Leo looked up at the five people looking down at him from the sky and let out a light breath.
“Are you from the Justice Guild?”
At Leo’s question, the mage who appeared to be their leader adjusted his grip on his staff.
“My name is Setian. I am a Royal Palace Mage of the great Kingdom of Pettiman. A mage who executes justice under the king’s command.”
“You’re pretty skilled for a Royal Palace Mage from a backwater kingdom.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Well, does it matter?”
At Setian’s feigned ignorance, Leo drew his sword.
Shing!
“I can just capture you and interrogate you.”
As he said that, a large man standing beside Setian pulled the giant Battle Axe from his back with both hands and flew toward Leo.
“Hyaaap!”
With a fierce battle cry, a red Aura formed around the Battle Axe.
Seeing that, Lily chugged the wine in her hand, emptied the bottle, and casually threw it aside.
Crash!
At the same moment the wine bottle shattered, a Battle Hammer summoned into Lily’s hand tore through the air.
Whoosh!
Kwaang!
“Oh? I heard Lumene’s third-year representative wasn’t from a knight class.”
“That’s right. I’m a Spirit Mage.”
“Hmph. And yet you intend to face me, a knight, in close combat?”
“I’m pretty good at close combat myself.”
“Insolent!”
The man, who looked about three heads taller than Lily, unleashed even stronger Aura.
The space around him distorted.
Lily’s body seemed to stagger, and then, unable to withstand his force, she was blasted away.
Kwagagagagang!
A thick cloud of dust rose from the spot where Lily had been thrown.
“Youth truly is wonderful! To think a Spirit Mage would try to face a knight! But you’re no match for me!”
Laughing heartily, he grinned at Leo.
“Well then, shall we see the skills of the famous Leo Plov?”
Watching the man proudly display his fighting spirit, Leo pointed behind the knight.
“I don’t think you’re in any position to worry about me.”
“What?”
Kwaaang! Fwoosh!
The knight who had charged in so boldly was swallowed by a powerful explosion.
It was the same flame that had attacked Leo and Lily just moments ago.
Lily had been controlling it with her Spirit Magic, but now she had released her hold on it.
Fwoosh!
Leo brushed off the flames covering him and protested.
“That’s too much.”
“I figured a flame at that level wouldn’t hurt you, Leo.”
Lily walked over casually, her Battle Hammer slung over her shoulder.
Leo had been caught up in Lily’s counterattack, but she didn’t seem to care at all.
'It’s true that fire-attribute attacks generally don’t work on me.'
After all, no matter what anyone said, Leo wielded the Aura of Zerdinger’s Flame and had a contract with a Phoenix.
But even so, the fact that she launched a counterattack without the slightest hesitation showed that Lily was no ordinary person either.
'Is her natural combat sense really that exceptional?'
He already knew Lily was incredibly skilled, but even Leo had never seen her fight in a real battle.
While Leo was watching Lily with interest,
“Well, this is impressive.”
The knight who had charged in laughed boldly as he pushed himself back up.
“Though you’re still just a young girl, you are a strong warrior!”
The knight, with his Battle Axe slung over his shoulder, grinned.
“My name is Joren! I belong to the Royal Knights of the Kingdom of Pettiman! I have come to execute justice under the command of His Majesty the King!”
Shouting boisterously, he lifted his Battle Axe and began to spin it.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
“I hope this will be a glorious, blood-boiling battle!”
Kwaaaaaaah!
The red Aura created a massive storm.
It was a natural disaster born from overwhelming physical force.
Seeing it, Lily’s eyes twitched.
She summoned a wind Spirit to counter the gale Joren had created.
The Carnel soldiers, who had been suffering from the typhoon he generated, sighed in relief.
“Viscount Eshimon.”
Lily called out to Viscount Eshimon in a heavy voice.
“Yes.”
Eshimon swallowed dryly.
He had witnessed countless battlefields since he was young.
On the battlefield, Aura, Magic, and Summoned Beasts ran rampant.
Because of that, he had seen countless times how a single overwhelmingly powerful individual could influence the tide of war.
Even so, he had never once seen a battle between beings with such transcendent power up close.
But after watching the clash just now, he had a gut feeling.
'A battle that far transcends the standards of ordinary people.'
With the Justice Guild intervening in the war between Carnel and Pettiman, the tide of battle had already become one-sided.
The Kingdom of Carnel had been trampled by those with overwhelming power.
'But if we get caught up in a battle like this... the damage will be on a completely different level from anything we’ve seen so far!'
“Please take command of the soldiers and retreat. Leo and I will handle this battlefield.”
“Understood.”
Viscount Eshimon quickly took command of the troops.
Watching him, Lily felt relieved.
'It’s a good thing Viscount Eshimon is a capable commander.'
Because she came from a distinguished military family and had seen many commanders since childhood, Lily could tell after only a short time that Eshimon was competent.
Seeing the troops retreat in perfect order, Joren scoffed.
“Running from the battlefield? A race without honor.”
“You’re the one without honor.”
Lily’s voice dropped low and menacingly.
Just moments ago, Joren had tried to kill the soldiers around him.
And because Lily had seen countless battles, she instantly understood why he had tried to slaughter them.
It wasn’t to secure an advantage in the future.
It was simple self-aggrandizement.
A massacre committed so others would fear him and look up to him.
Lily had seen this type of person on the battlefield over and over again.
And this was the type of person Lily hated and despised the most.
At Lily’s words, Joren nodded as if he understood.
“Such pure, untainted, student-like values. It brings back memories. I had a time like that too.”
