Chapter 469

Leo took a gentle breath, casting his gaze upward at the quintet of figures hovering in the air above him.

“Are you members of the Justice Guild?”

Hearing Leo’s inquiry, the spellcaster who appeared to lead the group shifted his fingers around his staff.

“I am called Setian, the Royal Court Mage serving the illustrious Kingdom of Fetiman. I am a sorcerer who executes justice under the explicit orders of the King.”

“For a court magician from a minor border kingdom, your capabilities are quite remarkable.”

“I have no idea what you are implying.”

“Well, does it truly matter?”

Faced with Setian’s calculated cluelessness, Leo unsheathed his blade.

Shring-!

“I will simply capture you and wring the answers out through an interrogation.”

The moment those words left his mouth, a massive man positioned beside Setian unclasped a gigantic battle-axe from his back. Gripping it tightly with both hands, he dove straight toward Leo.

“Hryaah!”

Accompanied by a savage battle cry, a crimson aura coalesced along the edge of the heavy axe.

Observing the assault, Lil downed the remaining wine in her fist, draining the vessel completely before carelessly tossing the glass container away.

Clang-!

Right as the bottle shattered against the ground, a massive war hammer materialized in Lil’s grasp and ripped through the atmosphere.

Whoosh-!

Thwack-!

“Oh? I was under the impression that the third-year representative of Lumern did not belong to a martial knight class.”

“That is correct. I am a spirit user.”

“Hmph—and despite that, you dare to challenge me, a trained knight, in a test of physical strength?”

“I happen to be reasonably capable in close-quarters combat as well.”

“Arrogant child!”

The warrior, who towered roughly three heads over Lil, channeled an even more intense aura through his weapon.

The sheer pressure caused the surrounding space to warp.

Lil’s posture wavered, and unable to fully withstand the brute force unleashed by the man, she was sent flying backward.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gang-!

A dense cloud of debris and dust billowed from the spot where Lil crashed.

“Youth truly breeds foolish confidence! A spirit user believing they can stand against a knight! Utterly preposterous!”

He roared with laughter, turning a smug grin toward Leo.

“Now then, shall we test the capabilities of the renowned Leo Flov?”

Noticing the competitive fire burning in his opponent, Leo simply gestured with his finger toward the empty air behind the knight.

“It appears you are in no position to be focusing your attention on me.”

“What?”

Boom! Whoosh-!

The knight, who had just been exuding such confidence, was instantaneously swallowed by a massive detonation.

It was the very blaze that had drifted around Leo and Lil just moments prior.

Lil had been maintaining tight control over the flames using her elemental magic, but she had just intentionally severed that connection.

Whoosh-!

Leo swatted away the stray embers clinging to his clothes and offered a mild complaint.

“That was a bit excessive.”

“I was confident that a small flare like that wouldn’t cause Leo any real harm.”

Lil strolled back into view with a perfectly calm expression, resting her heavy war hammer casually over her shoulder.

Even though Leo had been caught right in the middle of her explosive counterstrike, she displayed zero remorse.

‘To be fair, fire-based magic rarely does anything to me.’

Regardless of the circumstances, Leo was accustomed to handling Zeldringer’s searing flame aura, and he held a formal pact with a phoenix.

Nonetheless, seeing Lil execute a counterattack with such zero hesitation proved that she was far from a normal student.

‘Is her natural intuition for battle genuinely that spectacular?’

Leo had long recognized Lil’s profound talents, but he had never actually watched her operate within the confines of a lethal, unrestricted conflict.

As Leo observed Lil with newfound appreciation, a voice interrupted them.

“How fascinating.”

The heavy knight who had taken the blast rose back to his feet, letting out a wild, appreciative chuckle.

“You may be nothing more than a young lady, but you possess the spirit of a true combatant!”

The axe-wielding warrior grinned broadly, tossing the weapon back over his shoulder.

“I am Zoren! A proud member of the Royal Knights of the Kingdom of Fetiman! I have journeyed to this place to bring about justice under the mandate of His Majesty!”

Bellowing at the top of his lungs, he lifted his battle-axe and began twirling it at high velocity.

Whoom-whoom-whoom-whoom-!

“May this clash be a magnificent saga that sets my soul ablaze!”

Kwoaaah-!

The swirling crimson aura manifested into a monstrous gale.

It was a localized catastrophe born purely from raw, unadulterated physical power.

Lil’s eyelids twitched slightly as she observed the escalating tempest.

She immediately invoked a wind spirit to buffet and neutralize the vortex Zoren was generating.

Thanks to her intervention, the retreating forces of Kanel, who were on the verge of being ripped apart by the localized typhoon, felt an immense wave of relief.

“Viscount Essimen.”

Lil addressed the nearby commander, her tone dropping into a serious register.

“Yes.”

Essimen swallowed hard, his throat dry.

He had survived countless military campaigns since his youth.

He was entirely familiar with auras, sorcery, and mystical summons running rampant across a field of war.

Because of that experience, he had seen firsthand how a lone, extraordinarily powerful entity could completely rewrite the outcome of a massive engagement.

