Book 1 Chapter 369
369
‘This world’s dirtiest paradise.’
Leo walked down the street of pleasure, observing the street scene.
People around him stared at Leo.
Leo’s appearance on this street was very out of place.
The street of pleasure was dirty.
It wasn’t simply that the street itself was dirty.
Everything that constituted this street.
A street built from distorted desires and greed from the deepest parts of human hearts.
It was just as the old woman at the entrance had said.
This was clearly the bottom of the world.
He recalled the dazzling main street from a little while ago.
‘That must have been for show.’
Before being the world’s poorest nation, this country was one where things illegal in other countries were legal.
Such Allehem was the best playground for those in power.
That lavish street must have been the result of squeezing the people living in Elehem.
The scenery of the street of pleasure would be closer to Allehem's true appearance.
‘Well, it probably isn't like this throughout the whole country.’
Just then, three large men blocked Leo’s path.
“What are you staring at so much? Are we fascinating?”
“Just by looking, you seem like a noble young master. What brings you to such a shabby place?”
“No, are you sure it’s a young master? Looking at that smooth face, isn’t it a girl?”
“Could be. Shall we strip them once?”
The three men chuckled, looking at Leo.
The eyes of the three men, who looked like mercenaries, were bloodshot.
Their appearance was ravaged by alcohol and drugs.
As Leo silently stared at the three, the giant leading them furrowed his face.
“What are you staring at, you punk! Is this your first time seeing a rock-bottom life?!”
“Hey, hey! Don’t scare him too much! He might whine about calling his scummy guards.”
“That would be fun too, wouldn’t it? What! Anyway, once you’re in here, you’ll realize that trifling power from outside is not to be trusted!”
They got annoyed, then burst into boisterous laughter among themselves, as if something was funny.
Leo let out a small laugh, looking at the mercenaries.
“I came to find someone.”
“What kind of person?”
“The owner of the Castle of Pleasure.”
As he revealed his purpose for coming here, a chilling silence fell for a moment.
The owner of the Castle of Pleasure.
The one who ruled this street.
No, simply calling him the ruler of the street of chaos might not be enough.
It was no exaggeration to say that he was the de facto owner of this oasis city, Uargella.
To that extent, he was an existence who wielded more immense influence than the lord of this city.
“This punk!”
“Do you know who that person is to dare mention them, you stinking brat! Do you want to die?!”
The mercenaries, who had been drunk on drugs and alcohol, instantly regained their senses.
With pale faces, they shouted at the top of their lungs.
As if they didn't want to participate in this conversation.
Seeing their reaction, Leo tilted his head.
‘Such a reaction just from mentioning them?’
“Where can I meet them?”
“This punk, to the very end!”
“No one can meet that person!”
Leo made an unenthusiastic expression at the mercenaries’ reactions.
“If you don’t know, then I have no business with you.”
“This bastard!”
The mercenaries, provoked by Leo’s retreating figure as he walked away without hesitation, rushed at him.
Thump-thump-thump-!
Simultaneously with the dull thudding sounds, the mercenaries were flying through the air.
Rumble-!
“Cough!”
“Keeek!”
“Ugh!”
The mercenaries who crashed to the ground let out screams of pain.
Elsie, perched on Leo’s shoulder, muttered.
-There are only bad people here.
“Because it’s that kind of neighborhood.”
Leo replied calmly, continuing his walk deeper into the street.
Dilapidated pubs lined the street.
But no matter how much he searched, he couldn’t see a building that could be called a ‘castle.’
Leo narrowed his eyes.
“Elsie.”
-Yes, it’s just as Leo thinks. This street is covered in a spirit’s illusion.
At Elsie’s answer, Leo took out the note Tina had given him from his pocket.
Only Tina’s name was simply written on it.
“With this much power, is it a great spirit?”
He had expected her to be a considerable figure given Tina’s introduction, but he never anticipated that the owner of the Castle of Pleasure would be the contractor of a great spirit.
-Can you find the way?
“Who do you think I am?”
Leo chuckled at Elsie’s question.
Normally, it would have been impossible even to notice this illusion.
But Leo was friends with the strongest summoner in history.
That strongest summoner didn't discriminate between phantom beasts and spirits.
“Compared to his spirit magic, this much is child’s play.”
-Have you ever been affected by Licinas’s spirit magic?
“Many times.”
Leo grimaced, recalling his friend who used spirit magic on him when he got angry.
Then he reached out his hand into the air and grabbed it as if pulling back a curtain.
Crack-!
Space distorted at Leo’s fingertips.
Whoosh-!
As Leo pulled his arm, the space was peeled back, revealing the real path.
In Leo’s eyes, far in the distance, a dazzling castle appeared.
Leo showed a surprised expression at the spirit's power he felt from the castle.
“A spirit of light?”
While within the illusion, its true nature couldn't be known, but now it was distinctly felt.
The spirit that had established itself here was the Great Spirit of Light.
A spirit with the most noble disposition among spirits.
The spirit of light was literally the embodiment and spokesperson of light.
It was certainly astonishing for such a Great Spirit of Light to be situated in such a dirty street.
-Oh, a spirit of light.
Elsie covered her mouth and gasped.
And she looked overjoyed, not knowing what to do.
The era Elsie was born in was an age of catastrophe.
She had to live through a time when a gloomy gray sky covered the world and even the starlight in the night sky couldn't be properly seen.
Therefore, Elsie developed a strong yearning for light.
That was still true even now that she had come to the present world by Leo’s hand.
She was purely delighted at the thought that she might be able to meet a great spirit who wielded such light.
Leo chuckled at Elsie’s reaction.
“Are you that happy?”
-Yes! I’ve always wanted to meet them!
“I’m curious myself what kind of being the Great Spirit of Light is.”
