Chapter 537

“Will it be all right?”

Eiran asked with a worried expression.

Lunia covered her face.

“What could possibly happen?”

“But... what if Leo-nim and Velkia-nim clash?”

“Things have become complicated, but I don’t think this situation is entirely bad.”

When Velkia first declared that she would punish Leo, Lunia had been flustered by the sudden turn of events.

However, after considering it calmly, having Leo and Velkia meet was the ideal outcome.

“Lunia is right. Our goal was to have Leo-nim and Velkia-nim meet, after all.”

Chen Xia nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. Besides... when those two meet, I’m not sure Leo-nim is the one we should be worried about.”

Lunia looked somewhat conflicted.

“That’s true.”

Chen Xia nodded again.

Velkia had said she would punish Leo.

But was that even possible?

They were not worried merely because Leo had been Velkia’s master.

“Leo-nim certainly won’t leave Velkia-nim alone.”

Lunia knew how Velkia felt about Kyle.

The young Velkia she had met in Dweno’s World had clearly regarded Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning, as a father.

Leo’s feelings toward Velkia could not have been much different.

He called her arrogant and rebellious, always seeming displeased with his disciple, but...

Leo trusted Velkia more than anyone.

That was why his expression had remained dark throughout their pursuit.

'What will you do when you meet Velkia-nim?'

'What else? I’ll give her a good thrashing.'

When Lunia had cautiously asked, Leo had answered as though it were obvious.

'Shouldn’t we be worrying about Velkia-nim instead?'

Lunia sighed.

Just then, Eiran, who had been standing quietly, looked around the house where Velkia had been staying.

Then she murmured,

“For some reason, this place feels familiar.”

“Huh? What does?”

Lunia asked, puzzled by the sudden remark.

“Doesn’t the atmosphere here resemble Leo-nim’s old house that we saw in Dweno’s World?”

At those words, Lunia looked around.

Then she nodded.

“It certainly does.”

The entire house felt desolate, devoid of any trace of ordinary life.

Only the bare necessities were present, and everything else had been neatly arranged.

It resembled the home of someone who never expected to return.

Seeing that, Lunia curled up on one of the dining chairs, pulling her knees to her chest as she surveyed the interior.

She remembered what Driana had said upon seeing Kyle’s house.

'Perhaps his heart never truly settled in this place.'

The bleak interior had looked as though its owner would never return.

At the time, Lunia had simply assumed it reflected the grim resolve of a Great Hero.

But now, she could not begin to imagine what Leo had been thinking.

Lunia turned her head slightly and looked at the table covered in empty plates.

It was the only place in the house where any warmth lingered.

“Maybe Velkia-nim made such a mess of Leo-nim’s house, despite knowing she would be scolded... because she wanted to give him a reason to come back?”

“Ah...”

Eiran let out a quiet exclamation as she remembered Velkia deliberately making a mess of the house.

Listening to them, Chen Xia sighed deeply and began gathering the dishes.

“Let’s clean up for now.”

“Yeah, all right.”

“Let’s divide the work.”

Just as the three were about to tackle the mountain of dishes—

Wooooom—!

“Huh?”

Chen Xia’s eyes widened at the resonance coming from her clothes.

She set down the dishes and pulled out the object producing the sound.

“Oh?”

Her eyes widened further as she stared at Vihar’s dagger, which was vibrating intensely.

===

'Something must have happened.'

Dawn was approaching, yet Lunia and Eiran had still not returned.

Realizing that something had gone wrong, Leo let out a deep sigh.

'Things are escalating.'

It was not that he distrusted Lunia, Eiran, or Chen Xia.

They were Hero Candidates he had personally chosen.

He believed they would overcome whatever trials stood in their way.

'But the situation is serious.'

Perched on the windowsill, Leo gazed outside.

'Velkia is undoubtedly in this city. And this city is twisted.'

Despite the raging blizzard, laughter filled the streets.

Upon this frozen land, the residents displayed every form of elegance imaginable.

Yet their eyes trembled with greed.

They were not the eyes of Elves.

Elves were originally a noble race.

No matter how foul Luna’s personality had been, she had always remained noble on the battlefield.

And it was not only Luna.

Leo had never seen a race more noble than the Elves when they staked everything they had.

'But not every Elf is noble.'

The nobility of Elves came from their willingness to prove their own worth without shame.

The people here were different.

They considered themselves noble, but their pride rested upon nothing more than their Elven blood and their ability to use Star Magic.

They might have regarded those qualities as special, but Leo did not.

'There is something wrong with this city.'

Its exterior was dazzling, but Leo could see beyond it.

A deep darkness lurked beneath the city’s surface.

He could not yet identify its true nature, but the stench was so foul that it seemed capable of rotting his nose.

That was undoubtedly why Velkia had come here.

Yet the city remained surprisingly peaceful.

The beliefs prevalent throughout Eldon were precisely the kind Velkia despised most.

It would not have been strange for Velkia, now an Undead consumed by hatred, to turn the entire city into a sea of fire.

'I suppose that’s a relief.'

Leo sighed deeply.

Not because he was especially concerned for the city itself.

'Hatred consumes the one who carries it.'

In the end, endless hatred devoured the self.

