Editor : Amethyst00



'Hmm. This must be a vision of the future.'

In the middle of a desert where the sun blazed as if it would scorch everything,

Lyl stood with arms crossed, lost in thought.

'Judging by the temperature, this must be the Selimon Desert, said to be the hottest in the southern deserts.'

Feeling the heat on her skin, Lyl confirmed her location.

The Selimon Desert was known as the most intensely hot area in the southern region.

A place where no human could possibly survive.

A desert called the "Desert of Death" because there wasn't a drop of water to be found.

Of course, for Lyl, a highly skilled Elementalist, such natural environments were not a significant threat.

There is no place in the world untouched by the power of elementals.

Elementalists are beings most intimately connected to nature itself, and Lyl was one acknowledged by Leo for her ability.

Even now, she was using elemental magic to keep the temperature around her comfortable.

Above her head, a water elemental formed a film of water to block the sunlight.

Lyl assessed the changes to her body.

'Not only has my physical body matured, but my spiritual power has grown overwhelmingly stronger.'

She clenched and unclenched her fist.

Having gauged her current situation to some extent, Lyl pondered.

'Now then, how do I escape from this illusion?'

There are several ways to escape an illusion.

The most common is to dispel the illusion magic.

But that is a difficult task.

Especially for Lyl, who lacked the magical knowledge to break spell formulas.

'The second method is to break it by force.'

There were other methods, but this was the simplest one she could attempt right now.

Having reached that conclusion, Lyl nodded and reached out her hand.

Wooooong—!

The magical artifact on her wrist responded, and a subspace opened.

From it, she pulled out her favorite weapon, a battle hammer.

Tap—!

'Illusion magic uses light. And spell formulas are structures of mana.'

Lyl summoned elementals of light and wind.

'If I condense a powerful light and generate a disruptive wave at its center, I might be able to crack the formula. And sound is a representative form of wave.'

She condensed the power of the light elemental as much as possible.

Around it, using the wind elementals, she generated a high-frequency sound.

"Hmph!"

With a loud shout, Lyl swung her battle hammer.

She struck the point where the light had been condensed.

More precisely, where the wind elemental had compressed and suppressed the high-frequency waves.

Kiiiiiiiiiiing—!

A sharp screech rang out.

With it, an intense light flared and space itself began to tremble.

It was a simple principle.

She simply emitted intense light and compressed high-frequency sound around it to trap it.

The swing of the battle hammer detonated the compressed wind power in an instant, creating strong vibrations.

The trembling space distorted, and for a moment, craaack—!—cracks began to form.

But soon, the space restored itself as if it healed naturally.

"Hmm. So I still can't break it with my current strength?"

Lyl reached out with a regretful expression.

'Even though my spiritual power has grown this much, it's still impossible.'

Lyl's idea just now would've shocked even Lysinas, but she didn't realize it.

'Would Hyung-nim be able to do it? Ah, I'm sure he could. He's someone special, after all.'

Even though her strength had already reached a level that could surprise even great heroes, Lyl sighed deeply at her own inadequacy.

'First, I need to regroup with the others. They should be nearby.'

She summoned the wind elemental and began to scout the surrounding area.

'What an amazing illusion…!'

As she was admiring it, her eyes suddenly sharpened.

Through the scouting elemental, she sensed an unfamiliar energy.

'Dark mana.'

It was none other than the energy of a demon.

Lyl began walking with heavy steps—thump, thump.

Each step sank deeply into the sand.

A moment later.

Arriving at the place where the demon was hiding its presence, Lyl raised her battle hammer.

KWAANG—!

As she slammed the hammer down, a massive explosion of sand blasted into the sky.

"GRAAAARGHHHH!"

A beastly roar erupted, and a demon revealed itself.

It stood over 3 meters tall with granite-like skin.

Its face resembled a lion's.

Its hands were shaped like a human's but had claws as sharp as blades.

Lyl's eyes narrowed.

"Beheritio?"

Beheritio was a notoriously powerful high-ranking demon that had emerged 200 years ago.

He appeared on the southern battlefield of Tartaros and slaughtered countless beastkin.

Twelve beastkin heroes met their end at his hands.

Lowering her stance, Lyl broke into a cold sweat.

She tried to gauge the power she felt from Beheritio.

'Can I win?'

Beheritio was clearly beyond what a hero candidate should be able to handle.

What's more, he was an active demon at the Tartaros front in the southern continent.

His dark magic wielded overwhelming power in sandy terrain.

Even though Lyl's strength far exceeded normal student levels, there was no guarantee she could defeat him.

But Lyl neither flinched nor backed down.

Anyone who dreams of becoming a hero must always be prepared for trials.

Lumene's teaching is "Surpass your limits."

'Challenging the impossible—that's the spirit of a Lumene student!'

"Heh, you're quite bold for a mere human girl. Not even afraid with me before you!"

Beheritio, who had been hiding in the sand preparing to ambush Lyl, sneered.

'Lyl Luce of Lumene, is it?'

She was already on the watchlist within Tartaros as a hero candidate.

"Erasing the sprouts of heroes can be a pleasure of its own."

"…?"

Lyl frowned in confusion at Beheritio's words.

'What's going on? This illusion is supposed to show the future, isn't it?'

Had she still not become a hero in the future?

Or was it just because it was an illusion?

