Chapter 563

563.

“So, what’s the name of the upcoming competition?”

As the final adjustments to the detailed schedule were being wrapped up,

Ar leaned against something, tilting her head as she asked.

“Come to think of it, we haven’t even settled on that crucial name.”

Lunia agreed with Ar’s statement.

The gaze of everyone in the room subtly turned toward Leo.

Everyone here knew that Leo was the one who had come up with this massive event.

With the attention of all the students on him, Leo calmly replied,

“It’ll be fine as long as we settle on something.”

Lunia’s face immediately showed her disbelief.

“How can setting something so trivial even work?”

But Leo, the subject of her exasperation, simply shrugged.

“Leo, aren’t you the president of the Student Council of Lumeran? As the head of the Student Council leading this event, haven’t you even thought of a name?”

When Driana asked with a hint of curiosity, Leo responded,

“There are many talented students in our school, whether they’re seniors or underclassmen.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

As Driana looked baffled, Chelsea reached for a cookie from the platter before speaking,

“It means there are a lot of people here who are easy to exploit.”

Crunch—Chelsea bit into the cookie before continuing,

“Everyone’s in an uproar trying to come to Draconia to follow in Leo’s footsteps. Lumeran is absolute chaos right now because of all the event preparations.”

‘Leo! Take me with you!’

‘No! Take me!’

‘What’ll we do without you?’

‘What about you?!’

Chelsea shook her head as she recalled how the Student Council Office was swarmed with students of all years, causing an uproar.

Other students from different schools shook their heads upon hearing Chelsea’s account.

‘Even with our school’s preparation for the competition being hectic, Lumeran must be in a real mess.’

At any rate, this is a public event.

It would only be natural to prepare extravagantly to avoid bringing shame to the school.

“Still, it’s surprising. I thought Elena Zeruon would oppose this, calling it bothersome.”

Upon Hardin’s remark, Chelsea promptly shook her head.

“Elena-senpai has been the one most actively pressuring students. Of course, she herself is suffering the most under this workload.”

The crux of Elena’s argument boils down to, ‘If I can work this hard, why can’t you?’

“Amazing, is it really that Elena?”

Hardin is from the same year as Elena, and while Elena reigns supreme as the strongest of her generation in Lumeran, Hardin is considered the equivalent in Seirun.

Moreover, since their first year, they’ve clashed in the Ruse Tournament, giving Hardin a basic understanding of Elena.

‘That monster-like woman actually following someone else’s lead?’

While Elena might be known as the ‘Queen’ or ‘Witch’ of Lumeran, Hardin believed the ‘Tyrant’ suited her better.

That’s because Elena lives exactly as she pleases.

It was difficult to imagine her working under someone else, no matter how impressive she appears.

“After looking at Elena-senpai recently, I’ve been a little worried.”

Chelsea sighed,

“She always looks calm, but her workload is anything but normal.”

“It’s fine. She won’t d*e from that.”

When Chelsea spoke, Leo calmly commented.

“Originally, it’s good to deal with tough situations while you’re young. Experiencing challenges early on helps shape you in the future.”

“Black Rabbit, you’re still young.”

“Leo, hasn’t Elena Zeruon been older than you?”

Ar and Dorveman gave each other exasperated looks.

“How is that statement so similar to what the old-school types would say?”

“Oh wow, Driana. Look at that. I just got goosebumps.”

Both Driana and Marigold were not pleased with the response.

But Leo just grinned.

“Wouldn’t it be beneficial to experience in this upcoming competition that life is about real combat?”

“Lumeran Student Council President, we know you’re exceptional. You’ve already reached the hero’s seat, a goal for all of us, no matter what anyone says. But I’ve attended Demian for five years.”

As Marigold scratched her cheek, Dorveman laughed.

“Leo, we’re not ignoring what you’re saying, but believe me, we’ve been through it all. We already know how harsh life can be.”

Leo just chuckled in response to that.

However, both Lunia and Chelsea’s faces turned pale as they knew the truth about Leo’s identity.

‘What on earth is he planning to do now?’

“By the way, Black Rabbit, if you’ve handed over all the Student Council duties to someone else, what’s the Black Rabbit doing with your free time?”

Ar’s question went unanswered as Leo just laughed.

Clap-!

At that moment, Melina clapped her hands to draw everyone’s attention before smiling.

