Chapter 524

Chapter 524

Crash-! Boom-! Rumble-clatter-clatter-boom-!

Leo and Azonia locked fingers, matching one another in a brutal clash of raw power.

The shockwave from their collision instantly obliterated everything in the vicinity, turning the landscape into barren soot.

Leo clicked his tongue softly, observing the radiant smirk splitting Azonia’s face.

“Do you find this entertaining?”

His inquiry met with total silence.

The adversary standing before him was merely a facsimile, a puppet manifested through the power of the Hero Record.

Stripped of actual consciousness, she functioned as nothing more than a mechanical combatant.

Even so, the replica perfectly mirrored the inherent traits and temperaments of both Damian and Azonia.

In stark contrast to Damian’s grim, solemn demeanor, Azonia maintained a fierce, bloodthirsty smile from the moment her clash with Leo commenced.

‘She truly lived for the thrill of battle, didn’t she?’

Azonia had earned the prestigious mantle of Great Warrior long before she ever claimed her title as a Hero of Genesis.

To be precise, it represented the pinnacle of authority among the beastfolk, a lineage of supremacy older than the Age of Calamity itself.

Born with an innate, volatile lust for conflict, the beastfolk possessed an unyielding drive to challenge anyone who claimed greater strength.

Because of this trait, the undisputed champion of their race was determined through a sacred competition known as the Warrior’s Festival.

The grand event gathered every formidable fighter of beastfolk blood into a single arena.

The lone survivor of this brutal gauntlet would ascend as the Great Warrior, commanding the entirety of the beastfolk tribes.

Though the tradition had faded into obscurity during the dark times of the Age of Calamity, it found new life with the dawn of the Age of Heroes.

‘Back during the Age of Calamity, the tribes desperately sought to crown Arion as the Great Warrior.’

Leo recalled the history of the beastfolk who had frantically tried to thrust the title upon Arion.

Naturally, a terrified Arion had flatly rejected the honor.

Accepting the crown of the Great Warrior meant enduring an endless barrage of challenges from ambitious fighters, with no honorable exit save for total defeat.

Furthermore, intentionally throwing a match to escape the burden was strictly forbidden.

Considering Arion’s terrifying strength, the notion of him actually losing to a challenger was completely absurd from the start.

It was essentially a sentence to a lifetime of unending warfare.

Given Arion’s inherently anxious nature, the prospect of being relentlessly hounded by bloodthirsty beastfolk combatants for the rest of his days was his ultimate nightmare.

Still deadlocked with Azonia, Leo abruptly dropped his center of gravity.

Caught off guard by the sudden shift in balance, Azonia stumbled forward.

Seizing the opening, Leo drove his shoulder violently into her midsection.

Smack-!

Absorbing the tremendous force of the blow, Azonia let out a muffled gasp as her body was flipped through the air, skidding across the dirt.

Thud-!

Yet, pressing a single hand to the earth, she instantly corrected her posture and sprang back into the offensive.

Whoosh-!

Leo’s expression turned grim as he watched her bridge the gap between them with terrifying velocity.

‘Her physical strength matches my own, but she clearly holds the advantage in pure speed.’

A sharp grin tugged at the corners of Leo’s mouth.

The grim twilight of the Age of Calamity eventually gave way to the dawn of the Age of Heroes.

With that transition, the Warrior’s Festival was resurrected, allowing the legacy of the Great Warrior to endure for millennia.

Every beastfolk champion who managed to claim that supreme title eventually earned renown as a true Hero.

However, following Azonia’s reign, the sacred tournament ceased to exist entirely.

Thus, she went down in history as the Last Great Warrior.

The reason behind her status as the final champion was remarkably straightforward.

‘She systematically slaughtered every single Great Warrior preserved within the memories of the Hero Record, didn’t she?’

By crushing every historical champion who came before her, Azonia established herself as the ultimate, definitive Great Warrior.

Her martial might was so utterly absolute that she effectively absorbed the legacies of her predecessors, ensuring the title of Great Warrior belonged solely to her.

“Let us test your mettle, then.”

Wham-!

Leo raised a hand, deflecting a brutal knee strike from Azonia that was aimed directly at his head.

“Let’s see if you truly deserve to be called the successor of Arion.”

Shoving her backward to create space, Leo drew his blade.

“Hah.”

He exhaled a long, measured breath.

Arion’s Breath.

Observing his stance, Azonia similarly drew a deep, resonant breath.

Rumble-!

The tightly coiled muscles across her frame expanded and hardened further.

Breath of the Valiant.

Just as Seirun had modified celestial sorcery so that elves could wield it.

Azonia had adapted Arion’s Breath to perfectly suit the unique physiology of the beastfolk.

