Book 1 Chapter 966

Celia didn't know how to react to the sight unfolding before her eyes.

It wasn't just Celia; everyone alive today felt the same, feeling fear and dread at the spectacle before them.

She had experience fighting Erebus's sculptures and had inwardly thought she could remain calm in the next battle.

But the Erebus she faced again surpassed her imagination.

'I was arrogant…'

Celia looked down at her trembling hands.

Eventually, she clenched her fists tightly, but the trembling didn't stop.

Only then did Celia realize her entire body was shaking.

All the hero candidates facing Erebus were trembling.

"Uaaaaaah."

Iliana, hiding behind the castle walls, shivered.

Durran gritted his teeth and glared with wide eyes, determined, but he too couldn't stop his body from shaking.

Future and past.

Everyone was frozen in fear.

'This won't do!'

Ar instinctively felt it.

If they remained frozen like this, Leisar's castle would be in danger.

The cat's instinct, a successor to a hero, keenly assessed the current situation.

It was when Ar took a breath to howl.

"Our cat! You're quite quick-witted, aren't you!"

"Cough?!"

Azonia, appearing from behind, slapped Ar on the back with a beaming smile.

Ar, choking, coughed violently.

At that sight, Azonia burst into laughter, scooped Ar into her arms, and rubbed her face all over his head.

"Let go, let me gooooo!"

Ar instinctively struggled, but Azonia didn't care.

"Nyaaak!"

Finally unable to bear it, Ar, terrified, managed to break free from Azonia.

"Why are you bothering the child?"

"It's an expression of affection."

Azonia, smiling brightly at Demian's words, looked around the castle walls.

Then, she opened her mouth.

"Hey! You brats!"

At her booming voice, everyone's gaze turned to Azonia.

"You're all trembling looking at that thing, aren't you?!"

Azonia yelled, glaring.

"You're too scared to move, right?!"

At that shout, the hero candidates bit their lips.

They wanted to retort, but they couldn't.

When everyone was despairing.

"Don't hang your heads! It's natural! Do you think I, and this pretty dwarf here, Demian, are not scared because we're corpses?!"

Azonia put her hands under Demian's armpits and lifted him.

Everyone stared blankly, and then Demian jabbed Azonia's temple with his elbow.

Azonia, releasing Demian, rubbed the spot and shouted.

"The important thing is that none of you are running away right now!"

Azonia spread her arms and clenched her fists.

"If you're not running away and are trying to fight! That's a courageous act! I!"

Azonia roared.

"As one of the founders of the Hero Academy, I am proud of you!"

Slowly, the students' trembling subsided.

"So lift your heads! Be a little braver! What's in front of you is undoubtedly a disaster that will destroy the world! But!"

Azonia pointed at Erebus with her finger.

"Don't forget that you are the legends who will defeat that disaster!"

Everyone's eyes turned to the great heroes.

"Lift your weapons! Squeeze out your courage! With that squeezed courage!"

Azonia raised her sword.

"You're writing a new legend! Just as the great heroes did, and as we did! Next, you will become the new legend!"

Grrr-!

Clang-!

The head of the Skeleton King, which had climbed onto the castle wall, was cut diagonally.

The students' morale soared in an instant with Azonia's speech.

Ar's eyes widened as he saw the students overcoming their fear of Erebus.

"Azonia-nim! You're a very good speaker! It's unexpected!"

"Is that a mouth that says 'unexpected'?"

"Eeeek!"

Azonia smiled brightly and pulled Ar's mouth.

After disciplining Ar, Azonia looked at the approaching Tartarus legion and said.

"I don't have the same abilities as Arion-nim."

Giving courage to people simply by existing is an absurd ability.

It requires strong charisma to capture people's attention and inspire others with one's courage.

Unfortunately, that was not an ability Azonia possessed.

Still, as a descendant of a hero.

Azonia thought of a way to give courage to people in her own way.

And that was through speeches.

"Well, you don't need to worry about these things because you resemble Arion-nim…"

"It's cool!"

Ar's eyes shone brightly.

"You give people courage with your words, like a black rabbit!"

"……"

Hearing Ar's words, Azonia looked at Leo's retreating back as he headed out to defeat Erebus.

'I see. That person also worked hard.'

"How can I do that! Teach me!"

To Ar's words, Azonia smiled a slightly pitying smile and patted Ar's head.

"It's hard for a fool to learn."

At those words, Ar didn't hesitate and bit Azonia's hand.

No matter how much he respected Azonia, Ar couldn't stand being constantly called a fool.

Dryana, watching that scene, said to Demian.

"Demian-nim."

"Why?"

"Don't you have anything to teach me?"

"No."

Demian said flatly.

Looking at Demian, Dryana grumbled softly.

"Stingy."

At those words, Demian hit Dryana on the head.

Lunnia thought, watching that scene.

'If I meet Seirune-nim, will I be like that too?'

She felt vaguely uneasy.

But then she shook her head.

'No. Seirune-nim and I will be different. Yes. It's certain. First, she'll dote on me. I purely respect Seirune-nim.'

Azonia, watching Lunnia, said.

"Demian."

"Why, are you calling?"

"What do you think will happen if she meets Seirune?"

Azonia asked, repeatedly tapping Ar's forehead, who was biting her hand.

