Chapter 110
Chapter Title: The Age of Calamity
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The next morning.
The area in front of the Colosseum was bustling with people who had come to watch the Azonia entrance ceremony.
Guided by staff, people were filing in one after another.
In the center of the arena, the entrance candidates were warming up, their faces tense with nervousness.
The candidates would start here, follow a track through Azrek, and then proceed into the great desert.
The purpose of parading through the city was to show off the prospective heroes to the public.
The crowd filling the Colosseum's spectator seats sent fervent cheers to the candidates.
Leo stood in the most secluded corner among the entrance candidates.
Fiddling with the rabbit ears peeking out from behind his beret, as if he still wasn't used to them, Leo pulled the cap down low.
He had used polymorph magic to disguise himself as a beastkin and change his hair color, giving him a different impression than usual, but anyone who knew him would still be able to recognize him.
‘Besides, there's no good reason to be recognized.’
“Hey, kid! Good luck!”
“Haha! Look at you, so relaxed! I'll be cheering for you!”
But the people in the stands sent their enthusiastic support even to Leo in his corner.
‘It seems prospective heroes are welcomed everywhere.’
The Age of Calamity had ended, and the world had welcomed peace.
And yet, the world still yearned for heroes.
Was it because they were beings who had achieved great feats?
Or because they were great figures who could change the world?
‘No, the people know.’
Leo's gaze grew somber.
‘That the embers of calamity have not yet been extinguished.’
Erebos may have been shattered into many pieces, but he was not completely gone.
Tartaros, which could be called Erebos's army, was still intact, and they were constantly plotting, eagerly awaiting the return of the calamity.
‘True peace will only come after the Age of Heroes has ended.’
An era where so many heroes are no longer needed.
That was the peace the Great Heroes had sought.
He was recalling that old vow when it happened.
“Black rabbit!”
Ar strode toward him.
“You haven't forgotten our promise from yesterday, have you? I'm definitely going to earn your acknowledgment!”
“Yeah, yeah. But why do you have such dark circles under your eyes?”
Ar grinned meaningfully, her eyes wide.
“I was too excited to sleep a wink!”
Leo clicked his tongue at Ar's bold declaration.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“Of course I am! So during the exam today, don't go anywhere and just follow me! Got it?”
“It's an exam. I can't just follow you around.”
“Don't miss a single moment of my performance! Watch only me! I said, only me! Only me!”
Ar chattered away beside Leo like a whining kitten.
While she was doing so, other entrance candidates spotted Ar and approached.
“You're Ar Tune, right? Nice to meet you! I'm Libed, let's do our best on this exam.”
“If we get in, could you recommend me to Instructor Berga so I can learn from him?”
“Any interest in teaming up with me for the entrance ceremony?”
“Huh? Uh?”
As the other entrance candidates swarmed her, Ar looked flustered.
While many looked down on recommended candidates, there were just as many who respected them.
Besides, Ar was the heir to the renowned heroic Tune family.
It was only natural that many students would try to get on her good side before enrollment.
As the entrance candidates gathered in one spot, the crowd's attention naturally followed.
Sensing this, Leo slipped away.
Ar, surrounded by the other candidates, noticed this and her eyes widened in anger.
“Where are you going! Black rabbit! I told you to stay by my side!”
Furious, Ar apologized to the candidates talking to her and then—*pitter-patter!*—scampered after Leo.
The faces of the entrance candidates who saw this twisted in displeasure.
‘Who the hell is that rabbit guy!’
‘Why is Ar Tune paying him so much attention! Does he think he's all that just because he's a recommended candidate?’
Unintentionally, Leo had become the target of everyone's jealousy.
***
Sitting in the spectator stands, Yura looked over the list of Azonia's recommended candidates and spoke.
“Tune, Den, Rual, and even Vega. Our kids are an all-time great batch, but this year's recommended candidates for Azonia are no joke either, are they?”
“Indeed.”
“But Kyle? I've never seen a kid using the name of the Hero of the Beginning. And he doesn't even have a family name. Who do you think he is?”
“We'll see soon enough.”
Every year, instructors from each of the hero academies are invited to Azonia's entrance ceremony.
The academies accepted the invitation in order to check on the students who would be competing against their own first-years.
And this year, the department head professors for the first-years came from Lumerne.
Originally, Ren was supposed to come as well, but he declined, citing preparations for the second semester's classes.
“That impudent brat! All his seniors are here on a business trip, and he's the only one who skips out!”
“There's no need for all three of us to come. And we can't exactly fault him for being busy with class preparations.”
“You're surprisingly lenient in these matters, Ain. That's why that brat Ren gets away with being so bold! Show some dignity as his senior.”
“I don't think you're one to talk.”
“Why me?”
“Professor. To be honest, the junior professor who talks back to Professor Ain the most is you.”
Carlo, sitting beside Yura, said cautiously.
Yura stared at her assistant professor for a moment, then chopped him in the throat with the side of her hand.
“Gack! Kgh! Kgh!”
Ignoring her suffering assistant, Yura said.
“Anyway, that Ren. He's really doing something pointless. Whether he prepares his classes diligently or not, Leo is going to choose the Summoning Department.”
“What are you talking about? Leo Flove is in the Knight Department.”
He corrected the smug-looking Yura, but she wasn't listening.
“By the way, Ain. Weren't you acquainted with Instructor Berga from Azonia? Aren't you going to see him?”