Vroo-ooo-oo-oom-!

A terrifying mixture of aura and spiritual energy flooded into Azonia’s form.

‘Could it be… Spirit Integration?’

Leo’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at the spectacle.

This was entirely distinct from Spirit Armored, which merely coated the user’s flesh in elemental energy through advanced spellcasting.

This was the literal state of becoming one with an elemental entity, adapting its fundamental traits and mystical properties as if they were an extension of one’s own body.

It was a devastating technique that remained beyond the reach of both Leo and Licinas.

‘The baseline power of her bound spirit isn’t particularly massive, but its destructive output scales exponentially when combined with Azonia’s personal aura.’

For someone of Azonia’s caliber, the spirit’s essence functioned seamlessly with her physical form.

Consequently, the resulting surge in combat capability defied imagination.

Vroo-ooo-oo-oom-!

“Impressed.”

Leo uttered a quiet compliment, watching her wield Arion’s legacy in her own distinct fashion.

The distinctive aura of Arion began to radiate from Leo’s body as he lowered his blade.

Boom-!

Azonia lunged forward, throwing a heavy fist straight at Leo’s face.

Refusing to back down, Leo charged directly into her path to meet the assault.

Crack-crackle-boom-crash-!

The protective barrier erected by Mel began to warp and vibrate violently under the sheer pressure of their clashing energies.

Leo glanced back briefly.

In that moment, Azonia’s physical form began to flicker unsteadily, mimicking the exact phenomenon that had just occurred with Damian.

‘Since this functions as a trial, is it going to rotate through every single Hero of Genesis?’

Leo narrowed his eyelids, shifting his attention toward Mel.

Mel was visibly straining, her teeth clenched tight.

Unlike Leo, who could focus entirely on worsting the simulated Hero of Genesis, Mel bore the immense burden of containing the catastrophic shockwaves produced by both combatants.

Leo tightened his fingers around the hilt of his weapon.

‘I cannot allow this anomaly to wreck havoc out here any longer.’

Leo turned his gaze toward the gaping entrance of the Hero Dungeon.

‘If that thing emerged from the depths of that place.’

Leo sunk into a low, aggressive stance.

‘Then my best option is to force it back inside.’

Wham-! Crash-!

Leo’s figure blurred, tearing forward like a bolt of lightning.

Simultaneously, he brought his sword down in a ferocious arc against the puppet, which had now shifted its appearance to resemble Lumerin.

Clang-! Screeech-!

Locking blades with Lumerin, Leo exerted tremendous leverage, forcing the duplicate backward.

“Lord Leo!”

Mel’s frantic shout echoed through the chaotic air.

“I am going to strike at the root of this madness!”

Shouting his intent over the din, Leo drove the Lumerin-shaped doll directly into the glowing threshold of the Hero Dungeon.

Whoosh-!

The entrance of the Hero Dungeon flared with blinding radiance, instantly swallowing both Leo and Lumerin into its depths.

The moment they crossed the threshold into the Hero Dungeon, the environment transformed completely.

Leo instantly surveyed the new terrain.

The vast chamber was constructed entirely from towering slabs of ancient marble.

It felt like a massive, open-air colosseum.

Leo immediately deduced that the architectural design belonged to an era long gone.

‘The structure mirrors a sanctuary from the Age of Gods.’

The instant he verified the nature of his surroundings, Leo felt entirely certain that the duplicate before him was animated by genuine divine energy.

Leo leveled the tip of his sword toward the fake Lumerin.

In that exact instant.

Swish-

“……?”

Lumerin raised his own blade, mirroring Leo’s offensive posture with absolute precision.

Leo’s eyes narrowed at the display.

“Does this one merely copy its opponent’s stance, unlike the autonomous natures of Damian and Azonia?”

Slightly bewildered, Leo shifted into a deeper stance.

True to form, Lumerin instantly matched the movement like a perfect reflection in a mirror.

Leo clicked his tongue in mild disappointment.

‘I had hoped to glean insight into what kind of warrior Lumerin truly was.’

Even knowing it was an artificial construct, Leo possessed a natural curiosity regarding Lumerin’s legacy.

Rhodia possessed Licinas.

Seirun claimed Luna.

If Azonia and Damian stood as the true heirs to Arion and Dweno, then Lumerin was undeniably the successor to his own path.

‘He undoubtedly conquered my personal Hero’s World.’

Leo had never crossed paths with Lumerin in life.

Yet, he harbored no doubts that Lumerin was his legitimate successor.

Lumerin held no bloodline or personal ties to Leo.

However, the mere fact that the man had steeled himself to walk the arduous path of a Hero of Genesis was more than enough.

