Everyone's eyes widened as they looked at the one spewing white flames.
*Tap- tap-*
A girl, enveloped in white flames, stepped forward, appearing almost sacred.
"Lunia El Lundia."
Someone murmured the girl's name.
In the distant past.
She who inherited the flames of the Phoenix King, who disappeared 5,000 years ago.
Lunia stared at Seirun's Hero Record and said.
"This is definitely Erebus's flame."
Lunia had confronted Erebus twice in the world of heroes.
Of course, she had only fought against tiny fragments of Erebus.
But even that was only barely won by exerting all her strength.
'But this… is different from the black flames back then!'
She felt a deeper darkness.
Lunia, who inherited the flames of purification, felt endless fear from Erebus's flames.
'I have to stop it!'
Lunia gritted her teeth and emitted even more intense flames.
Her fiery red hair turned pure white.
Everyone was mesmerized by the sight.
The black flames, which had been rampaging wildly, seemed to recognize Lunia and flew towards her.
*KWA-GA-GA-GA-! FWOOSH-!*
Eiran stood in front of Lunia.
Eiran held a shield that emitted the light of life.
It was a shield imbued with the power of a fairy, a gift from Dwenoh.
Blocking the black flames, Eiran frowned with a beautiful expression.
At that moment, a powerful wind aura swept through.
The wind aura pushed back the black flames.
It was Hardin, the student council president of Seirun.
"Seirun students, listen up. This is Erebus's flame!"
Having also fought Erebus in Luna's world, Hardin immediately saw through the flame's true nature.
Seirun students looked surprised at Hardin's shout.
"From now on, we will eliminate the source of the flames."
"Student Hardin!"
Rehagan reacted hysterically.
"How dare Seirun's student council president try to destroy Seirun's record!"
"Even if it is Seirun's record, I believe that letting the culprit of this incident go unchecked goes against not only Seirun's will but also Luna's will?"
"Well, well. Our student council president speaks well."
"What are you doing? If you are to follow in the footsteps of the Great Ancestor of the Nebula and the Comet Mage, fighting Erebus is an obligation."
At the words of Marven, the top student, and Evertoon, the second-ranked student, the students moved in unison.
Seeing the Seirun students enter combat readiness in an instant, the mages attending the conference also prepared to deploy their magic.
Leo, watching the scene, glared at the black flames and said.
"Anyas."
"Yes, Leo-nim."
Anyas, the daughter of the Northern Tower Master, appeared behind Leo as if she had been waiting and replied respectfully.
"With the Northern Tower Master's abilities, can you forcibly warp everyone here outside the Hall of Comets?"
"It's impossible from outside to inside, but it's possible from inside to outside."
Leo said, staring at Seirun's Hero Record.
"Tell her to do it immediately."
"Understood."
Anyas bowed her head and quickly ran to the Northern Tower Master.
Upon hearing the message, Algren looked at Leo for a moment, then ignited his magic.
As the master of the Northern Tower, Algren warped everyone in the auditorium to the outside.
*Fwoosh-!*
Those who had entered combat readiness in the face of the sudden situation looked bewildered.
"What is this…?"
"Northern Tower Master! What is this…!"
*KWA-GA-GA-GA! WOOSH-!*
Along with that, the black flames exploded and swallowed the Hall of Comets.
*RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-!*
Along with that, the Hall of Comets, which had risen high, collapsed.
Seirun's record, preserved for a long time, burned and disappeared.
Everyone was stunned, witnessing the Hall of Comets, the symbol of Seirun, turn to ashes and collapse.
Along with that.
A deathly aura was sensed in the Star Plaza, located at the highest point of Seirun.
A gate opened, and undead poured out.
"Wh-what is that!"
"Death King…?"
"How can the power of a Death King reach here so soon after the Demon Queen invaded Seirun!"
"Acting Principal Rehagan! Explain this situation! The Star Plaza is under your jurisdiction as Acting Principal!"
Seirun's teachers reacted with indignation.
But Rehagan had vanished.
The Seirun teachers' anger turned towards those belonging to the Pureblood Faction.
The faces of the Pureblood Faction turned pale.
"W-we don't know anything!"
"That's right!"
They protested urgently, but it was no use.
Undead had already appeared during the mid-term exams for the first-years, which had been overseen by the Pureblood Faction.
With another strange incident occurring, the Pureblood Faction was the only suspect.
At that moment.
*GROOOOOOO-!*
The black flames that had turned the Hall of Comets to ashes began to gather.
Everyone's faces hardened as they saw Erebus taking the form of a giant flame.
[GRWOOOAAARRRRR-!]
A monstrous roar echoed.
Everyone who heard the roar was filled with dread.
The primordial evil.
The roar of disaster, capable of destroying the world, was enough to make the living lose their will to fight.
Everyone backed away.
Terrified, they sensed their impending death.
At that moment.
"Snap out of it!"
A mighty shout echoed through Seirun.
