Chapter 169
The demon of Tartarus glared coldly at Leo.
“Are you here to interfere with me again?”
“That’s how it turned out.”
Fwoosh—
Flames of Aura surged from Leo’s body.
The demon reached out his hand at the sight.
Ziiiing—!
A blood-red magic circle appeared in the air.
Leo’s eyes twitched as he saw it.
In an instant, his vision was cut off.
As darkness fell, Leo crouched low.
‘A curse.’
A curse that blocks vision.
Leo sharpened his senses.
‘He cast a curse in a mere instant, without even giving me time to react.’
Compared to his previous life, Leo is more vulnerable to curses.
It couldn’t be helped.
In terms of potential, Leo now far surpasses Kyle from his past life.
Someday, Leo would surely become stronger than he ever was.
But not yet.
Even if his potential is higher, Leo’s current power falls short of his past life’s overwhelming strength.
So, if high-ranking demons from Tartarus were determined to cast a curse, Leo could only fall victim to it.
But before the curse took hold,
Leo could identify what kind of curse it was—even if only for the briefest instant.
That came not from power, but from ‘experience.’
And that experience gave him strength even greater than raw power.
But despite all that, Leo was instantly caught by the curse.
‘Is this demon specialized in curses? No, even so, this is almost on the level of a Legion Commander.’
With his vision blocked, Leo summoned his Aura.
‘My other senses are still working.’
His sense of touch, smell, and hearing responded keenly.
And with his Aura, Leo stimulated every nerve in his body.
‘[Hypersense].’
A skill of the hero Arron that maximizes one’s senses.
[Hypersense] is powerful not just for scouting, but also in combat.
Arron, having trained it to the extreme, could even predict the future.
‘I’m not at that level yet, though.’
Veins bulged on Leo’s temple.
Whoosh—
He sensed magical presence from all sides.
The trajectory of the attacks naturally mapped out in Leo’s mind.
Whoosh—!
Leo dodged a magic shot aimed at his head.
Boom—!
“No way!”
The demon’s eyes went wide.
To him, it looked like Leo had ‘seen’ the attack and dodged it.
Flash! Crashcrashcrash—!
Leo avoided the crimson beams of magic shooting at him from all directions.
That wasn’t all.
He charged straight toward the demon’s direction with pinpoint accuracy.
‘He isn’t affected by the curse?’
The demon stared at Leo for a moment, then quickly retreated.
‘A mere first-year hero candidate dodged my curse. I really have fallen.’
The demon mocked himself, but stayed calm.
‘Even if he’s the contractor of Pegasus, if the curse doesn’t work, he must have some hidden ability.’
If he carelessly pressed the attack and got caught off guard, it’d be all over.
He’d staked everything on this assault on Lumene—there was no turning back.
‘Caution. Absolute caution.’
Meanwhile, Leo—having forced the demon back even with his vision blocked—retrieved the sword that had pierced the demon’s hand and turned around.
‘He’s careful. This one must be a high-level demon.’
Even as the contractor of Pegasus, any normal first-year would let their guard down, but Leo showed no such sign.
The demon’s eyes twitched as he saw Leo’s face.
‘This brat still can’t see. Then how is he moving?’
No matter how promising a hero candidate, he was still unrefined.
So the demon thought he could toy with him as long as the curse worked.
But this first-year was countering every attack as if blindness meant nothing.
‘Even the heroes whose names are inscribed in the [Hero Record] weren’t like this!’
Long ago.
This demon had buried countless heroes in history, so he was thoroughly creeped out.
‘What is this brat…?’
Shivering, a conversation with Sillatna replayed in his mind.
‘If you run into Leo Plov, don’t let your guard down. There’s something off about that one.’
‘Is that because he’s All Class?’
‘Yes.’
‘I don’t get it. All Class or not, he’s just a first-year brat. Even if I’ve lost my power, I’m a Legion Commander of Tartarus. And you’re telling me to be careful of some punk who isn’t even Rhys Zerdinger? That’s an insult.’
‘All Class is that special.’
