Chapter 568

568.

Riden couldn’t believe his eyes as he watched Chelsea standing bravely in front of him, facing Lissinas.

‘What is this? Chelsea LeWalyn… Does she really feel no fear?’

Chelsea’s act of blocking Lissinas seemed incredibly reckless.

Even if he is a fake, the opponent is still a Great Hero.

Even though Chelsea’s generation is praised as the ‘Golden Generation’ in Lumeran, compared to Lissinas, they are like fireflies under the moonlight.

‘How… How can she even stand against him?’

Riden clenched his fists.

Though his mind was filled with doubts, Riden quickly moved his friends to a safe distance from the battle.

“Don’t you plan on stopping him?”

“Even if we tried to run, it would be impossible.”

Lissinas chuckled deeply.

“Fighting an opponent paralyzed by fear is meaningless. This is a more worthwhile fight.”

As Lissinas finished speaking, his eyes narrowed.

“I also need to teach a lesson.”

‘Did I say something about him being ugly for no reason?’

Chelsea’s face blurred.

Then Lissinas raised his hand as if addressing her.

Flare-!

Countless particles of light were generated in the air.

Seeing this, a gust of wind erupted around Chelsea’s body.

BwaBwaBaBwat-!

The particles of light turned into a rain of light descending upon Chelsea.

At the sight, Chelsea flinched and manipulated the wind.

‘This isn’t even comparable to Iliana’s magic!’

Thinking of her school friend who excels in light magic, Chelsea let out a scream.

‘The attack itself is simple! Straight line!’

Chelsea’s eyes moved quickly.

By activating her unique magic, a heatwave, Chelsea dodged Lissinas’ magic attack with increased agility.

Flare-!

A flash of lightning narrowly passed by and grazed her cheek, making sweat form on Chelsea’s forehead.

‘Even the slightest touch would be fatal.’

At first glance, it seemed no different from a basic Magic Missile.

But the power contained within far surpassed even high-level magic.

Hwaak-!

Chelsea’s body shot up into the sky.

“Cough!”

And in the sky, what Chelsea faced was a perfectly white and beautiful finger right in front of her face.

The owner of that sculpted hand was none other than Lissinas.

Lightning flashed at the tip of Lissinas’s finger.

Chelsea hastily tilted her head back.

Flare-! Kwagagagang-!

Behind her, an incredible flash of lightning echoed with a loud boom.

Simultaneously, the shockwave that followed sent Chelsea flying.

Hwaak-!

“Cough!”

“You seem confident in your speed, girl.”

Just before hitting the ground, Chelsea barely caught her balance, but her shoulders trembled at the voice that came from behind her.

When she turned her head, there stood Lissinas.

“But if you rely too much on your speed, your limits will show when facing someone faster than you.”

Thud-!

Puh-!

“Cry?!”

“Right now.”

Lissinas, holding Chelsea by her hair, mercilessly kneed her chest.

Chelsea’s body flew into the air, only to crash down hard.

But at that moment—

Hwaak-!

—her body dispersed into the wind.

“Decoy?”

Lissinas’ eyes widened slightly.

“Wind Breaker!”

Kwagagagaga-!

The blades of wind that Chelsea shot swept toward Lissinas.

“You’re right. There are plenty of people faster than me. But my strength isn’t in speed!”

Chelsea’s greatest advantage was her freedom, like the wind, unrestricted by anything.

On the basis of that freedom, her talent lay in her unpredictable movements in combat.

As she watched Lissinas walk out unscathed from the dust, Chelsea gritted her teeth.

‘I have to hold on!’

There was no chance of winning.

Even though this was a ‘fake’ Lissinas, it was a fantasy that Leo had created.

A fantasy conjured by someone who understood King of Wisdom Lissinas better than anyone else in the world.

‘This really is Lissinas himself!’

The reason Chelsea had deliberately called him ugly was to steady herself.

Her frantic effort to deny he wasn’t real and to squeeze out what little courage she could muster.

But even so, that didn’t change anything.

Though the courage she squeezed out just barely allowed her to keep moving, the fact that her opponent could end her in an instant if he wanted remained unchanged.

Even so, Chelsea had to fight back.

‘I don’t know what Leo wants to see in me.’

But it was certainly clear that Leo had brought her here to show the dragons something.

‘Then I just have to do what I’ve been taught.’

All the things she learned while admiring and following Leo.

All the things she discovered while meeting Aron and Luna.

This was the time to put into practice everything Chelsea had seen and accepted.

There was no time to despair about the overwhelming disparity in strength.

Chelsea took a deep breath.

Then…

From Chelsea’s lips flowed a beautiful melody.

The surrounding wind resonated with Chelsea.

Huyoooyoo-!

Lissinas exhaled as he noticed the wind swirling around Chelsea.

