Editor : Amethyst00



"Hey! Leo's party is back!"

"Open the gate!"

In front of the fortress wall.

Seeing Leo's group arrive at the moat, the warriors of Ivaldi became busy.

"Did you find anything special?"

At the question of Rahdan, the beastkin in charge of the fortress wall, Leo shook his head.

"No."

"Hmm! Must be really well hidden! You all searched the surrounding area already, didn't you?"

Rahdan had a serious expression.

"We need to destroy the barrier and get help from Godthrone as soon as possible."

"We'll find it soon."

Leo's words made Rahdan nod.

"You've worked hard tonight too. Everyone, go get some rest."

The exploration had taken place at night, under the moon and stars.

Basically, the demons of Tartaros demonstrate stronger powers at night.

However, this place lies at the boundary between the Age of Calamity and the present world.

During the day, a gray sky looms overhead.

Under this sky, demons become far stronger than under the night sky of the present world.

Thus, resting during the day and acting at night had become the safer option.

Hearing Leo's words, the hero and warrior trainees headed toward their tents.

Just as Leo was about to walk away alone—

"Leo."

Artienne approached with a serious face.

"I have something to say about the entrance."

Seeing Artienne cautiously begin, Leo spoke.

"You were going to say that the entrance might be somewhere inside this fortress, right?"

"As expected of you, Leo."

Artienne nodded.

Specialized in hero studies, and thus highly knowledgeable about the world of heroes, Artienne had come to a similar conclusion.

"Ivaldi's people rebuilt a ruined fortress, but if we look at the basic structure, this fortress wasn't originally built for a war against Tartaros."

"Then?"

"It was built for interspecies war."

Artienne pieced the puzzle together with the knowledge she had.

Even though it's now in Tartaros territory, long peace had dulled awareness, and a civil war between species had flared up.

That spark became a great inferno, weakening the local powers.

Eventually, the common tale goes, they fell to Tartaros's invasion.

"Many of the major fortress strongholds built during the age of interspecies conflict had underground labyrinths to facilitate a war of attrition from within the stronghold."

"You're well informed."

"I like history."

As hero studies is itself a study of hero history, Artienne was also well-versed in the world's history.

"The entrance is definitely deep within the fortress's underground labyrinth."

Leo fell into thought at Artienne's words.

'They say the space leading to the hero dungeon's deepest core becomes distorted.'

If such a thing existed outside, it would have already been found.

That's why Artienne deduced the entrance must be in the dungeon's deepest core.

"I asked some of Ivaldi's warriors earlier. They said they've never seen a labyrinth in this fortress."

Leo's eyes twitched.

"They don't know about its existence?"

"Yes. It must be hidden. That's why even they don't know about the entrance."

Artienne clenched her fist.

"We need to start searching for the entrance immediately—"

"No."

"…Pardon?"

"Let's take a two-day break. Everyone's been through a lot these past ten days."

"Sh-should we… do that?"

Artienne looked slightly perplexed by Leo's response but nodded.

Even if she was a professor and Leo a student, the leader of the Arhi party was currently Leo.

And Artienne knew well—Leo always had a reason for his decisions.

When it came to battle, even Artienne acknowledged Leo's superiority—whether in power or experience.

'He's a curious student, really.'

"Then rest well, Leo."

Artienne smiled and left.

Leo, watching her back, moved his steps.

He headed toward the outskirts of the fortress.

To Dweno's workshop.

As Leo approached, the area was quiet.

At this hour, the sound of Dweno's hammering and training should be echoing, but there was none.

Arriving at the workshop, Leo saw it was empty.

Everyone seemed to be gone; silence filled the space.

Creak—

Leo entered the workshop and looked around.

Then he approached one side—

Dweno's private chamber, which only he entered.

This was where the weapons Dweno had made were stored.

"……"

To a smith, a personal vault is akin to a treasure trove.

No outsider should casually enter.

But Leo reached for the door without hesitation.

Clunk—

It was locked.

Not just physically—it was sealed with magic.

As a smith, Dweno was a highly advanced magician in magical engineering.

In magic engineering and alchemy—not combat magic—he far surpassed Kyle.

To open this door, Kyle would've needed considerable time.

Or brute force.

Click—clack—

But Leo quickly analyzed the locking pattern and deactivated it.

It was natural that he could instantly break Dweno's lock.

