Editor : Amethyst00



Leo headed toward the entrance of Godthrone.

Following him were Lunia and Elena.

"Are you sure this is enough people?" Elena asked with a puzzled look.

They were on their way to block the enormous number of demons that surged during the Age of Calamity.

Yet, there were only four of them, including Luna.

Leo smirked at Elena's remark.

"Who do you think we are?"

It could easily come off as arrogance.

But Leo was someone who had earned the right to speak like that.

'Why is this guy always so cool for no reason?'

Elena clutched her head and let out a deep sigh.

Then she glanced to the side.

Lunia was staring fixedly at Leo's back.

Even this hot-headed elf seemed to feel the same as her…

"Stop posing and explain properly!"

Lunia grabbed the back of Leo's neck and shook him violently.

"Why aren't you telling Lady Luna who you are?! What did you do wrong to her?!"

With flames in her eyes, Lunia shouted aggressively.

Thanks to Lunia's pestering, Leo's body swayed back and forth.

"I kind of made Luna and Lysinas fight."

"Oh. That explains it. You're scared of revenge if you reveal your identity."

Elena gave a knowing smile.

Lunia pouted and looked at Leo.

Then she snorted.

"I'm going to tell everything to Lady Luna! And to Lady Lysinas too!"

"There, there. Good girl."

"Don't treat me like a child!"

"Shhh."

Leo placed his index finger gently on Lunia's lips.

Lunia's face turned bright red at the sudden contact.

"W-what are you doing?!"

As she quickly stepped back and wiped her lips, Leo spoke.

"That's not the only reason I'm hiding who I am."

"Then what other reason is there?"

Elena asked, crossing her arms.

"I don't want to tell them the ending."

"……"

"Because those two are different from Dweno."

Back in the Age of Calamity…

Leo believed that saving the world was impossible.

Unlike the other great heroes who believed in salvation.

But even among the others, there were different perspectives.

Lysinas, Luna, and Aaron never doubted that they could win without losing anyone.

They simply didn't want to imagine a future where even one of them vanished.

In contrast, Dweno believed someone might have to die.

He thought the future couldn't be won without sacrifice.

That's why, even after hearing everyone except Kyle had died, Dweno didn't waver.

"But Lysinas and Luna are different."

If they heard that there was no place for them in the brilliant future after Erebos was defeated…

They would surely be shocked.

They wouldn't break.

But they would definitely feel deep sorrow.

And if they found out that only Leo reincarnated in that future, they would be even more saddened.

If they were to stand before the reincarnated Leo…

Even Leo himself could not imagine what Lysinas and Luna would feel.

Elena and Lunia fell silent after hearing Leo's words.

"I… I told Lady Lysinas about you."

"But you didn't tell him I'm Kyle, right?"

"No… She said she couldn't bear to meet you because of a promise."

"……"

Leo gave a bitter smile.

Lysinas must've predicted the future after hearing the words of those from it.

'I just hope she felt at least the hope that the world was saved.'

Leo didn't want to see them saddened watching him struggle alone.

Watching his lonely back, Elena twisted the end of her hair with her fingers.

"Ah, seriously. He acts all difficult, but he's actually really kind. That's why he ends up seducing every woman around him."

Grumbling, Elena let out a long sigh.

Lunia bit her lip.

Come to think of it, the one who most wanted to reveal his identity was probably Leo himself.

To him, the Great Heroes were the most precious people.

He must've wanted to open up to them more than anyone.

"…Sorry."

Lunia averted her eyes and apologized.

Leo patted her head.

"It's okay."

"……"

"To be honest, I don't want to get hit either."

"Give me back my touching moment! Give it back!"

Lunia grabbed Leo and shook him wildly.

Meanwhile, the group arrived at the entrance to Godthrone.

Luna, waiting at the entrance, widened her eyes upon seeing Lunia.

"An elf?"

"It's an honor to meet you, Lady Luna. I'm Lunia El Lunda."

Lunia bowed politely to Luna.

Meeting her again made her heart flutter.

At the same time, seeing that Luna didn't remember her left a bitter feeling.

'They said memories don't carry over if it's not Lady Luna's world, right?'

She recalled the time when Luna had recognized her as a successor, and it made her heart ache for no reason.

"Did you learn the Star Sorcery?"

"Sorry? Ah, yes."

"My magic is passed down to future generations!"

Luna's eyes sparkled brightly.

'No matter the era, Lady Luna's passion for magic never changes.'

Though she didn't remember Lunia, she was still exactly as she remembered her.

Lunia smiled faintly.

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"Can I dissect you?"

"Yes!"

Lunia answered automatically, then quickly snapped to her senses.

"…Wait, what?!"

"Dissection. Don't worry. This big sister will stitch you up neatly without a scar."

"L-Leo! Help!"

"Heeheehee! No escape!"

Lunia tried to hide behind Leo in a panic, but Luna just smiled and grabbed her.

"We'll do the dissection later."

"Hey!"

"Killing the demons of Tartaros comes first."

"Right. That's true."

Luna let go of Lunia and nodded, placing her hands on her waist.

"Shall we go, then?"

Luna smiled brightly.

The light and quirky attitude from earlier had vanished completely.

A cold killing intent seeped into her eyes.

