Book 1 Chapter 788

788.

A ruined mine.

The mine, which became a closed mine before it was ever developed, still bore the traces of the fierce battle between Balhar and the remnants of Erebus's consciousness.

Leah's face grew thin as she looked at it.

"Kar."

At Leah's call, Kar, who had been standing behind her, approached.

Then he began to sniff the air.

"I don't sense any of Erebus's aura around here."

He used his heightened senses, sharpened by his extrasensory perception, to search for any trace of Erebus, but there was none.

Only the peculiar smell of burning, left by Erebus's flames, strongly stimulated his sense of smell.

Leah let out a deep sigh at Kar's words.

Then, as if by instinct, she brushed her hand over her belly.

A wound that no longer existed.

Yet, the memory of the past evoked a lingering phantom pain, as if branded onto her soul.

Gritting her teeth, Leah gazed at Mount Erdien in the distance.

The final destination of Archi Path, 5000 years ago.

But it was a place that only Kyle had reached in the end.

Staring at Mount Erdien, Leah opened her mouth.

"Balhar."

Balhar, who was sitting on a fallen tree, puffing on his pipe, looked at Leah.

"Are you sure the remnants of Erebus's consciousness took Kyle's form?"

"Leah, I pride myself on having the best eyesight among the five of us."

Balhar said calmly.

"Crucially, how could I possibly fail to recognize the face of a dear friend?"

As Leah furrowed her brow at his words, Kar, who had been surveying the surroundings, asked,

"Balhar, is this truly the place where you severed the head of Erebus's consciousness?"

"It is. How did you know?"

"Kyle's scent lingers here."

"Are you sure?"

Leah asked urgently, and Kar nodded.

"Yes. How could I forget your scents?"

Though he smelled different now, Kar accurately remembered the scents of his friends from his past life.

Leah bit her lip at Kar's words.

Seeing her, Balhar said,

"This is no time to be caught up in the past. You are the only one who can infer what this phenomenon means."

At his words, Leah took a deep breath and said,

"If it were Erebus's consciousness… it might have materialized with the most intense memory of its final moments."

"…And that materialized form was Kyle?"

"If Kar smelled Kyle's scent, then it's certain."

"…"

At that, Balhar took a long puff from his pipe and asked,

"Then I shall ask."

"What?"

"Is there a possibility that we would have to fight Erebus in the form of Kyle?"

"…"

"And if that happens, Leah, can you fight with a clear head?"

Leah nodded at Balhar's question.

"Yes."

"Are you certain? You, who are so buried in the past?"

"…"

Leah looked at Balhar.

Balhar met her gaze without flinching.

As an unusual atmosphere permeated between them, Kar hurriedly said,

"It's okay! Balhar. You know! How reliable a leader Leah is!"

Kar inserted himself between them.

"And from now on, Leah won't be swayed on that matter!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Um… a gut feeling?"

Kar scratched his cheek at Balhar's narrowed gaze.

Balhar looked at him for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

"I apologize for saying unnecessary things. I apologize."

"I don't think it's strange for you to think that."

"Yes. However, I do want to say this."

"…"

"Stop teaching the students of Lumen Kyle's fighting style."

"…"

"You know better than anyone, don't you? That Kyle is not someone who can be created."

"…"

"You, who should be guiding them to bring out their individual strengths, why are you imposing your own standards on the children?"

"I…"

"Those children cannot become Kyle. No, no one can replace Kyle."

"…"

"It is not someone else, but us, who must fill Kyle's role in our own ways."

Balhar tapped his pipe, shaking off the ash.

"As you know, I am forging a weapon that can cleave Erebus… and Kar is honing his skills to cleave Erebus. Isn't that right, Kar?"

"Yes."

Kar nodded.

"Leah, are you discovering heroes who can defeat Erebus together? Is Rune creating magic that can defeat Erebus?"

Balhar stood up.

"I…"

"Even if it's heavy, please bear it. You are the leader of us, of Archi."

With those words, Balhar stood up.

"Kar, let's move."

"Yes. Where to?"

"We need to search the surrounding area. In case there are any residual thoughts of Erebus left."

"Yes. But Balhar."

"…"

"Don't worry too much about Leah and Rune."

"You're being unusually optimistic from a while ago. Is something really good going to happen?"

"Yes. I'll tell you later."

"How stingy."

Leah watched the two of them move off without a word and looked down at her palm.

"…"

Leah clenched her fist once and followed her friends.

***

Late at night, in the early morning.

*Thump*

"W-we finally arrived."

Chelsea collapsed in front of the entrance to Rumelia City.

Beside Chelsea, Illyana fell down as if collapsing.

Kal sniffled with a deeply moved expression.

"I thought we'd never be able to come back."

Leo, with his arms crossed behind his back, said calmly as he watched the three of them.

"You're exaggerating."

