Chapter 470

470.

콰과가가가강-!

As Lil swung her battle hammer, the ground around her trembled.

The spirits were also resonating with Lil’s emotions, expressing powerful anger.

Leo couldn’t help but admire the sight.

‘The harmony with her contracted spirits is impressively high.’

A Spirit Master is one who draws out the power of the contracted spirits to their limits in battle.

Just having a contract with a higher spirit doesn’t mean one can utilize all of its potential; it would be of no use if one cannot.

The most important factor in drawing out a spirit’s power is the harmony rate.

Lil understood her contracted spirits well enough to influence them with her emotions.

‘Typically, people try to get strong by contracting higher spirits, but it seems Lil has trained her fundamentals well.’

It’s not easy to diligently put effort into unseen areas.

‘No wonder she’s called a monster.’

While Leo was admiring her…

“Phew. The students representing Lumeran have quite a crude manner of speech.”

Setian let out a sigh.

“You all need to become more aware of your positions. Representing Lumeran is by no means a light burden.”

Setian’s cold gaze turned to Leo.

“Especially you, Leo Flove. You are one who has ascended to the seat of a hero; you need to be a model for others…”

콰가가가가가각-!

“…!”

The aura emanating from Leo’s sword targeted Setian’s neck.

Another knight from the Justice Guild beside him blocked Leo’s attack with his shield.

In the blink of an eye, a slash erupted.

The shield, armed with aura, trembled violently.

“What kind of power…?”

The knight’s face hardened as he looked at Leo.

“You surely should not be in a position to lecture us right now.”

Step by step, Leo approached the Justice Guild.

‘Among them, that guy Joren is the strongest in combat.’

Leo glanced at Joren, who was facing Lil.

And true to being from Lumeran, he was certainly no slouch.

‘A seasoned warrior who has crossed innumerable battlefields. And the same goes for these guys.’

Members of the renowned Justice Guild, regardless of their crazy values.

Leo’s red eyes shifted to the four Justice Guild members.

‘Two knights, one summoner, one wizard.’

An ideal combination as a party.

Leo’s red aura flickered.

Seeing that, the shield-bearing knight trembled slightly.

“Such a brutal killing intent. You don’t look much like a hero, Leo Flove.”

The knight steadied his expression and lifted his spear.

“A hero should naturally set an example…”

“Stop spewing nonsense about setting examples since earlier.”

Leo rested his sword on his shoulder.

“I’ve never thought of myself as someone who wanted to be a hero, you know. Not in the past, nor now.”

“What did you say?”

“I’m someone who doesn’t quite fit the description of the hero that people talk about these days.”

‘If being a hero means transforming the world, guiding it to the right place, and showing countless people their dreams… then I’m someone who is the least suited to be a hero.’

He had no intention of becoming one.

“I only enrolled in Lumeran to personally verify some things.”

Leo chuckled.

“I’ve never aimed to be a hero. Yeah, it just happened to turn out that way?”

Looking at Leo shrugging his shoulders, the faces of the Justice Guild grew stern.

“Isn’t it funny to ask someone like me to set an example as a hero?”

“You… what do you even think a hero is?!”

“Who cares? Has there ever been worth in pondering what a hero is supposed to be?”

The knight began to tremble.

She was not the only one.

Anger was evident on the faces of the other Justice Guild members.

“I cannot accept that someone like you can be called a hero!”

“Whether you accept it or not, I’m already a hero!”

“No! You are not a hero! You are absolutely not the kind of person suited to be a hero! It’s clearly an error that your name is on the Hero Record chosen by the gods! Exactly! That’s why there’s nothing resembling a name!”

Ignoring the hysterically shouting knight, Leo shrugged.

“Well, aren’t I much more suited to be a hero than you lot?”

“Nonsense.”

Setian displayed his anger.

“Becoming a hero at such a young age, it seems you can’t see what’s in front of you. You are not fit to be a hero! A hero is a special existence! Only those who are willing to dedicate themselves to the world can become heroes!”

At Setian’s shout, Leo chuckled.

‘They certainly have not had anything like that.’

The nobility of Lissinas, who yearned for light and sought to reclaim lost brilliance.

Luna’s somewhat eccentric but grand goal to fill the world with flowers.

Aron’s warm ideal of wanting to create a world free of worries for children.

Dwenno’s grand ambition to fill the world with beauty.

Unlike his friends, who each had their own paths, Kyle had nothing particular he pursued.

Just following the natural flow.

Entrusting himself to the currents of the world.

The result was a monumental achievement that saved the world.

But even now, Leo found it puzzling.

‘Why was I born as the nemesis of Erebus and why was I reincarnated with memories?’

Whether it was coincidence, fate, or even necessity—it remained unknown.

Why did the world choose him?

‘Surely there must have been someone better suited for this power than I am.’

Like someone such as Lissinas.

‘He would be much more fitting as the one to save the world.’

After pondering for a moment, Leo smirked.

‘Is there really a need to complicate my thoughts? The important thing is to hand over this world, which I saved alongside those guys, to future generations. And…’

“I’m definitely sure you’re all wrong.”

Leo gazed at the heavily armored knight who was fixing his gaze upon him.

‘It’s mithril.’

Lustrous and pure light.

Heavy armor made of high-purity mithril.

An armor that could obtain powerful defense and quick mobility.

