Chapter 243

After Leo left the detached residence—

Jane hurried after him with a flustered expression.

“W-Wait! Lord Leo, you can’t just wander around—”

“I told you to call me ‘senior,’ didn’t I?”

“That’s not the issue right now!”

Jane blocked his path.

“This is the imperial palace of Shan. Even if you’re the student council president of Lumene, wandering around without permission could cause serious trouble.”

“That might be true.”

Leo stopped and nodded.

Jane sighed in relief, thinking he’d given up.

“But backing down like this doesn’t suit my nature.”

Leo brushed past her and strolled into the courtyard.

“Say something, will you?!”

Jane turned desperately to Fritz.

He adjusted his glasses and said,

“If senior insists, I can’t stop him.”

Fritz followed behind Leo.

“Although I doubt he’ll be able to find Senior Chen Xia in this darkness.”

Despite being the empire’s heart, Shan’s imperial palace was shrouded in darkness.

There was some lighting, but most areas remained pitch-black.

It was a hallmark of Shan, the so-called Shadow Empire.

Shadows, being guardians of darkness, displayed their greatest strength when enveloped in it.

Naturally, they were also excellent at hiding within it.

Hearing this, Jane sighed.

“Exactly. Which is why you should be trying harder to stop him from wasting his energy on this.”

At their conversation, Leo paused.

“So you’re both convinced I can’t find Chen Xia?”

Fritz stepped forward and bowed his head politely.

“If we offended you, I apologize. But heroes and shadows live in entirely different worlds.”

Jane crossed her arms and pouted.

“It’s not that you’re lacking, senior. Shadows are beings who live in darkness. Finding one in the dark is nearly impossible—especially Lady Xia. Even other shadows struggle to locate her.”

At their words, Leo let out a slow sigh.

During his time as Kyle—

He had executed most traitors in the depths of night.

In the Age of Calamity, the nights were far darker and more dangerous than now.

Simply moving during that time was a serious risk.

‘Which made it perfect for executing traitors.’

Foolish traitors, believing the night to be their ally, exposed their weaknesses.

‘So that method’s still in use, huh.’

“You’re saying you’re familiar with the dark?”

“Not familiar, exactly… but the dark is on the side of the shadows.”

Jane repeated, arms crossed and lips still pouting.

“Is that so?”

Leo chuckled and strode into the darkness.

“Then maybe this will be easier than expected.”

Back then, the darkness had never been an ally.

All manner of curses and traps from traitors and Tartarus grew stronger in the shadows.

Leo had cut through darkness far deeper than this.

Fritz and Jane exchanged glances before following behind him.

Step—step—

Leo approached one of the many entrances to the palace.

It was an entrance veiled in complete blackness.

Instinctively, it felt uninviting—but Leo paid no mind.

Shhhk—

Just then, a shadowy figure appeared before him.

Leo asked,

“Am I not allowed to enter?”

“His Majesty issued no command to stop you from entering. However…”

“However?”

“If you’re seeking the princess, His Majesty’s command was to trap you in the darkness.”

At that, Jane shuddered slightly.

“Trap him in the darkness? That’s a trial!”

Fritz narrowed his eyes.

“A trial?”

“A rite of passage for shadow candidates to be recognized as true Shadows.”

“Oh?”

Leo let out an amused sound.

“That sounds fun.”

Jane and Fritz stared at Leo, startled.

“It could be dangerous, Senior Leo. What you’ve learned in Lumene won’t help here…”

Ignoring Fritz’s warning, Leo stepped into the darkness.

Fritz and Jane hurried to follow.

Step—step—

Their footsteps echoed down the silent hallway.

Step—step—st—

Soon even sound was swallowed by the darkness.

‘Magic, huh.’

In pitch blackness, Leo summoned his mana.

‘Light.’

But no light shone.

The spell had definitely activated.

Yet the light was devoured before it could emerge.

‘I see.’

Leo stared into the darkness ahead.

‘Perfect darkness.’

It was a massive labyrinth.

The darkness consumed sight, sensation, and hearing.

Unless one became one with the darkness and reawakened their senses, escape was impossible.

‘So that’s what they meant when they said the dark is their ally. Anyone else would’ve struggled.’

Abyssal darkness inspired fear.

But Leo walked on without hesitation.

Even with all his senses taken—

His steps never faltered.

Fwoosh—!

Leo’s sharpened senses spread throughout the darkness.

He quickly took control of it.

He could clearly feel the exit.

Step—step—

“No way…!”

