Editor : Amethyst00



Leo felt cold sweat trickling down his back.

The Monster Queen, Sillatna.

A demon commander who had existed even before the Age of Calamity.

And 5000 years ago—

She was one of the three legion commanders the Great Heroes had failed to kill.

'So she’d been cloaking herself with a cognitive suppression spell.'

The moment Leo recognized the magic, it unraveled.

'I expected a high-ranking demon to be behind this since it was tied to demonic artifacts, but to think it was her'.

Crrrk! Crrrk-crrk!

[Student? Quite a sharp little whelp. To have noticed this one’s magic.]

Leo tensed his entire body.

During the Age of Calamity, ten demon legion commanders had existed. Seven had been slain by Kyle and his companions.

'But in the end, three were not subdued.'

The reason was simple:

Those three were monsters on a completely different level.

Not only were they terrifyingly powerful, they were cunning as well.

Back when he was Kyle, Leo had never directly faced Sillatna.

Kyle had been responsible for fighting other legion commanders—

The Lich King and the Giant King.

Sillatna had been left to Luna and Aaron.

'When I rushed in as backup, she withdrew.'

In the end, until the latter days of the Age of Calamity, there had never been a direct confrontation.

Now, here she was before him.

[Best curse your needlessly-sharp senses.]

With a sneer, Sillatna swung her hand toward him.

KWA-KA-KA-KA-KA!

Her elongated arm shot out, aiming to pierce Leo.

FWOOOSH!

In that instant, Leo’s aura flames surged.

FWOOSH—BOOOOM!

Her hand crumbled into ash under the blaze. Sillatna’s massive eye twitched.

[So you haven’t lost your will to fight.]

The legion commanders were clad in curses of terror.

Anyone exposed would crumble, their fighting wills will be paralyzed by terror.

But mental curses had no effect on Leo.

'That’s just a flesh-made doppelgänger. If it were her real body, there’d be no way to hide her presence.'

Without hesitation, Leo shattered the shop’s window and leapt outside.

Even as a doppelgänger, this foe was far more dangerous than Chubarne.

'I can’t deal with this now. I need to get out of here—!'

[Didn’t your professors ever teach you to watch your back?]

“Kh…!”

The taunt carried a killing intent from behind. Leo twisted his body just in time.

SLAASH!

A whip of flesh grazed his back. The sharp sting made him spin on instinct.

FWOOSH!

BOOOOM!

Aura flames, hotter and stronger than before, incinerated her arm to cinders.

Sillatna’s eye twitched again.

The flesh-whip writhed like a living serpent, lunging to impale him.

Leo’s crimson eyes tracked the trajectory in an instant.

'I’m slower.'

His body was still just that of a boy, far from fully developed.

'I’ll have to predict and move ahead of time!'

His movements left afterimages in the air.

Bit by bit, he was widening the distance between them.

Sillatna narrowed her eye.

'A mere brat of a student…'

Leo’s movements—narrowly dodging, never getting caught—were irritating.

She had the clear advantage in power and speed.

It was only his technique bridging the gap.

Realizing this, Sillatna gave a chilling smile.

[Then you’re one brat I’ll have to kill right now.]

KWA-AAA—!

Her flesh spread into a massive net, collapsing over Leo.

[I’ll just crush you to paste.]

Seeing that, Leo pushed his aura flames to their absolute limit.

FWOOSH—KRAAAASH!

The searing blaze consumed the net of flesh.

The stench of burning meat filled the air.

[The Phoenix’s flame?]

Sillatna was startled.

SZZZ—!

Smoke rose from Leo’s body.

The backlash of unleashing such force had left burns across his flesh.

[Impressive… but how many times can you muster that?]

She grinned, sinister amusement dripping from her voice.

But then Leo tilted his gaze upward.

Sillatna noticed—and instinctively looked skyward too.

CRACK—KWA-KA-KA-KA!

Something shattered above. Shards of light rained down toward her.

PABABABABABANG!

The shards crushed her flesh-body.

[So you’ve come.]

Shaking off the shards clinging to her, Sillatna’s smile deepened.

[The Sorcerer of the Mystic Eye.]

High above, Albi hovered—his left eye glowing gold.

“Just the dregs of a flesh.”

[‘Dregs’? An unworthy word to describe my noble self.]

“I’ve no interest in scraps.”

His Mystic Eye blazed.

A golden barrier shaped like a square shimmered into being.

TING!

It cracked apart into countless razor-sharp fragments.

Leo’s eyes widened.

'Fairy magic.'

A magic no one but fairies could wield.

And yet a human was using it.

'So this is the Hero Record… the power that nurtures heroes.'

As Leo marveled, Sillatna smirked at the falling shards of light, licking her lips.

[One day, I’ll devour that left eye of yours.]

CRACK—!

Her words were cut short as a shard pierced her face.

Countless others followed, smashing into her doppelgänger until it was nothing but a lump of meat— then gone.

Leo’s aura flames sputtered and died out.

“Leo Plov, isn’t it.”

Albi, his eye returned to normal, adjusted his glasses.

“How did you end up pursued by that thing?”

“I was investigating Lutech when it suddenly appeared.”

“Lutech?”

Albi’s cold gaze fell on him.

“That place was already investigated by Lumene. And yet that filth appeared?”

“There was a cognitive suppression spell in place.”

“Cognitive suppression… I see.”

He seemed convinced and didn’t probe further.

That, more than anything, puzzled Leo.

'Strange. I’d heard he was relentless when it came to Tartaros-related matters.'

Albi Zeron.

Though a professor at Lumene, he never actually taught.

His position was purely for the privileges:

free travel across borders, and unrestricted authority to intervene in any Tartaros-related case.

He had spent his life chasing Tartaros.

