Book 1 Chapter 579
579.
Whoosh-!
The pillar of black flame that had soared high into the sky split apart and began to fall from the heavens like rain.
“Uwaaaaaaaah!”
“Kyaaaah?!”
Screams erupted from various parts of the stands at the sudden turn of events, as if they were witnessing the end of the world.
Flash-!
At that moment, a barrier of light was created in the sky.
Whoosh-!
The black flame was blocked by the wall.
“Distinguished guests who have come to Lumen, please direct your attention.”
At that moment, a gentle voice was heard from the center of the training ground.
Elena, a beautiful female student who captivated all who saw her, demurely held the hem of her skirt, bent her knees slightly, and bowed.
“There are countless hero cadet students and heroes present here. Please rest assured.”
At Elena’s words, the confusion among the spectators quickly subsided.
The faces of the spectators were still filled with fear, but no one lost their reason or fell into chaos.
Everyone swallowed dryly.
In the midst of that…
Flash-!
Fwoosh-!
A crimson sword aura split the pillar of black flame in two.
The sword aura that sliced through the black flame soared into the sky without losing its momentum.
All the spectators who witnessed that thrilling sight gaped in astonishment.
“Is that a sword strike?”
“I'd heard that some knights occasionally unleash attacks with power comparable to archmages… but that far surpassed the power of magic, didn't it?”
Everyone’s gaze turned towards the one who had unleashed the sword aura.
There stood a handsome young man who looked as if he had just shed his boyishness.
“Senior Hark! You’re amazing!”
Lil cheered, swinging her battle hammer.
“Are you really from the Knight Department?”
“Are the Knight Department students at Lumen monsters?”
The Azonia students looked at Hark with astonished eyes.
“Hmph, don’t be so surprised, everyone. That guy’s mana specialty is ‘accumulation’.”
Dorbe stepped forward, clenching and unclenching his fists.
“Thanks to that, he can unleash ridiculous sword aura despite his handsome face.”
Of course, even if one’s aura is immense, the output that can be unleashed at once is fixed.
Moreover, unleashing that much power at once puts an overload on the body.
Enduring that was a matter of training.
Hark, with his sword slung over his shoulder, received everyone’s gaze.
An overwhelming charisma emanated from his presence.
Even Lumen’s juniors, who usually only saw him dozing off or screaming when tormented by Leo, swallowed dryly at this unfamiliar side of Hark.
At that moment, Elena approached Lil and whispered something.
“Huh? Th-that’s too much!”
“It’ll be a great help, won’t it? Hurry.”
“B-but still…”
“Oh my? Who do you think you’ll spend more of your school life with?”
Seeing Elena smiling sweetly and threatening her, Lil made a tearful face and approached Hark.
“What is it?”
As Hark asked in a slightly annoyed voice, Lil closed her eyes tightly, summoned a water spirit, and splashed water on Hark.
Splash-! Hiss-!
As soon as the water touched Hark’s body, it turned into steam.
Hark, who was suddenly drenched in water, grabbed Lil by the collar.
“Hoo? Now that I’m graduating, you’re saying I’m not your senior anymore?”
“Eek! I! I was told by Senior Elena!”
‘Don’t people usually refuse even if they’re told to do something like that?’
Everyone watched the two with bewildered eyes, forgetting the situation.
“Now, now. Calm down.”
Elena smiled sweetly and stepped between the two.
“You needed cooling down anyway, didn't you?”
“So you spray water on me?”
Hark made a murderous expression.
“Alright, let’s save scolding Lil for later.”
“Why are you dumping everything on me?!”
“You’re talking as if you did nothing wrong?”
Elena, completely ignoring the protests of the senior and junior, said:
“First-years, evacuate with the spectators.”
“Senior! We can fight too!”
“Your thought is admirable.”
Elena smiled faintly at Ju-en’s words.
“Here, the riff-raff will only get in the way. Don’t hinder your seniors unnecessarily.”
At Elena’s words, Ju-en flinched.
“From now on, Lumen will form a team to stop that. All students whose names are called, please come forward. Students whose names are not called should follow the professors’ instructions.”
After saying that much, Elena glanced at the other schools.
“I’d like your schools to form teams too.”
At her words, the other schools also quickly began forming teams.
“By the way, where is Leo?”
“I’m here.”
“…?”
Elena looked at Leo, who had appeared behind her, and tilted her head.
“Leo?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…”
Elena narrowed her eyes, then smiled faintly.
“Can you command long-range attacks from the rear?”
“Understood.”
“Isn’t it better for that guy to be in charge of the front?”
“It’s not just students here right now.”
Elena looked at the heroes who were trying to block the calamitous flame that had started to flare up again.
“I think it would be best for Leo to command the mages and summoners right now.”
***
People were evacuating urgently.
In the midst of it, Leo stood giving instructions to Mellina.
-Mellina. Have the dragons find any suspicious individuals within Lumen. I don’t know whose it is, but at the center of that flame is a fragment of the Creation Hero Record. There must be someone who brought it into Lumen.
-Yes. But why would they do such a thing? If it’s the Creation Hero Record, it must be something Tartarus would need…
The Creation Hero Record can be used as a passageway for Erebus, who is trapped in the world of Creation, to come out.
But to make it go berserk in the middle of Lumen?
Like with Seirun, Leo could block that passageway anytime.
‘The Necrolord wouldn’t be unaware of that, would he? What exactly is his scheme?’
It was when Leo narrowed his eyes.
“Not all Creation Hero Records can be used as a passageway.”
Leo looked behind him.
