Chapter 295

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The faces of the guards at the Guardstron fortress’s watchtower turned pale.

Before their eyes stood a colossal giant towering over even the famous walls of Guardstron.

“T-t-the Giant King… Gias!”

Their chins trembling, they whispered the name of the monstrous figure before them.

The Era of Catastrophe.

Anyone who has fought even once in the war against Tartarus cannot avoid encountering a Legion Commander.

But not a single person in this place had ever witnessed the actual appearance of the Giant King.

Even Tartarus’s supreme commander, the Demon King, the most powerful follower of Erebus, leaves survivors behind.

Even the Demon Queen, known for her brutal savagery, leaves remnants who tell the tale of her atrocities.

But Giant King Gias was different.

The Legion Commander who never leaves survivors.

That meant one thing: he was the absolute symbol of d*ath.

At the appearance of Giant King Gias, renowned for delivering complete annihilation on the battlefield, the guards of Guardstron felt terror.

Thud! Thud!

With each step, as Gias’s massive frame drew closer, the guards took nervous steps backward.

“Hold your formation, everyone.”

A resolute voice echoed.

At the sound of this voice, all the soldiers snapped back to attention.

“This is Guardstron. No matter who or what comes—even the Giant King himself—this impregnable fortress cannot be crossed.”

“Understood!”

At God’s Blacksmith Dwenno’s words, everyone mustered courage.

Seeing this, Lunia murmured.

“Truly, it is Lord Dwenno. His single word has snapped the soldiers, frozen in fear, back to their senses.”

Thinking of the dignity and legacy of the Great Hero, Lunia marveled, while Driana crossed her arms and beamed proudly.

“Of course, it’s Lord Dwenno.”

Beside Driana, another voice joined in as Ar also crossed her arms, her expression smug.

“Now it’s Lady Aron’s turn to rally the soldiers and boost their morale.”

At these words, Dwenno sighed deeply.

“Unfortunately, that won’t be possible.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know what kind of illusion people have about Aron, but she is—truly—a terrible coward.”

Leaving those words behind, Dwenno ascended the fortress walls of Guardstron and crossed his arms.

Though a small dwarf, his back seemed incredibly imposing.

Most soldiers were too terrified to even approach the fortress walls.

Hearing Dwenno’s words, all party members but Leo exchanged shocked glances as they looked at Aron.

Aron, hiding behind her disciple Berkiya with her eyes tightly shut, was visibly trembling.

“B-Berkiya… how does it look? Is it… big?”

“It’s unimaginably huge,” Berkiya answered with an anxious voice, having peeked over the walls on her tiptoes.

Aron let out a frightened whimper.

Kal’s mouth dropped open in disbelief when he saw Aron trembling like a frightened puppy.

“There’s no way. The Lady Aron we know wouldn’t be this much of a coward…”

Kal too was under immense pressure from the mere presence of the Giant King, though seeing Aron closing her eyes, hiding behind her disciple, and shaking violently left an indelible impression.

The fact that this was none other than Aron, praised as the bravest of the Great Heroes—the [Champion]—was nothing short of shocking.

The children of this era grew up hearing tales of the [Champion] as a figure of unrelenting courage from a young age, so this revelation couldn’t help but shock them deeply.

“This is perplexing.”

Lunia murmured in bewilderment.

Ar seemed especially shocked as she slumped down, clutching her head.

“Waaaah! Lady Aron! How could the Lady Aron from the stories be so different?”

Leo grabbed her by the collar and forcibly pulled her up.

Then he turned his gaze toward Giant King Gias.

“The reality of the Great Heroes may not necessarily align with our preconceived notions.”

At Leo’s words, Lunia recalled the image of Lady Luna.

Luna, the ancestor of the Star Cloud, was always depicted in countless history books and fairy tales as elegant, gentle, and compassionate.

But in reality, she was lively, bold, and brimming with curiosity—a lover of flowers.

Erebus’s Blacksmith, Dwenno, revered as a devout craftsman creating weapons for the world, was instead eccentrically obsessed with beauty and peculiarities.

Fairy Knight Berkiya, renowned by all for her fairness, charisma, and guidance of the elves—a role model for all—was in reality mischievous and prone to lying.

They had traveled together for only ten days, but this glimpse behind the curtains, unrecorded in history, painted a picture far from the idealized, flawless versions of the Great Heroes they had been taught.

“Maybe if I ever meet Lissinas, Kyle, or even Luna herself, it would be like this.”

“Considering Lady Luna, isn’t it likely that they’d all laugh and enjoy themselves together?”

Lunia felt herself smiling, remembering the happy, uninhibited Lunas she had seen in vivid memories.

“Leo’s right,” Lunia said brightly.

Though the versions of Dwenno, Aron, and Berkiya that they knew diverged from the legends…

“They are still the ones who saved the world.”

The realization was empowering.

“We’re not so different from them.”

…this thought struck everyone.

Realizing that even common people like them could achieve greatness brought an unexpected sense of familiarity and courage.

Lunia’s words prompted Ar to lift her head and look at Aron.

Then she clenched her fists tightly.

“Yes! Lady Aron is Lady Aron!”

She stood tall, her chest out, affirming that the fact of being the descendant of the great hero remained unchanged.

She blew a loud raspberry and stepped onto the fortress walls.

“Let’s see what this Giant King or whatever looks like!”

