Chapter 523

523.

While investigating the Hero Dungeon, Mel’s expression turned to one of confusion upon seeing Demian appear before her.

‘How did Lord Demian come to the present world? No, rather, why is he attacking us?’

The people of the world believe that the Heroes of the Cataclysm from 3000 years ago have passed away.

But Mel knows well that these heroes have been waging an endless struggle for 3000 long years within the Realm of Heroes.

Melina has even encountered Demian in the world of the Cataclysm.

Though they have never spoken, Demian has undoubtedly seen Mel.

And someone of Demian’s caliber would not fail to recognize her.

Mel hurried forward.

“Lord Demian! There’s no reason for you, Lord Demian, to fight us…!”

Gag-gag-gag!

As Mel spoke urgently, she caught sight of the veins popping out in Demian’s hand gripping a massive axe.

‘He’s coming…!’

Mel hastily summoned her mana.

Gagagagagagagang!

The battle axe swung.

Dark-colored aura surged like an ocean wave, overwhelming Mel and the heroes.

The earth cracked, quaking.

As the heroes were shocked by the awe-inspiring sight, a thunderous noise sounded.

Kagagagang!

A black magical barrier blocked Demian’s attack.

Everyone turned their gaze toward Mel.

“That’s the power of the King of Wisdom…!”

“Incredible.”

The fact that Mel was the Dragon Lord was already an open secret.

Mouths gaped open in astonishment.

Under normal circumstances, Mel would have offered a snarky remark about the whispers, but she had no time.

Sweat dripped down Mel’s forehead.

‘He’s strong, as expected.’

Mel took a deep breath and raised her hand.

Flash!

Shadows surged from the ground, wrapping around Demian.

Kugung! Kung!

Demian’s limbs were restrained, and his knees buckled.

As Mel clenched her fists, the pressure on Demian intensified.

‘I’m sorry, Lord Demian.’

In the moment she apologized inwardly to Demian.

Flash!

Golden sparks flashed in Demian’s eyes.

Whooshhh!

The dark aura turned into a burning golden aura.

Seeing Demian’s body glowing with gold light, Mel gritted her teeth.

‘The power of Lord Dwenno!’

Demian was the conqueror of Dwenno’s world and also an inheritor of Dwenno’s power.

Tuduk-tuduk!

Demian grabbed the magic binding him.

An ominous sound came from Mel’s hands.

Mel clenched her teeth and put more force into sustaining the spell.

Tuduk!

The power restraining Demian grew stronger.

In response, Demian’s strength also increased.

Udug-tuduk!

An ominous sound emanated from Mel’s hands linked with the spell.

Mel was a dragon specialized in magic and unable to wield aura, but even so, she was a dragon.

Dragons, the strongest race in the world, possessed physical strength far beyond human comprehension.

Mel was among the mightiest, the Dragon Lord.

Few beings in the world could surpass her in pure physical power.

Furthermore, the spell Mel had used was the Shadow Prison created by Lissinas. It affected not only mana but also pure physical strength, meaning the stronger the target, the more potent the spell’s effects became.

Despite Mel’s overwhelming mana and strength as a Dragon Lord, Demian managed to break free of her magic using sheer physical power alone.

‘Tch!’

“Ugh?!”

Mel took a step back, clenching her hand.

Her fingers cracked from the backlash of the destroyed Shadow Prison.

Mel began to weave her magic again.

Demian charged toward her.

At that moment,

Flash! Kagagagagang!

A white thunderbolt descended from the sky.

Pajijjjik! Pajijik! Pajijik!

There, riding a Pegasus, was Leo.

Leo helped Kal and Eliza off his Pegasus’ back, and turned his gaze toward Mel.

Meeting Leo’s eyes, Mel nodded slightly and said,

“Everyone, please step back. To prevent further casualties, I will seal off this entire area.”

“Fighting Lord Demian alone is too reckless!”

