Chapter 565

“Leo Plov?”

“Yeah.”

“But Leo Plov is a student just like you, isn’t he? Of course, he reached the rank of hero before you did, but how does someone who stands as your equal have the right to judge your potential?”

“He has more than enough right. And who said we were equals?”

From the moment Ar first met Leo, she had felt a fierce desire to compete with him.

The urge to fight the strong was a perfectly natural instinct for beastkin.

In her entire life, Ar had met only one beastkin who did not possess that instinct.

'It’s ironic that person was Arron-nim.'

Arron, the strongest martial artist revered by every beastkin.

Though he had been an unbelievable coward, that was precisely why he had possessed greater courage than anyone else.

He was Ar’s greatest idol.

Ar thought of the other person she admired.

'My heart pounds whenever I think of Black Rabbit.'

It was a strange feeling, both similar to and slightly different from what she felt when she thought of Arron.

Ar still possessed a powerful desire to compete with Leo.

However, she no longer considered him a rival.

'I definitely felt that way at first.'

But Ar was no fool.

She already understood the gulf between herself and Leo.

If she viewed Leo as an opponent she had to defeat, she would never be able to move forward.

'She’s the one I have to defeat.'

Ar glanced sideways at the red-haired elf beside her.

Lunia El Lunda.

The rival Ar had to overcome.

To Ar, Leo was not a competitor.

He was a goal.

'A goal I must catch up to as a hero... and as someone who seeks strength. Yes, just like....'

Someone’s back appeared in Ar’s mind.

It was a dependable back that made her heart tremble and filled her with courage merely by looking at it.

'Arron-nim.'

Ar did not know why.

But her instincts were telling her something.

'At least to me, Black Rabbit stands as Arron-nim’s equal.'

One day, the moment would come when she stood shoulder to shoulder with Leo.

Until then—and even after that—Leo would remain the only leader Ar had ever acknowledged in her life.

Riden looked stunned by her declaration.

'Just what kind of human is Leo Plov?'

From Riden’s perspective, Lunia and Ar were exceptional.

By acquiring the epithet [The One Who Chases the Nebula], Lunia had established herself as the successor to the Founder of the Nebula.

'Ar Tune is the same. She has yet to receive a title as a hero, but... she inherited Brave from Arron the Brave when he descended into the present world.'

In the near future, Ar would undoubtedly receive a title proving that she was Arron’s successor.

'And yet, both of them acknowledge Leo Plov as their leader.'

Riden’s eyes gleamed.

“I would very much like to meet Leo Plov!”

“What do you plan to do when you meet him?”

“I want to become his Guide.”

“What?”

“Of course, my desire to become your Guide has not changed either.”

Riden smiled gently.

“Throughout history, every hero who accomplished great feats had a dragon beside them as their partner. I may still be lacking now, but I will do my utmost to become a partner worthy of all of you.”

Lunia stared at him in disbelief.

'He wants to become Leo’s Guide?'

Not even Melina, the current Dragon Lord, or Rodia, the Dragon of Genesis, could become Leo’s Guide.

Leo’s Guide was Lysinas, the Wise King.

And this boy wanted to take her place?

'I wonder what expression Leo would make if he heard this.'

“He seems annoying. What should we do?”

Ar whispered quietly into Lunia’s ear.

“Meeting Leo is apparently his wish, so we might as well introduce them.”

Lunia looked indifferent.

“Once he meets Leo, he’ll give up on his own.”

===

The Dragon Lord’s audience hall.

Melina gazed up at the beautiful black dragon painted across the ceiling.

The pride and glory of every dragon in the world.

The great dragon hero, Lysinas, the Wise King.

Melina closed her eyes, clasped her hands, and prayed.

'Great Wise King, the Hero of Beginning—your dear friend who once saved the world beside you—is preparing to walk another difficult path. Please watch over the road ahead of him as his Guide. And please grant this inadequate one the strength to be of even a little help along his journey.'

Melina knew that such a prayer was meaningless.

No prayer could ever reach Lysinas, who had already died.

Even if it did, Melina could not receive any power from her.

This was merely a prayer she had repeated for the past hundred years to steady herself.

Melina’s hands trembled faintly as she thought of what lay ahead.

'A great battle that will decide whether the world survives will soon begin. And in that battle, a struggle to the death against Erebos will be unavoidable.'

