Chapter 566

“Who are they?”

Leo asked, pointing at the students from Wisdom standing behind Lunia and Ar.

“So you’re Leo Plov? Nice to meet you! I’m Riden, a student at Wisdom!”

“Wisdom?”

“It’s an educational institution in Dragonia that trains dragons who will carry on Lysinas-nim’s will.”

Chelsea explained from beside him when Leo looked puzzled.

“That girl is correct. We are Guide candidates—the descendants of the great Lysinas-nim.”

“I see. So what do the descendants of Lysinas want with me?”

“We came to judge your potential as a hero.”

For a moment, Leo looked utterly baffled, while Chelsea’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly.

Lunia covered her face with one hand and tilted her head back.

“I must have misheard you. Could you say that again?”

“We came to test you.”

'What is this wet-behind-the-ears brat talking about?'

Leo let out a hollow laugh.

“Unbelievable! Who are you to test Leo Oppa?!”

Chelsea flared up and shouted from beside him.

Leo was the Hero of Beginning.

The great hero who had defeated Erebos and saved the world 5,000 years ago.

A man who could be called the forefather of all heroes!

And they wanted to test him?

'That doesn’t make any sense!'

“Who are you?”

“I’m Chelsea Lewellin, a second-year student in Lumene’s Magic Department!”

“House Lewellin of the Lordren Empire?”

At Chelsea’s declaration, one of the female students from Wisdom stepped forward.

The tall girl stared intently at Chelsea.

“What are you staring at?”

Chelsea furrowed her brow, only for the tall girl to suddenly scoop her into an embrace.

“You’re so tiny! You look like a doll! You’re adorable!”

Throb—!

A vein bulged on Chelsea’s forehead. There was nothing she hated more in the world than being called small.

Ar looked at Chelsea’s legs flailing helplessly in the air and burst into laughter.

“Pfft! Seeing her like that, she really is tiny.”

'You’re dead later, you damn cat!'

Chelsea ground her teeth, vowing to deliver a dropkick straight to Ar’s face.

“Would you mind letting me go?”

“Ah, my apologies.”

The girl cleared her throat.

“Ahem!”

“Siren. Do not forget your dignity as a student of Wisdom.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

The girl called Siren laughed heartily before introducing herself to Chelsea.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chelsea Lewellin. My name is Siren. I’m a Wind Dragon. I’ve taken great interest in House Lewellin and studied it extensively since I was young.”

Siren lifted the hem of her skirt in an elegant greeting, then looked at Chelsea with admiration.

“I can tell from the wind surrounding you. You’re still so young, yet you’re already remarkable.”

Chelsea looked up at Siren with a sullen expression.

'She doesn’t mean any harm.'

Still, something felt strange.

How should she describe it?

'It feels like she sees me as beneath her.'

It was quite different from the pureblood-obsessed elven supremacists she had encountered during Lumeiren last year.

Siren clearly respected Chelsea.

She was not looking down on her either.

'Right. It feels like she thinks it’s her duty to guide me.'

Something about that rubbed Chelsea the wrong way.

No matter what anyone said, Chelsea was a student who represented Lumene.

Granted, she had spent her first year wandering aimlessly, unable to find the path she wanted to pursue.

There was Abad, the wind who had been beside her since childhood.

Then there was Leo, the wind she had entered Lumene alongside.

There had been times when powerful winds swept her away.

But not anymore.

She now knew precisely what she wanted to accomplish.

She had found the person she wanted to become and was stirring a powerful wind of her own.

Naturally, Siren’s attitude, which practically screamed, “I’m the one who will guide you,” could only irritate her.

'Does she think I’m some idiot who needs someone else to show me the way?'

The others felt the same way.

It was strange.

When they first entered their Hero Academies, they had dreamed of being chosen by a dragon.

Everyone chosen by a dragon had accomplished great feats, so Hero Candidates could not help but admire them.

Yet even after finally drawing close to the object of that admiration, they did not feel pleased.

Leo looked around and smiled faintly.

'They’ve all grown.'

The path they wanted to follow.

The people they wanted to become.

The goals they wanted to accomplish.

They now understood all of those things clearly.

Moving toward them without wavering was undeniable proof of their growth.

'Offering to show the way to people who already know exactly where they’re going without even asking them is bound to be offensive. It’s like interfering in someone else’s life. Still...'

Leo looked at the students from Wisdom.

'They’re immature.'

Dragons were the strongest race.

Moreover, the dragons before him had been gathered because they were exceptional even among their own kind.

Every one of them was wise and remarkably skilled.

However—

'They’re arrogant.'

They were different from the dragons Leo had encountered throughout the Age of Heroes.

Each of those dragons had possessed their own circumstances and ideals.

Despite their differences, however, every one of them carried at least a fragment of the legacy Lysinas had left to posterity.

Though they were dragons, they were never arrogant.

They always humbled themselves and met the other races eye to eye.

The students of Wisdom were different from their predecessors.

They resembled the dragons from the Age of Calamity who had been unable to cast aside their arrogance as guardians of the world far more than they resembled Lysinas.

They considered themselves noble and treated the other races as inferior, refusing to unite with them even as the world hurtled toward destruction.

That had been Kyle’s perception of dragons before he met Lysinas.

'How should I punish these insolent lizards?'

