Chapter 224
‘There are four left I haven’t caught.’
Leo narrowed his eyes.
Shasha, Haviden, Aina, and Luke.
They were the only examinees who had encountered Leo and lived to tell the tale.
Everyone else had failed the exam at Leo’s hands before they could get far.
Of course, even those four hadn’t fully escaped Leo’s pursuit.
Step—step—
Leo approached the center of the forest—Mount Eddien—with a relaxed stride.
His red eyes swept over the traces left behind.
‘All four are heading toward the center of the forest. Not a bad choice.’
ROOOAR—!
Leo swung his sword at the monster lunging at him.
SLASH—!
The troll split cleanly under Leo’s blade, blood spraying as its corpse collapsed.
Despite their powerful regeneration, even monsters couldn’t survive a strike like that.
Mount Eddien was a [Demonic Beast] habitat.
The deeper one went, the more monsters there were.
The forest also grew denser and more complex, with countless places to hide.
Which meant that trying to shake off Leo by retreating into the center of the forest was a solid plan.
‘Well, only if they can survive the monsters… Based on their skills, it might be possible. So now the question is—what will they do next?’
Even in Leo’s view, the four were exceptional.
The mere fact they managed to escape him was proof enough they deserved to enter Lumene.
‘If it were Celia, Abad, Duran, Walden, or Eliza, they’d have failed them without hesitation.’
Those perfectionists wouldn’t have spared a single one.
Leo, on the other hand, had let them go—out of curiosity for how they would react.
Aside from those four, everyone else had already been disqualified by him.
‘But there won’t be a second chance.’
Next time he met any of them, Leo intended to eliminate them without mercy.
“Hmm?”
Leo stopped as he came face-to-face with the very people he had thought were running away.
Five of them now stood before him.
—
Dragging Aina along, Luke shouted,
“Run!”
“Let go of me.”
“Ah!”
Startled by Aina’s command, Luke quickly released her wrist.
“S-Sorry.”
As he scratched his head apologetically, Aina rubbed her wrist and spoke.
“Forget about me. Just run on your own.”
“What? But we need to get away from him—”
“You can’t escape from him. Neither of us can.”
“What? Who is he?”
“Leo Plov.”
“Gasp!”
At Aina’s words, Luke inhaled sharply.
Leo Plov.
Currently the most famous hero candidate in the world.
An [All-Class] student and the first-ever first-year student council president at Lumene—a living legend.
Luke regained his composure and said,
“Even so, we should run.”
“Did you not hear me? He’s far stronger than you think.”
She spoke with resignation.
“It’s pointless.”
“Still, we should give it our best!”
“Then you give it your best. I have no intention to.”
‘I need to resume training again tomorrow—if I want his recognition.’
Aina lowered her head slightly.
‘If I want to earn Leo Plov’s recognition, I have no choice but to strengthen myself by conquering Grandfather’s [Hero Record].’
The Sword Star’s [Hero Record].
Aina was its rightful owner.
If she wished, she could enter that [Hero Record] at any time.
‘I have to grow stronger.’
As her eyes darkened—
“You’re not interested in enrolling at Lumene?”
“Correct.”
To Aina, slaying one more demon mattered more than studying at Lumene.
She had taken the exam with a mindset that passing or failing didn’t really matter.
“But why? That’s such a waste! With your skill, you’re practically guaranteed to get in!”
As Luke expressed sincere disappointment, Aina showed a curious expression.
“Why do you want to enter Lumene?”
“Well… because I want to be a hero.”
“Why?”
At Aina’s question, Luke scratched his head and gave a sheepish laugh.
“Well… it’s kind of embarrassing, really—”
FWOOOSH—!
Suddenly, Aina grabbed him by the collar and yanked him aside.
CRACK—!
A flash of light cut through the air where Luke had just stood.
“Wh-What?”
Luke’s eyes widened.
“You really thought you could challenge him with that level of skill?”
Aina clicked her tongue and looked toward where the snipe spell had come from.
“Whoa~ Nice reaction, girlie.”
A girl emerged through the brush, a shoulder-mounted snipe-casting magic weapon resting on her arm.
Black hair, brown eyes, and sun-kissed brown skin full of vibrant energy.
“Southern Magic Tower, huh?”
Aina mumbled after spotting the crest on the girl’s shoulder.
“Correct.”
The girl grinned and aimed her device at Aina.
“Judging by your reaction, you must be Juen Torbina?”
“So you recognized me?”
She smiled with a hint of excitement.
“What’s your name?”
“Aina Beidian.”
“The great-granddaughter of the Sword Star? Whoa~ impressive~”
“Huh?”
Juen let out a gasp of admiration, and Luke blinked in shock.
He never imagined this girl was the legendary prodigy herself.
“And yet you’re dragging around dead weight.”
Juen smirked, and Luke scratched his head, not even bothering to deny it.
Aina and Juen.
Both were globally renowned as top prospects in this year’s entrance exam.
“Still, it’s my lucky day—getting to face off against someone I’ve always wanted to fight.”
“I have no intention of fighting you.”
“Not my problem.”
Juen glanced at Luke.
“You’d better run if you don’t want to get caught up in this.”
“…Actually, I think we should all run together.”
“Why?”
“Because… we’re being chased right now.”
“Chased? By who?”
“Leo Plov.”
