Chapter 389
Chapter Title: The White King
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389.
‘That power is probably why Lisinas couldn’t form a contract with a Pegasus.’
Dragons were a race that had maintained the world’s order since the Age of Gods.
They were messengers of the gods who protected the world and followed their will.
For that reason, each dragon clan had its own unique duty, and the black dragons were the clan that annihilated all who turned their backs on the world.
Because of this duty, the black dragons became objects of fear—violent and cruel.
Especially in the Age of Calamity, darkness was a target of fear and loathing.
‘In fact, many black dragons fell to corruption and sided with Erebos.’
Though different, their essence was the same: darkness.
It was easy for them to become corrupted.
Leo recalled the countless fallen black dragons he had buried in darkness with his own hands.
‘In a way, it was only natural for Lisinas to hate her own racial trait.’
Before hating it, Lisinas feared her own nature.
Knowing this, Leo unhesitatingly stepped into the darkness in Lisinas’s stead.
So that Lisinas could walk toward the light.
‘To me, the light she showed was hope itself.’
For Leo, shouldering Lisinas’s duty was a matter of course.
***
Leo walked through the interior of Gardsrone with Rhodia.
They headed for Gardsrone’s darkest back alley.
Following behind Leo, Rhodia wore a slightly surprised expression.
“A place like this existed?”
It was a path unknown even to Rhodia, who had attempted to clear Lisinas’s world several times.
“I researched the Gardsrone of this era countless times for my attempts. But it’s still hard to know it as well as you, Sir Kyle, who actually lived through it.”
“True. But you know information that I don’t.”
“Yes.”
Rhodia nodded at Leo’s words.
“What’s the range of action in this World of Heroes?”
“First of all, there’s nowhere in Gardsrone we can’t go.”
Rhodia calmly recounted her past experiences to Leo.
Having attempted to clear this world many times, Rhodia explained the failure conditions in detail.
“Actually, this world is impossible to clear unless you’re the real Sir Kyle.”
“What do you mean?”
“The moment Lady Lisinas realizes the challenger isn't an All-Class, it's an immediate failure.”
This World of Heroes was an immersive type.
The challenger had to possess Kyle’s body and fight alongside Lisinas against Jormungandr.
But no matter how much they inhabited Kyle’s body, the challenger could not become Kyle.
No matter how well they imitated him, there was one trait only Kyle possessed.
The abilities of an All-Class, founded on the Pure Magic Trait, could never be imitated.
Rhodia had realized this and tried to clear the world while hiding the fact that she wasn’t an All-Class.
But in the end, she was discovered and failed.
“That is strange. An immediate failure regardless of the situation, just for realizing one isn't an All-Class.”
“Well, since you’re the one challenging this world now, Sir Kyle, we don’t have to worry about that.”
Rhodia smiled brightly.
Leo, who had felt a flicker of doubt, also nodded.
In the meantime, the two arrived at a dead-end alley.
Rhodia carefully examined the wall at the end and clicked her tongue in wonder.
‘If I hadn't come with Sir Kyle, I don’t think I would have noticed.’
The wall was an entrance.
The problem was that the entrance was so secretly concealed that even Rhodia, known as the Dragon of Revelation, had a hard time spotting it.
“The barrier of the White King. It doesn’t look easy to open.”
At Rhodia’s words, Leo let out a smirk.
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
Smirking, Leo reached his hand toward the wall.
Gray mana flowed from his hand and enveloped the wall.
A moment later.
*Vwoom-!*
The wall rippled, and an entrance materialized.
“As expected of Sir Kyle.”
“I know Albus’s abilities better than anyone.”
Leo replied, thinking of his contractor.
Stepping through the entrance, they found a pure white corridor.
At the end of the corridor, a vast hall opened up.
The men and women sitting elegantly within the hall widened their eyes upon spotting Leo and Rhodia.
“A human and a dragon?”
“How did they get in here?”
