Editor : Amethyst00



“Why do you call me and then not answer anything?”

The flustered Leo regained his composure at Luna’s words.

‘She’s recognizing me as Kyle? Then this must be a possession-type world where the raider is perceived as someone who existed in the past?’

It was clear he had possessed his past self.

After quickly assessing the situation, Leo took a deep breath.

“Are you okay?”

Leo swiftly acted as his past self.

If his memory was correct, this was the time when the battle with Zodiac was in full swing.

There was nothing strange about asking such a question.

“Yeah. I’m fine. You protected me, didn't you.”

Luna asked, looking worried.

“And you? You were hit directly by Zodiac’s attack just now.”

“I’m fine.”

‘Normally, I would have been wrecked by Zodiac’s poison.’

But Leo had just entered the Hero’s World.

“When did you gain such immunity to poison?”

As Luna looked at him in surprise, Leo asked,

“More importantly, what about Zodiac?”

At those words, Luna’s face stiffened.

“The bastard ran away.”

“What?”

Leo’s expression showed shock at Luna’s words.

‘He ran away?’

That's impossible.

Zodiac was the kind of creature who, even at the moment of death, spewed deadly poison to drag Kyle and Luna down with him.

That demon, who was more aggressive than Sillatna, had ran away?

‘Something’s definitely wrong.’

“Where did he go?”

“Over there.”

Looking in the direction Luna pointed, Leo tried to pursue Zodiac.

To clear the Hero’s World, he needed to subjugate Zodiac.

But when he saw Luna’s condition, he couldn’t move.

Luna’s hands were faintly trembling, and cold sweat ran down her forehead.

“Luna, don’t tell me… you faced him alone?”

At Leo’s question, Luna gave a strained smile.

“Yeah, while you were unconscious for a bit…”

At that moment, Luna’s body wavered.

Leo hurriedly caught her.

At this time, the subjugation force didn’t yet have the strength to take down a legion commander alone.

To block Zodiac single-handedly under such conditions. No matter how strong Luna was, it was natural she’d suffer heavy damage.

Leo clenched his teeth.

“Kyle…”

Luna barely managed to speak.

“While I was fighting Zodiac… some strange people ambushed me.”

“What?”

“They were elves… They suddenly appeared and attacked me. Do you know anything about them?”

‘Elves?’

That made no sense.

At this point in time, no one else besides Kyle and Luna existed nearby.

And yet there were elves?

“They attacked you?”

“Yeah.”

Seeing Luna nod weakly, Leo’s face hardened.

Indeed, this Hero’s World had several irregularities.

‘The Hero Record I touched a few days ago activating now. The fact that this Hero’s World began right in the middle of the battle with Zodiac. And finally…’

Leo’s grip tightened.

‘The students of Seiren have already cleared this world.’

According to Nerzia, several Seiren students had already conquered this world.

But the final boss here was none other than a legion commander.

The Poison King Zodiac—on par with the Hell Kaiser, the Giant King, and the Monster Queen.

Its difficulty level was far beyond that of any student.

Yet someone had cleared it.

Tartaros was trying to erase the Hero Records of the Great Heroes.

To prevent future heroes from inheriting their power.

‘If the Seiren students who entered this world were traitors…’

Then Zodiac’s inexplicable retreat, and the sudden appearance of elves attacking Luna, all made sense.

Leo’s grip tightened further.

‘Then the Lich King bastard has been scheming all this time to destroy Luna’s Hero Record stored in Seiren?’

Shaa—

The accursed black rain continued to fall.

‘In any case, I have to heal Luna first.’

“Let’s find a place to rest.”

Leo supported Luna to get up.

At that, Luna gritted her teeth.

“No, we must hurry and subjugate Zodiac…”

“If he ran, then we have a brief window to regroup.”

Leo spoke calmly.

“We can subjugate him after your stamina recovers.”

Luna looked up at Leo and smiled weakly.

“Then, Kyle… I’ll sleep just a little…”

Poisoned and exhausted from massive mana consumption, Luna fell asleep as she leaned against Leo’s body.

Zzzz— Seeing the sleeping Luna, Leo looked around the ruined fortress.

‘I need to find shelter from the rain first.’

Rumble—!

Thunder rumbled across the gloomy sky.

At that moment—

Crack—

The sky began to split.

But Leo did not notice as he was supporting Luna.

bl

Gwoooooo—!

An armored Gigantes roared as it charged toward the fortress wall.

Goooo—!

Black demonic energy burst from its body.

Seeing that, Rhys shouted urgently.

“Raynia!”

At those words, Raynia, stationed at the highest point on the wall, pulled back her bowstring.

Creak—!

Raynia’s greatbow howled.

Thung—! Fwoosh—!

A massive, aura-infused arrow flew at terrifying speed.

Crack-crash! Crunch!

“Gwooooo—!”

The arrow pierced the Gigantes’ eye, burrowing through and smashing out the back of its skull before embedding into the ground.

Yet even with its head pierced, the Gigantes did not die.

Instead, clutching its face, it went berserk.

The indiscriminate rampage of the Gigantes tore through both ally and enemy alike.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Rhys descended from the wall.

Landing on the ground, he severed the Gigantes’ ankle.

Fwoosh! Slash!

Stagger— Boom—!

Kieeek!

Kroar—!

The Gigantes fell.

The monsters nearby were crushed beneath it, screaming in their death throes.

