Chapter 397
Thud—thud—
With every step, his whole body screamed.
‘My body’s already past its limit.’
It was only natural. He’d been forcing power out of himself beyond what his body could bear, again and again.
And even though Lysinas had protected him, he had still taken Jormungandr’s Breath head-on.
‘That damn lizard. I’ll give him a piece of my mind later.’
The pain of his entire body being scorched was so intense he felt like he might black out.
‘Endure.’
Leo gritted his teeth.
‘Grind—!’ The sound of his teeth scraping echoed.
‘Did you say I’m going to save the world I’m supposed to save?’
Yes. He would save the world.
But he couldn’t do it alone.
‘You were the one who said we should save the world!’
‘Grip—!’
Leo tightened his hold on the staff.
‘It’s your wish!’
Mana flickered.
Kyle knew how this journey ended.
One day, he would carry the hopes Lysinas, Luna, Dweno, and Arron had entrusted to him and stand before the primordial evil.
‘It wasn’t just their hopes I was carrying.’
The heroes who had willingly thrown their lives on the line and fallen before the calamity.
The single, desperate hope they had clung to.
And the wishes of those who refused to bow to despair, who kept moving forward, eyes fixed on hope so they could live on into the future.
‘It’s not that I didn’t give up. It’s that I couldn’t!’
What Lysinas had entrusted to Leo in her final moments was the world itself.
Something too vast for her slender shoulders, something she couldn’t bring herself to carry with him.
‘If you pushed it onto me so I couldn’t give up…’
‘Squeeze—!’
Leo clenched his fist.
Gray Mana billowed out from him.
‘Then you don’t give up either!’
His gray eyes flashed.
—Foolish whelp! Such a useless struggle!
‘Whoooosh—!’
Jormungandr recoiled from the killing intent pouring out of Leo.
Only after being pushed back by his presence without even realizing it did it roar in fury.
—You’re on the verge of death!
‘Fwhoooosh—!’
Crimson flames erupted from Jormungandr.
Burning the last of the Mana in his body, Leo turned his gaze to Rodia.
‘Thump—thump—thump—’
Rodia felt her Dragon Heart pounding like it was about to burst.
‘My Mana is responding to Sir Kyle’s will.’
More precisely, it was Lysinas’s Mana—granted to her as a reward for clearing Hero Record—reacting.
‘…Right. Sir Kyle received the Dragon Heart from Lady Lysinas in the final battle. Which means Lady Lysinas’s power is also Sir Kyle’s power.’
‘Thump—thump—thump—’
It was only natural for power to follow the will of its original master.
‘I can’t move right now. In that case…’
Rodia nodded toward Leo.
‘I will entrust all my power to Sir Kyle!’
‘Whoooooooosh—!’
As if answering Leo’s will, Rodia drew out Lysinas’s Magic Power.
Her heart pounded harder, as if it had gone berserk.
Blood spilled from her mouth, but she didn’t care.
‘Even if my heart bursts, I’ll help Sir Kyle with everything I have!’
Watching Rodia, Leo tightened his grip.
‘Sorry. Just help me a little.’
Leo lowered his stance.
‘Whooooosh! Fwoosh—!’
Golden Aura and flames surged from Leo.
Arron’s Aura and Dweno’s flames.
‘Craaack—!’
Leo’s feet dug into the ground.
‘KABOOM—!’
When he launched himself, the ground where he’d been standing caved in under the shockwave.
He closed the distance to Jormungandr in an instant.
—What…!
Jormungandr’s eyes flew open.
A speed so fast that even with its ability to foresee the future, it couldn’t grasp it!
‘Wham—!’
Leo kicked Jormungandr from below, launching it upward.
‘Fwhoosh—!’
Jormungandr’s massive body shot into the sky.
Leo surged forward again.
Appearing in the path Jormungandr had been sent flying, he unleashed another kick.
‘CRACK—!’
‘KRA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GANG—!’
Jormungandr’s colossal frame was slammed into the ground.
The Calamity Flame tried to devour Leo, but Dweno’s flames wrapped around him like armor.
Leo raised his spear.
He manifested Arron’s Aura and Dweno’s flames, using Lysinas’s Mana as the foundation.
Power far beyond anything his body should have been able to withstand.
Each time Leo moved, his muscles tore and his bones shattered.
But the moment it happened, Rodia’s healing magic mended it.
All that remained was pain—so intense it felt like it was burning into his brain.
‘Thwack—!’
Leo threw the spear.
The giant golden spear pierced straight through Jormungandr’s body.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
Pain as brutal as the Calamity Flame burning its body washed over Jormungandr, and it thrashed wildly.
With the massive spear embedded in it, Jormungandr couldn’t escape.
‘It’s not over yet!’
Leo gritted his teeth.
This was only buying time at the cost of his life.
It wasn’t enough to finish Jormungandr.
Leo didn’t have the strength left to subjugate it.
‘As I am now, it’s nowhere near enough.’
Even the time he was buying wouldn’t last much longer.
But he believed.
‘She won’t die here.’
Leo lifted his staff.
‘She won’t break here.’
‘Woooong—!’
‘The Lysinas I know… is someone who pursues her beliefs to a foolish degree!’
Leo poured power into the staff.
‘Because she’s the savior of the world!’
Even beyond the edge of his limits, he forced himself onward.
A brilliant magic circle embroidered itself into the air.
Perik, watching, widened his eyes.
A magic formula he had never seen before.
And yet—
“How can it be so beautiful?”
The words escaped him without thought.
That magic looked as though it had been carved from the stars.
Another light that would illuminate the world.
‘Fwhoosh—!’
The night-dark world lit up as if it were broad daylight.
