Editor : Amethyst00



Leo stood with his arms crossed, staring straight ahead.

Right now, Leo and his companions had formed a party and come out beyond the fortress to scout the surrounding area.

This was the very heart of the Tartaros region.

Before long, the beasts began their assault.

"All three of them are quite enthusiastic."

"Yeah. I think they were heavily influenced by the duel between Carl and Kania."

At Leo's words, Chelsea recalled the events from two days ago.

It had been a duel that made the aspiring heroes feel many things.

As Chelsea looked at the trio from the second-year knight department, she glanced up at the sky.

Leo asked, without taking his eyes off the second-years,

"Think they can take it down?"

Up above, a demon had revealed itself in the sky.

Chelsea drew her magic staff and smiled brightly.

"Of course. What do you take me for?"

Chelsea soared high into the sky.

Leo let out a faint laugh as he watched her.

'Chelsea's grown in leaps and bounds.'

At this point, it was difficult to treat her as a mere child.

She had become a proper mage, capable of pulling her own weight.

Roaaaarrrr!

A beast's roar rang through the air.

Leo looked straight ahead.

A golden flash flickered before his eyes.

Skskskkt!

A chilling sound of flesh and bone being sliced.

A giant humanoid with a bull's head.

The body of a Minotaur was being cleanly cut to pieces.

Thud—!

In the blink of an eye, Aina, who had taken down three Minotaurs, landed on the ground.

Wearing the bare minimum armor for ease of movement, Aina's body was stained with blood all over.

Seeing that, Leo murmured, "Her fighting style is still as fierce as ever."

In battle, Aina never cared for her own well-being.

As though unsheathing the blade she held inside, she massacred her enemies.

With eyes gleaming with murderous intent, Aina scanned the area.

'Where are the others?'

Haviden moved like the wind, piercing a Minotaur's heart with his spear.

Luke had become a silver flash, slicing through a Minotaur's neck.

Seeing this, Aina prepared to strike down the fourth Minotaur—just then—

Grooaaarrrr!

With a roar, a dark shadow loomed over her head.

A gray-skinned Minotaur was bringing down a massive hammer.

'Minotaur Lord!'

Despite the grandiose title of "Lord," it didn't look very different from a regular Minotaur.

The only visible difference was its gray skin instead of brown.

But if it were merely a color difference, the title "Lord" wouldn't apply.

'So there really was a Lord.'

Ordinary Minotaurs don't live in groups unless under the control of a beast tamer.

But the number of Minotaurs attacking their party now was close to fifty.

A beast with the title of "Lord" could not only dominate lesser beasts like a beast tamer, but also enhance them.

On top of that, a Lord-level beast possessed overwhelmingly powerful individual strength.

A Lord Minotaur's raw power was on par with a third-class demon.

At the sight of the Lord Minotaur, golden light flashed in Aina's eyes.

Kraack—!

The Lord Minotaur's hammer slammed into the ground.

Dark magic power surged in all directions around it.

Everything that touched the dark magic was reduced to dust.

The Lord Minotaur, having shattered the earth, let out a savage grin.

High-level beasts were driven by instinct, but they also possessed intelligence.

The Lord Minotaur suppressed its instincts with intelligence.

It became more cautious—and more vicious.

It knew that the human girl it was fighting was strong.

It was surprising.

Of the countless humans it had hunted on the battlefield, none had possessed such power at such a young age.

And it wasn't just her.

The other humans also possessed strength far beyond their age.

But the Lord Minotaur didn't care.

This land no longer belonged to humans—it was theirs now.

No matter how great a human was, victory would belong to it in the end.

And it would devour the strong.

The first to be devoured—was the girl standing before it.

With a thrill, the Lord Minotaur's eyes followed Aina.

Fast human.

As expected, she easily dodged that level of attack. But it didn't matter.

Its attacks were powerful enough to destroy the entire area.

And even speed was meaningless.

The girl radiated terrifying killing intent toward it.

The Lord Minotaur's senses were sharply attuned to that murderous aura.

Snort—!

Its nostrils flared, and its whole body's muscles writhed.

In that moment—

Landing lightly atop the flying clumps of dirt caused by the shockwave, Aina crouched.

Fwoosh—!

And then, she charged toward the Lord Minotaur at incredible speed.

The Minotaur swung its hammer at her.

At that moment—

A sharp aura formed at the tip of Aina's sword.

The blade moved gracefully.

As if she were performing a sword dance.

Beautiful swordsmanship embroidered the air.

The sword of a Sword Saint—who had once carried an entire era—unfolded at Aina's blade.

