Book 1 Chapter 748

748.

Lisynas pondered as she watched the Second Prince's faction's army move.

She had to stop the elves' insidious plan, but testing the Seirun students was her priority.

'First, let's test the Seirun students.'

Personal feelings should not be included in a test.

She intended to test them fairly, just as she had tested the Lumerian students.

With that thought, Lisynas stood at the road leading to Diviana to block the path of the Second Prince's faction.

Then, she paused.

This was a battlefield.

A place where countless lives were lost.

Lisynas was accustomed to battlefields.

5000 years ago.

To save the world, she had stood on countless battlefields and witnessed countless deaths.

And after the battles.

It was Lisynas who mourned the souls of those who couldn't leave even in death.

The resentment, lingering attachments, and fury mixed in the mana were all too familiar to Lisynas.

And she heard a sound similar to that of 5000 years ago.

Lisynas carefully knelt down in the middle of the battlefield.

Then, with a bitter smile, she asked.

"Won't you tell me what happened?"

***

Lunia, riding a white horse at the forefront of the Second Prince's faction's army, let out a deep sigh.

It wasn't just Lunia.

All the elves dispatched from Seirun were also at the front, riding white horses.

These white horses were all provided by the Second Prince's faction.

The reason they specifically chose white horses was to match the color of the Seirun students' white uniforms.

The sight of beautiful elves in Seirun uniforms, all riding white horses and standing before the soldiers, was spectacular at first glance.

'I don't like this much.'

Lunia clicked her tongue softly.

Lunia was already very striking in appearance.

She was a stunning beauty, but it wasn't just her beauty that drew people's attention.

It was because of her fiery red hair, as if it could ignite at any moment.

Lunia's red hair contrasted sharply with the white Seirun uniform, giving her a very flamboyant impression.

On top of that, riding a white horse further accentuated her presence.

And since the Second Prince's faction's commander had arranged the army in a way that Lunia led them, thousands of soldiers were all looking at Lunia's back.

Lunia's face became complicated as she glanced back.

Lunia had been dispatched from Seirun, but she had never stood on a battlefield before.

Part of it was that Lunia's power, 'flame,' was difficult to control, but more than that, she understood the weight of the title she carried.

'I am a hero now.'

[The One Who Chases the Nebula.]

The successor of Luna, the progenitor of the nebula, following the comet mage, Seirun.

She was the successor of a great hero and was praised as the most noble among all elves.

'The soldiers were skeptical about this war.'

They were forced onto the battlefield, but they weren't actively engaged in fighting.

The commanders were enraged, claiming the soldiers were sabotaging, but that was normal for a war without justification.

However, the moment they saw her, the soldiers' mood changed.

Courage welled up in their eyes.

And their morale began to rise.

If this were their war and a desperate situation, seeing those who gained courage through her would have invigorated her as well.

But not now.

'My presence is instilling false courage in them.'

She suddenly felt the heavy burden of the title she carried.

A hero, by their very existence, wields immense influence on those around them.

This influence can be both good and evil.

'What would Leo have done?'

Lunia looked down at her palm.

The face of the one she had set as her other goal came to mind.

'I have to end this war as soon as possible, no matter what.'

Lunia made a resolute expression and glanced back once more.

'I want to send all these people home safely.'

The Hero of Beginnings and the Progenitor of the Nebula would surely have done so.

It was while Lunia was making that resolve to herself.

"Miss Lunia."

"Hm?"

"Someone has appeared ahead."

At Eiran's words, Lunia looked ahead.

There stood a person with their face hidden by a black hood.

The army currently advancing numbered in the thousands.

To block the advance of such an army.

'In such cases, it's one of two things.'

Either crazy.

Or a powerful existence.

"How dare you! How dare you block the path of His Royal Highness Bedekos, the Second Prince's army, the rightful owner of this nation! If you are a citizen of the great Deviant, why do you not quickly step aside and bow your head!"

The captain of Prince Bedekos's Royal Guard stepped forward and shouted.

But even with that shout, the opponent remained silent.

"Ugh! This insolent fellow! I tried to be patient in front of these esteemed individuals, but! I will cut off your head!"

Finally, seeing the enraged Royal Guard captain yell, Lunia spoke.

"Wait a moment. Let me speak."

Lunia, who was at the very front of the army, dismounted her horse.

Naturally, the army's advance also stopped.

Lunia, having narrowed the distance to the hooded figure, asked.

