Chapter 225

225

A storm of aura surged towards Leo.

Hwaak-!

A sharp spear flew towards his neck.

And from behind, a sword was swung at a precise angle.

‘Not bad for a hastily put-together combination.’

Leo smirked as he observed Aina and Habidden putting pressure on him.

Their movements had undoubtedly become faster.

‘Did Shasha summon a familiar and grant them a blessing?’

Tub-! Tub-!

“……!”

“……!”

Leo extended his hands and accurately grabbed Aina and Habidden by their wrists.

The two, suspended in mid-air, widened their eyes in shock.

“You should prepare countermeasures for situations like this.”

Hwaak-! Kwang-!

“Keh?”

“Tsk?!”

With brute force, Leo slammed the two of them into the ground.

There was nothing the two could do but land harshly under the brute force, crashing into the floor.

After subduing them, Leo tilted his head.

Hwaak-!

A powerful sniping magic passed through where Leo’s head had been.

It was Juen, who had concealed her presence and had attempted the snipe.

Leo looked in the opposite direction from where the sniping magic came.

‘Did she reveal her position?’

Juen’s face turned white.

She thought she had perfectly concealed her presence by erasing her mana’s aftertaste, yet Leo had accurately determined her location.

‘You’re completely a monster, aren’t you…’

At that fleeting thought of Juen’s, she hastily bowed her head.

Kwagagagajak-!

Juen, perched on a tree, realized the emptiness above her.

She cautiously raised her head.

There was nothing left where she had been sitting on the tree.

‘Sniping magic?!’

Juen gritted her teeth, trying to hide at a different location.

“Aren’t you supposed to rush to join your team when your position is revealed? There’s nothing easier to deal with than a lone wizard separated from their group.”

“…!”

At the voice that came from behind, Juen turned her head in shock.

‘When did he…!’

Pajijik-!

Sparks leapt from Leo’s hand.

Pajijijijik!

“Kyaahaaaakkk!”

Juen screamed as she was electrocuted by a Lightning magic.

At that moment,

Hwaak-!

Luke lunged towards Leo.

Tub-!

Leo, catching the fiercely swung sword, immediately threw a punch.

Hooooong-!

“…!”

Luke hastily surrounded his arm with aura.

Ppeong-!

Luke, who had blocked Leo’s punch, felt his senses blur momentarily.

Hwaak-! Plumpsek-!

Luke’s body flew through the air, falling to the ground and rolling several times.

‘Still clumsy. Your swordsmanship too, as well as your ability to control aura.’

Leo turned away from Luke and looked back at Juen.

She had already concealed herself again.

‘Not bad.’

While Leo smirked, Aina and Habidden, who had fallen to the ground, staggered to their feet.

Juen, who had rejoined the party in the rear, taunted.

“You said that you could simply subdue us without even drawing your sword, but it seems that’s not the case.”

“Seems like you’re more resilient than I thought, Leo-seonbae.”

Habidden, agreeing with her words, smiled.

“How about drawing your sword?”

Shasha, too, flared up and suggested.

Leo’s overwhelming power certainly left them feeling overwhelmed.

Yet, they felt they could hold out to some extent.

Even Luke, whose arm had broken during the process of blocking an earlier attack, groaned and stood up.

Watching the five of them burning with determination, Leo smirked.

“Is that so?”

Swoosh-!

Everyone tensed when they saw Leo drawing his sword.

“Then, I suppose I should move more seriously now?”

Staggering-!

Aina struggled to rise.

She was the one with the greatest talent among them.

‘A monster.’

Aina’s eyes were filled with despair.

Somehow, she had to earn the recognition of the man before her.

Only then could she obtain the qualification to avenge herself as the true heir of the Sword Saint.

But Leo wasn’t even looking at her.

Then, she had to make him see her through skill alone… but she lacked the confidence to do so.

It was truly overwhelming.

Hwalek-!

Magic surged in Leo’s hand.

“Ugh!”

