Chapter 493

493.

Leo stood dumbfounded as he gazed at Luna, who was smiling while holding his hand. He had no idea what he should say.

Luna’s attire was the exact same as it had been 5000 years ago.

The wizard robe she wore, stained with bl**d from the fatal wound inflicted by Erebus.

Fortunately, she didn’t bear the injuries from 5000 years ago.

She was different from Aron.

And she was also different from the Luna who had appeared in the present world the last time.

The heroes of the Hero’s World, no matter how real they seemed, were ultimately illusions.

But spirits were different.

They were entities akin to the residual memories nestled within mana, a fragment of those who once existed in life.

Yet in essence, they were the person themselves.

Before his eyes stood none other than the Luna who had brought an end to his time 5000 years ago.

‘And furthermore, this body…’

This was the decisive difference between spirit magic and necromancy. In spirit magic, the spirit is summoned into one’s own body to utilize its abilities. Therefore, unlike necromancy, it was impossible to manifest the original physical form of the deceased.

But now, Luna stood before him with a body.

Luna seemed as bewildered by the current situation as Leo was. After carefully examining herself, she spun around on the spot.

“Ah, Ah?”

She let out an exclamation of amazement, prodding her pointed ears with her fingertips before smiling brightly.

“Lady Luna, resurrection!”

“Seeing you so nonchalantly talking nonsense, it’s definitely Luna.”

“What? What’s with that dry response? Are you not happy that I’ve come back?”

Luna glared at Leo, her eyes wide.

But as Leo looked back at her seriously, he said earnestly:

“Meeting you again because you’ve reincarnated as a spirit… I’m glad.”

Luna was taken aback by the unexpected response.

‘If it were Kyle, I’m sure he’d have reacted with an exaggerated dramatic flair.’

However, inwardly, she was pleased by the honest, sincere reaction.

“Hm, hmm! Why don’t you just be honestly glad, then?”

Hiding her own surprise, Luna crossed her arms and turned her head away.

Seeing her, Leo spoke:

“The reason you’ve become a spirit.”

Leo clenched his fists.

“Luna, I ended up losing even Lissinas.”

“…”

At those words, Luna’s ears drooped.

“But I managed to defeat Erebus, saving the world. Do you know what emotion I felt as I lay dying?”

“I have no idea.”

“It was relief.”

Leo closed his eyes and said:

“I didn’t defeat Erebus completely on my own either. There was a limit to what I could do alone, so I had to leave the rest in the hands of future generations, consoling myself with that thought.”

The thing that frightened Leo the most during his final battle with Erebus wasn’t the black flames that consumed everything, nor was it the uncertainty of failure, or even the weight of the world’s fate resting on his shoulders.

It was simply the fear of being alone.

The fear of not fulfilling the unfulfilled wishes of his friends who had gone ahead of him.

So when he succeeded in defeating Erebus and fell to the ground from high up in the sky, on the brink of d*ath, he felt a sense of relief as he watched the rising sun and the cloudless sky.

Relief that his friends who had passed away before could finally rest in peace.

“I hoped you wouldn’t leave behind any regrets.”

“…Kyle.”

At Leo’s words, Luna clenched her fists tightly.

“You stayed behind as a spirit because you had regrets?”

“It seems that way.”

“What regrets do you have?”

Leo looked at Luna with a serious expression.

Looking into his eyes, Luna took a deep breath and replied.

“My regret is…”

“Uh-huh.”

“I don’t know.”

“…”

Luna’s response left Leo silent.

“I feel like I have regrets, but I don’t know what they are,” Luna said with a smile, as she playfully tapped Leo’s shoulder.

“Therefore, instead of pretending to care about me in an uncharacteristic way, just act like you normally would. It’s actually creepy otherwise.”

“Alright, got it.”

Leo grabbed Luna’s cheeks and pulled them hard.

“Owww, stop it!”

“You deserve this for making me worry.”

Leo continued to shake her cheeks without expression.

Unable to take it anymore, Luna throttled Leo’s neck.

This was no ordinary reunion of those who had crossed the boundary of d*ath.

*

After a brief tussle, Leo sat in the flower field with Luna and began to speak.

“Let’s sum up. After the great battle with Erebus 5000 years ago, you became a spirit due to some leftover regrets and you’ve now formed a spirit contract with me, correct?”

“Right.”

“But how were you able to tell it was me right away?”

A part he hadn’t thought much about until now, considering he was surprised by Luna’s existence as a spirit.

Five thousand years ago, Luna wouldn’t logically recognize him, Leo Flove, now.

“And how is it that your spirit has a physical form?”

“Hang on, let me try to organize this for myself first.”

In response to Leo’s questions, Luna crossed her arms and thought carefully.

After a while, Luna nodded and began to explain.

“First things first, I’ll start with how I obtained a physical form. It’s entirely thanks to the Cometes you possessed.”

“Cometes?”

“That’s right. The Hero Weapon obtained after someone conquered my Hero’s World. Thanks to this Hero Weapon, I’ve managed to obtain a physical form.”

Leo could summon characters from the Hero’s World to the present through the Hero Record and divine power. There had been an instance before where Luna and Aron had briefly appeared in the present.

“So ultimately, it was Cometes that acted as a medium, allowing you to manifest a physical form?”

“Right, that’s how it seems. So, when the mana within Cometes is depleted, I might not be able to stay in this world as a spirit anymore.”

Leo mulled over Luna’s words. Her deductions seemed quite plausible.

Her deep and flexible way of thinking was indeed the hallmark of a great wizard.