He emerged from the darkness back into the palace corridor.

The shadow who had stood before him earlier looked utterly shocked.

“How…?!”

Leo had taken only about ten seconds to break through.

‘I thought I escaped instantly, but it took longer than expected.’

He flexed his palm.

‘Guess my senses have dulled.’

Just then, Fritz and Jane emerged from the darkness.

They spotted Leo and widened their eyes.

“You didn’t enter the dark labyrinth?”

“I did. Just came back out.”

“T-That’s absurd!”

Seeing that Leo had escaped much faster than them, both were stunned.

“This trial probably isn’t over.”

Leo smiled.

“So, what’s next?”

—

‘Where does this man’s limit lie?’

Fritz followed behind Leo, deep in thought.

Jane also walked behind him, eyes filled with disbelief.

Fritz was a shadow of Lumene.

To be precise, a shadow candidate of the Zeron family.

Originally, he was supposed to serve Elena, heir to the Zeron line.

His only goal in training as a shadow—

Was to become the perfect shadow of a hero.

And Elena had once seemed the closest person to that ideal.

But last year—

Leo changed his mind.

The Gigantes subjugation.

The conquest of the Hero’s World by the Founder of the Nebula.

Becoming the youngest student council president.

Leo was the ideal hero candidate Fritz had only ever dreamed of.

He immediately swore loyalty to Leo.

He told Elena he wanted to become Leo Plov’s shadow.

At first surprised, the noble queen of Lumene only laughed.

‘I knew you’d say something like that.’

Though he was raised in the Zeron family, Elena released Fritz without hesitation.

At first shocked, he soon saw it as an opportunity.

Then, under recommendation from Lumene’s new principal—also a former shadow—Fritz was allowed to take the entrance exam, which he passed.

He thought he had grown closer to Leo, and they eventually met.

And Leo—

Was even more perfect than Fritz had imagined.

But now—

As he watched Leo move through the dark—

He couldn’t see him as a mere hero candidate.

‘He’s… like one of us… No.’

Fritz began to sweat.

‘He’s the perfect shadow.’

What was this?

How could someone this close to a perfect hero move like the perfect shadow?

Heroes lived in the light. Shadows lived in the dark.

They were supposed to be irreconcilable.

‘How can such a person even exist?’

Fritz stared at Leo’s back in disbelief.

Jane felt the same.

Darkness continued to try and block Leo’s path.

Shadows even drew blades on him to test his strength.

But—

Fwoosh—!

“Ugh?”

A Shadow struck down by Leo widened his eyes in shock.

As he looked into Leo’s glowing eyes in the dark, he felt chills run down his spine.

‘I can’t escape those eyes.’

If this hero candidate hunted him—

‘I’d be helpless in the dark!’

He couldn’t understand.

How could a hero candidate move better than a shadow in the dark?

By the time Leo had subdued the seventh shadow, he muttered,

“This is endless.”

Not all shadows were as powerful as heroes.

Only a select few came close to their strength.

Still, the ones blocking Leo weren’t weak by any means.

“No matter how well senior moves like a shadow, he won’t find Lady Chen Xia in this darkness.”

Jane scowled as she spoke.

Leo looked bored.

“If you two weren’t here, I’d probably find her in no time.”

“What?! Are you saying we’re in the way?!”

“To be honest, yeah.”

“What the—!”

Jane exploded at his blunt reply.

“Admit it, El Jane. Senior Leo is leagues beyond us, even as a shadow.”

Jane clenched her fists.

“That’s… that’s not right.”

She gritted her teeth.

“A hero is a hero… a shadow is a shadow… they live in different worlds. That’s why Lady Xia gave up on her dream.”

Yet standing before her was someone who shattered that belief.

Someone who surpassed them as both a hero and a shadow.

If they acknowledged him—

What did that make their lives in the shadows?

What about Chen Xia, who gave up her dream of becoming a hero?

As Jane lowered her head, Leo spoke.

“I’ve heard that line enough times from both the principal and the emperor.”

He turned his gaze to the darkness.

“But from where I stand, heroes and shadows are the same. Just two sides of the same coin.”

Fritz and Jane looked at him.

“Anyone who tries to protect the world is a hero. So in my eyes, you’re both hero candidates.”

“…!”

They widened their eyes.

They had never thought of it that way.

“Then… then…”

Fritz trembled.

“Is that why you insisted we call you ‘senior’? Because you acknowledge us as hero candidates?”

“What have you been listening to this whole time?”

“Aah! How can someone this great exist?! A shadow, truly acknowledged as a hero candidate!”

