Chapter 146

146.

The elves were astonished as they saw the brilliant light of the Polyum.

Lunia also looked shocked as she alternately glanced at Leo and Luna.

“Leo, what is that staff?”

“Polyum.”

“What? Polyum?”

The Polyum was originally the magic staff symbolizing the Elf King.

But now, it was a staff that symbolized Luna.

It was said that the Polyum emitted the most brilliant light when Luna used it.

‘It’s as if it was made for Luna.’

Even now, it was emitting a brilliance that couldn’t be compared to when Leo had touched it.

“Why do you have the Polyum?”

“It ended up in my possession by chance.”

In response to Lunia’s question, Leo shrugged and replied.

“Then,”

Leo looked up at the World Tree.

“Shall we go?”

“Where?”

“To defeat Erebus.”

At Leo’s words, Lunia’s body trembled.

“Defeat Erebus?”

“Yes.”

“Is that even possible?”

Lunia’s face darkened.

Defeating the Great Catastrophe – it was a story that could only come from a fairy tale.

Having directly witnessed Erebus, Lunia believed it was near impossible.

“There can be no other way to conquer this world.”

“What?”

Leo continued, “There’s still no definitive answer to how Tartarus could have entered the Hero’s World, why the pieces of Erebus are in the world of Luna…”

Leo clenched his fists.

“…I’m fairly certain that Tartarus’ arrival in the Hero’s World has something to do with the Erebus you’ve seen, Lunia.”

It was also most likely related to the tearing of the Hero’s Page.

Leo, certain of this, spoke. “Still, there’s no need to be overly afraid. The Erebus you’ve seen might not be the same Erebus that we know.”

“What?”

Three thousand years ago.

Even when a single fragment of Erebus was reborn, the ground suffered catastrophic damage.

That day, known as the Rebirth of the Great Catastrophe, also marked the day the peace achieved by the Great Heroes began to crack.

‘That thing is a monster, capable of threatening the entirety of the world with just one shard.’

Its presence was something that could never be forgotten.

But now, there was no sense of Erebus’ presence that should have been apparent.

‘It’s not just because it’s asleep. The Erebus in this world isn’t complete, it might just be a fragment.’

If that was the case, it wasn’t impossible to defeat it with their current strength.

Having judged thus, Leo turned to Luna, who was studying the Polyum in awe.

“Luna, let’s go.”

“Huh?”

At Leo’s familiar call, Luna hesitated for a moment before asking.

“I agreed to help you, but shouldn’t you tell me what I need to help with first? Besides, this doesn’t seem like the right time to leave.”

And she was correct.

This place was the party venue celebrating the Elf King’s birthday. Both Leo and Lunia were nothing but mysterious intruders to this sacred land.

In fact, everyone still looked at Leo and Lunia with guarded eyes. However, because they had clearly seen Leo draw out the Polyum, they couldn’t rashly move against him.

At this time, Leo approached the Elf King, Erugen.

“Human boy. How did you infiltrate this sacred land disguised as a High Elf? Also, how did you come into possession of the Polyum?”

Coldly and precisely, Erugen questioned the situation.

“This is the will of the gods.”

“The gods?”

“Yes. The will of Lord Pibua.”

Upon mentioning Pibua’s name, Erugen sighed deeply.

Pibua – a deity known only as the Principal of Barharun to the public, but a select few High Elves knew he had existed since the founding of this city.

Mentioning such a deity’s name meant Leo had indeed been summoned here by Pibua.

‘And to think this boy even brought the Polyum.’

Even if one couldn’t be chosen by the Polyum, one still possessed the ability to distinguish between real and fake.

In Erugen’s eyes, the Polyum was authentic.

Pibua must have foreseen all this and handed the Polyum to Leo.

“What is the will of Lord Pibua?”

“To purge the darkness shrouding the World Tree.”

“Will you two alone be able to accomplish this?”

“This is something that only we can accomplish.”

After listening to Leo’s words, Erugen nodded.

“I understand. The elves will not stand in your way.”

Upon hearing Erugen’s statement, the elves present at the party widened their eyes.

“Your Majesty! This human must be punished for coming here! Not only to let them go, but to allow their dirty feet to tread upon the World Tree…”

An elf spoke frantically.

“You’ve all witnessed it yourself, have you not? How the light of the Polyum chose this human boy. And furthermore—”

His gaze shifted to Luna, who was wearing the Barharun school uniform.

“—how it chose this student.”

Only those chosen by the Polyum can become the king.

That was the literal tradition and culture of the elves.

Denying the light of the Polyum was akin to rejecting the honor they valued so greatly.

