Book 1 Chapter 547

547.

It was truly a dream-like time for both Berkhia and Bihal.

Their bodies had long since died.

Berkhia closed her eyes, hating the world, and Bihal closed his eyes, grieving that he couldn't stop Berkhia.

5000 years passed, and Berkhia became a revenant, while Bihal became a spirit.

The end of their lives was clearly a tragedy.

But…

Berkhia looked at Eiran, who was eating with difficulty.

"Eiran."

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry for showing you such a clumsy side of myself. You must be disappointed, right?"

At those words, Eiran, who had been blinking her large eyes, averted her gaze slightly and replied.

"Rather than being disappointed… I was scared."

"…"

"It felt like you weren't the Berkhia I knew. And I couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for you… so I was scared."

She bore the weight of the world entirely, dedicating everything she had to create a better world.

And what returned was betrayal.

It was not surprising that Berkhia became an undead out of hatred.

"Still."

Eiran smiled brightly.

"Lady Berkhia is Lady Berkhia."

The hero who strived harder than anyone else for the world.

The fact that she was still Eiran's favorite and most admired hero remained unchanged.

Watching such an Eiran, Berkhia closed her eyes.

She felt unwavering trust from Eiran.

"I want to be like Lady Berkhia."

She realized anew.

This unchanging trust was a greater solace and comfort than anything else.

'Was Master Luna like this too?'

Even at this moment, what kept her rooted in this land as an undead was her hatred for the world.

Even now, she was sick of it.

The fact that she had dedicated herself to such a world.

The fact that her friend had stepped into darkness and toiled her entire life for such a world.

The fact that great heroes had sacrificed everything to save such a world.

But…

'Perhaps I should have tried a little harder.'

A sense of regret lingered at the words of her young descendant.

It felt as if vitality was returning to Berkhia's weary soul.

Berkhia approached Eiran and rubbed her descendant's cheek.

Just as Luna had done for her when she was young.

And then she uttered the words Luna often used to say to her young self.

"You can definitely do it."

She smiled brightly, a smile that somehow resembled Luna's.

"Even after 5000 years, you haven't changed."

Berkhia looked at Leo.

"The path that the great heroes took…"

Then she cast her gaze on Bihal, who stood beside her.

"The path we followed…"

Finally, Berkhia stepped back and looked at the three girls.

"Now you are trying to follow that path."

Generations succeeded generations.

The world saved by the great heroes passed to her.

The world she had revived passed to the next generation.

'It wasn't wrong.'

At that moment, she felt everything was wrong.

But it wasn't.

"Indeed, the world was worth saving, Bihal."

Berkhia smiled brightly, looking at her friend standing beside her.

Seeing her look of somehow relieved, Bihal nodded.

-Yes, it's just that the era we lived in was dawn.

A time when the sun hadn't yet risen.

A grey period where darkness and light intersected.

An era where the twilight was slowly breaking.

Berkhia nodded at Bihal's words and looked at the future generations, saying.

"We couldn't stand on the final battlefield."

The allotted time was too short.

"That fact was too infuriating."

Berkhia's eyes deepened slightly.

"The battlefield you will stand on will probably be fierce. So please. Don't let the same thing that happened 5000 years ago repeat itself."

Berkhia spoke with all her sincerity.

"Lean on each other and move forward. And when all the fighting ends, make sure you all come back together. Come back and…"

Berkhia looked at the table.

"Sit together like this and have a good time."

The ordinary daily life they had after the era of disaster ended.

They had become so accustomed to it that they simply let that peace flow by day by day without thinking.

But sometimes, when they saw the dawn breaking, they felt the empty presence of the great heroes.

At such times, they would realize how precious their once ordinary daily life was.

And they felt regret.

'It would have been good if we were together.'

If they could have greeted the morning comfortably in a bright world, without any worries.

'It really would have been good.'

It was an unachievable dream.

But at this moment, that dream was realized.

Both Berkhia and Bihal.