Aina quickly deployed her aura armor.

Kwaang!

With an explosion, she was effortlessly sent flying.

“…This is completely unfair.”

Juen, fallen to the ground, painfully raised her head.

“Swordsmanship, magic, summoning skills… All at a monstrous level…!”

To them, Leo was a flawless entity without a single flaw.

There was no room to breach him.

That fact was enough to instill despair in them.

“Is this the end? Shall we finish it then?”

With a cold tone, Leo raised his hand.

As Aina, Shasha, Habidden, and Juen displayed expressions of submission, something happened.

Rustle-

“I’m… not finished yet.”

Luke stood up.

Among the five, his physical condition was the worst.

Despite his lesser skills, Luke stubbornly attacked Leo whenever he could, contributing his share to the team.

No matter how many times he fell, Luke always rose again and stood in front of Leo.

Thus, it was only natural that his state was the most pitiful.

With each harsh breath, a sound like deflating air could be heard.

“I can fight.”

Looking at Luke gripping his sword, Leo spoke.

“You’ve already reached your limit. If you push further, you might d*e from exhaustion.”

Leo was right.

His aura had already run out long ago, and the physical injuries were great.

His stamina had indeed reached its limit, and he was using nothing but mental strength to stand.

“You’re all remarkable.”

Leo spoke plainly.

“From this fight, you may receive a good evaluation and might be able to enroll. Even if you fail, your skill level means you’ll definitely pass next year; you just had a bit of bad luck.”

As Leo accurately pointed out, they were all more than capable of passing.

With Leo’s soft encouragement, their hearts relaxed.

On the other hand, Aina gritted her teeth.

For her, whose goal was not merely admission, such comforting words were unnecessary; she only felt despair.

And what about Luke…?

“Still unwilling to quit, huh.”

Leo observed Luke, who was still standing against him.

Compared to the other four, he was truly weak.

But he was the most tenacious.

“Why don’t you quit?”

“This might be my last chance.”

Feeling an overwhelming sense of despair and realizing the insurmountable skill gap, Luke was more aware than anyone else that his current actions were meaningless.

Even knowing that, he didn’t quit.

‘I’m different from other people. I won’t get into Lumeran, so if I don’t act now, I may never meet Mr. Leo again.’

To Luke, Leo was an object of admiration.

Someone who had accomplished heroic feats like those in stories, despite being only a few years older.

‘I want to know how much further I can fight against Mr. Leo.’

Luke gripped his sword and smiled.

“Surpassing limits is… isn’t that one of Lumeran’s teachings?”

Seeing that smile, Leo’s eyes widened slightly.

A little… no, a lot surprised.

Because someone had come to mind who could smile like that while foolishly clinging to the impossible.

“Do you want to be a hero?”

“…Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to help many people.”

“Why do you want to help them?”

At Leo’s question, Luke’s face turned red.

Hesitating for a moment, Luke answered.

“Well… because it would be cool to be a hero.”

Witnessing Luke’s awkward smile, those who observed were dumbfounded.

To want to become a hero for such a trivial reason?

“Cool?”

As Leo burst into laughter, Luke shyly lowered his head.

Wishing to save many people was an exceedingly grand ideal.

And the reason for harboring such a grand ideal was simply because it was cool.

It was an absurd reason.

Yet, Leo did not mock.

Because Leo knew a truly foolish person who stood against the world when it faced crisis, simply because it was in trouble.

‘Isn’t it natural to save the world when it’s in trouble?’

Leo himself had participated in that great, yet absurd, journey.

“What’s your name?”

“My name’s Luke Eldar.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Hearing Leo’s words, Luke’s eyes widened.

The same went for the others.

Leo pointed his sword at Luke.

Go-oo-oo-oo!

An overwhelming aura swept through like never before.

Luke’s face turned white immediately.

But soon, he steadied his mind, holding his sword tightly.

After seeing that, Leo smirked and his eyes flashed.

Kwad-!

Leo’s sword thrust down towards Luke.

