Book 1 Chapter 492

492.

*Squelch- squelch- squelch-!*

Leo, holding Eljenie's head with nervous irritation, was slitting her throat.

Eljenie, screaming at the pain in her neck, suddenly met Leo's eyes.

A cold, expressionless face devoid of emotion.

And those dry, red eyes.

Seeing that, Eljenie felt a chill run down her spine.

"Kieeeeeeeeee! Gulp!"

The scream that poured from Eljenie's mouth was choked off.

The one who choked her mouth was none other than Leo's sword, which was slitting her throat.

"Stop barking, you're noisy."

"Gulp! Gak! Gak!"

*Gush-!*

Leo, annoyed, put force into the sword stuck in Eljenie's mouth.

The sword, penetrating her mouth and piercing the back of her neck, dug deeper into her flesh.

Eljenie, spitting blood and gasping, her blood-red eyes flickered dangerously.

*Flash-! Boom-!*

A red flash emanated from the blood Eljenie spewed, causing a massive explosion.

A huge explosion that shook the earth.

From the soaring crimson flames and smoke, Eljenie burst out, clutching her throat.

"Hahaha! You fool! Do you know who I am!"

Eljenie sneered, looking at the burning blood-red flames.

"I am the Queen of Blood! My blood becomes a powerful weapon! A power that even heroes fear! Serves you right! Hahaha!"

With bloodshot eyes, she panted and taunted Leo fiercely.

Eljenie, speaking more than necessary.

It was a struggle to escape her fear.

As a demon, she had lived as a being of fear.

Eljenie was a powerful demon from birth, capable of reaching the rank of Legion Commander.

She had fought in countless battlefields and, in the process, fought many heroes.

Eljenie had rarely been in a weaker position.

There were those she had fought against whom she could not handle.

But she could confidently say that no one had been able to kill her like swatting a bug, as they had just now.

The aura Leo exuded was not simply that of an overwhelmingly strong individual or a hunter.

'He was like a butcher.'

It was at this moment, while Eljenie was still trapped in the fear of Leo, who had been imprinted in that brief moment, that something happened.

*Fwoosh-!*

"…!"

The blood-red flames flickered and began to coalesce in one spot.

*Fwoosh-!*

Despite being engulfed by the powerful explosion and flames, Leo's body showed no trace of even a minor scorch mark.

*Fwoosh-!*

Leo, looking down at the burning blood flames of Eljenie on his palm, raised his head.

"The more I look at you, the more annoying you become."

"What did you say?"

"Are you from the Demon Queen's legion?"

"How could you possibly know that?!"

At Leo's words, Eljenie flinched.

Legion Commanders of Tartarus were beings who led demons.

In addition, they could create their own subordinates.

And the tendencies of the created demons would also be revealed according to the Legion Commander's characteristics.

The killing intent in Leo's eyes grew even colder.

This was where Luna had closed her eyes long ago.

He could not tolerate the footsteps of demons in such a place.

Especially if that demon was involved with the Demon Queen, who had a deep, unfavorable connection with Luna 5,000 years ago.

*Fwoosh-!*

The blood flames burning in Leo's hand began to burn a crimson color.

"Purgatory."

Leo completed the incantation.

The flames of purgatory created by stellar magic.

It was the highest spell in the fire-based stellar magic completed by Luna.

Of course, if Luna's mastered 'Flame Emperor' were included, the strongest fire magic in stellar magic would be the Flame Emperor, but unfortunately, the Flame Emperor was a magic that Luna had not completed during her lifetime.

Therefore, based on completed magic, Purgatory was the strongest in the stellar magic fire lineage.

And Purgatory was a kind of lower-compatibility magic of the Flame Emperor, born from the experimental process to complete the Flame Emperor.

However…

'The Flame Emperor was a magic Luna researched to kill Erebus.'

Leo looked at the Purgatory burning in his hand.

Even if it couldn't reach the Flame Emperor, it was a magic with awe-inspiring firepower for demons, not divine beings like Erebus.

Especially.

