Chapter 425
“This first semester was eventful.”
“I know, right? It was even more hectic than last year.”
Chen Xia nodded with a smile at Chloe’s murmur.
Right now, all the students of Lumene were gathered at the grand training grounds, Erek.
With the closing ceremony, the semester ended.
The students received evaluations for their efforts throughout the semester.
And the one who drew the most attention at the closing ceremony was, of course, the first-year representative.
“By the way, you ended up becoming the representative after all.”
Luke, who defeated Aina in the semifinals, then met Haviden in the finals and claimed victory—ultimately taking the position of first-year representative.
An incredible feat, especially with the summit taking place.
Luke, who became the protagonist of an unexpected upset, instantly became a candidate for a world-renowned Hero.
“Luke seems to have gained some gravitas as the first-year representative, don’t you think?”
At Chen Xia’s words, Chloe looked toward the first-years.
Luke and Juen were talking.
Then Haviden, Sasha, and Betty joined them, and they all chatted together.
Before long, Juen and Haviden seemed to be arguing, voices rising, while Luke—caught in the middle—looked like he was suffering.
“Doesn’t seem like it at all.”
Chloe shook her head and looked elsewhere.
Celia and Aina were talking there.
‘They’ve become friends again.’
Celia, being an excellent student, was good at taking care of other students.
So she did her best for Aina as a sunbae and a mentor.
But Chloe knew—through Celia—that the two had gradually grown apart over the course of the first semester.
And during the midterm tournament, they had completely fallen out.
Still, after the semifinal match with Luke, Aina came to Celia again, and their relationship recovered.
‘That’s good.’
Chloe nodded, knowing how worried Celia had been about Aina.
“Princess! I will serve you until you return to the Shan Empire!”
At that moment, El Jane approached Chen Xia with sparkling eyes.
“El Jane, I told you to call me Sunbae at school.”
“The closing ceremony is over, so I’m not a student anymore! I will now carry out my mission to serve Princess Xia.”
With that, El Jane threw off her school uniform.
Countless gazes snapped toward the fluttering uniform top and skirt.
“How did you do that? Is it magic?”
Chloe asked in a daze.
Under the uniform, El Jane was wearing the traditional attire unique to the Shan Empire.
How could she have hidden those flowing clothes beneath her school uniform?
“It’s not magic. As someone who serves the princess of the Shan Empire, changing clothes is basic.”
El Jane smiled.
“Who said you could just throw off your school uniform like that?”
“Eek?”
She screamed at the terrifying voice coming from behind.
“Come with me, El Jane.”
El Jane, who had been trying to set the mood, was dragged away by Professor Harrid.
In addition, first and second-years who had formed mentor-mentee pairs chatted as if they’d grown fond of each other over the semester.
Among them, there were many first-years shedding tears.
“I’m sorry, Sunbae. Because of me. Sniff.”
“No, it’s not your fault. I would’ve been expelled even without you. If anything, I was able to stay until the second semester because of you. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you more.”
A lot of students were leaving Lumene this time.
Some first-years were left alone, while others were expelled together.
There were mentors and mentees who never even spoke, and there were students who wept together.
“I’ll never get used to that.”
Chloe made a bitter face.
There were quite a few students being expelled from Glory this time.
“It can’t be helped. There will always be those who stay and those who leave Lumene. But even so, we’re all walking toward the same place in the end. Our paths have diverged, but we’ll surely meet again someday.”
Chloe was nodding at Chen Xia’s words when—
“Chloe Sunbae! What are your plans after the closing ceremony?”
Betty, Chloe’s mentee, approached.
“I’m going to have a get-together with my dorm friends.”
“Then, would it be okay if I came to see you after my classmates and I finish our get-together?”
“Yeah.”
“Yay!”
Betty smiled brightly, delighted.
All around them, first and second-years made plans with their mentors and mentees.
Watching from afar, Lily, the third-year representative, muttered.
“I envy the first and second-years. Their sunbae-hubae relationship is so close.”
“Oh, we’re just as close as they are, aren’t we?”
Elena smiled as she braided Lily’s hair however she pleased.
Lily spoke in a gloomy voice.
“Elena Sunbae is just treating me like a toy.”
“Oh, really?”
Elena widened her eyes, but didn’t stop playing with Lily’s hair.
“I want to tell the hubaes in the Summoning Department to have a good vacation.”
Lily was a popular sunbae in the Summoning Department.
“But those ungrateful first and second-years aren’t coming to greet you, are they?”
‘It’s not because of me, it’s because they’re afraid of Sunbae.’
Lily muttered inwardly with teary eyes, but didn’t say it out loud.
If she did, that twisted Elena would definitely chase her all the way home the moment she heard it.
—
Leo looked down at his hands.
He could feel a faint, foreign power—Divine Power.
‘The Divine Power has definitely increased.’
After the battle with Hell Kaiser’s clone, the Divine Power Leo possessed had increased.
Of course, it was only a very small amount.
“What happened?”
At Mel’s question, Leo recalled the moment he obtained the Divine Power.
