Book 1 Chapter 616

The arm that wielded a sword was like life itself to a knight who wielded a sword.

That arm was brutally severed.

Panicked, Reed could only scream, clutching the severed part.

The pain spreading from the wound was agonizing, but the mental shock was even greater.

"Where should I cut next?"

However, Reed came to his senses at the dry, emotionless voice.

He too was a knight who had ascended to the position of hero, recognized by the gods.

No matter how great the shock, he could not continue to scream with an enemy before him.

Holding his severed arm, Reed distanced himself from Leo.

Reed retrieved the sword that was still in his severed hand.

Reed's sword was a family heirloom of the Zerdinger family.

It was a powerful weapon in itself.

Gripping the sword with his left hand, Reed gritted his teeth.

'I can reattach my arm!'

With the help of magic, a severed arm could be reattached without issue.

And whether it was good fortune or bad, Leo had severed the arm cleanly.

'Then it should be easy to reattach!'

Reed glared with his eyes.

'Now, the priority is to defeat the monster before me!'

"Knights! Execute that villain!"

With Reed's command, knights appeared, surrounding Leo and aiming their swords at him.

Leo looked at the knights with a dry expression and said,

"Zerdinger knights, stand aside. I am merely here to execute a traitor."

"Foolish cur!"

Reed laughed mockingly at Leo with a twisted smile.

"These are my loyal knights! Do you think they will obey your command! And a traitor? What a joke!"

Reed shouted with his teeth gritted.

"I am only trying to make Zerdinger the greatest heroic noble family! The current head, Seuld Zerdinger, is too soft! Despite having power! He doesn't use it! He just wastes his strength pointlessly on the front lines with Tartarus! It's not just Seuld Zerdinger! That foolish Rwalyn too! And the imperial family!"

Reed's eyes gleamed.

"Why waste pointless strength on some Tartarus! Rodren is not an empire that should remain in the western part of the continent! It is a nation with the capacity to become a great empire that commands the world!"

Excited by the pain, Reed passionately expounded his beliefs.

"Our Zerdinger family must take the lead! Ascend to the position of the empire's greatest family! Assist the imperial family and command the continent! And thus, make the Zerdinger family the world's greatest heroic noble family! This is not my personal greed! If you truly care for Zerdinger, you should have such ambition!"

"Is that why you joined hands with the world's threat that has killed countless heroes in the past?"

"We didn't join hands! We are merely using them."

"They all said that."

Leo lowered his sword.

"Without realizing they were being used."

Tartarus desired only one thing.

The division of the world.

If such individuals moved Zerdinger, the empire would undoubtedly be shaken.

'Is this also the work of that bastard?'

Leo thought of the Necromancer King Hell Kaiser.

The Necromancer King was adept at intrigue.

He would sow poison like this throughout the world.

The Pure Blood Society of the Elves was the same.

They would claim to be using the other party, but

The very act of using their strength became a 'weakness'.

However, those who joined hands with Tartarus did not consider it a weakness.

'They think they can just crush it with force.'

In the first place, the Necromancer King would not use their alliance as leverage for blackmail.

He merely pretended to be used.

Just as he tried to subtly dismantle elven society using the Pure Blood Society.

He would make them slowly tear each other apart.

"I have no interest in the history of the empire or the history of the family."

"Indeed. Such qualifications are too much for you."

"Yes. But that is not for you to say."

"What do you mean?"

"The past emperors of the empire… and the heads of the Zerdinger family… and further, even the heads of Rwalyn…"

Leo's red eyes turned to Reed.

"They never invaded other countries. Do you know why?"

"The predecessors unfortunately lacked ambition."

"No."

Leo narrowed his eyes.

"It was probably to make this land a better place to live."

5000 years ago, during the Age of Calamity.

The land that was most brutally trampled was not the eastern continent where Tartarus appeared, nor the northern or southern continents.

It was, in fact, the western continent.

The most developed land.

Therefore, it was the land that was most thoroughly destroyed and devastated.

