Chapter 620

Thump—tumble, tumble, tumble—

Having been severed mid-air, Zoroa’s head bounced and spun across the ground.

Leo watched Zoroa with a cold, unbothered gaze.

“Look at that.”

Gathering his fallen skull, Zoroa nonchalantly reattached it to his neck.

“I expected at least a minor stumble from you. I suppose cheap mind games are ineffective?”

The guise Zoroa had assumed belonged to none other than Reina, the woman who gave birth to Leo.

While her age did not match the present-day Reina, the likeness was entirely genuine.

It was, without a doubt, a precise manifestation of Reina from days gone by.

Yet, Leo’s blade had not wavered in the slightest.

‘Striking without doubt is entirely achievable.’

An individual possessing immense psychological resilience would never let their weapon falter, even when confronted with the likeness of their own mother.

Any warrior who had achieved the status of a hero possessed that kind of resolve.

‘Yet, lacking doubt does not equate to lacking a natural sense of aversion.’

And yet, Leo’s blade remained entirely devoid of sentiment.

It functioned purely as an instrument to demolish the enemy.

This went beyond simple psychological strength.

‘This represents a profound realm of attainment.’

As a true practitioner of the blade.

And as a legendary champion who had triumphed over endless tribulations.

The degree of skill displayed by the youth standing across from him existed in an entirely different realm compared to any champion he had faced before.

Zoroa understood precisely what forged the power of a hero.

‘Hard-won experience.’

A champion’s true strength is not derived from natural gifts, nor is it born of simple practice and the passage of years.

It comes solely from hardships.

Enduring endless hardships is the only path to elevating a champion’s stature.

That is what true experience entails.

With just that solitary slash, Zoroa discerned the depth of that experience within Leo.

“Tell me, are you truly a youth who has not even reached his seventeenth year?”

Zoroa’s gaze gleamed with heightened fascination.

Remaining quiet in response to the inquiry, Leo simply narrowed his gaze.

“I see.”

“What?”

“You have adopted the likeness of the individual whose capabilities you plundered.”

“…”

Observing Leo nod in realization, Zoroa offered a humorless chuckle.

“Am I completely beneath your notice?”

Leo was merely evaluating and breaking down Zoroa’s talents.

He possessed absolutely no curiosity regarding the individual standing before him.

The man was merely a target requiring elimination.

Nothing beyond that, nothing beneath it.

“Heh. Magnificent.”

Zoroa unsheathed his weapon.

“You are without a doubt the finest quarry! Leo Flover!”

Fwump—

Crimson fire erupted across Zoroa’s blade.

Observing this display, Leo ignited his own weapon with matching fire.

Staring at the painfully recognizable fire of Zerdringer, Leo reflected silently.

‘My mother’s fire.’

Swoosh—

In an instant, Zoroa eliminated the gap separating him from Leo.

Swoosh—

A blade swept forward, targeting the throat.

Leo met the strike head-on, deflecting Zoroa’s weapon.

Clink—Fwush—

The weapons slammed together, sending sparks and fire flying.

Rumble—

Leo’s brow furrowed slightly.

“What do you think? Is it not glorious? The fire belonging to your mother!”

Zoroa’s gaze overflowed with pure rapture.

“Your mother! The fire of Reina Zerdringer is extraordinary! It surpasses every other blaze I have ever witnessed!”

BOOM—

The inferno flared with greater intensity.

Simultaneously, it began to overwhelm and consume Leo’s own fire.

“The fire of Reina Zerdringer blazes brighter based on the strength of one’s conviction! Its destructive energy escalates without limit!”

The fire of Reina began to overtake Leo’s fire with increasing speed.

Realizing he was being overpowered by pure strength, Leo forcefully shoved his blade outward.

Clang—

Separation was created between their weapons.

During that split second.

Clash-clash-clash-clash—

A multitude of offensive and defensive maneuvers transpired instantaneously.

Zoroa found himself forced to block Leo’s onslaught.

Throughout the exchange, Zoroa found no opportunity to strike back.

Leo maintained an undeniable dominance in martial technique.

“Astounding! What magnificent mastery of the blade! How could someone your age possibly attain such prowess?!”

Zoroa shouted, filled with genuine wonder.

The sheer artistry of the swordplay left him thoroughly stunned.

“Possessing such natural genius while dedicating yourself to rigorous practice! It is truly praiseworthy!”

