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Chapter 49




【49】48
“…….
Chloe gripped the black grimoire tightly.
“I wanted to win at all costs. But I couldn’t think of a way to win. So... so... I borrowed the power of someone else.”
The unique magic Chloe had originally prepared was an ice field magic.
But she thought she couldn’t beat Leo in the test with that magic, so she prepared the unextinguishable flame.
That wasn’t a magic incantation Chloe had created.
‘I just implemented it based on the magic incantation written in this grimoire.’
Even Chloe didn’t understand the principle of how the magic worked.
She had merely glossed over it, saying it was her own special quality because it was a unique magic.
She reacted sharply when someone asked about the magic for the same reason.
She announced it on the day of the test, and the unextinguishable flame defeated Leo as expected.
At that moment, she was very happy. She thought she had finally caught up. But...
‘There’s no way I could say I caught up with this!’
Chloe, clenching her teeth, burst into a bitter laugh.
‘What’s the point of complaining to this person?’
A genius girl still talked about even after 30 years.
‘She’s a different person from me. She must be special like Leo.’
There was no way such a person could understand her inner thoughts.
It would be fortunate if they didn’t mock her.
Alia, who had been silently watching Chloe, smiled.
“Indeed, Lady Chloe, you are similar to me.”
“Huh?”
“To be honest, I used to envy my brother a lot.”
Alia smiled.
“I often thought it was really annoying how he could do anything despite looking so stupid. This is a secret, but the basic system of my unique magic was actually created by my brother. I’m good at using existing magic, but I’m terrible at creating new ones. In fact, I failed the Lumern entrance exam twice.”
Alia pulled her knees to her chest.
Chloe had a dazed expression.
It was hard to believe that this was the tragic magic genius still talked about today.
“I once really hated my brother. But then I thought, if he’s someone I hate so much out of jealousy, doesn’t that mean he’s worth admiring?”
Hearing this, Chloe looked down at the black grimoire.
‘An object of admiration...’
***
Leo, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.
He jumped up from his seat.
“Lord Leo, what’s the matter?”
At Velic’s question, Leo looked at one side of the forest.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
Leo’s extrasensory perception had picked up something.
At that moment, the enemy also became aware of them.
“Leo, what’s going on?”
“It’s him.”
Chloe drew a breath.
“Surely...?”
“Yes.”
Leo drew his sword.
Boom! Boom!
The ground shook.
A moment later, a giant figure emerged from the bushes.
Standing about 3 meters tall, with pitch-black skin.
He looked exactly like the photo.
“Chubarn...!”
Chloe clenched her teeth.
Chubarn, with his crimson eyes, glared at Leo.
“I’ve found you, the seed of a hero with the same qualities as the Great Hero I despise!”
Leo’s eyes twitched at this.
Demons prioritize the orders of their superiors.
And the order Chubarn received during the Chedmurders incident was to eliminate the seed of a hero.
So Chubarn didn’t pay much attention to the adventurer.
‘But now, this kid is clearly showing hostility towards me.’
Despite his biggest goal, Alia, being right in front of him, his reaction was strange.
‘Moreover, he’s definitely calling me the seed of a Great Hero...’
“Grrrrrr!”
Chubarn roared and charged at Leo.
Flash! Bang!
The monstrous axe in Chubarn’s hand struck the ground.
But Leo had already moved out of Chubarn’s attack range.
Whoosh!
Flame aura gathered on Leo’s sword.
Crack!
Leo’s sword slashed at Chubarn’s neck.
But it didn’t inflict any damage.
Leo’s eyes twitched.
Chubarn, seeing Leo’s face, grinned hideously.
“Foolish boy!”
Chubarn reached out to grab Leo.
But Leo smirked.
“That’s your mistake, idiot.”
“Wha...”
Crack!
A powerful gale shot by Chloe hit Chubarn.
The cold ice wind slowed Chubarn’s movements.
Taking advantage of this, Leo dodged Chubarn’s hand and spun his body.
Whirl! Bang!
The flame aura burned more fiercely.
Crack! Thud!
“I cut him!”
“Great!”
The party cheered.
