Chapter 394
The expedition’s journey continued.
They eventually arrived near the area where Leo had predicted the Gluttony King Jormungandr would appear.
The closer they got, the more tense everyone’s faces became.
“Let’s rest here for today.”
Lysinas spoke, even though there was still time before sunset.
They couldn’t recklessly press into a dangerous area where Jormungandr might appear—especially not at night.
So the expedition set up camp and prepared a meal.
‘The atmosphere is heavy.’
Rodia looked around as she lit the campfire with magic.
They might soon have to face Jormungandr, regarded as the strongest of the legion commanders.
Of course they were tense.
‘In this era, not a single legion commander has ever been subjugated.’
Even though they had set out ready to risk their lives to bring down Jormungandr, it was only natural to tremble with anxiety.
Once the fire was going, Rodia walked over to Leo, who was studying a map off to the side.
“Sir Kyle.”
“What.”
Leo answered curtly, eyes still on the map.
Rodia spoke anyway.
“Don’t you think it’s about time we told everyone the plan to subjugate Jormungandr?”
At that, Leo replied calmly.
“There is no plan.”
“Pardon?”
“Jormungandr isn’t a legion commander you can beat with strategy.”
Leo finally looked up.
Rodia stared, dumbfounded.
“How can that be?”
“What do you mean, how? It just is. You should know that, having fought the Gluttony King yourself.”
Rodia remembered the Gluttony King.
A legion commander whose power could only be described as overwhelming.
Even Rodia—the leader of the Heroes of Genesis—had felt a chill down her spine.
‘He was the most powerful enemy aside from the fragments of Erebos.’
Literally the strongest of the Demons.
“Unfortunately, he’s not an enemy you can prepare countermeasures for.”
Leo let out a short sigh.
“Compared to my past life, the expedition’s current strength is definitely higher. And back then, we were forced into a sudden encounter without preparation—whereas now we’ve at least come here ready for him. However.”
Leo spoke with emphasis.
“The fact that the expedition will be annihilated the moment something goes even slightly wrong hasn’t changed. Our victory five thousand years ago was truly a miracle.”
The time he had gained the power to overwhelm Jormungandr was only after he had fully matured—physically and mentally.
It was only in the era when they was called the King of Wisdom and the Hero of Beginnings.
“Then how in the world did you defeat Jormungandr?”
“We surpassed our limits.”
Leo smirked.
“While I drew his attention, Lysinas pierced his heart.”
“As expected of Lady Lysinas!”
Rodia clasped her hands, eyes sparkling.
“It’s the same now. While I draw his attention, the others will attack.”
“Will Jormungandr obediently target only you, Sir Kyle?”
“I have to make him. It’s true he possesses overwhelming power, even among the legion commanders. But do you know why he never became Tartarus’s central figure despite that?”
“…I’m not sure. I’ve never thought about it.”
“Because he’s an idiot.”
“Pardon?”
Rodia went blank for a moment.
Every legion commander she knew possessed not only immense power, but cunning to match.
That was what made them terrifying.
And yet Leo was saying the Gluttony King—the strongest of them all—was just a muscle-headed fool.
“If that bastard used his brain even half as well as the Death King, the world would’ve been destroyed long ago. If I insult Erebos, he’ll lose his mind and target only me.”
“Okay. I understand the plan is for you, Sir Kyle, to create an opening by taking his attention. But can you withstand a focused assault from Jormungandr with your current power?”
“I can. That’s why I made an Outhbound with Albus.”
Leo showed her the Contract Seal on the back of his hand.
“His recklessness is a disaster in itself. But it’s also a fatal weakness.”
Leo’s red eyes flashed.
“I will create the opportunity.”
He declared it without hesitation—taking on the most dangerous role.
“You all just need to pierce the heart of that bastard who’s full of openings.”
The moment he said it—
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble-!
The ground began to shake like an earthquake.
“Wh-what?”
“Something’s coming!”
As panic surged through the expedition—
Cra-cra-cra-cra-cra-cra-clash-!
Something enormous burst up far from the camp.
A giant snake.
-Kuuuuuoooooooooooooooooooh!
A bloodcurdling roar thundered from the serpent’s mouth, soaring so high it seemed to pierce the sky.
“Jormungandr!”
—
“What?”
“He really appeared!”
“Everyone, prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!”
Panic rippled through the expedition the instant Jormungandr appeared.
They hurriedly formed up and braced themselves.
Knights and warriors tightened their grips on their weapons.
Mages began chanting, and summoners called forth their Summoned Beasts.
Until now, most of them had been skeptical of Leo’s claim that they would have to fight Jormungandr.
That was why his appearance hit them like a nightmare.
But even terrified, they weren’t cowed.
They were battle-hardened veterans—people who had survived the Era of Calamity and protected Guardslone for a long time.
Their names were not recorded in history.
Even so, they were heroes who had laid the cornerstone of the Age of Heroes.
Fear didn’t excuse negligence.
Amid all of it, the most shocked were Leo and Rodia—who had been certain Jormungandr was real.
“This is far from where the battle originally took place!”
Rodia blurted urgently, and Leo clicked his tongue.
“You know just because actual history went one way, that doesn’t mean it has to happen the same way in the Hero Record! Unexpected situations can happen anytime!”
“But… this is too big of a deviation!”
“Nothing’s changed. Get ready for battle too!”
At Leo’s order, Rodia moved into formation.
Lysinas ran over.
“Kyle! It’s just as you said!”
“Yeah.”
Leo clenched and unclenched his fists.
Allox, already in position, called out.
“The vanguards—me, Kyle, and Arlene—will take the front!”
“No.”
