Book 1 Chapter 469

Leo let out a light sigh as he looked up at the five individuals looking down at him from the sky.

"Are you from the Justice Guild?"

At Leo's question, the mage, who appeared to be their leader, adjusted his grip on his staff.

"My name is Settian. I am the royal court mage of the great Kingdom of Petimon. I am a mage who enforces justice under the king's command."

"You possess considerable skill for a royal court mage of a border kingdom?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, does it matter?"

Leo drew his sword at Settian's evasive answer.

*Swish-!*

"If I capture and interrogate you, that will be the end of it."

The moment he said that, a large man standing next to Settian grabbed the giant battle axe on his back with both hands and flew towards Leo.

"Hyrryap!"

A red aura formed around the battle axe with a fierce war cry.

Seeing that, Lil downed her wine in one gulp and roughly threw the wine bottle aside.

*Clang-!*

As the wine bottle shattered, the battle hammer summoned in Lil's hand cleaved through the air.

*Whoosh-!*

*Kwang-!*

"Hoho? I heard the representative of Lumern's 3rd year wasn't a knight class."

"That's right, I'm an elementalist."

"Hmph. Yet, you intend to engage in close combat with me, a knight?"

"I'm not bad at close combat either."

"Presumptuous!"

The man, who was about three heads taller than Lil, emanated an even more powerful aura.

As he did, the space distorted.

Lil's body seemed to sway, and then she was sent flying, unable to withstand the man's power.

*Kwagagagagang-!*

Thick sand dust rose from where Lil had been thrown.

"As expected, youth is wonderful! An elementalist daring to face a knight! But you're no match!"

He laughed heartily and smiled at Leo.

"Well then, let's see the skills of the famous Leo Plove."

Leo, seeing the man's eagerness to fight him, pointed a finger behind the knight.

"I don't think you're in a position to worry about me?"

"What?"

*Kwaaang! Hwararruk-!*

The knight who had boldly charged was engulfed in a powerful explosion.

It was the same flame that had engulfed Leo and Lil moments before.

Lil had been controlling it with elemental magic, but she had now released her control.

*Hwarururuk-!*

Leo brushed off the flames that wrapped around him and protested.

"That was too much."

"I thought Leo wouldn't be harmed by flames of that extent."

Lil, with her battle hammer slung over her shoulder, walked towards him with a nonchalant expression.

Even though Leo was caught in Lil's counterattack, she showed no concern.

'Indeed, fire-attribute attacks don't affect me much.'

Regardless of what anyone else said, Leo wielded Zerdinger's flame aura and had a contract with a phoenix.

However, even so, Lil was not ordinary to counterattack without the slightest hesitation.

'Is she naturally gifted with exceptional combat sense?'

Leo already knew that Lil was a formidable opponent, but he had never seen her fight in a real battle.

As Leo looked at Lil with interest.

"This is amazing."

The knight who had charged laughed bravely and got up.

"You are a strong warrior, even though you are a young girl!"

The knight, with his battle axe slung over his shoulder, grinned.

"My name is Joren! I am a member of the Royal Knights of the Kingdom of Petimon! I have come to enforce justice by order of His Majesty the King!"

He shouted heartily, then lifted his battle axe and began to spin it.

*Hung hung hung hung-!*

"I hope this will be a glorious battle that makes my blood boil!"

*Kwaaaaaaa-!*

A red aura created a colossal storm.

It was a natural disaster created by overwhelming physical force.

Lil's eyes twitched at the sight.

She then summoned a wind spirit and countered the wind created by Joren.

The soldiers of Kanel, who were being swept away by the typhoon he created, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Viscount Esiman."

Lil called out to Viscount Esiman in a heavy voice.

"Yes."

Esiman swallowed dryly.

He had experienced countless battlefields since childhood.

Auras, magic, and summoned creatures rained down on the battlefield.

As such, he had witnessed innumerable scenes where one overwhelmingly powerful individual influenced the tide of battle.

Even so, he had never directly witnessed a battle between individuals with transcendental abilities.

However, after witnessing the battle just now, he intuited it.

'A fight that far surpasses the standards of ordinary people.'

The war between Kanel and Petimon had unilaterally changed course with the intervention of the Justice Guild.

Kanel Kingdom had been ravaged by beings of overwhelming power.

'But if I get caught up in this battle now… I feel like it will result in damage incomparable to anything before!'

"Lead the soldiers and retreat. Leo and I will handle this battlefield."

"Understood."

Viscount Esiman quickly led his troops.

Seeing that, Lil felt a sense of relief internally.

'It's fortunate that Viscount Esiman is a capable commander.'

Having seen many commanders since childhood from a prestigious military family, Lil recognized Esiman as a capable commander with just a brief glance.

Joren scoffed at the sight of the troops retreating in an orderly fashion.

"Are you fleeing the battlefield now? You are people who know nothing of honor."

"You are the ones who know nothing of honor."

Lil's voice rumbled.

Moments ago, Joren had tried to kill the soldiers around them.

And Lil, who had battlefield experience, immediately understood Joren's intention to slaughter the soldiers.

It wasn't an intention to gain an advantage in future battles.

It was simply sheer overconfidence.

A massacre to make people feel fear and revere him.

Lil had seen many such people on the battlefield.

