Book 1 Chapter 692

692.

Wooosh-! Kraaang!

The gigantic blade wielded by the Giant Knights plunged into the ground.

Leo and Ar, having leapt high to avoid the attack.

Suspended in the air, Ar urgently asked.

"Black Rabbit! What did that demon say just now?! Hero of the Beginning?"

"It's nothing much. You can worry about it later."

Leo reached out and grabbed Ar by the scruff of the neck.

"Waaah?!"

Leo, throwing Ar as if pulling him, swung his sword straight ahead.

Kiiing-! Seogeok-!

With a sharp sound, Leo's sword severed the Giant Knight's sword.

The sharply burning Phoenix flames blazed.

But the attack was not over.

Hwaak-!

Two other Giant Knights, who had appeared out of nowhere, were swinging their swords at Leo from both sides.

A precision unbelievable for their massive size.

The fearsome aspect of the Giant Knights.

It was their perfect coordination.

They train to fight beings stronger than themselves.

This is a very rare trait for demons who are born with great power.

Leo's red eyes turned towards the demon who had taken a step back.

There, Nareda was observing Leo's movements.

It was also Nareda's dark magic that had tricked Leo's super senses moments ago.

Nareda certainly possessed a weak power, to an extent that was pitiful for a demon who was the legion commander's closest subordinate.

The reason Nareda, like that, usurped the position of the legion commander's confidant was due to the Giant King's disposition.

The cautious Nareda was a type of commander who drew the big picture in battle and eliminated variables one by one.

And she used support magic to help the Knights fight more perfectly.

Since she became the captain of the Giant Knights, the Giant Knights had brought about a terrifying catastrophe.

Jjeong-!

Leo threw punches in both directions.

The blades of the Giant Knights, who were aiming for Leo from left and right, were blocked by his fists.

Space distorted slightly.

The swords of the Giant Knights, imbued with immense power, pressed down on Leo.

Instantly.

Woong-!

Golden aura surged from Leo's hand.

Kaang-!

The Giant Knights' swords were destroyed.

Instantly.

Above Leo's head, an exceptionally large Giant Knight brought down a massive battle axe towards Leo.

It was a demon from Leo's memory.

5000 years ago.

The vice-captain of the Giant Knights, who was subdued during the Age of Calamity.

'Karokson.'

The coordination between demons from 5000 years ago and present-day demons was unbelievably precise.

It was even more astonishing that the one performing this coordinated attack was a colossal giant demon.

All of this was possible because of Nareda's command.

'I see no openings.'

He was reading Leo's movements perfectly.

'Well, if she survived 5000 years, she'd probably see through my movements.'

Just as Leo had lived pondering how to kill demons.

Nareda too must have spent the past 5000 years contemplating how to kill a being like Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning, should he reappear.

To do so, she must have thoroughly researched him.

Nareda was such a demon.

Demons who cry for destruction do not think about the future.

But Nareda was a demon who pondered the future to crush the future.

'That's why she's annoying.'

Nareda's lips curved up in exultation.

Leo raised his swordless hand towards the Giant Knight's battle axe, which was being brought down upon him.

'But what should I do?'

Jjeok-!

Leo's palm clashed with the battle axe.

With that, Leo's body was slammed to the ground.

Kwak-! Kwagagang Jjeojeojeojeojeojeok!

Leo's feet touched the ground.

Leo's legs did not sink into the ground.

Instead, the surrounding earth shattered and rose up.

The shock spread outwards.

'I haven't been idle for the 17 years since I was born either.'

Leo looked at the blade of the battle axe, which seemed capable of brutally splitting even a fortress wall, and put more strength into his hand.

Hwarereuk-!

The golden aura soon turned into golden flames.

Jjeojeojeojeok-!

The battle axe, subjected to even greater force, began to crack as if glass.

Nareda's eyes widened at the sight.

"Impossible…"

Kwajik-!

Fragments of the battle axe scattered in all directions.

Among them, one particularly large fragment fell towards Leo.

Kung-!

Leo, holding a massive axe blade the size of a building in his hand, looked at Karokson.

And without hesitation, he threw the blade towards his neck.

Peogeok-!

"Kkureuk?!"

The neck of the high-ranking demon was vainly severed.

Kung-! Kwalkwalkwal-! Cheolpeok-!

As he knelt, blood gushed like a waterfall.

