Chapter 399
Chapter Title: The Brave Hero's Howl
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[Clear Reward: Essence of Lightning, Lisinas's Mana Essence.]
A message appeared before his eyes, then vanished.
Watching it, Leo pushed himself up.
He was currently in the Hero Record repository.
In other words, he had cleared Lisinas's world and returned.
Leo looked around.
Rodia stood there with a dazed expression.
Still looking blank, Rodia spoke.
“As a clear reward… I've inherited Lord Lisinas's unique magic.”
Punishment.
If Annihilation was Luna's strongest magic, then Punishment was Lisinas's.
Leo looked down at his own hands.
The Essence of Lightning.
The power of the Pure White King, the king of the pegasi.
And Lisinas's Mana Essence as well.
‘Does this mean the lost power of the Phantom Beast Kings has been fully restored to the present world?’
It was incredibly encouraging.
In the long run, this clear reward would lead to a significant increase in the heroes' overall strength.
“Did you get to speak with Lord Lisinas?”
At Rodia’s question, Leo smiled bitterly.
“…We said everything we needed to say to each other.”
“I see.”
Rodia didn’t press for details.
She knew that in this situation, Kyle was the one with the heaviest heart.
Just then.
Fwoosh-!
A small black flame flickered to life.
Seeing it, Rodia let out a deep sigh.
“It seems… that damned Erebos has found this opening.”
The Hero Records of the Heroes of Genesis could all become openings for Erebos to escape to the outside world.
Rodia’s world was now a tiny opening made of a very small fragment.
But he was trying to use even that sliver of a chance to break free.
Leo watched it and said, “I need to close the World of Heroes before this place is consumed.”
“Yes. I think that would be best.”
Rodia nodded.
Seeing her slight smile, Leo reached out and ruffled her hair, pressing down a little.
“Lord Kyle?”
“You were magnificent, Rodia.”
Leo said with a smile to the surprised Rodia.
“Just as expected of Lisinas’s successor.”
At his words, Rodia’s eyes widened.
Then, with a proud *Ahem!*, she puffed out her chest.
“Of course!”
She thumped her chest and declared.
“We’ll be sure to hold off this damned fireball until you get back, Lord Kyle! We’ve powered up, thanks to you!”
Leo nodded at the dependable Rodia, then took his hand off her head and stepped back.
“I’m counting on you, then.”
“Leave it to us!”
[Would you like to close the world of Rodia, the Dragon of Genesis?]
A message appeared before him.
‘Close it.’
The moment he thought it.
With a brilliant flash of light, the world began to disappear.
Toward Leo, Rodia bowed in the draconic custom.
“May only blessings lie before you, Lord Kyle.”
“I told you, that’s not how you do it.”
At Leo’s words, Rodia burst out laughing.
***
Having undergone her beast transformation, Ar’s eyes widened as she unleashed a kick at the Hero Hunter before her.
Boom-! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Thud-thud-thud-!
The Hero Hunter kicked by Ar smashed through several building walls before crashing to a halt.
But he soon rose to his feet, unfazed.
Ar, who had been at the forefront holding back the monster invasion, had come to the streets of Dobella for a simple reason.
Hero Hunters using beast transformation had begun to attack the rear.
Ar and the other grade representatives from Azonia, being the fastest, had stepped up to eliminate the enemies within.
And now, they had reached a stalemate.
“Heh heh-! Not bad!”
The beastman who had been sent flying by Ar’s kick brushed the dust from his body as he walked back.
In his hand was Ar-on’s sword, Brave.
“Just as I’d expect from the wench with the grand reputation as the Brave Hero’s successor!”
The beastman sneered at Ar.
“You. They call you the Brave Hero’s successor because you can freely use beast transformation, I hear.”
“Don’t you dare speak Lord Ar-on’s name with that filthy mouth.”
A grim killing intent emanated from Ar’s body.
For a moment, the Hero Hunter flinched.
“A fresh-faced brat who’s only in her second year.”
But he soon scowled at the fact that he had been intimidated by a young girl.
And he said, “What’s so great about the Brave Hero, Ar-on, that you worship him? A coward like that!”
“...”
“You don’t know, do you? The truth is that the Ar-on you all worship as the Brave Hero is actually a coward!”
He cackled mockingly.
When the Hero Hunter received this sword, he had heard the truth about Ar-on from Tartaros.
“You should have seen his pathetic state, always trembling in fear whenever he stood on the battlefield!”
Normally, beastmen get agitated when they hear stories about Ar-on.
Knowing this, the Hero Hunter was throwing out such cheap provocations.
But despite the taunt, Ar simply blinked her blue eyes.
“Yeah, so?”
“What did you say?”
“What about it?”
The Hero Hunter’s face twisted at Ar’s nonchalant reply.
“Lord Ar-on is definitely a coward. But.”
Ar recalled the image of Ar-on.
‘Your name is Ar? That’s similar to my name. What? You were named after me?’
She remembered how he had spoken to her gently and kindly while teaching her.
‘Ar, you’re truly amazing. You could become an even greater warrior than me!’
‘It’s impossible to become a greater warrior than you, Lord Ar-on!’
‘Hiiiiieeeeek!’
She also remembered him patting her head and cheering her on.
Of course, he had been scared stiff by her rampaging in her excitement.
And she recalled his back as he ran forward without hesitation when everyone else was trembling in fear.
Ar-on was certainly a coward.
But…
“That’s exactly why he’s so amazing.”
He was the one who overcame that fear and showed the greatest courage in the world.
“The fact that the Brave Hero saved the world doesn’t change.”
Ar sneered at her opponent.
“For a parasite leeching off Lord Ar-on’s power, you sure talk big.”
“You bitch!”
“I’m a cat, you know?”