‘You strutted around as the ruler of Tartarus, but now you’re worried about a first-year who just happens to resemble a great hero who vanished five thousand years ago? Disappointing.’
‘Think what you like. But don’t forget, that brat has turned the impossible into reality again and again.’
There are currently nine living Legion Commanders.
Among them, the Monster Queen, Necromancer King, and Giant King—survivors from before the Age of Calamity—are in another league.
Not simply because of their age.
They survived while all the other Legion Commanders from that era were destroyed by the great heroes.
The great King of Wisdom Lysinas, Erebos, and the three great Legion Commanders.
Lysinas gambled by prioritizing the subjugation of Erebos over the three great Legion Commanders, knowing that she couldn’t guarantee the subjugation force would remain intact after defeating all three.
In the end, the gamble paid off, but because of it, the three great Legion Commanders remain terrorizing the world five thousand years later.
Back then, he laughed at Sillatna for being cautious, but now he finally understood why she warned him about Leo for being All Class.
Now he knew.
This first-year was on a different level.
‘He cannot be allowed to live.’
It was clear this one would become a massive threat to all of Tartarus.
‘No matter how well he’s dodging, there’s a limit if his vision is blocked.’
“Leo Plov, take it as an honor to die by the hand of a Legion Commander.”
“Legion Commander?”
Leo’s eyes twitched.
Whoooooosh—!
The shadows around them turned crimson and surged at Leo all at once.
Even with his vision blocked, Leo’s hypersense let him picture the power and trajectory of every attack in his mind.
‘This is tough to handle without seeing.’
At that thought, the curse blocking his sight suddenly lifted.
As focus returned to his eyes, the Legion Commander’s eyes widened.
‘He broke it that fast?’
There are two main ways to break a curse.
One is to overpower it with overwhelming resistance.
The other is to analyze the curse formula binding your body and dispel it.
Either way,
Neither is easy.
‘What is this guy…?’
The more he saw, the more shocked he became.
Fwoooosh—!
Leo unleashed his Aura.
Crashcrashcrash—!
He batted away attacks with his flaming Aura and dodged the rest with swift movements.
His hypersense had sharpened his kinetic vision, making it easy to dodge.
Tap—
Landing on the ground, Leo was met by the Legion Commander’s question.
“How did you break the curse?”
“Curses that disrupt the senses twist the flow of mana in your body, right? Just reset the mana flow, and it’s easy.”
The Legion Commander narrowed his eyes as Leo smiled.
“You can’t break it that quickly with that method. What trick did you use?”
“Trick? Nothing like that. I just brute-forced it from start to finish.”
Leo tapped his head.
“I’ve broken plenty of curses even more complicated than this.”
“Impossible! No demon uses a stronger or more complex curse than me, Kigors, the King of Curses!”
“Kigors? King of Curses? Kigors?”
The King of Curses, Kigors.
A Legion Commander defeated decades ago by Sword Star Kalian.
“Claiming to be a Legion Commander who vanished long ago? Tartarus really must be desperate.”
“Think what you want. You’ll die here anyway.”
Leo frowned at Kigors’s words.
‘If you’re really a Legion Commander, your presence alone should be crushing.’
Legion Commanders are literal walking disasters—nightmares only defeated by the combined strength of countless heroes recorded in the [Hero Record].
‘But his sense for battle is definitely at a Legion Commander’s level.’
It was only Leo’s overwhelming experience with Tartarus—especially with Legion Commanders—that let him react so quickly. Anyone else would’ve died to those attacks without ever standing a chance.
‘If this really is Kigors, maybe the principal failed to fully defeat him.’
Leo gripped his sword.
‘Let’s treat him as a Legion Commander.’
Leo lowered his stance.
Kigors grinned at the sight.
“I’ll show you the true terror of a Legion Commander.”
Whoooooosh—!
A black rift split open in the air.
Out poured all manner of monstrous abominations.
Leo’s eyes narrowed.
A Legion Commander’s power isn’t just about personal might—the ability to spawn demons is even more threatening.
They devour living beings and accumulate energy, creating more demons.
