Chapter 205

205

The atmosphere inside Seirun’s campus was grim.

It couldn’t be otherwise.

Everyone here was a civilian.

Though their hearts raced with admiration for the heroes’ legendary exploits, they were not heroes.

Not even close. They weren’t even hero candidates, and the Tartarus Legion Commander, to them, was a distant figure they only encountered in stories.

Thus, the news that the Tartarus Legion Commander had invaded Seirun brought only immense fear.

“Is the warp gate ready yet!”

“Quick, let us escape from here!”

“d*mn it! I didn’t come here to watch this Ruse Tournament!”

All around, people panicked and created chaos.

“Great forefathers of Star Cloud, repel the evil and save us!”

“Protect the heroes who fight against our enemies!”

Some quietly prayed to the Great Heroes.

Others silently focused on the sounds outside, holding their breath.

“The heroes will surely handle it!”

“Yes! Yes!”

The children clutched their fists and spoke of hope.

Amidst this chaos, Lunia approached those causing a disturbance by demanding the activation of the warp gate.

“Please calm down, everyone. Because of you, many people are becoming anxious!”

“Who are you?”

“I am Lunia El Rundah, the representative of Seirun’s first year.”

Lunia spoke sternly to the humans.

The human spectators frowned at Lunia’s firm stance.

“Representative of Seirun’s first year? So, you must be an incredible expert, right?”

“I am not an incredible expert. I’m barely managing to hold the position of first-year representative despite my shortcomings.”

“That’s none of my concern! If you’re a hero candidate, you shouldn’t be here in this safe place; you should be out there fighting with us!”

An evidently nobleman grew irritated and shouted.

Witnessing his behavior, Lunia coldly remarked,

“The mission of first and second years is to protect the people on campus.”

“Pfft! You’re just scared, aren’t you? All this talk of being a hero candidate—it’s all a farce. You’re no better than us, are you?”

Laughing mockingly, the nobleman sneered, and Lunia twitched her face in annoyance.

‘Should I take him down?’

“Huh? Your face is saying you want to hit, right? Go ahead. Try me. I’m here as a special guest of Lumeran to watch the Ruse Tournament! Feel free to hit me, and I’ll expose how the first-year representative of Seirun assaulted me during a crisis situation.”

Pewk!

As Lunia hesitated to throw a punch, a fist from behind connected with the man’s face, smashing it inward.

Hovering briefly in the air, the man eventually crashed to the ground.

Thud!

“Ke-heeeeeeck!”

The human nobleman gripped his face and screamed.

Lunia stared at him in shock.

Turning to Lunia, Duran, who had thrown the punch, spoke,

“This guy is a guest from Lumeran. If you had messed with him, it could’ve caused diplomatic trouble.”

Duran glanced at the bl**d on his unpleasant hand and extended it to the side.

“I’d like to borrow a handkerchief if you could, Iliana Laden.”

“Well, I’m certainly not your maid, you know?”

Though Iliana grumbled, she handed over the handkerchief without hesitation.

Duran used it to wipe off the bl**d and threw it toward the man who was now clutching his face in agony.

“Hey! Why are you just throwing it away? That’s an expensive item!”

Iliana protested, but Duran snickered.

“Forget about it. You don’t want to bring back a handkerchief that wiped the bl**d of such a vulgar person; it’ll only tarnish your dignity. I’ll buy you a better one.”

“Oooh, so you really are someone special after all, Your Highness?”

Iliana smiled happily and laughed.

“Hey, shouldn’t you not touch the guests if they’re under your protection?”

Lunia asked with a disgruntled tone, and Iliana shrugged.

“It’s normally not allowed.”

“It’s not?”

“It’s okay because it’s Duran.”

As Lunia looked baffled, the man groaned.

“G-grgh! You brat! You’re a Lumeran student, right? State your grade and name! I’ll immediately file a complaint with the board… No! I don’t even need to go that far! With the power of my family…”

“Duran Moira. That ought to cover it.”

“Huh!”

The man’s face turned pale as he shouted.

Duran wasn’t just any top-ranked student.

He was the prince and next likely heir of the Kingdom of Moira, one of the central continent’s small but highly renowned knight kingdoms. Despite its small size, the kingdom had an influence comparable to some larger ones, thanks to its gathering of famous knights under the Moira flag.

