Chapter 140
Chapter Title: Altered History
-----------------------------------------------------------------
140.
Leaving the Tower of Gods, Leo walked through Barharun, lost in thought.
‘It seems the Hero Record wasn’t split just to establish the hero academies.’
3000 years ago.
When a fragment of Erebos was resurrected, the existence of the World of Heroes became known.
After the fragment was subdued, the Hero Record was divided into five parts.
With the power of these records, hero academies were established to train heroes for each race.
Leo found that questionable.
‘Was there really a need to split the Hero Record into five pieces?’
Moreover, a significant number of pages were lost in the process.
Many pages that would have allowed the succession of the Great Heroes' powers were lost, and Kyle even became a forgotten hero as a result.
Furthermore, the page Leo had found for himself was damaged almost beyond recognition.
It was, in every sense, a catastrophic loss.
Seeing that, Leo instinctively knew that the Hero Record had not been split merely to establish the academies.
‘The founders of the hero academies couldn't have been unaware that the Hero Record would be damaged.’
Even if they didn't know the full extent, they must have anticipated the side effects of dividing a complete Hero Record.
And yet, they did it anyway.
It was to find out why that he had tried to uncover the hidden past in the Great Library.
‘A divine artifact wouldn't be destroyed just by being torn. There must be a group out there finding and destroying the lost pages. It’s obvious. Tartaros.’
The reason so few of his own pages remained was likely because Tartaros had specifically targeted Kyle’s pages.
To them, Erebos was like a god, and Leo, who had vanquished that god… was an object of both hatred and fear from Tartaros's perspective.
‘Gardsrone is proof enough. The demons are erasing all traces of their battles from the Age of Calamity.’
The terrestrial races now only knew of that era through written records.
‘On the other hand, Tartaros has legion commanders who have lived since that time. They know exactly what was where.’
Leo’s eyes narrowed as he thought of the legion commanders of Tartaros.
‘But there’s one more question here… how can Tartaros influence the Hero Record?’
The Hero Record was an artifact created by a god.
No matter how powerful the legion commanders of Tartaros were, it was not something they could tamper with lightly.
Leo stopped walking.
‘I’ll set these questions aside for now.’
What mattered now was conquering Luna’s world.
Leo looked down at the Folium in his hand.
The magic staff once used by his old friend, Luna.
The strongest staff, created with divine knowledge, was an exceedingly difficult item to wield on its own.
Not only did it have a powerful amplification effect, but the staff itself contained immense magical power.
It was an artifact that even archmages struggled to handle properly.
‘Though Luna handled it as if it were nothing.’
Recalling how Luna wielded Folium, Leo used magic on the staff.
This was the city of the High Elves.
And Folium was a symbol of the great Elven King, known to everyone in this city.
Even if it hadn't chosen a master, the fact that this staff belonged to the Elven King remained unchanged.
If Leo were to carry Folium around, it would undoubtedly cause a huge problem.
‘That Luna girl turned it into a bracelet, complaining it was too heavy to carry.’
Leo cast a transformation spell on Folium.
*Kiiiiing-*
Responding to Leo’s magic, Folium changed its form into a bracelet.
He fastened it around his wrist.
‘I never thought the day would come when I’d be using Folium myself.’
He let out a dry laugh and headed for Akint’s laboratory.
‘First, I need to get Hardin out of the underground prison, and I need to find Lunia and Elena too.’
An idea for conquering Luna's world came to Leo.
As far as he knew, Star Magic was perfected right here in Barharun.
The elves before the Age of Calamity were not known as a race of magic like they were now.
However, thanks to their innate affinity for mana, there had been many powerful elven mages since the Age of Gods.
And Barharun was where the history of elven magic was gathered.
Although many High Elves had become corrupt enough to walk the path of depravity, the legacy left by their truly noble ancestors had not been tainted.
Leo looked up at the tall tree that stretched high into the sky in the center of Barharun.