“It was definitely when I suppressed the Calamity Flame the Death King released.”
“Your power is the opposite of Erebos, right, Leo?”
“That’s right.”
This power, which Lysinas called Purity, was the only power that could resist Erebos’s unquenchable flame.
With this power, Leo had defeated Erebos.
“But even in my past life, I only extinguished Erebos’s flame.”
At Leo’s words, Mel pondered, then spoke.
“That god, Pibua, clearly described Erebos as a monstrosity comparable to a god, right?”
“That’s right.”
“And he said that if gods are beings of light, then Erebos is a being of darkness.”
“He did.”
“Then wouldn’t the foundations of gods and primordial evil be the same?”
“I purified the Calamity Flame with Divine Power?”
“Yes.”
Leo fell silent at Mel’s speculation.
“It’s not like I haven’t thought about that myself. But 5,000 years ago, I couldn’t purify or absorb Erebos’s power.”
“Then could it be that the flame the Death King released wasn’t the Calamity Flame?”
“It’s the flame that burned the world, burned my comrades, and eventually burned myself.”
Leo shook his head.
“There’s no way I could be mistaken.”
“Then could it be an awakening?”
“An awakening.”
“Yes. There’s a high probability of that. Ar awakened Arron’s ability again, too, didn’t she?”
Only once, but Ar had transformed other Beastmen with Howling, triggering Beast Transformation.
One of the miracles Arron had desperately wanted.
Through awakening, Ar opened up new possibilities for her ability.
“Hehehe.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m just surprised there’s still a way to become stronger.”
Leo burst into laughter.
“Me, Lysinas, Luna, Dweno too. I thought we’d reached the end of the road we were walking.”
Of course, they hadn’t stopped moving forward.
But by the time of their last journey, Leo—as well as Lysinas, Luna, and Dweno—were close to perfection in both strength and mentality.
“Well, you were able to defeat Erebos because you’d reached the pinnacle.”
After saying that, Mel tilted her head.
“But what about Arron?”
He had spoken of Leo, Lysinas, Luna, and Dweno, but not Arron.
At Mel’s question, Leo rested his chin on his hand.
“Arron had shortcomings.”
“Arron had shortcomings? But surely the Hero is the strongest warrior in history.”
Mel looked surprised as Leo smiled bitterly.
No matter what anyone said, Arron was the strongest warrior.
“That’s right. In terms of brute force alone, he’s the strongest. He’s a coward, but that fact doesn’t change.”
“Then what were Arron’s shortcomings?”
“Mental aspects.”
Leo made a bitter face.
“On our last journey, we were all prepared—except for Arron.”
“What kind of preparation?”
“The preparation to die.”
“……”
“And the preparation to let each other go.”
Mel watched Leo in silence as he spoke calmly, tragically.
“Our last journey was impossible. Of course, no one gave up, but we all knew we wouldn’t all come back alive.”
That was why the great heroes set out with the determination to keep moving even if their dearest friend died.
“But Arron was prepared to die himself, yet he couldn’t bring himself to watch us die.”
That was why Arron sacrificed himself first.
“If it weren’t for him, the one who would’ve died instead would have been… Dweno, who was at the forefront.”
“……”
“Arron was the youngest of us.”
Among the great heroes, he was the only one born in the Era of Calamity—someone who had never seen a blue sky or bright starlight.
In a way, it was the same as Elci.
“Would the result have been different if Arron had made that resolution?”
“It wouldn’t have changed.”
Leo made a bitter face.
“But we all regretted it. We relied too much on Arron’s courage. We should have comforted him—as his Hyung, and as his Noona—before we were friends and comrades.”
He recalled Arron, cursing himself as he closed his eyes.
“That’s what happened.”
Mel spoke in a dark voice.
After a brief silence, Mel changed the subject.
“If you purified the Calamity Flame with Divine Power, wouldn’t you be able to use that power soon?”
“Well, since it’s not a power originally allowed to the races of the Lower World, I have no idea how to use it.”
The Divine Power Pibua had lent to Polium carried Pibua’s will.
But this Divine Power was different.
A power that contained no one’s will.
“What should we do?”
“The moment to use it will come someday.”
Leo got up from his seat.
“I should go now. If I’m any later, they’ll nag me.”
“Yes. Have fun.”
Mel smiled and bowed her head.
“How’s inviting the people I asked for going?”
“It’s going well. I’m planning to send out the invitations in a week.”
“Okay, good work.”
Leaving those words behind, Leo left Mel’s office.
After seeing him off, Mel took a banner from one side of the office.
It was meant to welcome those who would be entering the training camp during vacation.
[Welcome to the Training Camp.]
Mel tilted her head at the neat handwriting.
‘Something’s missing.’
It was clear this would be a brutal training camp beyond imagination.
A welcome message like that felt a little lacking.
After thinking for a moment, Mel smiled brightly and clapped her hands.
Then she rewrote the banner.
‘This should be enough to make the kids feel some tension, right?’
[Welcome to Hell.]
She erased “training camp” and kindly wrote “hell” in red letters.
Mel nodded, satisfied.
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