Editor : Amethyst00



"Hah."

The Dark King, Dakhir, looked at Leo with a face full of disbelief.

"As expected. You really are the arrogant brat they say you are."

Goooooh—

A powerful murderous aura erupted from Dakhir's body.

Like smoke billowing out, dark mana surged from him.

"This magic… I see. Nightmare, is it?"

A sharp smile twisted Dakhir's lips.

"But where's the 'nightmare' in all this?"

Nightmare.

Originally, it was the unique magic created by Lysinas.

Being a draconic art, its structure was fundamentally different from ordinary magic systems.

Nowadays, it had been interpreted and reinterpreted to the point where anyone could use it—but its complexity and danger level remained at the highest tier.

To use Nightmare, one had to first master the language of dragons.

And possess deep understanding of the curses employed by the demons of Tartaros.

Because Nightmare itself was a magic built upon the foundation of "curse."

For this reason, in Dragonia, it was designated as a forbidden spell—too dangerous for unauthorized use.

A spell that forces one to confront the foe they most dread facing.

But the Nightmare used here was slightly different from the usual.

"…You've isolated my consciousness."

Dakhir sneered.

He was currently in a kind of shallow dream-state.

In reality, not even a split second had passed.

This was, quite literally, his dream.

Dakhir's eyes glinted coldly.

"Even if the spell had been fully cast, it wouldn't have been enough to shatter my mind… but I see now. Your petty scheme."

"Oh?"

"If my mind were to collapse from Nightmare, my body would go berserk. The resulting chaos would cause massive damage."

He grinned wickedly.

"But if I'm killed here, my spirit would die—and my body would no longer move. That's what you're aiming for, isn't it?"

"Correct."

"Fufufu! How does it feel to have your shallow trick exposed?"

"Disappointed."

"…What?"

"I'm sure even the Hell Kaiser had something to say about you. Probably told you plenty of times you've got rocks for brains, didn't he?"

Leo looked at Dakhir with a face full of pity.

That gaze made Dakhir's blood boil.

'This bastard…!'

Leo's eyes had that same look as Tartaros's current Supreme Commander, the Hell Kaiser.

The eyes that look at a fool.

And as Leo said—it was true.

The Dark King, Dakhir.

Long before he rose to the rank of Legion Commander…

No, from the very moment he was born as a demon of Tartaros…

The Hell Kaiser had always mocked him, calling him stupid.

Not only him.

Even the now-vanished Monsters Queen, Sillatna, and the Giant King Giath had done the same.

Though Dakhir had immense strength as a young demon, he'd long been the target of ridicule—mocked in secret by others due to the scorn of those three great Legion Commanders, who had reigned since the Age of Calamity.

And now—even Leo Plov, the greatest enemy of Tartaros in this era, was looking at Dakhir with those same eyes.

"You bastard!"

"So it's true."

Leo curled his lip upward.

"Thinking that launching a grand-scale terror attack on a coronation was a 'brilliant plan,' and acting like you've unraveled some master scheme just because you figured out my intentions…"

He tapped lightly on the side of his head.

"Out of all the Legion Commanders I've seen, you might actually be the dumbest."

"You son of a—!!"

Sparks flew from Dakhir's enraged eyes.

Goooooh—!

The energy surging from Dakhir's hand rushed toward Leo.

Slash—!

Kwagagagang!

Leo's blade cleaved Dakhir's energy in half.

The split dark mana flew past and ravaged the plaza behind him.

"…Hmph."

Leo narrowed his brows and looked down at his sword.

Ssssss—

A noxious poison seeped from the blade that had cut through Dakhir's energy.

And not just that—

Everything the attack had touched was melting, releasing a thick poisonous miasma into the air.

"Fufufu…"

Dakhir's mocking laughter echoed.

"Surprised, Leo Plov? You've seen this power before, haven't you?"

"Poison King, Zodiac."

A former Legion Commander.

To be exact, a commander who had existed during the Age of Calamity.

Commanders from that era were on a completely different level compared to those born in this age.

Their power was overwhelming—they possessed mighty legions and divine authorities.

While current commanders posed a threat to nations—

Those of the past were calamities capable of driving entire races to extinction.

It was only after the Great Heroes united that they began to be successfully defeated.

That alone was testament to their immense strength.

Zodiac had been one such commander, defeated only when the Hero of Beginnings and the Poet of the Star combined their power.

And once before, when Luna had appeared in the present world for the first time—

He had also surfaced, only to be defeated again.

Now, Dakhir was wielding his power.

"And that's not all!"

Drunk on power, Dakhir swung his arm.

Kwagagagagagak—!

