Editor : Amethyst00



Whoooosh—

The wind blew past, carrying with it the acrid stench of burning.

Leo's white hair fluttered as he stared at Erebos—wearing the face of Kyle—with crimson eyes.

In that moment, it felt as if time had frozen.

"Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings? That's absurd! Even if he really existed, he's a figure from five thousand years ago. What the hell is going on?"

"Is someone impersonating the real one…?"

The delegation from the Lordren Empire began murmuring uneasily.

Then—

Flash—!

Rune extended her hand and summoned her magical staff.

Snap—!

With steely eyes burning with murderous intent, she leveled it at Erebos.

KRAKABABABANG—!!

A tremendous burst of magical energy erupted from Rune's staff.

Though the spell had been cast in a mere instant, its power defied all imagination.

Everyone turned to Rune in disbelief.

"She cast a spell of that magnitude in that short a time?"

A magician from Lordren muttered in disbelief.

This was magic that far exceeded the limits of common understanding.

"Student Council President of Seiren—attacking without warning, isn't that too rash—?"

Reina stepped forward, flustered, but Leo responded coolly:

"That was a fragment of Erebos."

"What?!"

Reina's eyes widened as Leo, drawing his sword, answered flatly.

"Hey! Leo! Are you sure?"

Carl asked in alarm. Leo, eyes fixed on the smoke-choked impact zone, nodded.

"Positive. That attack just now could've injured even a legion commander."

WHOOOOOSH—

Wind swept away the dust.

And when the haze cleared, all of them were left speechless.

They'd known the magic had been powerful.

But still…

"The mountain…"

Carl's jaw dropped.

There was nothing left at the spot where Rune's spell had landed.

It wasn't a matter of the terrain being altered.

Everything the magic had touched had been completely erased.

Seeing the yawning crater, Carl swallowed hard.

Rune—the prodigy known as the genius of the century.

She'd long since proven that even the word genius was too small a name for hers.

As the reincarnation of the Poet of the Star, she had overcome countless trials.

Trials so severe, most would have died several times over.

And even then, Carl had always sensed that neither Rune nor her fellow reincarnate, Leah, had ever truly shown their full strength.

But this… this was beyond anything he'd imagined.

"And this is still just a glimpse of what she can do…"

Carl's face twisted in awe and dread.

Step— Step—

Through the thick haze, Erebos emerged.

"…Hm?"

He tilted his head slightly.

Ssshhh—

Then stretched out his left hand.

Fwoooosh—

Black flames swirled—and with them, a massive greatsword materialized in his grasp.

Leo and Rune's eyes narrowed.

"It's the same."

The way he drew the sword from subspace.

Even the tiniest habits—identical to the Hero of Beginnings.

Thud—!

Erebos gripped the greatsword with both hands.

Clicking his tongue, Leo rushed forward.

"Rune!"

"Tch!"

Rune began conjuring mana.

Instead of the longsword he held, Leo reached into his own subspace and pulled out a greatsword identical to Erebos's.

Whooooom—Fsssshhhh—

Seeing the black aura forming around Erebos's blade, Leo grit his teeth and drew forth his own gray aura.

WHOOSH—!

Erebos swung his sword—and the very air trembled.

Before that blow could fully descend, Leo countered with his gray-aura-clad sword.

Gray and black aura clashed.

Just before the swords collided, Rune deployed a shielding spell.

The impact—two massive forces colliding—twisted the very air and split the ground beneath them.

And with it came a titanic shockwave.

"Huh? Why can't I hear anyth—"

Lunia mumbled to herself before stiffening.

'No sound…'

She couldn't hear.

Panicking, she turned to Eiran beside her, who was clearly shouting—but no sound reached her ears.

The shockwave had blown Leo back.

SKREEEEEE—KRAKAKAKANG—!

A high-pitched whine screeched in their ears as sound finally returned in a violent burst.

Everyone instinctively clutched their heads.

"Guh…! Just how much power was behind that blow?!"

Reina shouted, stunned.

"Is Leo okay? Rune-sunbae! Wouldn't it be better to stop that kind of attack with magic—?"

"No. That strike couldn't be blocked by magic."

"Huh?"

"That wasn't just aura in that sword swing."

Rune's gaze turned icy as she glared at Erebos.

"It had magic too. A powerful dispel spell."

"W-What? But there's no way a dispel spell could cancel out your magic so easily—"

"It can."

Rune bit her lip.

"If the strength of the magic can be weakened, aura can destroy magic."

Rune was, by every standard, a flawless magician.

From theory and research to the most advanced combat magic, none could surpass her.

