Book 1 Chapter 790

790.

Leo gently laid the unconscious Chelsea, Kal, and Illiana on one side and stroked Chelsea's head.

Although Rian had become the administrator of Hero Records and descended from his position as a god, the fact that his very existence was that of a god remained unchanged.

If they had been exposed, even indirectly, to such a god's hatred and wrath, something might have gone wrong with their minds.

‘Fortunately, other than losing consciousness temporarily, there doesn't seem to be any major issue.’

Leo, who had checked the three people's physical conditions, let out a small sigh and stood up.

And he turned his gaze to where the half-naked statue of the Hero of Beginnings, Kyle, had been until a moment ago.

There, Rian was encircling the place where the shattered jewel fragments lay with a red line.

"Destruction is the mother of creation. The destruction of my insignificant and lowly work is proof of a miraculous encounter with Lord Kyle…! Ah! I was foolish! To engage in idolatry! If you truly wish for something, it will come true…! I shall preserve this moment forever and use it as a lesson for others…!"

Leo approached Rian, who was spouting incomprehensible nonsense, and waved his finger.

Whoooosh-!

Then the wind blew and gathered all the jewel fragments into one place.

"Ah! Merciful Lord Kyle! You forgive my foolish sin!"

Rian's eyes shone brightly.

Leo, knowing well that arguing was useless, could only let out a deep sigh.

Leo, sitting on the sofa, said.

"I have something to ask."

"If my insignificant knowledge can be of help to Lord Kyle, it would be an infinite honor."

"Leo."

"Yes…?"

"My name is Leo now."

"Ah! The Hero of Beginnings' new esteemed name!"

Rian covered both cheeks, let out a moan, and collapsed onto the floor.

Ignoring Rian, Leo said.

"You know that the Great Heroes, excluding me, have reincarnated in this world, right?"

"Yes. I found out recently."

"Then you must also know that Lysinas and Luna have become a little strange."

"Lord Leo. May I commit the impiety of correcting your words?"

"It doesn't matter."

"The King of Wisdom and the Progenitor of the Nebula haven't become strange."

"What?"

"Those two are unchanged, both in their past lives and now. They are merely trapped in the past."

"……"

"And the reason they are trapped in the past is because Lord Leo does not exist in this timeline."

"……They aren't so weak as to wander merely because I am not here."

"Yes. But Lord Leo must also know this point."

Rian met Leo's gaze.

"Just as the Hero of Beginnings is not a perfect being, the King of Wisdom and the Progenitor of the Nebula are also not perfect beings."

Rian took out statues of Lysinas and Luna from within his clothes and carefully placed them on the floor.

"It's not just these two."

Rian, who additionally placed statues of Arion and Dweno on the floor, said.

"Lord Kyle and the other Great Heroes are a little different. Unlike Lord Leo, who carried his friends' burdens and saved the world… the other Great Heroes merely entrusted their burdens to Lord Leo."

"……"

"And they never got them back. That ultimately became a sense of guilt in a world where only they reincarnated, and it remained in the hearts of the Great Heroes. That's why they are lost and wandering."

Rian carefully took out Kyle's statue and placed it among the other statues.

"But now that you have appeared in this world, the Great Heroes will also return to their original selves. So don't worry too much."

"No."

"What?"

"They should return to where they originally belong."

"……"

At Leo's words, Rian fell silent.

"The Arche Party without you is incomplete. Without you, no matter how strong the Great Heroes are, they will only repeat what happened during the Hero of Creation's time. Yet you say they should return?"

"They won't repeat what happened during the Hero of Creation's time."

"Why not?"

"Because they are Great Heroes."

"What?"

"I'm not the only Great Hero. Those guys are also Great Heroes, just like me."

Leo reached out his hand and picked up his own statue.

"Even without me, they will find a way to defeat Erebus. My friends, as I know them, are those kind of people."

"You trust them. Your friends."

"I have to trust them. Because they also trusted me."

"……"

Rian smiled.

