Editor : Amethyst00



Step— step—

Aaron walked toward Taratnia.

Seeing Aaron, Taratnia frowned sharply.

“Beastman?”

The Spider Princess looked up at the sky as if finding it strange.

“A beastman in transformed state? It’s not even a full moon today.”

Making an expression that seemed puzzled, Taratnia sneered.

“A mutant?”

“Let go of that child.”

“This one?”

Taratnia slightly shook Elsie, whom she was holding, and sneered.

“I don’t want to.”

Seeing Taratnia like that, Aaron lowered his stance.

“Why are there so many beasts that get in my way?”

Taratnia, looking annoyed, stretched her foreleg out to kill Aaron.

Taratnia didn’t know.

That the beastman before her was a hunter.

Snap—!

“Huh?”

Taratnia’s foreleg, which had been flying toward Aaron at terrifying speed to pierce him, was caught.

Crack!

As Aaron tightened his grip, the tip of her foreleg broke.

Compared to Taratnia’s gigantic body, the broken tip of a foreleg was not a serious wound.

But as Aaron pulled with strength, the Spider Princess’s huge body was dragged toward him.

“Wh-what!”

Taratnia cried out in shock and resisted, but having already lost balance, her enormous body collapsed before Aaron.

Slam—!

Looking at the fallen Spider Princess right in front of him, Aaron clenched his fist.

Taratnia instinctively felt that something was wrong.

Whoosh—!

Aaron swung his fist.

A heavy sound of air being split rang out.

Boom—!

Wind blasted in all directions.

Aru, who was watching, crouched down as low as possible to avoid being blown away by the violent wind.

When the wind stopped, Aru lifted her head.

Taratnia’s upper body had been blown off, twitching and convulsing.

At that overwhelming power, Aru’s mouth hung open.

Elsie, who had escaped from Taratnia’s grasp, also looked in disbelief.

“You… who are you?”

“You’re also a child from the orphanage, right? Are you okay?”

After Schatten broke, Elsie had watched over Agon and Aaron from the shadows for ten years.

But she had only revealed herself to them after Aaron left the orphanage and its operation became difficult.

That was why Aaron didn’t know Elsie.

“I’ll take care of this demon soon.”

“Who, who are you trying to take care of? You insolent insect, daring to touch me, the daughter of Sillatna!”

The body of Taratnia, whose upper half had been blown off, recovered in an instant.

Her flesh squirmed and refilled, and her face twisted into something hideous.

The leisure she had a moment ago was gone.

Seeing Taratnia bare her fangs and reveal her venomous teeth, Aaron raised his aura.

Flinch— Taratnia’s body trembled.

Huff—!

Aaron vanished from sight.

Taratnia hurriedly scanned around, trying to find him.

Wham—!

“Guh—?”

A moan of pain burst from Taratnia’s mouth.

Then her body bent at a strange angle and shot up into the sky.

Aaron had kicked her upward.

“I’ll kill you!”

Taratnia’s voice, filled with murderous intent, echoed through the air.

Chilling runes began to resonate.

Her true power was black magic.

Until now, she had only fought in physical combat to toy with her opponent.

But Aaron had no intention of waiting for her magic to complete.

Crack crack crack—

Aaron loosened his finger joints and raised his claws sharply.

Vwooooom—!

Golden aura gathered at his fingertips.

At that ominous power, Taratnia’s face turned pale.

Kwagagagak—!

Aaron’s claws tore through the air.

The surrounding space twisted for an instant.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

Golden trails shot toward the sky, shredding Taratnia in an instant.

She vanished without leaving a trace.

Seeing that, Aru trembled.

'This is… Aaron! The Great Hero who saved the world!'

bl

“Huff! Huff! Damn it! Damn it!”

Levaiten was spitting curses as he ran out of the southern region of Raysar.

He had never imagined that the woman who approached him half a year ago was a demon.

‘I have to return quickly and come up with a countermeasure!’

Agon had been forgotten among the people of Raysar, but not erased from memory.

Because he had lived in seclusion, people had only momentarily forgotten him—his fame remained high.

If Agon were to find out that he had been in league with demons, everything he had built until now would collapse.

Because dealing with demons was an unforgivable sin.

Ssshk—!

Suddenly, a chillingly sharp sound rang out.

“What was that just now…?”

Thud—!

Something dropped near Levaiten’s ear, making a dull sound.

At the same time, he felt that his right hand was strangely light.

“Aaaargh!”

Levaiten screamed, clutching his right wrist.

Blood spurted from it—his right hand was rolling on the ground.

