Chapter 283
The next day.
The streets of Tarkam were buzzing with energy.
Some parties were preparing to head out toward Mount Erdean for exploration.
Others were gathering intel within the city.
Each group of students approached the mission in their own way.
Leo, too, was in the central plaza of Tarkam with his party, asking around for eyewitnesses to the monster sighting that happened that night.
“I found the hospital where the guards are admitted.”
Carr approached with a grin.
Driana let out an impressed, “Hooh!”
“You’re more capable than I thought.”
“Gathering intel is kinda my specialty. It’s no big deal.”
“You’re amazing, Carr!”
“Hmph, keep the praise coming.”
Carr waved his hands smugly.
‘Wait, he’s better than I thought?’
‘How did he manage to dig that up so quickly?’
Lunia looked at Carr with a bewildered expression, while Ar, pretending to yawn disinterestedly, was sneaking glances at him.
When Leo had recommended Carr as the party leader yesterday, Lunia and Ar had been quietly displeased.
They didn’t look down on him, but it was true that Carr was the least capable among the party.
Even with Leo’s explanation, their pride made it difficult for them to accept.
“What do you think? Carr’s got some skills, right?”
Leo asked with a soft smile. Lunia crossed her arms.
“He’s competent, I’ll give him that.”
Leo chuckled quietly at her words.
“Take this chance to watch Carr carefully. I bet you’ll learn a lot.”
“Learn?”
“Yeah.”
Leo looked at Carr.
“Carr is the weakest student in Lumene, and yet he’s made it to second year. That’s not just luck.”
Lumene was fiercely competitive.
An endless race.
Those who couldn’t keep up were naturally weeded out.
Carr had always been the weakest since enrollment.
And yet, against all odds, he was still standing as Lumene’s second-year weakest—but surviving nonetheless.
It was not a result of luck or effort alone.
“Carr has something you two don’t.”
“What is it?”
“The ability to come up with strategies to beat opponents stronger than himself.”
Lumene’s brutal environment had forced Carr to develop that skill.
Every moment had been a challenge to his limits.
So, he naturally acquired a skill that top students didn’t have.
Giant-killing.
Carr had honed a vital ability that all Heroes should possess.
Hearing this, Ar crossed her arms.
“Hmph. ‘Push past your limits’… huh.”
She echoed Lumene’s motto as she looked toward Carr.
Leo patted the two girls on the shoulder and followed Carr.
Guided by Carr, they soon arrived at the hospital.
Visitation for the guards was restricted.
But as Hero Candidates, they were allowed access without much issue.
“Times like this make me appreciate being a Hero Candidate.”
Carr muttered in awe.
Being a student of the Hero Academy came with almost universal privilege.
The five of them stood at the hospital entrance.
The doctor glanced at them and said,
“I’ve approved the visit, but please make it quick. The patient’s stability is our top priority.”
“Yes, we’ll be quick.”
Nodding in response, the party entered the room.
There, a dwarf guard was trembling violently in the corner.
The furniture in the room was a wreck, as if he’d already thrown a fit.
The party members looked on, startled.
His condition was far worse than expected.
“At this rate, we might not be able to get anything out of him.”
Carr whispered.
Lunia pressed her lips together and stepped toward the guard.
“Excuse me, we just have a question—”
“D-don’t come near! Stay awayyyyy!”
The guard thrashed violently in terror as Lunia approached.
“Get me out! Don’t hold me here—get me out! The monster! The monster’s coming again!”
“Please calm down! We’re students from the Hero Academy! We just want to ask you something about what happened!”
“AAAAAARGH!”
The guard went berserk.
As the others looked on, Driana muttered,
“It’s a curse.”
“A curse?”
“Yeah. He’s not just suffering from trauma. That’s a fear curse.”
“Wait—he only saw that mysterious monster, right? Just seeing it put him under a curse this strong?”
Lunia was taken aback.
Carr checked the patient chart they’d received from the doctor, his face turning serious.
