Book 1 Chapter 50

[50]49

Rattle-!

Chloe opened the black grimoire with her right hand.

The magic formations lined up were visible.

Holding a staff in her left hand, she concentrated and began to chant.

A massive amount of magic began to surge due to the formation.

"Huk!"

Chubaren's eyes widened.

Instinctively, he felt Chloe's magic was dangerous.

"Get out of the way! Remnants of the Great Hero!"

"Impatient, aren't we!"

Leo sneered.

Whoosh! Roar-!

Leo gritted his teeth and endured the axe aimed at his waist.

Fwip-!

But he couldn't hold on and was flung away.

He could have dodged the attack, but he deliberately endured it to buy time.

Leo, with a 살벌한 smile, looked at his unnaturally bent left hand and grasped a sword in his other hand.

And then he blocked Chubaren once more.

"You!"

"Sorry, but it's over."

As Leo declared.

Fwoosh-!

The flames Chloe unleashed engulfed Chubaren.

'Not ice, but fire?'

"Kuaaaaaaak!"

Chubaren, directly hit by the flames, writhed in pain.

"Even a Nullification Curse is useless against flames that don't extinguish!"

As Chloe said.

Chubaren's body repeatedly burned and returned to normal.

Finally, the [Nullification] curse ran out of power.

Fwoosh- Thud-!

Chubaren collapsed.

Around that time, Alia's party had also defeated all of Chubaren's subordinates.

Alia's party had no chance of losing to anything less than a demon like Chubaren.

As Chubaren fell, Chloe excitedly ran to Leo.

"Leo! We defeated Chubaren! We defeated that Chubaren!"

Chloe hugged Leo tightly in her joy.

Then, as Chloe looked up, she saw Leo's face so close that their breaths mingled, and she made a surprised expression.

"Chloe, I'm sorry, but my left wrist is broken…"

"Ah! S-sorry!"

Chloe, her face red, quickly backed away.

Leo, clutching his broken wrist, looked at Chubaren.

"Anyway, your unique magic is amazing."

"Uh, uh-huh… my unique magic…"

Chloe trailed off.

Leo looked puzzled at her reaction.

Flicker-!

The flames on Chubaren began to burn fiercely.

Leo's eyes twitched.

Gooooo-!

The red flames burning Chubaren's body began to turn black.

Crackling-!

"Huh?"

Chloe looked down at her staff in dismay.

A crack had appeared in the orb of her staff.

"Chloe! Undo the magic! Quickly!"

At Leo's shout, Chloe quickly dispelled the magic.

Roar-! Crackle! Bang-!

"Kyaa?"

But the orb soon exploded, and the magic began to burn even more fiercely.

"W-why?! I can't control the magic!"

That wasn't all.

The black grimoire in her right hand began to draw on Chloe's magic on its own.

Seeing that, Leo snatched the grimoire from Chloe and threw it away.

Wobble-!

Deprived of her magic, Chloe stumbled.

Leo, quickly supporting Chloe, turned his gaze back to Chubaren.

"Kuaaaa-!"

Chubaren, engulfed in black flames, roared.

"You didn't defeat him?"

"Chloe."

"Yeah?"

"Tell me the truth."

Leo looked at Chloe with a blank expression.

"Your inextinguishable flames. Are they really your unique magic?"

Chloe flinched.

Chloe, conflicted, gritted her teeth as she watched the uncontrolled and rampaging magic.

"No."

Chloe closed her eyes tightly.

"Actually, it's a magic formation from that grimoire."

'As I suspected, it was Erebus's flames.'

Everything made sense.

Why Chloe had been acting strangely.

How she had created inextinguishable flames.

"Listen carefully, Chloe. That magic is dark magic."

"What?"

"It's magic you originally couldn't use. You knew that, didn't you? That the magic wouldn't activate with your power alone."

"W-what is that grimoire?"

"That's a demon machine."

It was a powerful weapon for demons, but for humans, it was an item that gradually caused them to lose their sanity.

'I used dark magic? And I even announced it as my unique magic?'

Chloe's face turned pale.

"Ah! Ah!"

Chloe, clutching her arm, was filled with despair.

Watching Chloe like that, Leo stepped forward.

"Chloe. I'll handle the rest."

"Huh?"

"Nothing has changed. What we have to do is still one thing."

Leo grasped his sword with his uninjured right hand.

"Deal with that damn demon and conquer the hero's world."

