Chapter 449
Chapter Title: The Great Hero's Stand
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*Thud-!*
Erebos took a step.
*Ruuuuuumble-!*
With that single step, the very earth shook violently.
*Fwoosh-!*
Black flames erupted fiercely around Erebos.
Despite the distance, a suffocating heat radiated outwards.
Torua muttered, breaking out in a cold sweat.
“To be this powerful just by existing.”
Erebos hadn't used any special power.
Just one step.
He had simply moved his foot.
And yet, it was as if a great catastrophe had occurred.
The sky glowed an even more ominous, dark crimson.
Ulta, with Riennia riding before him, muttered.
“I see. So this is why Lord Ar-on didn't bring any other vanguards.”
Most of the party members, excluding Ar-on, were skilled in long-range attacks.
Lunia, Eiran, and Eliza formed a single unit.
Lunia would focus solely on attacking with the Phoenix King's white flames.
Eiran would act as Lunia's shield with her family's unique magic, the Sword and Armor of Animus, while Eliza’s role was to carry Lunia and evade Erebos's attacks.
It was a combination designed to allow the still-inexperienced Lunia to devote herself entirely to offense.
“At first, I heard Lord Ar-on planned to block him alone and thought, ‘Of course, the Brave Hero is different,’ but that wasn't it.”
Riennia broke out in a cold sweat.
“If any other Knight-class had taken the vanguard, they would have been reduced to ashes in an instant.”
The reason vanguards like Lis, Jamua, or Banir weren't brought along was because they were not yet qualified to stand here.
They, too, were not suited for this battlefield.
All they could do was barely support Ar-on from outside the main combat zone.
‘Well, there is one student who’s already on that stage.’
Riennia looked up at the sky.
She could see Leo looking down on Erebos.
Taking a deep breath, Riennia raised her bow.
“I'm counting on you, Ulta.”
“Leave it to me.”
Among the hero candidates present, Riennia possessed the most powerful pure firepower.
The former student council president of Seirun.
Though she was a magic archer who wielded both magic and Aura, back in her day, one couldn't become the president of Seirun simply by being strong.
‘It’s different now, though.’
Until last year, only the strongest Star Mage of their generation could become the student council president of Seirun.
Following Riennia, Torua sent Lunia flying toward Eliza.
“I’m counting on you, my ill-tempered junior from the Summoning Department.”
“You seem quite relaxed, considering the situation.”
“Yep. We’re just here to support Lord Ar-on from offstage, after all. Besides.”
Torua gazed at the back of Ar-on, who stood before the great black calamity.
“We have the Brave Hero with us.”
***
“‘Once more… are you prepared to watch the world burn?’”
Ar-on narrowed his eyes.
Seeing him, Erebos’s eyes twitched.
There was no fear in Ar-on’s eyes.
“Hoh.”
Erebos wore an amused expression.
“The one who couldn't even prepare for death in the moment he sensed it is now unafraid of dying.”
Ar-on, his face expressionless, pointed his sword at Erebos.
“Have you overcome the fear that comes from ignorance by experiencing death? Or perhaps…”
*Swoosh-!*
Erebos’s black arm rose.
“Are you merely a trivial ghost of the past, unconcerned with living or dying?!”
*Kra-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-boom-!*
As Erebos swung his arm with all his might, black flames shot high into the sky.
The black flames directly engulfed Ar-on.
“Lord Ar-on!”
Melina cried out urgently, but Leo answered.
“He’s fine.”
“Pardon?”
“He won’t fall to something like that.”
As he spoke, a golden flash pierced through the black flames and soared upward.
Ar-on gripped his sword with both hands.
*Vwooom-!*
“Huuu—”
He inhaled, closed his eyes, and focused his mind.
His extrasensory perception opened.
When he opened his eyes, he could see the flames writhing around Erebos.
He could see Erebos’s face contorting into a vicious sneer.
It was a clear mockery directed at him.
But Ar-on paid it no mind.
‘I’m at peace.’
Ar-on had been defeated.
He knew that fact better than anyone.
The moment he learned of Kyle and Luna’s deaths through his extrasensory perception.
Ar-on felt extreme terror.
And in their place, he chose his own death.
Because he was afraid of his friends dying.
‘But the moment Kyle came to save me, I gave up.’
In that final moment, Ar-on had doubted that this world could be saved and fell into despair.
‘Dweno would never have given up.’
He remembered his friend, who possessed a will of steel.
‘Luna would have believed in her own potential until the very end.’
His friend, who had infinite faith in her own possibilities.
‘Lisinas would never have let go of hope.’
His friend, who held the greatest hope of anyone in this world.
‘Because he would have believed until the end that Kyle wouldn't give up. Unlike me.’
Ar-on raised his sword vertically.
His emotionless face was reflected on the blade.
There stood a coward who had been terrified countless times and was now truly broken.
‘But thanks to my friends, I was able to see the world they saved. So I have no more regrets. Therefore…’
“I will annihilate you, no matter what it takes!”
*Flash!*
Simultaneously with Ar-on's roar, a golden sword aura slashed at Erebos’s neck.
But it didn't cut through.
*Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-gang!*
Erebos’s massive body toppled and slammed into the ground.
“The remnants of the past! Will be handled by a ghost of the past!”
Ar-on aimed his sword at the sky.
*Shing-!*
A brilliant golden light shot up toward the heavens.
The moment a small golden sphere, like a sun, exploded in the sky.
*Flash-! Kra-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-boom-!*
A torrential downpour of sword energy rained down from the sky, blanketing Erebos.
***
“My goodness.”
“Is that… a battle between Great Heroes…!”
The hero candidates standing on the fortress walls stared, their jaws agape.
The battle of a Great Hero was, quite literally, beyond all common sense.