At Luke’s words, Juen’s face twisted.
“Why didn’t you say that sooner?!”
Juen tore at her hair.
“I just barely escaped death after pissing off the Ice Witch—and now I have to face *that* monster?”
Just then—
“Why are you following me?”
“Hmph. You’re the one following me.”
An argumentative voice rang out.
Shasha and Haviden stepped through the bushes.
Their eyes narrowed as they spotted the others.
“The great-granddaughter of the Sword Star, Aina Beidian. And the daughter of the Southern Tower Lord, Juen Torbina.”
Shasha flicked open her folding fan and covered her mouth.
“And one nobody we’ve never seen before.”
“Haha…”
Luke laughed awkwardly and scratched his head.
“Hmph. If it weren’t for this situation, I’d have taken you down already. Lucky you.”
“Please. That’s my line. We should clear out before the student council president gets here.”
Juen’s words made Haviden pause.
“Student council president? You’re being chased by Leo too?”
At his question, Aina nodded.
“You guys too?”
Shasha snapped her fan shut and muttered,
“Looks like every student council candidate has become Leo’s target. What rotten luck.”
She shrugged.
“Well, since we’re in the same boat, how about we work together to shake him?”
“You do that. I’m good at hiding my presence. As long as he doesn’t use wide-area magic, I’ll be fine.”
“That kind of trick won’t work on Leo.”
“What?”
“And Leo can use wide-area magic easily.”
“Have you seen it yourself? I’ve heard he’s strong in magic, but I’ve never heard he uses large-scale spells.”
“Well—”
Shasha’s eyes sparkled as she crossed her arms.
“Leo can do anything!”
At her overzealous response, Juen rolled her eyes.
Then—
“You guys run.”
Aina opened her subspace and drew a new sword.
“I’ll fight.”
Her words made Shasha, Haviden, and Juen frown.
“Why do something so reckless?”
“I’m not running.”
That was enough to provoke the others.
While they’d all planned to run, Aina—their biggest rival—had just declared she’d fight.
Their teenage pride, stifled by fear of Leo, reared its head.
“You’re not the only one with guts, you know. I’ve got some too!”
“Running just isn’t my style.”
“No matter how strong Leo is, it’s a bit humiliating to keep running away.”
Juen, Haviden, and Shasha all snapped back.
Aina tilted her head.
“You guys should run. It’s the smart thing to do.”
“Like hell we will!”
She had said it purely out of concern, but the words only succeeded in provoking them.
Aina looked puzzled.
“Why are you all being so stubborn?”
“I think it’s because of you, Miss Aina.”
“Because of me? What did I even do?”
As Aina furrowed her brow, Luke chuckled awkwardly.
“What about you?”
Haviden turned to Luke.
Luke hesitated.
He was different from the others.
He had no confidence he could pass the Lumene entrance exam.
He was just a normal boy who had trained in the countryside all his life.
But still…
‘I want to fight him.’
The youngest student council president in Lumene history.
A man whose achievements as a first-year rivaled those of real heroes.
Leo was Luke’s idol.
It was Leo’s story that had inspired him to take the exam.
‘Will I ever get the chance to see him again after today?’
Probably not.
If that were the case, then he wanted to try, at least once, to challenge Leo.
“I don’t know if I’ll be much help, but I’ll fight too.”
—
“So rather than be picked off one by one, you’re joining forces to stop me…”
Leo chuckled as he looked at the fired-up examinees.
“Not a bad choice.”
Shasha, Haviden, and Juen flinched inwardly.
Truthfully, they had only reacted out of pride after Aina’s declaration.
Luke’s eyes sparkled with admiration.
“Oh, so this was a strategic decision? I thought you guys were just reacting emotionally.”
“O-Of course.”
“We’re uniting to stand against our senior.”
“That’s right.”
As Luke beamed, the three decided to bluff their way through it.
Aina stepped forward.
“Draw your sword.”
The four others lowered their stances in tension.
If Leo drew his sword and entered combat mode,
They would each move according to the plan they had discussed.
Even though the party was improvised, they had at least talked through a strategy for fighting Leo.
At Aina’s words, Leo smirked.
“Draw my sword? Why would I?”
“What?”
Leo raised his hand.
“I don’t think I need to draw my sword to deal with you.”
“…!”
If this were one-on-one, they might’ve agreed.
But it was five-on-one now.
Even if Leo Plov was one of the greatest hero candidates in Lumene’s history—
They were all top freshman candidates themselves.
“Then we’ll just have to make you draw it.”
Juen smirked.
“That’s true.”
Click—!
She aimed her sniper weapon at Leo.
“You’ll regret looking down on us!”
VROOOOM—!
Tremendous [Magic Power] surged.
It wasn’t a stealth attack, but a full-frontal assault.
Naturally, this was much more powerful than when she had to suppress her mana to stay hidden.
BOOOOM—!
It sounded more like artillery than a snipe shot.
A magically charged bullet hurtled toward Leo.
CLANG—!
“…!”
Leo struck the projectile aside with a blank expression, using only his mana-infused hand.
Juen’s face stiffened.
“Show me.”
Leo’s eyes gleamed.
The five of them felt chills down their spines.
Eyes looking down from a distant, overwhelming height.
They were completely overpowered by just his gaze.
“Show me your worth.”