Chapter 369
‘The filthiest paradise in the world.’
Strolling through the Pleasure District, Leo surveyed the street’s scenery.
The eyes of the people around him were fixed on him.
In this district, Leo’s appearance was utterly out of place.
The Pleasure District was filthy.
And not just the streets themselves.
Everything that constituted this district.
A street built from the warped desires and greed lurking in the deepest depths of the human heart.
It was just as the old woman at the entrance had said.
This place was undoubtedly the world’s rock bottom.
He recalled the dazzling main street from a short while ago.
‘That must be for show.’
Before being the world’s poorest nation, this country was one where things illegal in other countries were legal.
For those in power, such a place as Aleham must be the ultimate playground.
That glamorous street was likely the result of squeezing the life out of the people living in Aleham.
The scenery of the Pleasure District was probably closer to Aleham’s true face.
‘Well, I doubt the entire country is this bad.’
Just then, three men with large builds blocked Leo’s path.
“What are you staring at? You find us interesting?”
“Looks like a well-to-do young master from some noble family. What’s a guy like you doing in a dump like this?”
“Wait, is he even a young master? Look at that pretty face. Isn’t he a girl?”
“Could be. Should we strip him and find out?”
The three men cackled as they looked at Leo.
The eyes of the three men, who looked like mercenaries, were glazed over.
They were steeped in alcohol and drugs.
As Leo stared at the trio in silence, the large man at the front scowled.
“What are you looking at, you bastard?! First time seeing someone at rock bottom?!”
“Hey, hey! Don’t scare him too much! He might start whining and call for his little bodyguards.”
“That could be fun, too, right? Well! Once you’re in here, you’ll realize that pathetic power from the outside is worthless!”
After getting annoyed, they burst into laughter among themselves as if something was hilarious.
Watching the mercenaries, Leo let out a smirk.
“I’m here looking for someone.”
“Who?”
“The master of the Pleasure Castle.”
The moment he stated his business, a chilling silence fell.
The master of the Pleasure Castle.
The ruler of this district.
No, simply calling him the ruler of the Pleasure District might not be enough.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was the de facto master of this oasis city, Uarguela.
That’s how much influence he wielded, even more than the city’s lord.
“This little shit!”
“Do you even know who you’re talking about, you snot-nosed brat, mentioning his name so carelessly! You wanna die?!”
The mercenaries, who had been high on drugs and alcohol, instantly regained their senses.
Their faces pale, they screamed at the top of their lungs.
As if they wanted no part in this conversation.
Seeing this, Leo tilted his head.
‘Just mentioning the name gets this kind of reaction?’
“Where can I meet him?”
“This bastard, he just won’t quit!”
“No one can meet him!”
Leo wore an indifferent expression at the mercenaries’ reaction.
“If you don’t know, then I have no business with you.”
“You son of a bitch!”
Provoked by the sight of Leo turning to leave without a second thought, the mercenaries charged at him.
‘Thwack-thwack-thwack—!’
With a series of dull thuds, the mercenaries were sent flying through the air.
‘CRASH—!’
“K-hegh!”
“Gaaack!”
“Ugh!”
The mercenaries, who had crashed to the ground, let out pained screams.
Elci, perched on Leo’s shoulder, muttered.
-There are only bad people here.
“That’s what this neighborhood is like.”
Leo replied calmly and continued walking, heading deeper into the district.
Shabby taverns lined the street.
But no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t see a building that could be called a ‘castle.’
Leo narrowed his eyes.
“Elci.”
-Yes, it’s just as you think, Leo. This street is covered in a spirit’s illusion.
At Elci’s answer, Leo pulled out the note Tina had given him from his pocket.
On it, only Tina’s name was written.
“With this level of power, is it a Great Spirit?”
He had thought it would be someone significant from the moment Tina introduced them, but he hadn’t expected the master of the Pleasure Castle to be a Great Spirit’s contractor.
-Can you find the way?
“Who do you think I am?”
