Editor : Amethyst00



“That came out of nowhere, right?.”

“What can we do? Our school pushing students into sudden situations isn’t exactly new.”

“True.”

At Tade’s mutter, Carl shrugged his shoulders.

Hearing that, Tade nodded in understanding.

Up until the first semester, the first-years would panic whenever something unexpected happened—but now, everyone remained calm.

They had long grown used to sudden developments, and something like this was accepted without fuss.

No—rather, the prevailing reaction was that they had expected something like this.

“Well then.”

All the students’ eyes turned to Rivein.

“Start.”

The instant Rivein finished speaking, the entire first-year cohort burst forward toward Lumene.

Seeing that, Rivein stroked his chin.

‘Their responses are good. So quick to move—must be the difference in experience.’

Every one of this year’s first-years had faced crises during the Departmental Competition.

‘Celia, Xia, Duran, Abad, Chloe, Chelsea, Walden, Eliza. And Leo. Those nine defeated the Gigantes. The public focuses only on them…’

But the other students had also fought monsters.

That experience had made this year’s batch exceptional.

‘Every now and then, there’s a generation like this.’

A special generation.

Normally, there’s barely one hero born per generation, but in such batches, several appear.

‘The current fifth-years were like that too.’

The fifth-years were also known as an outstanding group, full of remarkable talents.

But still, Rivein felt no enthusiasm to teach the first-years.

‘In the past few hundred years, has there been any truly remarkable hero from Lumene? No. And not just Lumene—none from the other hero academies either.’

Countless heroes had been born over time.

Becoming a hero meant overcoming great trials.

And so, most heroes were content once they attained that title.

‘But that alone isn’t enough.’

The reason the gods gifted the Hero Record to the lower realm—

It was to completely subjugate Erebos and Tartaros.

‘Yet now, the ultimate goal seems to have become simply becoming a hero.’

Rivein had lived for ages as a professor at Lumene.

Only a handful within Lumene knew that he was a dragon.

A hundred years ago, he had been ordered by the Dragon Queen to guide Lumene’s students.

The lifespan of dragons averaged around three hundred years.

Rivein had spent much of his life as a professor at Lumene.

After the Age of Calamity, following the will of the Wise Queen, Lysinas, dragons took on the tradition of choosing and guiding heroes.

And so, heroes recognized by dragons always achieved greater feats.

Rivein, too, had once been filled with passion.

He had believed without doubt that one day a hero would arise who would inherit the will of the Great Heroes and defeat Erebos and Tartaros.

But the state of the world had not changed for hundreds of years.

The endless struggle against Tartaros continued, yet even that had stagnated.

‘In this era, few children look beyond the title of hero itself.’

That was why he lacked motivation.

‘Well, maybe age is catching up to me too.’

Watching the students vanish in an instant, Rivein lifted his gaze to the sky.

A world that remained unchanged for so long was enough to tire even a dragon.

‘Maybe it’s time to retire.’

bl

The vast Lumeria Lake, wide enough to be mistaken for a sea, contained several islands.

At its center lay a great island—home to the sprawling Lumene Academy.

‘Now that I think about it, this wasn’t even a lake before the Age of Calamity, was it?’

The center of the world.

Now home to Lumene Academy, but once, this had been the land of dragons.

‘If I remember right, this was the first land attacked when Erebos appeared?’

Even in his past life, it was a story from his childhood, so Leo’s memory was faint.

During his days wandering the world to subjugate Erebos, he had never ventured near the region that now housed Lumeria City.

As Leo reminisced about the past, he suddenly lifted his head.

“Prepare yourself! Leo Plov!”

Crackle—!

Golden lightning sparks burst forth with a sharp crackle.

Bzzzzzt—!

Whoooosh—!

“Uwah! Get away!”

“Move away from there!”

Students screamed and scattered as a sudden attack exploded before them.

Each defended themselves from the rampaging lightning in their own way.

“You dodged.”

Standing upon the water with an aura step, Duran smiled coldly at Leo.

Seeing that, Leo crossed his arms.

“We’re not supposed to be competing right now. Why attack me?”

“There was no order to compete, but neither was there one not to.”

A fierce fighting spirit surged in Duran’s eyes.

“In that case, there’s no reason not to fight. I trained all break just to defeat you. Come, Leo Plov.”

Crackle—!

Duran’s body crackled with lightning aura.

Leo scratched his head.

“Ah… I really didn’t want to exert myself on the first day back.”

“Heh. Arrogant brat. That confidence will vanish soon enough—”

“There you are, Leo Plov!”

A sharp voice cut in between them.

Fwoosh—!

Riding the high-class spirit beast Delphinus, Eliza charged forward with eyes blazing.

“Prepare yourself!”

Delphinus surged, whipping up waves.

“Huh?! Even Eliza Hergin?!”

“Back off! Get back!”

“If you get caught in that, you’ll die! Move!”

Ignoring everything around her, Eliza unleashed another barrage of attacks. Students scrambled away from Leo’s direction.

