Crack—! Crash—! Rumble—!
Leo and Azonia locked hands in a test of strength.
The surrounding area was instantly devastated by the shockwaves of their clash.
Leo clicked his tongue as he watched Azonia smiling at him.
“Are you enjoying this situation right now?”
There was no answer.
The Azonia before him was a fake manifested by the Hero Record.
She was merely a doll without a will, existing only to fight.
However, she clearly displayed the disposition and personality of the real Azonia and Damienne.
Unlike Damienne, who had exuded a grave atmosphere, Azonia wore a bellicose smile throughout her fight with Leo.
'I heard this one actually enjoys combat.'
The title of Great Warrior was one Azonia had held even before she rose to the rank of the Genesis Heroes.
To be precise, it was the highest status among the Beastmen, passed down since before the Era of Calamity.
Beastmen, born with a combative nature that made them revel in battle, felt a sense of rivalry toward anyone strong.
Because of this, they held a ritual called the Hero’s Festival to select the strongest Beastman.
The most renowned Beastman warriors would gather in one place for the Hero’s Festival.
The winner would become the Great Warrior and the leader of all Beastmen.
Though the tradition vanished during the Era of Calamity, it was revived when the Age of Heroes began.
'During the Era of Calamity, the one they tried to appoint as the Great Warrior was Arron.'
Leo recalled the Beastmen who had tried to nominate Arron for the position back then.
Of course, Arron had been horrified and refused.
Once one ascended to the position of Great Warrior, they had to accept challenges from countless warriors and could never step down until they were defeated.
Losing on purpose was also not tolerated.
To begin with, given Arron’s strength, it was impossible to imagine him losing to anyone else.
It was, quite literally, a path of eternal struggle.
As a coward, Arron had no desire to be harassed by ferocious Beastman warriors for the rest of his life.
Leo, who was still locked in a struggle with Azonia, lowered his stance.
Azonia, her center of gravity suddenly thrown off, staggered.
Leo drove his shoulder into her abdomen.
Thud—!
Having taken a massive impact, Azonia was sent flipping backward with a dull thud.
Tack—!
However, she landed on the ground with one hand and immediately charged back at Leo.
Whoosh—!
Leo’s face hardened as he saw Azonia closing the distance at incredible speed.
'Our physical strength is evenly matched, but is she superior in speed?'
Leo curled the corners of his mouth.
The Era of Calamity ended, and the Age of Heroes began.
The Hero’s Festival was revived, and the title of Great Warrior continued for thousands of years.
The Beastman who became the Great Warrior was always granted the title of Hero.
However, after Azonia, the Hero’s Festival vanished.
Thus, Azonia became the final Great Warrior.
The reason she became the last was simple.
'I heard it was because she defeated every Great Warrior recorded in the Hero Record.'
Having finished her struggle even against the Great Warriors of the past, Azonia became the one and only Great Warrior.
Her power was so overwhelming that she usurped even the titles of the previous Great Warriors, and eventually, the title of Great Warrior became hers alone.
“Shall we see then?”
Thud—!
Leo blocked Azonia’s knee, which was aimed at his temple, with his hand.
“If you’re worthy of being called Arron’s successor.”
Leo pushed Azonia back and drew his sword.
“Whew.”
He took a deep breath.
The Hero’s Breath.
Watching Leo, Azonia also inhaled deeply.
Crackle—!
Power surged into Azonia’s well-trained muscles.
The Hero’s Breath.
If Seiren had restructured Star Magic so that Elves could learn it...
Azonia had modified The Hero’s Breath so that Beastmen could use it.
Vroom—!
Aura and Spirit Power dwelled within Azonia’s body.
'Wait, is that Elementalization?'
Leo’s eyes widened at the sight.
It was not Spirit Armor, a High Spirit Art that merely let a Spirit dwell in the body.
It was the trait of literally becoming one with a Spirit and using its characteristics and power at will.
It was a powerful ability that even Leo and Lysinas could not use.
'The power of her contracted Spirit isn’t that strong, but its power has increased explosively because of the Aura Azonia uses.'
To Azonia, the Spirit’s power was a part of her body.
As such, the increase in power was beyond imagination.
Vroom—!
“Excellent.”
Leo murmured low as he watched Azonia use Arron’s power in her own way.
Arron’s Aura flowed from Leo’s body as he let his sword hang low.
Thud—!
Azonia raised her fist and charged at Leo.
Leo also ran out to meet her.
Boom—!
The barrier Mel had created rippled from the clash of Aura against Aura.
Leo looked back.
