Chapter 442
Chapter Title: The Spiral of a Legend
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442.
‘What can I do now?’
Ar-on pondered deeply.
This era was different from the one in which Ar-on had been born and raised.
The era Ar-on had to live through was one where the future was bleak.
‘Children couldn't even dream. Even I, who had followed Lisinas, couldn't picture the era I had longed for.’
An age of peace that even Ar-on, who had wanted a bright and hopeful future for the children, had only vaguely imagined, unable to grasp its reality.
It was inevitable for a generation that had everything stolen from them from birth.
And the age of peace he encountered shone more brilliantly than anything Ar-on had imagined.
But the threat was not yet over.
There was no telling when an age of calamity might return.
He didn't want this peace to be shattered.
Those Ar-on was currently teaching were the ones preparing to take the stage.
“Couldn't I also help the children who have already stepped onto the stage?”
At Ar-on's words, Melina's eyes widened.
“Are you saying you want to help the graduates as well?”
“That's right.”
“That is an incredibly gracious and welcome offer. How do you plan on teaching them?”
“I'm not very good at teaching others.”
Ar-on raised a fist.
“So there's only one way.”
“One way?”
“Yes.”
***
“Can you handle this?”
Vanir asked with an expressionless face.
Her expression didn't change.
But the atmosphere was tense.
Although she was a graduate of Azonia and the former student council president, she knew the world was a vast place.
There were still many powerful individuals in the world stronger than her.
The moment she first saw Ar-on, she knew.
That this beastman before her, though he appeared gentle, was strong.
That he was someone who stood above her.
But even so, being provoked like this wounded her pride.
“Hey, hey. Why get so worked up?”
Riennia said with a bright smile, patting Vanir's shoulder.
“We just have to face him once.”
She spoke in her usual lighthearted tone, but her sharp gaze on Ar-on showed that the provocation had stung her pride as well.
“Right, Lis?”
“Yes.”
Lis nodded, lost in thought.
Looking at the three of them, Ar-on nodded.
“Alright, shall we begin?”
As Ar-on spoke, Lis, who had drawn his sword, said.
“Riennia, Vanir.”
Lis narrowed his eyes.
“Let's go all out from the start.”
Riennia and Vanir looked momentarily puzzled at his words, but they nodded.
*Fwoosh-!*
Vanir charged at Ar-on.
*Tak-!*
Riennia dashed through the forest at incredible speed.
*Gwoooooo-!*
Lis, his sword held low, drew forth the flames of Jerdinger.
Their swift transition into a combat stance without a hint of carelessness was impressive.
‘So this is what they call the Age of Heroes.’
The current era, called the Age of Heroes even before the Age of Peace.
The mindset of those who had graduated from a hero academy and stood on the battlefield was certainly different.
Ar-on watched Vanir as she closed the distance in an instant.
*Shing-!*
Vanir, now holding two swords—somewhere between a longsword and a dagger in length, with jet-black blades—in each hand, her eyes flashing as she swung them.
*Kwagagagagagak-!*
Sparks flew between Ar-on and Vanir.
Ar-on blocked the flurry of sword strikes, swung at a speed too fast to see, with a single hand.
Vanir's eyes twitched as she watched Ar-on parry all of her attacks with one hand.
Ar-on reached out with his other hand to subdue Vanir.
At that moment, Vanir lowered her stance.
*Fwoosh-! Flarooooom-!*
Lis, who had closed in, swung his sword.
An aura of flames surged.
*Kwagagang-!*
A massive explosion erupted as Ar-on's hand and Lis's sword clashed.
The flames washed over Ar-on like a crashing wave.
‘He's controlling the flame aura perfectly?’
The flame attribute, the wildest and most difficult to handle among all attributes.
While emitting a heat intense enough to incinerate Ar-on, it didn't harm Vanir at all.
Ar-on put strength into his hand.
*Hwaak-!*
In an instant, a golden aura extended from Ar-on and pushed Lis's sword away.