But none actually fled.

Duran and Eliza—both top-tier students of their generation and both equally hot-headed.

And both shared one goal above all others: to defeat Leo Plov.

Others sought the position of class representative as well, but these two were especially aggressive.

‘No way I’m missing this show!’

‘First day back and already entertaining~’

After all, what’s more entertaining than a good fight?

Eyes gleaming, the students watched the clash unfold.

Seeing the waves surge toward him, Leo sighed and summoned his mana.

“Freezing.”

Crackle, crack crack crack—!

In an instant, the massive wave froze solid.

But Eliza, as if expecting that, was already preparing her next attack.

Empowered by Eliza’s mana, Delphinus opened its jaws and let out a piercing roar.

Kyaaaaaaaa—!

The powerful sonic wave shattered the frozen water in moments.

Leo felt his head ring—thunk—and raised his aura to resist the soundwave.

Duran, who was caught nearby, grimaced as well.

While the two who faced it head-on withstood the attack, several weaker students caught in the indirect blast foamed at the mouth and fainted.

The onlookers gulped.

‘If we stay here watching, we might die too…’

As tension filled the air, Duran’s sharp gaze locked onto Eliza.

Crackle—!

With explosive speed, Duran dashed across the water using aura steps, sword raised high.

Slash-slash-slash-slash—!

As lightning roared, Eliza frowned and channeled her power.

“Ruri! Move!”

Strengthened by Eliza’s mana, Delphinus dove deep underwater.

Seeing that, Duran smirked.

“You think diving will let you escape?”

Boooom—!

Lightning exploded from Duran’s sword, making the spectators’ faces pale.

“Run! RUN! It’s an area attack!”

“Aaaargh!”

“I don’t want to get fried on the first day of the semester!”

As Duran thrust his sword, a storm of lightning engulfed the surroundings.

Students barely managed to flee the attack radius. They stared at Leo—still calm after blocking the strike—and were left speechless.

Even if he wasn’t directly targeted, to emerge unscathed from such an assault was astounding.

“To think you wouldn’t even flinch from that level of attack.”

Duran grinned coldly at Leo.

Woooong—!

Then, an ominous presence rippled from beneath the water.

SPLAAAASH—!

When creatures burst from the surface, the students gasped.

“Aqua Gorgos!”

Serpent-like aquatic monsters—formidable foes when fought in water.

Five Aqua Gorgos surged toward Duran in fury.

It was one of Delphinus’s abilities—domination.

But Duran merely scoffed and swung his sword.

Flash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

In an instant, five swift cuts decapitated them all, golden light flashing with each swing.

Just as the Aqua Gorgos’ heads fell—

Swoooosh—!

A whirlpool crashed down upon Duran.

He swung his sword and cut through it—shaaak!—but the recoil sent him flying back.

Murderous intent flickered in Duran’s eyes.

“Hmph!”

Now surfacing, Eliza sneered back at him.

“Looks like you have a death wish—interfering with me.”

“You’re the one getting in my way.”

Their cold voices clashed, and cruel smiles spread across their faces.

“You two have a lot of energy for the first day back, huh?”

Leo sighed. Both turned toward him.

“This is just the perfect chance to settle things once and for all.”

“This time, I’ll be taking the representative seat.”

“So, you’re both planning to gang up on me?”

“I don’t do such lowly things, Leo Plov.”

“I’ve no reason to join forces with this man, and defeating you like that would be meaningless.”

“Then decide who’ll come first.”

“Obviously me.”

“Don’t make me laugh. I’m going first.”

Sparks flew again between the two.

Leo spoke.

“Then how about this? You two fight each other first, and I’ll duel the winner. Sounds fair, doesn’t it?”

At his words, Duran smirked.

“Simple and clear. Fine by me. Come at me, Eliza Hergin.”

“I was hoping you’d say that, Duran Moira.”

The two, both infamous for their tempers, glared at each other—and a fierce battle broke out.

As the honor students clashed in a dazzling fight, one of the watching students turned to Leo.

“Where are you going? Didn’t you say you’d fight the winner?”

“Yeah. But I never said when I’d fight immediately.”

“What?”

“Well then, I’m off.”

Leo waved casually and strode away.

Duran and Eliza were too absorbed in trying to defeat each other to notice him leaving.

The nearby students looked at them with pity.

‘Wow… they got played by Leo.’

‘Man, once they realize he’s gone, they’re gonna be so mad.’

As they thought that, one student muttered nervously,

“Uh, if they find out Leo left and start taking it out on whoever’s nearby… aren’t we screwed?”

“……”

The students exchanged looks.

Indeed—there was no guarantee they wouldn’t.

Carefully, they began to slip away, one by one.

A little later.

Once Duran and Eliza realized they were the only ones left, they stopped fighting.

And when they realized Leo was gone, their faces twisted in fury.

“Leo Plov! You bastard!”

“You really—!!”

Their outraged shouts echoed far and wide—

But Leo was already far ahead, long beyond their reach.