Chapter 103

【103】102.

At the Erek Training Ground, the audience held their breath.

What caught their eyes was the sight of the first-year students beginning to take on the colossal Gigantes.

“The first-years are amazing! Even if it’s not an adult Gigantes, it’s incredible that they can fight it like this!”

LeWalyn, astonished, exclaimed in admiration, while Elena smiled faintly.

“Isn’t that right? Senior!”

“…….”

“Senior Elena?”

LeWalyn looked at Elena with a slightly puzzled expression, and her eyes widened in surprise.

Elena was staring at Leo, who was captured on the screen, her mouth slightly agape.

‘What was it called again?’

Just moments ago, there was only despair among the first-years.

There was no way they couldn’t feel that way.

A Gigantes, even if not fully developed, wasn’t something that first-years could easily overcome—it was too massive of a trial.

Feeling overwhelming despair wouldn’t have been surprising.

‘But then, things changed when he showed up.’

It wasn’t just a matter of added power.

The moment Leo appeared, everything changed.

‘There are many great heroes in this world.’

And among this year’s first-years, there were many who clearly exhibited the qualities of a hero.

But…

‘He’s different from the rest.’

The one who could turn despair into hope.

A being that illuminated the way in the darkest of times.

There was a special word for someone like that.

‘That’s it.’

Elena felt a shiver run down her spine.

In the eyes of the heir of a family which had long guarded the Hero Record, Leo resembled certain figures.

‘A Great Hero.’

*

Whoosh—!

Abad, aboard the Wind Wyvern, began chanting a spell.

Roarrrr—!

The Gigantes roared, swinging its massive arms.

Whoosh—!

The gigantic arm narrowly grazed the Wind Wyvern.

A near miss, but enough to be instantly fatal.

However, Eliza, controlling the Wind Wyvern, didn’t falter and firmly gripped the reins.

As the heir of the Hergin family, Eliza Hergin had shown exceptional talent in handling familiars from a young age.

By channeling her mana, she pushed the Wind Wyvern’s capabilities to the max, literally becoming akin to the wind itself.

Recognizing this instinctively as a Wind Mage, Abad smiled softly.

“Tremendous.”

“Then compliment me by letting that wretched monster take a big hit.”

“Alright. But can you bring us near its mouth instead?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Didn’t Celia just blow off its head a moment ago?”

Eliza frowned and turned to look at Abad, who was smirking faintly, as if the first-year students were just going to d*e.

Of course, Eliza didn’t flinch an inch.

“Well?”

“LeWalyn’s winds can’t rival Zerdinger’s flames, you see.”

“Hmph!”

Eliza smirked disdainfully.

“Did you know that it’s quite embarrassing for a wizard if their powers are weaker than a knight’s?”

Saying that, Eliza pulled the reins tightly.

The Wind Wyvern spread its massive wings and shot upward into the sky before starting a rapid descent.

Sensing the massive mana in the air, the Gigantes opened its enormous mouth wide.

Zap!

A violet-colored breath attack illuminated the skies.

Through a near-acrobatic movement, Eliza narrowly dodged the attack and rapidly closed in on the Gigantes.

Roarrrr—!

The Gigantes’ fist aimed for Eliza’s side.

‘sh*t! Can’t get close…’

As Eliza tried to find an opening, unable to reach close enough, a sudden movement caught her attention.

Flash—!

Chen Sia leaped into the air.

Chen Sia pulled back her right hand.

Together with the movement, a massive orbof water formed in the air.

Whoosh—!

As Chen Sia slapped her palm forward, releasing a palm strike, the orbof water struck the Gigantes’ arm and knocked it away.

“Amazing! Sia!”

“Lord Leo gave me the instructions!”

As Chen Sia shouted while falling down, Eliza’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘To predict my movements and give commands to Chen Sia…!’

Having reached the Gigantes’ face, Eliza chuckled.

“I can’t help but admire the command abilities.”

Wooow—!

A fierce gale erupted around Abad.

