Book 1 Chapter 803

803.

"The surviving hero, Kyle. 5,000 years ago, you sealed me away."

Erebos looked at Leo and smiled.

"Even if the power you possess is the only power that can defeat me, it was impossible."

The absolute evil, reborn into a being that could devour all the evil gods who existed from the beginning and that even the celestial gods could not handle.

No matter how much he gained the power of a great hero, he could not possibly handle it.

"So I thought. I must take on your appearance, the one who stopped me."

"How?"

As Leo asked with his arms crossed, a malicious smile appeared on Erebos's lips.

"Even with your great achievements, you are still just a human. Mimicking your appearance is not difficult."

A divine being.

Reproducing Kyle's appearance perfectly from the memory of the battle 5,000 years ago was not difficult for Erebos.

"Moreover, it would be even more meaningful to destroy the world by taking on the form of the one who saved it."

"Your thoughts are really unlucky."

Leo revealed his hostility in a low voice.

His twisted malice towards the world was evident.

Leo readjusted his grip on his sword.

'…Can I defeat him here and now?'

If I take the front and Luna takes the rear, it might be possible to at least fight evenly.

But defeating him is another matter.

'Critically….'

Leo glanced towards where Phlove Manor was located.

A sudden legion of monsters.

They were subordinates created by Erebos's divine power of creation.

Reina and the others dispatched from Rodren had gone to defend the territory.

But…

'Not enough.'

The forces were overwhelmingly insufficient.

Although Leo was maintaining a calm demeanor in front of Erebos, the situation was still dire.

'I have to end this as quickly as possible.'

Thinking that far, Leo spoke.

"Luna."

"Hm?"

Luna was slightly flustered by Leo calling her by her past life's name instead of her current one.

"Give me one big hit, special class."

Luna was flustered by Leo smiling at her as she looked back at him.

"What? Then you'll have to stop that guy alone!"

Special Class.

Luna knew too well what that meant.

It meant casting a magic spell with the highest power, pouring out all the mana she could possibly use.

The more mana invested and the longer the time spent, the greater the power of magic.

However, this would cause a problem.

During the time that magic was being completed, Luna would have to focus solely on the magic.

She would be unable to support Leo at all.

Furthermore, the magic Luna created with only power in mind would be a great threat even to Erebos.

He would not idly let her complete it.

In the end, it meant Leo had to fight Erebos while protecting Luna.

Neither Leo nor Luna had regained their full power from their prime.

Even a fragment of Erebos was a being that they could not possibly handle alone at this moment.

Seeing Leo volunteering for a seemingly impossible task, Luna urgently tried to dissuade him.

"It's impossible! Instead, let's hold out until the others arrive…"

"When have we ever."

Leo looked directly into Luna's eyes and said.

"Done things that were possible?"

"…!"

Luna's eyes widened.

"We've overcome challenges much harder than this many times before."

Luna bit her lip.

"Luna. When you closed your eyes, you trusted me completely, didn't you?"

Leo looked at Erebos.

"I would have too."

In the opposite situation.

Leo would never have doubted Luna.

"I trust you."

"…."

"So, trust me like you did then."

Luna's hand tightened on her staff.

"That's how… we accomplished the impossible, time and time again."

Leaving those words behind, Leo stepped forward.

Luna, watching his retreating back, placed her hands on her head and shouted in frustration.

"Ah, seriously! Why do you make my heart flutter in such a dire situation!"

After running a hand through her hair, Luna glared at Leo's back.

"This is all that bastard's fault! Why is he being so unnecessarily dramatic! It's bad for my heart!"

After a burst of unexplainable anger, Luna took a deep breath.

Then, she slapped her own cheeks with all her might.

*Slap-*!

With her stinging cheeks, Luna gripped her staff.

'Right, let's give it a try.'

Luna's eyes were fixed on Leo's back.

The back she couldn't follow in her past life.

'…If I let him go alone even after being reborn… that would be truly the worst!'

*Goooooo-*!

As a great surge of mana flickered, an incantation flowed from Luna's lips.

The strongest magic, the Incantation of the End.

***

"Ho?"

Erebos looked at Leo with interest.

"Do you think you can handle me alone, surviving hero? You know it's impossible to fight while protecting the progenitor of the nebula."

A smile full of ridicule.

However, Erebos did not underestimate Leo and Luna at all.

He couldn't possibly underestimate them.

