Chapter 447
Chapter Title: The Hero's Courage
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Everyone was left speechless by Ar-on's overwhelming presence as he split the sky.
Rumble—!
The pillar of black fire erupted from a place impossibly far from where Ar-on stood.
But as if ignoring the distance, Ar-on bisected the pillar with immense force.
A massive, straight scar from his sword was carved into the earth between him and the pillar of fire.
A thick cloud of dust rose.
One by one, the students' eyes fixed on Ar-on's back.
“As expected of Sir Ar-on! You’re amazing!”
Ar shouted, raising both hands.
His words snapped everyone back to their senses.
“Is… is that really the Brave Hero, Sir Ar-on?”
“Who else but Sir Ar-on could deliver such an overwhelming strike?”
“Besides, that kid Ar! He definitely just called him Sir Ar-on, didn’t he?”
An uncanny resemblance and transcendent martial prowess.
Added to that was the cry from Ar, who had experienced Ar-on firsthand while navigating the World of Heroes.
“The Brave Hero!”
“He’s returned to our world, just like the Hero of the Beginning and the Progenitor of the Nebula!”
“Sir Ar-on!”
Atop the despair-filled walls, a spark of hope ignited.
“Is he truly the Brave Hero?”
“Yes. He’s the real Brave Hero.”
Melina nodded in response to Akatis's astonished question.
En did not take her eyes off Ar-on.
Rumble—!
Just then, the earth shook once more.
Craaaack—!
From the spot where the black flames had erupted, something like black magma shot up.
Splat—! Sizzle—! Fwoosh—!
Flames erupted where the black magma touched the ground.
The magma gathered in one spot like a slime, then transformed into the shape of a colossal giant of fire.
Watching Erebos take form, Melina took a deep breath.
For her, a challenger from the World of Genesis, it was a nightmarish sight.
The faces of the hero cadets hardened.
Erebos.
5,000 years ago and 3,000 years ago.
The terrifying primal evil that had driven the world to the brink of destruction.
Those living in the Age of Heroes could not be ignorant of that name.
But in the 3,000 years since the calamity's return was ended by the heroes of genesis, almost no one had seen Erebos in person.
They could only imagine and infer its appearance based on records in historical texts.
“Haha. Damn it. It looks just like it does in the storybooks.”
Karl muttered in a trembling voice.
Lunia clenched her fists, her expression stiff.
“It’s… incomparable to that time.”
Having fought a fragment of Erebos that lay dormant in Luna’s world, Lunia swallowed dryly, overwhelmed by a pressure that was on a completely different level.
If the Erebos in Luna's world was a small campfire, this was a raging forest fire.
“What’s there to worry about! We have Sir Ar-on! If we work together, we can defeat a resurrected fragment of Erebos! Everyone, have courage!”
Ar shouted, her eyes sparkling.
But faced with a world-ending calamity they had only ever read about in stories, the others struggled to regain their courage.
As Erebos took a more complete form, their fear became more palpable.
“It’s okay to be afraid.”
Ar-on spoke, his back still to the future generation of hero cadets.
“It’s only natural to tremble before such immense terror. I did, and so did Lisinas, Kyle, Luna, and Dweno.”
Ar-on took a breath.
“What’s important is overcoming that fear. So, will you show me?”
Ar-on turned around.
“Your courage.”
At those words, Vanir’s eyes widened, and he stepped forward.
“Noble great warriors! Students who carry the name of Azonia!”
Vanir shouted to the Azonia students.
All eyes turned to Vanir.
Ar-on flinched for a moment at the fierce voice, but no one noticed.
“The great Brave Hero wishes to test our courage!”
“Ah, no. I’m not exactly testing you… I just want to see…”
“Did we not enroll in Azonia for the sake of the world! Did we not dream of becoming heroes to protect this world, passed down by the Great Heroes, with the courage inherited from the Brave Hero in our hearts!”
“Yes, we did!”
The students of Azonia roared.
