Editor : Amethyst00



“You bastards!”

“You think you’ll get away with this!?”

As the so-called Heroes Corps of Raysar shouted, Aru's killing intent flared sharply.

“And you still dare to speak so shamelessly, after what you just tried to do?”

The usual soft, playful air around her was gone completely.

Disgust and fury—toward those who had tried to strike down a young girl without hesitation—radiated from her.

Her fierce pressure made the members of the Hero Corps flinch and step back.

Watching that, Leo narrowed his eyes slightly.

‘They’re not the official Hero Corps… just the trainee unit.’

If you send those unprepared to the battlefield, all you’ll gain is death.

Even in this era, there existed a process for raising heroes— these people could be called hero candidates, just like Aru.

‘Though they’re nothing like her.’

It wasn’t simply a matter of differing eras.

Even in the Age of Calamity, there had been plenty who dreamed of becoming true heroes.

But these weren’t among them.

They had joined the Hero Corps only to indulge in petty pride or thirst for power.

You could see it in their eyes.

It wasn’t about talent or strength.

‘It’s a fundamental difference.’

“I am Jerin of Raysar's Hero Corps! To interfere with our duty is to defy our lord’s command!”

The woman standing at the front—Jerin—shouted at Aru in a sharp tone.

“The lord’s command? Or Levaiten’s command?”

Leo’s cold voice cut in, and Jerin flinched.

“As expected… using a fake plague as an excuse to slaughter the children and retrieve Schatten, weren’t you?”

The orphans’ faces went pale.

Aru, grasping the situation through Leo’s words, also turned cold.

Step— step—

Leo walked forward.

“No matter how rotten the times, there’s still a line that shouldn’t be crossed.”

Shrrk—

Expressionless, Leo drew his sword and aimed it toward the Hero Corps.

“If you want to call yourselves heroes, at least keep that minimum line.”

Anger flickered in his eyes.

“Otherwise, you insult those who truly risk their lives to save the world.”

“Yeah! Don’t you dare call yourselves heroes, you scum!”

Aru shouted in agreement.

“How arrogant… so you really plan to stand against us to the end, huh?”

Jerin raised her aura.

“You’ve got a bit of skill and now you can’t see what’s above you? Then I’ll show you just how vast the world really is.”

Clack— clack— clack—!

Armor began wrapping around Jerin’s body.

In an instant, she was clad in silver full plate. Gripping her spear and shield, she advanced toward Leo.

Seeing that, Leo said to Aru,

“I’ll handle her. You take the others.”

“Got it.”

There were five in total.

Each of them could use aura— and slaughtering unarmed children would have been easy for them.

‘If the *real Hero Corps had come, it would’ve been a problem. But sending these greenhorns… looks like Levaiten hasn’t gained full control yet.’*

The true warriors of the Hero Corps were veterans who had survived the Calamity— the kind of people even Leo and Aru would struggle to face.

‘Well, those kinds wouldn’t obey Levaiten’s orders anyway.’

Seeing Leo approach defenselessly, Jerin sneered.

“Fool!”

Whuuuush!

Jerin lunged, her spear thrusting sharply.

Crack!

Her feet slammed into the ground, leaving a deep dent as she charged.

Leo, seeing her rapidly closing in, swung his sword upward.

‘You think such a simple motion can stop my—!’

CLANG!

“—!”

Jerin’s eyes widened.

Leo had easily deflected her aura-infused spear.

“With that level of skill, you dare call yourselves Hero Corps?”

“Are you mocking me!?”

She shouted furiously and charged, aura surging over her shield.

Leo lifted his right hand— the one not holding his sword.

Fwoosh!

A flame of aura bloomed in his palm.

“Flame-type aura? That’s unusual!”

In this age, aura with elemental properties was common— but not in the Age of Calamity.

Seeing Leo’s fire, Jerin smirked.

“But do you think such a tiny flame can stop my shield?”

Leo looked at the shield and clenched his fist.

“So, your aura’s specialized for defense.”

Fwoosh—!

Leo’s red eyes gleamed.

“Then what?”

BOOOOM—! FWOOOOOSH!

Flames exploded outward.

The raging fire not only shattered Jerin’s aura but melted her shield completely.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

Jerin screamed as molten metal splashed across her body.

“Your skill and your gear—both are trash.”

Sheathing his sword, Leo turned to where Aru was fighting the other four.

Thump!

Aru leapt, a strange sound echoing through the air.

Crack!

“Guhk!”

Her kick shattered one of the knights’ armor completely.

Snarling like an angry cat, Aru sensed killing intent from behind and lightly jumped.

Thump!

Again, that odd sound rang as her body sprang upward like a whip.

Thump!

She kicked off midair, changing direction in an instant.

‘Elasticity?’

Leo’s eyes gleamed in surprise.

Each time Aru expanded her aura, her body bounced freely—

her tremendous speed and unpredictable movements left the Hero Corps helpless.

‘Like a cat toying with mice.’

She kicked the last knight in the back.

Four knights collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

Aru snorted.

“Hmph. And they call this the Hero Corps?”

Then she narrowed her eyes at Leo.

“So your aura trait’s flame, huh?”