5,000 years ago.

Did not their persistence tear apart his body and his aspirations?

Leo smiled at Erebos's smile and said,

"Don't smile with that unlucky expression. I don't smile like that."

"Hmm. I was merely trying to perfectly replicate your smile."

Erebos caressed the corners of his mouth.

Seeing Erebos like that, Leo scowled.

"I don't smile like that."

"You do smile like that!"

"Whose side are you on?"

Luna's voice, who was chanting from behind, could be heard, and Leo glared back irritably.

"Kukukuku… As expected, your mental fortitude is astonishing. To be able to have such a conversation even in this situation."

A situation where the era of disaster might return.

The absolute evil could only let out a pure sigh of admiration at the sight of the two conversing so calmly, even in the face of such a threat.

"So? Surviving hero. How do you plan to stop me alone?"

Seeing Erebos ask with a mixture of interest and caution, Leo answered calmly.

"I'll show you."

*Goooooo-*!

Gray mana, flickering like a burning flame, flowed from Leo's body.

Seeing it, Erebos frowned.

'The power of purity.'

Gray.

To Erebos, the incarnation of flame, it was an incredibly familiar color.

And it was his favorite color.

After all, this world would eventually turn to ashes and crumble.

But now, it was the color he hated and feared the most.

Because it symbolized his nemesis who had defeated him.

'It's quite ironic that the power of purity is gray…'

*Fwoosh-*!

Black flames erupted from Erebos's body.

Flames of disaster that would burn the world, leaving no trace behind.

The flames intensified their heat.

"You cannot stop me now, surviving hero."

"I heard that same thing 5,000 years ago. And the outcome of this battle will be similar to that of 5,000 years ago. You will be vanquished by our hands."

"It seems impossible with your current strength?"

Leo laughed at Erebos's mockery.

"Shall I tell you an interesting fact?"

"…?"

"When I first awakened my mana."

Leo opened his palm.

Gray mana began to condense there.

Looking at his mana, Leo continued.

"My mana color wasn't originally gray."

Erebos's eyes twitched.

Leo had only checked his mana color once in his past life, at the time of his awakening.

The color of mana is the color of one's soul.

And it wasn't that uncommon for mana colors to change.

Mana colors change for various reasons.

"5,000 years ago, your flames that burned the world engulfed me back then."

The era of disaster burned around the young Kyle.

"Many things were burned."

After losing his first companions.

Leo's mana color turned gray.

"Why are you suddenly telling me pointless old stories?"

"I agonized endlessly after reincarnating. Wondering how I could completely annihilate you."

Leo took his eyes off his palm and looked at Erebos.

"I am not Lisinas, nor Luna. Nor am I Arion or Dwenho. I lack the capacity to forge my own path and move forward like those guys."

During the final battle, Kyle had used the essence of power built up by his comrades.

The power of five, not his alone.

But in his current life, Leo was alone.

Therefore, he had to find the answer to defeating Erebos in the memories of the past.

Conversations he had with his comrades.

He replayed the past many times to find clues for developing his power from the things they did together.

It was painful, but he didn't stop.

The casual remarks his friends made gave Leo realization many times.

"Then I remembered forgotten memories."

The point in time when he awakened the ability he had wanted to forget, and thus forgotten.

"I found my path at the origin."

Leo clenched his fist.

The burning gray mana subsided.

At that moment.

Erebos felt goosebumps all over his body.

Leo's mana color began to change.

It became gradually hazy, as if the gray was fading away.

"I refined my mana countless times."

So that pure power could become even more pure.

It's different from condensation and compression.

It's the removal of impurities mixed in mana.

This was akin to facing and overcoming the horrific memories imprinted on one's soul, again and again.

To refine mana and regain the origin.

Leo vividly recalled the memories he had experienced countless times.

Including the pain he would never get used to.

He relived the sharp agony that felt like his mind would shatter.

*Fwaak-*

Finally, pure white mana shone from Leo's hand.

"What… what are you, surviving hero?"

Erebos's face was filled with terror.

That pure white was not obtained easily.

It was the product of suffering at a level Erebos could not even imagine.

"How is that possible…?"

Leo smiled as he looked at Erebos, who was asking with a look of shock.

"Thanks to you."

"What?"

"I learned when I was burned by you."

Leo's eyes shone with murderous intent and venom.

"That enduring the pain of the past I wanted to forget was also bearable."