Demian, who had just bonked Dryana on the forehead, said.

"Seirune will be incredibly jealous. Saying she was taught magic directly by Lunia-nim."

"Right? Seirune will torment her terribly, won't she?"

Azonia looked at Lunnia with pity.

***

Leo watched his friends running ahead and thought.

'I miss this.'

He never thought he would miss this time.

But what Leo felt was definitely nostalgia.

However, there was no time to dwell on such emotions.

Gooooooo-!

Erebus opened its mouth towards the great heroes.

Seeing that, Dhuvenno darted ahead of Arion and took out a massive shield.

Clang-!

Dhuvenno slammed his shield onto the ground and unleashed golden flames.

Fwoosh-!

The shield began to burn with golden flames.

"Leo!"

Lysina shouted towards the rear.

There was no time to dodge.

He had to be protected by Dhuvenno's shield.

But Leo raised his spiritual power instead of answering.

Fzzt-! Flash-!

A Pegasus appeared with pure white lightning.

-Kael… no, who are you?!

Albus looked surprised at the presence of the stranger who had summoned him and was riding on his back.

Leo stroked Albus's neck and said.

"I'll explain later, so speed up for now."

Fzzt-!

-…!

Pure white lightning shot from Leo's body.

It was the power of the Pegasus King.

Albus was surprised again when a stranger he'd never seen before not only summoned him but also wielded pure white lightning.

Flash-!

Leo's spiritual power and lightning enhanced Albus.

Realizing he had surpassed his limits, Albus flew away as a pure white flash.

Snatch-!

Leo wrapped his arms around Luna and Lysina's waists and shot up into the sky.

Flash-!

Glance- Dhuvenno, looking back, said.

"Your beast summoning skill is reaching a level close to Lysina's."

"……"

Kael did not answer and gripped the sword given by his future self tightly.

Fwoosh-!

"Amazingggg!"

Luna cheered, feeling the wind pressure in Kael's arms.

Lysina also looked surprised.

ROOOOOAR-!

At that moment, Erebus's breath narrowly grazed the three of them.

As they ascended to a high altitude, Lysina said.

"It's disadvantageous for us if this drags on."

"I know."

"Luna, prepare your magic."

They had already reached close proximity to Erebus.

At this distance, Luna's magic would reach Erebus.

"I'll protect you. Leo, get ready to cut Erebus with Kael."

Only Leo and Kael, who possessed the power of purity, had the power to destroy Erebus here.

At Lysina's words, Leo shook his head.

"No. An attack with enough power to defeat it in one go won't come out. Even if Luna lands a proper hit."

Even if its consciousness was gone, the summoned Erebus possessed more than 50% of its original power.

Their power was far from enough to destroy it instantly.

Nevertheless, there was no anxiety in Leo's eyes.

"You have a way, don't you?"

To Lysina's question, Leo took Luna's hand.

"Luna, do you remember Zero's magic array?"

"Yes."

"If I draw the Innocent array, can you draw the End array on top of it?"

At those words, Luna faltered.

"It's possible, but that would mean you'd have to bear my mana. Are you okay with that?"

"I'm fine."

Zero is fusion magic.

Theoretically, it can be combined with magic used by others.

Of course, that's just theory.

She would have to bear Luna's tremendous mana alone, and Luna would have to complete the magic of pure chaos by drawing complex magic arrays in her mind.

Even if she knew the answer, it was incredibly difficult to write down the solution process from scratch.

"Hmm… but this is too reckless. Even for me, if I make a slight mistake, you'll be in danger. Isn't there a safer way?"

Luna cringed.

If she made a mistake, this battle would be lost.

Moreover, Leo could be in great danger.

That fact weighed on Luna's shoulders.

"Luna."

"Yes?"

"I trust you."

"……"

"No matter what anyone says, you are the greatest genius mage I know."

At those words, Luna's ears began to twitch.

Luna avoided Leo's gaze for a moment, snorted, and declared confidently.

"Well, yeah. There's nothing I can't do, so let's give it a shot! If it fails, I'll just die, right?"

"Why would you die? There's no way you'll fail."

"Aaaaah."

At Leo's words filled with certainty, Luna blushed deeply and hid behind Lysina.

"Lysina. That's really bad for his heart."

At those words, Lysina glared at Leo.

Leo said to Lysina.

"Lysina. You'll be able to handle Albus and Elsie."

"What?"

Lysina didn't know it then, but by giving her the Dragon Heart, Lysina became subservient to Leo by contract.

Thanks to that, Leo could fulfill Lysina's vow without any cost.

This also meant that Lysina could fulfill Leo's vow.

'What is this… it's like… soulmates.'

Feeling the connection with Leo, Lysina's face blushed slightly.

Luna, watching that with a sullen expression, pushed Lysina.

"Lysina! Go command Arion and Dhuvenno!"

At those words, Lysina got on Albus's back.

Albus, having roughly grasped the situation, readily accepted Lysina as his rider.

Elsie, smiling brightly, climbed onto Lysina's head.

"Truly… I think we can win against that."

Lysina said, glaring at Erebus, and Leo chuckled.

"We have to win."

Leo reached into his ebony cloak.

And taking out his magic staff, he said.

"That's why I came."