Abad, visibly surrounded by mana, unleashed his spell.

“Tempest.”

Whoosh—!

The gale disappeared, leaving a sudden moment of silence.

The Gigantes’ face was entirely gone.

“This ought to do it…!”

As Abad tightly clenched his fists,

Drip—!

The Gigantes’ head began regenerating flesh.

Eliza quickly moved back from the Gigantes.

“It’s absurd! How exactly do we k*ll this monster!?”

Blowing its head off or even leaving deep wounds did nothing—it regenerated instantly.

How in the world could they defeat it?

“Out of the way!”

At that moment, Celia’s voice rang out from the sky.

As Abad opened his arms to catch Celia coming down, she made a face as if to say ‘no way’ and turned herself around.

Instead, she landed on Eliza.

“KYAAH!”

“Sorry!”

“Why did you have to land on me when you could have just dropped down on Abad!?”

“Would you rather be hugged by that LeWalyn brat?”

“Is this really the time to argue about that!?”

“Celia, what brings you here? Even with Wind Wyvern, having three people on board will compromise mobility.”

“Right! Get down!”

“This is Leo’s command. He told me to go this way!”

Celia adjusted her grip on her sword.

“Abad, get ready, Chloe’s almost done.”

Hearing that, Abad grinned.

“That’s good.”

“We need to deliver a big hit to stop that thing while her magic completes.”

Abad raised his staff and summoned mana.

Simultaneously, the sound of runes being chanted was heard.

Not because someone shouted it loudly.

Rather, it was a natural phenomenon as the surrounding mana began resonating with ‘one mage.’

BOOM!

Swinging his sword, Leo released a burst of flames toward the Gigantes and glanced toward the fortress.

“It’s started.”

“Wow, wow! I’m starting to feel brave!”

Hearing Chloe’s spell, Chelsea shouted eagerly.

Zzzziiiiip! Crackkk!

Duran and Chen Sia combined their powers.

The combination of water and lightning proved extremely efficient.

The weakness of lightning, which is hard to concentrate in one spot, was overcome as Duran’s lightning followed the water path Chen Sia created.

Roarrrr—!

The Gigantes, sensing Chloe’s ominous mana flow, roared and charged toward the fortress.

Duran and Chen Sia’s attacks struck the Gigantes’ back.

CRUNCH! Zapzapzapzap!

Even as electric shocks ran through its entire body, the Gigantes didn’t halt its charge.

Zzziiip! CRACK! BOOM!

At that moment, a massive chain made of earth wrapped around the Gigantes’ neck.

Warden, using Spirit Armored to create chains from earth spirits, was pulling the Gigantes back.

Grrrrowl!

The sudden boost in strength, thanks to his contract with the earth spirits, allowed Warden to physically restrain the Gigantes with brute force.

Snap! Snap!

The chains made from earth spirits began to break.

BOOM! Zzziiip!

Breaking free from the chains, the Gigantes charged toward the fortress.

At that moment, the magic Chelsea had prepared was activated.

“Gale Harpoon.”

A harpoon of gale pierced the Gigantes’ left eye.

CRUNCH!

Roarrrr—!

Blinded, the Gigantes staggered but continued to run despite spouting bl**d.

Instinctively, even the terrifying creature at the peak of monstrosity felt that avoiding the attacks meant survival.

Despite the relentless barrage of powerful attacks, it charged straight ahead towards the fortress.

At that moment, a whooshing sound of a massive flame storm erupted.

The Gigantes’ path was blocked by Celia, bearing a flaming sword wrapped in a typhoon of fire.

“d*e already, you monster!”

The typhoon of flames surged towards the Gigantes like a d*ath sentence.

CRACKKK!

Starting from the Gigantes’ left shoulder joint, the firestorm surged into its body.

Roarrrrrr—!

The Gigantes roared.

“Haaaaaa!”

Celia’s sharp glare unleashed an internal focus, tightening her grip on her sword.

WHOOSH!