And with his other hand, he blocked Vanir as she tried to press into his guard.
*Kwak-!*
Her sword was swiftly blocked by Ar-on before she could complete her swing.
Lis and Vanir's eyes narrowed.
‘He didn't use his aura.’
‘Pure technique.’
They saw through it instantly in this short exchange.
Even while facing them, Ar-on still had room to spare.
‘Just where did someone like this come from?’
“What are you doing?”
On a cliff overlooking the forest.
Melina, who was watching the spar between Ar-on and the three, bowed her head at the voice that came from behind.
“You're here.”
“I felt your magic.”
Leo, who had been sleeping at dawn, noticed Melina using magic and came here.
The magic Melina had cast was none other than a barrier.
“Did Ar-on ask for this?”
“Yes. He said he wanted to help the graduates as well and asked me.”
“Is that so?”
Leo stood on the cliff and looked down.
“Will the graduates be able to gain much from this?”
“That depends on what they make of it.”
Leo said, his gaze fixed on Ar-on, who was facing Lis and Vanir.
“But there's much to be gained just by facing the strongest. When it comes to martial arts, Ar-on is the pinnacle.”
Lis gasped for breath, staring at the man before him.
He had given his all against the beastman from the very beginning.
Knowing he was a superior opponent, they hadn't been careless in the slightest.
But even after entering battle with such thorough preparation, the result unfolding before his eyes was hard to accept.
‘He hasn't counterattacked even once.’
Despite Lis and Vanir's relentless assault, Ar-on did not attack.
Every single attack was blocked.
It was like facing a wall of unknown height.
‘Just where did someone like this appear from?’
“Your full power isn't just this, is it?”
Ar-on said, looking at Lis and Vanir.
“Show me your full strength.”
Ar-on raised his hand.
*Gwoooooo-!*
A golden aura flowed from his fingertips.
Seeing it, Lis and Vanir flinched.
“If that's too difficult, shall I come to you?”
The moment Ar-on smiled and took a step.
*Flash-!*
An arrow flew toward Ar-on with a flash of pure white light.
*Kwagang-! Jjeojeojeok-!*
Ar-on reached out and caught the arrow.
*Tak-!*
In that instant, a frigid cold exploded from the arrow, engulfing Ar-on.
Ar-on's body froze over.
Ar-on rolled his eyes toward the direction the arrow had come from.
‘A fusion of aura and magic. The power is considerable.’
“Hahp!”
Vanir closed the distance to Ar-on.
*Jjeojeok-! Jjaeng-!*
Ar-on broke through the ice and lunged at Vanir.
*Hwak-!*
In an instant, Vanir's body turned into black smoke and vanished.
‘An aura trait.’
Ar-on's extrasensory perception activated.
At that moment.
*Flarooom-!*
A massive pillar of flame erupted.
Ar-on looked at Lis.
*Gwooooooo-!*
The blazing flames of the phoenix were being compressed into Lis's sword.
Lis readjusted his grip on the sword, which now pulsed with a crimson light, and took a stance to swing at Ar-on.
At the same time, he could feel Riennia's bow aimed at him from afar.
*Fwoosh-! Piiing-!*
The sword and arrow aimed for Ar-on from two directions.
Ar-on spread both his hands.
*Fwoosh! Jjeojeojeong-!*
The sword strike of scorching flames and the arrow of bitter cold targeted Ar-on.
In that moment.
*Gwoooooo-!*
“What?”
Lis's eyes filled with astonishment.
Ar-on's aura wrapped around the aura of scorching flames and the aura of bitter cold.
*Hwioooo-!*
As if guiding a current of water.
As Ar-on brought his hands together, the opposing forces spun within them.
Riennia, watching from a distance, also wore a look of dumbfounded shock.
Lis and Riennia had launched the best attacks they were capable of.
But they hadn't thought they could defeat Ar-on with this.
They had merely intended to create an opening by tying up his hands and feet the moment he defended against their attacks.
The plan was for Vanir, the fastest of the three, to exploit that opening.