Using the spin to increase the power, Leo’s sword had severed Chubarn’s neck.
But Leo’s face wasn’t bright.
‘I didn’t cut through the bone.’
Demons are different from ordinary creatures.
They are a different species created by Erebus.
This level of damage isn’t fatal.
Leo immediately kicked Chubarn’s head, using the momentum to create distance.
‘At least the attack is effective.’
Leo, who had been observing Chubarn while taking deep breaths, opened his eyes wide.
The blood that had been gushing from Chubarn’s wound suddenly stopped.
Not only that, the blood that had been pouring out started to be absorbed back into the wound.
Drip... Drip...
“Hm, not a bad attack.”
Chubarn, cracking his neck from side to side, grinned.
Teyad was shocked.
“Impossible! What kind of recovery ability...!”
“That’s not a recovery ability.”
“Huh? Then what is it?”
“It’s a curse.”
A curse is one of the special abilities of demons.
While the curses used by lower demons only weaken the opponent’s power, higher curses can even distort the laws of reality.
“[Nullification]. It’s an annoying curse that makes attacks as if they never happened.”
Leo placed his sword on his shoulder.
“Hm? You know well.”
“Isn’t it too much for a Level 3 demon to use such a curse?”
“Hm, you’re very insolent. But you’re right. This curse is a favor from the Demon Queen Shilatuna.”
The name of the Demon Queen made the first-year students tremble in fear.
The Demon Queen Shilatuna.
A legion commander of Tartarus and a confidant of Erebus, who survived from the Age of Catastrophe.
“It’s been a while since I heard such an unlucky name.”
Leo said irritably.
“If attacks are nullified... how can we win?”
Alia, trembling with fear, asked.
“Nullification curses aren’t omnipotent. Besides, he’s not the one who cast the curse. If used multiple times, the curse will disappear.”
“Hm, do you think you’ll survive until the curse disappears?”
As he said this, Chubarn’s subordinates emerged from the bushes.
“Don’t think you’ll leave here alive. You, the remnant of the Great Hero, will die here.”
“Remnant of the Great Hero?”
Leo smirked.
“Do you call me that because I’m an all-class like Kail?”
“Shut up! Don’t utter that hateful name!”
Seeing Chubarn’s intense reaction, Leo understood how Alia’s party had escaped from Chubarn.
‘There were surveillance networks set up by demons throughout the forest. I and Chloe didn’t pay attention because we thought we weren’t the targets of attack.’
Leo sighed.
‘This kid found out I was an all-class through that surveillance network. That’s why he kept chasing me.’
Using his extrasensory perception to avoid demons, Leo had inadvertently been playing hide-and-seek with Chubarn.
The great demons who have survived since the Age of Catastrophe, like Shilatuna, are still active.
If so, the demons must remember Kail.
Kail, who killed the creator of Tartarus, would be the greatest enemy to the demons.
‘People have forgotten about me, but the demons remember me. How ironic.’
After assessing the situation, Leo, gripping his sword, said:
“Prepare.”
“Do you think you, mere brats, can defeat me?”
“Of course.”
“Hm, you’re very confident. But are your comrades as confident as you?”
Chubarn pointed behind him.
Turning around, the party was trembling in fear.
“You’re the only one with reckless courage. Your comrades are at their mental and physical limits.”
It wasn’t a wrong statement.
The party was exhausted from continuous battles.
“Haha.”
But Leo burst into laughter at Chubarn’s words.
“Why are you laughing? Have you gone mad?”
“No, just that you seem to know nothing about Lumern.”
“What?”
“Lumern is a school where kids who dream of becoming heroes enter.”
The gazes of the hero candidates fell on Leo’s back.
Thud... Thud...
Leo took a step forward.
The trembling of the hero candidates began to subside.
Determination slowly returned to their eyes, and aura, magic, and spirit power surged.
In the actual history, they died.
But they didn’t give up and were slaughtered by Chubarn.
‘There’s no mention of Chubarn having the [Nullification] curse. That means... Chubarn used up all the [Nullification] curses in the first battle.’
It was proof that no one gave up, even if they died.
Just like the