“That can’t possibly be the real Polyum!”

“It’s a forgery created by evil beings!”

Still, protests rose.

Ignoring them, Erugen dismissed them with a sigh.

“I’ll take care of this. Go, human boy.”

In response to his words, Leo bowed his head and approached Luna and Lunia.

‘Still worthy as the last king of the elves.’

Erugen had been a king who stood against Tartarus until the very early end of the Era of Catastrophe.

Though his successors had been corrupt, Erugen had risked his life for his people.

“Let’s go.”

At Leo’s words, Luna and Lunia followed after him.

“This is the real Polyum after all.”

Luna examined the Polyum from all sides with admiration and then tilted her head as she glanced at Leo and Lunia.

“So, we haven’t properly introduced ourselves yet, have we?”

At her words, Lunia quickly spoke out.

“Nice to meet you, Lady Luna! My name is Lunia El Rundah. It’s an honor to meet you!”

“Lunia El Rundah, hmm! Well met. But is it really necessary to be this honored just to meet me?”

“Of course! Lady Luna, you’re quite famous, aren’t you?”

“What? Has my fame spread so far in the outside world? Hmph. Indeed, my genius can’t be hidden, no matter what!”

Luna placed a hand on her chin with a smug smile.

Seeing this, Lunia let out an “Ahk!” and shut her eyes tightly.

Looking at such Lunia, Leo furrowed his brows and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re dazzling! Beautiful! Adorable! How wonderful that I can even hold a conversation with our ancestor!”

‘…She’s just acting conceited. Where’s the dazzle, exactly?’

Leo let out a deep sigh.

“Ar also reacted strangely when she met Aron. Is it the same with you too?”

At his words, Lunia momentarily forgot she was in front of Luna and turned to Leo.

“Ar? You mean the top-ranked student of Azonia’s 1st year?”

“Yes.”

“How could you know how she reacted when she met Lord Aron?”

“Because I helped Aron conquer her world.”

“What?! How?!”

“That’d be too long to explain now.”

Luna’s brows furrowed after hearing Leo’s explanation.

“How did you think she was? That Ar girl.”

“She was excellent. Worthy of being the grade representative of Azonia.”

“And.”

“And? Just that she was cute.”

“Cu… cute…?”

Lunia was baffled.

Watching her reaction, Luna interjected.

“Anyway. Let’s leave your conversations for later, you two. What’s your name?”

“Leo Flove.”

“Alright, Leo and Lunia. So, what do you need help with? Earlier, you mentioned something about the darkness over the World Tree, right?”

“That’s correct. There is a monster lurking within the World Tree. We’ll exterminate it.”

“A monster? Not a bad start for my first great deed.”

Luna responded with confidence.

“What about the Polyum?”

“You should take care of it.”

“Huh?”

“It’s yours anyway.”

With a smile, Leo opened the entrance to the Barharun castle gate.

Squeak—

This castle was a sort of entrance connecting to the interior of the World Tree.

“Hindering factors will be present. Stay alert.”

Seeing the interior, both Luna and Lunia gasped in shock.

The sanctuary known as Barharun Castle, the realm of the elves, was teeming with grotesque monsters.

“What is all this? Where did they come from!”

Looking at the astonished Lunia, Leo explained.

“If Erebus is here, this degree of infestation is to be expected.”

Leo narrowed his eyes.

“This place has become a nest of demons, almost as it were.”

Having said that, Leo drew his sword.

Whoosh—!

A flame of aura enveloped the sword.

Seeing this, Lunia also summoned her power.

Whoosh—!

The aura infused with the power of Phoenix earned a gasp of admiration from Luna.

“Amazing skill?”

Then, a competitive spark appeared in Luna’s eyes as she smirked.

“Then I suppose it’s time I show off my abilities?”

Luna swung the Polyum stylishly.

Clack—!

Then, with a firm grip, she summoned her magic power.

A silver light rippled.

Watching this, Lunia’s face brightened.

‘How wondrous to witness our ancestor’s magic right before my eyes!’

Could there be a greater honor for an elf?

Having seen the two elves prepare themselves, Leo summoned his power and cast a spell to the sky.

Whooooosh—! Bang—!

The magic b*llet soared high into the sky and exploded brightly.

It was a signal,

a magic sent to inform Elen and Hardin of their location from somewhere within Barharrun.

Leo turned his gaze to the inside of the castle.

Seeing the horde of beasts revealing their hostility, Leo said,

“Let’s go.”

With that, Leo ran forward.

A beautiful voice followed from behind Leo.

It was as melodious as a song and gave Leo an unusual strength in his fists.

