Chapter 248

Fwoosh—

A gale swept through.

Leo tilted his head, narrowly dodging the storm of [Aura].

Then he swung his arm.

BOOM—!

With a thunderous clash of aura against aura, Xian was hurled backward.

“Guh…!”

Xian glared at Leo with wide eyes.

There was only one entrance to the stone chamber.

And Leo was standing guard in front of it.

Xian had already experienced the overwhelming difference in strength.

But still…

‘He got past Artkan to get here.’

He didn’t believe for a second that Artkan had been defeated.

‘He must’ve let him go to deal with Father. But he wouldn’t have let him go unscathed.’

Xian was familiar with Artkan’s ability.

The power to retrieve corpses and animate them with the powers they had in life.

[Dirge].

Every time he cleared a Hero’s World, he had tested his newly acquired powers using Artkan’s authority.

He knew just how dangerous that ability was.

And Leo’s body showed various large and small wounds.

Fatigue was visible on his face, and his shoulders were heaving with breath.

‘Compared to him, I’m fine.’

Artkan had fully restored his strength.

‘And now I’m holding the sword once used by the Hero of the Beginning.’

This sword wasn’t just sharp and sturdy.

The moment Xian held it, he could feel it.

Weapons crafted by the divine blacksmith Dweno were called Sacred Weapons for a reason.

Because they housed unfathomable power.

‘I don’t know how to draw out its full strength yet.’

Xian adjusted his grip on the sword.

‘But if I can, I can bring down Leo Plov.’

With that belief, Xian pointed his sword at Leo.

“You would’ve been better off not coming here.”

Step. Step.

Leo walked toward him.

Xian flinched and instinctively stepped back.

But then, his face flushed with rage as he shouted.

“You’d better be ready. I’m not the same as before!”

“What’s changed?”

“I have the Hero of the Beginning Kyle’s sword now!”

At that, Leo glanced at the sword in Xian’s hand.

It had a peculiar shape.

The blade was so short it could be mistaken for a dagger.

But the handle was as long as a longsword.

The proportions between blade and handle were nearly 1:1—an odd-looking weapon.

Though it wasn’t unfamiliar.

“That sword isn’t Kyle’s.”

“What?”

Xian’s face twisted.

“That sword is called Erquint. It belonged to the Fairy Knight, Velkia.”

Erquint was more closely tied to Luna than Kyle.

It had originally been gifted to Luna by Dweno.

Luna then passed it down to her disciple, Velkia.

Velkia was also one of Kyle’s disciples, so there was some indirect connection, but the weapon itself wasn’t that of the Hero of the Beginning.

‘So you found it after all.’

Leo gave a bittersweet smile.

Velkia had lost Erquint during the Battle of Tarmeitia.

The last battle she participated in before the great heroes departed to subjugate Erebos.

Bihar had promised the dejected Velkia—who was heartbroken over losing a gift from her master—that she would find the sword and return it.

‘Looks like she never got the chance.’

After Erebos was defeated, the two likely spent their days frantically trying to rebuild the world, honoring the wishes of their teachers.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Why would my ancestor have the Fairy Knight’s sword?!”

“There must’ve been a reason. Either way, that sword is definitely Erquint. We even learned about it in Hero Studies back at Lumene.”

Last year’s Hero Studies professor, Artianne, had once given a lesson on lesser-known weapons of heroes.

Erquint had been one of them.

“And you’re not capable of wielding that sword properly.”

At Leo’s words, Xian’s face twisted in rage.

“Don’t act like you know everything!”

Furious, Xian charged at Leo.

A powerful surge of [Aura] burst from his body.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!

Xian accelerated to terrifying speed.

Moving so fast he nearly vanished from sight, he aimed for Leo’s vital points.

“You’re exhausted! There’s no way you can keep up with my movements!”

Taunting Leo, Xian accelerated even more.

Leo exhaled lightly and raised his sword.

Slice—! Grab—!

Xian managed to cut Leo’s back, smiling with satisfaction.

If he fought Leo head-on, he would surely lose.

‘I’ll stack up small wounds like this.’

Evading Leo’s sight, Xian vanished into the darkness.

Using the ability of the Shadows he so despised.

But he didn’t care.

What mattered now was defeating the monster before him.

However, his ambush didn’t last long.

Just before he could fully hide in the shadows, Leo grabbed him by the neck.

