Chapter 629

Book 1 Chapter 629

629,

Boom, boom, boom—!

The earth trembled violently.

Enveloped entirely in heavy stone armor, Joa sprinted furiously toward Reina.

Swoosh—!

Reina swung her blade with elegant precision.

Whish—!

Fiery trails painted the atmosphere following the path of her weapon.

Instead of fading away, the sparks lingering in the air suddenly condensed, locking themselves directly into the metal.

The glowing red edge of the Flame Storm was unleashed.

Reina locked her intense stare onto Joa, who had already closed the distance between them.

Clang—! Snap—!

With a resounding strike, Reina’s blade failed to pierce Joa’s defense and was violently deflected.

Clenching her jaw, Reina channeled the momentum of the rebound to rotate her torso, parrying Joa’s incoming strike.

BOOM—!

A massive concussive blast reverberated across the direct path of Joa’s ferocious rush.

Reina winced from the sharp, throbbing numbness creeping up her right arm as she gripped her weapon.

‘It snapped.’

Her joint had given out during that previous collision.

[Listen to me! Reina Flobe! You cannot push any further than this!]

Ista spoke with frantic desperation to Reina, who was still bearing the pain.

Reina’s physical form was already riddled with numerous deep cuts and minor lacerations.

Several fractures crippled her frame as well.

She was only just managing to evade lethal strikes that would completely paralyze her, dragging herself forward to sustain the conflict.

By relying on her fiery power, she compelled her unresponsive limbs to stay in motion.

Nevertheless, sustaining the battle through such desperate means had finally become untenable.

[If your physical shell gives out, your consciousness will shatter as well! My own fire will end up devouring you shortly!]

Reina tightened her hold on the hilt.

[Your efforts are already extraordinary! You have shown more valor than any warrior I have ever witnessed!]

Ista tried everything possible to convince Reina to cease her assault.

[You have fulfilled your duty!]

“I won’t stop.”

Reina dragged her weapon upward, pointing it squarely at Joa.

“I am still capable of continuing.”

She had broken past her breaking point on multiple occasions.

Furthermore, the enemy’s vitality had been significantly drained during his previous encounter with Leo.

Despite that, the disparity in their capabilities remained glaringly apparent.

Without a doubt, certain obstacles in existence cannot be overcome through sheer determination.

The adversary standing in front of her embodied that absolute reality.

Reina lacked the means to triumph over Joa.

“I have a legacy that must be bequeathed to those who come after.”

Yet, Reina refused to surrender.

“For a blaze radiates its greatest brilliance right before it burns out.”

Should she back down now, the descendants destined to inherit her path would perish.

Reina cast a brief look toward Celia.

“My entire teachings have not been fully transmitted.”

Minimally, she needed to convey whatever she could manage.

With that conviction, Reina rekindled her resolve.

“Therefore, grant me your power.”

[Sigh! You headstrong fool! Have it your way, then!]

ROAR—!

The inferno blazed with renewed ferocity.

The thermal energy surged so violently that Reina’s consciousness briefly wavered.

Amidst the agonizing sensation of her flesh scorching, Reina anchored her focus even tighter.

‘Only a moment! Maintain this for just a bit longer!’

“You stubborn wretch!”

Joa’s bloodthirsty shout rang out.

Had he kept even a modicum of his sanity, he could have concluded this confrontation ages ago by employing the diverse magical traits he had plundered.

However, because Leo had completely humiliated him, and because he was now faltering against Reina—someone he deemed far inferior—Joa was steadily descending into madness.

Consequently, he opted for a strategy of brutal, unbridled force.

The gap in their raw power was unmistakable.

Yet Joa, who once boasted about mastering his capabilities, was currently being dragged around by his own uncontrolled energy.

He was incapable of extracting the true potential of his stolen gifts.

Such was the fundamental flaw of an individual who relied on pilfered arts.

“Your journey terminates here!”

Thud, thud, thud—!

Cloaked in a dense earthen aura—an elemental counter to fire—Joa surged toward Reina at a terrifying velocity.

His assault carried a monumental momentum, capable of erasing any existence from existence with the slightest touch.

Reina inhaled deeply.

The thermal wave intensified further.

The torment of her scorching anatomy combined with the blinding warmth threatened to unseat her senses.

Yet, Reina held onto her awareness.

‘Concentrate.’

She funneled the entirety of the blaze into a solitary node.