As a beastkin, masters of aura among all races, Aru could tell just by seeing it how powerful Leo’s aura was.

“If we ever fight, that’d be a fun match.”

Her mischievous grin returned—yet her bearing now carried the authority befitting an Azonia-recommended candidate.

“Well, we’ll be at the same academy anyway. We’ll have a chance soon enough. I think school life’s gonna be pretty fun with you around.”

She smiled brightly at Leo.

“You, me, and that weak little wolf—if we team up, we can totally beat Lumene!”

Aru puffed up her cheeks confidently and clenched her fist.

‘She’s so fired up… I feel bad telling her I’m from Lumene myself.’

Leo scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“Fufufu… pathetic fools.”

Jerin sneered.

Her body was blistered and burned, her eyes filled with venom.

“You dare strike the Hero Corps? You think Lord Levaiten will let you live!?”

Grit—!

Grinding her teeth, she spat curses.

“Idiots! For the sake of filthy orphans, you’ve made Raysar your enemy!”

Aru cracked her knuckles, glaring.

“So you do want another beating, huh?”

Seeing the killing intent radiating from the growling “cat,” Jerin flinched.

Leo raised a hand to stop Aru.

“Could you take the kids and move them somewhere safe?”

“What?”

“I’ve got something to discuss with her.”

The moment she saw Leo’s smile, chills ran down Aru's spine.

‘This feels… dangerous.’

Her animal instincts screamed of imminent danger.

Ears twitching, tail stiff, she hesitated.

“Please.”

“…Alright. Come on, kids. Let’s get out of here for now.”

Something in his voice made refusal impossible. Aru led the children away.

Watching her go, Jerin smirked.

“Ha! Pretending to be a hero, and now you’re scared for your life? What, going to beg for mercy? Or too ashamed to die in front of them? You’re just as pathetic as—”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

Shrrk—

Leo drew his sword and stepped toward her.

“I told them to leave because the thing about to happen isn’t something they should see.”

His calm, emotionless tone made Jerin’s skin crawl.

The moment her eyes met his crimson ones— she realized.

The boy before her didn’t hesitate to kill.

“D-Don’t come near me!”

Jerin stumbled backward, her face pale.

“If—if you kill me, Lord Levaiten won’t—he won’t let you—!”

“He wouldn’t let me live either way. Whether I kill you or not, once your report doesn’t reach him by the appointed time, he’ll come himself.”

Leo’s cold gaze pierced through her.

“And I have no intention of letting him do whatever he wants. So I’ve got no reason to keep you alive.”

“T-then… you could use me as a hostage—”

“You think you’re worth that much?”

Leo raised his sword.

Under the grey sky, dyed in the light of sunset, his eyes were utterly devoid of emotion.

The blade came down like a guillotine.

“Wai—!”

Slash—!

A clean cut.

Leo sliced through her neck, then finished off the remaining four without hesitation.

He flicked the blood from his sword.

If they had simply come following orders, perhaps he would’ve spared them.

‘But they knew everything.’

There was no reason to let them live.

“No hesitation, I see.”

“I’m used to it.”

Leo replied flatly to Elsie, who had appeared behind him.

“Dealing with traitors and turncoats like these.”

It wasn’t only Erebos and Tartaros who had turned the Age of Calamity into hell.

Those who called themselves heroes while murdering innocents to satisfy their desires— people like Levaiten and Jerin—were everywhere.

And the one who had ended the lives of such people had been none other than Kyle.

He hadn’t wanted to force his companions—his dear friends—to dirty their hands.

“…Did they really try to kill my friends just to get Schatten?”

Elsie’s voice trembled slightly.

“Yeah.”

“…”

Though she was an Elemental Lord, Elsie was still young and inexperienced.

Born on the battlefield, she had fought Tartaros since her first breath, and later waited with Agon for the hero destined to come.

She had never truly witnessed the malice of mankind.

This was likely the first time she had seen the ugliness of the world.

‘Originally… Aaron's younger siblings were the ones who died here.’

Leo’s expression darkened.

Now he understood why Elsie had once asked if the world was worth saving.

‘Because saving the world… means saving *these kinds of people too.’*

In the end, she never formed a contract with Lysinas.

‘Do you think this world is worth saving?’

‘Of course.’

Lysinas had answered without even a moment’s doubt.

Luna, Aaron, and Dweno had felt the same.

Only Kyle hadn’t given a clear answer to Elsie’s question.

That was why Elsie had chosen him.

‘Even though he was disillusioned with the world… he still chose to fight for it.’

Leo remembered Elsie’s final smile— the one she had shown as she faded away after the battle with Hell Kaiser.

‘I still hope we can find it someday.’

‘Find what?’

‘A reason to save the world.’

Recalling the last words of his contractor, Leo quietly said,

“Elsie.”

Her expression was now as blank as it had been the day she first met Kyle.

“I promise you this.”

Leo smiled, remembering the night sky he had seen from the cradle when he was reborn.

“The starlight in the night sky… it’s more beautiful than you could ever imagine.”

Elsie’s eyes widened slightly.

“So yes—this world is worth saving.”

For a moment, she stared blankly at him— then smiled brightly.

“Yes!”