Book 1 Chapter 747

"It's an honor to meet you, Leo Flov, the student council president of the renowned Lumern!"

Duke Dear, the commander of the Divana front, said with an emotional expression.

He was a man of slender build with a distinctive goatee on his face.

The Duke was by no means a low-ranking official.

He held a position that could sway the fate of a nation.

Yet, despite his status, Duke Dear was excessively servile.

His face seemed to scream "schemer."

Leo clicked his tongue at the sight of him rubbing his hands together.

'Has this country's fortune also declined?'

He couldn't shake off such thoughts.

In Leo's eyes, Duke Dear seemed incompetent to lead such a major battle, and indeed he was.

"Now that the great hero has joined the battlefield, those wicked rebels will soon be defeated!"

Leo responded to Duke Dear's words.

"It seems the heroes of this country haven't lent their strength to this civil war."

Even though Shan had become the hegemon of the Eastern Continent by not engaging in external activities, a great power was still a great power.

As Debian was torn in half and plunged into civil war, even countries allied with Debian, located in the Eastern Continent, were caught up in the conflict.

In this era, the measure of a great power is not determined by mere national strength or the number of soldiers.

It is the number of heroes.

That is why great powers remain great powers.

And Debian was the country with the most heroes in the Eastern Continent.

Yet, they remained silent in this war.

"You mean them?"

Duke Dear frowned, revealing his displeasure.

"After the previous king passed away and His Highness the Crown Prince tragically lost his life on the battlefield, they declared their silence."

"I see."

"How can they do that! Even if they are heroes chosen by the gods! In the end, they are subjects who have lived off the country's provisions and received the previous king's grace! How can they so cruelly disregard the nation's crisis! Ah! To think that Lumern's juniors are watching them so brazenly! They must feel no shame!"

Duke Dear burst into indignation.

However, Leo evaluated the heroes of this country positively.

'It seems the heroes of this country are at least not individuals seeking to satisfy their own selfish desires.'

Heroes, by definition, must achieve great deeds recognized by the gods, and thus possess immense power.

However, even with overwhelming power, not all were noble beings.

The heroes selected over the past 5,000 years were chosen by the gods.

They were chosen according to the gods' whims.

In an era when gods were unknown, people tended to regard gods as perfect beings, but gods are not perfect.

Their attention is not solely given to noble beings.

Even wicked individuals are selected as heroes if they achieve great deeds.

They do not care if people change once they reach a high position and make those around them suffer.

The gods' standards tended to be skewed, difficult for earthly beings to understand.

Some simply pursued pure entertainment.

Therefore, while past heroes were strong, they were not all noble.

Leo had stripped the hero status from such individuals countless times.

And he intended to continue stripping titles from those who were unworthy.

Leo was the Hero of the Beginning.

He represented all those who had risked their lives for a new era.

'Although I don't have much attachment to the title of hero, at least I cannot tolerate it being defiled.'

He believed that was the sole duty of the heroes of his time, living in the present era.

In that sense, he considered the heroes of Debian to be righteous individuals.

Heroes are those who change the tide of the battlefield.

As they are called leaders of their era, they possess a powerful charisma that guides people.

The appearance of a single hero intensifies a war.

Currently, the forces of both the First Princess and the Second Prince are suffering from severe morale degradation.

'There is no justification for this war.'

It was a meaningless war, where soldiers were driven to the battlefield by the greed of their superiors.

There was no way the soldiers could fight with will.

But what if a hero appeared on that battlefield?

Just by being with a hero, the soldiers' morale would be greatly boosted.

In an era where a hero is synonymous with justice.

Simply by fighting alongside a hero, ordinary soldiers would unknowingly grant legitimacy to their participation in the war.

The name of a hero in this era held such power.

Since emotions are easily contagious on the battlefield, the war would eventually become more intense.

'If that happens, it will truly become irreversible.'

Debian, possessing the most heroes in the Eastern Continent, was also the nation responsible for the front lines of the Eastern Front against Tartaros.

If Debian faltered, the entire Eastern Front would shake.

'That's why the heroes can only watch the civil war.'

The atmosphere on the Eastern Front of Tartaros was already grim enough for the Crown Prince to die on the battlefield.

The heroes of Debian were keeping a close eye on Tartaros's movements.

It was likely that all capable commanders were also deployed to the Tartaros front.

'Should I call it a blessing in disguise? That all those interested in the civil war are incompetent.'

The country being split in half was undoubtedly a major issue, but at least it prevented the civil war from escalating.

