Chapter 77
“Damn.”
Leo struggled to get up, wracked with pain all over his body.
He barely managed to stand, but his body refused to cooperate.
‘Aura and Spirit Power are depleted too.’
He had used up all his remaining strength blocking the last attack.
Leo looked around.
“Fairy Land…”
Leo staggered as he gazed at the fairies’ homeland, now stripped of its former glory and filled only with desolation.
As he lost his balance and stumbled backward, something at his waist brushed against a small stone pedestal behind him.
Resting on it was a dagger.
Leo’s eyes widened.
It looked like an ordinary dagger.
But Leo recognized it.
‘That brat… said he didn’t need it back then.’
Before the Great Heroes set out on their final expedition.
Kyle had handed this item to Velkia.
He’d told her to use it in an emergency, but she’d replied coldly that she wasn’t a child anymore.
A Heroic Relic tied to Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning.
In other words, the key to opening Kyle’s Heroic World.
‘So this is what Hell Kaiser was after here.’
Leo reached for the dagger.
Despite thousands of years passing, the dagger was perfectly preserved.
He could feel how much its owner had cherished it in life.
Crackle-!
The moment Leo gripped the dagger, Silload’s magic resisted.
Vwoom-!
But then, the magic within the dagger responded.
After millennia, the power Kyle left behind resonated with its rightful owner.
Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!
The Skeleton King was approaching.
“Phew.”
Leo smiled faintly as his Magic Power surged through him.
Whoosh-!
A shadow loomed over Leo’s head.
Boom!
Vwoom-!
Groooar—!
The surging Magic Power repelled the Skeleton King.
Rumble—!
The Skeleton King toppled.
Seeing this, Leo began to form a magic ritual.
A vast Magic Power—something he could never dream of wielding normally—responded.
‘I can cast any spell once. Which one should I use?’
As he pondered, he saw Lunia and Eiran staring at him blankly.
‘Yes. That’s the one.’
Zing-!
A massive gray magic circle appeared overhead.
Leo’s Original Magic—Bible—was activated.
‘It won’t be as strong as the original, but it’ll be a great gift for those girls.’
The gray Magic Power soon turned into a brilliant golden light.
It was as if dawn had arrived.
“Ah…”
Lunia and Eiran trembled.
They didn’t know what this mysterious star magic was.
But according to old texts, when it was used, the world was said to be dyed in the dawn’s starlight.
“The strongest spell of star magic.”
Lunia murmured unconsciously.
The symbol of the Founder of the Nebula.
“Finale.”
Starlight fell on the Skeleton King’s head.
Groooooar—!
The Skeleton King howled in agony as the overwhelming star power crushed him.
Leo clenched his fist.
Crack—!
Space distorted and the shattered Skeleton King disappeared.
Whoosh-!
Darkness fell as if by magic.
Thud-!
Leo collapsed, exhausted.
“Le-Leo!”
Lunia staggered over.
Eiran, who had recovered a little, crawled over too.
“Are you two okay?”
“Are you kidding? You’re the one in the worst shape!”
“Leo! Miss Lunia! I knew you two could do it!”
Eiran sobbed.
“Of course! But, hey, what was that spell just now? It was like something out of legend…!”
“It seemed to be the magic in this dagger.”
Leo, struggling, held up the now powerless dagger.
“It’s probably an artifact tied to the Great Heroes.”
Lunia and Eiran held their breath.
If that was true, it was an incredible discovery.
It was no wonder something like this would trigger such an incident in Tartarus.
“But how are we getting back? I’m completely out of Magic Power.”
“I don’t think I can use any healing spells either. Let’s at least do first aid for Leo…”
Just as Lunia and Eiran began to fret—
[Hey! Leo! Look! I found my wing!]
Kirran flew over holding a tiny scrap of paper.
[I’m sure this is my wing! How did it end up sealed like this?]
Kirran grumbled, tugging at the scrap.
Lunia’s eyes shot open as she saw it.
“Wait! Isn’t that a Hero Record fragment?”
As Kirran jumped in surprise, Leo suddenly recalled something.
‘So Silload didn’t just seal this dagger?’
“Kirran, give it here.”
Leo called urgently.
Kirran quickly flew over and handed the Hero Record fragment to Leo.
The moment the fragment touched Leo’s palm—
[Hero Record Open. ■■’s World. Chapter: ■■-■■■]
A familiar message flashed before Leo’s eyes.
Whoosh-!
As the words appeared, the surroundings were engulfed in a brilliant light.
“Ugh?”
“Wh-what is this…”
The scenery changed completely.
They were in a dense, verdant forest.
“You’re going to defeat Erebos?”
A voice filled with disbelief sounded.
Lunia and Eiran turned and froze.
Standing there was an elven girl.
She looked exactly like someone incredibly famous.
The elven girl grumbled and swung her staff.
After using magic to heal her wounds, she pointed her staff at Leo.
The wounds of all three were instantly healed.
Then the beautiful elven girl spoke words that didn’t match her appearance.
“Are you some kind of lunatic?”
Lunia and Eiran’s jaws dropped while Leo burst out laughing before he realized it.
“What did you eat to make you think that way?”
