Mel, who was investigating the Hero Dungeon, looked perplexed as she saw Damienne appear before her.
'How is Damienne-nim in the present world? No, more importantly, why is he attacking us?'
The people of the world believed that the Genesis Heroes had passed away 3,000 years ago.
However, Mel knew very well that they had continued their struggle within the Hero Record for a staggering 3,000 years.
Melina had even met Damienne in the World of Genesis.
Though they had never had a proper conversation, Damienne had certainly seen Mel.
And there was no way someone of Damienne’s stature would not recognize Mel.
Mel hurriedly stepped forward.
“Damienne-nim! You have no reason to fight with us—”
Grip!
As Mel spoke urgently, she saw the veins bulge on Damienne’s hand as he gripped his giant axe.
'He’s coming...'
Mel hastily deployed her Magic Power.
Kragagagang!
The battle axe swung.
An inky-black Aura surged like a tidal wave, sweeping toward Mel and the Heroes.
The earth split and trembled.
As the Heroes were struck with horror by the terrifying sight...
Kwagagagang!
A barrier of black Magic Power blocked Damienne’s attack.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Mel.
“So that is the power of the Silent Dragon...”
“Incredible.”
It was already an open secret that Mel was the Dragon Lord.
Everyone’s jaws dropped.
Normally, Mel would have had something to say about those comments, but right now, she had no room for leisure.
Cold sweat trickled down Mel’s forehead.
'As expected, he’s strong.'
Taking a deep breath, Mel raised her hand.
Flash!
Shadows surging from the ground entwined around Damienne.
Kugugung! Thump!
With his limbs restrained, Damienne’s knees buckled.
As Mel clenched her hand, the force pressing down on Damienne grew even stronger.
'I’m sorry, Damienne-nim.'
The moment she apologized to Damienne in her heart.
Gleam!
A golden light flashed from Damienne’s eyes.
Vwooooosh!
The inky-black Aura transformed into a burning golden Aura.
Seeing Damienne emitting golden light from his entire body, Mel gritted her teeth.
'Dweno-nim’s power!'
Damienne was the conqueror of Dweno’s World.
As such, he was also the one who had inherited Dweno’s power.
Creeaaaak!
Damienne grabbed the magic restraining him.
Immediately, an ominous sound came from Mel’s hands.
Mel gritted her teeth and poured even more strength into her power.
Crunch!
The force trying to restrain Damienne grew even stronger.
In response, Damienne’s strength also intensified.
Crack! Crackle!
An ominous sound flowed from Mel’s hands, which were linked to the magic.
Mel was a dragon specialized in magic and could not handle Aura.
Even so, she was a dragon.
As the most powerful race in the world, dragons possessed physical strength that far transcended the common sense of ordinary people.
And Mel was the Dragon Lord, possessing the greatest strength among them.
There were few beings in this world who surpassed Mel in pure physical strength.
Furthermore, the magic Mel used was Shadow Prison.
It was a spell created by Lysinas, where not only Magic Power but also physical strength affected the spell’s potency.
In other words, the stronger the user, the more drastically its power increased.
Despite her overwhelming Magic Power and physical strength as the Dragon Lord, Damienne broke through Mel’s magic with pure physical force.
Snap!
“Ugh?!”
Mel clutched her hand and stepped back.
Her finger bones had been crushed by the backlash of Shadow Prison being destroyed.
Mel deployed her magic once more.
Damienne charged toward her.
At that moment.
Flash! Kwagagagang!
White lightning fell from the sky.
Zap— crackle— snap!
There stood Leo, mounted on Pegasus.
Leo looked down at Carr and Eliza, who were riding on the back.
Then he looked at Mel.
Making eye contact with Leo, Mel nodded slightly and said,
“Everyone, stand back. I will seal off the surrounding area to prevent further damage.”
“It is too reckless to stop Damienne-nim with your power alone!”
“The other Heroes and professors will be here soon. If we stop Damienne-nim together...”