Even if Moira’s status as a principality made it smaller, it still wielded enormous influence across the globe.

Thus, even as a guest from Lumeran, Duran was in a position where no one dare toy with him freely.

“Prince Duran! I have shown grave disrespect!”

The man bowed deeply, and Duran smirked coldly.

“Grave disrespect demands a price.”

“Y-yes!”

“Tell me the prestigious name of your family.”

“Prince Duran, please grant me forgiveness!”

The man knelt and pleaded, and Lunia observed with a look of surprise.

Just moments ago, the arrogant man was bowing to a young boy much younger than himself.

‘The power structure of humans is confusing.’

As an elf, Lunia found this sight incredibly fascinating.

Amidst this, Iliana sighed.

“Cloe was right. We’re needed more as patrols.”

Due to the overwhelming number of Ruse Tournament spectators entering Seirun’s campus all at once, the first and second years were overwhelmed trying to calm the crowd.

So, Duran and Iliana were patrolling to prevent more disturbances.

“Thank you for helping.”

After the situation calmed down, Lunia smiled and said her thanks.

Duran chuckled.

“I merely silenced someone who was disgracing his race. No thanks are necessary.”

In response, Lunia quietly asked Iliana,

“Is he usually this haughty?”

“Yeah, but sometimes it makes him… ouchouchouch!”

“Now’s not the time for dawdling. Let’s move on to the next place.”

“I… but wait! Ouch! That hurts!”

Iliana squirmed as Duran tugged her by the ear and dragged her off to the next location.

Watching their retreating backs, Lunia chuckled hollowly and sat down.

‘How’s the situation outside progressing?’

Lunia’s hands trembled slightly.

For someone in the first year, she had experienced quite a lot, but this event still filled her with fear.

Outside were many teachers and senior students she’d gotten along with, along with her father, all risking their lives in combat.

For hero candidates and heroes, this was part of their duty.

But that didn’t change the fear and concern they felt.

‘Even heroes aren’t perfect, after all.’

Lunia’s eyes wavered.

Even Luna, hailed as perfect by many, had her moments of weakness.

There were no truly perfect heroes in this world.

Heroes, too, must feel fear and the desire to run away.

They gather the courage to fight because of the responsibilities they carry.

‘What would Leo do in this situation?’

As Lunia thought about her friend, composed in every situation, the school building began to tremble.

The entire fortress-like structure of Seirun shook, and murmurs of panic spread among the spectators.

‘What on earth is happening?’

As Lunia stood up in confusion, another voice called out.

“Lunia! Evacuate the people to a safer, deeper area of the school!”

“What’s happening?”

“Another legion is attacking!”

*

The Hero Alliance only became aware of the anomaly when Riven noticed a hole had opened up in the sky, one minute later.

“What is that?”

“A hole?”

“When did that appear?”

The Hero Alliance looked perplexed by the dark hole that had torn through the sky.

“That’s… something ominous, isn’t it?”

Hark furrowed his brows in irritation.

“Yeah, it looks like…”

Elena, who had been casting magic nearby, grimaced.

“Something monstrous might emerge.”

And then it happened.

Kwak!

It was as if the hole was being violently torn open. A grotesquely shaped long arm stretched out and began to widen the tear in the sky like it was digging through the ground.

Moments later, the hole spat out the upper body of a hideous monster.

Seeing this, the Hero Alliance’s faces turned to shock.

“What on earth is that?”

“It emits an aura similar to demons…”

“But it’s no ordinary demon. That’s a monster wielding the power of a Legion Commander!”

The arrival of another Legion Commander threw the Hero Alliance into panic.

The upper body of the commander was covered in hard scales.

At first glance, it reminded them of a dragon.

But its features were undeniably different. Instead of a dragon’s short, stubby legs, this creature had long, scaly arms. It also possessed a humanoid torso, although it slightly resembled a hunchback.

Its exposed fangs were sharp and ruthless, capable of crushing anything.

Its overall form resembled a giant dragon but it induced fear in whoever looked at it.

What truly struck terror into the hearts of the Hero Alliance, though, was…

“Did such a Legion Commander even exist?”

An elf hero turned white with shock and muttered.

