Editor : Amethyst00



A flood of countless memories surged through his mind.

Awakening.

What was to come, and his own end.

Even events in the distant future beyond that.

He had come to know everything.

Aaron blinked his golden eyes.

'Aru… you've grown so much.'

How much time had passed since they had defeated a fragment of Erebos in the future?

It didn't seem like that much.

But Aru had grown to a surprising degree.

Feeling both proud of Aru's growth, Aaron's gaze turned to Azonia, the beastkin woman with brown hair and golden eyes.

There was something both familiar and unfamiliar about her.

Brown hair and golden eyes.

'Azonia, was it?'

He had heard that she had succeeded him before Aru.

A great beastkin warrior, known as a Grand Warrior among the Heroes of the Dawn.

Aaron could instantly recognize that Azonia was a warrior worthy of her reputation.

'But… she feels different from Aru, somehow.'

Aaron wore a puzzled expression.

Looking at Aru, there was no doubt she was a successor.

She had inherited and used Aaron's power, and the energy she emitted bore a resemblance to his own.

'Aru is like Velkia, maybe?'

Like a relationship between master and disciple.

But whereas Velkia was a disciple of Kyle, Luna, and Aaron alike, Aru had inherited only Aaron's essence.

In that sense, Aru was closer to Aaron than Velkia ever was.

But Azonia was different.

'She feels like my master.'

In Azonia, Aaron glimpsed the shadow of his master, Agon.

He hadn't seen her fight yet, so he couldn't be certain, but in her unspoken warrior's spirit and presence, Agon came to mind.

His transcendent senses told him so.

Aaron silently looked down at his hand.

'Erebos was summoned to Raysar around this time.'

At this point, it couldn't be stopped.

'No… even with our strength during our final journey, I'm not sure we could've stopped it.'

Aru, who had just escaped Azonia's reprimand, rushed toward Aaron.

"Aaron! Let's go find Master Agon!"

"Huh? Ah… yeah. We have to find him."

'These kids are trying to save my master for my sake.'

To Aaron, Agon was more than a teacher—he was like a father.

But since leaving Raysar, Aaron had never seen Agon again.

Even if the city had survived, it was far away.

And resources for warp gates were scarce.

The demons of Tartaros had made warp travel even harder with curses and dark magic.

And Aaron, who had always been at the front lines during the Age of Calamity, hadn't had time to go to Raysar.

Even so, Aaron hadn't worried about his master.

Agon was a legendary hero who had been called the greatest before the rise of the other heroes.

Even if contact between cities was difficult, if something had happened to Agon, news would have reached Godthrone.

And the Agon Aaron knew was incredibly strong.

So he didn't worry.

He hadn't known, when leaving Raysar, that that would be the last time he would see his master.

'Thinking back… maybe it wasn't just coincidence that I never met him back then.'

It was something he realized later, as time passed.

'Maybe Master avoided me on purpose.'

He didn't know why.

But it was strange—he had looked for him intentionally and still never met him.

Erebos was summoned, and while some people from Raysar were evacuated, the city fell.

Until then, Aaron had believed Agon was alive.

The Agon he remembered was such a powerful hero.

Someone he had respected and admired more than anyone.

But Agon had shared Raysar's fate.

How much had he cried back then?

If only he had visited a little earlier.

He regretted and regretted his carelessness.

But time could not be turned back.

Thus, thoughts of Agon lingered as deep regret until the moment Aaron closed his eyes for the last time.

And now.

A chance had come to see his master.

It was truly ironic.

His past self wouldn't be able to find Agon.

But he—his current self—could.

'The chance to meet him comes only after I'm already dead.'

Aaron thought of his master.

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise.

The past couldn't be changed, but maybe he could clear away one deeply embedded regret.

No.

There were things he needed to say to his master.

Things he wanted to convey.

But.

'Is it right to risk these kids' lives just to satisfy my desire?'

Should the living be forced to sacrifice for someone who's already dead?

'……'

Aaron closed and opened his eyes.

His eyes now shone with resolve.

"Let's go find him."

'Kyle once told me that I regained my memories in the Hero's World because it was my world.'

Aaron recalled the words of his reincarnated friend.

'And he said the Hero's World has a conquest goal. Once it's cleared, the world will close.'

Thinking that far, Aaron decided on the path he needed to take.

Pressing his lips together, he looked up at the sky.

It was a dreadful sky, incomparable to the beautiful one he had seen in the future.

After experiencing an era of peace, he realized once again—

This kind of era must never return.

'First, I need to figure out the conquest objective.'

Though he had lived through these trials, Aaron didn't know what the actual conquest conditions were.

'I'll conquer this world and send the kids back to the future.'

bl

"What? A complete Erebos?"

Carl looked stunned as he walked through the alley.

Leo nodded at his question.

