Book 1 Chapter 399
399.
[Conquest Reward: Essence of Thunder, Lisinas's Mana Essence.]
A message appeared before his eyes and then vanished.
Leo watched it disappear and stood up.
The current location was the Hero Record Archive.
In other words, he had conquered the world of Lisinas and emerged.
Leo looked around.
Rhodia was standing there with a dazed expression.
Rhodia, wearing a blank look, spoke.
“As a conquest reward… I inherited Lady Lisinas's unique magic.”
Punishment.
If Doom is Luna's strongest magic, then Punishment is Lisinas's strongest magic.
Leo looked down at his hand.
Essence of Thunder.
It was the power of the Pure White King, the king of Pegasus.
And even Lisinas's Mana Essence.
‘Does this mean all the lost power of the Phantom Beast Kings has been revived in the present world?’
It was a very encouraging development.
This conquest reward would lead to a significant increase in the heroes' combat power in the long run.
“Did you speak with Lady Lisinas?”
At Rhodia’s question, Leo smiled bitterly.
“…We exchanged all the words we needed to.”
“I see.”
Rhodia did not press for details.
She knew that at this moment, Kyle was the one with the heaviest heart.
Just then.
Whoosh-!
A small black flame flickered.
Seeing it, Rhodia sighed deeply.
“It seems… that damned Erebus has found an opening.”
All the Hero Records of the Heroes of Genesis could become an opening for Erebus to escape.
Currently, Rhodia's world was a very small crack made of very small fragments.
But even that crack, he would somehow try to exploit to escape.
Leo saw it and said.
“I need to close this hero's world before it gets encroached upon.”
“Yes. That sounds good.”
Rhodia nodded.
Seeing Rhodia smile, Leo reached out and stroked her head, pressing down lightly.
“Kyle-nim?”
“You did well, Rhodia.”
Leo smiled and spoke to the surprised Rhodia.
“Truly fitting of Lisinas’s successor.”
At those words, Rhodia’s eyes widened.
Then, she cleared her throat! and puffed out her chest.
“Of course!”
She patted her chest and said.
“Until Kyle-nim arrives, we'll definitely hold back this damned fireball! Because thanks to Kyle-nim, we've powered up!”
Seeing Rhodia speak confidently, Leo nodded, took his hand off her head, and stepped back.
“Then, I leave it to you.”
“Leave it to me!”
[Would you like to close the world of Rhodia, the Dragon of Genesis?]
A message appeared before his eyes.
‘Close.’
The moment he thought that.
With a bright light, the world began to disappear.
Rhodia bowed to Leo in the dragon tribe's manner.
“May only blessings fill Kyle-nim’s path.”
“I told you it's not done that way.”
At Leo’s words, Rhodia burst out laughing, “Pfft!”
***
Ar, who had transformed into a beast, glared and delivered a kick to the Hero Hunter in front of her.
Bang-! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Rattle-!
The Hero Hunter, kicked by Ar, broke through several walls of a building and was embedded.
But soon, he calmly stood up.
The reason Ar, who had been on the front lines defending against the monster invasion, came to the streets of Dobella was simple.
The Hero Hunters who could transform into beasts had started attacking the rear.
To clear out the internal enemies, the quick-footed Ar and other class representatives from Azonia stepped forward.
And now, they had reached a stalemate.
“Hmph-! Not bad!”
The beast-man who had been kicked and sent flying by Ar brushed the dust off his body and walked over.
In his hand was Arion's sword, Brave.
“Indeed, worthy of the girl widely reputed as the Hero's successor!”
The beast-man mocked Ar.
“You. They say you’re called the Hero's successor because you can freely transform into a beast.”
“Don't speak of Lord Arion with your filthy mouth.”
An ominous killing intent erupted from Ar's body.
At that, the Hero Hunter flinched for a moment.
“A mere greenhorn, only in her second year.”
But soon, he scowled, annoyed at being overwhelmed by a young girl's aura.
And he said.
“What's so great about Hero Arion that you worship him? That coward!”
“…”
“You don't know, do you? The fact that Arion, whom you worship as a hero, is actually a coward!”
He let out a sneering laugh.
The Hero Hunter had heard the truth about Arion from Tartarus when he received this sword.
“You should have seen that pathetic sight, always trembling in fear when he had to fight!”
Usually, beast-men get excited when they hear stories of Arion.
The Hero Hunter knew this fact, which was why he was throwing such cheap provocations.
But Ar, despite the provocation, blinked her blue eyes.
“Yeah, so?”
“What did you say?”
“So what.”
Seeing Ar speak indifferently, the Hero Hunter’s face contorted.
“Lord Arion is definitely a coward. But.”
Ar recalled Arion's image.
‘Your name is Ar? It’s similar to my name. What? You took it from my name?’
She remembered him teaching her, speaking gently and friendly.
‘Ar, you're truly amazing. You can become an even greater warrior than me!’
‘It’s impossible to become a warrior greater than Lord Arion!’
‘Hiiiiiieek!’
She also remembered him stroking her head and cheering her on.
Of course, he was terrified because Ar went berserk in excitement.
And she remembered his back, charging forward without hesitation when everyone else was trembling in fear.
Arion was definitely a coward.
But…
“That's precisely why he’s so amazing.”
He was the person who overcame that fear and showed the greatest courage in the world.
“The fact that the Hero saved the world remains unchanged.”
Ar mocked her opponent.
“You're just a parasite clinging to Lord Arion’s power, yet you babble so much.”
“You bitch!”
“I’m a cat, actually?”
Ar snorted and bristled her fur.
She remembered Arion, who taught her breathing.