Their lives' ending must have been a tragedy.

But thanks to it, they achieved their wish even after death.

-Master.

"Why?"

-Shall we go for a walk?

"Too much trouble."

Leo replied indifferently to Bihal's words.

Berkhia, who had gone behind Leo, forcibly pushed him forward.

"Just go, old man."

"Too much trouble."

Grumbling, Leo went outside as Berkhia pushed him, without another word.

The three people who were eating also hastily followed behind.

Creak-!

The sound of a door opening was heard.

The world was painted white by the snow that had fallen again, unnoticed.

Crunch- Crunch-

They walked through the ruined street.

Berkhia and Bihal stood on either side of Leo.

"Master."

"What."

"We worked really hard."

"So what?"

-Don't you have anything to say?

Bihal asked curtly.

"…"

Leo chuckled at the words and raised both hands.

Then he reached out and placed his hands on his disciples' heads.

"You both did really well."

They were plain words.

A sincere compliment, neither understated nor exaggerated.

"Thank you so much for not letting our sacrifice be in vain."

He sincerely expressed his gratitude to his disciples, who had lived their best for the great heroes, including himself.

The young disciples were now adults and had met their deaths after dedicating their lives to the world, just as he had in the past.

Though they had diverged.

What did it matter?

It didn't mean their achievements would disappear.

The dawn had now fully broken.

Sunlight poured down, striking people and objects, shattering.

The shattered sunlight completely drove away the darkness.

A perfect morning.

This miraculous moment also came to an end.

Leo, who was stroking his disciples' heads, gently pushed their backs.

Berkhia and Bihal walked towards the sunlight without regret.

They shed all lingering attachments, whether as a revenant or as a spirit.

Even the smallest regrets from their lives.

"Ah."

Berkhia, who was walking, stopped as if something occurred to her.

By now, the gloomy aura had completely vanished from Berkhia.

Only the clear energy, like Bihal's, enveloped her surroundings.

Berkhia whispered softly into Bihal's ear.

Bihal nodded, then looked at Leo at the same time as Berkhia.

It was when Leo was making a puzzled expression, looking at the two disciples with the morning sunlight at their backs.

"Dad, hang in there."

The two, who had spoken in unison, giggled at the bewildered Leo and then disappeared into the sunlight.

"Haa…"

Leo sighed as if dumbfounded.

"Who are they calling Dad, those damn brats."

Muttering softly, Leo stared for a long time at the spot where his two disciples had disappeared.

The three girls who watched him could never tell what expression Leo was making.

***

Rustle- Rustle-

They walked through the campus covered with fallen leaves.

Leaves crunched under Leo's feet.

Lunia, Eiran, and Chen Sia silently followed behind him.

"Ms. Lunia even came all the way to Lumerne?"

"After something like that happened, how could I just let it go?"

Lunia looked at Leo's back with a worried expression.

Looking at his back, which seemed somehow lonely, Lunia said.

"How must he feel?"

"I can't imagine."

Chen Sia shook her head.

The three of them couldn't easily speak to Leo.

Because they felt anew the immense weight of what Leo was carrying.

As the two silently watched Leo walking ahead,

Tap-tap-tap-!

"Oh? Ms. Eiran?"

"What are you doing?!"

Lunia and Chen Sia were startled when Eiran, who was beside them, ran towards Leo.

"Mr. Leo!"

"…?"

"Please give me special training starting today!"

Eiran raised her voice beside Leo.

"I'll take any training! I'll try even harder! Just like Lady Berkhia and Lord Bihal did! Just like the other great heroes did, I want to be helpful to Mr. Leo!"

Leo, who was looking at Eiran speaking with clenched fists, chuckled and then roughly stroked Eiran's head.

"I'll also work harder than I am now!"

"Me too."

Lunia and Chen Sia, who had approached by then, said energetically.

It was when Leo chuckled, watching them speak with determination.

"Oh? Isn't that Leo?"