‘I wished to witness exactly which facets of my arsenal he claimed, and how he chose to adapt them.’

Rhodia and Seirun, whom he had interacted with personally, were profoundly impressive individuals.

Damian and Azonia, whose echoes he had just battled, proved equally magnificent.

For that very reason, his curiosity regarding Lumerin’s true capability ran deep.

‘And yet, I am reduced to trading blows with a literal mirror image.’

With his excitement noticeably dampened, Leo surged toward Lumerin.

Lumerin lunged forward at the exact same moment.

Clang-!

Their swords struck one another with a high-pitched ring.

Leo applied downward pressure with his blade while simultaneously weaving a spell.

Whoosh-

Incandescent fire magic condensed rapidly within his palm.

Right then.

Splash-!

Lumerin counteracted the strike by manifesting water sorcery.

‘This is far more complex than a simple physical reflection.’

Just as the realization registered on Leo’s face.

Screeech-!

A fierce maelstrom of water enveloped Leo entirely.

This was no ordinary whirlpool.

Razor-sharp currents of condensed water rotated violently within every layer of the vortex.

Whoosh! Boom-!

Leo unleashed his condensed flames outward, forcibly shattering the watery prison from within.

Swoosh-!

Scorching droplets rained down across the chamber, instantly cloaking the arena in a dense, blinding layer of steam.

Leo reset his grip on his weapon.

‘This entity… interesting.’

Leo sprinted through the fog toward Lumerin.

Anticipating the approach, Lumerin transitioned into a defensive guard.

Clang! Sparks flew wildly as their weapons ground against one another.

Leo slithered his blade along Lumerin’s steel, neatly parrying the incoming pressure.

Instead of retreating, Lumerin lunged directly into Leo’s guard.

Thud-!

Discarding his primary weapon, he slipped a hidden dagger from his tunic.

Leo reacted instantly, using a swift kick to deflect Lumerin’s incoming wrist.

Leveraging the momentum of the deflection to create space, Lumerin smoothly accessed a pocket of subspace, drawing a long spear to seize the reach advantage.

Thud-!

Landing firmly back on the marble floor, Leo lifted his gaze.

He observed Lumerin with intense focus, noting the dense battle aura radiating from the construct.

Within that fighting posture, a familiar silhouette seemed to manifest.

He had originally dismissed the entity as a basic copycat.

But he had been mistaken.

‘This puppet isn’t mimicking my current actions like a mirror. It is demonstrating the exact combat style of Lumerin.’

Furthermore, Lumerin had dedicated himself to perfectly emulating Kyle.

The specific cadence of his breathing.

His fundamental martial techniques.

The fluid methodology of cycling through various weapons to perfectly counter whatever the enemy wielded.

Even his tactical integration of magic.

‘At their core, they are fundamentally distinct. The foundational experiences they built upon are completely different. And yet…’

Leo could discern that Lumerin had desperately strained to reshape himself into a literal copy of Kyle.

‘To what end?’

Leo’s brow furrowed in deep confusion.

Attempting to become a carbon copy of another warrior never resulted in genuine strength.

When all was said and done, Leo and Lumerin possessed entirely different foundations.

Leo operated as an All-Class.

Lumerin was fundamentally a Magic Swordsman.

Their ultimate destinations should have been entirely separate.

Despite this, Lumerin chose to copy every single aspect of Kyle’s identity, reducing himself to a mere shadow.

‘Adopting such a style would only serve to stifle his own latent gifts. There is no way a warrior of his caliber failed to realize that.’

Neither Rhodia, Seirun, Azonia, nor Damian had fallen into that trap.

None of those Heroes of Genesis had blindly parroted the styles of Licinas, Seirun, Arion, or Dweno.

All four individuals had taken those foundational teachings and elevated them into something uniquely their own.

As Leo remained lost in his contemplation.

Swoosh-!

Lumerin’s physical form grew transparent before vanishing into thin air.

To be precise, the artificial construct itself had dissolved.

Leo’s eyes twitched slightly at the sudden disappearance.

Right at that moment.

Boom-boom-boom-!

A massive, sealed doorway situated at the far end of the hall began to grind open with a resonant thud.

The implication of the gesture was glaringly obvious.

‘Am I being invited inside?’

Leo advanced without a shred of hesitation.

‘What sort of domain is this? Is it truly the Hero’s World?’

He proceeded down the path, pondering the mystery.

‘If this is indeed the Hero’s World, what business does a deity have manifesting here?’

It was highly unlikely to be a god belonging to antiquity.

During his prior encounter with Pibua within Luna’s domain, Pibua had explicitly clarified that she was merely an artificial echo generated by the recording matrix.

