Book 1 Chapter 787

787.

As the three of them gaped, watching Leo face off against the Necromancer King.

Gooooo-!

The aura of death flowed from the Necromancer King's body.

The three felt the hairs on their bodies stand on end from the murderous intent, which was incomparable to what they had felt just moments ago.

Hwarruruk-!

Leo drew his sword and swung it.

At the same time, a massive wave of flames raged before Leo's eyes.

Chelsea's eyes widened when she saw it.

"This is… Zerdinger's aura?"

Of course, its power was incomparable to the flames of Zerdinger that Chelsea had seen.

But as a mage of Luwalin, Chelsea recognized Zerdinger's flames at a glance.

Hwaak-!

Crimson-black smoke flowed out of the flames, pushing back the fiery aura.

The smoke that pushed back the fiery aura began to spread rapidly.

Seeing this, Leo narrowed his eyes and retreated.

Seugak-!

At that moment, a blade made of bone pierced through the smoke and flew towards them.

But the bone blade was not aimed at Leo.

Teop-! Teop-!

As Leo retreated, he grabbed Chelsea and Illiana by the scruff of their necks.

"Prepare for landing."

Hwaak-!

Leo didn't even wait for a reply and simply tossed the two backward.

"Kyaaaak?!"

"Kyaaah!"

Chelsea and Illiana's screams, as if moving away, echoed.

"Wh-what… Kwaaaak?!"

Leo spun his body, pushing Karl's abdomen with his shin.

Since he literally pushed, not kicked, there was no impact.

Of course, the immense pressure felt in his stomach and the wind pressure on his back made him scream spontaneously.

The direction Karl was sent flying was precisely the direction Chelsea and Illiana had been thrown.

The two girls, who had been screaming, soon collected themselves and landed on the ground.

Chelsea gritted her teeth and quickly moved her feet.

As Chelsea boasted the fastest speed among the third-year students of Luwmern, she was able to arrive at the spot where Karl would fall a step ahead of Illiana.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaah!"

As Karl's scream was heard, Chelsea spread her arms wide.

Hwang-!

A soft wind swirled, successfully catching Karl like a cushion.

Deopseok-!

"You saved me! Prince!"

As Karl, held in a princess carry pose, covered his mouth with both hands and made a touched expression, Chelsea screamed as if venting her anger.

"Are you making jokes in this situation?!"

And then she threw Karl to Illiana, who was following behind.

As Illiana caught Karl, Chelsea immediately spun around to face Leo's direction.

Crimson-black smoke was approaching like a mist of death.

"Whoo! Hah!"

Chelsea closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them wide.

Goooooo-!

Then, a powerful magical force began to surge from Chelsea's body.

The soft wind that had been blowing, making her clothes billow, soon became a strong gale, pushing away the surrounding air.

Chelsea, gripping her staff, unleashed a spell.

"Cyclone."

Huaaaaang-

A furiously swirling whirlwind began to absorb the death smoke emitted by the Necromancer King as if sucking it in.

Kwaaaaaaa-!

Chelsea gritted her teeth.

'It's hard to maintain the magic!'

The Necromancer King's intense dark magic contained within the smoke felt as if it would destroy the magic spell formula at any moment.

As Chelsea gritted her teeth.

Tak-!

Leo, who had retreated through the smoke, stood beside Chelsea.

Chelsea's eyes met Leo's for a moment.

"Help…"

"You can endure this much, can't you?"

"…"

"Celia Zerdinger would have endured it."

Chelsea gritted her teeth at Leo's words.

Sparks flew from Chelsea's eyes.

Gritting her teeth, Chelsea squeezed out more magical power.

Kwaaaaaa-!

Seeing the intensified wind, Leo let out a chuckle.

'No matter where I go, Celia is the best at provoking Chelsea.'

Then he looked straight ahead.

Hwaak-!

Chelsea's magic dispelled the dark magic of the Necromancer King, Hel Kaiser.

Jeobeok- jeobeok-

Saah-!

Along with that, Hel Kaiser walked forward.

All the plants in his wake withered and died.

Seeing this, Chelsea flinched.

Seueuk-

Leo stood in front of Chelsea.

"Leo?"

Chelsea, her eyes wide, looked up at Leo.

Leo looked back at Chelsea and said.

