Editor : Amethyst00



Crack—

The shards of ice shattered by Leo began returning to their original place.

Before long, the demon regained its original form.

A moment later—

Ssshhh—

The demon, restored to its original appearance, tilted its head a few times.

Crrrk— Crrrk—

Thin ice fell to the ground.

Even though its neck had been severed and its face had been blown away, it didn't seem particularly shocked.

"How rude, you mortal."

He looked down at Leo and revealed his anger.

"You think such a lowly attack could possibly—"

Slice—!

Once again, before the demon could finish speaking, Leo sliced off its mouth.

"Why do you talk so much?"

Leo spoke indifferently.

Once again, with only the jaw left, the ancient demon's head was sent flying, but it quickly regenerated and showed its fury.

"You—!"

At that shout, Leo and Lysinas leapt into the air.

Boom—!

Something invisible crushed the ground where Leo and Lysinas had just been.

Landing lightly on the ground, Lysinas looked at Leo and said,

"Looks like you haven't fixed that personality of yours."

Among the five Great Heroes, the one most hated by the demons of Tartaros was none other than the Hero of the Beginning.

It wasn't simply because Leo had defeated Erebos.

The deep-rooted hatred demons held toward the Hero of the Beginning had been embedded in them since the Age of Calamity.

'Kyle was the one who hunted demons the most cruelly among us.'

Leo never granted demons a clean death.

He humiliated and slaughtered them as brutally as possible.

Because of that, Leo became both the most hated and the most avoided opponent from the demons' perspective.

"By the way, what's the principle behind that regeneration?"

Leo tilted his head as he looked at the high-ranking demon.

It wasn't that his attacks had no effect.

But no actual damage remained.

Even after slicing off its neck and face, it simply returned to its original form—not healed, just restored.

No particular power seemed to be involved in the process.

'Does it have a core? But that would be inefficient, wouldn't it?'

Having a core allows for infinite regeneration, but it also has the fatal flaw of complete destruction if the core is broken.

To make up for that flaw, one might hide the core outside the body.

But if the location is revealed, it's still dangerous, and when regeneration activates, the core's location becomes easily traceable.

That's why Tartaros's high-ranking demons didn't form cores.

Leo, trying to locate the core using his extrasensory perception, tilted his head.

'I can't detect it?'

Apparently, there was something special going on.

"You dare grow arrogant just because you possess the power of a wicked god! I shall make you feel the fear of death! Order of Repose! As representative of Priestess Ameriol! In the name of me, Karmol, grant this insolent mortal a suffering worse than death!"

At Karmol's cry, the knights moved.

Each one of them possessed power equivalent to a high-ranking demon.

Whoooooosh—!

A sinister aura of death poured out.

Seeing that, Leo clenched and unclenched his fist and was about to step forward.

"I'll handle it."

"Don't push yourself."

"Push myself?"

Lysinas tilted her head.

"Just with this?"

"Well, excuse me."

It was true—Lysinas was in her spirit form now.

To use her powers properly, she needed Leo's help.

Even so, the fact remained that she was the Wise Queen, Lysinas.

"So?"

Slice—!

Golden aura flared up from Leo's sword.

Crack-crack-crack-!

A golden slash flew forward, tearing apart the knights.

A slash like the claw of a beast.

It was Aaron's sword technique.

But soon, the shattered demons returned to their original forms.

"Did you figure out how their regeneration works?"

"Yes."

Nodding, Lysinas looked at the ice pillar.

"There must be a legion commander-level demon nearby controlling them."

"You lowly reptile! How dare you compare the noble priestess to that hideous monster! You wish to—!"

Slice—!

Leo blasted off Karmol's upper body with magic.

"Who are you calling a reptile?"

"Leo…"

"I'm the only one allowed to call her that."

Crunch—!

Lysinas stomped on Leo's foot.

"You lowly slave race…!"

Though Karmol regained his form, Leo and Lysinas paid no attention.

"That top-level demon among them is probably the core."

"So it ends by taking off one head, huh. That's a simpler structure than I thought."

"The stronger the power, the simpler the mechanism."