"I'm really envious. Of myself in Lord Leo's timeline."

"Perhaps you might come to like the other guys more than me."

"I cannot conceive of such irreverence. The one I love most is only one person."

Rian became serious.

"By the way, how did you come to be here, Lord Leo?"

"It's complicated to explain."

Leo recounted the events that occurred to Rian.

Rian summoned a book and a pen and jotted down Leo's story.

"Haaah… haaah… *slurp!* The Hero of Beginnings'… new story! Ah. My brain feels like it's going to melt. *Gasp! Sigh! Gasp! Sigh!*"

Rian buried his nose in the book he had written, inhaling deeply, and shivered.

Leo watched him and shook his head.

He had thought he was already sufficiently accustomed to Rian's eccentricities, or rather, as accustomed as one could get, but perhaps not.

"Stop that now and open the entrance to Lumen, will you?"

"Are you going to meet Luna?"

"Yes."

"It will be a touching reunion."

Rian asked with an excited expression.

"What will you say to Luna?"

"Well,"

Leo tilted his head and let out a chuckle.

"First, since she can't pull herself together, I'll have to kick her butt."

***

The place they arrived through the passage Rian opened was in front of the Hero's Tower, inside Lumen.

Leo, standing in the garden that felt familiar yet strangely unfamiliar, looked around.

And he laid the three people who were still unconscious on a nearby bench.

"Huh? I've lived long enough to experience all sorts of strange things."

At that moment, an admiring voice was heard.

Leo turned his head towards the direction of the voice.

The person there was someone Leo knew well.

But he was someone he had never imagined he would meet again.

'Calian Badean.'

He was the man who held the title of Sword Saint, the former principal of Lumen, and a hero who once shouldered an era.

"Hoho-" Calian, who was stroking his white beard, checked Kal's face and tilted his head.

"Isn't that unconscious friend over there, young Kal Thomas?"

"That's right."

"And even young Chelsea and young Illiana, who are absent without leave… "

Calian looked at Leo with a curious expression.

"How did you sneak into Lumen?"

"That's a trade secret."

"Hahaha."

Calian burst into hearty laughter.

"So, did you come to meet young Rhea, your friend?"

"How did you know that I am her friend?"

When Leo asked with a curious expression, Calian smiled.

"When you live long enough, you develop unnecessary perceptiveness. You and young Rhea have one decisive commonality."

"Commonality?"

"The fact that you both give off the feeling of being incredibly older than me."

Calian playfully chuckled.

Watching Calian, Leo also burst into laughter.

"So? Young Rhea isn't in Lumen right now…"

"But that pointy-eared brat, Luna, is here, isn't she?"

"Are you friends with young Luna too? You have many pretty friends."

"She's not pretty at all?"

"My boy. It seems your eyesight is poor."

Calian chuckled lowly.

Watching Calian, Leo said.

"And I have other business."

"Other business?"

"Yes."

"What kind of business?"

"I'm thinking of testing the limits of Lumen's students."

"……"

At those words, Calian smiled faintly.

"The reason you tell me this is…?"

"Because I want to ask for permission."

"Permission, you say…"

Calian stroked his beard.

Calian could see it.

In the never-before-seen boy in front of him, he saw an immeasurable potential.

A presence like seeing the current student council president of each hero academy.

Calian stroked his chin.

"My boy, what is your name?"

"Leo Flove."

"And your other name?"

At the question of whether he was Kyle, Leo showed a surprised expression.

"Did Rhea tell you?"

"No. But as I said before, when you live long enough, you become unnecessarily perceptive."

Calian burst into hearty laughter.

"I'll tell the professors. Go ahead and test their limits to your heart's content."

"The school might become a mess."

"Then it would be an even more valuable lesson."

‘…Now that I think about it, Principal Calian was a very lenient principal when it came to causing trouble, wasn't he?’

Recalling his first year, Leo let out a wry laugh.

Thump-

"Ugh… I'll just sleep for 5 more minutes."

