Editor : Amethyst00



Buu-!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Buu-!

The unpleasant sound of a horn echoed from afar.

Giants at the forefront of the legion moved in unison.

"What, what is that?!"

Aru cried out in shock.

'The Giant Knights.'

Demons are born with power that far surpasses that of surface races.

Because of that, demons never bother to learn anything from those who dwell on the surface.

To them, surface dwellers are merely beings that must be annihilated.

Those who wish to live can never fundamentally understand those who wish for destruction.

Moreover, demons are born into a strict hierarchy.

The higher a demon's status, the more they tend to look down on surface races.

'Which is why those guys are so strange.'

The Giant Knights are an aberrant force — demons mimicking and imitating the surface races.

The ranks of the Giant Knights aren't determined by power.

They are determined by military achievements.

As a result, they became the most powerful unit within the Giant King's legion.

'Are these the Giant Knights from the past? Or… have they been hidden and surviving all this time since the Age of Calamity?'

It has been 5,000 years since the Age of Calamity ended.

And just like how the Giant King himself has rarely shown himself in that time…

There are few records of the Giant King in the Age of Heroes that followed the Great Upheaval, since demons are naturally secretive.

But in the era before the Upheaval—

The so-called Early Age of Heroes, which spanned 2,000 years, saw many of its records lost.

This happened during the process of the Upheaval Heroes sealing the fragments of Erebos, which damaged the Hero Records.

During the Early Age of Heroes, there were several large-scale wars.

Especially after the end of the Age of Calamity.

Tartaros launched an all-out war to fulfill its goal of destroying the world.

'It's possible Velkia wiped out the Giant Knights in one of those wars.'

The Giant Knights differ in character from other combat units under the legion commanders.

For instance, the Mourning Unit led by Archduke Artkan of the Lich King's legion is still infamous to this day.

They are the very face of the Lich King's army.

But the Giant Knights are different.

Like the cautious and secretive Giant King…

They too thoroughly conceal their existence.

Because of that, people of this era do not know about the Giant Knights.

Depending on whether this is the same unit from the Age of Calamity or a group that has survived in hiding for the past 5,000 years, the approach to fighting them would differ greatly.

Leo, staring at the Giant Knights, noticed a demon atop the shoulder of one of the leading giant knights.

'Commander of the Knights — Nareda.'

A demon known as the left hand of the Giant King.

Unlike the other confidant of the Giant King, Giganto, the Legion's charge leader, she had an entirely different personality.

Giganto is the type who overestimates his own strength and charges recklessly.

In contrast, Nareda's strength is nothing compared to his.

Yet she is the most "Giant King-like" demon.

'Cautious and secretive.'

She is a commander who observes the enemy and devises countless strategies.

Tartaros's strongest legion is that of the Lich King.

That hasn't changed in thousands of years of history.

But during the Age of Calamity—

The legion that destroyed the most nations was the Giant King's legion.

'The most troublesome demon to face.'

Click. Leo clicked his tongue.

Whoosh—!

"Leo!"

With a gust of wind, Chelsea flew onto the wall.

"Chelsea, get ready. From now on—"

"Leo! We're going to destroy the legion's record!"

"What?"

Leo's face twisted in surprise at her words.

Aru's eyes widened.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said."

With a resolved expression, Chelsea bit her lip and looked Leo straight in the eye.

"……"

Leo closed his eyes as he stared back into hers.

"So, my job is to buy time while you do that?"

"…Yeah."

Chelsea answered quietly, lowering her head.

"I'm sorry… Leo. We…"

"Don't be sorry."

Leo cut her off firmly.

"You're right, Chelsea. I was the one who was wrong."

He had simply lacked the courage.

The past comrades…

Or the future.

There's no comparison in weight — they don't belong on the same scale.

'If it were Lysinas, she wouldn't have let it come to this.'

She would've corrected Leo's mistake.

Just like Chelsea did now.

"Aru. You stay with me here."

"Okay."

Aru nodded, still surprised.

As Leo spoke, Chelsea turned to go.

"Chelsea."

"Yeah?"

"Please."

"I will! And you take care too, Leo!"

With a determined nod, Chelsea leapt off the wall.

Leo gripped his cloak and looked up at the sky.

"So heavy… being a leader."

"Of course it's heavy."

Aru crossed her arms and nodded with a big "hmm!"

"So lean on us when it's tough! We're your comrades!"

"What I carry is quite a burden though?"

"I'm Aaron's successor. Supporting you is the least I can do!"

Aru proudly puffed out her chest.

She took a step forward.

"And I'm not the only one, am I? You've got plenty of allies! Black Rabbit. You don't have to carry this alone!"

Long ago—

Someone who had once given Leo courage came to mind as he looked at Aru's back.

"You're right."

Step—

Standing next to Aru, Leo drew his sword.

Whoosh—!

Posteritas.

The sword bearing the name of the future revealed itself to the world.

"No need to bear it all alone."

bl

"Everyone move! Head to the shelters!"

