Chapter 626
Chapter Title: A Different History
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The elves watched the Forest of Monsters with tense eyes.
Leo observed them in silence.
The elves gathered here now were the truly noble ones.
The Age of Calamity had begun.
The elves, who had built the most powerful force on the continent, crumbled helplessly before Tartaros's invasion.
It was the same for every race, but the tendency was even more pronounced among the elves.
‘It’s the same now, but back then, elves were a race with immense pride in their kind.’
A race whose members were born with more beautiful appearances than others and possessed dazzling talents in aura, magic, and summoning arts alike.
The elves of this era were a superior race, revered even by others.
The pride that swelled from that influence gradually became tainted with arrogance and self-righteousness, rotting the elven race from its core.
In the face of an unprecedented disaster, the High Elves, who boasted immense power, abandoned the nobility they had long upheld and sacrificed their own kind for their lives.
It was an atrocity born from an elitist ideology that considered themselves special beings for whom the sacrifices of others were a matter of course.
Thus, the High Elves, the very roots of the elven race, rotted and collapsed, but the race itself had not lost all hope.
No matter how corrupt, the elven race of that time had certainly nurtured a great tree that served as a pillar of the world.
The new buds that bloomed at the tips of that tree possessed nobility.
To reclaim their homeland.
And to drive the calamity from the world.
The elves gathered here were those who had assembled for that great cause.
Luna, too, was one of those countless new buds.
“Lady Luna! Please stay behind me! I will be sure to protect you!”
An elven youth spoke with a serious expression.
‘I can’t get used to this at all.’
Leo couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh at the reactions of the surrounding elves calling him Luna.
“So that you may cast your spells in peace, I, Hirion, will protect you!” the young man declared, firmly gripping his gleaming shield.
“Hirion?”
“Aw, did you forget again?”
Hirion looked as if he were genuinely hurt.
Hirion.
It was a name Leo knew.
Even in the Age of Calamity, those with overwhelming skill left their mark on history.
In this era, a hero was a far more precious and valuable existence than in the present.
‘It wasn’t an age overflowing with heroes like it is now.’
To their allies, they were a slender thread of hope that allowed them to live another day.
At the time, he and Lisinas, who were called the Surviving Hero and the Foolish One, were figures to be avoided.
Kyle was an ominous man whose comrades all met their end, and Lisinas, who deluded people with the false hope that the world could be saved, was a witch-like dragon.
But even in that situation, Kyle and Lisinas were not isolated.
Though they were called ominous beings, it was an ironic truth that the battlefields they joined often ended in victory or had a high number of survivors.
For that reason, in Gardsrone, Kyle and Lisinas were treated as beings to be kept at a distance in daily life but revered on the battlefield.
The same was true for the others, except for Ar-on, who had not yet fully entered the fray.
Luna, at this time, was already renowned as a great archmage who had overturned the tide of battle several times in seemingly lost causes with her overwhelming magic.
She, along with Akint, who had become the leader of the elves, was called the Hope of the Elves.
Dweno, too, was a powerful dwarven warrior and blacksmith, and the number of people who wanted to recruit him into their parties was mountainous.
Besides them, those called heroes in this era all held great renown.
Some heroes of this age have had their names forgotten, but their deeds are still told even 5,000 years later.
Leo, too, remembered the names of several famous heroes from that time.
‘Of course, not this one.’
Hirion was not someone called a hero.
Nor did he possess skills of that caliber.
He was just an ordinary elven knight, the kind you could find anywhere.
The reason Leo remembered him was because of Luna.
After this battle, Hirion dies.
And not just Hirion.
‘Most of the elves here… will meet their end in this place.’
***
After the battle in the Forest of the Elves concluded.
In a dense forest on the way back to Gardsrone, Luna had built a graveyard for her kin lost in the battle.
A graveyard where not even bodies could be buried.
