Chapter 692

Book 1 Chapter 692

Swoosh! Crash!

The colossal sword swung by the Giant Knights smashed violently into the earth. Having jumped high into the sky to evade the strike, Leo and Ar hung momentarily in midair. In that frantic second, Ar questioned with urgency:

“Black Rabbit! What was that fiend shouting about? The Hero of the Beginning?”

“Don’t fret over it. You can ponder that later,” Leo replied calmly.

He reached over and seized Ar tightly by the back of his collar.

“Whoa?!” Ar gasped as Leo hauled him back and flung him out of harm’s way, simultaneously lashing out with his own blade.

Clang! Slice!

A resounding ring echoed through the air as Leo‘s weapon sheared right through the massive blade of the Giant Knight. Intense, brilliant Phoenix fire erupted along the path of his slash.

Yet, the assault had only just begun.

Whoosh!

Out of nowhere, two additional Giant Knights closed in, swinging their massive swords toward Leo from opposite directions. They moved with a flawless precision that defied their enormous statures.

The most terrifying aspect of these Giant Knights was their seamless, synchronized teamwork. They specifically honed their skills to overcome adversaries far more powerful than themselves—an incredibly uncommon trait among demons who typically relied solely on their innate, overwhelming might.

Leo turned his crimson eyes toward the demon who had retreated a few paces. Positioned there, Nareda closely tracked Leo‘s every action. It was her dark magic that had successfully deceived Leo‘s heightened super senses just a moment ago.

In terms of raw combat power, Nareda was remarkably weak, almost pitifully so for someone serving as the primary confidant to the legion commander. She had secured her elevated rank purely because of the Giant King‘s distinct preferences. The deeply calculating Nareda was a mastermind who constructed grand strategic blueprints for warfare, systematically erasing any unexpected hazards. She also utilized her specialized support spells to ensure the Knights operated with flawless coordination. Ever since she assumed command of the Giant Knights, they had turned into an engine of absolute devastation.

Boom!

Leo unleashed powerful strikes to both his left and right. His bare fists collided with and halted the incoming blades of the Giant Knights converging on him. The surrounding space warped under the pressure. Imbued with immense destructive force, the swords of the Giant Knights bore down heavily on him.

In that split second, a radiant golden aura exploded from Leo‘s hands.

Crack!

The weapons of the Giant Knights shattered into pieces. At that exact moment, a remarkably colossal Giant Knight loomed overhead, bringing a massive battle axe crashing down toward Leo.

This particular fiend belonged to Leo‘s past memories from 5000 years ago—it was Karokson, the vice-captain of the Giant Knights, who had been defeated back during the Age of Calamity.

The harmony between the ancient demons from 5000 years ago and the modern ones was terrifyingly flawless. It was even more staggering that such a massive, towering entity could execute such a precise synchronized maneuver. Every bit of this seamless execution was orchestrated by Nareda‘s tactical direction.

‘He leaves absolutely no vulnerabilities.’

He was reading Leo‘s movements perfectly.

‘Then again, surviving for 5000 years means she would naturally decipher my combat style.’

Just as Leo had spent his existence figuring out the best ways to slay demons, Nareda had undoubtedly spent the last 5000 years analyzing how to eliminate someone like Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning, if he ever returned. She must have meticulously scrutinized his past battles. That was simply the kind of calculating demon Nareda was. While ordinary demons merely clamor for mindless destruction without a thought for tomorrow, Nareda planned ahead to obliterate the future before it could even arrive.

‘That’s exactly what makes her so troublesome.’

Nareda‘s lips twisted into a triumphant smirk. Facing the descending battle axe, Leo raised his empty hand to meet it.

‘But what can you really do about this?’

Thud!

Leo‘s bare palm met the incoming edge of the battle axe. The sheer momentum drove Leo‘s frame violently down toward the earth.

Crash! Rumble! Shatter!

The moment Leo‘s feet slammed into the ground, his legs didn’t bury into the dirt. Instead, the terrain all around him fractured and erupted into the air, the massive shockwave rippling outward.

‘I haven’t exactly been doing nothing during the 17 years since my rebirth either.’

Gazing up at the razor-sharp blade of the battle axe—a weapon capable of cleaving through a massive fortress wall—Leo poured even greater strength into his grip.

Whoosh!

The golden aura instantly ignited into brilliant golden flames.

Crack!

Enduring the overwhelming pressure, the heavy steel of the battle axe began to fracture like brittle glass. Nareda‘s eyes widened in sheer disbelief at the sight.

“This cannot be…”

Smash!

Shards of the destroyed battle axe erupted in every direction. Leo snatched one massive fragment, the size of a large building, right out of the air.

Thud!

Balancing the massive shard of iron in his grasp, Leo locked eyes with Karokson. Without a moment’s hesitation, he hurled the jagged piece straight at the giant’s neck.

Slash!

The high-ranking demon’s neck was effortlessly cleaved apart.

Thud! Splash!

The massive body dropped to its knees as blood erupted like a geyser, drenching the ground. Karokson‘s severed head rolled into the pooling crimson. Even with his head detached, the incredible life force of the giant demon refused to let him die so easily.

