Chapter 278
By the time Lunia arrived at the auditorium, Eiran was already deep into learning the formula for [Sword of Animus] from Leo.
“Eiran. You could’ve told me you were going ahead.”
“L-Lunia? Why are you here?”
“What are you talking about? We said we’d come together, remember?”
Lunia gave her a look of disbelief, and Eiran flinched.
“R-right! We did say that! I-I must’ve completely forgotten!”
Eiran laughed awkwardly and tried to play it off, but Lunia narrowed her eyes and said,
“Eiran, don’t tell me… you were imagining something weird again…”
“Waaah!”
Eiran’s face turned bright red as she lunged forward and clamped her hands over Lunia’s mouth.
Shaking her off, Lunia gave a mischievous grin and teased her.
“What? What were you thinking about this time? Maybe you and Leo…”
“L-Lunia! What if Leo misunderstands?! I wasn’t thinking anything like that! I wasn’t!”
Eiran, on the verge of tears, desperately shook her head while still covering Lunia’s mouth.
“Mmmph!? Mmm! Mmm!”
When Eiran covered not just her mouth but also her nose, Lunia began to thrash about.
But as a Summoning Mage, there was no way Lunia could overpower a Magic Swordswoman like Eiran.
“You won’t say anything weird, right? Promise? Promise?”
Completely unaware of Lunia’s growing distress, Eiran tightly shut her eyes and pressed down harder.
Watching this scene in silence, Leo finally spoke.
“Eiran.”
“Y-yes! Leo?!”
“She’s actually going to die at this rate.”
“Huh? What are you—huh?!”
Only then did Eiran realize that Lunia had gone limp in her arms.
“LUNIAAAA!”
Eiran screamed in horror as she frantically shook Lunia, while Leo muttered quietly.
“You two get along well.”
* * *
“Haa…”
Lunia raised her hands in defeat as she looked at Eiran, who was now sitting on her knees in front of her, ears drooping.
“Don’t worry about it too much. It was my fault for teasing you.”
Then she looked over at Leo.
“If you were already teaching Eiran, should I join in for a review?”
“No need. You and Eiran will be learning different magic.”
“Different?”
“Yeah.”
Leo explained the same story to Lunia that he had told Eiran earlier.
As she listened to the tale of the Shan Empire, Lunia narrowed her eyes.
‘What ‘is’ he?’
Leo always unearthed secrets from worlds no one had touched before.
‘Even just the things related to Lady Luna.’
Everything Leo had accomplished already surpassed what a hero candidate was expected to achieve.
As Lunia watched him with complex thoughts swirling in her eyes, Leo spoke again.
“I’m going to teach you a spell the Founder of the Nebula left behind—not Endbringer.”
“A spell left by the Founder?”
“Yeah. It was recorded along with [Sword of Animus].”
“I’d love to see that grimoire.”
“Unfortunately, I was only granted access in the Shan Empire. I wasn’t allowed to take it out.”
Leo had claimed that the magic recorded there was part of Shan’s heritage.
The Shan Empire was a massive empire filled with secrets.
That made it the perfect scapegoat for explanations like this.
‘Convenient, isn’t it?’
Leo smirked inwardly.
Though Lunia still looked slightly suspicious, she couldn’t question anything further once he mentioned the Shan Empire.
“Alright. So what magic will you teach me?”
Lunia glanced at Eiran.
A flicker of envy crossed her face.
‘To think Erquint actually still existed…’
Erquint.
It was known to be real thanks to the [Hero Record], but the actual blade had never been found.
The Divine Blacksmith Dweno forged it for Luna, and Luna had passed it on to her disciple, the Fairy Knight Velkia.
However, during the Age of Calamity, the genuine blade was thought to have been lost. The Ersar family only had a replica earned as a reward from conquering the [Hero’s World].
So even among Elves, it was a nearly forgotten relic.
Only scholars who had deeply studied the Great Heroes’ legacies would even know of it.
And now, that legendary blade had returned to the heir of the Ersar family.
This was something that could shake Elven society to its core.
‘Does Leo maybe think of Eiran as someone special?’
Come to think of it, it was Leo who had brought Eiran—who had refused to attend classes—back to school.
Unlike Lunia, Eiran was quiet, well-behaved, and above all, cute.
While Lunia was lost in thought, Leo spoke.
“[Flame Magic].”
“Flame Magic?”
“Yeah.”
Leo held out his palm and traced a magic circle with threads of Mana—one of the [Origin] spells Luna had created.
“The name of the spell is [Flame Sovereign].”
He looked at Lunia’s eyes, which seemed like they could ignite at any moment, and spoke seriously.
“In theory, it’s a flame that can never be extinguished.”
Lunia’s eyes widened.
And not just hers.
Eiran looked shocked as well.
An eternal flame.
They both knew exactly what that meant.
The Primordial Evil.
The black flame of Erebos—a chilling calamity that nearly brought the world to ruin—was known for being an unquenchable fire.
‘In the end, Luna couldn’t surpass that flame and died.’
The truth of Luna’s final moments was unknown to the world.
Only Leo, who had been there, knew of his friend’s death.
The [Magic of Blooming Flowers] was the spell Luna truly wished to create.
[Stella Radius] represented who Luna was.
[Endbringer] embodied her will to crush all obstacles before her.
And [Flame Sovereign] was the magic she created to oppose that detestable black flame that had taken so much from her.
‘She never did complete it.’
Though Luna created it, it was a spell that didn’t suit her.
‘If Dweno had learned [Star Magic], maybe he could’ve completed it.’
As far as Leo knew, Dweno—aside from Erebos—was the one who wielded the strongest flames.
