Book 1 Chapter 634

634.

Ain watched the screen unfolding before his eyes, his arm around his partner.

Beyond the screen, the five students who had become gatekeepers were visible.

Yura gasped when she saw Leo sitting there, waiting for the 4th and 5th graders.

"Seriously, sometimes when I see him, it's like his head is messed up beyond just having a strong heart, you know?"

Ain sighed at Yura's muttering.

"It is an essential quality for a hero."

When a great trial comes.

There are things that cannot be solved unless one is out of their right mind.

Actions like laughing in a crisis or plunging into something without hesitation, even if a slight mistake could cost one's life.

'Well, there are also times when things are out of their right mind in daily life, but just looking at these right now…'

Ain's gaze briefly turned to his two juniors, Yura and Ren, who were embarrassing no matter where they were presented.

"Certainly, that kind of aspect is necessary."

Yura nodded.

"But Senior Yura, aren't there sometimes people who aren't in their right mind even in everyday life?"

"Ah, right."

Yura nodded at Ren's words.

The two professors' gazes flickered towards Ain for a moment.

Ain, whose eyes met the two professors', grabbed their necks without hesitation.

"You guys, to your senior!"

"Why! Why! You were the one who thought that first, Senior!"

"Hmph—resorting to violence first. How like Senior Ain, whose brain is filled only with muscles."

Yura resisted, and Ren sent a cold gaze.

Watching the boisterous three professors again today, Artian covered his mouth and smiled gently.

"It seems like there were no quiet days when the three professors were students. How was it, Professor Harland?"

"They were embarrassing rascals no matter where they were presented."

Harland said without mercy.

"By the way, I wonder if student Leo will be alright without any preparations like that."

Currently, Leo was waiting for the 4th and 5th graders in an defenseless state.

Even the 4th and 5th graders were already scouting Leo with magic and summoning spells.

"Student Leo should be able to stop such scouting attempts sufficiently, though."

"He's probably just planning to overwhelm them with sheer force."

"That's not like student Leo?"

It was a well-known fact that Leo's power was already strong, even compared to those who had risen to the ranks of heroes, beyond mere students.

The Hero Slayer incident, which became a hot topic this past winter break, was a clear example.

Reese, Ulta, and Zamua were already skilled individuals who wouldn't be out of place in the ranks of heroes.

'It's true that those who achieve great feats and earn the qualification of a hero are strong. But the presence or absence of a hero's qualification isn't the measure of strength.'

In fact, there are many who possess the strength of a hero, or even greater, despite not having reached the ranks of heroes.

What those individuals lack compared to heroes are great feats.

'Reese, Ulta, Zamua. Even if those three combined their strength, they couldn't defeat the Hero Slayer.'

That was, quite literally, a monster beyond measure.

'It's the same even if Celia, Avard, and Chelsea added their strength. Moreover, the ones those kids fought weren't the Hero Slayer, but Hero Hunters who gained power through the 'World of the Legion'.'

Harland recalled the report on the Hero Slayer and looked at Leo.

'Raina fought him by borrowing the power of the Spirit of Purification, but… it must have been insufficient after all.'

From the circumstances, it was clear that Leo alone defeated the Hero Slayer.

'If I were to gauge Leo's power right now… he would be comparable to Lord Kalian in his prime.'

Harland gauged Leo's pure power.

Of course, it was only 'power'.

Literally, the pure mana capacity.

Considering Leo's experience and skill.

And his All-Class adaptability, it's impossible to know how strong he will become.

'Perhaps he might possess power comparable to the Giant King or the Lich King.'

In the history of the Age of Heroes, only five people were officially able to single-handedly fight Legion Commanders who had existed since the Age of Calamity.

They were all the Heroes of Creation.

Of course, unofficially there were also Berchia and Bihar, but even Harland found it difficult to know about those not recorded in history.

'He was already complete mentally, skillfully, and experientially from the beginning.'

