“It’s burning?”
Leo’s expression hardened.
At some point, the earthquake had stopped.
But Arron’s single remark sent a chill through Leo.
It’s burning.
He didn’t need to think long to know what that meant.
‘The revival of Erebos.’
5,000 years ago.
It meant that one of the six pieces of Erebos, which the Hero of Beginning, Kyle, had split apart, had revived.
‘Don’t tell me one of the pieces was dormant here?’
Leo glared down at the ground beneath him.
5,000 years ago.
Although he was the one who had shattered Erebos, even Leo didn’t know where the fragments had ended up.
‘The last thing I remember is that bastard’s shattered fragments scattering from the sky.’
Engulfed in Calamity Flame, he had fallen from the sky to the earth.
The final scene from Kyle’s life was...
The six scattering fragments, and between them, like the break of dawn...
The sight of the brilliant sun pushing aside the gray sky and revealing itself.
With that scene as his last memory, he had lost consciousness and fallen into a long slumber.
‘The Erebos fragments identified so far are the first piece discovered by Silload, the piece that revived 3,000 years ago and was imprisoned in the World of Genesis by the Genesis Heroes, and the third piece presumed to be in the possession of that bastard Hell Kaiser.’
None of those could possibly be here.
The piece in Fairy Land was under Silload’s management, and the revived piece was sealed within the Hero Record.
‘If Death King Hell Kaiser had shown up here, Arron would have noticed.’
That meant the Erebos Arron was sensing now was the fourth piece.
“Why did it suddenly awaken?”
As Leo voiced his question, Arron spoke.
“It’s been 5,000 years since Erebos was subjugated, and one piece revived 3,000 years ago, right?”
“Right.”
“In that case, wouldn’t the remaining pieces all be in a state where they could revive at any moment?”
Arron had a point.
One piece had already revived 3,000 years ago.
If so, it wouldn’t be strange for the others to awaken at any time.
“But this is too sudden.”
As Leo narrowed his eyes, Arron said,
“Or maybe it’s because I came out of the Hero Record.”
“I see.”
Leo nodded gravely at Arron’s words.
After entering Arron’s rampaging Hero Record, Leo had brought Arron into the present world.
He had used Divine Power in the process.
‘If the dormant Erebos was stimulated by the Divine Power I used to bring Arron here and awakened...’
Then it would explain why Erebos had suddenly revived.
Just as Leo clicked his tongue—
“Leo-nim!”
“Melina.”
Melina’s voice came from the sky above.
Thud!
Watching Melina land in front of him, Leo said,
“Contact the entire world immediately. Tell them a piece of Erebos may be reviving.”
“What?”
Melina’s face turned deathly pale.
“Don’t tell me this abnormal situation is being caused by a piece of Erebos?”
“Yes.”
Leo clenched and unclenched his fist as he continued.
“It seems the fourth piece has revived.”
“Yes. I’ll first dispatch the second-years we recalled to the other regions along with the first-years.”
This was a piece of Erebos.
The return of the calamity itself.
As such, it was a trial far too great for Hero Candidates to handle.
Melina, the Dragon Lord, quickly assessed the situation.
As she gathered her Magic Power to open a Warp Gate, her face stiffened.
The moment they saw her expression, Leo and Arron immediately understood.
“Spatial travel is impossible, then.”
“Yes.”
Melina answered Arron in a rigid voice.
The very existence of Erebos twists and distorts the laws of the world.
Magic is a technique that intervenes in those laws to produce phenomena.
Among all forms of magic, spatial magic was especially unstable.
The mere presence of Erebos destabilized the surrounding space, rendering spatial travel magic unusable.
Even Luna had been unable to use it.
“First, gather the first and second-years in one place.”
“Yes. And after that?”
“We explain the situation.”
Leo drew his sword.
Seeing him, Melina gritted her teeth.
“The children will fall into despair.”
“They will. But that doesn’t matter. We have hope too. Have you forgotten?”