"Don't be scared. Because I'm here."

"…"

Chelsea's eyes widened.

This was a situation where they faced Hel Kaiser, the commander of Tartarus, none other than the Necromancer King.

In such a situation, to tell her to trust him and not be scared, the usual Chelsea would have told him to stop spouting nonsense.

But Chelsea felt a sense of relief for some unknown reason.

It was because she felt the power embedded in Leo's words.

'He's like Sister Leah.'

Chelsea felt her heart pound-pound.

Meanwhile, Hel Kaiser stared intently at Leo with crimson-black eyes.

Gooooo-!

Soon, an immense amount of evil aura erupted from Hel Kaiser's body.

Seeing this, Leo spoke to Chelsea.

"Join Karl and Illiana. And get as far away as possible."

"Uh, un."

Chelsea nodded and ran towards Karl and Illiana.

Then she paused and said.

"You'll come back safe, right?"

Leo chuckled at the question.

"To do anything to me, you'd need to bring your student council president."

Chelsea felt an unknown sense of relief at Leo's words, which were half joke and half serious, and moved away from the spot.

As Chelsea moved away, Leo said.

"What are you doing? Not attacking?"

"It's been a long time, surviving hero."

Hel Kaiser said calmly.

Leo curled the corners of his mouth as he looked at Hel Kaiser.

"Are you dying to see me?"

"Unfortunately, I'm neither glad nor about to lose my mind."

Hel Kaiser curled the corners of his mouth.

"I merely feel that an unpleasant uninvited guest has arrived."

Leo's eyes twitched at those words.

"How did you end up here, outsider?"

'How did he know?'

"You have the look of someone curious about how I knew."

Hel Kaiser let out a low laugh.

"I knew that the other great heroes, excluding you, had been reborn."

"Hoo? For that, you seem quite relaxed, don't you?"

"What use are those four if you don't exist? Without you, the same things as 3000 years ago will simply repeat."

Hel Kaiser sneered.

Those words meant that if Leo, the natural enemy of Erebus, didn't exist, they were confident of their victory.

"What we feared most was precisely your rebirth in this world."

If all the great heroes in their complete forms appeared on this land, this time Erebus would truly be finished.

"But you ultimately failed to reincarnate. Surviving hero. In this world line, such a thing will not happen."

"But I am clearly present here?"

"You are merely a foreign substance in this world."

Hel Kaiser's eyes flashed.

"My eyes cannot be deceived, surviving hero. I can see."

Leo's image formed in the crimson-black gaze.

"The thoughts of the Monster Queen and the Giant King residing in you. The grudges of the legion commanders who died by your hand."

As expected of the Necromancer King who commands death, he saw through it.

The deaths of the Monster Queen and the Giant King.

"My brethren are still alive. Yet, there is only one reason why I see the scent of death they left behind on you."

Hel Kaiser curled the corners of his mouth.

"It's because you are a being from another world. What can you possibly do here, you who should return to your original world?"

"Have you never considered that I might stay here forever?"

"Kuhuhuhu… Khahahahahaha!"

Hel Kaiser burst into mad laughter.

"You tell a funny joke, surviving hero. Just as you know us well, I too know you better than anyone."

Wisdom dwelled in Hel Kaiser's eyes.

"If you were merely that limited a vessel, the god would not have been slain by your hand."

"…"

"I'll give a good gift to you, who will soon return. The gift of suffering."

Hel Kaiser curled the corners of his mouth and cursed Leo.

"Even if you win in your world, you will carry the events of this world in your heart and suffer for the rest of your life."

Leo curled the corners of his mouth at Hel Kaiser's curse.

"That's why you lost."

"What?"

"Remember this, Hel Kaiser."

Leo put strength into his sword.

"My damned comrades, they…"

What dwelled in Leo's eyes was absolute trust.

"There's no way they couldn't defeat Erebus just because I was missing."

Leo's eyes flashed.

"Whether I'm there or not. We always win."

Hel Kaiser did not believe that Tartarus in another world, where the Monster Queen and Giant King had died, would win.

But Leo was different.

He placed absolute trust in his friends.

"You can pray at the very end."

Leo's sword pointed at Hel Kaiser.

"That you might have won, even in another world. Well, that kind of thing won't happen though."

