Book 1 Chapter 804
804.
Rune, who was chanting a spell, opened his eyes wide.
Leo, emitting brilliant pure white mana, captivated his eyes.
‘Beautiful.’
Had he ever seen such clear mana in the world?
But it was mana that somehow conveyed hardship and sadness.
Looking at that light, Rune drew forth even more magic power.
At that moment.
Erebus charged towards Leo.
In his hand, a large battle axe, not a greatsword, was now held.
The battle axe, condensing fearsome destructive power, was swung as if to cleave Leo's light.
Clash-! Crash-!
Leo parried with his sword.
A clash of power against power.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-GAK-!
Leo's body was pushed back.
Whoosh-!
The black flames emitted by Erebus recoiled.
Erebus's eyes twitched upon seeing that.
‘The surviving hero…!’
His hateful gaze turned towards Kyle.
The fact that the one obstructing him, even after 5000 years, was that hero, who had been the most dreadful existence in the long life of an evil god, was enough to make Erebus curse fate.
He had become even more threatening than 5000 years ago.
The pure white mana Leo emitted was incomparably more threatening than the gray mana.
‘His power is incomparably weaker than in his previous life.’
It was a fight where pure power couldn't even be compared.
But…
Erebus knew well that he couldn't defeat the great heroes simply by a difference in power.
Thunk-!
Leo's sword pierced into the battle axe.
Seeing this, Erebus threw away the battle axe as if discarding it and summoned other weapons.
Swords, spears, scimitars, short spears, bows.
He wielded all sorts of weapons to suit the situation and conjured dark magic, mimicking Kyle's spells.
And he summoned magical beasts, imitating his archenemy's movements.
Just once.
Attacks with enough power to take Leo's life with just one small mistake continued.
But he blocked everything without wavering.
Rather…
Swish-!
The tip of Leo's sword narrowly grazed Erebus's neck.
He was counterattacking.
What if he were his true body?
‘He would have become a sacrifice to that pure white mana.’
Even if he reduced his physical form, if he hadn't mimicked Kyle's movements, he would have been butchered countless times.
He was the one overwhelming with power.
The situation was also in his favor.
But the hero who saved the world was about to perform an absurd miracle once again, unconcerned by the tilted scales.
Why he wasn't falling.
There was no question as to how he could do such a thing.
Because…
‘This guy is the hero who survives.’
At that moment.
GOOOOOO-!
Enormous magic power surged.
Erebus turned his gaze to the epicenter from which waves of magic power were erupting.
There, Rune was staring at Erebus with venomous eyes.
Hwa-reureuk-!
At that moment, Erebus erupted with black flames as if exploding.
Leo hastily backed away.
“Ha! Just the right target! Prepare…”
“Wait.”
Leo extended his hand.
With that, Erebus turned into black flames and vanished.
“He ran away?!”
Rune made a startled expression.
‘It was a situation where he was dominating…?’
Of course, if he had been directly hit by Rune's magic, it was unknown what would have happened.
But for Leo, it was fortunate that Erebus retreated.
This was a battle where even Leo couldn't guarantee victory.
Of course… if time passed and other great heroes joined forces, Erebus would eventually have no choice but to retreat.
No matter how much the great heroes hadn't recovered their full strength, five great heroes would have been too threatening for a single fragment of Erebus to handle.
But…
‘Before that, he might have tried to eliminate either me or Luna, or one of us?’
Nevertheless, Erebus retreated without hesitation.
‘In this situation, time is not on Erebus's side.’
The great heroes would recover their strength as time went on.
‘Yet he retreated with a smile.’
Recalling Erebus's unpleasantly smiling face just before disappearing, Leo furrowed his brow.
‘…What's his scheme?’
At that moment.
Flash-!
A pillar of white light soared up from the direction of Plov Estate.
Rune, seeing that, opened his eyes wide.
“Ah… it's Lea.”
***
GROWL-!
KIEEEEK!
Countless monsters were advancing, roaring loudly.
Their goal was one.
To annihilate all living beings in front of them.
The monsters, having strongly inherited the will of their creator, the evil god, glared with intense murderous intent.
Hwa-reureuk-!
At that moment, crimson flames erupted in the air.
“HAAAAAAA-P!”
Flash! KWA-GA-GA-GA-GANG-!
Simultaneously with the battle cry, a massive sword strike of flames was unleashed.
Flames erupted as if drawing a line through the monster horde.
KYAAAAAAK-!
The nauseating smell of burning flesh filled the air.
If they were intelligent beings, they would have recoiled from this strike, hindering their advance.
But the monsters prioritized the command of the evil god who created them above all else.
Their speed of advance did not decrease at all.
“Tsk!”
Reina clicked her tongue and performed an Aura Step.
Hwaruk-!
As Reina ran through the air, fiery footprints appeared and disappeared.
“One more time…!”
Hwa-reureureuk-
As Reina was about to unleash her aura once again.
KYAAAAAAK!
A flying magical beast attacked Reina from behind.
The moment Reina was about to swing her sword.
Flash!
A silvery-gray sword energy tore apart the magical beast targeting Reina.
“Lady Reina! Leave the aerial combat to me!”
“Oh my! How lovely! You're really dependable! Thank you, Eiran!”
Reina, smiling brightly, focused on the ground monster army.
As expected of Reina, who, despite being a knight class, earned the epithet "Witch of Flame," monsters were slaughtered and burned with every single sword strike.
But despite that, the number of monsters did not decrease.