Ar approached the walls confidently, raising her eyebrows, her ears and tail standing high.

But as soon as she caught sight of Gias, her ears and tail drooped, and she hastily retreated.

“What is that thing? So… huge!”

“Really, it’s like a mountain.”

“Is this Giant King… Does this confirm the rumors we heard before coming into this Hero’s World?”

The party members, recalling the mysterious giant they had come to investigate, broke into a cold sweat.

Thud! Thud!

The earth continued to shake.

When no one else could muster the courage to step onto the walls like Dwenno had, there was a sound of someone’s boots approaching.

Everyone watched, believing it was Aron mustering her courage and joining Dwenno.

However, it wasn’t Aron—it was Leo who stood proudly beside Dwenno.

“Truly fearless.”

“To withstand a Legion Commander’s aura this way…”

Lunia was impressed, and Driana couldn’t help but gasp.

“Indeed, that’s Lord Leo.”

“Yay! If the Black Rabbit can do it, so can I!”

Eiran’s admiration spurred Ar to lift her head proudly.

The aura (or pier) emitted by Legion Commanders induces fear in living beings.

Countering it requires summoning mana to resist the overwhelming sensation of fear.

But neither Dwenno nor Leo showed any indication of doing that; they stood firm, calmly enduring the overwhelming pressure.

Their composed presence gave courage even to those watching them from behind.

Dwenno opened an interdimensional space and retrieved a battle axe.

Leo stood with his arms crossed, watching the approaching earth-shaking form of the Giant King.

‘It was supposed to be an attack tomorrow morning. Why is he here so early?’

Giant King Gias was arriving far earlier than expected.

‘That means…’

Leo narrowed his eyes.

‘This is the Giant King of this age.’

There were two Giant Kings in the Hero World: one from the past and one from the present, sent to devastate the Hero World.

The one before them was, clearly, the Giant King of the current age.

“You’ve hit the nail on the head.”

Whish! Hoooow!

“Giant King Gias approaches.”

As Dwenno swung the battle axe in the air, a fierce wind swept through.

Thud!

Dwenno struck the ground with the battle axe, spreading his mana across the fortress walls.

The soldiers atop the walls regained their courage, thanks to Dwenno’s mana overpowering Gias’ aura.

“Is this all that needs doing now, lopping off that giant’s head?”

Dwenno commented casually as Leo drew his sword.

“Better he doesn’t move much. There’s no sign of his army yet.”

“Hmm. You’re right.”

“And…”

“And?”

“Perhaps there are two Giant Kings.”

Dwenno’s eyes flickered at this.

“Indeed.”

Leo, having guessed that Dwenno knew of his origins from the future, made himself clear through his words.

“Did we win this battle in the timeline you know?”

“…We did. But at great cost.”

“Ah, understood.”

“What are you two talking about? I should… also…”

Gurrrrrrrrrrrr!

“Heeeek?”

Ar, mustering her courage to climb the wall beside Leo, screamed in terror as the Giant King’s roar echoed, causing her to fall flat on her backside.

Though Guardstron’s walls were far from where the Giant King stood, its sheer size ensured his movements were visible even from a distance.

Roar-!

From the interdimensional space, the Giant King drew a massive sword.

The scarlet blade had chunks of flesh stuck to it, looking utterly demonic.

Seeing this, Dwenno squinted.

“This dark power… Could it be the sword forged from Jormungand’s vertebrae? I thought it would take centuries to complete such a weapon…”

Jormungand, the beast defeated by Kyle and Lissinas, had been recovered entirely by Giant King Gias.

He had turned the corpse of his comrade into a monstrous blade.

Giiiiiiiiiii!

A formidable dark energy surged.

As the dark power from Jormungand’s remains surged violently, it trembled.

KuuuAAAAA-!

A dark green aura blasted forth, revealing the wicked powers of the King of Gluttony, Jormungand.

The massive dark-green energy surged forward, swallowing everything it touched, heading straight for Guardstron’s walls.

Everyone froze in terror at the sight.

“D-Dangerous!”

“Black Rabbit, move out of the way!”

Ar screamed frantically.

But Leo didn’t even blink.

Dwenno too remained perfectly calm.

A direct hit from this could endanger even someone as powerful as Dwenno.

It was an attack that would annihilate the walls and reduce them to nothing.

Most people watching felt pure dread.

But Leo knew.

Always the first to be overwhelmed by fear, the coward who usually appeared much later on the battlefield.

However, the moment the battle horn sounded…

Snap-!

That same coward was always the first to rush forward.

A figure with white hair soared into the air.

Whish-!

The Beastman youth kicked off the walls and leapt high into the air.

Before him was a swirling mass of darkness, greedily devouring everything in its path.

Swish-!

Aron drew her sword.

In the distant future, this very sword, known as Brave, would become the symbol of a Champion.

A golden aura erupted from the blade.

Flash! KuuuAAAaaaacckkk!

The sword’s energy surged heavenward, obliterating the swirling dark-green mass.

Whoosh-!

Thud-!

The fierce wind swept through.

With his white hair billowing behind him, the resolute figure of Aron standing confidently with her sword became the image etched into everyone’s memory.

Everyone was silent, their breaths held.

That unwavering back was the source of immense courage to all the Great Heroes.

‘This… is the Champion.’

‘The person with the strongest courage in the entire world…!’