'It's the natural enemy of demons who wield flames.'

Purgatory was a flame of purification.

It was a magic that exerted a fatal power on demons who wielded flames.

*Fwoosh-!*

Leo's sword was enchanted with Purgatory.

"Leo… young master?"

Chen Xia cautiously called out to Leo.

He was different from the Leo she knew.

"Are you angry?"

Chen Xia asked with concern, and Leo turned back, smiling bitterly.

"Will you two wait here?"

Leo looked back at his sword.

"It's not a sight I particularly want to show."

It was then.

Eljenie, unable to bear Leo's gaze any longer, fled.

She instinctively realized.

That the boy before her was a monster.

Just as Leo was about to pursue Eljenie, a gate opened, and demons poured out.

Leo frowned as he saw that.

"Go, Leo-nim."

Eiran said, drawing her sword.

"Are you alright?"

"You can't forgive this, can you? A demon setting foot in this place where Luna-nim rests."

Eiran said with a sharp gaze, unlike her usual self.

"I can't forgive it either. I'll cut down those grotesque monsters."

At Eiran's words, Chen Xia raised her hand.

"I don't know the situation, but… the moment I decided to follow Leo-doryeong, I never thought of holding him back."

Chen Xia smiled brightly.

"If Eiran-yang and I combine our strength, we can defeat those demons. Don't worry and go execute that Legion Commander."

"Are you sure?"

"Compared to Leo-doryeong, we are still lacking. But please don't treat us as people you have to protect. Remember what I told Duran-gun in combat theory class? I said I'd be waiting at the summit."

Chen Xia smiled sweetly.

"I want to stand on the same stage as Leo-doryeong. I will chase after you with all my might. So please trust me."

"Me too! Leo-nim!"

Leo stared at the two people speaking with such vigor.

Then he let out a hollow laugh.

"As expected, they're fast. The children grow up."

Seeing the two girls growing faster than he had expected, Leo moved forward.

"Then I'll trust you."

Leo stepped into an aura step and pursued Eljenie at immense speed.

"Let's go, Shya-yang!"

Eiran, armed with the shield created by Erquinte and Dweino, eagerly advanced and then stopped.

"Shya-yang?"

Seeing Chen Xia with a slightly displeased expression, Eiran was flustered.

"If you know I'm growing fast, I wish you'd see me as a woman a little."

***

Leo pursued Eljenie, crossing the forest at tremendous speed.

It wasn't long before Leo was held back by the legion Eljenie summoned.

However, that much time was enough for a powerful demon of Legion Commander level to escape.

'If it were an ordinary opponent, that is.'

Leo narrowed his eyes.

His awakened extrasensory perception keenly scanned his surroundings.

During the Age of Calamity.

Great heroes who had exterminated countless demons had, at some point, become objects of fear for demons.

Among them, the one demons feared the most was none other than the surviving hero, Kyle.

The reason was simple.

'It's because I killed demons most brutally.'

It was him who executed traitors and showed brutal methods in the process.

There was no reason to spare demons, the fundamental enemy who plunged the world into ruin.

And through his long mercenary career, Leo knew well.

There was no better way to make a fight easier than to instill fear.

Demons and monsters are also living beings.

As such, they possess fear.

The demons who had faced Leo even once and survived felt immense fear.

*Tap-!*

Leo adjusted his grip on his sword.

At that moment, he threw the sword as if to hurl it.

*Thwack-!*

"Gulp!"

The sword, flying at immense speed, pierced Eljenie's back.

"H-how…!"

"You should give up on running away."

*Thump-!*

Leo gripped his sword.

"The only demon who succeeded in escaping after I decided to kill them when I encountered them on the battlefield was Silatuna."

"Wh-what kind of nonsense is this…."

*Vwoosh-!*

"Kiyak-!"

As Leo thrust his sword upwards, Eljenie's body was brutally torn apart.

*Thwack-! Crack! Clatter-!*

Leo's sword strokes sliced Eljenie's body at immense speed.

