Chapter 678
Chapter 678
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 678
Chapter Title: A Different Era's Resolve
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“Ugh. I really hate one-on-one duels.”
Karl sighed, looking ahead.
Before him, a rather short beastkin girl was warming up.
Her eyes burned with an eager fighting spirit.
As they faced each other, he could feel it.
‘She’s intense.’
He had seen plenty of aggressive students at Lumerne.
And not just at Lumerne.
During his third year, he'd had several opportunities to interact with students from Azonia Academy.
But the aura radiating from the beastkin girl before him was different even from the Azonia students.
‘Much rougher.’
It went far beyond a simple matter of personality.
‘More primal.’
Karl sized her up.
At his gaze, the beastkin girl wrinkled her nose.
She could feel him studying her closely.
“That’s creepy.”
“Ah, my apologies if I made you uncomfortable.”
Karl smiled brightly and raised his hands.
“I was just looking to see if you had any weaknesses.”
“You think you can find something like that without even fighting?”
“Usually, it’s tough. But I’m not very good at fighting, you see.”
Karl shrugged and said smoothly.
“Don’t you think my chances of winning will go up if I observe my opponent, even a little?”
“You’re clearly weaker than me.”
“I know.”
“And you still plan on winning?”
“Of course.”
Seeing Karl’s grin, the beastkin girl stared at him for a moment before speaking.
“You’re flippant and frivolous.”
“I get that a lot.”
“But it seems I misjudged you based on that alone. My name is Kanea. And you?”
“Karl.”
As Kanea stated her name, Karl introduced himself with a smile.
Watching him, Kanea’s lips curled into a smirk.
“Are you ready, Karl?”
“Yep.”
With that, Kanea shot forward, charging straight at Karl.
Seeing her approach, Karl thrust his hands into his coat and pulled them out.
Long, thin potion vials were wedged between his fingers.
Fwoosh-!
Karl threw the vials at Kanea.
“Alchemic bombs, I presume.”
Eliza, sitting atop a fluffy-looking summoned creature, commented with an indifferent expression.
Nearby, Driana crossed her arms and shook her head.
“I don’t think so.”
“Hmm?”
Kanea dodged the vials.
Crash-! Hiss-!
As the vials shattered on the ground, smoke billowed up.
Seeing it, Kanea scoffed.
“Poison?”
“That’s right.”
Karl grinned wickedly, uncorked another vial in his other hand with his teeth, and downed its contents.
It was an antidote.
“Ugh… what are you all gathered here for?”
“Huh? What’s this? Why is Karl fighting?”
Ar and Iliana appeared, their voices sounding like they were on death’s door.
They were startled to see the duel unfolding before them.
“This looks interesting.”
Dweno, who had come with them, stroked his beard and chuckled.
“Did that fellow use poison?”
“Poison.”
“Seems a bit cowardly.”
“It’s very cowardly.”
Luke, Habideen, and Aina shook their heads.
“Hmph. A very Karl-like tactic.”
“Not a bad strategy.”
“A decent plan.”
As Eliza, Chelsea, and Duran praised him, the second-years looked bewildered.
They stared at their seniors, confused.
“Isn’t that a bit cheap?”
To Habideen’s question, Driana replied.
“Isn’t it the fault of the one who fell for it?”
“Right, right.”
Ar nodded in agreement.
At that reaction, the second-years looked to the other side.
“That poison. I’ve never seen it before.”
“To have an antidote ready for a sudden duel. He’s so prepared!”
“He’s an enemy, but he’s brilliant!”
Even the warrior candidates from Ivaldi were praising Karl.
Finally, they turned to Dweno and Enniha.
“It seems petty tricks are his specialty.”
Enniha narrowed her eyes.
‘Ah, of course, the adults will judge him harshly…’
“Brilliant.”
“Yes. Brilliant.”
As Enniha agreed with Dweno, the second-years flinched.
‘Are we the strange ones?’
“It’s not that you’re strange.”
Leo, standing beside them, said with a smile.
“Once you become third-years, you’ll be just like your seniors.”
Life as a second-year is anything but easy.
‘Being a hero isn’t as romantic as you might think.’
The image of a hero defeating their enemies in a fair fight is just a fairy tale.
The reality is that you do whatever it takes to survive.
Because great deeds are only granted to those who overcome trials.
“Leo Flove.”
“What is it, Duran?”
“You said that beastkin has something we don’t, and that it’s the readiness to die at any moment, right?”
“That’s right.”
“I find that hard to accept.”
Duran narrowed his eyes as he watched Karl and Kanea.
“As long as we attend Lumerne—no, as long as we aim to be heroes, we will face countless life-threatening crises. Of course, I have no intention of dying. I plan to struggle with everything I have in any crisis.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“But that doesn’t mean I’m not prepared to die.”
Duran looked at Leo.
“How is my resolve any different from that woman’s?”
