Chapter 47
“Are you here to help?”
“That’s right.”
Leo gave a short reply to the brown-haired girl’s question and kicked off the ground.
He charged straight at the nearest demon.
The demon quickly thrust his palm toward Leo.
Vwoom!—Thududududud!
A black summoning circle formed in front of Leo, and out poured crimson leeches the size of human heads.
“Ah! It’s dangerous!”
The girl shouted urgently.
‘Gorogoros leech swarm.’
A beast that latches on and sucks blood—tough for a knight who fights up close.
If you carelessly cut them down, they spill acidic blood.
‘Normally they’d be a tricky match, normally, that is.’
Fwoosh—!
Blazing flame Aura erupted from Leo’s sword.
The Zerdinger’s flame instantly turned the Gorogoros leeches to ash.
The girl who’d sounded the warning was awestruck.
“A-amazing!”
‘If he’s using Gorogoros leeches, he’s not a high-ranking demon.’
You can tell a demon’s rank by the techniques they use.
The demonic beasts summoned now were the kind favored by lower-ranked demon grunts.
‘No real danger here. It’s better to attack quickly.’
Having quickly analyzed the situation, Leo closed the distance without hesitation.
Slice—!
The beast tamer’s head flew through the air.
“He took out two of them in an instant!”
The brown-haired girl clenched her fist.
Vwoom—!
Chloe, who had been in the sky, completed her spell.
“Ice Bullet.”
A barrage of ice bullets rained down on the demons.
Pababababababat—!
The demons frantically dodged to avoid the shower of ice, causing their formation to fall apart.
“Alright! My turn!”
This time, a male student who had been on standby gripped his spear and charged.
“Hyaah!”
Crunch!
“Gah!”
A demon’s chest was pierced and he turned to ash.
‘Not bad.’
Impressed, Leo glanced at the brown-haired girl.
She was chanting with her hands together.
Bzzzz—!
As she pulled her hands apart, several small orbs of light formed.
“Acrey!”
Kiiiiiiing!
As the spell completed, the orbs of light shot toward the demons in wild trajectories.
Recognizing the spell, Leo was impressed.
‘Star magic.’
Even as a first-year, this girl was completely different from his past life’s memories.
‘She’s got incredible magic sense.’
As Leo admired her, a demon struck by the orbs of light was ripped apart without a trace.
Six demons remained.
Having lost an ally, the remaining demons began to reform their ranks.
‘Demon grunts are weak, but their teamwork is strong.’
They’d lost formation at first due to the ambush, but now that they’d regrouped, they’d be tricky to handle.
Leo pulled four throwing daggers from his belt and gripped them in his right hand.
Then he charged toward the demons.
“Fool.”
The demons sneered, watching Leo rush in with no preparation.
Vwoom—!
But when a magic circle appeared in his right hand, their expressions changed instantly.
“A magic swordsman!”
While the demons warily watched, Leo threw the daggers in his hand.
The demons dodged the daggers and readied themselves for a magic attack.
But when no magic came, they immediately switched to offense.
“Was it just a bluff?”
“Trying to trick us with such a shallow tactic.”
Four demons at the front moved to encircle Leo.
But as they darted nimbly, their movements suddenly froze, as if caught by something.
“What?”
The demons frantically looked back.
The daggers Leo had thrown were stuck precisely in their shadows.
A spell that binds shadows—[Shadow Hold].
Dark-attribute magic has reduced power against demons.
In fact, as soon as the demons realized, the spell was released.
But that brief moment was all the time Leo needed.
Fwoosh—! Crack! Crunch! Fwack!
“Krah?!”
“Gah!”
Leo’s sword drew arcs of flame as he slaughtered the demons.
Shuak—!
Suddenly, black blades shot up from the ground toward Leo.
It was black magic used by the demons in the rear.
Leo instantly chanted runes under his breath.
The black magic instantly lost power and scattered.
“You dispelled black magic?”
The brown-haired girl was startled.
Crackkk—!
A freezing blast of wind swept over the now-defenseless demons.
Crackle—!
Leo approached the frozen demons and gave them a push.
Clink—!
Like shattered glass, the demons’ bodies broke into pieces and turned to ash.
“Well done, Chloe.”
“……”
“What? Do you want to say something?”
“Why did you use dark-attribute magic on the demons?”
“Oh, that?”
Leo smiled as if it was nothing.
“Demons hardly ever expect dark magic. That’s why even a simple spell can catch them off guard.”
“And what about dispelling the black magic instead of dodging it? That could’ve been dangerous.”
“That’s true. But for black magic like that, it’s safer to dispel it than dodge it if you can. Even if the magic systems are different, black magic is still a spell at its core. If it’s a simple black magic, you can dispel it quickly. You can do it too.”
‘But being able to pull that off instantly in actual combat is a whole different story!’
To Leo, who’d fought more demons than he could count in his past life, it was second nature, but for a fifteen-year-old girl, it was an overwhelming level of experience.
