Chapter 545
Chapter Title: I'll Stand at Your Back
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545.
Leo looked up at Ulain, who was floating in the sky.
Ulain raised a hand toward Leo.
“You seem rather relaxed.”
“That’s because I can finally take my time dealing with you.”
“Do you truly believe that inferior being can stop Lord Verkia?”
“He’s a trustworthy disciple to whom I’ve entrusted my back for a long time. Besides, those two have fought each other to death and back. I’m not worried.”
“More incomprehensible nonsense.”
Ulain’s eyes turned cold.
“I offered you a kindness, yet you refused it, Leo Flove.”
Vwoom-!
A vast wave of magical energy surged from his hand.
“I will show you no more mercy.”
Flash-!
Countless particles of light materialized in the sky.
Watching the magic glitter like stars in the night sky, Leo let out a smirk.
At that reaction, Ulain’s eye twitched.
Bwoooooo-!
The sound of a horn echoed from the other side of the city.
Ulain frowned and glanced in the direction of the sound.
The horn had come from none other than the entrance to the underground city.
Seeing his reaction, Leo commented.
“Looks like something’s come up.”
“It’s nothing of consequence. It seems the slaves have planned some pathetic rebellion.”
As the head of the city’s council, he had long been aware of the seditious movements among the underground city’s inhabitants.
“Though it won’t amount to much.”
He took a misshapen, human-face-sized stone from his subspace.
Countless magic circles were inscribed on the stone’s surface.
“A meteorite?”
“Your insight truly astounds me. You are correct. This meteorite is a sacred object that brought the blessing of the stars to this land.”
The meteorite began to emit an immense amount of magical power.
The sheer force of the released mana distorted the space in the immediate vicinity.
“You called me a crude, third-rate mage. I wonder if you still harbor such absurd thoughts.”
“I do.”
“Insolent.”
Ulain ground his teeth, watching Leo mock him.
But soon, the corners of his mouth curled up as he looked down on Leo with arrogant eyes.
“Unlike you, I am a generous man. This is my final gift to you, an exceptional star mage. I shall grant you your end with this great power.”
A grin spread across Ulain’s face.
Simultaneously, the myriad fragments of light floating in the sky rained down on Leo all at once.
This was no anti-personnel spell.
It was a wide-area magic designed to destroy a vast region.
And that powerful magic was now focused on a single person.
For anyone else, it would have been a hopeless situation.
But even before the torrent of light, Leo calmly raised his hand.
“I’m not a particularly generous person, but I’ll grant you a favor nonetheless.”
For a moment, gray mana flickered in Leo’s red eyes.
“I’ll show you what Luna would have done if she were here right now.”
Snap-!
He snapped his fingers.
Kra-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-boom-!
In that instant, the magic hurtling toward Leo exploded in mid-air.
Fwoooosh-!
“Gaaah!”
The aftermath of the explosion slammed into Ulain.
Although he had a barrier deployed, which prevented a fatal wound, he couldn’t avoid being thrown to the ground.
The meteorite that had been floating above his hand tumbled to the floor.
Ulain looked up at Leo, his eyes wide with astonishment.
He understood exactly what had just happened to his magic.
And because of that, his mind was thrown into chaos.
‘He interfered with another’s magic formula and altered the spell! How is that possible?!’
“Just what in the world are you…”
Thwack-!
“Gah?!”
Before Ulain could finish his question, Leo’s fist smashed into his face.
Tumbling wretchedly across the ground, Ulain shouted in fury.
“This humiliation!”
Being defeated by magic would be one thing.
But for a mage, being beaten like this was an incredible disgrace.
“I told you. I’d show you what Luna would have done.”
Leo grabbed the enraged Ulain by the collar and lifted him up.
“If it were Luna, she would’ve ground your face to a pulp with her fists until she felt better, you damn half-baked mage.”
Thwack! Thwump! Thwack!
“Aaaaaargh!”
Leo proceeded to turn Ulain’s face into a bloody mess.
As he was continuously pummeled, Ulain let out a roar and released his magical power.
Leo neutralized the attack without so much as blinking.
Crack-!
Leo’s fist crushed the bridge of Ulain’s nose.
“Guh!”
Ulain, gasping for breath, raised his hand.
‘More mana! If I use stronger mana!’
The meteorite lying on the ground far away flew toward Ulain.
Snatch-!
Leo caught the meteorite.
Seeing this, Ulain smirked.
“Foolish!”
Fzzt-fzzzt-fzzzt!
A colossal amount of mana erupted from the meteorite.
Engulfed in the mana, Leo tightened his grip.
Crrrack-!
“……!”
Seeing cracks appear on the meteorite, Ulain’s eyes flew open.
Crunch-!
The meteorite, shattered in Leo’s hand, fell to the ground.
Watching this, Ulain’s jaw dropped.
“The sa… sacred object…! The great history of Elden…!”
As Ulain stammered in shock, his pronunciation slurred due to his broken nose, Leo spoke.
“This pathetic little rock is the history of this city?”
With a sneer, Leo crushed the remaining fragments of the meteorite in his hand and approached Ulain.
“How… How did you…! How could you destroy a sacred object protected by powerful magic…!”
“Because the magic is shoddy.”
The corners of Leo’s mouth curled up.
“In terms of precision, even Seirun’s first-years are more skilled.”
Ulain’s magic was complex.
But it wasn’t precise.
It wasn't magic activated by intricately woven formulas, but rather a complex spell forcibly triggered by raw magical power.
“Your magic isn’t even complex. It’s just messy.”
Magic that was merely complex and lacked precision was useless against a mage with an overwhelming skill gap.
Ulain knew this fact as well.
