Chapter 587
Chapter Title: Posteritas
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Crackle—!
An aura of lightning surged from Duran's body.
Seeing this, Eiran urgently cried out.
“Wait! Sir Duran! If you attack now, you might hurt the others!”
“Gah!”
Duran hastily withdrew his sword.
Fwoosh—!
Black flames erupted before them.
Seeing it, Eiran blocked the black flames with her aura-infused shield.
Just as mages have specialties, knights too can be categorized by their combat styles.
Celia and Duran were offensive specialists.
They used their formidable aura to overpower enemies on the front lines and protect their allies.
Eiran, on the other hand, was a knight who specialized in defense.
In the current situation, where the power gap between friend and foe was overwhelming, Eiran's defensive skills shone all the brighter.
Fwoosh—!
“Ugh!”
“Miss Eiran! Are you alright?”
Chen Xia quickly summoned an aura of water to push back the black flames surrounding Eiran.
Pushed back by a sudden surge in the black flames' intensity, Eiran hurriedly nodded.
“I’m fine! No problem at all!”
Though Eiran answered bravely, her body was covered in burns, both large and small.
She was currently one of the main pillars of the defense holding back the black flames.
Without her, the party would have been wiped out long ago.
“Eiran! You’re pushing yourself too hard! It’s time you took a rest!”
Driana, who was blocking the black flames with a shield larger than herself, shouted.
“No! I can still go on…”
“This isn’t a situation you can solve by just pushing yourself! If you fall, it’s really over! Now is the time to recover!”
Driana, who shared the defensive burden with Eiran, yelled.
Eiran bit her lip.
“But if I fall back, you’ll have to handle it all alone, Miss Driana!”
“Don’t you worry. Am I not the successor to Sir Dweno, who was the shield of the Great Heroes?”
Driana laughed confidently.
“My body’s tougher than yours, too! So don’t worry and get some rest.”
“Eiran! Get to the rear, now!”
“Waaah! Eiran! You’ve worked so hard! Please, just rest for a moment!”
With tears in their eyes, the Seirun students supported the staggering Eiran as she retreated.
“…Are you really alright?”
Chen Xia asked Driana.
At Chen Xia’s question, Driana let out a small laugh.
“Not at all.”
Driana, who had been serving as the party’s shield alongside Eiran, was just as badly injured.
The only reason she could still stand firm was because dwarves were physically sturdier than elves.
“Let me help you.”
As a balanced type proficient in both offense and defense, Chen Xia also had strong defensive capabilities.
Seeing her, Driana shook her head firmly.
“Both Eiran and you! You’re my precious nude models! It would be a problem if you got scarred!”
“Hearing you say that, it seems you still have some energy to spare.”
Driana smiled and tightened her grip on her shield.
“Still, this is bad.”
Flash! Kra-ka-ka-koom! Fwoooosh! Rummble! KABOOM!
Not far away, the sounds of massive explosions and earth-shattering shockwaves rolled over them.
It was the sound of Lumerne holding back Erebos on the very front line.
“If Sir Lumerne hadn’t shown up… we would have been dead long ago.”
What the Hero Academy students were currently holding back were the flames spewing from Erebos.
“This battle is on a completely different level from anything we’ve experienced before.”
They hadn’t even reached the main stage yet.
And yet, they were already overwhelmed.
“The biggest problem is that our coordination isn’t perfect.”
Chen Xia revealed her anxiety.
The students from the four Hero Academies were currently cooperating based on their experience fighting Erebos during the last summer vacation.
So it wasn't that they were completely out of sync.
But it was still not enough to overcome the current situation.
Driana narrowed her eyes.
“We need Karl.”
“Yes.”
The one currently in command was Chloe, whose leadership skills were outstanding among the second-years.
However, Chloe’s strength lay in reading the flow of a large battlefield and devising strategies.
In that respect, Karl couldn't even hope to compare.
On the other hand, in a battle to defeat a single, powerful enemy, Karl, with his sharp observation and quick wit, was superior.
“I don’t know where he could’ve gone at a time like this.”
Just as Driana expressed her frustration at Karl’s absence.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
A scream echoed.
Everyone looked around.
“Up there.”
At Chen Xia’s murmur, everyone looked up.
Just before he plummeted to the ground.
Karl barely managed to cast a Fly spell and land on his feet.
“I-I barely landed! That girl Eliza! Using acceleration to just throw me here…”
“Where the hell have you been fooling around?!”
Chelsea ran up to Karl, grabbed him by the collar, and shook him.
“Hmph. Missed me, did you?”
As Karl spoke in his usual smug tone, Chelsea gritted her teeth.
“Can I punch him?!”
“Move it, Chelsea Llewellyn.”
“Why?!”
“Because I’m going to hit him.”
At Duran’s murderous tone, Chelsea let go of Karl’s collar.