Azonia’s body flickered, just as Damienne’s had earlier.
'Since this is a test, is it going to take the form of each Genesis Hero one by one?'
Leo narrowed his eyes and looked at Mel.
Mel was gritting her teeth.
Unlike Leo, who only needed to focus on fighting the Genesis Heroes, Mel had to suppress all the power emitted by both Leo and the Heroes.
Leo gripped his sword tighter.
'I can’t let this thing run wild here anymore.'
Leo’s gaze shifted toward the open Hero Dungeon.
'If this came out of there...'
Leo lowered his stance.
'I just have to drag it back inside.'
Step—! Boom—!
Leo’s body shot forward like a flash of light.
At the same time, he swung his sword at the doll, which had now taken the form of Lumene.
Clang—! Screech—!
Leo pushed Lumene back, their swords locked together.
“Leo-nim!”
Mel’s urgent voice reached him.
“I’ll go resolve the root of the problem!”
With those words, Leo pushed the doll in Lumene’s form into the entrance of the Hero Dungeon.
Flash—!
The Hero Dungeon emitted a bright light and swallowed both Leo and Lumene.
His vision changed as he entered the Hero Dungeon.
Leo quickly assessed his surroundings.
The space was made of massive marble.
It was a vast area, like an arena.
Leo realized at a glance that the architectural style of this space did not belong to the current era.
'It looks like a temple from the Age of Gods.'
The moment he confirmed the nature of this place, Leo was certain that the doll before him was made of Divine Power.
Leo pointed his sword at the doll in Lumene’s form.
In that moment.
Ssh—
“……?”
Lumene took the exact same stance as Leo and pointed his sword back.
Leo narrowed his eyes at the sight.
“Is he just mimicking his opponent, unlike Damienne and Azonia?”
With a puzzled expression, Leo lowered his stance.
Lumene mirrored Leo’s movements perfectly.
Leo clicked his tongue.
'I wanted to see what kind of person Lumene was.'
Even if it was a fake, Leo was curious about Lumene’s existence.
Rodia was Lysinas’s successor.
Seiren was Luna’s.
If Azonia and Damienne were the successors of Arron and Dweno, then Lumene was undoubtedly his own successor.
'He must have conquered my Hero Record.'
Leo did not know Lumene.
However, he did not deny that Lumene was his successor.
Lumene had no direct connection to Leo.
But if he had intended to follow in his footsteps as a Genesis Hero, that was enough.
'I was curious about which of my powers he inherited and how he made them his own.'
Rodia and Seiren, whom he had met in person, were impressive enough to evoke admiration.
Though indirect, Damienne and Azonia, whom he had just experienced, were also excellent.
Because of that, his expectations for Lumene were high.
'To think I have to fight someone acting like a mirror all of a sudden.'
Leo felt his excitement cool as he charged toward Lumene.
Lumene charged back.
Clang—!
Sword met sword.
Leo pressed down with his blade and activated magic.
Fwoosh—
Fire magic gathered in his hand.
In that moment.
Splash—!
Lumene used water magic.
'Is he more than just a simple mirror?'
The moment Leo looked puzzled.
Crash—!
A whirlpool of water trapped Leo.
It was not just a whirlpool.
Sharp blades of water were rotating within the layers of the vortex.
Fwoosh! Bang—!
Leo exploded his flames to burst the water whirlpool.
Shwaaaa—!
Hot streams of water poured down like rain, and steam filled the air.
Leo adjusted his grip on his sword.
'Wait, could it be...?'
Leo rushed toward Lumene.
Lumene took a defensive stance.
Clang! Screech—!
Swords clashed, sending sparks flying.
Leo slid his blade over Lumene’s sword, parrying it away.
Lumene immediately lunged into Leo’s chest.
Thud—!
He dropped his sword and pulled a dagger from his robes.
Leo quickly kicked Lumene’s arm away.
As the distance widened from the recoil, Lumene immediately opened a Subspace and pulled out a spear to seize the reach advantage.
Tack—!
Leo landed on the floor and looked up.
He stared intently at Lumene, who was emitting fighting spirit.
He could see the shadow of someone in that figure.
He thought it was just a mirror.
But it wasn’t.
'That doll isn’t just mimicking me like a mirror. It is Lumene himself.'
And Lumene was perfectly imitating Kyle.
The rhythm of combat.
Martial arts.
The pattern of freely using all kinds of Artifacts depending on the opponent’s weapon.
Even the application of magic.
'Fundamentally, they’re different. What they’ve built up is different. But...'
He could feel that Lumene was struggling to become Kyle himself.