A knight approached wielding a longsword and shield.

In the back, he heard Setian’s chant, and the summoner summoned a water spirit.

Powerful magical energy surged from Setian’s staff.

푸화하하학-!

A column of water erupted from the ground, enveloping Leo.

The immense water pressure was pressing down on Leo.

For any ordinary person, this would have been an attack that could burst their body; but it was not the end.

쩌저저저적-!

As Setian’s magic completed, the water binding Leo froze.

Leo, trapped in the ice, found himself unable to move.

As he aimed for Leo, both the aura-imbued sword and spear flew in.

It was a fleeting moment.

In that brief instant, they executed a flawless follow-up attack.

“I’ll show you how vast the world is!”

Setian shouted.

At that moment,

Leo curled his lips in a smile from the ice.

쩌적-!

Cracks appeared in the ice.

콰지지직-!

With the destruction of the ice, Leo was liberated.

The aura-imbued spear and sword sliced through the air and crossed.

콰앙-!

Leo, lowering his stance to evade the attack, hurled the sword he was holding.

콱-!

“Cough?!”

The sword flew at an unseen speed and struck the shoulder of the Spirit Master.

And the sword cleanly severed the Spirit Master’s shoulder.

Ignoring the Spirit Master, who crumpled to the ground, Leo quickly swung his fist at the two knights aiming for him.

파직-!

The sword and spear that met Leo’s hand were shattered with an ease that was almost absurd.

“No…!”

“What?!”

Leo’s fist, disregarding their astonishment, connected with the knight’s shield and the mithril armor of another knight.

The knight scoffed.

“This is an Amantadium shield! Boasting invincible defense…”

콰득-!

The Amantadium shield was shattered as if it was nothing.

“No…!”

쾅-!

Leo’s fist slammed into the knight’s face.

The knight with a caved-in face collapsed.

Leo’s other fist crumpled the mithril armor like paper and then tore it apart.

The knight with a sunken chest also fell to the ground, spitting bl**d.

In an instant, Leo took down three members of the guild and approached Setian with an expressionless face.

“What the hell… what kind of trickery did you just use?!”

Setian’s teeth were chattering.

Seeing three members from the world’s greatest hero guild unable to fight back and collapsing was shocking.

Looking at the astonished Setian, Leo spread his palm.

“It’s just simple Spirit Magic.”

“What?!”

“I just tried to mimic my friend.”

What Leo had mimicked was none other than Lissinas’s Spirit Magic.

“Is it a fundamental issue, perhaps?”

Leo calmly spread his palm.

The lower-ranked spirits of water and wind appeared and seemed to cross their arms, as if saying ‘Ahem!’.

“Typically, a Spirit Master becomes powerless if they cannot summon their spirits.”

Leo spoke while looking at the Spirit Master who lay sprawled on the ground.

“You seemed to handle water spirits. I asked the spirit I contracted to intervene in his contract. The harmony rate was terrible, wasn’t it?”

The spirit that the Spirit Master had contracted was a top-tier spirit, but breaking the contract itself was simple.

“Going by the knights’ case, even if they reinforce their weapons with aura, they become defenseless the moment their weapons are destroyed. So, I used Spirit Magic to corrode their weapons.”

“Mithril and Amantadium couldn’t possibly corrode that easily…!”

“If you just know the basics of alchemy, changing the properties of even the hardest minerals is a piece of cake. Well, it wouldn’t work if the aura wasn’t tempered solidly.”

Step by step, Leo reached Setian.

“Your magic is the same as well. I destroyed part of the spell using spirits. So it isn’t functioning properly. Your spellwork seemed rudimentary. Didn’t you lack in basic concept studies?”

“Are you insulting us?! There’s no way something so absurd could be possible! You must have used some special power?! It’s unfair! Why would the gods bestow special abilities on someone like you! Why! Why do I only have ordinary abilities…!”

“It’s just that you guys have been lazy. You fell to such a simple Spirit Magic because you’re not special.”

Leo said irritably.

In truth, it was not simple Spirit Magic.

It was theoretically simple, but it required overwhelming harmony, understanding of Spirit Magic, and experience.

It was literally beyond common sense Spirit Magic.

However, as Leo said, if they had just worked on their fundamentals properly, it would not have worked.

‘It’s a perfect skill to throw mud at those who only pursue the extraordinary, neglecting the basics.’

Those who only cling to visible achievements are tripped up by their poor foundations in crucial moments.

Even if it wasn’t Leo, they would eventually have died in the process of achieving great feats.

“Look at you, proudly claiming to be a hero when you don’t even know how vast the world is until you reach that age.”

“You!”

콰득-!

“Cough?!”

Leo kicked Setian in the chest.

As Setian fell while spitting bl**d, the light in his eyes faded.

“Sometimes it’s exhausting to see existences like you.”

Leo squinted.

“Many who risked everything for their beliefs are not enjoying this peace.”

Taking a deep breath, Leo scratched his head.

“Well, I have no regrets since I saved it knowing it could happen.”

Most likely, all those who saved the world felt the same way.

Leo gazed up at the sky.

He felt a gaze fixed on him from afar.

‘Still, I suppose I have the right to clean up.’

With a fierce smile, Leo raised his middle finger toward the air.

It was a declaration of war against the Justice Guild.

“I’ll wipe you all out, you trash.”