And Lil hated and loathed such people the most.

Joren nodded as if he understood Lil's words.

"It's a pure student's values, unblemished by the world. How nostalgic. I was like that once too."

"What did you say?"

"I was a Lumern student too."

"Someone like you?"

Lil revealed her disbelief.

Seeing Lil's expression, Joren twisted his lips.

"Yes, although I was expelled in the 5th year without graduating. Do you know Professor Halind? That man expelled me."

Joren pointed his battle axe at Lil.

"You said your name was Lil Luce, right? As the student representative, you must know that heroes are chosen beings. To be chosen by the gods by overcoming trials and achieving great deeds for the world, to realize justice. They are literally the representatives of the gods."

"What does that have to do with slaughter?"

"Do you know the concept of karma?"

"Karma?"

Lil furrowed her brow.

Leo, who had been listening, twitched his eyes.

"Karma? Are you talking about retribution? How do you know about that?"

"Hoho, as expected of the youngest student council president. You know a concept that only appears in ancient texts."

Karma.

It was before the age of calamity.

A concept the gods spoke of during the age of gods.

Karma accumulated each time a life was taken.

'I recall it was said that some beings called heroes during the age of gods accumulated tremendous karma.'

Leo remembered Lisyneas's words.

'Some gods even said that killing one's own kind was a great deed. That's why there were many gods who excessively praised war heroes.'

Lisyneas expressed disgust.

'In this era, after the gods have disappeared, gods are considered beings of absolute good, but that is not the reality.'

Leo sighed.

There were certainly good gods.

Pivoh, whom he met in Luna's world, was a god who truly cared for the world.

But gods were not absolute good beings.

'Rather, many of them had natures closer to chaos.'

The absolute ruler who managed the world.

The omnipotent immortal.

That was the existence of a god.

Among the gods who managed the world over unimaginable eons, many were hedonists who pursued extreme stimulation.

The deeper the pleasure, the more it contorted into strange forms.

Therefore, in the age of gods, there were righteous heroes like the Guardian of the Sky, Arion's teacher, and also those whose desires were twisted, unlike true heroes.

And Leo had buried such individuals during the age of calamity.

'There was no standard for heroes in my era.'

After the age of calamity ended.

As the great deeds of the great heroes were recorded in the Hero Records and passed down to posterity, the standard for heroes also changed to those devoted to the world.

However…

'Still, those chosen by the gods are inscribed in the Hero Records.'

Leo knew that twisted heroes like those from the age of gods certainly existed.

They were just pretending because they didn't fit the image of heroes in the current era.

And Leo realized this upon hearing Joren's words.

'These guys are that kind of heroes.'

"Karma, I still don't understand."

As Lil furrowed her brows, Leo explained.

"Think of it simply. To the gods, they can see how many lives have been taken. The number of murders visible to the gods is called karma."

"Amazing. You know even that?"

Settian, who was confronting Leo, exclaimed.

"As expected of someone who became a hero at such a young age. Leo Plove. Have you also received divine teachings?"

Settian asked, his eyes shining.

Leo let out a hollow laugh at Settian.

'Indeed, I can see what kind of people the Justice Guild are.'

The outline was becoming clear.

Even at this moment, he felt no malice or murderous intent from the people before him.

'The words of those who claim to enforce justice are true. Even while committing slaughter, they show no hesitation, nor do they exhibit any emotions or guilt. Even the most deranged murderer feels some emotion, be it pleasure or something else, when killing someone.'

But these people had none of that.

'What I feel from these individuals is conviction.'

Leo let out a hollow laugh.

And it was a very twisted conviction.

He had seen something similar in the elves.

Blind adoration for Luna.

Pride in their race.

But the Justice Guild was even more blatant than that.

He was convinced by the phrase "divine teachings."

A group that couldn't be found in this era.

'A kind of religious group. And not just any religion, but a cult.'

Leo let out a hollow laugh.

"Do you think slaughter is a form of the gods' will?"

"It is not the will of the gods. It is a trial to become a representative of the gods."

Settian said.

"They are 'experience points' to make our vessels into heroes."

"Madness…"

"Bastards."

Leo, about to curse, instinctively looked to the side.

Lil, who had bowed her head, was trembling.

"What do you think of human lives, you scum?"

*Goo-ooo-ooo-!*

An unusual spiritual energy welled up from Lil's body.

*Flash-!* Lil raised her head, her eyes glinting.

"You crazy lunatics! I'll blow all your heads off!"

Leo was taken aback by Lil's wild outburst, spewing coarse curses that were unlike her usual gentle and polite demeanor.

'It's scary when the normally quiet one loses it.'

For a moment, even Leo flinched.

But now that he knew exactly what kind of place the Justice Guild was.

There was no need to hesitate.

*Goo-ooo-!*

A chilling murderous intent emanated from Leo's eyes.

Seeing Leo, not only Settian but also the other Justice Guild members shivered.

"You will not become heroes."

"Foolish one! Are you refusing to follow the will of the gods?"

"Gods?"

Leo smiled coldly.

"Have you ever seen a god directly?"

"What?"

"I know a thing or two about gods. If they saw the current situation, they would definitely say this."

Leo's expression vanished from his face.

"You don't even deserve to breathe, so cut their throats."