Editor : Amethyst00



Flutter—!

Chloe spread open the black grimoire with her right hand.

The lined-up magical formulas came into view.

With her left hand gripping her staff, she focused her mind and began chanting.

The formulas stirred up a massive surge of mana.

“—Hrrgh!”

Chubarne’s eyes widened.

By instinct, he realized Chloe’s magic was dangerous.

“Out of my way, Remnant of the Great Hero!”

“Getting impatient, huh?”

Leo sneered.

Whoosh! Crack—crunch!

He gritted his teeth as the axe came screaming for his waist.

Flash!

This time, he couldn’t block it and was thrown back.

Normally, he would have dodged—but he endured it deliberately to buy time.

Staring at his grotesquely bent left hand, Leo grinned grimly and gripped his sword in the other hand.

Once again, he stood between Chubarne and Chloe.

“You—!”

“Sorry, but this is the end.”

At Leo’s declaration—

Fwoooosh—!

The flames Chloe unleashed engulfed Chubarne.

‘Not ice… but fire?’

“Graaaargh!”

Chubarne writhed in agony as the fire struck him full-on.

“No matter the Nullification Curse, against the Inextinguishable Flame it’s useless!”

And indeed, just as Chloe said.

Chubarne’s body burned, restored, and burned again, endlessly.

At last, the [Nullification] curse lost its power.

Whoosh! Thud—!

Chubarne collapsed.

By then, Aliah’s party had also finished off all his underlings.

Against anyone lesser than Chubarne, they had no chance of losing.

As Chubarne fell, Chloe ran to Leo, overjoyed.

“Leo! We defeated Chubarne! We defeated that Chubarne!”

She hugged Leo tightly in her excitement.

Then, raising her head, she realized Leo’s face was only a breath away, and gasped in fluster.

“Chloe, sorry to interrupt, but… my left wrist’s broken…”

“Ah! S-sorry!”

Chloe’s face turned red as she hurriedly stepped back.

Clutching his broken wrist, Leo turned toward Chubarne.

“Anyway, your Unique Magic really is amazing.”

“Uh, y-yeah… my Unique Magic…”

Chloe trailed off, uneasy.

Leo tilted his head at her odd reaction—

Fwoom—!

The flames burning Chubarne suddenly roared violently.

Leo’s eyes twitched.

Goooooo—!

The red flames consuming Chubarne slowly darkened to black.

Crack—!

“Wha—?”

Chloe looked down in alarm at her staff.

A crack had formed in its orb.

“Chloe! Cancel the spell! Now!”

At Leo’s shout, Chloe hurried to undo the magic.

Kwooooo—! Crack! Bang—!

“Kyah!”

But the orb shattered, and the magic flared even fiercer.

“Wh-why?! I can’t control it anymore!”

And it wasn’t just that—

The black grimoire in her hand began greedily siphoning her mana on its own.

Seeing that, Leo ripped the grimoire from her hands and flung it aside.

Sway—!

Drained of mana, Chloe staggered.

Leo quickly caught her and turned his gaze back to Chubarne.

“Kuwaaaaaaah!”

Chubarne roared, engulfed in black flames.

“Wasn’t he finished…?”

“Chloe.”

“Huh?”

“Tell me honestly.”

Leo stared at her with a blank expression.

“Your Inextinguishable Flame. Is that really your Unique Magic?”

Chloe froze.

Torn inside, she clenched her teeth as she looked at the raging, out-of-control magic.

“…No.”

Chloe shut her eyes tight.

“It was a spell formula from that grimoire.”

‘As I thought—it was Erebos’s flame.’

Everything now made sense.

Why Chloe had been acting strangely.

How she had created the Inextinguishable Flame.

“Listen carefully, Chloe. That magic is black magic.”

“…What?”

“You were never supposed to be able to use it. And you knew, didn’t you? That with your own strength alone, it wouldn’t activate.”

“Then… then what even is that grimoire?”

“That’s a Demonic Artifact.”

A weapon of immense power in the hands of demons—but for humans, a tool that steadily eroded their sanity.

‘So I used black magic… and even declared it as my Unique Magic?’

Chloe’s face went pale.

“Ah… ah…”

She wrapped her arms around herself, her face twisted in despair.

Seeing her like that, Leo stepped forward.