She had also stated definitively that a mere illusion could never exert physical influence upon the material world.

‘Therefore, the divine presence waiting ahead must be the genuine article.’

Leo’s confusion deepened significantly.

‘How is it even possible for a deity to walk the mortal realm?’

Five millennia ago, during the chaotic heights of the Age of Calamity.

The gods were completely purged from the surface of the world.

To put it accurately, they lost the ability to sustain their existence on the mortal plane.

Erebos had shattered the celestial gateway linking the mortal realm to the divine world, ensuring their bitter rivals, the gods, could never set foot on the earth again.

In the wake of that destruction, any remaining deities were methodically tracked down by Erebos and forcefully banished from the world without exception.

Even long after Erebos faded from existence, the shattered gateway remained beyond repair, ushering the world into an era entirely devoid of divine entities.

Yet, a true god was presently residing on the surface?

Leo arrived at the absolute terminus of the grand hallway, his mind swirling with unanswered questions.

Waiting for him at the end of the passage was a simple gray door.

‘Gray… Licinas once mentioned that the gods harbored a particular distaste for that specific hue, didn’t she?’

Suppressing his doubts, Leo pushed the door open.

The sight that greeted him was an endless labyrinth of towering bookshelves.

However, just ahead of those massive structures, a specific figure immediately arrested Leo’s attention.

A young child of ambiguous gender, sporting pale gray hair and striking gray eyes, watched Leo’s approach with a deeply earnest expression.

The child’s features possessed an ethereal, flawless beauty.

With a single glance, Leo pierced straight through the youth’s disguise to discern their true nature.

“How is a deity capable of remaining on the mortal plane…?”

Before Leo could even articulate the entirety of his question, the god pressed their palms together, dropped to their knees, and bowed their head low to the floor.

The display mirrored a fanatical worshiper paying homage to their supreme lord.

Leo found himself temporarily struck dumb by the sudden, profoundly deferential display.

Quickly mastering his surprise, he attempted to demand an answer once more.

“How can a god be walking the earth…?”

“This lowly creature offers its humblest greetings to the magnificent and legendary Hero of Genesis.”

The deity spoke with absolute, trembling gravity.

Once again, Leo was left entirely speechless.

“Will you provide an answer to my inquiry? By what means do you exist upon the earth?”

Only when Leo pressed the matter for a third time did the deity finally lift their gaze to lock eyes with him.

Those wide, gray irises shimmered with an unsettling, crystal-clear intensity.

“The explanation for my presence on this soil is…”

The deity, who had been projecting an aura of solemn divine majesty just a second prior, suddenly let out a frantic shriek.

“Aaaagh! I can’t hold it back anymore! I absolutely cannot contain myself! How am I supposed to maintain composure when the supreme Hero of Genesis, Kyle, is standing directly in front of me!”

Thrashing as if seized by a sudden fit, the god threw themselves flat against the masonry and scrambled across the floor like a crazed insect, desperately grabbing hold of Leo’s boots.

Faced with such an unsettling and bizarre spectacle, even Leo, who routinely remained unbothered by the most horrific sights, felt a wave of genuine alarm wash over him.

“Ahhh, Hero of Genesis, Lord Kyle! My absolute Savior! To think you have miraculously returned to us after five thousand long years! This resurrection is nothing short of divine providence! Your unparalleled majesty is easily equal to a god… No! To even utter your name alongside vulgar, pathetic, incompetent trash like the gods is an absolute abomination! I deserve to be smitten! I deserve ruin! Please forgive me! Please forgive my insolence! I beg for your mercy!”

Deeming the mere comparison of himself and his fellow deities to Leo as an unforgivable transgression, the god repeatedly bashed his forehead against the stone floor.

“Kyle! Your supreme existence is undoubtedly on par with the Creator of all things! Please, I beg of you, grant this unworthy servant a shred of your divine favor! Allow me the ultimate privilege of kissing the very earth beneath your boots! Show me mercy!”

“……”

Leo was well aware that very few divine beings possessed any semblance of sanity.

He knew them to be largely self-indulgent, superficial creatures who chased nothing but fleeting amusement.

Regardless of their flaws, they were still eternal entities tasked with maintaining the fundamental balance of existence.

Leo felt a distinct chill run down his spine as he stared down at this immortal being, who was currently weeping and rubbing his face against his footwear.

What made the entire display truly horrifying was the fact that the god’s eyes remained perfectly clear and lucid throughout the entire episode.

That specific clarity only served to make the madness appear infinitely more profound.

‘What kind of clear-eyed lunatic am I dealing with here? No, this is a complete zealot.’