Editor : Amethyst00



"I want to go back to school. No, I just want to go home."

"Fire! I hate it!"

Eliana sat huddled in the corner of the tent, muttering blankly, while Drianna shrieked at the sight of the campfire visible through the open tent flap.

Watching the two of them, Chelsea crossed her arms and made a face of disbelief.

"What on earth happened?"

"Leo Plov apparently took the two of them for morning training."

"Leo oppa did?"

At Eliza's words, Chelsea clicked her tongue.

"Then no wonder they're broken like this. Leo oppa's training is seriously over the top."

When Chelsea poked Eliana with the tip of her foot, Eliana grabbed onto Chelsea's school skirt and clung.

"Chelsea! There's a class president! There's a class president!"

"Let go! My skirt's going to fall down!"

Chelsea freaked out and shook Eliana off.

"The class president tried to kill meeeeee!"

"You wouldn't die from something like that."

"You devil!"

At the voice from the tent entrance, Eliana screamed.

"Looks like you're full of energy. I guess I can make the afternoon training even tougher?"

"Devil! The class president is a devil!"

"Wasn't it you who once said Leo oppa seemed like an agent of the gods?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Leo asked, looking dumbfounded, and Chelsea shrugged.

"She named her Kyle research club the 'Church of Kyle'. This idiot is basically trying to play the role of a cult leader now. Maybe she needs to be locked up to come to her senses."

"Cult?! Kyle was a real person! And it's not a religion in the first place! It's just a fan club!"

Of course, Leo knew someone who really mistook his fan club for an actual religion and tried to join.

That someone, while retired now, was once a real god.

Ever since Eliana had received Kyle's help during last year's Hero Festival, she'd been utterly infatuated with the Hero of Beginnings.

She researched records about Kyle and collected Kyle-related merchandise.

Her enthusiasm for Kyle grew so intense that she half-jokingly revered him as a god.

In the midst of that, she had apparently referred to Leo—who shared the same "All-Class" as Kyle—as the agent of the god.

"Anyway, Kyle and the class president are totally different! Kyle was kind and gentle! The evil class president is completely the opposite!"

'I am Kyle, and I'm the one who saved you back then.'

Leo sighed briefly at Eliana's outburst.

Then he noticed Chelsea covering her mouth, giggling.

"You think it's funny?"

"Ahem, ahem! Ahem!"

Chelsea turned her head with a cough.

"Come on, let's eat."

At that, the girls stepped out of the tent.

In one corner of the clearing where the tent stood, Duran was sparring with three second-year students from the knight department.

Flash—

Aina's golden aura pressured Duran from all directions.

"You're fast."

Duran gripped his longsword.

"But that's all."

Kagagagagak—!

"……!"

Duran deflected all of Aina's sword strikes and immediately thrust his blade toward her neck.

Fwah—! Chaaang!

Haviden flew in like a gale and tried to strike away Duran's sword.

'It didn't budge?!'

Haviden's eyes widened.

He tried to knock Duran's sword away with a blow full of speed.

But Duran's longsword didn't even flinch.

Instead, it just subtly—ever so slightly—shifted its trajectory from aiming at Aina's neck.

Fwhoosh—!

That slight misalignment was enough for Aina to dodge the attack.

'Just how strong is he?!'

As Haviden gritted his teeth and tried to distance himself from Duran—

Flash—!

Like a thunderbolt, Duran's sword swung toward Haviden.

Kaaang—! Crackle-crackle-crack!

"Urgh?!"

"If you retreat halfway, you'll just become prey."

At Duran's words, Aina closed the distance again to help Haviden.

Crackle-crackle-crackle—!

"Aura release…!"

Aina bit down as she saw the lightning aura raging around Duran's body.

"Haaaaaah!"

Pabababababat!

"Luke!"

Luke charged into the storm of thunder Duran had unleashed.

"Urrrrgh?!"

Luke let out a scream as the electricity coursed through him.

But he didn't stop.

He accelerated.

Fwoosh—!

A silver flash threatened Duran.

Duran dodged Luke's sword.

"Hoh? Tough guy, aren't you?"

"Thanks, Luke."

"Save your thanks for later!"

Duran's aura was so powerful that it rivaled grand magic, especially when combined with Celia's.

"I've felt it before, Luke Eldar. Your combat style is far from refined."

"Haha, well… Compared to Aina and Haviden, I do fight kind of rough. I really should fix that for efficiency's sake."

As Luke laughed awkwardly, Duran smirked.

"Is that really necessary?"

"Huh?"

"There's no such thing as a safe place on the battlefield, but we do end up fighting in the more dangerous areas."

Knights are the class that face the enemy at the front, buying time for mages and summoners.

Some possess overwhelming aura strength.

The prime example: Duran.

But that didn't mean Duran could replace a mage.

"Knights fight breathing the same air as the enemy at the closest range. You don't need to fight while getting injured—but it happens. And depending on the situation, there are plenty of times when you have to accept injuries."

Crackle—

Duran withdrew his aura.

Training was over.

The second-years followed suit and sheathed their weapons.

"You mentioned efficiency, but efficiency depends on the situation. Sometimes, you have to be able to risk your life to deliver a fatal blow."

Duran turned his gaze to Aina and Haviden.

"Sure, you're cruder and rougher than Aina and Haviden. The risk of injury is a clear weakness. But you also have strengths that set you apart from the two."

"Strengths?"

"Yeah. You catch the opponent off guard."

Aina and Haviden had received strict knight training from a young age.

As martial artists, they were far more polished than Luke.

But that made them easier to predict.

Luke, on the other hand, only began wielding a sword seriously after entering Lumene.

In his first year, Leo had shown him a path, but it was just that—a path.

He polished what he saw and learned at school in his own way.

