Book 1 Chapter 55

Leo felt cold sweat trickling down his back.

The Demon Queen, Silathuna.

A legion commander of the demon race who existed even before the Age of Calamity.

And 5,000 years ago.

She was one of the three legion commanders that the great heroes failed to defeat.

'She was casting an illusion magic.'

The magic was dispelled the moment Leo sensed it.

'I expected a high-ranking demon to be pulling strings behind the scenes, given their connection to the Demon God's machines, but I never thought it would be this one.'

Creak! Crunch!

[A student? You're quite sensitive, aren't you, runt. To be able to sense my magic.]

Leo tensed his body.

Seven of the ten legion commanders who existed during the Age of Calamity were subjugated by Kyle and his companions.

'But they ultimately failed to defeat three of them.'

The reason was simple.

The remaining three legion commanders were monsters of a different caliber than the others.

Beneath their terrifying power lay cunning as well.

In his past life as Kyle, he had never directly confronted Silathuna.

Kyle was in charge of battles against other legion commanders.

Specifically, the Lord of the Undead and the Giant King.

Luna and Aeron were tasked with dealing with Silathuna.

'She retreated when I went to provide support.'

Ultimately, he never had to face her until the very end of the Age of Calamity.

And now, he was facing that formidable foe.

[Blame your overly sensitive senses.]

Silathuna sneered and swung her hand at Leo.

Gaaagagagag-!

Her elongated arm shot out, aiming to pierce Leo.

Fwoosh-!

At that moment, the flames of his aura flared.

Roar! Ka-BOOM-!

Silathuna’s eyes twitched as she saw her hand turn to ash and crumble.

[I thought you had lost the will to fight.]

Legion commanders are armed with a curse of fear.

Those exposed to the curse are filled with terror and lose their will to fight.

However, such mental curses were ineffective against Leo.

'This is a clone made of flesh. If it were the real body, it would be impossible to hide!'

Without a moment's hesitation, Leo shattered the shop window and burst outside.

Even as a clone, this being was infinitely more dangerous than Chuvarn.

'There's nothing I can do right now. I have to get out of here somehow…!'

[Didn't your professors teach you to watch your back?]

"Kch!"

Leo quickly twisted his body as a killing intent from behind, accompanied by a mocking sneer, reached him.

Swoosh-!

The whip of flesh grazed Leo’s back.

Feeling a sting from behind, Leo spun around.

Fwoooosh!

Ka-BOOM-!

The flames of his aura, far more powerful than before, turned Silathuna's arm to ash.

Silathuna’s eyes twitched.

The whip of flesh moved like a living snake, aiming to pierce Leo.

Leo's red eyes quickly tracked the trajectory of the attack.

'I'm at a disadvantage in terms of speed.'

Leo's body was still that of a boy.

His body was not yet complete.

'I have to anticipate and move beforehand!'

Afterimages of Leo began to appear.

But with each movement, Leo was slowly but surely distancing himself from Silathuna.

Silathuna narrowed her eyes.

'A mere student.'

Leo's movements, which narrowly avoided her grasp, were extremely irritating.

Silathuna clearly had the upper hand in terms of strength and speed.

Sensing that Leo was compensating for the difference with his skill, Silathuna grinned.

[It seems I must kill this runt right now.]

Kuaaaaaa-!

The flesh lunged at Leo like a giant net.

[I'll crush you like this.]

Seeing this, Leo quickly pushed his aura to its maximum power.

Fwoooooosh-! Kuaaaaaa!

The fiercely burning flames incinerated the flesh.

A foul stench of burning flesh filled the air.

[Phoenix's flames?]

Silathuna was surprised.

Fsssssh-!

Smoke rose from Leo's body as he unleashed his maximum power at once.

He had sustained burns as a consequence of his body withstanding that much power.

[Impressive, but how many times can you unleash that much power?]

This was when Silathuna let out a low chuckle.

As Silathuna chuckled, Leo glanced upwards.

Following Leo's gaze, Silathuna flinched and looked up at the sky as well.