‘Track his movements.’

Reina’s ruby-colored eyes locked onto Joa’s path.

‘Stand firm! Banish all fear!’

She fortified her resolve.

‘I am capable of cleaving him. Take a step… move forward!’

Stomp—! Slash—!

Reina lunged ahead and executed a sweeping stroke.

Splurt—!

In that split second, Joa’s form, which had neared her perimeter, was severed cleanly into two halves.

Thud—! Fsssh—!

Reina collapsed right where she stood.

The blazing aura wrapped around her dissipated entirely.

Thump—

Reina’s frame toppled onto the earth.

“Aunt!”

Celia sprinted to her side, her complexion drained of color.

Gasping weakly for air, Reina forced a strained chuckle.

“It seems… I managed to slice through him after all…”

“You did.”

Celia clenched her jaw and gave a firm nod.

“Celia, you cannot… ever erase the memory of that strike. Do you hear me?”

“I won’t.”

Holding back the tears that welled up in her eyes, Celia responded resolutely.

Celia understood perfectly the profound lesson Reina intended to impart.

“That wacky female… right up to her final breath…”

From the remains of Joa, who had been slain by Reina yet again, a chilling wave of malice burst forth.

“However, this marks the absolute conclusion! I shall reduce you to a mangled corpse!”

Joa bellowed in an eerie cadence, lifting his palm.

Just as Celia witnessed this and began manifesting her own energy.

Gleam—!

“…!”

A brilliant, unblemished white radiance erupted right behind Joa.

“What…?”

Reina’s eyelids flared with astonishment.

“This is impossible! Leo Flobe!”

Joa spun his head around, crying out in sheer terror.

Standing there was Leo, framed by an immaculate white glow that resembled the onset of morning.

“Leo!”

Celia’s expression illuminated with hope.

“Aunt! Look, it’s Leo! He finally made it…!”

Celia, turning to assist Reina, suddenly paused in confusion.

“Aunt?”

Reina was already staring blankly at Leo with vacant eyes.

Leo’s silhouette, illuminated by the radiant beam, triggered a distant memory.

From an age long past.

The sight mirrored the silhouette of a savior standing amidst brilliant sunshine within a pitch-black reality.

Reina unconsciously muttered a specific title.

“Hero of the Beginning…”

Leo’s brow furrowed slightly as he sprinted toward the coordinate where Joa’s signature lingered.

Along the way, he witnessed aberrations wielding unnatural talents.

Chelsea, engaged in combat with an ogre, caught sight of Leo, and her expression filled with joy.

“Leo oppa!”

“What are we dealing with?”

“I can’t explain the specifics! But they possess supernatural abilities! And they are remarkably intelligent!”

“Is that so?”

A realization struck him.

‘World of the Legion.’

Overcoming the World of Heroes granted a gift of authority.

The mechanics of the World of the Legion ought to mirror that structure.

‘Could these individuals be the turncoats who subjugated the World of the Legion?’

The compensation for their victory apparently materialized as beastly attributes.

‘It resembles an affliction far more than a blessing. Then again, it matches the destiny of a defector perfectly.’

Concluding his train of thought, Leo directed his gaze toward Zamua.

“Do you require assistance?”

Hearing this, Zamua pulled his lips into a confident smirk.

“Do I appear vulnerable to you? Hwaaaaap!”

Crash—!

Zamua lunged directly at the ogre, striking it with full bodily force.

The ogre, absorbing the massive momentum, was violently thrown backward.

“Chelsea!”

“On it!”

“Excellent! Spirited! Spoken like a true member of the Knight Department!”

“I belong to the Magic Department!”

“Yet you still attend lectures in the Knight Department!”

“That is because I am a Battle Mage, so I pursue it as a secondary study!”

‘They seem perfectly fine.’

Leo shifted his view away, observing the pair squabbling while maintaining seamless teamwork.

In another area, Lis and Abbad were utterly dominating a Gigantes.

Up above, Ulta was dispatching flying beasts with ease.

The surrounding combatants similarly found their spirits renewed upon seeing Leo arrive.

His mere presence sufficed to reverse the momentum of the engagement.

Shortly after, Leo arrived at the clearing where Joa stood, flaring his internal energy.

‘He was undoubtedly revived via the Necromancer King’s dominion, which allowed him to manifest his gifts once more, correct?’

That restored capacity enabled him to extend his lifespan by burning through the magical skills he had purloined.

