Editor : Amethyst00



[Shadow Elemental, you say? That’s an elemental I’ve never heard of before.]

Ingis looked at Elsie with an expressionless face.

[Judging from the strong will you possess, you must be quite a powerful elemental. So, what is it you wish to talk about with me? Are you saying you want to come under my command?]

At that question, Elsie widened her eyes slightly, then smiled gently.

[No. I may look like this now, but I am still an Elemental Lord. As an elemental who holds the Authority of Domination, I cannot bow my head to another elemental.]

[Nonsense. It’s impossible for two Elemental Lord of the same attributes to exist in the same era.]

[Yes. I am an elemental of the past who should not exist in this world.]

[an elemental who’s lost her mind, is it?]

Despite the insult, Elsie only smiled softly.

Any other Elemental Lord would not have let those words pass.

If one called her the Elemental Lord of Darkness, it wouldn’t be strange to also call her the ruler of all dark elemental.

That said, her domination was so overwhelming it could influence not only dark elementals but those of other attributes as well.

If she so wished, she could have risen to the position of an absolute ruler who governed a vast territory, like the Elemental of the Deep Sea, Undine.

Receiving such an insult could easily have led to a war between Elemental Lords, devastating everything around them.

But Elsie smiled.

She did not feel offended.

Elsie was a being of the past who had crossed into the present world through the divine miracle known as Hero Record.

Anyone who heard her claim would have reacted the same way Ingis did.

‘Perhaps, if I were in his place, I would have felt the same.’

Ingis looked intrigued by Elsie’s calm response.

[Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that you truly are an Elemental Lord of the past. Even so, I have never once heard of a “Shadow Elemental.”]

[Yes. That’s because I existed in this world only for a very short time.]

Elsie took a step forward and smiled faintly.

Among all the Elemental Lords, Elsie alone was the one who left not even her name in history.

[An Elemental Lord who didn’t even leave her name in history. So, what kind of conversation do you wish to have with me?]

[Why do you hate humans?]

[Because they are vile beings.]

Ingis replied curtly.

[Other Elemental Lord often say this: only by forming a pact with a race of the surface does an elemental gain value. They say it is our duty as Elemental Lord to lend our power to those worthy of it.]

Ingis tilted his head slightly.

[But is there any need to do that for such loathsome creatures of the surface?]

Dark elementals are often regarded as the gloomiest among all elementals.

Once, dark elementals were symbols of misfortune and ill omen, even being condemned as manifestations of Tartaros itself.

Elementals who could only gain strength in the shadows, not in the light.

Because of that nature, humans turned away from them.

Even those with the talent to form contracts with dark elementals would reject that talent.

And so, the ones who formed contracts with dark elementals were inevitably those burdened by unfortunate destinies, desperate for power.

Ingis was an Elemental Lord who had existed for nearly 1000 years.

He had seen far too much of the darkness within humans.

[Your contractor must be the same, no?]

Ingis looked expressionlessly at Leo.

[A student of Lumene, perhaps, but surely burdened by a tragic past.]

At those words, Elsie turned to look at Leo.

She did not know all the details about him, but she knew the path he had walked.

[Yes. Leo probably lived in a darkness I can’t even imagine.]

Just as Elsie said—Leo had lived through the Age of Calamity.

He had survived after witnessing countless vile acts, and even while serving as part of the Erebos Subjugation Party, he buried the corrupted behind history’s veil.

He took on dirty work in secret, all so that his comrades’ hands would remain unstained by blood.

While other Great Heroes cast off the darkness and moved toward the light—

Kyle stepped into the darkness in order to reach the light.

That was the difference between Kyle and the other Great Heroes.

‘The me of the past must have been drawn to that side of Kyle.’

[I haven’t lived as long as you, nor experienced as much misfortune as you have.]

Elsie looked at Ingis with eyes full of pity.

[But if you are an elemental of darkness, then you too must be drawn to the light, right?]