“Wait! Sister Chelsea! Don’t abandon me! I won’t be cheeky anymore!”
Seeing Duran, who looked ready to actually throw a punch, Karl pleaded with Chelsea, his face pale.
“Why were you so late?”
Even Abad, who always remained composed, asked urgently as he tried to calm Duran.
In response, Karl showed them the staff in his hand and said.
“I was late because I was finding the key item to deal with that thing.”
At Karl’s confident demeanor, everyone’s eyes widened.
Fwoooosh—!
Just then, the black flames surged toward them like a tidal wave.
Screams erupted from the front line, which was struggling to block the attack.
Seeing this, Chen Xia rushed over to Karl.
“Karl! For now, please take command!”
“Huh? Is it really okay for me to…?”
“There’s no one else but you, so hurry!”
Chen Xia grabbed Karl and ran to where Chloe was.
“Celia! Watch your left… Ah! Karl!”
Chloe, who was directing her allies from within a magic circle that provided a complete view of the battlefield, brightened up at the sight of Karl.
“Come here!”
Chloe quickly stepped off the magic circle.
As Karl stepped onto the magic circle, multiple screens appeared before his eyes.
“If you speak from here, your voice will reach everyone!”
At her words, Karl nodded dazedly.
Chloe joined the front line.
“I don’t know if I should be the one doing this.”
As Karl muttered nervously, Chen Xia said.
“I think you’ll do better than anyone.”
At that, Karl glanced at one of the screens.
On it was the back of a man engaged in a life-or-death struggle with the main body of the Calamity's Flame.
‘Sir Lumerne.’
***
Gwoooooo—!
Lumerne raised his sword, gazing at the Calamity's Flame blazing before him.
Erebos was not in its giant form.
It had taken on a shape similar in size to Lumerne.
The primordial evil, wreathed in black flames, spread its arms.
The Aura of Twilight erupting from Lumerne’s sword sliced through Erebos’s neck.
Whoosh—!
Erebos’s head shot into the air.
Lumerne opened his hand.
Flash—!
Kra-ka-ka-ka-koom—!
Spears of light flew in from all directions, piercing Erebos’s body and tearing it mercilessly to shreds.
Swordsmanship and magic designed for the complete annihilation of the enemy.
Despite being a magic swordsman, he showed no bias toward either discipline.
He was literally driving Erebos back with overwhelming swordsmanship and magic that left no openings.
But…
Fwoooosh—!
The revived black flames lunged at Lumerne.
Lumerne leaped back quickly, dodging Erebos’s attack.
-To keep mimicking a hero who survives. How dull, Knight of Twilight.
Fwoooosh—!
Erebos’s shattered body reformed.
-You have already reached your limit. So why do you not give up?
Erebos sneered.
-Did you not give up on defeating me long ago?
“Yes, I gave up on defeating you. Because it is something I cannot do.”
Lumerne gripped his sword tightly.
“But I have never once thought that there was no future.”
Facing the endlessly burning Calamity's Flame, Lumerne spoke with conviction.
“Those children are the future.”
After chasing Erebos here from Rian’s Archives, Lumerne had witnessed the Hero Academy students.
And he saw.
The potential he thought he lacked.
‘Sir Kyle isn’t the only one in the future.’
He realized that his choice to bet everything on the future had not been wrong.
-Your eyes have rotted as well, Knight of Twilight.
Erebos shook its head.
-Those pieces of trash, struggling against mere embers. Do you truly believe they can accomplish what even you could not?
“Experience will take care of their immaturity.”
The corners of Lumerne’s mouth curled up.
“Those children will stand before you in the near future. And alongside the Hero of the Beginning, they will defeat you. You may have mocked the Hero of the Beginning for being alone.”
Lumerne pointed his sword.
“But he is not alone anymore.”
-So you mean to stop me here, even if it means dying for those pieces of trash.
Erebos raised its hand.
-Yes, you have lasted long. You were more tenacious than any hero I have ever known.
Fwoosh-
A hero who does not give up is fearsome.
Just how terrifying that unyielding will could be, it had learned through the Great Heroes.
And it had keenly felt it through the Hero of the Beginning, Kyle.
And when Erebos first saw Lumerne, it had seen Kyle’s shadow.
Though he had failed to defeat it, his refusal to give up and his constant search for a way forward had instilled a strange fear in Erebos.
Because there was no telling when Lumerne, having hit his limit, might surpass it.
But…
-Are you satisfied, Knight of Twilight?
In this moment.
The shadow of Kyle that had clung to Lumerne vanished.
Erebos’s body soared high into the sky.
It looked down at Lumerne, who intended to self-destruct with it, and the corners of its mouth curled up.
To the next generation that would follow him.
Having entrusted everything to the comrades who would take his place, the now-satisfied Lumerne was no longer an object of fear to Erebos.
One who has done all they can and has no regrets about dying is no longer a threat.
-Just a dying flame.
