Editor : Amethyst00



Pegasus King and Phoenix King.

Legendary phantom beasts who disappeared after the Age of Calamity.

Hearing that the items were related to those legendary beings, Eliza showed a confused expression.

"But how do you know that, Hyung-nim?"

Lyl asked with a slightly bewildered face.

Leo answered calmly.

"I saw them when I was conquering the world of the Great Heroes."

"Ah."

At that, Lyl nodded.

It wasn't strange if the information came from the world of the Great Heroes.

In fact, the Flame Emperor of King Phoenix had recently been revived through the world of heroes—through Lunia, the Chaser of the Star.

'Someday, the day will come again when the Flame Emperor will blaze through the Phoenix.'

Leo glanced at the Spear of Judgement.

Unlike King Phoenix's flame, which had revived in the present world, King Pegasus's thunder had not. Leo possessed the Essence of Thunder, but the situation was different from Lunia's.

Unlike Lunia, who had been formally acknowledged by Katariou, Leo had merely received the Essence of Thunder as a conquest reward.

Therefore, passing on the power to a future generation was impossible. Thinking of his pact-bearer, Albus, Leo spoke.

"Let's take these with us for now."

At those words, Melina took the Spear of Judgement and the Purification Necklace from Leo.

bl

Whoooooosh—!

Northern skies of the continent.

The cold northern air began to sharply drop the temperature.

Leo, riding silently on Melina's back, inhaled the chill of the northern continent when—

"Leo-doryeong, aren't you cold?"

Chen Xia approached from behind and wrapped a scarf around him.

"Leo-oppa, if you're cold, come here."

Chelsea's eyes sparkled as she patted her thigh invitingly.

"Shall I warm you up?"

Lyl also spread her arms wide with an expectant look.

Watching this, Leo sighed and sat beside Carl near his sword.

"They're oddly proactive. Is it because their body is now that of an adult?"

"Maybe it's just because i'm cute."

"Hearing you say that yourself is a little weird, you know?"

Carl made a strange expression.

["Lord Leo, we're arriving soon at the former site of Fairyland."]

Melina spoke in a voice only Leo could hear.

Upon hearing that, Leo gestured to Lyl.

"Hyung-nim! You must be cold! Let me give you a warm hu—"

"Lyl. You're the party leader."

"Huh? But you and Professor Mel are here."

Lyl's eyes widened.

The others also looked surprised.

But Leo replied calmly.

"My body is currently de-aged, so my combat capability is poor."

Leo, with arms crossed, glanced around at the party.

"And more than anything, I want to see it."

"See what?"

"How strong you've all become."

Lyl's eyes widened.

"Before coming to Hersia, Chelsea fought a Demon Legion Commander alone."

At those words, Chen Xia, Lyl, and Eliza looked at Chelsea in shock.

As the attention turned to her, Chelsea made a V-sign with her right hand—chik!—with a smile.

"There are likely several demon commanders in this illusion."

Leo chuckled faintly.

"Go ahead, show me what you've got."

At those words, each of the group looked down at their hands with a mix of emotions.

On their faces were traces of excitement and worry.

The anticipation of how much their future selves had grown.

And also…

'How close have I come to Leo-Hyung-nim?'

Lyl already knew through battles with demons that her power had grown.

But that wasn't enough.

For Lyl, whose goal was to follow in Leo's footsteps, it wasn't about how much she had grown stronger—but how close she had come to Leo.

The same was true for the others.

Even Chelsea, who had tested her power in battle against a corps commander, hadn't drawn out her full strength.

Watching his tense companions, Leo spoke.

"Why are you so nervous? This illusion is just one of many possible futures."

["That's right."]

Melina's voice, this time audible to everyone.

"Possibility is only that—possibility. If you feel lacking, just work harder."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Come to think of it, we haven't decided on a party name."

At Lyl's comment, Leo tilted his head.

"Didn't we decide on 'Arhi'?"

"But you're not with us."

"Does it matter whether I'm here or not?"

Leo smiled faintly.

Everyone here marked a new beginning.

Heroes who would inherit the will of the Great Heroes and face Erebos.

At Leo's words, Lyl looked serious.

"I must become someone worthy of the name 'Arhi'."

Leo nodded.

"Anyway, there should be a key in Fairyland to unlock this illusion."