An elemental of darkness being drawn to light was instinct.

[Don’t you wish to see the light as well?]

[The light, huh.]

At Elsie’s question, Ingis finally understood why this so-called Elemental Lord of the past had approached him.

[You pity me, do you?]

[Yes.]

Seeing Elsie nod, Ingis curled his lips slightly.

[Then prove it.]

[Prove… what?]

[That you truly understand my darkness.]

Darkness began to seep out around Ingis.

[If you understand my darkness, then you should be able to maintain your sanity even within this abyss.]

The darkness that spread was on a completely different level from the one that had enveloped Leo and Lyl earlier.

[If you wish to talk with me, that comes first.]

Elsie looked at Leo.

She was worried that her own stubbornness might put her contractor in danger.

Seeing her expression, Leo smirked.

“Elsie. Who do you think I am?”

At that, Elsie’s eyes widened, then she smiled brightly.

[‘The Surviving Hero.’]

“Exactly. So I don’t know how terrible this abyss of yours is, but you don’t need to worry about me. No matter how heavy it is, it can’t be heavier than what I’ve carried.”

Hearing the words of the man who once carried the world, Elsie nodded and looked at Ingis.

[All right.]

Watching her, Leo smiled bitterly inside.

‘She's too kind for her own good.’

Her concern for Ingis came purely from compassion.

She truly pitied him, understanding his misery and pain.

That was why, even after she came to hate the world, she still ended up sacrificing herself for it.

Fwoosh—!

Ingis’s abyss engulfed Leo.

He felt a sharp pain pierce his head.

‘A mental collapse, huh.’

The endless abyss began to devour Leo’s mind.

Ingis’s pain and agony surged into his head.

And the moment he recognized that—

Step. Step.

[What?]

Ingis’s face stiffened.

Leo walked out of the abyss, calm and unshaken, approaching him.

[How…?]

“Isn’t it obvious?” Leo smiled.

“I’ve just lived a life more miserable than yours.”

There was no way Leo, who had lived through the Age of Calamity, could have been happier than Ingis, who had lived through an age of peace.

No matter what anyone said, Kyle had witnessed the brink of the world’s destruction.

Even if Ingis had lived nearly a thousand years in darkness, the depth of the darkness each had experienced was entirely different.

“And also—”

Leo glanced toward the mass of the abyss.

A massive shadow formed around it.

Before long, the shadow swallowed the abyss whole.

The abyss raged violently, but soon calmed, as if soothed within the embrace of the shadow.

Ingis’s face turned to one of shock.

[My darkness… was dominated?]

[It wasn’t domination. I merely embraced your darkness.]

As the shadows cleared, a beautiful woman emerged.

Leo looked surprised.

Elsie’s form had changed, from that of a young girl to that of a mature woman, the same appearance she had when Kyle first met her.

And her power had grown stronger as well.

‘Did she absorb the power of the Abyss Elemental?’

Though Elsie was an Elemental Lord, she was not in her complete state now.

She could not exist without maintaining her contract with Leo. That means the power she could exert depended on his capabilities.

But now, she was radiating tremendous power.

Still, it was not as much as the strength Leo remembered from the past.

Even so, she had succeeded in making Ingis’s darkness her own.

‘She didn’t just take his power, but she absorbed his traits too?’

Leo noticed that one of Elsie’s obsidian eyes now carried a faint trace of darkness.

Though both were black, this one differed from her usual gaze.

[Are you truly… an Elemental Lord?] Ingis’s voice trembled.

Even among Elemental Lord, there were differences in power.

The Authority of Domination that Elsie possessed was far greater than Ingis’s.

[Yes. I told you, didn’t I? I’m your very distant senior.]

Smiling softly, Elsie approached Ingis.

As she did, more of Ingis’s darkness was absorbed into her.

Absorbing Ingis’s power, Elsie was regaining her true majesty as an Elemental Lord.

Conversely, Ingis’s body gradually shrank.