"Who are you?"

Even at those words, the hooded figure remained silent.

"Excuse me. So, who are you…!"

"Shh."

As Lunia raised her voice, the hooded figure brought their right index finger to their lips.

At that gesture, Lunia unknowingly closed her mouth.

Rustle- Rustle-

The hooded figure took a step.

Lunia's gaze followed the hooded figure.

The Seirun students approached Lunia's side.

"That's an unusual person, isn't it?"

"Indeed. It's best to be cautious."

Eiran nodded in agreement as Aris Tiina and Garin Tiina, Lunia's fraternal twin classmates, spoke.

Just then, the hooded figure stopped, squatted down, and began digging into the ground.

And with a sigh, carefully lifted something.

It was none other than a human head.

"This person is filled with resentment."

The hooded figure's gaze turned towards the Royal Guard captain who had just shouted.

"He was a soldier of the Second Prince's faction. But the Second Prince's knights cut him down. For merit."

The hooded figure's voice was utterly chilling.

"What nonsense are you spouting! Knights are honorable individuals who have received investiture! Do you think they would do such a sordid thing!"

The Royal Guard captain flew into a rage.

In truth, he knew.

That his knights would cut down allied soldiers for merit and claim it as achievement.

But he pretended not to know.

Knights needed to achieve merit on the battlefield to advance.

But in this era, there were no battlefields.

More accurately, there were no safe battlefields.

Deviant also served as a bulwark for the Tartaros region in the eastern part of the continent.

The reason Deviant could become the nation with the most heroes in the east in the first place was because such battlefields existed to achieve great feats.

Deviant's excellent knights all headed to the eastern front of Tartaros.

But other knights did not want to go to such places.

The battlefield with Tartaros was hell itself, where lives had to be risked ceaselessly once battle began.

Why should they go to such a place?

Those who served as royal guards for incompetent royals and nobles certainly wouldn't risk their lives there.

But they envied the knights who earned merit and were treated well there.

Because the treatment of knights who earned merit within Deviant and those who didn't was like heaven and earth.

Just then.

Deviant's civil war broke out.

The Second Prince's Royal Guards were eager.

A golden opportunity had arrived to earn merit simply by cutting down ordinary soldiers who were clearly weaker than themselves, who had not even mastered Aura.

Even if they were incompetent, they were still those who had mastered Aura.

By ordinary people's standards, they were no different from superhumans.

The Royal Guard became desperate to cut down more enemies.

Soon, knights blinded by greed began to emerge, secretly cutting down even allied soldiers.

It was neither honorable nor clean.

But they didn't care.

They were knights protecting a noble royal family.

They believed that the lives of ordinary soldiers, who were merely consumables for their own advancement, were unimportant.

Even the Royal Guard captain himself had two units wiped out, disguised as enemies, during nocturnal battles.

'After all, the dead tell no tales.'

The Seirun students gaped.

"What… what kind of…"

Eiran's voice trembled.

The Royal Guard captain raged at Eiran.

"Don't believe it! It's the wicked witch's trick!"

"Do you think the dead have nothing to say?"

The hooded figure's voice grew even colder.

"If so, shall we ask them?"

"What?"

Gooooooh-

A black aura flowed from the hooded figure, Lisynas's body.

Not only the Royal Guard captain's face but also the Seirun students' faces turned pale from the immense power.

Clank- Clank- Clank-!

The sound of metal clashing echoed.

This was a place that had been a battlefield for several days.

As such, it was filled with the abandoned corpses of ordinary soldiers.

The bodies of knights were all collected, but no noble cared about the ordinary soldiers.

Those corpses rose.

"This is the soldiers' resentment towards you."

Lisynas, who had unleashed her spirit summoning magic, said coldly.

Spirit summoning magic could originally only summon those who possessed strong power in life.

However, the soldiers who fell on this battlefield had not been dead for long.

Lisynas, whose spirit summoning magic had reached its peak, summoned them.

"N-Necromancer! She is clearly a minion of the wicked Lich King!"

"Oh, esteemed hero candidates of great Seirun! Please, punish that evil witch!"

The nobles of the Second Prince's faction, led by the Royal Guard captain, shrieked in fits.

The Seirun students also drew their weapons in the sudden situation.

"Demon?!"

"B-But the atmosphere is different from that of demons?"

The Seirun students looked perplexed.

To resurrect countless corpses.

