Book 1 Chapter 442
‘What can I do now?’
Arion pondered deeply.
The current era was different from the one Arion was born and raised in.
The era Arion had to live in was one with a dark future.
‘Children couldn’t even dream. Even I, who followed Lisinas, couldn’t recall the image of the era I wanted.’
Even Arion, who wanted a bright and hopeful future for children, only vaguely imagined it and couldn’t grasp the era of peace.
It was inevitable, as they were a generation that had everything taken away from birth.
And the era of peace they encountered shone brighter than Arion had imagined.
However, the threat had not yet ended.
They didn’t know when the era of disaster would return.
Arion did not want this peace to be broken.
What Arion was teaching now were those preparing to step onto the stage.
“Couldn’t I help those who have already stepped onto the stage?”
Melina’s eyes widened at Arion’s words.
“Are you saying you want to help the graduates?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s a very humbling and grateful thing to say. How do you plan to teach them?”
“I’m not very good at teaching others.”
Arion raised his fist.
“So, there’s only one way.”
“One way?”
“Yes.”
***
“Can you handle it?”
Banir asked with a blank expression.
There was no change in her expression.
However, the atmosphere was not ordinary.
Although she was a graduate of Azonia and the former student council president, she knew how vast the world was.
There were still many powerful individuals in the world stronger than her.
She knew it the moment she first saw Arion.
That this beastman before her, though appearing frail, was strong.
That he was someone above her.
But even so, being provoked like this hurt her pride.
“Hey, hey. Why are you getting so excited?”
Lienia patted Banir’s shoulder with a bright smile.
“We can just fight him once.”
Although she spoke with her usual light tone, Lienia also seemed to have her pride hurt by the provocation, and she glared at Arion with sharp eyes.
“Right, Lis?”
“Yes.”
Lis nodded and fell into thought.
Seeing the three of them, Arion nodded.
“Alright, shall we begin?”
At Arion’s words, Lis, who had drawn his sword, said.
“Lienia, Banir.”
Lis narrowed his eyes.
“Let’s go all out from the start.”
At those words, Lienia and Banir’s expressions turned puzzled for a moment, but they nodded.
Fwah-!
Banir charged at Arion.
Tak-!
Lienia sped through the forest at incredible speed.
Gooooo-!
Lis, with his sword lowered, drew out Schrödinger’s flame.
They quickly switched to combat readiness without letting down their guard.
‘They say it’s the era of heroes.’
The current era, called the era of heroes before it was an era of peace.
The mindset of those who graduated from the Hero Academy and went to the battlefield was definitely different.
Arion looked at Banir, who was rapidly closing the distance.
Sreung-!
Before he knew it, Banir, wielding a long sword and a short sword of roughly medium length, both with obsidian blades, flashed her eyes and swung both swords.
Quagaagaagaag-!
Sparks flew between Arion and Banir.
Arion blocked the sword strikes, swung at an imperceptible speed, with one hand.
Seeing Arion parry all her attacks with one hand, Banir’s eyes twitched.
Arion extended his other hand to subdue Banir.
At that moment, Banir lowered her stance.
Fwah-! Hah-!
Lis, who had approached unnoticed, swung his sword.
Flame aura flickered.
Quagaagaag-!
Arion’s hand and Lis’s sword collided, creating a massive explosion.
Flames engulfed Arion like a crashing wave.
‘He’s perfectly controlling the flame aura?’
Among all attributes, flame was the most fierce and difficult to handle.
While emitting a heat that seemed to burn Arion, it did not harm Banir.
Arion tightened his grip.
Fwah-!
Instantly, a golden aura shot out from Arion and pushed Lis’s sword away.
And he blocked Banir, who was rushing into his embrace, with his other hand.
Chwak-!
Before the sword was fully swung, it was quickly blocked by Arion.
Lis and Banir’s eyes narrowed.
‘He didn’t use aura.’
‘Pure technique.’
They understood this with a single glance during this brief exchange.
Arion still had plenty of room to spare while facing them.
“What are you doing?”
On a cliff overlooking the forest.
Melina, who had been watching the sparring between Arion and the three, bowed her head at the voice from behind.
“You’re here.”
“I felt your magic.”
Leo, who had been sleeping at dawn, noticed Melina using magic and came here.
The magic Melina cast was a barrier.
“Did Arion ask you to?”
“Yes. He asked me to help because he wanted to help the graduates.”
“Is that so?”
Leo stood on the cliff and looked down.
“Will the graduates gain a lot?”
“That depends on what they do.”
Leo said, his gaze fixed on Arion, who was facing Lis and Banir.
“But just facing the strongest will bring them a lot. Arion is at the pinnacle of martial arts.”
Lis breathed heavily and looked at the man standing before him.
He had gone all out from the start against the beastman before him.
He knew he was superior, so he hadn’t been careless at all.
But even with such thorough preparation, he couldn’t easily accept the result.
‘He didn’t counterattack even once.’
Despite the endless onslaught from Lis and Banir, Arion did not attack.
All their attacks were blocked.
It felt like facing a wall of immeasurable height.
‘Where on earth did such a person come from?’
“Your full power isn’t just this, is it?”
Arion said, looking at Lis and Banir.
“Show me your true strength.”
Arion raised his hand.
Gooooo-!
Golden aura flowed from his fingertips.
Seeing that, Lis and Banir flinched.
“If that’s too difficult, shall I come to you?”
As Arion said with a smile and took a step forward.
Flash-!
