Chapter 583

583.

Kal swallowed hard as he looked at the four individuals standing before him.

‘Seeing them like this, the pressure is no joke, huh?’

In front of him were five seats. All but one were occupied.

‘Comet Wizard Seirun, Great Warrior Azonia, Unyielding Demian.’

These were the great heroes who had saved the world again during the Rebirth of Catastrophe 3000 years ago.

‘They’re quiet, but their presence is overwhelming.’

Kal glanced briefly at Lunia, Eiran, and Driana before his gaze lingered on the empty seat.

It was undoubtedly Lumeran’s vacant spot.

Kal then looked at the woman sitting in the center.

‘Dragon of the Cataclysm, Rodia.’

Just as the Era of Catastrophe had its King of Wisdom, Lissinas, the Rebirth of Catastrophe had Rodia.

Her accomplishments were not merely in gathering heroes to repel the Piece of Erebus.

‘The First Conqueror.’

It was Rodia who first discovered the Hero’s World and then conquered it.

‘That’s why she became known as the Cataclysm itself.’

Kal felt himself shrink under Rodia’s gaze, which seemed to pierce through everything.

“Student Council President of Lumeran, Clary Jesian.”

“Have I been summoned, Lady Dragon of the Cataclysm, Rodia?”

As Kal bowed his head, Rodia began to speak.

“You are aware, are you not, that the Knight of Twilight, Lumeran, is currently missing.”

Rodia’s eyes narrowed.

“Do you know anything about it?”

At her question, Kal hesitated, unsure of what to say.

Although not certain, Kal had an idea of where Lumeran had gone.

‘The place where God resides.’

But he couldn’t just tell Rodia that outright.

The existence of God wouldn’t be revealed until 3000 years later.

Discussing it now would be altering history.

‘Unless they’re Cataclysm Heroes, it’s a monumental matter that a mere student council president should not be privy to.’

It was an ironic situation since even someone like Kal, who was only the Student Council President of Lumeran Academy, seemed small in comparison to the beings before him.

“I don’t know.”

“Hmm? That’s disappointing, isn’t it?”

Rodia’s eyes momentarily blurred, then became clear again.

‘It’s unlikely anyone knows about the existence of God at this point in time.’

The Cataclysm Heroes left countless legends behind them.

However, people’s favorite hero tale was undoubtedly Lumeran’s.

Not only humans, but Lumeran’s story was beloved across all races.

The reason was incredibly simple.

After the Rebirth of Catastrophe had ended,

Lumeran was the Cataclysm Hero who had ventured the most into the world.

Rodia had researched the Hero Record in Dragonia, leaving her findings for future generations.

Seirun reinterpreted the Magic of the Stars, re-establishing it as the Elves’ proprietary magic, while Demian gathered the divine artifacts left by Dwenno and worked hard to restore them.

In Aron’s case, efforts went into gaining the ability to transform into a Beastman at will, leading to the creation of what later became known as the “Breath of the Dragon”.

However, Lumeran was different.

If each hero had something significant to pass onto future generations…

Lumeran had nothing to pass on.

‘Because Lord Lumeran didn’t inherit any power from Kyle’s world.’

He didn’t inherit anything, so he had nothing to leave behind.

‘Leo said Lord Lumeran wanted to be like him. Maybe Lumeran blamed himself.’

Blamed himself for not being like the Hero of Beginning.

For not being able to substitute the Hero of Beginning.

He might have blamed himself for not being able to defeat Erebus.

In the eyes of future generations, Lumeran’s adventures would be seen as journeys meant to help people.

But in reality, they were likely quests to find the key to entering Kyle’s world.

A struggle to inherit Kyle’s power.

‘And during that struggle, he must have discovered God.’

Kal clenched his fists.

‘If this were Lord Lumeran I know, he’s certainly someone who could do such a thing.’

To the people living in the Era of Heroes, everyone had a favorite hero.

Kal was no exception.

Ever since he was young, his favorite hero had been none other than Lumeran.

The hero who started from nothing and, through sheer effort, saved the world.

‘I probably thought we were similar.’

To a boy from humble origins, it was a wonderful object of admiration.

There was a time when Kal scoured both folk tales and history books looking for anything about Lumeran.

Remembering those days, Kal smiled wryly.

‘I wasn’t particularly talented as a kid. Just that average amount of talent that catches the eye.’

‘Back then, I was arrogant and stubborn, claiming I would become a hero.’

But after meeting someone, he abruptly quit thinking that way.

‘Our unlucky prince.’

Moiran is a small kingdom.

Because of this, ability is valued over status.

‘That’s the greatest advantage of our kingdom.’

Thanks to this, as a commoner from an alchemist family with magic talent, Kal had the chance to attend Moiran National School.

There, he happened to see Duran visiting the school once.

‘Although, he probably doesn’t even remember me.’

Kal shook his head briefly thinking about his first meeting with Duran.

Duran had opened his eyes.

To the possibility of becoming a hero.

‘Since then, for some reason, I couldn’t admire Lord Lumeran as much as I used to. I was too precocious as a child.’

From then on, Kal stopped talking about becoming a hero and eventually stopped mentioning wanting to be like Lumeran.

‘Still, I foolishly strived to enter Lumeran.’

He wanted to be as close as possible to the hero.

That’s why he pursued being a supporter and entered Lumeran Academy.

After momentarily reflecting on the past, Kal refocused.

‘The important thing now is to find Lord Lumeran.’

It was certain that Lumeran was somewhere within the Academy.

And somewhere here, God, Rian, was also present.

“Lumeran has an unnecessarily strong sense of responsibility. Even when it’s not his fault.”

