Book 1 Chapter 74
“What in the world is this?!”
“Th-this is… the curse of the dead!”
As they stepped into the heart of the forest, the powerful aura of the curse sent a pallor over Runia and Eiran’s faces.
Even for elves, who were naturally born with strong resistance to curses, this curse was so potent it felt suffocating.
Runia clenched her teeth and looked at Leo.
‘Is he unaffected?’
Having directly fought the Necromancer King Hel Kaiser, this level of curse had little effect on Leo.
Turning his head, Leo saw the two elven girls, their complexions pale, and stirred his magic.
“Bi Arte.”
A light overflowing with vitality streamed from Leo’s hand.
Runia and Eiran’s faces immediately brightened.
“This should make you feel a little better.”
“Is this Star Magic?”
“Yes.”
“W-we don’t know this magic.”
“You don’t know this magic?”
Leo looked puzzled.
“It’s a magic that restores vitality. It’s not that difficult.”
“That’s amazing, Leo. Did you develop it?”
“No. I just reproduced magic I saw in a grimoire.”
To be precise, it was magic Luna often used, but he couldn’t say that directly.
Hearing Leo’s words, Runia spoke.
“Leo, where did you get the grimoire that taught you Star Magic through self-study?”
A grimoire containing Star Magic, which even Seirun students couldn’t access.
‘Moreover, Leo also deciphered the Ancestor’s magic, which hadn’t been interpreted for a long time… Perhaps it’s one of the few grimoires personally left by the Ancestor. Even if not the Ancestor’s grimoire, it might contain the original Star Magic used by the Ancestor…!’
If so, it was a major discovery.
“It was in my family’s study.”
Runia stroked her chin.
‘Leo’s mother, Lady Reina, is a direct descendant of the Zerdinger family. Even if she cut ties with the family, it wouldn’t be strange for her to possess valuable family texts.’
Runia’s eyes sparkled.
“Could I see that grimoire?”
“It’s gone now.”
“What? What happened to it?”
“I burned it while practicing magic when I was little.”
“How could you burn it?!”
Runia clutched her head and shouted.
Of course, it was a fabricated story, but Runia had no way of knowing that.
Eiran also wore a regretful expression.
“You must be feeling better, seeing you shout like that.”
Leo chuckled and glared at the center of the forest.
“Then let’s hurry and get rid of this damned curse.”
With that, Leo stepped forward.
A moment later.
Leo’s group arrived at the former entrance of Fairy Land.
And seeing the person there, their lips curled upwards.
“What are you doing here at this late hour?”
“I should be asking you that.”
Rautha narrowed his brows, crossing his arms.
“First-years like you aren’t permitted to leave your dorms, are you?”
“Isn’t the same true for you?”
“Ha? Your tone is impudent. Is that how you act just because our schools are different? It just shows Lumerin’s standards.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed as he watched Rautha give a condescending smile.
Runia urgently spoke.
“Senior Rautha. Undead are appearing here right now!”
“I know. I’m currently investigating the cause.”
“The cause is the curse!”
“A curse? Is there a curse spread around here now?”
“Huh?”
‘Such a thick aura of death is spread out… and he can’t feel it?’
Runia looked perplexed.
Instinctively, she felt Leo’s words were correct.
Rautha was clearly colluding with Tartaros.
‘No way… That’s impossible! A Seirun student wouldn’t do that!’
But reason was rejecting it.
It was impossible for a proud Seirun student to fall to necromancy.
Furthermore, wasn’t Rautha in the advanced class?
Runia’s eyes wavered.
“I’ll ask again.”
Leo’s voice dropped chillingly.
“What were you doing here?”
“I was exterminating undead and investigating the anomaly in Fairy Forest. Do you think it’s right for a wet-behind-the-ears first-year punk to threaten a second-year like me?”
Rautha said irritably.
“I am a student who carries on the will of Luna, the great Ancestor of the Nebula. For me to defile Luna’s honor…”
“Rautha Algraya.”
Runia and Eiran flinched, unconsciously stepping back.
Rautha, who saw Leo’s expression directly, was instantly gripped by fear.
“Don’t utter Luna’s name with that mouth.”
“You bastard…!”
“There were some Lumerin first-years who accidentally touched items leaked by Tartaros.”
“…!”
Rautha’s face hardened.
“In the case of those students, they touched the items unknowingly, so the school simply gave them a warning and moved on.”