"Stop… it! You inferior creatureeeeeee!"

From the immense pain, Eljenie's body spewed blood like shrapnel.

*Clatter-!*

Wherever the blood fragments touched, they caused massive explosions.

However, Leo was not harmed at all by Eljenie's attack.

*Crack-!*

"Kihk!"

It was faster for him to crush Eljenie's head with his foot.

*Crack-! Crack-!*

The sunken head healed at immense speed.

Leo kicked Eljenie away.

Eljenie, who had rolled to the ground miserably, struggled to get up.

"How…!"

"It's not like I've only caught one or two demons."

Leo smiled coldly.

"I've caught so many guys who use all sorts of bizarre powers that I'm sick of it. Most of them rely solely on their innate power."

Leo's sword flashed as he answered.

"Kiiyahhhhhhh!"

*Vwoosh! Slash-! Thwack!*

Leo's sword thoroughly mangled Eljenie.

Eljenie, who was thoroughly tortured by Leo without dying, trembled as she healed.

"You! Why! Why are you doing this to me!"

Seeing Eljenie, who had lost her reason and trembled with rage, Leo said.

"Do you demons need a reason to try to destroy the world?"

Eljenie was speechless.

"It's the same as that. Me killing you, a demon, brutally."

Leo sneered and said.

"Who… are you!"

"Leo Flob, didn't you hear from the Necro-King?"

"Leo Flob?"

Eljenie's face turned ashen.

She had heard from the Necro-King.

That it would be difficult to survive if she encountered him, so she should avoid confronting him as much as possible.

Even at that time, the Legion Commanders, including Eljenie, could not understand.

Why would a human, no matter how much of a hero, need to fear a mere child?

But now, confronting him, she understood the Necro-King's words.

"By the way, you're weak for a Legion Commander. He must have a lot of concerns."

Leo instantly realized that the Legion Commander before him was a weak one among the Legion Commanders.

Even Kygores, the King of Curses, a Legion Commander who had resurrected before, was not this weak.

Although Kygores was not in his full power at the time, he was still commensurate with the power of a Legion Commander.

"Did you take his place after Silatuna disappeared? You can't help but be pathetic."

As Leo sneered, Eljenie's shoulders trembled.

"How dare… a mere human look down on me?"

"I don't think someone who doesn't even qualify to be a Legion Commander should say that."

Leo raised his hand, which was not holding a sword.

Cometes was summoned with powerful magic.

*Gooooo-!*

Powerful stellar magic surged.

"Give up."

Leo sneered.

"It's easier if you give up."

The flames of Purgatory, incomparably more powerful than before, blazed.

*Gooooo-!*

Eljenie's face turned ashen.

At that moment.

*Whirr-!*

"…?"

Cometes reacted.

*Flash-!*

'What is this?'

Suddenly, the spirit of Lisinas surged in Leo's hand.

Cometes reacted to Lisinas's spirit.

*Whirr-! Whirr-!*

'Luna's magic, embedded in Cometes, is resonating?'

Leo, flustered by the uncontrolled power, was moments away from disaster.

*Snap-!*

Cometes turned into particles of light.

"What?"

Leo hastily reached out towards Cometes.

But he couldn't catch Cometes, which had become particles of light.

Seeing that, Leo was astonished.

'The recovery function in Cometes?'

Luna, in her lifetime, had a strong attachment to the staff she used.

As if a knight collects armor,

Luna also had a hobby of collecting powerful magic staffs.

Because of her strong attachment to objects, she had also engraved recovery magic formations on her staffs.

It was a function that only the owner could use.

Neither Leo nor Seirun would be able to use this magic.

'Only one person can use it.'

It was at this moment that Leo showed a bewildered expression.

*Fwooooosh-!*

"W-what is this?"

Eljenie's body began to burn.

Eljenie's face, which had been bewildered, began to fill with ecstasy.

"Ah… power…! Power!"

The blood-red flames soon turned into black flames.

Eljenie trembled with a sense of omnipotence she had never felt before.

"Ah! I can hear it! I can hear it!"