Blazes of fire licked around Zoroa’s form.

“However!”

Thump—

Zoroa slammed his left heel into the dirt.

Leo’s gaze narrowed sharply at the movement.

The atmosphere of the immediate vicinity was forcibly pulled toward Zoroa’s heel.

Recognizing the impending danger of this phenomenon, Leo immediately channeled his internal magical energy.

CRASH—BOOM—

A catastrophic detonation tore through the space enveloping Zoroa.

The condensed atmosphere ignited in a flash, completely obliterating everything nearby.

The expansive grounds of Flover Manor were reduced to nothingness in a heartbeat, leaving behind not a speck of soot.

“Hahaha! Hard work holds no value when confronted with absolute might.”

Zoroa turned his attention toward Leo.

Sizz—

Zoroa’s gaze glimmered with a peculiar fascination as he noticed the moisture enveloping Leo’s frame.

“Well now, that is an incantation unfamiliar to me. Could it be Star Magic?”

It took the form of a protective layer of water.

This was a protective barrier engineered by Luna, who had designed it while preparing for a confrontation with Erebus.

It offered exceptional defense against fiery spells.

Even so, Luna deemed the spell an absolute disappointment.

The reason was that it proved utterly ineffective against the true fire of Erebus.

“I find myself desiring that particular spell.”

Zoroa’s gaze burned with avarice.

“The strike you just unleashed,” Leo spoke.

“What about it?”

“It didn’t quite match the properties of Zerdringer’s flames, did it?”

“Have you at last taken an interest in my presence?”

Zoroa smirked as he responded.

“Indeed. That particular force cannot be generated solely by utilizing Zerdringer’s flames. However, I operate on another level.”

“My ultimate gift isn’t merely plundering the gifts of others! It lies in my capacity to push those plundered traits far past their original constraints!”

Zoroa’s gaze shimmered with pride.

“The situation with this fire is identical! This fire is extraordinary! Yet Reina Zerdringer herself lacks any real distinction!”

Zoroa’s radiant expression contorted slightly.

“I once believed she was an extraordinary creature. I anticipated she would transform into a grander, more elevated entity once stripped of her gifts. Instead, upon being deprived of her magic, she declined into a thoroughly mundane person, indistinguishable from the masses. It is quite disappointing.”

Zoroa shook his head, offering a dim grin.

“Nevertheless, it matters little. The glorious legacy of Reina Zerdringer shall henceforth be preserved for posterity through my own person. This applies not only to Reina Zerdringer. Every extraordinary champion to walk this earth will achieve immortality across generations by way of my existence.”

“Such idiocy carries absolutely no significance.”

“No significance? Absolutely incorrect! You fail to see that I am the vessel!”

Zoroa extended his arms broadly.

“A multitude of champions reside inside my being! I manifest as a multitude of champions, re-emerging as a far more flawless entity!”

Squeezing his hands into fists, Zoroa’s gaze radiated zealotry.

“Champions lack the ability to correctly maximize their inherent gifts! I alone possess the capacity to realize the true worth of the gifts they waste! Those latent gifts were simply granted to unworthy owners! Under my stewardship, they shall achieve their ultimate fulfillment!”

Zoroa’s avaricious gaze locked directly onto Leo.

“And the ultimate trait required to finalize my ascension belongs to Leo Flover! Your All-Class trait!”

Directing an extended index finger toward Leo, Zoroa grinned.

“The capacity to unrestrictedly manifest the traits of every single class! Should I possess that gift, I shall transform into the absolute All-Master! A flawless being! To put it simply, I shall ascend to godhood! Thus, Leo Flover!”

Zoroa emphasized each syllable with profound intensity.

“Surrender your gift to me! That is the sole path to securing salvation for this realm!”

Leo silently observed Zoroa without uttering a single word.

Shortly after, a dry chuckle escaped his lips.

Zoroa’s insatiable avarice, paired with the foul aura of an undead specter resulting from his revival through the dark magic of the Lich King, was anything but wholesome.

Yet, when Zoroa had just described his mission, his gaze had been remarkably transparent.

Astonishingly, there was no trace of personal vanity detectable in that expression.

The man genuinely maintained that his path was completely righteous.

Slaughtering an array of champions to misappropriate their gifts, and even turning his back on the realm, dying, and returning as a bound servant to the Lich King—none of it shook his internal reality.