‘My voice doesn’t resonate well with the wind spirits anymore.’

The wind became even stronger.

However, around Chelsea, it was surprisingly calm.

As he watched Chelsea consume the wind, Lissinas murmured,

“It feels like Luna’s magic.”

The sight of the young girl, who was still too young to be called a hero, captivated him.

“Remarkable.”

Lissinas’ lips curved into a gentle curve.

“Let’s see if you can dodge this too.”

The shadow of Lissinas shot up like a blade.

Kwagagagaga-!

The shadow blade cut through the air and surged toward Chelsea.

Hwaak-!

Chelsea manipulated the wind to dodge the shadow blade.

Her movements were reminiscent of wind itself.

Chelsea steadily closed the distance with Lissinas while calmly dodging the attacks.

As Chelsea’s staff swayed, a massive blade of wind swung toward Lissinas.

“That’s far too reckless. Isn’t that reckless courage?”

Lissinas asked Chelsea.

Chelsea, however, had no time to answer the question.

Lissinas caught her determined glare filled with squeezed-out courage.

And in her eyes, he saw deep-seated fear.

‘Aron…’

The face of a friend that naturally crossed his mind made Lissinas’ smile deepen.

Kwagang-!

The shadow tore apart the surroundings.

Kwagang-!

The surrounding earth was destroyed and collapsed.

“Guh…”

Chelsea groaned as she fell to the ground.

Her body, shredded by Lissinas’ magic, no longer obeyed her commands.

Her staff had long since slipped from her hands.

Gritting her teeth, Chelsea tried to get up.

“Useless. I’ve mostly severed your tendons.”

Teek- Teek-

As Lissinas approached Chelsea, he spoke.

Despite that, Chelsea tried to get up to face Lissinas against all odds.

Seeing her efforts, another memory surfaced in his mind.

‘…Kyle.’

“Ugh…”

As Chelsea groaned and struggled to rise, Lissinas stretched out his hand toward her.

Whoom- Flare-!

Bright light erupted from Lissinas’ hand.

At the sight, Chelsea squeezed her eyes shut.

But then, in a crouching position, Lissinas gently placed his hand on Chelsea’s head.

“Remarkable.”

“Huh?”

When Chelsea opened her eyes and looked up, she saw Lissinas smiling at her with a beautiful smile that seemed to have lost his senses.

Woo-!

The soft and warm light flowing from Lissinas’ hand enveloped Chelsea.

Chelsea’s wounds healed instantly.

Lissinas carefully helped Chelsea up.

“Did that hurt? Sorry about that. I had to be serious or you wouldn’t have believed me.”

The overwhelming charisma he had shown just moments ago was gone.

All that remained was a warm and gentle feeling that made people feel at ease.

Seeing this, Chelsea smiled in relief.

“Of course… it’s impossible for me to dodge Lissinas’ attacks. You were only pretending all this time, weren’t you?”

“That’s right. Of course.”

Kwaaaak-

“But I can’t forgive you for calling me ugly.”

“It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! Uncle Lissinas!”

“I’m pinching you because it hurts, you silly girl.”

Lissinas smiled gracefully while covering his mouth, but his actions were ruthless.

Still feeling his anger, moments later, he grabbed both of Chelsea’s cheeks with both hands.

After flailing around helplessly in the air, Chelsea was finally released, and she covered her bright red cheeks while making a sad face.

It was then that the students of Wisdom approached.

“Master Lissinas…”

Riden, who was leading the way, was at a loss for what to do.

Seeing this Riden, Lissinas asked,

“Are you the ones who will follow in my footsteps?”

At this question, the Wisdom students could not answer.

Their fellow Chelsea, whom they secretly looked down upon, had faced Lissinas bravely and even received his praise.

But they, frozen in panic, were unable to do anything.

In fact, Riden had even been led by Chelsea in that situation.

Seeing the Wisdom students fall silent, Lissinas smiled.

“Is there something you’re ashamed of?”

“…Yes.”

“Then that’s fortunate.”

“Huh?”

Answering with a voice like a mouse crawling into a hole, Riden opened his eyes wide and looked at Lissinas.

“Being ashamed means you know what to reflect on. Next time, reflect so that you have no regrets.”

“Aah…”

“Master Lissinas.”

The Wisdom students were moved.

Although they knew this place was a fantasy,

The Lissinas in front of them was closer to the ideal image they had of Lissinas.

As Lissinas smiled with benevolence, the space began to distort.

It seemed that the illusion was coming to an end.

“It’s time for us to part ways.”

Lissinas patted Chelsea’s head.

“Just keep going like this, Chelsea LeWalyn.”

“Ah, yes!”

As Chelsea replied with a bright expression, everything around them disappeared into darkness.

‘Maybe it’s time to wake up from the illusion?’