Without realizing it, Melina bit down hard on her lip.

A hundred years ago, Melina and the heroes she had chosen challenged the final chapter of the World of Genesis.

The result had been horrific.

Only one of them returned alive.

Even that survivor passed away not long afterward.

Those who died during the final chapter could not even leave proper last words behind.

The fact that Melina alone had returned completely unharmed was nothing short of a miracle.

'I’m sorry, Melina. Because we were inadequate, we’re leaving you with such a tremendous burden. But... I believe in you. I believe you will challenge it again and defeat that great evil.'

Those were the final words of Jebrie, the Elven Magic Swordsman who had returned alive with Melina.

Melina clenched her hands.

'Jebrie, Hallok, Demen, Tiel... none of you were inadequate. I was the foolish one who failed you.'

An Elven Magic Swordsman and a Dwarven warrior.

A beastkin mage.

And a human Spirit Summoner.

They had been heroes who dominated their age a hundred years ago, some of the greatest to emerge after the Return of the Calamity.

Yet they had been forced to close their eyes before their potential could fully blossom.

'Because of me....'

Melina had been exceptional since childhood.

She possessed so much talent that people called her the reincarnation of Rodia, the Dragon of Genesis.

However, that talent made Melina arrogant.

In the end, her arrogance led to the horrific loss of every friend she had treasured.

That was also why she had become so cautious that she was called the Silent Dragon.

The Silent Dragon had not originally been Melina’s epithet.

It was closer to a derogatory title directed at a Dragon Lord who had done nothing for a hundred years despite ascending to her position.

Melina willingly accepted that scorn so that she would never again force promising friends to meet the same fate because of her arrogance.

The crushing defeat from a hundred years ago remained vivid in Melina’s memory, constantly reminding her of her fear of Erebos.

She had succeeded in subjugating the Third Fragment of Erebos when it resurrected, but it had not truly been her accomplishment.

'I merely relied on Leo-nim and Arron-nim.'

Erebos remained a terror that made Melina tremble.

'But I can’t remain trapped by my failure forever.'

Melina grasped her trembling hand and gritted her teeth.

'Because I made a promise to everyone.'

If only to atone to the friends her failures had driven to their deaths—

'I must devote everything I have to defeating Erebos.'

Knock, knock—

The quiet knock roused Melina from her thoughts.

In an instant, she resumed the dignified bearing of the Dragon Lord and took her seat in the audience hall.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and a girl with golden hair and golden eyes entered.

It was Enkinias.

Melina’s successor, Enkinias was also the dragon who had assisted Leo since summer vacation.

She had temporarily returned when Leo came to Dragonia.

“En, what brings you here at this hour?”

En bowed her head before the gently smiling Melina.

“It appears the students of Wisdom have made contact with the Hero Candidates visiting Dragonia.”

Wisdom.

It was an educational institution established by the dragons after the Age of Calamity ended so they could carry on the will of Lysinas, the Wise King.

Just as most of the countless heroes who left their names in history had graduated from Hero Academies, nearly every dragon who guided those heroes toward great accomplishments had graduated from Wisdom.

Rodia, the great Dragon of Genesis, had studied there.

So had Melina.

“This will be an excellent opportunity for the students of Wisdom. It cannot be easy for them to meet Hero Candidates while they are still students themselves.”

Guides selected heroes and led them toward great accomplishments.

They were partners who aided heroes and showed them the path forward.

Meeting Hero Candidates would undoubtedly be a valuable learning experience for Wisdom’s students.

Melina had been smiling gently, but she noticed the concern on Enkinias’s face and tilted her head.

“Is something worrying you?”

“Ah, yes. The students of Wisdom who went to meet the Hero Candidates are exceptionally talented. However, their talent has also made them extremely proud, and many of them are still emotionally immature.”

“Ah. I understand what you’re worried about.”

Dragons were the strongest race.

Naturally, they possessed immense pride in their kind.

'Put kindly, they possess great self-respect. Put less kindly, they’re arrogant. Just as I once was.'

“En, you used to be like that too, didn’t you?”

Enkinias blushed at Melina’s giggle.

“I-It’s a memory I would prefer to forget.”

“It’s all right. I was the same. Children are immature by nature, and everyone has at least one memory they would rather forget.”

“I can’t imagine you ever being like that.”