‘Constantly executing him over and over is tedious. In that scenario.’

Leo’s ruby-red eyes glinted sharply.

‘I will simply annihilate the core dominion.’

The Necromancer King’s dominion was a mandate derived from Erebus’s blessing.

By securing a piece of Erebus, the Necromancer King wielded a command far more potent than the one he possessed five millennia past.

However, if that command originated from Erebus’s energy…

‘It remains vulnerable to erasure via unblemished power.’

An ash-colored fog flickered at the edge of Leo’s blade.

The dull mist quickly shifted, radiating a flawless white beam.

Simultaneously, a brilliant flash spread outward, mimicking the arrival of daybreak.

Aura of Purity.

An absolute force Leo forged during his current existence through unceasing discipline.

Leo observed Reina, who had been facing down Joa.

‘She channeled Ista’s energy, didn’t she…?’

Leo emitted a faint, ironic chuckle.

‘Incredibly foolhardy.’

Yet, such behavior epitomized Reina’s character perfectly.

Reina occasionally demonstrated a remarkably naive streak.

Nevertheless…

‘She remains an honorable guardian… and an admirable maternal figure.’

Leo shifted his weight.

Whish—!

Materializing directly in front of Joa within a heartbeat, Leo uttered a remark.

“Did I not mention this before?”

His tone carried a heavy weight of blatant contempt.

“You are merely letting the power you plundered go to waste.”

Wearing an icy smirk, Leo casually swung his blade through Joa.

Splat—!

“Argh!”

Joa’s form crumpled to the dirt.

Leo deftly flicked the residue from his edge and returned it to its scabbard.

Step, step—

Without offering the fallen adversary a single glance, he advanced toward Reina.

“That was but a single life! I merely lost one iteration!”

In that instant, Joa dragged himself up, bellowing in furious protest.

Within moments, Joa shifted his shape, adopting the likeness of Reina.

Directly afterward, however, his cellular structure started to dissolve.

“What is happening?”

Beneath the exterior, Torua became visible.

“How can this be possible…!”

Though he scrambled to assume dozens of alternate guises, each manifestation quickly disintegrated.

“This is impossible! My life is fading!”

Joa’s expression grew entirely bloodless as the gravity of his predicament dawned on him.

“N-no! My destiny is perfection! To be a flawless entity! I am the individual destined for divinity! Yet! My demise is occurring so pointlessly!”

Flop—!

“Gaaaaah!”

Reduced to a mere skeletal framework, Joa fell to his knees.

He wildly clawed at his skull.

“I refuse to perish in this manner…”

Fsssshhhh—!

Joa’s physical remains, which had rejected the reality of his expiration, promptly crumbled into ash and scattered away.

Step, step—

Leaning heavily on Celia for support, Reina watched without a word as Leo neared them.

“Are you holding up?”

Reina offered a faint grin and nodded in response to Leo’s detached query.

“Naturally.”

“Good to hear.”

Faced with Leo’s monotone reply, Reina knit her brows slightly.

She voiced her thoughts with a hint of petulance.

“Are you not going to admonish me against repeating such antics?”

“If I requested that, would Mother actually comply?”

Observing the slight laugh that escaped Leo, Reina muttered under her breath.

“Quite the blunt child. Does he comport himself this way around his peers as well?”

“More often than not.”

Celia let out a rueful smile.

Right at that moment.

—Clear the way! Please recline right here!—

Kiruan materialized directly in front of Reina.

—Leo instructed me! I must restore the aunt by any means necessary!—

Spirits of their kind are capable of executing immense restorative arts.

—Lady Reina. My name is Elsi. Leo is deeply anxious regarding your state. Is there anything you require?—

Peep— Peep—

Elsi and Piora hovered closely around Reina, displaying immense apprehension.

“…”

Reina offered a soft, breathless chuckle.

“His disposition remains exactly as it was during his childhood, doesn’t it?”

“Which part do you mean?”

“Superficially, he projects a cold and sarcastic demeanor.”

“That is true.”

“Yet out of sight, his concern runs incredibly deep.”

“Ah.”

Celia gave an understanding nod.

Verily, Leo possessed precisely that underlying warmth.

Reina made a small sound with her tongue, casting her gaze toward Leo, who remained stationed at a distance with his spine turned to them.

“This is not merely maternal bias speaking. A great number of young ladies must have lost their hearts to him.”