"Lady Illiana, the Lightspeed Swift Sword, is coming out nowwwwww…"

Leo placed the three people on the floor.

Chelsea whimpered and Illiana talked in her sleep.

"Ugh. My head."

Kal held his head and stood up.

Then he suddenly looked around.

"Gasp?! Where is this?"

"You're awake?"

"Wow, did we really get into Lumen?"

Kal exclaimed.

"But how did we get this far?"

But his memory was cut off midway and it was hazy.

Thanks to Rian, his memory had become blurry.

Kal, who had been tilting his head, shook Chelsea and Illiana, who were sleeping on the floor, awake.

"Hey, hey. Wake up."

At those words, Chelsea and Illiana also rubbed their eyes and got up.

"This is…?"

"Huh? It's in front of the dormitory, isn't it?"

Chelsea and Illiana, realizing where they were, opened their eyes wide.

Leo handed cloaks to the three people.

"Put them on."

At those words, the three people, with puzzled expressions, put on the cloaks.

Chelsea, pulling on the hooded cloak, made a puzzled expression.

"It's like the attire of someone trying to hide their identity."

At those words, Kal also pulled on his hood.

"Yeah. It feels like we're on a secret mission."

Once Illiana also put on her hood, Leo nodded.

"Just by looking, you can't tell who it is."

Watching Leo, Chelsea tilted her head.

"So? What are you going to do?"

"I'll let you feel how strong you've become."

"How?"

Chelsea tilted her head.

Watching Chelsea, Leo smiled faintly and opened his palm.

Whoosh-

"Chirp?!"

Along with flames, a heavy sensation was felt on his palm.

"……"

Leo looked at Piora with a dumbfounded expression.

Piora, perhaps not understanding the situation, wore a very bewildered expression.

"Isn't this Lunia El Rundia's obese phoenix?"

"What? That phoenix is contracted with Lunia El Rundia. How can big brother Leo summon it?"

"But… there's no way there's another phoenix this fat…"

Illiana and Chelsea wore bewildered expressions.

"Wow… Look how plump it's gotten."

Kal admiringly poked-! Piora's side.

Screeeeech-!

"Gasp?!"

Seeing Piora spewing crimson flames, Kal was startled and hid behind Leo.

‘It seems it has made a pact with Lunia as originally intended.’

Piora's original contractor was none other than Lunia.

Leo clucked his tongue and said to Piora.

"Piora."

Chirp?

"Lend me some of your power."

Chirp, chirp, chirp!

Piora flapped her wings.

It was as if she was saying, "Who are you to summon me?!"

Leo, who completely ignored such a Piora, fulfilled the pact.

Whoosh-!

Flames rose from Piora's body.

"Hey, Leo, surely you're not…"

Kal opened his mouth wide.

"Don't worry too much. I got permission from the principal."

Leo, using Piora's flames, created a giant sphere of fire.

And he threw it towards the dormitory.

KABOOOOM-! WHOOSH-!

The scorching heat that fell in the middle of the dormitory garden intensely blazed.

The three people gaped.

"Anyway, seeing your state, it seems all of Lumen's students are just imitating someone else because of that Rhea girl, don't they?"

Leo cracked his knuckles.

"Because even if I tell them from the side that they're wrong, they won't really listen."

It was a path taught by none other than the King of Wisdom.

And through that path, he became stronger.

‘They might become strong quickly. But the limits are clear. Because in the end, it's not me.’

If they suppress their individuality and imitate him like mass-produced items, they are bound to hit a wall.

And they will collapse.

Leo knew someone who had collapsed like that.

‘Lumen.’

None other than the founder of this school.

"To show them they're on the wrong path, the best way is to make them crash and break with their own bodies."

‘Lysinas. This time, you're wrong.’

Narrowing his eyes and seeing Leo's grinning face, the three people shivered.

Chelsea murmured with a pale face.

"He's like, like the Great Demon King from a fairy tale."