Chapter 388
As the Age of Heroes began, knights and warriors who wielded Aura advanced—and so did mages.
Summoners did as well.
Under the influence of the Hero Record, more powerful individuals were born than in the Age of Gods.
‘Compared to the past, it’s definitely easier to learn Aura, access magic, and summon Summoned Beasts in this era.’
The world had clearly progressed.
And yet, in one sense, summoners had regressed.
‘Because they couldn’t fill the void after two of the leaders of the Three Great Summoned Beasts vanished.’
The Flame Emperor and the White King.
In the battle against Erebos, Lysinas and Kyle lost their Oathbound—Katariu and Albus.
Neither Katariu nor Albus left behind a successor. As a result, in this era, only the Fairy King remained as a Summoned Beast King.
‘And even he is effectively defunct, since Silload hasn’t formed a contract with anyone for 5,000 years.’
Seiren had once succeeded in summoning Silload.
However, because Silload couldn’t leave Fairy Land, the summoning was never officially announced.
With three of the strongest Summoned Beasts that Summoned Beast Masters could summon now gone, it was regression in the truest sense.
Leo was walking through the streets of Guardslone when—
“Kyle!”
Someone called out and approached him.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“So-so. Did you find a place to stay? It must be hard to find lodging in Guardslone at this time.”
“That’s easy. Do you know how many times I’ve tried to conquer this world?”
Leo chuckled at Rodia’s words.
“By the way, I thought you’d be moving with Lysinas. Why are you moving separately?”
Rodia, who had attempted this conquest several times, knew Lysinas had gone to recruit the helpers who would be joining her.
“In the original history, I didn’t move with Lysinas at this point.”
“I always moved with Lysinas and helped her.”
Rodia crossed her arms, making a strange expression.
“Though Lysinas didn’t really like it.”
“Knowing her personality, she would’ve liked it if you helped. She wouldn’t have hated it.”
Leo narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t tell me you did something weird in front of Lysinas while wearing my face.”
“……”
Rodia went silent.
Seeing her avoid the question, Leo cracked his knuckles. Rodia hurriedly shouted.
“B-but it’s Lysinas! Lysinas, the King of Wisdom! Kyle, you know what Lysinas means to dragons!”
“Who cares? You think that’s a reason I’ll forgive you for doing something weird with my body?”
“I didn’t do anything weird! Just…”
“Just what?”
“I just… wiggled around a bit, approached her in a friendly way, and tried to talk to her more.”
Leo’s expression turned grim.
Rodia hurriedly added,
“That’s why Lysinas scolded me a lot!”
“How did she scold you?”
“She hit me?”
From Rodia’s perspective, she was simply expressing her joy at meeting the King of Wisdom—the person she respected most in the world.
From Lysinas’s perspective, the man who had been aloof until yesterday suddenly changing overnight and clinging to her was horrifying.
“She hit me the hardest when I looked at her with a flushed face.”
“You deserved it.”
Rodia glared resentfully at Leo’s merciless tone.
“It’s all because of you, Kyle.”
“Why are you blaming me?”
“You were so heartless you didn’t realize Lysinas’s feelings until the very end! I felt so bad for Lysinas that I just…”
“…We’ve only just become companions. There’s no way Lysinas would feel that way about me at this point. And…”
Leo let out a long sigh.
“I knew Lysinas’s feelings.”
“Yes?”
“But at the time, saving the world came first. Lysinas knew that too, so she didn’t confess directly. Even though I knew, I couldn’t do anything but pretend not to.”
“Kyle…”
Rodia’s face crumpled as she watched Leo smile bitterly.
“Don’t lie with nonsense like that.”
“Is there anything this damn lizard can’t say?”
“I respect Kyle, sure, but the person I respect most is Lysinas. I can commit any blasphemy against Kyle for hurting her feelings.”
“Oh, really? Is that why you called me a moron?”
“Do you really think I’m the kind of dragon who would say something that rude?”
“You definitely look like it, you damn lizard.”
Snarling, Leo grabbed Rodia and started pummeling her head.
The great hero who ended the Era of Calamity, and the Heroes of Genesis who prevented the calamity’s return.
They were revered by all, and studied by countless scholars and historians across the world regardless of race.
A meeting that should have been impossible, since they existed in different eras.
And yet, the Heroes of Genesis were considered successors to the great hero—transcending time through the Hero Record.
Many scholars imagined it at least once.
What if the great hero and the Heroes of Genesis met in the real world, not within the Hero Record?
It was thrilling to imagine.
Something that could never happen.
But if such a miracle truly occurred, they would surely weep.
Crack!
“S-surrender! Surrender! I was wrong! I was wrong!”
Rodia cried out in pain as Leo put her in a headlock.
“Why do things you shouldn’t in the first place?”
