Chapter 579

Swoosh—!

The towering column of dark fire that had shot up into the clouds suddenly fractured, showering down from above like a torrential downpour.

“Aaaaaah!”

“Help!”

Cries of terror burst out from all corners of the stadium seating at this terrifying shift, as though the apocalypse had arrived.

Blink—!

Right then, a glowing shield materialized high above.

Sizzle—!

The dark embers slammed into the barrier and were stopped completely.

“Honored visitors who have traveled to Lumen, may I have your focus for a moment?”

A serene voice echoed from the middle of the arena just as that happened.

Elena, an enchanting young woman whose grace drew every eye, elegantly gathered the edges of her dress, dipped into a brief curtsy, and greeted the crowd.

“We have numerous trainee heroes and established champions gathered right here. Please calm your minds.”

Hearing Elena’s reassurance, the rising panic in the stands rapidly dissolved.

Though dread still lingered on the features of the audience, the threat of mass hysteria vanished.

A collective, nervous breath was drawn.

Right in the middle of this suspense…

Gleam—!

Slash—!

A brilliant ruby energy wave carved right through the column of dark fire.

The cutting force that cleaved the dark blaze rushed upward into the heavens, its power entirely unchecked.

The onlookers watching this breathtaking display stood open-mouthed in utter shock.

“Was that seriously a swing of a sword?”

“I knew certain warriors could manifest strikes that rivaled grand wizards… but that completely eclipsed standard sorcery, didn’t it?”

Every pair of eyes shifted to look for the person responsible for that magnificent blade energy.

Standing there was an attractive youth who seemed to have only recently outgrown his adolescence.

“Senior Hark! That was incredible!”

Lil shouted enthusiastically, waving her massive war hammer around.

“Are you truly enrolled in the Knight Department?”

“Are all the trainee warriors at Lumen actual beasts?”

The scholars from Azonia stared at Hark with wide, stunned eyes.

“Hmph, there’s no need to be so shocked, you guys. His magical attribute centers on ‘accumulation’.”

Dorbe advanced a couple of steps, squeezing and releasing his hands.

“Because of that talent, he’s able to discharge an absurd amount of blade force, regardless of his pretty looks.”

Naturally, even if a person possesses boundless internal energy, the maximum amount they can discharge in a single moment has its limits.

Furthermore, releasing such an immense surge simultaneously places a severe strain on the physical form.

Withstanding that toll required intense conditioning.

Resting his blade casually against his shoulder, Hark absorbed the undivided attention of the crowd.

A powerful aura of leadership radiated from him.

Even the younger students of Lumen, who were accustomed to seeing him either sleeping through class or yelping whenever Leo teased him, choked down their surprise at this entirely different version of Hark.

Right then, Elena walked up to Lil and murmured a few quiet words.

“What? N-no way, that’s mean!”

“It’s going to assist everyone significantly, right? Move quickly.”

“B-but even so…”

“Oh, really? Which one of us do you think you have to live with for the rest of your semesters?”

Faced with Elena’s pleasant grin masking a subtle warning, Lil put on a miserable expression and walked over to Hark.

“What do you want?”

When Hark questioned her with a touch of irritation, Lil squeezed her eyelids shut, called forth a water elemental, and threw a wave of liquid directly at him.

Splat—! Sizzle—!

The instant the moisture contacted Hark’s skin, it vaporized into white mist.

Soaked from head to toe out of nowhere, Hark reached out and snagged Lil by her shirt.

“Oh? Just because my graduation is near, you think you can disrespect your upperclassman?”

“Yikes! It wasn’t my idea! Senior Elena made me do it!”

‘Wouldn’t a normal person just say no, even if ordered?’

The onlookers observed the pair with completely baffled expressions, temporarily distracted from the peril around them.

“Come now, let’s keep our composure.”

Elena offered a lovely grin as she slipped in between the two of them.

“Your body required some temperature reduction regardless, didn’t it?”

“And that justifies drenching me?”

Hark glared at her with a terrifyingly dark look.

“Fine, let’s postpone Lil’s punishment for another time.”

“Why am I getting blamed for everything?!”

“Are you acting like your hands are completely clean here?”

Utterly disregarding the complaints of both her upperclassman and underclassman, Elena declared:

“Freshmen, assist in guiding the audience out of here.”

“Senior! We are capable of battling as well!”

“I appreciate your enthusiasm.”

Elena gave a slight smile at Ju-en’s interjection.

“In this scenario, inexperienced fighters will merely be a distraction. Try not to trip up your upperclassmen.”

