Book 1 Chapter 882
882.
The illusion is collapsing.
The moment this illusion collapses, the seal on Erebos's fragment will break, and it will reveal itself to the world.
‘I have to stop that, at least.’
Shiloh bit his lip tightly.
But the current Shiloh can at best suppress Erebos.
A desperate and urgent situation.
In that situation, Melina arrived.
‘The Silent Dragon… Melina.’
Shiloh had lived a life cut off from the outside world for the past 5000 years.
But even so, he was not ignorant of the heroes who had made a name for themselves in the world.
Fairies who explored the outside heard countless stories and conveyed them to Shiloh.
The time spent listening to the stories of young fairies.
It was also one of Shiloh's favorite times.
He also wanted to have such adventures.
Not in a world facing destruction… but in a hopeful world.
To explore a beautiful world and be with the covenant holder with whom he had contracted and her friends.
No, he wanted to laugh, chat, enjoy, and adventure through the world with his irreplaceable friends.
Because that was Shiloh's greatest wish when living through the age of disaster.
But that wish could not be fulfilled.
Shiloh could travel the world freely.
But no one ever returned.
Not the covenant holder.
Not his close friends.
Not even the Beast Kings who looked after him.
Even if Shiloh had joined the final journey, the outcome would not have changed.
No, perhaps the lineage of the Fairy King might have been severed.
But…
Shiloh regretted not joining that journey at the final moment for 5000 years.
The choice made then, filled with regret, eventually became a lingering attachment.
But immediately after the Age of Disaster ended, he wasn't held by that lingering attachment.
Because at that time, there were others who shared the pain.
Those who could not participate in the journey and were left behind.
Heroes who stood on the battlefield with the great heroes.
But members of Arhi who could not be part of the final journey.
But even those who shared the name of Arhi, one by one… passed away, and Shiloh was left alone.
And as he sealed Erebos's fragment, Shiloh became trapped in the past.
Because of the sense of duty to protect the world as the last of Arhi.
He couldn't go on adventures and had to be content with listening to heroic tales and adventure stories from the outside world.
Thus, for 5000 years, he heard countless stories of heroes.
And Shiloh remembered the countless broken heroes.
Melina was also one of those who were broken.
And Shiloh knew why Melina was broken.
‘Conquest of the World of Genesis.’
The truth of the World of Genesis, which had been the world's secret for thousands of years.
But Shiloh had known the truth ever since the return of the disaster reached its end.
Because he was the one who knew more deeply than anyone that Erebos could not be destroyed without the power of purity.
Countless heroes who had existed for 5000 years.
Among them, not a single hero after the Genesis who confronted Erebos succeeded in recovery.
There were heroes who attempted to conquer the World of Genesis, but all failed, and most lost their lives.
Even if they returned alive, they became beyond recovery.
Melina was also one such hero.
That is why she became the Silent Dragon.
Gwoooooooo-!
Magic power surged from Melina's body.
It was magic power familiar to Shiloh.
‘Lysinas…’
Shiloh realized through the Hero's World that she had inherited Lysinas's power.
‘But… with just that…!’
Shiloh bit his lip tightly.
Merely imitating Lysinas cannot stop Erebos.
-Interesting. A dragon inheriting the power of a fool.
Interest sparked in Erebos's eyes.
Erebos, who had only recently awakened, did not know about the current era.
Moreover, even after awakening, he had been trapped in an illusion by Shiloh.
He had no choice but to be ignorant of the Hero Record and the Hero's World.
But he instantly saw through what Melina's power was based on.
-Is this a prank by the gods?
As if amused, Erebos spewed flames.
Gwooooooosh-!
Ferocious black flames erupted from the entire body of Erebos, who had become a giant of immense fire.
-But can you do it?
Erebos spread his right hand.
Hwarururuk! Kugagagagak!
From his hideous right hand, sticky black sludge flowed out as if groundwater was gushing.
Chiiiiiik-!
The black sludge soon fell to the ground and began to spread like ink.
“Power of Erosion…”
Melina murmured lowly.
One of Erebos's countless powers.
Erebos cannot move beyond the land he has eroded.
It was due to the prohibition placed by the gods with their final power when they were expelled from the Lower World by Erebos.
But in the land defiled by that power of erosion, he can move freely.
‘Like spraying oil before lighting a fire…’
Gwoooooo-!
With the power of erosion, it began to erode Shiloh's illusion magic.
If left unchecked, the illusion magic would be destroyed in an instant.
Melina, having judged so, took a deep breath and extended her hand.
Woong-!
A massive staff was summoned before her.
Tak-!
Melina, gripping the staff in her right hand, raised her left hand.
And she opened her closed left eye.
Where her eyeball should have been, there was a sphere with a deep darkness like obsidian.