But…
‘Is such a thing even possible?!’
His body trembled.
‘And this man isn’t even a pure mage, but an All-Class…’
As that thought crossed his mind, Ulain’s eyes widened.
An All-Class, second only to Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning.
On top of that, an unfathomable knowledge of star magic.
And…
‘This man called Lord Verkia his disciple.’
Ulain began to tremble.
“Could it be… could it be… the Hero of the Beginning… Kyle?”
Leo didn’t deny the question.
He simply looked down at Ulain with a cold expression.
Taking that as confirmation, Ulain asked as if possessed.
“Why! Why is this happening! You, who knows the Progenitor of the Nebula! You, who learned magic from her! Why do you deny us! Why won’t you acknowledge our legacy!”
Watching Ulain scream as if having a seizure, Leo tilted his head.
“You Purebloods are truly strange. You’ve never even met Luna, yet you act as if you know her better than I do.”
The followers of the god who had vanished 5,000 years ago had been the same.
At Leo’s mutter, Ulain mumbled as if in a trance.
“If it were Lady Luna, she would have been different from you. Lady Luna would have surely…”
“Right, she would have been different. If it were Luna, she wouldn’t have been satisfied until she’d smashed every single one of your heads.”
He could vividly picture Luna, swinging her staff wildly, furiously vowing to pop their skulls.
Shing-!
Leo drew his sword.
“Since Luna isn’t here to do it, I’ll have to do it for her.”
A chilling killing intent filled Leo’s eyes.
“Now that I know how you’ve protected your power, I will judge you as Luna’s agent.”
At Leo’s words, a pale-faced Ulain scrambled to his feet and began to flee.
“Templars! Templars!”
He shouted, calling for the Council’s knight order.
But despite his desperate cries, his loyal knights did not appear.
Fwooooosh-!
Leo’s eyes caught sight of a white flame soaring high into the sky.
‘She’s overdoing it again.’
He could see Lunia holding back the Templars.
And it was clear she was using power that far surpassed her own limits.
‘She’s grown so much.’
A faint smile touched Leo’s lips.
Lunia was slowly, step by step, following in Luna’s footsteps.
And not just Lunia.
Even Eiran, who was acting as a shield for Lunia in the distance.
She was growing at an incredible pace.
“No! This can’t be happening…! I still… I still haven’t gotten everything I wanted…!”
Stab-!
“Gak?!”
Leo’s sword pierced Ulain’s neck.
Splurt-! Spurt-!
Blood gushed out as he withdrew the blade.
Ulain’s body trembled for a moment before his head slumped forward.
‘This should be the end of the Pureblood Society.’
Through the Second Coming of Seirun and their collusion with Tartaros, the Pureblood Society’s power had collapsed noticeably.
But because they had wielded such immense authority, they still held significant influence even after their reputation had hit rock bottom.
But this was the end.
‘I don’t know exactly what’s in the underground, but judging by the magic he used, it can’t be far from my guess.’
The inhumane act of enslaving their own kind to drain their life force.
An act that would have gotten them exiled even if committed against another race, but they had done it to their own people. Once that became known, the Pureblood Society would be finished for good this time.
Leo walked over to Lunia and Eiran.
In the front, Eiran held back the Templars.
Behind her, Lunia was focused solely on chanting her spell.
Though they were magic swordsmen, those who had fixated only on learning star magic possessed superior mana and aura, yet they could not overcome Eiran.
They were being overwhelmed by her swordsmanship.
The mages in the rear had all their spells blocked by Lunia’s [Flame Emperor].
Flame Emperor, a spell created by Luna with the concept of the ultimate flame, was a special kind of magic.
It was one of the spells even Luna had failed to perfect, and it ranked among the highest tier of all her creations.
The star magic learned by the elves of Elden was unstable.
At Seirun, they incorporated other magical concepts into star magic, allowing each to pursue their own unique version.
‘The star magic formulas passed down to later generations were unstable to begin with. No matter how much they developed magic based solely on those formulas, any spell would ultimately be just a degraded version.’
To the Pureblood Society, it may have been traditional and pure star magic.
But to someone who used the real thing, it was shoddy magic.
‘That’s why they’re being devoured by Lunia’s magic.’
No matter what anyone said, Lunia was Luna’s official successor.
She was the elf who would carry on Luna’s will.
“You look like you’re having a tough time.”
“Leo?”
“Want some help?”
Lunia scoffed at Leo’s words.
Even if she had the absolute advantage in terms of affinity, her opponents were formidable.
Both Lunia and Eiran had already reached their limits.
“I don’t need it.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“Because I can’t just be helped and protected forever.”
Lunia looked straight ahead.
“Just watch. We’re going to advance. We’ll advance, and then!”
Lunia shouted, as if making a declaration.
“We’ll be the ones standing at your back!”
Leo’s eyes widened slightly.
‘Worry no more! From now on, I, the great Luna!’
He remembered someone else’s voice, declaring triumphantly.
‘I’ll be the one standing at your back!’
For a mage, it meant entrusting the front to someone else.
It also meant they would create countless miracles from behind.
“The kid’s got a big mouth.”
“Who are you calling a kid, old man!”
Lunia retorted indignantly.
Seeing her, Leo burst into laughter.
“I’ll be waiting.”
“Yeah! You just wait!”
Lunia replied confidently to Leo’s words.
Tearing his gaze from Lunia, Leo looked over at Verkia, who was fighting Vihar.
‘These children are striving to stand on the battlefield where you could not, Verkia.’
Looking straight at the form of his disciple writhing in agony, Leo clenched his fists.
‘So, it’s time to snap out of it and set a good example for the next generation, you damn disciple.’