Chapter 623
Chapter Title: Corrupted Record
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623.
The moment he realized he had entered the World of Heroes, Leo’s eyes flew open.
Leo surveyed his surroundings.
‘A simple tent.’
Leo had awoken in a tent of the kind typically used in the field.
Rising from the bedding on one side of the rather spacious tent, Leo approached a small mirror on the other side.
Pure white hair and crimson eyes.
‘This isn't a possession-type world. No, wait, would that concept even apply here in the first place?’
Leo’s expression hardened as he recalled the message from just before.
‘The Legion’s Record, and the World of Silatuna.’
To anyone, its meaning was singular.
‘Those bastards from Tartaros had a Record System, too.’
The world had been saved once before, thanks to the awakening of the Hero Record.
But what if Tartaros had one as well?
‘They would be able to inherit the power of not only the mighty demons of the past, but also the Legion Commanders.’
The balance they had so narrowly achieved could crumble in an instant.
Leo’s mind raced.
‘Could it be something they had all along? No. That’s unlikely. If they’d possessed this kind of power from the beginning, that Lord of Specters wouldn't be struggling to cultivate new Legion Commanders.’
Leo continued to reason.
‘The Lord of Specters has a fragment of Erebos. What if he created this using the fragment’s power?’
‘No, even Erebos shouldn’t be capable of creating something like this.’
The gods called the Hero Record the Record System.
Erebos was a being on par with the gods.
It wouldn’t be strange for him to possess knowledge about the Record System.
But possessing knowledge and actually creating it were two different things.
The Hero Record was the very essence of the gods, an artifact they had poured all their power into creating.
‘No matter if that bastard is a divine being, it would be impossible for him to create something made by the combined power of all the gods on his own. Besides, the power the Lord of Specters holds is merely a fragment of Erebos.’
Having thought that far, Leo arrived at a hypothesis.
‘Did they modify an existing Hero Record?’
The Hero Record had been corrupted in the process of sealing the fragments of Erebos.
While most worlds remained untouched by Erebos’s power, a few had been consumed by it.
This page was likely one of them.
Leo organized the information he had gathered from the message.
‘The master of this world is Silatuna. The time is the prologue. The location is the Forest of Monsters.’
The Forest of Monsters was originally the land of the elves.
And it was also Luna’s home.
With Silatuna and the Forest of Monsters, only one person came to mind.
“Luna.”
[System Error: An unauthorized being has invaded the world.]
A new message appeared before his eyes.
‘An unauthorized being? Is it talking about me?’
Leo fell into thought.
‘If this world was created in the same way as the Hero Record… I should have entered as a demon, a magical beast, or a monster from Tartaros’s side.’
Leo glanced around the tent’s interior.
Before him were items used by the elves of 5,000 years ago.
By all appearances, Leo had entered the World of Heroes from Luna’s perspective, just as he always had.
*Shhwwwk-*
Leo stepped outside the tent.
The ashen sky, a symbol of the Age of Calamity, came into view.
Countless elves were milling about.
Seeing them, Leo muttered.
‘It seems this was originally Luna’s world. In that case, what am I supposed to do? Do I need to stop Tartaros from conquering this world?’
“Ah, you’re awake, Lady Luna!”
‘Luna?’
An elven youth, holding a spear in one hand and a gleaming shield in the other, was calling for Luna.
In response, Leo instinctively looked around, searching for her.
The Luna within the World of Heroes had memories of the previous worlds.
Would the Luna of this world also remember what had happened outside?
‘What should I say to her?’
He recalled the last time he had parted with Luna.
Back then, Luna had been a heroic spirit, not a being manifested by the Hero Record.
‘Will she remember that time?’
Just as Leo’s eyes wavered slightly, the elven youth who had been calling for Luna approached him.
“Lady Luna! The Monster Queen’s movements have been detected in the heart of the forest!”
At those words, Leo froze.
“Luna?”
“Yes?”
“You’re calling me Luna?”
“…”
At Leo’s words, the elven youth covered his face with his hands.
“Lady Luna. Today is the decisive battle for the reclamation of the forest! To think you would drink so heavily the night before!”
Looking at the elf’s tearful expression, Leo used the shield in the youth’s hand to see his own reflection.
It was, without a doubt, the face of Leo Flove.
“What is it?”
“Lord Akint… It’s just that Lady Luna…”
Just then, another voice was heard.
Leo turned toward the sound.
An acquaintance was approaching him.
Akint Rubesha.
Luna’s magic teacher and a man who was like a savior to her.
He was also the person Leo had possessed in a previous visit to Luna’s world.
“Luna, have you been drinking again?”
Akint asked with a deep sigh.
Watching him, Leo thought.
‘It seems… the people in this world see me as Luna.’
And Leo understood exactly what point in time this was.
‘This is just before Luna joined the subjugation force.’
It was the time when he and Lisinas had come here to recruit Luna after defeating Jormungandr.
The time when the elves had united their strength and charged into the Forest of Monsters to reclaim their stolen homeland.
‘The elves lost this battle.’
He looked at Akint.
‘And this man died here.’
***
*Ruuuumble! Whoooosh-!*
Lis looked up at the Gigantes slamming a massive ball of fire down upon him.
“What are you doing! That’s a Hellfire! Dodge it!”
Abad shouted urgently.
Lis glanced back at Abad and said,
“Abad, prepare your magic.”
With that brief command, Lis swung his sword up toward the Gigantes, which was burning with crimson flames before him.