“Everyone says the same. Every dragon ignorant of the world is arrogant. But that also means they will learn humility once they come to understand it.”

Melina knew that humility had been Lysinas’s greatest virtue.

“During the Age of Gods, dragons were... even more exalted and noble than we are now.”

The honor of being the gods’ agents.

That honor had made the dragon race arrogant.

During the Age of Gods, entire nations had even been destroyed for insulting dragons.

“Back then, we went beyond pride and became unbearably arrogant. We considered it only natural to reign over the other races. Something about us was undoubtedly twisted.”

Even among such dragons, Lysinas had been exceptional.

Though the world mocked her as a fool, Lysinas humbled herself and continued to speak of hope.

Even when the Hero of Beginning ridiculed and scorned her, she never lost her smile. She continued approaching him until the very end and extended her hand.

That virtue had saved the world.

“A Guide is not merely someone who leads heroes.”

Melina spoke firmly.

“There will certainly be times when a Guide must stand before heroes and give them commands.”

Just as Lysinas, the Wise King, and Rodia, the Dragon of Genesis, had led the Great Heroes and Genesis Heroes.

“However, a Guide must not always stand above them. They must know how to serve a hero from the lowest place. At times, they must lead from the front, while at others, they must follow from behind. And they must support their hero so that they do not fall.”

“That sounds exceedingly difficult.”

“It is. It is an exceptionally difficult and demanding responsibility. But remember this. Even during the Age of Gods, our ancestors helped bring about the world’s crisis because they did nothing but reign as guardians.”

Dragons had considered themselves the sole strongest race and refused to believe in the potential of others.

They had merely reigned over them and issued commands.

Of course, every race in the world shared responsibility for the arrival of the Age of Calamity.

The races had failed to unite or resolve their internal conflicts, instead marching down the road to self-destruction.

“Lysinas-nim said our race was born with such tremendous power because we had duties to fulfill for the world.”

Lysinas had made that belief the pride and conviction of the dragon race.

'Because Lysinas believed that, I never gave up until the end.'

Recalling what Leo had once told her, Melina smiled faintly.

“Remember this. That is what it means to be a leader.”

“Yes. But even so, should we allow the students of Wisdom to behave rudely toward Leo-nim?”

“It will be a valuable experience for them. Though they may suffer something rather unpleasant along the way.”

Enkinias, who had learned Leo’s true identity from Melina, sighed and changed the subject.

“Still, it’s rather curious.”

“What is?”

“Lysinas-nim commanded Kyle-nim, served him, led him, followed him, and supported him, correct?”

“Yes. Though Kyle-nim must have treated Lysinas-nim the same way.”

“Such an ideal relationship of trust... It sounds almost like they were married.”

“I had never thought of it that way, but you’re right. Of course, that could never have happened.”

Melina looked slightly disappointed, and Enkinias nodded.

“Because Kyle-nim had Luna-nim.”

The heroic tales of the Great Heroes were the most famous and beloved stories in the world.

That was why, even after thousands of years, fairy tales and novels about the Great Heroes continued to pour into the world.

Their popularity transcended time, place, and race.

And the story that had recently attracted the most attention was the relationship between Kyle and Luna.

The Founder of the Nebula had appeared in the present world and declared before countless witnesses that she loved Kyle.

Thanks to that unprecedented and shocking declaration, novels about Kyle and Luna continued to flood the market.

“I thought Lysinas-nim and Kyle-nim suited each other very well too. But since he and Luna-nim were lovers....”

“Have you ever asked him about it?”

“I thought the question might be painful for him, so I couldn’t.”

Melina smiled bitterly.

The world now considered Kyle and Luna’s romantic relationship an established fact.

Considering that someone as illustrious as Luna, the Founder of the Nebula, had descended into the present world and boldly declared her feelings, that assumption was only natural.

Melina, who had never heard Leo speak about either his relationship with Lysinas or his relationship with Luna, believed the same thing.

“Could you ask him about Luna-nim next time?”

Enkinias’s eyes sparkled, and her face flushed with excitement.

Melina thought for a moment before nodding.

“I’ll ask him carefully. For now, shall we go meet the students of Wisdom?”

“You said meeting the Hero Candidates would be a valuable experience. Do you intend to intervene?”

“Yes. A valuable experience is one thing, but we shouldn’t let it become traumatic.”

“Ah.”

Enkinias nodded and followed behind Melina.

***