Chapter 438

Book 1 Chapter 438

Arion shifted his gaze toward Chelsea, whose eyes gleamed with admiration as she looked up at him, her face full of nervous excitement.

“Meeting you is such an incredible privilege! Standing right in front of the legendary Great Hero… this truly feels like a fantasy!”

“Oh, uh, yeah. It-it’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”

“Whoa?!”

“What’s wrong?”

Arion stammered, caught off guard when Chelsea drew in a sharp breath, her jaw dropping open in shock.

“Leo oppa! Arion-nim just told me he’s glad to see me!”

Rubbing his cheek in embarrassment, Arion observed Chelsea, who had placed her hands over her blushing face, completely overwhelmed by the situation.

“Does meeting me really bring you this much joy?”

“Absolutely! You are the legendary savior who protected our world! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! For preserving our world!”

Struck by her pure, radiant grin, Arion blinked in surprise.

Sensing his intense gaze, Chelsea began to fidget, feeling a bit self-conscious.

A gentle smile formed on Arion’s lips as he watched her.

“I see.”

He extended his hand, softly patting Chelsea on the head.

Her eyes grew wide with astonishment.

“I appreciate your kind words.”

Chelsea’s timid expression transformed into a brilliant smile.

“Arion-nim! Don’t forget about me! Give my head a pat too!”

“Okay, okay, calm down.”

As Ar thrust his head toward him, Arion chuckled and gave him a fond pat as well.

Watching the display, Kyle chimed in.

“Listen, Chelsea. Call it the nagging of an old timer, but regarding the secret that Instructor Akan is actually Arion-nim…”

“I’m well aware. I shouldn’t breathe a word to anyone else. Do you take me for a fool?”

Chelsea huffed, replying with a somewhat haughty tone.

“Regardless, there is something I’ve been wondering about.”

Lunia adopted a pensive look.

“Arion-nim, what was the precise method of your manifestation in our modern era?”

“It was accomplished via an artifact known as the Hero Record.”

“Just like how Lady Luna and Seirun-nim materialized here, correct?”

When Arion gave a nod of confirmation, Dryana folded her arms thoughtfully.

“Then that raises another issue. Why is it that you recall only Leo and Ar, while completely forgetting the rest of us?”

“I honestly cannot say.”

Arion replied, shaking his head in ignorance.

Deep in thought, Lunia tapped her chin and held up her index finger.

“Could it be that you only retain memories of Leo and Ar because they were the sole individuals to step into Arion-nim’s personal realm?”

“That actually sounds quite plausible, doesn’t it?”

Kyle stroked his chin in agreement.

“That must be it. Our own encounter with Arion-nim took place within Dwenno-nim’s world. When Lady Luna appeared back in Seirun, she definitely retained her memories of me.”

Lunia explained, thinking back to the moment Luna showed up to vanquish Zerdiac in Seirun.

Arion looked at Lunia with admiration.

“You possess a sharp mind. You are very much like Luna.”

“Oh, goodness, no.”

“Even your temperaments seem to mirror one another perfectly!”

“That is an immense compliment.”

Lunia offered a bashful expression at Arion’s praise.

Hearing this, Ar shouted out.

“Arion-nim! Do not let yourself be fooled! You are being entirely hoodwinked right now.”

“Huh? In what way?”

“This deceitful elf is merely putting on an act of innocence. Please do not fall for her charade.”

As Dryana spoke with absolute seriousness, her arms still crossed, Ar nodded along emphatically.

“Exactly, Arion-nim! To compare the gentle and kind Lady Luna to this ferocious elf is practically an insult to Lady Luna’s name!”

“You little pests!”

With fury flashing in her eyes, Lunia put both Ar and Dryana into a tight headlock.

However, since both of them possessed physical capabilities that far outmatched Lunia’s, it did nothing to silence their complaints.

“As expected, she acts no different from a common street thug… ack!”

Kyle, who had been snickering and enjoying their torment, suddenly took a sharp kick to the midsection and dropped to the ground.

“To be fair, drawing a parallel between Miss Lunia and Lady Luna is a bit of a stretch…”

“Eiran! Not you as well!”

Just as Lunia’s glare was growing increasingly perilous.

Arion suddenly burst into hearty laughter at the chaotic scene.

“Yes. Watching this makes it undeniable. Your personalities are practically identical.”

“Pardon?”

“What?”

“What do you mean by that?”

Everyone turned to look at Arion with completely bewildered expressions.

“What kind of individual do you all believe Luna to be?”

“Well, she is benevolent, gracious… a gentle, divine figure, is she not?”

As Eiran provided his answer, looking utterly stunned, Arion tilted his head in confusion.

“Luna is neither benevolent nor particularly gracious. And gentle? A divine figure?”

Arion’s expression turned quite peculiar at the mention of descriptors that didn’t fit Luna in the slightest, and his brow furrowed slightly by the end of his sentence.

“Im-impossible! That simply cannot be true!”