But, thrillingly, Ar-on didn't just block Lis and Riennia's attacks; he took control of them.
‘No, if I cut through that aura!’
Vanir approached Ar-on from the shadows.
At that moment, Vanir felt her heart drop.
Vanir, perfectly concealed in the darkness, had made eye contact with Ar-on.
In that instant.
*Jjeojeojeojeok! Flarooom!*
The arrow of bitter cold flew towards Lis, and the sword strike of scorching flames flew towards the distant Riennia.
“Kuh!”
*Flarooom-!*
Lis unleashed his phoenix aura.
*Jjeo-eoeoeok-!*
But he couldn't block the attack completely and was sent flying.
*Kkwaang! Flarooom-!*
Riennia, too, failed to defend against the attack.
*Teok-!*
“Keuk?”
Vanir was subdued, her throat seized by Ar-on.
Vanir, who had been struggling to counterattack, soon went limp.
The match was decided.
It wasn't a matter of being one or two steps ahead.
‘He's on a different level.’
Ar-on looked at Vanir, smiled faintly, and let go.
*Thud-*
Vanir collapsed to the ground as if all her strength had left her.
“Excellent. You are heroes worthy of shouldering an era. I'm relieved.”
Lis approached, pushing back the frigid aura with his own.
Riennia emerged from the forest, her body scorched, staring at Ar-on in disbelief.
“Is there any need for you to be relieved? You're already a powerhouse on a different dimension.”
Riennia asked, gritting her teeth.
Looking at her, Ar-on replied.
“My strength has nothing to do with it. You're all still young, aren't you?”
Ar-on helped Vanir, who was sitting on the ground looking up at him, to her feet.
“You all have bright futures ahead of you. You'll become even greater. In that sense, I'd like to help you.”
“Help?”
“This... would you like to learn it?”
Ar-on held out his hand.
A golden aura was swirling above it.
“Huh?”
The three of them wore expressions of shock.
Ar-on looked at the aura spinning on his palm and said.
“It's not really a special technique. It's just a knack for maximizing the power of your aura. Depending on how you apply it, you can even deflect others' attacks like I did just now.”
The three recalled how Ar-on had just deflected Lis and Riennia's attacks.
“It's still a dangerous technique for the second-years to learn. Would you learn it and teach it to your juniors later on?”
“Why are you teaching us such an incredible technique?”
Lis asked, his face showing a hint of confusion.
He knew that the man before him was teaching the second-years a skill called extrasensory perception.
He also understood how incredible that skill was.
And now, on top of that, he was offering to pass on another aura skill to them.
Ar-on smiled at Lis's question.
“Because I want to be relieved.”
As Lis and Riennia wore puzzled expressions at Ar-on's answer.
Vanir's eyes widened as she stared at the golden aura spinning in Ar-on's hand.
‘The aura is spinning in a spiral? And it maximizes the aura's power...’
3000 years ago.
The Great Warrior Azonia, said to be the successor of the Brave Hero Ar-on.
If the Comet Wizard Seirun had redefined star magic, the Great Warrior Azonia had succeeded in recreating the Brave Hero Ar-on's aura skills.
Azonia was also the one who created the [Brave Hero's Breath] used by the beastmen.
And Azonia had a representative skill.
‘Spiral.’
A technique that maximized power by spinning the aura.
‘Lord Azonia said this was also Lord Ar-on's technique.’
Like the Brave Hero's Breath, Azonia had intended to pass down Spiral to the beastmen as well.
But before that could happen, the Heroes of the Dawn left the world.
And now, the aura skill Ar-on was using was remarkably similar to Azonia's lost technique.
‘A beastman using a lost technique and a golden aura, plus a resemblance to Lord Ar-on.’
Vanir's eyes widened.
“Don't tell me... you're...?”
Vanir stared at Ar-on with trembling eyes.
Looking at her, Ar-on placed his index finger to his lips.
Vanir trembled as she saw Ar-on's gentle smile.
‘The Brave Hero... Ar-on?!’