“What? Ah!”
Remembering something, Melina’s eyes widened.
“We have the Hero with us now.”
===
A sudden outbreak of Demonic Beasts and monsters.
The second-years who had gone out to Delan were urgently recalled and heard Melina’s voice.
They immediately grasped the situation and began subjugating the Demonic Beasts and monsters.
Fwoosh—! Crackle—!
Aura of flame and lightning roared around their swords, making its presence known.
Kwoaaaaaaah—! Pabababababat!
“Guwoooooooargh!”
Celia and Duran’s Aura tore through the body of a gigantic Demonic Beast.
The beast collapsed with a scream of pain.
Chwaaak—!
Chen Xia leaped into the air toward it.
Her water Aura fluttered through the air like silk.
Pwuhak—!
But that thin, beautiful water Aura produced a gruesome sound as it severed the Demonic Beast’s head.
Blood poured from the neck of the beast, which was as large as a castle wall, like a waterfall.
As soon as Chen Xia landed lightly on the ground, the massive body toppled over.
Kugugugung!
The monsters crushed beneath it were turned into a bloody mash.
Hwoooo—!
Abad raised his staff.
“Tempest.”
The moment the spell was completed, a catastrophic wind burst forth, sending the Demonic Beasts and monsters flying.
C-c-c-c-c-crack—!
“Fimbulvetr.”
Chloe’s Original Magic turned the surrounding monsters into ice statues.
Kugugugugu—!
Just then, the ground shook.
“Walden! Is this your doing?”
“No.”
At Eliza’s question, Walden looked down at the earth.
“The earth spirits are afraid.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means something is there.”
Just as Walden narrowed his eyes—
Flash—!
A pillar of light shot up not far away.
Chelsea, who was in the air taking care of the flying monsters, shouted,
“It’s Dragonia’s crest! I think the Lord wants us to head there!”
At her cry, the Lumene students rushed toward the pillar of light.
The first-years were already arriving there.
In addition, the graduates who had been subjugating monsters also gathered.
Carr’s jaw dropped at the sight of the massive alchemical fortress.
“She made this on the spot? As expected of the Dragon Lord.”
Carr marveled.
Then Li Jamua, standing in front of the fortress gate, shouted,
“Everyone, get inside the fortress before the Demonic Beasts and monsters close in!”
At Li Jamua’s booming voice, the first and second-years hurried into the fortress.
“But what in the world is going on?”
“Is this really just training?”
“If they prepared a fortress like this, then it has to be training, right?”
Among the first and second-years, some still mistook the current situation for part of their training.
Watching them, Torua crossed her arms and grumbled,
“This is exactly why the educational policies of the Hero Academies are a problem. No matter how much they say training is like a real battle, you still get kids who think it’s training even when an abnormal situation breaks out and monsters attack like they’re trying to kill them.”
“I agree, but thanks to that, all the first and second-years are handling this situation admirably.”
Torua nodded at Ulta’s words.
Listening to them, Rhys muttered,
“The atmosphere feels ominous.”
“Brother!”
Celia hurried over.
“This isn’t training. It’s real, isn’t it?”
Rhys nodded at Celia’s question.
“Yes.”
“What in the world is happening?!”
“I don’t know the details either. Until the Lord tells us...”
Rhys trailed off.
Fwaah—!
Two dragons with golden scales appeared in the sky above the fortress.
Everyone looked up in surprise.
Flash—!
Wrapped in golden light, the two dragons landed atop the castle wall.
A middle-aged man with blond hair and a young blond girl appeared.
Melina’s confidant, Akatis, and her successor, Enkinias.
“Is everyone gathered?”
At Akatis’s question, Riennia stepped forward.
“Yes. All the Hero Academy students have gathered. So please explain the situation.”
At Riennia’s words, En said,
“The Lord will be here shortly to explain the current situation.”
At those words, the first and second-years who had assumed it was training began murmuring among themselves.
