Editor : Amethyst00



Thud— Roll—

Zorua's head, which had been floating in midair, rolled across the ground.

Leo looked at Zorua with emotionless eyes.

"Well, now."

Zorua, calmly picking up his own head and placing it back where it belonged, spoke.

"I thought you'd waver at least a little. But I guess cheap tricks don't work?"

The form Zorua had taken was none other than that of Leo's mother Reina.

Though she looked younger than the current Reina, there was no falsehood in this appearance.

It was, quite literally, Reina from the past.

But Leo's sword showed no hesitation.

'One can be without hesitation.'

Anyone with strong willpower wouldn't falter in their strike, even if the enemy wore the face of their mother.

That's what it means to be someone worthy of the title of Hero.

'But lack of hesitation doesn't mean lack of resistance.'

And yet, Leo's blade was devoid of emotion.

It was a sword meant solely to cut down its opponent.

Not merely strong-willed—it was beyond that.

'This is a realm. A tier of its own.'

As one who handles weapons.

As a Hero who had overcome countless trials.

The level and class that the boy before Zorua had achieved was completely different from any Hero he'd encountered so far.

And Zorua knew exactly what made a Hero truly strong.

'Experience.'

It wasn't talent, nor time, nor training that made a Hero powerful.

It was trials.

Only countless hardships elevate a Hero's caliber.

That is what experience is.

And Zorua saw a glimpse of that experience in just a single swing from Leo.

"You really are seventeen?"

Zorua's eyes gleamed with interest.

Leo, who had remained silent at the question, narrowed his eyes.

"I see."

"Hm?"

"You took on the form of someone whose power you've stolen."

"……"

Seeing Leo nod in understanding, Zorua let out a hollow laugh.

"So I'm not even worth noticing?"

Leo was solely focused on analyzing and understanding Zorua's abilities.

He gave not even a speck of attention to the person before him.

Just an enemy to be vanquished.

Nothing more, nothing less.

"Haha. Impressive."

Zorua drew his sword.

"You really are the perfect prey, Leo Plov!"

Fwoosh—

Red flames surged from Zorua's blade.

Seeing that, Leo, too, ignited flames on his sword.

Staring at the familiar blaze of the Zerdinger flame, Leo murmured inwardly,

'Mother's flame.'

Fwoosh!

Zorua instantly closed the distance between them.

Whoosh!

The sword slashed toward Leo's neck.

Leo parried Zorua's blade.

Clang—! Fwoooosh!

Their swords clashed, spitting flames.

Goooooo—!

Leo's eyes twitched.

"What do you think? Isn't it beautiful? Your mother's flame!"

Zorua's eyes glowed with exhilaration.

"Your mother, Reina Zerdinger's flame, is special! More than any flame I've ever seen!"

Boom!

The flames grew more intense.

They began to consume Leo's flames.

"Reina Zerdinger's flame reacts to strong will! Its power increases endlessly!"

The flame of Reina rapidly devoured Leo's.

Deeming it disadvantageous to continue the power struggle, Leo forcefully pushed away their blades.

Clang!

A gap opened between their swords.

In that fleeting moment—

Clash clash clash!

Dozens of strikes were exchanged in the blink of an eye.

Leo's attacks were perfectly blocked by Zorua.

Yet Zorua couldn't land a counterattack.

In terms of swordsmanship, Leo was clearly superior.

"Amazing! That swordsmanship is incredible! How did you master such skills at that age?!"

Zorua was in awe.

He'd been completely overwhelmed by swordsmanship.

"To have such talent and still train that hard! I truly admire you!"

Flames rippled from Zorua's body.

"But!"

Boom!

He stomped the ground with his left foot.

Leo's eyes twitched.

Air around them began to suck toward Zorua's foot.

Recognizing what was about to happen, Leo activated his mana.

Boom! Whooosh!

A massive explosion erupted from Zorua's center.

Air that had been drawn in was instantly combusted, annihilating everything around them.

The vast garden of the Plov estate was incinerated without a trace.

"Heh heh heh. Before overwhelming power, effort is meaningless."

Zorua looked at Leo.

Sssssshh—

Seeing the droplets of water surrounding Leo, Zorua's eyes narrowed with interest.

"Oh? A magic I've never seen. Is it star sorcery?"

A water armor.

It was a defensive spell Luna created in anticipation of fighting Erebos.

It provided strong resistance to flame magic.

But Luna had considered it a failure.

Because it had proven useless against Erebos' flames.

"I want that magic."

Zorua's eyes sparkled.

"That attack just now."

"Hm?"

"It was a little different from Zerdinger's flame, wasn't it?"