The best the two factions could do was to capture and recapture major cities around the capital.

If this situation persisted, the problems would grow.

However, in the current situation where a civil war had broken out, the current state where the balance of power was maintained was better than the balance of power tilting to one side and the civil war escalating.

Leo, easily inferring the current situation from the stance of the Debian heroes, looked out beyond the city walls and then turned his gaze towards the Lumern students.

Except for Elena, Lil, and Runba, the other students had tense expressions on their faces.

They had experience fighting individuals.

But this was their first experience on a large-scale battlefield where thousands of soldiers shed blood.

It wasn't that they feared war.

But the battles they were about to face were very different from the fights they had been in until now.

The enemies they had fought until now were mostly demons and monsters from Tartaros.

In the case of humans, they were clear villains who harmed others.

Even if not, their experience was mostly within the world of heroes.

However, the ones they were fighting now were ordinary people forced into war.

That fact weighed heavily on the hero candidates.

"Leo, aren't you scared?"

Celia approached and asked.

To her question, Leo replied calmly.

"Not really."

"You really are amazing."

Celia gave a wry smile.

They were the same age.

They had taken the Lumern entrance exam together, entered together, and attended school together until now.

Yet, Leo was always mature.

"Your fear is natural."

"Hm?"

"Never forget the burden you feel right now."

*Dong- Dong-*

The sound of drums echoed.

*Boooong-!*

The sound of a horn blew.

In the distance, thousands of soldiers belonging to the Second Prince's faction appeared.

"It's natural to be afraid of harming people. Once you lose that feeling, you can never get it back."

Leo glanced at Chen Siya.

Chen Siya, who had eliminated countless traitors as a shadow.

As such, Chen Siya was accustomed to killing people.

Still, she was not completely numb.

But Leo was different.

He had eliminated far more traitors than Chen Siya.

That wasn't a mistake.

It was something someone had to do, for the sake of the world.

He never regretted stepping into the darkness.

'If the same situation arose, I would make the same choice countless times.'

However, because of that, Leo had become numb to harming people.

Leo wished that the heroes who would lead the next generation would not become like him.

Not just heroes.

The shadows too.

'A world without heroes like me would be a better world.'

Thinking so, Leo spoke.

"There's one thing I need to tell you."

Leo climbed onto the city wall.

All eyes turned to Leo.

"Do not kill any ordinary soldiers during this mission."

"What?"

"We are here to mediate a civil war. So there is no need to shed blood."

"But what if we have to use force?"

Celia showed a slightly flustered expression.

Seeing Celia like that, Leo smiled.

"So, I'll show you a demonstration starting now. So watch from here."

Having said that, Leo looked at the advancing soldiers.

At that moment, Chen Siya approached Leo and whispered softly.

"Shall I help you?"

"You too, just watch quietly."

"I know what you are worried about, Leo-doryeong. But I…"

"It's not about you."

Leo chuckled.

"It's because I want to."

"…"

Chen Siya stared at Leo.

Leo looked at Chen Siya and burst into laughter.

"Why?"

Chen Siya was surprised by Leo's sudden laughter.

"No, it's just that I suddenly remembered that I used to have a time like you."

Leo looked at the battlefield.

"I can't imagine it."

"Why can't you imagine it? You had companions like you, too."

"Were you like this back then too?"

"Do you think I was an old man from birth?"

"You were an old man from birth."

At Chen Siya's mumbling, Leo burst into laughter.

"Companions like us… were they the great heroes?"

"No. They were literally my first companions. We were inexperienced. Them, and me."

"…"

Chen Siya fell silent.

Because she understood well what "first companions" meant.

"You don't have to be so timid."

Leo smiled and leaped down from the city wall.

'…Back then, I thought everything would work out.'

It was a distant childhood memory.

He was probably around this age when he was still Kyle.

Back then, looking back at himself, he seemed to shine brightly like Chen Siya and Celia now.

His companions too.

A time when he believed he could become anything.

'Am I being sentimental?'

With a bitter smile at the suddenly recalled past memories, Leo looked at the soldiers.

'By the way, what is Lysinas doing?'

Didn't he say he was going to test the Seirun students?

As Leo wore a puzzled expression.

*Gooooooo-!*

A colossal aura surged from the vanguard of the troops in the distance.

Along with it, a black dragon revealed itself.

Lysinas breathed a breath towards someone.

Seeing that, Leo wore a slightly surprised expression.

He hadn't unleashed a breath of that magnitude even when testing the Lumern students before.

"No… that seems a bit too much?"