Chapter 623

623.

The moment he realized he was in the Hero’s World, Leo’s eyes snapped wide open.

Leo glanced around.

‘A temporary tent, huh.’

The place where Leo woke up was a tent primarily used in the field.

Having risen from some bedding located in one corner of the relatively spacious tent, Leo approached a small mirror nearby.

Snow-white silver hair and crimson eyes.

“This isn’t a world of reincarnation. Or, now that I think about it, does that concept even apply here?”

Leo’s face hardened as he recalled the message from earlier.

“Record of the Legion, and Silatuna’s world.”

Anyone could infer the meaning of those words.

“The bastards from Tartarus also have a Record system.”

The awakening of the Hero Record once saved the world.

But if Tartarus possessed the same?

“Perhaps they can inherit the powers of the mighty demons of the past, including the Legion Commanders.”

Perhaps the fragile balance they had barely maintained could collapse in an instant.

Leo quickly mulled it over.

“No way that thing was already here. Nah, that’s not it. If the Demon King had that kind of power from the start, he wouldn’t be struggling to produce new Legion Commanders.”

Leo continued his deductions.

“The Demon King holds a piece of Erebus. If he used its power to create it?”

“No, even Erebus couldn’t achieve something like that.”

The gods called the Hero Record the “Record System.”

Erebus is an entity equal to the gods.

Thus, it wouldn’t be strange for Erebus to possess knowledge on the Record system.

However, having that knowledge and executing it are two different stories.

The Hero Record is the essence of the gods, created with all their power.

“No matter how godlike Erebus may be, it’s impossible to replicate something that all the gods collaborated to create with one’s own strength. Moreover, the Demon King only holds a fragment of Erebus.”

Leo reached a hypothesis after considering all this.

“Did they modify an existing Hero Record?”

The Hero Record was corrupted during the process of sealing Erebus’s fragment.

While many worlds remain untouched by Erebus’s power, some have been invaded by it.

This page was one of those worlds.

Leo organized the information he obtained from the message.

“The owner of this world is Silatuna. The timeline is prologue. Location: Forest of Monsters.”

The Forest of Monsters was originally the land of the elves.

And it was also Luna’s hometown.

The mention of Silatuna and the Forest of Monsters led to one person coming to mind.

“Luna.”

[SYSTEM ERROR: An unauthorized entity has intruded into the world.]

A new message appeared in front of Leo.

“Unauthorized entity? Is it referring to me?”

Leo was lost in thought.

“If this world was implemented in the same way as the Hero Record… shouldn’t I have entered as one of Tartarus’s demons, monsters, or beasts?”

Leo sneakily glanced around the inside of the tent.

Right in front of him were items from 5,000 years ago used by the elves.

It was clear to anyone that Leo had entered the Hero’s World as Luna, just like usual.

Swoosh—

Leo moved outside the tent.

The ashen gray sky, symbolic of the Era of Catastrophe, came into view.

There were countless elves walking around nearby.

Seeing this, Leo muttered,

“Looks like this was originally Luna’s world. So what should I do? Should I prevent Tartarus from taking over this world?”

“Oh, you’ve woken up, Lady Luna!”

“Luna?”

An elf youth holding a spear in one hand and a shimmering shield in the other called out to Luna.

Without realizing it, Leo instinctively looked around for Luna.

Luna within the Hero’s World retained memories from the previous world.

Would this world’s Luna remember the events that took place outside, then?

“What should I say?”

Leo reminisced about the time he parted ways with Luna.

At that time, Luna was not a being created by the Hero Record but was instead in a spiritual form.

“Does she remember that?”

As Leo’s gaze wavered slightly, the elf youth who called out to Luna approached him.

“Lady Luna! We’ve detected movement from the Demon Queen in the heart of the forest!”

Leo’s expression changed upon hearing those words.

“Luna?”

“Uh?”

“Am I Luna?”

“…”

In response to Leo’s words, the elf youth covered his face with his hands.

“Lady Luna! This is such an important battle that will decide the recovery of the forest! And yet, you’ve been excessively drinking until the day before the battle!”

Seeing the elf youth looking like he might cry, Leo used the shield in the young elf’s hand to reflect his own image.

No matter how he looked at it, it was clearly Leo Flove’s face.

“What’s going on?”

“Akinte… Could it be that… this is Lady Luna…?”

At that moment, a voice was heard.

Leo turned to the direction the voice came from.

There, someone he knew was approaching him.

Akinte Rubezza.

Luna’s magic teacher and a mentor-like figure.

A character Leo had previously reincarnated into within Luna’s world.

“Have you been drinking again, Luna?”

Akinte asked while taking a deep breath.

Watching this scene, Leo came to think.

“Apparently… the people in this world see me as Luna.”

Leo then understood exactly which point in time this was.

“The moment just before Luna joined the extermination force.”

The time when he and Lissinas were headed there after defeating Jormungand to recruit Luna.

The time when the elves united their strength to reclaim their lost homeland in the Forest of Monsters.

“The elves lost in this battle.”

He looked at Akinte.

“And this person died here.”

*

Gooouuuuu! Whoosh-!

Ris looked up at the Gigantes as it brought down a tremendous mass of flame towards him.

“What are you doing! That’s Hell Fire! Take cover!”

Abad shouted desperately.

Turning to look at the concerned Abad, Ris said,

“Abad, prepare your magic.”

With that brief instruction, Ris swung his sword upwards at the Gigantes whose eyes burned with crimson flames.

Whoosh! Ka-Gaaang!!!

