Chapter 140
After leaving the Tower of the Gods, Leo walked through Barharloon, lost in thought.
‘It’s clear now—the reason the Hero Record was split wasn’t just to found the Hero Academy.’
Three thousand years ago.
When a fragment of Erebos was resurrected, the existence of the Hero’s World was revealed.
After subduing that fragment, the Hero Record was split into five parts.
Using the power of those records, Hero Academies were established for each race to train their own heroes.
Leo had always found this strange.
‘Was there really a need to divide the Hero Record into five?’
Moreover, during the process of splitting the records, many pages were lost.
A huge number of pages that should have inherited the power of the great heroes vanished, and even Kyle became a forgotten hero in the process.
On top of that, the page Leo found for himself was so damaged it was almost unrecognizable.
A truly devastating loss.
Seeing this, Leo realized the record hadn’t been split just to establish the Hero Academy.
‘There’s no way the founders of the Hero Academy wouldn’t have predicted the Hero Record getting damaged.’
Even if they didn’t know, they must have anticipated some side effects when dividing an intact Hero Record.
Yet they went through with it anyway.
That was why Leo had tried to investigate hidden history in the Grand Archives.
‘There’s no way something made by a god could be so badly damaged just by being split. There must be a group out there destroying the lost pages. It’s obvious—Tartarus.’
The reason there was almost nothing left of his own page was probably because Tartarus targeted only Kyle’s page.
Erebos was like a god to them, and Leo was the one who defeated that god… From Tartarus’s perspective, he was both a hated and feared enemy.
‘You can see it just by looking at Guardslone. The demons are erasing every trace of those who fought against them during the Age of Calamity.’
Now, the surface races only know of that era through old texts.
‘But Tartarus still has commanders who have lived since then. They know exactly where everything was.’
Leo narrowed his eyes, recalling the commanders of Tartarus.
‘But here’s another question… How can Tartarus even affect the Hero Record?’
The Hero Record was made by the gods.
No matter how powerful the commanders of Tartarus are, it should be impossible for them to tamper with it.
Leo stopped in his tracks.
‘For now, I’ll set aside these questions.’
The most important thing right now was conquering Luna’s world.
Leo looked at the Polium staff in his hand.
It was the magic staff Luna, his old friend, once used.
A staff crafted with the knowledge of a god—so powerful that even using it was extremely difficult.
It not only had an immense amplification effect but also contained tremendous magical power on its own.
Even archmages would struggle to wield it.
‘Luna handled it like it was nothing.’
Recalling how Luna used Polium, Leo cast a transformation spell on the staff.
Bzzzz—
Polium reacted to Leo’s magic and changed into a bracelet.
He slipped it onto his wrist.
‘To think the day would come when I’d actually use Polium.’
Letting out a hollow laugh, he headed for Akint’s study.
‘First, I need to get Haddin out of the underground prison. Then I need to find Lunia and Elena too.’
Leo remembered something regarding the conquest of Luna’s world.
As far as he knew, Star Magic had been completed right here in Barharloon.
Before the Age of Calamity, elves weren’t yet known as the race of magic.
But, being a race innately close to mana, elves had produced powerful mages since the Age of Gods.
Barharloon was where all that magical history came together.
Even though many High Elves had become corrupt, the legacy left behind by their truly noble predecessors remained untarnished.
Leo gazed up at the towering tree at the center of Barharloon.
A tree that no longer exists in today’s world.
The World Tree, cherished and nurtured by elves.
Luna, inheriting the legacy of countless elves, ultimately completed “Star Magic.”
‘In the end, it all connects across the distant past.’
The great legacy of the ancient elves passed to Luna.
The “Star Magic” she developed was passed down to today’s elves.
The will that had endured across generations never stopped being inherited.
‘If the objective in this world is for Luna to complete Star Magic, the raiders just need to help her from the sidelines.’
It might sound like a simple condition, but in most Hero’s Worlds, the “Prologue” stage is often straightforward.
Arriving at Akint’s study, Leo noticed something odd.
He called out to the girl hesitating outside.
“Luna.”
“Ah…!”
Luna turned to Leo in surprise.
“Sir Akint.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Today is Prince Ergen’s birthday.”
Leo paused at those words.
The birthday of King Ergen, the Elf King.
This was a day celebrated as a festival by all elves.
“There’s going to be a party at the World Tree Square… but, um… I didn’t get an invitation.”
Luna fidgeted with her hands, her face shadowed with uncertainty.
“Could you come with me? I really want to see His Highness.”
Leo felt a sense of unease.
‘What’s going on?’
Luna was an anomaly in Barharloon.
A genius girl who entered the academy purely by overwhelming skill and talent, not by bloodline.
Naturally, she had many enemies in Barharloon.
But there were also those who admired and respected Luna, supporting her.
Foremost among them was Akint, the person Leo was now possessing.
‘When Luna entered Barharloon, she used to brag about being sponsored by the Elf King.’
Even as a student, Luna was treated as an equal to the teachers.
Thanks to being allowed to focus solely on magic research, she completed the foundation of Star Magic here.
