Editor : Amethyst00



Leo, wandering through the ruins, found a place where he could take shelter from the rain and laid Luna down there.

Then, gathering a few pieces of wood suitable for firewood, he cast the spell “Fire” to ignite a small bonfire.

Crackle— crackle—

After confirming that warmth began to spread within the abandoned building, Leo turned his gaze toward the window.

Outside, the black rain was still falling.

As he stared out the window, Leo suddenly felt a sense of unease and brushed his face with his hand.

‘If this is a possession-type world, then I should’ve taken on Kyle’s form.’

White hair, red eyes.

And the still-young face belonged to Leo Plov himself.

‘What’s going on? Is this not a possession-type world? But Luna clearly recognized me as Kyle…’

After pondering for a while, Leo reached one conclusion.

‘Did Luna’s page malfunction because it was damaged?’

Within the Hero Record, fragments of Erebos are sealed.

Erebos is a being that opposes the gods.

Even if the Hero Record was an artifact created by the gods, if it was exposed to Erebos’s power for too long, it would malfunction.

‘If that’s the case… then could there be a fragment of Erebos in this world too?’

Leo’s expression hardened as he looked up toward the sky.

And then suddenly, he noticed something that made him freeze.

‘What the hell is that? A rift?’

The moment Leo felt confusion—

Kiiioooooooooh!

A roar that could tear one’s eardrums struck Leo’s ears.

“Khk?”

A pain sharp enough to make his entire head throb engulfed him.

‘[Fear]!’

Along with the intense mana surge, a massive gust of wind blew through.

Seeing the gigantic draconic-like monster rising high into the sky, Leo’s face hardened.

‘Zodiac!’

Leo clenched his teeth at the appearance of an old nemesis he had defeated long ago.

Luna was still unconscious, her body poisoned by Zodiac’s venom.

‘She fought Zodiac alone—no wonder she collapsed.’

[Come forth, Luna Luminance! Following Kyle’s death, I’ll kill you too!]

Zodiac’s thunderous roar echoed through the air.

This world was different from actual history.

Originally, Zodiac was supposed to have been defeated here by Kyle and Luna.

But he had escaped death and survived.

‘…Perhaps I was the one who died first, because of the traitors’ interference.’

Leo approached the unconscious Luna.

With a pained expression, he wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and gave a bitter smile.

“I’ll handle things from here.”

Leaving those words behind, Leo stood up.

Gooooooooh—!

He saw purple light particles gathering inside Zodiac’s mouth.

‘Poison Breath, huh.’

Kwagagagagak!

The terrifying blast of death further destroyed the collapsing ruins.

Indiscriminate bombardment.

Thankfully, it didn’t reach the place where Leo and Luna were.

But it was only a matter of time.

Taking a deep breath, Leo opened the door and stepped outside.

‘I don’t have the power to defeat a legion commander right now.’

Even though he had possessed Kyle, that only meant he had taken Kyle’s appearance—

—not become Kyle himself.

Right now, Leo only possessed the power of Leo Plov.

‘But even so, I can fight that thing once.’

Clack—

Leo opened the door and lifted himself into the air with the Fly spell.

Sensing the magic, Zodiac turned his head toward Leo, his eyes twitching.

[A human?]

“It’s been a while, Zodiac.”

[You speak as if you know me well.]

Zodiac sneered grotesquely, mocking Leo.

[I don't know such insignificant human as you.]

Narrowing his eyes, Leo thought,

‘So this bastard perceives me as Leo Plov.’

“I know you very well.”

[Khh, of course you do! For I am the legion commander who will exterminate your kind! Consider it an honor to receive your death sentence from me, Zodiac!]

Leo’s lips curled faintly.

“An honor? Don’t make me laugh. I never wanted to see that disgusting face of yours again.”

Zodiac’s eyes flashed.

Fwoosh—! Boom—!

In an instant, his tail swung and smashed into Leo’s body.

Leo was sent flying at tremendous speed and crashed into the ground.

[A fool who doesn’t know the value of his life. To think you’d dare speak so rudely to me, Zodiac.]

Groaning, Leo forced himself up from where he’d fallen.

[Hooh, still alive?]

Normally, the old Leo would’ve died from that single blow.

Zodiac’s lips twisted upward, intrigued.

[A little amusement before I kill Luna Luminance, then.]

At those words, Leo’s eyes filled with killing intent.

“You’ll never kill Luna.”

[Hehh, such arrogance. What could a mere human like you possibly do?]

“I can do quite a lot. For example…”

Goooooooooh—!

The Polyum engraved on Leo’s arm glowed with a vibrant, fresh green light.

Seeing it, Zodiac’s expression changed drastically.

[That’s… divine power?]

“Like killing you.”

[A human blessed by the gods still exists? Hah! But what can you do with that? The gods’ power no longer even touches this land!]

Zodiac opened his jaws wide.

Gooooooooh—!

As he gathered energy in his mouth, Leo drew his sword.

[Disappear, human!]

Flash—!

A violet light engulfed Leo’s vision.

But Leo’s eyes sharpened, and he swung his sword upward from below.

A massive gray sword strike soared skyward like a wall.

Kwagagagagang—!

The breath was cleaved cleanly in two before exploding on either side of him.

Zodiac stared in shock at Leo, who stood before him with his sword raised.

[That’s… Kyle’s power!?]

The divine power gifted by Pivua through Polyum. It briefly restored Leo’s past strength, the power of Kyle himself.

[Impossible! That man was definitely killed moments ago! Then how…!]

