Chapter 205
The atmosphere inside Seiren’s school grounds was grim.
And for good reason.
Everyone here was a civilian.
They were moved by tales of heroes and thrilled by their feats—but they themselves were not heroes.
They weren’t even hero cadets.
To them, a legion commander from Tartarus was a far-off being found only in legends.
So hearing that a legion commander had invaded Seiren filled them with overwhelming fear.
“Is the warp gate still not ready?!”
“Get us out of here now!”
“Damn it! I never should’ve come to watch Lumeiren!”
Cries of panic erupted from all directions.
“The great Founder of the Nebula, please strike down evil and save us.”
“Protect the heroes who fight our enemies.”
Some quietly prayed to the great heroes.
Others held their breath, listening closely to the sounds outside.
“The heroes will take care of everything!”
“That’s right! They’ll protect us!”
Children clenched their fists and voiced their hope.
Amid the chaos, Lunia approached those demanding the warp gate be activated.
“Please calm down! You’re scaring everyone around you!”
“And who are you supposed to be?”
“I’m Lunia El Lunda, first-year representative of Seiren.”
Lunia spoke firmly to the human man.
The man’s face twisted.
“First-year rep of Seiren? Then you must be really strong, huh?”
“I’m not that great. I’m just barely holding the title.”
“Don’t care! If you’re a hero cadet, stop hiding in a safe place with us and get out there and fight!”
He shouted, clearly a human noble, his tone full of disdain.
Lunia’s voice turned cold.
“The mission of first and second years is to protect the people inside the school grounds.”
“Hmph! What, are you too scared? For someone who goes around boasting as a hero cadet, aren’t you no better than us?”
The man laughed, full of mockery.
Lunia’s face twisted.
‘Should I crush him?’
“Oh? That look says you want to hit me. Go on, hit me. I’m here as a special guest of Lumene, watching Lumeiren! If a Seiren class rep hits me during a crisis, I’ll make sure the whole world hears about it—”
Whack—!
Just as Lunia was about to throw a punch, someone else’s fist struck the man’s face.
The man flew into the air and then hit the ground hard.
Thud!
“Gyaaaack!”
As he writhed and screamed, clutching his face, Lunia stood stunned.
Then Duran, the one who punched him, spoke.
“He’s a guest of Lumene. If you hit him, it could become a diplomatic mess.”
Duran looked at the blood on his knuckles with distaste and then held out a hand.
“I’d like to borrow a handkerchief, Eliana Laden.”
“Hey, I’m not your maid, you know?”
Though she grumbled, Eliana handed him her handkerchief.
Duran wiped his hand and tossed the handkerchief onto the wailing man.
“Hey! Why’d you just throw that away? That was expensive!”
As Eliana protested, Duran snorted.
“Forget it. Taking back a handkerchief dirtied by someone that vulgar would only taint your dignity. I’ll buy you a better one.”
“Oh my. So gallant, Your Highness.”
Eliana laughed happily.
“Wait a sec. If he’s your guest, shouldn’t you be keeping your hands off too?”
Lunia asked, unimpressed. Eliana shrugged.
“Normally, yeah.”
“Normally?”
“But it’s Duran. It’s fine.”
Lunia gave a baffled look.
“You… you bastard! You’re a Lumene student, right? Name and year, now! I’ll report you straight to the board—no, forget that! My family will personally—!”
“Duran Moira. That answer your question?” (T/N: Damn Duran!)
“Huh!”
The man’s face went pale.
Duran wasn’t just a top-ranking student.
He was a prince of the Moira Kingdom in the central continent.
Practically the crown prince, in fact.
Even if Moira was technically a duchy, its influence rivaled that of larger nations.
Called the Kingdom of Knights, its banner gathered many of the most elite knights in the world.
The Moira army was a battalion of thousands of knights.
Small in number, but their influence was tremendous.
A student like Duran could not be touched lightly, even by a noble guest of Lumene.
“Prince Duran! I—I apologize!”
The man bowed his head deeply, and Duran smirked coldly.
“You commit an offense, and you think you won’t pay the price?”
“P-please, Your Highness! Have mercy!”
“Tell me the name of your esteemed house.”
“Prince Duran! Please forgive me!”
Watching the man on his knees begging, Lunia looked amazed.
This human, who had been so high and mighty just moments ago, was now groveling to someone much younger.
‘Human power dynamics make no sense.’
As an elf, Lunia found the whole thing quite bizarre.
Eliana sighed.
“Chloe was right. Patrolling was the right call.”
With so many Lumeiren spectators crammed into Seiren, first- and second-years had their hands full keeping order.
Duran and Eliana had gone on patrol to deal with any potential disturbances.
“Thanks for the help.”
Now that things had settled down, Lunia gave a soft smile.
Duran snorted.
“I just shut up a disgrace to our race. No need to thank me.”
At his reaction, Lunia leaned toward Eliana and whispered,
“Is he always this curt?”
“Yep. But that’s why he’s kinda cute—ow ow ow!”
“No time to loiter. On to the next stop.”
“Ow! Let go! That hurts!”
Dragging Eliana by the ear, Duran left for the next patrol.
Lunia chuckled at their retreating backs and sat down.
‘I wonder how things are going outside…’
Her hand trembled slightly.
Despite all she’d been through for a first-year, this situation still filled her with fear.
Out there, so many teachers were fighting.
Upperclassmen she looked up to.
And her father, risking his life in battle.
That was the burden heroes and hero cadets bore.
But that didn’t mean they weren’t scared or worried.
‘Even heroes aren’t flawless beings.’
Lunia’s eyes wavered.
Even Luna, praised as perfect, had shown her weakness.
There was no such thing as a perfect hero in this world.
