Book 1 Chapter 632
632.
“Yeah. I was angry.”
“Angry, huh…”
Leo mulled over Chelsea’s words.
At the time, what Leo had manifested through the Nightmare was indeed a hallucination of Lysinath.
But…
‘What they saw through the Nightmare back then wasn't the hallucination of Lysinath that I knew.’
What they encountered must have been the Lysinath from their own imagination.
After one song ended.
Leo and Chelsea returned to their original seats.
Other young ladies from noble families of similar age looked at Leo with subtle glances.
But their gazes quickly scattered under Chelsea’s furious eyes.
Sitting down, Leo silently looked at his palm.
After awakening the Spirit Arts, there were times when Lysinath’s mana showed a clear will.
Lysinath, the strongest summoner in history, was also a spirit mage more powerful than anyone else.
‘Hey. Cheater lizard. Are you really residing in your mana that I’ve inherited?’
There was no answer.
Leo raised his head and silently gazed at the splendid and grand party.
After watching it for a moment, Leo got up from his seat.
“Huh? Leo Oppa?”
Chelsea’s eyes widened as she followed behind Leo.
Leo went out to the deserted terrace and leaned against the railing.
Chelsea also approached Leo, leaned against the railing, and then subtly looked up at him.
The party hall of the Imperial Palace, high up.
And far away, the flourishing capital of Rhodren was visible.
Looking at it, Leo gave a bitter smile.
“Sometimes I feel it. The world has really improved a lot.”
“Huh?”
“Well… it’s been 5000 years.”
“It’s peace we have thanks to the Great Heroes.”
Chelsea said with a beaming smile.
“Leo Oppa, what do you think when you look at the current era?”
“I feel like it’s a world those guys would like more than me.”
“…”
“I also wish we could have been revived together. Well, sometimes.”
Leo chuckled as he looked at the party venue in the distance.
Even when Arion came out into the Hero’s World.
Even when Luna appeared in the world as a spirit.
Leo wanted them to live as normal a life as possible.
Because he knew well that his friends were the ones who deserved to enjoy this peace more than anyone else.
It was too precious to enjoy this peace all by himself.
Of course, Leo didn't feel guilt or sorrow towards his deceased comrades.
‘I deserve rights as much as we went through hell together.’
However.
‘Sometimes it gets lonely.’
Friends who were like family.
‘If we could have shared this time together, there would have been so much more laughter and chatter.’
Long ago.
It was when Leo chuckled bitterly, recalling memories of the past.
Pat-pat-
Chelsea placed her hand on Leo’s head and stroked it.
“What does this mean?”
“Huh? Comfort for Leo Oppa, who looks tired?”
“That’s too childish a way.”
“I’m a child. Leo Oppa is also a child on the outside. Or should I comfort you in an adult way?”
Leo looked at Chelsea, who had wide eyes, with an unenthusiastic expression.
“Do you know what you’re talking about?”
“Ahem! I’m old enough to know everything.”
“Such a small thing being cheeky.”
“Hmph!”
Chelsea, whose nose was pinched by Leo, struggled.
Leo, who had pinched her nose and swayed Chelsea back and forth, chuckled and let go.
“I guess I won’t have time to leisurely reminisce about the past. It’s not too late to do that after everything is over.”
Chelsea said, rubbing her reddened nose.
“Do you feel a little better?”
“Thanks to you.”
Leo said, looking at the moon.
“From third year, it’s going to get really tough. Be prepared.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll also increase the intensity of training.”
“Eh?!”
Chelsea made a disgusted expression.
Looking at such Chelsea, Leo said.
“Why?”
“You’re going to get even stronger from there?”
“Yes. I was taking it easy because you were still young.”
Leo smiled.
“Seeing you talk so impertinently, it seems right to graduate from treating you like a child now.”
“Aww~ I’m still little.”
“Not cute.”
“Tsk! It still works on my dad.”
Chelsea, who had been acting cute with a slightly coquettish voice, clicked her tongue.
Looking at her, Leo said.
“It’s time to graduate from taking care of kids now.”
***
After the party, Leo returned to Gerdinger’s mansion and sat on his room’s sofa with his arms crossed.
Beside Leo stood Melina, the Dragon Lord.
A moment later, a door appeared in the air and slowly opened.
Leo turned his head and sighed deeply.
Beyond the door, Lian was bowing to Leo.
“This humble being greets the most honorable, noble, and virtuous Hero of the Beginning in this world.”
Having said that, Lian crawled out of the door, still prostrate, and approached Leo.
“Are you a cockroach?”
He hurled an insult, asking a divine being if they were a cockroach.
Of course, neither Leo, who was uttering the insult, nor Lian, who was hearing it, cared.
No, this crazy god even rejoiced at Leo’s words.
“Ah! It means that in Lord Leo’s eyes, even a trivial microorganism like me has a presence comparable to a cockroach! What an honor!”
The most awkward person here was the Dragon Lord, caught between the Great Hero and a god.
‘Just who is that person…’
Melina simply couldn’t adapt to Lian’s genuinely joyful appearance.
Melina had already met Lian several times with Leo before.
But each time, the fervent behavior of the god before her flustered Melina.
To Melina’s understanding, a god was a very strange being.
‘How can Lord Leo remain unfazed even after seeing such a sight?’
As a Dragon Lord, she had seen many types of people.
But she could definitively say that no one was as bizarre as Lian.
It wasn't simply because Lian was a god.
In Melina’s eyes, Lian was brilliantly out of his mind whenever he was related to Leo.
But when Leo wasn’t around, he was an transcendent absolute being itself.
Those two incompatible forms were terrifying from Melina’s perspective.
Even now, at the sight of him rejoicing at being called a cockroach, Melina felt an indescribable fear.
