Book 1 Chapter 777

777.

"Did only my soul come here? Then what happened to me in my original world?"

Leo replayed the situation before crossing into the parallel world.

The portal created by Nix.

When Leo touched the portal, he was sucked into the entrance of the parallel world.

And…

"The world outside the mirror seemed to have stopped time."

Leo sank into thought, recalling the situation before crossing into the parallel world.

"Then is time stopped in the original world?"

He scratched his head vigorously.

Leo knew nothing about this side.

The fact that the situation in his original world wasn't good also worried Leo.

"What time is it exactly?"

To check the time he arrived here, Leo took out his pocket watch from his pocket and opened the lid.

*Click-!*

Leo stopped for a moment after checking the watch.

It was already evening, with the sunset completely gone.

However, the watch was still pointing to around noon.

"Is it broken?"

He stared at the watch.

As he gazed at it for a long time, the second hand, which indicated seconds, moved one notch.

Seeing that, Leo thought.

"Could it be moving according to the time in the original world?"

That would mean the flow of time here and in the original world was completely different.

Leo closed the watch lid.

"So? Did a fragment of Erebus revive here too?"

Arion, who had been organizing his thoughts after hearing Leo's explanation of the parallel world, shook his head.

"No. A fragment of Erebus has not revived yet."

"Then Lysinas and Luna must have a lot on their minds."

As long as Kyle, who could defeat Erebus, had not revived, they were in a similar situation to the heroes of creation.

"Yes. That's why Lysinas tried to find your Hero Record somehow."

"Did they try to inherit my power through the Hero Record?"

"Yes. That too, but…"

"But?"

"Lysinas missed you a lot. They wanted to meet you."

"What about Luna?"

"Luna thought of a way to defeat Erebus through magic. They boasted that they could defeat Erebus even without Kyle."

"I can just imagine them shouting that they don't need someone like me."

"Yes, that's right. Even so, whenever they heard news about Kyle's Hero Record, they would rush over. Even though they said that, Luna also seemed to miss you a lot."

At Arion's words, Leo gave a bitter smile.

Lysinas and Luna from another world.

"I can't imagine what they must be feeling…"

The Lysinas and Luna of the original world knew they had died.

And knowing they could no longer be together, they conveyed their feelings.

The two at least conveyed their feelings to him.

But…

"It's not the Lysinas and Luna of this side."

The situation was the opposite for them.

For those two, it meant they could never convey their feelings.

"Lysinas stopped Luna from coming here this time. The movements of the Demon Queen in the northern continent were unusual."

"Is Silathuna still alive?"

"Yes."

"What on earth were you guys doing? I defeated not only Silathuna but also the Giant King's spawn. You lazy people."

"Wow! Really?! Amazing! As expected of Kyle!"

Arion's eyes widened, then he smiled brightly.

Leo looked at Arion's smile with a strange expression.

In front of him were Lysinas, Luna, and Dwenno.

If it had been one of the three, they would have reacted sharply the moment they were called lazy.

But Arion was purely praising Leo.

Realizing anew why Lysinas was particularly kind to Arion, Leo said,

"You still don't have a way to counter Erebus, do you?"

"No. But it's okay now. We have Kyle, right?"

Leo remained silent, looking at Arion's bright smile.

"I'm here…"

Looking at the night sky that had fully arrived, Leo let out a deep sigh.

"…"

The entrance of the cafe.

The third-year students of Azonia, blocked from entering by the staff, watched Karr talking with Leo.

"What on earth are they talking about?"

Rwen perked up her fox ears.

However, the sound of their conversation could not be heard.

Leo had blocked the sound with magic.

When the other students also shook their heads, Rwen looked back.

"Ar. Can you hear anything…?"

"I can't forgive you. I can't forgive you. I can't forgive you. For hogging Senior Karr! I can't forgive you. I've never even had a private conversation like that…! I can't forgive you."

Ar looked at Leo with eyes full of resentment.

Ar harbored resentment towards Leo, who had been constantly teasing his tail.

Seeing Ar glaring at Leo, Rwen asked Dion.

"Has Ar never had a private conversation with Senior Karr?"

"Does Senior seem like someone who would have a private conversation with Ar, considering how scared he is of him?"

"Still… isn't he the junior you cherish the most?"

"Cherishing them doesn't mean you're not scared of them."

Hearing Dion's words, Rwen shook her head.

***

*WHOOOOOOOSH-*

The cold northern wind blew.

The road to Seirun's warp gate.

A human girl with black hair carrying a travel bag walked through the blizzard.

A dwarf of similar age followed behind the girl.