Crackle-! Kwagagagagagag-!

With a sound of something shattering, shards of light rained down on Silathuna.

Poof-poof-poof-!

The shards of light pulverized Silathuna’s body.

[They're here.]

Silathuna shook off the shards of light clinging to her body and smiled broadly.

[The Mage of the Magic Eye.]

In the sky, Alby was floating, his golden Magic Eye unleashed.

"A remnant of flesh."

[Flesh? That's a sacrilegious word to describe this noble body.]

"I'm not interested in remnants."

Alby's Magic Eye glowed.

Then, a rectangular curtain of golden light appeared.

Clang-!

The light curtain cracked and turned into sharp fragments.

Leo's eyes widened.

'Fairy magic.'

Magic that only fairies could use.

And a human was using it.

'This is the Hero Record… the power that nurtures heroes.'

While Leo marveled, Silathuna licked her tongue with a menacing grin as she looked at the shards of light raining down on her.

[Someday, I will devour that left eye.]

Thwack-!

Before she could finish speaking, one of the shards of light embedded itself in the clone's face.

Struck by countless shards of light, Silathuna vanished, reduced to a lump of meat.

The aura flames burning from Leo's body subsided.

"Leo Flove, is it?"

Alby, his eyes returned to normal, adjusted his glasses.

"How did you end up being chased by this monstrosity?"

"It appeared suddenly while I was investigating Lutec."

"Lutec?"

Alby's cold gaze fixed on Leo.

"Lumen had already finished investigating that place, and this monster was found there?"

"Illusion magic was being cast."

"Illusion… I see."

Alby, appearing convinced, did not question further.

Leo looked at Alby with a puzzled expression.

'I heard he's extremely persistent about matters related to Tartarus?'

Alby Zelon.

A professor at Lumen, but he didn't teach classes.

He became a professor at Lumen purely to enjoy the benefits of the position.

The authority to cross borders freely and intervene in any matter related to Tartarus.

Lumen professors possessed such authority.

He, who had chased Tartarus his entire life, reacted with surprising indifference to Silathuna, who was particularly related to his nemesis.

"Weren't you here to prepare for the school trip?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go."

"Huh?"

"Why the surprise?"

"No… aren't there any penalties for this incident?"

When Leo saw Alby, he expected to be punished.

Leo was involved in the incident during the midterm exams, but delving into it was not permitted.

It was strictly a solo action.

Even if it were another professor instead of Alby, it would warrant punishment.

Yet, Alby said nothing of the sort to Leo.

Instead, he told him to go.

Seeing Leo's bewildered expression, Alby said indifferently,

"It would be ridiculous for me, who doesn't even properly fulfill my role as a professor, to hand out punishments. And…"

A gentle warmth spread across Alby's usually cold face.

"I am grateful to you, Leo Flove."

"What?"

"Thank you for saving that child."

At those words, Leo thought of Alia.

"I will help you in any way I can from now on."

With that, Alby headed towards the Lutec general store.

To anyone who knew Alby, these words would have been unbelievable.

But for Alby, Leo was no different than a benefactor.

'I would have had to hear countless times that I couldn't save my younger sibling.'

He had opened up his world of heroes for future generations, but each time, Alby would have been reminded of his younger sibling's death.

Leo had, in a sense, resolved Alby's lingering pain.

Smiling as he watched Alby's retreating back, Leo suddenly recalled a fact.

'The Zelon family was one of the three great families of Lumen, wasn't it?'

The Lumen Council, comprised of three heroic families who governed the great city of Lumen, which belonged to no country, and Lumen Hero Academy.

The Zelon family was a noble family that formed one pillar of that council.

'If I ask Professor Alby, can I access the restricted section of the library? I should ask him next time.'

Promising himself to do so, Leo looked at the spot where Silathuna's clone had disappeared.

'This has confirmed it. The Chedmaderus incident, and this incident as well, Silathuna was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes.'

Silathuna, currently one of the de facto rulers of Tartarus, had made a move.

