Editor : Amethyst00



“Is this reinforcements?”

“That’s right.”

At the brown-haired girl’s question, Leo gave a short reply and kicked off the ground.

He charged at the nearest demon. The demon hastily spread his palm toward Leo.

Woooong—! Crack-crack-crackle—!

A black summoning circle formed before Leo, and from within it poured out blood-red leeches the size of human heads.

“Ah! It’s dangerous!” the girl shouted urgently.

‘Gorgoros leech swarm.’

They were demonic monster that latched onto flesh and sucked blood—a bad matchup for a knight relying on close combat. But slashing recklessly was no good either—their acidic blood would spill everywhere.

‘Normally, they’d be troublesome opponents. Normally, that is.’

Fwoooosh—!

Fiery aura erupted from Leo’s sword, blazing furiously.

In an instant, the Gorgoros leeches were reduced to ash by Zerdinger’s flame.

The girl who had warned him gasped in awe.

“A—Amazing!”

‘So, judging by his usage of Gorgoros leeches, this one’s not very high-ranking.’

One could generally tell a demon’s class by the techniques they used. Those leeches were the kind of demonic monster favored by foot-soldier-grade demons.

‘No real threat. The best move here is a swift offense.’

After analyzing the situation in a blink, Leo closed the distance without hesitation.

Slash—!

The beast-warlock’s head went flying through the air.

“He took down two of them in an instant!”

The brown-haired girl clenched her fist.

Woooong—!

Up in the air, Chloe had completed her spell.

“Ice Bullet.”

Dozens of ice bullets poured down toward the demons.

Pabababababaht—!

The demons leapt aside desperately to evade the barrage, but in doing so, their formation collapsed.

“Good! I’m going in too!”

A male student who had been in the standoff steadied his spear and charged.

“Haaahp!”

Crunch!

“Gahhh!”

A demon’s chest was pierced through, and its body disintegrated into ash.

‘Not bad.’

Impressed, Leo glanced at the brown-haired girl.

She pressed her palms together, chanting.

Bzzzzzt—!

When she separated them, several small orbs of light appeared.

“Arc Ray!”

Kiiiing—!

Upon completion, the glowing light orbs tore through the air in wild arcs, raining toward the demons.

Leo recognized the spell instantly.

‘Star sorcery.’

Though she was just a first-year, her usage of magic was on a whole different level than ordinary students.

‘Remarkable magical sense.’

While Leo marveled, one demon struck dead-on by the starry lights was torn apart without a trace.

Six demons remained.

The survivors hastily regrouped into formation.

‘Soldier-class demons are weak individually, but their coordination is strong.’

Leo had disrupted them once with a surprise attack, but now that they’d re-formed, they were troublesome again.

From inside his cloak, Leo drew four daggers—prepared as spares—and held them in his right hand.

Then he charged the demons head-on.

“What a fool.”

They sneered, seeing him rush in unprepared.

Woooong—!

But as soon as a magic circle appeared around his hand, their faces changed.

“A magic swordsman?!”

While they hesitated, Leo hurled his daggers.

The demons dodged them, readying themselves for a spell.

But when no magic followed, they quickly went on the offensive again.

“Was that just for show?”

“A cheap trick.”

Four demons surged forward, encircling Leo.

Yet their movement suddenly halted, as if bound by unseen chains.

“What?!”

They glanced back in panic.

The daggers Leo had thrown were nailed precisely into their shadows.

Shadow-binding magic—Shadow Hold.

Dark magic’s effectiveness was reduced against demons, true. And once they realized it, the spell dissolved at once.

But even that brief moment was more than enough for Leo.

Fwoooosh—! Crack! Crunch! Slash!

“Grahhhk?!”

“Guahh!”

Leo’s flaming sword carved a deadly path, cutting down the demons.

Shuack—!

At that moment, a blade of darkness shot up from the ground to skewer him.

The rear demons had unleashed black magic.

Leo’s mouth instantly formed ancient runes.

The dark magic lost its power and scattered into nothing.

“He dispelled black magic?!”

The brown-haired girl was stunned.

Craaaash—!

An icy gale surged forth, blanketing the exposed demons.

Crackle-crackle-crack!

As the frozen demons stiffened, Leo stepped forward and gave a light push.

Clang—!

Like shattered glass, their frozen bodies broke apart into shards before turning to ash.

“Well done, Chloe.”

“……”

“What? Something to say?”

“Why did you use a dark-attribute spell against demons?”

“Oh, that?”

Leo smiled as if it were trivial.

“Demons almost never expect dark-attribute magic. So even a simple spell can catch them off guard.”

“And what about dispelling that black magic instead of dodging? That was risky. You could’ve been killed.”

“True, but… when it comes to weaker spells, dispelling is safer than dodging. Black magic may follow a different system, but it’s still made up of formulas. If you’re quick, you can dispel simple ones easily. You could do it too.”

‘But doing it that smoothly in live combat is another matter entirely!’

