Chapter 171

171

“Do you know me?”

“I know you very well.”

As Leo chuckled in reply, Silatuna crossed her arms.

With a voice filled with obvious mockery, Silatuna asked.

“Hmm, now that I think about it, some time ago in Rumelia City, a wizard with the Eye of the Demon used magic to repel another piece of mine. Wasn’t that when you were around?”

With a chilling laugh, Silatuna continued.

“But that was the last time you and I met, wasn’t it? What kind of relationship do we have exactly?”

“A very beautiful one.”

Thud- Thud-

Leo walked right up to Silatuna.

“You and the other legion commanders, even Erebus – I’m going to tear all of you to pieces.”

“Dear me, what arrogance. You seem to have lost all grasp of reality.”

Silatuna giggled.

“So you think you’re something special because you’re in the top class and have some minor achievements? You’re nothing but a insignificant worm…”

Pfft-!

Crack-!

Without hesitation, Leo kicked Silatuna in the shin.

Kerthump-

Her shin shattered as Silatuna lost balance and dropped to her knees.

Had this been a complete and whole fragment of Silatuna, even Leo couldn’t have challenged her recklessly.

But this fragment, weakened to the brink of dissolution by the Sword Saint, was no match for Leo in its current state.

“Tsk.”

Silatuna frowned as she glared up at Leo.

“How dare some first-year freshman…”

She paused mid-sentence, her expression stiffening as she sensed something off about the gaze Leo was fixing on her.

Demon Queen Silatuna.

A legion commander of Tartarus who, since before the Era of Catastrophe, had reigned as a terrifying disaster.

For thousands of years, countless heroes trembled in fear of Silatuna. Great figures who left their names in history failed repeatedly in their attempts to subdue her.

In fact, Silatuna was the one who hunted heroes.

Hunter of Heroes.

This was another alias of the Demon Queen.

Unlike the Demon King, who wielded unmatched power but remained cautious and didn’t take the forefront, or the Giant King, who possessed comparable might to Silatuna but was prudent, the Demon Queen was reckless and cruel.

She took the lead and devoured countless heroes.

Even now, Silatuna was feared more than the Demon King and Giant King.

But the look Leo was giving Silatuna was different from that of others.

‘Is this… the gaze of a first-year student?’

The hatred and anger in his eyes themselves weren’t unusual.

The usual Silatuna would have scoffed at such an expression.

However, before Leo, she couldn’t do so.

The gaze Leo fixed on Silatuna was clearly that of a predator eyeing its prey.

It was the same way Silatuna had looked at all the heroes she had consumed until now.

Silatuna felt a chill run down her spine.

‘Who is this brat…’

Deep within her, a surge of hatred and anger rose.

Along with that came an overwhelming sense of unease.

“Humans like you…”

Killing intent flickered in Silatuna’s voice.

“Humans like you shouldn’t have the nerve to look at me with such insolence…”

Crack-!

Leo’s sword plunged into Silatuna’s mouth.

“Stop your yapping. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Ah! Ah! Ah!”

Clutching their bleeding mouth with both hands, Silatuna’s eyes burned with killing intent.

Her broken knee healed.

As Silatuna tried to rise, Leo kicked her other knee this time.

Crack-!

“Ugh.”

Kerthump-!

Losing balance again, Silatuna fell face forward this time.

Gurgling- Gurgling- bl**d spurted from her mouth.

Thud!

Leo stomped on Silatuna’s head with his foot.

Silatuna’s body trembled violently.

Though she felt an immense sense of humiliation, that wasn’t the reason her body was shaking.

Deep within her memories…

A certain scene surfaced in her mind.

Back then, Silatuna was trembling with fear.

What caused even a terrifying legion commander to tremble so?

That time, she boldly declared she would destroy her only remaining greatest enemy.

Back then, Silatuna faced nothing but fear and despair.

It was the same as now.

‘Could it be… Could it be…’

Thud!

