526.
The place where Leo stepped was a page in history.
An event from the past, revealed through the Akasha Record.
The frozen northern continent.
It was, in truth, a desolate land.
Leo stood amidst it, watching the elves silently cultivating the earth.
“This is…”
As Leo observed the landscape before him, tension gripped his hands.
This ruin was, in fact, a symbol of despair.
But now, it was different.
Hope was sprouting within the ruins.
The northern continent as Leo knew it, the homeland of the elves, was a harsh land, yet it had achieved dazzling advancements over five thousand years.
During that time, the elves had admirably cultivated their new homeland.
And the beginning of that journey was the scenery before him now.
The despair had vanished, and hope was burgeoning.
How many sacrifices had been made for this landscape?
How many had risked their lives?
What lay before him was the world after Erebus’s downfall.
‘The age to move forward into the future.’
“Hey, you shouldn’t do it like that!”
Whoosh!
Someone darted past Leo.
A familiar voice, a familiar back.
It was exactly as it was in his final memories.
‘Or has she matured even more?’
There was no trace of the reckless demeanor Leo remembered.
The presumptuous and dependent demeanor she only showed to her mentors was gone.
“This is the right way!”
Now, she was grown up, and therefore trustworthy.
Berkiya used her strength to straighten a building’s pillar, evoking Luna’s spirit in some indefinable way.
“Ah! Thank you, Lady Berkiya!”
“No, it’s something I should do.”
She greeted and waved to the person who greeted her warmly with a gentle smile.
‘Was there such a side to her?’
This was completely different from the Berkiya Leo knew.
Many elves relied on Berkiya and followed her.
In this scene, there was a shadow of Lissinas.
“Miss Berkiya~”
“Play with us!”
At that moment, a swarm of elf children gathered around Berkiya.
“I’m kind of busy. What to do?”
With a troubled smile, Berkiya looked at the children who then drooped their ears.
“How about playing for just a bit?”
“Yeah!”
“Did she used to like children?”
It reminded Leo of Aron.
After playing with the children, Berkiya went back to work.
With silent dedication, she instilled trust in others as she performed her tasks.
Her iron resolve inspired the elves to put forth new strength.
Her perseverance somehow resembled Dwenno.
“…”
“Looks like things have improved a lot here?”
“Bihar?”
At the voice from behind, Berkiya brightened up.
“Welcome! How’s the east?”
“Our place isn’t bad either.”
Bihar smiled faintly.
“You still don’t show yourself to people, do you?”
“It’s because there are still many betrayers. I think I don’t fit in this time. I’m bathed in bl**d every day.”
During the Era of Catastrophe.
Kyle and Bihar had mercilessly slaughtered countless traitors.
The enemies within were more fearsome than those outside.
The creatures that consumed hope spread like an epidemic and kept appearing.
And after the world was saved…
They lived comfortably as if nothing had happened.
They concealed their sins and lived shamelessly.
“…We won, you know. The world is already at peace. Bihar, wouldn’t it be a waste to keep chasing after such people and waste your life?”
“No, I can’t tolerate it.”
Bihar smiled.
“What sacrifice are they living on? How dare they live comfortably in this peace?”
But her eyes clearly held hatred and murderous intent.
“They must pay the price.”
“Bihar…”
“I want them to know that I’m always watching in the dark.”
“Like the moon in the night sky.”
“Let them feel the dread of not knowing when their time will come.”
Bihar had no intention of stopping.
Looking at this Bihar, Berkiya moved her lips.
“I…”
In truth, Berkiya thought the same as Bihar.
She too wanted to eliminate the ones who had consumed this world or might do so in the future.
“You should be like you are now, Berkiya.”
“…”
“You’re different from me.”
Bihar smiled softly.
As the sun, you should illuminate the world. That’s who Berkiya is.
“You don’t need to step into the world’s darkness. You don’t need to know the filth. You should just stay as you are.”