Leo shook his head.
“I’ll block him alone. Allox, Arlene. You two aim for his openings.”
“What did you say?”
Allox’s expression stiffened.
“Kyle! No matter how strong you are, that’s too reckless! Blocking him alone—!”
“Allox is right! Kyle! What are you thinking!”
Lysinas, pale-faced, grabbed the hem of Leo’s clothes.
“There’s no one here who can match my mobility. I have a contract with the Pegasus King.”
Leo stared at Jormungandr.
“That monster can’t be killed with ordinary attacks. The rest of you will have to give it everything you’ve got to land a critical blow.”
“Even so, it’s nearly impossible to block Jormungandr alone.”
“Unfortunately, that’s the kind of thing we’ll have to do from now on.”
“What?”
Leo looked across the expedition.
“To save the world, we have to make the impossible possible.”
Everyone looked dazed.
“And subjugating that damn snake here is the first step.”
Leo spoke with quiet seriousness.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m the hero who survives. Even if everyone here dies, I’ll survive to the very end.”
“What an unlucky thing to say.”
Perik let out a hollow laugh.
“Can you really block him?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll leave the front to you.”
“If you show even the slightest sign of faltering, I’ll help you immediately.”
“We’re counting on you, Kyle.”
Allox and Arlene patted Leo’s shoulders.
“Everyone, take your positions.”
Rodia snapped the formation into place.
The heroes moved quickly.
Through it all, Leo spoke to Lysinas, who was still clutching his clothes.
“Don’t worry too much.”
He gently pried her hand free.
“This battle will be the beginning of a great journey.”
At his words, Lysinas nodded heavily.
—
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble-!
-Are you the vermin that crawled out of Guardslone?!
Slithering over the ground, Jormungandr sneered at the presences he sensed ahead.
-I smell dragons. Their meat is a delicacy!
Sniff, sniff—
Jormungandr flicked his tongue as he followed the ominous scent that had led him here.
A gluttonous appetite, befitting the name Gluttony King, surged through him.
Then the Gluttony King spotted someone flying toward him.
-Hmph. A fly dares approach me alone…
His sneer froze.
Carried on the wind was the ominous stench of blood.
Not a real scent.
A stench etched deep into the soul of the human flying toward him.
‘What is… this stench?’
It was a smell he desperately wanted to avoid.
But before that—
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble-!
The axis of the earth shook.
No—Jormungandr’s body was trembling.
The legion commander called the strongest.
‘What in the world… is this fear?’
His instincts were screaming at him.
An indescribable fear—toward that mere human.
Another scent, hidden beneath the smell of Erebos.
‘The smell of my blood?’
That primal urge to avoid the human before him made even the strongest legion commander feel pathetic.
But then—
hatred surged up, swallowing everything else.
‘This is impossible!’
Jormungandr’s sense of smell—so keen it could perceive the fragrance of a soul—was telling him the truth.
That human had killed him.
And had even killed the great god he revered.
That the human’s very existence was an insult to everything Jormungandr was.
He began to thrash, as if seized by a fit.
Fear and hatred shattered his reason.
-Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
His eyes rolled back as he screamed a roar into the sky.
“It’s been a while, Jormungandr.”
Leo said as he arrived before him.
-Godslayer! I do not know a filthy being such as you!
“I’m sure you don’t. But I know you.”
A thick killing intent poured from Leo’s body.
“By the way, Godslayer? I’ve never killed a god.”
-Silence! You cannot reach God! Here and now! Your existence will be erased!
With his reason paralyzed, Jormungandr spewed incoherent curses, overflowing with hate.
Leo narrowed his eyes.
‘This bastard… I don’t know why, but it looks like he knows what I did in the future.’
But nothing changed.
He still had to defeat Jormungandr here and now.
Woong-!
Leo stirred his Spirit Energy.
Pure white Divine Lightning swirled.
Crackle-crackle-crackle! Flash—!
Having summoned Albus, Leo mounted her and spoke.
“Albus, fly.”
He pulled on reins made of Spirit Energy.
Cra-cra-cra-cra-clash-!
Jormungandr’s Breath of destruction swallowed where Leo had been.
But Leo was already gone.
Jormungandr’s six eyes snapped upward.
Far, far into the sky.
-…So it finally begins.
Albus muttered as she stared down.
“Yeah. We’re finishing off that earthworm.”
Leo gently stroked Albus’s mane.
“Forgive me if I’m a little rough with you in our first battle, milady.”
-Kyle, you’d better not get overwhelmed by my power yourself.
Leo grinned at her warning.
-But you said your goal was to block that hateful being by yourself, right? Is that possible?
“It’s possible, but… since he’s lost his mind, I think I’ll have to play my trump card a little sooner.”
-A trump card? You had another trump card besides me?
Leo laughed at Albus’s slightly sulky voice.
“Yes. I was going to summon them later, because I thought it might arouse unnecessary suspicion.”
-Suspicion?
Albus looked puzzled.
Leo spread his arms wide.
Woong-!
Spirit Energy swirled over the backs of both hands.
Golden and black Contract Seals appeared.
The instant Albus realized what it meant, her eyes widened.
-This power is…!
Her voice trembled with disbelief.
-Kyle, what is your true identity? How on earth…!
“My identity… People do ask me that.”
Leo laughed and forcibly executed the ‘unformed Oaths.’
“The Hero of Beginnings.”
Summoning circles appeared.
Leo called the names of his Oathbound.
“Elci, Silload.”
At his call, the Oathbound revealed themselves.
(T/N : Sheeeessshhhhg. I know for sure this is gonna be epic! Im having a herorgasm right now! lol)