Book 1 Chapter 74
【74】73.
“What in the world is this!”
“Th-this is… a curse of the dead!”
As they entered the heart of the forest, the powerful curse energy they felt turned Lunia and Eiran’s faces white.
Even for elves, who were born with strong resistance to curses, the current curse was suffocatingly powerful.
Lunia gritted her teeth and looked at Leo.
‘Is he unaffected?’
For Leo, who had even fought the Necromancer King Hell Kaiser directly, this level of curse had little effect.
Leo turned his head, saw the two elf girls with pale complexions, and activated his magic.
“Via Arte.”
Light brimming with life energy flowed from Leo’s hand.
Lunia and Eiran’s complexions improved significantly.
“This will make you feel a little better.”
“Is this star magic?”
“Yes.”
“It’s magic we’ve never seen before.”
“You don’t know this magic?”
Leo looked puzzled.
“It’s magic that restores vitality. It’s not that difficult a spell.”
“Amazing, Leo-nim, did you develop this magic?”
“No. I just implemented a spell I saw in a grimoire.”
To be precise, it was a spell Luna often used, but he couldn’t say that directly.
Hearing Leo’s words, Lunia said,
“Leo, where did you get that grimoire where you taught yourself star magic?”
A grimoire containing star magic, which even Seyrun students couldn’t access.
‘Moreover, Leo deciphered the ancestral master’s magic that had been uninterpreted for a long time… Perhaps it’s one of the few grimoires directly left by the ancestral master. Even if it’s not the ancestral master’s grimoire, there’s a high probability it contains the original star magic used by the ancestral master…!’
If so, it would be a great discovery.
“It was in my family’s study.”
Lunia stroked her chin.
‘Leo’s mother, Reina-nim, is a direct descendant of the Zerdinger family. Even if she’s estranged from the family, it’s not strange for her to possess rare family books.’
Lunia’s eyes sparkled.
“Can I see that grimoire?”
“It’s not here now.”
“What? What happened to it?”
“I accidentally burned it while practicing magic when I was young.”
“How could you burn that!”
Lunia cried out, clutching her head.
Of course, it was a fabricated story, but Lunia had no way of knowing that.
Eiran also looked disappointed.
“Judging by how loud you’re yelling, you’ve recovered your energy.”
Leo chuckled and glared at the center of the forest.
“Then let’s get rid of this damn curse quickly.”
With those words, Leo walked deeper into the forest.
A moment later.
Leo and his party arrived at the entrance to the former Fairy Land.
And seeing the person standing there, he curved his lips upwards.
“What are you doing at this late hour?”
“That’s what I’d like to ask you.”
Lautha folded his arms and furrowed his brow.
“As first-years, you wouldn’t have permission to leave your dormitories, would you?”
“Isn’t that the same for you?”
“Huh? Your tone is insolent. Are you acting like that because our schools are different? I see the level of Rumern.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Lautha, who gave a sly smile.
Lunia said urgently,
“Lautha-senpai. Undead are appearing here right now!”
“I know. I’m investigating the cause right now.”
“The cause is the curse!”
“A curse? Is there a curse unfolding here right now?”
“Yes?”
‘With this much death energy spreading… you can’t feel it?’
Lunia looked bewildered.
She intuitively felt that Leo’s words were correct.
Lautha was clearly colluding with Tartarus.
‘No way… impossible! A Seyrun student wouldn’t do that!’
But her reason rejected it.
It made no sense for a proud Seyrun student to fall as a necromancer.
Moreover, Lautha was in the advanced class.
Lunia’s eyes wavered.
“I’ll ask again.”
Leo’s voice became icy.
“What were you doing here?”
“I was exterminating undead and investigating the anomaly in Fairy Forest. Do you think it makes sense for a first-year kid who hasn’t even dried their blood to threaten me, a second-year?”
Lautha said irritably.
“I am a student who carries on the will of the great ancestral master Luna of the Great Nebula. For someone like me to defile Luna’s honor…”
“Lautha Algray.”
Lunia and Eiran flinched and instinctively stepped back.
Lautha, meeting Leo’s gaze directly, was momentarily terrified.
“Do not speak Luna’s name with those lips.”
“You bastard…!”
“Among the first-years of Rumern, there were students who accidentally touched items from Tartarus.”
“……!”
Lautha’s face stiffened.
