“Archer units, prepare once more.”
Lily gave the order to the knight beside her.
At her command, the knight hurriedly pointed his sword toward the archers.
“Archer units! Ready!”
The archers frantically set arrows to their bowstrings.
But as the capital’s defense force of a frontier kingdom, their training was lacking, and their reloading speed was noticeably slow.
“Can’t you move any faster?! The enemy is already within range!”
the knight shouted in frustration.
Seeing this, Lily let out a faint sigh and raised her hand.
Rumble—!
The earth spirits contracted to Lily shook the ground.
Tamuss’s marching army lost their footing and fell as the ground trembled violently.
In that opening, the archers, having finished reloading, fired.
Whish-sh-sh-sh-sh!
The sound of arrows cutting through the air rang out.
At the same time, Lily summoned wind spirits to accelerate the arrows.
Strengthened by the wind, the arrows slammed into Tamuss’s soldiers with terrifying force.
“W-wonderful.”
“Was a Spirit Mage always such a terrifying existence?”
The influence Lily exerted on the battlefield alone was overwhelming.
Though still young, Lily was especially seasoned in this sort of warfare, and her command ability was extraordinary.
She truly was the kind of presence that shifted the flow of battle simply by being there.
Even the other commanders directing soldiers atop the wall could not hide their amazement.
“Lily-nim! You are incredible! It’s as if a goddess of victory has descended upon us!”
“I’m not anything special. Hyung-nim is far more amazing. And that person... he truly deserves to be called a god.”
“H-Hyung-nim?”
The knights looked bewildered when Lily, a beautiful girl by any standard, casually referred to someone as Hyung-nim.
At that moment, a brilliant flash of light flickered in the sky.
Everyone looked up in alarm.
“Look.”
Just as Lily said calmly,
Lu, one of the Orphan Soldiers, ran over, saluted, and asked,
“Captain! When do we move in!”
Lu looked like she was itching for a fight, eager to cut down the enemy right away.
Lily looked at Lu and said,
“You all will not be participating in this battle.”
“What? Why not? We’re way stronger than these people!”
Lu stared at her in disbelief.
Lily looked at Lu and continued.
“You are stronger than them. But you are also at an age when you should be protected.”
One section of the wall had collapsed.
Tamuss’s knights had entered the city through that breach.
But Lily had already heard from Jeremin about what was happening there.
‘The shadow people are helping the citizens evacuate.’
The enemies who had broken through were also being dealt with quickly.
Because of that, Lily could focus entirely on this battlefield.
“What is it that all of you are supposed to do?”
“Defeat the enemy...”
“No. It’s to find what you want to do.”
Lily cut Lu off firmly.
The Orphan Soldiers’ eyes widened at her words.
“So leave this sort of thing to the adults. Right, Knight-nims?”
Everyone fell silent as they watched Lily ask with a wink.
Though it did not suit such a desperate situation, Lily instantly captured the hearts of those around her.
At the same time, she gave them a sense of relief.
It was then.
“Are you the Lumene third-year representative commanding this battlefield?”
A voice drifted down from the sky.
Everyone turned their gazes toward him.
There stood a man with a twisted face, clutching one arm.
Jerome.
“Are you the Guild Master of Justice Guild?”
“You’re well-informed. Then hand over command to me. I will save all of you from this battlefield.”
Jerome spoke through gritted teeth.
‘My qualification as a hero was revoked? Why?!’
Having conquered countless Hero Records, Jerome knew the message he had seen was not an illusion.
Never in history had anyone been stripped of their status as a hero.
If this fact became known, Jerome would literally become a laughingstock recorded in history.
‘I can’t allow that. I need to achieve a great feat immediately and reclaim my place as a hero!’
That was the only thought filling his head.
Lily hesitated as she looked at Jerome.
Even setting aside his critical injury, she was not sure whether she should hand over command.
She knew well what kind of ideology he held.
Still, he was a man who had risen to the rank of hero, so he might truly be more suited to command this battlefield than she was.
As Lily was thinking that over, the knights spoke up.
“Light Seeker, we appreciate your offer to lead us... but Justice Guild abandoned us. Following your command now would greatly damage the soldiers’ morale.”
“Lily-nim is commanding this battlefield perfectly well.”
The knights of the Kingdom of Carnel expressed their intention to continue following Lily.
Lily’s eyes widened in surprise at their response.
“How dare these commoners...”
Jerome’s face turned hideous.
“You should have been bowing in gratitude that I even offered to lead you. And yet you refuse?”
Vroooooom—!
Spirit Energy surged out of his body.
At once, Lily’s eyes turned sharp.
Whoosh—!
