Chapter 469

469.

Leo looked up at the five figures hovering above him in the sky and let out a light breath.

“Are you from the Justice Guild?”

In response to Leo’s question, the mage who appeared to be the leader of the group adjusted his staff.

“My name is Setian. I am the royal mage of the great Petiman Kingdom, serving as a practitioner of justice under the king’s orders.”

“You don’t seem like an ordinary mage for a borderland kingdom.”

“I don’t understand what you’re implying.”

“Meh, doesn’t matter.”

Ignoring the man’s question, Setian, with a seemingly unconcerned response, drew his sword.

Swish-!

“Capture him for questioning.”

As Setian finished speaking, the large man standing beside him grasped the massive battle axe on his back with both hands and leaped toward Leo.

“Hiyahh!”

With a fierce roar, a crimson aura enveloped the battle axe.

Upon witnessing this, Lil nonchalantly gulped down the wine in her hand in one go and threw the empty bottle aside.

Clang-!

While the sound of the broken wine bottle echoed, a summoned battle hammer sliced through the air.

Whoosh-!

Boom-!

“Ho? I heard the representative of the third year class at the Lumeran Academy wasn’t a knight-class fighter.”

“That’s correct; I am a Spirit Master.”

“Hmph… Are you planning to fight me, a knight, in close combat, even as a Spirit Master?”

“I’m decent at hand-to-hand combat.”

“Cheeky!”

The man, who was likely three heads taller than Lil, emitted an even stronger aura.

At the same time, the space around them began to distort.

Lil’s body swayed, and she was immediately hurled back by the man’s overwhelming power.

Crash-!

A cloud of sand and dust arose where Lil had been catapulted.

“Young people these days are so bold! For a Spirit Master to challenge a knight… but it’s out of the question!”

After laughing heartily, the man smirked towards Leo.

“Alright, let’s see the abilities of the famed Leo Flove, shall we?”

Upon seeing this man’s evident competitive spirit towards him, Leo pointed behind the knight with his finger.

“Doesn’t seem like you’ll have time to worry about me, does it?”

“What?”

Boom! Whoosh-!

The bold knight who had surged forward was swept away by a powerful explosion.

It was the same fire that had engulfed Leo and Lil moments before.

Though Lil had been controlling the flames with her Spirit Magic earlier, she had now released her grip on the situation.

Whoosh-!

Leo shook off the flames enveloping him and complained.

“That’s a bit too much.”

“I believed someone like Leo wouldn’t take damage from such a fire.”

Lil, with the battle hammer slung over her shoulder, approached with a calm expression.

Though Lil’s counterattack had also ensnared Leo, she didn’t seem the least bit concerned.

‘Indeed, fire attributes attacks don’t work on me unless they’re extraordinary.’

There was no doubt about it; Leo was handling Zerdinger’s flame aura and had a contract with a Phoenix.

Even so, judging by how Lil launched her unhesitant counterattack, she was clearly no ordinary individual.

‘Is her innate sense of combat exceptional?’

While Leo was already aware that Lil was exceptionally skilled, he had never witnessed her directly engage in battle.

As Leo observed Lil with growing interest:

“Amazing.”

The knight who had charged forward laughed joyfully as he stood back up.

“Young as you are, you’ve shown yourself to be a formidable warrior!”

The knight, with the battle axe still slung over his shoulder, grinned.

“My name is Joren! I belong to the Royal Knights of the Petiman Kingdom and have arrived to enforce justice under the order of His Majesty the King!”

With a hearty shout, Joren lifted his battle axe into the air and began to spin it.

Huffhuffhuffhuff-!

“I hope this battle will be glorious enough to make my bl**d boil!”

Kooowwaaa-!

A crimson aura created a massive storm.

This was a natural calamity born from an overwhelming physical force.

Upon witnessing it, Lil’s eyes shifted subtly.

Summoning a wind spirit, she canceled out Joren’s wind currents.

The soldiers of the Kanel Kingdom, who were being caught up in the typhoon and taking damage, let out sighs of relief.

“Lord Eshiman.”

Lil addressed Lord Eshiman with a serious tone.

“Yes.”

Eshiman swallowed hard.

Having experienced countless battles from a young age, he was no stranger to the chaos of war where auras, magic, and familiars clashed.

He’d watched countless times as the tide of a battle was influenced by a single individual of overwhelming power.

But even he had never personally witnessed a direct confrontation between these transcendental beings.

Upon observing the battle just now, he instantly realized.

‘A fight that has already surpassed the realm of ordinary people.’

The situation in the war between the Kanel and Petiman kingdoms changed drastically with Justice Guild’s intervention.

The Kingdom of Kanel had been ravaged by those wielding absolute power.

‘But if this current battle implicates us… It seems the damage will far exceed anything we’ve faced until now.’

“The soldiers need to be coordinated and withdrawn. I and Leo will handle this battlefield.”

“Yes.”

Lord Eshiman quickly coordinated the soldiers’ retreat.

Seeing this, Lil sighed inwardly in relief.

‘Luckily, Lord Eshiman is a capable commander.’

Having observed many leaders from a family of esteemed soldiers since childhood, Lil instantly recognized that Eshiman was a capable commander.

The soldiers retreating in a disciplined manner caught Joren’s attention, prompting a derisive snort.

“Running away on a battlefield, how disgraceful. These people clearly don’t know the meaning of honor.”

“The ones who don’t understand honor are you.”

Lil’s voice cut through his head.

Earlier, Joren had attempted to k*ll the surrounding soldiers.

Lil, with her vast experience in the battlefield, immediately discerned Joren’s intent.

There was no strategic reason to slaughter soldiers for the upcoming battles.

It was all based on sheer ego.

