Chapter 144
Sid felt chills run down his spine when he saw Leo’s eyes.
‘What’s with those eyes?’
There was no emotion in Leo’s gaze.
No hostility toward demons, no fear—none of the feelings a normal person would have.
Just utter calm.
At most, there was only a faint trace of disgust, like someone clearing garbage off the street.
He had never seen eyes like that before.
Even those called heroes never looked at him like this.
For a moment, Sid was overwhelmed by Leo’s murderous intent and felt genuine fear.
Regaining his senses, Sid realized he was sweating cold.
“What exactly do you think you can do?”
With a sneer, Sid quickly regained his composure.
“This world is completely under our control. So you figured out we exist—so what? What could you possibly do?”
“I can do more than you think.”
Sid’s face twisted as he watched Leo’s icy smile.
‘Should I just kill him right here?’
He considered it for a moment, but quickly glanced around.
‘Too many eyes watching.’
He was currently inside the body of Barharloon’s vice principal.
He had ruled the academy from the shadows for a long time.
It was true that he could manipulate all of Barharloon.
But that was only true behind the scenes.
He couldn’t openly use his power in front of others.
Erebos and Tartarus had always been hostile to the gods and surface races.
It was the same even before the Age of Calamity.
If his identity was exposed here, everything they’d worked for would go up in smoke.
Leo saw right through him and acted accordingly.
He couldn’t use power in public.
He couldn’t even use authority to suppress Akint without a reason.
That’s why Leo had declared war in public.
With a cold look, Leo turned his back on Sid.
Sid, glaring after him, curled his lips in a sneer.
‘You won’t be able to do anything.’
They had prepared for this for a long time.
‘You’ll get to see your beloved great hero helplessly burn to nothing!’
Tartarus’s goal wasn’t just to ruin Luna’s world.
It was to burn it down completely.
So that no power could ever be inherited again!
Sid shivered with delight as he imagined that face twisted in despair.
‘I’ll be the one to sever your neck as you despair, watching the great hero burn!’
But no matter how Sid’s eyes flashed with madness, Leo ignored him.
He simply walked toward Luna.
‘This world will be cleared the moment Luna lays the foundation for [Star Magic].’
Leo watched as Luna finished greeting the princess and approached.
‘But it must be completed by Luna’s power alone.’
[Star Magic] was literally the creation of something from nothing.
A completely new law of magic that had never existed before.
It could only be completed by a single person’s pure strength.
If anyone else helped, it would no longer be magic created by Luna, but magic completed with help—and would lose its brilliance.
“Luna. Did you speak with the princess?”
“Yes! But she seems very different now.”
“Different?”
“Yeah. She used to dislike me, but now she smiled at me.”
At her words, Leo glanced toward the princess.
Most of the elves at the party had already finished greeting her.
There were only a few left in line.
Leo’s eyes sparkled as he lined up to greet the princess.
Soon, his turn came. Leo bowed his head.
“Akint greets the princess.”
“Nice to meet you, Akint.”
“By the way, Your Highness, do you know anything about Lumene?”
Leo, on his knees, looked up at Sergia with a smile.
At that, her eyes changed for a brief moment.
“Yes. I do. I’ve heard of it before. Do you know anything about Seiren, Akint?”
“Of course I do.”
After answering that much, Leo stepped back with a smile.
To outsiders, the conversation would have sounded strange.
In fact, those around them looked at Leo curiously.
But to the two of them, it was an effective code to confirm each other’s identities.
‘No one in this era would know about the hero academies of the future.’
Returning to Luna, Leo thought,
‘So Lunia is the princess. That might make things easier.’
Meanwhile, Lunia’s eyes sparkled as she watched Leo’s back.
‘That’s definitely Leo.’
It could be Elena, but from his tone and aura, it was Leo.
Lunia took a deep breath.
‘I need to tell Leo about Erebos.’
As she thought this,
The music in the hall stopped.
At the same time, today’s protagonist, Elf King Ergen, appeared at the entrance.
All the elves in the hall knelt respectfully.
“Congratulations on your birthday.”
“Congratulations!”
Ergen smiled at the high elves’ congratulations.
“Thank you for gathering to celebrate my birthday… I appreciate you all for brightening this day. Please, don’t mind me—just enjoy the party tonight.”
With that, Ergen took the seat of honor.
The elves at the party lined up in front of him.
Music resumed and the party started again.
Luna was taking deep breaths in a corner.
“You seem nervous. That’s not like you,” Leo said.
“Well, this is the moment I find out whether or not Prince Ergen will support me again!”
Luna clenched her fists as she spoke.
She had come to the party to present her research and seek support from the Elf King.
She’d been isolated, but had done everything she could to overcome it.
“Things might get a little easier,” Leo said.
“Huh?”
Luna looked puzzled.
Then she followed Leo’s gaze and her eyes widened.
Lunia was walking toward them.
Luna bowed her head politely.
As Luna did so, Lunia took a deep breath and spoke to Leo.
“Would you like to dance?”
Elves, past and present, have always loved music and dance.
It was part of their culture to dance together at parties.
So inviting someone to dance was nothing unusual.
“It would be an honor.”
Leo smiled softly and led Lunia to the center of the hall.
