Here is the translation of the provided text:
—
Here…
Am I, once again, going to enter inside the necklace like last time?
Evan glanced around and recalled the memories from that time.
Now that I think about it, I remember coming to this place when I first awakened the power of the Hero… back then too, for sure…
– Are you looking for me?
“…!”
So, it has come.
Evan saw a man who looked remarkably similar to him, yet for some reason, he appeared much more mature than his current self, staring down at him with an expressionless face.
“I don’t think we talked properly last time… who are you?”
– I expected you would ask. Yes… it would be best to know at least this much.
The man closed his eyes.
– You know that this necklace is not an ordinary one.
“That’s… yes.”
I know that it’s not an ordinary necklace.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to even meet someone through such a necklace.
But…
– This necklace holds the essence of the previous Hero.
“Then…”
But I didn’t know that much.
Aria had mentioned it before, but she didn’t explain it in detail, and she had only learned about it through ancient texts.
Naturally, I didn’t know everything, and I didn’t know it held the essence of the previous Hero.
But…
“Why is a necklace that holds the essence of the previous Hero in a place like this? It looks like none of the previous Heroes, aside from me, ever used it… Estelle didn’t know about it either.”
It seemed strange according to what the man in front of me said.
Aria said that an ancient Hero had used it, yet Estelle, the owner of the Sacred Sword, had no knowledge of this necklace, and wasn’t it hidden in a mountain that no one knew about?
It was said that it could be obtained only by overcoming a trial of power… It was a necklace obtained from a completely hidden place that even Aria only knew about in that manner.
– At first, that was a question I had too. But think about it carefully, isn’t it strange? While they say previous Heroes used it, Estelle didn’t even know of its existence.
“…”
That’s right.
Estelle didn’t know of its existence, yet its identity being something that holds the essence of the previous Hero?
“If that’s the case, what have you been doing up until now…? Are you perhaps the ancient Hero?”
Evan instinctively knew that what he was saying wasn’t true, yet for some reason, he felt compelled to ask.
It can’t be, even though I knew that what I was thinking was nonsensical, I couldn’t stop myself from asking.
The man, who smiled wryly at Evan’s question, responded while closing his eyes.
– … I’m not the ancient Hero, but as I mentioned before, I am indeed the previous Hero.
The previous Hero…?
Evan looked up at the face of the Hero.
As awkward as it felt to say it, the man, who introduced himself as the previous Hero, had a striking resemblance to him.
He appeared much more mature than his current self and showed a veteran’s demeanor, as if he had been through many experiences.
It was hard to believe that such a figure resembled no one other than himself.
“Then why do I look like you…?”
– There can only be one reason for our similar appearance.
The man continued, as if asking why Evan would even question the obvious.
The reason he looked similar.
Evan swallowed hard and focused on the next words.
Finally, as the man’s mouth opened,
– I am… your future self.
Evan froze in place with a blank expression.
—
Just moments ago, the Academy, where many students had joyfully wandered around, had somehow transformed into hell.
No students were dead.
The students present where demons appeared were able to teleport to safety using the bracelets they had on in preparation for the practice right after being attacked, and those remaining could also escape safely through the professors.
It was a miracle that was only possible as most of the students had been in the practice area.
However, even if all the students had safely escaped, the fact remained that the Academy, which was their home and place of learning, was being brutally trampled upon.
Arhen gritted his teeth as he watched his Academy, which he had built over the centuries, collapse.
“Maleficent…!!”
He shouted with a voice filled with rage as he swept away the hundreds, thousands of demons running amok in the Academy.
Even though he had to leave to save Evan and Aria right now, seeing the constantly appearing demons made it impossible for him to contain his anger.
But…
“D-dean…!”
He swallowed his rage at Stella’s call.
Now is the time to endure.
The professors would be keeping the students safe by defeating the demons.
Once this is over, the Academy could be rebuilt anytime, so it was right to focus more on the new sprouts that would grow in the future rather than worrying about the Academy.
Arhen sighed as he withdrew the magic power he had been gathering to sweep away the demons, turning to Stella.
“… Right. You said you knew where the coordinates were?”
“Yes, we can move right away.”
He nodded in response to Stella’s words.
“Please.”
No matter how angry he was, the first priority now was to save Aria and Evan.
They needed to save those two first to have a chance in this war.
It would be impossible for her alone to fend off Maleficent.
The place where Aria had said the Life Vessel was hidden must be prepared for the main body, and the other main body existing in the Demon World must be getting ready to manifest at the Academy.
Before manifesting at the Academy, they had to find and destroy the Life Vessel first.
“Then I’ll move…!”
After confirming that they were all gathered, Stella checked the coordinates and aimed to use the teleportation magic.
However,
“… huh?”
She had certainly succeeded in confirming the coordinates, and there shouldn’t have been anything wrong with the teleportation magic to move there.
‘Why can’t I teleport…?!’
For some reason, she couldn’t teleport to that place.
It was as if something was blocking the magic from casting.
“What do we do…?! The magic isn’t casting…!”
At her words, Arhen’s eyes widened.
The magic itself should be usable…
If the entire Academy had been covered in a barrier preventing the use of magic, not only she but the other professors would have also been rendered unable to use magic, left helpless.
But that it wasn’t the case meant that only the movement towards that direction was blocked.
Which means…
‘This is not a good situation.’
Arhen said while sweating coldly.
“… It must be due to Maleficent’s magic. If my guess is right, Aria is fighting against Maleficent’s Life Vessel right now.”
He recalled what Aria had mentioned.
She must have moved to directly purify the Life Vessel.
Otherwise, the current situation could not be explained.
“…?!”
Stella’s expression turned surprised upon hearing that.
If what she said was true, then that massive outburst of divine power that just occurred meant that it was used while facing Maleficent, a high-ranking officer of the Demon King Army.
Since the Life Vessel symbolized the heart of the Witch, it was uncertain whether Aria could handle it properly.
Perhaps…
“I don’t feel good about this. We should hurry and check it out.”
Noticing the unease in his heart, Arhen easily lifted Stella and Uriel with levitation magic.
“You should go back… I want to say that, but in this situation, you are the only one who knows where Aria and Evan are.”
Trying to send the two safely away, Arhen suddenly realized he didn’t know where Aria and Evan were, nor did anyone but Stella know that.
Hearing the coordinates would be one way, but…
‘They’re not going to back down.’
Both Stella and Uriel had no intention of fleeing from this place.
They had come this far to help Aria and Evan, and there was no way they could escape now.
“Alright… let’s go quickly.”
Arhen sighed inwardly while also admiring the courage of the two, vowing to protect them and moving at high speed towards the coordinates Stella taught him.
It was fine since he wouldn’t be directly clashing with Maleficent.
‘Life Vessel…’
I will surely deduce their location through that heart.
—