"Finally showing interest in me?"

Grinning, Zorua spoke.

"Yes. That's a power that couldn't be achieved with Zerdinger's flame alone. But I'm different."

"My true talent isn't just stealing others' powers! It's bringing out more power than their limits!"

Zorua's eyes shone.

"This flame too! It's special! But Reina Zerdinger isn't!"

Zorua's once-glimmering face twisted slightly.

"I thought she was special. I thought losing her power would make her nobler. But once her power was gone, she became just another ordinary human. It was a real shame."

Shaking his head, Zorua smiled.

"But it's fine. That noble image of Reina Zerdinger will now live on through me. Not just her. Every special Hero in this world will be preserved through me."

"That kind of nonsense has no meaning."

"No meaning? Wrong! I am the vessel!"

Zorua spread his arms.

"Countless Heroes live within me! I become those countless Heroes to reach a more complete existence!"

His clenched fists trembled with light.

"Heroes never reach their full potential! Only I can bring out the true worth of the powers they couldn't! The potential they failed to awaken! I make them bloom completely!"

His greed-filled eyes fixed on Leo.

"And the final piece of my power is your ability, Leo Plov! Your All-Class power!"

Pointing at Leo, Zorua smiled.

"The power to use every class's abilities freely! With that, I'll become a true All-Master! A perfect being! In other words—a god! So Leo Plov!"

Zorua declared boldly:

"Give me your power! That is the way to save the world!"

Leo said nothing. He simply looked at Zorua.

Then chuckled dryly.

Endless greed radiated from Zorua.

And the stench of the undead, from having been revived by the Lich King's power, reeked from him.

Nothing about him was pure.

Yet when Zorua had just been talking about himself, his eyes had been startlingly clear.

Shockingly, there hadn't been a trace of selfishness in them.

He truly believed that what he was doing was absolutely right.

He had murdered countless Heroes to steal their power.

Even after betraying the world and becoming the Lich King's slave in death.

He still believed himself to be absolute good.

It was a conviction.

A firm belief that if he became perfect, the world would be saved.

"If you're going to go mad, do it cleanly. You're disgustingly insane."

"Hah… Even someone as close to perfection as you can't understand my grand vision."

Zorua sighed in genuine disappointment.

Leo looked at him and spoke.

"If you could truly save the world… I'd gladly give you this All-Class power."

"Gladly…? Are you mocking that noble power?"

Zorua's eyes twitched.

"You lucked into that ability… and don't even understand how fortunate you are, you fool."

Leo smirked.

'Yeah. If Lysinas, Luna… Aaron, or Dweno had been born with this power, history might have been different.'

He thought of his friends who were far more heroic than him.

They were more suited for this pure power than he was.

To Leo, this power was no blessing.

'In the end, I had to suffer alone without rest.'

It was a curse.

A curse that left him behind, sending everyone else away.

But…

"That power is wasted on a clown who thinks he's superior just because he stole it."

"What did you say?"

"You claim those stolen powers weren't with the right owners."

Leo sneered.

"Lets be real. If you hadn't stolen them, they'd be shining brighter in the hands of their rightful owners."

"Don't talk nonsense!"

"Then why can't you use Torua's power properly?"

After his reincarnation, Among those Leo had seen in this era, the most troublesome opponent he could imagine facing was none other than Torua.

Sure, there were people stronger than Torua.

But in the distant future, if Torua fully bloomed her potential—

'I wouldn't want to fight her.'

The reason was simple.

Every spell she used in combat was unique magic.

Her unique spells were the product of endless research and her love for magic theory.

But they weren't exactly efficient.

'Unique magic is only truly valued when it does what ordinary magic can't. But when the number of spells increases, it changes everything.'

For starters, dispelling them becomes difficult.

Usually, you read the magical pulse at activation to guess the spell.

But unique magic belongs only to the caster.

With no pulse data to reference, predicting is impossible.

When facing a mage—

Not being able to predict magic is truly terrifying.

"You stole Torua's power because you coveted it, right? But can you even use her magic properly?"

Torua's abilities were the result of effort, not talent.

You can't use them just by stealing.

"And you say your real talent is drawing out others' potential? Don't make me laugh."

Leo knew exactly how to trample this type.

And so, Leo laughed at Zorua with genuine scorn.

"It's only natural that a toddler just learning to walk can't run. But sometimes there are fools who look at such children and lament that they can't run. And worse, they think that makes them superior to the child."

Breaking a belief someone thinks is absolutely right.

"You think you're something great? No."

Zorua's face hardened.

"You're just trash who leeches off other people's abilities."

Leo smiled faintly.

"I'll prove it to you right now."