Book 1 Chapter 620

620.

*Clink* *Roll, roll, roll…*

Zorua's head, which had been floating in the air, rolled on the floor.

Leo watched Zorua with expressionless eyes.

"Well now."

Zorua picked up his head and calmly placed it back in its rightful place.

"I thought it would shake a little. Does a crude trick not work?"

The person Zorua was currently impersonating was none other than Leo's mother, Reina.

Although her age was different from the current Reina, there was no lie in this appearance.

It was literally Reina from the past.

But Leo's sword showed no hesitation.

'It's possible not to hesitate.'

Someone with strong mental fortitude would not hesitate at all with their sword, even if they were in the form of their mother.

That is the nature of someone who has attained the title of Hero.

'But the disappearance of hesitation does not mean the disappearance of a rejection response.'

However, Leo's sword contained no emotion.

It was a sword meant only to cut down the opponent.

It was not simply a matter of having strong mental fortitude.

'This is a realm, a level.'

As someone who wielded weapons.

And as a Hero who had overcome countless trials.

The realm and level achieved by the young man before him were on a different plane than any Hero he had encountered before.

And Zorua knew well what made a Hero strong.

'Experience.'

What makes a Hero strong is not innate talent, nor training and time.

Only trials.

Countless trials are what elevate a Hero's standing.

That is experience.

And in the single sword strike Leo displayed, Zorua glimpsed a fragment of that experience.

"You're really the one who's going to be 17?"

Zorua's eyes sparkled with more interest.

Leo, who had been silent to the question, narrowed his eyes.

"Indeed."

"Hm?"

"So, you've taken the form of the one whose power you stole?"

"……."

Seeing Leo nod as if he understood, Zorua let out a hollow laugh.

"So, I'm not even in your sight?"

Leo was solely analyzing and understanding Zorua's abilities.

He paid no attention to the person in front of him.

Just a being to be vanquished.

Nothing more, nothing less.

"Heh. Magnificent."

Zorua drew his sword.

"As expected, you are the best prey! Leo Plov!"

*Fwoosh-!*

Red flames erupted from Zorua's sword.

Seeing that, Leo also ignited flames from his sword.

Staring at the familiar flames of Schrödinger, Leo muttered inwardly.

'Mother's flames.'

*Fwah-!*

Zorua instantly closed the distance to Leo.

*Fwoosh-!*

A sword swung, aiming for his neck.

Leo parried Zorua's sword.

*Clang-! Fwoosh-!*

Swords clashed, spewing flames.

*Goooooo-!*

Leo's eyes twitched.

"How is it? Isn't it magnificent? Your mother's flames!"

Zorua's eyes filled with exhilaration.

"Your mother! Reina Schrödinger's flames are special! More so than any flames I've ever seen!"

*Kwah-!*

The flames intensified.

And they began to consume Leo's flames.

"Reina Schrödinger's flames burn in response to a strong will! Their power rises endlessly!"

Reina's flames began to engulf Leo's flames even faster.

Judging himself to be at a disadvantage in a power struggle, Leo roughly pushed his sword away.

*Chaaeng-!*

Space opened between the swords.

In that fleeting moment.

*Kaga-ga-ga-ga-ga-!*

Dozens of exchanges occurred in the blink of an eye.

Zorua defended against Leo's sword.

In the process, Zorua could not counterattack.

Leo clearly held the advantage in swordsmanship.

"Amazing! Truly amazing swordsmanship! How did you acquire such skill at such a young age!"

Zorua exclaimed.

He was completely overwhelmed in terms of swordsmanship.

"To have such talent and to also put in the effort! It's truly admirable!"

Flames flickered from Zorua's body.

"But!"

*Thump-!*

Zorua stomped his left foot on the ground.

Leo's eyes twitched upon seeing that.

The surrounding air was sucked towards Zorua's feet.

Knowing the ominous signs, Leo unleashed his magic.

*Kwaga-ga-ga-ga-! Fwah-!*

A massive explosion erupted at Zorua's center.

The air that was sucked in was instantly incinerated, blowing away the surrounding area.

The vast garden of the Plov mansion was instantly turned to ashes, leaving nothing behind.

"Hoohoohoohoo. Against overwhelming power, effort is meaningless."

Zorua looked at Leo.

*Chiiiik-!*

Zorua's eyes lit up upon seeing the water droplets encasing Leo's body.

"Ho? A magic I've never seen before. Star magic?"

The Water Armor.

It was a defensive magic created by Luna in anticipation of a battle with Erebus.

It granted strong resistance to fire magic.

However, Luna considered this magic a failure.

It was powerless against Erebus's flames.

"That magic, it's desirable."

Zorua's eyes sparkled.

"The attack from a moment ago."

"Hm?"

"It was a little different from Schrödinger's flames, wasn't it?"

"Are you finally showing interest in me?"

Zorua grinned and said.

"Yes. It's a power that cannot be realized with just Schrödinger's flames. But I am different."

"My true talent is not stealing the abilities of others! It is to draw out more than the limit of any ability!"