“What did you say?”
“I was a student at Lumene too.”
“Someone like you?”
Lily looked at him in disbelief.
In response, Joren’s lips twisted.
“Yes. Though I didn’t graduate. I was expelled in my fifth year. You know him, don’t you? Professor Harrid. That bastard expelled me.”
Joren pointed his Battle Axe at Lily.
“Lily Luce, was it? As a class representative, you must know this, but heroes are chosen beings. For the sake of the world. To realize justice, they overcome trials and accomplish great deeds so they may be chosen by the gods. They are, in the truest sense, agents of the gods.”
“What does that have to do with massacre?”
“Do you know the concept of Karma?”
“Karma?”
Lily narrowed her brow.
Hearing that conversation, Leo’s eyes twitched.
“Karma? You mean the law of cause and effect? How do you know about that?”
“Oho, as expected of the youngest student council president. You know a concept that only appears in ancient texts.”
Karma.
It was a concept spoken of by the gods before the Era of Calamity.
During the Age of Gods.
Karma accumulated every time a life was taken.
'They said that among those called heroes during the Age of Gods, there were some who accumulated an enormous amount of Karma, didn’t they?'
Leo recalled Lysinas’s words.
'Some gods used to say insane things like killing one’s own kind was also a great deed. That’s why there were so many gods who excessively praised war heroes.'
Lysinas had shown her disgust.
'In this current era where the gods have vanished, they’re treated as beings of absolute good. But the reality is not so.'
Leo sighed.
There were certainly good gods.
Pibua, whom he had met in Luna’s world, was a god who genuinely cared for the world.
But gods were not beings of absolute benevolence.
'In fact, there were many whose temperaments leaned closer to chaos.'
Absolute beings who managed the world.
Omnipotent, immortal beings.
That was what a god was.
Among the gods who had lived for an incomprehensibly long eternity while managing the world, there were many hedonists who pursued extreme stimulation.
And the deeper pleasure became, the more grotesquely distorted it turned.
That was why in the Age of Gods there were righteous heroes like Arron’s master, the Azure Guardian, but there were also those twisted by their own desires who were heroes in name only.
And Leo had buried such people during the Era of Calamity.
'In our era, there was no standard for a hero.'
After the Era of Calamity ended,
the great deeds of the Great Heroes were recorded in the Hero Record and passed down to future generations, and the standard of a hero shifted toward those devoted to the world.
However...
'Even so, those chosen by the gods are still recorded in the Hero Record.'
Leo knew that twisted heroes like those from the Age of Gods still existed.
They merely hid behind an act, because they did not fit the modern image of a hero.
And upon hearing Joren’s words, Leo realized it.
'These bastards are that kind of hero.'
“Karma. I still don’t understand.”
As Lily frowned, Leo explained.
“Think of it simply. The gods can see how many lives have been taken. The tally of killings seen through the eyes of the gods is called Karma.”
“Astonishing. You even know that?”
Setian, who was facing Leo, spoke in admiration.
“As expected of someone who attained the rank of hero at such a young age, Leo Plov. Could it be that you, too, received the teachings of a god?”
Setian asked, his eyes shining.
Looking at Setian, Leo let out a hollow laugh.
'I see. Now I understand what kind of people the Justice Guild are.'
The picture was becoming clear.
Even now, he could not sense any malice or murderous intent from the people in front of him.
'What they say about executing justice is true as well. They show no hesitation, no emotion, and no guilt even while carrying out massacres. Even the craziest murderer will show some sort of emotion when killing people, whether it’s pleasure or something else.'
But these people had none of that.
'What I feel from these bastards is conviction.'
Leo let out a hollow laugh.
A profoundly twisted conviction.
He had seen something similar among the elves.
Their blind devotion to Luna.
Their pride in their race.
But the Justice Guild was even more blatant.
The phrase ‘teachings of a god’ confirmed it.
A kind of group that should not exist in the present era.
'A kind of religious group. And not just any religion, but a cult.'
Leo let out another hollow laugh.
“You treat massacre like it’s some kind of will of the gods?”
“It is not the will of the gods. It is a trial to become an agent of the gods.”
Setian said,
“They are ‘experience points’ used to forge our vessels into those of heroes.”
“Crazy...”
“Those sons of bitches.”
Just as Leo was about to curse, he instinctively glanced to his side.
With her head lowered, Lily’s shoulders were trembling.
“What do you think a human life is, you trash?”
Gooooooooo!
An unnerving amount of Spirit Power began to rise from Lily’s body.
Flash!
Lily lifted her head, her eyes flashing dangerously.
“You crazy psychopath bastards! I’ll smash all your fucking heads in!”
Seeing Lily, who was usually gentle and polite, spewing such vulgar curses and going on a rampage, Leo clicked his tongue.
'A normally quiet kid is scary when they snap.'
For a moment, even Leo flinched.
But now that he knew exactly what kind of place the Justice Guild was, there was no need to hesitate.
Gooooo.
A chilling killing intent flowed from Leo’s eyes.
Seeing him, not only Setian but the other members of the Justice Guild flinched as well.
“You will never become heroes.”
“Foolish one! Are you saying you will not follow the will of the gods?”
“Gods?”
Leo smiled coldly.
“Have you ever even seen a god in person?”
“What?”
“I happen to know a thing or two about those beings called gods. If they saw this situation, they would surely say this.”
All expression vanished from Leo’s face.
“They’d tell me to slit your throats, because you don’t even deserve to breathe.”
***
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