Leo gritted his teeth, watching Lian still crawl towards him in a bowed posture.
“Just stand up and come quickly.”
“I cannot! How can a cockroach like me raise my head before the great Hero of the Beginning!”
“It’s frustrating, so come quickly!”
“Gasp! To make Lord Leo frustrated! Such irreverence!”
Lian gasped and rushed to Leo’s front.
And he started hitting his head on the floor, exclaiming, ‘Ah! Indeed, I’m worse than a cockroach!’ as he self-harmed.
At that sight, Melina unconsciously hid behind Leo.
‘Right. The more she knows, the scarier that behavior will be.’
And it was none other than Melina, a Dragon Lord.
As she understood Lian’s transcendental power, the greater her fear would be when such a transcendental being showed such a chaotic appearance.
Of course, Leo was so accustomed to divine beings that he had reached a point where he simply accepted such sights.
Leo had a different perspective on people and gods compared to those of the current era.
Lian, who had been self-harming, suddenly stopped moving and pulled out a small box from his embrace.
“Lord Leo! Though insufficient, please accept my tribute!”
“What is this?”
“It’s a crown made by carving the most beautiful jewel I possess!”
Lian’s eyes sparkled.
“Are you not about to ascend to the position of the King of the World, Lord Leo!”
“What are you talking about? I’m just becoming the king of a small country.”
“No! This entire world belongs to Lord Leo! For Lord Leo to become king means to become the King of the World! It means Lord Leo will be the absolute ruler of the world!”
Leo sighed and opened the box, looking at Lian who was again assigning strange meanings.
On the jewel-crafted crown, images of Kyle and Leo were intricately made.
It looked less like a crown and more like wearing a sculpture on one’s head.
“How is it! A dignified crown befitting the King of the World, isn’t it—”
Clang—! Crack—!
“Aaaah! My work of art!”
Leo mercilessly threw the crown, and it shattered.
Melina rushed to Lian’s side, seeing him cry out as if he had lost the world.
“Are, are you okay?”
“Right, then shall we get to the main point?”
“Yes.”
At Leo’s words, Lian stood straight before him as if nothing had happened.
Melina made a distressed face.
She simply couldn’t adapt to the god before her, who was chaos itself.
Taking a deep breath, Melina stood beside Leo.
“What do you wish to know about the Hero Record?”
At Lian’s question, Leo said.
“During the process of dealing with the Hero Slayer this time, I learned that there’s something called the Legion’s Record.”
At that, not only Melina’s face but also Lian’s hardened.
“The Legion’s Record?”
“Yes. I even entered a place called the Legion’s World, just like the Hero’s World.”
Leo recounted his experiences to Lian.
Leo then spoke to Lian, who had adopted a serious expression after hearing the story.
“Lastly, I also saw traitors who seemed to have become monsters. So I ask. Does Erebus know about this Record System?”
At that question, Lian nodded.
“Yes. That abomination will also possess knowledge of the Record System.”
“Really? Then does he have the power to implement a Record System like the Hero Record?”
“No. It’s true that that abomination is the natural enemy of gods. But that doesn’t mean that abomination has the power to implement the Record System that all gods combined their powers to create. Even if its power has grown by burning this entire world, implementing a system like the Hero Record is impossible.”
At that, Melina cautiously said.
“Then… does that mean Erebus changed the Hero Record into the Legion’s World?”
“That’s right, Dragon Lord.”
Lian’s face was tinged with displeasure.
“With the power of that abomination… it’s possible.”
The Hero Record was a power imbued with the wishes of all gods.
Lian couldn't help but feel instinctive anger at the fact that this power was not only defiled but also being used by their natural enemy.
“Most likely, the Necrolord, the abomination’s creation, made the Legion’s Record.”
Lian said with an expressionless face.
“Because that creation possesses a fragment of the abomination.”
Hearing Lian’s words, Leo nodded.
He had expected it.
But the words of Lian, the administrator and participant in the creation of the Hero Record, carried a different weight than mere expectation.
“Could other pages of the Hero Record also be changed to the Legion’s Record?”
“It would be possible. But they won’t do such a thing.”
“Why?”
“Even with the power of the abomination, altering the Hero Record itself, which is the essence of the gods’ power, would consume an enormous amount of energy.”
“Hmm.”
“Furthermore, the demons after the Age of Heroes wouldn’t be of much help to the current Tartarus.”
Lian bowed his head to Leo.
“They couldn’t even defeat the Great Heroes during their golden age, the Age of Calamity. That fellow, the Necrolord, would know best that the power of the demons born in the Age of Heroes is powerless before you.”
“That’s true.”
The current Legion’s power does not match that of the past Legion.
As such, what needs to be inherited by the current Legion is the power of their prime.
“Since many of the Great Heroes’ Hero Records have been destroyed… they won’t be able to create many Legion Records either.”
Of course, even that alone is an immense threat.
“Melina. Prepare to announce the truth about the Legion’s Record in the name of the Dragon Lord. Also, research methods to counter the Legion’s Record.”
“Yes.”
Melina bowed her head and returned to Dragonia using warp.
Sighing as he watched her, Leo propped his chin.
“Things are going to get busier from now on.”
“Indeed. You will soon be acclaimed as the King of the World, after all.”
“The King of the World talk again?”
“I do wish for that… but the king I’m talking about now isn’t that kind of king.”
Lian smiled.
“Do you remember what I told you before? That the King of Wisdom was the only King of the World acknowledged by the gods in this world.”
“…”
“It is finally the beginning. The first step for the will of the world to gather beneath you. No god will deny it. That you have become the second King of this world.”
Lian bowed his head.
“From now on, a truly new era will begin.”