“I'd rather not run into him this time.”
“Why?”
“He'll just annoy me by comparing our first-years to his entrance candidates one by one.”
“That does sound likely.”
Yura nodded, then looked up at the sky and frowned.
Even though the spectator stands were shaded, it was incredibly hot.
‘This is why I didn't want to come.’
Yura, who despised the heat, brought a drink to her lips to rehydrate.
Just then, she spotted something in the arena and her eyes shot open.
“*Gahk?* *Keck!* *Kuh!* *Cough!* *Cough!*”
“Choking again?”
Ain looked at Yura with exasperation.
Coughing like mad, Yura abruptly grabbed Ain's head.
“What is this—.”
*CRACK!*
And twisted his head.
At the unsettling sound that came from Ain's neck, Carlo's face went white.
“I suppose you were right about me being lenient with my juniors, Yura Marnin.”
*Crack— crack—*
Ain cracked his knuckles, preparing to punish Yura.
Her choking fit subsided, Yura shouted urgently.
“*Ugh!* *Gah!* Ain! Look! *Keck!* Just look! *Cough!* *Cough!* Leo's down there!”
“What kind of ridiculous nonsense are you spouting—.”
Just as Ain, who was frowning and radiating killing intent, spoke, his eyes caught sight of a certain rabbit beastkin.
Ain fell silent, then said.
“Let go of me first.”
Shaking off Yura's hand, Ain rubbed his eyes a few times and looked at the rabbit beastkin.
Except for the hair color and the fact that he was a beastkin, the boy looked exactly like Leo.
‘What in the world is that brat doing down there?’
His face twisting into a scowl, Ain glared at Leo, then stood up and said.
“I'm going to pay that Berga fellow a quick visit.”
***
“Everyone, fall in!”
At the shout of the Azonia instructor standing on the platform, the entrance candidates lined up in perfect order.
Once the candidates were in formation, the officiating instructor spoke.
“Recommended candidates, forward.”
At his words, five entrance candidates stepped forward to the front of the platform.
“You will recite the declaration on behalf of all the candidates. Step forward and read in the order written on the declaration.”
The officiating instructor handed the declarations to the students.
While the other recommended candidates were reading the declaration, Leo asked.
“Do we just have to recite it?”
“Yes. As heirs to the legacy of the great Ar-on, you will place your hand on his Hero Record with the utmost respect and recite the mindset a hero must possess.”
‘Ar-on's Hero Record? To think I'd see it like this.’
Leo read the declaration, inwardly surprised.
Once the recommended candidates had finished reviewing the declaration, the officiating instructor checked his watch and spoke into a magically amplified microphone.
[Before we begin the entrance ceremony, we will have the oath from the recommended candidates. Recommended candidates, step forward.]
With those words, the gazes of the crowd focused on the five candidates.
The officiating instructor gave a nod, and another instructor who had been waiting brought forth Ar-on's Page, resting on a silk cushion, and carefully placed it on the platform.
Seeing it, the crowd began to murmur.
“So that's the great Ar-on's Hero Record.”
“Ooh...!”
The spectators looked upon the oldest Hero's Page in the world with expressions of awe, and some even began to pray.
This very Hero's Page was proof that the great hero had saved the world.
[Recite the declaration.]
At the instructor's solemn voice, Leo, who was on the far left, approached Ar-on's Page.
*Thump—*
He stood before it and looked down at the Hero Record.
Ar-on's Page, on which was written <Prologue>, was old and faded, the letters barely visible.
But he could clearly feel the divine power dwelling within it.
‘It's safe.’
Recalling the fragments of Kyle's Page, which were so damaged they could barely be called a Hero's Page, Leo let out a sigh of relief.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and recite.”
As the instructor urged him on, Leo placed his hand on Ar-on's Page.
“One, I shall not act cowardly in the name of the great Brave Hero.”
*Vmmm—*
Leo paused at the sudden reaction from Ar-on's Page.
‘What is this?’
*Vwoom—!*
‘This is...!’
Sensing the change occurring in Ar-on's Page, Leo urgently spoke to Ar, who was next in line to place her hand on it.
“Two, I shall not act shamefully in the name of the great Brave Hero—.”
“Stop! Take your hand off.”
“Wha—? What are you doing?”
Leo tried to push Ar away, but she instinctively dodged his hand.
In that instant.
*VWOOM—!*
Ar-on's Page began to glow.
“What in the world?”
The officiating instructor looked on, bewildered.
[Hero Record Open.]
“What?”
“W-wait!”
Ar's face filled with horror at the message that appeared before her eyes.
[World of Ar-on. Chapter: Prologue-Start]
*Vwoom— Fwaaah—!*
An intense light blinded them.
Leo and Ar squeezed their eyes shut.
And when they opened them...
The two of them were standing on a street.
“I-I'm sure it just said Hero Record Open?”
While Ar was panicking.
Leo looked up at the sky.
Following Leo's lead, Ar also turned her gaze to the sky.
And her face hardened.
“What in the world is that? Why does the sky look like that?”
To Ar, who had lived her entire life in an age of peace, it was an unfamiliar sky she could never have imagined.
Conversely, to Leo, it was a sky he was sick and tired of seeing.
A bleak, ashen sky, completely devoid of any blue.
Proof that the world was hurtling toward its demise.
Leo's expression turned grave.
‘The Age of Calamity.’