Yet, even with his history, he had never stood in the direct presence of a clash between individuals who had reached transcendent heights.

Looking at the display before him, a realization gripped him instinctively.

‘This is a conflict that exists entirely beyond the realm of normal mortals.’

The moment the Justice Guild threw its weight into the dispute between Kanel and Fetiman, the equilibrium of the entire war had broken completely.

The territory of Kanel had been utterly devastated by these entities of overwhelming might.

‘If my men and I get trapped in the crossfire of this specific battle… the casualties we suffer will dwarf anything we have faced so far…!’

“Please order your troops to pull back immediately. Leo and I will assume control of this engagement.”

“Understood.”

Viscount Essimen wasted no time, efficiently directing his platoons away from the flashpoint.

Watching the orderly withdrawal, Lil felt a quiet sense of relief.

‘It is incredibly fortunate that Viscount Essimen possesses genuine tactical competence.’

Having grown up surrounded by strategic minds within a highly respected military household, Lil could recognize an effective leader after only a brief period of observation.

Zoren released a mocking snort as he watched the structured retreat of the enemy forces.

“Are you abandoning the field of combat? Your people clearly possess no understanding of martial honor.”

“You are the one entirely devoid of honor.”

Lil’s voice icy.

Only a moment earlier, Zoren had actively attempted to obliterate the surrounding foot soldiers.

Having analyzed numerous battlegrounds herself, Lil immediately understood exactly why the knight was intent on slaughtering the ordinary troops.

It was not a calculated tactical maneuver designed to secure an advantage for future maneuvers.

It was driven entirely by raw vanity.

A mindless slaughter meant to force the masses to cower in terror and revere his strength.

Lil had crossed paths with this specific archetype of warrior multiple times throughout her life.

And without exception, she loathed and despised this breed of person above all others.

Hearing Lil’s condemnation, Zoren simply gave a knowing nod, as if reflecting on a distant memory.

“Ah, the pristine, untainted morality of an academic student. How nostalgic. There was a time when I viewed the world through that exact lens.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I too was once a pupil at Lumern.”

“Someone like you?”

Lil openly displayed her utter disgust and skepticism.

Amused by her visible revulsion, Zoren’s lips curled into a distorted smirk.

“Indeed. I never managed to walk at graduation; I was thrown out during my fifth year. I am sure you are familiar with him? Professor Harlind. That man was the one who signed my expulsion.”

Zoren leveled the head of his battle-axe directly at Lil.

“Your name is Lil Luce, if I recall correctly? As the representative of the student body, you must comprehend that a hero is a fundamentally elevated creature. An individual who triumphs over severe tribulations and performs monumental feats to execute global righteousness—thereby earning the favor of the divine—is a hero. In the most literal sense, an instrument of God.”

“And what does an arbitrary slaughter have to do with divine selection?”

“Are you familiar with the principle of karma?”

“Karma?”

Lil’s eyebrows knit together in confusion.

Standing nearby, Leo caught the phrase, and his expression hardened.

“Karma? Are you referring to the accumulation of one’s deeds? How did someone like you learn of that concept?”

“Oh ho, as one would expect from the most youthful student council president in history. You recognize a philosophy that is virtually restricted to ancient, forgotten archives.”

Karma.

That was a principle dating back before the onset of the Age of Calamity.

It was a framework explicitly utilized by divine entities during the distant Age of Gods.

A spiritual ledger that grows heavier with every single spark of life that is snuffed out.

‘Did it not state in the records that the individuals designated as heroes during the Age of Gods accumulated unfathomable amounts of karma?’

Leo dredged up the historical insights shared by Lysinus.

‘Certain deities used to harbor completely deranged perspectives, claiming that the slaughter of one’s fellow mortals was a magnificent achievement. Because of that, numerous gods showered military conquerors with absurd amounts of adulation.’

Lysinus had made no effort to conceal his absolute contempt for that era.

‘In this current epoch where the divine presence has vanished from the world, those figures are looked back upon as bastions of absolute righteousness. But the historical truth is far darker.’

Leo let out a quiet mental sigh.

There were undeniably benevolent deities.

Pivua, whom he had encountered within the domain of Luna’s world, was a true protector who genuinely loved and watched over creation.

However, divinity did not automatically equate to absolute moral purity.

‘In fact, there were plenty of celestial beings whose fundamental nature bordered entirely on absolute chaos.’

Sovereign entities tasked with overseeing the mortal realm.

Deathless, all-powerful constructs.

That was the true reality of a deity.

Among the gods who existed throughout incomprehensible eons of eternity while governing the cosmos, an immense number became pure thrill-seekers, constantly hunting for more extreme forms of amusement.

And when an immortal’s thirst for novelty deepens past a certain point, it warps into deeply disturbing expressions.

Consequently, the Age of Gods produced both noble champions—such as the Guardian of the Blue Sky, who served as Arion’s personal mentor—and twisted monsters driven entirely by selfish impulses who bore the title of hero in name alone.