“We cannot face him without knowing exactly what state Damienne-nim is in. What is certain is that he is fighting us right now.”
Mel spoke calmly.
“That man is the successor of Dweno-nim, the Divine Blacksmith, and the one who defeated the Fragment of Erebos that was resurrected 3,000 years ago. It is impossible for the Heroes currently in Lumene to face someone with power that overwhelms even a Legion Commander. The damage might be catastrophic. So I will try to stop him.”
“But alone...”
“I’m not alone. Student Leo will help me. As the Oathbound of Pegasus, he will be a great help.”
The other Heroes could not refute Mel’s words.
“Student Leo. Please.”
“Yes.”
Smiling at Leo’s answer, Mel raised her hand.
Sssssssssss!
Black Magic Power surged from her body.
It was none other than Lysinas’s power.
The black magic flowing from Mel’s body soared high and then formed a giant dome-shaped sphere.
It was magic meant to sever the outside from the inside.
From the outside, it became impossible to know what was happening within.
Inside, only Leo, Mel, and Damienne stood in a standoff.
“Well then.”
Leo turned his gaze toward Damienne.
“I’ll ask one thing. What are you?”
At Leo’s question, Damienne lowered his stance and took a charging position.
Watching Damienne, Leo narrowed his eyes.
He noticed a certain power emanating from him.
'Divine Power?'
Previously, when Leo had briefly brought Seiren into the present world, Divine Power had not been necessary.
Unlike Luna and Arron, the Genesis Heroes were living beings.
In other words, they were not records from the Hero Record.
As such, opening the entrance to bring them out was possible within Leo’s authority.
But from the current Damienne, he could feel Divine Power.
'It’s strange to think he came to the present world using Divine Power. There is currently no means for the Genesis Heroes to obtain Divine Power. Even if they did, they shouldn’t be able to use it.'
“Hmm.”
Leo let out a light breath.
In the meantime, Damienne lowered his stance even further.
Watching him, Leo opened his Subspace.
'Shall I give it a test?'
Thud!
Damienne adjusted his grip on the battle axe and charged.
Leo, reaching into his Subspace, pulled out a massive battle axe.
Clang-clang-clang!
He swung the battle axe held in both hands upward from below.
It was a domineering attack that scraped the floor as it swung.
Crack!
Axe blade met axe blade.
It was a collision of immense power against immense power.
For an instant, the space where their weapons crossed distorted.
And...
Kwagagagang!
The ground where Leo and Damienne stood caved in as if a meteor had fallen.
Crackle— snap— crunch!
Suddenly, cracks began to appear on both axe blades.
Shatter!
Unable to withstand the power of the two, the artifacts shattered into pieces.
The compressed Aura exploded, sending Leo flying back.
Thump! Thump! Flop— slide!
Leo’s body tumbled across the ground several times.
Leo dissipated the impact with a breakfall and stood firm.
Unable to resist the force, he skidded back quite a distance while standing.
Looking down at his tingling hands, Leo burst into laughter.
“I see. The successor of Dweno, huh?”
Mel hurriedly asked Leo as he shook out his hands.
“Leo-nim, are you all right?”
“I’m fine. It seems that fellow is stronger than me in terms of pure physical strength.”
Leo said, opening and closing his hands.
“The ‘real’ one is probably much stronger than that.”
“So he really isn’t the real one?”
“Yeah.”
Mel had also vaguely realized it.
“He’s a fake created from the records of the Hero Record. He has no reason. Only the instinct to fight exists.”
“How is such a thing possible?”
“Who knows. It might be the Hero Record going out of control. Regardless, it’ll be a disaster if he’s left alone. We have to take him down now.”
Leo approached the Damienne made of Divine Power.
'Why did something like this suddenly pop out? Could it be that some anomaly has occurred in the Hero Record?'
Feeling that doubt, Leo focused on Damienne.
'If I let my guard down, I’ll be done for.'
Despite being a fake, he was incomparably stronger than even the Nether Knight he had defeated before.
Leo clenched his fists.
“The successor of Dweno, was it?”