Leo tightened his hold.
Unable to endure it, Rodia wildly pinched the back of Leo’s hand.
A scene no scholar could have imagined.
If they saw it, they would weep—for an entirely different reason.
—
“So? Where were you going?”
“I’m going to find Albus.”
“Albus—the last Pegasus King?”
Rodia asked, startled.
“That’s right. I’m going to make an Oath with him.”
“Kyle, you only made a contract with Albus after Dweno joined you, didn’t you?”
“That’s right. I made the contract after Lysinas told me about my Mana trait.”
“…Purity.”
Rodia quietly spoke his Mana trait.
Mana that belongs to nothing.
Mana that maintains absolute purity does not lose its trait when awakened into Aura, nor when converted into magic power.
Even when sublimated into Spirit Energy, it returns to pure Mana.
Mana unbound by anything.
That was why it was the only Mana trait that could respond to the Immortal Flame.
And why the Hero of Beginnings, Kyle/Leo Plov—was the natural enemy of primordial evil.
‘The reason we… failed to defeat Erebos.’
Rodia’s eyes sank.
Leo ruffled Rodia’s hair.
“……?”
“Don’t blame yourself. You achieved something incredible. I acknowledge that.”
“Those are very honorable words.”
Rodia’s expression softened with gratitude.
“So, there’s a Pegasus King in Guardslone?”
“Yes. With him as their leader, the Pegasi carved out their own territory within Guardslone.”
“I had no idea.”
“I didn’t either, until Lysinas told me.”
‘In truth, I can summon him right now without going through the trouble of finding him.’
Leo rubbed the back of his left hand.
The mark of a contract was engraved there.
The Oathbound Kyle made—not Leo Plov.
An Oath bound to the soul, not the body, had revived in the present—carried back into the past.
But Leo didn’t summon Albus.
From Albus’s perspective, it was a contract he had never made.
If Leo forced it, their relationship could be ruined before it even began.
‘Albus’s power is essential to defeating Jormungandr.’
He had barely managed to win in his previous life.
‘And I haven’t regained the power I had in that era yet.’
Rodia was here, yes, but it still wasn’t enough.
‘What I didn’t have back then, but I have now…’
The knowledge of what was coming, and overwhelming experience.
‘I need to use everything I have to get closer to the me from the past.’
“Kyle. I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Lysinas was the strongest summoner in history, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t she make a contract with a Pegasus?”
Leo answered as he looked at Rodia’s puzzled face.
“Lysinas said the Pegasi don’t respond to her call.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know the details. It’s not like I know everything about Lysinas.”
Just as he had a past he kept from his companions,
Lysinas clearly had a past she kept from him, too.
Leo had never intended to pry into it.
‘But I have a guess.’
As that thought formed, something else came to mind, and Leo paused.
“Come to think of it—you said you left a Treasure Vault in the land where you were born?”
“It seems Laurel told you I copied Kyle.”
“Yes. I even made a contract, but I couldn’t bring her because I entered the Hero Record suddenly.”
Originally, Leo had only planned to scout and leave, so he hadn’t brought any Summoned Beasts.
He left them at the lodging because they were noisy when he took them along.
“Laurel is kind—too kind—but she also has a strong heart. When she has to do something, she does it. She’ll definitely be a great help.”
“Kind?”
“Yes. She’s really cute when she talks about how beautiful the world is.”
Leo gave a crooked smile, recalling Laurel muttering, ‘The world is rotten,’ at every opportunity.
She had formed a contract with Leo and was influenced by Elci, but her insistence that ‘the world is rotten’ hadn’t changed at all.
Kirran had recoiled in horror when he saw Laurel’s gloomy aura, and Arti had covered Fiora’s ears so she wouldn’t hear Laurel’s words.
‘Put her next to Elci and it’s hard to tell who’s the Spirit of Darkness and who’s the Spirit of Light.’
Leo clicked his tongue.
‘Why are all my Summoned Beasts so weird?’
Shaking his head, Leo chose not to tell Rodia how Laurel had changed.
“So what exactly did you leave in that Treasure Vault?”
At Leo’s question, Rodia answered with a slightly stiff expression.
“I sealed Lysinas’s power.”
“Is it related to Lysinas’s Original Magic?”
“Yes.”
Rodia lowered her head slightly.
“That power was too dark. It was definitely Lysinas’s power, but I felt like I’d be consumed by a deep darkness just by touching it. Not just me and Seiren—Lumene, Azonia, and even Damienne couldn’t handle it. We judged it was too dangerous to treat carelessly, so I sealed it in the Treasure Vault and told Laurel to pass the location to someone qualified.”
Leo clicked his tongue at Rodia’s words.
‘A part of Lysinas’s power… that even I don’t know about.’