Chapter 370

Leo stared at the elemental before him.

Reaching the top of the Pleasure City hadn't taken long. The illusions layered over this place were undoubtedly dangerous—each one capable of taking a life.

However, they had no effect on him. He walked forward, his steps slow and measured.

Laruel watched his approach with a blank expression. "How did you get here so quickly?"

Her illusions weren't something that could be overcome with mere strength. They weren't barriers that could be shattered by brute force.

They were trials that treated all challengers equally, regardless of their power.

And yet, this boy had passed them with absurd ease.

Leo answered casually. "I've already been through them before."

Laruel's eyes twitched. "You've… been through them before?"

"Yeah," Leo said. "It's a little embarrassing to admit, but…"

He let out a small chuckle, then continued, his voice steady.

"Surpassing my own limits."

His crimson eyes locked onto hers.

"Believing in myself until the very end."

He took another step.

"Summoning the courage to move forward in the face of endless despair."

Another step.

"Chasing the impossible and turning it into reality."

Stopping right in front of Laruel, Leo met her gaze and said, "I've done it more times than I can count, so something like an illusion isn't enough to stop me."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Laruel shouted. "You think that's easy? Do you know how many have sacrificed themselves for thousands of years because they couldn't do it?! Don't speak so lightly of it!"

"You mean the Heroes of Dawn?"

Her eyes widened.

Aside from Seiren, Leo had never met the Heroes of Dawn. But he knew the thoughts they carried when they left their teachings behind at their respective academies.

Surpass your limits.

Believe in yourself.

Move forward.

Pursue all possibilities.

Future generations believed these were the ideals the Heroes of Dawn had lived by, but that wasn't the case.

Lumene had left behind Surpass your limits—because he himself believed he had failed to do so.

Seiren had left behind Believe in yourself—because he had ultimately given up, unable to trust himself.

Azonia had left behind Move forward—because, in the end, he hadn't had the courage to do so.

Damien had left behind Pursue all possibilities—because he hadn't been able to trust his own potential.

The creeds of each academy weren't their values—they were what they regretted failing to achieve.

They left those words behind as a prayer—hoping that the heroes of the future would accomplish what they could not.

Fools. Leo sighed inwardly.

He had a rough understanding of the Heroes of Dawn and their mindset.

The only one he had met was Seiren, but when Seiren realized Leo's identity, she couldn't even look him in the eye. She had only bowed his head, shoulders trembling with guilt.

The Heroes of Dawn had saved the world.

But they never believed they had.

They had succeeded in defeating Erebos.

But they failed to destroy him.

An immortal calamity. An undying flame.

The black fire had burned again and again, forcing the Heroes of Dawn to imprison Erebos within their world.

To make sure he never escaped, they destroyed their own Hero Records.

They believed that leaving the world's fate in the hands of future generations meant that they had failed.

And that's why they're dumb. If they hadn't surpassed their limits, they wouldn't have endured thousands of years of suffering. If they hadn't believed in themselves, they would have collapsed in despair. If they hadn't had courage, they wouldn't have made the ultimate sacrifice. And if they hadn't pursued all possibilities, they wouldn't have been able to pass hope onto the future.

After meeting Seiren, Leo had become more eager to find the Heroes of Dawn.

What the hell did you guys see while challenging our Hero Record?

The Great Heroes were no different.

How many times had they hit their limits? How many times had they doubted themselves and fallen into despair?

They had been afraid. They had struggled to believe in possibilities.

The Heroes of Dawn must have seen those pathetic moments countless times.

And yet, the Great Heroes had still saved the world.

Because we never gave up.

The same was true for the Heroes of Dawn.

Despite that, even after all they had done, they still condemned themselves.

When I meet them, I'll have to scold them for it.

Clicking his tongue, Leo turned his attention back to Laruel. "So, what are you? How do you know about the Heroes of Dawn, and why did you create a test based on their ideals?"

"My name is Laruel," she replied, her voice cool. "I am the Elemental Lord of Radiance, the elemental who governs the light."

"The Elemental Lord of Radiance?" Leo tilted his head. "I see. You were the elemental contracted to Rodia, the Dawn Dragon."

There had been many Elemental Lord contractors throughout history. But for the past three thousand years, no one had formed a contract with an Elemental Lord of Light.

That wasn't surprising.

Light elementals had always been different. Even in the distant Age of the Gods, this had been true.

An Elemental Lord of Light didn't simply require a summoner with talent, they required someone worthy of leading the world.

The Elemental Lord of Brilliance, Luminus, had once chosen Lysinas as her contractor because she believed Lysinas would lead the world.

Because of this, light elementals had only ever been known throughout history, but had rarely appeared themselves.

It wasn't impossible for there to be no contractor for thousands of years.

But…

"I never thought they'd refuse to even pass the torch to a successor," Leo remarked.

"Rodia left me with a request," Laruel said, her voice growing colder.

"To find the hero who would save the world."

"I see. So that's why you created those illusions."

The reason why those illusions had been so powerful finally made sense.

"It was a test?"

"…It was, once," Laruel murmured.

A shadow fell over her pale golden eyes, which had once looked as if they would shine brilliantly.

Leo folded his arms as he studied her. "So, does that mean I pass? Am I qualified to be your contractor?"

Laruel let out a low breath. "…Don't you think you're being a little too arrogant, Leo Plov?" She scoffed. "The illusions were only part of the test. There are still many trials left."

"Is that so?" Leo asked. "And what exactly are these trials?"