She remembered him cheering her on, saying she would someday become a warrior who surpassed him.
‘I don't know if I can surpass Lord Arion.’
Ar pricked up her ears.
‘I want to be like Lord Arion.’
She took a breath.
And.
“Cough-hooooooooowl!”
She let out a massive howl.
The Hero Hunter, who was about to rush at Ar in excitement, clutched his ears and collapsed to the ground.
A vivid golden aura flickered from Ar’s body.
“What, this uncultured girl…!”
The Hero Hunter, terrified and suppressed by Ar’s howling, tried to shake off the sound.
At that moment.
Howls of beast-men echoed from all over.
On a full moon night, beast-men would transform and howl.
However…
It was neither night nor a full moon now.
The Hero Hunter’s face was filled with shock.
“What in the…!”
***
Whoosh-!
Having exited Rhodia’s world, Leo was looking at the fragment of the Hero Record held in his hand.
A faint spark was rising from the Hero Record fragment.
Proof that Erebus was encroaching upon the Hero Record.
Leo clenched the fragment, generating mana.
Fwoosh-!
The flame of aura that erupted from Leo’s hand burned the Hero Record.
Whoosh-!
Watching Rhodia’s record fragment turn to ash and disappear, Leo murmured.
“I leave it to you.”
While mentally cheering on his juniors who were struggling against Erebus in their own worlds, Leo looked around.
Grrrooooooooooowl-!
A gigantic roar echoed.
He felt killing intent all around.
‘Monsters and magic beasts?’
Countless hostilities and presences, which hadn't been felt until just before entering Rhodia's world, were now palpable.
Leo leaped into the sky.
Reaching a height where the entire Forest of Magic Beasts was visible, Leo furrowed his brow.
Something unusual was happening in the Forest of Magic Beasts.
A feast of monsters and magic beasts.
Leo narrowed his eyes.
Monsters and magic beasts had suddenly appeared.
‘And the monsters are from different eras.’
Even monsters of the same species had distinguishing characteristics depending on their era.
Having studied the appearance and habits of monsters from various eras to conquer hero worlds, it was not difficult to discern these differences.
‘The fact that this has happened… means there wasn’t just one or two hero dungeons Elehem was hiding. Have all those hero dungeons gone berserk?’
Leo wore a puzzled expression.
‘Why? Is it because I opened Rhodia's world that it was affected?’
He didn't know the reason.
But the important thing was that this situation needed to be resolved now.
Leo used an aura step and raced towards Dobella.
And he found Lumerne and Azonia students defending the city walls of Dobella against the monsters.
As Leo descended to the ground,
Grrrooooooooooowl-!
A Gigantes raised a massive iron club, guarding the city wall.
“Block it!”
“We don't have enough hands now!”
“Our mana is depleted!”
Screams erupted from among the Lumerne students defending the wall.
Whoosh-!
“No!”
“Aargh! Dodge!”
Just as the Gigantes was about to strike the wall.
Clang-! Thud-!
A heavy impact sound of metal colliding echoed.
Along with it, a shockwave scattered dust around.
The Lumerne students stared wide-eyed at the person who was blocking the Gigantes’s iron club with one hand.
“Class rep? It's the class rep!”
Illiana, who had been standing on the wall defending against monsters, brightened.
“Leo is here!”
“It’s the student council president!”
Cheers erupted from everywhere.
“Where have you been for hours?!”
As Illiana urgently shouted, Leo said.
“I had some urgent business to take care of.”
Saying that, Leo put strength into his hand.
Flex-!
Veins bulged.
Whoosh-!
Grrroooooooo?
Thump!
As Leo pushed with force, the Gigantes's body staggered and then fell backward.
Along with it, surrounding monsters were crushed to death.
Seeing that, the surrounding students gaped.
“Even if it’s the student council president…”
“Isn’t that too monstrous?”
While the Lumerne students were stunned.
“Amazing!”
“Incredible!”
The Azonia students excitedly raised their voices.
Illiana also showed a somewhat calm reaction, having witnessed Leo's almost eccentric actions since her first year.
“Class rep seems to be moving further and further beyond the human category.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Leo chuckled at Illiana’s words, then made a puzzled expression.
“By the way, where are the others?”
The strong ones, equivalent to second-year top students, were not visible.
At Leo’s question, Illiana’s expression darkened.
“The Azonia class representatives went to stop the Hero Hunters.”
“Hero Hunters?”
“Yes. Hero Hunters who can transform into beasts attacked.”
At Illiana’s words, Leo's face hardened.
“Our class representatives…”
Grrrooooooow-!
Just then, black magic power surged from the center of Dobella street.
The mass of black magic power cut through everything around it like a blade.
‘That’s…’
While Leo wore a surprised expression.
“They went to stop that monster that suddenly appeared and started indiscriminately firing dragon language magic.”
Illiana gritted her teeth.
At that, Leo said.
“Please take care of the city wall.”
Leo gripped his sword.
“I’ll handle what’s behind.”
And just as he was about to move forward.
“Cough-hooooooooowl!”
A howling sound was heard.
At that moment, Leo's movement stopped.
“Arion?”
He opened his eyes wide and looked towards where the howling came from.
Courage swelled in his chest.
A roar so similar to his friend’s howling.
At that moment.
Whoosh-!
A golden light enveloped the bodies of the Azonia students.
“What is this?”
Illiana wore a look of shock.
Leo was likewise surprised.
“Beast transformation?”
It wasn't a full moon night, yet the Azonia students began to transform into beasts.
Leo looked once again towards where the howling came from.
“No way… Ar?”