Lunia clutched her head, rejecting the devastating revelation.

“Hey, Leo. You actually met Lady Luna alongside Lunia within the Hero’s World, correct? What was she really like?”

Leo paused to think for a moment at Kyle’s inquiry before offering his response.

“An unruly, childish tomboy?”

“How dare you! Do not speak sacrilege against Lady Luna!”

“You witnessed it yourself, didn’t you?”

“That was merely when Lady Luna was an innocent youth! There is absolutely no way Lady Luna could share a personality like mine! It is entirely impossible for her to be like me!”

Leo cast a look of profound pity toward Lunia, who was desperately trying to block out reality.

“She is clearly aware that her own temperament is quite terrible!”

“Indeed. She truly embodies Seirun. Her self-awareness is remarkably accurate.”

Chelsea nodded along, agreeing with Kyle’s mock admiration.

“You absolute brats!”

As Lunia lunged forward with fury in her eyes, Chelsea rapidly pulled Kyle in front of her to act as a barricade.

“Whoa! What do you think you’re doing, Chelsea!”

“Using a friend shield.”

“Hey! Wait! Yelp?!”

Kyle’s pained cry rang out through the air.

Hearing such an authoritative account straight from the lips of the Great Hero, Leo let out a sigh of relief.

‘It won’t take much longer before Luna’s actual disposition is laid bare for everyone to see.’

“Wow! I actually received personal instruction from the Hero!”

Chelsea’s face was flushed with excitement, her heart clearly still racing from the experience.

“Hmph! To feel genuine joy from Arion-nim’s guidance. Even though you specialize in magic, you certainly have good taste, Chelsea. Tell me, who is your ultimate favorite among the Great Heroes?”

“Kyle-nim, the Hero of Beginnings. Next time, I definitely need to ask Arion-nim all about Kyle-nim!”

Hearing Chelsea’s response, Ar pouted with a disappointed expression.

“Setting that aside, it’s quite a revelation to learn that Lady Luna possessed such a chaotic personality.”

“Indeed, considering the source is the Great Hero himself… it implies her temperament is just as bizarre and unpredictable as Lunia’s, doesn’t it?”

Kyle stroked his chin thoughtfully at Chelsea’s remark.

As he did so, he kept a cautious eye out for any sudden retaliation from Lunia, but she remained completely paralyzed by the shock of the truth.

Back when they were in Dwenno’s realm, they hadn’t dared to pry too deeply into the details regarding the Great Hero, worried it might disrupt their tactical approach.

‘I had clung to my own idealized perceptions, but they were utterly shattered today.’

While Leo clicked his tongue at the realization.

Dryana turned her attention toward Eiran.

“By the way, Eiran, you don’t seem all that disturbed by this.”

“Me? About what exactly?”

“The fact that Lady Luna’s character mirrors Lunia’s so closely.”

“Miss Lunia may have a short fuse at times, but she remains an incredibly noble and righteous elf, does she not?”

Eiran offered a warm, bright smile.

“Furthermore, Arion-nim mentioned it, didn’t he? That Lady Luna possessed an endless curiosity and an absolute devotion to the mystic arts. I can picture perfectly what sort of individual she was. She must have been a self-assured, constantly dignified… truly magnificent person.”

Lunia’s ears perked up instantly at Eiran’s flattering words.

“Exactly, at the very least, if she shared a temperament like mine, she must have thoroughly thrashed every single villain in her path. Yes, that makes sense.”

Lunia began to reframe the situation positively, and her dark mood started to lift.

Observing this transition, Leo found himself remembering the actual Luna, who would become insufferably arrogant whenever she was showered with praise, yet would fall into deep despair whenever things went awry.

Revisiting those memories of the past, Leo spoke up.

“Go on ahead without me. I will catch up with you shortly.”

Watching Leo step aside into the dense foliage, Eiran walked over to him.

“Would you like me to accompany you?”

“If you come along, it will make things a bit awkward for me, you know?”

“Eh? What do you mean by… Gasps! I-I’m so sorry!”

Eiran, who had looked utterly bewildered at first, flushed a deep crimson and scrambled backward in embarrassment.

Left to overthink the implicit meaning of his answer by herself, Eiran let out a flustered sigh and buried her face in her hands.

Once Leo was concealed deep within the greenery, the dragon N, who had taken on an identical likeness to Leo, bowed respectfully from a tree branch above.

“Welcome back, Leo-nim.”

“I am leaving things in your hands.”

“Consider it done.”

N, perfectly mimicking Leo’s identity, stepped out from the bushes to rejoin the group.

“Oh? That was incredibly quick, wasn’t it?”

“I just thought I spotted something unusual for a brief second.”

When Kyle questioned him with a skeptical look, N, perfectly maintaining Leo’s persona, simply shrugged and gave an easy reply.

Having successfully left N to handle his duties as a decoy, Leo slipped away and immediately made his way back to Arion.