“H-How…?!”

“Too sloppy.”

Leo spoke coldly, his red eyes gleaming.

“Is that all you’ve got left to show?”

WHOOSH—!

The flames of Zerdinger ignited.

Seeing the fire swell to a size that looked like it would devour even its wielder, Xian’s face turned pale.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!

Leo’s flame mercilessly engulfed Xian.

“Ughhh…”

Xian barely escaped and crawled across the floor, muttering.

“This can’t be… It doesn’t make sense… I… I was chosen… I was born with the talent to become a great hero… Why…!”

As he struggled toward the entrance, Leo’s foot blocked his path.

Xian’s face turned ashen.

“S-Save me! You’re a hero cadet, right? I’m Xia’s family! You’re really going to kill your friend’s family?!”

Fwoosh—

Leo’s flames flared, as if he didn’t even find the plea worth hearing.

Seeing that, Xian screamed desperately.

“I-I’m going to become a hero! You—you’re going to fight against Tartarus, right? Wouldn’t it be helpful to have one more strong ally in the future?!”

“That’s true.”

“Th-Then…!”

Xian’s face lit up with hope at Leo’s agreement.

“But I don’t see what’s so great about you.”

Leo smiled faintly.

And Xian instinctively realized that smile was a death sentence.

“I don’t see why you’re worth keeping alive either.”

BOOOOM!

“AAAAAAARGH!”

The Phoenix’s flame engulfed Xian.

He flailed, rolling across the room, until his movements stopped and he turned to ash.

Leo picked up the discarded Erquint from the floor.

‘If possible, I’d like to give this to Eiran.’

The runner-up of Seiren’s second year, and a descendant of Velkia—Eiran.

It would be best if Erquint returned to her hands.

‘That’s what Bihar would’ve wanted too.’

Even if he couldn’t return it directly, passing it down to her descendant would surely fulfill her wish.

Leo looked around the ravaged archive chamber.

“These?”

“They’re… all records of the Shadows.”

At Chen Xia’s explanation, Leo picked up one of the books strewn across the floor.

Opening it, he found it documented the deeds of a Shadow.

“I see.”

Leo nodded and gently returned the book to the shelf.

The way he handled it looked almost like a gesture of respect toward heroes.

Watching his back in a daze, Chen Xia finally spoke.

“You didn’t need to dirty your hands.”

“Is it really something worth calling ‘dirtying my hands’?”

Leo replied flatly.

“Punishing a traitor is a perfectly natural thing.”

“…”

“Let’s go back. If we miss any more classes, a reflection paper won’t be enough.”

“Thanks for coming to get me. I’m really glad.”

Chen Xia gave a bittersweet smile.

“But I’m a Shadow. I can’t become a hero.”

“Why not?”

“The gods will never acknowledge me.”

Chen Xia looked down at her hands.

“I’ve done more terrible things than you can imagine, Leo. I’m a cruel woman.”

She smiled faintly.

“Even if Xian was a traitor, he was my twin. I saw him die, and yet I can still smile like this.”

No matter how much he deserved to die…

He was still her family—someone she had spent her entire life with.

And despite witnessing his death, she felt nothing.

“Do heroes like me exist?”

“Of course not.”

“There, see? I don’t suit being a hero cadet.”

The way she smiled gave off an unsettling chill.

“Would the gods ever acknowledge someone like me?”

“They wouldn’t.”

“Yes, I’ll never be able to record my name in a Hero Record—”

“But does that matter?”

“…What?”

“Is the gods’ acknowledgment really that important?”

Chen Xia’s eyes wavered at the unexpected response.

“You enrolled at Lumene because you wanted to become a hero, right? Why did you want to become one?”

“…Because I wanted to help people.”

She lowered her eyes as she answered.

“And now? Since you think you can’t become a hero, does that mean you no longer want to help people?”

Flustered, Chen Xia replied quickly.

“N-No. I’ll do it… in the way of a Shadow…”

“There’s no ‘right way’ to help people.”

Leo chuckled softly.

“If your heart hasn’t changed, then you still want to be a hero.”

Chen Xia’s shoulders trembled.

“You’ll definitely become a hero loved by the people. Whether or not your name is in the Hero Record doesn’t matter.”

Her heart stirred.

He acknowledged the dream she had denied even to herself.