He saw Lian walking through the evacuating spectators.
People unconsciously avoided Lian while simultaneously not perceiving her presence.
Lian, holding a wide, flat box in her arms, stood before Leo.
Then, people couldn’t even perceive Leo.
In this chaos, only the area around Lian was quiet.
“Hero Records are objects made with the power of the gods. They are an opposing force to abominations.”
Lian walked closer to Leo.
“When the abomination was trapped in the world of Creation, the pages of the Hero Record began to turn black, as if ink had been spilled on paper.”
“It was encroached upon, then.”
“Yes.”
Lian nodded.
“We tore the Hero Record before all the pages turned black.”
In that process, countless records disappeared or scattered across the world.
“So only the encroached pages can be used as a passageway?”
“That’s right. However, the embers of that abomination can be spewed out through the Hero Record. What is happening now is such a phenomenon.”
Lian’s face clouded over.
“It’s an error that occurred because the Record system itself was heavily damaged.”
“…So the Necrolord knew that and caused the rampage within Lumen.”
“That would be it. The demon's intention is…”
“It’s a useless object, so they detonated it during the Heroic Festival, with the thought of eliminating the hero candidates caught in the explosion.”
Leo gritted his teeth.
“Solution?”
“You must enter the Hero’s World and extinguish the transferred embers.”
“To do that, we first need to extinguish the flames that have come out.”
“Yes. Therefore, I propose this.”
“…?”
“Please stand before the people not as Leo Flobe, but as Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings.”
“What?”
“The residents of the lower world are already quite accustomed to the miracle of the Great Hero's reappearance, so there won’t be a big problem.”
Lian said, looking at the pillar of black flame.
“Of course, one cannot forever sustain the world with the name of the Great Hero. Names cannot be eternal. I know you are preparing for that time.”
Even if the name of the Great Hero is forgotten, the names of those who carried on his will will be passed down to future generations.
And their names too will someday be forgotten.
But the legacy that is passed on never disappears.
Just as Leo… Kyle received from Lisinas and his comrades.
Just as Lisinas received from someone nameless.
“In an era where the gods have disappeared, for you, who achieved greater feats than the gods, to be reborn is a miracle even the gods could not imagine.”
Lian smiled brightly.
“I do not believe that miracle is a coincidence. You were reborn into the world because the world needs you.”
Lian looked at those trembling in fear.
“People are trembling in fear. The name of Leo Flobe is still insufficient to dispel this fear.”
Lian knelt and, as if presenting a tribute, held up the box to Leo.
“Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings, needs to reappear in the world once more.”
“This is…?”
“It is a gift from me to you.”
Leo’s eyes widened as he opened the box lid.
Inside was a black cloak.
A cloak all too familiar to Leo.
Before Arion joined.
It was a continuous string of days where he got covered in wounds protecting Lisinas and Luna on the front lines.
Kyle didn’t mind, but Lisinas and Luna seemed to be heartbroken by Kyle’s appearance.
One day, while healing his wounds, Lisinas handed him a cloak.
“Take this.”
“Why is it so dull and black?”
“It’s a cloak made by processing my main body’s hide.”
“And on top of that, I inscribed a blessing magic on it.”
Luna said, crossing her arms.
“You get injured every day. Lisinas and I made this so you’d stop getting hurt so much.”
Luna clucked her tongue.
“Your face is the only thing halfway decent, so if that gets a scar, wouldn’t it hurt our feelings?”
“Don’t fall for me.”
“That’s hilarious. Your face isn’t my type, you know? And I told you, your face is the only thing worth seeing. Your personality is messy.”
Luna frowned deeply, making a blatant expression of dislike.
Lisinas, who let out a small sigh watching the two, said:
“It’s sturdy and will protect you. Even if it gets damaged, I can fix it with my magic. From now on, your injury frequency will decrease a bit.”
And the cloak stayed with Kyle until his final moment.
“How is this here?”
It was clearly an item that had disappeared with him at his end.
But this was undeniably his cloak.
“It is an item that the Heroes of Creation obtained as a reward after conquering your world long ago. Lumen entrusted it to me before sealing Erebus.”
Leo silently reached out for the cloak.
-Mellina.
-Yes.
-Ask En to take my place.
-Yes? Oh, understood.
Mellina, with a flustered expression, instructed En to transform into Leo’s likeness.
En mimicked Leo’s appearance and infiltrated among the Lumen students.
Whoosh-!
Leo put on the cloak.
The hem of the cloak momentarily obscured Lian’s vision.
And in an instant.
Standing there was a young man with grey hair, clad in black leather armor and a black cloak.
“Ah.”
The voice of the god, who saw his back, trembled.
Thump- Thump-
Leo walked towards the black flames.
“Wait, civilians should ev—…”
Nella, who was preparing for battle, tried to stop Leo, who was walking from the evacuation direction.
“…acuate… right…?”
“Nella. What’s wrong? Huh? Civilian? Hey! Hurry and evacuate! Why did you come here?”
Illiana, unable to hide her tension and trying to get Leo to evacuate, paused, then crossed her arms and narrowed her brows.
“Wait, this handsome older brother. I’ve definitely seen him somewhere…? Huh? Eh? E-e-e-eh?!”
Illiana gasped and screamed.
At her scream, everyone’s gaze fixed on Leo.
Leo chuckled, reached out and roughly ruffled Nella and Illiana’s hair, then walked forward.
“Don’t be nervous, you rookies.”
Everyone’s astonished gazes fixed on Leo… no, on Kyle.
“Because I’m here.”