Editor : Amethyst00



That evening.

The third-year members of Leo's party had returned to the Clocktower Dormitory and gathered in a room within it.

"What the hell was that blizzard?"

Carl, who had his pen resting just above his philtrum, crossed his arms and wore a puzzled expression.

Having completed their mission, the third-years of Leo's party were currently writing their report.

Despite the sudden blizzard, the orc nest had been completely eradicated.

"And that mana-freezing phenomenon too."

Eliana twirled a pen between her fingers, her face showing disbelief.

The mana-freezing incident had only affected Leo and Chloe.

"You really couldn't use any abilities?"

At Carl's question, Chloe nodded.

"Yeah. It felt like my power was sealed."

"You too, Leo?"

Leo answered with a nod.

"What the hell is going on?"

Carl, who knew Leo's true identity, looked bewildered.

Meanwhile, Leo finished his report and stood up from his seat.

"You guys should wrap up and get some rest."

Originally, the plan was to spend the whole weekend clearing out the orc nest.

It was intended to give the second- and first-years some real combat experience.

However, due to the unexpected circumstances, the third years had to intervene actively, and the mission was completed a day earlier than planned.

Thanks to that, Leo's party was now able to enjoy the following day off.

After Leo left, Chloe also put down her pen and submitted her report.

"I'll head out first."

"Eh? Already?"

"Yeah. Gotta return to the dorm."

"Wait, wait! What are you saying! This is a rare chance! We should have some fun!"

At Eliana's words, Chloe gave her a dumbfounded look.

"It's curfew time now."

Once curfew hits, students aren't allowed outside the dorms.

That was one of Lumene's strict school rules.

At Chloe's words, Eliana gave her a meaningful look.

"Which is why it's fun! We're out here past curfew!"

Chloe looked unimpressed.

"All the facilities are closed anyway."

"Still! Just walking around is fun!"

"I'm heading back."

As Chloe made her disinterested exit, Eliana's eyes darted around.

If Chloe returned, the dormitory supervisors would be informed.

Leo could get away with it since he stayed in a private room, out of the supervisors' view, but regular students didn't have that luxury.

Right now, the third-years had only been granted time to write their reports. Once finished, they were supposed to go back.

Eliana's plan was to use that short window of time to explore the dormitory at night.

If they didn't return soon after Chloe left, the supervisors would undoubtedly come looking.

The Clocktower Dormitory holds many secrets.

The dormitory was massive in scale.

But the areas accessible to students were quite limited.

Though the professors never said anything, there were certainly secrets hidden within.

There could even be treasure chests in secret rooms!

The dormitory itself inspired students to explore and challenge themselves.

Because of that, quite a few students spent their free time exploring the Clocktower.

But at night, such chances were rare.

Now, one of those chances had come.

Unfortunately, Chloe wasn't very interested in things like that.

More precisely, her sense of duty to follow school rules outweighed her curiosity.

As a model student, Chloe saw the rules as something to be obeyed without exception.

Eliana knew Chloe well.

Eyes darting again, Eliana spoke up.

"Chloe! Have you heard the rumour? There's a forbidden archive in the dormitory library!"

Chloe stopped in her tracks.

"They say it's filled with all kinds of forbidden magic books that the world doesn't know about."

Chloe looked at Eliana.

'Gotcha! She hooked!'

Eliana cheered internally.

Chloe then turned to Carl.

"Is it true?"

"There's a rumour, sure."

"How credible is it?"

"Close to zero."

Seeing Carl shrug, Chloe exited the room with a disinterested look.

If Carl, Lumene's information broker said that, then it was as good as confirmed that no such archive existed.

"You should've said it was credible!"

"I became Lumene's top informant because people trust me. I can't lie about something that doesn't exist. And Chloe would've figured it out anyway."

Eliana clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Besides, even if you try exploring at night, how far can you get? Professors do patrols, you know."

"Ugh! No sense of romance! No romance!"

bl

When Leo returned to his room, he pressed a hand to his forehead at the sight before him.

"Sofa, I envy you. You serve Lord Leo every single day. Ah, if only I could become Lord Leo's sofa. If I could offer him comfort with this lowly body of mine, I'd be so happy."

There was Rian, rubbing his face against the sofa Leo usually sat on.

"Hey. Wanna switch? I'll be the sofa for Lord Leo. You can be the administrator of Hero Record instead. You like that, right? Hmm?"

'No matter how many times I see it, I can't get used to this.'