Leo leapt into the sky.

Kwagagagagak—!

Dakhir's right arm began to suck in Letin itself.

More precisely, it was devouring the Nightmare spell formula spread throughout the entire city.

A greedy, gluttonous power that devoured all.

Leo's eyes narrowed at the sight.

"…The power of Jormungandr."

"Hahahaha! I see you recognize it, Leo Plov!"

Dakhir's eyes gleamed.

"You made a grave mistake, invading my mind!"

Crack— Crk-crk-crack—

Gooooooooh—!

Dakhir's body began to expand.

The owner of the nightmare had changed.

Up until now, this Nightmare had been under Melina's control—

But now, it belonged to Dakhir.

He had seized control by devouring the very spell structure of Nightmare within his own mind.

"This is my consciousness—and within it, my power can grow limitlessly!"

Dakhir's body shed its human form and transformed into a demon.

His obsidian-black skin gleamed.

["I am the master of the Dark Legion, the Dark King! The heir of countless past Legion Commanders' powers!"]

An ominous transformation.

The size and power—it was unmistakably Giath's ability.

["Not only the power of the commanders, but in this world of consciousness, I have seized infinite strength! You cannot defeat me now, Leo Plov! Kuahahahahahaha!"]

Just the sound of laughter made the earth tremble.

["To think a chance to kill you would come so soon! With this, I shall slay the King of Beginnings, Leo Plov, become the Supreme Commander of Tartaros—and then…!"]

The eyes of the grotesquely transformed Dakhir gleamed ominously.

["I shall put an end to the Death King, devour the fragments of the god, and be reborn as the true master of Tartaros—then rule this world!"]

Crk-crk-crack—!

Countless eyeballs began to form all across Dakhir's blackened skin.

Mutating the body and generating new traits—

That was the ability of the Monster Queen, Sillatna.

["In the near future! Be honored to die by the hands of me, who shall ascend as the new Evil God! Leo Plov! Kuhahahahahaha!"]

Laughing maniacally, Dakhir looked down on Leo.

But soon after, his eyes twitched.

"…I see."

Leo, not even sparing Dakhir a glance, was stroking his chin.

"So it wasn't only Hero Hunters who could inherit the powers of the slain demons through the Legion's World… I'd expected as much, but seeing it for myself, it's a bit more troublesome than I thought."

Leo clicked his tongue.

"The others are gonna have a rough time."

As though Dakhir wasn't even worth considering, Leo's concern was for the hero candidates and shadows who had entered the nightmares of demons and Hero Hunters spread across Letin.

Even that worry was minimal.

Because he believed they would overcome this trial.

Because—

'They are the heroes I chose.'

Leo curled his lip.

["Ggh! You're ignoring me!"]

Dakhir exploded in fury.

Leo tilted his head.

"So? How did you want to die again?"

["What?"]

"I don't think I heard your answer yet."

["You insolent brat!"]

Screeeech—!

In an instant, a gray sword aura surged skyward as if to tear the heavens apart.

The blade of Leo's sword emitted a dangerous, gray gleam.

"If you can't choose, I'll do it for you."

Leo smiled faintly.

Skkkrrrrrrkkk—!

Aaron's Slash was manifested from Leo's hand.

Along with it, Dakhir's massive body was sliced apart.

Before the blood could spray, flames of aura scorched the wound, cauterizing it.

A revolting burning stench filled the air.

Thud-thud-thud—!

Chunks of massive flesh hit the ground with a sickening squelch.

"A pile of trash made up of other trash—guess I'll sort you for recycling."

["Who are you calling trash, damn you!!"]

"Don't like that? Would 'combustible waste' be better? But then again, that wouldn't be very eco-friendly…"

["Graaaaaaaaahhh!!"]"

Dakhir roared at Leo's mockery.

Leo's sharp tongue was notorious—even the Great Heroes would have lost their temper at his jabs if he tried.

Hot-tempered as he was, Dakhir could only rage endlessly at Leo's scorn.

But no matter how much he attacked, none of it reached Leo.

["Why?! Why doesn't my power work?! I've inherited the powers of countless Legion Commanders!"]

"Well, that's because you're trash."

["You wretched little human brat!!"]

"Thanks for thinking I'm young."

Leo curled his lip again.

"But show me a little respect. I'm the one who held funerals for every one of the bastards whose powers you're using."

["What…?"]

Slash—!

["Gaaaaaah!!"]

Leo's slash tore across Dakhir's eye.

Dakhir shrieked in agony, thrashing on the ground.

["Why?! This is my own mind world! Here, I should have obtained infinite power! So why?!"]

"Because your imagination is lacking."