Gathering strength in her arms and head, Silatuna managed to lift her upper body, pushing against Leo’s foot pressing down on her head.

Leo stepped back a few paces.

‘It can’t be. It’s impossible.’

Still raising her head, Silatuna stared directly into Leo’s eyes.

Suddenly.

It felt like the scenery changed.

A gloomy gray sky.

The world hurtling towards destruction.

It was a landscape she had longed for, but also the most terrifying sight for Silatuna.

Kneeling before her was a human.

The Great Hero, the Hero of Beginning, Kyle, looking down at her with cold eyes.

Whoosh-!

In an instant, she snapped out of this hallucination.

“Impossible…”

Silatuna’s body trembled.

The terrifying Hero of Beginning from before was now overlapping with the youth in front of her in her mind.

She denied the situation that surfaced in her thoughts.

But as if mocking that denial, Leo curled the corner of his mouth into a sneer as Silatuna spoke.

“K… Kyle!”

Spitting out that name as if chewing on it, Silatuna continued.

“This time, not a single one of you will be left.”

Crack-!

“Guh?”

Leo’s sword pierced into Silatuna’s chest.

Whoosh!

With one upward swipe, Leo mercilessly slashed Silatuna’s upper body in half.

Swoosh-!

Silatuna’s body turned into black powder and scattered.

She had been annihilated.

Such a dissolving fragment couldn’t relay the current situation to the main body.

As Silatuna’s body collapsed.

“Tsk tsk…”

Silatuna’s shoulders quivered.

“Keeheeheehee! Kihihihihihahahaha!”

As she dissolved into madness, Silatuna’s fragment let out a crazed laughter filled with malice and spoke.

“So it’s you, Kyle! And what exactly do you think you can achieve alone?”

Clutching her head and writhing her body, she laughed like a madman.

“Who is by your side? Aron who was always quivering in fear? Dwenno who only produced cheap trash? The obnoxious bragger Luna? Or was it the incredibly stupid Lissinas? Exactly who do you have? Trying to subdue us, the great primal flames of fire alone? You really dream big! Khihihihihi!”

Ssshhh-!

As she dissolved into black powder, Silatuna mockingly said to Leo.

“You can do nothing! You’ll just be forced to watch the world you barely saved burn again! Hero of Beginning Kyle!”

Flash-!

Her eyes flashed.

“You’ll ultimately fail just like your comrades! And you’ll d*e in despair! Hahaha!”

In annoyance, Leo stomped on Silatuna’s head that was uttering these curses.

Crack-!

The head shattered like porcelain.

Sshhh-!

The remaining mouth of Silatuna sneered.

“I look forward to that day. Uhuhuhuhu.”

With an evil sound, Silatuna disappeared as if fading away.

Looking down at the spot where Silatuna vanished, Leo murmured.

“Alone…”

“Leo?!”

“Hey! What are you doing over there?”

A hurried voice called from afar.

Celia and Chloe were approaching.

“Are you okay?”

Responding to Chloe’s hurried question, Leo nodded.

“I’m fine. How about you?”

“Of course I’m fine.”

Celia confidently replied.

“Most of the demons have been dealt with.”

“Yeah.”

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing Chloe’s puzzled face, Leo smirked.

“Nothing, just…”

Leo reached out and ruffled Chloe’s hair.

“Feeling reassured.”

Saying that, Leo walked forward.

Watching his retreating back, Celia who had crossed her arms tilted her head.

“Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?”

Then, looking at Chloe whose face was turning red and was fumbling with words, Celia said,

“Chloe.”

“Uh, uh, yeah?”

“Envious?”

Seeing her teasing friend, Chloe lightly hit Celia’s shoulder and fanned her red face.

‘Not alone.’

Leo murmured while looking at the scenery of Lumeran.

‘I have new comrades now, and…’

Leo clenched and unclenched his fists.

‘My bonds with them haven’t been severed.’

The knowledge passed down by friends.

And the power they left behind still exists in the form of Hero Records.

‘You’re still afraid.’