Ar scoffed, her fur standing on end.
She remembered Ar-on teaching her how to breathe.
She remembered him cheering her on, saying she would one day become a warrior who surpassed him.
‘I don’t know if I can ever surpass you, Lord Ar-on.’
Ar’s ears twitched.
‘But I want to be just like you.’
She took a deep breath.
And then.
“Graaaaaawwwwwwr!”
She let out a massive howl.
The Hero Hunter, who had been about to charge at Ar in a fit of rage, clutched his ears and collapsed to the ground.
A distinct golden aura flickered around Ar’s body.
“What, this insane bitch…!”
Overwhelmed and terrified by Ar’s howl, the Hero Hunter tried to shake it off.
At that moment.
Roars from other beastmen erupted from all around.
On nights of the full moon, beastmen would often transform and roar.
But…
It was neither night nor a full moon.
The Hero Hunter’s face filled with horror.
“What… in the world!”
***
Fwoosh-!
Having exited Rodia’s world, Leo stared at the Hero Record fragment in his hand.
A faint ember was rising from it.
Proof that Erebos was consuming the Hero Record.
Clenching the fragment, Leo summoned his mana.
Fwoosh-!
The flames of aura that erupted from Leo’s hand incinerated the Hero Record.
Whoosh-!
Watching Rodia’s record fragment turn to ash and disappear, Leo muttered.
“I’m counting on you.”
As Leo mentally cheered on his juniors fighting a desperate battle against Erebos in their own worlds, he surveyed his surroundings.
Groooowwwl-!
A massive roar echoed through the area.
He could feel killing intent all around him.
‘Monsters and demonic beasts?’
Countless hostile presences that he hadn't felt right before entering Rodia's world were now palpable.
Leo leaped into the sky.
Reaching a height that gave him a full view of the Forest of Demonic Beasts, Leo narrowed his eyes.
An abnormal situation was unfolding in the forest.
A veritable feast of monsters and demonic beasts.
Leo’s eyes narrowed further.
Monsters and demonic beasts had appeared out of nowhere.
‘And the monsters are all from different eras.’
Even monsters of the same species had distinct characteristics depending on their era.
Having studied the appearances and habits of monsters from various eras to clear the World of Heroes, it wasn't difficult for him to spot the differences.
‘For something like this to happen… it must mean Ellehem was hiding more than just one or two hero dungeons. Did all of them go berserk?’
Leo wore a puzzled expression.
‘Why? Was it because I opened Rodia’s world?’
He couldn't know the reason.
But what was important now was to resolve this crisis.
Leo used Aura Step to dash toward Dobella.
And there, on Dobella’s walls, he found students from Lumerne and Azonia holding back the monsters.
As Leo descended to the ground.
Groooowwwl-!
A Gigantes raised a massive iron club, poised to strike the defending wall.
“Block it!”
“We don’t have enough people!”
“I’m out of mana!”
Screams erupted from the Lumerne students defending the wall.
Fwoosh-!
“No!”
“Aaargh! Get back!”
Just as the Gigantes was about to smash the wall.
Clang-! Thoom-!
The heavy impact of metal on metal resounded.
The resulting shockwave scattered dust everywhere.
The Lumerne students stared with wide eyes at the person holding back the Gigantes’s iron club with a single hand.
“Class President? It’s the Class President!”
Iliana, who had been standing on the wall fending off monsters, exclaimed with a bright expression.
“Leo’s here!”
“It’s the Student Council President!”
Cheers erupted from all over.
“Where have you been for the last few hours?!”
Iliana shouted urgently, and Leo replied.
“I had something I needed to take care of.”
As he said that, Leo tightened his grip.
Bulge-!
Veins popped on his arm.
Whoosh-!
Groooowl?
Thump!
As Leo pushed with all his might, the Gigantes staggered and fell backward.
It crushed the monsters around it as it fell.
The surrounding students gaped at the sight.
“N-No matter how strong the Student Council President is.”
“Isn’t that a little too monstrous?”
While the Lumerne students were in shock.
“Awesome!”
“Incredible!”
The Azonia students shouted in excitement.
Iliana, too, having witnessed Leo’s near-superhuman feats since their first year, reacted with a bit more composure.
“You seem to be straying further from the category of human, Class President.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Leo smirked at Iliana’s words, then looked around with a curious expression.
“By the way, where are the others?”
The top powerhouses of the second year were nowhere to be seen.
At Leo’s question, Iliana’s expression darkened.
“The Azonia grade representatives went to stop the Hero Hunters.”
“Hero Hunters?”
“Yeah. Hero Hunters who use beast transformation launched an attack.”
Leo’s face hardened at Iliana’s words.
“Our grade representatives…”
Gwoooooo-!
At that moment, black mana surged from the center of Dobella’s streets.
The mass of black mana acted like a blade, slicing through everything around it.
‘That’s…’
As Leo’s expression turned to one of shock.
“They went to stop that monster who suddenly appeared and started spamming Dragon Tongue Magic.”
Iliana gritted her teeth.
In response, Leo said, “I’m leaving the wall to you.”
Leo tightened his grip on his sword.
“I’ll take care of what’s behind.”
Just as he was about to move forward.
“Graaaaaawwwwwwr!”
A howl echoed through the air.
At that moment, Leo froze.
“Ar-on?”
His eyes widened as he looked toward the source of the howl.
Courage surged in his chest.
A roar so similar to his friend's howl.
At that moment.
Fwoosh-!
A golden light enveloped the bodies of the Azonia students.
“What is this?”
Iliana wore a shocked expression.
Leo was just as surprised.
“Beast transformation?”
Even though it wasn’t the night of a full moon, the Azonia students began to transform.
Leo looked again toward the source of the howl.
“Could it be… Ar?”