Finally, the human girl, standing in front of the warp gate, glanced at the elf who came to see her off and sighed.

"Are you here to see me off? Or did you come to complain because you're unhappy?"

"I came to see you off."

"Your face doesn't look like someone who came to see you off."

At Leah Philly, the student council president of Lumern's words, Rune Orweni, the student council president of Seirun, scowled.

Rune's fierce expression made the students of Seirun tremble.

But Leah didn't care.

While it might make the students of Seirun tremble with fear, to Leah, it was just like a spoiled child's tantrum.

"To misinterpret a person's pure goodwill. You've always been like this, Lysinas."

"Rune. My name is Leah Philly now. Your name is Rune Orweni. How many times have I told you not to call me by my old name?"

Leah said with a sigh.

Leah, the reincarnation of Lysinas, spoke after reuniting with her friends.

She said they should have an identity as people living in this era, not as great heroes of the past.

The reason she emphasized that fact was simple.

'The eras we live in are different. Forget the unhappy past and live in a new era. And for the future… let's defeat Erebus completely this time.'

It was as Lysinas had said.

The era in which the great heroes had to live was no longer a world heading for destruction in the past.

A name is a symbol and an identity that represents a person.

An old name brings back old thoughts.

Old thoughts hold a person back from moving forward.

Lysinas was wary of that.

'Thinking about it, it was harder to persuade them than 5000 years ago.'

Lysinas let out a deep sigh.

The current era was the era the great heroes had wished for more than anyone else.

For Luna, who wanted to see the end of magic, it was a world full of infinite possibilities.

Lysinas's words, asking to give up those possibilities and prepare for a fight against Erebus, who might revive at any moment, did not reach Luna.

Arion, who was cowardly and desperately wanted a world where children could live in peace.

Hearing the words "fight Erebus again" was enough to make Arion feel fear.

Dwenno, who called himself an artist, also didn't want to worry about anything other than dedicating his life to art.

'…I couldn't blame them.'

Lysinas knew too well how cruel the words "fight Erebus again" were.

'I know everything.'

What her companions sacrificed in the fight against Erebus.

What terrible pain they endured in return for that sacrifice.

'I know better than anyone.'

Because she herself had gone through the same thing.

So she couldn't say anything to her companions who refused.

But…

'In the end, we're heading towards the same place again.'

Infinite possibilities and safe peace.

And a beautiful world.

It was the world the great heroes wished for more than anything, but the three knew better than anyone.

That no matter what they left behind, a crisis would someday befall this brilliant era.

5000 years ago.

What remained in this world that they couldn't finish themselves?

'Crucially…'

Lysinas's eyes darkened.

'We are living in this world again because Kyle didn't give up.'

What they had passed on.

Who was the person who was most struggling at the final moment.

The great heroes knew better than anyone.

That's why the great heroes reunited.

Although they are not always together like they were 5000 years ago.

Now, they each have their own responsibilities in their own places.

The cradle for future heroes, the hero candidates…

They had to nurture companions who would fight together in the future at the Hero Academy.

Along with that heavy mission, there was something else they had to do.

That was to present proof that Kyle, the hero of the beginning, actually existed.

Lysinas's reason for enrolling in Lumern was not simply to cultivate the power to fight Erebus.

'To find traces of Kyle.'

Lysinas clenched her fist.

When she was reincarnated and heard the stories of the great heroes.

What hurt Lysinas the most was the fact that the hero of the beginning, Kyle, was treated as a fictional character.

She felt her heart break when she heard that there was no evidence left anywhere in this world that the hero of the beginning had ever existed.

It wasn't just Lysinas.

The other great heroes also tried to prove Kyle's existence in any way they could.

But they never found it in the end.

There were no stories related to Kyle in their Hero Records.

Even Kyle's Hero Record had not been found.

Without evidence, no one believed that Kyle had actually existed.

'Although some children in Azonia seem to believe Arion's words wholeheartedly…'

Even that was only a tiny minority.

'The world needs to know.'

Lysinas bit her lip.

'Because of whom this world can continue to exist…'

"Why do you keep saying we should forget the past?"

At that moment, Luna said in a cold voice.

"Well…"

"Because it hurts to think of Kyle. Do you mean we should forget Kyle too?"

"What?"

"The fact that I am Luna, the progenitor of the constellations, is unchanged, before being Rune, the student council president of Seirun. Similarly, the fact that you are Lysinas, the King of Wisdom, is unchanged, before being Leah, the student council president of Lumern. Yet you keep saying we should forget our past names."

Luna bit her lip tightly.

"Tell me honestly, Lysinas. Aren't you implicitly trying to forget Kyle?"