Hearing their conversation, Karmol grimaced.

'They figured it out instantly?'

Long ago—

When Nyx was defeated and devoured by Erebos—

Styx, who served Nyx, retreated without fighting Tartaros.

At the time, Erebos had consumed other evil gods, forming a force that Nyx could never handle.

So Nyx chose to bide her time and ordered her faithful saints and priestesses to hide across the continent.

Eventually, after Nyx was swallowed by Erebos—

Styx's demons fell into unconsciousness.

But now, those demons had opened their eyes again.

A sign their master had returned!

No one knew how much time had passed.

But upon realizing there were humans living on the land where they had slumbered, Priestess Ameriol began to act.

She would grant eternal rest to those on this land and then return to their goddess, Nyx.

And in the process, she found a human imbued with the repulsive power of the heavenly gods.

Divine power.

One powerful enough to rival Nyx's own.

The demons of Styx knew their goddess had weakened.

If they offered that divine power to her, she could regain her former strength.

Moreover, stealing that power from a lowly human would not be difficult.

But the dragon accompanying that human instantly saw through the weakness of the Order of Repose.

The warriors of Styx led by the second priestess were all beings blessed by her.

They had been granted infinite vitality, but in return, their fates were bound to the second priestess.

A long time ago—

Even when the second priestess and the Order of Repose spread death's blessing throughout the world, no one had ever seen through that truth.

If anyone had, they hadn't lived to tell the tale.

But this dragon saw through it in mere minutes.

Karmol felt vaguely uneasy, but ignored it.

'They're strong, perhaps, but still mere humans and a dragon.'

Before Nyx disappeared, humans were nothing but slaves to Styx.

Most dragons had rejected Nyx's grace and followed the incompetent gods of the heavens—but that was all.

Whether or not they saw through the second priestess's secret didn't matter.

Even if they stood before her, it would change nothing.

'Before the priestess's overwhelming might, they will kneel.'

Karmol sneered.

'What can the likes of you possibly do?'

"You head to the ice pillar, Kyle."

"It is an offense for a lowly human to stand before the priestess. Where do you think you're—"

Slice—!

Karmol's own shadow rose like a blade and cut off his head.

And that wasn't all.

Crash-crash-crash-crash—!

The shadows of the Order of Repose rose, wrapped around their bodies, and dragged them into the ground.

The knights who had surrounded the pair froze in place.

"I'm going ahead."

As the encirclement disappeared, Leo dashed toward the ice pillar at tremendous speed.

["Wow."]

At that moment, Elsie, summoned into Lysinas's palm, let out an admiring sound.

["How should I put it… Lysinas's spirit arts are similar to Leo's but also different. The power usage is so efficient."]

It was Elsie who had bound the Order of Repose.

Currently, Leo and Lysinas were connected through a pact.

With Leo's permission, Lysinas could act as his proxy at any time.

Using that authority, Lysinas had used Elsie's power.

"Leo's spirit art framework is based on mine."

["So you were Leo's teacher, Lysinas."]

"Not exactly a teacher. He just watched and copied me well."

Lysinas smiled as she looked at Elsie.

That gaze made Elsie widen her eyes and touch her face.

["Do I have something on my face?"]

"No. It's just… When I first met you, I really wanted to form a pact with you."

Of course, Elsie had no memory of that.

She existed now only as a reward from the Hero Record, persisting in this world.

In actual history, Elsie disappeared 5,000 years ago.

But she remembered what Lysinas had once told her.

["You said that. But at the time, I needed Leo more than I needed you, Lysinas… Huh?"]

"Yeah. That's right."

Lysinas brought her face close to Elsie's and inhaled.

["L-Lysinas, you're too close."]

"Do you know how much I've wanted to handle you?"

Lysinas's eyes sparkled unusually.

It was a rare expression for her.

Pure desire as a elementals master.

If Leo had seen it, he'd surely have called her a pervert, but Leo wasn't here right now.

Just as she had said, 5,000 years ago—

Lysinas had fallen in love at first sight with the shadow elemental Elsie.

