Book 1 Chapter 750
Leo raised his sword as he watched the soldiers gripping their spears, closing in on him.
At Leo’s action, the soldiers flinched and drew back their necks.
*Thump—*
Leo took a step forward.
As he did, the soldiers who had been closing the distance trembled and stepped back.
A strange sight of a single person overwhelming hundreds of soldiers surrounding him.
*Thump— thump—*
As Leo slowly advanced, the soldiers retreated.
They felt it instinctively.
The boy before them was dangerous.
The overwhelming presence Leo exuded was something even the soldiers could clearly feel.
A knight watching the scene from behind shouted.
“You cowards!”
*Swish—!*
“To retreat in fear from just one person! Are you still proud soldiers of Devian?!”
Drawing his sword, the knight approached to strike the soldier in front of him.
“You’ll only come to your senses after my sword strikes you…!”
*Crunch—!*
At that moment.
Leo charged towards the soldiers with incredible speed.
“Aak?!”
“D-don’t come! Don’t come!”
As Leo approached, the soldiers at the front, terrified, thrust their spears.
That became the signal for the soldiers to attack Leo all at once.
Soldiers in a group tend to move together.
Even if they were initially intimidated, once they moved, they surged like water bursting through a dam.
*Clang—!*
“Gak?!”
Leo deflected the spear aimed at him.
Then he lunged at the off-balance soldier and cut him down.
“Kruuk?!”
The soldier, terrified, tumbled to the ground.
But in the meantime, Leo was instantly surrounded.
The soldiers surrounding Leo gritted their teeth and thrust their spears.
Leo, his red eyes scanning the spears flying from all directions, stepped on the tip of a spear and leaped.
*Slash! Slash!*
Even as he did, he didn’t stop moving his sword.
It was a movement close to divine.
He didn’t use a single ounce of aura.
He simply read the flow of combat, evading, blocking, and cutting down the soldiers.
From the soldiers’ perspective, it felt like fighting ghosts.
Hundreds of soldiers attacking Leo, overwhelmed by his immense skill, were struck with fear.
Leo instantly reached the soldier at the very rear.
“Ughhhhhh……!”
“Cut him down quickly!”
As knights behind them shouted, the soldier trembled and lunged at Leo.
*Slice—!*
“Krak?”
Leo’s sword flashed.
The soldier, clutching his neck, froze.
With a blank expression, Leo struck the soldier’s helmet with the flat of his blade—*tok—*.
*Thud—*
Then the soldier collapsed.
*Thump— thump—*
Leo walked towards the knights with cold eyes.
“Indeed, a swordsmanship skill close to divine. But you must be tired from cutting down hundreds of soldiers.”
The knights at the front, sweating, formed a formation.
Watching them, Leo tilted his head.
“Kill? Who?”
“Didn’t you just slaughter hundreds of proud Devian soldiers! Though they may be simpletons, they are those who gave their lives for their country! To honor those soldiers, I will surely execute you!”
The lead knight pointed his sword at Leo and unleashed his aura.
Leo chuckled at the knight’s actions.
“Strangely, you people, both in the past and present, are good at framing things to your advantage.”
“Talk as you wish, enemy of Devian.”
With that, Leo rested his sword on his shoulder.
Then he gestured behind him.
“Unfortunately, I cut them, but I didn’t kill the soldiers.”
As he spoke, the soldiers slowly got to their feet.
“W-what?”
“I thought I was cut… I felt it!”
“It doesn’t hurt!”
“Wh-what is this……”
Despite being cut, there was no bleeding and no pain.
***
“……What kind of magic is that?”
Elena, with her arms crossed, wore a look of disbelief.
Before her eyes, a magical projection of Leo’s battle was playing.
Lil, with her fists clenched, shook up and down with an excited reaction.
“As expected of my brother! It’s amazing!”
“That seems to have far surpassed ‘amazing,’ doesn’t it?”
It wasn’t magic, no matter how you looked at it.
Nor was it summoning.
Pure swordsmanship.
Even Elena, who didn’t know much about swordsmanship, could tell it was extraordinary.
Meanwhile.
Celia, watching the scene, clenched her fist.
At that moment, Abad approached.
“Celia. What is that?”
“……Swordsmanship.”
“Such swordsmanship…… exists?”
Abad wore a bewildered expression at her words.
Celia stared intently at Leo on the screen and said.
“It’s not a formed swordsmanship.”
“What do you mean?”
“I… it’s hard for me to explain too.”
Celia wore a confused expression.
“Shia. How should we describe this?”
“Hmm……”
Chen Shia fell into thought.
Then, she finally said.
“Magic that makes flowers bloom.”
At her words, everyone’s gaze turned to Chen Shia.
Receiving the gazes of the Lumeren students, Chen Shia smiled faintly.
“I heard that Luna’s magic, the magic that makes flowers bloom, is magic but has entered the realm of creation.”
“That’s right.”
Chloe nodded at Chen Shia’s words.
“Luna’s flower-blooming magic… would be magic in a realm incomprehensible by current magic theory, wouldn’t it?”