“In the case of those students, they touched the items without realizing it, so the school only gave them a warning and let it go.”
Leo raised his hand.
A small orb of white light rose from his fingertips into the sky.
Whoosh! Poof-!
The orb of light burst, and the surrounding area became as bright as broad daylight.
Lunia’s face was filled with shock, and Eiran unconsciously covered her mouth and stepped back.
Behind Lautha, countless monster corpses were scattered everywhere.
A massive summoning circle was drawn with the blood and innards extracted from those corpses.
“Monster blood and innards are only useful as catalysts for dark magic or necromancy. While our school students might not have known…”
Malice flickered in Leo’s eyes.
“It seems you are cooperating even though you know.”
“You’re quick to notice, you bastard.”
Lautha flashed a sly smile.
“Do you really have to dig your own grave to be satisfied?”
“Impossible… a Seyrun student becoming a necromancer…!”
“Watch your words, Lunia El Lundia. Do you think disrespectful words towards your senior will be tolerated?”
“You, who uses necromancy, are a Seyrun student?! Stop spouting bullshit!”
Lunia shouted fiercely.
“I’m not using necromancy. I’m merely using Tartarus.”
“What?”
“Do you know what is slumbering here? The Hero’s Page of an ancestral master! Do you understand what this means, Lunia?”
A look of delight appeared on Lautha’s face.
“It’s no different than becoming a direct disciple of Luna-nim! It’s about becoming a great hero, one of the few in elf history!”
By now, Hero’s Pages of great heroes were almost non-existent.
In such a situation, if one discovered a new Hero’s Page and inherited its power, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to become a hero whose name would go down in elf history.
“What’s wrong with using Tartarus to reclaim our heritage?”
“Have you never thought that you are being used?”
Leo said with a cold smile.
“Hell Kaiser is a commander who fears great heroes more than anyone. Do you think such a commander would let you inherit Luna’s power so readily?”
“There’s no need to worry about that. That foolish Hell Kaiser gave me the power to control the undead!”
Lautha grinned! and showed off a black ring.
“With just this, the undead are no threat to me.”
“We can’t communicate.”
If Hell Kaiser could be manipulated by a mere student, not even a hero, then countless heroes would not have died during the era of calamity.
‘He’s emotional and has poor cognitive abilities. It’s similar to Sen Liu’s condition.’
He recalled Sen Liu, who had gone berserk during the summon magic exam.
“Leo, let’s beat him up. After we smash that damn face, we’ll drag him to the teacher!”
Lunia growled.
Eiran also showed strong hostility towards Lautha, who defiled the school’s honor.
“Don’t fight with half-hearted intentions.”
“What?”
“Be prepared to kill him if necessary.”
Lunia’s eyes widened at Leo’s advice.
“That’s how fighting Tartarus is.”
Leaving those words behind, Leo approached Lautha.
‘Kill him? A senior from school?’
While Lunia was flustered.
“Hehehehe-”
Kargor appeared with black smoke.
“It seems you’re in a difficult situation.”
“Kargor. Kill them!”
At Lautha’s shout, Kargor charged.
“Lunia! Eiran! Deal with this guy!”
Leaving Kargor to them, Leo charged directly at Lautha.
“Foolish fellow! I’ll show you the caliber of a second-year.”
Seeing Leo charge head-on, Lautha chanted a spell.
Hearing the spell, Leo also quickly chanted one.
“La Tiarga!”
“La Tiarga!”
Kaa-ga-ga-g!
The same magic was cast simultaneously and collided, canceling each other out.
Lautha’s face contorted.
“How dare you use star magic?”
“And you, who acts as Tartarus’s lackey, use Luna’s magic.”
“Shut up! I am an elf who will inherit the power of the ancestral master! I’m different from a nobody like you!”
With bloodshot eyes, Lautha began to chant a spell.
Hearing that, Leo also quickly chanted a spell.
Fwoosh-!
A fierce lightning strike swept through.
“……!”
Again, the magic was canceled out by the same spell, and Lautha’s face stiffened.
‘This guy… could it be!’
Lautha hastily began to chant.
Hearing Lautha’s chant, Leo also quickly chanted a spell.
Fwoosh-!
This time, flames swept through.
Lautha’s body trembled.
“Y-you dare!”
It wasn’t a coincidence that the magic overlapped.
