Book 1 Chapter 664

664.

Flash-! Poohwahahahak-!

Blood splattered everywhere with a silver flash.

A red glow gleamed in Leo’s eyes.

"NOOOOOOOM!"

Kwagagagagagang-!

Giganto roared and swung its arm.

Just swinging its arm caused a tremendous wind pressure to sweep the surroundings.

Thud-!

"Hmm!"

Giganto’s eyes widened as it stared at Leo, who had landed on the back of its hand.

Buwak!

"Kuaaaak!"

Leo, who approached its face in an instant, slashed Giganto’s eye.

Boom! Kwagagagang-!

Giganto roared, rampaging.

5000 years ago.

Giganto was clearly a formidable foe.

But the experience gained during the process of ending the Age of Calamity was enough to make Leo and Giganto's battle a typical affair.

Crucially, in Leo's hand was Dweno's armament, which could be considered Giganto's fatal weakness.

Bloodshot veins appeared in Giganto's regenerated eye.

Seeing Leo caught in its sight, Giganto let out a roar.

"GRAAAAAAAARGH!"

Reason was paralyzed by a pain it experienced for the first time.

The unfamiliar agony enraged Giganto.

"How dare a puny human play with me! You are prey, I tell youuuuuuuu!"

Leo made an unenthusiastic expression, watching Giganto charge while scattering terrifying dark magic.

Giganto's attacks were clearly visible.

Because of that, Leo continuously accumulated damage.

Giganto's weapon wasn't just its hard body impervious to aura.

That formidable regeneration was also Giganto's powerful weapon.

‘As for toughness, he was the best among the demons of Tartaros.’

Giganto's body was a masterpiece by the Giant King Gias, who created all sorts of terrible armaments of Tartaros.

As such, his defense surpassed even the legion commanders.

‘As I am now, killing him is easy, but it will take some time.’

Currently, Leo's pure physical strength does not reach what it was before he founded Arhi with Lysinas.

Even if he was born with the experience and knowledge of a great hero and regained his strength at an incredible speed, it was not yet the body of his prime.

"The conclusion is that time is the answer."

A cruel smile appeared on Leo's lips.

"Well, playing with him before killing him isn't so bad. It'll also let me vent my anger."

5000 years ago, the great heroes changed the fate of the world.

By saving the world that was hurtling towards destruction, they were the most hated beings from the perspective of the demons of Tartaros.

But even before that, they were also beings of fear.

At the center of that was Kyle.

Fear exists even for demons.

And for those demons, Kyle was literally the embodiment of terror.

He abused demons in the most cruel and painful ways.

He never killed an enemy gently.

That was Leo's own revenge against Tartaros for taking away the world.

‘I always had a bad personality anyway.’

He was distinctly different from the noble Lysinas, the radiant Luna.

The too-kind Arion, and Dweno, who loved beauty.

"Then, shall I make you want to die?"

'Ugh, Lysinas! Kyle's bad habit has resurfaced.'

Luna's voice, flinching as she saw herself becoming endlessly cruel, came to mind.

‘Let him vent his anger.’

Lysinas's voice, sighing softly and shaking his head, also came to mind.

Lysinas understood.

His actions.

‘Well, there’s nothing that can be done right now, Luna.’

Leo looked at Giganto and raised his sword.

‘Right now, this is the most effective.’

Wham-!

Leo, who had cut Giganto with a slash, sighed inwardly.

He could still deal with Giganto in a single blow.

But if he did, Leo would also have to pour out a powerful force all at once.

This battle was not the end.

Considering the next battle, he needed to use his strength efficiently.

‘Well, if there’s a destructive armament among those Dweno made, it’s not impossible…’

Clink-

Suddenly, something caught in his fluttering cloak.

Leo instinctively reached into his cloak.

Swoosh-

A massive greatsword appeared.

Leo's eyes widened when he saw it.

‘…This is.’

***

"Leo! He's different than usual, isn't he?"

Kal, who was directing the party members, discovered Leo battling Giganto from afar and cried out in surprise.

As Kal said, Leo's atmosphere was different from his usual self.

"Ugh. Currently, class rep, how should I put it. He's incredibly scary."

Illiana, who was chanting a spell at the rear, shrank her neck.

Seeing her, Kal clicked his tongue.