"I never said I intended to test you."

Her body floated into the air, golden light shimmering as she crossed her legs and swept her pale, golden-tinged hair back.

Narrowing her eyes, she continued, "Over the past thousands of years, heroes far greater than you—heroes beyond comparison—have sought to form a contract with me. And they came fully prepared."

[Greater than Leo? That sounds like nonsense.]

"And what are you?"

[My name is Elsie.]

"An elemental of darkness?"

[Yes. Nice to meet you, Elemental Lord of Radiance, Laruel.]

Elsie lifted the edges of her dress and curtsied gracefully.

Laruel, watching the display, narrowed her eyes. "I don't like elementals of darkness. Too dreary."

[Elementals of darkness don't like elementals of light either. Too unnecessarily bright. But I happen to be fond of that radiance.]

Laruel found Elsie strange. An Elemental Lord wielded authority over lesser elementals of their domain. Even elementals of other elements wouldn't dare defy them.

Yet, Elsie responded to her without hesitation. That was something only another Elemental Lord could do.

The only Elemental Lord of Darkness Laruel knew was Ignite, the Elemental of the Abyss.

I never heard anything about a new Elemental Lord of Darkness taking its place.

Deciding Elsie wasn't worth her attention, Laruel dismissed her from her thoughts.

Elsie, noticing the blatant disregard, let out a faint, bitter smile.

Leo exhaled lightly. "Just because I showed up unannounced doesn't mean I should be denied the test. I already passed one trial, didn't I?"

"You seem to covet the title of my contractor quite a bit. Greedy, aren't you? You've already contracted with all of the Three Great Summons, haven't you? Or do you have some collection fetish for elementals and summons?" Laruel smirked. "Well, too bad for you! I gave up on this world a long time ago."

She let out a sharp laugh. "If you're desperate for the title of the Elemental Lord of Light's contractor, you might as well wait for the next one."

Leo and Elsie exchanged glances.

Leo chuckled, while Elsie covered her mouth, stifling a giggle.

Laruel's eyes twitched at their reaction. "What's so funny?"

[Isn't it obvious? The most noble of all elementals, the Elemental Lord of Light, acting like the ruler of a city like this, yet claiming to have given up on the world.]

At Elsie's words, Laruel's golden eyes darkened with fury.

"What do you know of my suffering?" she snapped. "For thousands of years, I searched for a contractor, a hero who could save the world! And in that time, I saw every filthy, wretched thing this world had to offer!"

Light flared from Laruel's body.

Elsie, watching her, looked somewhat disappointed. As a being of darkness, she had always yearned for the light.

Born as the darkest existence, living through the darkest era, she had longed for light—something she could never possess, never even touch.

She had admired the Elemental Lord of Light for that reason.

During the Age of Calamity, when Elsie had first awakened, there had been no Elemental Lord of Light.

That was why she had always longed to meet the Elemental Lord of Light of the present age.

But Laruel was not the being she had imagined.

As an Elemental Lord of Darkness, Elsie could feel the deep darkness that had taken root within Laruel.

Leo, watching, frowned. "So why? Why would an Elemental Lord of Light give up on the world?"

Laruel clenched her fists.

"Because I searched for thousands of years!" she screamed. "For a contractor who could save this world! For a hero worthy of guiding it forward! But all I ever found were fools drunk on their own accomplishments—ones who refused to move forward!"

Her voice trembled with frustration.

"For three thousand years, I never found a true hero! Not one! They never sought the light on their own. They only desired me, to elevate themselves—to gain the prestige of being the Elemental Lord of Light's contractor! Every last one of them, bloated with arrogance just because their names were inscribed in the Hero Record, boasting that they could do anything! For three thousand years, that's all I ever saw!"

Her rage cracked through her voice.

As an Elemental Lord of Light, she had been forced to watch as the world fell into ruin, and forced to let go of her dearest contractor.

"I saw challengers who sought to enter the Trailblazing Heroes' World! But none of them were worthy to form a contract with me! And those so-called great and noble heroes… What did they accomplish?! Nothing but failure!"

Despair led only to deeper darkness.

"The ones who could have been my contractors ran away the moment they saw even a fraction of the true darkness I had witnessed!" Laruel spat.

She let out a hollow laugh, as if disgusted by the very idea.

"And it's not just heroes! Look at this country! The land where the Dawn Dragon was born has become this! What's left to save?! What's left that's even worth saving?!"

She had seen the future that awaited the world, and that knowledge made the pain even worse.

"Don't talk like you understand!" she screamed. "You, who've only lived for barely a century! And you, a mere young elemental! What do you know of true despair?!"

She trembled, her rage spilling forth.

Then, as if exhausted, she bowed her head.

Leo and Elsie, watching, spoke in unison.

"I think we understand it a hell of a lot better than you."

[Don't you think we understand it a hell of a lot better than you?]

Laruel's breath caught. "What?"

Leo exhaled. "I get where you're coming from. But do you even know?"

His crimson eyes sharpened.

"What it's like to watch the world die?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Tck, tck." Leo clicked his tongue. "First that Abyssal Elemental I ran into, acting like he'd seen all the horrors of the world. And now you? Even the Elemental Lord of Light is acting like this?"

He scoffed. "What the hell is wrong with you young people?"

[Leo, you sound like an old man right now.]

Shaking her head, Elsie stepped forward, meeting Laruel's eyes.

[Do you want to see it?] she asked. [The era I was forced to live through?]