“It’s not just any curse. They gave him a curse-removal potion and used curse-cleansing spells, but nothing worked.”
Curses—one of the most powerful weapons of the demons—had been studied for generations.
Magic doctors were typically well-versed in curse removal.
Even the most potent curses could be lifted given time.
But despite proper treatment, the guard hadn’t recovered.
As confusion spread through the group, Leo spoke.
“Eiran, think you can lift it?”
“I-I’ll try.”
Eiran stepped forward nervously.
Fairy magic had long been known to be the natural enemy of curses.
As a descendant of Velkia—the last [Fairy Knight]—members of the Ersar family were naturally resistant to curses.
They were also born curse-breakers.
“Please hold him down so he can’t thrash.”
At her request, Ar and Driana each grabbed one of the guard’s arms.
“RAAAAARGH!”
The guard thrashed even harder.
But there was no way he could overpower students from Azonia and Damienne.
A soft green light flowed from Eiran’s hand.
It was the life-filled power of a fairy.
As Eiran reached toward the guard—
Crackle! ‘Pop!’
A violent crimson spark exploded, knocking her hand back.
“Eiran!”
Lunia rushed to her.
“I-it’s okay.”
Eiran smiled, looking down at her hand.
Blisters had already formed, like a burn.
As she healed herself with [Heal Magic], the others’ expressions grew grim.
Fear curses weren’t normally hard to remove.
Yet Eiran, a fairy magic user, not only failed but was physically harmed by the rebound.
‘How powerful is this curse?’
Leo stepped forward silently.
“L-Leo! Wait! When I touched him, the curse activated!”
Eiran cried out urgently.
A spark jumped to Leo’s hand.
‘Crackle—!’
But Leo ignored it and summoned his gray mana, forcing the curse back.
‘Step—!’
“GRAAAAAAAAGH!”
Leo’s mana flowed into the guard’s body.
He quickly analyzed the curse.
‘This can’t be lifted easily.’
It was a highly complex curse formula.
Leo was capable of breaking it.
But the moment he tried, an additional spell would amplify the curse.
Ultimately, the curse would run wild and kill the host.
‘Unless it’s Lysinas or Luna, it can’t be removed safely.’
Leo clicked his tongue.
That didn’t mean it was impossible to handle.
‘Crackle!’
Dark red sparks leapt from his hand.
Leo didn’t flinch. He wrapped the curse formula with mana.
Then carefully extracted it.
‘Slide—’
He pulled his hand back from the guard’s forehead.
A bead of dark mana hovered at his fingertip.
It was filled with densely packed curse formulas.
Instead of purifying the curse, he had extracted it directly.
Everyone’s eyes widened.
Leo narrowed his eyes as he inspected it.
‘Crack—! Pop!’
He crushed the cursed bead in his hand.
The guard immediately stopped seizing.
“W-what happened?”
As the guard blinked in confusion, Ar and Driana cautiously let go of him.
“Incredible! Leo! You didn’t just purify the curse—you extracted and destroyed it directly! That requires unbelievable mana control!”
Rather than lifting the curse, Leo chose to destroy it.
It seemed simple, but required deep understanding of the curse’s properties and near-supernatural mana control.
Looking at the now-recovered guard, Leo said,
“He should be able to answer us properly now.”
“Right.”
Carr stepped forward with a serious expression.
“Sorry, but we’d like to ask you something.”
Leo looked at his palm, sweating.
While extracting the curse, he realized who it belonged to.
‘…I was hoping I was wrong.’
His expression hardened.
‘The Giant King.’
—
After finishing their investigation, Leo and the party headed straight for the base of Mount Erdean—the spot where the guard said the monster appeared.
Leo remained deep in thought the whole way there.
‘Why did that thing show up?’
During the first-year entrance exam…
Leo had seen Erebos atop this mountain, through Gerwin’s [Hero’s World].
‘But that wasn’t the real Erebos. It was more like a lingering thought. A remnant.’
