Book 1 Chapter 665
665.
“Do I know you?”
Leo nodded, looking at Dweno, who was staring at him.
“I know you. You’re famous, after all.”
“That’s true. But I also know that I’m famous.”
Dweno hung his battle hammer over his shoulder and stared intently at Leo.
“What bothers me most right now is your attitude, acting as if you know me well.”
Suspicion clouded Dweno’s eyes.
“I don’t know anyone like you. Besides.”
Dweno’s suspicious gaze swept over the group.
“For having come through this dangerous zone, you all seem remarkably relaxed.”
“We’re dressed like beggars…”
“You, stay still.”
Chelsea scowled, covering Iliana’s mouth.
“I suspect you are spies sent by Tartarus.”
“No! We are…”
“Whether you are or not, I will decide.”
As if cutting off Areu’s words, Dweno slammed his battle hammer onto the floor.
Go-o-o-o-o-o-!
“First, I must subdue the most dangerous one.”
Dweno’s gaze fixed on Leo.
Leo used aura to reinforce the muscles in his shattered left shoulder.
The strengthened muscles allowed him to hold his shoulder bone and move it.
His shoulder began to move naturally.
Of course, the injury remained, so immense pain assaulted him, but now was not the time to worry about it.
Hwaak-!
Seeing the battle hammer reaching right in front of him, Leo clicked his tongue and delivered a kick.
Kwaang-!
Leo’s kick and Dweno’s hammer collided head-on.
With that, Leo was sent flying backward as if bounced off.
Leo’s body was flung back.
He hadn’t counterattacked with the intention of blocking it outright.
It was literally an attack launched with the purpose of reducing the force of the blow and using the repulsion of the impact to create distance from Dweno.
Leo grimaced at the throbbing pain in his foot.
‘I still can’t get used to this brute strength.’
Dweno had overwhelmingly surpassed Kyle in pure physical strength.
Leo landed on the floor and shouted.
“Attack!”
At his words, the group flinched.
“B-but it’s Dweno-nim!”
“That Dweno-nim is about to beat us all down right now! Let’s at least calm him down and then talk!”
“B-but! If we’re going to calm Dweno-nim down, we’ll have to do our best! What if he gets hurt then…”
“Ha?! Hurt?”
Leo looked flabbergasted.
“That old man won’t even get a scratch from ordinary attacks!”
Kwak-!
Leo slammed his palm onto the ground.
Kwagagagagak-!
Steel spikes shot out from the ground, covering Dweno.
Kwagagagak-!
The steel spikes that clashed with the charging Dweno were all shattered.
Seeing that, Leo clicked his tongue.
“Haa-!”
At that moment, Iliana aimed for Dweno’s flank at incredible speed.
“Ah! Attack successful?”
Kwak-!
“Huh?”
Iliana was flustered by how easily her attack had landed.
But then she saw her sword blocked by Dweno’s shoulder and froze.
It felt as if she had stabbed solid steel.
Iliana, mouth agape, momentarily met Dweno’s eyes.
Peok-!
“Kyaul?!”
Blocked by Dweno’s swinging arm, Iliana shot high into the sky and then was slammed into the ground.
Karl grimaced, seeing Iliana foaming at the mouth and unconscious.
“He really didn’t get even a scratch?”
Pajijijijik-!
“Are you going too?”
“Hmph. Our opponent is the one called the strongest vanguard.”
Duran drew his sword and looked at Dweno.
“It’s also an opportunity to gauge how effective my attacks are.”
“Do you think I’ll let you go easily?”
It was then that the woman who had first ambushed the group smiled slyly.
“Aang? Just you dare touch one fingertip of my disciples!”
Artian, who was at the woman’s feet, shouted with a murderous look and then stood up.
The woman looked surprised by Artian’s strength pushing her away.
“She’s small but incredibly strong!”
“Who are you calling small!”
Artian charged at the woman with a fierce expression.
Meanwhile, Duran unleashed a lightning sword strike at Dweno.
Flash! Pajijijijik-!
Dweno was swept up in the lightning sword strike.
Hwaak-!
But he plowed through the lightning storm and swung his hammer at Leo.
Kwagagang-!
Eliza used her summoned beasts to block Dweno.
But Dweno ignored the summoned beasts’ attacks and chased after Leo.
Chelsea’s wind magic swept over Dweno, but Dweno didn’t bat an eyelid and pursued Leo, who was closing the distance with him.
Seeing that, Luke looked flustered.
“Why is he only targeting Senior Leo?”
“It’s obvious!”
Karl scratched his head furiously.
“It means he can easily withstand our attacks! If he gives Leo time, a powerful blow will be prepared! In other words! He doesn’t even care about us!”
At those words, everyone’s faces hardened.
“Is there no way to stop Dweno-nim, even a little?”
“If we really attacked with the resolve to kill Dweno-nim… that might be possible.”
Karl grimaced at Driana’s words.
Leo had told them to attack with all their might.
But no matter what, their opponent was the great hero who saved the world.
As hero candidates, it was hard for them to put their true intent into their attacks.
“You damn old geezer! Stop it already!”
Kwagagagagak-!
“Hmph! Regardless of whether you’re a spy or not! Your face! It’s unpleasant! For some reason, I want to strike you down! Come here!”
Leo shouted with a murderous voice and unleashed a powerful sword strike.
Dweno, who dodged the attack, also roared as if to tear his opponent to death.
