Editor : Amethyst00



When Ceneor, the commander of the Legion of Pain, raised her right hand and clenched her fist—

Crack-crack-crack—snap—

—a chilling sound of bones echoed through the air.

Wooooong—!

"Heh."

As Psyqea let out a lewd laugh, countless magic circles appeared in the air.

Rumble-rumble-rumble—!

The Beast King Gon formed a summoning circle and summoned a Gigantes.

'If we're talking classes, then it's Knight, Mage, and Summoner, huh?'

Leo, analyzing the tendencies of the newly emerged commanders, tilted his head from side to side.

The sight of him warming up his body in the form of an infant looked almost comical.

But if that infant was Leo Plov, it was anything but a laughing matter.

Rumble-rumble-rumble—!

Dark mana began to surge violently from Ceneor's body.

"Well then…"

A vicious glint of murderous intent and hatred shimmered in Ceneor's eyes.

Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning.

To the demons, he was more loathsome than anything.

The mortal enemy who had summoned the downfall of their god.

"Let's see just how great this 'Hero of the Beginning' really is."

Crunch—! Crackle-crack-crack-crack—!

As Ceneor took a step forward, the ground caved in.

The earth trembled and split apart as if an earthquake had struck.

"Let's find out!"

KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KRAANG—!

Ceneor, exploding with dark mana, dashed toward Leo at such a speed she was barely visible and threw a punch.

The illusionary space shattered like glass under the tremendous force of the blow, scattering in every direction.

Ceneor's eyes widened.

A longsword had appeared in front of Leo like a shield, blocking her fist.

Leo's face behind the blade didn't flinch in the slightest.

Not even a hint of the shock had reached him.

Sure, Leo's current body wasn't exactly suited for battle.

But that didn't mean the power of mana he had built up was gone.

Woom—!

Gray aura began emanating from the blade of the longsword, Posteritas.

"Tch!"

Ceneor quickly withdrew his fist.

GROOOAAARRR!

Suddenly, the massive fist of the Gigantes came crashing down toward Leo's head.

Kakakakakak—

Leo's barrier spell flared with violent sparks.

Eventually, the barrier buckled, about to burst.

Even if the Gigantes was a powerful beast and had been further enhanced by a beastmaster, this destructive power far exceeded Leo's expectations.

'This isn't an ordinary Gigantes, is it?'

"Ho…"

Its skin resembled stone.

It was covered in the hide of Blackrock, a beast known for its high defense.

From all over its body, sharp spikes protruded—

The fangs of the Mana Eater, a top-tier phantom beast that devours mana and releases poison.

"Hm?"

That wasn't all.

The strength it emitted far surpassed that of a typical Gigantes.

Leo raised his small hand.

Slice—!

Guided by Leo's will, Posteritas radiated aura and sliced through the Gigantes' forearm.

Slice—!

The severed arm split open, revealing muscles and bone.

'Not the bones and muscles of a Gigantes… an improvised chimera?'

Leo, intrigued, opened his left hand and aimed it at the Gigantes.

Woom—!

"Gravity magic?"

Perched on the Gigantes' shoulder, Gon curled his lips.

"Do you even know how heavy this Gigantes is?! Plus, it's protected against every kind of curse! Cast gravity magic and it'll be your brain that fries!"

Crack—! Crunch!

"…!"

Gon's eyes widened.

A strange noise was coming from the Gigantes' body.

'That's no ordinary gravity spell.'

He had added aura to it.

Since gravity magic is a force that acts physically, combining it with aura had drastically increased its potency.

Of course, this wasn't something any ordinary magic swordsman could replicate.

Only someone with mana control on par with a legendary hero could pull it off.

"You insane bastard!"

Gon's face twisted in horror.

Crack—! Crack! Crunch—!

GROOOAAARRR!

The Gigantes' body bent at grotesque angles.

"Heh! Did you forget about me?"

At that moment, a giant magic circle appeared above Leo's head.