If Velkia continued to scream and struggle within that hatred, she would eventually lose herself entirely.

In a way, it had been fortunate that she had died before becoming like that in life.

Had she survived, Velkia might truly have become a Calamity.

But now that she had returned as an Undead...

'There will be no coming back once she crosses that line.'

That was why Leo felt relieved.

The current Velkia had not yet crossed it.

He was not concerned about the people living in Eldon.

Rather, if this land of Pureblood Society fanatics had joined hands with Tartarus, Leo would not hesitate to burn the city to the ground.

He would erase every trace of Eldon from the face of the earth.

'Because I am not Lysinas.'

Leo knew.

And it was not only him.

Lysinas, Luna, Arron, and Dweno had all known that the world they risked their lives to protect was far from ideal.

Even so, none of them had hesitated to sacrifice themselves.

Because they knew the world was not made solely of darkness and corruption.

And there was one more reason.

'Because we all followed Lysinas’s will.'

The Wise King.

It was a title bestowed upon her by the gods in recognition of her greatness.

'The gods did not call Lysinas a king merely because she was wise and intelligent.'

Throughout five thousand years of history, Lysinas was the only one.

The only being in the Hero Record to receive the title of king.

The one acknowledged as a king by the gods.

To the gods, that title carried greater meaning than anything else.

Those who lived upon the earth called someone a king if they ruled vast lands and the people dwelling upon them.

However, the kings spoken of by the gods transcended such a concept.

'It means the king of the world itself—its true master.'

Later generations believed Lysinas had been called the Wise King because she was the wisest being in history.

But that was not the true meaning.

The Wise King was the wise master of the world, acknowledged by the gods themselves.

'She was probably the only one. The only person the gods ever called a king.'

The reason the gods held Lysinas in such high regard was simple.

'Because she carried everything.'

Her achievements did not end with firing the opening shot of the counterattack against Erebos.

She shouldered the entire world and led it toward the light.

Those who committed evil.

Those who sinned.

Even those who betrayed the world.

Lysinas forgave and accepted them all.

She gave them another chance.

Despite bearing the duty of the Black Dragon to execute evildoers, Lysinas chose to embrace them.

Of course, Leo had been the one to judge those who threw that opportunity away.

Leo had declared that traitors could not be tolerated.

But Lysinas had shaken her head.

She had said they, too, were part of the world they sought to save.

And by uniting all of them, she had brought about salvation.

She was the merciful and noble master of the world, shining more brilliantly than anyone.

'That is why I respect you, Lysinas. And why I could never become like you.'

Leo’s red eyes turned cold.

Had Lysinas still been alive, she might have united the countless forces scattered across the earth.

Unfortunately, Leo was not Lysinas.

Rotten flesh had to be cut away by his own hand.

Efficiently.

'Just as I did five thousand years ago.'

That was why Leo understood why Velkia had left the city untouched until now.

'I didn’t teach her everything. But...'

In the end, Velkia had learned by observing him.

Velkia knew what Kyle and Vihar had done in the shadows.

Whenever Leo and Vihar entered the darkness, Velkia had tried to follow.

But they had always pushed her away.

They told her it was not a place she should enter.

Although she had never been allowed inside, Velkia had still seen how Leo and Vihar operated.

'She is judging them.'

Determining who deserved to live.

The current Velkia was unquestionably a monster.

But she was not yet a monster that had lost all reason.

That was why Leo’s heart felt so heavy.

Eventually, Velkia would lose even that boundary.

Just as that thought crossed his mind—

Creak—!

The door opened.

Leo’s eyes twitched.

His Hyper Sense was still active.

Yet he had sensed no presence.

Which meant—

Click.

Velkia stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Then she looked at Leo with hollow eyes.

Meeting her gaze, Leo stepped down from the windowsill.

Their eyes locked across the room.

Leo squeezed his eyes shut.

It was their first reunion in five thousand years.

Yet neither of them would have perceived it as such a vast span of time.

For Leo, it had been little more than a dozen years.

For Velkia, several decades at most.

Even so, the woman standing before him was not the Velkia he remembered.

There was no life in her eyes.

And it was not merely because she was Undead.

The eyes that had once burned with an unwavering light had become dry and lifeless.

The sight tore at Leo’s heart.

He had already known that Velkia was Undead.

He had known for some time that she would look like this.

But...

Seeing her with his own eyes was entirely different.

Leo looked up at the ceiling.

'Damn this world.'

He knew.

He knew it was a filthy world.

Knowing that, he had still chosen to save it.

That was why he had never felt regret or resentment.

Even if the conviction he followed had belonged to someone else, he had believed it possessed enough value to uphold.

But at this moment...

He regretted saving the world.

He resented his weak past self, who had closed his eyes in solitary satisfaction after fulfilling his duty.

Leo’s red eyes turned toward Velkia.

Velkia stared blankly into them before murmuring,

“You have incredibly arrogant eyes.”

Eyes filled with unbearable pity.

Eyes steeped in terrible sorrow.

Eyes that seemed to understand everything.

For a moment, Velkia’s face twisted.

She instinctively rejected that gaze, which seemed to pierce through her entire being.

'There is no one left.'

No one remained who could look at her with those eyes.

Therefore—

“Do not look at me with those eyes.”

***