He wasn't gracefully insane—he was messily, utterly mad. Truly divine.

As someone who had lived through the age of gods and disasters, Leo knew more than anyone about gods—but understanding them was another matter.

Even in the age of gods, probably no one truly understood them.

"Ah! Lord Leo! I will now serve as your new sofa! Please sit on me!"

Rian shoved the actual sofa aside and curled up in its place.

"Though this body is insignificant, I will give my utmost to bring you comfort!"

Leo walked over and instead sat on the guest sofa beside him.

Rian looked devastated.

"Ahh! I'm lower than a sofa!"

Just as he drooped in despair, Leo spoke.

"Why compare yourself to a sofa? You're way more important."

"Huh?"

"You're the only one who can manage the Hero Record. Do you know how important that is?"

Rian looked touched.

"So I'm more needed than a sofa?"

"Yeah."

Upon hearing this, Rian beamed with joy at having 'defeated' the sofa.

'If you're worth less than a sofa, are you even human? No, that'd make you a god.'

As Luna once said: "A god gone mad is worth less than the weeds on the roadside."

While Leo shook his head, Rian moved the sofa back in place, then knelt across from him with his hands clasped like he was praying.

He resembled a devout believer in prayer—almost radiant in his piety.

Leo clicked his tongue. He'd told him multiple times not to act that way, but this one habit never changed.

So he gave up.

After a moment, Leo asked, "I called you because I have something to ask."

"Command me, Lord Leo."

"Can Erebos use powers of other elements?"

"Other elements?"

"Besides fire. Like freezing abilities."

"Impossible."

Rian shook his head and explained.

"For that wretched creature, the Undying Flame is not just a power—it's the very symbol of what it is."

"A symbol?"

"Yes. The sight of the world burning to ash—that is the creature's wish. And the Undying Flame perfectly matches that wish. Erebos is the black flame itself."

So it wouldn't make sense for it to use freezing powers.

After hearing Rian's explanation, Leo's expression turned serious.

"Why do you ask?"

Leo told him what had happened on the mountain.

"Ice that doesn't melt, and a force that froze mana."

Rian's expression also turned grave.

"It wasn't magic. I'm sure it was a divine authority."

Magic operates within the laws of the world.

Anything that surpasses those laws is called a miracle.

The unique authorities held by the demon commanders fall under that miracle category.

The Lich King possessed a fragment of Erebos.

If he had access to it, he could've granted a new commander a divine authority.

'Or perhaps gained the power through the demon world.'

Then Rian spoke.

"Even if the Lich King used that fragment for power, granting a 'freezing miracle' like unmelting ice would be very difficult."

"Why?"

"Because unmelting ice is a concept similar to the Undying Flame. It's the same category of existence."

"Same category?"

"Yes. Even miracles have ranks. To put it simply, unmelting ice is a top-tier miracle. Think of it that way."

"Hm."

Leo nodded.

"But I thought Erebos could only use fire?"

Rian thought for a moment, then answered.

"What I'm about to say is just my theory."

Leo nodded, recognizing that a god's theory was as close to omniscient as it gets.

"Even we gods do not know the origin of that primordial evil. It simply existed one day and wished for the world's end ever since."

"So?"

"It possesses many divine authorities. But the strongest is undoubtedly the Undying Flame."

The power that defines Erebos.

"But something always puzzled me. An undying fire means it keeps burning—growing stronger with time. But while the gods suppressed it for ages, it had nothing left to burn."

As the gods' power waned, Erebos kept burning itself.

Even an eternal flame will eventually die if there's nothing left to consume.

So Erebos had spent ages burning its own body.

But in the end, it never consumed itself entirely.

"You think it might have had a way to suppress its own flame?"

"Yes."

Rian nodded.

"Some gods suspected that Erebos might have devoured evil gods of similar nature to become what it is now. That would explain its wide range of powers."

Leo understood the theory.

"You think it might've once devoured an evil god with freezing powers?"

"Yes. Perhaps it used that power to control its own heat output."

Leo stroked his chin.

"Erebos is split into six fragments now, right?"

Leo had sealed it into six pieces during the final battle.

From there, one logical conclusion could be drawn.

"One of those fragments with freezing power has awakened?"

"That would be my humble prediction. Though, as you said, it's also very possible that the Lich King granted that authority to a commander."

After hearing that, Leo felt a chill run down his spine.

'If it's really a fragment of Erebos, as Rian suspects, this is going to be a serious problem.'