Chapter 503
Chapter Title: The Successor and the Purebloods
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*Jolt—*
Lunia, waking from her sleep, blinked a few times before hastily sitting up and looking around.
Last night.
After fainting from the shocking scene, Lunia had somehow fallen asleep.
“Ugh…”
Groaning, Lunia got up and walked to one side of the room, where she found a note.
It was a note from Eiran, saying she had gone to attend classes at Lumerne.
‘Leo, Karl… and that girl, Chen Xia, must have gone to Lumerne too.’
Then the only one left here was.
‘Lady Luna.’
With a complicated heart, Lunia left her room and headed to the first floor.
Unlike the night before, the first floor was quiet, likely because it was morning.
*Creak— creak—*
The characteristic sound of the old stairs creaked as she descended.
And the moment she reached the first floor.
“Ah…”
Lunia let out an involuntary gasp.
On the first floor of the tavern, several patrons were having breakfast.
But what caught Lunia’s eye was an elf sitting by the window.
Pale silver hair shimmering in the morning sun and brilliant golden eyes shining with intelligence.
It was the very image of Luna, the progenitor, that Lunia knew.
‘So what I saw yesterday must have been a hallucination!’
Just as Lunia was sighing in relief and approaching Luna.
Luna looked at the contents of her glass and muttered.
“Ugh—wine is just expensive and not my taste. What did Lisinas and Dweno even like about this stuff?”
Seeing Luna grumble with the expression of a manual laborer, Lunia’s feet tangled, and she tripped.
*Thud—!*
Seeing the elf with brilliant red hair trip over herself first thing in the morning, the patrons having breakfast began to whisper.
“Look at that elf.”
“Looks like she’s still drunk.”
“Her and that other elf drinking in the morning… My image of elves is shattering.”
Lunia lifted her head, her eyes narrowed as she glared at her surroundings.
Startled, the people around her quickly turned away.
Taking a deep breath, Lunia got up and approached Luna.
Standing before Luna, Lunia straightened her clothes, cleared her throat with a *hem—!* and began to introduce herself.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is…”
“Yeah, I know. You’re Lunia, right?”
Luna said, writing something with a quill.
“Pardon?”
“We met twice in our World of Heroes. No, wait. Was it once?”
“You remember what happened then?”
“Yeah. We fought Erebos together, didn’t we?”
Lunia looked astonished as Luna lifted her gaze from her book and smiled at her.
It was surprising enough that Luna had come to the present world, but to think she remembered the events of the World of Heroes!
Seeing Lunia’s bewildered expression, Luna rested her chin on her hand.
“So? I hear you’re my successor?”
“What? W-What do you mean?”
Lunia’s face turned red.
“I heard all about it from Leo.”
As Luna let out a playful chuckle, Lunia didn’t know what to do.
It was true that she wanted to follow in Luna’s footsteps.
But being designated as a successor without Luna’s knowledge was embarrassing for her.
‘Agh! Why did he have to say something like that!’
Just as Lunia was fidgeting, thinking of Leo.
“It’s reassuring, having a successor like you.”
Lunia’s eyes widened.
“You’re not displeased that I’m your successor?”
“Hm? Why would I be displeased?”
“You don’t know me very well.”
“No, I don’t know you well.”
Luna smiled faintly.
“But I can tell what kind of elf you are.”
“Pardon?”
One can discern a person’s disposition by looking at their magic.
In Luna’s eyes, Lunia was a white flame.
“You’re an upright and talented child. That must be why you perfected the Flame Emperor.”
*That alone is more than enough,* Luna muttered to herself.
“It wasn’t something I accomplished on my own. Katari-u’s help was significant.”
“That damned chicken-head?”
“Ch-Chicken-head?”
Lunia stared, aghast, as Luna called the Phoenix King by such an unconventional name.
“I should’ve caught him and boiled him one of these days.”
Staring blankly at Luna, who was clicking her tongue, Lunia couldn’t help but burst out laughing with a *pfft—!*
“Hm? Why?”