‘We're too short on combat power!’
Reina bit her lip tightly.
The reason Reina and Eiran were acting alone was to slow down the monster's advance.
During the time thus created, they had to evacuate the residents of Plov Estate to the center of the estate and build a defensive line to stop the monsters.
Plov Estate was a peaceful rural estate.
As such, while city walls existed, they weren't strong enough to withstand such a large-scale attack.
‘Building a defensive line has its limits even with magic! What should I do? What on earth should I do…?’
In the desperate situation, Reina chewed her lip.
Meanwhile, the monsters drew even closer to Plov Estate.
‘This can't go on! Like this…!’
Reina's eyes, filled with impatience, trembled.
At that moment, Reina's eyes widened when she spotted Lunia standing where the monsters were advancing.
“Why is she there?”
“Miss Lunia also came to stop the monster's advance!”
“What? No! Lunia needs to conserve her magic power!”
Among those present, Lunia, and no one else, was capable of the most powerful large-scale attack.
It was necessary to conserve Lunia, who would need to manage her magic power efficiently after the defensive line was established.
“It's alright! Sir Kall said he has a special mana potion!”
“Special mana potion?”
“Yes! He said it's very expensive, but it can restore an enormous amount of mana!”
GOOOOOOOOO-!
Flames began to erupt around Lunia's body, and the heat began to grow in intensity.
Soon, vivid orange lines appeared here and there on Lunia's skin, like glowing embers.
Lunia spread her palm and raised it upwards.
GOOOOOO-!
Then, a sphere of flames formed above her palm.
The sphere of flames gradually grew in size, then began to emit a bright light as if it had become a small sun.
“Here it comes…”
Lunia gritted her teeth.
Unconcerned by the pain as if her whole body was burning, she unleashed her magic directly at the advancing monster horde.
Hwa-reureureureuk! KWA-GA-GA-GA-GANG-!
When the giant sphere of flames clashed with the ground, it burst like a soap bubble.
With that, flames began to pour out like a wave.
Seeing that, Lunia stretched her hand forward and clenched it.
GOOOOOOOOO-!
The pouring flames soon shot up into the sky like a waterspout, creating a whirlwind.
“My goodness… Lunia was that powerful?”
Reina, observing the situation from afar, made a surprised expression.
She knew Lunia was an excellent hero candidate.
But she never imagined Lunia could use magic of such power at that age.
‘If Rune hadn't existed… the person called the reincarnation of the Nebula Progenitor might have been Lunia…’
As Reina was having such thoughts.
The monsters swept away by Lunia's flames left no trace behind.
“Ugh…!”
Lunia staggered.
The physical pain was one thing, but the aftereffects of mana depletion from exhausting all her magic power were even greater.
Lunia, gritting her teeth, poured the mana potion Kall gave her into her mouth.
With that, vitality began to flow through her entire body.
‘What? It's this effective?’
Lunia made a startled expression.
“Miss Lunia!”
Eiran ran towards Lunia with a bright expression.
“Eiran…! Now that the advance has been slowed, we should retreat…! *Cough*?!”
“Yes!”
Eiran ran forward as if charging and lifted Lunia onto her shoulder.
Lunia, feeling a strong impact in her abdomen, trembled violently and then went limp.
“Miss Lunia! That was really amazing…! Miss Lunia?”
Eiran, finding Lunia limp and unresponsive, opened her eyes wide.
And with moist eyes welling up with tears, she looked at Reina, who was running beside her.
“Lady Reina! Sir Kall's special potion must not have been as effective as expected! She fainted from mana depletion shock!”
“Eiran, do you perhaps dislike Lunia?”
“Huh?”
“I think she fainted because of you.”
“M-me? Because of me?”
Seeing a flustered Eiran, Reina sighed softly.
And then she looked at the established defensive line in the distance.
“What? It's quite impressive, isn't it?”
Reina admired it.
“It's thanks to Kall Thomas's alchemy tools, Commander. He had many useful items.”
At the adjutant's words, Reina let out an exclamation of "Hoo?"
And then, with sparkling eyes, she looked at Kall.
‘He's a more excellent talent than I imagined, isn't he? This much would be a great help to the family!’
At that moment.
GROOOOOWL!
The roar of a monster was heard.
Reina, seeing that, clicked her tongue.
“Everyone, get ready.”
Reina gripped her sword tighter.
“Until reinforcements arrive… We'll hold out as long as possible!”
As Reina enthusiastically shouted.
Flash-!
A pillar of light descended from the sky.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GANG-!
The pillar of light began to sweep away the advancing monster horde.
A wizard made a bright expression upon seeing that.
“Draconic magic? Have the dragons come?!”
If the dragons had come, realizing the strange situation, victory could be guaranteed.
At that moment…
Clatter-
Someone landed on the defensive line.
“Huh? Lea!”
Kall's eyes widened.
“Kall… It's been a while.”
Lea looked at Kall with a gentle smile.
“Oh my! Lea!”
Reina also wore a delighted expression.
“Hello, Lady Reina. Could you explain the situation?”
As Lea spoke with a calm face, Reina said.
“A fragment of Erebus is currently running wild. This monster horde was created by that fragment.”
At those words, Lea's face hardened.
‘The Authority of Creation.’
“And Rune?”
“He's stopping the fragment of Erebus.”
“Alone? That fool! Recklessly…!”
“No, he's stopping it with his dependable boyfriend.”
“Huh?”
Lea instantly made a blank expression.
“Boy…friend?”