So how could Luna not have received an invitation to the Elf King’s birthday?
‘Did Luna lie to us?’
No, that’s impossible.
Leo knew Luna too well for that.
She would never lie just to protect her pride.
So what is it?
Could this be before she received the Elf King’s sponsorship?
‘No, Luna entered Barharloon at thirteen.’
Luna now looked like she was well into her mid-teens.
‘So what’s really going on?’
Leo was troubled.
“Luna.”
“Yes?”
“Why didn’t you get an invitation, when you’re sponsored by Prince Ergen?”
“That sponsorship ended a month ago.”
Luna’s voice was faint and hesitant.
Her shoulders slumped in discouragement.
Leo’s expression hardened at the sight.
‘History has changed.’
In the Hero’s World, history can change.
If the raiders alter events for the better, they can achieve results that surpass the original, but if they make things worse, they fail the conquest.
So it’s not strange for history to change in the Hero’s World.
‘But we only entered Luna’s world a few hours ago.’
The only event that could have changed anything was Haddin—inside Jera’s body—beating Hirkian to a pulp.
But that couldn’t possibly have altered history from a month ago.
‘Does a rampaging Hero’s World—the Hero Dungeon—twist history itself? I’ve never heard of that happening. Then what is it?’
As Leo puzzled over it, a voice flashed through his mind.
‘Leo. This world—or rather, the Hero Record—may have been tainted by darkness.’
The divine message from earlier.
Even if it was a false god, the power was real.
‘Darkness… Could it be?’
A chill ran down his spine as the thought occurred.
‘Could Tartarus have entered the Hero Dungeon?’
—
Locked in the underground prison, Haddin was blaming himself.
‘That was foolish.’
To insult the great Luna, who was practically the living history of the elves—he had let his emotions get the better of him.
In a Hero Dungeon, every action must be careful and deliberate.
But his emotions had taken over.
And this was the result.
‘Sigh. How embarrassing. To show such a disgraceful side to a first-year, even if they’re from another academy.’
Haddin took a deep breath and looked around.
‘Even for a prison, it’s so filthy.’
Even if it’s meant for criminals, it was still a place that held fellow elves.
For it to be in such a state—
‘The distant past really is different.’
Haddin felt a wave of culture shock.
‘There’s a lot to report to Seiren when I get back.’
As he imagined what he’d say after conquering the dungeon—
Creak—thunk!
The sound of the prison door opening.
Step—step—
Two girls entered, their steps oddly lifeless. Haddin looked at them curiously.
It was clear at a glance that they were half-elves.
But their clothes were ragged.
“Who are you…?”
“What do you mean…? We’re slaves.”
“Slaves? Why?”
Haddin asked, visibly flustered.
“That’s a strange question. Aren’t all half-elves slaves?”
The half-elf girl answered flatly, her face showing no life at all.
Haddin was shocked.
‘Slaves? Did something that low exist back then?’
Discrimination against mixed blood still existed in his time.
But even then, half-elves—who shared the blood of the race—were never treated as slaves.
Yet in this era, elves with mixed blood weren’t even considered people.
It was just an obvious fact.
The wall of incomprehensible values made Haddin’s body tremble.
‘Was this really our history? Did our elves keep slaves?’
As Haddin shuddered with disgust, the other half-elf girl tilted her head.
Then, someone else entered the underground prison.
Step—step—
The new arrival was heading straight for Haddin’s cell.
The half-elf slave who usually brought Haddin his food quickly moved aside.
The other girl reacted too slowly and failed to get out of the way.
Step—!
The man stopped.
A high elf with beautiful white hair and blue eyes—a noble presence—glanced down at the slave girl in front of him.
And then—
Wham—!
“Ugh?”
Without hesitation, he kicked her.
She crashed into the bars, gasping for breath.
The other girl’s face went white.
“E-En!”
Panicked, she rushed to her friend, who had been acting oddly all day.
“Slave education really is lacking.”
Wham—!
“Guh!”
The white-haired elf exhaled with boredom and kicked her again.
Haddin’s eyes blazed at the sight.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
The white-haired elf, Sarman, smirked.
“She’s just a slave, isn’t she?”
Step—!
“Urgh…”
Sarman stepped on the slave’s head and sneered.
“Or is it that you can’t accept that your ancestors did things this vile?”
“What did you say?”
Haddin’s face hardened at Sarman’s words.
“However you got in here… you dog from Seiren.”
Fwoooom—!
Dark magic welled up from Sarman’s hand.
Crunch—!
His arm transformed into a monstrous limb.
“You will die here.”
“Tartarus?”
Haddin’s eyes widened in horror as he tried to summon Aura.
But the restraints on his arms blocked him from fully unleashing it.
Destroying them wouldn’t be hard, but the slightest delay could prove fatal.
‘I need to defend myself and escape—’
Crunch—!
“Guh?”
Blood spattered. A cry of pain.
“…So it was you, Haddin.”
The slave girl Sarman had kicked stood up with a smile.
Her eyes gleamed with pink magic.
Haddin stared at her in shock.
“Elena?”
“And what is with that pathetic look?”