Editor : Amethyst00



Celia was pacing back and forth with a restless look on her face.

Watching her, Abad spoke up.

"Celia. Calm down a little."

"But still… they said there's going to be torture."

Celia's voice carried a tinge of anxiety.

An elf captured alive by Lunia.

Given the indiscriminate terror they unleashed on Davienne, there was no denying they were unforgivable.

Still, the idea that Leo would resort to torture to extract information made Celia uneasy.

And her discomfort stemmed from a simple reason.

Glance—glance—

Celia kept casting furtive glances toward the beautiful woman present in the room.

A beauty so breathtaking it could leave one speechless.

One of the two most beautiful people Celia had ever seen in her life.

Lysinas, the Wise Queen.

The only one who could rival her beauty and fame was Luna.

Five thousand years ago—

The dragon who chose the great heroes and saved the world.

While it may have been the Hero of the Beginning, Kyle, who opened the age of heroes as both the final and the first hero—

It was Lysinas who truly shaped that age.

That was an undeniable truth.

Just then, Lysinas's obsidian-like black eyes met Celia's gaze.

Celia instinctively looked away.

Seeing her reaction, Lysinas smiled gently and tapped the seat beside her.

"Would you come sit here for a moment?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!"

Celia, looking nervous, sat beside Lysinas.

Lysinas gently stroked Celia's head and said, "I know what's worrying you."

"…Sorry?"

"You're concerned your cousin might receive a bad impression from me, aren't you?"

Celia flinched at how accurately her thoughts had been read.

She wanted her cousin, Leo Plov, to be a flawless hero.

From her first year—no, ever since she first enrolled—Leo had guided her.

Not just her.

Leo was now the one leading Lumene.

Unless he gave up on the grand goal of completely eradicating Erebos—

It would not be anyone else, but Leo, who would lead not only Lumene, but the very notion of 'hero' into the future.

And yet, in Celia's eyes, torture was not something befitting a hero.

She couldn't help but worry that such an act might tarnish Lysinas's view of Leo.

"Ahh~ how sweet. I wish I had a little sister like you."

"I'm actually older than Leo."

"Aren't you two the same age?"

"My birthday's earlier."

At Celia's firm assertion, Lysinas covered her mouth and laughed.

Watching their conversation, Chen Xia chimed in.

"Give it up, Miss Celia. Leo-doryeong never treats you like an older sister. He doesn't even treat me that way."

"Right. Be grateful if he doesn't treat you like a kid."

Lunia added with a bored expression, and Eiran let out a small sigh.

"But Leo-nim treats us completely like kids."

Brushing her hair behind her ear, Celia spoke.

"Well, he treats me like an equal, at least."

"Pretty sure that's just what you think."

Chloe scratched her cheek.

As Lysinas chuckled at their exchange, she said, "In any case, you don't need to worry that I'll think poorly of Leo. Someone has to do it."

Lysinas closed her eyes.

"Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning, did the same thing 5000 years ago."

"Huh? Lord Kyle?"

Everyone was surprised by the unexpected comment.

"Well, The Book of Shadows is Lord Kyle's record, after all."

As Abad nodded, Lysinas continued.

"Yes. It was originally something I was supposed to do, too."

"You were supposed to?"

Chen Xia tilted her head in confusion, and Lysinas smiled, tapping the chair on her other side where Celia wasn't sitting.

As Chen Xia sat down, Lysinas gently patted her head as well and said, "Hunting down and eliminating the traitors of the world… That was originally the duty of the Black Dragon."

Everyone was shocked at those words.

"Our clan's role was to devour darkness from within the shadows."

Even for Chen Xia, who was part of the Shadows, this was unexpected.

"It was something someone had to do. Kyle took that burden upon himself."

Lysinas, lost in thought as she recalled the past, continued.

"Of course, Kyle wasn't the only one."

There was no way Kyle could carry the darkness of the world alone.

"You all probably think… we, the great heroes, were noble and pure."

But each of them had their own reasons, their own desires.

It wasn't as beautiful as the fairy tales made it seem.

They wandered, made wrong choices consumed by hatred.

No one was perfect, so in a way, it was inevitable.

"What's important is the will not to give up. As long as you never gave up in your own place and did your best, that was enough."

Lysinas smiled at the young hero candidates.

"All you need is to move forward with your own will."

"……"

"I don't think Leo Plov is unheroic. If anything, he embodies the ideal image of a hero."

At her words, Celia finally felt relieved.

That was when Chloe asked, "Lady Lysinas. These 'Ancient Heroes'—who were they exactly?"

"They're just cowards who passed the burden onto later generations. Beings who willingly became livestock of the evil gods."

Lysinas said calmly.

"They called themselves goddesses… So there are evil gods other than Erebos?"

Chloe asked, and Lysinas responded.

"To explain that, I'll need to start with the origins of Erebos."

She then told the hero candidates the story of how Erebos became the incarnation of evil destined to bring about the world's destruction, and how the Goddess of Frozen Death, Nyx, and Styx were resurrected.

"Ancient demons, huh."

"No wonder they felt so different from Tartaros."

"So one of Erebos's fragments has returned…"

The mood in the room turned grim.

Watching them, Lysinas let out a bitter smile.

'Of course they're afraid. For these children, this is an unprecedented disaster.'