He wanted people to feel fear and reverence towards him.

Lil had seen people of this type countless times on the battlefield.

And she intensely despised them.

In response to Lil’s words, Joren nodded as if understanding her sentiment.

“You still have the innocent values of a student—pure and untainted by the times. How nostalgic. I, too, once had such an age.”

“What did you say?”

“I was also a student at Lumeran.”

“Someone like you?”

Lil’s distrust was evident.

Seeing this, Joren distorted his lips into a smile.

“Yes, I was expelled in my fifth year, never graduating. You might know him—Professor Halind. That man was the one who expelled me.”

Joren pointed his battle axe at Lil.

“You’re Lil Luche, right? As the student representative, you must be aware: heroes are chosen beings. To save the world, to bring justice to reality, they must overcome trials and achieve glory, being selected by the gods. They are, in essence, the gods’ proxies.”

“What does all this have to do with massacres?”

“Are you familiar with the concept of karma?”

“Karma?”

Lil narrowed her eyes.

Upon hearing this, Leo’s eyes shifted subtly.

“Karma? Aren’t you referring to karmic retribution? How do you know about this?”

“Oh ho, indeed the youngest student council president knows what appeared only in ancient texts.”

Karma.

This was a concept spoken about by deities during the era of the gods, prior to the Era of Catastrophe.

Every time life was taken, karma accumulated.

‘Didn’t Lissinas mention that there were several individuals during the god era who accumulated tremendous amounts of karma?’

Leo recalled Lissinas’ words.

‘Some gods absurdly declared that even killing one’s own kind was a feat. That’s why many gods revered war heroes to an excessive degree.’

Lissinas expressed his disgust.

‘Nowadays, gods are considered absolute beings of goodness, but that wasn’t always the case.’

Leo sighed.

Certainly, there were benevolent gods.

The god Pibua, whom he met in the world of Luna, truly cared for the world.

But gods are not inherently good.

‘In fact, many of them lean toward chaos.’

The absolute rulers who governed the world over unfathomably long periods.

All-knowing, immortal beings.

These were the gods.

Among these gods managing the world for such unimaginable spans of time, many had become hedonistic pleasure seekers.

And when pleasure deepens, it distorts into bizarre forms.

Thus, during the Age of the Gods, there were righteous heroes akin to Aron’s mentor, the Guardian of Creation, as well as others who were twisted by their own lusts and could not be classified as heroes.

And Leo was the one who had buried those twisted ones during the Era of Catastrophe.

‘In our time, there was no concept of heroes.’

The Era of Catastrophe ended.

The deeds of the Great Heroes were recorded in the Hero Record and passed down to future generations, setting a standard for heroes as beings dedicated to the world.

However…

‘Even so, the Hero Record includes those chosen by the gods.’

Leo was aware that twisted heroes from the Age of the Gods did indeed exist.

They were simply pretending to align with today’s image of heroes.

And now, Leo understood upon hearing Joren’s words.

‘These guys fall into that category.’

“Karma, I still don’t understand what it means.”

As Lil furrowed her brow, Leo explained.

“Think of it simply. The gods see how many lives have been taken. The number of killings visible to the eyes of the gods is called karma.”

“How amazing. You know something so intricate?”

Setian, who had been standing off against Leo, expressed admiration.

“Indeed, you’re worthy of the title of a young hero. Leo Flove, perhaps you too have received divine guidance?”

Setian’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

Seeing this, Leo snorted.

‘Now I see what kind of guys the Justice Guild is dealing with.’

The outline was taking shape now.

Even now, Leo could not sense any malice or murderous intent from the people in front of him.

‘Their words about enforcing justice are the truth. Even in committing massacres, they don’t feel a trace of hesitation, much less any emotions or guilt. Even the craziest serial killers show some sort of pleasure or emotion when they k*ll.’

But there was nothing like that from these people.

’What I can feel from these guys is belief.’

Leo snorted again.

But it was extremely distorted.

Leo had seen something similar with the elves.

The blind worship of Luna.

The racial pride.

However, the Justice Guild was even more blatant.

Leo confirmed it through their mention of divine guidance.

A group you wouldn’t find in this era.

‘Some sort of religious group. And not just any religion, but a cult.’

Leo snorted.

“Are you saying you consider massacre as part of God’s will?”

“It’s not God’s will. It’s a trial to become God’s proxy.”

Setian explained.

“They are merely the ‘experience points’ to make us the vessel of heroes.”

“Crazy…”

“d*mn bastards.”

Leo, who was about to swear, unconsciously looked to the side.

Lil, her head bowed deeply, was trembling her shoulders.

“Are you guys even human? You’re trash.”

Whooshhhhh-!

An unsettling spiritual power surged from Lil’s body.

Flash-! Lil looked up with burning eyes.

“You psycho fucks! I’m going to blow your heads off!”

A completely wild sight, where Lil, who was usually gentle and polite, was spewing vulgarities, made Leo whistle.

‘Even though she’s usually docile, she’s truly terrifying when her eyes change.’

Even Leo was slightly taken aback for a moment.

But now that he fully understood what kind of organization the Justice Guild was, there was no need to hesitate.

Whooshhhhh-!

A chilling killing aura flowed from Leo’s eyes.

Even Sethien and the others of the Justice Guild shuddered upon seeing Leo’s expression.

“You won’t become heroes.”

“You insolent fool! Are you saying you’ll defy the will of the gods?”

“Gods?”

Leo laughed coldly.

“Have you ever seen a god directly?”

“What?”

“I know a bit about gods. If they saw this situation now, they’d undoubtedly say…”

Leo’s face became expressionless.

“You’re not even worthy to breathe. I should slit your throats.”