Her sword movements were beautiful.

But the slashes it created were horrifying.

Shhhhht! Squish—!

BUWAAAAAARRR!

The Minotaur Lord let out a monstrous scream.

Severed metal fragments and what used to be its hands—now unrecognizable lumps of flesh—fell to the ground.

Leo narrowed his eyes at the sight.

'It's become sharper.'

There are many ways to use a sword.

'Slashing, thrusting, striking, blocking.'

None are unimportant.

But the one that brings out the essence of the sword the most—was slashing.

And Aina's talent for slashing was unmatched.

'When it comes to slashing, Aina's talent is comparable to Aaron's.'

Of course, Aaron wasn't limited to slashing—he was a monster who drew out the full potential of the sword itself.

'Well, that guy handles every weapon like that anyway.'

Leo shook his head as he recalled his childhood friend, who had been on a whole different level since birth.

Though he hated fighting, ironically, Aaron had been a genius at it.

Pushing away thoughts of Aaron, Leo turned his gaze back to Aina.

'In terms of talent alone, she surpasses even her great-grandfather, the Sword Saint.'

Kalian, the hero who once bore the weight of an era, played a crucial role in subjugating the Monsters Queen before closing his eyes.

Of course, having superior talent doesn't automatically mean surpassing the Sword Saint.

Talent is merely potential.

'But she will surpass him.'

If it were the Aina from last year, maybe not. But the current Aina would surpass her great-grandfather.

'When I first saw her, she was teetering on the edge.'

Always filled with bloodlust, Aina had been like a bare sword.

A sword with no sheath.

A sheath not only protects others from the blade, but also protects the blade from the outside world.

A sword swung recklessly becomes dull and eventually breaks.

But Aina didn't care about that.

She was blinded by the emotion called rage and couldn't see what was around her.

She had no intention of protecting herself—only revenge against Tartaros for taking her family.

'Kalian's will said that to inherit everything from the Sword Saint, she had to be acknowledged by me, right?'

The Sword Saint had recognized Leo's true identity at the very end and passed peacefully.

But before writing his will, he didn't know who Leo really was.

'He must've thought Aina would enter Lumene Academy.'

It was likely part of his plan to have her learn a lot from Leo in the process.

As a hero who carried an era, Kalian had a sharp eye for people.

Of course, Leo never actually taught Aina.

He merely helped guide her so she wouldn't go astray.

But even that much had changed Aina.

'Her ultimate goal hasn't changed, though.'

She's still a sharp blade filled with hatred and murderous intent toward Tartaros.

But now, she wouldn't be destroyed by her own uncontrolled emotions.

BUUOOOAAAARRRR!

The Minotaur Lord roared.

Hands sprouted from the severed ends.

An unnaturally powerful regeneration ability.

But that was the end.

While its raw power was on par with a third-class demon—

'Its danger level is much lower compared to third-class demons.'

The most dangerous ability of demons—curses.

A Minotaur, being merely a beast, couldn't use those.

As the Minotaur regenerated, Aina gently landed on the ground.

From her calm face, a terrifying killing intent surged out.

It grew heavier, more suffocating.

And then—

"Huh?"

The Minotaur Lord's eyes widened.

The space where Aina's blade could reach was flooded with killing intent.

The Minotaur, which had been tracking her movements by sensing that murderous aura, had its senses disturbed.

She had layered her intent with even more bloodlust.

At some point, Aina had grown strong enough to weaponize her own emotions.

Skkkt—!

The Lord Minotaur's head flew into the sky.

Having cleanly sliced through its neck, Aina landed on the ground.

She sheathed her sword and began walking with light steps.

Blood gushed like a fountain from the severed stump.

The trembling Lord Minotaur raised its hand.

It wasn't dead just because its head was gone.

Its body, driven by instinct, still possessed tremendous combat power.

FWOOSH—!

Its massive hand swung down, trying to crush Aina.

At that moment—

Aina turned around with a calm expression.

At that moment—

Silver aura shot down from the sky.

BWAACK—!

The tough, solid flesh of the Minotaur was mercilessly split apart.

"Aina, are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Is something wrong? You let your guard down. That's not like you."

Aina replied with a blank face as she looked at the worried Luke.

"I knew you'd come help."

Once the Minotaur lost its head, it turned into a rampaging monster driven only by instinct.

It would keep charging until it killed the one who cut off its head.

And that meant plenty of openings.

Aina knew that nature well.

The moment Luke saw her confronting the Lord Minotaur, he had moved to assist.