“Oh, no. *Pfft*. It’s just… your behavior yesterday, and again today… it’s just so different from what I imagined.”
“What you imagine me to be. No. What do the people of this era imagine me to be?”
“Beautiful, benevolent, and pure. The very picture of a perfect elf.”
“What do you mean? That’s me, exactly.”
Luna said it with all her heart.
Looking at her, Lunia wondered how she should respond.
She felt like she’d get hit if she argued.
‘Is this how Ar-on must have felt?’
Lunia thought of her beastkin friend, Ar-on.
The cowardly Ar-on was completely different from the Brave Hero people imagined.
But despite that, Ar-on had respected him without faltering.
‘I’m so ashamed of myself for freaking out after seeing Lady Luna yesterday.’
Taking a deep breath, Lunia looked at Luna with clear eyes.
“By the way, Lady Luna. What have you been doing since this morning?”
“I was creating a spell.”
“A spell?”
“Yeah! The world today is amazing!”
Luna said in an excited voice.
“Magic has advanced to a degree incomparable to 5,000 years ago! It’s pure potential!”
Normally, Luna would also have to attend classes, as she was known as an exchange student at Lumerne, but today she decided to stay here and research magic.
At Luna’s words, Lunia’s ears perked up as she listened intently.
And she exchanged stories about magic with Luna in admiration.
Seeing Lunia’s attitude, Luna also happily continued the conversation.
As they engaged in a heated discussion about magic.
Time flew by, and soon it was well past noon.
Ordering lunch, Luna leaned back in her chair and smiled.
“Both you and Chloe have such brilliant ideas about magic!”
“It feels so good to be praised by you.”
“Verkia secretly disliked studying, so it wasn’t easy to have discussions like this.”
Lunia smiled shyly as she watched Luna hum a tune.
“You, Eiran, Chelsea, Chloe, Abad. And that girl, Iliana. It’s so much fun watching all of you. You’re going to become amazing mages. Ah, though that Iliana girl is a bit like Verkia.”
Luna thought of the promising mages she had met in this era.
She had already spoken a lot with the top students of Lumerne’s second year.
And meeting Lunia like this made her truly happy.
Lunia, whom Leo had deemed her successor, also held infinite potential.
Just looking at her sparked magical inspiration.
“Ah~ I don’t want to leave.”
At those words, Lunia’s shoulders flinched.
Then, her lips parted.
“Lady Luna.”
“Hm?”
“Can’t you stay in the present world?”
Luna’s eyes widened.
“I know this is presumptuous, but… Lord Ar-on saved the world again recently.”
The subjugation of Erebos’s fragment.
A feat the world had yearned for.
With this, the world took another step closer to complete salvation.
And after talking with Luna, Lunia was certain.
‘If Lady Luna stays in the present world… the history of magic will change once again.’
“Just by you staying in this world, Lady Luna, the world can surely be saved.”
Lunia could easily tell that the spell Luna was creating was a unique magic.
That spell, a combination of Luna’s magical knowledge and that of the present, was enough to make Lunia tremble.
She knew instinctively.
With Luna’s existence in this era, magic would make tremendous progress.
And….
‘I want to talk more with Lady Luna.’
Lunia felt sorry for Luna.
Even as they talked, Luna would look at the peaceful scenery outside the window and smile joyfully.
The sight of countless people bustling about and the chaotic streets.
It was, literally, an ordinary daily scene, yet Luna looked at it and rejoiced as if she had seen something incredible.
Seeing that, Lunia realized.
‘This person… she never got to enjoy anything.’
She risked everything to save the world but never got to enjoy any of it.
It was a truth that Lunia, who had only seen the noble figure in stories and history, could never have known.
Before she was a Great Hero, she was a person.
“How strange.”
Luna smiled.
“Everyone who learned my identity revered me. You’re the first to look at me with pity.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. It just means you understand me well.”
Luna reached out and patted Lunia’s red hair.
“Thank you.”
