Chapter 118
“Do you know me?”
Arron looked at the unfamiliar boy with a slightly bewildered expression.
“I do.”
Leo nodded at the sight.
He wanted to talk more.
There were so many things he wanted to say.
But right now, the most important thing was to awaken the hero standing before him.
And that was never difficult for Leo, who had spent so many years fighting at his side.
“Your siblings are in danger.”
“What?”
Arron’s confused face changed in an instant at Leo’s words.
“Tonight, your siblings might all die. They need your strength.”
Arron turned with a hardened face, looking toward the southern edge—where his home was.
He could clearly sense something ominous.
Rumble—!
[Aura] surged violently.
The gentle golden eyes narrowed, pupils thinning vertically.
His gaze grew sharp, his muscles tensed and swelled.
Fangs protruded.
Arron stepped onto the railing, ready to leap at once.
Then, suddenly, he looked back at Leo.
“Have we… met before?”
“Yeah.”
“When?”
“In the not-so-distant future.”
For a moment, Arron looked puzzled.
“This isn’t the time to worry about that.”
“Ah!”
Hearing Leo’s words, Arron launched off the railing.
Crack—!
Arron shot out at a speed too fast to see, and Leo smiled as he watched his back.
‘Running for someone precious hasn’t changed, then or now.’
—
Southern edge of Reysar.
A man and a woman appeared in the place known as the cursed land.
“Why do I have to come back to such a disgusting place?”
Even Levaiathan, despite being the real power behind things, couldn’t just order anyone to kill the residents of a place where a plague had broken out.
Especially if it turned out there really was no plague, things could get troublesome.
That’s why only a handful of completely loyal subordinates had been sent.
“Incompetent fools.”
Since the result was a failure, Levaiathan had no choice but to come here personally.
A little while later.
Levaiathan arrived in the clearing.
And when she saw Ar waiting there, as if expecting her, her eyes twitched.
“Ha, you really got beaten by a brat like that?”
“If you don’t want to end up like your lackeys, you’d better get lost now.”
“How arrogant. Do you know who you’re talking to?”
Levaiathan curled her lips into a sneer.
“I will be the lord of Reysar. A hero who will be praised by all people for generations.”
“Don’t make me laugh. In the future, no one will ever praise someone like you.”
“What?”
“You won’t be remembered in history. Oh, actually, you will.”
Ar sneered viciously.
“In the Age of Calamity, there were trash like you.”
[Hero Record] is the path of heroes recorded by the gods.
Everything that happens in the [Hero’s World] is a ‘truth’ guaranteed in the name of the gods.
With the discovery of new [Hero Records], old history books could be discarded and new ones written.
If Leo and Ar clear this world, Levaiathan, a person from 5,000 years ago, will be recorded in history.
And people of later generations will forever curse his name.
Levaiathan’s face turned red at Ar’s words.
“You dare!”
In a rage, Levaiathan charged at Ar.
Boom—!
Suddenly, Levaiathan gripped a huge greatsword and swung with terrifying force.
Each swing was so deadly it could kill with a graze.
But Ar’s eyes tracked the sword’s path precisely.
Whoosh—!
“…!”
“All power, no technique.”
“Grr!”
Ar taunted from atop the blade, and Levaiathan released [Magic Power] into the sword.
Crackle—!
Blue sparks flew.
But before the magic struck, Ar leapt back, putting distance between them.
“You don’t seem like a warrior. That weapon is wasted on you.”
Levaiathan, able to freely use powerful magic weapons from the castle’s armory, was decked out in all sorts of magic equipment.
But that was all.
Ar, who had trained from a young age with every kind of ability in preparation to become a hero, was not someone who relied only on weapons could defeat.
“A magician pretending to be a warrior.”
Ar narrowed her eyes, seeing straight through Levaiathan.
Just as Ar said, close combat relied purely on the power of magic equipment.
Levaiathan was a pure magician.
So her skills with weapons were lacking.
“Pathetic!”
All for show, nothing underneath.
“Who are you calling pathetic? You filthy mutt!”
Levaiathan spat.
“You call me trash? I am a hero! I will rule Reysar as a great hero!”
Murderous intent surged in Ar’s eyes.
“Don’t you dare use the word ‘great hero’!”
All the fur on Ar’s body stood on end in rage.
She compressed [Aura] into her toes.
Boom—!
Ar’s body, packed with explosive force, shot toward Levaiathan like an arrow.
“Ugh! R-Reflection Shield!”
Boom—!
Ar’s kick slammed into Levaiathan’s protection spell.
Crack—!
A crack spread across the wall of [Magic Power] Levaiathan had created.
Levaiathan’s face went white at the sight.
But she didn’t break through.
Levaiathan’s shield, powered by her full [Magic Power], was solid.
“Uraaahhhhh!”
Feeling her strength rebounding through the spell, Ar roared and used [The Hero’s Breath].
The [Aura] gathered in her toes surged explosively.
If she let the force rebound, she could avoid major damage and prepare for another attack.
But Ar didn’t retreat.
She couldn’t forgive this traitor for calling himself a great hero.
She sent the rebounding force right back with sheer willpower.
Pain, as if something massive was crushing her right foot, shot through her.
But Ar ignored it, bared her fangs, and kicked out.
‘I can’t rest until I kick this bastard in the face!’
Crack—boom!
“Kehehk?!”
Ar’s kick landed squarely on Levaiathan’s body.