With his face twisted, Ingis looked up at Elsie and asked,

[What do you want from me? Do you intend to erase me and become the new Elemental Lord?]

At that, Elsie widened her eyes slightly and laughed brightly.

[There’s no way I’d do something like that.]

She reached out and gently patted Ingis’s head.

[I only wanted to tell you this. Don’t hate humans.]

Elsie stepped back, and her power began to return to Ingis.

[You’re living in such a beautiful world, aren’t you? Yet you still choose to carry unhappiness on your shoulders. It just seemed so pitiful to me.]

Elsie could never forget the awe she felt when she first saw the night sky.

The realization that something so beautiful could exist made her feel as if she possessed the entire world.

To live in such a world, yet spend his days in gloom without a contract. How sorrowful that was.

Elsie’s body gradually shrank, returning to that of a young girl.

Before long, she looked about the same age as Ingis.

[Try to enjoy life a bit more. Surely, there’s a bright and shining contractor somewhere in this world who suits you. My life may have been shorter than yours, but as your senior, don’t ignore my advice.]

As Elsie smiled radiantly, Ingis looked at her in silence before speaking.

[You are… a being who shines even more beautifully than the Elemental of Light.]

[Fufu—thank you.]

Now small enough to fit in a palm, Elsie fluttered up and landed on Leo’s shoulder.

At that moment—

Fwoosh—!

“Puhah!”

Bursting through the darkness, Lyl appeared.

“Leo! I came to save you—”

She hurriedly spoke, then froze when she saw Leo standing there unharmed, her expression sinking.

“…Leo escaped before I did, huh.”

“Just lucky.”

“Ugh… I really wanted to show some senior dignity this time.”

As Lyl pouted, Ingis looked at her with a tired expression.

[What is that one? A monster?]

“What do you mean, a monster?! I have a perfectly respectable title—the Elemental Master of Tempest! Don’t call me weird names!”

Annoyed at being called a monster-woman, Lyl flared up.

Watching her, Elsie murmured,

[At that level, she really might be a monster.]

In Leo’s case, Ingis’s darkness hadn’t affected him in the first place.

There had been no need for him to “escape.”

But Lyl was different.

She had been drawn into Ingis’s darkness, and yet she managed to overcome it and emerge.

For an Elemental Lord of the distant past, an Elemental Lord of the present, and even a Great Hero, it was an astonishing feat.

“I see now… Elena-sunbae and Hark-sunbae call you ‘Monster Girl’ for a reason.”

“Leo! You too?!”

Lyl’s face scrunched up in protest—

Boom—!

“Hyah! Juniors! Your senior has come to rescue you—!”

Jean burst through the ceiling, shouting confidently, only to pause as he saw the two standing perfectly fine.

“…You escaped on your own? Are you two really 1st and 2nd years?”

Knowing the Abyss Elemental’s mental-collapse trait, Jean had rushed here as fast as possible, breaking through the elementals army to reach the heart of the area.

Clicking his tongue at his juniors’ competence, Jean stood before Ingis.

“It’s been a while, Ingis.”

[Indeed, Knight of Undine.]

“No matter how much you hate humans, you do realize this crossed the line, right?”

As killing intent radiated from Jean, Ingis spoke.

[I’ll accept your invitation, so put away your killing intent.]

Ingis withdrew his darkness, then looked at Leo and Lyl.

[I’ll also consider forming a contract with the students of Lumene.]

At that, both Lyl and Jean’s eyes widened.

Ingis, who had refused to take a contractor for hundreds of years out of hatred for humans, was now saying he’d consider one?

“It’s because of Leo, isn’t it?” Lyl asked in awe.

She had seen Leo talking with Ingis before escaping, so she assumed he had persuaded him.

At her words, Ingis spoke in an emotionless voice.

[I have no interest in womanizers.]

‘Womanizer? Because Leo’s the contractor of Phoenix?’

Not understanding what he meant, Lyl simply tilted her head in confusion.