"Then we have to hurry and bring Aaron from Raysar—"

"I want to save Raysar."

"What?"

"No, I will save it, Carl."

"……"

Carl fell silent at Leo's bitter smile.

Then he scratched his head.

"Ah, seriously. Is it because my friend's a legendary hero who saved the world? Your scale is insane even on normal days, but sometimes you're really out of reach. What was I thinking when I offered to support you back in our first year?"

"Do you regret it?"

"Yeah. Enough to go back and shake my past self by the collar."

Carl grumbled while Leo gave a wry smile.

"Sorry. Am I being selfish?"

"Yeah. You are."

Carl clicked his tongue.

"But it's okay for you to be selfish. Actually, I wish all you great heroes were more selfish."

Every great hero Carl had seen hadn't been selfish.

When they placed the world and themselves on a scale,

They always chose the world.

And they never even showed the slightest bitterness about it.

"Ugh. That's honestly unimaginable for me."

As Carl joked, Leo said,

"It's no big deal. You'll be the same soon enough."

"That's what scares me—it actually feels like I will."

Carl shivered as if spooked.

Then he said,

"Alright, so we need to go over one thing first. Do we have a basic plan?"

Leo replied,

"From what I've overheard, Erebos will be summoned to Raysar in about ten days."

"Hmmm. Then we have to stop the summoning?"

"No. It's impossible to stop it."

"What?"

"Erebos can't leave Mount Erdean by himself."

The mountain at the eastern edge of the world.

And the final destination of the great heroes.

The gods had bound Erebos with divine restrictions, preventing him from leaving Mount Erdean.

But there was a loophole.

By using his own creations—Tartaros—he could be summoned to the scorched land.

"If he's going to be summoned in ten days, that means Raysar has already become suitable for the summoning."

"…If we can't stop it, then our only option is to defeat him?"

Kyle clicked his tongue.

"Let's see, our forces… You, your past self, the Great Heroes, and the two heroes of the Dawn."

He murmured, listing their main forces.

"Wow. What a dream team."

It was a combination that defied space and time.

Looking at them together, it felt like they could save the world twice over.

Of course, that was assuming they were all at their peak.

'But the great heroes haven't reached their full strength yet.'

"Do we stand a chance?"

"Not if we're facing his complete form."

Even if Leo used divine power to summon the strength of the final chapter, it was uncertain.

Fighting Erebos in his complete form would be a drawn-out battle.

And Leo's divine power, gained from defeating fragments of Erebos, would run out first.

"If you brought this up, then you must have a plan… Ah. Are you thinking of interrupting the summoning so he comes out incomplete?"

Leo nodded.

They couldn't stop the summoning.

But they could find and sabotage the summoning ritual.

'If we do that, he won't be fully summoned.'

If the gate was cut off mid-summon, the core of Erebos would stay bound to Mount Erdean, and only part of him would come through.

Even that would be terrifying, of course.

'But we could throw everything we have at him.'

This world was fake.

So defeating Erebos wouldn't change anything.

But because it was fake, they could give it their all.

They could unleash the full power of Godthrone.

A total war.

'And we also have the hero candidates and the shadows.'

In the past, only Kyle and Bihar could hunt down traitors.

But the future was different.

There were countless shadows now.

And those shadows would be coming into this world.

'Ten days left.'

Not a lot of time to change history.

But not impossible either.

"There's someone we need to get cooperation from before we plan the operation."

"Lysinas?"

"No."

Leo stopped walking.

They stood in front of a warehouse-like building on the outskirts of Godthrone.

"This place is…"

Carl's eyes widened.

"Master Dweno's workshop?"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Without hesitation, Leo pounded on the door.

"Hey! You damn perverted old man! Open up!"

He knew Dweno was probably deep underground in his workshop, so this was the only way to draw him out.

"You lunatic—barging into someone's workshop in the middle of the night… huh?"

A voice full of anger rang out as the door opened.

He had opened the door confidently, thinking it was Kyle based on the speech and actions.

But when he saw someone unexpected, even the great Dweno was stunned.

"You're not Kyle? Who the hell are you?"

Leo summoned a sword from his subspace.

Thunk!

He reversed the grip and stabbed it into the ground. Dweno's brow furrowed at the odd action—but then his face changed in an instant. A plain longsword in Leo's hand.

But the beauty imbued in its blade caught Dweno's eye.

'A weapon… can be a work of art?'

Dweno found himself involuntarily impressed.

'But… did I make this?'

He had no memory of crafting such a sword.

In fact—

'…Judging by the wear… Kyle used it.'

Just from the length of the blade, he could tell who the user was. The speech and actions that reminded him of Kyle. A sword he didn't remember making, but that bore all the signs of his craftsmanship and of Kyle's use.

With a hardened expression, Dweno asked,

"Who are you really?"

Leo answered,

"Kyle."