Spirit summoning magic was an extremely rare ability, and summoning so many spirits was beyond common sense.

Thus, the power Lisynas currently wielded looked like necromancy to anyone.

However, it lacked the gloomy and evil aura characteristic of necromancy.

"Senior Lunia! What should we do?"

"First… let's stop them."

Lunia said with a firm voice in response to Rea's question.

A clear hostility emanated from the currently risen corpses.

It was when the Seirun students were about to raise their energy at Lunia's single word.

[Grwooooooar!]

[I'll never forgive youuuuuu!]

At that moment, the resurrected soldiers spat out their resentment, grabbed their weapons, and charged.

As the Seirun students were about to retaliate.

"Huh?!"

The soldiers bypassed the Seirun students and charged towards the knights.

"Hieeeek!"

"D-Don't come!"

"You filthy undead!"

The knights' shouts echoed.

It was then that the Seirun students were flustered by the sight.

"You are students of Seirun, aren't you?"

Lisynas walked - step by step - towards the Seirun students.

Seeing her, the Seirun students tensed.

"You are Luna's descendants, aren't you?"

Lisynas asked with a gentle smile.

And just as Lunia was about to answer.

"No! We are not descendants of Lady Luna."

Rea stepped forward with a snap!

At her words, Lisynas paused for a moment.

Not Luna's descendants?

Even Lisynas, with all her experience, was a little flustered by the completely unexpected answer.

"We are the descendants of Lady Luna, the progenitor of the nebula, and Sir Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings!"

"That's right!"

"Well said! Our junior!"

The third-year students chimed in, agreeing with Rea's words.

Rea, beaming with confidence, pointed at Eiran.

"And! Senior Eiran over there is a descendant of Lady Berkia, who was born from the union of Lady Luna and Sir Kyle! Literally, the fruit of Lady Luna and Sir Kyle's love!"

"No! Lady Berkia was a pure elf!"

Eiran, startled, corrected her, but Rea wasn't listening.

Believing what they wanted to believe was one of the elves' chronic racial traits.

At that, Lisynas smiled faintly.

'It's just a child speaking. Let's not mind it.'

Regaining her composure, Lisynas opened her mouth.

"There's also a story that the Hero of Beginnings and the King of Wisdom were lovers, you know? You shouldn't interpret history only from the elves' perspective."

However, ultimately, Lisynas failed to maintain her composure, and her true feelings spilled out.

At that moment, Lunia and Eiran, hearing those words, felt something strange.

"Ah~ It seems like the words Lady Luna said when she descended before were misinterpreted."

Rea giggled and wiggled her finger.

"You're wrong to think that Sir Kyle and Lady Lisynas were lovers! Rather, it was the King of Wisdom who unilaterally loved the Hero of Beginnings! That's why Lady Lisynas was jealous of Lady Luna and Sir Kyle's relationship!"

"Who said such a thing!"

"Lady Luna did!"

That was the false story Luna had prattled on about in Lumeria City before.

The love triangle story that Kyle loved Luna and Lisynas loved Kyle.

It was a story Luna had clearly spun to her own advantage while drunk.

And coinciding with Luna's confession, that story spread like wildfire and began circulating in elf society, with additions to it, transforming into a tale that Lisynas was jealous of Luna, rapidly spreading throughout elf society.

"Oh dear… Poor Lady Lisynas… Why did she have to love the same person as Lady Luna and be left with such a sorrowful love? It's so regrettable! It must mean Sir Kyle was that cool and dignified!"

Rea, an ardent fan of Kyle, chattered on excitedly.

Lisynas, who had inadvertently been defeated by Luna, began to tremble.

'No! We both had unrequited love for each other! So why am I the dragon who unilaterally envied their relationship?!'

Even trying to maintain composure, it was difficult when it came to anything related to Kyle.

Especially with this rumor, she had no idea how to react.

'Why should I, of all people, be pitied by such a young sprout?!'

Ultimately, Lisynas exploded.

"Luna… That rotten brat… Spouting such nonsense…!"

Grind-

A grinding sound accompanied an ominous voice from Lisynas's mouth.

And hearing that sound, the Seirun students began to rage.

"How dare you insult Lady Luna!"

"Unforgivable!"

But unlike the other enraged elves, the two elves who knew the truth suddenly realized who the being before them was at that moment.

Eiran's face turned pale, and she trembled, while Lunia looked up at the sky and muttered unknowingly.

"We're screwed…"