Zorua's eyes sparkled.

"This flame is the same! This flame is special! But Reina Schrödinger is not special!"

Zorua's sparkling face contorted slightly.

"I thought she was a special being. I thought she would be reborn as an even more noble being after losing her power. But when she lost her power… she devolved into an ordinary human, one found everywhere. A very unfortunate affair."

Shaking his head, Zorua smiled.

"But it's alright. Reina Schrödinger's noble form can now be passed down to future generations through me. Not just Reina Schrödinger. All the special Heroes that exist in this world will be eternally passed down to future generations because of me."

"There is no meaning in such futile endeavors."

"No meaning? No! That's wrong! I am the vessel!"

Zorua spread both his arms.

"Countless Heroes live within me! I will become countless Heroes and be reborn as a more complete being!"

Zorua's fists clenched, his eyes shining.

"Heroes fail to unleash their full potential! Only I can draw out the value of the power they cannot bring forth! Possibilities that met the wrong master! They will fully blossom because of me!"

Zorua's eyes, gleaming with greed, turned to Leo.

"And the ability that will bring my abilities to their culmination is Leo Plov! Your All-Class ability!"

Zorua pointed a finger at Leo and smiled.

"The power to freely use the abilities of all classes! If I can obtain that power, I will be reborn as a true All-Master! A perfect being! That is, a god! So Leo Plov!"

Zorua said with force.

"Give me your power! That is the only way the world will be saved!"

Leo stared at Zorua without saying a word.

And then he let out a hollow laugh.

The endless greed that Zorua displayed.

And the stench of the undead that emanated from him, revived by the power of the Necro King.

Nothing about him was pure.

However, Zorua's eyes, when he spoke of himself a moment ago, were clear.

Surprisingly, there was no trace of selfishness in those eyes.

He simply believed that what he was doing was absolutely right.

He had killed countless Heroes to steal their powers.

And even after betraying the world and reaching death, becoming a slave to the Necro King.

He believed himself to be absolutely good.

It was a conviction.

An absolute belief that the world would be saved if he were reborn as a perfect being.

"If you're going to go mad, do it cleanly. You're mad in such a dirty way."

"Sigh… Even you, who are close to perfect, cannot understand my grand ambition in the end."

Zorua truly sighed.

Watching Zorua, Leo said.

"If you can truly save the world, I'll give you this All-Class ability without hesitation."

"This…? Are you mocking that noble ability right now?"

Zorua's eyes twitched.

"You were fortunate enough to be born with that ability… you ignorant fool who doesn't even know how lucky you are."

At those words, Leo chuckled.

'Yes. If it were not me, but Lisinas or Luna… or Aron or Dweuno who had been born with this ability, perhaps history would have been different now.'

He thought of his friends, who were more heroic than he.

There were certainly those who were more suited to the power of purity than himself.

For Leo, this ability was far from a blessing.

'In the end, I had to suffer alone without any rest.'

It was more of a curse.

A curse that left him alone after sending everyone away.

But…

"It's a waste of an ability for an idiot who feels superior by stealing others' powers."

"What did you say?"

"You keep saying that the abilities you stole met the wrong masters."

Leo sneered.

"Know your place. If you hadn't just stolen them, those abilities would have shone even brighter in the hands of their original owners."

"Don't just make things up!"

"Then why can't you utilize Torua's abilities?"

After reincarnation.

Among the people Leo had seen living in this era, the one he considered the most troublesome to fight was none other than Torua.

Of course, there were many stronger than Torua.

But in the distant future.

If Torua were to fully unleash her potential.

'I really don't want to fight her.'

The reason was simple.

All the spells she used in combat were unique magic.

Unique magic, created through countless studies, was a byproduct of Torua's own fondness for magic research.

However, it could not be said to be efficient.

'Unique magic is generally considered valuable when it displays abilities that ordinary magic cannot possess, according to the magic world's thinking. But when the number of types increases, the story changes.'

First, dispel magic becomes difficult.

Normally, one reads the waves generated when magic is cast and infers what kind of magic it is.

But unique magic is, literally, the magic unique to that person.

Since there is no information about the magic's mana wave, it is unpredictable.

When facing a mage.

Not being able to predict magic is a truly terrible thing.

"You probably stole Torua's ability because you coveted it, right? But can you properly utilize Torua's mana?"

Torua's ability was the result of effort, not talent.

Simply stealing the ability does not allow one to use it.

"You claim your true talent is to draw out the real abilities of the powers others possess? Don't make me laugh."

Leo knew all too well how to thoroughly crush this type of person.

That was why Leo genuinely mocked Zorua.

"It's natural for a child who has just learned to walk not to be able to run. But sometimes, there are such children. And there are foolish adults who lament that such a child cannot run. And there are idiots who mistake that for their own superiority over the child."

To shatter the conviction that one is absolutely right.

"Do you think you're something great? No."

Zorua's face grew increasingly stiff.

"You're just trash who can do nothing but latch onto the abilities of others."

Leo smiled faintly.

"I'll prove it to you right now."