Book 1 Chapter 482
482.
Under the sky painted with twilight.
A knight with a longsword and a knight with a greatsword stood facing each other.
The knight of the greatsword, Tamus, armed with resplendent gear, spoke.
“You bravely came alone, Knight of Twilight.”
Tamus said in a cold voice.
“The ignorant fools of the world often prattle.”
Tamus pointed the Nox in his hand at Lumern.
“That the Knight of Twilight is the successor of Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings.”
Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings.
2000 years ago.
The last great hero who saved the world from the brink of destruction.
He overcame countless hardships and trials and transcended innumerable limits.
Kyle, who ultimately saved the world even in desperate situations, is still respected as a role model for all heroes 2000 years later.
A hero's epithet is bestowed by the gods.
Literally, Kyle was the beginning of a new era acknowledged by the gods.
Therefore, every hero wishes to be called Kyle's successor.
“I cannot accept that.”
Tamus narrowed his eyes.
“The Hero of Beginnings is the greatest, most honorable, and strongest hero. It's preposterous that a slave like you could be the successor of such a person.”
At those words, Lumern closed his eyes.
“Furthermore, you failed to obtain the clear reward even after clearing the Hero of Beginnings' world. Do you think someone like you is fit to be the successor of the Hero of Beginnings?”
“I know better than anyone that I am not fit to be the successor of the Hero of Beginnings.”
Lumern replied calmly to Tamus's words.
“Because I failed to overcome my limits.”
Lumern looked down at his hands and said.
“It's nonsense for me, who couldn't overcome and gave up, to be Lord Kyle's successor.”
Even after clearing Kyle's world, Lumern did not receive the clear reward.
Lumern thought he hadn't received the clear reward because he wasn't worthy of being Kyle's successor.
'Since I was young, I've admired and respected him. So I wanted to carry on his will.'
But even reaching a position close to him, he ultimately couldn't reach him.
That was his limit.
His comrades each did their part.
Befitting the successors of great heroes, they inherited the power of their respective great heroes.
'But I, who couldn't inherit Lord Kyle's power, failed to do my part. That's why I almost drove my friends to their deaths.'
No matter how much he reached out, he couldn't touch Kyle.
From the very foundation, they were different.
Kyle was an all-class, and he was a magic swordsman.
“You know your place well.”
Tamus sneered at Lumern.
“If I, not you, had been in the position to clear Kyle's world… I would certainly have seized Kyle's power.”
“No, you wouldn't have been able to inherit Lord Kyle's power either.”
“What?”
“Isn't it funny to think that just because I'm not Lord Kyle's successor, you are?”
“How dare a lowly slave like you utter such blasphemy in front of whom?”
“Rhodea waited for you until the very end, she believed you would come.”
Lumern's eyes turned cold.
“Not just Rhodea. Seyrun, Azonia, and Damien too. Though they now walk completely different paths, they believed without a doubt that you, as a hero, would surely come.”
“You…”
“Everyone in the world waited for you.”
Until the moment the recurrence of disaster ended.
The Knight of Hades was considered the strongest hero in the world.
His fame was greater than that of the Hero of Genesis.
Many also spoke of him as a hero stronger than the Hero of Genesis.
It wasn't just his personal combat power.
The forces he commanded were so formidable that they not only shook the hegemony of the continent but even threatened Tartarus.
Even the shadows, who avoided showing themselves to the world as objects of fear and contempt, appeared on the battlefields of Tartarus, led by the Shan Empire.
“Everyone united their strength against the recurring disaster. Because everyone knew why we were driven to the brink of destruction 2000 years ago.”
The reason the world faced the brink of destruction during the Age of Disaster.
It wasn't simply a problem of the catastrophic entity Erebus alone.
Beyond that, the divided world was powerless before the advance of Tartarus.
Even as the world spiraled towards destruction, they didn't stop their strife.
After the Age of Disaster ended and a new era began.
The world endeavored to prevent such things from repeating.
“There was division and conflict. Disputes between races, wars between factions were incessant. But we didn't forget the past. For the past 2000 years, whenever Tartarus stirred, the world has put away its blades against each other and fought against evil.”
The conflict between the Heroes of Genesis and the Knight of Hades was a famous story.
But in the face of a global crisis, they believed they would unite their strength.
People believed without a doubt that the Knight of Hades, called the strongest hero, would draw his sword to destroy evil.
But what returned was a betrayal of that trust.
People fell into deep despair.
In the midst of that, the Heroes of Genesis subjugated the fragments of Erebus and saved the world.
Their joy was short-lived.
People directed their anger towards the Knight of Hades and his empire, Tarim.
Anger soon turned into mockery.
“Your sin wasn't merely standing by during a global crisis. You severed the bonds that had continued for the past 2000 years.”
Anger rose in Lumern's face.
“You, with your own hands, destroyed one of the greatest legacies the great heroes bequeathed to us. And yet, how dare you claim to be Lord Kyle's successor?”
“Hmph. A thought befitting a lowly slave.”
Tamus snorted.