A moment later, Melina descended from the sky and landed on the castle wall.
“Everyone.”
As Melina, standing between Akatis and Enkinias, spoke in a slightly rigid voice, everyone’s expressions tensed.
“You are Hero Candidates.”
Melina began slowly.
“You are putting in painstaking effort every day to become heroes. So that you may face trials anytime, anywhere. You are the noble ones who can fight for the world.”
Everyone wore puzzled expressions at her speech.
“And trials... calamities... come without warning. 5,000 years ago, 3,000 years ago, and... now.”
Kugugugugugung—!
The ground began to quake violently.
An earthquake beyond comparison to any that had come before.
Just as panic spread across the students’ faces—
Kwagagagagagang! Koooooooooh!
Far away in the distance, a massive pillar of fire burst from the ground and shot into the sky.
Like a tower meant to pierce the heavens.
The pillar of flame continued to erupt.
The Hero Candidates stared at the utterly surreal sight with gaping mouths.
“Calamity... Flame?”
Someone muttered in confusion.
“The sky...!”
Another muttered in terror.
The starlight in the sky was disappearing.
The brilliant light vanished, and pitch-black darkness swallowed everything.
The Hero Candidates knew all too well what that meant.
5,000 years ago, and 3,000 years ago.
It was far too similar to the phenomenon that had driven the world to the brink of destruction.
As everyone grasped the situation and reeled in shock, Melina declared gravely,
“Everyone, the calamity has awakened.”
Listening to Melina’s firm voice, Leo, standing atop a high tower on the castle wall and looking up at the sky, muttered,
“To think I’d have to see that damned sight again.”
He glared at the symbol of calamity staining the heavens.
“So this is what it felt like.”
Arron muttered bitterly.
Arron, who had been born in the Era of Calamity, did not know.
The feeling of having peace stolen away.
The despair of facing an overwhelming calamity.
“It’s a little different. That sky will be gone by tonight.”
Leo looked at Arron.
“I wanted you to enjoy peace. I wanted you to be at ease.”
“I’ve already enjoyed plenty. And I’ve been more than at ease.”
Arron smiled.
“I died back then. But thanks to you, Kyle, I was able to see the world we saved. Could there be any greater blessing than that?”
Both Leo and Arron knew.
When this battle ended, Arron would disappear.
A desperate situation.
But both Leo and Arron were used to despair.
The young sprouts below were not.
The despair they now faced was far too immense for them to bear.
“But do not worry, everyone.”
Melina’s powerful voice rang out.
Hearing her, Leo said,
“That’s why... we need a symbol.”
This was no longer a situation where they could hide anything.
“If the calamity has returned, then it’s time for the symbol of courage to return as well.”
Leo looked Arron straight in the eye.
“I’m counting on you, Arron. We need your courage.”
“Leave it to me.”
Smiling at Leo’s words, Arron leaped from the tower.
Thud—!
Landing beside Melina, Arron looked down at the Hero Candidates.
“Instructor Arkan?”
Chen Xia looked puzzled.
As everyone’s eyes fixed on Arron, he raised his hand.
Flash—!
Aura burst from Arron’s hand.
Like Erebos’s black pillar of fire, an immense pillar of Aura surged upward as though it would pierce the sky.
That Aura soon took the form of a golden sword.
Arron swung the Aura sword he had raised high toward the pillar of fire.
Fwaah—! Kwagagagagagang!
The pillar of fire was split in two, causing a massive explosion.
Watching the exhilarating sight, someone muttered,
“He... split the sky?”
The night sky, which had been veiled by Erebos’s power, now glittered once more with starlight.
Torua, dazed, recited an oral tradition passed down since ancient times.
“When he swung his sword, the sky would split... and at that overwhelming sight, the people gained boundless courage.”
Everyone stared at the back of the man who had created a scene that seemed torn straight from legend and repeated his name.
“The Hero... Arron.”
(T/N: Holy shit. I got goosebumps)
***
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