Leo smiled.

"Your magic made the Nullification Curse disappear. Now he's just reacting to the dark magic and rampaging. It's time to deal with him."

Leo walked towards Chubaren.

"You know the final decisive blow is the mage's job, right?"

Leaving those words behind, Leo walked towards Chubaren.

"W-we'll help too!"

"That's right! If we work together!"

Teyard and Dina approached and said.

"You're exhausted. You'll just get in the way if something goes wrong."

Leo could only block Chubaren because of his overwhelming combat experience.

Predicting the opponent's attacks, defenses, and counter-attacks, and preparing for the next move, a battle of wits.

Such a dangerous tightrope walk wasn't something anyone could do.

Leo smiled, watching them grit their teeth.

"Guard the rear."

Watching his back, Chloe stared as if entranced.

A hero meant someone who didn't give up when faced with their limits.

'Get up, Chloe Muller!'

Chloe, scolding herself, regained her composure.

'Only that magic.'

A magic she had originally conceived but abandoned in the middle of creating.

'I'll complete it now!'

Completing unfinished magic in practice was an act of utter recklessness.

But now, she had to do it.

Chloe, who had been holding her staff, paused upon seeing the destroyed staff.

"Here you go, Chloe-nim."

Alia handed her staff with a smile.

"Please."

Taking Alia's staff, Chloe closed her eyes.

'I wanted to catch up to Leo somehow.'

But seeing his back steadily moving forward, she realized she had been foolish.

'It's too cool… to be jealous.'

Like heroes in a fairy tale.

His challenge to his limits was so dazzling.

'I'll overcome my limits too, Chloe Muller.'

So as not to be ashamed of the back that believed in her.

She began to combine the formations swirling in her mind.

Chloe's lips began to flow with runes.

Chloe was improvising and combining spells on the spot.

Hearing the spell, Leo smiled.

'It's strange.'

He strode forward without hesitation.

'Why do the pure mage's runes give so much courage?'

He remembered the time he entrusted his back to Luna long ago.

Leo calmly assessed Chubaren's strength.

'Thanks to the dark magic Chloe shot, the most troublesome [Nullification] curse is gone. Moreover, it inflicted tremendous damage.'

Although it led to a rampage, Chubaren was not in perfect condition either.

Leo unleashed his aura.

'I can buy time while the spell is completed.'

"Kwooooooo-!"

The axe blade, surrounded by black flames, attacked Leo.

In response, Leo thrust his sword, filled with red flames, upwards.

Rattle-! Bang!

Leo's sword deflected Chubaren's axe blade.

Leo climbed onto the embedded axe, adjusted his sword, and charged at Chubaren.

Gooooo-!

Black flames enveloped Leo, trying to turn him into ashes.

Leo wrapped his own flames around his entire body, pushing back the black flames.

Fwoosh-!

The two flames intertwined.

However, the black flames gradually encroached on Leo's flames, invading his territory.

Seeing that, Leo increased his firepower.

Flicker! Sizzle-!

His flesh burned from the flames he himself unleashed.

But Leo didn't care.

'Higher. Higher! Higher!'

Leo's eyes flashed red as he shouted.

'Until these damn flames in front of me are completely burned away!'

Roar-!

Leo's flames completely pushed back the black flames.

"Uoooooooooo-!"

Instinctively sensing danger, Chubaren grabbed the axe handle with both hands and swung it towards the sky.

Whoosh-!

Leo's body floated upwards.

Chubaren swung his axe at Leo.

Leo concentrated his amplified firepower to the tip of his sword.

Clang-!

The sword and axe crossed.

And then…

Crack!

Leo's sword cut through the axe.

Whirl!

"Kua-!"

Leo's sword struck Chubaren's neck, who was defenseless.

Thwack-!

Chubaren's head flew into the air.

Leo, who landed on the ground, looked at Chubaren, whose movements had stopped.

Fwoosh-!

The black flames did not extinguish and burned even more fiercely.

'It's going to explode!'

As Leo's eyes widened and he braced for impact.

Chloe's chanting stopped.

"Ice World."

Crack-!

The surroundings instantly froze.

Sizzle-!

The black flames burning with Chubaren's body disappeared without a trace.

Grind-!

Cracks began to appear on Chubaren's body.

Hiss-!

And then it crumbled into dust and scattered.

[1st-year students in danger have been rescued.]

