Chapter 390
Chapter Title: The Hero I've Been Searching For
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Crack-crack-crackle—!
A powerful, pure white lightning was raging in the Pegasus Sanctuary.
“Impossible…! Why would the King answer the call of such an unworthy being?!”
Arpia shouted in disbelief.
Watching Arpia, Rhodia, with her arms crossed, spoke.
“It’s not so unbelievable, is it?”
“What?”
“Well, I know all about Sir Kyle’s reputation, so I can’t blame you for thinking that.”
Rhodia turned her gaze to the domain of lightning.
“You Pegasi, why do you keep fighting, unable to give up on a hope you can’t even see?”
“Are you also going to call us foolish?”
“Not at all.”
Rhodia shook her head.
Her orange eyes, like a sunset, looked directly at Arpia.
‘This dragon… is she really a young dragon?’
She exuded a sense of gravitas, despite still being a young dragon.
As Arpia carefully observed Rhodia.
“It’s thanks to noble beings like you that the world hasn’t been destroyed.”
Rhodia said.
“And if the reason you don’t abandon that hope is because you believe in the slim possibility… that the world will one day be saved, then nothing is impossible.”
Arpia’s eyes widened.
“You may not trust him now. But still, try to believe.”
Rhodia said, meeting Arpia’s gaze.
“Because Sir Kyle will perform a miracle.”
“…Have we met somewhere before?”
“Who knows.”
Rhodia smiled bitterly.
She pretended not to know, but Rhodia knew Arpia well.
Not just Arpia.
She also knew her pact-mate, Alene Prilene.
‘We weren’t just acquaintances; we were close friends.’
Alene and Arpia were allies who had also participated in the battle against the King of Gluttony, Jormungandr.
And the two of them had saved Rhodia time and again by sacrificing themselves.
‘Don’t worry about us, just attack! Kyle!’
‘Show us! The hope you spoke of!’
In her inexperienced days, Rhodia, possessing Kyle’s body, had spoken to people of hope.
Rhodia’s words were true.
The world was saved by the Great Hero and regained its peace.
The scorched world returned to its original state, and numerous races once again blossomed into a brilliant golden age.
But to the people of this time, it was a future like an absurd delusion.
Alene and Arpia bet everything they had on those delusional-sounding words.
Even if the one who said them was Kyle, the Surviving Hero, with whom they had an ill-fated connection.
They did not hesitate to sacrifice everything to pave the way, moved by Rhodia’s sincere words.
‘It’s still a painful thing.’
Rhodia closed her eyes.
‘For a friend with whom I shared a bond… who saved me time and again… to forget me.’
She couldn’t simply dismiss them as figures from the past.
Fwoosh—!
Just then, the lightning dissipated, revealing Leo and Albus.
At that moment, all the Pegasi knelt and bowed their heads.
“Everyone, raise your heads.”
At Albus’s words, the Pegasi raised their heads.
“I have formed a pact with Kyle, who is here.”
The Pegasi began to murmur.
“Of course, I have not acknowledged him as a complete pact-mate.”
Albus glanced at Leo.
“He certainly has the qualifications to contract with me, but I do not yet know what kind of person he is.”
A beast king of his stature doesn't form a contract merely by having the conditions met.
They assess whether the person is truly worthy as a pact-mate.
And whether what they pursue is worth helping.
If they were not pleased, they could break the contract at any time.
Leo let out a smirk at Albus’s words.
“So, Kyle.”
Albus blinked with an expressionless face.
“You said you would subjugate the Primordial Evil, correct? Do you have a plan?”
“I do. The very first thing we must do has been decided.”
“What is it?”
“To subjugate the King of Gluttony, Jormungandr.”
For a moment, silence fell among the Pegasi.
It was because of the name of the most terrifying demon lord, spoken so casually from Leo’s lips.
“What… did you say?”
Arpia asked again.
To her, Leo said with a smile.
“We will subjugate the King of Gluttony, Jormungandr. That is our first goal.”
***
‘Alene Prilene joined without hesitation, just as I expected.’
Walking down the street, Lisinas recalled the list of candidates for the subjugation party.
Alene Prilene.
Lisinas had befriended her on the very first day she arrived in Gardsrone.
From their first meeting, Lisinas had seen through to Alene’s true nature.
‘Good and order.’
Since she was young, Lisinas had explored a vast amount of wisdom.
It wasn’t simply because of her intellectual curiosity.
Dragons have symbols for each of their clans.
For black dragons, it is darkness.
And each clan must become accustomed to its symbol.
Fire dragons and water dragons are born in volcanoes and the sea.
And they spend their youth in volcanoes and the sea.
Black dragons are no different.
Black dragons, who must grow accustomed to darkness, are raised deep underground from a young age.
Lisinas was no exception.
In the pitch-black darkness, Lisinas embraced the darkness.
Black dragons are those who protect the world’s order from within the darkness.
They did not shy away from executing traitors who betrayed the world, nor from sacrificing the few for the sake of the many.
That was the way of the black dragons to maintain order.
Lisinas, too, took this for granted.
She was more outstanding than anyone, and many of her kind had no doubt she would grow to become the queen of darkness.
Then one day.
Though it was early, she was led by the adults to see the outside world.
The young dragons who would lead the next generation had gathered in one place for a draconic council.
And the world she saw.
Captivated young Lisinas’s heart.
‘It was a shock.’
To Lisinas, who had only ever lived in darkness, the world was so beautiful.
‘It was… moving.’
She was deeply moved by the fact that this was the world she lived in.
And a curiosity about the world she lived in began to stir.
It was from then on.