Currently, most of the Rodren Empire's territory was a region where Tartarus's influence was strongest, both during and after the Age of Calamity.

The Rodren Empire came to possess vast territories not by conquering other countries, but by driving out Tartarus, who had occupied this land for a long time.

And now, it has become the most prosperous land.

This land that even Lisinas had shaken his head, saying it seemed beyond recovery.

It has now become the most prosperous and livable land in the world.

Leo, who knew its past, understood too well how much effort the people who lived in this country had put in for this land.

There were the predecessors of Zerdinger who cultivated the devastated land and risked everything for the peace of the people living on it.

Their reasons were too noble to be dismissed as lacking ambition.

Therefore, a foolish reason.

'That's why it's a heroic noble family.'

"The phoenix's flame is noble. It is a power that burns itself to destroy evil. That's probably why the first Zerdinger received the power of the phoenix long ago."

"It's a dreamlike nonsense. If you have power, why should you sacrifice yourself for others? That's a foolish act."

"Yes, it is foolish."

Leo closed his eyes.

"But do not forget. It is because there were heroes who unhesitatingly risked everything for those foolish acts that you, who rot the world, ridicule as foolish. The world has survived until now."

"Ridiculous. Heroes are merely those who have achieved great deeds. If I rot the world, how can I explain that I am a hero!"

"Hero?"

Leo tilted his head.

"Who?"

"Some nameless hero! No matter how much you deny it, I am chosen by the gods…!"

Reed's face, which had been mocking Leo, hardened.

"You have no right to be called a hero."

[The qualification of hero has been revoked.]

He instinctively realized the message that appeared before his eyes.

"You… You! What did you do to me!"

Although he didn't know the reason, Leo's declaration had stripped him of his status.

"I merely denied that you were a hero."

"Aaaargh! Knights! Why aren't you executing that scoundrel!"

"Loyalty!"

The knights of the Elder Council surrounded Leo.

*Squelch-*

Leo took a step.

At that moment.

*Hiss-*

The heads of the Elder Council knights flew into the sky simultaneously.

Watching the scene, Algus, the Northern Shadow Lord, muttered,

"Beautiful."

There was no emotion in Leo's sword.

It was simply dry and emotionless.

He impartially delivered death to the traitors as if doing what had to be done.

In Algus's eyes, it looked like divine judgment.

*Thud-*

Leo's gray eyes, which had cut down the knights with a single sword, turned to Reed.

*Thud-*

Reed involuntarily sank to his knees.

His body trembled violently.

Along with it, his teeth chattered.

*Clomp- clomp-*

"S-save me… save me…"

"You only have two choices. Die peacefully, or die painfully."

Reed intuited.

That the being before him was absolute death.

That he could never survive.

"J-just… once…"

As Reed pleaded with all his might, Leo said calmly,

"You already made your choice."

*Crunch-*

"Gahhhhh!"

Leo's sword pierced Reed's mouth.

Leo's sword, which accurately cut off the area around his mouth and his tongue, was withdrawn.

His left arm, which had been severed, writhed on the ground in agony.

Leaving Reed writhing on the ground without even being able to scream, Leo headed for the Elder's Hall.

***

'It's all over! I have to get out of Zerdinger!'

Ekgerson, hearing the sounds of flames and screams coming from various parts of the Elder's Hall, hardened his face and hurried towards the secret door.

The reason he thought it was all over was simple.

[The qualification of hero has been revoked.]

It was the culprit that had taken everything from Ekgerson.

It wasn't just Ekgerson.

For some unknown reason, all members of the Elder Council had lost their hero titles.

After that, the elders scattered in all directions to escape Zerdinger.

The title of hero had an unimaginably strong influence on a hero.

A special being chosen by the gods for the safety of the world.

A hero was, in itself, a superior human.

And the title of hero was, in itself, a guarantee of nobility.

The reason Ekgerson used the Hero Slayer was simple.

Even if this incident came to light later.

Ekgerson was a hero.