With a pure white flash, an arrow flew towards Arion.
Quagaagaagaag-! Jjeojeojeok-!
Arion reached out and caught the arrow.
Tak-!
At that moment, a cold frost exploded from the arrow and covered Arion.
Arion’s body froze.
Arion rolled his eyes towards where the arrow had come from.
‘Fusion of aura and magic. The power is considerable.’
“Hah!”
Banir closed the distance to Arion.
Jjeojeok-! Jjaeng-!
Arion broke through the ice and lunged at Banir.
Hwak-!
Instantly, Banir’s body turned into black smoke and disappeared.
‘Aura attribute.’
Arion’s hyper-perception unlocked.
At that moment.
Hwarrrr-!
A giant pillar of flame erupted.
Arion looked at Lis.
Goooooo-!
The blazing phoenix flame was compressed onto Lis’s sword.
Lis, gripping the crimson-glowing sword with both hands, took a stance to swing at Arion.
At the same time, he felt Lienia’s bow aimed at him from afar.
Fwah-! Pyeong-!
The sword and arrow targeted Arion from both directions.
Arion spread his hands.
Hwarrrr-! Jjeojeojeong-!
The fiery sword strike and the freezing arrow targeted Arion.
Instantly.
Goooooo-!
“What?”
Lis’s eyes were filled with shock.
Arion’s aura enveloped the flame aura and the freezing aura.
Hwiwoo-!
As if guiding water currents.
The opposing forces rotated in Arion’s hands as he brought them together.
Lienia, watching from afar, also wore a look of astonishment.
Lis and Lienia delivered their best attacks.
But they didn’t think this would be enough to defeat Arion.
They only planned to tie up Arion’s hands and feet when he defended against their attacks, creating an opening.
The plan was for Banir, the fastest of the three, to exploit that opening.
But to their horror, Arion didn’t just block Lis and Lienia’s attacks; he took control of them.
‘No, if he cuts that aura!’
Banir approached Arion from the darkness.
At that moment, Banir felt her heart sink.
Banir, perfectly hidden in the darkness, made eye contact with Arion.
At that moment.
Jjeojeojeok! Hwarrrr-!
A freezing arrow flew at Lis, and the fiery sword strike went towards Lienia, who was far away.
“Kuk!”
Hwarrrr-!
Lis unleashed his phoenix aura.
Jjeoeoeok-!
But he couldn’t defend against the attack and was flung back.
Kwang! Hwarrrr-!
Lienia also couldn’t defend against the attack.
Tak-!
“Chomp?”
Banir was caught by Arion and subdued by the neck.
Banir, struggling to counterattack, soon slumped her body.
The match was decided.
It wasn’t a matter of being a level or two above.
‘The dimensions are different.’
Arion, looking at Banir, let go with a smile.
Thump-
Banir’s strength gave out, and she sank to the ground.
“Excellent. You are all heroes worthy of carrying an era. I can rest assured.”
Lis pushed back the freezing aura with his own aura and approached.
Lienia, revealing herself from the forest, with her body scorched, looked at Arion in disbelief.
“Is there a need to rest assured? You are already a different dimension of power.”
Lienia asked, gritting her teeth.
Arion replied, looking at Lienia.
“It doesn’t matter that I’m strong. You are still young, aren’t you?”
Arion helped up Banir, who was looking up at him from a sitting position.
“You still have a bright future. You will become even more amazing in the future. In that sense, I want to help you.”
“Help?”
“Would you like to learn this?”
Arion extended his hand.
Golden aura swirled above it.
“Huh?”
The three of them looked astonished.
Arion said, looking at the aura rotating in his palm.
“It’s not a particularly special technique. It’s just a knack for maximizing the power of aura. Depending on how you apply it, you can deflect others’ attacks like just now.”
The three recalled how Arion had deflected Lis and Lienia’s attacks earlier.
“It’s too dangerous for second-year students to learn, so I want you to learn it and teach it to your juniors later.”
“Why are you teaching us such a great technique?”
Lis asked with a puzzled expression.
He knew that the man before him was teaching the second-year students the technique called hyper-perception.
He had also grasped how amazing that technique was.
And on top of that, he was now going to impart another aura skill to them.
Arion smiled at Lis’s question.
“So that I can rest assured.”
Lis and Lienia looked bewildered at Arion’s answer.
Banir’s eyes widened as she looked at the golden aura swirling in Arion’s hand.
‘The aura is rotating in a spiral? And it maximizes the power of aura…….’
3000 years ago.
Azonia the Great Warrior, who was said to be the successor of Arion the Hero.
If Seirun the Comet Mage had redefined star magic, Azonia the Great Warrior succeeded in recreating Arion the Hero’s aura skills.
The one who created [Breath of the Hero], used by beastmen, was also Azonia.
There is one representative skill of Azonia.
‘Spiral.’
A technique that maximizes power by rotating aura.
‘Azonia-sama said this was also Arion-sama’s technique.’
Like Breath of the Hero, Azonia intended to pass on Spiral to the beastmen.
But before that, the heroes of the great opening left the world.
And now, the aura skill Arion was using was too similar to Azonia’s lost technique.
‘A beastman using a lost technique and golden aura, and he even resembles Arion-sama.’
Banir’s eyes widened.
“Could it be… are you…?”
Banir looked at Arion with trembling eyes.
Arion put a finger to his lips, looking at Banir.
Seeing Arion smiling softly, Banir trembled.
‘Hero… Arion?!’