Book 1 Chapter 548
548.
At the sudden declaration, all the students stared blankly at Lian.
The Rumerun students, who had experienced all sorts of things as hero candidates, had never before encountered a child who suddenly claimed to be a god.
Ordinarily, they might have dismissed it as someone a little mentally unstable.
But behind Lian stood Mel.
No Rumerun student was unaware that Mel was the Dragon Lord.
They were only keeping quiet because he insisted he wasn't that Mel.
Everyone knew his true identity.
And this child had come with such a Mel.
To simply call her a mentally unstable child felt as if Mel was guaranteeing Lian's identity.
“No, even so, a god? Does that make sense?”
“Right?”
Chelsea and Karl wore expressions of disbelief.
That a god, who had vanished from the earth at the end of the Era of Calamity, had suddenly appeared was not an easy story to believe.
Even if they had come with the Dragon Lord.
Chelsea and Karl, who were suspicious about Lian's identity, glanced back at Leo's face, who was sitting among them.
And upon discovering Leo's serious expression, they looked bewildered.
Karl whispered softly to Leo.
“Hey, Leo. No way… is it true?”
As Leo subtly nodded, Chelsea and Karl's mouths gaped.
‘A god?’
Wasn't a god an omniscient and omnipotent being?
The image of an absolute being, one that would naturally make observers bow their heads, was strong.
However, Lian's appearance was different from what they had imagined.
Of course, she had a surprisingly beautiful face.
Literally, a perfectly beautiful face.
That alone attracted the attention of those around her.
But she didn't feel divine or like a being to be worshipped.
“Is it just that ‘God Lian’ is like that? Perhaps she's young among gods, given her youthful appearance.”
“That could be.”
“Appearance means little to beings like gods.”
Leo said indifferently.
“Age is meaningless to gods. If they have such an appearance, it's purely a matter of preference.”
“Ah…”
“Moreover, gods are surprisingly incompetent.”
“Incompetent? The literature clearly states they are omniscient and omnipotent, doesn't it? Was that a lie?”
Chelsea asked with a bewildered expression.
“They are omniscient and omnipotent, yes. It's just that they can't affect the mortal world with those omniscient and omnipotent abilities.”
“Then what exactly was the reason the gods of the past descended to the mortal world?”
Karl asked in a dazed voice.
Even now, relics and literature from the Age of Gods, preceding the Age of Calamity, are actively being researched.
It was an interesting research topic.
Though not now, gods clearly existed in the distant past.
During the Age of Gods, people worshipped gods, and based on that worship, the gods wielded great influence over the mortal world.
Thus, scholars studying the Age of Gods believed that the gods led the Age of Gods to increase their influence.
Leo answered Karl's question calmly.
“Because they were bored.”
“What?”
“In the divine realm, they had nothing to do and were bored, so they crawled down to the mortal world.”
At the unimaginable answer, Karl and Chelsea's mouths gaped.
From the perspective of those living in the present, they couldn't help but have illusions about gods.
‘Illusions are meant to be broken. And that’s how everyone grows up.’
With the expression of a mischievous adult, Leo looked at Lian.
‘Is she going to tell the story we shared back then?’
“First, I have a story to tell you all.”
The expression vanished from Lian's face.
Seeing that, the Rumerun students held their breath.
An incredible charisma emanated from Lian, who had been giggling childishly just moments before.
Though a being of unknown origin, for this moment, she easily overwhelmed all the hero candidates.
“The story I am about to tell you is about the final battle 5000 years ago, which decided the fate of the mortal world.”
The battle that decided the fate of the mortal world 5000 years ago!
No one here didn't know what that meant.
‘The Great Heroes’ final battle…!’
A story not found in the Hero Records, nor existing in any literature.
Literally, a story passed down only as a legend.
Recently, how it unfolded had become known through Mel, the Dragon Lord, but the detailed story remained unknown.
As everyone held their breath.
Lian, who had been exuding charisma that overwhelmed the audience, fidgeted with something in her pocket, then put puppets of the Great Heroes on the five fingers of her left hand.
And putting a puppet of Erebus on her right hand, she began a childish puppet show.
“Once upon a time, a very, very long time ago, there was the Primeval Abomination and the Five Great Heroes.”
***
“Finally! The Hero of Beginnings, left all alone, stood before the Primeval Abomination, bearing the weight of the world! And he single-handedly vanquished this monster, which even the gods could not defeat! But ungratefully, the world forgot the achievements of the Hero of Beginnings! How lamentable is this!”
After finishing the puppet show.
Lian was busy praising Kyle to the top of her lungs.
“Other races might not know, but you are humans! Who is the hero that humans should respect and worship the most?!”
Lian spread her arms wide.
“I'm talking about Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings! You should worship and revere Kyle, who achieved feats that mere gods couldn't! As hero candidates, you must serve Kyle, who is the beginning of all things! However, in the mortal realm, despite such a great person existing, there are foolish children who harbor illusions about useless beings like gods! Surely there are some among you!”
‘We did. But if you really are a god, those illusions seem to be shattered as of today.’
Several Rumerun students murmured to themselves.