To Leo—who had fought demons to the point of exhaustion in his previous life—such things were second nature. But to a fifteen-year-old girl, it was unreachable experience.

‘How many steps ahead is he thinking?’

As Chloe’s gaze wavered, the brown-haired girl spoke up.

“Thank you so much for your help!” she said brightly.

“You’re the rescue team, right?”

“Yeah.”

“We were worried since demons suddenly showed up, but now that the rescue team’s here, I feel relieved!”

Her beaming face made Chloe’s expression stiffen.

She quickly said, “Sorry, but could I talk with my partner for a moment?”

“Uh? Oh, sure.”

Flustered, the girl returned to her party.

“What’s wrong?” Leo asked.

“That girl—she’s Aliah Zeron!”

“Aliah Zeron? Don’t tell me—”

“Yes. It’s her.”

The World of Heroes reflected past events. But depending on the players’ actions, outcomes could diverge from actual history.

30 years ago, multiple first-year parties had been deployed in the monster subjugation. The current exam’s task was to rescue them.

“You know as well as I do, Leo—Aliah Zeron’s party is…” Chloe swallowed hard.

“…the one that cannot possibly be saved in the Chadmuthers Incident.”

bl

“Of all people, we had to meet Aliah’s party.”

Chloe stomped her feet anxiously.

There was one absolute reason why Aliah’s party could not avoid annihilation.

“Dark Knight Chubarne. He never changes his target.”

Chubarne.

Before being slain by Albi during the incident thirty years ago, this demon alone had wiped out four of the seven assigned parties.

And the very first party he hunted was Aliah’s.

‘Strictly speaking, his target was Aliah Zeron herself.’

Chloe stole a glance at Aliah, who was chatting with her friends.

Aliah Zeron

A direct descendant of one of Lumeria’s three great hero lineages, the Zeron family, and first-year representative at the time.

She was also the younger sister of Albi, the Sorcerer of the Mystic Eye.

Her talent was so extraordinary that even thirty years later, professors still occasionally mentioned her name.

And that talent was precisely what claimed her life.

The Chadmuthers Incident had been staged by Tartaros to snuff out the seeds of future heroes.

And the very first target was Aliah Zeron.

That was why her party could never survive.

In every instance of the Hero's World, Chubarne would always exterminate Aliah’s party first.

“Do you remember what Professor Harrid said when the exam was announced?” Chloe asked.

Leo recalled.

“With your current skills, you cannot possibly defeat a Knight-class demon. If you encounter Chubarne, you must flee. If escape isn’t possible, then abandon the exam. That much, at least, will be taken into consideration. But if any fool dares disobey and fight him—”

At the end, Harrid’s voice had turned sharp, dripping with killing intent.

“I’ll expel them on the spot.”

“With our strength, he’s completely impossible to beat,” Chloe said firmly.

“So you’re suggesting we just leave them?”

“I hate it too! But Leo, we have to think rationally. This is the Hero's World. In reality, those people are already…”

She hesitated, then forced the words out.

“…already dead. We’re in no position to help the dead.”

“True enough. But Chloe.”

“Leo! Get a grip! Fine—you’re amazing, I admit it! You’re ahead of me, I admit that too!”

Leo blinked, startled by her sudden shout.

Glaring at him with all her strength, Chloe cried,

“But this isn’t the time to be reckless! Listen to me! Save the hero act for later—!”

She broke off.

At some point, Leo’s finger had touched her lips.

“Don’t say things like that, Chloe.”

“What? What things?”

“Calling it an ‘act.’ You shouldn’t say that.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re a hero candidate.”

Chloe drew in a breath.

“You came to Lumene because you dreamed of becoming a hero. So this isn’t playacting. It’s part of becoming one.”

Leo smiled gently.

“A step on the path to being a hero.”

He was right.

A hero is someone who makes the impossible possible.

But somewhere along the way, she had forgotten that.

‘I was so busy trying to keep up… I never had time to remember why I was running.’

A heaviness burned in her chest.

“And besides,” Leo said, “history’s already diverged.”

“What?”

“It means a path has opened to save the ones who could never be saved.”

“A path… to save them?”

“Think carefully, Chloe. The sun’s already setting. Isn’t that strange?”

“The sun’s setting? Ah!”

Realization struck Chloe, her eyes going wide.

“Yes. By this time, Aliah’s party should’ve already been killed by Chubarne.”

The gears of history had slipped.

“It’s been three hours since we entered the Hero's World. If Chubarne had attacked another party, they’d all be dead by now.”

In a Hero Dungeon, failure to clear conditions meant being trapped within forever.

They stood at a crossroads.

One path: take Aliah’s party—spared from Chubarne’s first strike—and escape the forest, fulfilling the [Safety Guarantee] condition.

The other: stick to the original route and search for different parties.

Grinding her teeth, Chloe whispered, “I’ll leave it to your judgment.”

“Alright.”

Leo looked toward Aliah’s party.

“Let’s escape with Aliah's party.”