Book 1 Chapter 399

399.

[Clear Reward: Essence of Thunder, Mana Essence of Lisinas.]

The message that appeared before his eyes then disappeared.

Leo, watching it, pushed himself up.

He was currently in the Hero Record Archive.

This meant he had cleared the world of Lisinas and exited.

Leo looked around.

Rodia stood there with a dazed expression.

Rodia, still dazed, spoke.

"As a clear reward… I inherited Lord Lisinas's unique magic."

Punishment.

If Ruin was Luna's strongest magic, Punishment was Lisinas's strongest magic.

Leo looked down at his own hands.

Essence of Thunder.

It was the power of the pure white king, the king of Pegasus.

And also Lisinas's Mana Essence.

'With this, has the power of the vanished Beast King been fully revived in this world?'

It was an extremely encouraging development.

In the long run, this clear reward would lead to a significant increase in the heroes' power.

"Did you talk with Lord Lisinas?"

At Rodia's question, Leo smiled bitterly.

"…We've exchanged all that we needed to say."

"I see."

Rodia didn't pry further.

She knew that Kyle was the one carrying the heaviest burden in their current situation.

Just then.

Fwooosh-!

A small black flame ignited.

Seeing it, Rodia let out a deep sigh.

"It seems… that damned Erebus has found an opening."

The Hero Records of the heroes of creation could all become an opening for Erebus to escape.

Currently, Rodia's world was a very small opening composed of tiny fragments.

Yet, even such a small opening was being used to try and break out.

Leo, watching it, said,

"We need to close the hero's world before it gets consumed."

"Yes. That would be for the best."

Rodia nodded.

Seeing Rodia's faint smile, Leo reached out and ruffled her hair as if pressing down.

"Kyle-nim?"

"You were brilliant, Rodia."

Leo said with a smile towards the surprised Rodia.

"Truly worthy of being Lisinas's successor."

At those words, Rodia's eyes widened.

Then, she puffed out her chest, saying, "Ahem!"

"Of course!"

She declared, slapping her chest.

"Until Kyle-nim comes, we'll hold back this damned fireball for sure! Thanks to Kyle-nim, we've powered up too!"

Nodding at Rodia, who spoke reliably, Leo removed his hand from her head and took a step back.

"Then, I'll leave it to you."

"Leave it to us!"

[Close the world of the creator dragon, Rodia?]

A message appeared before his eyes.

'Close.'

The moment he thought that.

With a bright light, the world began to disappear.

Towards Leo, Rodia bowed in the dragon clan's way.

"May only blessings be upon Kyle-nim's path."

"That's not how you do it."

At Leo's words, Rodia burst into a chuckle.

***

Arga, who was signing, glared at the hero hunter before her and unleashed a kick.

Pooong-! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Thud-!

The hero hunter, kicked by Arga, smashed through several building walls and was buried.

However, he soon got up as if nothing had happened.

Arga, who had been defending against monster invasions at the front lines, came to Dobella's street for a simple reason.

Hero hunters who used sign language had begun attacking the rear.

To eliminate the internal enemies, fast-moving Arga and other representatives of Azonia stepped up.

And now, it had reached a stalemate.

"Heh heh heh! Not bad!"

The beastman who had been kicked by Arga walked over, brushing off the dust on his body.

In his hand was the sword of Arion, Brave.

"As expected of a woman renowned as the successor of a hero!"

The beastman scoffed at Arga.

"They say you're called the successor of a hero because you can use sign language freely."

"Don't speak of Arion-nim with that filthy mouth."

A sinister aura emanated from Arga's body.

At that, the hero hunter flinched momentarily.

"Still a greenhorn, only in her second year."

However, he soon frowned, realizing he was being dominated by the aura of the young girl.

And he said,

"Why do you worship that Arion, a mere coward?!"

"…"

"You wouldn't know, would you? That Arion, whom you all worship as a hero, is actually a coward!"

He cackled.

The hero hunter had received this sword and heard the truth about Arion from Tartaros.

"You should have seen his pathetic state, trembling with fear every time he stepped onto the battlefield!"

Most beastmen would get excited hearing stories about Arion.

The hero hunter knew this, which was why he was making such a cheap provocation.

But despite the provocation, Arga blinked her blue eyes.

"Yeah, so?"

"What?"

"What about it?"

Seeing Arga speak so calmly, the hero hunter's face contorted.

"Arion-nim is undoubtedly a coward. But."

Arga recalled Arion's appearance.

'His name is Arya? It sounds similar to mine. What? It's named after me?'

She remembered him teaching her, speaking softly and kindly.

'Arga, you are truly amazing. You can become an even greater warrior than me!'

'It's impossible to become a greater warrior than Arion-nim!'

'Eeeeeek!'

She also recalled him patting her head and cheering her on.

Of course, he was terribly scared by Arga's uncontrolled rampages, but still.

And she remembered his back as he charged forward without hesitation when everyone else trembled in fear.

Arion was definitely a coward.

But…

"That's precisely why he is amazing."

He was someone who overcame that fear and showed the greatest courage in the world.

"The fact that the hero saved the world remains unchanged."

Arga scoffed at her opponent.

"You, who leech off Arion-nim's power, dare to spout such nonsense."

"You damn bitch!"

"I'm a cat, actually."

Arga bristled her fur with a snort.

She remembered Arion teaching her breathing techniques.

She remembered his encouragement that she would one day become a warrior who surpassed him.

'Whether I can surpass Arion-nim or not, I don't know.'

