Book 1 Chapter 811

811.

Hwaak-!

Leo moved at an invisible speed.

Leo's charge, pushing off the ground, gained more and more speed.

Under normal circumstances, the opponent would tense up at the overwhelming speed.

'But the one I'm facing now.'

Kwaak-!

Leo stomped on the ground even harder.

'Isn't an opponent who can distort senses with speed.'

No matter how fast he moved, it was impossible to deceive Kar's extrasensory perception.

Even if Leo had trained his extrasensory perception, he couldn't surpass Kar's.

Still, the reason Leo pushed his speed to the limit was simple.

'Power.'

He maximized his power by accelerating.

He poured all the accumulated strength in his body into the tip of his sword.

Tukak-!

Leo shot towards Kar like a bullet.

'Fighting Kar doesn't require fancy techniques or tricks… no need for petty skills.'

It wouldn't work anyway.

The only answer was to crush him purely with strength.

Kar stood calmly with his eyes closed, even as Leo approached at tremendous speed.

He was as still as the eye of a typhoon amidst a raging storm.

As Leo finally reached right in front of him, Kar's quietly closed eyes opened.

'Of course.'

As Leo swung his sword in front of Kar, he gritted his teeth and squeezed all the strength from his body.

'The problem is that even that pure strength won't work.'

Kar swung the sword in his hand upwards.

Kwaaaang-!

A clash of grey and golden auras.

Balhar, watching from afar, let out an admiring "Huh."

The surroundings distorted as if shimmering.

Space warping due to the clash of powers.

"Unbelievable."

Celia, standing next to him, looked incredulous.

"How can such powerful forces collide without affecting their surroundings at all?"

Celia wasn't the only one present.

Top-tier third-year knights like Chen Xia, Duran, Iliana, and Nella were watching Leo and Kar's spar.

It was Lea's idea to give them a chance to broaden their horizons.

And…

'They're children who won't break down despite overwhelming skill, aren't they?'

Balhar silently observed the Lumern knights.

He could feel them all intently watching Leo and Kar's spar.

'They certainly don't seem intimidated.'

"They are controlling their power."

"Yes?"

Balhar said, looking at Leo and Kar.

"They are channeling their will into their auras and concentrating their power at a single point. They are using their power without any waste."

"Is that even possible?"

Chen Xia asked with a bewildered expression, and Balhar replied,

"It's possible, because that's the kind of fight they're having."

Balhar looked at Kar.

"What you are witnessing now is someone at the pinnacle of martial arts."

The pinnacle of martial arts.

It was too arrogant a title to be given to someone not yet an adult.

No, it felt like a title that even those who had reached the rank of hero could not attain.

But those present, as hero candidates… and as scions of prominent families, had seen countless warriors who had ascended to the ranks of heroes.

Therefore, they could not easily refute Balhar's claim of the pinnacle.

"If the student council president of Azonia is at the pinnacle of martial arts…"

Duran said heavily.

"Then what is this man?"

His gaze fell on Leo.

Balhar chuckled at Duran's question.

"He's someone who moves forward without ever giving up."

Kiiiiiing-!

Leo narrowed his brows as his sword vibrated.

'The sword can't take it.'

Thinking so, Leo poured even more powerful aura into his sword.

Kwang-!

Leo's sword and Kar's sword exploded simultaneously.

Becoming defenseless for a moment, Leo drew a dagger and swung it at Kar.

But Kar's fingertips reached Leo's eyes faster.

A hair's breadth.

But that small difference was huge.

Due to his beastman traits, his entire body was a weapon, but even if Kar had been human, Leo would have been subdued.

"As expected, it's still not enough."

"No, I was really surprised. You've improved this much."

Kar genuinely admired him.

"You would be truly terrifying if you used magic or summoning."

He still couldn't defeat Kar with just pure aura techniques.

Leo and Kar approached Balhar as they talked.

"Your flame-handling techniques have also improved a lot… you haven't just been lazing around."

Balhar said calmly.

Before sparring with Kar, Leo had shown Balhar the Dweno's flame he inherited.

This was also Leo's own interpretation, not just a mimicry of Dweno.

Leo's way of handling flames gave Balhar quite fresh inspiration.

Not just Balhar.

Just as Leo received evaluations on the powers he inherited from Kar and Balhar and set a direction for his development.

Kar and Balhar were also influenced by new interpretations.

While the great heroes chatted, the knights were lost in thought, recalling the spar they had just witnessed.

"…"

Celia stared intently at Leo.

Iliana approached her.

"What are you staring at?"

"Nothing. Just…"

"Just?"

"Familiar."

As Celia spoke, recalling the flame aura Leo wielded, Iliana's eyes widened.

"Are you perhaps smitten?"

"It's not like that!"