“Bihar, you need to understand. The world isn’t entirely dirty.”
Bihar chuckled bitterly.
“I just can’t achieve that.”
“…”
Bihar stood up.
“Let’s not quit from our respective places. Like the teacher once did.”
“…Yeah.”
“Should we visit the graves next week?”
“Perhaps?”
With a bright smile, she returned to her daily life.
Watching this, Leo muttered.
“You’ve grown so much.”
The figures of students Leo didn’t know.
Already towering and walking their own paths, whether it be toward the bright world or into the deep abyss.
They advance along the path they themselves chose.
They give everything they have to raise the fallen world.
‘Just like we did.’
In the previous life, they merely wished for everyone to live their own lives well.
That’s why they never thought about how they would grow.
Because they were reliable kids, they believed they would live well.
They only thought so much.
But facing this, strangely, the feeling wasn’t the same.
The students’ figures that he never knew.
Is this what parents feel?
“Really…you’ve grown so much.”
Time flowed.
Leo observed Berkiya’s entire life by her side.
She rebuilt the homeland of the elves.
She didn’t hesitate to offer herself for the world.
She strived to make the once-illuminated world shine even brighter.
And…
Booooom!
The Tartarus army stretched before him.
After the purge of Erebus, Tartarus, which maintained its power up to now, had stormed back to destroy the world again.
To the people who had barely managed to reconstruct the world, it was nothing short of a catastrophe.
The traitors hidden in various parts of the world destroyed their homelands.
The hope they had painstakingly built was trampled and set aflame.
After Erebus’ purge.
Over the years, the Tartarus army, which had recovered and strengthened after its damage by the great heroes, was overwhelmingly powerful.
Many heroes had already closed their eyes during the Era of Catastrophe.
The great heroes were gone as well.
All that remained were young sprouts with the qualities of a hero.
They lacked strength and experience.
Yet…
“This world is our homeland!”
Clearly, the great heroes had foreseen such a situation and left behind hope.
“But! We just received it!”
Berkiya shouted ahead of the group.
“From now on, we have to protect the world our forebears left to us!”
The new hopefuls who were overwhelmed by despair looked at Berkiya standing at the front.
The creatures born from the light who must live in the dark yearn for light.
But those who have been born from darkness and come to see this light may yearn for it even more.
“We must safeguard it and pass it on! Just like they did!”
In front of despair, Berkiya never gave up.
Just like her teacher.
“Everyone!”
Berkiya called out with strong determination.
“Let’s fight!”
“Waaaaaah!”
And thus, over the next 2000 years, Berkiya achieved a miraculous victory that made the Tartarus assault impossible.
“It’s beautiful. So beautiful!”
Berkiya smiled brightly at her baby in the crib.
“Whose son is it?”
“My son!”
As Berkiya proudly puffed out her chest, there was a glimpse of the times Leo knew her.
That side only shown to Maid, her beloved.
“Isn’t he also my son?”
“Yeah, but he’s more influenced by me.”
Leo sat to the side, leaning his chin on his hand and gazed at them.
‘She looks so happy.’
Here, Leo couldn’t interfere in the story; he was just an observer.
But even to him, who couldn’t interfere, Berkiya’s emotions were vividly felt.
Nevertheless…
Leo’s face wasn’t entirely bright.
“Aah, it’s gotten this late?”
Berkiya hurriedly stood up from her seat.
Seeing this, Maid quickly said.
“Berkiya.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you think it’s time to retire now?”
“…”
Standing up, Berkiya looked at Maid.
“The world has regained its peace, hasn’t it? We don’t know, but it must’ve returned to how it was before the Era of Catastrophe. I believe the world’s peace has been successfully rebuilt. You’ve already done so much, haven’t you? Don’t you think it’s time to enjoy life a little now?”
“…”
Berkiya closed her eyes and smiled faintly.
“Yeah, that’s certainly true. The world has certainly regained its light.”