It was shocking even to those who had spent their entire lives hearing the tales of the Great Heroes, respecting and admiring them, and praising their power and deeds.
“So you have to be that strong to save the world.”
Duran muttered, his face filled with awe.
“Wow… I thought the siege of Gardsrone was incredible, but this is on a completely different level, isn't it?”
Beside him, Karl clicked his tongue.
Even for Karl, who had witnessed Ar-on's power once before, it was a shocking sight.
“Is that Lord Ar-on from the final chapter?”
He was just as described in the texts.
Literally a ‘God of War’.
“Is Leo standing on the front lines of a battle like that?”
Abad muttered under his breath.
With Ar-on's attack as the signal.
The attacks of Torua, Ulta, and Riennia began.
Torua's magic pierced through the flames spewing from Erebos and struck his body.
Ulta, riding his pegasus, flew at incredible speeds, intercepting Erebos’s flames.
*Fwoooosh-!*
At that moment.
A massive pillar of pure white flame shot high into the sky.
Seeing it, Driana muttered.
“That’s Lunia.”
The moment she spoke.
*Whoosh-!*
The Flame Imperium engulfed Erebos.
Cheers erupted from among the Seirun students.
“That’s our senior Lunia!”
“The next student council president of Seirun!”
“According to the texts, the flames of the Phoenix King are also unquenchable, right?”
The Seirun first-years’ eyes sparkled.
*Kwa-ga-gang!*
But they flinched when they saw Erebos emerge from the white flames.
Despite taking direct hits from Torua’s and Lunia’s magic, Erebos showed no signs of faltering.
“To take that much magic and not even flinch…”
“Is it even… possible to take part in a battle like that?”
Fearful voices could be heard not only from the first-years but from the second-years as well.
Seeing this, Celia frowned.
People tend to become frightened when they witness something that transcends their imagination.
‘I was the same.’
The first semester midterm exams.
Leo’s existence had been, quite literally, a thrill of its own.
She had been terrified and filled with despair upon seeing him.
Because she thought she could never catch up.
‘But I couldn’t just keep my head down.’
Leo, advancing as if showing them his back, seemed to be telling them to follow.
That he would wait for the day they stood on the same battlefield.
That was what Leo seemed to be saying.
‘If only the others understood that.’
Celia was pondering how to encourage her classmates and juniors.
*Thump- Thump- Thump-!*
Ar stomped his feet impatiently.
“What’s wrong?”
At Karl’s question, Ar shouted.
“I’m frustrated!”
“What?”
“That black rabbit and the nasty elf! And Eiran! They all got to stand on that stage!”
“Well, Leo is exceptionally talented, and Lunia and Eiran have special skills, so that’s why they’re on the stage. It’s not that you’re lacking…”
“That’s why I’m frustrated!”
A change came over Ar’s body.
The feline traits in his physique became more pronounced.
It was beastification.
With his fur and hair standing on end like a hissing cat, Ar spoke.
“It means I’m not worthy to stand on that stage yet! The great Brave Hero is right there! And I can't have the honor of standing with him!”
At his words, all the students’ gazes turned to Ar.
“I’m angry! I need to unleash this rage on those ugly monsters!”
*Nyaaaaaaak!* With a sharp cry, Ar ran up onto the fortress wall.
Watching his retreating back, the students who had been petrified by the transcendent battle clenched their teeth, their faces filled with shame.
While they were paralyzed by fear, someone else was frustrated at not being able to join that same fight.
The stark difference made them feel ashamed.
“Dammit!”
“Was I always this weak? No, I’m not!”
They overcame their fear as if screaming in defiance.
Watching them, Celia muttered.
“Did he intend for that to happen?”
“That idiot? No way.”
Karl let out a hollow laugh.
Next to him, Driana nodded.
“He certainly didn’t intend it. But I believe that is Ar’s ability.”
“Ar’s ability?”
Celia tilted her head.
“He is the one the Brave Hero designated as his successor. It wouldn't be strange for his every action to instill courage in others.”
Driana chuckled heartily and pulled a giant battle-axe from her sub-space.
Watching her back, Celia clenched and unclenched her fists.
“I can’t afford to lose, either.”
The battlefield wasn't only over there.
*Guwoooooooooooh-!*
Monstrous beasts born from Erebos’s power swarmed the fortress walls.
***
“Lord Leo, your orders.”
At Melina’s words, Leo spoke.
“Melina, you’re Lisinas’s successor, right?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. Unworthy as I am, I was fortunate enough to conquer Lord Lisinas’s world…”
“Then you take command.”
“What?”
Melina was flustered.
“B-But with you here, Lord Leo, how could I possibly dare to command…”
“Command was originally Lisinas’s role.”
“...!”
“How long are you going to stay silent?”
At Leo’s cold words, Melina bit her lip and bowed her head.
When they had challenged the World of Genesis.
Melina had been the one in command.
And Melina’s party had been annihilated.
Since then.
Melina had become the Dragon of Silence.
Even now that she had broken her silence, she couldn't bring herself to command the party in front of Erebos.
Seeing Melina hesitate, Leo spoke.
“Melina.”
“...Yes.”
“Look at that.”
Leo pointed to Ar-on, who was fighting against Erebos.
“Lord Leo…”
“If you’re scared, look at his back. We all gained courage from that sight. If you find it hard to believe in yourself, then believe in me. You have more than enough ability to lead this party splendidly and fight against Erebos. I guarantee it.”
At those words, Melina took a deep breath.
“Yes!”
Leo grinned.
“What will you be doing, Lord Leo?”
“Me?”
Leo held out his hand.
A staff materialized in a bright flash of light.
“It might not suit me, but.”
Leo said, fiddling with the end of the staff.
“I’m going to try and be like Luna.”