Leo heard Lautha’s chant and chanted the same spell.
And they completed the magic simultaneously.
There was no greater humiliation for a mage.
Leo said, looking at the agitated Lautha.
“Your magic control is pathetic.”
Fwoosh-!
Leo’s body disappeared in an instant.
Lautha, startled, quickly looked for Leo, but Leo was already behind him.
“It’s like you can’t even handle your own power properly.”
Pow! Crunch!
“Keok?”
Leo kicked Lautha’s ankle with his aura-infused leg.
With the sound of bones breaking, Lautha fell to the ground.
“Well, it’s not your own power, so it’s no wonder you can’t control it properly.”
Leo’s gaze turned to the black ring.
‘Magic artifact.’
Screech-!
Leo drew his sword.
Lautha’s face turned pale.
“S-save me! I’m a Seyrun student! If you kill me, the relationship between Rumern and Seyrun…”
Crunch-!
“Kuk?”
Leo’s sword pierced Lautha’s neck without hesitation.
If Lautha had been a proper second-year advanced student of Seyrun, Leo would have struggled.
But to Leo, who had experienced everything, Lautha was merely a brute with no brains.
Fwoosh-!
“Hehehe.”
At that moment, Kargor appeared before Leo.
Lunia and Eiran, who had been fiercely fighting Kargor, stopped when they saw Leo while chasing Kargor.
And they gasped, looking at Lautha with a pierced neck.
“You killed him? Hehehe! To kill someone who dreamed of being a hero with you! How cold-hearted! Cruel! Are you still someone who dreams of being a hero! Hahahaha”
With gleaming eyes, Kargor mocked Leo.
Lunia and Eiran’s eyes wavered rapidly.
They had expected such a situation.
But facing it directly, the young girls’ minds went blank.
Kargor, who had been laughing, suddenly met Leo’s eyes.
Upon seeing those eyes, Kargor felt a chill run down his spine.
‘Although he has fallen, he killed a hero candidate. He should have reacted the same way as those elf girls.’
But Leo’s eyes showed no emotion whatsoever.
‘What are those eyes?’
They were simply calm.
‘Those aren’t the eyes of someone who dreams of being a hero. Nor are they the eyes of a hero. Those are…’
They were the eyes of a hunter.
“Next is you.”
Without any malice, anger, or fighting spirit.
The knight, who had transcended even death, felt fear at Leo’s utterly indifferent voice.
It felt like standing before his master, Necromancer King Hell Kaiser.
‘I must kill this person here!’
His instincts screamed.
Thinking so, Kargor drove his greatsword into the ground.
Goo-oo-oo-!
A dark red energy flowed from the greatsword into the ground.
With that, Lautha’s black ring reacted.
Lautha’s body swelled.
Seeing that, Leo urgently lunged.
Kwang! Kwadududek-!
Lautha’s body exploded, scattering bone fragments and flesh like shrapnel.
Leo deployed his aura armor to protect himself.
‘Self-destruction!’
Leo’s face contorted.
Lautha’s hand, wearing the only remaining ring, clenched into a fist.
Kaa-ga-ga-gak-!
With that, the bone fragments and flesh scattered around began to clump together.
“Ugh-!”
Lunia and Eiran covered their mouths.
The clumped bone fragments and flesh merged like clay, eventually returning to Lautha’s form.
Lautha, opening his eyes, looked at his hands in disbelief.
“I’m alive?”
“Heh. You have experienced death and made a contract with the great Necromancer King.”
Kargor’s eyes gleamed.
“Lautha Algray! Don’t you want to become a great hero who transcends even death?”
“Transcending even death… a great hero!”
Desire flickered in Lautha’s eyes.
“Accept it! The power of the dead!”
Goo-oo-oo-!
Dark magic flowed from Lautha’s body.
Woooong-!
Along with that, the summoning circle Lautha had drawn emitted an ominous light.
Kugugugugugugu-!
The entire ground vibrated.
Lunia and Eiran, unable to maintain their balance, fell to the ground.
Leo’s face hardened as he saw a giant skeleton rising from the ground.
‘Did the summoning circle activate as Lautha’s magic grew stronger… That Death Knight, he intended to kill Lautha from the start.’
Wooooooo-!
[What is that!]
Kirran exclaimed in shock.
“Skeleton King.”
Leo answered with a hardened face.
“One of the strongest undead.”