That’s right.

The Legion Commander before them was truly an unknown entity, an unnamed Legion Commander.

Kiaaaaaaaak!

The Legion Commander known as Zerdiaq roared.

Opening its massive mouth, Zerdiaq shot a purple breath towards the wall built by Sedgen.

Kiiiiing! Kwggggggggaggggggg!

Traveling at an incredible speed, the breath not only destroyed one side of Sedgen’s castle wall but also evaporated a part of Silatuna’s army.

Seeing this, Silatuna frowned.

‘Does this thing possess no reason at all? It seems he hasn’t crossed over properly into this world. Are the plans altered because of this?’

The Hel Kaiser had entrusted the invasion of Seirun to Silatuna after heading out to meet the comrade.

It seemed the Hel Kaiser had anticipated that Zerdiaq would come as a creature possessed of only destructive instincts.

‘It matters not.’

Whether the past comrade had crossed over as a mindless destroyer or not,

Zerdiaq was still a Legion Commander.

There was no disappearance of his abilities.

‘Being mindless might even make him easier to control. Could it?’

Silatuna’s eyes gleamed with delight.

‘Still, who would have thought it could succeed?’

This was the Hel Kaiser’s plan all along.

To summon a past Legion Commander recorded in the Hero Record of the Great Hero.

‘Who would’ve guessed that the loathsome legacy of the gods could be of use to us?’

Silatuna’s eyes flashed with excitement.

‘With this, I can set ablaze this loathsome world.’

The world would burn.

Living beings on the ground would drown in despair.

Although the gods were still asleep, the day would come soon.

Silatuna trusted that the day to return to the times they yearned for, 5000 years ago, and see the landscape of those days would arrive.

“Tremble in fear, you wretches! Lumeran and Seirun will be destroyed, and the world will once again be bathed in darkness!”

Geeaaaaarrrr!

As if agreeing with Silatuna’s words, Zerdiaq roared.

With a legion commander in front and another behind, the despair-inducing situation filled the faces of the Hero Alliance with despair.

“Bennett.”

Kalyan calmly called Bennett.

“You will lead Alby, Ellen, and Chade to repel the legion commander.”

“What?!”

Seirun’s principal, Bennett, stiffened as he stared at Kalyan.

“And you and Riven?”

“We will face the Demon Queen.”

Swish-

“I cannot do it alone.”

Alby firmly protested with a rigid sound.

“I won’t accept any disobedience. This is an order.”

Kalyan smiled faintly.

“The greatest hope for our world now lies with the young saplings. Alby.”

Step- Step-

Kalyan walked towards Silatuna.

“There’s still a duty to hand over the mantle of this era to those who have yet to see their time.”

The tip of Kalyan’s sword pointed towards Silatuna.

“This is our duty as those who carry the era. Do not worry about me, go on.”

“Principal.”

Chade gritted his teeth.

“Go.”

With an emotionless face, Alby spoke as Chade groaned and left the battlefield.

Ellen bowed his head and also retreated, and Bennett finally spoke.

“I trust you, Sword Sage.”

As they stepped away, Silatuna clicked her tongue.

“Ah, in the end, it’s down to only the two of you. What a bore to battle such aged humans and a dragon.”

Silatuna wore a disdainful expression.

“Didn’t you say before that holding me back is our duty as carriers of the era? Sword Sage.”

With a smirk, the Demon Queen’s lips curled.

“Yes, exactly. I have seen countless heroes who shouldered this era, those you might call our great ancestors. That’s why I can say…”

Scornful laughter emerged from the Demon Queen’s mouth.

“You’re the worst hero I’ve ever known among the era-bearers.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You jest until the end, it seems.”

GoooOOOOOoo-!

Sinister black mana erupted from the Demon Queen.

“I’ll keep up appearances. Heroes who come to d*e are just annoying.”

Creak-Creak-

Silatuna’s figure began to grow larger.

[You will d*e the most pitiful d*ath at my hands.]

Kooong-!

Looking up at the ferocious true form of Silatuna, Kalyan smiled.

‘I wonder how long it’s been since I last saw something insurmountable.’

Even facing this unfathomable despair, Kalyan, the Sword Sage who carried the era, smiled.

‘To challenge the impossible…’