Like a gate to hell, lesser demons poured out.
Leo summoned his Spirit Power.
Whoosh—!
A pure white summoning circle appeared and Ahti emerged.
“Ahti. Take care of the demons.”
[Yes, Master!]
Crackle—!
White sparks burst from Ahti’s body.
Crackkk—!
Charging in, Ahti began trampling the demons flooding out.
“You fool! Using your strongest attack just to deal with the small fry?!”
Kigors sneered and charged at Leo.
Whoooooosh! Squirm—squirm—!
Multiple eyes sprouted on his body as he lost all human form.
Leo narrowed his eyes at the sight of the massive lump of flesh.
No longer human.
But as he cast off his human shape, his black magic surged even more violently.
Whoooooosh—!
He raised an arm wrapped in crimson-black magic.
As expected from the so-called King of Curses, the arm was covered in countless deadly curses, each enough to kill with a touch.
Dodging was impossible—the entire area was filled with curses.
“You cannot dodge! Even if you block it, you’ll die!”
Kigors cackled with delight.
“Hey.”
“…!”
At Leo’s relaxed smile, Kigors sensed something was off.
“I bet the Necromancer King would have said something to you.”
“What?”
“That Legion Commanders shouldn’t be so reckless.”
“How do you—!”
Long ago.
As Leo echoed the words of the Necromancer King, Kigors’s many eyes went wide.
“How—!”
“I just had a feeling.”
Fwoooosh—!
A crimson summoning circle appeared before Leo.
From it emerged a flaming bird, and Kigors’s face filled with shock.
“Phoenix?”
“For someone who only plays with corpses, you seem surprisingly concerned with dignity.”
Recalling the Necromancer King, Leo twisted his smile and summoned both Aura and Mana.
Fwoooosh—!
The Scarlet Flame of Zerdinger.
The blazing fire of Lunda.
Fiora was cloaked in flames made from the Phoenix’s fire as a base.
Kaaaaaaaaw—!
Fiora flapped her wings, shining like the sun.
“Do you really think you can stop a Legion Commander with just a Phoenix’s fire?”
Fwoooosh—!
Fiora’s flames burned the Legion Commander’s body down to its remains.
As Kigors writhed in agony, his body only grew more grotesque.
Leo grimaced.
‘Not even this is enough to kill him?’
Whoooosh! Boom—!
Kigors’s fist struck Leo.
Crash—!
Leo was sent flying, slamming back-first into the doors of the Hall of Heroes.
Boom! Crack—!
He crashed right through the doors and into the wall.
Crack—!
Marble shards tumbled down.
Leo felt his mind grow hazy but ignored it.
‘Fiora’s flames burned away all the curses.’
Flap—flap—
Fiora, now back in her red chick form, hurriedly perched on Leo’s shoulder.
Chirp?
“I’m fine.”
Whoosh—!
Leo pushed himself out of the wall and landed on the floor.
His skull throbbed.
It was only physical damage.
Even that was halved thanks to his quick deployment of [Aura Armor].
But even with that defense, the impact was intense.
‘Even weakened, a Legion Commander is still a Legion Commander.’
Leo shook his head to clear it.
Though he’d attended Lumene for over a semester and used the Great Library countless times, this was his first time inside the Hall of Heroes.
Other students might have been interested in the relics of heroes, but Leo had never cared much for them.
Leo lifted his head to look at Kigors.
Though reduced to ashes, Kigors was crawling toward a certain sword.
“At last…! At last!”
‘What is he—?’
As Kigors approached a certain ‘rusty sword’ with an ecstatic expression, Leo’s eyes widened.
Though the blade was chipped and rusted, it radiated incredible Mana.
Even as a worn blade, it looked worthy of being called a hero’s weapon.
But what surprised Leo wasn’t the sword’s power.
It was the ornament engraved at the end of its hilt.
Though the sword was old, the ornament shone as if new.
It looked as though the craftsman cared more about that ornament than the sword itself, so beautiful was the decoration.
And Leo had seen this sword before.
‘Dweno’s sword?’