'But why?'
Leo wore a bewildered expression.
Imitating someone did not necessarily make one stronger.
In the end, Leo and Lumene were fundamentally different.
Leo was an All-Class.
Lumene was a Magic Swordsman.
The paths they pursued were bound to be different.
And yet, Lumene was mimicking everything about Kyle, as if he were Kyle’s shadow.
'That actually ruins his own potential. And there’s no way he doesn’t know that.'
Rodia, Seiren, Azonia, and Damienne.
None of them were Genesis Heroes who simply copied Lysinas, Luna, Arron, or Dweno.
They had all sublimated the abilities of the four into their own styles.
It was while Leo was feeling this sense of perplexity.
Shimmer—!
Lumene’s form suddenly grew faint and then vanished.
To be precise, the doll itself disappeared.
Leo’s eyes twitched at the sight.
In that moment.
Rumble—!
A door that had been tightly shut at the far end of the space opened with a heavy sound.
The meaning was simple.
'Is it telling me to come?'
Leo moved without hesitation.
'What is this place? A Hero Record?'
He was lost in thought as he walked.
'If it’s a Hero Record, why is a God here?'
It probably was not a God from the past.
When he had met Pibua in Luna’s world before, Pibua had said that she was ultimately a fake manifested by the Record System.
And she had made it clear that a fake could never exert influence on the outside world.
'Then that means the God ahead of me is real.'
Leo’s expression grew even more confused.
'How can a God remain on the surface?'
5,000 years ago, during the Era of Calamity.
The Gods vanished from the surface.
To be precise, they could no longer stay on the surface.
This was because Erebos had destroyed the gates connecting the surface and the divine realm to prevent their enemies, the Gods, from coming to the surface.
After that, the remaining Gods were hunted down without exception by Erebos and banished from the surface.
Even after Erebos disappeared, the gates could not be restored, and thus the world entered an age without Gods.
But there was a God on the surface?
With a confused look, Leo reached the end of the corridor.
At the end of the hallway was a grey door.
'Grey... I recall Lysinas saying it’s a color the Gods don’t particularly like.'
Leo opened the door with a puzzled expression.
What lay beyond was a world of infinite bookshelves.
But there was an existence that caught Leo’s eye even before the bookshelves.
A small child, hard to tell if it was a girl or a boy, with grey hair and grey eyes, was staring at Leo with a stiff face.
The child’s appearance was incredibly beautiful.
Leo saw through the child’s identity at a glance.
“How can a God be on the surface...”
Before Leo could even finish his question, the God clasped both hands, knelt, and bowed their head.
The sight was like a believer greeting their God.
The sudden pious attitude left Leo momentarily speechless.
But he soon regained his composure and continued his question.
“How can a God be on the surface...”
“This lowly one greets the great and noble Hero of the Beginning.”
The God greeted him in a grave voice.
Leo was speechless once again.
“Could you please answer my question? How is a God on the surface?”
When Leo asked for the third time, only then did the God look up and meet Leo’s eyes.
Those large grey eyes were shining crystal clear.
“The reason I am on the surface is...”
The God, who was trying to maintain their divine dignity with a pious expression, suddenly screamed.
“Aaaaah! I can’t take it anymore! I can’t stand it! How can I hold back when the Hero of the Beginning, Kyle, is right before my eyes!”
The God, screaming as if having a fit, prostrated themselves on the floor and crawled like a cockroach to cling to Leo’s feet.
The eerie sight made even Leo, who rarely batted an eye at anything, recoil in horror.
“Aaaaah, Hero of the Beginning, Kyle! My Great Hero! How did you miraculously return after the long span of 5,000 years?! This resurrection is surely destiny! Your greatness rivals that of a God... No, to compare you to such lowly, vulgar, and useless stock as the Gods! This deserves divine punishment! I am sorry! I am so sorry! I apologize!”
As a penalty for comparing Leo to their own kind, the God began to slam their head against the floor repeatedly.
“Kyle! Your greatness surely rivals that of the Creator! Please, grant me your grace! The honor of kissing the soles of your feet! Your grace!”
“…….”
He knew that there were few Gods who were sane.
That they were all a bunch of good-for-nothings who were hedonists and only pursued entertainment.
But even so, they were immortals who maintained the order of the world.
Seeing such a being drooling and rubbing their cheek against his shoe made Leo feel his skin crawl.
The even more terrifying part was that the God’s eyes remained purely clear throughout the ordeal.
That made them look even more insane.
'What is this... this clear-eyed lunatic? No, a clear-eyed fanatic?’
***
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