Given the same time, one could never catch up.

But Dweno's time had stopped, and Leo's time continued.

And Leo had moved forward in that time.

Creak—

Leo opened the door.

Seeing the inside, he clenched his hand.

As he examined the chamber—

A voice came from behind.

"Since when did you realize?"

Leo turned around.

At the workshop entrance stood Dweno, wearing a bitter smile.

"You're oddly perceptive in these areas, Kyle."

bl

Leo looked at Dweno for a moment, then turned his gaze back to the inner chamber.

Inside, Aaron's greatsword and Luna's ring emitted powerful lightning and cold.

They had been fully restored to their original forms.

And on one side, the broken Brave had also been restored to its former shape.

Of course, Brave hadn't fully returned to its original state yet.

Even so, for Dweno at this time to restore it that far in such a short period was impossible.

Leo closed the door.

Then turned completely toward Dweno.

"I started to suspect when you took down Gymeon."

Leo spoke calmly.

"When I thought the entrance might be somewhere in this city, it became almost certain."

Dweno had long been at the frontlines not only in Ivaldi but also in Godthrone's defense.

"The you I know would've thoroughly understood the fortress you were defending."

Through that process, he must have discovered the labyrinth entrance.

But the warriors of Ivaldi didn't know.

It was likely someone had intentionally hidden the labyrinth's existence.

Piecing the puzzle together, Leo concluded Dweno still had his memories.

"I became completely sure when I opened that door."

Leo pointed his thumb toward the door behind him.

"The magic engineering technique used to seal that door. You tried to hide it, but it matched your skill level back when we set out on the final expedition. And most importantly—"

Leo narrowed his eyes.

"You never locked these doors."

Dweno had no attachment to his smithing work.

Thus, he had no attachment to the weapons he made.

There's only one weapon he named—a piece he called a 'masterwork' after surviving the Age of Calamity.

Most divine artifacts with names were named by their users, not by Dweno.

That alone shows his nature.

So the fact that he locked this door meant there was something inside he didn't want seen.

"……"

Dweno closed his eyes and let out a dry laugh.

"I've felt it for a while—you really are sharp with things like this."

"When did you regain your memories?"

"The future… no, the moment I arrived in this era."

Dweno looked at his hand.

"The memories were vivid. Ivaldi's fall. My joining Arhi. The journey with my comrades."

He wore a bitter expression.

"Even the memory of Kyle—you—coming from the far future with those kids when Giath invaded Godthrone."

The moment he arrived in the present—

Dweno remembered even the future.

"…You seem to know even further into the future, don't you?"

"It's because of Brave."

"Brave?"

"That broken Brave showed me—Aaron's final moments."

Dweno's gaze turned past Leo, toward the storage room.

His eyes dimmed.

Even if it was just a copy—

It had passed on its master's end to its creator.

'So that's why…'

Recalling Dweno crying as he held the broken Brave, Leo let out a deep breath.

Leo and Dweno were different.

After Aaron died,

Leo had to let go of Dweno, then Luna… and finally even Lysinas.

Leo remembered all of their ends.

'But I was reborn.'

Revived in the present world, he mourned his comrades again and again.

He grieved their sacrifices.

Saw the results of their sacrifice.

And let the grief flow with time.

That didn't erase the sadness, but at least he no longer drowned in death.

But not Dweno.

Even knowing he and his comrades would die—

Even knowing that their deaths would save the world—

Witnessing Aaron's death through Brave's memories must have been devastating to Dweno.

Leo finally spoke.

"Dweno. You know where the entrance is, don't you?"

"I do."

Dweno looked Leo straight in the eye.

"But I can't tell you where it is until I achieve my goal."

"What goal?"

"To show the people of Ivaldi a world that's truly been saved. A tomorrow where the sun rises."

"……"

"I know my own future. The future of these people. I know I'm fake. I know my stubbornness is meaningless."

Dweno wore a sorrowful expression.

"But these people died in despair without even seeing hope."

What he had once called his failure.

A past of Dweno's that Leo didn't know—a deep lingering regret.

The people of Ivaldi had died in complete despair.

Isolated, unable to even glimpse hope of salvation.

Dying in nothing but sorrow and lament.

"I want to at least take them a little into the future. At the very least…"

Dweno bit his lip hard.

"Is that… such a selfish wish to grant?"