Editor : Amethyst00



At the gaze of the primordial evil fixed on him, Carl felt chills run across his entire body.

‘It’s different.’

This wasn’t the first time he had seen Erebos with his own eyes.

He had even participated in a battle against him, albeit indirectly.

But the pressure Carl felt now was unlike anything he had experienced before.

He couldn’t breathe.

It wasn’t as if Erebos had done anything.

He had simply recognized the existence of the human named Carl.

But that alone made it impossible to breathe.

Cold sweat poured from his body like rain.

Just the fact that a transcendent being had become aware of him made him feel like he was about to die.

Carl could see it.

That bottomless malice emanating from the primordial evil.

A being of destruction that no human could ever comprehend.

Death.

Carl realized it instinctively.

Fwoosh—!

Lumene appeared in front of Carl and swung his sword.

Slash—!

The sword imbued with the aura of twilight sliced through space.

Erebos’ torso was split in half, and his form distorted.

He hadn’t simply cut Erebos.

He had literally sliced through space itself.

It was an attack that struck at the very foundation of Erebos’ existence.

For a brief moment, Erebos’ body rippled.

Lumene slammed his hand against the ground.

Vmm—!

His mana seeped into the earth, forming a magic circle.

“Dusk.”

Flash—! KRAKAKAKAKANG!

The twilight magic surged into the sky.

Seeing that, Lunia’s eyes widened.

“Star magic?”

She had never heard of Lumene mastering star magic.

Besides, the era Lumene lived in was before star magic had even been spread.

This was magic that Seiren had created just for Lumene.

Just as Luna had gifted Innocent Magic to Kyle.

Seiren had gifted Dusk to Lumene.

It was Lumene’s own unique magic, based on the techniques of star magic.

“Amazing…”

Eiran murmured in awe, and Lumene gritted his teeth.

“It’s not amazing.”

“Huh?”

Lumene stared into the sky.

The scattered black flames gathered into a human form again.

“The magic is great… but I never finished it.”

He gripped his sword tighter.

Lumene bent his knees and leapt toward the sky.

Boom—!

The ground caved in, dust billowing up around him.

He roared at the black flames that had begun burning once more.

“Your opponent is me!”

Clang—! CRACKLECRACKLECRACKLE—!

Lumene’s sword, imbued with the twilight aura, clashed midair with Erebos’ arm.

At that moment, the sky began to crack.

"I have no interest in walking corpses."

Erebos didn’t even glance at Lumene and looked down to the earth.

More precisely, he fixed his gaze on Carl.

"The most bothersome one right now is that human."

In Erebos’ eyes, Carl was an extremely threatening presence.

To the primordial evil, the one he hated most was not Kyle.

Kyle had indeed sliced Erebos into pieces and sealed him.

But what made that possible was the Wise Queen, Lysinas.

The one who rekindled the dying flame of salvation and blossomed the world’s potential.

The one with the so-called power to create miracles.

Of course, comparing Carl to Lysinas was absurd.

No matter how hard Carl tried, he could never become Lysinas.

All he had were fragments of Lysinas’ essence.

‘But having the same power as that fool… that’s unacceptable. Besides…’

Erebos narrowed his eyes.

Carl had more than just the appearance of Lysinas.

Despite trembling in fear, unsure when he might die, he hadn’t lost the will to fight.

He had absolute trust in the potential of others.

Even in despair, he believed in the existence of hope.

Most of all…

He didn’t give up.

From the moment Erebos recognized Carl’s existence, there were countless things that rubbed him the wrong way.

His power was pathetic, yet he resembled the great heroes.

He had to be erased from the world as soon as possible.

Thinking that, Erebos swung his hand at Lumene, who had charged right up to him.

"Do not interfere, Twilight Knight."

Crack—!

Lumene drove his sword into Erebos’ chest.

At that moment, Erebos grabbed Lumene’s head.

CRACKLE—!

Twilight mana surged from Lumene’s body.

Seeing it, Erebos narrowed his eyes.

"So this is what you came up with in the end."

“The others will take care of the rest.”

Lumene grinned.

KRAKAKAKAKANG—!

A massive storm of mana exploded into the sky.

bl

KRAKAKAKAKANG—!

The enormous storm of mana erupting from the center of the Erek training grounds blew away the faintly burning flames of Erebos.

Seeing this, Hark muttered blankly.

“Twilight mana… Sir Lumene?”

Hark wasn’t the only one with wide eyes.

Elena, who came from one of the three great houses under Lumene, was the same.

The massive mana storm just moments ago—

It resembled the power of Lumene they had only heard about far too closely.

Kyle, who had just subdued Erebos’ flames, narrowed his eyes.

‘The source of the mana… is the Hero Record.’

The massive impact had broken through the world of heroes and affected the real world.

Tap—

Kyle landed on the ground.

With the recent attack, Erebos’ flames had been completely extinguished.

As the intense battle reached a lull, those who had been fighting gathered around Kyle.