'Did she simply move to nip the potential of a hero candidate in the bud?'

He couldn't shake off a nagging feeling.

'What exactly is she aiming for?'

***

Whoooosh-!

Deep in the northern part of the continent.

The wind howled in the coldest place in the world.

This place, covered in snow and ice year-round, had been an elven sanctuary since before the Age of Calamity.

Within this sanctuary stood an elven ancient castle with a long history, now called Seirune, the Elven Hero Academy.

Students were moving about the campus of Seirune.

Among them, an elf girl with red hair and red eyes, wrapped in a scarf, walked through the snowy fields.

"Wearing that in this weather. Are you showing off your innate powerful magic?"

"As expected of someone from a family of unknown lineage, you lack the virtue of humility. Truly. You're not even a pure elf, are you?"

"It's disheartening that an elf like you is one of Seirune's top representatives! It's truly lamentable."

Hearing the voices from afar, the elf girl scowled in annoyance and walked towards them.

"What the hell are you guys yammering about! If you're not cold, you can wear whatever you want. You're a disgrace to your family name for gossiping about such a thing! Don't you have any pride?"

At the elf girl's words, the group of elves, who were talking to a boy in front of a frozen fountain, flinched.

"Miss Runda! Those words are too harsh!"

"That's right! And for someone from a noble family like yourself to use such foul language! Be ashamed!"

"The teachers won't let this slide!"

"What bullshit is that? You guys are worse and more shameful for ganging up on one person, and the teachers won't let this slide either."

The girl grinned a combative smile, uncharacteristic of an elf.

"If you have a problem with what I said, want to duel me?"

The faces of the three elves turned pale.

Lunnia El Runda.

Heir to the elven heroic family, Runda, and a student in her first year at Seirune, this girl was an overwhelming talent who held the position of class representative.

She had an impressive record of 29 consecutive wins in dueling evaluations among first-year students.

Knowing this, the other first-years scattered as if fleeing.

Hmph! Lunnia snorted and approached the boy in thin clothing, contrasting with the weather.

"Luca. I told you that if you go around looking like that, others will pick fights with you for no reason."

"That's true. But someone stole all my clothes."

"What? Those bastards!"

It must have been the work of the group from just moments ago.

Sighing, Lunnia untied her scarf and wrapped it around Luca's neck.

"Miss Lunia! You'll be cold doing that!"

"I'm wearing enough. And you don't feel the cold, but that doesn't mean you don't feel it, right?"

Lunnia smiled and entered the campus with Luca.

"Achoo!"

As they entered the campus, Lunnia sneezed immediately.

"It's because of me."

"Kuh! Don't worry about it! Don't worry about it."

Rubbing her nose, Lunnia waved her hand, signaling she was fine.

"You seem to be in a good mood today?"

"Yeah! Dad… no, Teacher Ellen summoned me."

Lunnia puffed out her chest.

"My contracted beast must have finally hatched!"

"Ah! Congratulations! Miss Lunia!"

Luca smiled brightly.

"Yeah. So I'm going ahead! Luca, if anyone else bothers you, tell me!"

Lunnia ran down the hallway.

Soon, Lunnia entered a teacher's research room and asked,

"Dad! My contracted beast has hatched, right? Is that right?"

"You're supposed to call me 'teacher' at school."

"No one's looking! More importantly, my contracted beast has hatched, hasn't it?"

The Runda family had a contract with a phoenix for generations.

And Lunnia was scheduled to form a contract with the offspring of Pirina, the contracted beast of Ellen Runda, the current head of the family.

Ellen saw the letter sent by his sworn beast.

And he let out a deep sigh.

"Pirina's offspring has hatched."

"As expected!"

Clap-! Lunnia clapped her hands and cheered three times.

"So! When can I meet them? Now?"

'How should I explain this?'

"Lunnia, sit down first."

Lunnia sat down in front of Ellen.

Looking at his daughter, Ellen took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

"Lunnia. About your contracted beast."

"Yes!"

"…It has already formed a contract."

Crack-!

Lunnia's body stiffened.