Hearing Elena’s blunt statement, Ju-en recoiled slightly.

“Moving forward, Lumen will assemble a specialized squad to suppress this threat. Everyone whose name is announced, step out. Those who aren’t called must adhere to the faculty’s directions.”

Having delivered those instructions, Elena shifted her gaze toward the visiting institutions.

“I suggest your academies establish similar units.”

Prompted by her suggestion, the remaining institutions quickly set about organizing their own groups.

“On another note, where has Leo gone?”

“Right behind you.”

“…?”

Elena turned to look at Leo, who had suddenly materialized at her back, and cocked her head.

“Leo?”

“That’s me.”

“Hmm…”

Elena peered closely at him before a small grin broke out.

“Are you capable of directing our distance combatants from the backline?”

“Got it.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to put that fellow on the front line?”

“We aren’t the only combatants present right now.”

Elena gestured toward the professional champions who were striving to contain the disastrous blaze that was beginning to surge once more.

“I believe it serves us best to have Leo supervise the spellcasters and summoners for the time being.”

The crowd was fleeing in a frantic rush.

Amidst the fleeing masses, Leo remained stationary, conveying orders to Mellina.

‘Mellina. Command the dragons to search for any questionable characters inside Lumen. I am uncertain of the source, but nestled within that fire is a piece of the Creation Hero Record. Someone definitely smuggled it onto the academy grounds.’

‘Understood. Though, what purpose does this serve? If it truly involves the Creation Hero Record, it should be an asset required by Tartarus…’

The Creation Hero Record possessed the capacity to serve as a gateway for Erebus, who remained imprisoned within the realm of Creation, to break free.

Yet, causing it to detonate violently in the heart of Lumen seemed counterintuitive.

Just as he had done during the incident with Seirun, Leo possessed the means to seal that portal whenever he wished.

‘The Necrolord couldn’t possibly be oblivious to that fact. What sort of plot is he spinning here?’

Right as Leo’s gaze sharpened with suspicion.

“It is a misconception that every single Creation Hero Record functions as a portal.”

Leo spun around toward the voice.

He spotted Lian navigating smoothly through the fleeing throng.

The evacuees instinctively parted around Lian while completely failing to register her existence.

Cradling a broad, shallow container, Lian came to a stop in front of Leo.

Immediately, the surrounding crowd lost the ability to notice Leo as well.

Amidst the surrounding pandemonium, a pocket of absolute silence enveloped the space around Lian.

“The Hero Records represent artifacts forged from divine authority. They exist as the natural antithesis to foul abominations.”

Lian took a step nearer to Leo.

“When that monstrosity became confined within the realm of Creation, the parchment of the Hero Record started darkening, much like dark fluid seeping across the sheets.”

“So it suffered corruption.”

“Indeed.”

Lian gave an affirmative nod.

“We ripped the Hero Record apart prior to the corruption consuming every single page.”

Through that desperate act, an infinite number of chronicles were lost or dispersed throughout the lands.

“Meaning only the corrupted sheets possess the ability to act as a gateway?”

“Precisely. Even so, the residual sparks of that monstrosity can still leak out through the medium of the Hero Record. The event taking place right now is exactly that sort of manifestation.”

Lian’s expression turned somber.

“This is a malfunction stemming from the profound degradation of the core Record structure.”

“…Which means the Necrolord was fully aware of this flaw and engineered the crisis inside Lumen intentionally.”

“That is the most likely scenario. The fiend’s objective…”

“Since the item was functionally worthless to them, they decided to trigger its detonation during the Heroic Festival, hoping to wipe out the promising hero candidates caught in the blast radius.”

Leo ground his teeth together in anger.

“How do we fix it?”

“It requires you to venture into the Hero’s World and quench the leaked sparks that have crossed over.”

“Before attempting that, we must suppress the inferno currently manifesting out here.”

“Correct. To achieve that, I have a recommendation.”

“…?”

“Reveal yourself to the masses not under the identity of Leo Flobe, but as Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings.”

“Pardon?”

“The citizens of this realm have grown relatively familiar with the wondrous phenomenon of the Great Hero’s return, meaning it shouldn’t provoke excessive disruption.”

Lian remarked, shifting her gaze toward the column of dark fire.

“Naturally, a world cannot rely indefinitely upon the identity of the Great Hero. Titles are not immortal. I am aware that you are making arrangements for when that era concludes.”

Even when the moniker of the Great Hero eventually fades from memory, the titles of those who inherited his purpose will be transmitted to posterity.

