Editor : Amethyst00



KWAGAGAGAGANG—!

Hundreds of ice tendrils surged toward Elena.

Annoyance flickered across Elena's face as she idly twirled a strand of her blonde hair with her fingertips.

Fwoooosh—

Lyl rushed in front of her.

The ice tendrils instantly melted away.

"Elena-sunbae! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine."

"…? You don't look fine."

Lyl looked flustered.

Elena replied with an expressionless face.

"No."

'She doesn't look fine…'

But Lyl didn't say that aloud.

It was clear that Elena was genuinely in a foul mood.

The only reason she said she was fine was because of her pride.

'This is irritating.'

Elena glared at the ice tendrils in front of her with a twitch of irritation.

Beyond those tendrils was the female demon of legion commander class they had seen earlier.

The problem was, they couldn't break through these ice tendrils.

Elena's magic was consistently blocked.

That fact alone made her anxious.

'At this rate, I'm worse than Lyl.'

She bit her lip slightly as she watched Lyl charge at the tendrils.

Lyl couldn't destroy them either.

But their roles were different.

Lyl's role was to take the front line and block enemy attacks.

Of course, Lyl was so versatile that she could act as a supporter moving between front and rear, or even the main firepower dealing heavy blows from the rear.

Still, her best role was crushing enemies up front.

In that sense, Lyl was doing her job perfectly—

Holding back the tendrils so Elena could cast her spells.

Elena had tried to prepare magic that could obliterate the tendrils in one go.

But every time she did, she failed.

As soon as a strong enough magical wave was detected, the tendrils went berserk and targeted only Elena.

In the end, the only thing she managed to do was melt a portion of the tendrils.

But they regenerated instantly.

Even Lyl could manage that much.

Tsk—!

Elena clicked her tongue in frustration.

She knew exactly what the problem was.

'Lack of ability.'

Their opponent was a legion commander-class demon.

Too much for both Elena and Lyl to handle right now.

But that demon hadn't even launched a proper attack yet.

In such a situation, Lyl was doing her part—

While Elena wasn't.

That was unacceptable to her.

Elena's eyes quivered.

'…I'm graduating this year.'

She wouldn't be a student much longer.

She would leave school and begin truly walking the path of a hero, facing Tartaros.

She understood what that meant.

'It means stepping out of Leo's shadow.'

Even though she pretended otherwise, Elena had been leaning on Leo emotionally.

'He's the Hero of Beginning, after all.'

She knew Leo had shown her the path and pushed her forward countless times.

So to her, graduation meant stepping out from under his wings.

From now on, she'd have to find her own path.

She couldn't rely on the safety of Leo Plov's protection anymore.

'I can't always be the one being protected.'

There was a hint of regret—

But no real attachment.

What she did have was ambition.

'Before I graduate, I want to get a little closer.'

It was both a desire to be of help to the ideal hero she admired and a matter of pride as the queen of Lumene.

A strong desire to become the most reliable ally to the Hero of Beginning.

That's why she wanted to prove something—before she graduated.

But now she had hit a wall, helpless.

'Just surpassing my limits won't be enough.'

She bit her lip hard.

'A little more… just a bit more…!'

Just as frustration overtook her, Elena flinched.

She felt someone's gaze behind her and turned quickly.

'Leo…!'

"Elena-sunbae!"

Lyl's urgent voice called out.

At that moment—

KWAGAGAGAK—!

A tendril burst from the ground, aiming to pierce her stomach.

CLANG—!

Elena blocked it with a shield formed from all her remaining mana.

She prevented it from piercing her—

But she couldn't fully absorb the impact and was flung back.

"Gahk?!"

Blood gushed from her mouth.

By coincidence, she was flung in the direction where Leo had suddenly appeared and was seated.

Elena expected Leo to catch her.

But…

Whoosh—!

"What?!"

Leo, with a bored expression, simply watched her fly past.

Gritting her teeth, Elena cast a wind spell.

FWOOSH—!

She barely managed to stop mid-air and glared.

"You damn bastard! Would it kill you to catch me?!"

Leo's cold indifference made Elena scream in frustration.

Her disappointment turned quickly into anger.

She charged him, grabbed his collar, and shook him furiously.

"Hyung!"

Lyl smiled brightly, waving her hammer.

"Hoyt!"

WHAM—!

She swung and smashed a giant tendril.

"You're fighting well."

"Oh, now you're ignoring me?!"

Elena looked about ready to breathe fire as she shouted at Leo.

He replied calmly, "No. Just…"

"Just what?!"

"I thought you wanted to graduate from being the princess waiting to be rescued."

