Chapter 586
Chapter Title: The Path to Counterattack
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586.
After speaking to Rian about Leo for some time, Karl cautiously opened his mouth.
“Um… Lord Rian.”
“Yes, Lord Karl. Command me.”
Looking at the god before him, whose form of address had suddenly changed, Karl didn't know how to react.
‘The look in his eyes is insane.’
He hadn't lived a long life, but since enrolling at Lumerne, Karl had gone through many experiences.
In that time, he had seen plenty of people who weren't in their right minds.
And Rian possessed a madness that couldn't even be compared to them.
A moment ago, when Karl had told him Leo's name and shown him a photo they had taken together, Rian had exclaimed, “To think you've revealed the new name and visage of the Hero of the Beginning! Ah! What can I possibly do for you? This insignificant body of mine! Please, use it as a footstool for Lord Karl!” and had even curled up on the floor before him.
The god who, just moments before, had treated Karl as less than a pebble on the roadside was nowhere to be seen.
Now, he looked more like a zealot worshiping a god.
And he regarded Karl as that god's representative.
‘This isn't just an act or him being overly excited because he's in a good mood.’
A cold sweat ran down Karl's back.
To be honest, Karl was afraid of Rian's attitude.
It wasn't because he might harm him.
He was simply overwhelmed by the madness of a transcendent being he could never comprehend.
Karl swallowed dryly and spoke.
“My friends are out there fighting the Flames of Calamity. I'm not sure if it's okay for me to stay here for so long.”
Rian knew how to defeat Erebos.
But that didn't mean Karl could stay here and tell him everything about Leo.
If he did, the situation outside would already be over.
At Karl's words, Rian spoke as if to tell him not to worry.
“You need not worry about that.”
Rian spread his arms.
“This place is another world, disconnected from the outside. You can think of it as a place similar to the World of Heroes. If I so choose, time here flows more slowly than time outside.”
Rian smiled brightly.
“Lumerne also held off Erebos here for a whole year.”
“A year? By himself?!”
“As expected of Lumerne.”
Karl looked shocked, while Rhodia expressed her admiration.
“So, Lord Karl, you can rest assured and continue telling me the stories of the Hero of the Beginning!”
At Rian's words, Karl scratched his head and began his story again.
Beside him, Rhodia also focused on Karl's story.
Before long, Karl's story came to an end.
Rian closed his eyes, savoring the lingering feelings.
Karl spoke urgently to the preoccupied Rian.
“Lord Rian. Please, tell us how to defeat the Flames of Calamity now.”
At his words, Rian opened his eyes.
“Yes. First, based on what you've told me, Lord Karl, you all have one card you can play against that abomination.”
Rian produced a carving knife and a jewel from somewhere and began to carve a statue.
“The first is the successor to the progenitor of the Nebula, a girl named Lunia El Lundua.”
“Lunia?”
“Yes. The one who chases the Nebula, was it?”
Rian skillfully continued to craft the statue of Leo.
“The magic left behind for future generations by the progenitor of the Nebula, [Flame Emperor]. That magic is the only power in this world capable of countering the inextinguishable Flames of Calamity.”
“Is it really such incredible magic?”
“Yes. It's magic created by someone who could be called the greatest magical genius since the dawn of magic itself.”
Having completed the statue of Leo, Rian examined it from various angles as he continued speaking.
“Of course, it's impossible to completely eliminate Erebos like the Pure Mana attribute can. At best, it can only ‘seal’ it.”
As he inspected the statue, Rian's expression turned slightly dissatisfied.
Normally, he would have crafted the statue with great care.
But since he had made it quickly, the level of completion wasn't satisfactory.
Setting the statue aside, Rian took out another jewel and began to carve.
Jewel dust trickled to the floor.
“However, it would be impossible for that child, Lunia, at her current skill level. She's still too inexperienced.”
Karl nodded at his words.
“The second is to drive it back to where it originally came from. That is, to the World of Genesis. In the current situation, that's the only way.”