Leo sneered.

"You don't even understand how strong the Lich King, Giant King, or Monster Queen really were."

There is no such thing as camaraderie among Legion Commanders.

Only endless, unquenchable hatred.

But even so—they knew better than anyone how terrifying and powerful the others were.

'No matter how strong I've become… those monsters were never weak to begin with.'

Leo had fought them all.

Dakhir was just a fool who'd inherited a bit of their power and mistook himself as strong.

To Leo, he was nothing but laughable.

"And also—"

Leo rested his sword on his shoulder.

"You don't even know your own nature."

["What?"]

"You're not a monster of potential."

Leo curled his lip.

"You're just trash that eats away at the world."

Even if he had inherited many powers, that didn't necessarily make him stronger.

Demons had innate limits—their power capacity was set.

Through divine authority, they could temporarily expand that limit.

But they could not exceed it.

And Dakhir hadn't realized that—he thought inheriting powers alone made him stronger.

To Leo, it was laughable.

"If you gained power through the Legion's World, there's only one benefit."

He could use a variety of abilities.

But if he couldn't wield them properly, it meant nothing.

And Leo—

Was the one who had helped slay the original wielders of those very powers.

Against Leo's experience, Dakhir's patchwork abilities were utterly powerless.

"If anything, even mastering just one power as your own would've been better."

Leo let out a light chuckle.

"But what's the point. You're going to end your demon life here anyway."

["You… What are you, really?"]

"Me?"

Leo's crimson eyes flashed.

The moment they met those eyes—

Dakhir felt the scenery shift.

The corpses of countless demons were strewn across the ground in horrific carnage.

And standing at the center—

Was a man with gray hair.

Just looking at him made it hard to breathe, and filled him with primal fear.

In an instant, the vision vanished, and reality returned.

Tremble-tremble—

Dakhir's body shook with terror.

["What… what was that just now…?!"]

"I have no obligation to tell you."

Leo raised his sword.

Like the blade of a guillotine—

Slash—!

Dakhir's body was cleaved in two.

Ssssssssshh—

His form dissolved into nothingness.

'If he had actually been a competent Legion Commander instead of just a strong idiot… it would've been troublesome.'

Dakhir was easily dealt with only because he'd lost himself in the powers of others.

Otherwise, he could've been a formidable threat.

Leo looked down at his hand.

'Still… he must've been a throwaway card. A failure.'

It had been 5,000 years since the demons of Tartaros last laid eyes on Erebos.

No matter how absolutely loyal they were, distrust was bound to arise.

Especially if they had succeeded in corrupting Hero Records to create demonic ones.

'It's no wonder these types start popping up.'

To the Lich King, they'd be seen as heretics—traitors who doubted the god.

If one of those traitors aimed for the throne and was crushed so easily—

Then the demons of Tartaros would have no choice but to reaffirm the Lich King's dominance.

'The fact that everything went according to his plan just pisses me off.'

Leo clicked his tongue.

Sillatna had been vanquished. Giath as well.

Even two fragments of Erebos had been destroyed by Leo.

For Tartaros, the losses were catastrophic.

'And I've heard they recently absorbed the demons of Styx too, haven't they?'

In silence, the Lich King was moving.

Consolidating power, no doubt.

But he was too quiet.

Leo narrowed his eyes.

'What are you scheming?'

bl

"Your Majesty?"

"……"

The Fairy King, Sylord, remained silent, eyes closed, even at his attendant fairy's call.

Finally, he opened his eyes.

"…Yes?"

"Ah, you called for me?"

Sillord looked at the fairies with a slightly flustered expression.

The unfamiliar reaction made the fairies uneasy.

"Forgive me. I was lost in thought for a moment…"

"Then allow me to report. Recently, an evil presence has been sensed near Fairyland. Most likely…"

"…The Lich King."

"Yes… However, even if they were to bring the entire Tartaros Legion, they wouldn't dare breach Fairyland."

"That's right. Because I am here."

"Indeed. Not even the Lich King could break the seals laid by Your Majesty, who has lived for 5,000 years."

The fairies looked upon Sylord with eyes full of reverence.

"…Your Majesty?"

"Hm? Ah, yes. What was that again?"

"Well… We said not even the Lich King could break the seals laid over 5,000 years—"

"…Right."

"……"

"I've lived a long time."

Sylord muttered with a bitter smile as he looked down at his hands.

"Your Majesty?"

Startled by Sylord's strange behavior, the fairies exchanged anxious looks.

"…Everyone."

"Yes?"

"Summon the nameless hero, Leo Plov, and his contractor, Kiran, to Fairyland."