"…"

At Leo's words, Elena slowly released her grip on his collar.

Then she glared at him, grinding her teeth.

"You've never actually rescued me."

"I did treat you like a spoiled princess, though."

"That's it?"

"People never notice when they're on the receiving end."

His brazen response made Elena click her tongue and turn away.

Leo smiled as he watched her back.

Then, he reached toward Lysinas, who was connected to him by soul.

Though far away, Lysinas' black cloak opened a subspace.

Leo retrieved a staff from it.

It was a small staff about the length of a dagger, with a greyish hue.

Leo looked down at it and spoke.

"Elena."

"…?"

Elena turned with a puzzled face.

Leo tossed the staff to her.

"It doesn't have a name. Give it one yourself."

"This is…?"

"Ask Drianna. She should be able to restore it to its original form."

Elena looked between Leo and the staff in confusion.

"Elena Zeron."

"Yes?"

Startled by the sudden use of her full name, Elena instinctively responded formally.

Leo's presence overwhelmed her.

"None of the Great Heroes you met ever gave you advice, right?"

Indeed, the Hero of Beginning never gave her advice.

He only showed her the way.

The Poet of Star, who gifted spells to talented mages, had given Elena no spells.

The Wise Queen, who led heroes, offered no guidance.

"Ever wonder why?"

"Well…"

She pretended it didn't bother her—

But it did.

With her twisted, arrogant personality, maybe the other heroes hadn't seen her as endearing.

She never thought of herself as the lovable type.

So she brushed it off.

But hearing it now from the source, she was caught off guard.

She looked at Leo with confused eyes.

Leo answered.

"Because you were already standing on the same stage as us."

When someone's preparing to step onto the stage, it's only natural for seniors to help.

But once you're on it—

You don't need that guidance.

It only causes confusion.

What you do need is someone to keep you from falling off.

Leo had already been playing that role for her.

So Luna and Lysinas didn't offer advice either.

"You might want to be a princess, but you were born a queen."

Leo clicked his tongue.

"So stop being such a clingy brat and grow up already.

"You've got genius-level talent, so why's your head still so messed up?"

"…"

Elena pouted and turned toward Lyl.

Just before heading back into battle, she asked,

"Still… I'm young and immature. You'll let me whine just a bit, right?"

"Not anymore."

"Hmph!"

She snorted and flew off—

But her face was full of smiles.

Leo clicked his tongue as he watched her go.

"I wonder when she'll grow up."

bl

'Genius, huh.'

It was never a word she considered for herself.

Because it had always come as naturally as breathing.

But now, a great hero had acknowledged her.

Not just anyone—

The Hero of Beginning.

Elena fiddled with the gray staff in her hand.

He hadn't said whose it was—

But she knew.

'The staff used by the Hero of Beginning.'

She summoned her magic.

Lyl, fending off the ice tendrils, reacted to her magic and moved swiftly.

Goooooooo—!

Magic surged from Elena.

The tendrils instantly honed in on her.

Her pink eyes glowed.

'They said Lady Luna could cast spells freely even while moving quickly.'

Even during rapid movement, her incantations never broke.

Elena could do that with simple spells—

But not top-tier ones.

Still…

'He acknowledged me. Said I was a genius.'

That acknowledgement filled her with confidence.

Baseless, maybe—

But it felt like she could do it.

After all, it was the opinion of the man who saved the world.

'Well, if it goes wrong, he'll save me anyway.'

Not that it was so simple.

Maintaining powerful magic while moving aggressively was dangerous.

If she made a mistake, her mana circuits could be damaged, making magic impossible.

'And if that happens, I'll just tell him it's his fault.'

Elena didn't care.

She had been recognized by the Hero of Beginning as a comrade.

She couldn't stay here.

She had to break through every limit again and again.

Goooooo—

Her mana trembled.

Her incantation flowed like water.

Leo immediately realized whose style she was imitating.

Dodging the insane tendrils with flight magic, she completed her spell with dual incantation.

At last, Elena shouted the spell's name.

"Extinction"

FLASH—! KWAGAGAGAGANG—!

A spell said to be the strongest among all existing magic—

The star sorcery, Extinction, obliterated the ice tendrils.

"Elena-sunbae! That was amazing!"

Lyl's eyes widened in awe.

As the ice tendrils vanished, the second Priestess appeared.

Elena, barely holding her trembling body together, lifted her chin.

She looked toward Leo with proud dignity.

Leo smirked as he watched.

"Honestly… If she didn't throw tantrums, I'd have a hard time treating her like a kid."