"Where? Where? Ah! It really is Big Brother Leo!"

"Leo, Sia, Eiran, you're here?"

"How was the mission?"

Karl, Chelsea, Chloe, and Avad spotted Leo and waved.

"Sia!"

Just then, Iliana came running towards Sia with a tearful face.

"The kids from the Knight Department and Magic Department have been treating me like a bat since yesterday!"

"Ms. Iliana certainly acts like a bat, doesn't she?"

"Pre-sident! The kids are treating me like a bat! This is treating the all-class president like a bat too! Scold them!"

At Chen Sia's cold words, Iliana complained to Leo this time.

"How pathetic."

"It's not the first time, is it?"

Celia snorted and said, while Nella shook her head.

Duran had a cold expression.

"Seirun's student council president is here too. Why?"

"There must be a reason."

Eliza and Woredan showed more interest in Lunia.

It seemed they were moving by department.

Not just the second-year students.

It felt like the entire student body was on the move.

Looking at them, Leo made a somewhat strange expression.

"President! President! Are you listening to me?"

"Stop bothering Leo, who just got back from his mission."

"Grow up, you bat."

Celia and Chloe grabbed Iliana and dragged her away.

Leo chuckled, watching them.

Seeing the boisterous scene, old memories naturally surfaced.

The hectic days at Guardsron, always busy growling at each other, now seemed to overlap with the present.

'It's the same.'

An admiration that began 5000 years ago.

The starting point of all existing heroes, they clenched their fists while looking at the hero candidates, the heroes of the future.

What would the world look like when they ascended to the position of hero?

5000 years ago.

Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings, did not envision the future.

Instead, it was his friends who envisioned the future for him.

'I merely followed the future they envisioned.'

Leo looked up at the sky.

There was no longer a future to lean on and follow.

'So now, I have no choice but to envision it myself.'

He didn't feel bad at all.

'Thinking like that makes me excited.'

Imagining a future when he would someday lay down all his burdens.

The Hero of Beginnings smiled gently.

***

All the students gathered.

Amidst them, all eyes were focused on one spot.

"What's Seirun's student council president doing here?"

"I don't know. They say she came with the student council president today?"

"This is our school's special class, right? Can a Seirun student participate?"

"If you put it that way, there are exchange students too, right?"

"Hmm… that's true. But one thing is for sure."

The Lumerne students nodded.

'She's brazen.'

Even though hundreds of students were whispering, looking only at her, Lunia didn't bat an eye.

On the contrary, she wore a confident expression.

"Oh my. Hello, Lunia?"

"Ugh? Ms. Elena?"

Just then, Elena Zerion, a fourth-year student at Lumerne and the strongest in the Magic Department, sat next to Lunia.

At Elena's appearance, Lunia made an awkward expression.

The two had previously joined forces to conquer Luna's world.

She had been very reliable then, but at the same time, Lunia felt burdened by Elena.

As she approached and greeted her, Lunia somehow felt intimidated.

Elena smiled sweetly, looking at Lunia, and said.

"Lunia, why don't you transfer to our school?"

"I'm Seirun's student council president, though?"

"Yes, I know. That's why I asked you to transfer. If you transfer, I'll make you the vice student council president. Even though it's vice student council president, the actual power will be as strong as Seirun's student council president, I bet?"

"I'll decline."

"That's a shame."

It was when Elena shrugged her shoulders.

Creak-!

The door to the grand lecture hall opened.

With that, all the students fell silent.

What appeared was a child of beautiful appearance, impossible to distinguish whether it was a boy or a girl.

Behind him, with grey hair and grey eyes, Melina followed.

Leo, who was sitting with Karl on one side, twitched his eyes.

"Greetings, hero candidates who inherit the will of Lumerne, successors of Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings. My name is Lian."

All the students looked at Lian with puzzled faces.

"If I were to explain myself in detail, the situation would become very complicated, so I'll introduce myself simply."

Lian smiled gently.

"I am a god."