Book 1 Chapter 641
641.
“……”
The problem with the 4th and 5th graders wasn’t just a lack of unity.
There was a decisive difference between the current 3rd graders and the 4th and 5th graders.
‘These guys lack the obsession to aim for the best.’
It couldn't be helped.
Just as the 3rd graders had Leo.
The 4th and 5th graders had Elena and Lily.
If there was a difference, Leo initially walked step-in-step with his peers.
And he constantly made them look at his back.
So they wouldn’t lose sight of the goal, no matter how far he got.
That’s why, even with an insurmountable distance that was invisible now, the 3rd graders didn’t give up.
Not right now. Even if it became a distant future, they wouldn’t reach it.
‘But then again, you never know.’
There’s no law that says one day they won’t be right behind me, clinging to my back and telling me not to stop.
But Elena and Lily didn’t walk step-in-step.
That’s why the 4th and 5th graders gave up chasing Elena and Lily.
And instinctively set Elena and Lily as their limit.
It wasn’t their fault.
Unlike Leo, they were too young to care about those around them.
“Perhaps even like this, they can become heroes.”
Getting their names on the Hero Record.
That was the goal of hero candidates.
But…
“It will only be up to there.”
‘The outcome is obvious if they stay like this.’
Leo knew.
That they were excellent hero candidates.
His seniors would never turn away from the disaster that would strike in the future.
‘They would fight for the future, risking everything.’
But could they survive that chaos?
‘Like us… there’s a high probability they’ll end up sacrificing themselves for the era.’
That wasn’t wrong.
No, it was actually a very noble and dignified act.
But…
‘If possible, I want to live and see the future.’
During the era of disaster, Leo never dreamed of the future.
Even someone like himself enjoyed and was happy in the current era.
That’s why his heart felt heavier.
If they had been together, it would have been even more enjoyable and happy…
‘If they, not me, had been resurrected, they would have thought the same.’
That’s why Leo hoped the future generations would be different from them.
He sincerely wished that his loved ones could move towards the future together.
The desire for future generations to live in a better future.
‘That’s what it means to be an adult.’
That’s why Leo decided to become cold.
‘The moment you set your own limit… it’s truly the end.’
But the approaching future.
The battlefield where they would stand was not a smooth place where those who set Elena and Lily as their limit could survive.
People grow stronger the more they see.
The higher the goal.
Even if that goal is so impossibly high that it’s invisible, people can finally overcome their limits when they reach out towards that goal.
‘Perhaps my seniors can no longer overcome it on their own.’
Their frameworks were already set.
After graduation, their self-imposed limits would become even stronger and bind them.
Even if they overcame their limits, it would take a long time, and perhaps they might never overcome them in their lifetime.
‘And I don’t think there will be enough time to wait that long.’
Then…
“What… future are you looking at?”
Leo smiled at Runeva’s question.
“Do you want to know?”
“……”
“Then I’ll tell you.”
Goooh-
Gray mana flowed from Leo’s body.
He couldn’t take those who were obviously going to die to the battlefield.
‘Then the answer is to thoroughly crush them. To the point of being unable to recover.’
There was no other way to break the shell of limits.
If they could stand up again after being so thoroughly crushed… then, and only then, would they be qualified.
“Prove it.”
“What?”
“That you are also heroes befitting a new era.”
***
Luke closed his eyes and concentrated.
Fwiiish-! Bang!
“Kuh!”
He heard the pained scream of a classmate from the Knight Department.
At that, Luke gripped the swords in his hands and recalled what Chen Sia had said earlier.
‘You know, except for one person in the darkness, I’m the strongest among the 3rd years?’
As if to prove that statement was not a lie.
Chen Sia began hunting the 2nd graders, one by one.
‘The scary thing about Senior Sia is… that she can’t be found in the darkness.’
No matter how much the 2nd graders used detection magic, spirit summoning, or sharpened their senses, it was impossible to find Chen Sia, who had shrouded herself in a veil of darkness.
But…
“Haap!”
Puhahaha-!
Habiden swung his sword at Chen Sia, who was aiming for him.
Chen Sia dodged Habiden’s attack with a graceful movement.
Kiiing-! Kuaang-!
With a giant explosion, Juen, who was being protected by the Knight Department students, fired a magic bullet.
Shasha’s familiars surrounded Chen Sia and launched an attack.
Summoners were broadly divided into two categories before spirit users and familiars.
Summoners who summon powerful familiars and strengthen them, the combat type of summoner.
And summoners who summon countless familiars, the commander type of summoner.
And Shasha was clearly the latter.
Shasha, who summoned a hundred familiars based on her overwhelming spiritual power, commanded the familiars.
A dense encirclement, like a net from which there was no escape.
But Chen Sia smoothly slipped out of the encirclement as if flowing water and then disappeared back into the darkness.
“She’s like a water spirit!”
“Beautiful…”
“Are you admiring her now?!”
Juen gritted his teeth and shouted.
But Chen Sia’s appearance was so beautiful that it made the situation irrelevant.
Her water garment, draped over her body like silk, fluttered beautifully every time she appeared.
When she stepped on the ground with her bare feet using Aura Step, she glided as if a water spirit was running on a lake.
When attacking, her movements were soft.
Honestly, even Luke thought she was beautiful.
Elegant and beautiful enough to elicit admiration from any man.
But…
Kwaang-!
“Kuh!”
The power of the attacks that unfolded from her fingertips was terrifying.
Chen Sia, who had appeared behind Aina at some point, spread her palm and struck Aina’s back.
As if a water bomb exploded.
With immense water pressure, Aina knelt down and gritted her teeth.
They couldn’t attack Chen Sia, who had disappeared into the darkness.