She was instinctively drawn to the powerful dark elemental who held the power of a black dragon.

But back then, she couldn't embrace the wounded Elsie.

The ideals Lysinas spread—of bright futures and hope—did not match the despairing and broken Elsie.

So back then, Elsie chose Kyle, whose temperament was closer to hers.

Knowing a forced pact would be meaningless, Lysinas had no choice but to swallow her regret.

But now things were different.

As an elemental master, she could finally wield the power of her most compatible elemental.

'If that elemental is the strongest, then for an elemental master, it's a tremendous blessing.'

It was a blessing that only someone who had once saved the world could enjoy.

'Ah, wait—I've already saved the world once.'

As that silly thought passed her mind—

Boom—!

The Order of Repose, breaking free of Elsie's binding, began exuding terrifying killing intent.

"You think we'd fall for such a petty trick again?!"

Karmol released his aura.

"Don't get cocky, dragon! A mere slave race can never even touch the priestess!"

"Slave race… I see. I remember reading in ancient texts that some humans were slaves to demons. So it was your kind who enslaved them."

Lysinas nodded as though realizing something new.

An ancient document from an untraceable era.

When she translated and read it, she'd had doubts.

Tartaros didn't take humans as slaves.

They only categorized surface races in two ways:

To kill immediately.

Or to use and then kill.

Erebos's wish was to burn the world to ashes, leaving nothing behind.

Knowing that, when she read that demons once enslaved humans, she found it strange.

But if it was another evil god, it made sense.

Their ultimate goals were different from Erebos's.

'If their goal was to freeze the world into an unchanging death… then enslaving humans would be understandable.'

A world of absolute, immutable stasis.

To realize that, extinction couldn't come too early.

Lysinas couldn't relate to that logic, but she understood that trying to comprehend even the gods—let alone evil ones—only led to headaches.

So she just nodded calmly, acknowledging a new fact.

"But you see… the era you lived in and now are very different. Especially that guy who just left—he's a master at slaughtering demons."

Lysinas smiled softly.

"Hmph! How terrifying is ignorance! To forget our fearsome nature."

Karmol sneered.

"No matter how strong you are, it doesn't matter. Mortals like you cannot defeat us, the people of Styx, servants of the goddess of death."

"Common sense, huh…"

Lysinas chuckled faintly.

Her eyes stared quietly at Karmol.

They glimmered with insight.

That insight had allowed her to see through the Order of Repose's regeneration in an instant.

This power was what had earned her the title Wise Queen.

Lysinas calmly observed the knights.

"Did you know? Common sense exists to be broken. And from the start, we were beings outside common sense."

If they had been ordinary…

They would never have saved the world.

Lysinas gently caressed Elsie's cheek with her other hand as she sat on her palm, kneeling.

Elsie straightened her back and widened her eyes.

["Huh?"]

Without realizing it, Elsie let out a gasp as darkness began seeping from her body.

That darkness flowed down Lysinas's arm, merged with her shadow, and extended outward to touch the shadows of the Order of Repose.

"You think we'd fall for that lowly trick again?"

Thinking it was another shadow restraint, Karmol sneered.

Lysinas looked at him and smiled.

"Let me tell you one thing. Even if he don't deal with that priestess or whatever, I can still defeat you."

"Ignorance is terrifying. To think it could inspire such baseless hope…"

Slice—!

"…Wha?"

Karmol's voice halted in confusion.

'What is this?'

Had his opponent chopped off his head again?

No.

Thud—!

Karmol's head fell to the ground and rolled.

He looked up at who had beheaded him.

It was none other than a Order of Repose.

The demons' bodies began trembling.

Then—

Crunch! Crack! Slash!

The knights turned their weapons on one another.

Limbs were severed and a horrifying slaughter unfolded.

"W-What is this…?"

Karmol's face twisted in horror.

"You… What the hell are you?!"

"Hmm… What should I say? Wise Queen? Foolish One? Those titles are kind of hard to feel… Ah!"

Lysinas, who had been pondering, smiled brightly.

"Slayer."

"…What?"

"I'm the hero who's killed more demons than anyone in the world."