Book 1 Chapter 452

452.

Extrasensory perception.

It was a power Arion had possessed since birth, a power that allowed Arion to know things others did not.

Thanks to it, Arion, when extrasensory perception was activated, could wield a power close to precognition.

However, in relation to this power, Arion had one secret he hadn't told even his friends.

'I hate this power.'

More accurately, he was afraid of this power.

Knowing things that others didn't know was more painful than he imagined.

Especially in the Age of Calamity, even more so.

He had instinctively felt the horror of the calamity that engulfed the world from the moment he was born.

The fact that he was easily startled and terrified by small things was also due to his childhood experiences.

That incident had become a trauma, and he had never once used his extrasensory perception to its absolute limit.

Only after meeting his master, undergoing training, and being able to control his extrasensory perception to some extent, could Arion escape his fear.

But the stronger Arion became, the sharper his extrasensory perception grew.

It reached a level where he could foresee a short future in battle.

And just before entering the final battle.

Arion had to witness the deaths of Kyle and Luna.

'I hated it.'

Seeing the future.

'I was scared.'

That the future might be their failure.

But somehow, he had to find a way for Kyle and Luna to live.

The path he found was his own death.

In the eyes of others, it must have seemed like a noble sacrifice to save his friends.

'But I just selfishly whined to my brother and sister… to people like family.'

Arion gritted his teeth.

'I'm just a coward who chose the easy path, trusting blindly.'

And seeing the saved future, he selfishly felt relieved.

He boasted that the world was saved and he would find what he wanted to do, without even knowing that Leo was still carrying his burden.

'As much as it pained me for Kyle to die, it must have pained Kyle for me to die too!'

He hated himself for only now realizing that fact, to the point of trembling.

He tried to open his extrasensory perception and see the future to change it somehow.

That extrasensory perception was now gone.

More precisely, it had dulled.

Sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.

His sharpened senses still conveyed countless pieces of information.

But the combat sense, close to precognition, was lost.

Overload due to excessive ability use.

It was the result of using extrasensory perception excessively after hearing Erebus's words.

Despite struggling to see the future in that way, he couldn't see it.

'Perhaps… it's because I'm a fake.'

Arion gritted his teeth.

God had died long ago.

He, who was here, was merely a record in the Hero Record.

Whoosh-!

Arion burst through the black flames.

With a fierce expression, he lunged at Erebus and swung his sword.

"Hwaap!"

Kwagagagang-!

The golden aura sliced Erebus's body.

-Do you think you can cut me with such a dull sword!

Erebus roared and struck Arion with his hand.

Pweok-!

"Ugh?!"

With his extrasensory perception limited, he couldn't anticipate Erebus's movements.

When directly hit by the attack, an immense shock enveloped his entire body.

A simple physical attack.

But that attack contained the power to crush body and mind and destroy the soul.

Wheeeeing! Kwaang-!

Arion, struck by Erebus's attack and sent flying, slammed into the ground.

Leo urgently ran to Arion.

"Arion!"

Kwaaaah! Thud-thud-!

As Arion slammed into the ground, dust and stone fragments that had shot into the sky fell back down.

Swoosh-!

Arion, who got up, spoke.

"Kyle. Prepare Innocent for me."

"Are you okay? You don't look good."

"I'm fine."

Arion glared at Erebus.

"Trust me. I won't be a burden anymore!"

"What? Hey! Arion!"

"Kuh-heo-uh-uh-eong!"

Leaving Leo's urgent call behind, Arion let out a howl as if to reassure himself.

Arion, with wide eyes, gripped his sword tighter and charged.

"That idiot!"

Leo gritted his teeth, watching his retreating figure.

"Why is Lord Arion saying such things?"

Melina wore a bewildered expression.

"He's been shaken by Erebus's words. Arion is easily intimidated."

Leo knew well that his friend, whom he regarded as a younger brother, was too tender-hearted and kind.

"Will he be alright?"

Melina's eyes trembled.

At Melina's question, Leo took a deep breath.

"He'll be alright."

Leo looked at Arion's back.

"Arion was the one who faced the most despair among us. He's also the one who overcame many trials."

There was not an iota of wavering in Leo's voice.

"Arion isn't someone who would collapse from words like that."

Leo said, sending absolute trust.

"Melina, you go deal with the monsters."

"Yes!"

***

The hero candidates guarding the castle paled at the sight of the endlessly surging monsters.

"There are too many!"

"There are more than the Monster Queen's legion we faced last year!"

Anxious voices were heard among the students of Lumerne and Seirun.

Seeing them, Lise, who had conjured a fiery aura, shouted.

"Don't be afraid of the numbers! Compared to the Monster Queen's legion last time, there may be more of them, but each individual's strength is weaker!"

Simultaneously with Lise's shout, the party members who had been fighting Erebus arrived from the sky.

"I'll help! Sweeping away many enemies is my specialty."

Torua said with a grin.

"Magic Department, assemble! Prepare for joint magic!"

At his words, the 1st and 2nd-year magic students moved in perfect order.

"Seirun, also formation!"

Rienia commanded the Seirun students.

"The Knight Department will stop the monsters climbing the castle walls with the Azonia and Demian students!"