He viewed his own actions as the ultimate righteousness.

It was an unshakeable delusion.

A total certainty that his transformation into an immaculate entity would bring deliverance to the world.

“If madness was your destiny, you might at least have lost your mind with some dignity, rather than descending into such an unseemly delusion.”

“Sigh… Even someone like you, who stands on the threshold of flawless execution, fails to comprehend the magnificence of my ultimate objective.”

Zoroa offered a sincere, despondent sigh.

Gazing back at Zoroa, Leo remarked, “If your path truly led to the preservation of this world, I would hand over this insignificant All-Class gift to you without a moment’s reluctance.”

“Insignificant…? Do you dare insult such a sacred gift in my presence?”

Zoroa’s eyelids flickered with rage.

“An ignorant simpleton who had the fortune of inheriting such a gift from birth, yet remains utterly blind to his own luck.”

Leo let out a mocking smirk upon hearing those remarks.

‘True enough. Had someone like Lisina, or Luna, or perhaps Arion and Dweno inherited this gift from the beginning, the course of our world’s past might have unfolded differently.’

The images of his companions, individuals far more worthy of the title of champion than himself, crossed his mind.

There were undoubtedly people far more deserving of handling a pure force than he could ever be.

For Leo, this particular gift was never considered a fortune.

‘When all was said and done, it merely forced me to endure solitary hardships without a moment of peace.’

It resembled a profound affliction.

A cruel affliction that abandoned him to solitude once everyone else had departed from his life.

And yet…

“It is a completely squandered gift when granted to a fool who mistakes stolen attributes for genuine superiority.”

“What insolence!”

“You dare to assert that the gifts you plundered were previously held by the wrong individuals?”

Leo gave a disdainful laugh.

“Understand your actual worth. Had you not stripped them away by violence, the attributes you plundered would have achieved far greater brilliance in the hands of their rightful possessors.”

“How dare you utter such blasphemy!”

“In that case, tell me why you remain incapable of effectively wielding Torua’s talent?”

Following his rebirth into this timeline, among the various individuals Leo had encountered, he viewed Torua as potentially the most irritating adversary to engage in conflict.

Naturally, there existed figures whose power eclipsed Torua’s.

Yet, looking forward into the horizon of time, assuming Torua managed to fully realize her potential, he thought, ‘I would genuinely prefer to avoid a clash with her.’

The justification for this thought was straightforward. Every incantation she brought to the battlefield fell under the category of unique magic.

These individualized incantations, born from endless hours of studious investigation, were the direct fruits of Torua’s profound affection for magical exploration.

Even so, their practical utility could not be considered universally optimal.

‘Scholars of the arcane hold that unique magic gains its primary worth by manifesting effects completely absent from standard incantations. However, when an individual possesses a massive assortment of them, the tactical equation shifts entirely.’

To begin with, neutralizing her incantations via counter-spells becomes incredibly complicated.

Typically, an opponent analyzes the specific energy signatures released during a spell’s formulation to determine its nature.

Conversely, unique magic remains wholly personal to its creator.

Anticipating its function is a near-impossible task, given the complete lack of established data regarding its specific sorcerous frequencies.

When confronting a practitioner of the arcane, the inability to foresee their methodology is an absolute nightmare.

“You plundered Torua’s talent simply because you lusted after it, correct? And yet, are you truly capable of properly channeling Torua’s specific sorcerous energy?”

The capabilities Torua possessed were forged through sheer diligence, not inherited genius. It was something that could never be mastered through mere theft.

“You boast that your true gift lies in manifesting the hidden potential of stolen traits? Do not make me mock you further.”

Leo understood precisely what methods were required to completely break an individual of this disposition. This was the reason behind his genuine derision toward Zoroa.

“An infant who is merely discovering how to balance on two feet cannot be expected to sprint. Yet, one occasionally encounters dense observers who criticize that infant for failing to run, along with idiots who trick themselves into believing they are superior to that infant.”

He was actively dismantling the delusional certainty that the man held dear.

“Do you honestly believe you are a grand entity? You are not.”

The expression on Zoroa’s visage grew increasingly rigid.

“You are nothing more than a parasite who relies entirely on the hard work of others.”

Leo permitted a subtle smirk to grace his face.

“Allow me to demonstrate that reality to you immediately.”