‘It didn’t suit me either.’
Even Kyle, who inherited both Luna’s magic and Dweno’s flame, couldn’t complete it.
Though Leo inherited Dweno’s power, Dweno’s flame was a double-edged sword for him.
Dweno’s flame was powerful.
But once it exceeded a certain output, it burned even the caster.
Leo lacked the natural resistance to fire that Dweno was born with.
Lunia stared at the formula for [Flame Sovereign].
“This spell… it’s incomplete.”
“That’s right. Same goes for [Sword of Animus], which I’m teaching Eiran. It’s up to you two to complete them.”
Luna had only built the framework for these [Origin] spells.
Even though they were nearly perfect, the framework alone wouldn’t activate them.
Only the user could bring them to life.
Even [Innocent] was ultimately completed by Leo.
“Honestly, it might be harder to learn than Endbringer. Maybe even dangerous.”
Leo understood better than anyone how hazardous uncontrolled flames could be.
He withdrew the magical formula and looked at Lunia.
She scoffed.
“I don’t care. If Lady Luna created an unquenchable flame, I—an Elf—understand better than anyone what that means.”
Lunia had grasped Luna’s intent.
“If this spell is incomplete… then it means Lady Luna never achieved her goal.”
She took a deep breath.
“Leo, you revived the [Magic of Blooming Flowers], the spell that could be called Luna’s wish, and returned it to us Elves. If she were alive, she would’ve been so happy.”
Lunia’s crimson eyes burned with fire.
“That’s why I want to fulfill her will, too.”
She opened her chest proudly.
“We are the descendants of the great Founder of the Nebula. It’s our duty to carry out her will.”
At that, Leo smiled.
“If Luna had heard that, she would’ve been overjoyed.”
“Obviously.”
Lunia blushed slightly and replied with a huff.
“So! Should I start interpreting the formula?”
“No. Before that, there are two spells you both need to learn first.”
“What are they?”
“You need to learn the [Magic of Blooming Flowers].”
It sounded simple—magic that makes flowers bloom.
‘And in effect, that’s exactly what it does. A very basic outcome.’
But in terms of difficulty, it was the hardest of all [Star Magic].
It embodied Luna’s essence.
“No Elf has ever succeeded in casting it yet, right?”
“No, not yet,” Eiran said, ears drooping.
What made it so difficult?
It was a spell that crossed into the realm of [Birth].
Magic that brought forth life—flowers—from nothing, in a completely unrestricted space.
It wasn’t just magic—it was a miracle.
A spell that could be said to have one foot in the domain of the divine.
‘That she went to such miraculous lengths just to make flowers bloom… it really says a lot about her eccentricity.’
If Luna were here, she’d probably grab Leo by the collar and shake him furiously for saying that.
“If you can cast the [Magic of Blooming Flowers], you’ll be able to master any [Star Magic]. That spell is the very essence of [Star Magic].”
Lunia recalled how Leo had once rewritten her clan’s secret spell to suit himself.
‘So even a secret family spell is still [Star Magic]. That’s why he was able to mimic mine so easily.’
Feeling like a puzzle piece had clicked into place, Lunia asked,
“So we’re putting off learning [Sword of Animus] and [Flame Sovereign] until then?”
“No. You can still practice them. Eiran, start by learning how to control Fairy Mana from this guy.”
Leo snapped his fingers.
A summoning circle appeared, and Kirran materialized.
[Behold, my grand entrance.]
“It’s been a while, Sir Kirran.”
[Oh! Long time no see, Perverted Elf!]
“W-why am I the perverted elf?!”
[Why? Because just the fact that you and that other sharp-tongued elf entered the same room as Leo had you imagining all sorts of naughty—]
“WAAAH! WAAAH! WAAAH!”
Eiran grabbed Kirran and shook him violently.
[Gaaaaaahhh!]
Kirran flailed like he was caught in a threshing machine.
“That loud fairy hasn’t changed a bit.”
Lunia looked smugly at Kirran and said,
“You should be graceful and majestic like our Fiora. So, Leo, what about me?”
“You need to become more attuned to fire. For now, it’s best if you train by getting used to Fiora’s flame.”
Leo summoned Fiora.
“……”
Lunia stared blankly at Fiora, who appeared in Leo’s hand.
Cheep—!
Fiora lifted one wing in a friendly greeting.
Cheep! Cheep!
To Fiora, Lunia was the one who always brought delicious snacks.
So she chirped excitedly, flapping her wings and tried to fly toward Lunia—jumping off Leo’s hand.
Flap—flap! Thud—tumble tumble tumble—!
But instead of flying, she rolled straight to Lunia’s feet.
Cheep! Cheep!
“What did you do to our Fiora?!”
Lunia widened her eyes and grabbed Leo by the collar.
Leo replied,
“Let me be clear. I did nothing. How was I supposed to know she was going around getting snacks from all the Summoning Department students?”
Fiora was currently so overweight she couldn’t even fly properly.
Cheep—cheep—!
Watching the chubby chick roll around like a ball, Lunia clutched her head.
Fiora wobbled to her feet and chirped for snacks at Lunia’s feet.
“Don’t worry, Fiora. I’ll make sure you go on a proper diet.”
Lunia hugged her tightly and made a solemn vow.
Watching this, Kirran, who had escaped Eiran’s grasp, muttered,
[Give her a week, and she’ll be 1.5 times heavier.]
Leo let out a sigh.
‘An obese phoenix, a fairy prince exiled by the Fairy King, and a perverted pegasus… why are all my summons like this?’
Leo silently gave thanks that Elci was at least normal.