Book 1 Chapter 869

869.

King Pegasus and King Phoenix.

Legendary phantom beasts that vanished after the Age of Calamity.

At the mention of an item related to those legendary beings, Eliza made a bewildered expression.

"But how do you know about that, Hyung-nim?"

Lil asked with a slightly perplexed look.

At her words, Leo said calmly.

"I saw them when I was conquering the World of Great Heroes."

"Ah."

At that, Lil nodded her head.

Indeed, if it was information obtained through the World of Great Heroes, there was nothing strange about it.

In fact, the White Flame of King Phoenix had recently been resurrected through the World of Heroes.

Through Lunia, the one who chases the nebula.

'Someday, the day will come when the White Flame will burn again through the Phoenix.'

Leo glanced at the Spear of Punishment.

Unlike the flame of King Phoenix, which had been resurrected in this world, the thunder and lightning of King Pegasus had not been revived.

Although Leo possessed the essence of thunder and lightning, his situation was different from Lunia's.

This was because, unlike Lunia, who was officially recognized by Kataliu, Leo had merely received the essence of thunder and lightning as a reward for conquest.

Therefore, it was impossible to pass on the power to future generations.

Recalling his sworn ally, Albus, Leo said.

"First, let's take these too."

At his words, Melina took the Spear of Punishment and the Necklace of Purification from Leo.

***

Wheeeeeeeeee-!

High above the northern continent.

The cold northern air was steadily dropping the temperature.

It was then that Leo, riding on Melina's back, silently inhaled the cold air of the northern continent.

"Young Master Leo, aren't you cold?"

Chen Shia came up behind Leo, wrapped a scarf around him, and said.

"Brother Leo. If you're cold, come here."

Chelsea's eyes sparkled as she patted her thigh.

"Shall I warm you up?"

Lil, too, spread her arms with a subtly expectant look in her eyes.

Seeing them, Leo sighed and moved next to Karl, slumping down.

"Those three, they're subtly proactive. Is it because their bodies have grown up?"

"It's probably just that I'm cute."

"It sounds a little weird coming from your own mouth."

Karl made an odd expression.

-Lord Leo. We'll soon arrive above the old Fairy Land site.

Melina said in a voice only Leo could hear.

Hearing that, Leo gestured to Lil.

"Hyung-nim! You're cold! I'll give you a warm hug…"

"Lil. You're the leader of this party."

"Huh? Hyung-nim and Teacher Mel are here, though?"

Lil's eyes widened.

The others also made surprised expressions.

But Leo said calmly.

"My body is currently in a younger state, so my combat abilities will be terrible."

Leo, arms crossed, glanced back at his comrades.

"And most of all, I wanted to see something."

"See what?"

"How strong you all have become as you've grown."

Lil's eyes rounded.

"Before coming to Hersia, Chelsea fought a Legion Commander by herself."

At that, Chen Shia, Lil, and Eliza looked at Chelsea with startled expressions.

As attention focused on her, Chelsea confidently made a V-sign with her right hand.

"There are likely several demon-kind of Legion Commander level within this illusion right now."

Leo chuckled.

"Go on, show off your skills to your heart's content."

At his words, each member of the party looked at their hands with faces showing subtle emotions.

On each face, there was a strange mix of excitement and worry.

Anticipation of how much their future selves would have grown.

And…

'How close will my future self be to Hyung-nim?'

Lil already knew that her own power had grown stronger through her battles with demons.

But she couldn't be satisfied with just that.

For Lil, whose goal was to follow Leo, how close she had become to Leo was more important than how much stronger she had become.

The same was true for the others.

Chelsea, who had tested her power to some extent in battle with a Legion Commander, still hadn't unleashed all of her strength.

Seeing his friends with tense expressions, Leo said.

"Why are you so tense? After all, this illusion is just one of the possibilities that might happen in the future."

-That's right.

At Leo's words, Melina said in a voice audible to everyone.

"Possibilities are just possibilities. If you think you're lacking, you just have to try harder."

At that, everyone nodded.

"Now that I think about it, we haven't decided on a party name."

At Lil's words, Leo cocked his head.

"Didn't we decide on Arhi?"

"Hyung-nim isn't in it?"

"What does it matter whether I'm in it or not?"

Leo chuckled.

Everyone here is a new beginning.

Heroes who will continue the legacy of the Great Heroes and fight against Erebus.

At Leo's words, Lil made a serious expression.

"I must become someone worthy of the name Arhi."

At that, Leo nodded.

"By the way, there should be a key to dispel the illusion in Fairy Land."

Karl scratched his head, saying.

Now that fragments of Erebus were reviving.

