Book 1 Chapter 49

[49]48

"……"

Chloe gripped the black grimoire tightly.

"I wanted to win somehow. But I couldn't think of any way to win. So… so… I borrowed someone else's power, not my own."

Chloe's originally prepared unique magic was an ice-field magic.

However, she thought that she couldn't win against Leo with that magic, so she prepared the unfading flame.

It was not a magic formation Chloe had created.

'I only implemented it based on the magic formation written in this grimoire.'

Even Chloe didn't know the principle of the magic's activation.

She merely brushed it off as her own uniqueness, calling it unique magic.

That was also why she reacted excessively sharply when someone asked about the magic.

On the day of the exam, she announced it, and the unfading flame defeated Leo as expected.

For that moment, she was incredibly happy. She thought she had finally caught up. But…

'There's no way this can be called catching up!'

Chloe, who had been clenching her teeth, let out a bitter laugh.

'What's the point of complaining to this person.'

A genius girl who is still talked about 30 years later.

'She's different from me. She must be special like Leo.'

If she told her innermost thoughts to someone like her, there was no way they could understand.

It would be fortunate if she wasn't mocked.

Alia, who had been silently watching Chloe, smiled.

"As expected, Chloe-nim is similar to me."

"What?"

"Actually. I was incredibly jealous of my older brother."

Alia smiled.

"I thought it was so annoying that he could do everything even though he looked stupid. This is a secret. The basic system of my unique magic was actually created by my older brother. I'm excellent at using existing magic, but I'm terrible at creating new things. In fact, I failed the Lumern entrance exam twice."

Alia pulled her knees to her chest.

Chloe wore a dazed expression.

It was hard to believe the facts about the tragic magic genius who was still talked about.

"There was a time when I truly hated my brother. But then I suddenly thought. If he's someone I hate out of jealousy, doesn't that mean he's worth aspiring to?"

At those words, Chloe looked down at the black grimoire.

'A person to… aspire to?'

***

Leo, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

And he jumped to his feet.

"Leo-nim. What is it?"

In response to Belic's question, Leo looked towards a part of the forest.

"Everyone, prepare for battle!"

Leo's hyper-sense caught something.

At that moment, the opponent also sensed them.

"Leo, what's wrong?"

"It's him."

Chloe gasped.

"No way…?"

"Yes."

Leo drew his sword.

Thump-! Thump-!

The ground shook with the sound.

A moment later, a monstrous giant revealed itself from the bushes.

A height of about 3 meters.

Jet-black skin.

It was the same as the picture she had seen.

"Chubarn…!"

Chloe gritted her teeth.

Chubarn rolled his crimson eyes and looked at Leo.

His mouth opened wide.

"Found you. The sprout of a hero with the same qualities as the hateful great hero!"

At those words, Leo's eyes twitched.

Demons were creatures that prioritized orders from higher ranks.

And Chubarn's order from the Chedmeders incident was to eliminate the sprout of a hero.

That's why Chubarn didn't pay much attention to the conquerors.

'But now this guy is clearly showing hostility towards me.'

Even though Alia, who could be considered his biggest target, was right in front of him, his reaction was strange.

'And now he explicitly called me a sprout of a great hero…'

"Kwoooargh!"

Chubarn roared and charged towards Leo.

Flash-! Kuaang-!

The sinister-looking axe in Chubarn's hand slammed into the ground.

But Leo had already escaped Chubarn's attack range.

Flames-!

A fiery aura formed on Leo's sword.

Kagak-!

Leo's sword slashed at Chubarn's neck.

But it didn't inflict any damage.

Leo's eyes twitched.

Sigh-!

Chubarn grinned hideously as he looked at Leo's face.

"Foolish one!"

Chubarn reached out his hand to grab Leo.

But Leo smirked.

"That's your misconception, you idiot."

"What……"

Kwagagak-!

Chloe's powerful blizzard struck Chubarn.

Chubarn's movements slowed down in the cold icy wind.

Taking advantage of the opening, Leo, who had evaded Chubarn's hand, spun around.

Whirly-! Kuaaaah!

The fiery aura blazed even more fiercely.

Kwack-! Pwahak!

"You cut him!"

"Great!"

The party members cheered.

The sword, amplified by rotational force, had severed Chubarn's neck.

However, Leo's expression was not bright.

'I couldn't cut through the bone.'

Demons were different from normal living beings.

Monstrous races created by Erebus.

This was not a fatal wound.

Leo immediately kicked Chubarn's head and used the recoil to create distance.

'At least the attack works.'

Leo, who took a deep breath and looked at Chubarn, opened his eyes wide.

The blood gushing from Chubarn's wound suddenly stopped.

Not only that.

The spilled blood suddenly began to be sucked back into the wound.

Tuduk- Tuduk-

"Heh, quite a decent attack."

Chubarn chuckled, tilting his head left and right.

Seeing that, Tayad was astonished.

"Impossible! What kind of healing ability is this…!"

"That's not healing."

"What? Then what is it?"

"It's a curse."

A curse was one of the special abilities possessed by demons.

Curses used by lower-ranking demons only weakened the opponent's power, but higher curses even twisted the laws of reality.

"[Nullification]. A troublesome curse that makes attacks disappear."

Leo rested his sword on his shoulder.

"Ho? You know it well."

"Isn't this curse too much for a Level 3 demon?"

"Heh, you speak very arrogantly. But you're right. This curse is a gift from our Demon Queen Silathuna."

The name Demon Queen made the first-year students tremble with fear.

Demon Queen Silathuna.

She was a commander of Tartarus who survived from the Age of Calamity and a trusted subordinate of Erebus.

"That annoying name I haven't heard in a while."