Already, the world had been revived.
It was bright enough, beautiful enough.
The scars left by the Era of Catastrophe were almost all gone.
“But, there’s definitely more I can do for the world.”
In this era, Berkiya had risen to a standing equal to the former great heroes.
She had led the way in rebuilding the world.
She saved the world on the verge of collapse.
It wasn’t something Berkiya had accomplished alone.
But…
‘It was possible because Berkiya was there.’
Leo stared at his student.
“I want to create a brighter world.”
Berkiya placed her hands on her abdomen and smiled faintly.
“Like the great heroes… Like our teachers. A brighter light for my first child… For the second child we’ll have soon… For those who will live in later generations. I can work a little harder. Don’t worry, Maid. I’m Berkiya.”
After winking at one side just like her teacher had and speaking proudly, Berkiya left the room.
“…”
Silently rising from his seat, Leo followed her.
“Berkiya…”
Just before passing by Maid who worriedly called out Berkiya’s name.
Leo, stopping for a moment, said.
“Thank you.”
For staying by her side.
An appreciation that could not quite reach her.
But he wanted to convey it nonetheless.
Because without Maid, Berkiya would have collapsed long ago.
Leo left the room.
And he watched Berkiya’s retreating figure walking down the hallway.
That frail shoulder carried the world.
Of course, it was something Lissinas and the other great heroes had also done.
But…
“Our time was different.”
The weight of a world on the brink of destruction versus a world that had regained peace was different.
And that world was weighing down on Berkiya.
Bang!
“How dare you think only of the dwarves’ interests!”
“You greedy humans have no right to talk!”
“What!”
The assembly.
A gathering of leaders who convened to discuss the future of the world.
In the early days, it wasn’t a place where they raised their voices at each other.
They devoted themselves for the reconstruction of the world.
For its prosperity.
But as the leaders became people of power, it transformed into a place where they fought for their private interests.
People who were once noble were also corrupted by tasting power.
Or those who achieved nothing but inherited a position started to frequently appear in this meeting.
“…”
Sitting at the head of the table, Berkiya sighed deeply.
‘Times have changed.’
For Berkiya, those people who disregarded unity and only pursued their own desires were incomprehensible.
This was a world where power, which had disappeared, had taken root once more.
The people who hadn’t seen or properly understood the power were too easily intoxicated by it.
Thus, she couldn’t understand it.
Because she was still pure.
“Stop it.”
Berkia gently said.
Perhaps it was a foregone conclusion.
“I’ll mediate.”
The power that her pure authority commanded was enormous and still fair.
It was also too innocent.
For people blinded by greed, Berkiya was now a barrier that stood in the way of their greed.
The malicious intent that directed itself towards Berkiya was to be expected.
‘You cannot let the Fairy Knight meddle in the world’s affairs like this any longer!’
War broke out.
Berkiya was shocked.
How could war break out among the races?
Only a few decades ago, they had stood together against destruction, yet now there was war!
To someone like Berkiya, who had no experience with war, there was no greater shock.
To stop the war, Berkiya quickly intervened.
She single-handedly ended the war.
A worst-case scenario was avoided.
But countless casualties still occurred.
Step… Step…
Walking under the bright starlight, Berkiya looked up at the sky with a wry smile.
“It’s tough, Teacher Luna.”
Standing in one place, gazing up at the night sky, Berkiya slapped her cheeks.
“If Teacher Kyle were here, he’d have kicked my behind for complaining. Yeah! Let’s cheer up. Let’s think about how to stop the war.”
Clutching her fists tightly, Berkiya reaffirmed and opened the warp gate to return to her mansion.
Whoosh!
A blazing mansion greeted her.
And standing there was the Demon Queen Silatuna, who unsettlingly waved as she smiled.
“Hi! Long time no see.”
![[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1743806812-5548-TS-The-Protagonist-is-Conquered.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered")