As they stared in disbelief, Leo spoke.
“I have come here to meet a certain Pegasus.”
At Leo’s words, a woman with pure white hair stepped forward.
“That face… it’s familiar.”
Leo glanced at the Pegasus.
“The Surviving Hero, Kyle.”
Leo knew this Pegasus as well.
‘Wasn’t this the Pegasus contracted to Alene Prilene?’
She was one of the Beast Tamers who protected Gardsrone.
Alene Prilene’s contractor.
He had encountered her on the battlefield several times.
‘She was a positive woman. Befitting of a Pegasus’s contractor, I suppose.’
Fundamentally, the contractors of the three great beasts possessed strong mental fortitude.
In this era, most who fought against the demons did so out of a desperate need to survive.
Simply taking to the battlefield to protect the city earned them treatment incomparable to others.
At that time, the guardians of the cities enjoyed privileges akin to nobility.
But the contractors of the three great beasts protected their cities for the sake of an unseen hope.
Alene was one such person.
And in this era, those who wandered in search of hope were objects of ridicule.
In a situation where the world could end at any moment, searching for hope seemed meaningless.
The Surviving Hero, Kyle, had also sneered at such people.
And this Pegasus had been greatly angered by Kyle’s ridicule of her noble contractor.
The Pegasus, Arpia, looked at Leo with disgust.
“You, who are corrupt and fallen. Why have you invaded the sanctuary of the Pegasus?”
“Who are you calling corrupt and fallen?”
Rhodia spoke in an ominous voice at Arpia’s words.
Arpia glanced at Rhodia.
“A young dragon. To invade this sanctuary with this fallen one. You should be ashamed!”
“Pegasus. I’ll give you one chance. Apologize for calling Sir Kyle corrupt and fallen. Do that, and I will graciously forgive you this once.”
“Such an insolent young dragon.”
At Arpia’s remark, the corners of Rhodia’s mouth curled up.
The moment her eyes met Rhodia’s, Arpia flinched.
‘Is that… a gaze a young dragon can possess?’
A cold sweat broke out on her brow.
Rhodia, who had already opened her dragon eyes, was glaring at Arpia with a chilling intensity.
Though she had the appearance of a young girl, she was a great hero who had united the Heroes of Revelation to protect the world once more.
A mighty dragon known as the successor to the King of Wisdom, Lisinas.
It was only natural for her to easily overwhelm even a powerful Pegasus.
In an instant, the surrounding Pegasus swarmed toward them.
But Rhodia did not back down.
She could never tolerate Arpia’s words.
Kyle was the Hero of the Beginning who had ushered in a new era.
One of the five noblest people Rhodia knew.
She felt it was an insult for such a person to be called corrupt and fallen.
In the tense, hair-trigger situation, Leo reached out his hand.
And pressed down firmly on Rhodia’s head.
“Calm down. If you’ve attempted this so many times, you should be used to this kind of treatment, right?”
“It’s different when it happens to me versus when it happens to you, Sir Kyle.”
“I appreciate you standing up for me, but hold back. Back then, I couldn’t really argue with that kind of treatment.”
After calming Rhodia, Leo took a step forward.
“I apologize for intruding on your sanctuary and showing hostility. But I came here on business.”
“…What business could you possibly have here?”
Looking at the distrustful eyes of Arpia and the other Pegasus, Leo spoke.
“I came to meet the White King.”
“You wish to meet the king? For what reason?”
“To form a pact.”
“A contract? Ahahahahahahaha!”
Arpia burst out laughing.
She wasn’t the only one.
All the Pegasus scoffed in ridicule.
The Pegasus here knew what kind of being Leo was.
The Surviving Hero, content with merely living day by day.
A coward who trembled in fear, not knowing when the world would end.
One who couldn’t even think of fighting back against that destruction.
A man who mocked and denied hope.
That was the Surviving Hero, Kyle.