“Perish!”

With Karokson‘s roar, his headless, kneeling torso suddenly lunged forward. He swung a massive arm to crush Leo directly. Leo‘s shadow wavered for a split second before expanding enormously.

Thwip! Thwip!

The lengthened shadow transformed into sharp spikes, impaling Karokson‘s body and locking him completely in place. The giant’s frame froze. Leo leveled the point of his blade at Karokson.

Hummm!

An intricate, glowing magic circle materialized over the steel. Posteritas merely took the shape of a sword, but its true nature was entirely fluid. It could serve as a blade that sliced through any material, a potent tool for summoning, or a divine magic staff. It was a custom artifact created by Dwenoh specifically for Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning.

The cosmic star magic gathered at the blade erupted forward in a blinding beam of light.

Flash! Boom!

The upper torso of the high-ranking demon vanished entirely into nothingness. As Leo drew his blade back, his shadow shrank to its normal proportions.

“Incredible… This makes no sense! It’s impossible!” Nareda shrieked, spitting out the words in sheer denial. “Who are you really? What kind of monster are you?!”

With bloodshot, furious eyes, she thrust a trembling finger at Leo.

“Didn’t I just introduce myself?” Leo asked, driving his sword into the ground and resting against it like a walking staff. “The Hero of the Beginning.”

A tense stillness fell over the battlefield. The relentless march of the Giant King‘s army had been halted single-handedly by a lone warrior.

“You claim to be Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning?”

Most demons wouldn’t dare utter the phrase ‘surviving hero’ to Leo‘s face. During the Age of Calamity, ‘surviving hero’ was a mocking insult the demons used to diminish the status of the Hero of the Beginning. They threw the insult around casually when he wasn’t there, but they instinctively choked on the words when standing before the literal embodiment of terror who had slaughtered actual deities. Nareda was no exception to this primal fear.

“Don’t mock me! If that were true, then how…!”

Nareda had clashed with and survived the Great Heroes on numerous occasions. In the demonic hierarchy, that feat alone brought immense prestige. Because of this, she knew the capabilities of the Great Heroes inside and out.

Just moments ago, the way Leo had intercepted Karokson‘s strike using a golden aura did not match the style of the Hero of the Beginning. As far as Nareda remembered, only the Brave Arion possessed the fluid aura control required to neutralize such an attack so effortlessly. Furthermore, the terrifying strength that shattered the battle axe belonged to Dwenoh, the God of Blacksmiths. The ability that paralyzed Karokson‘s movements was Rishinas, the King of Wisdom’s Dragon Language magic, and the concluding strike was Luna‘s Star magic.

Unlike the ancient times of the Age of Calamity, the current era possessed the Hero Record.

‘He must have inherited the techniques of the Great Heroes through that wretched legacy!’

Leo‘s unique talent was none other than the All-Class capability. He wielded unadulterated power, recognized as the ultimate counter to divine beings. In truth, 5000 years ago, a deity had been brought low by the Hero of the Beginning, who had absorbed the core essence of the Great Heroes’ abilities. It was entirely logical for Leo to deploy their distinct powers and skills.

‘But… how can he execute those techniques with such absolute perfection!’

In their brief clash, Nareda had clearly glimpsed the phantoms of Arion, Dwenoh, Rishinas, and Luna. It felt as though they had been brought back to life in this current age.

“I was reincarnated into this world exactly 17 years ago,” Leo remarked in an indifferent tone, resting his blade over his shoulder. “You didn’t honestly think I would remain completely stagnant, exactly as I was 5000 years ago, did you?”

His inability to completely destroy Erebus remained one of Leo‘s profoundest regrets after his rebirth. If only he had been capable of flawlessly wielding his companions’ powers back then, he might not have left behind remnants of Erebus to threaten future generations.

After his reincarnation and prior to arriving at Lumerne, Leo had mentally practiced and perfected the arts bequeathed to him by his allies, all before his mana had even awakened. Even after his mana blossomed, his training never ceased. Thanks to that dedication, he was now capable of flawlessly replicating his allies’ signature moves.

Granted, it was still just replication. Merging and fluidly connecting these diverse powers was a milestone he had yet to reach.

‘I still have a long way to go.’

He was still far from matching his old comrades’ heights as a pure warrior, a vanguard, a sorcerer, or a summoner. Yet…

‘I will get there eventually.’

Unlike 5000 years ago, time was on his side.

“Preposterous…! It has only been 17 years! What could you possibly achieve in a mere 17 years…?”

“To you, it might seem brief, but to us, it is an incredibly vast span of time,” Leo countered. “Your 5000 years of waiting were entirely in vain.”

Nareda‘s shoulders quaked with pure rage at Leo‘s mockery. However, she suddenly burst into a spiteful laugh, mocking him in return.

“Ha! You are the one whose efforts are pointless!” Nareda pointed directly at Leo. “No matter how flawlessly you copy the abilities of the Great Heroes, you are still just one person! Do you honestly believe you can defeat a god entirely on your own?!”