Rodia unexpectedly sighed.

Kal smirked wryly at those words from Rodia.

“Yes, it’s not like him to suddenly disappear.”

“Yeah. That’s right. He’s not the kind to just vanish.”

“He’s definitely somewhere in the Academy.”

“Yeah. That’s why I asked.”

“What?”

“……”

“I thought you would know.”

After saying this, Rodia’s eyes blurred and then cleared again.

Kal felt something was off by her expression.

Rodia was looking at him with eyes that seemed to pierce everything.

‘No, to begin with, this is strange.’

The Cataclysm Heroes had immense trust and bonds among themselves.

They likely trusted each other as much as the Great Heroes did.

When Kal had answered he didn’t know to Rodia’s prior question,

Rodia had openly shown disappointment.

‘Of course a student council president wouldn’t know something the Cataclysm Heroes don’t.’

Her subsequent reaction was also odd.

‘And now… she said ‘you all’, not just me.’

She might’ve been referring to all the students of the academy.

But there was still a sense of discomfort.

Realizing this, Kal swallowed hard.

“Lady Rodia… no way…?”

Rodia suddenly put her finger to her lips.

Kal was shocked upon seeing that.

‘She knows.’

About this being the Hero’s World.

That Rodia herself is a fraud.

‘And she knows about me and the other Cataclysm Heroes being conquerors! She knows everything! What is she? How does she remain sane?!’

If a conqueror of the Hero’s World reveals or is discovered as such, the conquest fails.

‘A character within the Hero’s World should collapse mentally upon realizing they are not real, right?’

Yet Rodia seemed fine.

‘Is she not bound by the rules? Or, from her gesture to stay quiet, that doesn’t seem to be the case?’

Kal wore a puzzled expression.

But he soon took a deep breath.

“Lord Seirun, Lord Azonia, Lord Demian.”

“…?”

“There is something I need to say solely to Lady Rodia.”

The three looked at Rodia upon hearing this.

When Rodia nodded, the three left.

Perplexed, they sent uneasy glances toward Kal.

After a moment, Rodia smiled.

“Clever child, aren’t you?”

“I tend to notice things quickly.”

“Yes. Thank you for sending the others out. I’m in a somewhat precarious state, you see? If you could just tell me what you need to say quickly?”

Kal answered at her request.

“Lord Lumeran has gone to find the God somewhere within the Academy.”

‘Although not suitable as a hero, quite the smart kid.’

Rodia’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Kal.

He had figured it out from a small clue.

‘The other conquerors weren’t lacking, certainly.’

The hints dropped by Rodia had been really subtle.

Interfering more might’ve jeopardized Rodia’s mental state.

‘But to have followed through so thoroughly on something so minor. His observational skills are excellent.’

The moment he thought this,

[An error has occurred in the system. Restarting the Record System…]

Changgrang!

In that instant, Rodia destroyed her own consciousness.

Her broken consciousness was immediately restored.

‘Ah, so this is what the inhabitants of the Hero’s World experienced.’

Only the core characters of the Hero’s World can identify conquerors.

The reason the conquest fails when they realize is simple:

The character in the Hero’s world whose mind collapses indiscriminately attacks their surroundings.

The precise mechanism is unknown even to Rodia.

It was discovered through countless experiments.

Once the core characters of the Hero’s World become incapable of continuing the conquest, it naturally fails.

‘If an error occurs, the world collapses. But if the one causing the error is dealt with, the world doesn’t collapse and continues as usual.’

This fact was uncovered after a long study of the Hero Record.

‘I am not the master of this world.’

Lumeran, who had been around until yesterday, suddenly disappeared.

In the moment they realized Seirun, Azonia, and Demian were not themselves but conquerors,

The three frantically searched for Lumeran.

‘If I’m the target of conquest, they wouldn’t be so desperate.’

Right as he thought this, a message appeared.

Understanding this, Rodia immediately destroyed her sense of self without hesitation, because she judged that even if she died in this world, the world would be sustained.

However, for some reason, Rodia did not d*e.

‘When the message appears, it feels like a new self is being overlaid. The self I destroyed is from after this world ends; therefore, it’s the me who will implement the next world.’

While inferring the reason why she was still maintaining her sense of self, Rodia was drenched in cold sweat.

She was somehow clinging to memories as she forced the world to continue despite the system error, but this was certainly no easy task.

Currently, Rodia’s task is essentially identical to destroying herself each time an error occurs.

‘I don’t know how long my mind can endure this.’

The shock of destroying her own mind was still very present.

‘I need to clear this world as quickly as possible before I start having problems, but… hmm?’

Rodia made a puzzled expression.

The conqueror was already looking out the window.

And his face was deathly pale.

“What’s the matter?”

“Black Flame…”

“What?”

“Can’t you see it? The Catastrophe Flame?!”

“What?”

While Rodia was looking where Kal had pointed, her eyes widened.

[An error has occurred in the system. Restarting the Record System…]

Changgrang!

Dizziness struck due to the aftermath of destroying her consciousness.

Gripping the reins of her fading sanity, Rodia bit her lips tightly.

“I don’t see anything…”

Kal’s expression hardened.

‘Is it something visible only to the conquerors?’

—

“System Error. Record System…”

Kal stared outside the window, his face ghostly white.

“What’s wrong?”

Rodia asked.

“Can’t you see it? The Black Flame of Catastrophe!”

“I don’t see anything…”

—

Rodia’s vision blurred as dizziness hit her, the result of having shattered her own mind. Clinging to her waning sanity, she bit down on her lips fiercely.

“I don’t see anything at all…”

Kal’s expression hardened.

‘Is this something only the conquerors can see?’