That she began to explore everything about this world.
The more she learned about the world, the more her affection for it grew.
She came to believe without a doubt that everything in this world had value.
It was around then.
That she began to reject the black dragon’s values of having to cut away those unnecessary for the world’s sake.
And… the era was met with disaster.
The world that Lisinas had been so curious about was destroyed.
The world lost its light and hope, transforming into a world filled only with darkness, despair, and lament.
So Lisinas made a vow.
To return the world she loved to its original state.
She poured over ancient texts to learn how to subjugate the Primordial Evil.
And she learned about the Primordial Evil, Erebos.
‘That he was a being comparable to the gods. And that he was an existence pushed out of this world, which had been built by the gods’ order over long ages.’
The reason the demon race, born of Erebos, had not been eradicated even under the age of the gods.
Was because not even the gods could eliminate Erebos.
‘If the gods are light… then Erebos is darkness.’
Light and darkness.
They can never coexist, yet they are inseparable.
And the order the gods had built collapsed.
The flames of Erebos engulfed the world.
The gods could not set foot in the mortal realm, and the world hurtled toward ruin.
Just as the gods despised Erebos, so too did Erebos despise them.
But they know they cannot completely end each other’s existence.
That is why the gods bound the darkness with their order.
But Erebos is different.
The Primordial Evil chose to burn everything to ashes.
Because it knew that was the only way to annihilate the gods it hated.
‘A being living under the order established by the gods… cannot defeat Erebos.’
So she searched.
For a hero who could save this world.
A miraculous hero, free from the gods’ order.
The one she found was Kyle, the Surviving Hero.
‘Mana with a pure characteristic, unbound by anything. Thanks to that, he possesses the unprecedented power of an All-Classer.’
Literally, an existence outside the world’s order.
If Lisinas’s prediction was correct, Kyle was the natural enemy of the Primordial Evil, Erebos.
The hero Lisinas had so desperately sought.
‘Well, the one I finally found was far from being a hero.’
That’s why Lisinas couldn’t rashly tell him that he was the power capable of defeating Erebos.
The genius elven mage, Luna.
The beastkin’s Guardian of the Azure Sky, Agon.
The dwarven blacksmith, Dweno.
The three she chose as companions for the journey to defeat Erebos are heroes who will open the path to him.
‘Including myself.’
They can suppress the power of the ever-burning flame of disaster, but they cannot defeat it.
‘Only Kyle can defeat Erebos. In the end, he will have to take on the most dangerous task.’
That means he will have to sacrifice himself for the world.
Lisinas can willingly lay down her life for the world.
But not everyone can do that.
‘If Kyle changes his mind and refuses to fight Erebos… the world cannot be saved.’
Kyle, the only hope to save the world.
That’s why Lisinas hid the truth about Kyle’s mana characteristic.
Because there was no guarantee Kyle felt the same way she did.
Lisinas gritted her teeth.
She remembered herself, smiling nobly as she extended her hand, vowing to save the world.
Feeling a wave of self-loathing that made her want to vomit, Lisinas mocked herself.
‘In the end, am I just a black dragon, unable to change?’
Sacrificing the few for the many.
It’s no different from the black dragon values I’ve so despised.
Lisinas returned to the inn, shuddering with self-disgust.
And she stopped short upon seeing the three of them waiting with a meal prepared.
“Who are you two?”
With a slightly flustered expression, Lisinas looked at the young girl of her kind, whose eyes sparkled as she looked back.
“Hello! Lady Lisinas! My name is Rhodia! I’ve admired you for a very long time!”
“…I’m not a dragon worthy of such respect. I’m even called a fool.”
“Yes! Don’t worry! From now on, I’ll burn away anyone who utters such blasphemous words…”
“Be quiet.”
Leo sighed and pressed down on Rhodia’s head.
Then he looked at Lisinas and said.
“She wants to join our journey.”
Smiling, Leo looked at Albus.
“And this is…”
-Hmph. The King of Pure White, is it?
Appearing above Lisinas’s head, Katariu curled the corner of his lips.
“Nice to meet you, Flame Emperor.”
-The noblest of beings taking such an impertinent human as a pact-mate. How unexpected.
To Katariu’s words, Albus replied.
“Because Kyle’s voice reached me.”
Watching the calmly speaking Albus, Lisinas urgently grabbed Leo’s wrist.
And she took Leo outside the inn to ask.
“How did you make a contract with the Pegasus King?”
To Lisinas’s question, Leo replied.
“You already know. About my mana characteristic.”
“What?”
Lisinas’s eyes widened.
“You… knew?”
“Yeah.”
Leo said calmly.
“I also know that’s the reason you chose me.”
Leo smiled faintly.
“…Then you must know you’re in the most danger, right? So why did you come with me?”
“Because I believe you will lead the world to salvation.”
Lisinas gasped at the unhesitating answer.
“Don’t worry too much, Lisinas. We will save the world.”
Leo said with conviction.
“I’m ready. So don’t hesitate. We just… have to move forward.”
Leo knew.
That Lisinas, who was smiling so calmly at this time, was also feeling anxious about the uncertain future.
So he wanted to give her hope.
‘Just like I received it.’
Smiling, Leo patted Lisinas’s shoulder and said.
“Let’s go inside. You’ll like that Rhodia girl.”
“Yeah.”
Lisinas smiled and nodded.
‘Kyle really is the hero I’ve been searching for.’
The thought suddenly occurred to her.
If Kyle was the hero she had been searching for.
She had to do her best to help him on his journey.
In that case…….
“Yes. Kyle. You will surely save the world.”
‘I must become Kyle’s shadow.’