Aina, understanding that, deliberately attracted the Minotaur's attention to make it vulnerable to a surprise attack.

"I trusted you."

"I see."

Luke was a little surprised.

Since the end of the second semester of first year, Aina had begun opening up to her classmates.

But even so, she had fought alone up until the final exams of first year.

Her tendency to favour solo combat had been pointed out as her biggest flaw.

But now, it was different.

'She can now coordinate perfectly with her teammates.'

Leo smiled.

The strategy Aina used just now wouldn't have been possible without full trust in Luke and Haviden.

'Kids really do grow up fast.'

Luke's growth was also remarkable.

Even if Aina had created a perfect opening, the fact that he finished off the Lord Minotaur in one strike showed just how powerful he had become.

"You're amazing, Aina."

Luke admired her, and Aina widened her eyes.

Then she beamed.

"You're amazing too, Luke."

"Huh?"

"You were cool."

Luke blushed and scratched his head, flustered by Aina's bright, girlish smile.

"You were cool too."

"Yeah."

Aina was still a sharp blade.

But…

'She's found a good sheath.'

Leo turned toward Haviden.

Haviden was walking over, his spear slung across his shoulder, staring up at the sky.

Luke asked, "Haviden, are you hurt?"

"You think I'd get hurt?"

"Wow! Amazing!"

At that, Aina, returning to her blank expression, said, "Luke, why are you worried about Haviden?"

"You picking a fight, Aina Beidna?"

As Haviden scowled, Aina said, "You wouldn't get hurt that easily."

"Hmph. That's true."

"If you did, that would've been embarrassing. If it were me, I'd have cut it down faster. You can do it too. Actually, facing the Lord Minotaur was more impressive. So what you did wasn't all that amazing."

Clearly, she was unhappy that Luke's attention had been taken.

Seeing her like that, a vein popped on Haviden's forehead.

"So you are picking a fight."

'Trust, huh.'

They had achieved more than their power alone could accomplish, thanks to trust in one another.

"Whew! Made it! They're bickering again?"

Just then, Chelsea returned from the sky.

"That was fast."

"A fourth-class demon is easy now!"

A fourth-class demon was considered high-ranking.

But given Chelsea's ability, it wasn't a difficult opponent.

'And it was a demon from the old era.'

Demon strategies from 5,000 years ago were already widely known.

In chaotic large-scale battles, there might be surprises.

But in one-on-one fights, they were mere prey.

"They're pretty impressive too, huh?"

"The third-years will have to stay on their toes."

"Huh?"

Chelsea tilted her head, confused, as Leo smiled.

She would soon find out—

That the underclassmen were catching up at a terrifying pace.

Aina and Haviden bickered.

Luke tried to calm them down.

Watching them, Leo spoke.

"Aina Beidna."

"Yes, senior Leo."

Stopping her squabble and coming to stand before him, Aina listened as Leo said, "The seal on Clesis should be lifted now."

"…!"

Aina's eyes widened.

Clesis.

The sacred sword forged by Dweno, its true name "Demon Slayer."

In this era, it symbolized the Sword Saint—and it was the Sword Saint's legacy that Aina had never inherited.

It was a sword that could only be used with Leo's recognition.

With trembling hands, Aina opened a subspace and summoned Clesis.

Shiiing—

Its blade, aged yet filled with mighty power, appeared.

'I can draw it.'

Her great-grandfather's legacy.

"Thank you."

After sheathing the sword, Aina beamed and showed it off to her classmates.

"Look. This is the sword my grandfather used—Clesis."

"That's an incredible sword."

"Yeah. I've finally been recognized by senior Leo, just like you, Luke."

Then she glanced at Haviden and added, "Only Haviden hasn't been recognized by senior Leo."

"Luke. Don't get close to Aina Beidna."

"Huh? Why?"

"I've thought this for a while—she's a devious girl."

As the second-years bickered, Chelsea crossed her arms.

"They get along well. You can feel their trust."

"Yeah. Just like you and Celia."

"Huh? What are you talking about? Me and Celia Zerdinger don't get along at all. I don't trust her even a little. She's an enemy. An enemy!"

Chelsea scowled.

Leo pinched her cheek.

As Chelsea flailed, Leo laughed.

Whether it was the second-years or the third-years—

Watching them childishly bicker reminded him of his own past.

Lysinas, Luna, Aaron… and finally, Dweno came to mind.

Leo closed his eyes.

'Trust…'

After a brief silence, Leo let go of Chelsea and said,

"Let's get going now."

Leo moved, leading the way for the reconnaissance mission.