“What a strange feeling.”

Turning his head in pain, Levaiten saw a pair of red eyes without emotion.

“The feeling of killing a traitor again.”

Leo shook the blood from his sword and stepped toward Levaiten.

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

“I think I will. Who’s going to help you here?”

“If—if you let me live, I’ll guarantee you status and fame!”

“Not interested. If the world’s going to end anyway, what’s the point of those?”

A chilling killing intent colored Leo’s voice.

Realizing he couldn’t negotiate, Levaiten screamed and ran.

“Isn’t anyone there?! Help! Please, help me!”

But there was no one on the streets.

Not even a single beggar could be seen.

Thanks to rumors someone had spread that this place was cursed, he was completely isolated.

Slash—!

Levaiten’s screaming head flew through the air.

“Somebody save m—”

The desperate words stopped.

Thud— plop—

His headless body fell to the ground.

Seeing that, Leo sheathed his sword.

'If we had known this had happened back then… maybe more heroes would’ve stood with us.'

Wearing a bitter expression, Leo turned back toward the orphanage.

“Lord Aaron! Lord Aaron! I’ve admired you since I was little!”

“I—I told you, I’m not someone to be admired! And hurry up and treat your wound!”

Overwhelmed with excitement at meeting Aaron, Aru was running wild.

With blood pouring from her head, her crazed figure was bizarre even to Leo.

Then how frightened must timid Aaron be?

“Ah, Kyle. You’re here.”

Elsie approached, having watched the scene.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. More importantly, we defeated the Spider Princess!”

“She won’t die that easily.”

Leo, who had seen Aaron’s slash from afar, smiled bitterly.

Taratnia, who had swallowed the Fairy King’s Ring, wouldn’t die from that.

Even without the ring, she could recover from that kind of wound.

There was a reason she had destroyed a nation.

“Anyway, Kyle! What do you think about recommending Aaron to Lysinas? With that power, he could surely help save the world!”

“You don’t need to say it. That’s going to happen anyway.”

“True, huh?”

Smiling brightly, Elsie said,

“And I’ve changed my mind.”

“About what?”

“Instead of Lysinas, I’ll make a contract with you, Kyle.”

She pointed at Leo with her finger and smiled.

“I like you.”

“What an honor. But I don’t have the power to make a contract now. And I’m not Kyle anymore.”

“Huh?”

Elsie tilted her head in confusion, then nodded.

“Well, that makes sense. Even if you’re an All-Class, your power doesn’t seem that strong yet.”

She had assumed he was Kyle because he had the Light Jewel and was an All-Class, but his strength didn’t seem like that of “Kyle the Surviving Hero.”

“Still, I’ll make a contract with you.”

Elsie smiled as if it didn’t matter and held Leo’s right hand.

“You’ll defeat Erebos someday. I want to entrust my future to you.”

She placed her hand over the back of Leo’s hand and smiled faintly.

“Don’t worry about the contract power. I’m a shadow spirit. As long as there’s an object to act as the medium, I can dwell in your shadow and lend you strength.”

“A medium?”

“Yes. In your case, you have the Light Jewel.”

Though not immensely powerful, it was an heirloom of the Light Elemental Lord, imbued with strong elemental affinity.

Elsie placed her hand over Leo’s.

“My name is the Shadow Elemental, Elsie. I vow to be your sword and shield for as long as our contract lasts.”

A sigil of the contract appeared on the back of Leo’s hand.

Seeing that familiar mark, Leo smiled faintly.

“I’ll count on you.”

The contract would end when the world of heroes was cleared, but contracting again with Elsie brought a strange feeling.

“Huff! Huff! Aaron! You’re amazing! So cool!”

“I told you, get off me!”

Meanwhile, the excited Aru was clinging to Aaron’s leg.

Seeing Aaron’s terrified face, Leo approached the two.

Smack—!

“Meow?!“

“He said no, you perverted cat.”

Leo smacked Aru on the head.

The wound she got from Taratnia was still bleeding.

Like a broken cat, Aru froze for a moment, then clutched her head and rolled on the ground.

“Ow ow ow! You hit my wound, you damn rabbit!”

“You look fine to me.”

“It really hurts!”

With tears welling up, she yanked hard on Leo’s rabbit ears.

Just then, they saw Agon running toward them from afar.

He had sensed Aaron’s aura bursting from the lord’s castle and had rushed over.

The moment Leo saw Agon—

[You have met Aaron in Raysar.]

[You have saved Agon, the Guardian of the Azure Sky.]

The mission objective was achieved.

bl

Agon arrived, and the cleanup began.

