Chapter 046
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“Are you reinforcements?”
“We are.”
Leo gave a short reply to the brown-haired girl and kicked off the ground.
He charged the nearest demon.
The demon hastily thrust its palm toward Leo.
*Vwoom!— Fshhhhhh!*
A black summoning circle formed in front of Leo, and from within, dark red leeches the size of human heads poured out.
“Ah! Watch out!”
the girl cried out urgently.
*‘Gorgoros leeches.’*
They were demonic beasts that latched onto the body and sucked blood, making them a bad matchup for knights who relied on close-range attacks.
And if you cut them recklessly, their acidic blood would spill out.
*‘Normally, they'd be tricky to deal with. Normally.’*
*Fwoosh—!*
A fiercely burning flame aura erupted from Leo's sword.
The Jerdinger flames instantly turned the Gorgoros leeches to ash.
The girl who had warned him exclaimed in awe.
“A-Amazing!”
*‘Judging by the use of Gorgoros leeches, this demon probably isn't high-ranking.’*
With demons, you could tell their rank by the techniques they used.
These demonic beasts were favored by low-ranking, soldier-class demons.
*‘There's no great danger. It's better to attack quickly now.’*
Having quickly analyzed the situation, Leo closed the distance without hesitation.
*Slice—!*
The beast summoner's head flew through the air.
“He took out two of them in an instant!”
The brown-haired girl clenched her fists.
*Vwoom—!*
Just then, Chloe, who was in the sky, completed her spell.
“Ice Bullet.”
A barrage of ice projectiles rained down on the demons.
*Th-th-th-thump—!*
The demons hastily threw themselves aside to dodge the volley of ice bullets, but their formation broke in the process.
“Alright! I'm going in!”
This time, one of the male students who had been in a standoff readjusted his grip on his spear and charged.
“Hah!”
*Squelch!*
“Keuk!”
The demon, its chest pierced, turned to ash and vanished.
*‘He's skilled.’*
Impressed, Leo shifted his gaze to the brown-haired girl.
She was chanting a spell with her hands pressed together.
*Ziiiing—!*
When she pulled her hands apart, several small orbs of light formed between them.
“Arc Ray!”
*Kigigiging!*
As the spell completed, the orbs of light shot toward the demons, tracing chaotic paths in every direction.
Leo, recognizing the magic, was impressed.
*‘Star Magic.’*
Although they were both first-years, Leo, with his memories from a past life, and the girl were fundamentally different.
*‘What incredible magical sense.’*
While Leo was marveling, one of the demons took a direct hit from an orb of light and was torn apart without a trace.
Six demons remained.
Having lost their comrades, the demons began to form up again.
*‘Demon soldiers are weak, but their coordination is excellent.’*
I broke their formation with a surprise attack at first, but now that they've reformed, they'll be tricky to deal with.
Leo pulled four daggers he kept as backup weapons from his coat and held them in his right hand.
Then he charged the demons.
“Foolish creature.”
The demons sneered at Leo, who was charging them recklessly without any preparation.
*Vwoom—!*
But the moment a magic circle appeared on his right hand, their expressions changed.
“A magic swordsman!”
As the demons grew wary, Leo threw the daggers he was holding.
The demons that dodged the daggers prepared for a magical attack.
But when no spell came, they immediately switched to the offensive.
“Was that just a feint?”
“He uses cheap tricks.”
The four demons in the lead moved to surround Leo.
But their agile movements suddenly stopped, as if caught by something.
“What?”
The demons hastily looked behind them.
The daggers Leo had thrown were pinned precisely to their shadows.
It was Shadow Hold, a spell that pinned shadows.
Dark-attribute magic is only half as effective against demons.
Indeed, the moment the demons realized what was happening, the spell broke.
But that brief moment was more than enough time for Leo.
*Fwoosh—! Thwack! Rip! Splat!*
“Kuaargh?!”
“Keuk!”
Leo's sword carved an arc of flame, slaughtering the demons.
*Shwaaak—!*
Just then, black blades erupted from the ground, rushing toward Leo.
It was dark magic cast by the demons in the rear.
Runic words flowed instantly from Leo's lips.
The dark magic lost its power and dissipated.
“Did he just dispel dark magic?”
The brown-haired girl was startled.
*Krrrrrack—!*
A frigid ice wind swept over the defenseless demons.
*Crrrackle—!*
Leo walked up to the frozen demons and gave them a light push.
*Shatter—!*
Shattering like glass, the demons' bodies crumbled to ash and disappeared.
“Excellent work, Chloe.”
“...”
“What is it? Something you want to say?”
“Why did you use dark-attribute magic on demons?”
“Oh, that?”
Leo smiled as if it were nothing.
“Demons rarely prepare for dark-attribute magic. So you can catch them off guard even with a simple spell.”
“And dispelling the dark magic instead of dodging? That was risky. You could have gotten hurt.”
“True. But with dark magic of that level, it's safer to dispel it if you can, rather than dodge. Dark magic may have a different system, but it's still constructed from formulas. If it's a simple spell, you can dispel it quickly. It's a skill you can learn too.”