"Well, Leo is honestly quite temperamental. Isn't it perhaps natural for him to be that angry if the enemy is a demon?"

"Magic's ready."

"Oh!"

Chelsea's specialty was high-speed chanting.

She unleashes spells while moving at incredible speed and engaging in close combat.

She wasn't the type of mage who overwhelmed opponents with absolute power like Chloe and Abad.

But that didn't mean Chelsea's magic power was weak.

It just took longer to raise its power compared to Chloe and Abad.

Given enough time, the power of Chelsea's magic rivaled Chloe's or Abad's.

And one of Chelsea's mana characteristics was to control the mana in the surrounding area.

A voice flowed from Chelsea’s lips.

The atmosphere reacted accordingly.

Storm clouds began to gather in the sky.

Flash! Sizzlezzzzzzzt!

Eliza’s Wind Wyvern, flying in the sky, roared upwards.

Lightning struck all at once from the storm clouds Chelsea had summoned.

Eliza controlled the storm clouds Chelsea had conjured using magic.

Duran raised his longsword to the sky.

Crackzzzzzzz-!

Lightning poured down on Duran as if striking a lightning rod.

A golden light flashed from Duran's body.

"Preparation's complete! Everyone, step back!"

At Artian's shout, Ar and Driana, who were at the vanguard, and the three knights from the second year scattered.

Duran, gripping the sword with both hands, swung it down.

Flash!

Kwagagagagagagak-!

A destructive lightning strike raged.

Then, Giganto’s subordinates, who were charging like a surging tide, were swept away by the lightning.

A wide-area attack that vastly surpassed most great magic.

Sizzle-! Crackle-! Wham-!

Even as sparks flew all over his body, Duran plunged his sword into the ground.

Snap-!

Then, the sword, having reached the end of its lifespan, broke.

Duran swayed and fell to his knees.

‘If it had been Lightning Storm, it wouldn't have been damaged.’

He didn't show it, but the shattered heirloom left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Watching him, Kal mumbled.

"…Did he really succeed with that? What kind of grotesque guy is he?"

A combined technique that merged magic, summoning, and swordsmanship.

This was a technique that Kal had jokingly brought up to Eliza, Abad, and Duran back when they were in their second year.

A technique to defeat Leo.

The problem was that Duran couldn't withstand the overwhelming lightning.

And Duran had created a body capable of enduring that lightning in just half a year.

For Kal, it was chilling.

"You're truly amazing."

At Kal's words, Duran looked at Leo, who was facing Giganto far away.

Flash-!

Blue lightning raged, splitting Giganto’s body in two.

Seeing this, Duran threw away his broken sword and muttered.

"Still not enough."

"He's stubborn. So stubborn. Huh? Chelsea. Where are you going?"

Kal, who was shaking his head, opened his eyes wide as he watched Chelsea run towards Leo.

***

"Groooooaaaaah…"

Giganto, cut in half at the waist, let out a painful groan.

His severed body twitched and trembled.

Leo looked at the greatsword in his hand, wreathed in blue lightning.

‘…Arion’s greatsword.’

It was one of Arion's armaments made by Dweno.

An armament with powerful destructive force.

‘Was something like this in my cloak?’

Leo made a slightly perplexed expression.

It was something he hadn't even known existed.

Moreover, he hadn't even thought of taking something like this out.

As if responding to Leo's thought that he couldn't cut down the enemy in one blow.

It suddenly sprang out from subspace.

‘Like Luna’s ring last time.’

Leo looked at Luna's ring on his finger.

Step- Step-

Swoosh-

As Leo approached Giganto, he raised the greatsword.

At that moment.

Grab-!

Someone grabbed the hem of Leo's cloak.

Previously, someone had stopped Leo in a similar way when he became endlessly cruel.

‘…Luna?’

Leo instinctively looked back.

There, Chelsea was looking up at Leo with bright, clear eyes, holding the hem of his cloak.

"Brother Leo. Are you going to torment that demon more?"

"Why?"

"I'm worried. I hope Brother Leo isn't angry."

Long ago.

Seeing Chelsea say the exact same words Luna had said, Leo chuckled and reached out the hand not holding the greatsword to pat Chelsea's head.

"Ah, blood!"

As Chelsea frowned and flinched, Leo laughed, approached Giganto, and directly struck its neck.

Thwack-!

"Gurgle!"

Giganto, who let out a painful death cry, died instantly.

