Editor : Amethyst00



"No, that's not it."

"Huh? It's not?"

"Yeah. This is how you handle a Phoenix."

As Leo opened his palm, Lunia watched it with a tense expression.

From atop Leo's palm, Fiora was summoned.

Fiora fluttered her wings.

Seeing Fiora spewing flames, Lunia wore a startled expression.

"This is… completely different from how you handle Phoenixes."

"That's right."

"I wanted to learn a bit of your way, though."

Looking at Lunia, who wore a disappointed expression, Leo spoke.

"There's no need to copy me. And honestly, I'm not that good at handling Phoenixes."

"What?"

"The summon I'm best at handling is Pegasus."

"You can summon even Pegasus?"

"For now…"

"What kind of monster are you…?"

Lunia gave him a look of disbelief.

Right now, Leo was teaching Lunia how to handle a Phoenix.

It was also the summoning technique used by the Lunia of Leo's timeline.

Since it was the method another Lunia used, after all—

It suited Lunia better than any other way.

'Of course, I'm not teaching her exactly the same way.'

He was deliberately not teaching her a perfected summoning technique so that Lunia would think through it herself and reach realization.

Rustle—

"Lunia, I've been thinking for a while now… shouldn't your Phoenix lose some weight?"

At that moment, Leah approached the two.

Fiora, who had been rolling wildly on the ground nearby, flapped her wings in protest upon hearing Leah's words.

Seeing that, Leah crossed her arms.

"Yeah. But it's true she's gained weight. I can't tell if she's a Phoenix or a pig."

At the word "pig," Fiora drooped in shock.

Just as Lunia hurriedly tried to comfort her—

"Lunia. Sorry, but can I talk to Leo for a bit?"

At that, Lunia nodded and stepped away.

Leah sat next to Leo and spoke.

"Leo."

"Yeah?"

"What do you think about the Lumene students right now…?"

"You already know the answer."

"……"

The place they were in now was the garden of the Plov estate.

Leah silently gazed at Leo's side profile.

"You've changed a lot, Kyle."

"You haven't changed at all."

"I'm not a dragon anymore, I'm human now."

"You know I wasn't talking about that."

"…Haha."

Leah let out an awkward laugh.

"In the past, I used to guide you."

"……"

"Now, you're the one guiding me."

"Got a problem with that?"

"It's not that I have a problem… it's just…"

The evening glow was setting in.

Leo's red eyes looked even more vivid.

"You've become more handsome."

Leah muttered without realizing.

Leo turned to her with an incredulous expression.

"Huh?"

In that moment, Leah realized what she had just said and her face turned bright red.

"I-I mean! Compared to your face from your past life, now is even more…!"

"Leo! Let's go get a drink tonight, just the two of us!"

At that moment, Rune came running and hugged Leo from behind.

"Don't talk to this scheming woman. You might get conned again and end up roped in."

"Conning? I only hid my feelings because I had no choice!"

"Whatever! The fact remains you couldn't even express your feelings honestly and sneakily pulled tricks behind the scenes!"

"I said I had no choice! Unlike you, I don't just suppress my feelings out of pride!"

The two entangled, fighting—wack wack!—pinched each other's cheeks.

"At least I proposed honestly! It's this dumbass who didn't get it!"

"Whether it's this idiot's fault or not! I had noble reasons!"

Leo, who had been mentioned for no reason during their fight, grabbed both their cheeks with his hands.

"You damned lizard and rotten pointy-ears—who are you calling dumbass and idiot?"

"What the hell are you doing!"

"Did we say anything wrong?!"

Leah and Rune reached out and pinched Leo's cheeks.

Watching the three of them pinching each other's faces, Carl spoke from a distance.

"To be honest, I was kinda jealous 'cause Rune-nim liked him one-sidedly. Thought Leo must've saved the country in a past life."

"And?"

When Lunia, arms crossed, tilted her head, Carl clicked his tongue.

"But seeing Leah also having feelings for Leo… I feel bad for him."

"Why?"

"Do those two look like normal women to you? No way anyone could handle them."

"Well, true."

Even now, it looked like a terrifying love triangle.

It might look like a cute cheek-pulling fight, but the aura coming off the three was downright sinister.

As Lunia nodded in agreement—

From one side of the garden, where she had been reading a book elegantly, Reina spoke.

"Not at all."

"Huh?"

"Surprisingly, guys like that can live well even with both those types."

"…Leo must've saved not a country, but the entire world in his past life."

Just as Carl was seriously considering it—

"Lunia!"

"Hm? Eiran, what is it?"

As Eiran came running in, Lunia looked puzzled.

"A-guest has arrived!"

"Guest?"

Lunia blinked in confusion.

If a guest had come here, they were likely here for the Plov family.

Then why were they informing them?

"They're guests here to see Leah and Rune."

"Why are those fools fighting again?"

A voice came from behind, and Lunia widened her eyes.

"It's been a while. Seeing them fight like that again… it's kind of nostalgic?"

As Kar smiled brightly, Valhar shook his head.

"Just hearing them makes my head throb."

"Both of you—long time no see."

"Hm? Rune's prim-and-proper junior, huh?"

"I'm not prim-and-proper!"

When Lunia snapped, Valhar laughed and approached the three.

