Chapter 549

“What do you plan to do after saving the Fairy Knight, Hero of Beggining?”

“What else? I’m going to crush that bastard Death King Hell Kaiser for what he did to Velkia. After that, I’ll wipe out every last Fragment of Erebos.”

They were inside the library of the Akasha Record.

After viewing all of Velkia’s records, Leo calmly answered Rian’s question.

“Come to think of it, when I met the god Pibua in Luna’s world, he was incredibly surprised to hear that I was fighting Erebos.”

“He had no choice but to be surprised.”

Rian poured tea into Leo’s cup.

“The gods understand better than anyone what it means to stand against the Primordial Evil.”

Leo calmly sipped his tea.

“It was painful, wasn’t it?”

Pity filled Rian’s eyes.

The sorrow of losing comrades who were like family and the fear of facing Erebos alone...

Countless things must have driven Leo to despair.

But what must have tormented him more than anything was the Black Flame that had burned his body.

The Calamity Flame had burned since the birth of the world.

The flame of Erebos, the incarnation of evil itself, inflicted pain that felt as though it were destroying one’s very soul.

Any god would be moved at the sight of a mere human preparing to face that flame once more, even if that person possessed the power of Erebos’s natural enemy.

Leo did not answer and merely sipped his tea.

He was not the only one who had endured such terrible pain.

'Arron, Dweno, Luna, and Lysinas too. They all died like that.'

Recalling the deaths of his friends, Leo smiled.

Rian looked puzzled.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because even though they must have been in agony, those fools were all smiling.”

“Do you know what those smiles meant?”

“I do now.”

They had absolute faith in the one they left behind.

Even if they failed, Kyle would undoubtedly succeed.

That unwavering belief was likely why they had been able to smile even as excruciating pain crushed their souls.

“Well, in the end, I was the only one left behind.”

Leo rested his chin on one hand and gently swirled his teacup.

“I wish those fools could have enjoyed this peace too.”

He thought back to what had happened with Luna not long ago.

The memory of her happy smile left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Rian silently watched Leo’s lonely expression before conjuring two mirrors in his hands.

“Hero of Beggining, are you familiar with the Many-Worlds Interpretation?”

“The Many-Worlds Interpretation?”

“If you place two mirrors opposite each other like this...”

Rian held the mirrors face-to-face.

“An infinite space unfolds within them.”

“You’re talking about parallel worlds?”

“Yes. It’s the same concept as the theory used in Magic, though this is a slightly more advanced interpretation.”

Rian merged the mirrors.

A small tree began growing from his hand.

“According to the Many-Worlds Interpretation, countless branching points form within the world. If we compare the world to a tree, its branches represent those points.”

Rian pointed toward the branches growing in different directions.

“Whenever an event occurs, it creates a branching point, giving rise to one world where the event happened and another where it did not. That is the Many-Worlds Interpretation.”

“So you’re saying that if parallel worlds exist, there might be one where those fools are still alive?”

“Yes.”

Rian waved his hand, and the tree disappeared.

“So you don’t need to blame yourself too much. In another world beyond our reach, the other Great Heroes may have been revived and could be living their lives there.”

“Does that parallel world actually exist?”

“Even as a former god, I do not know. It merely exists as a possibility.”

“I hope it does.”

“Ah, the Hero of Beggining truly is kind. Could you perhaps grant this lowly servant some of your warmth as well?”

“That’s disgusting.”

Rian’s shoulders slumped.

“At any rate, thanks to the Hero of Beggining, this world was reborn as one that no longer requires the gods’ care.”

Rian rose with a grunt.

“The gods did not name you the Hero of Beggining merely because you marked the start of a new era. The fate of the world itself passed from the gods, its former administrators, into the hands of the inhabitants of the Mortal Realm. In that sense, it was the world’s true beginning.”

That must have been why Pibua had been so surprised.

'It must have been clearly visible to a god—the nobility and conviction within his soul.'

How could anyone fail to be awed by a great Hero willing to endure the most terrible pain in the world again for the sake of his friends?

“Before you can completely subjugate Erebos, there are several things you must do.”

“Yeah.”

“On that note, might your humble servant dare offer a word of advice?”

“I’ll pass on the ‘humble servant’ routine.”

“Then, your little lamb.”

Leo gave up on having a proper conversation with the god before him.

“Call yourself whatever you want. What advice are you trying to give me?”

“My goodness! How could someone like me possibly advise you?”

“Stop talking nonsense and get to the point.”

When Leo growled, Rian finally spoke.

“First, you must reveal the truth about the Genesis Heroes to the world. Until now, each generation of Dragon Lords has kept it secret out of fear that it would plunge the world into chaos, but...”

“The Genesis Heroes have reached their limit?”

Rian nodded.

If a bomb could explode at any moment, the world needed to be warned and prepared.

Especially now, when the world remained divided against itself.

“Next, you must make Leo’s existence known to the world.”

“I’m already quite famous, aren’t I?”

“That is not enough.”

Rian looked at Leo seriously.

“Five thousand years ago, the world collapsed helplessly because it lacked a focal point. Then the Wise King appeared and united the world behind a single purpose. You know this as well, Leo. The Wise King did not merely lead the Heroes.”