Leo said irritably.

"If attacks are nullified… how are we supposed to win?"

Alia asked, terrified.

"The nullification curse isn't all-powerful. Besides, he's not the one who cast the curse. If used multiple times, the curse disappears."

"Heh. Do you think you guys can survive until the curse disappears?"

With those words, Chubarn's subordinates emerged from the bushes.

"Give up on escaping alive. You, the remnants of the great hero, die here."

"Remnants of the great hero?"

Leo smirked.

"Are you calling me that because I'm an all-class like Kyle?"

"Shut up! Don't utter that hateful name!"

Seeing Chubarn react so violently, Leo understood how Alia's party had escaped Chubarn.

'There were demon surveillance networks set up throughout the forest. Leo and I didn't pay much attention because we weren't considered targets, but…'

Leo sighed.

'This guy learned that I was an all-class through that surveillance network. That's why he kept chasing me.'

Leo, who had been evading demons using his hyper-sense, had inadvertently been playing tag with Chubarn.

Great demons like Silathuna, who survived from the Age of Calamity, were still alive.

Then the demons would remember Kyle.

Kyle, who defeated the creator of Tartarus, would be their greatest enemy.

'It's ironic that people have forgotten about me, but the demons remember me.'

Having assessed the situation, Leo gripped his sword and said,

"Prepare."

"Do you think you pathetic brats can defeat me?"

"Of course."

"Heh, you have great confidence. But are your companions the same as you?"

Chubarn pointed behind him with his finger.

Looking back, the party members were trembling with fear.

"You're the only one with courage. Your companions are at their limit, both mentally and physically."

It wasn't a lie.

The party members were all exhausted from the continuous battles.

"Kekeke."

But Leo burst into laughter at Chubarn's words.

"Why are you laughing? Have you lost your mind?"

"No. It's just that you seem to know too little about Lumern."

"What?"

"Lumern is a school where those who dream of becoming heroes enroll."

The eyes of the hero candidates fell on Leo's back.

Thump- Thump-

Leo took a step.

The trembling of the hero candidates began to subside.

Will slowly returned to their eyes, and aura, magic, and spiritual power surged.

In actual history, they died.

But they didn't stand by and get massacred by Chubarn.

'There was no mention of Chubarn having the [Nullification] curse. That means… Chubarn used up all his [Nullification] curse in the first fight.'

It was proof that not a single person gave up, even if they died.

Much like the great heroes who lost their lives to Erebus long ago.

"That's why I always remember this."

A lesson that all Lumern students hold in their hearts.

The most basic condition for becoming a hero.

"To overcome your limits."

Taat-!

As Leo kicked off the ground, Tayad and Bellak raised their spears and swords and charged together.

"Fools! If you want a wish, I'll kill you first!"

Chubarn roared and swung his axe.

"I'll handle him, so you guys deal with the soldiers."

"Is that possible?"

"It's possible, so don't worry about me!"

Leo charged towards Chubarn.

Crash-!

Chubarn's axe slammed into the ground.

Fragments of earth shot towards Leo like black needles.

'It would be a little better if I could summon Fiora.'

In the world of ordinary heroes, perhaps. But in hero dungeons, which were completely cut off from the outside due to rampaging, summoners could not summon their familiars.

While spirit magic was a form of pact where power was borrowed from all spirits, summoning was a 1:1 contract between the summoner and the familiar.

Therefore, summoners had to summon their familiars beforehand and enter hero dungeons together.

'Spirit magic won't be enough to damage Chubarn. Then…'

Hwaak-!

Leo's image multiplied.

"No!"

Chubarn was aghast.

Illusion magic, Mirage.

The black needles futilely pierced Leo's illusions.

Meanwhile, additional attacks from Leo followed.

He made his right hand into the shape of a gun, and light particles gathered at the tip.

Kiying-!

"A.k. Ray!"

Sizzle-! Flash-!

A small orb of light flew out as a projectile.

The most basic attack magic of the Star Magic.

Magus Dani was astonished to see it.

"That person! Was he a magus? Moreover, Mirage and A.k. Ray? Both are Star Magic!"

Thwack-!

"Tch?"

Hit directly by [A.k. Ray], Chubarn's eyes widened.

Star Magic was created by Luna to subdue demons.

Therefore, it was fundamentally a natural enemy to demons.

"A human uses this hateful magic?!"

"Sorry, but I'm not the only user of Star Magic."

"A.k. Ray."

Alia also unleashed her spell.

This time, not one, but multiple orbs of light rained down on Chubarn.

Pabebbeobeobeok!

"That guy!"

As the light orbs embedded in his body, Chubarn roared.

Goo-goo-goo-!

The [Nullification] curse activated, and all the wounds on Chubarn's body disappeared.

"Tsk."

As Leo clicked his tongue, Chloe shouted.

"Leo! Just hold on a little longer!"

"Don't worry. That's my role."

In response to Leo's answer, Chloe closed her eyes and began chanting.

Modern mages were broadly divided into three forms.

Combat mages who occupied the front lines.

All-round mages who occupied any line.

Traditional mages who occupied the rear lines.

Among them, traditional mages like Chloe had a glaring disadvantage.

'Traditional mages become defenseless while chanting spells.'

As the spell was long, they needed protection from their allies.

However, the advantage was also distinct.

It was an absolute destructive power that couldn't be compared to other mages.

Currently, Alia was an all-round mage in the party.

Although she could use powerful magic consecutively, she lacked an absolute single blow.

'I'm the only one among us who can inflict a critical hit on Chubarn. I can't just rely on Leo. I also… I also have to do something.'

Chubarn's curse flashed through Chloe's mind.

'That magic!'