Editor : Amethyst00



The House of Zeron, along with Rigard and Tursia, were known as the three great noble houses of Lumene.

3000 years ago, during the return of the calamity, the ancestors of these houses were the three heroes who subjugated countless demons alongside the Twilight Knight Lumene.

Zeron, the Sage of Twilight, was Lumene's advisor.

Rigard, the Sword of Twilight, always stood at the forefront, slaughtering enemies, while Tursia, the Shield of Twilight, was the shield that protected Lumene.

Afterwards, Lumene constructed Lumeria City and founded Lumene Academy.

His trusted retainers, Zeron, Rigard, and Tursia, also each took on duties.

Zeron became the Director of Lumene Academy's board.

Rigard became the Mayor of Lumeria City.

Tursia became the commander of the knight order led by Lumene.

The three families carried on Lumene's will, and all three are based in Lumeria City.

And to the east of Lumeria City.

Not far from there lay the main residence of the Zeron family.

CREAK!

The door of the griffin-drawn carriage opened.

The family members awaiting Zeron's next master hesitated when they saw the white-haired boy stepping down from the carriage.

A moment later.

The Zeron family members recognized his identity without difficulty.

White hair and red eyes?

He must be Leo Plov.

Amidst the many gazes focused on Leo.

Leo extended his hand towards the carriage.

And a white hand emerging from inside the carriage took Leo's.

Elena smiled gently, taking Leo's hand and stepping lightly down to the ground.

"Quite the escort, aren't you?"

"There's someone who tediously emphasizes etiquette."

"Your parents?"

"No, Celia."

Although he was the heir to the Plov family, he was also recognized as part of the direct line in his maternal family, the Zerdingers.

Being in the direct Zerdinger line wasn't merely about having the name.

As befitting their long history, the Zerdingers held vast territories and numerous people.

Leo had already been assigned five knight candidates.

Those knight order members, named the Slayers, were also all Lumene first-years.

On top of that, he would soon receive territory as well.

Got it? The direct line literally means a proper member of the family! A member! I know you have a free-spirited personality, but you inevitably have to pay attention to how people see you! Understand?

Recalling Celia's nagging, Leo chuckled softly.

"Come to think of it, Senior Rhys was your cousin, right?"

Elena gently twisted a strand of her hair as she walked towards the family members.

"An honored guest has visited the family today. As he is also a benefactor to Zeron, there must be no flaw in how you treat him."

"Yes, Young Miss!"

"Lord Plov, I will guide you to your room."

"Do you have no luggage?"

"I'll take care of guiding Leo, so everyone else, please prepare the meal. Let's go, Leo."

Elena took the lead, stepping into the mansion.

Leo followed behind her.

The Zeron family mansion was immense.

It definitely felt old, but the architectural style seemed somewhat haphazard.

"Have they been adding onto it for thousands of years?"

"That's right. Because the Zeron family motto is 'Change'."

"Hm."

"You don't really know our family history, do you?"

"No."

"Quite confident about it, aren't you?"

For families with worldwide renown, their family history is usually world-famous as well.

Among them, Zeron wasn't simply the family holding the Lumene Academy's Director position.

They were literally a family of mages who had drawn a line in the history of magic.

Not knowing the history of such a family was something one might take offense at, but Elena showed no sign of it.

"Because our family designed and propagated the foundational theories of hero magic. We must always accept change."

Hero Magic.

Mage heroes each possess what could be called their symbolic unique magic.

In Luna's case, it's Stellar Magic, and in Leo's case, it's the Bible.

In the case of original unique magic, many were passed down through bloodline or knowledge, or weren't passed down at all.

Another method was through raid rewards from conquering the Hero World.

The magic created to allow anyone to learn the magics passed down via the Hero World was precisely hero magic, and it was the Zeron family who presented the origin of that formula system.

"Hm, I see."

"Yep. Well, Leo, you probably don't need to learn hero magic though."

Elena smiled softly.

She was right.

Leo's unique magic, the Bible.

As Leo's unique magic system, it allowed the use of any magic without penalty.

In other words, it was a magic formula that enabled use in the original state.

"The Bible isn't omnipotent either."

"I suppose so. Since magic also has something like capacity."

A mage is a vessel that contains magic.

Magic that exceeds one's own vessel cannot be used, no matter how powerful the Bible is.

"Using magic like fellow second-year Chloe's Ice World, Abad's Tempest, or Chelsea's Heatstorm would be impossible."

Elena stopped walking in front of a room.

"Still, I think they're similar. The magic our family has ultimately pursued and your magic, that is."

"Ultimately pursued?"

"You can sleep here tonight, Leo."

Opening the door revealed a spacious and luxurious room at a glance.

"Rest until dinner."

Elena left the room with a gentle smile.

After Elena left, Leo entered the room and sat on the sofa.

Then he noticed a portrait hanging on one side of the room and said aloud.

"It seems the magic the Zeron family pursued is similar to the magic you've pursued."