Fury dwelled in Hel Kaiser's eyes.

The trust in Leo's eyes was enough to displease him.

Flash! Kwagagagagagagak-!

Leo's sword and the bone blade summoned by Hel Kaiser clashed.

Leo's gray aura and Hel Kaiser's dark magic raged.

Their fight turned the surrounding area into a wasteland, as if a natural disaster had occurred.

A moment later.

Leo clicked his tongue, seeing Hel Kaiser gone.

'Tch.'

Hel Kaiser hadn't fought properly.

He had merely assessed the situation and retreated.

'Annoying guy.'

Leo sheathed his sword and took a deep breath.

'It seems he knows about parallel worlds.'

The Necromancer King has lived for an incredibly long time.

Since he lived long before the Age of Calamity arrived, it was not strange for him to have knowledge of parallel worlds.

'He said I'd be going back soon.'

Thinking that, Leo took out a watch from his pocket.

Click-

Leo's eyes widened as he opened the lid.

The watch, which had barely moved by the second, had now moved almost a minute.

'When did it…?'

Leo, who had a surprised expression, soon collected his emotions.

'…Does that mean time is accelerating even more?'

He realized it intuitively.

When this watch started moving normally.

He would be leaving this place.

Leo put the watch away and fell into thought.

'The Necromancer King knew that the other guys had reincarnated.'

Then he understood why the countless events that had occurred in his timeline had not happened here.

'Tartarus is moving as secretly as possible.'

They must have thought that time was on Tartarus's side as long as he wasn't there.

Also, if they fought the great heroes prematurely, Tartarus itself might be destroyed.

'Ultimately, they were the deterrent.'

In such a situation, the Necromancer King moved on such a large scale.

Then…

'It might mean that what has been suppressed is on the verge of erupting.'

When Leo reached his conclusion.

"Oh! Leo!"

His companions, who had kept their distance to avoid getting caught in the fight, approached.

"Amazing! To fight the Necromancer King head-on!"

"He, he was a truly powerful person… I, I didn't even know that…"

Chelsea's eyes were wide and she smiled brightly, while Illiana reacted timidly.

"Hey, Leo. Why don't you transfer to Luwmern? Sister Leah would definitely try to get someone as skilled as you to transfer! If you take a spot in the 3rd-year 1st party, one person will come to the 2nd party, right? Then maybe I can have an easier school life!"

Chelsea's eyes sparkled.

"I, I might not even be able to stay in the 2nd party…"

Illiana slumped her shoulders, her voice lacking confidence.

Leo watched the two of them and beckoned with his finger.

The two, with puzzled expressions, came forward to Leo.

"I'm older than you. Call me Oppa."

"Kyaang?!"

"Why are you sitting there so timid and dispirited?"

"Kyaung?!"

Leo pinched both their noses and shook them vigorously.

Leo released the struggling two and said.

"It seems you two need to fix your mental state."

"What?!"

"S-suddenly?"

"You're too insincere. And you're too dispirited."

Chelsea and Illiana recoiled their necks at Leo's critique.

Leo looked at them both and said.

"Chelsea."

"Why did you call me, Leo… Oppa."

"Shall I teach you magic that can beat Celia Zerdinger?"

"What?! Really?!"

Chelsea showed immense interest.

"Illiana."

"Uh, un…"

"I'll teach you magic that can make you the 'Light-Speed Swift Sword Illiana'."

"Li-Light-Speed Swift Sword?"

Illiana looked very tempted.

The two had walked a different path from the two Leo knew.

So, while they looked different from what Leo knew, it didn't change the fact that they were essentially Chelsea and Illiana.

"Train with me for just one week. I'll make you capable of beating the 1st party."

"No way."

"You're full of hot air."

Chelsea and Illiana showed expressions of disbelief.

"Still, well. Shall we trust him, as if being fooled?"

"I, I'm interested too."

Chelsea and Illiana considered training.

Leo smiled, looking at the two of them.

Suddenly, Karl felt a shiver run down his spine.

"A-am I out?"

"No. You have to do it too."

"…"

Karl gave a wistful smile.

And asked.

"Hey, Leo."

"Why?"

"You seem to know us too well? Haven't we really met somewhere before?"

Leo chuckled at Karl's words.

"Maybe so."