Leo smirked at Elci’s question.
Normally, it would have been impossible to even notice the illusion.
But Leo had been friends with the strongest summoner in history.
And that strongest summoner didn’t discriminate between familiars and spirits.
“Compared to her spirit arts, this is child’s play.”
-Have you been on the receiving end of Lysinas’s spirit arts?
“Many times.”
Leo grimaced, recalling his friend who would use spirit arts on him whenever she got angry.
He reached out into the air and grabbed at it as if pulling back a curtain.
‘GRAB—!’
Space distorted at Leo’s fingertips.
‘FWOOSH—!’
As Leo pulled his arm back, the space was drawn away, revealing the true path.
In the distance, Leo’s eyes fell upon a magnificent, dazzling castle.
Feeling the spirit’s power emanating from the castle, Leo wore a surprised expression.
“A Light Spirit?”
He couldn’t identify it while inside the illusion, but now he could feel it clearly.
The spirit that had settled here was a Great Spirit of Light.
The spirit with the noblest disposition of all.
A Light Spirit was, quite literally, the incarnation and spokesperson of light.
For such a Great Spirit of Light to have settled in a filthy district like this was certainly surprising.
-Oh my, a Light Spirit.
Elci covered her mouth and let out a gasp.
She then fidgeted with joy.
The era Elci was born into was the Age of Calamity.
She had to live in a time when a dreary, gray sky covered the world, and even the starlight in the night sky was barely visible.
Because of that, Elci developed a strong admiration for light.
That hadn’t changed, even now that she had crossed over to the present day with Leo’s help.
She was purely delighted at the thought that she might be able to meet a Great Spirit who commanded such light.
Leo smirked at Elci’s reaction.
“You’re that happy?”
-Yes! I’ve always wanted to meet one!
“I’m also curious what a Great Spirit of Light would be like.”
His memories related to a Great Spirit of Light weren’t entirely pleasant.
5000 years ago.
Luminus, the Great Spirit of Radiance, who was contracted to Lysinas.
As a Great Spirit of Light, she was the first companion Lysinas and Leo had to lose.
Lysinas died.
And after defeating Erebos, Kyle died too.
Only after the impossibly long passage of 5000 years was he finally able to keep his promise.
Leo took out the Orb of Light from his pocket.
The object that had been the medium for his contract with Elci.
It was a treasure of the Light Spirits that Luminus had left for Leo.
Putting the orb away, Leo said.
“Alright, shall we go?”
-Yes!
***
At the top of the Pleasure Castle.
The eyes of a woman looking down on the Pleasure District, no, on all of Uarguela, twitched.
“Parting the veil. Whose work is this?”
As she expressed her displeasure, the woman waiting by her side closed her eyes slightly and answered.
“An outsider is said to have visited the Pleasure District, Lady Laurel.”
“An outsider?”
Even if it was an outsider, this situation was still hard to understand.
Was there truly someone in this country who could see through her power and break it?
As she pondered, Laurel remembered something.
She had already heard that Lumene had dispatched hero candidates to investigate the strange occurrences in this country.
“I see. The hero candidates?”
The displeasure on Laurel’s face deepened.
She did not care for the existence of heroes.
“What should we do?”
“Why do you ask?”
“The hero candidate who found this place is named Leo Plov.”
“That hero candidate, the one the Comet Mage designated as his successor?”
“Yes. The one you have waited for for so long, Lady Laurel…”
“I finished waiting for anyone a long time ago.”
The woman flinched at Laurel’s cold words.
“And you believe that ridiculous story about the Comet Mage reappearing in this land?”
“The Founder of the Nebula and the Hero of the Beginnings have also appeared in this land. The Comet Mage could…”
At her subordinate’s words, Laurel let out a short laugh.
“The Great Heroes and the Heroes of Genesis are different.”
“Pardon?”
“If the Heroes of Genesis were the same as the Great Heroes, this world would have met its end long ago.”
“My mind is unchanged.”