*Whoooosh! CR-CR-CRACK-!*
Lis’s flame aura, which collided with Hellfire—one of the most destructive fire spells—surprisingly pushed it back and then completely devoured the Gigantes’s arm.
*GROOOOOWWWWR!*
Clutching its arm, which had been turned to ash, the Gigantes let out a scream of agony.
‘He blew right through its defensive magic, too?’
Amazed, Abad unleashed the spell he had been preparing.
As Abad, who had been accumulating dozens of wind spells without incantation, released them all at once, a storm erupted in an instant.
The terrifying thing was that the winds of that storm were like blades.
*SL-SL-SL-SLASH-!*
*GROOOOOWWWWWWWWR-!*
When the large-scale magic that Abad had poured his mana into was unleashed all at once, its explosive power was beyond imagination.
*Splattersplattersplatter-*
In an instant, the Gigantes was reduced to pieces of flesh and blood that rained down from the sky.
*Thud-! Splat-!*
The Gigantes’s head fell into a pool of blood, creating a momentary crimson wave.
Even in its gruesome state, with its body torn to shreds except for its head, the Gigantes was still alive.
Just as Lis, with a cold expression, approached to finish it off.
“Pathetic.”
A cold voice rang out.
Lis stopped in his tracks.
“To think you’d lose to a mere brat who hasn’t even reached the rank of Hero, despite obtaining the body of a powerful magical beast as a conquest reward.”
“A skeleton?”
A skeleton appeared beside the Gigantes.
The skeleton’s body glowed brightly before transforming into the figure of a dwarf.
Recognizing the face, Abad’s expression hardened.
“The Saint of Regeneration?”
The Saint of Regeneration was a hero from long ago, a healer regarded as having the most powerful healing abilities in the history of the Heroic Age.
He was renowned for his ability to heal any wound, so long as life remained.
Zorua used the Saint of Regeneration’s power to heal the Gigantes.
*Rumble-rumble-rumble-!*
The Gigantes, instantly restored to its original form, pushed itself up.
Seeing this, Lis spoke.
“Are you the Hero Slayer?”
At his words, Zorua glanced at Lis.
“Lis Jerdinger. And…”
*CR-CR-CRACK-!*
A powerful gust of wind erupted, tearing Zorua to shreds.
“Chantless magic?”
Greed flickered in Zorua’s eyes.
“Indeed, the heir of Llewellyn. A fine ability. If I had my way, I’d hunt you down right now, but…”
Zorua’s gaze shifted to the sky.
“There’s something I must deal with first.”
Zorua’s killing intent was directed toward the sky.
“Reina Jerdinger. I’ll make you regret giving birth to Leo Flove.”
‘He’s after my aunt!’
The moment Lis realized where Zorua’s killing intent was directed and tried to attack,
*CR-CR-CRAAACK-!*
The Gigantes’s massive arm slammed down on Lis.
*Swoosh-!*
Lis’s sword sliced clean through the Gigantes’s arm.
*Spluuuuurt-!*
An immense amount of blood gushed out.
Lis, who instantly evaporated the blood with his flames, took aim at Zorua.
But that brief moment was enough time for Zorua to fly into the sky.
“Ulta!”
Lis shouted urgently.
His voice, infused with aura, echoed throughout the Flove estate.
Ulta, who heard the cry, flinched, then noticed Zorua’s presence and tried to move quickly.
But Zorua, moving like a flash of light, was faster, snatching Reina from her pegasus.
“Lady Reina!”
“Aunt Reina!”
Ulta and Celia desperately tried to rescue Reina.
But Zorua was faster, disappearing with magic.
“Hero candidates are nothing. You’re no match for me.”
Zorua, having teleported a fair distance away, sneered.
He had now taken on the form of a beastman.
“You look pleased. Getting all happy about beating a bunch of kids far weaker than you. Looks like Leo really did a number on you, huh?”
Just then, Reina, held in Zorua’s grasp, scoffed.
Zorua’s cold gaze fell upon Reina.
“Are you too stupid to understand that my presence here means I’ve already dealt with Leo Flove?”
“Is that so? Looking at your miserably crumpled face, I’d say that’s not it at all.”
Reina sneered.
“The very fact that you came to grab me, someone you’d long lost interest in, means you’re just trying to take your anger out on me, doesn’t it?”
“You bitch…!”
Zorua’s face twisted, but then the corners of his mouth curled up.
“Fine. If Leo Flove is still alive, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to throw your mangled corpse at him. That should make him lose his mind.”
Zorua radiated a thick killing intent.
“Go on and try.”
“What did you say?”
“My son won’t be shaken by something like that.”
Seeing Reina’s calm smile, Zorua’s face hardened.
“You will never defeat my son.”
Faced with Reina’s completely unshaken demeanor, Zorua felt an unbearable rage surging within him.
“I’ll make you regret running that mouth of yours!”
*Ruuuuuumble-!*
Watching the chilling energy rise from Zorua’s body, Reina smiled.
‘This is… it’s no use.’
It didn’t seem like she would survive.
But…
No matter how much pain he inflicted, she would smile.
‘Because Leo will be fine.’
Reina believed without a shadow of a doubt that her son would never be shaken.
‘I’m sorry, Dade.’
Leaving a final apology for her husband, Reina closed her eyes.
-Shall I help you?
‘Huh?’
-I asked if you need help.
‘Who are you?’
-I am Istada, the Spirit of Purification.