“How can Senior Leo fight like that?”
As Aina muttered, gritting her teeth, Karl let out a hollow laugh inwardly.
‘In their past lives, wasn’t this kind of thing normal for Leo and Dweno-nim?’
They weren’t much different from their usual selves.
Only the scale was different.
“Anyway, we have to stop Dweno-nim…”
As Chelsea muttered anxiously, Karl took a deep breath.
“I didn’t want to use this method… but I have no choice.”
“Do you have a trump card?”
Karl nodded heavily at Driana’s question.
“We have to be prepared to die, but…”
“Karl…”
“A man must sometimes put his life on the line.”
Karl stepped forward with heavy footsteps.
As everyone looked tense at the solemn atmosphere.
Karl pulled something out from his pocket.
“Dweno-nim! This is a work of art sculpted of the most beautiful person in this world! Isn’t it beautiful!”
At that cry, Dweno, who was chasing Leo, paused and looked at Karl.
And then he looked at the object in Karl’s hand and twitched his eyes.
What Karl had pulled out was none other than a sculpture made by Driana.
Dweno, who had looked at Karl for a moment, then resumed chasing Leo with a bored expression.
“Huh, huh? That’s strange. I thought he would definitely react if I called this awful thing art…”
“What?! What’s beautiful about this?!”
Bbeok-!
“Kkueok?!”
At that moment, the hooded woman fighting Artian ran over and delivered a flying kick to Karl’s back.
“You’re blaspheming art right now! This kind of thing is art?! Apologize to art immediately! Apologize!”
Sarak-!
The woman’s hood fell off, revealing her pointed ears.
“What are you doing to my student!”
Hwooak-!
The elf dodged Artian’s kick aimed at her back with swift movements.
“Are you okay? Karl student!”
“I, I’m okay. But that elf… she resembles Dweno-nim.”
“What? They’re different races.”
“No. Just a moment ago, she had a gentle demeanor, but then she suddenly changed. It’s exactly like Dweno-nim when he saw what Driana made.”
The usually gentle Dweno had rolled his eyes and had a fit when Driana showed him her artwork.
“Anyway… that elf. She’s not ordinary.”
Artian clenched and unclenched her fists, frowning.
Meanwhile, Leo, who was confronting Dweno, mumbled as he watched the elf fighting Artian.
“…An elf I’ve never seen before.”
In the Age of Calamity, if someone had that level of skill, Leo wouldn’t not know them.
But there was no elf in Leo’s memory who used such martial arts.
“It’s only natural you wouldn’t know. She’s an unknown painter.”
“Painter?”
“Yes.”
Affection filled Dweno’s eyes as he looked at the painter.
“A painter who depicts the beauty of this world.”
At those words, Leo burst out laughing.
“…You. Why are you laughing so unpleasantly?”
“No. It’s just that now you feel like the you I know.”
“You’re speaking strangely.”
Go-o-o-o!
Dweno, who had been narrowing his brow, looked behind him.
There, Areu, clad in golden aura, was crouching.
“…Beast Transformation?”
Dweno’s eyes widened.
‘That would be dangerous even for Dweno.’
No matter how formidable Dweno’s defense, that attack would be hard to ignore.
Just as Leo thought that and took his stance.
Kwak-!
“…?”
Leo’s eyes were momentarily tinged with bewilderment.
Areu, who had reached Dweno’s nose at incredible speed, let out a roar.
“Haa-a-a-a-a-a-ap!”
Kwaang-!
Areu’s kick directly hit Dweno.
Dweno, who blocked with crossed arms, was sent flying back.
“…? He took that head-on?”
Dweno wasn’t merely a vanguard with formidable defense.
He was a seasoned warrior who had experienced countless battlefields, as much as Leo himself.
He wasn’t an easy opponent who would intentionally take a strong attack.
Yet Dweno took Areu’s attack head-on.
“Why?”
Leo looked at Dweno, who was getting up with a bewildered expression.
“Indeed, it seems you are not spies.”
Dweno brushed off the dust.
“I’ve heard of it. A party with a beast-man capable of Beast Transformation at any time.”
Dweno looked at Leo.
“Are you the surviving hero, Kyle?”
‘Are you the surviving hero, Kyle?’
The same question as 5000 years ago.
At that, Leo clenched his fist.
The current Leo couldn’t answer yes.
‘As expected. The current Dweno… is the Dweno before he met me.’
“…No.”
At Leo’s words, Dweno tilted his head.
“Perhaps this guy isn’t the rumored beast-man you know either.”
“Hmm? That’s strange. Well, an incredible miracle has already happened though.”
“An incredible miracle?”
“Yes! That there is still a starry night sky in this world! Isn’t that an amazing miracle?”
Laughing heartily, Dweno looked at Leo, who was staring at the sky.
The gloomy sky of the Age of Calamity.
But…
‘Stars appear at night, huh.’
Perhaps this place was a region at the boundary of the fake world that had encroached upon the real world.
And…
‘The current Dweno has no memory of me or Areu.’
With Areon and Luna, the memories of the hero’s world from before were clearly inherited.
But they were not inherited by Dweno.
Was it because it was a past point in time?
‘That wouldn’t be it.’
Leo organized his thoughts.
‘The Legion’s World.’
Leo looked at the gloomy sky.
‘The Legion’s World is encroaching upon the real world like a hero dungeon.’