Chapter 491
Chapter Title: Luna's Grave
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491.
“Undead King. Why have we come to these ruins?”
A woman standing beside the Undead King, Hell Kaiser, bowed her head and asked.
The Blood Queen. Elzenie, she was one of the Legion Commanders of Tartaros.
“This is the tomb of the Legion Commander once known as the Mirror Queen, Lady Kinesis.”
The one who answered Elzenie’s question was none other than the Grand Duke of Funerals, Artkhan.
Elzenie glared at Artkhan.
Even for a great demon who had lived for 5,000 years, Artkhan was merely a Legion Commander's confidant.
As a demon, Elzenie held a higher rank.
But Elzenie felt greatly threatened by Artkhan.
And she wasn't the only one.
Currently, every Legion Commander in Tartaros was wary of Artkhan.
Even among Legion Commanders, not all were equal.
The three who had lived since the Age of Calamity—the Undead King, the Beast Queen, and the Giant King—were on a completely different level.
And Elzenie had been the confidant of the Beast Queen, Silatuna.
When she had risen to the rank of Legion Commander as her subordinate, she hadn't had many worries.
But when Silatuna fell, her standing within Tartaros began to waver.
Besides, there wasn't a single Legion Commander who didn't know that the Undead King, the de facto ruler of Tartaros, was not fond of the newer generation of commanders.
‘Any incompetent Legion Commander could be ousted at any moment. If that happens, there’s a high probability that man will take our place.’
Had Artkhan not been so overly competent, he might have already claimed the position of Legion Commander.
Just as Elzenie bit her lip.
“The Mirror Queen, Kinesis, was vanquished by Luna in this very place 5,000 years ago,” the Undead King murmured calmly.
“We will need the grave soil of the one who is the object of our grudge.”
“I will go to the tomb of the Nebula’s founder.”
“No, I will go. Undead King.”
Elzenie stepped forward and knelt.
“Please, give me the order.”
“If you wish it, you shall go. Blood Queen.”
“Yes, I will not disappoint you.”
***
‘What in the world was that just now?’
Leo, having cleaned up the pool of blood, wore a grave expression.
Judging by the distinct pain and the smell of blood, it was by no means a hallucination or an illusion.
‘Is it related to the dream?’
He recalled the dream from moments ago.
The contents of the dream were unforgettable.
‘Because it wasn't just a simple dream.’
It was what had happened here 5,000 years ago.
The three Great Heroes, having lost Ar-on and Dweno, had fought a decisive battle against Erebos in this place.
‘And… we were defeated.’
In the end, it wasn't a complete defeat.
Just as the Great Heroes had failed to slay Erebos.
Erebos had also failed to annihilate the Great Heroes.
In fact, Erebos too had suffered a great blow and retreated.
It had been the same with Ar-on and Dweno.
Being immortal didn't mean one couldn't be damaged.
The wounds Ar-on and Dweno had inflicted on Erebos at the cost of their lives had certainly paved the way for the remaining Great Heroes.
The five fierce battles during the final journey.
Each was a crucial step toward subjugating Erebos.
Yet, the reason Leo considered the first four battles defeats was because he had lost his comrades.
Leo took a deep breath.
‘The dream wasn't from my perspective, but from Luna's.’
Leo recalled the third battle.
Having inherited Ar-on's aura and Dweno's flames, Leo had taken on the role of holding back Erebos alone on the front lines.
Leo closed his eyes and thought back 5,000 years.
‘We buried Dweno and headed east. And then.’
It was during a rest period before the third battle.
‘…Let's make sure we win. Let's win and survive.’
Luna had said, as if making a vow.
‘The three of us will fulfill Ar-on and Dweno's dream. Let's live our lives to the fullest, for their sakes too.’
When Ar-on had closed his eyes, Luna had cried until she fainted.
When Dweno departed, Luna did not cry.
She had suppressed her emotions, her being consumed only by a burning killing intent for Erebos.
‘Right before we set off on our final journey, we all had different thoughts.’
Ar-on had feared his friends would die.