Enniha shouted frantically.

They left the assault to Arhi's party.

Those within the world of heroes cannot enter the dungeon's core.

Once Enniha heard this, she and Kania decided to stop the Giant King's legion themselves.

But first, they needed to evacuate Ivaldi's non-combatants to a safe place.

Under Enniha's direction, the residents of Ivaldi — all except the warriors — hurried to the shelters.

"Kania! Gather the warrior trainees!"

"Y-Yes!"

At Enniha's words, Kania, who had been helping evacuate the residents, disappeared into the crowd.

Moments later—

Led by Kania, Deet and the warrior trainees arrived.

Seeing them, Enniha clenched her fist.

She was their instructor.

These trainees were her students.

She had always known this moment would come.

She just wished it had come later.

'It means we have no more time left.'

Suppressing her trembling voice, Enniha opened her mouth.

"Kids."

"Yes, Instructor Enniha."

"…Are you ready to die?"

What could be more wretched than asking children such a question?

Kania and Deet, silent at first, raised the weapons in their hands high.

"Waaaaaahhh!"

Their roar was joined by the other trainees behind them.

WAAAAAAAHHH!

As the battle cries rang out, Enniha took a deep breath and turned around.

"Let's go!"

"Yes!"

Enniha and the trainees moved to the final defense line — the walls, where all of Ivaldi's warriors had gathered.

Watching them, Nareda, perched on the giant demon's shoulder, chuckled.

"This might actually be fun. Killing off the ones we exterminated 5,000 years ago all over again."

"A pleasant hunt indeed."

"Right?"

Nareda tapped the demon she rode and stared at the wall.

"That must be Leo Plov and Aru Tune — successors of the Surviving Hero and Brave."

Nareda already knew all about them.

Her curious gaze moved from Aru to Leo.

And then her expression stiffened.

"Wait a second…"

White hair, crimson eyes.

She had watched him ever since he first rose to prominence as a hero candidate. She already knew what he looked like.

But seeing him in person—

He felt completely different from what she had observed via magic.

A strange doubt crept into her mind.

Even if one of the great heroes, Dweno, was their opponent…

This was still a battle they were supposed to win.

Sure, the goal was to capture them, but was it really necessary to bring the legion's core power?

But she set that doubt aside.

The master's will is absolute.

Doubt is not permitted.

"…No way."

But now she was face to face with the answer to her doubt.

Whooosh—!

Leo, standing atop the wall, turned to look at his comrades.

Despite the overwhelming force of the Giant King's legion, no one showed fear.

"Ahem! Alright! Then it's time for this mighty one to—ACK?!"

As Aru stepped forward, Leo pulled on her tail.

"Wait."

"What for?"

"Your Howling doesn't just coordinate beastfolk."

"Then what?"

"It boosts morale when we're overwhelmed."

"Then shouldn't I use it now?"

"Do we look like we're being overwhelmed to you?"

Aru looked around at the allies.

"Nope."

"Your Howling is a trump card — save it for when the tide turns."

"A t-trump card?"

Leo grinned at Aru's tempted expression.

"What we need now isn't courage."

"Then what? Just fight?"

"No. There's something we must imprint on the enemy."

"What's that?"

Leo turned back toward the enemy and gave a short reply.

"Fear."

"Huh?"

Aru looked confused.

By all accounts, the situation clearly favored the enemy.

How could they instill fear in them?

'Even for Black Rabbit, that seems a bit much…'

Whooosh—

A lifeless wind blew, tossing Leo's white hair.

Standing atop the wall with blank eyes, Leo gazed at the Giant King's army.

There's no way he could strike fear into the entire legion.

But—

'Some of them must have survived since the Age of Calamity.'

Through them, he could implant fear.

Just as Erebos was a symbol of fear and hatred for surface dwellers—

To demons who had lived since the Age of Calamity, there was one name they feared to speak.

One who slaughtered an unimaginable number of demons, leaving mountains of corpses in their wake.

Goooooo—!

As Leo raised his palm, a gray magic circle appeared in the air.

One of the Giant Knights' demons gasped in horror.

"T-That's…!"

"What is it?"

A recently joined demon looked confused at the ancient one's fear.

"Terrified by a mere magic circle? What a disgrace for a Giant Knight of millennia."

A knight from the more recent era scoffed.

Demons from both ancient and current times did not know.

They only knew that it was the spell of a godslayer — a blasphemous being.

Thus, they could only hate.

But for those who survived the Age of Calamity, he was a being of both hatred and unspeakable terror.

"The First Hero… Kyle!"

CRACK—!

Demons and monsters beneath the magic circle were crushed instantly.

Flesh and blood splattered.

The legion's advance halted momentarily.

Even Leo's allies stood stunned at the sight.

Whoooosh—

The wind blew again.

All eyes on the battlefield turned to the white-haired figure.

"Ho?"

From the rear of the legion, the Giant King raised his eyebrows in amusement.

Leo looked at him and spoke:

"Your wretched life ends here, Giath."