And such a man wanted to form a contract with the White King, the noblest being in the world.
How absurd was that?
“Know your place, Surviving Hero. You are by no means worthy of being our king’s contractor.”
Arpia glared at Leo.
“I acknowledge that you are strong. In all of Gardsrone right now, the only one as strong as you… yes, would be the dragon who holds a noble light, Lisinas.”
“But Lisinas can’t contract with a Pegasus.”
“Indeed, she cannot form a contract with us. It’s a pity. If only she weren’t a black dragon, she would surely have been a worthy contractor for the king.”
With a bitter smile, Arpia narrowed her eyes at Leo.
“The Pegasus are the noblest of all beasts. We Pegasus never give up hope. No matter how outstanding you are, it is impossible for you to form a contract, for your spirit was broken long ago.”
Arpia stated it as if it were a declaration.
“Your call will never reach us.”
At Arpia’s words, Rhodia crossed her arms.
“Whether a contract is made or not is for the White King to decide, isn’t it? At least let him meet the king.”
“Hmph. Taking the Surviving Hero to the king would be a sacrilege in itself… but His Majesty is currently in a deep slumber. He was gravely injured in a fierce battle with the hateful Tartaros and fell asleep.”
‘So he was asleep at this time.’
Albus had been fighting Tartaros since the beginning of the Age of Calamity.
Leo knew that he had fallen asleep to recover his strength after being exhausted from the long battle.
But he never knew that sleep had lasted until just before he formed a contract with him.
“Now. If your business is concluded, withdraw from this sanctuary. Surviving Hero and young dragon.”
Just as Rhodia scowled at those words.
*Vwoom—*
Leo stirred his spiritual power.
A summoning circle formed above his palm.
Seeing it, Rhodia’s eyes went wide, and the Pegasus frowned.
“A pointless gesture.”
“We’ll see if it’s pointless or not.”
Rhodia replied to Arpia with a triumphant expression.
‘Wake up, Albus.’
Leo called out to his long-parted contractor.
‘I need your power.’
*Vwoooom-!*
The gray summoning circle emitted a powerful light.
At that moment.
*Flash! Kra-ka-ka-ka-ka-BOOM-!*
A pure white bolt of lightning struck.
The faces of the Pegasus watching were painted with shock.
A powerful storm of spiritual power swirled around Leo.
*Fwoosh-!*
A pure white light burst from the summoning circle.
A pure white space.
In it, only Leo and a young girl with pure white hair remained.
The girl, Albus, looked up at Leo and spoke.
“…Only my contractor can awaken me from my slumber.”
Albus spoke with a slightly confused look.
“But I have never formed a pact with you. Who are you? How were you able to wake me?”
“Who knows. Perhaps it was fate?”
“Fate?”
Leo smiled at his contractor.
“In the near future, you would have surely formed a pact with me. It just happened a little sooner.”
“What an absurd thing to say.”
“What’s important is that my call reached you. And that my spiritual power woke you from your slumber.”
Albus’s eyes widened at the spiritual power she felt from Leo’s body.
‘What is this spiritual power?’
As the king of the Pegasus, she had met countless noble beings.
‘But I have never met anyone with such pure spiritual power.’
Perhaps it was because of this pure spiritual power that she had awakened, even without a pact.
“Can you grant what I desire?”
“Of course.”
Albus let out a hollow laugh at Leo’s unhesitating reply.
“You answer without even hearing what it is I desire.”
“To subjugate the Flames of Calamity, right?”
Albus’s eyes widened at Leo’s answer.
“And for that, I need your power.”
Leo extended his hand toward Albus.
“Come with me.”
Albus looked at Leo with bewildered eyes.
The man before her was a stranger.
But in the near future.
A future she did not yet know, Albus unhesitatingly took the hand of the one who would become her contractor.
“It’s really… been a while.”
“Pardon?”
Leo gave a wry smile to the surprised Albus.
“Just talking to myself.”