'It's an illusion that created a future version of me, complete with my older appearance and stronger powers. But I still haven't become a hero?'

Lyl felt something was off.

Having power doesn't mean accomplishing feats.

In other words, strength doesn't automatically equate to being a hero.

But Lyl was certain of one thing.

No matter what the future, her ideal vision of a hero would never change.

Born into a military family, Lyl was more drawn to the mindset of a 'protector' than a 'conqueror.'

Her sole wish was to protect the weak and create a world where people could live happily.

That's why she chose to be an adventurer rather than a soldier.

She believed that being born with power meant she was meant to use it for the right cause.

That conviction hadn't wavered since the day she entered Lumene.

And yet she hadn't become a hero?

"By the way, that's odd. You're much more mature than what I heard."

Hearing Beheritio's remark, Lyl asked, "Were you just in the Forest of Illusions?"

"Yes. I came to burn down the Fairyland."

Lyl nodded at Beheritio's reply.

She realized that the being before her wasn't part of the illusion—but real.

'Then… I have even more reason to defeat him.'

Gripping her battle hammer tightly, Lyl summoned her spirits.

She activated Elemental Armament and charged toward Beheritio.

"What?!"

Before he could even react, Lyl was upon him, swinging her battle hammer.

CRASH—!

With a deafening impact, Beheritio's body was flung away.

Lyl stopped in her tracks and looked down at her hand.

"Oh… That's right. I did get stronger, didn't I?"

She hadn't expected that her strength within the illusion could affect something outside of it.

As Lyl marveled—

"What is this monstrous strength?!"

Beheritio's shocked voice rang out.

Lyl glared at him.

"Who are you calling a monster girl?! How typically rude of a demon!"

"I didn't call you a monster girl!"

"There you go again, calling me a monster girl!"

Enraged, Lyl charged at Beheritio again.

bl

Late at night.

The tavern was filled with the cheerful chatter of people.

Kyle's party left the tavern just after midnight, having eaten and drunk to their hearts' content.

Such was the life of a mercenary.

Since they risked their lives, on the days they returned alive, they would drink, feast, and let off steam.

And forget what they'd lost.

"La~ Sha~ My love for you is real, I'm telling you~"

Drunk Shen trailed behind Lasha, sobbing.

Kasam, who was carrying the sleeping Lasha on his back, said,

"She's out cold. Wouldn't even notice if someone carried her off."

Shen cried when drunk, Lasha slept.

Kasam, with absurdly high alcohol tolerance, always took care of them both.

"Kyle, take Medea home first. I'll toss Shen into the knight barracks once he sobers up and then head home."

"Got it."

"Hehe. Escorting me like a true knight?"

Leo nodded at Kasam's words, and Medea chuckled playfully.

Leo escorted Medea back to her inn.

The streets of Revatain were rough at night.

It was fine early in the evening, but after midnight, flashy women like Medea could easily attract crime.

Of course, Medea could wipe out a city like this on a whim—she was a dragon.

'Not that I knew that at the time.'

Thinking to himself, Leo guided her to the inn where she was staying.

Even in Revatain, high-end inns in the central district had decent security.

"Kyle. Since you've come this far, sober up a little before heading home."

"Alright."

At Medea's suggestion, Leo entered the upscale inn with her.

She didn't invite him to a room—just to the lobby to cool his head.

Sitting in the lobby, Medea looked at Leo with curiosity.

"So. Have you summoned any elementals yet?"

"No."

"Practiced any magic?"

"I'm trying, but it's not going well."

"Really? Hmm."

Tilting her head, Medea pulled out paper and a quill and began scribbling something.

Medea had been the first to recognize Kyle's "all-class" talent.

Being an elementalist herself, she taught Kyle elemental magic and general magic alike.

Every day, she checked Kyle's condition with a researcher's eye.

After a quick assessment, she pulled out another piece of paper and began writing differently from before.

Leo rested his chin on his hand and watched her.

"…Wasn't that a letter to your younger sibling?"

"Huh? Ah, yeah. Though it's more like someone who's like a sibling."

Medea smiled faintly.

"She's our family's knight. It's more of a lord-retainer relationship, but… I think of her as a little sister."

The recipient must also be a dragon.

'I used to think she was just a noble lady…'

But now it was clear—she was an immensely powerful high-ranking dragon.

Someone with the power to shape the world.

In the age of gods, for a dragon to have a "family" meant they were a candidate to become a Dragon Lord.

Though Medea didn't end up becoming one.

Leo spoke in a low voice.

"You came here… to investigate the eastern edge, didn't you?"

"…? How do you know that?"

Medea's eyes widened.

Leo gave a bitter smile.

"Who knows? How do you think I knew?"

Then—

FWOOSH—!

Flames suddenly erupted behind Medea.

Startled, Leo sprang to his feet.

"Kyle?"

Medea looked slightly confused.

"Is something behind me?"

Turning around, Medea tilted her head curiously.

But she didn't seem to see the black flames burning behind her.

The flames quickly died out.

"…It's nothing."

Leo slumped back into his seat.

'…Now I know why I was caught in the illusion.'

His expression hardened.

'A fragment of Erebos that Sylord was sealing… has awakened.'

And part of that power had breached Sylord's magic.

'You're fighting Erebos alone, aren't you, Sylord?'