Karokson's head fell onto the blood.

Karokson's eyes turned towards Leo.

Though his neck was severed, the strong vitality of the giant demon did not allow death so easily.

"Die!"

With Karokson's shout, Karokson's body, which had been kneeling, moved.

He raised his arm and struck Leo directly.

Leo's shadow flickered for a moment, then instantly grew larger.

Peobeobeobeok-!

The enlarged shadow pierced Karokson's body like an awl, binding him.

Karokson's body froze in place.

Leo pointed the tip of his sword at Karokson.

Wiiing-!

A complex magic circle formed on the blade.

Posteritas merely took the form of a sword; it could be anything.

It could be a bladed weapon that could cut anything, a powerful medium for summoning, or even a god-tier magic staff.

A special artifact Dwenoh made for Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning.

The star magic swirling from the sword poured out as a flash.

Banjjeok! Kwagagagagagak-!

The upper body of the high-ranking demon vanished without a trace.

As Leo retracted his sword, the shadow returned to its original form.

"Impossible… Impossible! Impossible! It's impossible!"

Nareda cried out as if spitting words.

"What is your true identity! What on earth are you?!"

With bloodshot eyes, she pointed an accusing finger at Leo.

"Didn't I just introduce myself?"

Leo planted his sword in the ground and leaned on it like a staff.

"The Hero of the Beginning."

The battle fell into a temporary lull.

The advance of the Giant King's legion was halted by a single hero.

"You are Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning?"

Most demons couldn't dare to call Leo the 'surviving hero' in front of him.

'Surviving hero' was a derogatory term used among demons in the Age of Calamity to belittle the Hero of the Beginning.

They used it freely when he wasn't present, but instinctively hesitated to casually use such a derogatory term in the face of the very existence of terror that had killed even gods.

Nareda couldn't avoid that either.

"Don't make me laugh! If so, how…!"

Nareda had fought and survived against the Great Heroes many times.

Among demons, that alone was an achievement worthy of praise.

That's why she knew the Great Heroes so well.

A moment ago.

The sight of him blocking Karokson's attack with a golden aura was not that of the Hero of the Beginning.

As far as Nareda knew, only the Brave Arion could control an aura to smoothly block such an attack.

After that, the overwhelming power that destroyed the battle axe was the power of Dwenoh, the God of Blacksmiths.

What stopped Karokson's movements was Rishinas, the King of Wisdom's Dragon Language magic, and what finished him off was Luna's Star magic.

Unlike the Age of Calamity, this era has a Hero Record.

'He must have inherited the powers of the Great Heroes through that hateful record!'

Leo's ability was none other than All-Class.

He was a user of pure power, known as the natural enemy of gods.

In fact, 5000 years ago, a god was subdued by the Hero of the Beginning, who inherited the essence of the Great Heroes' powers.

It was perfectly natural for Leo to use the powers and techniques of the Great Heroes.

'But… how can he perfectly control those powers!'

In the exchange just now, Nareda had seen Arion, Dwenoh, Rishinas, and Luna.

It was as if they had manifested in this era.

"It was 17 years ago that I was reborn in this world."

Leo said in a bored voice, his sword slung over his shoulder.

"There's no way I'd be stagnant, just as I was 5000 years ago, is there?"

Not being able to completely annihilate Erebus was one of Leo's greatest regrets after being reborn.

If he had been able to perfectly wield the power of his comrades.

Perhaps he wouldn't have left fragments of Erebus for later generations.

After being reborn and before entering Lumerne.

Leo, without blooming his mana, mentally practiced and refined the techniques his comrades had left him.

And even after blooming his mana, he never stopped training.

As a result.

He became able to perfectly mimic his comrades' techniques.

Of course, it was merely mimicking.

Applying and linking powers was still a distant stage.

'Still far off.'

He was still far from his comrades as a warrior, a vanguard, a mage, a summoner.

But…

'Someday, I can reach it.'

Unlike 5000 years ago, he still had time.

"Impossible…! It's only 17 years! What can you possibly do in 17 years…?"

"It's a short time for you, but for us, it's a very long time."

"You've suffered for 5000 years. All in vain."

Nareda's shoulders trembled with anger at Leo's scoff.

But then she scoffed at Leo in return.

"Hahaha! You're the one who wasted your efforts!"

Nareda pointed at Leo.