Arion was already staring up at the darkening sky, where twilight had faded and a sea of stars now shimmered. — He truly possessed a deep love for the night sky.

Kirian, who had materialized beside them, crossed his arms and muttered under his breath.

“Fascinating. He never seems to grow weary of staring at it.”

Piora, currently maintaining her human appearance, loudly crunched on a piece of candy, looking equally perplexed.

— You’re going to end up looking like a pig again if you keep indulging like that, you know?

Kirian poked fun at her, but Piora paid his teasing no mind whatsoever.

— None of you could possibly comprehend it.

At that moment, Elsi chimed in.

— For an individual who drew their first breath during the Age of Calamity, the sheer grandeur of a peaceful night sky like this is… utterly beyond words.

Elsi offered a gentle, serene smile.

Leo walked closer to Arion and raised a question.

“Did you suffer from a bad dream or something? Why did you suddenly shift into your beast form just a little while ago?”

“I honestly have no idea. I thought I caught a peculiar scent in the air. Did anything noteworthy occur while I was asleep?”

“There was a minor tremor, actually.”

“Ah, could that have been the cause?”

Arion murmured, tilting his head in contemplation.

“That young girl, Chelsea. She reminded me quite a bit of the smaller youths from the orphanage.”

“Chelsea definitely retains a lot of her innocence.”

Despite being only a year apart in age from the others, her demeanor was far more pure than that of her peers.

Even so, she was entirely capable of being fierce and resolute when the situation demanded it.

“So? Did seeing her make you realize all over again that your sacrifice to protect this world was truly worthwhile?”

“Yes. It made me understand that my deepest wish has actually been fulfilled.”

Arion offered a radiant smile.

Though Chelsea herself remained entirely unaware of it, the simple words of gratitude she had offered had provided Arion with profound salvation.

“Because of that, I want to seek it out now.”

Having traveled into the distant future and witnessed the reality he had always longed for, Arion discovered a brand-new purpose.

“Kyle, remember what you mentioned you wanted to achieve on my behalf.”

“Right.”

“Exactly how much time do I have remaining?”

“……”

Leo fell completely silent when faced with Arion’s inquiry.

‘When Luna transitioned out of the Hero’s World and into this current era, her time was strictly limited.’

Yet, unlike Luna, Arion had managed to exist in this timeline for a significantly longer duration.

The explanation for this discrepancy was straightforward.

‘Luna had expended a massive quantity of her magical reserves to overcome Zerdiac and Silatuna.’

As a direct consequence of that exertion, the drain on the divine essence that formed the very foundation of Luna’s physical vessel was immense.

In contrast, Arion had barely tapped into his aura since arriving.

For that reason, the decay of his divine essence was progressing at a remarkably slow pace.

‘However, the moment he engages in actual battle even a single time… Arion will vanish as well.’

“Treasures this tranquility for as long as you possibly can.”

“I intend to.”

Arion smiled warmly, nodding his head in agreement.

“Ah! There is actually something specific I wish to do.”

Arion pushed himself up from the ground, a bright smile lighting up his features.

“You mentioned that Shilrod is still among the living, correct? I want to go see Shilrod!”

“That sounds like an excellent plan. Shilrod will undoubtedly be overjoyed to see you.”

Securing passage to Fairy Land by utilizing Melina’s magic proved to be a simple matter.

— Welcome, Leo Flobe-nim. The Sovereign is currently expecting your arrival.

Though it was a secluded domain of fairies where outsiders were forbidden from easily treading, both Leo and Arion were greeted with immense reverence.

Following the guidance of the fairy escort, Leo made his way toward the grand estate of the Fairy King.

— It is quite a pity that Kirian was unable to join us. After all, this is his birthplace.

Elsi, resting comfortably upon Leo’s shoulder, spoke softly.

“There’s nothing to be done about it. He is an outcast, after all.”

Kirian had been quite despondent over the reality that he was barred from returning to his ancestral home.

“It is simply retribution for his actions.”

— Goodness! Miss Piora! Look at you using such sophisticated vocabulary now!

“Hmph!”

Piora, who was walking closely by Leo’s side, placed her hands proudly on her hips and puffed out her chest.

Before long, they stepped inside the Fairy King’s private quarters, where Shilrod sat entirely alone.

— Can it truly be… is that really you, Arion?

“Have you been doing well? I see you are still just as much of a crybaby as ever.”

— And you, Arion, remain the same old faint of heart.

Shilrod, hovering directly in front of Arion’s face, quickly brushed away his tears.

Arion, who had been offering a gentle, affectionate smile to Shilrod, suddenly froze, a look of profound confusion washing over his face.

“Is something the matter?”

As Leo cast a perplexed glance toward him, Arion spoke up.

“No, it’s just… Shilrod carries a highly unusual scent.”

Shilrod noted Arion’s slight frown and offered an explanation.

— Ah. That is highly likely due to a specific presence.

“A presence?”

— Yes.

Shilrod gave a solemn, heavy nod.

— A remnant of Erebus.