Harland shook his head, recalling Leo's first year.

He had never encountered a student with nothing to teach in his entire life.

That's how extraordinary Leo's existence was.

However, that didn't mean the 4th and 5th graders would be swept away by Leo in vain.

No, if he exposed himself so defenselessly, even Leo would be in danger.

One defenseless person against a thoroughly prepared multitude.

No matter how overwhelming his power, Leo's current actions were too reckless.

But Leo was waiting for his opponents to come thoroughly prepared.

Harland, who had been silently watching Leo, spoke.

"He's probably trying to show them clearly. What the 4th and 5th graders are lacking right now."

***

When Leo arrived on the deserted island, he twirled the palm-sized key he had held in his hand, threw it, then spent time balancing by raising his index finger.

Leo yawned, a bored expression on his face, then grasped the key with a *thump* and muttered to himself.

'The weakness of the 4th and 5th graders. It's that they lack a central point.'

Leo didn't think the 4th and 5th graders were lacking in skill.

They too had experienced all sorts of hardships in Lumern and had survived until now.

But there was something that was 2% lacking compared to the graduates.

'Their unity is a sandcastle.'

Leo clicked his tongue.

Lumern, fundamentally.

No, all hero academies fundamentally train students to perform 'Giant Killing'.

They teach how to fight someone overwhelmingly stronger than oneself.

Such education was natural.

A hero is a being who must overcome trials, and trials mean something difficult to handle with one's own strength.

The most basic way to fight someone stronger than oneself is to combine forces.

That's why heroes fundamentally become stronger the more they unite their strength.

Strengthening bonds with those around them is also a virtue of a hero.

However, the current 4th and 5th graders had weak bonds.

'Because the current 4th and 5th graders each have individuals whom they can simply follow without complex thoughts.'

That person was Lil for the 4th graders and Elena for the 5th graders.

Especially Elena, she was an absolute charisma for the 5th graders.

Not only did she grasp and sway the entire grade as soon as she entered, but she also displayed charisma that overwhelmed even previous years.

In Lil's case, she didn't show overwhelming charisma like Elena.

However, the current 4th graders were a year that had been evaluated as relatively lacking compared to other years.

In fact, during the Luserian War, Seirun hardly felt any significant threat from the current 4th graders, except for Lil.

Lil had cared for and helped her classmates with all her might, accompanying them until their 4th year.

'Sometimes, I even see absolute loyalty to Lil. Is it because Lil comes from a military family?'

While not absolute obedience, for the 4th graders, Lil was a commander to be absolutely followed.

'When Lil and Elena are in command, they show greater unity than other years, but without them, they play separately.'

Having an absolute leader was similar to Leo's classmates, but there was a crucial difference.

'I made sure those guys could walk on their own.'

He was different from Elena, who was a dictator-style leader, or Lil, who had been a pillar of support for her classmates with gentle leadership.

Of course, this cannot be said to be the fault of the two.

Leo was a great hero, worn out by countless experiences, and the two, no matter how outstanding, were still young.

'Anyway, the professors want the 4th and 5th graders to realize their shortcomings. How much they have relied on Elena and Lil without even realizing it.'

That's why they pitted them against Leo.

'When they encounter an overwhelmingly strong opponent whom they must unite to fight. How disunited they are without Elena and Lil.'

Leo smirked, accurately grasping the professors' intentions.

'If that's what the professors are thinking, then I should follow suit.'

Leo extended his hand forward.

*BOOM—!*

A massive sphere of flame flying from the front exploded as it touched Leo's hand.

*Whoosh! Crackle-crackle-*

The surrounding area was devastated and burned.

Only the spot where Leo was sitting remained unharmed.

Leo smiled broadly, looking at the 5th-year magic student who had shot magic at him.

"Tch!"

The magic student clicked her tongue and disappeared.

"Warp, huh. You've cooked up an interesting strategy."