The two began to dance to the music.
“You really are Leo, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, Lunia.”
Lunia sighed in relief at Leo’s answer.
“How much do you know about this world?”
“That it’s before the Age of Calamity, and it’s Luna’s world.”
“I figured out that much, too. Any idea what the clear condition is?”
“I do.”
“What is it?”
“Luna has to create [Star Magic].”
“I thought so.”
Hearing that, Lunia nodded.
“And there’s one more thing.”
“Hm?”
“Tartarus is here in this world.”
Lunia’s expression stiffened slightly at that.
“They’re in this very hall, too.”
Lunia’s grip tightened on Leo’s hand as they danced.
“You mean Tartarus from the past?”
“No. Outsiders, like us, have entered this world.”
Lunia’s face grew tense.
“That makes sense.”
“That makes sense? Did you find something out too?”
Leo looked at Lunia, puzzled at how quickly she accepted it.
There had never been a demon invasion in the [Hero’s World] before.
It was an earth-shattering event.
Yet Lunia showed not a hint of surprise—only understanding.
Leo was sure Lunia knew something he didn’t.
When Leo asked, Lunia took a deep breath.
“Leo, just listen—and don’t be shocked.”
“What is it?”
“In this world… Erebos is here.”
At Lunia’s trembling voice, Leo couldn’t process her words for a moment.
“Erebos is here?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw it myself.”
As they danced, Lunia’s hand squeezed Leo’s.
Her body, which had only just calmed after seeing Luna, started to tremble again.
“Lunia.”
At Leo’s call, Lunia looked up.
There wasn’t much height difference between their real bodies, but right now, there was a clear gap.
Looking up at him, Lunia saw Leo smile.
“It’s okay.”
It wasn’t the voice of the Leo she knew.
It was the voice of a figure from the past she didn’t know.
But the strength in that voice was Leo’s.
Just as it had been when she saw Luna moments before, her fear and anxiety vanished.
Leo could feel Lunia’s trembling subside.
“Will you tell me everything?”
—
“This war of attrition is so boring,” Elena muttered with a bored look, waving her finger.
Crackle—!
Blue lightning shot out in all directions.
Bzzzzzt—!
Gwaaaah!
The electrified Skeleton Knights shrieked.
Snap—!
Thud—!
With a snap of her fingers, the Skeleton Knights crumbled to dust.
The alley was literally a graveyard.
Undead kept pouring in without end.
Not just the numbers—the types were diverse.
From low-ranked undead to high-ranked ones.
It was a true nest.
Grrr!
A ghoul emerged from the depths of the alley.
But it wasn’t an ordinary ghoul.
It wore armor and carried crude weapons.
“Corpse soldier.”
Elena wrinkled her nose at the stench.
Haddin gripped his sword tighter.
A gentle breeze blew the stench away.
The ghoul’s stench was laced with poison.
Of course, to experts like Elena and Haddin, it had no effect.
But right now, they were with Merin.
By now, Merin was too involved to be sent away.
‘If she’s discovered, she might be in real danger.’
Elena gently stroked terrified Merin’s hair.
She was, after all, a person from the past.
There was no real reason to protect someone who didn’t even exist anymore.
But neither Elena nor Haddin left Merin behind.
No matter how great a hero, they couldn’t save everyone in the world.
But at the very least, they had to protect those struggling to live right before their eyes.
That was the duty of a hero candidate.
Even if it was someone who had already vanished in the past.
‘Haddin probably thinks that way. He’s stubborn like that.’
Taking her hand off Merin’s head, Elena pointed at the ghouls.
Bzzzzt—!
Particles of light formed at her fingertip.
The reason Elena protected Merin was simple.
It was how she’d been taught.
Flash—!
A beam of white light burst forth and blew away the corpse soldiers.
‘And because she had the power to protect them.’
Step, step—
Elena walked ahead, twirling her hair.
“This is getting annoying.”
Irritation flickered in her eyes.
“Maybe I should just wipe out this filthy alley.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“If you use magic, the entire area will be destroyed.”
“Hmm. Who cares if a cesspit like this gets wiped out?”
“Hmm—Not very heroic of you.”
Click—click—
A seductive voice echoed from deeper in the alley.
With the sound of high heels, an elf girl emerged from the darkness.
But both Elena and Haddin recognized her as a fellow student in uniform.
“Finally decided to show yourself?” Elena said, looking amused.
“Such rude language. ‘Show yourself’—what am I, a dog?” the girl sneered.
At that, Elena’s eyes widened and she gave a look of mock pity.
“Oh my, I must have given you the wrong impression. Did you think you were at least a dog? I was thinking more like a cockroach…”
“What?”
“At least dogs are cute. You’re nothing but a disgusting bug. A cockroach suits you.”
“Does that girl have a rag in her mouth…!”
The necromancer’s face twisted with rage.
But soon she smiled coolly.
“Say whatever you want. You’ll be dead soon.”
“No matter how gross, a cockroach is still just a cockroach. Have you ever seen anyone killed by a bug?”
Elena smiled sweetly, and the necromancer snorted.
“No, you’ll die.”
The necromancer smiled coldly.
“Soon, the god will awaken.”