They needed to quickly dispel the illusion and receive external support.

At Karl's words, Lil clapped her hands.

"Ah, now that I think about it, Hyung-nim! There's another way to dispel the illusion!"

"Oh? What's the method?"

Leo's eyes sparkled.

Even if she had an eccentric side, Lil wasn't someone who spoke nonsense.

"It's to rip the illusion apart with force!"

"…"

Leo's face subtly changed.

Seeing Leo's expression, Chen Shia, Karl, and Eliza looked at Chelsea.

Just from Leo's face, they could tell that Lil's assertion was absurd.

But they couldn't understand why it was impossible.

That's why they sent an expectant look to Chelsea, who was excellent in magical aptitude among them, requesting an explanation.

"Karl, you're a mage too."

"You know my magic theory grades well, too."

Chelsea sighed softly.

"It's not a difficult principle. If you weren't under illusion magic, maybe. But once you're caught in an illusion, it's impossible to destroy illusion magic with force."

"Why is that?"

It was Leo who answered Chen Shia's question instead.

"Force is a law of the world. An illusion is also a kind of world. No matter how strong the force is, it's impossible to destroy a world, isn't it? Unless it's something like Erebus, that is."

Leo crossed his arms.

"Of course, no matter how powerful an illusion magic, you can draw on external power the moment you realize it's an illusion, but…"

Leo glanced up at the sky.

"This illusion magic is so powerful that it completely blocks external laws even after realizing it's fake. It would be faster to dispel it by deciphering the spell formula rather than tearing it apart with force. And even faster than that is finding the key."

Moreover, the power of Erebus was also permeating this illusion.

At Leo's words, Lil said.

"But it's ultimately fake, isn't it? Its structural durability will be weaker than the original world."

"That's true, but… You wouldn't have presented a method that seems rather foolish without any reason as an answer, so there must be a basis for it, right?"

"Yes. Illusion magic ultimately uses light, doesn't it?"

"That's right."

"Then, by strongly condensing light and applying vibrations, it's possible to crack the spell formula!"

"That's theoretically possible, but… There's no way it could be…"

"It is possible!"

Lil jumped up from her seat.

"It's loud. Chelsea. Please block the sound with magic."

At that, Chelsea used wind magic to block the sound.

Lil compressed light using a spirit of light, just as she had when first entering the illusion, then imbued a spirit of wind into the tip of a hammer, creating high-frequency waves at the center of the light.

Then, the space flickered as if it would tear apart, before returning to its original state.

Lil spoke excitedly.

"Did you see? Did you see? It's impossible for me, but it would be possible for Hyung-nim!"

Lil's eyes sparkled, sending an almost infinite trust to Leo.

"Wow, it actually seems possible?"

"Leo. Let's try it right now!"

Chelsea and Karl said with sparkling eyes.

However, Chen Shia and Eliza, who were taking a spiritology lecture in the Department of Summoning, were looking at Lil with dumbfounded expressions.

Melina also gaped in her dragon form.

"Miss Shia. You're majoring in spiritology, aren't you? Do you think something like that is possible?"

"…Although I'm taking spiritology, my main major is knightology. I may not know more than Miss Eliza, but logically, isn't it impossible?"

Saying that, Chen Shia looked at Leo with expectant eyes.

"Still, if it's Young Master Leo…"

Everyone's gaze turned to Leo.

Leo was looking at the distorted spot in space with his usual expression.

"What do you think, Young Master Leo?"

"I don't know. What is that, it's scary."

Leo looked at Lil with a fed-up expression.

To conclude, it was an impossible feat even for Leo.

From the start, the method of illusion destruction Lil showed was something Leo couldn't even imagine.

No, it's questionable whether even Risinas could have come up with such an idea.

Of course, Lil's words were theoretically possible.

The problem was that theory was just theory.

What made that theory a possibility was purely Lil's sense.

Of course, such a sense doesn't directly affect combat power.

But if Lil's excellent combat sense was combined with such spirit art sense, it was clear that she would become a formidable spirit user.

"You really are a monster, aren't you?"

At Leo's sincere words, Lil went *thud*! and made a shocked expression.

Then she rushed forward, crying, grabbed Leo, and shook him wildly.

"Th-that's not true! I'm an extremely ordinary person! If you say such things sincerely to a lady, she gets hurt!"

"I've always thought it, but among the class representatives I've seen, you're the least ordinary."

"Such harsh words again! Even Elena sunbae is here!"

As Lil shook him wildly, Leo's head swayed back and forth.

Watching the scene, Karl muttered softly.

"Given that she can pick a fight with Elena sunbae like that, she already seems not ordinary."

At that, the entire third year nodded their heads.