Among those she had studied, the only one who had rivaled her in magical theory and development was Lysinas.

"But when it comes to combat magic…"

Step— Step—

Rune clenched her jaw as Erebos—still wearing Kyle's face—approached.

'Kyle…'

His sense for incorporating magic into combat. His versatility in weaving magic into martial arts and summoning alike.

Kyle was a mage even Rune couldn't help but admire.

And Kyle's signature technique—infusing dispel spells into aura to break through enemy wards— It sounded simple, but it was a ludicrous feat only someone of his caliber as a magic swordsman could pull off.

"So it's not just his appearance that Erebos copied…"

Rune clenched her fist.

"And judging by the strength of that sword strike… it's close to Kyle in his prime."

The power he had right before the final expedition.

Rune knew—at her current level, she couldn't face that alone.

"Is Leo… gonna be okay?"

Carl's voice trembled with concern.

Rune curved the corner of her lips.

"Of course, I'm not alone anymore."

"You think that's enough to take him down? He's not the type to go down easy. He's stubborn as hell."

"What, I don't even get a little concern?"

Leo appeared beside Rune, using teleportation magic, brushing dust off his body like it was nothing.

Carl's eyes widened.

"Wha—what?! Leo! You can use magic?!"

"Yeah, so?"

"But you've used aura and summoning! How the hell can you use magic too?!"

Leo chuckled as Carl gawked at him.

"Didn't I mention it? I'm all-class."

"What?"

Carl blinked dumbly.

The others stared at Leo in shock.

Ignoring their reactions, Leo turned to Erebos and spoke.

"Lady Reina."

"Yes?"

"Please take the investigation team and the others to the Plov territory."

"What? We're fighting it too!"

"Y-Yeah! We can't just leave the two of you alone!"

Lunia and Eiran protested fiercely, but Leo answered firmly.

"Sorry, but this battlefield is still too much for you."

A year ago, when Leo had yet to recover even half his strength, he had relied on the help of the students.

But now, things were different.

He had reclaimed far more power than he'd had back then.

"And Luna is here too."

When it came to fighting together, there was no one he could draw greater synergy with than Luna.

Unlike the Aaron from that time, she, like Leo, was a reincarnator—not at full power yet, but it didn't matter.

They were a perfect match.

"And more importantly…"

"That isn't our only enemy."

"Huh?"

RUMMMMBLE—

The ground began to quake.

Rune perked up.

"Leo, don't tell me…"

"Yeah."

Leo's eyes sharpened as he stared at Erebos—still wearing Kyle's face.

"It's his right hand."

"Tch… This just got annoying."

Rune stretched out her hand, irritated.

"L-Lady Reina!"

A summoner with one eye covered rushed up, panic written all over his face.

"What is it?"

"A massive horde of monsters is marching toward the Plov territory!"

"What?! Where the hell did monsters come from all of a sudden?!"

"We don't know! But the numbers are overwhelming!"

Reina bit her lip hard.

Leo looked at her and spoke calmly.

"We'll handle things here. Please protect Plov."

"…Got it. Kids, follow me."

At Reina's command, Eiran and Carl quickly prepared to move.

"Senior Rune …"

Lunia lingered, her face heavy with worry.

Rune gave her a wink.

"Don't worry, Lunia. Just trust your big sister here."

"…"

"It'll be fine."

Rune threw an arm around Leo's shoulders.

"When the great Rune is teamed up with this guy, we're unbeatable!"

Lunia nodded solemnly and followed after the others toward Plov.

Once she had disappeared, Leo muttered offhandedly,

"We're not unbeatable, you know."

"You really had to say that right now?"

Rune glared at Leo and let go of his shoulder.

"Hey, you damned fireball. Why the hell are you wearing that face?"

"Ah, Luna Luminance."

Erebos—still wearing Kyle's face—smiled with clear amusement.

"A reincarnator, how fascinating. Then…"

He stroked his chin and turned to Leo.

"You must be the Surviving Hero, then."

"You thrilled to see me, huh?"

Leo sneered, his voice laced with killing intent.

Erebos seemed more entertained than threatened.

"Interesting. You're under the Blessing of Frozen Death."

Leo's eye twitched slightly.

"Which means… in that world, you're no longer there."

"…"

"How curious. Very curious indeed."

Erebos hummed with twisted delight.

"This bastard…"

Leo ground his teeth.

"I asked why you're pissing me off with that face!"

Rune growled furiously.

She wanted to punch that smug face into the dirt.

"Why this form? Why not guess?"

Erebos answered as if the question were silly.

"It's the strongest form I know of."