Leo clenched his fists.

‘The great heroes who disappeared long ago, and the great heroes who will be born again someday.’

*

The Tartarus’ attack on Lumeran.

This incident caused an enormous upheaval.

And that the intruder was from one of the three major class academies shook the world even more.

“The other countries must be in quite a bind now.”

Kal clicked his tongue.

“Placing political pressure due to the various events of the first semester, and now they’ll be the ones on the receiving end.”

From the perspective of the power elites in other countries who pressured Lumeran by doubting their trustworthiness while they were under Tartarus threat, it was as if Lumeran had given them an excuse to object.

At Kal’s words, Chelsea made a bored expression.

“Well, Lumeran probably won’t use this as a political or diplomatic card anyway. They were neutral from the start, right?”

“That’s true. But maybe they won’t keep whining anymore?”

Rustle-!

Closing the newspaper, Kal smirked.

“In any case, I was once again amazed at Principal’s strength.”

That one slash of Calian’s sword that split the sky was enough to stun everyone.

The Sword Saint’s reputation is well-known.

His feats are called living legends.

But even so, since he had stepped back from the front lines for a long time, none of the current generation had directly experienced the Sword Saint’s power.

Until this incident revealed his true capabilities.

“How is it even possible to do that with a sword?”

As Kal muttered in disbelief, Chelsea crossed her arms.

“Hmm! Even our father’s magic, when used with maximum magical power, might not be able to achieve that.”

Not only Kal and Chelsea, but other students were also amazed by the principal’s story.

At that moment, Illiana came into the classroom with a worried face.

“What’s wrong? Why that look?”

Responding to Chelsea’s question, Illiana slumped her shoulders.

“The mid-term exam schedule was posted on the grade bulletin board.”

Upon hearing that, sighs erupted from various places.

Kal grasped his head in frustration.

The students of Class 5 also wore gloomy expressions.

Seeing that, Leo spoke.

“You’ve known the exam period is coming, so why the reaction?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Chelsea agreed with Leo.

“So, you guys being top students, that’s why?”

“Good for you, top students! Teach us some study methods!”

“Because I couldn’t study properly due to the joint classes!”

Representing everyone, Illiana shouted while Taed said dismissively,

“You don’t study even without joint classes…”

“You callously state the facts with that snobbish mouth!”

“Let go!”

Shaking off Illiana who was grabbing her own mouth and applying force, Taed said.

As the classroom began to get noisy, Chelsea spoke.

“Still, this mid-term exam isn’t that bad, right? Practical skills have more weight than theory, right?”

At that, Kal placed his interlocked hands at the back of his head.

“True. The ‘duel evaluation’ holds the largest score in this mid-term exam.”

“Right. Even if you lose, you can still get high scores. It’s called duel evaluation after all, so it’s about how you fight.”

“I heard that this duel evaluation will progress randomly, but you can also ‘challenge’ a specific opponent…”

Rattle-!

Before Kal finished speaking, the door was opened roughly.

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the person who opened the door.

There stood Duran.

Thud- Thud-

Duran approached Leo.

“Leo Flove.”

“What?”

“Surely, you must have heard about this duel evaluation?”

Duran’s golden eyes flashed.

“This time, we will definitely prove who is the best.”

“You never learn, do you?”

Chelsea spoke with a wry expression.

“Be quiet, Chelsea LeWalyn.”

“Hmph!”

As usual, while Duran and Chelsea were having their staring contest,

Suddenly outside got noisy.

The students of Class 5 who peeked outside made surprised faces.

“Wait! Why is that person coming to the first-year classrooms?”

“Wow! This is insane! He’s handsome!”

Exclamations erupted from all around.

Moments later, a young man entered the classroom of Class 5.

The entire Class 5 held their breath.

He was an extremely famous student.

Thud- Thud-

“Leo.”

“Ris, big brother.”

The Student Council President Ris Zerdinger stood before Leo.

Ris smiled as he looked at Leo.

“Can we have a brief talk?”