“Other heroes and professors will arrive soon. Together we might be able to stop Lord Demian…”

“We cannot face Lord Demian without knowing exactly what state he is in. One thing is clear: he is fighting against us right now.”

Mel spoke calmly and succinctly.

“Lord Demian is not only the Blacksmith of the Gods and Dwenno’s heir, but also the one who defeated a fragment of the resurrected Erebus three thousand years ago. He who overwhelms even commanders cannot be confronted by only the heroes currently in Lumeran. The damages might be catastrophic. That’s why I will try to stop him.”

“But alone…?”

“Not alone. Student Leo will help me. As the Vow Keeper of Pegasus, he’ll be a great assistance.”

The other heroes couldn’t object to Mel’s words.

“Student Leo. Please.”

“Yes.”

Upon hearing Leo’s reply, Mel smiled faintly and raised her hand.

Sussusussusussus!

Black mana surged from Mel’s body.

It was none other than Lissinas’ power.

The black mana that flowed from Mel’s body surged high, forming a massive dome-shaped sphere.

A spell to isolate the interior from the exterior.

From the outside, the inside situation would be invisible.

Inside, only Leo, Mel, and Demian stood in a standoff.

“Alright, then.”

Leo turned his gaze towards Demian.

“Let me ask you one thing—what are you?”

In response to Leo’s question, Demian lowered his stance, readying himself for a charge.

Seeing this, Leo narrowed his eyes.

He sensed some kind of power emanating from Demian.

‘Divine power?’

In the past, when Leo briefly brought Seirun into the present world, divine power was unnecessary.

Unlike the Heroes of the Cataclysm, which are living beings as opposed to records of the Hero’s World, there was no need to involve divine power to bring them through if an entrance was opened by Leo’s authority.

However, Leo sensed divine power emanating from this Demian.

“It’s strange to think he came to the present world using divine power. The heroes of the Cataclysm have no means of obtaining divine power currently, and even if they did, they couldn’t use it.”

“Hmm.”

Leo exhaled lightly.

Meanwhile, Demian had lowered his stance further.

Seeing this, Leo opened an aether space.

‘Let’s test it once.’

Kwaak!

Demian gripped his battleaxe and charged.

Leo pulled out an enormous battleaxe from the aether space.

Kagagagagagajac!

Swinging the massive battleaxe with both hands from below, the ground scraped as it was swung in a fierce attack.

Jheek!

The axe blades crossed.

A colossally strong clash of power.

For a moment, the space where their weapons intersected warped.

And then…

Kagagagagagagagagang!

The ground beneath where Leo and Demian stood caved in as if struck by a meteor.

Pajijiik! Pajeddeuk!

Suddenly, cracks started forming on both axe blades.

Peroek!

The weapons shattered under the overwhelming force of the clash.

The compressed aura exploded, causing Leo to be thrown away.

Kung! Kung! Thud! Chworruruk!

Leo’s body tumbled along the ground a few times, dissipating impact through controlled falling.

Stabilizing himself, Leo chuckled as he looked at his slightly numb hands.

“Indeed, the heir of Dwenno, huh?”

After shaking his hand, Mel asked anxiously.

“Lord Leo, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Looks like this guy is stronger than me in pure physical power.”

Leo wiggled his fingers experimentally.

“Most likely, the ‘real’ one would be even stronger.”

“So he’s not the real one, is he?”

“Yeah.”

Mel had also vaguely sensed it.

“It’s a fake created from the Hero Record. It lacks rationality, existing solely to fight instinctively.”

“How was this made possible?”

“I’m not sure. It could be a Hero Record malfunction. Regardless, if we leave it unchecked, it will become a catastrophe. We need to stop it now.”

Leo approached the divine-power fueled Demian.

‘What’s the reason behind this sudden appearance? Could something be happening within the Hero Record?’

Despite harboring doubts, Leo focused on Demian.

‘Carelessness will only lead to failure, even though it’s fake, it’s far stronger than the Abyssal Knight I defeated before.’