“That crisis is now upon us! Compared to Sir Ar-on, we may be nothing more than weaklings, less than pebbles on the roadside!”
“Weaklings! It’s not good to belittle yourselves like that…”
“But! If we tremble in fear here, we are trash, worse than pebbles! Do you want to be trash!”
“No, we don’t!”
“Then prove it! Prove you are not trash! If you are proud to be the descendants of Sir Ar-on, show your courage! Do you understand!”
“Yes, sir!”
Ar-on placed both hands on Vanir’s shoulders, who was leading his juniors, and spoke seriously.
“Calling yourselves weaklings, less than pebbles, trash. You shouldn’t use such self-deprecating words.”
“Sir Ar-on…!”
“You and the students of Azonia are children to be proud of. I didn’t mean I wanted to test your courage. I just want you to show it. So please, value yourselves…”
“Did you hear that, you weakling trash! Sir Ar-on says he’s proud of us!”
“Uwoooooh!”
Watching Vanir shout with emotion, Ar-on looked at Melina with a pained expression.
“The students from Azonia are a simple bunch. It’s best to just let it be.”
Melina offered a troubled smile.
“He still gets simple and dense when he’s excited, huh? Lis, don’t we have a fancy speech or something?”
Torua tilted his head and asked. Lis chuckled and spoke to his juniors.
“Let’s show them that courage isn’t exclusive to Azonia.”
“Yes! We understand!”
“Sir Ar-on! You’re so cool!”
“Please give me your autograph later!”
Cheers also erupted from the Lumerne side.
Rienia crossed her arms.
“Listen up, everyone. We’ve inherited the will of the great Progenitor of the Nebula, Lady Luna, right? Besides, Sir Ar-on has returned, and the Azonia kids will be our sturdy shields. With such excellent meat shields, does it make sense to be scared?”
“Hey, who are you calling a meat shield?”
Vanir growled lowly, and she corrected herself.
“Friend shield.”
“I don’t like that either, you know?”
Vanir shouted, but Rienia didn’t bat an eye.
“Anyway, we at Seirun proved to Lady Luna and Sir Kyle last year that we are the best! This time, let’s prove to Sir Ar-on that we’re the best too!”
“When did you ever prove to Lady Luna and Sir Kyle that you were the best?”
“It will be us, Azonia, who earns Sir Ar-on’s recognition!”
Watching the bickering former student council presidents, Driana raised her hand.
“Shouldn’t the former president say something too?”
“What’s the point? I’ll just be drowned out by those lunatics.”
“You still have no presence, Mr. President.”
“Are you insulting me?”
“It’s a compliment.”
Just as Wekerden, the former student council president of Demian, let out a deep sigh.
“Excuse me, sorry to bother you. Could I borrow a sword?”
“Gasp! S-Sir Ar-on!”
Wekerden’s eyes went wide.
“I-I’ll give it to you! No! Please use it!”
Overjoyed that the Brave Hero Ar-on had asked him for a sword, Wekerden opened a subspace and poured out his collection of swords.
“Please, use whichever one you need!”
Ar-on chose a sharp, well-worn sword from Wekerden’s collection.
Clack—!
Gripping the sword, Ar-on took a deep breath.
Shing—!
It was a nameless sword, but it was a magnificent blade.
Ar-on looked down at his reflection on the blade and said,
“This is a fine sword. I’ll take good care of it and return it to you.”
“Not at all, sir! Hehehehe!”
“He looks like a sycophant.”
“His presence is only noticeable when he’s like that, you know?”
The graduates from the other academies muttered, but Wekerden paid them no mind.
Just then.
Thud—!
The ground shook.
Erebos, which had now fully formed, began to move.
Gwoooooooh—!
The roar of Erebos echoed out.
In response, Ar-on inhaled deeply.
—Kuaaaaaaaargh!
Ar-on’s howl pushed back Erebos’s roar.
Those who heard his voice widened their eyes.
“Is this the Brave Hero’s Howling?”