And those titles, in due time, will also fade into obscurity.

Nonetheless, the inherited purpose itself is immortal.

Exactly as Leo—or rather, Kyle—had inherited it from Lisinas and the rest of his allies.

Just as Lisinas had previously inherited it from an anonymous predecessor.

“In an age stripped of divine entities, for a person like you—who accomplished deeds surpassing the achievements of divinity—to return to life is an astonishing phenomenon that even the heavens could never conceive.”

Lian beamed radiantly.

“I refuse to view this phenomenon as a mere fluke. Your return to this realm occurred because your presence is vital to its survival.”

Lian looked upon the terrified crowd.

“The populace is shivering with dread. The identity of Leo Flobe is currently inadequate to banish this terror.”

Lowering herself to one knee, Lian presented the container upward toward Leo like a sacred offering.

“Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings, must manifest before the public once again.”

“What exactly is this…?”

“Consider it my offering to you.”

Leo’s pupils dilated as he unfastened the container’s cover.

Nestled within lay a dark mantle.

An article of clothing deeply ingrained in Leo’s memories.

This was prior to Arion associating with them.

It recalled an endless succession of battles where he sustained injury after injury while shielding Lisinas and Luna on the vanguard.

Kyle paid the physical toll no mind, yet Lisinas and Luna appeared deeply pained by the state of his body.

On a particular afternoon, while tending to his lacerations, Lisinas presented him with the mantle.

“Accept this.”

“Why does it look so bleak and dark?”

“It happens to be a garment crafted by treating the skin of my true form.”

“Furthermore, I have woven protective enchantments into its fabric.”

Luna added, folding her arms.

“You manage to get harmed every single day. Lisinas and I collaborated on this so you would cease being a magnet for injuries.”

Luna clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“Your countenance is the sole acceptable feature you possess, so if it winds up marred, it would genuinely ruin our view, wouldn’t it?”

“Try not to develop feelings for me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. Your appearance doesn’t match my preferences whatsoever, understood? Like I remarked, your features are your only redeeming quality. Your temperament is atrocious.”

Luna grimaced intensely, projecting an unhidden display of irritation.

Exhaling a soft sigh as she observed their banter, Lisinas intervened:

“It possesses immense durability and will shield you. Should it sustain tears, I can restore it using my sorcery. Moving forward, the rate of your mishaps should diminish slightly.”

And that very mantle remained at Kyle’s side right up until his breath left him.

“By what means did this survive?”

It was indubitably an object that should have vanished alongside him during his final moments.

Yet, there was no mistaking that this was his genuine mantle.

“This is an artifact that the Heroes of Creation acquired as a prize following their subjugation of your realm in the past. Lumen placed it under my stewardship prior to the confinement of Erebus.”

Leo extended his arm toward the fabric without a word.

‘Mellina.’

‘Present.’

‘Have En assume my identity.’

‘Pardon? Ah, I understand.’

Concealing her surprise, Mellina ordered En to shape-shift into a duplicate of Leo.

En adopted Leo’s exact form and slipped quietly into the ranks of the Lumen student body.

Flutter—!

Leo wrapped the mantle around himself.

The sweeping edge of the fabric briefly blocked Lian’s line of sight.

And within a heartbeat.

Positioned there stood a silver-haired youth, outfitted in dark leather protection and a matching dark mantle.

“Ah…”

The words of the deity, gazing upon his retreating figure, wavered slightly.

Step— Step—

Leo advanced straight toward the dark conflagration.

“Hold on, non-combatants need to evac—…”

Nella, who was psyching herself up for the confrontation, attempted to intercept Leo as he emerged from the direction of the fleeing crowd.

“…uate… wait, what…?”

“Nella? What has gotten into you? Wait, a non-combatant? Hey! Get out of here immediately! Why did you wander over this way?”

Illiana, visibly strained by the pressure while trying to direct Leo away, suddenly froze, crossing her arms as a deep frown creased her forehead.

“Hold on a second, this attractive gentleman… I am positive I’ve encountered him before somewhere…? Wait? What? W-w-w-what?!”

Illiana caught her breath and shrieked aloud.

Following her outburst, every eye in the vicinity locked onto Leo.

Leo let out a quiet laugh, reached out to playfully mess up the hair of both Nella and Illiana, and continued his stride forward.

“Drop the anxiety, rookies.”

The stunned expressions of the crowd remained locked onto Leo… or rather, onto Kyle.

“Since I have arrived.”