"Hmm. I was also interested in Leo. But Celia, who had no interest in men at all, is interested in a man! This is exciting!"

"I told you it's not like that."

"Leo! Celia here says she's smitten with you!"

"I told you it's not!"

"Cough, cough! H, surrender! Surrender!"

"Surrender! You already said something weird!"

Celia, her face bright red, choked Iliana.

Balhar smiled slyly, watching Celia.

"It must be nice to be popular."

"Popularity, my foot."

Kar chuckled, his eyes sparkling.

Thinking it was a golden opportunity to tease Leo, his eyes were filled with a rare playfulness.

"We're teenagers too, so it doesn't matter much, right?"

Seeing Kar's slightly lewd smile, Leo said to Balhar.

"Hey, he's acting weird, I can't get used to it."

"Isn't it all because of you?"

"What's my fault?"

"You corrupted your innocent friend like this."

"Is that my fault? It's Luna's fault."

"Hmm… is that so? Anyway, Lea was lamenting. She said Kar had become strange."

"Tsk."

Chen Xia, listening to their conversation from afar, said.

"This might sound a bit strange, but…"

"Yes?"

Celia, who was still punishing Iliana, looked puzzled.

"Those three aren't that different from us either."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm… how should I put it?"

Chen Xia pondered for a moment, tapping her chin.

"Should I say they're human?"

"Then they are human. What else would they be if not human?"

Duran said, and Chen Xia shrugged.

"It's like, Lea too, she's so perfect that she sometimes doesn't feel human. And those three are so perfect in their respective fields. So I thought they were like heroes from legends."

"From legends?"

"Yes. Great heroes."

"…"

Indeed.

Balhar, the god-tier blacksmith.

Kar, the hero.

Rune, the progenitor of the nebulae.

They could be called their reincarnations without shame.

"But seeing them like this, I feel like they're people like us. Great heroes must have been too, right?"

Chen Xia smiled faintly.

That evening.

The Lumern students, after their day's work, enjoyed their sweet after-school activities.

Lea, who remained alone in the Hero Tower student council room, sat at her desk.

On the desk lay an enormous amount of paperwork concerning all Lumern students.

'To help the children grow further, a complete re-evaluation is necessary.'

Lea, admitting she had offered the wrong path, reviewed the growth direction of the hero candidates through continuous contemplation.

The work was so daunting that it was nearly impossible for her alone.

However, Lea's knowledge and insight were turning that impossibility into possibility.

As Lea was about to look at the next document.

Creak-

The door opened.

Lea looked at Leo, who held a mug in each hand, with a sullen expression.

"What? You haven't been seen for a week?"

"Then shouldn't you be happy to see me?"

Leo shrugged and approached Lea, placing the mugs down.

Then he sat on the desk and picked up one of the documents Lea was looking at.

"This is about Celia?"

Leo flipped through it and shook his head.

"She's certainly amazing."

"What?"

"Because it perfectly matches the growth direction of our Celia I imagined."

"Our Celia…"

Lea smiled bitterly.

"You… are thinking of going back?"

Leo didn't answer but took a sip of coffee.

"Yes. That's right. Because the world has been divided."

"Even if I go back, the fact that I was Kyle and you were Lisinas, Luna, Arion, and Dweno remains unchanged."

Leo said calmly.

"It's just… the path we need to take has diverged."

"Yes. That's right."

Lea smiled faintly.

"If you go back, make sure to defeat Erebus there. We'll defeat Erebus here too."

Saying so, Lea leaned back in her chair and smiled faintly.

"Want to bet? Who will defeat it first?"

"It's 4 to 1. I'm at a huge disadvantage."

"Oh? You're not confident?"

Lea chuckled, propping her chin.

"Lisinas."

"It's Lea now."

"I can't get used to that name, Lea. There's someone in Seirun, a year younger than me, with the same name."

"You mean Lea Tingel, right? Rune often teases me about her anyway."

"I bet he teases you childishly."

"He does."

Lea grumbled lightly and looked up at Leo.

Leo, who was sitting at the desk looking out at the scenery, looked puzzled.

"Why?"

"Leo. At the final moment… how did you feel?"

"Why are you asking that all of a sudden?"

"I'm just curious. You know our end, but we don't know yours?"

"…"

He still couldn't forget.

No, he still had vivid dreams about it.

The sight of his friends dying was etched in his mind.

'Apology, regret… and… I gave them my faith.'

This memory would probably not be forgotten even on the day his second life ended.

"How should I put it? Was there a sense of relief that you kept your promise with us?"

He achieved a feat that was close to impossible.

Even though the hero of the beginning was Erebus's natural enemy and had inherited all the powers of a great hero.

The final battle was one that victory was impossible.

Yet, Kyle ultimately won.

Lea was incredibly proud of Leo.