Leo clenched his fists.

“You’re the heir of Dwenno, huh?”

A golden flame surged from Leo’s body.

It was the aura of Dwenno.

“Let’s see how sturdy you really are.”

Corresponding to Leo’s power, Demian emitted Dwenno’s power and took a fighting stance.

Without weapons, there are fists.

That is the combat method of Dwenno.

Tuduk!

Leo charged with a swinging fist towards Demian.

Puek!

The blow struck Demian’s face, turning his head.

Without hesitation, Demian responded with an identical blow to Leo’s face.

Leo’s neck jerked slightly.

“Indeed. You’re tough. Whose ‘defense’ is tougher?”

Puek!

The fearsome fistfight between the Great Hero and the Hero of the Cataclysm began.

Kwaaang! Kwaaang!

A terrifying roar echoed.

Each punch possessed the power that could shatter bones if they had struck another hero.

Jeek!

In the midst of their exchanging punches, a crack appeared in Demian’s aura.

At that moment, Demian’s movements froze completely.

Without hesitation, Leo drove a punch into Demian’s abdomen.

Kwaaaaang!

Demian’s body soared before crashing down.

“I’m not exactly a fan of this primitive way of fighting.”

Wiping the bl**d flowing from the corner of his mouth and then spitting out the bl**d pooled in his mouth, Leo said.

This kind of hand-to-hand combat was something Lord Dwenno favored.

In terms of pure physical combat, Aron among the Great Heroes was the strongest, but in such bare-knuckle fights, there was no one who could match Dwenno.

“That old man. Too d*mn tough.”

‘The collision of physical aesthetics! The dialogue of physical forms! Fistfights are also a form of art!’

Of course, that toughness was also part of his inexplicable artistic spirit.

As Leo remembered Lord Dwenno, he kept an eye on Demian.

‘He hasn’t fallen yet.’

Such fights are challenging because it’s difficult to land fatal blows on each other.

Especially someone like Demian would surely get up and attack again in no time.

‘This guy’s tough. If it turns into a prolonged fight, I might be at a disadvantage.’

If Leo used weapons, magic, or summoning spells, the fight would end quicker, and he could gain a much more advantageous position.

Still, Leo stuck to the combat method that Demian trusted in.

It was also the fighting style Dwenno enjoyed the most.

‘You’re testing me, huh?’

Mel realized as she watched Leo’s figure.

Even though Demian was fake, his power wasn’t.

Perhaps one day, Leo might meet other Great Heroes again, and it’s highly likely that he’ll meet the heroes of the Cataclysm in the near future.

In preparation for that day, Leo wanted to know what kind of people the successors of his friends, the heroes of the Cataclysm, were.

To tell the Great Heroes he might meet again about their successors.

And to recognize, on behalf of his friends, the successors of the heroes he would meet.

“Rodia and Seirun were certainly qualified. Lissinas and Luna would be proud of them. Demian, you seem to be the same.”

Just as Leo was thinking this while smiling and clenching his fists,

Jijik! Jjik!

In an instant, Demian’s figure began to blur.

The moment Leo noticed this, he hesitated.

The figure of Demian, which kept disappearing and reappearing, eventually changed.

There was no trace of Demian.

Standing there was a beastman woman clad in silver wolf skin.

Cheongrrang! Cheongrrang!

A short leather skirt that exposed her legs.

Her upper garment was a highly revealing leather armor exposing her shoulders, belly, and waist.

Rings adorned her arms and ankles, jingling with every move.

A battle attire that seemed unsuitable for combat.

Yet, she emanated a fierce aura as if determined to charge through the battlefield uncovered.

Leo narrowed his eyes.

“The Great Warrior.”

Azonia smirked at Leo.

The moment Leo saw her, he realized.

“Indeed. It’s not just me who’s being tested.”

Leo knew of a race that enjoyed testing people this way.

He had read about it in ancient documents.

Not in life, but before d*ath.

“Divine being.”