With his sword broken, Luke passed out right away.

Leo smiled as he looked at the junior who stood defiant until the very end.

Chjerjeok-

Meanwhile, the crack of the world began.

“The trial is over.”

Uncompleted Hero Records could be closed by an external will.

Having thrust his sword in, Leo looked at the four people with dazed expressions and said,

“See you at school, juniors.”

Leo waved lightly to them.

’Did you predict the testing time?’

Aina clenched her teeth.

’You just let us off easy, didn’t you!’

And yet, she was still far from even touching his ankles.

Her gaze fell upon Luke, who had fainted in front of Leo.

Anyone could tell.

The fact that this young man had earned Leo’s recognition.

’Why?’

Before that thought finished, bright light engulfed her vision.

“Hmmph. He let them off.”

Halind snorted, muttering.

“Indeed. Predicting the exam period… He truly is the future of the Department of Summoning!”

“Sir Yura. Do not utter nonsense. Leo is the future of the Department of Magic.”

“Eh? Are you defying me?”

“Defiance? I’m simply stating the fact. But it seems you’re too dense to understand. Very well. Then let me explain in a way you can comprehend…”

“Is this defiance or a challenge?”

Yura grinned menacingly and grabbed Ren’s collar.

Halind nodded coldly.

“Deal with him.”

The other professors quickly restrained the two.

Despite the bizarre sight of Professors of Lumeran arranging chairs and sitting on their knees at Halind’s side, he looked at the data of the five who stood against Leo.

“What do you think you should do? Regardless of the fact that Leo let the five off, it’s laughable to claim they didn’t give their all in such a thoroughly beaten manner.”

Halind, with an indifferent look, turned the final page.

There was Luke’s photo.

“Sedgen might have been pleased, calling it excellent perseverance.”

The perseverance not to give up was one of the highest values Sedgen prized above all else.

Of course, it wasn’t a significant score in Halind’s eyes.

“What should we do with this examinee?”

Aina asked.

While Aina, Shasha, Habidden, and Juen deserved unconditional passes, Luke had an ambiguous situation.

His ability to fight against Leo to a certain extent was largely influenced by the four others in the party.

“Your opinion?”

“…Incompetent. His swordsmanship is rudimentary compared to other candidates, and his aura control is lacking.”

Ain provided a cold assessment.

“But… the talent is clear.”

At that statement, Halind rested his chin in his hand.

Tapping his desk a few times, Halind drew a triangle over Luke’s photo, signifying hold status.

Halind stood up and left the room.

Seeing him go, Ain sighed in relief.

“At least the freshmen haven’t been entirely wiped out.”

So far, only 53 candidates had passed the exam.

Out of several thousand students, only 53 survived.

Fortunately, astonishingly, 724 students were on hold.

“The gems will be filtered out during the professors’ meeting.”

At that time, Sedgen would also be present.

Ain sighed while observing the contrasting fortunes of the candidates.

“Hopefully, the second-years won’t have a reason to shrink back.”

*

A crack formed in the Hero’s World.

All the candidates and second-year students had returned to their original world.

Yet, Leo remained standing alone.

‘What is this?’

Leo looked around at the tranquil forest, feeling strange.

There’s no sign of any monsters.

As if the forest itself was holding its breath.

Frowning, Leo suddenly turned his head.

He was met by the sight of a gigantic crimson eye floating in the air.

He felt a chill run down his spine.

The power radiating from the crimson eye was slight.

So slight that it might as well be powerless.

But it carried a clear ‘will’.

The moment Leo comprehended the consciousness embedded in that eye.

Hwaak-!

Leo’s bright field of vision was enveloped.

Before he knew it, Leo was standing in the middle of the exam room.

Rigidly, Leo remained standing.

“Leo?”

Kal approached him with a curious face.

“What’s the matter? Why are you sweating so much?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

He wiped the sweat off his chin.

The crimson eye just now.

‘That was definitely… Erebus.’