At Duran’s question, Leo looked at Kanea, Dit, and the other warrior candidates and spoke.
“Because you were born in different eras.”
“Different eras?”
“I believe the mindset one has when facing battle—the fighting spirit and resolve—is the same for everyone.”
Leo looked at Kanea.
“But someone born in a world of light and someone born in a world of darkness are fundamentally different.”
“Fundamentally different?”
“Yes. Duran, what is your goal?”
“You should already know.”
“I do.”
Leo said with a laugh.
“That goal doesn’t exist for them.”
“…”
“They’ve likely never felt the sense of accomplishment from achieving something, nor the experience of being overjoyed, or even many happy memories at all.”
From the moment they were born, they lived in an era where such things had already vanished.
“Failure is not an option.”
It's different from the hero candidates of today, who can try again and again.
Death was as natural as breathing.
A generation that didn't know when the world would end.
‘It’s not just the kids.’
The adults are the same.
They just live recklessly from one day to the next.
Because it was an age where tomorrow could vanish at any moment.
The Age of Calamity was a world where you couldn't call such a life wrong.
“Duran. If the result of your efforts was guaranteed to be failure, could you still strive?”
“I would simply ensure I did not fail.”
“What if it’s not up to you? What if the outcome is already decided?”
“…”
Duran couldn’t answer.
“Their era is like that.”
An era that those born in a world of light could never understand.
“But even so, there are always a few. Fools who struggle even when they can see the outcome.”
Moths drawn to a flame, rushing toward a future that was plain as day.
Those who struggled just to survive one more day.
Whose names were never known to later generations.
Those who were called heroes in an age before the Hero Record existed.
‘I was like that, too. So was Luna, and Ar-on and Dweno were the same.’
At that time, every hero in the world knew the end.
‘No, they thought they knew.’
All except for one person.
There was only one person who truly shouted that they would save the world.
Even Luna herself had never entertained such a thought until she met that one person.
‘That’s what makes him special.’
“Watch that kid, Kanea.”
Leo said.
He wasn’t just speaking to Duran.
He was speaking to all the hero candidates.
“Because she’s someone who strives, even after being sentenced to a future of ruin.”
“Are you saying you know what that feels like?”
“How would I know? I wasn’t born in this era either.”
He wasn’t lying.
The era Leo was born into was an era of peace.
It was similar to, yet different from, the generation of the Age of Calamity.
However.
“I’ve just seen more people like them than you have. That’s how I know.”
He had watched them while living through the Age of Calamity.
But the others, aside from Chelsea, recalled that Leo had conquered the World of the Great Hero several times.
As they all nodded, despite their doubts.
Leo looked at Kanea.
A meaningless struggle.
But that was what made it special.
She might be weaker than any of the hero candidates here.
But Kanea represented the warriors—no, the hero candidates—of her time.
‘Kids like her grew up to become the Ar-on, the Berkia, and the Bihar of the future.’
Seeds that could not sprout.
Lives that would ultimately vanish, leaving nothing behind.
But their will alone was passed down steadily to the next generation.
Leo looked at Dweno.
‘A failure, you say?’
Dweno, who had blamed himself for being a failed leader.
‘How in the world were you a failure?’
Leo looked at the warrior candidates, including Kanea.
You could tell just by looking at these kids.
‘You could see it just by watching the warriors who fought against the Giant King’s legion yesterday.’
Leo exhaled.
‘Not a single person in Ivaldi had broken.’
Of all the surviving fortresses during Ivaldi’s existence, it was by far the most desperate.
Fortresses like Gardsrone and Reisar were able to communicate with each other.
The same went for the elven resistance.
But Ivaldi was isolated, alone in the middle of Tartaros’s territory.
They couldn’t even hope for help.
The fact that the Arhi Party, led by Lisinas, had even managed to reach Ivaldi was nothing short of a miracle.
Even in such a desperate situation, the warriors of Ivaldi burned with fighting spirit.
Even Gardsrone, which was in a relatively better situation than Ivaldi and had a stronger force, was filled with those who had lost the will to fight.
It had been an incredibly difficult task for Lisinas to instill hope in Gardsrone.
That was how full of despair and lamentation it was.
But there was no sign of that in Ivaldi.
Because they saw the starlight?
‘If they hadn’t been prepared in the first place, repelling an invasion like yesterday’s would have been impossible.’
Leo’s Arhi Party had certainly been a great help.
But ultimately, it was the underlying strength of the Ivaldi warriors that had repelled yesterday’s invasion.
In the end, all of them die.
The outcome may be set in stone as failure.
But…
‘You’re telling me the leader of warriors who can fight like this even in the depths of despair is a failed leader? Then what the hell does that make me, you damn old geezer?’
Leo clicked his tongue, recalling his pathetic past self, who had only been interested in surviving day to day.
‘You didn’t fail, Dweno.’