Lunia blushed at Luna’s gentle touch.
“I’m curious. What kind of hero you’ll grow up to be.”
“I want to be like you, Lady Luna.”
“Of course you do!”
Luna cackled and stood up.
“Alright, then let’s go out with your big sister here.”
“Go out?”
“Yeah. We should enjoy the festival, shouldn’t we?”
Grabbing Lunia’s wrist and pulling her up, Luna strode confidently and kicked the door open.
Just as Lunia followed her, bursting into laughter.
“Halt.”
Just a few steps after leaving the tavern and entering an alley, a group of elves blocked their path.
Seeing them, Luna tilted her head while Lunia’s face scrunched up.
“The Pureblood Society.”
“Pureblood Society? What’s that?”
Luna tilted her head.
“They’re elf supremacists.”
“Elf supremacists…”
At Lunia’s answer, Luna narrowed her eyes.
“Like High Elves?”
***
“All the elves from the Pureblood Society connected to us have been annihilated.”
At the report from Artkan, the Duke of Funerals, the Necro King rested his chin on his hand and exhaled.
“It seems they were searching for a long time. So, Verkia finally made her move.”
The Elven Pureblood Society.
Previously, thanks to Leo’s efforts, most of the elves connected to the Necro King had either died or been deposed.
However, that didn’t mean the connection was completely severed.
“Elves… their racial characteristics truly never change. Which makes them easy to handle.”
5,000 years ago.
During the Age of Calamity, it was the Necro King’s machinations that brought down the great elven power so futilely.
Most elves steeped in racial supremacy are rigid in their thinking.
Their arrogance, believing themselves to be superior, gave them the firm conviction that they could control everything.
Even if it was the power of Tartaros that would tighten the noose around their own necks.
Even if all the connected Pureblood Society elves were dead, it was of little consequence to the Necro King.
He was confident that other elves would eventually contact them again.
The Duke of Funerals bowed his head to the Necro King.
“I still do not understand the intentions of Lord Hell Kaiser in resurrecting the Fairy Knight.”
Fairy Knight Verkia.
She was the most powerful hero resurrected by the authority of the Necro King, Hell Kaiser.
But even the Duke of Funerals, who had been the Necro King’s confidant for ages, found it difficult to grasp his intentions this time.
No matter how much the Necro King’s authority was strengthened by the power of Erebos, it still had its limits.
And resurrecting Verkia as an undead consumed an immense amount of power.
However, the resurrected Verkia, now one of the dead, was beyond the Necro King’s control.
“If you had used that power to awaken the other Legion Commanders instead…”
“Awakening my old friends might have been a great help in the short term.”
The Necro King said leisurely.
“But unfortunately, Tartaros was defeated by the Great Heroes of the past.”
During the Age of Calamity.
The forces of Tartaros suffered a devastating blow at the hands of the Great Heroes.
“Even if they were resurrected, they would likely just become fodder for the brats raised by the Surviving Hero.”
“But the Fairy Knight is a monster stronger than the Heroes of the Beginning. If she, who cannot be controlled, were to turn her blade against Tartaros…”
“That would be unbearable, yes. But Verkia will never turn her blade against Tartaros.”
“Why is that? Please, enlighten this foolish one.”
“Because we are not the reason she was consumed by hatred.”
The Necro King’s lips curled into a smile.
“She will never be able to accept it. The world as it is now.”
In some ways, it is a world more twisted and ugly than it was 5,000 years ago.
Verkia will never tolerate it.
Countless factions will be annihilated by the rampaging Verkia.
“But if she were to meet the Surviving Hero…”
“His voice will not reach her. The sins she has committed will block her ears.”
The Necro King who resurrected Verkia cannot control her.
But the same is true for the other side.
A chaos that literally destroys everything.
That is what Verkia is now.
“I wonder. How will the Surviving Hero react when he sees his own fallen disciple?”
The Necro King’s lips twisted into a grimace.
“And what kind of expression will he make when he finds out his disciples turned their swords on each other?”