“And how do we drive it out?”
“It seems the abomination invaded this world through a connected world. If that's the case, you need to find the hole it used to cross over… that is, its core, and destroy it. The creature you see now isn't its true body. It's merely a mass of power. If you destroy the core, it will vanish.”
“If it was that simple, you could have just told Lord Lumerne!”
“It's not simple at all. To stop it, divine power is needed. I would have to sacrifice myself. If there had been a chance of success, I would have sacrificed myself without hesitation. But there seemed to be no chance.”
“What?”
“Because that is Lumerne's limit.”
Hearing this, Rhodia bit her lip hard.
Karl wore a blank expression.
“Lord Karl. Do you know why Lumerne told you all to ‘surpass your limits’? It's because he couldn't surpass his own.”
“...”
“He reached for something he could not obtain. And in the end, he despaired, unable to grasp it.”
Rian propped his chin on his hand.
“A bird can fly in the sky, but it cannot reach the end of the sky. If it struggles to reach it, all that remains is the fall. And so, Lumerne closed off his own potential.”
“...I heard the gods like Lord Lumerne.”
“Yes, we do. The gods love heroic tales, but they also love to see a hero's fall just as much.”
Rian smiled innocently.
“The Hero of Genesis certainly changed the world. But he couldn't achieve anything more. In the end, he couldn't become like the Great Hero. The gods love such tragedies.”
Rhodia bit her lip and clenched her fists.
It was a truth so twisted it churned her stomach.
That was why she couldn't offer any rebuttal.
‘Back when we subdued the fragment of Erebos and ended the Second Coming of Calamity, it felt like everything would be fine.’
But afterward, the fragment they had defeated ignited once more.
Watching the fragment of Erebos burn endlessly, the Heroes of Genesis couldn't help but think.
That they had failed.
That they could never be like the Great Hero.
According to Karl, their future selves would find a way.
But it wasn't a solution.
Merely a last resort to buy more time.
‘In the end… we couldn't accomplish anything with our own hands.’
Lumerne couldn't surpass his limits, and Seirun couldn't believe in himself.
Azonia couldn't move forward, and Damian ultimately failed to pursue his potential.
‘I'm the same.’
If what the King of Wisdom passed down to future generations was a seed of hope.
Then what Rhodia left behind was a great despair.
She had simply left it to the next generation.
“A hero is someone who accomplishes the impossible. It's true that I like Lumerne, but I don't know if it's worth sacrificing myself for a Lumerne who ran from his limits…”
“Lord Lumerne.”
Karl cut Rian off.
“Will surpass his limits and drive Erebos from this world.”
Rian tilted his head.
“Did you not understand what I said?”
“I understood perfectly.”
Karl smiled.
“I know. That he despaired because he couldn't be like Leo. That Lord Lumerne ultimately couldn't surpass his limits. And that he ran from those limits by trapping Erebos in the World of Genesis.”
“And yet you say he will surpass them?”
“Yes.”
Karl answered without a hint of doubt.
“Why?”
“Because he didn't give up.”
At the unexpected answer, Rian looked momentarily dumbfounded.
“If he had given up… he wouldn't have thought to fight Erebos endlessly within the World of Heroes.”
Karl said, looking at the statue of Leo that Rian had made.
“You can despair when you can't find the path. You can hit a wall and collapse. You can despair at the trial before you and run away by pushing it onto the next generation.”
Karl said with a smile.
“But if he had truly given up, he would have done nothing at all. As long as you don't give up, you can always start again.”
As long as you don't give up, you can challenge your limits once more.
You can believe in yourself again, and you can stand up to move forward.
Finding lost potential, too.
As long as you haven't given up, you can start over as many times as you need.
“The Heroes of Genesis didn't fail.”
“...”
“Their sacrifice, made in the belief of future potential… will ultimately save the world.”
Rhodia stared blankly.
“So Lord Lumerne will surpass his limits. For the future.”