"No matter how strong someone is, a direct hit from a spell and they're toast!"

Leo twitched his eyes after identifying the spell formula.

Noticing his reaction, Psyqea burst into laughter.

"You figured it out, didn't you?! Hero of the Beginning! Yes! This is a spell of the Poet of Star! A curse forged from the Extinction!"

Psyqea unleashed terrifying dark mana.

"I turned the strongest spell into the strongest dark magic! And then cursed it—!"

Leo ignored her and shut his right eye.

A six-pointed star sorcery circle formed in his left eye.

Snap—!

"What the…!"

Psyqea's face twisted in shock as her spell was instantly dispelled.

She scrambled to raise more dark mana and cast another spell—

But Leo's left eye locked onto her.

The moment Psyqea met Leo's gaze, she realized—

All her magic and curses were being nullified.

Her face contorted with horror.

"This is a curse! How can a human use a demon's curse?!"

[It's nothing special.]

Leo sent the message to Psyqea with a mocking tone.

The magic circle in his left eye was his innate spell, Bible's Magic Circle.

With it, he could use all spells in existence—excluding a few exceptional ones.

And the 'curses' used by the demons of Tartaros also fell under the umbrella of magic.

Of course, Leo wasn't a demon, so he couldn't use a variety of curses himself.

But through the Bible, he could decode the spells and create curse-countering magic that fundamentally nullified both dark magic and curses.

The terrifying thing about curses is how easily they activate and how they persist indefinitely unless dispelled.

Leo's curse activated merely by looking.

[Dark magic and curses are scary, no doubt.]

He clenched the hand maintaining the gravity magic.

CRUNCH—!

GRAAAHHH!

The Gigantes' spine bent the wrong way.

[But if they don't activate, they're not scary at all.]

Of course, the downside was that he had to maintain his gaze on Psyqea.

But Leo was a warrior who had complete mastery of 'hypersenses.'

"Haaah!"

Ceneor, cloaked in dark mana, charged at Leo.

A charge powerful enough to tear through space itself.

A level far beyond what could be blocked with aura alone.

Just before the blow landed—

Flash—!

"Teleportation?"

Leo's body vanished and reappeared elsewhere.

And still, his gaze remained locked on Psyqea.

By sacrificing a single visual field, he had perfectly neutralized a powerful foe.

Crunch! Crack!

KIEEEEEEE!

A tortured scream erupted from the Gigantes' mouth.

The body of this chimera—capable of wiping out hundreds of thousands on its own—was crushed mercilessly.

Its resistance to magic was extreme, yet it was no match for Leo's spells.

The twisted and crushed Gigantes was finally reduced to a perfect sphere.

"You… insane… old man…"

Gon's face twisted in disbelief.

"Don't make me laugh! I'll just summon more beasts!"

Countless summoning circles appeared in the sky.

Rumble-rumble-rumble—!

Hundreds of grotesque beasts began to appear.

He preferred Gigantes, but as the Beast King, he could summon and strengthen countless beasts.

Seeing them, Leo let out a quiet chuckle and released spiritual power.

Woom—!

A small summoning circle formed in front of Gon.

'An elemental?'

Gon narrowed his eyes.

The summoned being was an elemental of darkness.

She had black hair, wore a white dress, and smiled gently at Gon as she politely lifted her hem and bowed.

'Does he think one elemental can stop me…?'

CRUSH—!

Just as that thought crossed his mind—

A beast behind Gon smashed him with its grotesque claws.

There was no pain.

But Gon's face froze in horror.

"What the…?"

The beast that attacked him trembled violently.

As if resisting some controlling force.

ROOAAARR!

Another beast tore into the first one's neck.

SCREEEECH!

Blood sprayed from its neck like a waterfall as it too began trembling.

And soon the beast that had killed it began to tremble as well.

Crunch! Crackle! Crush!

ROOOAR! SCREEEECH!

Beasts began a brutal slaughter among themselves.

As if infected, more and more beasts slipped from Gon's control.