Leo himself had personally executed and interred several such individuals during the height of the Age of Calamity.

‘Because during our conflict, there was no objective metric for what defined a champion.’

Once the dust settled on the Age of Calamity.

The monumental sacrifices of the legendary figures were cataloged within the Hero Records and transmitted down through consecutive generations, causing the societal definition of a hero to evolve into someone entirely selfless, dedicated to preserving the mortal world.

And yet…

‘The individuals who were chosen by those ancient gods remain enshrined within those very Hero Records.’

Leo was well aware that depraved champions mirroring the monsters of the Age of Gods still walked the earth.

They simply operated from the shadows because their true natures ran completely counter to the righteous ideals of the modern era.

Connecting the dots of Zoren’s speech, Leo arrived at a stark realization.

‘These individuals are precisely that specific breed of hero.’

“Karma… I still fail to see the connection,” Lil muttered, her brow remaining deeply furrowed.

Seeing her confusion, Leo clarified the matter in plain terms.

“Look at it simply. From the vantage point of the deities, they can track precisely how many souls an individual has extinguished. The tally of slaughters recorded under the gaze of the divine is what they refer to as karma.”

“Remarkable. To think a child would be privy to such esoteric knowledge.”

Setian, who had been maintaining his stance opposite Leo, offered a look of genuine appreciation.

“You certainly live up to the reputation of someone who attained the status of a hero at such a tender age, Leo Flov. Tell me, did you perhaps receive direct celestial revelations as well?”

Setian probed, his eyes gleaming with an intense, curious light.

Observing Setian’s fanatic demeanor, Leo let out a dry, mirthless chuckle.

‘Now I see. I completely understand the true nature of these Justice Guild zealots.’

The puzzle pieces fell perfectly into place.

Even as they stood on the precipice of a lethal clash, he could detect absolutely no genuine malice or raw bloodlust radiating from the humans blocking his path.

‘When these individuals claim they are acting to enforce justice, they are speaking with absolute sincerity. Even while executing a slaughter, they experience no hesitation, no emotional turbulence, and not a single shred of remorse. Even the most unhinged mass murderer typically exhibits some form of emotional payoff, such as sadism, when taking a life.’

Yet these figures exhibited a complete void of such feelings.

‘What emanates from these degenerates is nothing but pure, unshakeable conviction.’

Leo could only laugh at the absurdity of it.

It was a conviction that was fundamentally, horrifyingly warped.

He had witnessed a comparable phenomenon once before among the elven tribes.

An unthinking, absolute devotion toward Luna.

An overwhelming racial superiority.

However, the inner mechanics of the Justice Guild were far more explicit and unmasked.

The phrase “celestial revelations” confirmed his suspicions entirely.

They were an organization that had no business existing in the modern era.

‘They are a fanatical religious order. And not just a conventional faith, but a deeply deeply unhinged cult.’

Leo shook his head, a cold smile forming on his lips.

“Do you genuinely perceive cold-blooded slaughter as an expression of divine intent?”

“It is not merely an expression of God’s intent. It is a necessary crucible designed to forge us into true instruments of the divine,” Setian countered smoothly.

“The common masses are merely ‘experience points’ required to expand our vessels so that we may ascend as true heroes.”

“Deranged…”

“They are nothing but absolute bastards.”

Before Leo could fully voice his own string of curses, his gaze drifted involuntarily toward his companion.

Lil stood with her head dropped low, her frame visibly shaking with a quiet fury.

“What exactly do you view human lives as? You absolute garbage.”

Whoooosh-!

A terrifying, turbulent wave of spiritual energy erupted violently from Lil’s physical form.

Flash-!

Lil snapped her head upward, her eyes burning with an intense, incandescent light.

“You psychotic, unhinged monsters! I am going to tear every single one of your heads from your shoulders!”

Listening to Lil scream in unbridled rage and hurl raw, unrefined profanities—a complete departure from her normally composed, aristocratic demeanor—Leo clicked his tongue in genuine shock.

‘The quiet ones truly are terrifying when they finally snap.’

For a brief instant, even Leo found himself instinctively tensing up.

However, now that the true identity and philosophy of the Justice Guild had been laid bare before him.

There was absolutely no reason to hold back.

Whoooosh-

An icy, suffocating aura of lethal intent bled from Leo’s eyes.

Feeling the sudden shift in the atmosphere, Setian and the remaining members of the Justice Guild felt an involuntary shiver run down their spines.

“None of you will ever become heroes.”

“Ignorant child! Are you suggesting you intend to stand in defiance of the divine path?”

“The divine path?”

Leo’s lips parted into a freezing, ruthless grin.

“Have any of you ever actually looked a god in the eye?”

“What?”

“I happen to possess a fair amount of personal experience regarding these ‘deities’ you speak of. And if they were to look down at this exact gathering, do you know what they would say to creatures like you?”

Every trace of emotion instantly drained from Leo’s face, leaving behind a void of absolute coldness.

“You are entirely unworthy of the air you consume, so draw your blades and slit your own throats.”