*‘But being able to do that quickly in a real battle is another story!’*
For Leo, who had fought demons to the point of exhaustion in his past life, these things were as natural as breathing. But for a fifteen-year-old girl, it was an overwhelming level of experience she could never hope to attain.
*‘Just how many moves ahead is he thinking?’*
Just as Chloe's eyes wavered,
“Thank you for your help!”
the brown-haired girl said with a cheerful smile.
“You're from the rescue team, right?”
“We are.”
“We were worried when the demons suddenly appeared, but it's a relief to see the rescue team here!”
Chloe's face stiffened when she saw the brightly smiling girl's face.
Chloe said urgently.
“Excuse me. I need to speak with my partner alone for a moment.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
Flustered by Chloe's words, the girl returned to her party members.
“What's wrong?”
“That girl is Alia Jer-on!”
“Alia Jer-on? You don't mean...?”
“Yes, that's right.”
The World of Heroes is an event from the past.
But depending on the challenger's actions, they can create an outcome different from the actual history.
During the incident thirty years ago, several first-year parties were deployed to subjugate monsters.
The first-year midterm exam assignment is to rescue those parties.
“As you know, the party Alia Jer-on belongs to...”
Chloe swallowed dryly.
“...is the one party that can never be saved in the Chedmurder's Incident.”
***
“Of all the parties to run into, it had to be Alia's.”
Chloe stomped her foot in frustration.
There was an absolute reason why Alia's party could not avoid annihilation.
“Dark Warrior Chubarn. That bastard never changes his target.”
Chubarn.
He was the demon who, during the incident thirty years ago, single-handedly wiped out four of the seven assigned parties before being subjugated by Albi.
And Chubarn's first target was Alia's party.
*‘To be precise, he was targeting Alia Jer-on.’*
Chloe glanced at Alia, who was talking with her friends.
Alia Jer-on.
A direct descendant of the Jer-on family, one of Lumerne Academy’s three great heroic houses, and the year's representative at the time.
She was also the younger sister of Albi, the Sorcerer of the Evil Eye.
Her outstanding talent was such that she was still mentioned among the professors, even thirty years later.
But that very talent was what cost her her life.
The reason Tartaros orchestrated the Chedmurder's Incident was to eliminate the budding heroes of the future.
That was why Alia Jer-on became the very first target.
This was the reason Alia's party could never escape annihilation.
Because no matter the circumstances, once the World of Heroes began, Chubarn would always annihilate Alia's party first.
“Do you remember what our homeroom professor said when he announced the exam assignment?”
Chloe's words made Leo recall what Halind had said.
*‘At your current skill level, you cannot defeat a Knight-class demon. If you encounter Chubarn, you must flee. If escape is not an option, forfeit the exam. If you do, I will take the circumstances into consideration. If any idiot disobeys this order and chooses to fight...’*
At the end, Halind had threatened them with genuine killing intent.
*‘I will expel them on the spot, no matter who it is.’*
“He's not an opponent we can possibly beat at our current level.”
“Are you saying we should just leave them?”
“I don't like it either! But Leo! We have to think rationally right now. This is the World of Heroes, and in reality, those people are...”
Chloe hesitated before speaking.
“Those people are dead. We're not in a position to be helping dead people.”
“That's true. But, Chloe.”
“Leo! Snap out of it! Fine! You're amazing! You're incredible! I admit it!”
Leo's eyes widened at her sudden outburst.
Chloe glared at Leo with all her might and said.
“But this is no time for recklessness! So just listen to me! You can play hero later...!”
Chloe, shouting in frustration, stopped mid-sentence.
Leo's index finger was resting on her lips.
“You shouldn't say things like that so carelessly, Chloe.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Playing hero, you shouldn't say things like that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you're a hero candidate.”
Chloe gasped.
“You came to Lumerne because you dream of being a hero, right? So this isn't playing hero.”
Leo smiled warmly.
“It's the process of becoming one.”
Leo was right.
A hero is someone who makes the impossible possible.
But at some point, she had forgotten that goal.
*‘I was so busy trying to keep up... I didn't have time to think about things like that.’*
A dark emotion flared in her chest.
“Besides, history has already gone off course.”
“What?”
“It means a way has opened up to save those kids who could never be saved.”
“A way to save them?”
“Think about it, Chloe. The sun is already setting. Isn't that strange?”
“The sun is setting? Ah!”
Realizing something, Chloe's eyes shot open.
“Right. Normally, Alia's party would have already fallen to Chubarn by now.”
The cogs of history were already out of alignment.
“We've been in the World of Heroes for three hours already. If Chubarn had attacked another party, they'd all be wiped out by now, with time to spare.”
If you fail to meet the clear conditions in a Hero Dungeon, you become trapped in the World of Heroes.
It was a crossroads.
One option was to escape the forest with Alia's party, who were now free from Chubarn's targeting, and fulfill the [Ensure Safety] condition.
The other was to stick to the original clear route and find another party.
Torn, Chloe gritted her teeth.
“I'll trust your judgment.”
“Alright.”
Leo looked at Alia's party.
“Let's escape with Alia's party.”