Giganto’s body scattered into black sand.

The battle ended, and the party members approached.

Leo stood silently where Giganto's corpse had been and looked down at his palm.

‘Let him vent his anger.’

Lysinas understood why Kyle became cruel.

That's why he let him be.

Luna didn’t let Kyle be.

She truly worried about Kyle, saying that it would only hurt his heart more.

So she stopped him.

‘Yes, Lysinas. You worried about me too.’

Excessive anger would someday consume him.

Knowing that, Lysinas too, when he stopped killing enemies as cruelly as possible.

He had been truly relieved.

The reason he couldn't stop him was because he understood his heart so deeply.

The subspace opening against his will.

Perhaps Lysinas’s spiritual essence, even 5000 years later, worried about him becoming cruel and offered help.

"Chelsea."

"Yes."

Chelsea, who was taking out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from her hair, scurried over to Leo.

"Thank you."

"Huh? For what?"

"For stopping me."

"Oh, it's nothing. Heehee."

Wipe- Wipe-

"Ah! Really! Brother Leo!"

Chelsea shouted, seeing Leo pat her head again with his blood-stained hand.

"Alright, if we're mostly done here, let's start tracking Gigantes's movements."

At Artian's words, who had returned to his original form, the entire party nodded.

The Arhi party followed Gigantes’s movement traces deeper into Tartaros territory.

***

"This strange situation must indeed be a strange situation."

Ar grumbled.

"There are so many monsters I've never seen before!"

"They were all monsters from the Age of Calamity that only existed in records."

Kal muttered with a serious face at Ar's words.

The Arhi party continued to move through continuous battles.

And all the monsters appearing were those from the Age of Calamity, which are now extinct and gone in this era.

"We've been fighting for a full day, so it's about time we rested."

At Kal's words, Artian said while looking at the map.

"We'll soon reach a ruined fortress. Let's rest there."

Although the fortress had lost its function, the terrain itself was easy to defend as it was the area where the fortress was located.

At Artian's words, the students' faces brightened as they headed towards the fortress.

As they moved, Duran checked his watch.

"The sun should be rising soon."

A full day had already passed, and they had been up all night.

Dawn would break in a little while.

"Even in a fortress, washing would be impossible, right?"

"Hmph. You're talking about a comfortable life."

"Ugh."

Eliza scoffed at Illiana's complaint.

"But… isn't the sky a little strange?"

Driana tilted her head, looking at the sky.

"Huh? What?"

At that, the whole group looked up at the sky.

"It's the same, isn't it?"

Driana made a perplexed expression at Kal's mumble.

"No, the color of the sky is a little different from a normal dawn…"

"…The sky of the Age of Calamity."

"What?!"

Before Driana could finish her sentence, Leo murmured in a low voice.

At his words, Kal and Chelsea looked at Leo in surprise.

It was then.

Leo and Artian moved simultaneously.

Whoosh-!

Artian rushed forward in front of Driana, who was at the very front, and swung his fist.

Crash-!

A tremendous sound echoed.

Thud-!

"Cough!"

The opponent's fist struck Artian's abdomen.

Before Artian could counterattack, the assailant hit Artian's airborne back with their hand.

Thump-! Wham-!

The assailant then trampled Artian's back, which was slammed into the ground.

Ar, with sharp eyes, kicked towards the assailant.

Grab-! Whoosh-!

"Ugh!"

Ar was thrown far away.

Driana's battle axe, reacting belatedly, aimed at the enemy.

Grab-!

But the assailant caught Driana's battle axe with their hand.

"Kuk!"

Whoosh-!

"What's the meaning of this sudden attack?"

Leo, pointing his sword at the assailant's back, asked in a chilling voice.

"Who… are you?"

"That's what we, the ones attacked, should ask…"

"Brother Leo!"

Swoosh- Crash-!

A gigantic battle hammer appeared instantly and struck Leo.

Leo, thrown back, regained his posture.

‘My left shoulder is shattered.’

A tremendous attack.

But Leo sheathed his killing intent and raised his head.

It was a familiar attack.

Thump-!

"I'll ask again, on her behalf. You people."

The dwarf asked with a gentle smile.

"What is your true identity?"

Leo lowered his guard and opened his mouth.

"Dweno."

At the question, Dweno tilted his head.

"You know me? Boy."