"It's not exaggeration!"

Illyana jumped up with a tearful face.

"I couldn't sleep properly for a week! What is this!"

Leo chuckled as he watched Illyana protest with a desperate look.

"You look a bit more energetic now."

"Hup!"

Illyana, who had covered her mouth without realizing it, blushed and then covered her face with her hands.

Chelsea and Kal exchanged strange glances at her appearance.

"It feels like the first time I've seen her like that since our first year."

"I know. It's a bit nice."

The two of them smiled, recalling the energetic Illyana they had met for the first time.

Then Chelsea, with a "Hoo-yah," pushed herself up.

"It's good that we played hooky for a week, but I'm worried about the aftermath."

Normally, they should have finished their mission within two days and returned to Rumelia City.

However, they had followed Leo and returned to Rumelia City after a week.

"We'll have to write a lot of apology letters."

"Do you think it'll end with just apology letters?"

Kal burst into laughter.

"Aren't we going to be locked up in the confessional for a week?"

"Ugh."

As Chelsea made a fed-up expression, Illyana, peeking out, grumbled,

"I'm fine with anything as long as I don't have to undergo Leo's training."

"…Thinking about it that way, the confessional might be better."

Chelsea stroked her chin and exclaimed in admiration, "Oh?"

As if to prove her point, the three of them had an unimaginably difficult week.

"By the way, have we really gotten stronger?"

Chelsea made a strange expression.

What Leo had done was simple.

He hadn't improved their physical abilities through harsh training, nor had he increased their mana usage.

All he had done was help them regain the methods that suited their original forms.

'Don't imitate me.'

He had simply taught them the movements of Chelsea and Illyana from his world's timeline.

He had passed on the magic they originally used.

It was their own style, not someone else's, so learning was very quick.

Teaching another person's skills to someone else was also one of Leo's specialties, so it wasn't particularly difficult.

Chelsea and Illyana both immediately realized that the fighting methods and magic Leo taught them suited them very well.

'It felt like wearing clothes that fit my body.'

However, a doubt arose.

'Have we really gotten stronger?'

Since there was no significant change in their abilities, it was difficult to feel.

To Chelsea's doubt, Leo calmly replied,

"You have."

"I couldn't really feel it even when sparring with Illyana."

"Illyana has also gotten stronger."

"I didn't feel much of a difference even when sparring with you, Leo-oppa."

"There's too much of a gap between me and you."

Chelsea pouted.

But she couldn't argue.

"Your movements have definitely improved compared to before."

At that, Kal chimed in to support Leo.

"Ugh!"

Chelsea crossed her arms, thought for a moment, then smiled brightly.

"Well! Getting stronger is a good thing!"

She didn't seem to think she had become stronger than the current Abad.

Thus, the group headed to Kal's inn to rest after a week of exhaustion.

On their way to the inn, they could hear various stories from the pubs in Rumelia City.

"Leah-unnie still hasn't returned from Demian."

"She's been gone a long time."

"And it seems the student council president of Seirun has come to Lumen."

"Eek? The Seirun student council president?"

Chelsea made a displeased expression.

"Why do you dislike her so much?"

"The Seirun student council president, how should I put it… she doesn't really like us."

At Leo's question, Illyana said cautiously.

Hearing that, Leo tilted his head.

If it were Lunara, whom Leo knew, she would surely have liked the students of Lumen if she saw their potential overflowing.

'Is it because of Rishinas that she's imitating me?'

Reaching that conclusion, Leo said,

"That's perfect timing."

"What is?"

"You'll be able to immediately test how much stronger you've become."

At that, Chelsea and Illyana's eyes widened.

"How?"

The two girls looked at Leo with faces full of anticipation.

Whatever it was, the two girls wanted to confirm how much they had changed.

"Let's go to Lumen now."

"We can't go to Lumen now. It's past curfew."

"There are no boats either."

Seeing the two shake their heads, Leo smiled faintly.

Seeing that smile, Kal said with a worried expression,

"You're not planning to sneak into Lumen right now, are you?"

Chelsea and Illyana burst into laughter.

"Nah."

"How could we sneak into Lumen?"

While laughing and denying Kal's imagination, they looked at Leo's face.

And then they sensed something was wrong.

"Leo-oppa… you're not, right?"

Chelsea asked cautiously, but Leo merely smiled.

"Say something. You're not, right?"

"Let's go."

"W-where?"

"To Lumen. I'll take responsibility."

"It'll be a mess! There will be a huge commotion!"

Chelsea cried out urgently, but Leo said calmly,

"We'll go in quietly."

"How?!"

"I know a secret passage."

At Leo's words, the three people's eyes widened.

A secret passage? Does such a thing exist?

'Well, I'll have to meet someone quite noisy.'

Leo thought of Gwangsin and lightly clicked his tongue.