She swung her Battle Hammer straight at Jerome.
“Hmph! What a crude attack!”
Jerome’s eyes flashed.
Though he had spent much of his strength fighting Tamuss and had even lost one of his arms, he was still one of the most outstanding heroes of the current era.
He was not someone Lily, who was only a Hero Candidate, should have been able to handle.
But Lily gripped her Battle Hammer even tighter.
If she yielded here, the knights of Carnel would all die.
Realizing that, Lily gritted her teeth.
“To try to kill people just because they won’t obey your will! What do you think human lives are!”
“You dare lecture me?! What could a woman like you possibly know about heroes? Heroes are special beings who lead the era! Other humans are nothing but expendables meant only to follow a hero’s will!”
Lily’s shoulders trembled at Jerome’s words.
“At the very least, I won’t become like you! You son of a bitch!”
“What?”
At Lily’s outburst, her power momentarily surged past its limit.
Crackle—!
The barrier of light Jerome had created with his spirit cracked.
“What?!”
Crunch—!
“Gah?!”
The Battle Hammer slammed squarely into Jerome’s chest.
His body was sent flying.
“Pant. Pant. How?”
[Impressive.]
Someone gently stroked Lily’s head.
“Laurel-nim?”
What Lily had just used was none other than Laurel’s power.
For an instant, she had drawn out the power of the [Spirit Armor] Leo had placed on her during training.
[Well, being able to use my power was possible purely because of Leo.]
When Leo had deployed [Spirit Armor] on Lily, Laurel had briefly dwelled inside Lily’s body.
That had established something like a temporary contract.
But the fact that she had actually drawn on Laurel’s power was entirely Lily’s own ability.
[If it weren’t for Leo, you might have been the one to make a contract with me.]
Lily’s expression crumpled as she looked at Laurel, who seemed proud.
“Urgh?!”
She clapped a hand over her mouth and ran toward the edge of the wall.
“Bleegh.”
It was the price of using power beyond the limit allowed to her.
Laurel patted Lily’s back while watching her suffer through the nausea and dizziness with a strange expression.
“Woooaaaah!”
“Long live Lily-nim!”
“The Goddess of Victory is protecting us!”
The knights and soldiers cheered once they realized that Lily had saved them.
[They’re cheering for you that passionately, so why not wave at them at least once?]
“If I vomit... urgh! while waving? Bleegh!”
[…That would not be a good look. Do it after you settle down.]
===
With a tremendous flash of light, Tamuss crashed to the ground.
[That was amazing.]
Arti cried out in admiration.
“Well, I just forced out an absurd amount of firepower for an instant.”
Even for the current Leo, it was difficult to maintain an attack of that level.
If the opponent dodged it, it was useless.
No matter how powerful an attack was, it meant nothing if it failed to hit.
Kirran asked with interest,
[How does the current Leo compare to your past life?]
“In terms of attack power alone, probably about the same as when I first met Lysinas. But catching up in overall ability is still a long way off.”
After answering, Leo pursued Tamuss.
‘He’s not completely dead yet.’
As expected of someone of Tamuss’s level, he had survived that strike.
Whoosh—! Boom—!
At that moment, Jerome, after being struck by Lily, came flying through the air and crashed down in front of Leo.
“Gah! Cough! That damn girl!”
Jerome got back up and shouted with murderous eyes.
Leo looked at him and said,
“So Lily got you, huh?”
“Leo Plov?”
Jerome’s body flinched.
Noticing that Lily had summoned Laurel, Leo curled the corners of his mouth.
“So how does it feel to witness a real hero?”
“Was it you... are you the reason my hero qualification was revoked?!”
“Think whatever you want.”
Jerome’s body trembled as he looked at Leo’s mocking expression.
At that moment, he became certain.
His expulsion from the rank of hero was connected to Leo.
“Why.”
Jerome muttered in a low voice.
“Why! A hero is a chosen being! And I am a chosen human! I was always the best! I executed justice for the sake of the world! So why must I be expelled from the seat of hero! Why me, who achieved such great feats!”
Leo answered indifferently as Jerome screamed out his grievances.
“I don’t think you’re all that great of a person.”
“What?”
“To me, you’re just a fool who thinks he can do whatever he wants with the world because he has a little bit of power.”
Jerome’s face froze at Leo’s cold words.
“Wouldn’t the title of hero be wasted on a fool like that?”
“Aaaaaargh!”
His eyes turning white with rage, Jerome lunged at Leo.
Leo easily dodged him.
Slash—!
With a chilling sound, Jerome’s movement stopped.
Splurt—! Thud—!
Jerome’s headless body collapsed.