"Howling?"
Everyone looked with surprised eyes at the one who shouted.
There stood Leo, enveloped in golden aura.
*Tap- tap-*
"This is not the time to argue about right and wrong. Especially not when you're terrified."
Leo stood before Erebus.
"If you revere the Ancestor of the Nebula."
Leo said clearly, looking straight at Erebus.
"If you follow the will of the Comet Mage."
*Groooo-!*
Gray mana swirled around Leo's body.
"Believe in yourselves and fight him. That is your duty for enrolling in this school."
Absolute fear vanished.
Leo, who ignited their fighting spirit, glared at Erebus.
'Is the Hero Record of Seirun acting as a conduit after all?'
Except for the Hero Record of the Genesis stored in Dragonia, there are no Hero Records of the Genesis heroes left in this world.
Even the Hero Records of the Great Heroes, which Tartarus systematically destroyed, remain.
However, the Hero Records of the Genesis heroes are far fewer.
Leo knows the reason through Mel.
Before the Genesis heroes entered the world of heroes to stop Erebus, they self-destructed their Hero Records to prevent them from being used as conduits, and left behind instructions to destroy any Hero Records that did not fall into their hands.
*FWOOOSH-!*
At that moment, pure white flames soared.
Leo turned his head towards Lunia.
There, Lunia, who had created a sphere of flames in her hand, was deploying her magic.
The magic Lunia had left behind to counter Erebus.
Flame Emperor.
*FWOOSH-!*
Pure white flames, symbolizing purification, devoured the black flames.
[GRROOOAAARRRRR!]
Erebus's roar, filled with rage, echoed.
At that, Leo drew his sword.
*FWOOOSH-!*
The crimson phoenix flames soared high into the sky.
Leo unleashed a fiery slash towards the gap created by Lunia.
*KWA-GA-GA-GA-!*
[WOOOAAARRRRR!]
Erebus's hateful cry echoed.
'…It hasn't been fully unleashed yet.'
Leo narrowed his eyes.
It was certainly threatening.
But it was weak compared to the fragment of Erebus that the Genesis heroes had fought.
At that moment.
*Wobble-! Thump-!*
Erebus staggered and fell to its knees.
"Is it damaged?"
A mage cried out urgently.
'…No. Neither my attack nor Lunia's attack would have caused that much damage.'
Leo, narrowing his eyes, felt the flames distorting at Erebus's center for a moment.
As if being sucked in.
Seeing that, Leo realized.
'They are fighting from within.'
***
*FWOOOOOSH-!*
Black flames were everywhere.
The landscape was already reduced to ashes.
Seirun, holding Cometos, deployed all his magic.
A magic circle appeared in the air.
"Apocalypse."
As the incantation was completed, destructive light surged.
*KWA-ROOOOAR-!*
The black flames scattered in vain.
Seirun, with burns all over his body, struck down the regenerating black flames with his staff.
*Thump-!*
"You! You're not getting out of here!"
Seirun, screaming with malice, saw the gathered black flames before him.
*GROOOOOOO-!*
A giant of disaster, enveloped in black flames, appeared.
[Foolish.]
The black flames looked down on Seirun indifferently.
[Your allies cannot come to this world.]
The voice contained nothing.
It did not mock Seirun's struggle, nor did it feel anger at being blocked.
It didn't even feel annoyed by Seirun's bother.
It was as if looking at a fleeting life form.
Erebus spoke, as if unable to understand its struggles.
[What can you do alone?]
"I…"
Seirun gritted his teeth, holding Cometos.
"I promised!"
Blood burst from his bitten lips.
"I promised Luna-nim! That I would protect the world they left us!"
Seirun's hands trembled.
He wasn't afraid of death.
He had witnessed the sacrifice of the great heroes.
He had already resigned himself to death.
What he feared was the possibility that he might not be able to protect the world they left behind.
And his own powerlessness, unable to keep his promise.
"I told Luna-nim… to trust only me…!"
Erebus spoke, looking at Seirun, who was steeling himself with a trembling voice.
[What value does a promise made with an illusion that is already dead hold?]
"……!"
[And… even if you make a promise, what good is it?]
For the first time, Erebus's voice contained a sneer.
[You are merely a foolish mortal who overestimates yourself.]
Seirun's hands trembled.
[Luna Rubynance was a great being. She was like a treasure of the lower realm, qualified to challenge me, an immortal being. But you are not Luna Rubynance. Nor are you as great as Luna Rubynance.]
Seirun's face contorted.
[If Luna Rubynance saw you, would she believe it?]
He was speechless.
[Do not make promises that cannot be fulfilled, mortal.]
He knew better than anyone.
That what he was doing now was a futile struggle.
He had long since stopped believing in himself.
His spirit was wearing thin.
The will he had barely held onto was breaking.
Still…
'I can't give up.'
Seirun made a face as if he were about to cry.
'Because I promised them.'