It was like he was reaching out a hand to her, who had hesitated in the dark.

The brilliant light seemed to dispel the shadows.

‘That’s why… I didn’t want to meet him.’

She had finally made her resolution.

But the moment she saw Leo—who affirmed even the dreams she had rejected—it all crumbled in an instant.

Before she knew it, she was reaching out toward the light.

“Let’s go back. To Lumene.”

“…Yes!”

Chen Xia answered before she even realized it.

‘Even if I never make it into a Hero Record… I’ll try anyway.’

The Hero Record didn’t matter.

Realizing that, she laughed without meaning to.

Leo, smiling as he watched her, suddenly froze.

‘Divine power…?’

He turned sharply in surprise.

In the corner of the archive stood a book with a worn leather cover.

Leo approached the shelf and pulled it out.

‘An Aura Seal?’

An Aura Seal.

A seal created by imbuing one’s aura with will, allowing only the chosen to open it.

‘It’s Bihar’s aura.’

Feeling his disciple’s aura, Leo summoned his own gray aura.

In response, the seal unlocked naturally.

And inside was…

“A Hero Record…?”

Chen Xia’s eyes widened at the pages brimming with divine power.

As Leo stared in shock—

[Would you like to open your World?]

A message appeared before his eyes.

Leo was stunned.

This was different from every Hero Record he’d seen before.

He had entered the Hero’s World many times.

But he had never seen a message like this.

‘My world…?’

After a moment of confusion, Leo answered with will.

‘No.’

The message vanished.

Leo looked down at the Hero Record in his hands.

The pages before him radiated powerful divine energy.

It felt like he was looking at a fully intact Hero Record.

Chen Xia quickly came to his side to check the contents.

Her eyes widened.

“This looks… like a Shadow’s record.”

The deeds recorded in the Hero Record.

The name had been erased, but it was full of events about eliminating traitors.

She considered whether it was fake, but as a Lumene student, she could tell—it was real.

“What is this…?”

As she reeled in shock, Leo gripped the book tighter.

‘It’s my… record.’

The contents all described what he had done as Kyle.

‘I see…’

Reading the Hero Record, Leo understood.

‘Bihar must’ve taken all my records from when I acted as a Shadow.’

Among the great heroes, the only one who ever executed traitors was Kyle.

Naturally, many of those records were unpleasant to look at.

It was something that had to be done.

But not everyone would understand that.

If those records had remained intact and been passed down to the future, Leo would’ve been remembered as the “filthy” hero among his peers.

Bihar didn’t want her teacher to be remembered that way.

‘So she hid it.’

Leo smiled bitterly.

‘She should’ve just let it be.’

If she had, the Shadows might not have been so maligned today.

If it had been known that even the great heroes had worked from the shadows to protect the world…

If their deeds as Shadows had been acknowledged by the gods…

The way Shadows were treated today might have been different.

‘Maybe Bihar wouldn’t have been forgotten either.’

As Leo let out a deep sigh—

Ruffle—

The pages of the book began turning on their own.

A blank page appeared at the end.

‘What is this…?’

[Would you like to record a Heroic Deed?]

Leo narrowed his eyes at the message.

Chen Xia, confused by the strange occurrence, stared at the blank page.

‘Record.’

The moment Leo thought the word—

Bihar.

Her name appeared at the top of the page, and her deeds began to fill it.

Wuuuung—!

The Hero Record began to glow and floated into the air.

Rrrrrrr—

The Shadow records on the shelves began to tremble and shot out all at once.

The records swirled around the glowing Hero Record.

Woooo—! Flapflapflap—

Pure white light poured from the Hero Record.

The Shadow records were sucked into the Hero Record one by one.

FLASH—!

A powerful light filled the room and then vanished.

All the Shadow records that had filled the archive disappeared.

“Wh-What was that?”

While Chen Xia gaped in shock—

Thud!

A single large book fell from the air.

Thump!

It landed in Leo’s hands. A book with a black cover.

Seeing its title, Chen Xia’s mouth fell open.

Leo brushed a hand across the cover.

‘I see.’

He chuckled softly.

He remembered what Fibua had said.

The Hero Record belonged to Kyle.

Which meant—

‘I have authority to record in it too.’

[Hero Record – Book of Shadows]

The moment the world acknowledged the deeds of those who had lived in darkness.