“And the reason you knew it was Kyle also has to do with Cometes.”

“How is that connected?”

“Through Cometes, part of my memories from the Hero’s World were passed on to me.”

“Part of it?”

“Right. My school days, when I first met you, and the memory of Zerdiaq escaping the outside world.”

“What about the memories from when we left the Hero’s World?”

“Nope.”

Luna shook her head.

“Only the memories within the Hero’s World are transmitted. Why?”

Leo frowned seriously.

Though he was the master of the Hero Record, there was much about it that even he didn’t fully understand.

‘I’ve only seen the Hero Record in its complete form once, and that was during Rodia’s world.’

Even someone like Leo found it hard to gauge the full potential of the Hero Record in such circumstances.

“That’s unfortunate you don’t have those memories.”

“What? Why is it unfortunate? Did something happen out there?”

Luna’s round eyes widened as she leaned closer to Leo.

“What did the me from the Hero’s World do?”

Looking into her large, innocent eyes, Leo gave an expression of profound regret.

“Many things.”

“What, what did the me from there do?”

Luna’s face flushed slightly as she questioned him.

“Together, we annihilated that damned Demon Queen.”

“Huh?”

“That was your enemy, after all. It would have been great if you’d remembered defeating her.”

“Really?”

Luna’s eyes widened.

“Is there anything else?”

“Anything else? Not particularly.”

With a casual shrug, Leo rose to his feet.

Looking up at him, Luna’s face twisted.

‘This idiot! We had a tragic parting, remember! A tragic parting!’

Truthfully, Luna did have memories of what happened outside. But she chose to feign ignorance for an obvious reason.

‘How embarrassing! I confessed alone! And even kissed his cheek alone!’

Her pride couldn’t handle it.

Before her d*ath, she couldn’t convey her feelings because she didn’t want to burden Kyle and Lissinas’ hearts with greater sorrow before their final battle.

In the Hero’s World, with the thought they might never meet again, she had decided to express her feelings.

And now…

‘Does time reversal magic even exist? Can I knock unconscious my past self?’

Luna earnestly wished she could slap her younger self in the back of the head.

Part of the reason she hadn’t conveyed her feelings while alive was due to foolish pride, wanting to make him realize first.

‘By the way, Lissinas seemed to have feelings for Kyle too.’

Luna thought of Lissinas.

Lissinas.

‘Frankly speaking, even I, as a woman, would say she’s beautiful.’

Even Luna, who usually boasts about her looks, felt slightly outshone when compared to Lissinas.

‘Besides, she’s mature and intelligent.’

It’s not for no reason that she’s called the King of Wisdom.

Though Luna, known as one of the strongest mages in history, is absolutely brilliant too.

She just isn’t as broad in knowledge outside of magic compared to Lissinas.

“And the vibe…”

If Luna was impulsive, Lissinas was regal and poised.

‘…’

The more Luna seriously contemplated this, the more one question came to mind.

‘Wait… Why do I even like that idiot?’

Why would a perfectly complete world savior like herself, with every virtue intact, have feelings for Kyle?

As doubts crept in, so did her confidence.

Although confident in many areas, and one to quickly regain her pride, Luna also loses confidence just as quickly.

It’s less of a problem against a normal person, but up against Lissinas… Even Luna couldn’t swagger around confidently.

Ears drooping, Luna wore a disheartened expression as Leo sighed deeply.

“Don’t be so disappointed. After all, you did defeat her, and anyway… We’ve met again like this, haven’t we?”

Leo smiled.

“For now, don’t think about anything and enjoy this moment. There are so many beautiful sights I’ve wanted you to see. I truly hope you can see them, Luna.”

At Leo’s words, Luna’s eyes grew wide.

And then she beamed a bright smile.

“Right!”

Her pointed ears perked up as her spirits revived.

‘That’s right! There are definite ways I’m better than Lissinas!’

Revived with confidence, Luna placed her hands on her hips and puffed her chest out proudly.

‘My chest is full, but hers is flat, right? Men prefer fullness!’

With thoughts that would certainly provoke a violent reaction from Lissinas if she’d heard them, Luna nodded confidently with a “Hmm-hmm!”

Watching the revived Luna, Leo chuckled softly.

Then he walked earnestly towards his tombstone with a serious expression.

“Whose tomb is this?”

“Mine.”

At Leo’s revelation, Luna’s eyes widened.

“Berkiya recovered my body and buried me next to you. It seems they couldn’t find the others.”

“Ah…”

Luna sighed regretfully.

“…Do you think the others also had regrets and became spirits?”

“I don’t know. But I think they didn’t harbor any regrets.”

“…It’s probably likely.”

Neither Luna nor herself knew what regrets might have lingered.

But it didn’t seem plausible that other comrades would also have lingering regrets that kept them as spirits.

She hoped they left with no regrets.

As Leo reached out towards the dagger near his tomb but hesitated, deep thoughts came to mind.

‘…It hasn’t been long since this was left.’

This object hadn’t been around for very long.

It had only been days, at most.

‘…’

Perhaps, the reason flowers were blooming in this area despite the season being autumn was due to Luna’s reincarnation.

Considering it was one of her favorite flowers, it seemed a plausible explanation.

‘…The unclear memory I had—whether it belonged to Berkiya or Bihaar—is still a mystery.’

Leo tightened his grip.

‘The fact that this dagger rests near my tomb… Does this mean Bihaar has come back here?’

Aahh!

The wind picked up.

Looking down at the dagger, Leo clenched his fists.

‘Bihaar… Could you have been brought back using the Demon King’s power?’