As Leo’s gaze wandered while he considered the question, he noticed two people sitting on a nearby rooftop.

They were Melina and Enkinias.

When Enkinias’s eyes met Leo’s, she respectfully bowed her head.

Melina gave him a troubled smile and pressed her palms together in a pleading gesture.

'She wants me to go easy on them?'

Admittedly, merely reminding him of the dragons of old did not mean they were truly the same.

'They’re just brats without much real-world experience.'

Leo roughly scratched his head.

'What a pain.'

If Luna or Dweno were here, they would have beaten the students into a pulp for their insolence.

Leo was no different.

'But Lysinas would have handled this differently.'

She would have shown them that a wider world existed.

Just as she had extended her hand to Kyle in the past.

After thinking that far, Leo reached out and stroked the head of the scowling Chelsea.

Her expression softened slightly beneath his hand.

“You said you wanted to judge my potential as a hero, right?”

“That’s right.”

Riden nodded confidently.

Leo smiled at him.

“Fine. Go ahead and test my potential.”

“You’ve made the right choice!”

“Before that.”

“Hmm?”

“May I judge your potential as well?”

“You want to test us?”

“There’s no rule saying a hero can’t test a Guide, is there?”

“That is true.”

'Leo Plov has already attained the rank of hero. Moreover, he was chosen by a god... He’s the only person capable of defeating Erebos.'

Riden was Wisdom’s finest honors student.

He possessed a burning desire to carry on the will of the great Wise King and contribute to the world alongside heroes one day.

Of all the heroes living in the present age, Riden could imagine no better partner than Leo.

'And it wouldn’t be strange for someone like Melina-nim or Enkinias-nim to become this man’s Guide.'

If so, Riden had to prove his worth somehow.

He nodded.

“Fine. Your name has already been recorded in the Hero Record, so you have the right to test me!”

'Leo only wants to crush your spirit into dust.'

Lunia clicked her tongue as she watched Riden.

“So? What kind of test will you give me? Whatever it is, I’ll overcome it.”

“The test itself is simple. All you have to do is escape from my illusion magic.”

“Illusion magic? Illusion magic rarely works on dragons. It would be even harder to catch us in one when we already know it’s coming. You should know that better than anyone.”

Leo smiled at Riden’s puzzled expression.

“You don’t have to worry about that. Why don’t the rest of you join in too?”

Leo addressed the other Wisdom students who had been watching from behind.

The students exchanged glances.

“That sounds interesting.”

“I’m curious what kind of magic an All-Class Hero uses.”

The other students from Wisdom also looked intrigued.

Leo turned toward Chelsea.

“Incidentally, Chelsea will be taking the test with all of you.”

“Me?”

Chelsea’s eyes widened as she pointed at herself.

“Are you planning to adjust the illusion magic’s power to Chelsea Lewellin’s level?”

“There would be no point in giving you a test if I set it to Chelsea’s level.”

“Then it might be dangerous for her.”

Riden looked worried.

Chelsea’s expression immediately crumpled.

“Save your concern for yourself.”

As Chelsea glared and snapped at him, Siren pressed a hand to her cheek.

“She’s so tiny and feisty. It makes her even cuter.”

“She’s more than feisty. She’s a nasty-tempered little brat.”

“Leo Oppa, can I punch that cat in the solar plexus before we start?”

“She won’t be easy to catch.”

“Tsk!”

Chelsea clicked her tongue at Leo’s answer.

“There’s no need to worry about Chelsea.”

Powerful mental fortitude was what allowed someone to overcome illusion magic.

Riden was worried because he considered Chelsea an inexperienced Hero Candidate.

'Of course, Chelsea is still inexperienced.'

And it was not only Chelsea.

Lunia, Ar, and Driana were still inexperienced as well.

But that was only by Leo’s standards.

The road Chelsea had traveled had never been easy enough for Riden to judge her so hastily.

'She has stood on a battlefield against Erebos, after all.'

When the Third Fragment of Erebos resurrected, Chelsea had gone to the front lines to help Arron.

'That experience makes a world of difference.'

Chelsea was no inexperienced Hero Candidate.

She was a mage worthy of being called a hero.

'I would have beaten some sense into them first, but you would have given them a chance to learn. Right?'

Leo smiled as he thought of his friend.

“Are you ready?”

“Of course.”

Riden and the students of Wisdom looked confident.

Chelsea nodded as well.

“Then...”

Leo roused his Magic Power.

Riden watched him with a tense expression.

'What kind of spell is it?'

The instant he wondered—

The gray Magic Power rising from Leo’s hand transformed into pitch-black darkness.

“What?”

It was different from the foul darkness of Tartarus.

It felt warm, as though it would embrace everything.

Yet that very warmth made its unfathomable depths all the more chilling.

'Is this... a dragon’s Magic Power?'

Riden stared at Leo with wide eyes.

Then he realized that Leo’s eyes had changed from red to an obsidian black.

They looked exactly like the eyes of his own kind.

'Dragon Speech Magic!'

Riden and the other students of Wisdom stared in astonishment.

It was high-level Dragon Speech Magic far beyond anything they could presently attempt.

In the distant past, the Wise King had reinterpreted one of Tartarus’s curses and created a dragon curse.

Riden recognized the spell formula and froze in horror.

'Nightmare?'

The next instant—

The darkness rose as though painted into existence and swallowed Riden whole.

***