Feeling the sudden change in atmosphere, Lunia and Elena shuddered.

bl

Step – Step – Step –

The monsters marched in unison.

A large-scale movement of monsters.

What should've been a chaotic migration resembled a regimented march of trained soldiers.

"Kuhuhu. That refugee city is finished now."

"What a shame. If we had gone there, we could've feasted on fresh meat."

"Why are you always thinking about stuffing your face like a pig? Don't you realize the corpses we create become our army?"

The various demons were all convinced of Raysar's impending doom.

"Still, I hope nothing goes wrong at Godthrone."

"What could go wrong?"

"Did you forget? That's where the monsters are."

That word chilled the air.

"Monsters."

The demons of Tartaros used that word to refer to the great heroes.

They had slaughtered countless demons, bordering on genocide.

At first, when the demons heard the heroes talk about saving the world, they laughed.

The world was already crumbling.

Barely holding on by a thread.

The world's end was a foregone conclusion.

Even the surface dwellers had given up hope long ago.

A world filled with only despair and fear.

A world the demons longed for.

To speak of salvation and fight against Tartaros in such a world—what a joke.

But one by one, the generals were slain, and recently even the advance of the Giant King Giath had been stopped.

Their belief in the world's doom remained unchanged.

But a new fear was spreading among the demons—the fear of dying before they could see the world's end.

It wasn't death they feared.

Destruction was in their nature.

Just as Erebos, their creator, wished for the world's ruin.

They too longed to see the world reduced to ashes.

But dying without seeing that end—that terrified them.

"With this many monsters, what's there to be afraid of?"

One demon scoffed.

"Godthrone suffered heavy damage from the Giant King. With an army like this invading, they'll be too busy defending."

That quelled the demons' unease.

"It might even work in our favour."

A cruel smile crept across one demon's face.

"In this chaos, maybe we can take one of them out?"

Eyes filled with greed lit up.

"I want that elf's corpse!"

"It's been a while since I tasted dragon meat."

The demons of Tartaros grinned with wicked glee.

Back then, the heroes were only just becoming a true terror to the demons.

In other words—they had yet to be fully imprinted as fear itself.

The demons imagined all sorts of things.

They recalled their countless prey.

Screaming, panicked, terrified victims.

To demons, mere prey.

As always, they were the hunters.

That's what they believed.

"They say there's one hero who always survives."

"Ah, yes. I've heard of that human. No matter the situation, he comes back alive."

"I wonder how long his luck will last."

"Not long. He always shows up at the front. He'll die soon."

"I thought the same."

A calm voice interrupted their conversation.

"But I always survived till the end."

CHOK!

Leo drove his sword into the face of the demon who had just mocked him.

The sudden strike froze the demons in shock.

Then Leo twisted his wrist.

CRACK!

FWOOSH!

Screams erupted alongside flames.

"GAAAAAAAH!"

Only the lower half of the demon's face remained, letting out a dying scream.

The writhing demon turned to ash.

Standing in the middle of thousands of demons, Leo's red glowing eyes blazed as he moved at an invisible speed.

"W-what the hell?!"

"A human?!"

Cries of panic rose among the demons.

SHINGSHINGSHINGSHINGSHING!

Gray flashes streaked through the crowd, cutting down demon after demon.

"KYAAAAAA!"

"AAAHHH!"

Terror exploded among them.

One high-ranking demon shouted,

"He's alone! Don't panic! He's just prey! A rat in a trap!"

"He's fresh! I'll eat him myself!"

A giant demon shouted confidently.

Leo flew straight toward the giant's face.

"You want a bite?"

"What?!"

Their eyes met—and the giant froze.

Leo lunged toward the giant's open mouth without hesitation.

"Then eat up."

CRUNCH! SCHINGSHINGSHINGSHING!

From the mouth to the throat, then the guts and groin—

Leo cut clean through, landing behind.

But he didn't just slice through.

He butchered the giant's insides as he went, tearing him into unrecognizable chunks of meat.

PLATTER! SPLATTER!

Blood and flesh rained like a storm.

Leo stood up from the floor, resting his sword on his shoulder with a crooked smirk.

The high-ranking demon who had called him a rat froze upon meeting his red eyes.

"Funny how you all think that way."

Leo sneered.

"You think you're the hunters. The ones who bring fear."

He let his sword drag along the ground.

"So you toyed with countless people and killed them brutally."

Step – Step –

Leo walked through the crowd of thousands.

The demons felt fear they couldn't explain.

Just one human.

Yet his presence overwhelmed them.

Without a general, the demons were disorganized.

Even so, to be overwhelmed by one man—it made no sense.

"So I decided to do the same to you."

Slaughter and crush the demons.

More brutally than anyone else.

Thus, the surviving hero Kyle became the most terrifying figure in the demons' minds.

"That's when you finally realized, huh? That you too could be hunted."

Leo grinned wickedly.

"So… who's dying first?"

"D-don't just stand there! Kill this—!"

SLICE!

Leo beheaded the high-ranking demon.

But a demon's vitality wouldn't let it die so easily.

Which was lucky for Leo—and misfortune for the demon.

'Because it means I can kill you slowly.'

His sword flashed as he carved the demon in agony.

'Been a while…'

A crazed smile twisted Leo's face.

'Since I last massacred demons.'