Levaiathan was smashed through multiple walls, sent flying helplessly.
“Huff. Huff.”
Ar panted, pain flaring in her right foot.
Clap—clap—clap—
“Not bad. No, impressive.”
Ar turned to look at the woman.
“My mother was right. The heroes of the surface are still dangerous.”
“Hmph! I’ll send you flying too, so come at me!”
Ar swung her foot in the air and growled.
The woman laughed as she watched Ar.
“Oh my, do you really think you can? Little kitten?”
Crack—! Crackle! Crunch!
As the woman shed her human skin and her body grew enormous, Ar’s face hardened.
“Wouldn’t it be lucky if you don’t get eaten by me instead?”
A demon with the lower body of a massive spider and the upper body of a human sneered at Ar.
A grotesque, repulsive mouth beneath her waist opened and licked its lips.
“D-demon?”
Ar’s face turned white.
An overwhelming terror pressed down on her.
“How? Why don’t you smell like a demon?”
The demon before her had no trace of a demon’s stench.
Instead, there was the scent of a lush forest.
As Ar retreated, the woman—Talatunia—smiled.
“Who knows. Maybe it’s because I chewed up the Fairy King’s arm?”
Daughter of the Monster Queen Sillatna.
Spider Princess Talatunia.
She learned that thanks to the Fairy King’s ring, her demonic presence was erased, allowing her to infiltrate the refugee city undetected.
She also knew that the sword Shatten, which Agon had used ten years ago in the battle against the Heroic Alliance, was now inhabited by a [Great Spirit].
This greedy demon, who devoured the Fairy King’s arm and the ring along with it, was using Levaiathan to devour the [Great Spirit].
“Well then.”
Grotesque spider legs lifted.
“Die.”
Whoosh—!
A giant spider leg stabbed at Ar like a massive spike.
Crack—!
Suddenly, a shadow surged up in front of Ar and blocked the attack.
“So you finally stepped out, Shatten.”
Talatunia licked her lips.
The Shadow Spirit, Elci spoke as she watched Talatunia.
“Shatten is just the name of the sword I dwell in. My name is Elci.”
“Names don’t matter. What matters is that I’m going to eat you.”
Rip—!
Talatunia lunged, jaws wide to bite into Elci.
Crack—!
Suddenly, Talatunia’s body froze.
With a scowl, Talatunia looked down at her own shadow, which was being gripped.
Expressionless, The Shadow Spirit, Elci unleashed her power.
“Huh?”
Deprived of her shadow, Talatunia’s front leg trembled and rose.
Whoosh—!
Crack—!
Then, without hesitation, Talatunia’s own leg stabbed through her own neck.
And that wasn’t all.
Other spider legs twisted at impossible angles.
With her shadow seized, Talatunia was literally like a puppet on strings.
And the one pulling those strings was none other than The Shadow Spirit, Elci.
“Nothing’s changed in ten years, Spider Princess.”
The Shadow Spirit, Elci, who had once defeated Agon and Talatunia, smiled sweetly and flicked her hand.
Crunch—!
Talatunia felt her vision invert.
Her neck had been gruesomely twisted.
Blinking, Talatunia burst into crazed laughter.
“Kyaahahahahahaha! That’s fun! That’s fun!”
Crunch! Crack! Snap!
Legs that had twisted at horrific angles instantly healed.
Her pierced and twisted body returned to normal.
The power of the spider princess, who could destroy even nations, came with near-infinite life force.
Even Elci was stunned by how quickly Talatunia recovered.
Wham—!
“Kh!”
In an instant, Talatunia’s front leg pierced through Elci.
Elci’s face twisted in pain.
Crack-crack-crack!
Fragments of darkness burst from the wound and shredded Talatunia’s body to pieces.
Her form was torn apart so violently it was unrecognizable.
“How’s that? It’s different from ten years ago, isn’t it?”
With her head flying and only her mouth left, Talatunia sneered.
“Do you really think an immature [Great Spirit] without a contractor can beat me, Sillatna’s daughter, alone?”
“Ghk!”
“Shall I see what a [Great Spirit] tastes like?”
Rip—!
Even as she was being brutally torn apart, Talatunia greedily opened her mouth wide.
With her infinite life force, Talatunia was like an immortal catastrophe.
Just as she was about to bite into Elci’s neck—
Whoosh—crack!
Ar flew in and kicked Talatunia under the jaw.
Twisted at a bizarre angle, Talatunia scowled.
“Little kitten.”
Ar was gripped by terror, but her fighting spirit blazed again.
“That coward saved the world.”
For some reason, Leo’s voice echoed in her mind.
‘If I’m going to follow in the hero’s footsteps, I can’t cower here!’
Gritting her teeth, Ar prepared to launch another attack at Talatunia.
Thud!
“Kh!”
Suddenly, her head spun from a sharp blow.
One of the spider legs had struck Ar in the head.
“I’ll save you for dessert.”
Sneering, Talatunia tossed Ar aside, blood streaming from her head, and turned her attention back to Elci.
“Ugh…!”
As Ar struggled to rise, a voice called out from behind.
“Are you alright?”
“Huh?”
Ar hurriedly looked up.
And her eyes grew wide.
“You gave it your all.”
Ar’s body trembled.
It wasn’t the same appearance she remembered.
More accurately, he looked younger.
But she knew instantly.
The person from the fairy tales who had given her courage as a child.
The hero she had always admired.
“Arron.”