Book 1 Chapter 537

"Will it be okay?"

Aeran asked with a worried expression.

At those words, Lunia covered her face and said,

"What could happen?"

"But… what if Lord Leo and Berchia clash?"

"Things got complicated, but I don't think this situation is entirely bad."

When Berchia first said she would punish Leo, Lunia was flustered by the sudden turn of events.

However, looking at it calmly, Leo and Berchia meeting was an ideal situation.

"Lady Lunia is right. Our goal was to get Leo and Lord Berchia to meet."

Chen Xia also nodded.

"Right. And… I doubt we need to worry about Leo when the two of them meet."

Lunia made a slightly displeased face.

"That's right."

Chen Xia nodded in agreement.

Berchia said she would punish Leo.

But was that possible?

It wasn't just that Leo was Berchia's teacher that made her worried.

"I'm sure Leo won't let Berchia off the hook."

Lunia knew this too.

She knew how Berchia felt about Kyle.

The young Berchia Lunia met in Dwenno's world clearly saw the hero of the beginning, Kyle, as a father.

Leo's feelings towards Berchia were likely not much different.

Even though he acted as if he disliked his disciple,

saying she was insolent or rebellious.

Leo trusted Berchia more than anyone else.

That's why Leo's face was somber throughout the pursuit of Berchia.

And.

'What will you do when you meet Lord Berchia?'

'What will I do? I'll beat her up.'

When Lunia carefully asked, Leo answered nonchalantly.

'Shouldn't we be worrying about Lord Berchia instead?'

Lunia sighed.

At that moment, Aeran, who had been standing quietly, looked around the room where Berchia was staying.

Then she muttered,

"For some reason, they look alike."

"Huh? What do?"

Lunia asked with a puzzled expression at the sudden remark.

"Doesn't it resemble the atmosphere of Lord Leo's old house, which I saw in Lord Dwenno's world?"

At those words, Lunia looked around.

Then she nodded.

"It does resemble it."

Overall, it felt desolate, with no signs of life.

Only essential items were present, and everything else was neatly organized.

It was like the home of someone who would never return.

Looking at the scene, Lunia sat hunched on a dining chair, her legs crossed, and gazed at the interior.

She remembered what Dryana had said after seeing Kyle's home.

'Perhaps she hasn't attached her heart to this space.'

The desolate appearance, as if the owner would never return.

At the time, she thought it was just the determined mindset of a great hero.

But now, she couldn't imagine what Leo was thinking.

Lunia casually turned her head and looked at the table full of empty plates.

It was the only place in this house that felt warm.

"Perhaps the reason Berchia trashed the house while being scolded so much… was because she wanted to create a reason for Leo to return?"

"Ah…"

Aeran exclaimed, recalling Berchia who had made a mess of the house.

Chen Xia, who let out a deep sigh while listening to their conversation, said as she cleared the dishes,

"Let's start by cleaning up."

"Yes, right."

"Let's divide the work."

As the three of them were about to clear the mountain of dishes.

*Woong-*

"Huh?"

Chen Xia's eyes widened at the resonating sound coming from her chest.

She put down the dishes and took out the object emitting the sound.

"Ah?"

Chen Xia's eyes widened as she saw Bihr's dagger resonating.

***

'Something happened.'

Even though it was nearing dawn, Lunia and Aeran showed no signs of returning.

Seeing that, Leo realized something had happened and let out a deep sigh.

'Things are escalating.'

He didn't distrust Lunia, Aeran, and Chen Xia.

They were the hero candidates he had chosen.

He believed they would overcome any trial that came their way.

'But the situation is serious now.'

Leo, who was perched on the windowsill, looked out the window.

'Berchia is definitely in this city. And this city is twisted.'

Even amidst the blizzard, the people on the streets were blooming with laughter.

They seemed to be acting all high and mighty on this cold land.

But their eyes writhed with desire.

Eyes unlike those of elves.

Elves are inherently noble beings.

No matter how terrible her personality, Luna was always noble on the battlefield.

Not only that.

Leo had never seen a race as noble as elves when they put everything on the line.

'But not all elves are noble.'

Elves are noble because they are not ashamed to prove their worth.

But these people here are different.

They consider themselves noble, but what sustains them is their elven bloodline and the magic of the stars.

They might consider that special, but Leo didn't see it that way.

'This city is strange.'

While its appearance might be splendid, Leo could see it.

The deep darkness lurking beneath the surface of this city.

He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but he could smell a stench that rotted his nose.

Berchia was likely in this city for that reason.

Yet, the city was remarkably peaceful.

The mindset prevalent in this city was undoubtedly the kind that Berchia despised the most.

It wouldn't be strange if the vengeful specter that Berchia had become set this city ablaze.

'Should I consider it fortunate?'

Leo let out a deep sigh.

It wasn't that he felt fortunate because he was worried about the city.

'Hate consumes oneself.'

Endlessly burning hatred ultimately consumes oneself.