Melina pulled out the sphere embedded in her left eye with her left hand.
-A Dragon Heart?
“Yes. It's my Dragon Heart, which I extracted from my body long ago.”
The Dragon Heart, located in a dragon's right chest.
It doesn't function as a heart but is an important organ that grants powerful mana to a dragon.
While not a heart, it acts as a vital point, so extracting it carelessly from the body could lead to death.
-You extracted it yourself.
“Yes. I happened to have lost my left eye then. I needed something to fill the void.”
Melina spoke as if it was nothing, then put her Dragon Heart into her mouth.
Gulp-!
And swallowed it.
Gwoooooooo-!
Thereupon, the magic power of Lysinas flowing from Melina's body grew even stronger.
-Oh?
Erebos let out an exclamation of surprise.
-Do you intend to even imitate the fool?
“How dare I imitate the King of Wisdom?”
Melina smiled faintly.
“I'm just doing my best.”
She swung the staff held in her right hand.
Along with that, countless magic circles were generated in the air.
They were all Dragon Language magic.
Kwagagagagagak-!
Silver Dragon Language magic pierced Erebos.
‘It's not Lysinas's magic?’
Erebos's eyes twitched.
All the magic unfolding from Melina's fingertips were spells Erebos did not know.
They were all original spells created by Melina.
‘Is it Dragon Language magic fused with elementalism?’
Erebos's eyes narrowed.
Erebos's movement, about to spew flames and shake off the magic, stopped abruptly.
Each spell was extraordinary.
The power contained in the magic was suppressing Erebos's flames.
-This isn't your first time fighting me, Dragon.
Erebos instantly saw through Melina's experience.
“Yes.”
Melina smiled faintly, looking at Erebos whose movements were suppressed.
“It was another fragment of yours that took my left eye.”
Melina gently touched the spot where her left eye used to be with her hand.
“You burned everything I had.”
No emotion could be felt in Melina's calm voice.
“After barely surviving the fight with you… I extracted my Dragon Heart myself.”
All of it was for the next decisive battle with Erebos.
A Dragon Heart grants a dragon near-infinite mana.
But the limit is clear.
Because, as a part of the body, it could not contain power beyond the body's physical limits.
So she extracted it.
To be able to hold even more powerful mana.
During her silence, she lived solely with the single purpose of subduing Erebos.
But Melina was immersed in a deep fear of Erebos.
Pure fear of Erebos.
And the fear that she might die without being able to do anything when confronting Erebos once again.
Even if it was just a single fragment of Erebos, it was a monster that she couldn't be sure if she could overcome, no matter how much she struggled throughout her life.
But…
-One wrong move and you'll die?
“I'm not afraid of death.”
Extracted. By re-absorbing the Dragon Heart into her body, she instantly gained power beyond her limits.
But that power was destroying Melina's body.
-It's not death you're afraid of, is it?
Erebos saw through what Melina feared.
‘There's no need to be afraid now.’
Melina extended her hand.
‘Because Leo is here.’
Woong-!
Lysinas's magic power pulsed.
‘Because there are children to support Leo.’
She might fail.
But even if she fails, it's not the end.
There are those who will follow.
That fact made Melina composed.
-…That gaze is familiar.
Someone was glimpsed within the composed gaze that had overcome fear.
‘Lysinas, the King of Wisdom.’
Even though he was certain of his demise, that hateful dragon had such a look in his eyes.
-What is your name, Dragon.
“I have no name to tell you.”
Melina smiled sweetly and completed the magical formula.
Far from original.
Having learned from Leo, she could barely imitate it.
‘Punishment.’
Lysinas's unique magic, symbolizing him, unfolded from Melina's hand.
As the bowstring was drawn, light gathered.
When Melina released the string, an arrow of light flew towards Erebos.
Flash-! Kwagagagagagang-!
The King of Wisdom's judgment, aiming to destroy evil, struck down.
Shiloh's eyes widened.
“Silent Dragon… what… has happened in the meantime?”
“…Many things have happened.”
Melina smiled faintly at Shiloh's question.
“Don't worry too much, King of Fairies.”
Hwarurururuk-!
Black flames flared up.
Then-
Kwaaaaaaaa-!
A massive water vortex, formed by the meeting of wind and water, pushed back the black flames.
Pajijijijik-!
Pure white lightning raged from the sky and struck the black flames.
Kwagagagagang-!
A huge explosion occurred.
“Ooooh! Amazing! Our school's monsteeeers!”
Karl's slightly deflating exclamation burst forth afterward.
Shiloh blankly stared at the emerging heroes who would carry on the new generation.
“Who are they?”
To Shiloh's question, Melina looked at the hero candidates and said calmly.
“They are members of the new Arhi.”
“…!”
“They are the children who will carry on the legacy you have maintained.”