“Chloe. Watch my back.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing’s changed. What we need to do is still just one thing.”

Leo tightened his grip on his sword with his good hand.

“Kill that damned demon and clear this Hero World.”

He grinned.

“Your spell wiped out the Nullification Curse. Now he’s just rampaging, out of control from black magic. All that’s left is to finish him off.”

Leo strode toward Chubarne.

“You know the rule—the finishing blow belongs to the mage, right?.”

Leaving those words, he advanced.

“W-we’ll help too!”

“Yeah! If we combine our strength—!”

Teyad and Dina rushed over.

“You’re exhausted. If you push now, you’ll just get in the way.”

The only reason Leo could keep holding Chubarne at bay was his overwhelming combat experience—

Predicting attacks, defenses, counters, and preparing the next move in an endless duel of wits.

That tightrope act wasn’t something just anyone could manage.

As the others clenched their jaws, Leo smiled.

“Hold the rear.”

Chloe, watching his back, found herself mesmerized.

A hero was one who didn’t quit when faced with limits.

'Stand up, Chloe Müeller!'

Rebuking herself, her eyes regained their calm.

'That spell.'

The Unique Magic she had originally been designing, but abandoned halfway.

'I’ll complete it here and now!'

It was reckless beyond belief to finish an incomplete spell mid-battle—

But now, she had no choice.

She lifted her staff—then paused, seeing it destroyed.

“Here, Chloe-nim.”

Aliah smiled, holding out her own staff.

“Please use this.”

Taking Aliah’s staff, Chloe closed her eyes.

'I only wanted to catch up to Leo.'

But watching that unshakable back, she realized how foolish she’d been.

'He’s too dazzling for something like jealousy.'

Like the heroes from fairy tales—

Defiantly challenging his limits, shining brilliantly.

'I’ll surpass my limits too, Chloe Müeller.'

So that she wouldn’t shame the back that had trusted her.

In her mind, she wove together the drifting formulas.

Rune syllables began spilling from her lips.

On the spot, Chloe was composing her incantation.

Hearing it, Leo chuckled.

'How fascinating.'

Without hesitation, he strode forward.

'Why does the pure rune chant of a mage give such courage?'

He recalled the days long ago, when he had entrusted his back to Luna.

Calmly, Leo assessed Chubarne’s strength.

'Thanks to Chloe’s black magic, the most troublesome Nullification Curse is gone. And he took immense damage as well.'

Though it had driven him berserk, Chubarne was far from whole.

Leo drew out his aura.

'I can buy time until her spell is ready.'

“Grooooooh!”

The axe, wreathed in black flame, came crashing down.

Leo met it head-on, his blade blazing with red fire.

Clang-clang—BOOM!

He deflected the blow, then vaulted up the axe embedded in the ground, charging straight at Chubarne.

Goooooh!

The black flames tried to engulf Leo, to reduce him to ash.

Leo wrapped himself in his own fire, repelling them.

Fwoooosh!

The two fires clashed.

But little by little, the black flames ate away at Leo’s, encroaching on his domain.

Leo flared his power higher.

Fwoom! Ssshhhhh—!

His own flames seared his flesh.

But he didn’t care.

'Raised it more. More! More!'

Leo’s crimson eyes blazed as he roared:

'Until I burn away this damned fire completely!'

Kwoooooo—!

His flames overwhelmed the black.

“Graaaagh!”

Sensing danger, Chubarne gripped his axe with both hands and swung it skyward.

Fwoosh!

Leo was hurled into the air.

Chubarne swung his axe at him midair.

Leo gathered his surging flames to his blade’s tip.

Clang!

Sword and axe collided.

And then—

Craaaack!

Leo’s blade cleaved the axe in two.

Swish!

“Guohh!”

The defenseless Chubarne’s neck was struck.

Thud!

His head flew.

Landing, Leo stared at the motionless body.

Fwoooosh!

The black flames didn’t fade—they flared even stronger.

'It’s going to explode!'

Leo braced for the blast—

But then Chloe’s chant ceased.

“Ice World.”

Shhhhhhhk!

The entire area froze solid in an instant.

Ssshhhhh—!

The black flames vanished with Chubarne’s body.

Craaaack!

His body fissured.

Saaaaah—!

Then crumbled into dust.