5000 years ago, Arion, Dwenoh, Luna, and Rishinas had fallen one by one, sacrificing themselves to deal a devastating blow to Erebus. Leo had merely delivered the final strike to the weakened Erebus.

“You’re right. Doing it alone is incredibly difficult.”

“Haha!”

“Which is exactly why I am carefully training him.”

“What?”

Swoosh!

Nareda suddenly felt her entire world spin upside down.

‘When did he get here…?’

As her severed head sailed through the air, her gaze spun backward. Standing there was a white-haired, blue-eyed cat beast-kin who had just cleaved her head from her shoulders, his sharp claws still extended.

Rip!

Ar‘s hand lunged forward, tearing straight into her chest to crush her heart.

‘He managed to slip through my dark magic barrier and get close?!’

Nareda had survived for 5000 years largely due to her array of deceptive spells. Among them, her dark magic barrier, designed to sense anyone approaching her position, was so flawless that no ordinary demon could ever infiltrate it.

‘And that barrier was just bypassed by a mere kitten still smelling of milk?’

Even if her focus had been entirely fixed on Leo, she had assumed Ar posed absolutely no significant threat by himself on this chaotic battlefield. In truth, Leo had perfectly drawn the absolute attention of every enemy, creating the perfect window for Ar to strike.

A bewildered Nareda recalled how Ar had previously slipped past even Leo‘s heightened senses.

‘In terms of pure instinct and perception, he actually outmatched the Hero of the Beginning?!’

Within Nareda‘s fading vision, Ar‘s form loomed as he drew back a clenched fist.

“Take this!”

The instant Ar‘s fiercely swung fist smashed directly into her face, Nareda‘s world plunged into total darkness.

The exact moment Nareda fell, Ar collapsed right along with her. His ears twitched uncontrollably, and his entire frame quivered as if suffering a seizure. Recognizing the situation, Leo immediately scooped Ar up and leaped away from the active battlefield.

A vast number of Giant Knights still remained, but with Nareda‘s downfall, it was safe to say the overall fighting capacity of the Giant Knights had been cut in half.

‘Though, this is still just a fraction of the army’s complete strength.’

Leo‘s decision to take Ar and charge directly into the ranks had been purely a stalling tactic to allow their defensive fortifications to be perfectly established.

‘Since the Giant King is too terrified to show his face personally, this went incredibly well.’

“Argh! Everything is spinning!” Ar cried out, pressing his vibrating ears flat against his head and burying his face deep into Leo‘s chest.

“Deactivate your sensory technique.”

Ar flinched slightly at Leo‘s command and immediately deactivated his hyper-awareness. It was clear his mind couldn’t properly handle the colossal influx of raw data flooded into his mind by his super senses.

“A bit of unrefined growth, I see,” Leo murmured with a soft chuckle. Still, a remarkable feat was a remarkable feat.

Thud!

Leo landed firmly on top of the fortress wall. By this time, Ar had calmed down slightly, lifting his face from Leo‘s chest to peer up at him.

“Black Rabbit… no. Leo Plob.”

“Why use my full name all of a sudden?”

“Are you truly Kyle-nim, the Hero of the Beginning?”

“There’s really no point in concealing it any longer, is there?”

As Leo smiled, Ar‘s eyes went wide.

“That’s right. I am the reincarnation of Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning.”

“Wow!”

Hearing the confirmation straight from Leo, Ar balled his fists in excitement and kicked his legs back and forth. Overflowing with joy, his ears stood straight up, and his tail coiled tightly around Leo‘s forearm like a writhing serpent.

“Everything makes complete sense now!”

A level of sheer power that shouldn’t exist in someone their age, combined with immense combat experience and depth of knowledge—Ar grew incredibly thrilled as he pieced together everything Leo had ever shared with him.

“Unbelievable! You were actually a Great Hero!”

Unable to contain his frantic excitement, Ar gripped Leo‘s collar with both hands, pulling himself close. The tail wrapped around Leo‘s arm constricted even tighter.

“S-So! Black Rab… wait! What am I supposed to call you now? Rabbit-nim? Leo-nim? Kyle-nim?”

“Call me whatever you prefer. But before that…”

“Huh?”

Leo placed Ar down on the ground. Ar quickly leaned his torso against the stone rampart, poking his head out to look.

“Ugh!”

His senses, which had just stabilized, became erratic once more from the sheer adrenaline, making his face turn pale.

While giving Ar a moment to recover, Leo turned his gaze toward Gias in the distance.

‘This was merely the conclusion of the opening skirmish.’

Despite dealing a surprising blow, the total forces of the enemy legion remained utterly overwhelming. Their situation was like a flickering candle in a harsh gale.

‘He still hasn’t made a single move. He must have foreseen Nareda’s death to a certain degree.’

Even though she was a close confidant, to a legion commander, she was ultimately just a useful pawn. It clearly wasn’t his time to step onto the field yet.

But when that entity finally decides to move…

Leo clenched and unclenched his fist tightly.

‘Will I truly be able to take him down all by myself?’