“I think it’s better we stop with the miscellaneous talk here. How about we name the tournament ‘Hero’s Festival’?”

The students gasped in admiration upon hearing her suggestion.

“It sounds very appropriate, my Lord of Dragons.”

Dorveman politely responded, and Melina smiled faintly.

“Alright. Then before the Hero’s Festival begins, each school will establish detailed arrangements through organic communication. That concludes the meeting.”

*

That night.

Leo stood in the training yard of the dormitory assigned to him in Draconia.

Silent beneath the starlit night sky, Leo unsheathed his sword.

Since his first steps as a child, Leo has relentlessly pushed himself to the brink.

As a child, it was to awaken the power of Omniclass.

Later, it was to reclaim the power from his past life.

As a result of all this pushing, Leo has been swiftly regaining the strength of his previous life.

Regaining his past-life strength—this was Leo’s first prime goal.

However, after meeting Berkiya, Leo began driving himself even more harshly than before.

Clink-! Hmmm-!

From Leo’s sword emerged a resonant sound, followed by a gray aura.

Upon seeing this, Leo closed his eyes.

‘Focus.’

All of Leo’s senses were concentrated into the tip of his sword.

The quiet night.

Suddenly, all sounds disappeared.

When Leo opened his eyes, the only thing visible in the pitch-black darkness was a sword glowing faintly gray.

It wasn’t an illusion.

It was the phenomenon occurring as all his senses concentrated fully on the blade.

Thud—

Leo, gripping the sword with both hands, thrust it upward in front of him.

At the same time, a figure appeared before him.

It was a beastman warrior wielding a sword.

Aron.

In this pitch-black space, only Leo and Aron stood.

In fact, Leo’s figure had somehow transformed into Kyle.

Aron lowered his stance.

Leo pushed against the ground and lunged at Aron.

Kwak-!

The energy from Leo’s sword scattered into pieces, swirling around like they would tear apart Aron’s body.

At that moment, Aron’s sword moved smoothly.

Clang-Clang-Clang!

The golden aura from Aron’s sword counteracted the pieces of gray energy.

It didn’t work.

That was expected.

‘Of course, the opponent is Aron after all.’

Surely, Leo must now be the finest pure warrior in this era.

Perhaps, even after the Era of Catastrophe, no one could surpass Leo as a warrior.

Not even his disciples Berkiya and Bihar could.

Nor the Hero of the Cataclysm, Lumeran or Azonia.

No one could surpass Leo’s pure warrior ability.

That was for one reason.

Leo could skillfully wield all kinds of weapons.

Thus, he was highly capable of various unconventional techniques.

The title ‘Hero of Survival’ was not bestowed lightly.

‘Then, now and back then, the measure of a warrior’s skill is experience.’

The number of battlefields they’ve faced differs.

The number of times they’ve put their lives on the line differs.

In other words, the fundamental levels of experience differ.

From that perspective, Leo’s warrior skill was even higher than Aron’s.

Clang-!

In that moment,

Aron’s sword deflected Leo’s.

Feeling the weight in Aron’s sword, Leo opened the void.

Whoosh-!

Leo, wielding a colossal battleaxe rotated his body with the added weight.

Kwang-!

Blocked by Aron’s sword, the force sent him flying back and onto the ground.

Aron muttered.

‘But I’m weaker than Aron.’

As a warrior, Leo’s skill might be superior, but as a martial artist, Aron was overwhelming.

Not in the sense of mere brute strength.

Leo adapts his fighting style to the situation in real-time, switching weapons for maximum combat efficiency.

Aron doesn’t have that ability.

‘Rather, he doesn’t need to do what I do.’

Because he has already transcended the limits with a single weapon.

That’s why Aron is stronger as a martial artist than Leo is as a warrior.

In an instant, Leo gripped his sword again.

A fiery, gray aura swirled around his sword.

‘The essence of pure mana’s nature is the power to not be bound by anything, right?’

Leo possesses this omniclass property for the very same reason.

He has cultivated countless abilities.

Leo’s original magic, Bible, was also a magical system that emerged due to this mana property.

By increasing the number of powers he can harness,

He enhances his own strength based on that.

This was the training method that Leo used to cultivate himself from the time of Kyle.

Hence, Leo’s abilities are vast like the ocean.

But…

‘Superficial and shallow.’

To others, it might seem deep.