[You have rescued the endangered first-years.]

[You have defeated Chubarne.]

Two notifications appeared before their eyes.

Leo sheathed his aura.

“Leo!”

Chloe rushed over.

“Are you okay?”

“Thanks to you.”

He smiled, pointing to the black grimoire lying on the ground.

“Chloe, with magic like yours, why lean on such a cursed thing?”

“I just… I just wanted to beat you, no matter what.”

Her voice shrank to a whisper.

Leo laughed.

“Your real Unique Magic is far greater than any spell in that thing.”

He glanced around at the frozen landscape.

“A field spell, huh? That’s one I could never pull off.”

Field Magic—transforming the entire area into one’s domain—was impossible to achieve through the Bible.

“I envy mages who can do that kind of magic the most.”

Clicking his tongue wistfully, he looked at Chloe.

“I’m going to tell the academy everything about this.”

“Hm?”

“That I cheated during the magic practical test. That what I presented was actually black magic.”

Chloe lowered her head.

“I might be expelled… but it’s something I have to do.”

Hearing that, Leo chuckled.

“You won’t be expelled.”

“…What?”

“Where would they ever find another candidate like you to throw out?”

He raised his right hand and patted her head with a smile.

“You’ll be a hero. I guarantee it.”

Chloe, staring blankly at that gentle smile, flushed scarlet.

“O-oh… th-thank you…”

She ducked her head, flustered.

“That was incredible!”

“You were just like a real hero!”

At that moment, Aliah’s party gathered around, cheering.

As they beamed at him, Leo said:

“Stay here and talk a bit. I’ll go wrap things up.”

He strode toward the black grimoire.

Faint, but still radiating an ominous aura.

First Sen Liu, now Chloe… seems Tartaros really is stirring things up. No wonder Albi’s world went berserk and became a Hero Dungeon.

Leo drew his sword and drove it down onto the grimoire.

Squelch! Squelch!

Thick black blood oozed out.

A Demonic Artifact was fragments of Erebos himself.

Pressing harder, Leo reduced it to sand.

Sheathing his sword, he raised two fingers to his temple.

“This is Leo Plov. Can you hear me?”

["Huh!? Student Leo? Is that really you!? Oh, thank goodness you’re alive! We’ll release the Hero's World immediately!"]

From outside, a frantic voice.

So, contact had been restored—meaning the Hero's World was back to normal.

“No need. We’ve nearly finished the conquest.”

["Wh-what!? Conquest!?"]

“It took longer than expected, but please consider extenuating circumstances.”

Leo smiled at Aliah’s party.

“Class 5’s Leo Plov and Class 1’s Chloe Müeller have defeated Chubarne and rescued Aliah’s party.”

“Over here!”

“There are survivors here!”

From afar, urgent voices rang out.

The rescue team dispatched from Lumene.

“We’re alive!”

“For a moment, I thought it was all over!”

As Leo cut the connection, Chloe and Aliah approached.

Aliah bowed to them both.

“Thank you for saving us, Leo, Chloe. On behalf of my party, I’m deeply grateful.”

“N-no, we actually received a lot of help from you guys too.”

Chloe waved her hands.

“Aliah!”

From the rescue team, a boy with glasses cried out.

“Albi?!”

Aliah’s eyes widened as she rushed to him.

“Professor Albi looks so young.”

“It was thirty years ago.”

[The endangered first-years have been secured.]

[Alby’s World: Prologue – The Chadmothers Incident has been conquered.]

At the notification before her, Chloe collapsed to the ground.

“We… really conquered it, just the two of us.”

“Well done.”

Leo smirked.

“Leo-nim! Please accept this! As a token of thanks!”

“It’s all we can give right now. But this is a pretty good magic ring.”

“Thank you for saving us!”

“We will properly repay this later!”

Aliah’s party offered up their accessories in gratitude.

Being Lumene students, each was an expensive goods.

“I’ll give you this. It’s very valuable in my family.”

Aliah offered the staff she had lent Chloe earlier.

“I don’t really need—”

“No, you saved our lives.”

Aliah smiled sweetly.

At that moment, the world was bathed in radiant light.

Its collapse—signifying the conquest of the Hero's World.

As the world dissolved, a message appeared before Leo’s eyes:

[Conquest Reward: Keepsakes]