‘Who would have thought the day would come when we’d synchronize once again?’

The uneasiness that lingered in his chest disappeared.

The voice that had repeatedly pushed his back in the battlefields where life and d*ath were on the line awakened his senses, offering him courage once more.

Kwang—!

Leo severed the neck of a monster before him.

What followed was a spectacular display of bl**d.

Leo’s movement between the monsters was almost godlike.

As if he had eyes on his back, he reacted to attacks from all directions with minimal effort, slicing through the monsters.

Lunia, witnessing this, widened her eyes.

‘I knew he had grown stronger, but… I didn’t expect to this extent.’

His strength had soared, incomparable even to the time of the school trip.

Lunia could feel the vibration of her emotions.

‘I cannot lose.’

There beside her was the ancestor she admired from her childhood days.

And right before her eyes was the boy she had decided to pursue in ambition.

‘I absolutely cannot lose.’

The determination filled Lunia’s crimson eyes.

Whoosh—!

She raised her finger, and a small flame ignited.

The flame soon compressed into a circular form and began violently rotating.

“Crimson Frisbee.”

It was a unique magic Lunia had perfected since the school trip.

Empowered by her will, the magic moved through the crowd of monsters, literally slicing through them.

“Amazing?”

Looking at the two of them, Luna applauded.

‘I cannot fall behind.’

“Fire Ball.”

Whoosh—!

The completed spell was surprisingly ordinary.

A basic spell of the fire magic—Lunia looked surprised.

But Luna added one extra technique to that Fire Ball.

“Replicate.”

Lunia was astonished as she saw the Fire Balls fill the space.

It was a simple magic in theory—just replicating the magic.

Yet its effect defied common sense.

Luna continuously repeated the simple act of duplication.

As the process of replication advanced, this straightforward task became exponentially harder.

For most mages, doing this once or twice would be the limit.

But Luna performed it relentlessly without difficulty.

‘This is the skill of our ancestor.’

Creating the great magic of the stars was not why she was called a genius.

It was genuinely the sense of magic and the sheer volume of magic power that were on a different level.

“Is this enough?”

Luna flicked her finger.

Snap—!

Crash—!

The duplicated Fire Balls flew toward the beasts.

Boom-Boom-Boom-!

A deafening roar filled the air as monsters met their end.

“Extraordinary.”

Even now, the founder was nothing short of amazing.

A feat impossible even in this modern era of advanced magic was achieved effortlessly by young Luna.

“Wow.”

Lunia found it hard to evaluate Luna.

The power of the ancestor overwhelmed Lunia.

Seeing this, Luna coughed.

“Hem hem!”

Luna looked at Lunia with sparkling eyes, like a child waiting for praise.

But Lunia couldn’t quite grasp what Luna wanted.

‘What could she possibly want?’

It was unimaginable that an ancestor would seek praise.

Staring blankly with confusion, just as Luna began to look disappointed, Leo returned to them.

With a familiar action, Leo reached out and tousled Luna’s hair.

“You did well. That was incredible.”

Upon hearing Leo’s praise, Luna’s face brightened and she proudly nodded, her chest puffed out.

But then she hesitated and suddenly flared up.

“Hey! You’re younger than me, right? Don’t treat me like a younger sister!”

“It was you who was asking for a childish compliment, right?”

“Urgh? H-how did…? Anyway, I’m the older sister! I don’t need the applause from someone younger than me! I’m the one supposed to give the compliments!”

Annoyed, Luna lunged at Leo, scattering her hair everywhere.

Leo laughed softly, humoring her antics.

Seeing this, Lunia felt a strange feeling.

‘How does Leo accurately understand what Lady Luna wants?’

Seeing Leo and Luna walking ahead, they inexplicably seemed incredibly close.

‘It’s as if they’ve known each other for a long time.’

How could someone act so casually with a Great Hero?

It was fascinating.

But at the same time, Lunia felt an odd vibe by how Leo and Luna appeared to have a closer bond than herself.

As Lunia observed the two with a complicated gaze, a voice spoke.

“Lunia.”

“Yes?”

“The new magic was impressive. You’re putting in the effort.”

Leo smiled and patted her head.

At this, Lunia furrowed her brow.

“Hey, I’m older than you!”

“Is that so? Then I’ll treat you like an aunt, shall I?”

“You b*stard! You’re asking for d*ath!”

With wide eyes, Lunia lunged at Leo, grabbing and shaking him.

Seeing his former companion and his current one wrestling like this, Leo chuckled.

Then he fixed his gaze on the deeper parts of the castle.

‘How much further do I need to go?’