And this was Lumerne’s limit.
Gwooooo—!
The moment Erebos was about to unleash its flames upon Lumerne.
Fwoosh—!
Someone broke through the black flames incinerating the surroundings and reached the battlefield.
“The successor of Sir Ar-on?”
Lumerne wore a shocked expression as he watched Ar step onto a battlefield she should not yet be able to reach.
“Hyaaaaaaaah!”
Ar let out a fierce battle cry and kicked Erebos.
KABOOM—!
White flames erupted from Ar’s foot, which was clad in Ar-on’s aura.
Kra-ka-koom—!
Erebos was sent flying and slammed into the ground.
Having focused all her strength into the tip of her toe, and even imbued it with Lunia’s flame, Ar fell to the ground.
Whoosh—!
Eliza caught Ar in mid-air.
“Sir Lumerne! We’ve come to help!”
Celia rushed to Lumerne’s side.
“How…”
Lumerne asked with a dazed look.
They were still inexperienced hero candidates.
Though their brilliant future was something to look forward to, they were still children, far too lacking to join this fight.
He had thought they were still one step short of being able to come here.
One might call it just a single step.
But one step from one’s limit is an immense distance.
Potential is not something that blossoms so easily.
‘What on earth changed to allow these children to come here?’
Sent flying by Ar’s attack, Erebos pushed itself up.
‘I thought they were nothing but trash.’
Certainly, the potential of the hero candidates it met this time was enough to surprise Erebos.
But Erebos knew.
That potential was not the same as power.
In this world, only a tiny fraction of people ever fully awaken their potential.
‘There is no shortage of insignificant trash possessing undeserved gifts.’
That was why it had paid the hero candidates no mind.
After all, it was certain they couldn’t even handle the flames it was emitting.
But now, they had surpassed Erebos’s expectations.
‘Their movements suddenly changed.’
Erebos’s eyes narrowed.
‘Could it be that someone with insight comparable to that foolish one has appeared?’
Erebos’s eyes quickly scanned the battlefield.
And it found a particularly insignificant human boy among the hero candidates.
An utterly trivial human.
A trivial human who fell far short of even those Erebos had called trash.
But…
‘He draws out the potential of others.’
Erebos saw Karl’s ability for exactly what it was.
The Erebos of the past would have scoffed.
It would have dismissed it, thinking that the potential of mere mortals had its limits anyway.
But now, it knew.
It knew just how terrifying that ability was.
‘I must eliminate him now.’
Erebos’s killing intent focused on Karl.
***
Clench—!
Kyle gritted his teeth as he looked at Dweno’s equipment, which had melted away.
‘…You did well.’
With this, another piece of equipment was gone.
Unable to withstand Kyle’s power and Erebos’s flames, the divine artifacts were reaching the end of their lives.
Kyle, who had habitually reached into his cloak, paused.
‘…Right, this cloak is a fake.’
The cloak Lisinas and Luna had made for him had a subspace function in addition to its powerful defensive capabilities.
Long ago, Kyle had stored his equipment in that subspace.
But no matter how real it seemed, it was ultimately a fake.
All the magic imbued in the cloak, aside from its defensive capabilities, was dormant.
Naturally, the subspace function was also gone.
A magical artifact of this level could only be restored to its perfect state by its creators.
‘Should I use my divine power?’
Kyle fell into thought, feeling the divine power dwelling within his body.
Until now, he had held back the Calamity's Flame using only the abilities he had gained after his reincarnation.
But no matter how many times he cut it down, the flame showed no sign of dying.
If anything, it burned even more fiercely.
The reason was simple.
‘That flame isn’t the main body.’
Unless he invaded the World of Heroes and sealed the rift, it would surely continue to burn.
‘And what’s more… this isn’t the power of a single fragment.’
He had realized something while fighting the Calamity's Flame.
The power of Erebos's flame right now was not from a single fragment.
The more a fire burns, the stronger its intensity becomes.
And the Calamity's Flame was no different.
‘Thousands of years have passed since the fragment of Erebos defeated by the Heroes of Genesis was revived.’
And for those thousands of years, the Calamity's Flame had continued to burn within the World of Heroes.
In the World of Heroes, there was even kindling in the form of divine power.
In that case…
‘It wouldn’t be strange if it had acquired the power of more than one fragment.’
Kyle clenched his fist, his hand still inside his cloak.
‘It can’t be helped. Now is the time to use my divine power.’
The moment Kyle came to this conclusion and was about to summon his divine power.
Tap—!
“...!”
His hand grasped something.
Without thinking, Kyle pulled out what his hand had caught from within his cloak.
It was a plain-looking longsword.
But its blade was sharper than that of any famed sword.
And this was a sword all too familiar to Kyle.
The only sword that the divine blacksmith, Dweno, had ever acknowledged as his work and given a name.
The sword that had been with him until his final moments.
“Posteritas.”