Eljenie, holding her head and rolling her eyes, cried out in a trembling voice.

"The voice of the great god… I can hear it! The god desires it!"

Eljenie, having lost her reason, glared and lunged at Leo.

"Surviving Hero Kyle! Your death!"

At the sudden change in atmosphere, Leo narrowed his eyes and raised his sword.

*Vwoosh-!*

Eljenie's head flew through the air.

Leo had seen something similar before.

'Erebus's phantom.'

It resembled the phantom of Erebus he had encountered at the place where he died.

The fact that Eljenie, who had called him Leo Flob, suddenly called him Kyle seemed to be influenced by that.

Leo, quickly assessing the situation, adjusted his grip on his sword and was about to strike Eljenie's torso when.

*Fwoosh-!*

Eljenie's body was engulfed in black flames and disappeared.

*Gush-!*

Leo, who had swung futilely at the ground, exhaled.

'Did I miss her?'

There was no trace of her.

She had completely vanished.

*Swoosh- Tap-!*

Leo sheathed his sword and returned it to subspace, looking down at the back of the hand that had been holding Cometes.

A contract sigil had appeared there.

It was neither a spirit's nor a mythical beast's.

It was the first contract sigil Leo had ever obtained.

'Heroic Spirit Contract.'

A contract sigil with a heroic spirit he had never formed.

And the faint stellar magic emanating from it made Leo's heart tremble.

*Thud- Thud-*

The entire forest had suddenly become quiet.

The presence of monsters that had been felt until just a moment ago had vanished as if washed away.

Leo, his gaze shifting from his hand, looked around the quiet forest.

And he walked in the direction where Cometes had flown.

*Thud- Thud- Thud-*

The sound of stepping on scattered flowers and fallen leaves echoed quietly.

*Rustle- Rustle-*

Eventually, the footsteps turned into the sound of stepping on vibrant grass.

At that moment, Leo stopped.

'Magic?'

Leo's eyes widened as he saw the illusion magic unfolding before him.

It was an illusion magic that was difficult for even Leo to discern, regardless of who had cast it.

Leo reached out his hand.

Then, the space shimmered, and a new space appeared.

*Shwaaaaaaaa-!*

What appeared before him were two gravestones.

Among them, Leo's gaze was drawn to a familiar gravestone.

5,000 years ago.

A gravestone created by Leo and Lisinas.

And next to it…

'My gravestone.'

A grave where his remains, recovered by Berkyia and Bihard, were buried.

In front of Kyle's grave was a black dagger he had seen before.

'Bihard's dagger?'

It was a dagger that Leo had asked Dweino to make and gifted to Bihard.

The moment Leo approached the grave.

*Whirr-!*

The heroic spirit contract sigil etched on the back of his hand reacted.

Leo's gaze turned to Luna's grave.

There, Cometes, which had become particles of light, was floating.

From within those particles of light, a clear presence could be felt.

Looking at it, Leo felt his heart stir.

'What in the world is going on?'

A question arose.

But there was one thing for sure.

Leo, with trembling hands, reached out towards Cometes.

As he extended his hand to someone invisible.

Someone grasped Leo's hand.

And…

*Whoosh-!*

Petals swirled around.

The particles of light merged into one and gradually took shape.

But it was not the form of a staff.

The light mass began to take on a human form.

And soon, as the light disappeared, a beautiful elf was floating in the air, holding Leo's hand.

Leo, who had suspected it, gasped at the sight.

The elf floating in the air, Luna's body, slowly descended to the ground and landed with a 'rustle'.

Leo, who had been frozen with his hand held, cautiously opened his mouth.

"Luna…?"

At Leo's call, Luna's closed eyes fluttered.

Soon, golden eyes that shone like stars revealed themselves to the world.

*Shwaaaa- The wind blew, scattering her 연은-colored hair.

Her beautiful eyes, which had been hazy as if just awakened, soon focused.

Luna, who had been gazing blankly at Leo, smiled and responded to his call.

"Yes, Kyle."