Leo raised his hand.
A small white ball of light shot up into the sky from his fingertip.
*Whoosh! Pop!*
The ball of light burst, illuminating the entire area as if it were midday.
Runia’s face was filled with horror, and Eiran unconsciously covered her mouth and stumbled back.
Behind Rautha, numerous monster corpses lay scattered.
A giant summoning circle was drawn with the blood and entrails extracted from those corpses.
“Only black magic or necromancy would use monster blood and entrails as catalysts. Our school students might not have known, but…”
Killing intent surfaced in Leo’s eyes.
“You seem to be cooperating knowingly.”
“Sharp-eyed bastard.”
Rautha gave a sneer.
“Do you really have to dig your own grave?”
“It can’t be… a Seirun student becoming a necromancer…!”
“Watch your words, Runia El Lundia. Do you think disrespectful words towards a senior will be tolerated?”
“You use necromancy, yet you claim to be a Seirun student?! Cut the crap!”
Runia shouted fiercely.
“I’m not using necromancy. I’m merely *using* Tartaros.”
“What?”
“Do you know what sleeps here? None other than the Ancestor’s Hero’s Page! Do you understand what this means, Runia?”
Ecstasy bloomed on Rautha’s face.
“It’s like becoming a direct disciple of Luna! Becoming one of the few great heroes in elven history!”
By now, very few Hero’s Pages of the great heroes remained.
In such a situation, discovering a new Hero’s Page and inheriting its power would truly make one a hero remembered in elven history.
“What’s wrong with using Tartaros to reclaim our heritage?”
“Have you ever considered that you’re being used?”
Leo gave a cold laugh.
“Hel Kaiser is a Legion Commander who fears great heroes more than anyone. Do you think such a commander would happily let you inherit Luna’s power?”
“Don’t worry about that. That foolish Hel Kaiser gave me the power to control undead!”
Rautha grinned, showing a black ring.
“With this, undead are no threat to me.”
“Dialogue is useless.”
If Hel Kaiser could be swayed by a mere student, not even a hero, then there would have been no reason for countless heroes to die in the Age of Calamity.
‘He’s emotional and has poor cognitive ability. Similar symptoms to Sen Riu back then.’
He recalled Sen Riu, who went berserk during the Summoning Arts exam.
“Leo, let’s knock him out. I’m going to smash that damned face and drag him to a teacher!”
Runia growled.
Eiran also showed strong hostility towards Rautha, who had tarnished the school’s honor.
“Don’t fight with half-hearted intentions.”
“What?”
“You might have to kill him if it comes to it.”
Runia’s eyes widened at Leo’s warning.
“That’s what fighting Tartaros is like.”
Leaving those words, Leo approached Rautha.
‘Kill? A school senior?’
While Runia was flustered.
“Hehehehe-”
With black smoke, Kargor appeared.
“You seem to be in a difficult situation.”
“Kargor. Kill them!”
At Rautha’s shout, Kargor charged.
“Runia! Eiran! Handle this guy!”
Leaving Kargor to the two, Leo charged straight for Rautha.
“Fool! I’ll show you the caliber of a second-year!”
Seeing Leo charge head-on, Rautha chanted a spell.
Hearing that spell, Leo also quickly chanted a spell.
“La Tiarga!”
“La Tiarga!”
*Kwagagagak-!*
Identical magic was cast simultaneously, colliding and canceling each other out.
Rautha’s face twisted.
“How dare you use Star Magic?”
“You’re a minion of Tartaros, yet you use Luna’s magic.”
“Shut up! I am an elf who will inherit the Ancestor’s power! I’m different from a rootless bastard like you!”
Rautha, his eyes bloodshot, began to chant a spell.
Hearing it, Leo also chanted a spell.
“Ri Ezernia!”
“Ri Ezernia.”
*Flash!*
*Pajijijik-!*
Intense lightning raged.
“…!”
Again, the magic was canceled by an identical spell, and Rautha’s face stiffened.
‘This bastard… No way!’
Rautha urgently chanted.
Hearing Rautha’s chant, Leo also quickly chanted a spell.
*Hwarrrrk-!*
This time, flames raged.
Rautha’s body trembled.
“Th-this bastard, how dare he!”
It wasn’t a coincidence that the spells overlapped.
Leo heard Rautha’s spell and simply repeated it.
And he completed the magic at the same time.
For a mage, there was no greater humiliation than this.