As Zamua took the lead and stepped forward, Ar also raised his fist beside him.

"I can't show a disgraceful appearance in front of Lord Arion! Azonia students, forward too!"

"You! Impudent cat! Commanding is my job?!"

"Kyaaak!"

Banir put Ar in a headlock.

Uleta gathered the summoners and distributed them well between the knight students and mages.

Meanwhile, Kal, who had climbed the castle wall, gulped.

"They might not be as strong as the Monster Queen's legion… but still, there are too many, aren't there?"

Last time, the Monster Queen's legion was strong, but their allied forces were equally powerful.

Not only human and elf heroes, but also hero candidates from Lumerne and Seirun had gathered.

And even celebrated heroes who had dominated an era.

In contrast, their current allied forces consisted entirely of hero candidates.

Chelsea gripped her staff tightly at Kal's mumble.

"It's okay."

Kal and Chelsea were not suited for joint magic, so they took on the role of stopping monsters on the castle wall.

"We have the Dragon Lord, don't we?"

At the same time, a massive magical power pulsed in the sky.

Around Melina, her original silver magical power and the black magical power she inherited from Lisynus's power flickered simultaneously.

Thump- thump-

Melina's dragon heart beat rapidly, spewing out magical power.

Accordingly, the space around her began to distort.

Seeing that, Chelsea gulped.

"Melina, the Silent Dragon… Although she hasn't appeared for a long time, leading to that fact being forgotten… she was the one who assaulted the World of Creation. Though the result was failure."

Sizzle-!

The space around Melina not only distorted but began to crack.

"She is considered one of the strongest Dragon Lords in the history of the Age of Heroes."

As Chelsea finished speaking, Melina whispered.

"Silence."

Erebus's creations, which had been charging towards the castle wall with an imposing display of power, instantly stopped moving.

The monsters standing in place looked at each other with bewildered faces.

Then, one by one, they began to turn into white powder and vanish.

It was literally a chilling sight.

Tartaros's legion-level forces quietly annihilated by a single spell.

Everyone who saw it looked at Melina with awe.

Melina landed on the castle wall.

It was exactly where Kal and Chelsea were standing.

Her veil fluttered in the wind.

"Everyone. Do not be afraid."

Melina said with strong emphasis.

"As long as I am here, the castle wall will not fall."

At her words, the hero candidates raised their weapons and cheered.

"Whooooaahhh!"

"Dragon Lord!"

Their morale instantly soared at Melina's overwhelming majesty.

"Wow… she's like a goddess."

"Thank you, Kal."

Melina, having heard Kal's murmur, smiled sweetly and greeted him.

For a moment, Melina's face was slightly revealed beneath her veil.

Kal flinched at the sight.

A somehow familiar face.

Their apparent age was clearly different.

But the atmosphere perfectly matched someone Kal knew.

Kal asked with a look of disbelief.

"Teacher Mel?"

Chelsea next to him also stared at Kal with wide eyes.

At Kal's reaction, Melina put her index finger to her lips and shushed softly.

"Shh-!"

At that action, Kal and Chelsea unknowingly imitated Melina's gesture.

Meanwhile, the monster legion continued to be summoned endlessly.

The moment Melina and the hero candidates were about to gather their strength.

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-! Kwaaaang!

Something flew and slammed into the castle wall.

Everyone flinched and looked at the broken castle wall.

Thud-thud-!

From there, Arion rose to his feet.

"Damn it!"

Arion showed an uncharacteristic passion.

The sword he held had melted without a trace.

A fierce aura flickered in Arion's eyes.

Everyone flinched and recoiled at his spirit.

Arion, with a distorted face, glared in the direction he had been sent flying from.

There lay Erebus, so mangled that his form was barely recognizable by Arion.

Erebus, who had been writhing, soon regained his original form.

Arion threw away the completely useless sword and unconsciously pulled out a sword from the sub-space bracelet Luna had made for him.

And then he stopped.

He gritted his teeth and looked at the sword in his hand.

It was a broken Brave.

"This kind of sword won't do!"

Clang-!

Arion roughly flung Brave away.

His gentle and naive demeanor was nowhere to be found.

Arion's face looked somewhat fierce and also impatient.

"Ah, Lord Arion…"

Ar's face turned pale at Arion's appearance, which was different from what he knew.

"Don't worry. Wait."

Goooo-!

A golden aura pulsed from Arion's body.

"Because I will defeat that."

A voice filled with fierce determination.

That appearance was the Arion Ar had known before entering Azonia.

Like a wild beast on the battlefield.

A warrior who fought against enemies without faltering even in despairing situations.

Arion, the hero with overwhelming martial prowess.

"J-just a moment! Lord Arion!"

Ar urgently called out to Arion, but Arion kicked off the ground and charged straight towards Erebus, who had recovered.

He wasn't holding a sword.

But as Arion, who flew to Erebus at invisible speed, punched, Erebus's massive body shot into the sky.

"Amazing…!"

Borman exclaimed.

"Perhaps that is the true form of the Hero."

It was when Luen mumbled in admiration.

"No…"

Ar gritted his teeth.

"What?"

"That's not Lord Arion's true form!"