“It’s incredible!”
The anxiety they had felt just moments before vanished.
Their hearts pounded, and their courage doubled.
As everyone watched in awe, Ar-on raised his sword.
“Everyone, get ready now.”
Fwoosh—!
Flames blazed from Erebos’s body.
“It’s coming.”
Kwaaaaaaaah—!
A wave of black flames surged toward them.
Gwooooh!
Ar-on readjusted his grip on the sword and swung it horizontally.
Fwaash—!
A massive golden line split the black flames.
The sharp golden sword strike hit Erebos directly.
Slice—! Fushaaaaaak!
Kuaaaaaaaargh!
Bisected, Erebos let out a scream of agony.
Seeing that, Ar-on’s eyes twitched for a moment.
Fwoosh—!
Dark red blood gushed from the wound, soaking the earth.
But the wound was soon covered by black flames and began to heal.
Fwoosh—!
The blood of Erebos that flowed onto the ground created grotesque monsters.
Watching this, Ar-on muttered.
“…The right arm?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing.”
Shaking his head, Ar-on turned.
“I will now choose the party members who will attack Erebos with me.”
***
“It seems to be the right arm.”
Leo narrowed his eyes.
—What do you mean?
Kiruan asked with a puzzled expression at Leo’s mutter.
“That fragment is Erebos’s right arm.”
“How do you know that, Master? From the outside, it just looks like a big black giant.”
As Artie tilted her head, Leo explained.
“You all know that demons are creations of Erebos, right?”
The phantom beasts nodded.
“Erebos used its right hand when it created fiends like demons, magical beasts, and monsters. Lisinas believed that the authority related to creation was vested in its right hand.”
Indeed, Erebos had created its loyal subordinates with its right hand.
—I see. So that’s why you thought it was the right arm among the fragments Leo cut.
Elsie said with understanding, and Leo nodded.
“But this is strange. The authority of creation should consume a lot of its power. Why is it wasting its strength?”
He questioned Erebos’s sudden creation of fiends.
“Leo!”
Having finished forming the party to fight Erebos, Ar-on called out to Leo.
Leo landed on the ground.
And he checked the members.
‘Ar-on, Melina, Torua, Ulta, Rienia, Lunia, Eiran, Eliza.’
Excluding Ar-on, there wasn’t a single knight class.
In the cases of Eiran and Rienia, they were magic swordsmen, but they possessed mobility comparable to most knight classes and firepower greater than mages.
‘A combination focused on firepower and mobility.’
Rienia and Eiran also wore slightly troubled expressions, as if they had just been told their roles by Ar-on.
Just then, Ar approached Leo.
“Black Rabbit! Sir Ar-on said he’s going to hold off Erebos by himself. Will that be okay? Shouldn’t we help a little?”
Ar asked with a worried expression.
Looking at Ar, Leo said,
“He must have said he’d handle it alone because he knows it’ll be fine.”
“B-But…”
The enemy wasn't just anyone; it's Erebos.
The world’s worst abomination, one that drove the world to the very brink of destruction.
Even if it was just a fragment, the idea of one person holding off such a terrifying monster seemed precarious.
“You still don’t know which era that Ar-on is from, do you?”
“Huh?”
Ar’s eyes widened.
Come to think of it, she hadn't heard.
“What era is he from? Black Rabbit, have you heard?”
“The final chapter.”
“What?”
“He’s the Ar-on from the time Erebos was subjugated.”
Ar’s eyes grew wide.
‘If it weren’t for the restriction that he’ll disappear once he uses up all his divine power, the current Ar-on is strong enough to win a war against all of Tartaros by himself.’
With the Fiend Queen subjugated and the Giant King absent,
Tartaros, with only the Necro King, could not handle a complete Ar-on.
“You stay here and fight the fiends.”
Thud— thud—
Leo walked over to Ar-on’s side.
“Well then, shall we go?”
Ar-on said, readjusting his grip on his sword.
“To subjugate the primal evil.”