"He's wild, you could say."

Duran chuckled.

"Aina, Haviden. You two should keep an eye on Luke's movements."

"Yes."

"Yessir."

Duran nodded as the two snapped to attention, then sheathed his longsword.

Watching that, chewing roasted meat, Carl commented.

"The knight department kids have serious stamina. Training from early morning on an empty stomach."

"Heh. That's called diligence."

Artienne smiled gently.

"Drianna and Eliana trained hard this morning too, didn't they?"

At that, Carl chuckled bitterly, looking at the two traumatized girls.

"Why can't Drianna even look at the campfire?"

"Lord Dweno shoved her into the furnace."

Carl stared at Aru in disbelief.

"…What kind of training is that?"

"He said to control strong fire, you first need resistance. The Black Rabbit said he'd give her the same training too."

"Water torture, electric torture… and now fire torture. I'm scared they'll go for a live burial next."

Carl muttered under his breath.

"But does that really work?"

When Carl asked, Leo, who had been eating stew, nodded.

"It works. I saw it with my own eyes."

It's not like Leo threw Drianna into the flames without thought.

The effectiveness of the training for fire resistance was already proven.

The test subject? None other than Aaron.

'I remember him asking Dweno about it, saying he needed fire resistance if he was going to fight at the front.'

When Luna found out, she got mad that he asked Dweno about it.

But since Aaron had already gone through Luna's howling training, his trust in her training was rock bottom.

Besides, when it came to fire among the party, the true expert was Dweno.

So Dweno took on Aaron's request and forcibly shoved him into the furnace to build his resistance.

'After that, Aaron started distrusting Dweno too.'

At that thought, Leo glanced over at Aru.

Aru was laughing gleefully, waving a flaming log in front of Drianna.

'Come to think of it, Aru also needs Dweno's training, doesn'ts she?'

At that moment, Aru suddenly twitched and looked around nervously.

Her tail bristled and ears perked up like a cat sensing danger.

Leo quietly looked away.

'Ever since she learned extrasensory perception, her senses have become too sharp.'

At this rate, Aru would probably scream bloody murder to avoid the furnace.

But Leo had to give Aru this training too.

'After all, Aaron couldn't endure Erebos's flame in the end.'

Sure, Dweno's training could only build so much resistance.

But completing it was the bare minimum if Aru wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with Aaron.

'How do I lure her into walking into the furnace on her own?'

As Leo pondered—

Ding ding ding ding—!

The bell atop the watchtower suddenly rang like mad.

Bwooooooo—!

At the same time, a foreboding horn blast echoed.

"Air raid! Air raid!"

"It's a Tartaros assault!"

A commotion began atop the walls.

Kyaaaaah!

Countless Fafnirs screeched as they revealed themselves in the sky.

"Fafnirs! Activate the barrier above the fortress!"

bl

Upon hearing of the invasion, Dweno emerged from the workshop at once.

The Gigantes unit had attacked not long ago.

Now another large-scale invasion?

"What's the enemy size?"

At Dweno's question, Enniha replied urgently.

"Can't say for sure! But… it's enough to seem like the entire army of the Giant King!"

Dweno narrowed his eyes and looked past the walls.

"…Just like last time."

"What?"

"What about the Giant King Giath? Hard to hide a body that huge."

"He hasn't shown himself!"

"Hmm."

"With numbers like that… Can the wall really hold?"

"Don't say weak things."

"But… Lord Dweno! If the soldiers see that overwhelming force, morale will surely…"

"This place won't fall. Don't you agree?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

Leo, arms crossed, snorted from atop the wall as he gazed at the enemy horde.

"What—?! Since when?!"

"Outsiders aren't allowed on the wall!"

"Get down from there!"

The beastkin and dwarves nearby glared warily at Leo.

Though they'd accepted him, this was The Age of Calamity where betrayal ran rampant.

Letting an outsider on the defensive stronghold's wall was dangerous—especially now, when the Giant King's army might be launching an all-out assault.

"Let him be."

"But Lord Dweno—"

"He won't betray us."

"How can you be so sure?"

At the dwarf's question, Dweno glanced at Leo.

"Call it intuition."

Then he turned to a beastkin officer.

"Bring his companions as well. They'll be of great help."

"Yes sir! I'll get them immediately!"

The wall bustled with activity.

Even amid that, Leo stood motionless atop it.

Dweno joined him and asked, "What do you think will happen?"

"Why do you keep asking me that?"

"Because I think you know the answer."

As Dweno chuckled, Leo smirked.

"We'll win."

bl

"Whoa, insane. That's a lot of them."

Carl clicked his tongue at the endless enemy forces.

"Almost the same scale as Lord Dweno's world last time."

Drianna clenched her fists.

"We weren't allowed on the front lines back then."

Because they were still inexperienced.

But now, things were different.

Eliana spoke with a trembling voice.

"But in actual history, this place fell, right? If this really is a full-scale assault… can we hold them off?"

Carl smirked.

"Whether it's a full assault or not, this place isn't going to fall."

"How can you be so sure?"

Eliana still looked uneasy.

Carl turned to look at Leo and Dweno.

"You called Kyle a god, right?"

"Huh? Well, yeah…"

"Then we have a god with us now too, don't we?"

"You mean Lord Dweno?"

Carl smiled and shrugged.

'If Leo's a god, then Lord Dweno is too. That means we've got two gods on our side right now! And…'

"We're here too, aren't we?"

Carl glared at the army of the Giant King.

"I don't know what happened in the past, but while we know the result, we don't know the process. So let's not obsess over the past outcome."

Everyone's eyes turned to Carl.

"History we don't know? Let's just rewrite it. So let's look only ahead. Because from now on—"

Carl grinned.

"This is the beginning of a brand-new history to be recorded."