LHAHS Chapter 445
Leo sat on the hotel rooftop, gazing up at the night sky. Tonight, the stars seemed to shine even brighter than usual. After silently admiring them for a while, he lowered his head and saw Chelsea sitting alone in the hotel garden, lost in thought.
Suddenly, Aaron appeared beside him, panting heavily. "Haaak! Haaak!"
"Did Aru chase you again or something?" Leo asked.
Aaron shuddered. "I-It was terrifying!"
"Are you ever going to stop trembling every time she snaps?"
"B-But…! This time was far scarier than anything before!"
"What, did you tell her you see her as your successor or something?"
"Yeah."
"Then it's no wonder she lost it." Clicking his tongue, Leo shook his head, having fully expected Aru's reaction.
Aaron, still sulking, spotted Chelsea below and smiled. "Oh, it's Chelsea. Leo, I think that Chelsea… has figured something out."
"So you noticed too. She's been acting suspicious since earlier today," Leo muttered, recalling the way she had suddenly started watching him. "Sigh, I've been a little too casual around you."
Aaron scratched his cheek. "Should I have been more careful?"
Leo shot him an indifferent look. "Even if you tried, you're horrible at acting. You would've just made things more awkward and suspicious."
Leo could address Aaron as the Brave Hero anytime, but if he did, Aaron would inevitably slip up.
He'd get all flustered, embarrassed, and start rambling nonsense.
Aaron sighed and looked at Chelsea again. "Do you think she realized your true identity as Kyle?"
"She wouldn't be completely sure. Logically speaking, it's impossible."
Even the god they met in Luna's world, Pivua, had found Leo's reincarnation fascinating. Even now, with so many miracles happening, reincarnation remained an unfathomable concept.
"Honestly, I'd rather Chelsea figure out that you're Kyle," Aaron mumbled.
"Why?"
"If she knows, she'll become your strength."
"…Become my strength, huh."
Aaron tore his gaze away from Chelsea and looked up at the sky. "The current you… reminds me of Lysinas. I feel like you're carrying the world on your back."
"Lysinas?"
"Yeah. But even then, Lysinas didn't carry everything alone. You, Luna, Dweno… and many others drawn to Lysinas' light supported her."
"Why are you leaving yourself out of that?" Leo remarked.
Aaron gave a bitter smile. "Right now, you're trying to bear everything alone. Melina knows your secret, but for now, I think you need more people to support you. Chelsea is smart and kind. She'll definitely be a great help to you."
"Probably," Leo chuckled. "But not yet."
"Why not? Do you not trust Chelsea?"
"No, I trust her. That old man Dweno even scolded me about it in his world."
"Dweno did?"
"Yeah. He told me to believe in the future I chose."
Aaron nodded. "Sounds like Dweno alright."
"So I decided to believe. But she's still young. She doesn't need to know about me until we're standing on the same stage."
Aaron silently stared at Leo.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just… Lysinas told me something similar once."
"Lysinas did?"
"Yeah. On the night of my first battle after joining the party."
"Her face must've been priceless then."
Leo snickered. During his first battle, Aaron, still just a boy, had hid behind Lysinas in fear. Despite his overwhelming power, he had been inexperienced.
"Did Lysinas look strange back then?" Aaron asked.
"Don't you remember?" Leo smirked. "Lysinas had high hopes for you. I mean, I was already cynical before joining, so he had no expectations for me, and Luna… well, she turned out to be a thug."
The noble hero, the Guardian of the Azure Sky, had personally recommended Aaron, so Lysinas had placed great faith in him.
"But when you cowered behind him, her expression… she looked like she was about to cry."
It was the first and last time Leo ever saw such a look from Lysinas.
"So that's why Luna was laughing so much," Aaron muttered, scratching his cheek as he recalled Luna's cackling.
"What did you and Lysinas talk about that night?"
"I apologized. Told her I was sorry for running away. And she told me this…"
It's okay. You're still young. It's not too late to be brave once you're ready to stand on the stage.
Aaron recalled how Lysinas had encouraged him with a gentle smile. "Her words gave me great courage."
"That's just like her."
"Right?" Aaron laughed. "Though in the end, I was never ready."
Leo frowned. "Hey, Aaron. If you keep…"
[Leo, Aaron.]
Before Leo could finish speaking, Melina's voice rang in their heads.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
[There's an emergency at the training site.]
Leo narrowed his eyes. "An emergency? What's the situation?"
[A large number of beasts and monsters have appeared.]
Fwoooosh—!
Rhys raised his sword, flames coiling around the blade as he lifted it high and drove it into the ground.
Whirr—!
A ring of fire formed around him, expanding outward in a massive wave.
Kraaaaah! Kyaaaah!
Agonized screams filled the air as the flames incinerated everything in their path.