Even if he had already taken over Zerdinger, as a human chosen by the gods,

He could create a justification for using the Hero Slayer for the sake of the world.

Even if he was criticized,

It would only be for that moment.

History is written by the victors.

He was sure he would be remembered as a noble hero by posterity.

But he had lost the title of hero.

The elders had lost their most powerful means of protection.

'Why! Why!'

Ekgerson felt a sense of injustice welling up within him.

It was then.

*Clomp-*

Someone appeared from the corner of the corridor.

Upon seeing the opponent, Ekgerson's face contorted.

"Legas!"

Seeing Ekgerson speak with gritted teeth, Legas said,

"Give up."

"Don't be ridiculous! What did I do wrong to end up like this? I just wanted my grandson to become the head of the family!"

"Having schemed behind the scenes for personal gain, you cannot be forgiven."

"Nonsense! Do you believe the words of those lowly shadows! I don't know about the Hero Slayer!"

"Hero Slayer. Indeed, it's frightening how the shadow lords who have protected the world's darkness for so long. To have found out that much in such a short time."

Ekgerson flinched at his words.

Legas's eyes turned cold as he looked at Ekgerson.

"You seem to think you control all the shadows of Zerdinger, but…"

*Swish-*

Someone emerged from the shadows of Zerdinger.

Seeing that, Ekgerson's face hardened.

"That's not true. There are shadows deeper within Zerdinger. Everything you blabbered in the Elder's Hall corridors reached my ears."

Ekgerson gnashed his teeth at those words.

"It's all your fault! If you had just done things properly, our Zerdinger would have long surpassed Rwalyn!"

"Indeed. Our family has been full of talent since our generation. But is surpassing Rwalyn that important?"

"Nonsense! It is important! Surpassing Rwalyn is not the end! It is possible to make Zerdinger the greatest heroic noble family! Yet you just huddled! What? Shedding blood!? A fool who doesn't know the sacrifice of the few for the sake of the many! You, your wife! And your children! All of you just spouted dreamlike nonsense! If I were the head of the family! Zerdinger would already be Rodren's greatest heroic noble family!"

"Is that the end of your last words?"

"Youuuuuu!"

Ekgerson lunged at Legas.

Watching Ekgerson, Legas said calmly,

"You seem to have forgotten one thing. My father was not someone who would pass the position of family head to his son. Unlike our grandfather."

Originally, Legas's father, the previous Zerdinger family head, was the second son.

"There is only one reason I became the family head."

*Screech-*

*Hiss-*

"Cough?"

Ekgerson's head flew into the air.

"It is simply because I am superior to you. Just as my father was superior to your father."

*Thump- roll- roll-*

"I-impossible…"

Seeing Ekgerson's disbelief at the fact that the battle was decided in a single blow, Legas said calmly,

"Not all heroes are the same. With that level of skill, you surely would have made Zerdinger Rodren's greatest heroic noble family."

***

Leo moved through the Elder's Hall, eliminating all the traitors without exception.

Finally, when he arrived at Ekgerson's office, Anya, Kirin, and Legas were waiting for him.

"Grandfather?"

"The more I get to know my grandson, the more I'm taken aback. To have held the darkness of the world. It explains why he wasn't very interested in the family legacy."

Legas chuckled.

'This grandfather. He's quite something.'

He hadn't expected him to reach this point so quickly.

As Leo admired him,

Anya approached Leo.

"Leo, here."

Leo picked up the communication crystal that Anya handed him.

"This is an item made by the Hero Slayer."

"…It can track magical residue."

Normally, this would be impossible.

But Leo had pursued and eliminated countless traitors for thousands of years.

Before being the strongest hero, he was the strongest shadow.

His overwhelming pursuit ability, as seen in how he hunted down and eliminated traitors here today, was something even the shadow lords would not dare to attempt.

It was then.

*Woooong-*

The crystal reacted.

Seeing that, Leo narrowed his eyes and infused the crystal with magic.

The vibration of the crystal stopped.

A moment later.

[Leo Flovnya?]

The Hero Slayer spoke to him.