Even using Light magic, darkness permeated this entire forest, and that darkness was Chen Sia’s world.
But even Chen Sia had to reveal herself when attacking.
And the 2nd graders didn’t miss that moment and tried to catch Chen Sia.
But Chen Sia effortlessly dodged the attack and disappeared.
They were being hunted unilaterally.
But surprisingly, there was no impatience in the eyes of the 2nd graders.
“Time is on our side!”
Shasha said, covering her mouth with her fan.
That was true.
Time was on the side of the 2nd graders.
It was true that Chen Sia had incapacitated many of the 2nd graders.
It was true that they were being helplessly dealt with right now.
But Chen Sia was also consuming mana even now.
Concealing her presence in the darkness required Aura consumption.
Naturally, the same applied when attacking.
The number of 2nd graders Chen Sia had to face was not in the tens, but in the hundreds.
If it became a prolonged battle, Chen Sia would also get tired.
At that point, they could win.
It was when they were focusing on defense with that thought that Luke, who had been concentrating with his eyes closed, began to ripple with silver Aura.
‘Transcendence.’
Luke’s unique magic that allowed him to go one step beyond his limit.
Luke, who had become a silver flash, charged towards Shasha.
“Huh? Eh? Kyaaaaak!”
“Sorry!”
Luke apologized with sincerity as he narrowly cut past Shasha with the flash emanating from his sword.
“At least it’s better than Aina! She didn’t even apologize to me!”
Shasha, startled, let out a squeak.
Luke, realizing that meant it was somewhat acceptable, let out a small laugh and pursued Chen Sia, who had reappeared.
“You have amazing concentration.”
Chen Sia smiled and performed Aura Step.
Her white soles splashed-! She glided as she stepped on the water.
Incredible speed.
But Luke was confident when it came to speed.
‘Got it! Caught…’
Luke’s eyes twinkled as he tried to cut Chen Sia’s hem.
At that moment, Chen Sia dodged Luke’s sword strike.
‘Huh?’
The reason Luke’s sword didn’t reach Chen Sia was simple.
Chen Sia was faster than Luke.
But…
‘Why?’
Luke’s face was filled with bewilderment.
Luke was one of the fastest students in the 2nd grade.
He was even evaluated as being superior to Chen Sia in pure speed.
Unless he couldn’t predict her movements in advance?
The reason he hadn’t been able to chase Chen Sia until now was that he couldn’t predict her movement path.
But now it was different.
He had predicted Chen Sia’s movements in advance and blocked her attacks.
Then it should be possible to catch up to Chen Sia now.
Yet, now he was falling behind Chen Sia in speed.
‘Was Senior Sia holding back her power?’
Luke’s face was filled with bewilderment when, at some point, Aina and Habiden were swinging their swords on either side of Chen Sia.
Chen Sia spread her palms to both sides.
Kuaang-!
The water Aura she unleashed clashed with Aina and Habiden’s Aura.
Aina and Habiden were thrown back by the immense impact.
“Ugh?!”
“Wait! Has the power increased…?”
Aina and Habiden’s eyes widened.
Chen Sia had disappeared again at some point.
‘Faster… and stronger?’
Luke stared blankly at the direction Chen Sia had disappeared.
Her movements were leisurely, as if flowing water.
‘Flowing like water…?’
“Ah…!”
At that moment, Luke let out a scream of shock.
“What’s wrong? Luke?”
Aina asked with a puzzled expression, and Luke said,
“The flow! It’s the flow!”
“What do you mean?”
Shasha tilted her head, and Luke said urgently,
“Look around! Even though Senior Sia attacked, there’s no wetness!”
Just as the place where fire Aura swept through would burn.
The place where water Aura swept through would be flooded.
But there was none of that around.
“Senior Sia’s Aura never scattered! It’s flowing around Senior Sia!”
Upon understanding his words, everyone’s faces hardened.
If flames become stronger as they burn, and the ground becomes harder as the wind blows faster.
Similarly, water becomes stronger as it gathers.
However, water Aura does not flow around the user.
Once used, water scatters in all directions.
That’s why the attack power of water Aura was weaker compared to other attributes.
But what if that water continuously flowed around the user?
The flow would become more intense, faster, and heavier.
“Time was not on our side!”
As time passed, the destructive power of the Aura would increase dramatically.
The moment Luke finished speaking.
“That’s correct.”
Chen Sia appeared from the darkness, with her arms spread wide.
“Making water flow around me, that’s the characteristic of my Aura.”
Chen Sia smiled gently.
“But if the flow of water is interrupted, the water scatters as it is.”
The flow of water is interrupted.
That meant the opponent’s attack reached the water.
But in the darkness, the opponent’s attack couldn’t reach.
That’s why Chen Sia could confidently say.
‘Except for Lord Leo, I am the strongest in the darkness.’
Chen Sia clenched her fist.
Kuguguooh-!
The massive water Aura gathered in Chen Sia’s fist began to rage like a stormy wave.
“Beings in the darkness don’t know what they’ll do. They might set treacherous traps, or prepare a secret move like this. They do things beyond your common sense without hesitation.”
Chen Sia walked slowly.
“That’s why countless heroes were hunted by traitors living in the darkness, and why the shadows have protected the heroes.”
Chen Sia smiled.
“If this were a real battle, I could have killed all of you.”
That statement did not sound like an exaggeration at all.
Chen Sia’s current appearance was literally breaking the 2nd graders’ common sense.
“So, you must be punished now, my juniors?”
The 2nd graders were annihilated by Chen Sia in an instant.
Chen Sia sat alone on a rock, shaking the mud off her clothes, and smiled.
“Should I try a trap next time?”
In the forest, completely devastated as if a tsunami had struck.
Chen Sia’s innocent smile looked somewhat chilling.