Memories related to the Great Spirit of Light were not entirely pleasant.
5000 years ago.
Luminous, the Great Spirit of Radiance, who was Licinas’s contractor.
She, the Great Spirit of Light, was the first companion Licinas and Leo had to lose.
After Licinas died.
After Erebus was subjugated and even Kyle died.
It was only after a vast period of 5000 years that they could barely keep their promise.
Leo took out the Jewel of Light from his pocket.
The medium for his contract with Elsie.
It was the treasure of the spirits of light that Luminous had left for Leo.
Leo put the jewel away and said.
“Well then, shall we go?”
-Yes!
***
At the top of the Castle of Pleasure.
A woman who was looking down at the street of pleasure, no, at all of Uargella, twitched her eyes.
“To pull back the curtain. Whose doing could that be?”
As she showed her displeasure, the woman waiting beside her closed her eyes slightly and replied.
“An outsider has come to the street of pleasure, Lady Larael.”
“An outsider?”
Even if it was an outsider, this situation was still incomprehensible.
Was there anyone in this country who could see through and break her power?
Larael, pondering, remembered something.
She had already heard that hero candidates were dispatched from Lumerne to investigate anomalies in this country.
“I see. Hero candidates, then?”
The displeasure on Larael's face deepened.
She did not welcome the existence of heroes itself.
“What should we do?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“The hero candidate who found this place is named Leo Flov.”
“That hero candidate whom the Comet Mage designated as a successor?”
“Yes. The one Lady Larael has been waiting for so long…”
“I finished waiting for someone a long time ago.”
The woman flinched at Larael’s chilling words.
“And do you believe that absurd story that the Comet Mage has reappeared on this land?”
“The founder of the Nebula and the Hero of Genesis have also appeared on this land. As for the Comet Mage…”
Larael chuckled at her subordinate’s words.
“The Great Heroes and the Heroes of Genesis are different.”
“Pardon?”
“If the Heroes of Genesis were like the Great Heroes, this world would have met its end long ago.”
“My thoughts haven’t changed.”
Larael muttered, looking out the window.
“Light has long since vanished from this world.”
Leo, heading towards the Castle of Pleasure, stopped walking.
At some point, the people on the street had disappeared without a trace.
-Leo, it’s an illusion.
Elsie said, knitting her brows.
Leo already knew that he had entered the domain of an illusion.
The problem was that this illusion was not merely one that disoriented the eyes.
A brilliant light burst before Leo’s eyes.
“Interesting.”
Leo smirked, seeing the one who revealed themselves.
What appeared before his eyes was none other than Leo himself.
Leo said, looking at the identical illusion as if reflected in a mirror.
“You wield quite tricky spirit magic.”
Illusions are the specialty of light spirits.
A great spirit can create as many realistic illusions as it wants.
But the illusion that appeared before his eyes now had a different level of sophistication.
“It seems you have a very powerful great spirit as your contractor.”
Basically, the power of great spirits is almost equal, but there are differences in combat ability.
That is the difference in years lived and experience.
It is natural that the older and more experienced a spirit is, the more capable it is in combat.
Realistic illusions can be created endlessly.
But illusions that are exactly identical to reality are difficult to make.
Whoosh-!
The light illusion used Gerdinger's flame.
Seeing that, Elsie said.
-Shall I step forward?
Light and darkness are opposing attributes.
If Elsie, a shadow spirit, uses her power, she can distort even the most elaborate illusion.
Stomp-
“No.”
Stepping forward, Leo said resolutely.
There was only one reason why such a powerful illusion blocked Leo’s path.
It meant that the owner of this castle held hostility towards Leo.
To try and drive him away, even by force.
If he used Elsie, he would have to draw out the power of a great spirit.
‘It’s probably better to keep it hidden for now that there are two great spirits of darkness in one era.’
In the first place, the illusion before him was not a significant obstacle for Leo.
“No matter how real it seems, it’s just an illusion in the end.”
Flames of Gerdinger surged from Leo’s body as he curled up the corners of his mouth.
Whoosh-!
Simultaneously with the glint in Leo’s red eyes.
Clang-clang-clang!
A massive fiery sword strike surged upwards.
Whoosh-!
Larael’s eyes twitched, looking at the flames surging from one spot in the castle.
‘So fast?’
The Castle of Pleasure had five major illusions spread out.
The first was an illusion that concealed the castle’s appearance.
The second was the illusion that had just been broken.
From the second illusion onwards, they were dangerous illusions capable of killing all uninvited guests approaching the Castle of Pleasure.
Though it was an illusion, it was a powerful one that could never be broken unless one surpassed its limits.
‘They said he was the best hero candidate in history.’
Larael admitted that she had underestimated Leo’s existence.
‘Well, if he’s a student learning the teachings of Lumerne, this much is naturally to be expected…’
The moment Larael thought that.
Flash!
This time, her expression changed as she looked at the light bursting from another illusion zone.
The third illusion.
The illusion that tested one's belief in oneself was also instantly broken.
The phrase ‘successor of the Comet Mage’ came to Larael’s mind.
‘No, it can’t be.’
The moment Larael denied it.
The fourth illusion was broken through yet again.
The fourth illusion was one that could only be overcome with the mental fortitude to move forward in any situation.
3000 years.
He was the first to break through the fourth illusion.
‘This guy…’
Larael gasped.
‘Just what is his true identity…’
Only the last illusion remained.
The moment she was shocked by that fact.
Bang-!
The door of the topmost floor was violently flung open.
Larael met eyes with a boy with pure white hair and red eyes.
“I thought it was strange for a human to do such a thing.”
Leo tilted his head, looking at Larael.
“I didn’t expect a great spirit to do this without a contractor.”