Five thousand years ago…
He and Erebos fought their final battle here, with the fate of the world at stake.
And in the end, Erebos was defeated.
His essence was split and sealed in fragments.
‘They said his true form was godlike. So it’s not strange if some residual will remained.’
A remnant made of hatred and resentment, born from his defeat and the world’s survival.
‘But that alone wouldn’t have made the Giant King move. A lingering thought has no power—it’s just a scrap of will.’
It wasn’t even Erebos’s will. Nor did it hold power.
It was just a ball of hatred toward the [Hero of the Beginning], Kyle.
Useless from Tartarus’s perspective.
Though it had symbolic weight.
‘If he moved… this is much more serious.’
Leo frowned, troubled.
“But is it really possible for such a huge creature to exist in this world?”
Lunia scanned the area and looked up at the towering Mount Erdean.
“The largest known creature is the Gigantes, right? Weren’t your seniors in a battle against one last year? How big was it?”
Lunia tilted her head, and Carr replied,
“That fight was handled by the top students. I just watched from the sidelines.”
He shrugged, then shook his head at the memory.
“The Gigantes wasn’t even fully grown, and it was already massive… But even a full-grown one being mountain-sized? That’s a stretch.”
Ar tilted her head, nibbling her finger.
“Hmm. What about the Giant King?”
“That Legion Commander who hasn’t shown up in 5000 years? Isn’t that kind of a stretch? Some even say he was killed during the Era of Genesis.”
To people of this age, he was little more than a myth.
“And even if a monster that huge teleported, it would leave mana waves. Disappearing in a flash like that is just weird. They probably hallucinated. Though, given the curse, it’s still connected to demons…”
Leo stopped at Driana’s words.
‘Disappear without a trace?’
There was something he knew that matched that description.
‘When you enter a [Hero Record]…’
Leo’s eyes narrowed.
‘What if there’s a Hero Record belonging to one of the Great Heroes here?’
Tartarus had been targeting and destroying Hero Records by invading the [Hero’s World].
If that’s the reason, then it wouldn’t be strange for the Giant King to move personally.
And at that exact moment—
“Leo! How long are you gonna just stand there thinking? Help us explore!”
Lunia shouted with a pout.
“There’s something weird in the air here.”
“Oh? You’re more like a dog than a cat right now.”
“Who’re you calling a dog?!”
Whack—!
Carr, impressed by Ar sniffing the air, got smacked in the side as she headed toward the scent.
“Huh? Whoaaa!”
Ar’s shout made Carr scramble to his feet.
“What’d you find?!”
“Look! It’s a [Hero Record]!”
“What?!”
“Where? Let me see!”
The party rushed toward Ar.
“Wait!”
Leo shouted urgently.
“This is… Master Dweno’s [Hero Record]! And it’s completely intact!”
“What?! Let me see too! Me! Me!”
Driana jumped up excitedly.
“But… what are these burnt-looking marks on it?”
As Eiran reached for the record to show Driana—
[Hero Record Opened. Dweno’s World. Chapter: ■■-■■■■ ■■■.]
A message appeared before their eyes.
“W-what the—?”
“A Hero Dungeon?!”
A burst of light engulfed the area.
Everyone gasped at the message on display.
‘Fwoosh—!’
Their vision was consumed by familiar light.
Then Leo opened his eyes.
‘What the—? Why did the Hero Record activate so suddenly…?’
As he tried to make sense of it—
‘Thud! Crash!’
“Guh?!”
“Ugh?”
Losing his balance, Leo tumbled and crashed into something.
“You’re heavy!”
A girl’s voice called out beneath him.
Leo quickly got up.
“Sorry. Are you hurt anywh—”
“You! What the hell do you think you’re doing showing up out of nowhere?!”
The girl yelled, fuming.
Sharp, glaring eyes.
Pursed lips.
Twitching ears in frustration.
She was a very familiar elf girl.
Someone Leo had whacked on the head more than once for being too cheeky—if not for her cuteness.
‘Velkia.’