Seeing the agitated Rautha, Leo spoke.
“Your skill in handling magic is terrible.”
*Hwaak-!*
Leo’s body instantly vanished.
Rautha flinched and quickly searched for Leo, but Leo was already behind Rautha.
“It’s like you can’t even properly handle your own power.”
*Thud-! Crack!*
“Ugh?”
Leo kicked Rautha’s ankle with an aura-infused foot.
With the sound of bone breaking, Rautha collapsed to the ground.
“Well, it’s not your own power, so of course you can’t handle it properly.”
Leo’s gaze turned to the black ring.
‘Magic God’s Artifact.’
*Swoosh-!*
Leo drew his sword.
Rautha’s face turned white.
“P-please save me! I’m a Seirun student! If you kill me, the relationship between Lumerin and Seirun…!”
*Crack-!*
“Guh?”
Leo’s sword pierced Rautha’s neck without hesitation.
If he had been a proper Seirun second-year advanced class student, Leo would have struggled.
But for Leo, who had endured many hardships, Rautha was merely a strong but foolish individual.
*Hwaak-!*
“Hehehehe.”
At that moment, Kargor appeared before Leo.
Runia and Eiran, who had been fiercely fighting Kargor for a while, stopped when they chased Kargor and found Leo.
And seeing Rautha with his neck pierced, they gasped.
“Did you kill him? Hehehe! To kill someone who dreamed of being a hero with you! How cold-hearted! How cruel! And yet you dream of being a hero?! Hahahahaha!”
Kargor mocked Leo, his eyes glinting.
Runia and Eiran’s eyes wavered violently.
They had expected such a situation.
But now that it was actually before them, as young girls, their minds couldn’t help but go blank.
Kargor, who had been laughing, suddenly met Leo’s eyes.
Looking into those eyes, Kargor felt a chill run down his spine.
‘He killed a hero candidate, even if he was corrupted. Originally, he should react the same way as those elf girls.’
But no emotion whatsoever could be felt in Leo’s eyes.
‘What are those eyes?’
They were simply calm.
‘Those are not the eyes of someone who dreams of being a hero. Nor are they the eyes of a hero. Those are….’
The eyes of a hunter.
“You’re next.”
Without killing intent, anger, or fighting spirit.
At Leo’s utterly dry voice, even a knight who had transcended death felt fear.
It was as if he stood before his master, the Necromancer King Hel Kaiser.
‘This man must be killed here!’
His instincts screamed.
Thinking so, Kargor plunged his greatsword into the ground.
*Goooooo-!*
Dark red energy flowing from the greatsword seeped into the ground.
Along with that, Rautha’s black ring reacted.
Rautha’s body swelled.
Seeing that, Leo urgently launched himself away.
*Boom! Crrrunch-!*
Rautha’s body exploded, bone fragments and flesh scattering like shrapnel in all directions.
Leo deployed his Aura Armor to protect himself.
‘Suicide!’
Leo’s face twisted.
Rautha’s hand, still wearing the ring, the only part that remained intact, clenched into a fist.
*Kwagagagagak-!*
Along with that, the bone fragments and flesh that had scattered began to coalesce.
“Ugh-!”
Runia and Eiran covered their mouths.
The coalesced bone fragments and flesh mashed together like clay, then soon returned to Rautha’s form.
Rautha opened his eyes and looked down at his hands in disbelief.
“I’m alive?”
“Hehe. By experiencing death, you have forged a contract with the great Necromancer King.”
Kargor’s eyes gleamed.
“Rautha Algraya! Do you not wish to become a great hero who transcends even death?”
“A great hero who transcends even… death!”
Desire flickered in Rautha’s eyes.
“Accept it! The power of the dead!”
*Goooooo-!*
Dark magic flowed from Rautha’s body.
*Whoosh-!*
Along with that, the summoning circle Rautha had drawn emitted an ominous light.
*Kugugugugugugu-!*
The entire ground vibrated.
Runia and Eiran lost their balance and fell to the ground.
Leo’s face hardened as he looked at the giant skeleton rising from the ground.
‘Did the summoning circle activate as Rautha’s magic power increased… That Death Knight. He intended to kill Rautha from the beginning.’
*Wooooooooooooooooo!*
[What is that?!]
Kiruan let out a shriek of horror.
“Skeleton King.”
Leo answered with a grim face.
“It’s one of the strongest undead.”