Ris’s Flame Aura clashed with the Hell Fire, widely acknowledged as one of the strongest flame magic techniques. Miraculously, the aura not only resisted but also pushed back the Hell Fire and proceeded to engulf the Gigantes’ arm.

Goooaargh!

The Gigantes screamed and clutched the arm that had been reduced to ashes.

‘She even negated the protective magic, huh?’

Astounded at the feat, Abad completed the incantation he had been preparing.

Having accumulated dozens of wind magic spells within his ‘Unseen Blade’ technique, Abad’s chant released a violent gale the moment it was pronounced. The most terrifying thing about the wind was its sharpness, akin to a blade.

Ssss-Ga-Ga-Ga-Ga-Ga-Ga-Clash!

Goooaarghhh!

The large-scale magic Abad created by pouring in his mana exceeded everyone’s imagination as it was unleashed all at once.

Thud-Dud-Dud-Dud-Dud!

Almost instantly, pieces of flesh rained down from the sky, bl**d splattering like rain.

Crash-! Splaat-!

The head of the Gigantes fell into a pool of bl**d, creating a wave-like splatter.

Somehow, despite losing almost his entire body with only his head remaining, the Gigantes was still alive.

As Ris moved towards the Gigantes with a cold expression to put it out of its misery, a cold voice interrupted.

“Pitiful.”

Ris stopped in his tracks.

“You, an insignificant brat who couldn’t even ascend to the level of a Hero despite obtaining the powerful body of a monster as a conquest reward?”

“Skull?”

Next to the Gigantes, a skeleton appeared.

The skeleton body glowed brilliantly before transforming into the form of a dwarf.

Recognising the face, Abad stiffened.

“Saint of Regeneration?”

The Saint of Regeneration was an ancient Hero who was historically regarded as the most powerful healer of the Era of Heroes, possessing the ability to heal any wound as long as the victim still had a single breath of life.

Using the Saint’s healing abilities, Zoare regenerated the Gigantes.

Shoong-!

Almost immediately, the Gigantes got back on its feet.

Seeing this, Ris opened his mouth.

“Hero Slayer?”

At the mention of that, Zoare gave a glance at Ris.

“Ris Zerdinger. And…”

Kwa-Ga-Ga-Ga-Clash-!

At that moment, a powerful wind swept in and tore Zoare apart.

“Invisible Blade?”

Zoare’s eyes sparkled with greed.

“Indeed, the successor of Lewalyn. That’s quite an impressive ability. If I had my way, I would hunt you right now…”

Zoare’s eyes turned to the sky.

“But there’s something I need to deal with first.”

Zoare’s animosity also turned towards the sky.

“Reina Zerdinger. Make him regret birthing Leo Flove.”

‘Is his goal Aunt Reina!’

In the instant Ris realized Zoare’s intention and tried to attack Zoare,

Kwa-Ga-Ga-Clang-!

The Gigantes’ massive arm came down upon Ris.

Swish-!

Ris’ sword cleanly cut through the incoming arm.

Pssshh-ha-ha-choke-!

The immense amount of bl**d that spurted out was instantly evaporated by the flames surrounding Ris as he turned his gaze back on Zoare.

But that brief moment was all Zoare needed to soar up into the sky.

“Ulta!”

Ris called out urgently.

The sound carried throughout the entire Flob estate with the power of his aura.

Ulta, who had heard the call, stiffened momentarily before realizing Zoare’s presence and swiftly attempted to move.

However, Zoare, who had already shifted position like a streak of lightning, managed to grab Reina off the Pegasus first.

“Miss Reina!”

“Aunt!”

Ulta and Celia desperately rushed to rescue Reina.

But Zoare vanished through a warp faster than they could react.

“Hero Candidates. You are no match for me.”

Zoare, who had teleported to a farther distance, sneered.

He was now in the form of a Beastman.

“Looks fun. Enjoying the feeling of victory against opponents weaker than yourself? I suppose that must mean you were pretty thoroughly trounced by Leo?”

At that moment, Reina, whose neck was grabbed by Zoare, smirked mockingly.

Zoare’s icy gaze turned towards Reina.

“Is your head really that foolish? Didn’t you understand that I’m here?”

“I see. But from the looks of your battered face, it seems like that isn’t the case.”

Reina mocked him.

“From the start, grabbing someone I’ve already given up pursuing indicates your intent to take your frustration out on me, doesn’t it?”

“You…!”

As Zoare started twisting with anger, his lips soon curled upward.

“Yes, if Leo Flove is still alive, tossing your mangled corpse back at him won’t be half bad. Watching him break down would be quite entertaining.”

Zoare emitted a thick animosity.

“Go on.”

“What?”

“He won’t be shaken that easily.”

Seeing Reina’s calm smile, Zoare’s face went rigid.

“You will never be able to beat my son.”

Witnessing Reina’s unwavering composure, Zoare began to feel unbearable rage rising within.

“I’ll make you regret opening your mouth so lightly!”

Gooouuuuu-!

Seeing the terrifying energy surging out of Zoare’s body, Reina smirked.

‘This… was a mistake.’

I won’t survive.

But…

No matter how much pain they inflict, I will keep smiling.

‘Leo will be fine.’

He won’t falter because of what happens to her. Reina believed this firmly, without a shred of doubt.

‘Sorry, Deid.’

As she apologized to her husband in her mind and closed her eyes,

“Shall I help?”

“Huh?”

“Did I ask if you need help?”

“Who’s there?”

“I am the Purifying Spirit, Ista.”