A tree that no longer existed in the present world.
It was the World Tree, loved and nurtured by the elves.
Luna, having inherited the legacy of countless elves of the past, eventually perfected ‘Star Magic.’
‘It all connects back to the distant past.’
The great legacy of the ancient elves passed to Luna.
The ‘Star Magic’ she developed from that legacy passed to the elves of today.
The will passed down from generation to generation never stopped being inherited.
‘If the goal of this world is for Luna to complete Star Magic, then the conquerors just need to help her from the side.’
It could be considered a rather simple condition for conquest, but in truth, the ‘Prologue’ of any hero’s world often had simple conditions.
Arriving in front of Akint’s laboratory, Leo wore a puzzled expression.
Then he called out the name of the girl who was hesitating in front of the lab.
“Luna.”
“Ah…!”
Luna turned to look at Leo with startled eyes.
“Teacher Akint.”
“What is it?”
“Today is His Majesty Ergen’s birthday, isn’t it?”
At her words, Leo paused.
The birthday of the Elven King, Ergen.
This period was a time of celebration for the entire elven race.
“There’s a party at the World Tree Plaza, but… um… I didn’t receive an invitation.”
Luna fidgeted with her hands.
Her eyes darted around, her face clouded.
“Could you… possibly go with me? I really want to see His Majesty.”
Hearing this, Leo felt a sense of unease.
‘What is this?’
In Barharun, Luna was an anomaly.
A genius girl who had entered Barharun on her overwhelming skill and talent alone, not through her family.
As such, she had many enemies within the city.
On the other hand, there were also quite a few who felt admiration and respect for Luna and spared no effort in supporting her.
A prime example was Akint, the person Leo was currently possessing.
‘She used to boast about receiving the Elven King’s patronage as soon as she entered Barharun.’
Though she was technically a student, Luna was treated as an equal to the teachers.
Thanks to being able to focus solely on magical research without attending classes, Luna laid the foundation for Star Magic here.
And yet, this Luna was saying she hadn't received an invitation to the Elven King's birthday.
‘What? Did Luna lie to us back then?’
No, that couldn't be right.
Leo knew Luna well.
She wouldn't lie just to save face.
Then what was it?
Was this before she received the Elven King’s patronage?
‘No, Luna entered Barharun when she was thirteen.’
Anyone could see that the Luna before him was in her mid-teens.
‘Then what in the world is going on?’
Leo felt a sense of dissonance.
“Luna.”
“Yes?”
“Why wouldn’t you, who has King Ergen’s patronage, receive an invitation?”
“King Ergen’s patronage was cut off a month ago.”
Luna said, her voice slightly flustered.
She seemed to lack energy, her shoulders slumped.
Seeing her like this, Leo’s face hardened.
‘History has been changed.’
In the World of Heroes, history could be changed at any time.
If a conqueror changed it for the better, achieving a greater feat than in actual history, they could exceed the objective.
Conversely, if a conqueror changed history for the worse and caused a negative impact, the conquest would fail.
So, it wasn't strange for history to change in the World of Heroes.
‘But we only entered Luna’s world a few hours ago.’
In that time, the only thing that could have affected history was Hardin, in Jera’s body, beating Hirchian to a pulp.
But that action couldn’t possibly have twisted history from a month ago.
‘Does a Hero’s World going berserk and becoming a Hero Dungeon twist history itself? No, I’ve never heard of such a case. Then what is it?’
As Leo pondered, someone’s voice echoed in his mind.
*‘Leo. A darkness may have cast its shadow over this world, no, over the Hero Record.’*
The oracle from the god he had just met.
Even if it was a fake, its abilities were real.
‘Darkness… Could it be?’
The moment the thought occurred to him, he felt a chill run down his spine.
‘Can Tartaros enter a Hero Dungeon?’
***
Imprisoned in the underground dungeon, Hardin was blaming himself.