After all, the accumulation of it all may look different.

But when compared with his friends, it’s a different matter.

‘Not being bound by anything is akin to being infinite.’

Which means Leo himself can also become infinitely stronger.

And in the final moments of his previous life, it was proven.

With the power inherited from his comrades, Leo surpassed Erebus, an immortal existence.

However, that was borrowed power, not his own.

‘So, I achieved victory but it was incomplete.’

Again, in this life, Leo intended to win.

From the start, he had no intention of losing.

‘But there’s no law that this life won’t end like the previous one.’

Without guarantees, this life might also end with someone else’s sacrifice to surpass Erebus.

‘Something I cannot accept.’

Leo lunged towards Aron.

Aron charged towards him in response.

‘Then I must surpass this b*stard!’

The pinnacle of martial prowess Leo knows.

Not just Aron, but also Lina and Lissinas,

Magic wielders and summoners who’ve reached the peak in their respective fields—Leo must decisively surpass them.

Clang-!

In an instant, Leo’s sword shattered and soared into the sky.

Aron’s sword was now at Leo’s neck.

Aron locked eyes with Leo and his lips moved.

‘Terrific. You’re amazing as always, Kyle!’

At those words, Leo let out a wry smile,

At that moment,

“Amazing! You’re truly impressive, Black Rabbit!”

An excited voice rang out.

In an instant, the pitch black disappeared, and reality with the stars shone down.

Ar ran up to Leo, her eyes sparkling.

“You’re getting better, Black Rabbit! Right now, let’s—nyaargh?!”

“Practicing would be ruined if a stupid cat interferes, wouldn’t it?”

Lunia roughly grabbed Ar’s tail as the latter yelped.

Gripped by her lower part, Ar sat crouched down, shedding a tear.

Seeing this, Leo chuckled, pressing down slightly on Ar’s head as if petting her.

“It’s fine. I was about to stop anyway.”

At Leo’s words, Ar displayed a lazy cat-like expression.

At this sight, Lunia mumbled to herself,

“Just now, that… It was definitely Kyle-sama.”

Since the first time she met Leo, Lunia felt something off.

She frequently felt an unfathomable maturity in him.

Now, she knew what that was.

It was the true identity of Leo, with the mask of this life cast aside.

Looking at Ar’s lazy expression, Leo chuckled and slightly rubbed under Ar’s chin.

At this, a soft purring sound, “Gul-lug-lug-lug,” came from Ar’s throat.

In that moment,

Ar’s expression abruptly changed to a reddened shout,

“Don’t treat me like a cat!”

“You’re a cat, aren’t you?”

“Looks like a kitten, doesn’t it?”

Lunia and Driana mercilessly commented,

“Ugh!”

Ar rolled around on the ground in frustration.

Clang! Clang! The sound rang out, but no one here was scared of such antics.

“Anyway! Fight with me!”

To Ar’s words, Leo replied,

“I have somewhere to go tonight. Training is done here.”

Smirking, Leo glanced down at his aura.

The gray aura swirled around him.

“I need to gain the power to k*ll Erebus just with my sword.”

Leo’s strength is undoubtedly Erebus’ nemesis.

But in the previous life, while Leo inflicted serious wounds on Erebus, he couldn’t entirely eliminate him.

The reason was simple—there was only one way for Leo to completely annihilate Erebus.

“Innocent.”

The unique magic Lunia left with Leo.

The essence of pure magic.

“If a magical force can manifest power… then perhaps my aura can manifest the force of purity.”

The moment that happens, Leo’s aura would turn into the blade that can k*ll primordial evil.

To achieve this, however, Leo needed to transcend his own limitations as a martial artist.

And Leo clearly knew what his limit was.

Casually turning his head,

Even though he had awakened from the mental world, for some strange reason, Aron’s phantom remained.

Looking at Aron, who smiled at him, Leo muttered to himself,

“Don’t give me that ‘you can do it’ kind of expression. Stop learning useless things from that Lissinas kid.”

Tutting, Leo lightly shook his sword.

Whoosh-!

Instantly, the gray aura dispersed.

“Hmm?”

Ar showed a puzzled expression.

“Why?”

“Nah, it’s nothing.”

Ar shook her head.

“Just now, it seemed like Black Rabbit’s aura momentarily turned pure white when it dispersed. Did I see it wrong?”