Leo chuckled, and while still seated, he drew his sword with his hand that wasn't holding the key, deflecting an arrow of aura flying at his back.

*Ting—! Zzzzzzzing—!*

Hundreds of split aura arrows bounced away and shot up into the sky.

That wasn't all.

All sorts of auras, magic, and summoning spells assailed Leo from all directions.

"You came thoroughly prepared, not letting your guard down."

Leo stood up.

His red eyes flashed.

"Alright, then. What are the shortcomings of my dear seniors… this junior will engrave them into your bones."

If the professors had heard him, they would have probably stopped him, saying that just informing them would be enough, but unfortunately, there wasn't a single professor here to say that.

In fact, the professors didn't know either.

That Leo was capable of training students even more harshly than Lumern's professors.

'Super-senses.'

Leo's senses sharpened acutely.

As Leo prepared to move, those who were attacking from a distance warped and disappeared all at once.

'A large-scale warp gate magic circle, huh. Do they intend to chip away at my stamina by striking and retreating with long-range attackers? I am indeed weak in long battles, so they've planned well.'

Leo lowered his stance.

'Of course, that's assuming they can buy time.'

*Thwack—! Bang—!*

He executed an Aura Step, shooting forward like a bullet.

He dashed straight towards the location where the warp gate magic circle had been set up.

"They found the gate location!"

"How? There was no sign of them using detection magic at all?!"

"How should I know!"

"Ugh! Vanguards, stop Leo! Mages, prepare to move!"

4th and 5th-year knight students blocked Leo.

*Whoosh—!*

*Crack-crack-crash!*

Five swords barely managed to block Leo's swinging sword.

The destructive power imbued in his sword turned the knight students' faces pale.

Especially the 5th-year male student directly in front of Leo, who had to meet Leo's gaze.

'Huh? Wait a minute. He really looks like he's going to beat me to death?'

Leo had never openly clashed with his school seniors.

And even after becoming student council president and rising to the rank of a hero, he had never acted disrespectfully in front of his seniors.

Certainly, there were some who disliked Leo, but the reason why the majority of upperclassmen acknowledged Leo was because

Leo consistently treated his seniors with due respect.

So for Leo to suddenly scatter ferocious killing intent in his eyes, from the perspective of his senior, he couldn't help but be flustered.

He was even in the student council, so they had occasionally exchanged light jokes in the student council room.

And the Leo now was not the Leo he knew.

A ferocious momentum that seemed to destroy everything in its path.

He was like a beast.

"Hey, hey, hey! Leo! It's me! Me! Belgus! Your senior…"

*Thud—*

Leo's hand grabbed Belgus's face and slammed him onto the floor.

*Boom—!*

A massive explosion of flames erupted from Leo's hand.

Belgus, who trembled, was instantly processed as dead and warped away.

"What about a senior?"

At Leo's eerie voice, the 4th and 5th graders realized what nickname Leo was called among the 2nd and 3rd graders.

'Demon King.'

"Come at me, ready to die."

Leo said chillingly, scattering a ferocious aura.

"I won't go easy on you just because you're seniors. I'll tear you all apart."

"F-first, let's retreat and regroup!"

"Why are his eyes like that?"

"You, you guys did something wrong to Leo, didn't you?! Right! I've been super nice since freshman year!"

"Is this the time to argue about that?! First! Run! Run!"

The knight students assigned to stop Leo were completely overwhelmed by Leo's momentum, which was utterly different from usual.

"Kuh-heo-oh-oh-oh-ng!"

Leo roared like a beast.

The howling of beastmen.

Howling is a power that instills courage in allies and fear in enemies.

For a moment, the knight students, exposed defenselessly to the howling, stumbled.

Today, Leo had no strategy.

He was simply hunting his seniors with overwhelming power.

Red aura flowed from Leo's eyes, and howling continuously burst from his mouth.

Watching his appearance, one female student muttered with a terrified face.

"T-this isn't a Demon King, it's a boss monster…"