But Luna remembered the names of all her kin who had died in battle and meticulously crafted a tombstone for each one.
“It’s so foolish, isn’t it? They didn’t need to risk their lives.”
Carving Hirion’s name, Luna, an elven woman who still had a girlish air about her, smiled bitterly, her grief particularly sharp.
“Did you know him? Seeing how upset you are, he must have been an exceptional fellow.”
“No, not at all. I met him for the first time in this battle. His skill… he was an elf who shouldn't have been on a battlefield.”
Luna rose from her spot and clasped her hands.
“It’s not just this elf. Many of the elves who closed their eyes this time were people who shouldn't have been on the battlefield.”
They were not yet qualified to stand in battle.
But they had no choice but to take up arms and fight against Tartaros.
Because there was no one else left to fight.
Watching Luna mourn her kin, Lisinas spoke.
“My proposal. What do you think of it?”
“You want me to go with you, right?”
Luna turned her body toward Kyle and Lisinas.
In the dense forest, Luna’s eyes were somewhat downcast.
Her voice lacked confidence as she spoke.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but I don’t want to be in a party with comrades who will die before me.”
Luna glanced at the graves.
Watching her, Lisinas nudged Kyle in the back.
“You want me to say it?”
“Seeing her like this, I think your words would be more persuasive than mine.”
“Damned lizard.”
Knowing she wanted him to persuade Luna because he was the ‘Surviving Hero,’ Kyle grumbled under his breath before stepping in front of her.
“What makes you say that? How many have really died before you?”
“What?”
Luna’s eyes turned fierce.
Lisinas covered her face, muttering to herself, “I meant for you to console her nicely. I was a fool to ask.”
“Then who are you to speak so carelessly?”
As Luna snarled at him, Kyle spoke nonchalantly.
“The Surviving Hero.”
At Kyle’s reply, Luna paused.
Looking at her, Kyle smirked.
“I don’t want comrades who’ll die before me either. You seem like the perfect fit.”
“…”
Staring at Kyle’s face, Luna’s expression softened slightly.
She had glimpsed a shadow in his eyes even deeper than her own.
At the very least, his words weren’t meant to mock her.
“What is your goal?”
“To subjugate Erebos.”
“…”
For a moment, Luna looked utterly dumbfounded.
“You’re going to defeat Erebos? Are you some kind of lunatic? What did you eat to come up with a thought like that?”
Luna stared at Kyle as if he were a subject of genuine scientific curiosity.
In response, Kyle’s face crumpled as he glanced back at Lisinas.
But Luna mulled over the words ‘subjugate Erebos’ and soon spoke.
“Still, fine. Subjugating Erebos! A goal that suits me perfectly! I like it. I’ll join your party.”
Luna, having regained her spirit, declared.
“You said your name is Kyle, right? My name is Luna! I am destined to become a being that shines like the stars in the night sky, so consider it an honor to have me in your party!”
***
From that day on, Luna made a vow.
She would stop people from dying meaningless deaths.
‘He fought to the very end to protect Luna, and lost his life for it, she said.’
Leo glanced to his side.
Akint stood there as well, his face grim.
Everyone here knew.
This fight was reckless.
But they had no choice but to engage in this reckless fight.
From the Forest of the Elves, now in the hands of the Demon Queen, monsters were pouring out.
Any longer, and the balance of power in the surrounding region would collapse.
Even if they couldn’t retake it, they had to at least inflict some damage on the Demon Queen and her legion.
If they couldn't suppress the Demon Queen here, the world's destruction would only accelerate.
The situation was that desperate.
The elves here had joined this reckless battle to prevent that.
It was then.
*Ruuuumble—!*
The earth trembled.
*Fwip-fwip-fwip—*
Birds nesting in the forest took to the sky in alarm.
Those birds soon became prey for the monsters inhabiting the forest.
[Kyahahahahahahahahaha—]
A vulgar and chilling laugh echoed out.