With an expressionless face, Leo flicked the blood from Nyx and continued chasing after Tamuss without giving Jerome another glance.
At the moment, the inside of Carnel’s capital was in chaos because of Tamuss’s army.
‘As long as he isn’t dealt with, they’ll keep pouring in.’
Leo tracked Tamuss down.
And some time later, he found him standing in the middle of some ruins.
Realizing Leo had arrived, Tamuss glared at him with his head restored and shouted,
“It’s not over yet!”
Tamuss screamed furiously.
“I have not regained the full power I possessed in my prime! If I restore my strength as a Necromancer, it will not be impossible for me to kill you!”
Tamuss burned with murderous intent.
He had suffered a fatal wound, but he had not yet been completely defeated.
“Stop struggling so pathetically and accept your death with dignity.”
The moment Leo raised Nyx irritably,
Flash—!
Light burst forth from the ground where Tamuss stood.
“This is land that I ruled 3,000 years ago.”
Tamuss’s eyes gleamed.
“Is it not only natural that I would remember the location of my own treasury?”
Curling his lips, Tamuss stretched out his hand.
At the same time, a door appeared.
“You shouldn’t be able to open it without a key, should you?”
“Heh. Do you think I need a key to enter my own treasury!”
Mocking Leo, Tamuss opened the door to the treasury.
Flash—!
With a bright flash, the surrounding scenery changed.
When Leo opened his eyes, a massive armory had appeared.
Tamuss stood beside a throne in the center of it.
Tamuss picked up a skull resting on that throne and placed it on top of his own neck.
Flash—!
Light flickered in the eye sockets of the skull.
“With this, I have regained my full power! Hero of Beginning! Hahahaha!”
Breaking into mad laughter, Tamuss raised his hand.
“I will show you! The power of the Heroic Legion I boast of!”
Vroooooom—!
The Spirit Energy pouring out of Tamuss seeped into the Artifacts filling the armory.
Flash—!
That Spirit Energy soon took on the living forms of the Artifacts’ original owners.
“I remember how all of you refused my orders 3,000 years ago! But I shall forgive you! Foolish Spirits! You will become my slaves and rule this world once more!”
Tamuss’s eyes flashed.
“We will drive out the fake heroes who rose to their positions through the power of the Hero Record! And we will show the foolish masses what a true hero is! By my command, kill him!”
At Tamuss’s madness-filled order, the Spirits began approaching Leo.
Tamuss’s Spirit Magic, revived through the Death King’s power, was closer to Death Magic.
He forcibly dominated others and reduced them to the same state as an Undead.
Leo’s face hardened as he looked at the Spirits approaching him.
It was not the hardening of fear or anxiety.
He could hear the anguished voices of countless Spirits.
‘I see.’
Leo looked down at his hand.
‘So I had awakened Spirit Magic.’
He could hear the sorrowful voices of the Spirits.
Just as Lysinas had.
Flash—!
Pure white Spirit Energy flowed from Leo’s hand.
The Spirits touched by that light froze in place.
“You can do as you please.”
Leo said.
“You are free. No one can bind you.”
Clatter—!
The Spirits touched by the white light trembled and then vanished one after another.
The Artifacts they had been holding rolled hollowly across the floor.
Tamuss’s eyes bulged at the sight.
“H-How?!”
“I just copied a Necromancer far more impressive than you.”
Leo said as he walked toward Tamuss.
Vroooooom—!
An ominous killing intent flowed from Leo’s body.
Tamuss spoke in a trembling voice as he looked at him.
“P-Please, spare me.”
He had been utterly defeated, both as a knight and as a Necromancer.
Only one of two choices remained to him now.
Accept death, or beg for his life.
“Hero of Beginning! I... no! I can resist the power of the former Death King! That loathsome Death King said it! He said the Fragment of Erebos has been revived once more! And that he possesses the Fragment of Erebos! In this era, I would be a great help! Spare me! As a great Great Hero! Please show mercy to your hubae!”
Leo looked down at Tamuss, who was kneeling before him and rubbing his hands together miserably.
“Certainly, a hero with power like yours would be a great help.”
“Y-Yes, exactly...”
“But the thing is about heroes.”
Leo raised Nyx.
Tamuss’s face froze.
“You’re not one, are you?”
“P-Please spare me! There will never be another person like me!”
“There are already more than enough people in this era who will one day surpass you.”
“Aaaaaargh!”
Still kneeling, Tamuss made one final desperate attempt and lunged at Leo.
Thwack—!
At that instant,
Tamuss’s head flew into the air.
3,000 years ago.
His neck had been severed by the exact same sword trajectory that had once taken it before.
Tamuss’s body crumbled away into nothingness.
***
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