Fritz cried out in awe.

He pulled out a notebook and began scribbling furiously.

“What are you writing?”

Jane squinted and peeked at the notebook.

“I’ve been recording senior Leo’s achievements. Just now, he left behind a quote worthy of eternal remembrance.”

“A record?”

“Would you like to see it?”

Expressionless, Fritz handed the notebook to Jane.

As she read, her expression turned… strange.

[The great Senior Leo said that even shadows can become heroes. Ah, how can such a great person exist? His greatness is immeasurable.]

Flip—

[Today, I saw Lord Leo for the first time. With snow-white hair and eyes like burning rubies…]

[When I quarreled with a rude shadow of Shan, Senior Leo grabbed my wrist. I must not wash this wrist for a while.]

[Lord Leo…]

[Lord Leo…]

“You’re a pervert.”

Jane looked disgusted at Fritz’s obsessive notes about Leo’s every movement and gesture.

“What’s in there?”

Leo took a look at the notebook.

Fwoosh—

And burned it with a burst of flame-infused aura.

“Ahhh!”

Fritz dropped to his knees in despair before the ashes.

‘He’s… weird.’

“Is that why you’re trying to bring back Lady Xia? Because you see her as a hero candidate too?”

“That’s part of it. But mostly, it’s annoying. That little brat, acting all dramatic, saying she stepped into the darkness and can’t be a hero? She hasn’t even tried.”

Leo chuckled.

“I want to show her—that it’s those who don’t give up who become heroes.”

“…That’s just like what the Founder of the Nebula said about Kyle during winter at Seiren.”

When everyone else gave up, Kyle never did.

The Founder of the Nebula had once said something like that.

“I remember.”

Leo smirked and disappeared into the darkness.

Jane took a deep breath and kicked Fritz, who was still lying on the ground in despair.

“How long are you going to stay there? Go help the senior you admire so much!”

At that, Fritz stood and adjusted his glasses.

“You didn’t even have to say it.”

The two Lumene students’ eyes gleamed in the dark.

“Eliminate any obstacles in senior’s way.”

“Eliminate any obstacles in senior’s way.”

They glared at each other.

“Stop copying me.”

“Stop copying me.”

—

After breaking through the darkness, Leo found Chen Xia in an instant.

Then he spoke.

“I’ve come to take you home.”

He addressed the friend who turned her back to him.

Shhhk—

But Chen Xia immediately disappeared into the shadows.

Leo’s eyes narrowed.

He lost her presence for a moment.

Only her attendant shadow remained.

The shadow stepped forward to stop Leo.

Then—

“What?!”

The shadow’s eyes widened.

Leo, too, had vanished into the darkness.

The veteran shadow who had served the Shan family for years recognized what it was.

‘Shadow Stepping?’

A technique passed down only to Shan’s royal bloodline.

Yet Leo—someone with no connection to Shan—had used it.

That was one of the reasons Shan’s emperors were called the Kings of Shadows.

‘Unbelievable!’

While the shadow stood frozen in disbelief—

Leo chased Chen Xia through the darkness, narrowing his eyes.

‘So Shan’s royal family really are descendants of Bihar.’

Though its form had changed, the technique used to hide her presence in the dark—

Was undoubtedly something Leo had once taught Bihar.

‘Though it was Arron who laid the foundation. I only modified it.’

Even for Leo, finding Chen Xia—who had hidden herself with all her might—was difficult.

‘She’s more attuned to darkness than I am.’

She was absurdly specialized in blending with the dark.

‘This is going to be tricky.’

Now Leo understood why Shau had been so confident.

But then Leo smiled.

‘If she’s become one with the darkness—then I’ll just suppress the darkness entirely.’

Leo’s senses rapidly spread through the shadows.

And as he began to bring the darkness under his control—

Whoosh—!

He sensed a flicker of killing intent.

Leo tilted his head.

Fwoosh—!

“Oh?”

He stopped in his tracks.

A young man stood before him, sword raised, looking impressed.

Late teens in age—

But with a strangely mature aura.

Roughly Leo’s height, with black hair and eyes, he studied Leo with keen interest.

“I’ve seen that face before.”

The young man’s eyes lit up.

“You’re Leo Plov, right? Lumene’s student known as the greatest hero candidate.”

Leo wiped the blood from his cheek and narrowed his eyes.

“And you are?”

“My name is Chen Xian.”

Xian smiled gently, evoking someone familiar.

“I’m a man who will become a great legendary hero.”