A screaming and writhing Berchia would eventually lose herself.

It was fortunate.

That she died before that happened in her lifetime.

Otherwise, Berchia would literally have become a disaster.

But now that she is a dead specter?

'It will become more and more irreversible.'

That's why Leo felt relieved.

Berchia, as she was now, hadn't crossed the line.

He wasn't worried about the residents living in this land.

No, rather, if this land of pure bloodliners had allied with Tartarus.

Leo would not hesitate to burn down this Elden.

And erase its traces from the face of the earth.

'I am not Lissinas.'

Leo knew this.

Not only Leo.

Lissinas, Luna, Aron, Dwenno.

All those who sacrificed their lives for that era knew that the saved world was not such an ideal world.

Yet they didn't hesitate to give their lives.

Because they knew it wasn't only dark and twisted.

And one more thing.

'Everyone followed Lissinas's will.'

The King of Wisdom.

The title the gods bestowed upon her.

'The gods didn't simply call her king because Lissinas was wise and prudent.'

In 5,000 years of history, Lissinas was the only one.

The one who received the title of king in the Hero Record.

The one called king by the gods.

And to the gods, the title of king was more special than anything else.

The inhabitants of the land have vast territories and call the people living there kings.

But the kings the gods spoke of transcended that concept.

'It literally means the king of the world, the master.'

Later generations believe Lissinas was called the King of Wisdom because she was the wisest in history, but that's not it.

The King of Wisdom meant the wise master of the world recognized by the gods.

'Perhaps she is the only one. The one called king by the gods.'

The reason the gods evaluated Lissinas so highly was extremely simple.

'Because she bore everything.'

It didn't just end with her firing the first shot of the counterattack to defeat Erebus.

She carried the world on her shoulders and moved towards the light.

Those who committed evil.

Those who committed sins.

Even those who betrayed the world.

Lissinas forgave and accepted them.

She gave them a chance.

Although she had the duty to punish the wicked as the Black Dragon, Lissinas accepted them.

Of course, it was Leo who judged those who rejected that opportunity.

Leo said.

Traitors cannot be tolerated.

But Lissinas shook her head.

That, too, is a part of the world we are saving.

And what was achieved by bringing all of that together was salvation.

A benevolent, noble, and radiant master of the world.

'That's why I respect you, Lissinas. But that's also why I can't become like you.'

Leo's eyes turned cold.

Lissinas would have been able to unite the numerous factions existing on the ground.

But unfortunately, Leo is not Lissinas.

He excises rotten flesh with his own hands.

Efficiently.

'Just like I did 5,000 years ago.'

That's why Leo now understood why Berchia was leaving this city alone.

'I didn't teach her everything. But…'

In the end, what Berchia learned was from him.

Berchia knew.

What Kyle… and Bihr had done.

What they had done in the darkness.

Berchia tried to follow Leo and Bihr when they went into the darkness.

But Leo and Bihr always pushed Berchia away.

This is not a place for you to come.

Although she couldn't step in, Berchia surely saw.

How Leo and Bihr moved.

'She's discerning.'

Who is worth saving.

Although Berchia is clearly a monster now.

She is not a monster that has lost her reason.

That's why Leo's heart felt heavy.

Berchia will progressively lose more of her boundaries.

As he thought that.

*Creeeeak-*

The door opened.

Leo's eyes twitched.

His extrasensory perception was still active.

He felt no presence.

That means.

*Click-*

Berchia entered, closing the door.

And looked at Leo with hollow eyes.

At that gaze, Leo descended from the windowsill.

Leo and Berchia's eyes met in the air.

Leo squeezed his eyes shut.

A reunion after 5,000 years.

But in feeling, it wouldn't have been that long.

For Leo, it was a reunion after a little over a decade.

And for Berchia, it was likely decades.

Even so, the Berchia before him was not the Berchia Leo knew.

Her eyes lacked vitality.

It wasn't because she was undead.

Berchia's eyes, which had never lost their light, had become dry.

Her lightless eyes squeezed Leo's heart.

He already knew Berchia was undead.

He had already known she would look like this.

But…

Seeing it with his own eyes was different.

Leo looked at the ceiling.

'Damn world.'

He knew.

That it was a dirty world.

Knowing that, he saved the world.

That's why he had no regrets or resentment.

Even if it was someone else's conviction.

He followed it because that conviction had value.

But at this moment.

He regretted it.

Saving the world.

He resented.

His own weak self, who was satisfied and closed his eyes at that moment.

Leo's red eyes turned towards Berchia.

Berchia, who was staring intently at his eyes, muttered,

"Those are incredibly arrogant eyes."

Eyes full of pity.

Eyes filled with profound sadness.

Eyes that seemed to understand everything.

For a moment, Berchia's face contorted.

He felt an instinctive revulsion at that gaze, which seemed to pierce through his very being.

'Not anymore.'

There was no one who could look at him with such eyes.

So.

"Don't look at me with those eyes."