Heroes got scared. They wanted to run too.
But they found courage for the sake of what they carried.
‘If it were Leo… what would he do right now?’
As she thought of her friend, who always remained composed in any crisis—
Ruuuuumble—!
Seiren’s school buildings began to shake.
The entire campus, built like a grand castle, quaked, and murmurs rippled through the crowd.
‘What now?’
Lunia shot to her feet, alarmed.
“Lunia! Get everyone to evacuate deeper into the school!”
“What’s going on?!”
She asked urgently as a second-year ran over, pale.
“Another legion’s invaded!”
—
The hero alliance realized something was wrong about one minute after Lieven noticed the sky had torn open.
“What is that?!”
“A hole?!”
“When did that show up?”
They stared in shock at the gaping black rift in the sky.
“That thing gives off a really bad vibe.”
Hark muttered, frowning.
“Yeah, it’s like…”
Elena, firing spells beside him, grimaced.
“Like a monster’s about to crawl out.”
And then—
Crack—!
As if ripping open the sky itself,
a grotesquely long, deformed arm stretched out and began tearing the rift wider.
Like digging into the earth.
The grotesquely widened tear spat out the upper body of a monstrous being.
The faces of the hero alliance twisted in horror.
“W-what is that?!”
“From its aura… it seems like a demon?”
“No, that’s not just any demon! It has the mana of a legion commander!”
Panic spread among the alliance at the appearance of a second legion commander.
The creature’s torso was covered in thick scales, reminiscent of a dragon.
Even its face gave off that impression.
But it was clearly not a dragon.
Its limbs were long and twisted, covered in scales like some malformed reptile.
Its torso was humanoid, but hunched like a grotesque hunchback.
And the fangs protruding from its mouth looked sharp enough to tear through anything.
It resembled a gigantic dragonkin.
Its mere appearance struck terror in those who saw it.
But what truly struck fear into the alliance was—
“Was there… ever a legion commander like that?”
An elven hero muttered, face pale.
That’s right.
The creature before them was a completely unknown legion commander.
Kyaaaaaaaagh!
The creature opened its maw—Zegdiac—and let out a monstrous roar.
Its jaw stretched wide as it spewed a purple breath toward Sedgen’s wall.
Screeeee—! Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
The breath obliterated an entire section of Sedgen’s wall and even vaporized part of Sillatna’s army.
Sillatna scowled.
‘No sanity? So it didn’t cross over in one piece. Is that what he meant by the plan going awry?’
Hell Kaiser had handed the invasion of Seiren to Sillatna, saying the plan had gone wrong.
It seemed he had known Zegdiac would appear in this world as a mindless beast driven only by instinct.
‘Well, doesn’t matter.’
Whether her old comrade had become a monster or not.
Zegdiac was still a legion commander.
His power hadn’t vanished.
‘Stupid ones are easier to control, aren’t they?’
Sillatna’s eyes gleamed.
‘And to think it actually worked.’
This was Hell Kaiser’s plan.
To summon a past legion commander recorded in a Great Hero’s [Hero Record].
‘To think the hateful gods’ legacy would be of use to us one day.’
Elation rose in Sillatna’s eyes.
‘Now we can burn this hateful world.’
Her body trembled.
‘We can fulfill the mission granted by the gods!’
The world would burn.
All life would be thrown into despair.
Though the gods were still asleep, they wouldn’t be for much longer.
Five thousand years ago…
The day they would return to that longed-for era was near.
Sillatna was certain of it.
“Tremble in fear, you worms! Lumene and Seiren will fall! And the world will be engulfed in darkness once more!”
Groooaaaaar!
As if to agree, Zegdiac let out another deafening roar.
A legion commander in front—
And another behind.
A despairing situation.
Just as hopelessness filled the faces of the hero alliance—
“Bennett.”
Kalian called out calmly.
“You’ll lead Albi, Allan, and Chade to stop that legion commander.”
“What?”
Seiren’s principal Bennett turned to Kalian in shock.
“And you and Lieven?”
“We’ll stop the Monster Queen.”
Sliiide—
“That’s impossible alone.”
Albi spoke in a grim voice.
“I won’t hear objections. That’s an order.”
Kalian smiled gently.
“Right now, the greatest hope for our world lies in the young sprouts. Albi.”
Step, step—
Kalian walked toward Sillatna.
“It’s our duty to pass the era on to those who haven’t had their turn yet.”
He pointed his sword at her.
“It’s the duty of those who carry the weight of their time. So don’t worry about me. Go.”
“Principal…”
Chade bit his lip.
“Let’s go.”
Albi said flatly, and Chade let out a groan and withdrew.
Allan bowed and followed.
Finally, Bennett said,
“I’m counting on you, Sword Star.”
As they withdrew, Sillatna clicked her tongue.
“Ahh, so only you two are left. In the end, it’s just an old human and a dragon. How dull.”
She looked unimpressed.
“You said it yourself earlier, Sword Star. That stopping me was your duty as one who carries an era. Fine. I’ve seen many such heroes in my time—those so-called great ones. So I can say with certainty.”
A mocking sneer formed on her lips.
“You’re the worst of them all.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Still snide, even now.”
Gooooooooh—!
Dark [Mana] erupted ominously from the Demon Queen.
“Still, I’ll give you some respect. Heroes ready to die are the most annoying.”
Crack, snap—
Sillatna’s body began to grow.
[I’ll trample your end in the most miserable way.]
Ruuuumble—!
As she revealed her monstrous true form, Kalian looked up and smiled.
‘I don’t know how long it’s been.’
Faced with despair that seemed insurmountable, the Sword Star smiled.
‘Since I last challenged the impossible.’