Lysinas had led the world itself.

“I know that, after being reborn as Leo, you have been fulfilling Lysinas’s role.”

He was raising Hero Candidates in preparation for the battle against Erebos.

He was gathering allies and preparing a response.

“But that alone is not enough.”

Rian spoke firmly.

“Just as she did, the Hero of Beggining must become the King of the World.”

King of the World.

A king who ruled the entire world and was recognized by the gods.

Throughout the long history of the Mortal Realm, Lysinas was the only one the gods had ever recognized as a king.

“Only by uniting the will of the world beneath a single, absolute leader can the world bring forth its true power.”

“It won’t be easy.”

During the Era of Calamity, the world had united because it faced imminent destruction.

That was not the case now.

Countless conflicting interests had become hopelessly entangled.

“That is why we need your unique status as the only person in this world capable of defeating Erebos, as well as the sense of crisis created by revealing that the Return of the Calamity has not ended. So I will help.”

Rian placed a hand against his chest.

“Though I am no longer a god... I can still imitate one.”

“Why would you go that far?”

Leo narrowed his eyes.

Whatever the circumstances, accepting the favor of someone who had once been a god was burdensome.

“Because I want to write it.”

Rian spread his hands.

“With these hands... I want to write the new legend you will create.”

His expression was rapturous.

“The world today needs a king. Therefore, Hero of Beggining...”

Rian looked up at Leo with shining eyes.

“Please become the King of the World.”

Leo sighed inwardly as he recalled their conversation.

He had not revealed that he was Kyle.

The reason was simple.

'If I reveal that I am Kyle, the world will continue to rely on the past.'

The moment Leo’s true identity became known, the world would depend entirely on Kyle.

To put it bluntly, the story of Kyle, the Hero of Beggining, had ended 5,000 years ago.

What would happen if a precedent were set in which someone from the past returned to life and saved the world once again?

'It would mean that a ghost of the past saved the world. That cannot happen.'

The world needed to understand.

The only people who could solve the problems of this era were those living in it.

'Perhaps the reason the Hero Record bears only the name Leo Plov is that I have yet to accomplish anything in this era.'

The special lecture ended, and the students poured out of the lecture hall.

“Oh, it’s the Student Council President.”

“Ah.”

At someone’s murmur, the crowd parted widely.

Chelsea, walking beside Leo, looked slightly flustered.

She had not expected this kind of reaction.

Since both of them knew Leo’s true identity, Rian’s declaration that Leo would save the world had hardly surprised them.

The others were different.

Though Rian’s identity remained unclear, he was obviously no ordinary being.

And that mysterious being had proclaimed Leo the only one capable of saving the world.

Even before today, Leo’s accomplishments had been extraordinary.

An unprecedented All-Class.

The youngest Student Council President in history, despite being only a first-year.

A rate of growth that surpassed countless others and defied imagination.

Even after witnessing all those things, the students had merely considered him a once-in-a-generation talent.

But the moment they learned that he had been born with a special power capable of defeating Erebos, every one of his past accomplishments took on new significance.

'Perhaps, at this very moment, we are...'

'...looking at the Hero who will shoulder the fate of the world.'

People worshipped great beings they could not comprehend.

Yet they also shunned them, for the incomprehensible was frightening.

Most of the students did not know how to treat Leo.

The entire student body focused its attention on him while keeping its distance.

But Leo remained calm.

'I’m used to this.'

He had received the same treatment often enough during his time as Kyle.

The Surviving Hero had been dependable, but he had also been regarded as an ominous figure no one wished to approach.

Just as Leo was about to continue walking...

“Oh? It looks like we’ll have plenty of room.”

“Indeed! Thanks to Leo, we’ll be able to walk comfortably.”

Lunia and Eiran approached Leo.

“From now on, whenever we go to the cafeteria, we can just go with Leo-nim and skip the line, right?”

“Yeah. It certainly looks that way.”

Celia chimed in after Chen Xia.

At that, the second-year students crowded around Leo.

The area immediately became noisy.

To them, what kind of existence Leo might be did not matter.

He was simply the goal they had to keep chasing.

“How does it feel to become the savior of the world?”

When Duran asked in his characteristically sarcastic tone, Leo smirked.

“I hope you lot can keep up.”

Duran snorted.

'King of the World, huh?'

Leo looked up at the sky.

'You never particularly wanted to become a king either, did you?'

Lysinas had simply become one while stubbornly pursuing a foolish conviction.

Leo thought of the friend who had carried the weight of a dying world upon her slender shoulders.

He had never carried that weight himself.

He had only saved the world.

But now he understood that alone was not enough.

'I can feel it all over again.'

Leo placed a hand on his shoulder.

'It’s heavy.'

As a bitter smile crossed his face, Chelsea looked up at him.

“If it’s heavy, should I help carry it?”

Leo stared at Chelsea for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“Once you’ve grown a little more.”

“Okay.”

Chelsea nodded.

“We’ll definitely help you.”

Watching Chelsea stride forward without hesitation, Leo smiled.

'Perhaps this was how you felt too.'

Understanding Lysinas a little better, Leo walked onward with his future comrades, who would one day stand against the calamity.

***