Then, he grabbed Leah and Rune by the back of their necks and threw them backwards.

"Eh?!"

"What the hell are you doing, you damn dwarf!"

Leah and Rune landed on the ground.

"Are you both okay?"

Kar rushed over to them in a panic.

Leah and Rune looked at him.

"Kar!"

Rune ran toward him with a beaming smile and open arms.

"Eh? You're that happy to see me?"

Kar chuckled and stepped toward Rune.

In that instant, Rune locked him in a headlock.

"You damned bastard! If you knew, you should've told us right away! Why hide something like this?! If you're gonna hide something, at least hide the right stuff!"

"Eeek?! I just wanted to surprise you…"

"Surprise?! Suuuurpriiiiiise?!"

Rune snarled fiercely.

"L-Leah! Help!"

Kar pleaded tearfully, reaching toward Leah.

Leah grabbed Kar's hand—and twisted it.

"Aaaargh!"

"Unforgivable, Kar."

While Kar incurred the wrath of two Great Heroes at once—

"Hm."

Valhar looked at Leo and stroked his chin.

Leo gave a faint smile as he looked at him.

"…You've had a rough time."

"Of course I did, because of those idiots. Still…"

Valhar looked Leo up and down and grinned.

"You're quite different from your past life. Now you give off a beautiful light."

"Do I?"

"Yeah. On that note—"

Valhar spoke seriously.

"Ever considered being a nude model?"

At that line, Rune came dashing in and smacked the back of Valhar's head.

"You damned pervert, what kind of bullshit are you spouting!"

"Why are you getting upset?"

"Shut up! Absolutely not!"

With Rune shouting and Valhar looking exasperated—

Leo let out a small, dry laugh.

"What a shitshow."

It really was.

A complete mess.

"…As always."

Just like always.

Back then, it felt like a headache-inducing mess of noise.

But now, looking back, those were the happiest days.

Moments he thought he'd never face again—were now right before his eyes.

"Really…"

Leo's fists trembled slightly.

"We're just the same, aren't we."

To the point he felt like crying.

bl

"Damn it! Damn it all to hell!"

A stream of curses spilled from Nyx's mouth.

A chilling bloodlust boiled in her eyes.

The humiliation of having been overpowered by mere lower realm beings and forced to flee clawed at her body.

"If only I had regained my power—!"

"Wouldn't have made a difference."

To Nyx, who was venting her resentment, a voice spoke.

"They were simply beings too strong for the likes of you to handle."

A mocking laugh followed.

Nyx's face turned cold.

"I didn't expect there'd still be scraps left. You're stubborn as ever, Goddess of Frozen Death."

"Flame of Calamity."

Nyx turned toward Erebos.

And laughed in scorn.

"What is that, putting on the guise of some lowly lower realm creature? Even after devouring the powers of every evil god, you still lost to the gods… You've fallen quite far, haven't you?"

As Erebos looked at Nyx, who was clearly belittling him, he smiled.

"I didn't lose to the gods. If anything, I was defeated by monsters so revolting, they made the gods look preferable."

"Ha, and now you're trying to glorify your defeat?"

"It's not glorification. But you can learn something from it."

A glint flashed through Erebos's eyes.

Seeing that, Nyx scoffed.

"What could possibly be learned from defeat?"

"Frozen Death. Do you know why you lost to me?"

"Because you grew stronger than me by devouring the other evil gods."

"Wrong. Even if I hadn't absorbed the others, I could've dealt with you easily."

"What…?"

"The reason I devoured you last was simple. I could've done it anytime. But if I devoured you first, it would've drawn unnecessary attention from the other evil gods. That's all there was to it."

Erebos smiled.

"That smile… how revolting. It's the same as that beast's grin just moments ago."

Nyx bared her killing intent.

"Let me correct your delusions. I'll show you… that in a fair fight, you were never stronger than me—"

Crack—!

Before she could finish her sentence, Erebos's sword blew off Nyx's head.

"Wha—…?"

"Let me tell you why you lost."

Erebos stomped on Nyx's fallen head as he spoke.

"It's because of arrogance. When a god loses to mere lower realm beastkin and dwarves, he should ask himself why. But you never even considered it."

With a twisted smile, Erebos said,

"Let me tell you why I've taken on a human form."

As Nyx's body trembled in resistance, Erebos raised his sword.

"This form… is the most perfect one for hunting evil gods."

Fwoooosh—

Black flames gathered along the blade.

Moments later—

Nyx, without even managing to scream, vanished without a trace.

Burned and consumed.

"Before the Great Calamity, I bow."

"It's been a while, Lich King."

"Congratulations on your resurrection."

The Lich King, who had said so, presented a lump of black rock, like a piece of coal, to Erebos.

Accepting it, Erebos smiled.

"So this makes half."

"At last, the time to destroy this world—"

"No."

Erebos answered calmly.

"This is the era where all the Great Heroes have returned. There are too many variables to risk clashing with them now."

"Pardon? But if they fully recover their power…"

"Yes."

Erebos looked up at the sky.

"Normally, now would be the right time to fight. But there's no reason to take such risk."

"Please… grant your lowly servant insight…"

Erebos smiled coldly.

"Conveniently, a world has just come into being—where not a single Great Hero exists."