‘How many steps ahead did he plan for all this?’
Chloe’s eyes wavered.
“Thank you for helping us!”
The brown-haired girl beamed brightly in gratitude.
“You’re the rescue team, right?”
“That’s right.”
“We were so worried when the demons suddenly appeared, but now that the rescue team’s here, I feel relieved!”
Chloe’s face stiffened when she saw the girl’s smiling face.
Chloe quickly spoke up.
“Sorry, but can I talk with my teammate for a moment?”
“Huh? Oh, sure.”
At Chloe’s request, the girl looked flustered and went back to her group.
“What’s wrong?”
“That girl, she’s Alia Zeron!”
“Alia Zeron? You mean—?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
The Heroic World is a reenactment of the past.
But depending on how the challengers act, it can lead to results different from actual history.
During the incident thirty years ago, several first-year parties were deployed to subdue the monsters.
The midterm exam’s objective is to rescue those parties.
“You know as well as I do, the party Alia Zeron belonged to—”
Chloe swallowed nervously.
“—is a party you absolutely can’t save in the Chedmothers Incident.”
—
“Of all the people to run into, it’s Alia’s party…”
Chloe stamped her feet anxiously.
There was an absolute reason Alia’s party could never avoid annihilation.
“Dark Warrior Chubarn. He never changes his target.”
Chubarn.
During the incident thirty years ago, before being taken down by Albi, he single-handedly wiped out four out of the seven assigned parties.
The very first party Chubarn targeted was Alia’s party.
‘Strictly speaking, he was aiming for Alia Zeron herself.’
Chloe glanced at Alia, who was chatting with her friends.
Alia Zeron.
Direct descendant of the Zeron family, one of Lumeria’s three great heroic houses, and the class representative at the time.
She was also the younger sister of Albi, Mage of the Evil Eye.
Her talent was so exceptional that, even now, thirty years later, professors still mention her.
But that very talent is what cost her life.
Tartarus started the Chedmothers Incident to wipe out future heroes.
That’s why their first target was Alia Zeron.
This is why Alia’s party could never escape annihilation.
No matter what, when the Heroic World begins, Chubarn always targets Alia’s party first.
“Do you remember what homeroom professor said when the exam was announced?”
At Chloe’s words, Leo recalled Harrid’s warning.
‘With your current skills, you can never defeat a knight-class demon. If you ever encounter Chubarn, you must run. If escape isn’t possible, abandon the exam. If you break this rule and someone is foolish enough to fight—’
Harrid ended with a deadly seriousness.
‘Whoever it is, I’ll expel you on the spot.’
“With our current ability, he’s not someone we can possibly defeat.”
“So you’re saying we should just leave them?”
“I don’t like it either! But Leo, now’s the time to think rationally. This is the Heroic World, and in reality, those people…”
Chloe hesitated, then spoke.
“Those people are dead. We’re not in any position to help people who already died.”
“That’s true. But, Chloe.”
“Leo! Get a grip! Yeah, you’re amazing! You’re the best! I admit it!”
Chloe suddenly shouted, making Leo open his eyes wide.
She glared at Leo with all her might.
“But now isn’t the time to do something reckless! Please, listen to me! You can play the hero later—!”
As she yelled in frustration, Chloe’s words stopped.
Before she knew it, Leo’s finger was pressed to her lips.
“Don’t say things like that, Chloe.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“You shouldn’t say things like ‘playing the hero’ and so on.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re a hero candidate.”
Chloe caught her breath.
“You entered Lumene because you dreamed of becoming a hero, right? So this isn’t ‘playing the hero’.”
Leo smiled softly.
“It’s the path to becoming a hero.”
Leo was right.
A hero is someone who makes the impossible possible.
But at some point, she’d forgotten that goal.
‘I was so busy just trying to keep up… I never had time to think about things like that.’
A dark feeling flared up in her chest.
“And history has already changed.”
“What?”
“It means there’s now a way to save those kids who could never be saved.”
“A way to save them?”
“Think about it, Chloe. The sun’s already setting. Doesn’t that seem strange?”
“The sun is setting? Oh!”
Chloe’s eyes widened as she realized something.
“That’s right. Normally, Alia’s party would have already been killed by Chubarn by now.”
History’s gears had already gone off track.
“We’ve already been in the Heroic World for three hours. If Chubarn had attacked another party, they’d all have been wiped out by now.”
If you fail to complete the objective in the Hero Dungeon, you’re trapped in the Heroic World forever.
This was a crossroads.
The option to escape the forest with Alia’s party—now no longer Chubarn’s target—and fulfill the [safety guarantee] condition.
Or the original route of searching for another party.
After wavering, Chloe clenched her teeth.
“I’ll trust your judgment.”
“Alright.”
Leo looked over at Alia’s party.
“Let’s escape with Alia’s party.”