“The Hero of the Beginning, Kyle…”

“The great hero who defeated Erebos…”

While everyone murmured in awe, Hark knelt down.

“I greet the great Hero of the Beginning.”

Seeing this, everyone else who had fought against the flames of disaster hurriedly followed suit and knelt.

“We greet the great Hero of the Beginning!”

There was no distinction between heroes and hero candidates.

The man before them was the one who, 5,000 years ago, defeated Erebos alone and saved the world.

He was the reason they were alive now—the one who had gifted them the future.

Anyone living in this era couldn’t help but revere him.

They had no choice but to show respect.

“Everyone, stand up.”

Even at Kyle’s words, people hesitated, unsure, and didn’t rise easily.

Clicking his tongue, Kyle approached Eliana, who happened to be nearby.

“Ah?!”

As Kyle came near, Eliana sucked in a breath, tensed her neck, and bowed her head even lower.

Grab—!

“Kyaa?!”

Kyle grabbed the nape of Eliana’s neck and lifted her up.

Eliana, eyes wide in shock and her face turning red, averted her gaze.

She was so stunned that she hung in the air helplessly, unable to move.

Kyle set her down and forced her to stand.

“I didn’t save the world to be worshipped.”

He spoke indifferently.

“So stop with the embarrassing stuff.”

Only then did people start glancing at each other and slowly stand up.

Watching them, Kyle clicked his tongue again, and Eliana shyly spoke with a flushed face.

“Sir Kyle. Th-thank you so much for saving me earlier. I don’t know how I can ever repay you…”

Seeing Eliana like that, her classmates frowned.

‘What’s with her?’

‘Did she eat something weird?’

‘I feel nauseous.’

Normally they would’ve jeered, but in front of the great hero, no one dared.

Kyle reached out and ruffled Eliana’s hair.

“Hnn.”

Her face turned even redder.

Step—step—

As Kyle approached the center of the Erek training grounds, toward the Hero Record—

Thunk—

Professor Harrid stepped in front of him.

Bowing his head to Kyle, he spoke.

“Hero of the Beginning. I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“You saved this world, and 5,000 years have passed.”

Harrid met Kyle’s gaze.

“You defeated the Monster Queen Sillatna recently, and now you’ve appeared in this era once again. And it’s not just you. Lady Luna, the Poet of the Star, and the Brave, Aaron have also appeared in our time and saved us multiple times.”

He continued in a serious tone.

“How is such a thing possible?”

Kyle, looking into Harrid’s eyes, chuckled faintly.

‘As expected of Professor Harrid.’

At first, people may believe it’s a miracle.

But if miracles happen often, people start to depend on them.

Having the great heroes of the past appear in this era to fight was certainly a blessing.

But it was not something that could happen endlessly.

Professor Harrid wasn’t asking Kyle this to learn the mechanics of it.

He was warning against relying on heroes of the past.

There was something he wanted to hear Kyle say.

“I don’t really know.” Kyle replied calmly.

“I have no idea why I can appear in this era. But…”

“But?”

“Don’t rely on us.”

Kyle gave the answer Harrid wanted.

“We’re only here to help you.”

He looked around at those following his path as heroes.

“The ones saving and sustaining this era aren’t those of the past. It’s you—those living in the present.”

“…”

“I’m proud of you.” Kyle continued.

“And it’s not just me. Lysinas, Luna, Aaron, and Dweno too. They’re all surely proud of you who dedicate yourselves to this world.”

Step—step—

Kyle approached Lumene’s Hero Record again.

“So don’t cling to us, mere remnants of past glory. The ones building the era…”

Kyle reached for the Hero Record.

“…are you.”

Fwoosh—!

A bright light enveloped Kyle.

‘Imitating you is never easy, Lysinas.’

Grasping the edge of his cloak, Kyle smiled bitterly.

bl

The first thing Kyle saw after entering Lumene’s world was a sky with a gaping hole.

“…Must be the aftermath of that mana storm.”

A pitch-black void had opened.

Kyle could tell that beyond it was the real world.

Fwoosh—!

Not far away, black flames flared up.

Turning his gaze, Kyle saw hero candidates fighting against Erebos.

‘Where’s Lumene?’

He thought they’d be fighting together, but Lumene was nowhere to be seen.

Erebos, too, seemed heavily damaged and couldn’t exert his full power.

“…”

Then Kyle saw someone sprawled nearby.

A man he knew.

The Twilight Knight, Lumene.

The hero of Dawn who succeeded him.

“So that’s what happened.”

Understanding the situation, Kyle approached Lumene.

He turned the collapsed man over with his foot to face the sky.

“Cough—! Cough—!”

Lumene coughed up blood and barely opened his eyes.

“Who…?”

Seemingly too weak to turn his head, he forced out the words.

Step—step—

Kyle didn’t even glance at him. He walked over to a suitable rock, sat down with a plop, and said.

“Your senior.”