Chapter 49
“……”
Chloe tightly gripped the black grimoire.
“I wanted to win no matter what. But I couldn’t think of a way to win. So… so… I borrowed someone else’s power instead of my own.”
Chloe’s original plan was to use her own unique ice-field magic.
But she didn’t think she could beat Leo with that, so she prepared the Inextinguishable Flame instead.
That spell wasn’t a formula Chloe had created herself.
‘I just implemented the spell formula written in this grimoire.’
Even Chloe herself didn’t know the principle behind the spell’s activation.
She had only glossed over it as her own unique magic.
That was also why she’d been so sharply defensive whenever anyone asked her about the spell.
She unveiled it for the exam, and the Inextinguishable Flame defeated Leo, just as she expected.
She was truly happy for that moment. She thought she had finally caught up. But…
‘There’s no way this counts as catching up!’
Chloe clenched her teeth and let out a bitter laugh.
‘What’s the point of whining to someone like her?’
The genius girl still talked about even thirty years later.
‘She’s different from me. She’s probably special, just like Leo.’
There was no way someone like her could understand Chloe’s real feelings.
She’d be lucky if she wasn’t just laughed at.
Alia, who had been watching Chloe silently, smiled.
“As I thought, Chloe, you really are like me.”
“Huh?”
“To tell you the truth, I was really jealous of my brother too.”
Alia smiled gently.
“I always thought it was unfair that someone who looked so clueless could pull off anything. This is a secret, but… my unique magic is actually based on something my brother invented. I’m great at using existing magic, but I’m terrible at creating new things. Honestly, I even failed the Lumene entrance exam twice.”
Alia hugged her knees to her chest.
Chloe’s expression went blank.
It was hard to believe, considering she was known as the tragic magical genius even thirty years later.
“There were even times I hated my brother. But then I started to think—if you’re jealous enough to hate someone, maybe they’re worthy of being admired instead.”
At that, Chloe looked down at the black grimoire.
‘Someone to admire…?’
—
Leo, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them wide.
He jumped to his feet.
“Leo, what is it?”
At Velik’s question, Leo looked toward one side of the forest.
“Everyone, get ready for battle!”
Leo’s Hyper Sense had caught something.
At that moment, the enemy sensed them as well.
“Leo, what’s wrong?”
“It’s him.”
Chloe caught her breath.
“No way…?”
“That’s right.”
Leo drew his sword.
Thud—! Thud—!
A heavy, earth-shaking sound rumbled.
Moments later, a monstrous giant emerged from the brush.
He looked to be at least three meters tall.
Pitch-black skin.
He looked exactly as he did in the photos.
“Chubarn…!”
Chloe clenched her teeth.
Chubarn rolled his blood-red eyes and stared at Leo.
His mouth opened wide.
“Found you. Seed of a hero with the qualities of a detested Great Hero!”
At those words, Leo’s eyes twitched.
Demons prioritize orders from higher ranks.
During the Chedmothers Incident, the order Chubarn received was to eliminate the seeds of heroes.
So he normally had little interest in the challengers.
‘But now, he’s clearly showing hostility toward me.’
Even though Alia—the primary target—was right there, his reaction was odd.
‘And he just said “seed of a Great Hero”…’
“Roooooar!”
Chubarn let out a roar and charged at Leo.
Flash—! Boom—!
Chubarn’s monstrous axe smashed into the ground.
But Leo was already out of range before the attack landed.
Fwoosh—!
Flame Aura formed on Leo’s sword.
Clang—!
Leo’s sword slashed at Chubarn’s neck.
But it didn’t cut him.
Leo’s eyes narrowed.
Grin—!
Chubarn bared his teeth in a grotesque smile at Leo.
“Foolish brat!”
Chubarn reached out to grab Leo.
But Leo just smirked.
“That’s your mistake, idiot.”
“What—”
Crash—!
A powerful frost blast from Chloe engulfed Chubarn.
The freezing wind slowed Chubarn’s movements.
Taking advantage of the opening, Leo spun out of the way of Chubarn’s hand.
Swish—! Kraaagh!
His Flame Aura blazed even hotter.
Slash—! Fwoosh!
“I got him!”
“Yes!”
The group cheered.
Leo’s spinning strike landed on Chubarn’s neck, adding more force.
But Leo didn’t look pleased.
‘I didn’t cut through the bone.’
Demons are different from ordinary living things.
A mutated race created by Erebos.
This much wasn’t a fatal wound.
Leo immediately kicked Chubarn’s head, using the momentum to put more distance between them.
‘Still, my attacks do work.’
Catching his breath, Leo’s eyes went wide as he watched Chubarn.
The blood that had been gushing from Chubarn’s wound suddenly stopped.
That wasn’t all.
The spilled blood suddenly started to flow back into the wound.
Drip—drip—
“Heh—not a bad attack.”
Chubarn twisted his neck side to side and smirked.
Thead was horrified.
“No way! What kind of regeneration is that…?!”
“That’s not regeneration.”
“Huh? Then what is it?”
“It’s a curse.”
A curse was one of the demons’ special abilities.
Lesser demons could only weaken opponents with curses, but higher demons could distort even the laws of reality.
“[Negate]. It’s an annoying curse that makes attacks as if they never happened.”
Leo rested his sword on his shoulder.
“Oh? You know your stuff.”
“Isn’t that curse a bit much for a level 3 demon?”
“Heh—you’re pretty arrogant for a brat. But you’re right. This curse is a gift from Her Majesty, the Monster Queen Sillatna.”
The mention of the Monster Queen sent fear through the first-years.
The Monster Queen Sillatna.