‘I was foolish.’
Seeing someone insult the great Luna, who was practically the history of the elves itself, he had let his emotions get the better of him.
In a Hero Dungeon, one had to be careful with every single action.
But his emotions had taken over.
This was the result.
‘Haa. How embarrassing. To show such an unsightly side to a first-year, even if she is from another academy.’
Hardin took a deep breath and looked around.
‘Even for a prison for criminals, this is too filthy.’
This was a prison for their own kind, after all.
And yet, the conditions were like this.
‘Is the distant past truly this different from the present?’
Hardin felt a sense of culture shock.
‘I’ll have much to report when I return to Seirun.’
He was thinking about what would happen after the dungeon conquest.
*Creeak-! Thud-!*
With the sound of the underground prison door opening, someone entered.
*Thud- Thud-*
As the listless footsteps approached, two girls came into view, causing Hardin to look on with a puzzled expression.
It was clear at a glance that the two girls were half-elves.
But the clothes they wore were tattered.
“Who… are you?”
“W-What kind of question is that…? I am a slave, sir.”
“A slave? Why?”
Hardin asked, his face bewildered.
“You ask a strange thing. Are not all mixed-blood elves slaves?”
The half-elf girl answered matter-of-factly, her face devoid of any vitality. Hardin’s expression turned to one of horror.
‘A slave? Such a vile thing existed?’
Even in the current era, discrimination against mixed-bloods existed.
But they would never treat a mixed-blood, who shared the blood of their kin, as a slave.
However, in this era, elves with mixed blood were not considered people.
This was a matter of common sense.
Faced with a wall of logic he could never comprehend, Hardin’s body trembled.
‘This history… is it true? Our elven race kept slaves?’
As Hardin trembled with intense disgust, the other elven slave girl tilted her head.
Just then, someone else entered the underground prison.
*Thud- Thud-*
The owner of the footsteps was approaching the cell where Hardin was confined.
The slave girl who had been bringing Hardin his meal hastily stepped aside.
But the other girl was slow to react and failed to clear the path.
*Thud-!*
The man’s steps halted.
The High Elf, with a noble impression, beautiful white hair, and blue eyes, glanced at the slave girl blocking his way.
And then…
*Thwack-!*
“Gah?”
He kicked the girl without a moment’s hesitation.
The girl crashed into the iron bars, letting out a sharp gasp.
The other girl’s face turned deathly pale.
“E-En!”
The girl frantically rushed to her best friend, who had been acting a little strange all day.
“The slaves are poorly trained.”
*Thwack-!*
“Ugh!”
The white-haired elf let out a bored sigh and kicked her again.
Seeing this, sparks flew from Hardin’s eyes.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
At Hardin’s shout, the white-haired elf, Sarman, curled his lip into a sneer.
“She’s just a slave, isn’t she?”
*Stomp-!*
“Nngh…”
Sarman scoffed, stepping on the head of the slave he had kicked.
“Or are you unable to accept that your own ancestors committed such vile acts?”
“What did you say?”
At Sarman’s words, Hardin’s face hardened.
“I don’t know how you got in here… dog of Seirun.”
*Whoooosh-!*
Black demonic energy swirled in Sarman’s hand.
*Crack-!*
The arm he raised transformed into the hideous limb of a monster.
“You will die here.”
“Tartaros?”
Hardin, horrified, tried to summon his aura.
But the restraints on his arms hindered its manifestation.
Of course, breaking them wouldn’t be difficult.
But the brief moment it took could be fatal.
‘I have to defend somehow and then escape…’
*Stab-*
“Gah?”
Blood splattered as a cry of pain burst from his lips.
“Just as I thought, Hardin. It was you.”
The slave girl who had been kicked by Sarman stood up, smiling.
As the girl grinned, emitting a pinkish magical energy, Hardin’s eyes widened in shock.
“Elena?”
“What’s with that pathetic look?”