Golden flames erupted from Leo’s body.
It was Dweno’s Aura.
“Shall we test just how sturdy you are?”
Reacting to Leo’s power, Damienne also emitted Dweno’s power and took a fighting stance.
If there were no weapons, use fists.
That was Dweno’s method of combat.
Thud!
Leo charged at Damienne and swung his fist.
Wham!
Damienne’s head snapped back as he took a heavy blow from Leo’s fist.
But he did not hesitate and immediately delivered an equal blow to Leo’s face.
Leo lightly cracked his neck.
“I see. You’re tough. Whose ‘defense’ is sturdier?”
Wham!
A terrifying fistfight between a Great Hero and a Genesis Hero began.
Boom! Bwaaaaang!
Terrifying roars echoed.
Each blow contained enough power to pulverize the bones of any ordinary Hero with a single punch.
Crack!
As their fists exchanged blows, a crack appeared in Damienne’s Aura.
At that moment, Damienne’s movement stopped dead.
Without hesitation, Leo drove his fist straight into Damienne’s abdomen.
Kwaaaaang!
Damienne’s body was sent flying before crashing into the ground.
“This kind of mindless fighting isn’t really my style.”
Leo wiped the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth and spat out the blood pooled in his mouth.
It was Dweno who enjoyed this kind of physical combat.
In terms of combat using pure physical abilities alone, Arron was the strongest among the Great Heroes.
However, in this kind of fistfight, no one could match Dweno.
“That old man. He was unnecessarily tough.”
'The collision of physical beauty and physical beauty! The dialogue of the flesh! A fistfight is also a type of art!'
Of course, that toughness was also part of his unpredictable artistic soul.
Recalling Dweno, Leo stayed wary of Damienne.
'He hasn’t fallen yet.'
The reason this kind of fight was difficult was that it was hard for either side to land a fatal blow.
Especially someone of Damienne’s caliber. He was sure to get right back up and attack.
'That’s how sturdy he is. If this becomes a prolonged battle, I might be at a disadvantage.'
If Leo used weapons, magic, or summoning, the match would be decided sooner.
And he could take a much more advantageous position.
Nevertheless, Leo insisted on the combat style Damienne was confident in.
This was also the combat method Dweno enjoyed most.
'He is testing him.'
Mel realized this after seeing Leo.
Even if he was a fake, Damienne’s power was not.
Perhaps one day they would meet the other Great Heroes again.
And there was a high possibility they would meet the Genesis Heroes in the near future.
In preparation for that time, Leo wanted to know what kind of people the Genesis Heroes, called the successors of his friends, were.
So that he could tell the Great Heroes he would meet again about their successors.
So that he could acknowledge the Genesis Heroes as successors on behalf of his friends when he met them.
'Rodia and Seiren were more than qualified. Lysinas and Luna will be delighted to see them. Damienne. I think you’ll be the same.'
It was when Leo was smiling and clenching his fists.
Glitch! Static!
For a moment, Damienne’s body began to blur.
Leo paused the moment he saw that.
Soon, Damienne’s appearance, which had been repeatedly dispersing and reappearing, changed.
There was no trace of Damienne left.
Standing there instead was a dog Beastkin woman wearing silver wolf skin.
Jingle— jingle—
Short leather pants that left her legs exposed.
For her top, she wore highly revealing leather armor that left her shoulders, stomach, and waist exposed.
Ring-shaped bracelets and anklets made a sound every time she moved.
It was attire that did not seem suited for combat.
However, she was draped in murderous battle spirit as if it were armor.
It was an outfit where one could glimpse her will to pierce through the battlefield with her bare body.
Leo narrowed his eyes.
“Great Warrior.”
Azonia curled the corners of her mouth toward Leo.
Seeing that, Leo realized.
“I see. It seems I’m not the only one doing the testing.”
Leo knew the kind of people who enjoyed testing others in this manner.
He had seen it in ancient documents long ago.
Not while alive, but before dying.
“It’s a God.”
***
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