Laurel gazed out the window and muttered.
“The light vanished from this world a long time ago.”
Leo, who was heading toward the Pleasure Castle, stopped in his tracks.
At some point, the people on the street had vanished.
-Leo, it’s an illusion.
Elci said, her brow furrowed.
Leo, too, had already seen through the fact that he had entered an illusion’s domain.
The problem was that this was no mere illusion meant to confuse the eyes.
A bright light exploded before Leo’s eyes.
“Interesting.”
Leo smirked at the one who had revealed itself.
What appeared before him was none other than Leo himself.
Looking at the illusion that was identical to him, as if reflected in a mirror, Leo said.
“You wield some rather tricky spirit arts.”
Illusions are a Light Spirit’s specialty.
A Great Spirit could create a lifelike illusion anytime it wanted.
But the illusion that had appeared before him now was on a different level of intricacy.
“You must have a very powerful Great Spirit as a contractor.”
Fundamentally, the power of Great Spirits is nearly equal, but differences in combat strength exist.
That comes from the years they have lived and the difference in their experience.
It was only natural that an older, more experienced spirit would be more adept in battle.
One could create any number of lifelike illusions.
But creating an illusion identical to the real thing was difficult.
‘Fwoosh—!’
The illusion of light used Zerdinger’s flames.
Seeing this, Elci said.
-Shall I step in?
Light and darkness were opposing attributes.
If Elci, a Shadow Spirit, were to exert her power, she could distort even the most intricate illusion.
‘Step—’
“No.”
Taking a step forward, Leo spoke firmly.
There was only one reason such a powerful illusion was blocking his path.
The master of this castle held animosity toward him.
They intended to drive him away, even if it meant causing harm.
Using Elci would require drawing out the power of a Great Spirit.
‘It’s probably best to keep the fact that there are two Great Spirits of Darkness in one era a secret for now.’
In the first place, the illusion before him was not a major obstacle for Leo.
“No matter how real it seems, in the end, it’s just an illusion.”
The corners of Leo’s mouth curled up as Zerdinger’s flames erupted from his body.
‘FWOOSH—!’
The moment Leo’s red eyes flashed.
‘KRA-GA-GA-GA-GANG!’
A massive sword strike of flame soared upwards.
‘FWOOOSH—!”
Watching the flames that shot up from one part of the castle, Laurel’s eyes twitched.
‘This quickly?’
The Pleasure Castle was protected by five major illusions.
The first was the illusion that concealed the castle’s appearance.
The second was the illusion that had just been broken.
From the second illusion onward, they were dangerous illusions capable of killing any uninvited guest who approached the Pleasure Castle.
A powerful illusion that, though an illusion, could never be broken unless one surpassed their own limits.
‘They called him the greatest hero candidate in history, and it seems to be true.’
Laurel admitted that she had underestimated Leo’s existence.
‘Then again, for a student learning the teachings of Lumene, this much is to be expected…’
The moment Laurel thought that.
‘FLASH!’
Her expression changed as she stared at the light that had now erupted from another illusionary zone.
The third illusion.
The illusion that tested one’s faith in oneself had also been broken in an instant.
The words ‘the Comet Mage’s successor’ echoed in Laurel’s mind.
‘No, it can’t be.’
The moment Laurel denied it.
The fourth illusion was broken through yet again.
The fourth illusion was one that could only be pierced by someone with the mental fortitude to press forward in any situation.
3000 years.
This was the first time anyone had broken through the fourth illusion.
‘This kid…’
Laurel’s mouth fell open.
‘What in the world is he…?’
Only the final illusion remained.
The moment she was struck with astonishment at that fact.
‘BANG—!’
The door to the topmost floor was thrown open violently.
Laurel’s eyes met with those of a boy with pure white hair and red eyes.
“I thought you were doing some strange things for a human.”
Looking at Laurel, Leo tilted his head.
“I didn’t expect a Great Spirit would be doing something like this without even a contractor.” (T/N: ooooooHHH)