Riden felt a sense of regret.

‘Even though it’s just an illusion, I wanted to talk more with Master Lissinas…’

Pak-!

“…?”

Something smacked Riden on the head, and he looked around with a dazed expression.

Bak! Bak! Bak!

“Guh? Gag?!”

The force of the smacks grew stronger.

“Please stop! Please… stop!”

As Riden was being beaten without being able to properly resist, his consciousness began to fade.

“Who do you think you are to talk about guidance like that? So arrogant.”

A beautiful voice filled with spite rang out.

“This is the hero I’ve chosen. If you dare to look down on him again, I won’t let you get away so easily.”

As his consciousness faded, Riden heard incomprehensible words and lost consciousness.

*

Bak-!

“Ugh?”

“Get up.”

Driana’s small hand ruthlessly smacked Riden’s head.

Though they were tiny and cute, her dwarf hands felt like being hit with a hammer.

As his senses were suddenly regained, Riden abruptly jumped up.

“Are you up?”

Leo approached the Wisdom students.

“How was the test?”

At this question, the Wisdom students bowed their heads deeply.

“We were foolish, Leo Flove. We were too narrow-minded and arrogant.”

“Don’t blame yourself too much, it’s something most people do.”

Leo chuckled.

“Even the King of Wisdom was once called a foolish person, wasn’t he? The important thing is that you can learn.”

“…”

Riden burst out laughing wryly.

‘Instead, I am the one receiving guidance. I was going to guide this person?’

He felt ashamed of his earlier self and said,

“I learn a lot from you.”

“You’ll have more chances to learn.”

Leo indicated something to Driana.

Driana took out a few sheets of paper from her arms and distributed them to the Wisdom students.

Seeing this, Siren looked puzzled.

“What’s this?”

“Contract. A ‘Hero Competition,’ a contest between hero academies, is happening in Lumeran this time. Here, you’ll meet many Hero Candidates.”

At Leo’s words, the Wisdom students widened their eyes in surprise.

“Are you offering us this opportunity?”

Surprised Riden looked at Driana, who unfolded the next page and said,

“Just sign here.”

Hearing this, Riden closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

‘The situation has completely reversed.’

This meant he was now in the position of receiving guidance.

It was something shameful for the Wisdom students who aimed to be guides.

But,

‘Without a doubt, this will be a stepping stone for my growth.’

With this thought, Riden signed without hesitation.

The other Wisdom students also signed with similar sentiments.

At the same time, Driana snatched the contracts from the Wisdom students’ hands.

Clap clap clap—

At that moment, the sound of clapping came from behind.

When the Wisdom students turned their heads, they widened their eyes in surprise and knelt down, bowing their heads.

“We greet our Lord!”

When the students greeted in chorus, Melina burst into laughter.

“You don’t have to be so stiff, everyone.”

Melina walked up to the students and said,

“I believe all that you’ve learned today will be a great help to your future.”

At her words, the Wisdom students, feeling ashamed of themselves, couldn’t raise their heads.

Melina looked at Leo.

– Are you satisfied now?

– Yes! I’m extremely grateful, Leo-sama!

Melina and Leo communicated telepathically using magic.

‘This person… is truly a companion of Master Lissinas.’

Leo’s appearance of teaching the Wisdom students reminded her of Lissinas.

It couldn’t be helped.

They were bound to resemble each other.

‘There’s no doubt that Leo-sama’s guide is Master Lissinas.’

Melina faintly smiled but suddenly became curious.

– But Leo-sama—

– Yes?

– Why did you write a contract for the Hero Competition invitation?

– Ah, I just tried out that annoying lizard’s specialty once.

– …

Upon hearing Leo’s reply, Melina felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

“Miss Driana, let me see the contract.”

And she forcibly took it from Driana.

After checking the contents of the contract, Melina’s face went blank.

– Leo-sama.

– What?

– Isn’t this just a slave contract?

– Yes, I’ve acquired excellent labor during a busy time.

– Isn’t this fraud?

– If you move them with emotion and then stab in the back, that’s Master Lissinas’ specialty. From now on, be sure to include contract writing education in the Wisdom education process.

– … What about this n*de model clause?

– That’s why I suspected something when Driana insisted on writing the contract herself.

Leo clicked his tongue.

“Give it back, please, return it.”

In the meantime, Driana grabbed the contract from Melina and hugged it tightly to her chest.

She looked like someone holding a precious treasure.

Looking at the students who were moved, Melina murmured,

‘This can’t be Master Lissinas’ way.’

– Have you ever seen Lissinas cheat?

– …

– I’ve seen it many times.

Upon hearing Leo’s reply, Melina silently looked up at the sky.

‘I’ve already passed the prime of my life, yet why do I feel like I’m growing up again?’

Melina felt as if she had lost something precious today.