This was the conclusion reached by Karl, who had inherited Lumerne's educational philosophy at Lumerne Academy and had endured without giving up until now.
“How foolish, to the point of being unsightly.”
“I'll take that as a compliment.”
“Yes, it is a compliment.”
Rian took a jewel from his breast.
He brought the jewel close to his eye.
Karl's reflection formed within the jewel.
“Sir Karl Thomas. You will not be able to become a hero in this era.”
“I know that better than anyone.”
Looking at Karl's reflection in the jewel, Rian smiled with satisfaction.
And then he spoke.
“The core of the Flames of Calamity is the hole that opened in this world. The very fact that it crossed over means a rift has formed in the world, so if you eliminate that rift, the abomination can no longer exist here.”
Rian smiled benevolently.
“You just need to plunge me into the core.”
“What?”
Rian approached Karl and took his hand.
Then, Rian's body began to glow with a brilliant light.
“Lord Karl, no. Karl Thomas.”
“...?”
“Meeting you may have been a great stroke of luck. Please, continue to seek new beginnings, just as you are now.”
“Lord Rian?”
Karl called out to Rian in confusion.
After the light faded, a single staff was in Karl's hand.
Looking at the staff, which emanated a divine power similar to the Hero Record, Rhodia spoke.
“It seems I've reached my limit, too.”
“Lady Rhodia?”
Rhodia smiled brightly.
The library had vanished at some point.
The place where Karl and Rhodia stood was the ruins of an underground temple.
Fwoooosh-!
“The Flames of Calamity?!”
Just as Karl cried out in shock.
Gwoooooooh-!
A radiant light poured from Rhodia's body.
Soon, Rhodia's body transformed into that of a dragon.
Having returned to her true form, Rhodia reached out and grabbed Karl.
Then she opened her mouth toward the ceiling.
Ruuuuuumble! Flash-! Kra-koooooom!
A pure white breath shot from Rhodia's mouth, creating a massive hole that reached all the way to the surface.
“Whoa, incredible…!”
Just as Karl's jaw dropped.
Flap-!
Rhodia spread her wings and began to fly toward the surface at an incredible speed.
“Gyaaaaaaaah?!”
[Karl Thomas.]
“Yeeeeeessss?!”
[You know that dragons choose heroes, don't you?]
“Soooooo what?!”
Karl struggled to answer, feeling the immense pressure of the wind.
[You are going to be a hero.]
“Whaat?”
Karl's eyes met Rhodia's, his expression one of shock.
Whoosh-!
Having reached high into the sky, Karl's eyes took in the sight of a world beginning to burn.
“But Lord Rian said I couldn't become a hero?”
[In this era, that is.]
Rhodia said, her voice full of joy.
Karl looked blank.
Rhodia spoke to the stunned Karl.
[The me you will meet again won't remember you, but.]
Swaaaaaaaah-!
Rhodia's body turned to ash and scattered.
[I'll be looking forward to it. To the hero you will become.]
Surely, her future self would rejoice upon seeing Karl.
Saying that he was a hero of a new era, born thanks to her finding the World of Heroes.
Those with potential who were destined to be culled in this era.
Would, in the future, make that potential bloom and become heroes.
[Help Lumerne, Karl Thomas.]
Swaaah-!
Rhodia's body completely disappeared.
Whoosh-!
The moment Karl's body began to plummet toward the ground.
Whoosh-!
“Karl!”
Eliza, flying in on a wyvern, snatched Karl from the air.
“Where in the world have you been? And what was that dragon just now?!”
“Weren't you supposed to start speaking casually to me?”
“Is that important right now?!”
At Eliza's words, Karl looked down at the staff in his hand.
“That was Lady Rhodia.”
Karl replied, looking down at the Flames of Calamity burning on the ground.
“What's the status of the battle?”
“Thanks to Lord Lumerne suddenly appearing, we're holding on, but… it's not good!”
“I see.”
Karl took a deep breath.
“Alright, let's start the counterattack.”