Magic that literally creates life.
Even if it was just a flower, it was no exaggeration to say that it was magic that entered the divine realm in itself.
“In that vein, I think the swordsmanship Leo-doryeong is displaying might also be entering a similar realm.”
Chen Shia took out a dagger from her pouch.
“Cutting is an act of harming the opponent.”
That was an immutable law.
“But this swordsmanship seems to have excluded the act of harming from cutting.”
This was swordsmanship, but a certain state of mastery.
A state comparable to the magic of blooming flowers.
Chen Shia then said.
“Perhaps it’s swordsmanship left to Leo-doryeong by someone with a warm heart?”
“Who?”
“Arion-nim.”
“Ah…!”
Celia’s eyes widened.
“Since Leo-doryeong spent more time with Arion-nim than we did… wouldn’t he have learned and seen a lot too?”
Chen Shia was referring to Leo’s past life, but Celia thought of their training camp period.
Indeed, Leo spent more time with Arion than other students.
Celia clenched her fist.
Looking at her cousin, Celia felt an indescribable emotion.
She knew there was a difference.
That the gap was immense.
Of course, that didn’t mean she would stop trying or chasing after Leo.
However, seeing Leo display a skill in a completely different dimension, she couldn’t hide her confused thoughts.
Celia often wondered what kind of being Leo was.
At that moment.
“What are you pondering so much about?”
Chen Shia came up behind Celia and rested her chin on Celia’s left shoulder.
“I think we need to observe this scene carefully right now.”
“What?”
“Perhaps Leo-doryeong wanted us, myself, Celia-yang… and the Knight Department students, to become like Arion-nim?”
“Every knight wants to be like him, don’t they? Why are you suddenly saying this…”
“No.”
Chen Shia took a step back and stood next to Celia.
Then, looking at Leo on the screen, she said.
“Perhaps he wanted us to become warriors with warm hearts like Arion-nim?”
“What?”
“Think of Arion-nim.”
Celia recalled the image of Arion she had seen before.
Contrary to her imagination, he was very timid.
A brave warrior with a warm heart.
A kind beastman who cherished all living things.
“Protecting the weak. Cherishing life.”
Chen Shia looked at Leo.
“Not intimidating others with strength. And showing courage when true courage is needed.”
Chen Shia smiled.
“Is that what they call… chivalry?”
“…It sounds like something out of an old fairy tale.”
“Yes. But Arion-nim was like that.”
Literally.
A person like a hero from a fairy tale.
“Surely Leo-doryeong… wants us to become like that.”
Knights suited for a peaceful era.
Knights like Arion… from a fairy tale.
“That’s why he’s showing us this scene, I’m sure.”
“…Presumptuous. Who does he think he is?”
Celia, with her arms crossed, scoffed but her red eyes reflected Leo.
Then she muttered.
“I really don’t know how I’ll ever repay him.”
She was the type of person who couldn’t live with a debt.
She definitely wanted to repay him someday.
“I feel the same way.”
Chen Shia cupped her cheek and sighed deeply.
“But he doesn’t seem to want anything.”
Chen Shia glared slightly at Leo with dissatisfied eyes.
***
The soldiers looked bewildered by the incomprehensible situation, and the knights’ eyes widened.
“They were clearly cut…!”
“I see! You are also a demon using dark magic!”
“They’re just corpses revived like a moment ago!”
“Talk as you please.”
It was when Leo wore a bored expression.
One of the knights said.
“White hair and red eyes… Could it be… Leo Flove?”
At those words, the knights began to murmur.
Leo Flove.
The weight of that name carried a considerable pressure.
And starting with that remark, some among the knights and nobles began to recognize Leo.
“Gasp…!”
“Indeed, that face! I’ve seen it in the newspapers!”
“Leo Flove!”
“Why is Lumeren blocking our way?!”
Seeing their astonishment, Leo said indifferently.
“You brought Seirun into this.”
Leo pointed towards Lisinas with his finger.
“Kyaaaaaak! H-help me! Help me!”
“……”
At that moment, a Seirun student bitten by Lisinas screamed.
Leo realized that the elf bitten by Lisinas was Lea Tinggel, the top second-year student of Seirun.
‘Did he really have to bite her?’
Leo shook his head slightly in disbelief and said.
“Since Seirun intervened, Lumeren has no choice but to step in to mediate the Devian civil war.”
“What kind of coercion is that!”
“Unacceptable! This is Devian’s business!”
Ignoring the indignant nobles, Leo wore a bored expression.
[I’m wronged… I’m wronged…!]
[I can’t die like this… My family… my wife… my daughter…!]
The spirits summoned by Lisinas gathered around Leo.
Though they had become spirits, they were those who were not qualified to be spirits in the first place.
Mere ordinary soldiers with no power.
People who just farmed, fished, and chopped wood… living their lives diligently day by day.
People with no connection to war.
Some were even unjustly killed by the knights.
Leo looked at the spirits gathered around him with a blank expression.