The light pouring from the tip of Leo’s staff seemed to drive away the darkness of despair.
Leo unleashed the magic his friend had passed on to him.
The primordial evil.
The unquenchable Calamity Flame.
The only magic capable of annihilating an immortal being.
Leo spoke its name.
“Innocent.”
—
It was a deep darkness.
Lysinas stared blankly at her own hands in that darkness.
As a Necromancer, she could tell.
She was nothing more than a Spirit.
Then, in an instant, the darkness vanished.
A forest.
In the middle of it stood a beautiful elven woman who looked as though she’d only just shed her girlishness, wearing a sullen expression.
“You defeated the Gluttony King? That’s amazing. But if I’d been there, I would’ve been the one to finish him off.”
‘Is this the future?’
Defeating the Gluttony King.
It seemed Kyle had accomplished a great feat.
“Anyway, that’s amazing! You’re worthy of being my comrade!”
Her smugness had the feel of a spoiled young lady, but somehow it wasn’t unpleasant.
Soon, the elven woman beamed and held out her hand.
“My name is Luna! Luna Lubinence! I’m destined to become a great archmage. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lysinas.”
“What?”
Lysinas faltered as a woman she’d never met greeted her.
In the next instant, the scenery shifted again.
An abandoned house.
A small cemetery.
A Beastman boy stood there, eyes filled with resolve even as fear showed on his face.
“I don’t know how much help I can be.”
He clenched his fists.
“I’ll go with you, too. I might not be able to do anything amazing… but I think I can… stand in front of you all and block the enemy. I’ll try to be brave!”
Then he introduced himself.
“My name is Arron. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lysinas.”
Again, someone she didn’t remember called her name.
‘It’s like… I’m reading the memories of a soul.’
Yet anyone could see they were her memories.
And yet they weren’t.
‘What in the world…’
Before she—despite all her accumulated wisdom—could properly process what was happening—
“Hmph! Such bright, beautiful eyes. You just might be able to save the world.”
The scenery changed again, and a dwarf grinned.
“Those eyes will shine even in the darkness. Don’t you worry about Artifacts. I, Dweno, will make them for you. A pleasure to work with you, Lysinas.”
It was Dweno, whom she had considered a potential comrade.
Like she was watching someone else’s life, she watched her own memories that were not her own.
But it didn’t end there.
The Beastman, now a young man, died with tears in his eyes, leaving words of apology behind.
The dwarf entrusted the future to them, and…
The elf, with her dying breath, conveyed her belief in them.
Each farewell from strangers she had never met made her chest burn.
Every time one of those people she didn’t even know disappeared, her heart felt like it was being torn apart—as if she had lost something precious.
‘Crackle—crackle—crackle—’
Before she realized it, Lysinas was standing in the middle of a disaster where black flames raged.
A gray-haired man knelt before a giant Black Dragon, screaming in despair.
And she could see the back of a black-haired woman watching him.
That back looked unbearably pained—unbearably sad.
“Kyle…”
Lysinas whispered the name of the familiar man as he screamed.
And the Black Dragon that had drawn its last breath was—
“Me?”
The word slipped out of her.
As if responding to her call, the woman watching the Black Dragon’s death and Kyle’s despair turned around.
“That’s… me.”
Lysinas murmured hollowly.
Looking at her, the other Lysinas gave a faint smile.
“You’re right, but you’re wrong.”
“What?”
“You are the foolish one. And I am the King of Wisdom, Lysinas.”
The King of Wisdom smiled.
“What… are you?”
“I am you.”
The King of Wisdom said.
“The future you, who will journey with Kyle… and fight against Erebos with Luna, Arron, and Dweno.”
Step—step—
The King of Wisdom approached.
“But you are also the you who will send your irreplaceable friends away first—and in the end, entrust everything to Kyle and leave first.”
Lysinas swallowed hard.
“Foolish one, Lysinas. You cannot save the world alone.”
At those words, Lysinas’s face twisted.
She saw Kyle screaming in despair.
Only bottomless despair surfaced in her mind.
Her hands trembled.
Then—
‘Swoosh—’
The screaming Kyle forced himself up.
‘Trudge—trudge—’
And staggered forward.
“But it’s the same for Kyle. He can’t save the world alone either.”
The King of Wisdom said.
“It was because it was ‘us.’ That’s why we were able to save the world.”
Even in desperation, the final hero didn’t give up. He kept moving.
“My past self.”
The King of Wisdom’s expression turned sad.
“Kyle will fulfill our dearest wish. But… that’s because you… I… we… pushed so much onto Kyle.”
Lysinas clenched her teeth.
“The reason he didn’t give up—despite being frustrated… and despairing… and suffering pain worse than death… is because he carried too much.”
The King of Wisdom looked straight at Lysinas.
“Let’s not be ashamed before the people who believed in you and me and entrusted us with the future.”
She spoke with force.
“Let’s be proud of Kyle, who won’t give up until the very end.”
Lysinas watched Kyle, still moving forward even now.
“The promise that you wouldn’t be left alone… we ultimately couldn’t keep it, but…”
She recalled Kyle smiling as he took her hand, saying he would save the world.
She couldn’t begin to imagine what he must have felt, taking her hand while making a promise he couldn’t keep.
“But… not now.”
The King of Wisdom said.
“The Kyle of now needs you. He’s waiting for you.”
Even if the promise would one day be broken, now was not that time.
Breaking it was a story for the distant future.
“Kyle is trying his best.”
The King of Wisdom held out her hand, conviction in her eyes.
“Let’s try just a little harder.”
The foolish one took that hand.
Just as… Kyle had taken hers.
“Okay.”
At her answer, the King of Wisdom smiled brightly.