[Chubaren has been defeated.]

Two notification windows appeared before his eyes.

After confirming them, Leo retracted his aura.

"Leo!"

Chloe rushed over in a panic.

"Are you okay?"

"Thanks to you."

Leo smiled and pointed at the black grimoire lying on the ground.

"Chloe, why did you rely on this piece of junk grimoire when you have such amazing magic?"

"I… wanted to beat you somehow."

Leo burst out laughing, looking at Chloe speaking in a barely audible voice.

"Your real unique magic is far more amazing than the magic in this grimoire!"

Leo looked at the frozen surroundings.

"A field magic. It's magic I can't possibly replicate."

Field magic, which turns the surrounding area into one's own domain, was magic that could not be embodied by a Bible.

"I'm always most envious of mages who use magic like this."

Chloe, watching Leo lick his lips, said.

"I'm going to tell everyone at school about this."

"Huh?"

"About cheating on the practical magic exam and that what I announced was dark magic."

Chloe lowered her head.

"I might get expelled. But I have to do it."

Hearing that, Leo chuckled.

"You won't get expelled."

"Huh?"

"Where else would you find a hero candidate like you to expel?"

Leo raised his right hand, patted Chloe's head, and smiled.

"You're going to be a hero. I guarantee it."

Chloe, staring blankly at Leo's smiling face, blushed crimson.

"Y-yes. Th-thank you…"

She answered, lowering her head in embarrassment.

"You're amazing!"

"You were like a real hero!"

At that moment, Alia's party gathered around and cheered.

Leo said, looking at them with sparkling eyes.

"You guys talk for a bit. I'll go finish up."

Leo approached the black grimoire.

It was faint, but it still emitted an ominous aura.

'Sen Liu too… Chloe too… It seems Tartarus is up to something. It makes sense why Albi's world went haywire and became a hero's dungeon.'

Leo gripped his sword and slammed it down onto the black grimoire-!

Gulp! Gulp!

Then black blood gushed out.

The demon machine was a shard of Erebus.

A vast part of it.

As Leo applied force to his sword, it soon turned to sand and disappeared.

Sheathing his sword, Leo brought his right index finger to his temple.

"This is Leo Frove. Can you hear me?"

-Huh? Leo student? Leo student! Ah! You're alive! Thank goodness! We'll release the hero's world immediately.

He heard a flustered voice from outside.

It seemed the hero's world was normalizing since they could communicate.

"No, the conquest is almost complete."

-What? Conquest?

"It took a long time, but please consider it extenuating circumstances."

Leo smiled, looking at Alia's party.

"Leo Frove of Class 5 and Chloe Muller of Class 1. We have defeated Chubaren and rescued Alia's party."

"Here!"

"There's a survivor here!"

At that moment, urgent voices were heard from a distance.

It was a rescue team dispatched from Rumern.

"We're alive!"

"I really thought we were done for at one point!"

When Leo cut off communication with the outside, Chloe and Alia approached.

Alia bowed to the two of them.

"Thank you for saving us. Leo-nim, Chloe-nim. As the party representative, I express my gratitude."

"Ah, no. We're the ones who received a lot of help?"

Chloe waved her hand dismissively.

"Albi!"

At that moment, a boy wearing glasses shouted urgently from among the rescue team.

"Albi brother?"

Alia's eyes widened, and she approached Albi.

"Professor Albi looks so young."

"It was 30 years ago."

[1st-year students in danger are secured.]

[Albi's World: Prologue - The Chedmorders Incident has been conquered.]

Looking at the messages that appeared before her eyes, Chloe sank to the ground.

"They really… succeeded in conquering it, the two of them."

"Good work."

As Leo chuckled.

"Leo-nim! Please take this! It's a token of our gratitude!"

"It's all I can give you right now, but this is quite a good magic ring."

"Thank you for saving us!"

"We will definitely repay you formally later!"

Alia's party members gave them accessories they had as a token of their gratitude.

As they were students from Rumern, they were quite expensive items.

"I'll give you this. It's a very valuable item from our family."

Alia handed Chloe the staff she had borrowed earlier.

"I don't need anything like this."

"No, you saved our lives."

Alia smiled sweetly.

At the same time, the world was engulfed in bright light.

The collapse of the world.

It signified the conquest of the hero's world.

In the disappearing world, a message appeared before Leo's eyes.

[Conquest Reward: Memento]

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