"No matter how perfectly you wield the power of the Great Heroes, you are ultimately alone! Do you think it's possible to subdue a god alone?!"

5000 years ago.

Arion, Dwenoh, Luna, and Rishinas were sacrificed one by one, inflicting a fatal blow on Erebus.

Leo merely delivered the final blow to Erebus.

"Yes. It's difficult alone."

"Haha!"

"That's why I'm raising him diligently."

"What?"

Kwak-!

Nareda suddenly felt her vision flip upside down.

'When did he…?'

Nareda's head, flying through the air, turned backwards.

There, a white-haired, blue-eyed cat beast-kin, who had just sent her head flying, had his claws raised.

Kwak-!

Ar's hand tore into her heart.

'He broke through my dark magic perimeter and approached?!'

Nareda had survived for 5000 years partly due to various tricks.

Among them, her dark magic perimeter, which detected anyone approaching her, was so impenetrable that no demon could breach it.

'That perimeter was breached by a little kitten reeking of milk?'

Even if all her attention had been on Leo.

Ar, she thought, could not be a major threat alone in this battlefield.

It was merely that Leo had perfectly focused the enemies' attention, allowing him to perform.

The astonished Nareda recalled Ar's appearance, who had surpassed Leo's senses earlier.

'In the realm of super senses, he surpassed the Hero of the Beginning?!'

In Nareda's vision, Ar's figure, clenching his fist, appeared.

"Punch!"

The moment Ar's fiercely swung fist struck her face directly.

Nareda's vision went dark.

***

The moment Nareda collapsed.

Ar fell down as well.

His ears twitched uncontrollably, and his body trembled as if convulsing.

Seeing this, Leo immediately picked Ar up and left the battlefield.

There were still many Giant Knights left.

But the moment Nareda was defeated, it was no exaggeration to say that the Giant Knights' combat power was halved.

'Of course, it's only a tiny fraction of the legion's overall power.'

Leo taking Ar and leaping into the legion was purely to buy time to finish the defensive preparations more perfectly.

'Thanks to the Giant King being too scared to come out himself, the results were great.'

"Uwaaaah! My head is spinning!"

Ar pressed his twitching ears tightly with both hands and buried his face in Leo's chest.

"Release the sign language."

Ar, who flinched at Leo's words, released the sign language.

It seemed he couldn't properly process the overwhelming amount of information conveyed by his super senses.

"Half-baked growth, huh?"

Leo chuckled and muttered.

Still, what was great, was great.

Tak-!

Leo stood on the city wall.

In the meantime, Ar, perhaps a little calmer, lifted his face from Leo's chest and glanced up at Leo.

"Black Rabbit, no. Leo Plob."

"Why the sudden name?"

"Are you Hero of the Beginning, Kyle-nim?"

"There's no need to hide it anymore, I suppose."

As Leo chuckled, Ar's eyes widened.

"That's right. I'm the reincarnation of Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning."

"Woohooo!"

Hearing it directly from Leo, Ar clenched both hands tightly and flapped his legs.

Excited, his ears perked up, and his tail, wiggling like a snake, tightly wrapped around Leo's forearm.

"Everything makes sense now!"

Overwhelming strength not expected from a peer.

In addition to that, experience and knowledge.

Ar became excited, recalling the things Leo had told him.

"Amazing! You were a Great Hero!"

Ar, unable to contain his excitement, grabbed Leo's collar with both hands and pressed his body close to Leo.

The tail wrapped around his arm tightened even further.

"Th-there! Black Rab… no! What should I call you! Rabbit-nim? Leo-nim? Kyle-nim?"

"Call me whatever you like. Before that."

"Huh?"

Leo put Ar down.

Then Ar hastily leaned his belly against the wall and poked his face out.

"Waaah!"

His senses, which had calmed down due to his super senses, became disturbed again due to excitement, and his complexion worsened.

While waiting for Ar to calm down, Leo looked at Gias in the distance.

'This is just the end of the skirmish.'

Despite inflicting an unexpected blow, the legion's forces were still overwhelming.

A lamp in the wind.

'He still doesn't show any signs of movement. He must have anticipated Nareda's death to some extent.'

Though a confidant, from the legion commander's perspective, she was merely a good pawn.

It probably wasn't time to move yet.

But when he does move.

Leo clenched and unclenched his fist.

'Can I defeat him alone?'