“In the end, weren't the fragments of Erebus subjugated? The very fact that they were handled by your hands without this supreme hero stepping forward must mean they weren't a significant threat.”
Tamus wore an arrogant expression.
“If you fall by my hand, people will soon realize. That this body is still the supreme hero.”
Gooooo-!
Pitch-black aura gushed from Tamus's body.
“That your achievements are nothing special. If that happens… Rhodea. That wench will also realize! That her choice was wrong!”
Flash-!
His eyes flashed.
Spiritual power erupted from his body.
“Glorious spirits who follow my will! Arise! Show this arrogant one, who challenges my majesty, that the heavens are high!”
With Tamus's roar, a sub-space opened, and heroes' armaments poured out.
Spirits summoned from the armaments appeared.
Tamus's proud hero army.
Heroes who fell by his hand, or heroes who lost their lives on the battlefield while following him.
Tamus had made contracts with such heroes, enslaving them as spirits.
A technique only possible for him, who was called the strongest spirit master in 2000 years of history since the Age of Heroes.
It was why he was called the strongest hero.
But the spirits did not move even at Tamus's command.
“Insolent! Why do you not obey my command?!”
Tamus wore a flustered expression.
“I told you, you betrayed the world's trust.”
Lumern pointed his sword at Tamus.
“Did you think the spirits would follow someone like you?”
At Lumern's cold words, Tamus's face contorted.
“Worthless scum. How dare they betray me.”
Whoosh-!
Tamus, who sent the spirits back, curled up the corners of his mouth.
“It doesn't matter. The reason I am called the strongest hero is not because of spirit mastery.”
Tamus lowered his stance and re-gripped Nox.
“What can you do alone? Your achievement is merely an achievement made by relying on my former comrades.”
Lumern had only been with Rhodea five years ago.
Tamus remembered when he first met Lumern.
Lumern had certainly cleared the great hero's world alone.
But it was only the [Prologue].
Considering that time, Lumern was a weakling who hadn't even earned the title of hero.
Only five years.
How strong could a weakling who couldn't even properly block his single strike have become?
CRACK-!
Tamus charged at Lumern.
Slish-!
And his vision flipped.
“What?”
Tamus uttered a dazed sound.
Tamus didn't know.
That when all the Heroes of Genesis fell.
It was Lumern, the Knight of Twilight, who refused to give up until the end and cut off the head of the Erebus fragment.
That Lumern's power had long since surpassed Tamus's.
And Lumern's swordsmanship was…
'…Hero of Beginnings… Kyle?'
Tamus had never entered Kyle's world.
But he had met him in the worlds of other great heroes.
That's why he instantly recognized that the trajectory of Lumern's sword shown moments ago was identical to Kyle's.
From his flipped vision, Lumern's back was visible.
His figure somehow overlapped with Kyle's.
'To mock me with lies! You inherited Kyle's power, didn't you!'
Blood rushed to Tamus's eyes.
'How could he have become so strong in such a short time?'
Tamus was engulfed by the questions swirling in his mind.
'I see! He didn't grow strong with his own power, but with the clear reward from Hero Record! Unacceptable! Fake hero!'
Tamus, who had reached his own conclusion, spewed hatred.
'It's all your fault! My betrayal by the spirits! Rhodea abandoning me! My failure to inherit the great hero's power! My failure to inherit Kyle's power! It's all your fault!'
His consciousness faded.
'If only you weren't here! That position would have been mine…!'
***
“You madman.”
“What… did you say?”
“Why are you my successor? I never had a successor like you.”
“Do you also think Lumern is your successor?! That wretch is of lowly slave origin! He is not a successor befitting your great name!”
Tamus shouted in an agitated voice.
“I, Tamus, of noble birth! I am the one who is suitable to be your successor…”
“I don't particularly think Lumern is my successor either. What's important about being a successor? Everyone who tries to save the world are the ones who follow in our footsteps.”
Leo said indifferently.
“In that sense, you're not even a hero, let alone my successor.”
“What?”
At Leo's declaration, Tamus's body trembled with rage.
“Yes, I see. You are not Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings.”
“Just now you called me Kyle with your own mouth.”
“The Hero of Beginnings wouldn't possibly fail to recognize me.”
“He's truly insane.”
Leo knew he was dealing with someone unreasonable, but he didn't expect it to be this bad, so he simply let out a hollow laugh.
A glint of light flashed from within the hood.
“I ascended to the position of a hero with divine recognition. How dare a wretch like you lecture me, who has been recognized by the gods, about hero qualifications?”
“If you say it like that, I have nothing to say, but.”
Leo curled the corners of his mouth.
“Still, you're not a hero.”
“Insolent and arrogant.”
Killing intent surged from Tamus's body.
“A fake hero who arose by borrowing the power of Hero Record, daring to evaluate me…!”
The moment Tamus was enraged.
His movements stopped.
And soon, his body began to tremble like an aspen leaf.
“Th-this… impossible…!”
Tamus looked at the message before his eyes with a shocked expression.
[Hero's Qualification has been revoked.]