The subject of the portrait, Lumene, wore a resolute expression.

Looking at Lumene like that, Leo recalled his conversation with Rian.

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"'Surpass your limits.' That was what the Twilight Knight Lumene established as the school's educational principle when founding the Academy."

Rian took out a jewel-crafted sculpture of Lumene from his breast pocket and placed it on the desk.

"That was also a message he conveyed to future generations."

Rian said, gently rolling the head of the Lumene sculpture with his finger.

"A message telling them never to become like him."

"Strange."

Leo muttered with an uncomprehending face.

"It's not like I met Azonia and Damien myself. But Rodia and Seiren were individuals who constantly challenged their own limits."

Certainly, the Heroes of Dawn had failed to subjugate the fragment of Erebos.

But despite feeling endless despair, they chose to believe in future generations and willingly sacrifice themselves.

Just seeing that proved the Heroes of Dawn were people who never gave up.

Just like they themselves had done 5000 years ago.

Trapping themselves within eternally repeating time?

They committed an act that even we wouldn't dare contemplate.

Leo couldn't accept the fact that one of those Heroes of Dawn had despaired about himself.

"Do the lessons left by the others also carry that kind of meaning?"

Rian shook his head at Leo's question.

"The individual educational principles left by the other Heroes of Dawn were all the ideal images they themselves pursued."

Rian took out dolls of the Heroes of Dawn and the Great Heroes one by one from his pocket.

"Seiren admired Luna's appearance of unshakable faith in herself. So she wanted the children who would carry on her will to have strong faith in themselves."

Seiren's doll was placed behind Luna's.

"Azonia truly envied Aaron's courage to advance without retreating, even while terrified. So she wanted to learn that courage of Aaron's."

Azonia's doll took its place behind Aaron's doll.

"Damien admired Dweno's insight in finding possibilities even in desperate situations. So he wanted to become like that himself."

Dweno was someone who thought the world was as hopeless as Leo did.

However, the difference between him and Kyle was that he believed in possibilities.

The possibility within Luna… within Aaron… within Lysinas… And even within Kyle, who denied it himself.

Dweno's gaze fell upon Lysinas, who held the foolish belief that there was still hope, and Luna, who had unshakable faith in herself.

It was fundamentally different from Aaron, who possessed the courage to overcome fear and advance.

Rian, having placed Damien behind Dweno, took out Lysinas and Rodia.

"Rodia left no words, but she was moved by the sight of Lysinas shouldering the world."

Rian smiled gently.

"They each genuinely wanted to become like the Great Hero they admired. They proclaimed themselves successors and were truly happy just to be able to follow slightly in their footsteps."

"Was Lumene different?"

"Lumene also respected Sir Leo no less than those four did. Sir Leo's never-give-up attitude was Lumene's ideal itself."

Rian nudged the Lumene doll standing behind Kyle's doll with his finger.

"Following Sir Leo's path, Lumene succeeded in defeating Erebos. And he defeated Erebos, who showed signs of resurrection, time and again."

Even then, Lumene did not give up.

Just like Kyle, whom he admired, had done.

"However, at some point, Lumene realized."

"What?"

"That while his comrades were becoming like the other Great Heroes, he himself was not like that at all."

While raiding the Great Hero World, the Heroes of Dawn inherited the power of the previous generation.

But Lumene could not.

"Although he raided Sir Leo's world time and again, Lumene couldn't obtain the raid reward."

"Why couldn't he obtain anything?"

"Because Sir Leo's power isn't one that can be inherited through raid rewards."

"True."

A power holding infinite possibilities.

The pure mana praised as special even by the gods was likely a power that others could not inherit.

"But just because he couldn't inherit my power doesn't mean he couldn't fulfill his own role, right?"

"Yes. Lumene was definitely not weaker compared to the other Heroes of Dawn. He simply came to realize something."

"What?"

"That he himself could not fulfill the role of the Hero of the Beginning."

"……"

Rodia and Seiren, Azonia and Damien could take the place of Lysinas and Luna, Aaron, and Dweno.

But Lumene could not do the same.

"Lumene thought he had to obtain the power to subjugate Erebos himself. It was from then that he became obsessed with Sir Leo's swordsmanship and magic."

Leo recalled the Lumene doll Rian had made previously.

Swordsmanship completely identical to his own.

"Lumene tried to become like you, even knowing it was impossible."

Rian tapped the Lumene jewel doll.

The fallen jewel doll shattered—CLANG!—into pieces.

"Wanting to become something and forcing oneself to become it are different. By clinging to what he could not become, Lumene lost possibility."

Rian let out a deep sigh.

"Eventually, he hit his limit and collapsed. In the end, he even gave up on becoming like you. That's when it happened. When he came to find me at the center of the world."

Afterwards, Lumene obtained wisdom from Rian to stop Erebos and trapped Erebos within the Hero World with the Heroes of Dawn.

"If the Great Heroes they admired were hope for the other Heroes of Dawn… Then for Lumene, Sir Leo was despair itself."