Not just Lea.

All the other great heroes were proud of their friend, the savior of the world.

They were more grateful than anyone to Kyle, who had repaid their trust.

"To be honest…"

"Yes."

"I despaired."

"Yes?"

Lea looked slightly taken aback by the unexpected answer.

Leo looked at Lea with a bitter smile.

He didn't really want to be honest.

But he needed to be honest in front of Lea.

"Because in the end, I couldn't finish it and left a lingering threat for future generations."

"But that's…"

"Right. Even that was a miracle at the time. And it would have been okay to give them faith for future generations. Just like you trusted me."

"…"

"But… I wasn't good at that. So I despaired. Even until the moment I died."

"…"

"It's a good thing I got a second chance. This time, I can finally finish it."

"The burden we passed on is still tormenting you."

Lea bit her lip tightly.

Seeing Lea like that, Leo waved his hand.

"Not at all."

"Yes?"

Lea looked bewildered.

"At first, it was because of you guys."

Leo chuckled.

"But not anymore."

Leo looked up at the night sky in silence.

"It seems you've found a reason to move forward."

"Yes."

"I hope you achieve it."

"I will. It's not anything grand."

Leo looked out the window.

Lea, watching Leo, cleared her throat.

"Ahem! So? What are you doing tonight?"

"I'm going to review the parallel world theory."

"I'll help you."

"You?"

"Yes. So…"

Lea propped her chin and smiled faintly, looking up at Leo.

"Won't you come to my room in a bit?"

"You smiling like that is bad for my heart."

"Heh heh."

"Are you serious?"

"Did you think only Rune was proactive?"

"Still, to this extent…"

Kwang-!

Before he could finish speaking, the student council room door burst open.

It was none other than Rune who entered.

Outside the door, Kar and Balhar watched with intrigued expressions.

Rune, who approached right in front of him with a blank expression, raised his eyes.

"Isn't this a total lustful dragon?!"

"Sigh. Why now of all times?"

Leo tried to subtly distance himself from the two, not wanting to get involved.

"Leo."

Kar approached Leo.

"How many children are you going to have?"

Rune shouted, his face red.

"How many children am I going to have!"

Kar tilted his head at Rune's words.

"Why? It seems like beautiful children resembling Lea and Leo will be born."

"Heh heh. Kar knows what he's talking about."

"Know what?!"

Rune retorted.

"You! You damn beast! So you were pretending to be innocent all this time, huh? Huh?"

Rune grabbed Kar by the collar and shook him violently.

Leo, escaping the student council room that was turning into chaos, said seriously.

"Old man. Don't call me an idiot or clueless anymore."

"Those are words that suit you perfectly, but seeing Kar, I can't say that. Is he an idiot or just naive?"

Balhar shook his head.

"Ugh! I cherished you like a younger brother, and you betray me like this? Fine! From today on, you and I are enemies."

"Huh? I'm not necessarily only supporting Leo and Lea."

Kar tilted his head.

"Rune, why don't you have children with Leo too? Wouldn't the babies born between you two be beautiful?"

"What?"

"You know I like babies, right? I hope you two have many children with Leo!"

Lea and Rune gaped at Kar, who smiled brightly with an innocent face.

Leo, watching them, mumbled blankly.

"To be able to say such things with a calm smile. He's a real hero."

"At this point, it seems like something beyond courage?"

Balhar let out a hollow laugh.

Lea pressed her temples and asked Kar.

"So, you want me, Rune, and Leo to live together?"

"Yes! Is there a problem? Back in ancient times, it was like that, wasn't it? If hearts matched, people lived like that, right?"

"That's true, but that was 5,000 years ago. It couldn't be helped back then, but by today's standards, it's a bit…"

There was a strong tendency to not leave any regrets in relationships, as they didn't know when the world might end.

Therefore, it didn't align with the current societal norms.

"But we're people from 5,000 years ago."

Kar said nonchalantly, and Lea frowned.

"That's true… Ah… really. My head hurts."

Lea gave up on deep thought.

Rune's anger also subsided due to Kar's sudden bombshell.

At that moment.

Crackling-

Suddenly, a sound of something freezing began to be heard right behind Leo.

Everyone's attention turned there.

What was created there was none other than an ice mirror.

At that moment.

Suddenly-!

A hand emerged from the mirror.

Thump-

The hand grabbed Leo's hand.

But it was only for a moment.

The hand that emerged from the ice mirror soon faded and disappeared along with the mirror.

Leo, looking at the spot where the mirror had vanished, turned his head.

Rune and Kar were holding Leo's arms and legs respectively.

Seeing the two with anxious eyes, Leo looked at Lea.

Lea's eyes were also trembling.

Leo finally looked at Balhar.

Balhar muttered bitterly.

"It seems the time granted isn't long."