Starting from the left shoulder, and extending to the right side of the torso,

The severed upper half flew through the air.

Everyone thought it was over with that critical injury.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

“Unbelievable!”

Despite losing nearly half of its upper body, the astonishing vitality of the Gigantes remained intact.

The remaining left arm swinging wildly, the Gigantes continued its charge toward Chloe, who stood atop the castle wall with her staff in hand.

In its path stood Leo.

CLANK!

Leo adjusted his grip on his sword.

Over it, magical runes floated.

‘An Enchanted Blade.’

The technique of a magic swordsman who imbues mana into a blade.

Whoosh!

Flames burst around the blade.

The magic fused with the orbof energy.

WHOOSH!

“Inferno Blade.”

The magic formed a massive blade of fire.

Leo plunged the fiery blade into the Gigantes’ chest.

Halt!

The Gigantes’ movements stopped.

‘It’s over!’

As everyone clenched their fists in anticipation, Leo winced.

BOOM!

The Gigantes started moving again.

Leo pursued it closely.

Having exhausted all his mana, all that was left was orbof energy.

The students watching anxiously from the wall fled in panic as the Gigantes approached.

“Kyaaaah!”

“It’s coming!”

“Get out of the way!”

But Chloe did not halt her incantation.

“Chloe! Get out of the way! It’s too late!”

Swordsman shouted in alarm, but Chloe, her eyes closed, did not stop.

Swordsman gritted his teeth and began casting a protective spell to shield Chloe.

“Hey, losers! Stop running and block that monster!”

At that moment, Iliana growled and began to chant a spell.

Howl gripped his spear tightly and shouted as he charged at the Gigantes.

“Half a corpse, if we can’t stop it, what kind of hero candidates are we?!”

Other students joined in, trying to delay the Gigantes to give Chloe enough time to complete her magic.

Magical blasts erupted, orbof energy sliced through the Gigantes’ body, and spirit and familiars’ concentrated attacks rained down.

Consequently, the Gigantes’ charge slowed down—little by little—little by little.

Finally…

BOOM!

The Gigantes dropped to its knees right in front of Chloe.

Tremble… tremble…

The Gigantes’ body convulsed minutely.

The wounded areas began to regenerate.

WHOOSH!

In defiance, the Gigantes raised its left arm to stop Chloe’s spell right in the nick of time.

“What are we going to do? Our mage can’t even touch a single hair!”

Leo reached Chloe.

WHOOOSH!

The fiery orbof energy surged.

To maximize its power, Fiore would have needed to be summoned, but Leo didn’t have the mana left to summon her since he used most of his mana to assist his allies.

‘Still, even in this state, I should be able to block one attack from this near-dead Gigantes.’

Leo’s red eyes gleamed.

CRACK!

A flaming blade strike surged upward.

Using the breath of a hero’s counteraction, Leo’s left arm was burned completely.

At the moment the Gigantes’ lone remaining left arm swung upward, Chloe’s azure eyes opened.

“Ice World.”

Drip… drip… drip… CRACK!

Ice spread from the ground Chloe stood on, covering everything in its path.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRASH!

An absolute chilling cold enveloped the Gigantes’ body.

Leo, standing close, pushed the massive creature lightly, staring at its frozen body.

Wobble! CRASH! BOOM!

Everyone among the first-years held their breath as the Gigantes shattered and fell to the ground with just Leo’s light push.

And then…

“Wooohooohhh!”

“We did it!”

“We actually defeated the Gigantes!”

Cheers erupted.

Chloe collapsed on the spot, exhausted.

“Hahahaha… you guys are… amazing.”

Swordsman, his legs trembling, approached Chloe and handed her a mana potion.

And then, he shouted in Leo’s direction.

“You were really like a hero straight out of the Hero Record! Leo, this is like an epic achievement!”

“…”

But the Leo who had been on the walls was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Leo?”

When Chloe, confused, asked, Swordsman shook his head.

“Uhh, I don’t know.”