Withdrawing his sword, Rhys scanned the battlefield.
The presence of monsters is still overwhelming.
Even after wiping out a wide area, the swarm showed no signs of diminishing.
What the hell is going on? Did a legion commander invade or something?
At first, only lower-ranked monsters and beasts had appeared, but their numbers and ranks continued to rise. The situation was growing increasingly ominous.
At this rate, it wouldn't be surprising if demons showed up.
It felt as if Tartaros was mobilizing on a massive scale, yet, no demons had appeared.
Could it be that the Hero Record in this area has gone out of control?
Not long ago, a large-scale Hero Dungeon had gone berserk. It wasn't impossible.
Rhys pondered briefly before shaking his head.
No, this entire region is under the Dragon Queen's watch.
If a Hero Dungeon had run amok, Melina would have detected it long ago.
Besides, Aaron is here too.
He gripped his sword tightly.
Either way, stopping these monsters takes priority.
"Rhys!" Torua's urgent voice rang out as she pointed to the sky. "Over there!"
Wyvern-like demonic beasts loomed above, their black scales gleaming ominously.
Rhys narrowed his eyes. He had never seen them in person before, but he knew exactly what they were.
Fafnir.
One of the most terrifying demonic beasts of the Age of Calamity, driven to extinction by the Great Heroes. Yet, in recent years, they had begun appearing again, prompting extensive research.
"If they attack the first-years, it'll be a disaster! Torua!"
"Leave it to me!"
Summoning her staff, Torua leapt onto it and soared into the sky.
Vwoom!
Magic circles formed around her entire body as she rapidly chanted in the language of runes.
Reaching the Fafnir flock, she unleashed her spell.
"Extinction!"
Flash—!
"Extinction?!"
"Is it the graduated seniors?"
"A spell of that scale… incredible."
The Seiren students, who had been fending off monsters, watched in awe as the sky lit up like daylight.
Juen, who had been hunting demonic beasts with magic bullets, suddenly paused. "Not an elf, huh?"
Beside her Lea perked up her ears. "Not an elf," she confirmed.
"It's Stellar Magic cast by a human."
"Hah, then there's only one mage capable of that." Juen smirked.
"Torua."
"Amazing," Lea praised, impressed.
Other Seiren students, overhearing, widened their eyes.
"I'd love to hear more about Stellar Magic from her," Lea murmered.
GROOOOAR!
A massive ogre roared and charged forward.
Just as Lea prepared to cast a spell…
Fwoosh—!
A golden flash cut through the air.
Thud—!
The ogre's head flew into the air.
"As expected of an ogre. Persistent."
Despite its fatal wound, the creature lunged forward, refusing to die.
Lea prepared to finish it off…
Flash—!
A silver streak sliced through the air, cleaving the ogre's torso in two.
"Whoa, that was impressive."
"Small but strong."
"As expected from Lumene's representative!"
As the others praised Luke…
"Luke Eldar! Who told you to steal my kill?!" Lea's eyes flared as she shouted.
"Hik?!"
"Why do you always lose it around Luke?"
"Because he had the audacity to take Senior Leo as his mentor before me!"
"You're holding a grudge over something that petty?" Juen looked incredulous.
RUMBLE—!
The ground trembled violently, and the first-years staggered.
"This quake is worse than the last one," Juen muttered, her expression stiffening.
Leo narrowed his eyes as he stepped through the Warp Gate Melina had opened, arriving in the Plov territory.
Aaron casually swung his hand at the approaching monsters.
Fwoosh—!
Golden aura erupted from his fingertips, shredding the beasts apart.
"Aaron, do you smell any demons?" Leo asked.
Aaron shook his head. "No. Just demonic beasts and monsters."
"What the hell is going on?"
Leo narrowed his eyes.
At first, I thought the Lich King might be involved, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Nor was it any other legion commander. There was no way demons could escape Aaron's sense of smell or perception.
RUMBLE—!
The ground shook violently.
An earthquake?
The tremors were strong.
CRACK—!
The earth split apart beneath them.
The Plov territory isn't a region where earthquakes occur…
The Dellad Kingdom had stable tectonics. Both the earth elementals beneath and the fire elementals dwelling in the magma were known for their docile nature. For an earthquake to happen here was unnatural.
RUMBLE—!
The shaking finally subsided.
Could this crisis be related to the earthquake?
Just as Leo frowned…
"Huh?" Aaron suddenly tensed.
"What is it?"
"I smell something."
"Smell?"
Aaron's expression hardened as he looked at the ground. A sharp, burning stench pricked at his nose.
"…It's the same smell Erebos's fragment gave off in Fairyland."
"What?" Leo's face tensed.
"But… it's not entirely an ash-like smell." Aaron's face turned pale. "Something's burning."