Book 1 Chapter 814
"Goooh! Hwa-reureureuk-!
Erebos unleashed a wave of black flame.
"Hooop!"
Valhar, letting out a war cry, split the double-bladed battle axe in half.
Ching!
Holding each half of the battle axe, now separated into single-bladed axes, in each hand, Valhar spun them, and a storm began to rage.
Kwaaah-!
Valhar, his eyes flashing, charged forward and shattered the wave of black flame.
"Kar!"
As Valhar carved a path through the black flames, Kar followed behind.
Wooong-!
Kar leaped, scattering golden aura imbued in his sword.
"Haaaah-!"
With a powerful roar that was close to a war cry, Kar descended upon Erebos like a comet.
His super senses transmitted countless pieces of information to Kar's brain.
Sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste.
Through his heightened senses, Erebos's attack routes began to form in his mind, and eventually, his transcendent senses reached a new realm.
The realm of intuition.
Flasg-!
A sharp gaze shot from Kar's eyes.
'Prediction,' akin to precognition, began to occur.
'I see.'
Erebos's thoughts.
Where he will attack.
Kar, who was about to dodge Erebos's attack and swing his sword, trembled for a moment.
Fwaaat-! Kkwaak-!
As Kar urgently kicked off the ground and retreated, a black sword energy like a guillotine fell from the sky onto that spot.
"Indeed."
Erebos's dry gaze fell upon Kar.
"Super senses?"
Erebos's senses momentarily surpassed Kar's super senses.
Kar had experienced such a phenomenon during his sparring with Leo.
A battle between holders of the same super senses.
A mind game played in unseen realms.
Seeing Kar mutter with a serious expression, Erebos replied,
"I merely utilized one of my divine powers in the way a surviving hero would."
Erebos said indifferently, raising his palm from bottom to top.
Kugagagagagang-!
Black flames erupted from beneath the floor.
Hwa-reureureureuk! Goooh-!
The black flames soon swept over the great heroes like a colossal tidal wave.
Seeing this, Rune deployed his magic.
Kagagagagagagang-!
A wall of ice, imbued with fearsome cold, attempted to block the tidal wave of flame.
At that moment.
Goooh-!
The black flames, which had spread out and were surging, began to gather in one place.
Simultaneously, it spun like a whirlwind and pierced a single point in the ice wall.
Twak-!
Seeing this, Rune immediately slammed his staff onto the ground.
Kigigigigigig-!
Then, a magic circle was created, and hundreds of magic chains, woven with threads of mana, poured out.
Rune attempted to bind the flames of disaster, concentrated at a single point, with the magic chains.
But at that moment.
Hwaak-!
The flames of disaster, which had gathered in one place, split into multiple streams and scattered.
Kwagagagag-!
As Rune couldn't capture all the flames of disaster with the magic chains, his face contorted severely.
"This is insane…"
A stream of flame of disaster flew towards Rune.
Flash-! Buah-!
At that moment, Leo appeared before Rune and sliced through the black flame with his sword.
"Awesome! Leo! I'll kiss you later!"
Leo, letting out a wry laugh, deployed his mana.
Wooong-!
Mana imbued in Leo's sword.
"Innocent."
He quietly spoke the name of the spell, and his sword began to glow pure white.
Kkwaak-!
As Leo plunged his sword into a wriggling stream of black flame, the pure white light from his sword flowed into the black flame as if being absorbed.
After a moment.
Pabeobeobeobeobeobeong-!
An explosion began to occur within the black flames.
The explosions detonated in succession, rushing towards Erebos.
Seeing this, as Erebos attempted to extinguish the black flames.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Kooong!
Rune used gravity magic to crush Erebos's body.
Thump-!
As the surrounding gravity intensified for a moment, Erebos knelt down.
Pabeobeobong! Kwagagagag-!
The Innocent, causing explosions along with the black flames, soon flowed into Erebos's body and caused an explosion.
Erebos's body swelled as if it would burst.
Jureureuk-
Blood flowed from Erebos's mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.
"Ugh! Kyle, you don't look very good."
Rune muttered with a disgusted expression.
However, Leo, unconcerned, looked up at the sky and shouted,
"Leah!"
With those words, Leah, who had been gathering mana at a high altitude, opened her eyes.
Soon, a light arrow formed in Leah's outstretched hand towards the sky.
As she drew the arrow as if nocking it on a bowstring, a bow made of light appeared in Leah's hand.
Light magic that repels evil and unrighteous power.
Leah unleashed her innate magic.
"Punishment."
The light arrow flew towards Erebos at incredible speed.
Wooong-! Flash! Kwagagagagag-!
As the light arrow pierced Erebos, an immense explosion occurred, and a mushroom cloud rose.
Kar and Valhar lowered their stances to avoid being blown away by the aftermath of the explosion.
Leo embraced Rune and lowered his body.
A moment later, as soon as the shockwave of the explosion subsided, Rune, protected in Leo's embrace, opened his eyes wide.