Though they had risen in their complete forms through Lisinas’s spirit arts, they had lost their lower bodies and limbs in the battle with the knights.
Even as spirits, they were ultimately ordinary soldiers.
There was no way they could fight against knights who used aura.
Leo looked down at the soldier who was grabbing his ankle as if begging.
It wasn’t an act filled with resentment.
They simply grabbed him to plead because they felt too wronged.
“Even if I kill them with my own hands, will your grudges be resolved?”
No.
Spiritual lingering attachments must be resolved by oneself.
They can never be resolved with the help of others.
Even if he killed them, the grudges of those who died unjustly would not be resolved.
The process of becoming an undead is extremely simple.
When resentment towards the living deepens.
Eventually, even spirits lose their reason and corrupt.
Lisinas summoned them not for revenge.
But simply to listen to their grievances.
It can’t be helped.
The King of Wisdom… that kind dragon knows.
That the cycle of resentment does not break.
That there is no solution other than to embrace them and apologize on their behalf.
‘That’s why Lisinas is noble.’
He is someone who can weep for the dead.
“The one who summoned you as spirits did not do so to resolve your grudges. Nor do they want you to resolve your grudges.”
Even if Lisinas had intended to resolve their grudges, he would have stopped him.
That was not Lisinas’s job.
Lisinas shouldn’t do that.
“Leo Flove, Student Council President of Lumeren. It is an honor to meet you on the battlefield.”
The captain of the Second Prince’s Royal Guard stepped forward.
“To be able to clash swords with a hero like you on the battlefield. It is an honor for my family.”
He said with bravado.
Leo hadn’t killed the soldiers, though he didn’t know what magic he had performed.
‘It must be because he is the Student Council President of Lumeren.’
The renowned Student Council President of Lumeren.
Even if he intervened in a foreign civil war, he wouldn’t take lives on the battlefield.
‘He probably doesn’t want his reputation to be stained with blood.’
Blood can be a source of honor for heroes, but also a stigma.
Even if he intervened in the civil war due to Seirun, spilling blood in this situation would clearly not be of great help to the Lumeren Student Council President’s reputation.
‘This is an opportunity.’
Surviving a battle against a hero on the battlefield alone would bring great fame.
Even if he lost disgracefully.
Moreover, it was Leo Flove himself.
The captain of the Royal Guard drew his sword, thinking of solidifying his reputation and status.
“Please grace me with your skill.”
It was when Leo looked at the captain with a blank expression.
[Kuaaaaargh!]
The spirit that had been holding Leo’s ankle let out a monstrous cry, shedding tears of blood.
The resentment in its eyes deepened further.
Seeing that, Leo got up.
“It’s quite amusing.”
“What is?”
“Why do you people always think it’s natural for others to die, yet act as if you yourselves will never die?”
“What are you talking about?”
*Swish-*
A chilling sound echoed.
The captain of the Royal Guard felt a stinging sensation at his neck.
*Sliiiide-*
His vision suddenly tilted.
*Thud-*
At that moment, the captain of the Royal Guard realized his head had fallen from his neck.
“Gyaaaaaaaah!”
As he realized that, he screamed.
A burning pain erupted from below his neck.
He had cut so cleanly that blood didn’t even spurt out for a long time.
*Phuuak-*!
“Kuhuk!”
Finally, after a few seconds, blood gushed out.
“S-save….”
The captain of the Royal Guard pleaded and then collapsed.
*Thump-*
Silence fell upon the battlefield.
‘Lisinas cannot, but I can.’
Just before cutting the captain, Leo.
He also cut off Elena’s magic.
‘This is harmful to children’s education.’
Leo smiled coldly.
*Thump— thump—*
Leo moved his steps.
“If you step onto the battlefield, you should be prepared to stake your life equally. Especially.”
Leo’s red eyes gleamed.
His gaze turned to the knights and nobles.
“I know the world isn’t fair, but don’t you think it’s fairer for those who wanted war to die than those who didn’t?”
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
“R-run!”
The knights and nobles screamed and fled.
Watching them, Leo said.
“Lisinas doesn’t want to repay grudges, but…”
Leo’s gaze turned to the spirits.
By now, the spirits’ eyes were glowing with a pale, murderous intent.
If they were in a normal state, perhaps.
But in their panicked state of fleeing, it would be difficult to deal with the spirits.
The spirits reattached their limbs and pursued the knights and nobles.
Spirits stained with blood have deeper resentments.
But…
‘Lisinas is here.’
Surely Lisinas would guide the spirits to peace.
*Thump-*
Leo, collapsing onto a nearby rock, looked up at the sky.
“My… Lord……”
The surviving soldiers of the Second Prince’s faction approached.
“Th-thank you.”
“I didn’t do it for your thanks.”
Leo said without looking at the soldiers.
“It just reminded me of the past.”
His first war was also like this.
A war where the powerful sacrificed the weak for their achievements.
It was also a moment when he most longed for the blue sky he was looking at now.
Leo, with his eyes closed, murmured softly.
“It’s so damn clear.”