“Question here! What kind of being is Kyle?”
Seeing Lian ask with wide-open eyes, the Rumerun students looked at each other.
Then someone cautiously raised a hand.
It was Illiana.
“Girl, please answer.”
“Kyle is greater than a god?”
“Correct. That is an excellent answer, girl.”
Lian nodded in satisfaction.
“I hope you never forget today's lesson. That Kyle is a being so great that he cannot be compared to mere gods. You must never forget.”
“How long does she plan to keep this up?”
“Is she really trying to start a religion?”
Watching Lian, who wouldn't stop praising, Chelsea and Karl murmured in fed-up voices.
“You must be wondering why I worship the Hero of Beginnings so much.”
Lian smiled faintly.
“The reason is simple. Because only he could save the world.”
Lian looked at the hero candidates.
“Hero candidates who have inherited Rumerun's legacy. Do you know this? 3000 years ago, Rumerun came to find me?”
At those words, the Rumerun students began to murmur.
“3000 years ago… are you referring to the time of the Calamity's Reappearance?”
When Chloe raised her hand and asked, Lian nodded.
“Yes. More precisely, after the Calamity's Reappearance you all know ended.”
“The Calamity's Reappearance *we* know?”
Chloe wore a bewildered expression.
Seeing Chloe like that, Lian said.
“I will tell you the truth of the world, a truth known only to the successors of the King of Wisdom and the descendants of Rodia, the Dragon of Genesis, for the past 3000 years.”
The Rumerun students' gaze naturally turned to Mel.
“The Calamity's Reappearance has not yet ended.”
At Lian's words, the Rumerun students failed to comprehend for a moment.
Towards them, Lian calmly continued her speech.
“3000 years ago, the fragment of Erebus that awoke during the Calamity's Reappearance has not yet been vanquished.”
“What?!”
“What in the…!”
Exclamations of shock erupted from here and there.
Towards them, Lian continued.
“And the Heroes of Genesis are also alive.”
At Lian's declaration, everyone's eyes widened.
“3000 years ago, a human reached my dwelling. It was Rumerun. He sought me out and asked me for wisdom. A way to vanquish the infinitely resurrecting fragments of Erebus.”
Lian recounted the truth of the world with an unexpressive face.
“I told him. As of then, there was no way to vanquish the Primeval Evil. But there was a way to seal it.”
Lian raised her head and looked at Rumerun's portrait hanging in the great hall.
The story of how the Heroes of Genesis sealed Erebus 3000 years ago.
***
It was literally shocking.
The fact that the Heroes of Genesis could not vanquish Erebus with their power.
The truth that the resurrected fragments of Erebus and the Heroes of Genesis are still engaged in an endless struggle.
Even the story that Erebus was the reason the Hero Records were torn 3000 years ago.
It was an unbelievable story.
But there were those here who had witnessed proof that the story was true.
“Ms. Elena. Then the Erebus we vanquished in Luna's world was…”
“A fragment of the first piece… it seems.”
Lunia and Elena spoke with stiff expressions.
“Then the Seirun who appeared in Seirun back then… was actually himself?!”
Eiran covered her mouth and murmured in a trembling voice.
Celia raised her hand.
“I have a question! Were the Heroes of Genesis lacking the power to vanquish the Flame of Calamity?”
“The Heroes of Genesis are probably stronger than you imagine. Since the world began, those stronger than them are so few they can be counted on one's fingers. Even the Primeval Abomination, in its fragmented state, could never defeat the Heroes of Genesis. That is why the world is maintained as it is now.”
“Then why did they have to seal it within the Hero Records?”
Seeing Chloe ask with a confused face, Lian replied.
“Even if the King of Wisdom, the Progenitor of the Nebula, the Valiant One, and the God's Blacksmith had been there, the Primeval Abomination could not have been completely vanquished. That abomination is an immortal being as long as its flame does not extinguish.”
The fact that Erebus's epithet was the 'Unextinguishable Flame of Calamity' was known even to later generations.
However, it was only known in later depictions that extinguishing Erebus's flame was extremely difficult.
But to think that flame was truly an immortal flame!
“Then how did the Great Heroes save the world?”
Lil raised her hand and asked.
“Even the Flame of Calamity has a natural enemy.”
Lian smiled faintly.
“Purity.”
“Purity?”
“It means one born with mana of unmatched clarity. One with the characteristic of Purity can become anything. And that signifies infinite possibilities.”
“Does that mean… Kyle?”
“Yes. The Hero of Beginnings possessed that pure mana characteristic. He is the only natural enemy in this world who can oppose the Flame of Calamity.”
At Lian's words, the students nodded.
If so, the reason why the Heroes of Genesis could not vanquish Erebus also made sense.
“Wait.”
Mm-hmm! Illiana, who had been nodding, paused.
“Kyle is an All-Class, isn't he?”
Having thought that far, Illiana turned her head in surprise.
It wasn't just Illiana.
Before they knew it, everyone was looking in one direction.
The unprecedented All-Class.
“That's right.”
Lian smiled gently.
“He possesses the same Purity mana characteristic as the Hero of Beginnings. In other words, he is destined to save this world.”