Leo hoisted his sword onto his shoulder, glaring coldly at the stunned creature.

[You… what are you!?]

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

Leo’s red eyes glowed.

“I’m Kyle.”

[Nonsense!]

“Well, maybe not the Kyle you knew.”

Leo lowered his stance.

Vwoom—!

A gray aura flared around his body.

“I came from much further in the future than you can imagine.”

Boom—!

The ground beneath Leo’s feet crumbled, forming a massive crater.

By pushing Aaron’s Breath to its limits, he explosively amplified his aura’s power.

Right now, Leo had regained Kyle’s strength at his prime.

Of course, it wasn’t the same as when he defeated Erebos together with all his comrades’ power.

‘If I summoned that strength, the divine blessing wouldn’t last long.’

Pivua’s blessing allowed Leo to manifest his past power for only a short time.

If he were to call upon the power he had when slaying Erebos, the divine gift would vanish quickly.

What Leo needed now wasn’t the strength to defeat the Flame of Calamity—

—but the strength to slay a legion commander.

‘Then Kyle’s power from this time will be enough!’

Leo’s crimson eyes gleamed as he appeared before Zodiac.

Zodiac opened his jaws wide to swallow him whole.

Fwoosh—! Boom—!

[Gkkh!?]

Leo had darted under Zodiac’s jaw in an instant and kicked upward.

Fueled by the explosive force of aura, Zodiac’s body was hurled high into the sky.

Even though he had once slain Kyle and gravely wounded Luna, Zodiac had fled afterward.

Which meant he, too, had been severely injured.

He must have hidden himself upon realizing Luna had been poisoned by his venom.

As the Poison King, the longer a battle dragged on, the greater his advantage.

‘He’s not in perfect condition!’

That meant this fight, brief as it would be, overwhelmingly favored Leo, who had regained his peak strength.

As Zodiac staggered, Leo ignited his flame aura.

Fwoooosh—!

The flames of Zerdinger flared to life.

Zodiac’s element was poison.

And fire was its natural counter, a force that burned away venom.

Empowered by the Breath of the Hero, Leo’s strength peaked.

[You!]

Zodiac reached out his hand.

Goooooooooh—!

A massive violet greatsword appeared—its blade melting all it touched.

It was Zodiac’s weapon, Venom.

Countless heroes had perished from merely brushing against that blade.

One of the greatest terrors of the Age of Calamity.

But—

“It’s useless.”

Fwoooosh—!

A magic formula of Star Sorcery appeared above Leo’s palm.

A magic that did not yet exist in this era—

Created in the distant future, by elves who revered Luna and sought to follow in her footsteps.

‘Let me borrow it for a bit, Lunia.’

Thinking of the elven girl, Leo smiled.

“Incandescent.”

Fwoooosh—!

The flames of House Lunda burst forth from Leo’s hand.

“Prominence.”

And the flames of Zerdinger rose along his sword.

The ultimate flames of the two houses that inherited the Phoenix’s power blazed fiercely.

At last, the fused flames formed the wings of a phoenix.

[The Phoenix’s… flames!]

“If only I’d been able to control flames like these back then… maybe defeating you wouldn’t have been such a hassle.”

[You… you! What are you!?]

“I told you already,” Leo said coldly.

“I’m Kyle.”

Kwagagagagagak—!

[Kyaaaaaaaaah!]

The phoenix’s wings sliced through Zodiac’s massive wings like blades.

His enormous body crashed to the ground.

Leo dove after him to finish it.

Zodiac swung Venom toward him.

Fwoosh—!

Leo swung his phoenix-imbued sword.

Crunch—!

[Im… impossible…!]

Split clean in two along with Venom, Zodiac spewed poisonous blood as his body fell to the ground.

Thud! Splat! Shrrrrk! Sssssss—!

His massive form and the venomous blood dissolving the ruins created a hissing storm.

Tap—!

Landing lightly, Leo held his breath.

Zodiac’s blood was lethally toxic.

‘Is it over?’

Quickly stepping away from the corpse, Leo exhaled deeply.

Normally, defeating Zodiac alone would have been nearly impossible.

‘The divine blessing’s fading.’

Leo looked down at his hand.

He could feel Kyle’s fiery-like power gradually extinguishing.

“Still… that rift in the sky…”

Leo looked up at the crack he had seen earlier.

Crkkk—

He could feel the fissure in the sky widening.

Then suddenly—

Crack—! Snap—!

The rift seemed to fall apart.

A bright light poured out from within, and Leo’s eyes widened in shock.

“What… is that?”

At that moment—

Goooooooooh—!

A chilling heat filled the air.

Eyes widening, Leo turned his head forward.

Zodiac’s melting corpse was now burning with black flames.

The dragonkin lifted his massive body once again.

Kiiioooooooh—!

As he roared, a torrent of toxic air surged forth.

“Khk!?”

Leo’s eyes widened.

Zodiac’s wings, now fully restored, flapped wildly as he shot toward the rift in the sky.

Boom—! Crack—!

His massive body smashed into the rift.

Clang!

Reaching into the rift, Zodiac began tearing it apart like a mad beast.

“Erebos’s power? No—before that, what the hell is that bastard trying to do!?”

Leo gasped and prepared to fly toward him.

He didn’t know what was happening, but every instinct screamed that he had to stop Zodiac.

Then—

Through the widening rift, Leo saw the scene beyond—

and his face went rigid.

“Sei… ren?”

Leo’s expression froze completely.

Elsie’s face flashed across his mind.

And then he realized what Zodiac was after.

“He’s trying… to go outside!?”