Rhys cleanly decapitated the fallen Gigantes and swiftly returned to the wall.

Knights with high mobility like him quickly neutralized Gigantes and demonic assaults threatening the fortress walls.

The defensive line crafted by Sedgen was firmly holding back the army’s onslaught.

Watching from afar, the Monster Queen narrowed her eyes.

“The resistance is quite strong.”

It's only natural.

There were countless heroes who had once transformed the world.

Even for a legion filled with monsters capable of destroying nations single-handedly, this wall was not easily breached.

As Sillatna rested her chin on her hand, looking bored—

Flash—!

Fragments of light rained down above her head.

She glanced up; the shards halted right before her face.

“Perfect timing. I was getting bored.”

Sillatna snapped her fingers.

Boom—!

The fragments of light exploded violently.

The blast vaporized the Gigantes she was riding, leaving no trace.

Yet Sillatna hovered in midair, completely unharmed.

Her eyes narrowed.

“The Sword Saint and the First Star. The Sorcerer of the Mystic Eye, Lord of Lunda and Lewellin. And a little lizard… So those are your chosen escorts for the afterlife?”

“They’re not escorts for the afterlife, but the ones who’ll see you off.”

At Kalian’s words, Sillatna smiled faintly.

Seeing her, Kalian lowered his stance.

Fwoosh—!

Kalian’s body vanished.

Sillatna’s gaze shifted left.

There he was, already swinging his sword.

Flash—! Crack—!

Kalian’s blade was caught in Sillatna’s hand.

“Is this one of those sword forged by that damned dwarf? How disgusting.”

The Monster Queen swung her remaining arm, striking Kalian’s head.

Thud—!

Kalian’s head jerked back—

Crash-crash-crash-crash-crash—!

Boom! Rumble—!

Hurled by Sillatna’s blow, Kalian slammed into Sedgen’s fortress wall, collapsing part of it.

Everyone who saw it froze in shock.

“P-Principal!”

“Lord Kalian!”

The Lumene professors cried out, rushing toward the fallen wall.

Tap-tap-tap—

“Urgh— treating an old man so roughly.”

But Kalian emerged from the rubble, unscathed.

Everyone shuddered.

‘He took that blow head-on and survived?!’

‘As expected of the Sword Saint…!’

All gazed at him with awe.

“If I were 10 years younger, I wouldn’t have flown so far.”

Clicking his tongue, Kalian pointed his sword at the Monster Queen.

Swoosh—!

He swung.

That simple motion became a world-cutting strike.

An invisible slash cleaved through everything in a straight line between Kalian and Sillatna.

The demons screamed, blood gushing as they were cut down.

Sillatna, seeing the slash reach her, swung her arm.

Crack—!

Her hand bent unnaturally, as if broken.

Clang—!

And then, unable to withstand the force, the arm was flung back.

Immediately afterward, overwhelming attacks rained down.

The fairy’s magic, powered by the Mystic Eye.

The phoenix’s searing flames.

The winds that tore through the heavens.

The chosen heroes Kalian had gathered to face Sillatna unleashed their full might.

Seeing that overwhelming barrage, even the soldiers on the walls battling the army below gaped.

Crash-crash-crash-crash—!

The combined strikes of Albi, Ellen, and Chade hit directly, shaking the earth.

The area around Sillatna was completely obliterated.

She stood frozen, body arched backward from the impact.

“Did it work…?”

A Seiren student clenched his fist in anticipation—

“Kih!”

A laugh escaped from Sillatna’s tilted head.

“Kikikik! Kihihihi! Ah-ha! Ahahahahahahahahaha!”

Her maniacal laughter echoed as her eyes gleamed.

“That actually hurt!”

She raised her hand—

Woom— Crackle—!

A massive black sphere formed above her palm.

Seeing the sinister demonic energy, those on the wall went pale.

Those who moments ago had shouted boldly to subjugate Sillatna realized—

Just how foolish their confidence had been.

And they understood.

The fear of a legion commander, existing since before the Age of Calamity.

“Die, you vermin!”

Sillatna hurled her black magic toward the wall.

At that instant—

“Extinction.”

Flash—!

Crash-crash-crash—!

Golden starlight burst forth, nullifying Sillatna’s spell where it stood.

The Monster Queen looked at the elf, the Principal of Seiren, who had cast the strongest Star Sorcery.

“I hate that spell the most.”

“I don’t know what you’re scheming,” he replied.

Then Rivein spoke to Sillatna.

“No matter how mighty a legion commander you are, you cannot break through here. That’s why you three have remained silent until now, isn’t it?”

Sillatna glanced at Rivein and smirked.

“What do you want to ask, lizard?”

“What are you plotting?”

“Would you believe me if I said I came to greet an old comrade?”

“An old… comrade?”

Rivein’s expression darkened.

Sillatna looked up at the sky.

Rivein followed her gaze—

—and his face hardened.

Cracks had formed in the sky.

‘That… what is that?’

Then—

Crack—!

From the fractured heavens, a grotesque arm emerged.

As if breaking through a wall.

The monstrous arm then slowly withdrew back into the rift.

At that moment—

Rrrr—

A low growl echoed in Rivein’s ears.

And through the gap, a chilling, enormous purple eye stared through.

Rivein’s whole body trembled.

‘No way… a Legion Commander of Tartaros?’