At the sound, the elves clamped their hands over their ears.
[Looks like you came seeking death, you pathetic pointy-ears.]
At the mocking voice, Akint clenched his jaw.
Hirion, who had pretended to be calm and told everyone to trust him, gripped his shield tightly.
“Lady Luna! Please fall back now!”
An elven knightess holding a sword rushed over and said urgently.
The elves knew.
Luna’s magic was their only hope in this situation.
Their duty was to hold the line for as long as possible so that Luna could use her magic without worry.
“Lady Luna! We will protect you with our lives!”
Hirion, who had been panicking, also came to his senses and spoke urgently.
Despite the words of the elves around him, Leo stood motionless.
“Luna, it may not seem reassuring, but trust us. So that you can focus on your magic as much as possible…”
“I trust you.”
Leo said calmly.
“Akint. You… and everyone here will risk your lives to protect Luna. I know that better than anyone.”
“Luna?”
To the others, it seemed as if Luna were speaking like a different person.
Ignoring their bewildered reactions, Leo silently gazed into the empty air.
[Objective: Replicate the glorious history of victory. Slaughter as many elves as possible.]
*Squeeze—!*
Leo’s fist tightened.
This was not the World of Heroes that Leo knew.
The protagonist here was not a hero, but a legion.
And it was Silatuna, with whom he was entangled in the most tiresome and fateful of rivalries.
Leo had certainly settled that fateful score.
But that didn’t mean the events of the past disappeared.
‘This world is nothing but pain for Luna. It was a burden she had to carry until the moment she died.’
A past stained with blood and tears, where she had to part with a father figure and where many had to sacrifice themselves to protect her inexperienced self.
*Rumble—!*
In the distance, the Demon Queen revealed herself.
Leo stepped forward.
“Don’t risk your lives for me.”
Leo said, looking at the elves who had gathered to protect Luna.
“What you all need to protect are your own lives. Do your best to survive.”
“B-But the High Elves did that, and!”
“Their methods were wrong. But that doesn’t mean prioritizing your own life is wrong. It’s perfectly natural to cherish yourself.”
Leo spoke.
“I will protect you. So you all do your best to survive. That is your duty right now.”
“B-But Lady Luna! Then we’d just be passing the burden onto you!”
“It’s fine. I’ve been carrying it for a long time.”
“…?”
Hearing Leo speak in riddles again, Hirion looked bewildered.
Watching Leo, Akint spoke with a hardened expression.
“Then who will protect you?”
“…”
Leo looked at Akint.
“I will protect myself.”
“…?”
As Akint wore a perplexed expression, Leo smiled.
[Now, which one should I hunt first?]
*Thump—!*
Watching Silatuna approach slowly to instill fear, Leo bent his knees.
‘Replicate the history of victory? Slaughter as many elves as possible?’
Leo raised his head.
‘By whose authority?’
Even if he were to win here.
History would not be changed.
A history already written cannot be rewritten.
However…
‘As long as I am the Hero of the Beginning, I cannot tolerate the same history repeating itself before my eyes. Even if it is a false world.’
*BOOM—!*
Leo launched himself, flying toward Silatuna like a cannonball.
[Hmm?]
Silatuna flinched for a moment.
Watching her, Leo gave a cold smile.
“In the end, I’m just a being who came to ruin this world, aren’t I?”
*Woooooosh—!*
Immense magical power surged in Leo’s hand.
It was a magic that did not exist in the history of this era.
A magic that Luna would complete in the distant future.
“Then that means I can just beat you to death without worrying about anything else, right?”
Leo smiled eerily.
At the ominous magical power, Silatuna’s face stiffened.
“You’re the one being hunted, Demon Queen.”
The magic in Leo’s hand was complete.
Stellar Magic—The End.
*FLASH! KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-BOOM—!*
[Kieeeeeek?!]
A magic that should not exist in this era struck Silatuna directly.