Dweno had resolved to sacrifice himself for the others.
Lisinas had vowed to save the world, no matter the sacrifice.
‘I was prepared for failure.’
Leo’s eyes darkened.
When everyone was prepared for sacrifice.
Luna was the only one of the five who believed none of them would die.
Her optimistic nature played a part, but before that, Luna probably couldn't have imagined it.
‘A world without even one of the five of us.’
They may have been different species, but they were family.
She would not have been able to accept losing even one of them.
‘Let’s create the world where children are happy, the one Ar-on wished for… and let’s create the world full of beauty that Dweno tried to make. So… let’s be happy.’
Those were the words Dweno had left for Luna in his final moments.
To Lisinas, he had said he believed in him, and to Kyle, he had told him to move forward.
And to Luna, he had told her to be happy.
Luna and Dweno, the two who bickered the most in the party.
Their species were fundamentally opposed, and their personalities and pursuits were different.
Still, they were also the closest of drinking buddies.
‘They were like a niece and her uncle.’
That was why Dweno had been genuinely worried about Luna, who had not been prepared to lose anyone.
Luna, smiling at him and Lisinas, telling them to be happy.
That was the last genuine smile Luna ever showed.
The third decisive battle began.
Erebos’s appearance was different from before.
The colossal primeval evil had shrunk to the size of an ordinary human and revealed itself before the three of them.
The fiend’s sudden change in appearance.
The three knew who he was being wary of.
‘The fiend was most wary of Luna’s magic.’
At the time, Luna’s magic was at a level that could be fatal even to a divine being like Erebos.
Although it was impossible to kill the immortal Erebos because she did not possess the trait of pure mana, if he had been struck directly by her magic and then had to face Leo.
‘The fiend would have been finished.’
So he had shrunk his body to reduce his target size.
Once the battle started, Erebos relentlessly targeted Luna.
‘But Luna was a genius beyond Erebos’s expectations.’
In the middle of the battle, Luna modified the spell formula for her cataclysmic magic into a single-target spell.
As a result, Erebos succeeded in inflicting a fatal wound on Luna, but he too suffered a grave blow from her magic.
Afterward, to defeat Erebos, who had returned to his original form, Leo faced him alone.
‘I should have defeated him then.’
Leo’s face contorted as he recalled that time.
Leo had been unable to hold off Erebos by himself.
On the contrary, he had suffered a fatal wound.
As Lisinas fought Erebos alone in place of the two injured heroes.
Luna had looked at Leo and smiled, as if to reassure him.
It was called a smile, but when he saw her distorted face on the verge of tears, he knew instinctively.
That Luna, too, intended to entrust everything to him and depart.
‘Hey…!’
‘Kyle…’
‘Don’t.’
‘If one of us has to survive… you know it should be you, the one carrying the weight of Ar-on and Dweno, right?’
‘I said don't! You damn bitch!’
‘This is the best way. If you were me, you’d do the same.’
‘No…! You’re wrong!’
‘Sorry for leaving my burden with you too.’
Recalling the past, Leo looked down at his hands.
‘Could this dream be related to Spirit Arts?’
He had heard it from Lisinas before.
That sometimes, one could dream of events experienced by a spirit.
‘There are times when a dream feels as real as reality.’
But even so, wounds sustained in a dream do not manifest in reality.
‘Besides… is it even possible for Luna's spirit to remain?’
Leo’s expression turned grim.
It was an event from 5,000 years ago.
Spirits were beings with lingering attachments to the world.
And Leo didn't think his comrades would have left any attachments behind.
Although they had closed their eyes without seeing the world saved, they had believed.
That their friends left behind would save the world.
And indeed, the world was saved.
With that, his comrades' greatest wish had been fulfilled.
‘If that dream was due to Spirit Arts… did that girl Luna have some other worry?’
Just as Leo wore a grave expression.
*Knock, knock—creak—*
“Young Master Leo, are you awake?”
With a knock, the door opened cautiously, and Chen Xia peeked her head in.
“I'm up.”
“Yes. Please come eat.”