"Apocalypse!"
-!
Without even the sound of an explosion, a blinding flash swept through.
Leo, who had been shielding his eyes with his arm, slowly lowered it.
And seeing the scene unfolding before him, he was astonished.
The power of Leah's Punishment was beyond imagination, but Rune's Apocalypse was on a completely different scale of power.
'He must have reduced the range to minimize collateral damage.'
The spirits were fleeing in terror.
Thump- thump-
But even amidst such an explosion, Erebos, in the form of Kyle, walked out calmly.
Seeing this, Rune said with a disgusted expression,
"Wow, that incredible toughness is still the same."
"It's not just toughness."
Leah landed beside Leo.
Rune, who had been held in Leo's arms, opened his eyes wide.
"Then what is it?"
"He responded to our attacks."
He was different from Erebos 5,000 years ago.
5,000 years ago, Erebos purely blocked the attacks of the great heroes with overwhelming power.
But unlike 5,000 years ago, when he crushed with sheer power, he was now predicting and preparing for each great hero's attack method to counter.
'If we were still the same as 5,000 years ago… we would have lost.'
Leah narrowed her eyes.
'Imitating Kyle's appearance wasn't just for amusement or caprice.'
"Indeed… they are great heroes."
Erebos, standing before the five people, narrowed his eyes.
"They are still progressing, even at this moment."
Seeing Erebos reveal his wariness, Leah clicked her tongue.
"5,000 years ago, even though my victory was certain, I was defeated by you."
Erebos looked down at his hands.
"In the final battle, I never underestimated you."
Raising his head, Erebos looked at each of the great heroes.
"But there was something I overlooked. That was the potential of the inhabitants of the lower realm."
"Potential…?"
"Yes. The moment the world was born, from the very beginning, I thought: Why do the inhabitants of the lower realm exist? Why do you, a worthless race, live meaningless lives? To me, the inhabitants of the lower realm were like gnats – useless and repulsive, mere insects to be exterminated."
Erebos looked at Leo.
"5,000 years ago, the surviving hero, until the verge of defeat by you, the inhabitants of the lower realm were such beings to me."
"Did you change after I shattered you into six pieces?"
"Yes."
"Well, for someone who swallowed all the evil gods, you're quite petty. Do you hate us that much?"
"Yes. I hate you. And yet, I am grateful."
"What?"
"I have mixed feelings of love and hate for you. Surviving hero, no. Hero of the Beginning."
As Erebos's title changed, Leo's eyes twitched.
Erebos's gray eyes stared directly at the great heroes.
"You are the embodiment of the potential of the inhabitants of the lower realm. The moment I was defeated, I realized why I so pointlessly hated the inhabitants of the lower realm. It was self-loathing."
"What kind of nonsense is that? Has he gone mad from being shattered for 5,000 years?"
Rune spun his finger around his own head.
"I and the inhabitants of the lower realm are fundamentally the same."
"…Why do you think so?"
Leah asked with a firm voice.
"You live finite lives. Even that permitted time is pathetically short. Yet, you live to the fullest."
"…"
"Yes. You rush towards destruction with all your might. Just like me. Even I, an immortal being, face destruction in the end. Ultimately, I am also a finite being."
A being whose sole purpose is to burn the world and turn it to ashes.
What awaits at the edge of existence is only destruction.
That was Erebos, the Flame of Destruction.
"As I came to understand you, I felt both hatred and affection."
Erebos spread his arms.
"After feeling affection, I came to revere you. I came to revere your infinite potential. That is why I have taken on this form. You are my new beginning! Thank you! Great heroes! Thanks to you, I can see potential."
"…What do you intend to do with the potential you've seen as a being rushing towards destruction?"
Leah said coldly.
Even if he has changed, his fundamental nature remains the same.
Leah knows this well.
The abomination before her eyes is ultimately a monster that will not rest until it has consumed everything, burned it, and disappeared.
"I have a dream."
Erebos smiled with delight.
"To burn all the worlds that exist in parallel universes. That is the potential I have found and my dream!"
"Insane… a truly disgusting dream."
Rune spat out a curse.
At that moment.
Leo's eyes twitched.
"You… you consumed Nyx?"
At Leo's words, Erebos grinned.
Goooh-!
The flames erupting from Erebos's body soared into the sky.
Along with it, the night sky began to turn dark crimson.
The great heroes' faces hardened at the phenomenon, reminiscent of the Age of Calamity.
Simultaneously, the Tartarus Legion began to appear in the sky.
"I return again."
Erebos grinned and disappeared.
Seeing this, Leo spat out a curse.
"Damn it! Everyone, run!"
With those words, the great heroes immediately started running.
"Why?! What's happening?"
Rune asked urgently, following Leo.
Leah, following Leo, shivered.
"Don't tell me…?"
"That's right, that bastard!"
A murderous intent flashed in Leo's eyes.
"He's planning to cross over to my timeline!"