Then Gon noticed what all the rogue beasts had in common.

'Their shadows…'

They were connected.

He traced the shadows and finally found where they all linked.

Gon's gaze slowly shifted to the elemental—Elsie.

The shadows spreading from Elsie's feet connected to the beasts.

As Gon stared, Elsie shyly wiggled her toes.

Despite her innocent appearance, Gon felt an indescribable terror.

KRAGAGAGAGAGA!

Ceneor didn't stop—she kept charging at Leo.

The power of the Berserker's authority had been activated.

Her sharp senses allowed her to track even Leo's teleportations.

Bit by bit.

She closed the gap.

Ceneor grinned.

No matter how powerful Leo's abilities were, he was still a fragile baby.

"If I can just touch him…"

[You think you can win?]

CRACK!

A mocking message appeared before her—just as Posteritas pierced through Ceneor's back.

"Hmph!"

It was a devastating attack charged with aura.

Yet Ceneor sneered.

A strike like that could kill a high-level demon.

But she was a legion commander.

Ceneor pulled out the aura-infused Posteritas and tossed it aside.

Woom—!

But the sword rose again and flew toward her.

It fought like Leo's own hand.

"This technique…"

Ceneor curled her lips.

"It's meaningless against overwhelming power!"

CLANG—!

Deflecting the sword, Ceneor looked at Leo.

"Sealing Psyqea's curses with magic and restraining Gon with elementals—impressive."

His eyes gleamed with fierce determination.

"But can that infant's body handle me? You're a great hero, sure, but you haven't fully regained your past strength. And…"

Ceneor smirked.

"Running low on mana, aren't you?"

He expected a powerful sword strike—but Leo was using only pure technique to hold him off.

[Sharp eye.]

"How long can you keep that composure?"

Ceneor clenched her fist.

"Until your head is torn from your body?"

As she chuckled—

Whoosh—! Boom—!

A massive battle axe flew from Leo's side.

Ceneor deflected it and sneered.

"Changing weapons won't help you beat me."

[I didn't change them.]

"What?"

[I added to them.]

Around Leo, daggers, greatswords, axes, arrows, spears, scythes—all kinds of weapons appeared.

Each weapon moved with mastery, as if wielded by Leo himself, pressuring Ceneor.

Each weapon bore movements not of a mere master—but of a grandmaster.

They flowed past Ceneor's overwhelming power and struck back.

Thud! Crunch! Slash—!

"Guh?!"

At some point, the weapons began to maul Ceneor's body at Leo's will.

CRACK—!

"GRAAAAGH!"

A scythe scraped across Ceneor's eye.

As she screamed and clutched her face, a dagger pierced through her hand and into her head.

"AAAAAGH! Guh!"

The scream from her mouth was silenced by a flying spear.

Whoosh—! THUD—!

A battle axe cleaved her neck.

CRACK—!

And a warhammer crushed the fallen head.

In an instant, Ceneor's body was reduced to shredded meat.

ROOOOAR—!

But it wasn't enough to kill a legion commander.

"You damned old bastard! AAAARGH!"

Slash!

"KUH!"

As his body regenerated, Ceneor screamed in rage—only for her neck to be slashed again.

As she vomited blood, a club slammed into her shin, forcing her to kneel.

[Come to think of it.]

A message popped up before Ceneor's eyes.

[Didn't you say pain was delightful?]

"What?"

[Let's see—if you're really so thrilled you lose your mind.]

Goosebumps erupted all over Ceneor's body.

Her instincts screamed:

Run.

And in that moment—

STAB—!

A sword pierced through her thigh.

[Or if the agony drives you insane instead.]

Pain engulfed her.

[All the other demons who said things like you did… they all went mad from the torment.]

Like a scientist beginning an experiment—

Leo's weapons resumed their assault on Ceneor's body.

"AAAAAGH!"

[Let's see if you really are different, Commander of Pain.]

And so began the horrific time of torment.