They would have to face a fragment of Erebos.

Just that fact alone was enough to cause immense unease.

Lysinas spoke.

"If it's about that, don't worry."

Everyone turned to her.

"Because I'm here now."

She placed a hand over her heart and smiled.

It was a smile that had given hope to countless people.

"Don't worry. I will surely—"

"No, no. We can't just leave everything to you, Lady Lysinas."

Lunia raised her hand in protest.

"Last time when Lord Aaron came, we were of no help at all."

"It was only Leo-doryeong who really did anything back then."

"We can't just sit back and watch again. Leo-nim's goal is to completely destroy Erebos, isn't it?"

"Right. We can't keep trailing behind him forever."

"This time, we'll step up!"

As the young hero candidates hardened their resolve, Lysinas quietly laughed while watching them.

"Pfft… Hahaha!"

Then burst into a loud laugh.

"Lady Lysinas?"

Chloe called out, startled, and Lysinas wiped away the tears that had welled in her eyes and nodded.

"Yes. You are the successors of Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning. I was being rude to even momentarily forget that."

She beamed.

"It's truly wonderful… to have juniors I can believe in."

Just as the young heroes shyly smiled at her words—

Bang—!

The door swung open, and Leo entered.

"You've worked hard."

"Did you learn anything?"

Looking at the curious faces around him, Leo replied calmly.

"Seems like this country's First Princess has joined hands with Nyx."

"That princess… She's sided with the evil god after all."

Chen Xia scowled.

"About that—Xia, let's talk privately in a bit."

Leo folded his arms.

"Seems like you've already been told about Erebos's fragment."

Everyone nodded.

"We should probably tell the seniors, too."

Chloe raised her hand, but Leo replied indifferently.

"The seniors already knew before coming here."

"Wha—?! Then why didn't you tell us?!"

Chloe asked with a frustrated look.

"I figured there was no benefit in too many people knowing."

At Leo's reply, Chloe clenched her fists.

The other third-years also looked a little annoyed.

"So… the seniors are still more reliable than us, huh?"

Lunia asked with a slightly sour voice, arms crossed.

Leo just shrugged.

Seeing that, Lunia smirked.

"Just wait. Someday, I'll catch up and kick your butt."

With a snort, Leo replied, "If you don't catch up fast enough, I'll be the one kicking yours. So, try and keep up."

'Sometimes he pushes from behind, sometimes he pulls from the front, and sometimes he provokes them…'

Lysinas smiled gently, watching the seeds of heroism being nurtured by Leo.

'It's a beautiful sight.'

A wistful smile crept onto her face.

'…If only I—if only we had been born at the same time as Kyle… things might have been more joyful.'

She felt a pang of regret toward the cruelty of fate.

'Kyle didn't carry everything alone either…'

Having once carried that burden herself, she knew better than anyone how heavy it truly was.

And now Leo bore that same weight.

That she could not help carry it—that alone was heartbreaking.

'Grow up fast, little ones.'

Lysinas smiled faintly as she watched the heroes chosen by Leo.

bl

Crunch—! Sniff sniff sniff—!

A girl with white hair and cat ears poked her head out from the bushes, sniffing at the air.

Watching her, Ruwen, the fox beastkin, gave her a look full of exasperation.

"You really are like a dog."

"I'm a cat!"

Aru bristled her fur and hissed—Hiss!—then shouted,

"And besides, there's a perfectly good word like 'wolf,' so why 'dog' of all things?!"

"Because the student council president is a wolf. Anyway, are you sure this is the place?"

To Ruwen's question, Aru crossed her arms and nodded.

"Of course!"

"And how can you be so sure?"

"My sharp, wild instinct!"

As Aru's blue eyes sparkled, Ruwen's face contorted in disbelief.

"We're searching for the Hero Dungeon of Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning, and you want me to trust your instincts?!"

"Why not! I'm usually right!"

Aru puffed out her chest proudly.

"Even Senior Kar said my instincts are pretty accurate!"

"…Senior Kar is just unnecessarily nice. Always saying kind things just so fools won't get their feelings hurt."

Ruwen grabbed her head and shook it, sighing deeply.

Seeing her reaction, Aru stared at her sullenly, then suddenly grabbed her own fluffy tail—and bit it.

"Kyah! What are you doing?!"

"You're the one who called me a fool!"

As the two of them bickered—yap yap—Dion, watching from a distance, clicked his tongue.

"What the heck are those idiots doing?"

He then looked up toward the cliff far ahead.

At the top stood the wolf beastkin who reigned at the pinnacle of Azonia, gazing out over the dense jungle.

"Senior Kar. I think you need to step in and stop those two."

Dion used a magic communication orb to contact Kar.

["You do it."]

"I don't think I can manage. They'll only listen to you, Senior Kar."

["Yeah, but… they're scary…"]

The voice on the other end sounded genuine—and Dion could clearly imagine the student council president shrinking back with hunched shoulders, even without seeing him.

Dion sighed heavily and turned to the Azonia students who had come on the mission with him.

"Borman, Tavon. Let's go stop them."

At his words, Borman the tiger beastkin and Tavon the bear beastkin made their way toward Aru and Ruwen.

Dion looked up at the sky.

"This mission's not going to be smooth sailing."