Despite her look of wonder, the elven girl was obviously fascinated by the human before her.
“Well, whatever. Subjugating Erebos! That’s the perfect quest for me! I like it. I’ll join your party.”
The elven girl smiled confidently and reached out her hand.
“You said your name is ■■, right? I’m Luna! I’ll become a star shining in the night sky, so count yourself lucky to have me in your party!”
Whoosh-!
The world warped and returned to normal.
“Th-that was—!”
“That was Lady Luna! Was that Luna’s Hero Record?!”
Lunia and Eiran were ecstatic.
‘No. This is my Hero Record.’
It was exactly like what he’d seen during Hero Studies practice before.
‘A record of the time I met Luna.’
Leo looked at the Hero Record in his hands, feeling his body fully healed.
‘Now it’s certain.’
Leo sighed deeply.
‘The Tartarus bastards are erasing the records of the Great Heroes.’
—
As Leo and the others recovered and began to leave the forest—
Soldiers arrived from the Grand Council of Elsalbekia.
They had sensed the Magic Power from Leo’s “Finale” and realized there was a problem in Fairy Forest, so they’d rushed troops over.
Among them were Professor Harrid and Herdeum.
Professor Harrid’s eyes grew icily cold when he saw Leo.
Herdeum lamented when he heard that the school’s top honors students had snuck out of the dorms at night.
All three were immediately placed on probation and confined to the Grand Council chambers.
Officially, it was for probation, but the real reason was different.
“…There was a student from Seiren who cooperated with Tartarus?”
Herdeum asked, pale-faced.
“Yes. We didn’t want to believe it either…”
“Ah.”
Herdeum covered his face as he listened to Lunia’s cautious answer.
It was hard to believe, but the unrecognizable corpse found in the forest was identified as Rauta.
The ring that devoured Rauta had used him for sustenance and then spit out the useless corpse.
The body showed traces of necromancy.
Meanwhile, Professor Harrid, who’d overheard, wore a grave expression.
“So Seiren had a case like that too.”
“If it happened in Seiren… did something similar happen in Lumene?”
“There was a similar case. The upper ranks at Lumene are keeping it quiet.”
Having been a professor at Lumene for a long time—and as Leo’s homeroom teacher—Professor Harrid had already been informed by Lumene’s upper ranks about the incident during midterms.
“How this incident is handled will be decided by Seiren’s administration. Lumene will abide by Seiren’s decision.”
“…….”
Herdeum nodded stiffly.
“And Leo Plov.”
As Professor Harrid’s icy gaze turned to Leo, Lunia and Eiran hiccuped without realizing it.
The Wailing Wall of Lumene.
The terror of upperclassmen, Professor Harrid’s intimidating presence terrified the two girls, who were experiencing it for the first time.
Leo, used to it, simply waited for Professor Harrid to speak.
“As class president, you know how serious it is to leave the dorm without permission, right?”
“Yes.”
“Normally, you’d be sent straight back to school and reported to the disciplinary committee.”
“…….”
“But given your accomplishments, we’ll settle it with one hundred hours of school service.”
“Understood.”
“And if there’s anything you want, say so.”
Leo barely suppressed a laugh.
‘No matter what, Professor Harrid really looks after the kids.’
The rules were the rules, but his pride in his student’s achievements was obvious.
“It would be nice if our whole class could have some free time on the last day. It is a school trip, after all.”
Normally, the last day of the trip would be packed with a full schedule.
Professor Harrid paused at Leo’s words, then nodded.
“Fine. From the evening before, as long as you don’t cross the line, you’ll have free time.”
If Class 5 heard, they’d be ecstatic.
As Leo smiled slyly, Herdeum cleared his throat.
“Lunia, Eiran—you both need to be punished too.”
“Huh? Teacher~ But we found the founder’s Hero Record and a relic tied to the founder! Can’t you let it go?”
“N-no! The rules are the rules…!”
“Teacher~”
Lunia whined.
Although Herdeum was respected by all his students, because he was so kind, they often whined to him.
Without realizing it, he’d grown used to indulging them, unlike Professor Harrid’s overwhelming charisma.
Herdeum glanced at Professor Harrid with a hint of envy.
“Probation lasts until today. Even if classes start tomorrow, do not speak of what happened today.”
With those last words, Professors Harrid and Herdeum left the room.
In other words, probation just meant to rest in the room for a day.
“Phew! I thought we were done for!”
Lunia flopped down, exhausted.
“Still, it was an amazing adventure. It felt just like an epic tale.”
Eiran said, her tone excited.
“Right? It was amazing! And we even met the founder in person!”
Lunia jumped up, excited.
“Leo! This was your first time seeing a Great Hero too, right?”
“No.”
“What?”
“Have you seen any other Great Hero?”
“I met Lysinas in the Heroic World at Lumene.”
“Wow, that’s incredible.”
“I’m jealous!”
Lunia was amazed, and Eiran’s eyes sparkled.
Lunia and Eiran happily chattered about Luna.
‘It turned out just as you wished.’
Leo thought of Luna.
He smiled, recalling his old friend who once said she wanted to shine like a star in the night sky and light up the darkness.