Yet here, facing something tied directly to Sillatna—his sworn foe—he was oddly indifferent.

“Weren’t you out preparing for the class trip?”

“Yes.”

“Then go on.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Why so surprised?”

“No, it’s just… no punishment for this incident?”

Leo had braced himself for consequences.

After all, he wasn’t permitted to pry into such cases.

This had been a completely unauthorized action.

Any other professor would have punished him.

But Albi merely told him to leave.

As Leo blinked in disbelief, Albi spoke in his usual flat tone:

“It would be absurd for me to hand out punishments when I hardly fulfill my duties as a professor myself. And besides…”

His cold face softened faintly.

“I owe you gratitude, Leo Plov.”

“…Pardon?”

“Thank you for saving that child.”

At those words, Leo recalled Aliah.

“In the future, if there’s anything I can do, I’ll aid you.”

Leaving those words behind, Albi walked toward the Lutech shop.

Anyone familiar with him would have rubbed their eyes in disbelief at the sight.

But for Albi, Leo was nothing short of a benefactor.

'After all, he must have been forced to hear, time and again, that his sister could not be saved.'

Even though he had opened his Heroic Record for future generations, each time it had been a reminder of his sister’s death.

Leo had relieved that long-held anguish.

Watching Albi’s back fade, Leo smiled faintly— then a thought struck him.

'The Zerons are one of Lumene’s Three Great Houses, aren’t they?'

The city of Lumeria and the Hero Academy Lumene were governed by a council of three Heroic Noble Houses.

The Zerons were among the greatest of them.

'If I asked Professor Albi, maybe I could get access to the Forbidden Archives… I’ll have to try later.'

Marking the thought for another day, Leo glanced at the spot where Sillatna’s doppelgänger had vanished.

'Now it’s certain. Whether it was the Chadmuthers incident or this one—the one pulling strings from the shadows is Sillatna.'

For now, she was effectively one of the rulers of Tartaros.

'But is she truly moving just to cut down hero candidates?'

The unease lingered.

'What exactly are you after…?'

bl

FWOOOOOSH—!

Far to the north of the continent.

Where the winds howled across the coldest land in the world.

Here, snow and ice blanketed the land all year round.

Since before the Age of Calamity, this place had been the elves’ sanctuary.

And within it stood an ancient elven citadel— now known as the Elven Hero Academy, Seiren.

On Seiren’s campus, students were moving between buildings.

Among them, a red-haired elf girl with crimson eyes trudged through the snow, a scarf wrapped around her neck.

“To dress like that in this weather—are you showing off that mighty mana of yours?”

“As expected of a family with no pedigree—no sense of humility at all. And you’re not even a pure elf, are you?”

“How disgraceful, that someone like you is a representative of Seiren’s year. Truly lamentable.”

Voices carried over from the distance.

The girl’s face twisted in annoyance as she strode toward the source.

“You’re making a damn scene over this? If I don’t feel cold, I can dress lightly. That’s it. You really need a whole group to gang up on someone for that? Pathetic. Don’t you noble brats have any pride?”

The group of elves surrounding a boy at the frozen fountain flinched.

“L-Lunda! That’s going too far!”

“Indeed! For someone of noble blood to speak so coarsely—shame on you!”

“The teachers won’t stand for this!”

“What nonsense. Ganging up on one person is worse, more shameful, and the teachers won’t let it slide either.”

The girl grinned, an expression far too aggressive for an elf.

“If you don’t like my words, then duel me, how about it?”

All three elves went pale.

Lunia El Lunda.

Successor to the elven hero clan Lunda, and a first-year student at Seiren.

She was so strong she had already taken the position of grade representative.

Her record was especially daunting:

29 consecutive wins in the first-year dueling assessments.

Knowing that, the bullies scattered in a panic.

Snorting, Lunia approached the boy in thin clothes.

“Luca. I told you, walking around like that will just make others pick fights.”

“That’s true, but… someone stole all my clothes.”

“What? Those bastards—!”

Clearly, it had been those kids just now.

With a sigh, Lunia unwound her scarf and wrapped it around Luka’s neck.

“L-Lunia! Then you’ll be cold!”

“I’m dressed warmly enough. You may feel the cold less, but that doesn’t mean you’re immune, right?”

Smiling, she led Luka toward the main campus.

“Achoo!”

No sooner had they stepped in than Lunia sneezed.

“Because of me again…”

“D-Don’t worry! Don’t worry about it!”

She rubbed her nose and waved her hand, insisting she was fine.

“You seem in a really good mood today?”

“Yeah! Dad—uh, I mean, Professor Ellen called me over.”

Lunia puffed out her chest proudly.

“My contract beast finally hatched!”

“Ah! Congratulations, Lunia!”

Luca beamed.

“Thanks! I have to go now. Luca, if anyone else picks on you, tell me!”

With that, Lunia ran down the corridor.

She soon reached a professor’s office and burst inside.

“Dad! My contract beast hatched, right? It did, didn’t it?”

“I told you, at school you must call me Professor.”

“No one’s watching! Anyway, it’s true, isn’t it?”

The Lunda family had always contracted with phoenixes.

Lunia was to form her bond with the child of Fyrina, the phoenix contracted to her father, Ellen Lunda.

Ellen looked down at the letter sent by his contracted beast. And he sighed deeply.

“Fyrina’s child has hatched.”

“I knew it!”

Clapping her hands, Lunia cheered.

“So, when do I get to meet it? Now?”

'How do I even explain this…'

“Lunia. Sit down for a moment.”

She sat across from him, bright-eyed.

Ellen took a deep breath.

“Lunia. About your contract beast…”

“Yes?”

“…It’s already contracted.”

CRACK—!

Lunia froze, stiff as stone.