A commander of Tartarus who survived since the Age of Calamity and Erebos’s right hand.
“That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while—and I still hate it,” Leo said irritably.
“If our attacks are being nullified… how are we supposed to win?” Alia asked in terror.
“A nullification curse isn’t absolute. Besides, he’s not the caster. If he uses it too much, the curse will disappear.”
“Heh—do you think you’ll survive long enough for that to happen?”
With those words, Chubarn’s subordinates appeared, pushing through the undergrowth.
“Abandon any hope of leaving here alive. You, remnant of the Great Hero, will die here.”
“Remnant of the Great Hero?”
Leo smirked.
“Are you calling me that because I have the same class as Kyle?”
“Silence! Never utter that cursed name!”
Seeing Chubarn’s violent reaction, Leo realized how Alia’s party had escaped his pursuit.
‘There was a demon surveillance network all over the forest. They didn’t bother watching me or Chloe since we weren’t their targets.’
Leo sighed.
‘This guy found out I’m an All-Class through that network. That’s why he kept chasing me.’
Great demons like Sillatna, who survived since the Age of Calamity, were still alive.
That means the demons would remember Kyle.
To the demons, Kyle—who killed Tartarus’s creator—was their greatest enemy.
‘Humans have forgotten me, but the demons remember. How ironic.’
Having sized up the situation, Leo gripped his sword and spoke.
“Get ready.”
“You brats think you can take me down?”
“Of course.”
“Heh—such confidence. But are your comrades as bold as you?”
Chubarn pointed behind Leo.
Looking back, Leo saw his party trembling in fear.
“Only you have such reckless bravado. Your companions are already at their limit—both physically and mentally.”
He wasn’t wrong.
After all the battles, everyone was exhausted.
“Heh.”
But Leo laughed at Chubarn’s words.
“Why are you laughing? Have you lost your mind?”
“No. It’s just you really don’t know anything about Lumene.”
“What?”
“Lumene is a school for those who dream of becoming heroes.”
The hero candidates’ eyes were drawn to Leo’s back.
Step—step—
Leo walked forward.
The hero candidates’ fear began to subside.
Determination returned to their eyes, and Aura, magic power, and spirit power surged.
In actual history, they died.
But it wasn’t because they simply gave up and let Chubarn slaughter them.
‘There was never any record of Chubarn having a [Negate] curse. That means… he used it all up in the first fight.’
Even if they died, it proved no one gave up.
Just like the great heroes who lost their lives to Erebos long ago.
“That’s why I always remember this.”
The lesson all Lumene students keep in their hearts.
The most basic requirement for becoming a hero.
“Go beyond your limits.”
Taah—!
Leo kicked off the ground, and Thead and Velak raised their spear and sword, charging with him.
“Fools! If that’s your wish, I’ll kill you first!”
Chubarn roared and swung his axe.
“I’ll handle him. You guys deal with the grunts.”
“Can you do it?”
“Don’t worry about me—I can!”
Leo charged at Chubarn.
Boom—!
Chubarn’s axe smashed into the ground.
Shards of earth turned into black spikes and rained toward Leo.
‘If I could summon Fiora, it would be easier.’
If it were a normal Heroic World, maybe.
But in a rampaging Hero Dungeon, beastmasters couldn’t summon beasts from outside.
While spirit power are like a pact with all spirits, summoning beasts is a one-on-one contract between summoner and beast.
That’s why beastmasters must summon their beasts before entering a Hero Dungeon.
‘Spirit power won’t do much damage to Chubarn. So—’
Fwoosh—!
Leo’s form multiplied.
“What?!”
Chubarn was shocked.
Illusion magic—[Mirage].
The black spikes pierced only Leo’s mirages.
Meanwhile, Leo continued his assault.
He shaped his right hand like a gun, gathering particles of light at his fingertip.
Kiiiing—!
“Acrey!”
Crackle! Flash—!
Tiny orbs of light shot out as bullets.
The most basic attack spell among star magic.
Magic swordsman Dania was astonished.
“That guy! He’s a magic swordsman? And he’s using both Mirage and Acrey? Those are both star magic!”
Thud—!
“Ugh?”
Chubarn’s eyes widened as he was struck directly by [Acrey].
Star magic was developed by Luna to defeat demons.
So by nature, it was a natural enemy of demons.
“A human using this cursed magic?!”
“Sorry, but I’m not the only one who can use star magic.”
“Acrey.”
Alia released her spell, too.
This time, not just one but multiple orbs of light rained down on Chubarn.
Bababababam!
“You brat!”
As the orbs struck, Chubarn bellowed.
Voooooom—!
The [Negate] curse activated, and all of Chubarn’s wounds disappeared.
“Click.”
As Leo clicked his tongue, Chloe shouted,
“Leo! Just hang on a bit longer!”
“Don’t worry. That’s my job.”
At Leo’s answer, Chloe closed her eyes and began chanting.
Modern mages fall into three categories.
Battle-type mages who hold the front line.
All-rounders who can take any position.
Traditional mages who remain in the back line.
Of these, the weaknesses are clearest in traditional mages like Chloe.
‘Traditional mages are defenseless while chanting.’
The longer the incantation, the more they need their allies’ protection.
But they also have a clear advantage.
That is, their destructive power is absolute, unmatched by any other mage.
In the current party, Alia is an all-rounder.
She can unleash powerful spells in rapid succession, but lacks a decisive finishing blow.
‘I’m the only one who can deal a critical hit to Chubarn. I can’t just rely on Leo. I have to… I have to do something too.’
Chloe’s thoughts flashed to Chubarn’s curse.
‘If it’s that spell—!’