Arga's ears perked up.

'I want to be like Arion-nim.'

She inhaled.

And then.

"Keeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrr!"

She let out a mighty howl.

The hero hunter, who had been rushing at Arga in excitement, clutched his ears and collapsed on the spot.

A clear golden aura shimmered from Arga's body.

"What a brutish bitch…!"

The hero hunter, overwhelmed by Arga's howl and terrified, tried to shake off the howl.

At that moment.

Roars of beastmen echoed from all around.

On a night with a full moon, beastmen would howl while signing.

But…

It wasn't night, and it wasn't a full moon.

The hero hunter's face was filled with shock.

"What is… this!"

***

Fwooosh-!

Leo, who had exited Rodia's world, looked at the fragment of the Hero Record he held in his hand.

A faint ember was rising from the Hero Record fragment.

Proof that Erebus was consuming the Hero Records.

Clutching the fragment, Leo generated mana.

Fwooosh-!

The aura flames that erupted from Leo's hand burned the Hero Record.

Fwooosh-!

Watching Rodia's record fragment turn to ashes and disappear, Leo muttered,

"I'm counting on you."

While silently cheering for his juniors who were fighting tooth and nail against Erebus in their own worlds, Leo looked around.

Gwooooorrrrrrrrrr-!

A colossal roar echoed.

A killing intent could be felt from the surroundings.

'Monsters and demons?'

Countless hostile presences and auras, which hadn't been felt until just before entering Rodia's world, could now be felt.

Leo leaped into the sky.

Reaching a height where he could see the entire forest of demons, Leo narrowed his brow.

Something unusual was happening in the forest of demons.

A feast of monsters and demonic beasts.

Leo narrowed his eyes.

Monsters and demonic beasts that had suddenly appeared.

'And the eras of the monsters are all different.'

Even monsters of the same species have distinguishing characteristics depending on their era.

Having studied the appearance and habits of monsters from various eras to clear hero worlds, it wasn't difficult to discern the differences.

'If something like this has happened… it means there are more than a few hidden Hero Dungeons in Elehem. Have all those Hero Dungeons gone berserk?'

Leo wore a puzzled expression.

'Why? Was it affected because I opened Rodia's world?'

The reason was unknown.

But the important thing was that he had to resolve this situation now.

Leo stepped on Aura Step and dashed towards Dobella.

And on Dobella's city walls, he found Lumen and Azonia students holding back the monsters.

As Leo descended to the ground.

Gwooooorrrrrrrrrr-!

A Gigantes, wielding a massive iron club, was guarding the city wall.

"Hold them back!"

"We're short-handed right now!"

"Our mana is depleted!"

Screams erupted from among the Lumen students defending the city wall.

Fwooosh-!

"No!"

"Aaaaah! Incoming!"

Just as the Gigantes was about to strike the city wall.

Clang-! KABOOM-!

A heavy impact sound of metal colliding echoed.

The shockwave generated by it scattered dust around.

The Lumen students' eyes widened as they looked at the person blocking the Gigantes's iron club with one hand.

"Captain? It's the Captain!"

Iliana, who had been blocking monsters on the city wall, had a bright expression.

"Leo's here!"

"It's the Student Council President!"

Cheers erupted from all around.

"Where were you for the past few hours?!"

Iliana shouted urgently, and Leo replied,

"I had something urgent to take care of."

Saying that, Leo tightened his grip.

*Flex-*!

His veins bulged.

Fwoong-!

Gwooooorrrrrrrrrr?

Thump!

As Leo pushed with all his might, the Gigantes staggered and then fell backward.

Along with it, the nearby monsters were crushed and died.

Seeing that, the surrounding students' mouths gaped.

"Ah, even for the Student Council President…"

"Isn't that too monstrous?"

While the Lumen students were astonished.

"Impressive!"

"Amazing!"

The Azonia students exclaimed excitedly.

Iliana, having witnessed Leo's almost bizarre actions since her first year, also reacted with a bit of composure.

"Captain seems to be going further beyond the human realm."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Leo chuckled at Iliana's words and wore a puzzled expression.

"By the way, where are the others?"

The strong individuals corresponding to the second-year tower were nowhere to be seen.

At Leo's question, Iliana's expression turned grim.

"The Azonia grade representatives have gone to stop the hero hunters."

"Hero hunters?"

"Yes. Hero hunters who use sign language have attacked."

At Iliana's words, Leo's face hardened.

"Our grade representatives…"

GoooOOOOOOOOOO-!

At that moment, black mana surged from the center of Dobella's street.

The mass of black mana, like a blade, severed everything around it.

'Is that…'

As Leo's expression turned to surprise.

"They've gone to stop that monster that suddenly appeared and started firing Dragon Tongue Magic."

Iliana gritted her teeth.

At that, Leo said,

"I'll leave the city wall to you."

Leo gripped his sword.

"I'll handle what's behind it."

As he was about to move forward.

"Keeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr!"

A howling sound was heard.

At that moment, Leo's movement stopped.

"Arion?"

His eyes widened, and he looked in the direction where the howl had come from.

Courage surged in his chest.

A roar that sounded so much like his friend's howl.

At that moment.

Fwooosh-!

A golden light enveloped the bodies of the Azonia students.

"What is this?"

Iliana wore a look of shock.

Leo was the same.

"Sign language?"

Even though it wasn't a full moon night, the Azonia students began to sign.

Leo looked again in the direction where the howl had come from.

"Could it be… Arga?"