Although the cleanup mostly meant comforting the terrified children and scolding Aaron, they could all feel that the incident had truly ended.

Watching Agon, who looked slightly brighter now that he had seen his disciple again, Leo recalled the past.

'If these children had all died, Agon could no longer have been called a hero.'

How could someone who came to hate the world still be called a hero?

And yet Agon said nothing to the departing Aaron.

That must have been Agon’s way of hoping his disciple, who had decided to save the world, wouldn’t break like he had.

Had Agon told him the truth back then, the Brave Aaron might never have existed. And saving the world would have been impossible.

While Leo was lost in those thoughts, Aru was still excited.

“I cleared the Hero’s World even before entering Azonia! And it was Aaron’s world! This is an unprecedented event in Azonia’s history!”

“You’re still bleeding. Shouldn’t you treat your wound?”

“Black Rabbit! It’s all thanks to you! Let’s work hard in school life together! We’ll make Azonia the strongest hero academy ever!”

“Sure, do your best.”

“You have to do it too!”

Not knowing that Leo was a student of Lumene, Aru kept imagining her school life with him.

“It’s frustrating, but I’ll let you have the spot of grade representative. You’re stronger than me right now, after all.”

Pouting, Aru puffed out her chest.

“But don’t let your guard down! I’ll take that spot back anytime!”

'…This is getting awkward. Should I tell her now?'

While Leo was debating,

“I owe you.”

Agon approached.

“Did you scold Aaron properly?”

“For now.”

“In that case! Lord Aaron!”

“G-get away from me!”

As Aru dashed toward him again, Aaron screamed and ran off.

“…Did that girl hit her head too hard? Is her mind broken?”

“She’s always like that. Just leave her.”

Leo clicked his tongue.

“Anyway, thank you. If it weren’t for you, things could’ve gone terribly.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Still, I’d like to repay you somehow, but I don’t have much to offer. So please, take this.”

Agon handed Leo a book.

“What is this?”

“My aura cultivation manual.”

In this era, such manuals were easy to find—but not in the Age of Calamity.

“It’s the same technique Aaron learned. Though he made it his own and gained the power to freely command flames.”

'So this is the original of Brave's Breath…'

He wanted to read it right away.

But—

Crack—

Leo saw a fissure open in the night sky.

He knew what it meant.

'The collapse of the world after the mission clear.'

This world had fulfilled its role.

“Thank you.”

Leo tucked Agon’s book into his chest.

It was time to say farewell to his friends.

“It’s time to go. If you have anything to say, say it now.”

At his words, Aru flinched, then looked up at the sky.

With a look of regret, she turned to Aaron.

“Lord Aaron.”

“Hm?”

“Could you… pat my head just once, to encourage me?”

The girl made a small request to the Great Hero she had admired since childhood.

Hearing that, Aaron looked puzzled, but then gently patted her head.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but hang in there. You’ll do fine.”

Smiling softly, Aaron withdrew his hand.

Touching her blood-soaked head, Aru muttered,

“I’m never washing this hair. Hehehehe.”

Hearing her crazy words again, Aaron looked terrified.

Leo sighed and cast a healing spell.

The bleeding stopped as her wound closed.

“Oh! Thanks! Black rab—”

Splash—!

Then, with a simple water spell, Leo neatly washed Aru’s hair.

“You damn black rabbit!”

Aru wailed, tugging at Leo’s rabbit ears.

“Lord Aaron! Please, pat me just one more—”

“Aaron.”

“Hm?”

“It’s going to be hard from now on.”

Aaron looked confusedly at Leo.

“There will be people you can’t protect, and you’ll face endless trials that’ll make you despair.”

“What are you talking about…?”

Aaron looked puzzled, while Aru grew solemn.

She too remembered.

That the boy before her—the future Great Hero—was about to begin a journey of unimaginable hardship.

“But… you’ll overcome it. Because you’re braver than anyone.”

Aaron looked at Leo, bewildered.

“Why do you think I’m brave? I’m nothing but a coward.”

Crack—

The world crumbled.

“Because you saved the world.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Smiling at his wide-eyed friend, Leo said,

By then, everything else had vanished.

In the black void, only Leo and Aaron remained.

Looking at his timid friend who had always given him courage, now slowly fading away, Leo murmured as if making a vow.

“So I’ll do my best too.”

To completely defeat Erebos.

[World of Aaron. Chapter: Prologue – The Beginning has been cleared.] [Clear Rewards: Aaron’s Breath, Agon’s Book, Shadow Elemental Lord, Elsie]