Carl scratched his head.

Now that the fragment of Erebos was reviving, they had to break the illusion quickly and receive outside aid.

At Carl's comment, Lyl clapped.

"Ah, right! Hyung-nim, there's another way to break the illusion!"

"Oh? What way?"

Leo's eyes sparkled.

Even if Lyl was a bit quirky, she wasn't someone to spout nonsense.

"Rip the illusion apart with force!"

"…"

Leo's face changed in a strange way.

Chen Xia, Carl, and Eliza looked toward Chelsea.

From Leo's face alone, they could tell Lyl's claim was absurd.

But they didn't know why it was impossible.

So they looked to Chelsea, who had strong magical knowledge, for explanation.

"Carl, aren't you a mage too?"

"You know my grades in magic theory."

Chelsea sighed softly.

"It's not a hard principle. If you're not caught in an illusion, maybe. But once you are, destroying the illusion by force is impossible."

"Why is that?"

Chen Xia asked, and Leo answered in her place.

"Force is a law of the world. And illusion is also a kind of world. No matter how strong the force, you can't destroy a world—unless you're someone like Erebos."

Leo crossed his arms.

"Of course, no matter how powerful an illusion is, the moment you realize it's fake, you can tap into external power…"

Leo glanced at the sky.

"This illusion magic is powerful enough to completely block outside laws, even after you recognize it as fake. It's faster to dispel it through spell analysis. Or even better, find the key."

Moreover, this illusion was also infused with Erebos's power.

At Leo's words, Lyl said:

"But it's still fake. Its structural integrity must be weaker than the real world."

"That's true, but… you wouldn't suggest such a dumb-sounding method without a reason, so what's your basis?"

"Yes. Illusion magic ultimately uses light, doesn't it?"

"Right."

"Then if you condense light strongly and apply a wave, you can crack the spell!"

"That's theoretically true… but there's no way it's…"

"It is possible!"

Lyl stood up abruptly.

"It is too loud. Chelsea, use magic to block the sound."

At that, Chelsea used wind magic to isolate the area.

Just like when they first entered the illusion, Lyl compressed light with the light elemental, infused the hammer's end with the wind elemental, and created a high-frequency wave at the light's center.

Then the space quivered as if tearing—then restored itself.

Lyl exclaimed excitedly.

"Did you see that? I can't do it, but you could, Hyung-nim!"

With shining eyes, Lyl looked at Leo with nearly infinite faith.

"Wow, that might actually work."

"Leo, let's try it now!"

Chelsea and Carl's eyes sparkled.

But Chen Xia and Eliza, both knowledgeable in elemental studies, stared at Lyl with stunned expressions.

Melina, still in dragon form, dropped her jaw.

"Miss Xia, you majored in elemental studies, right? Do you think that's even possible?"

"…I did study it, but my main major is knight studies. I'm not sure I know more than Miss Eliza, but logically, that seems impossible."

Chen Xia then looked at Leo with hopeful eyes.

"Still, if it's Leo-doryeong…"

Everyone's gaze turned to Leo.

He looked at the warped space with his usual expression.

"What do you think, Leo-doryeong?"

"I don't know. That's scary."

Leo stared at Lyl, visibly spooked.

To conclude: even for Leo, this was impossible.

What Lyl had shown was a method of destroying the illusion Leo himself had never imagined.

Even Lysinas might not have thought of it.

Though Lyl's theory was logically sound, theory was just theory.

The only reason it turned into something possible was due to Lyl's innate sense.

Of course, that kind of sense didn't directly translate to combat power.

But combining Lyl's excellent combat instincts with that kind of spiritual sensitivity meant one thing:

She'd become a terrifying elementalist.

"You really are a monster, huh?"

Leo's sincere words made Lyl flinch in shock.

With teary eyes, she grabbed Leo and shook him wildly.

"T-That's not true! I'm just an ordinary girl! You can't say things like that to a lady—it's hurtful!"

"I've always thought this, but you're the least 'ordinary' rep I've ever seen."

"There you go again! What about Elena-sunbae?!"

As Lyl shook him, Leo's head bobbed back and forth.

Watching this, Carl muttered softly,

"Just the fact that she can even talk like that to Elena-sunbae means she's already far from normal."

At that, the entire third-year class nodded in agreement.