“Alright.”
He had woken up at dawn, but morning had already arrived.
“What are you planning to do today?”
Chen Xia asked, standing beside Leo as he stepped out of the room, and Leo replied calmly.
“There’s something I need to find.”
“Something to find?”
“Yeah.”
“What are you looking for?”
To Chen Xia’s curious question, Leo answered curtly.
“A grave.”
***
After breakfast, Leo immediately headed deep into the forest.
“Sir Leo. Miss Xia said you were looking for a grave. Whose grave are you looking for?”
“Luna’s grave.”
“Ah, Lady Luna’s… wait, what?”
Eiran, who had been nodding in understanding, widened her eyes.
Her mouth gaped open.
“L-Lady Luna?”
“That’s right. Luna died somewhere around here.”
“G-Good heavens!”
Eiran’s eyes went wide.
Seeing her surprise, Leo placed a finger to his lips.
Eiran quickly covered her mouth.
“What kind of secret are you two sharing so excitedly?”
Chen Xia approached from a distance with a curious expression.
“It’s nothing.”
He couldn't very well tell Chen Xia, who didn't yet know his true identity, about Luna's grave.
And so, the three of them began to search for the grave in the forest.
“Do you not know the exact location?”
“I don’t know that much.”
Leo answered Chen Xia's question calmly.
‘There's a high chance the grave itself no longer remains.’
Around the time the sun reached its zenith.
Leo, who had been thinking about Luna’s grave, felt his eyes twitch.
“Young Master Leo?”
Just as Chen Xia cast a curious glance at Leo, whose atmosphere had suddenly changed.
“Are you Hero candidates? Why are there wet-behind-the-ears brats here?”
A mocking voice echoed.
*Rustle—rustle—*
With the sound of rustling bushes, a woman with red hair and red eyes appeared.
“A demon?”
Chen Xia frowned, sensing the aura the woman exuded.
“Not just any demon, human girl.”
The Blood Queen, Elzenie, curled her lips into a smirk.
“I am the great Legion Commander of Tartaros, the Blood Queen Elzenie.”
At the sudden appearance of such a major figure, Chen Xia and Eiran flinched.
“What’s a Legion Commander doing here?”
Leo asked with a deadpan expression.
“I have no reason to tell you, but, heheh. I will tell you this much—I came here under the orders of the Undead King.”
Elzenie said with a sneer.
The reason she mentioned the Undead King's name was simple.
The Undead King.
The mere mention of that name had the power to strike terror into an opponent.
It was to instill even greater fear in the Hero candidates, who were surely already feeling extreme terror from her presence alone.
The Blood Queen intended to kill the three of them after plunging them into the depths of fear.
“The Undead King.”
Leo’s lips curled into a smirk.
“If he went to the trouble of sending a demon of your rank all the way out here… are you looking for Luna’s grave?”
“How do you know that?”
The color drained from Elzenie’s face.
And in that instant.
A glint flashed in Leo’s eyes.
The formidable killing intent that erupted from Leo’s body sent ripples through the surroundings.
Chen Xia’s face turned deathly pale.
Having made a pact with the water spirit, Chen Xia could feel the spirits fleeing in terror.
Eiran’s lips trembled uncontrollably.
A primal killing intent.
It vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
“I had no intention of letting any demon who came here die peacefully in the first place.”
Leo was smiling.
“But if your goal is Luna’s grave, then I'll have to be especially thorough.”
‘What is this human.’
Elzenie’s face was painted with terror.
It wasn't just eerie or frightening.
As the Blood Queen, she was a Legion Commander with the ability to control blood.
And the moment her eyes met Leo’s red ones.
Even she felt a suffocating stench of blood.
‘The smell of demon blood.’
Just making eye contact was enough to overwhelm her.
Her instincts were screaming at her.
That the human before her had slaughtered an unimaginable number of demons.
The moment Elzenie, seeing Leo look at her with the eyes of a butcher, instinctively decided to flee.
*Slish—!*
“Kiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!”
Leo’s sword was slicing through Elzenie’s neck.