Chapter 470

Kwa-gagagagagang-!

As Lily swung her battle hammer, the ground trembled violently around her. Her elementals resonated with her emotions, manifesting a powerful surge of rage.

Leo watched in admiration.

Her synchronization rate with her contractees is incredibly high.

An elemental summoner was one who drew out the full potential of their contractees in battle. Simply forming a contract with a high-ranking elemental meant nothing if one couldn't fully harness its potential, and the most crucial factor in drawing out an elemental's power was synchronization.

Lily understood her contractees so well that her emotions influenced them.

Most would seek to grow stronger through high-ranking elemental contracts, but this is just like Lily. She's built a solid foundation instead.

It wasn't easy to remain diligent and put effort into things that weren't immediately visible.

No wonder they call her a monster.

As Leo was admiring Lily, Seteon sighed, "Hah. The students representing Lumene have quite the foul mouths. You need to be more aware of the position you hold. Representing Lumene is no light responsibility."

His cold gaze turned to Leo. "Especially you, Leo Plov. You are a hero, a figure to set an example… Urk!!!"

Kwa-gagagagagak!

Aura burst from Leo's sword, aiming straight for Seteon's neck.

Fortunately for him, a Justice Guild knight standing nearby managed to block the attack with her shield.

Still, the shield, reinforced with aura, trembled violently.

"What kind of strength…?" The female knight's expression hardened as she stared at Leo.

"Are you really in any position to be giving lectures right now?" Leo mocked, walking toward the Justice Guild members.

The strongest among them is that Joren guy.

Leo glanced at Joren, who was fighting Lily. As expected of someone who survived four years at Lumene, he was no mere pushover.

He's a veteran who has survived countless battlefields. Same goes for these ones too.

No matter what insane ideology they carried, the members of the Justice Guild were part of a world-renowned organization.

Leo's crimson eyes locked onto the four Justice Guild members.

Two knights, one summoner, one mage. An ideal party composition.

His crimson gaze flashed, and the female knight gripping her shield flinched.

However, she quickly composed herself and raised her spear. "Such fierce killing intent… That's not how a hero should behave, Leo Plov. A hero should set an example…"

Leo rested his sword on his shoulder. "You keep running your mouth about setting an example, but I've never once wanted to be a hero. Not in the past, not now."

"What?"

"I don't really fit the image of a hero that people talk about these days."

If a hero is someone who transforms the world, leads it down the right path, and inspires countless people, then I'm the last person who should be called a hero… and I have no intention of becoming one.

"I enrolled in Lumene purely for personal reasons, to confirm something," Leo shrugged indifferently. "I never aimed to be a hero, never worked toward it. It just… happened naturally."

The Justice Guild members' expressions hardened.

Leo chuckled, "And now you're telling me I should act as an example for others? Isn't that hilarious?"

"You… What do you think a hero even is?!"

"How should I know? Was it ever something worth thinking deeply about?"

The female knight's shoulders began to tremble.

She wasn't the only one. Anger flickered across the faces of the other Justice Guild members.

"Someone like you being a hero… I refuse to accept it!"

"Whether you accept it or not, I already am one."

"No! You are not a hero! There's no way someone like you could be a hero! It must have been a mistake that your name was recorded in the Hero Record! Yes, that must be why you don't even have an epithet!" the female knight screamed hysterically.

Ignoring her outburst, Leo replied indifferently, "Even so, don't I still fit the title of hero better than you lot?"

"That's absurd." Seteon's anger finally surfaced. "You became a hero at such a young age, and now you think you're above everything? Without ideals, without ambition, without even the faintest sense of purpose, you dare to call yourself a hero?! Heroes are special! Only those willing to dedicate themselves to the world deserve to be heroes!"

Leo scoffed. They've clearly never had any goals of their own… Like me.

The sacred resolve of Lysinas, who longed for the light and sought to reclaim it. The grand ambition of Luna, who dreamed of covering the world in flowers. The warm idealism of Aaron, who wished to create a world where children had nothing to fear. The boundless aspirations of Dweno, who sought to fill the world with beauty.

His friends all had a path they pursued, but Kyle… had nothing. He simply followed the flow of the world, and that flow had led to his great achievements in saving the world.

Even now, Leo frequently wondered, Why was I born as Erebos's natural enemy? Why was I reincarnated with my memories intact? Was it chance, fate, or something inevitable? Why did the world choose me? There must have been others more suited for this power than me. Someone like Lysinas, perhaps.

After a brief pause, he smirked.

No need to overthink it. What matters is that I pass this world, the one I saved with my friends, to the next generation. And…

"You're definitely wrong," he said, turning his gaze to the heavily armored knight charging at him.

Mithril armor, huh?

The radiant, pure silver glow proved that the knight wore a set of high-purity mithril plate armor, which granted immense defense without sacrificing mobility.

The knight approached, sword and shield in hand. Behind him, powerful mana swirled around Seteon's staff as his incantation echoed, while the summoner called forth a water elemental.

Fwoooosh!

A massive water column erupted from the ground, engulfing Leo.

The immense water pressure bore down on him. Had it been anyone else, their body would have burst under the strain—but it wasn't over yet.

Crack—! Crrrrack—!

As Seteon's spell completed, the water that had ensnared Leo instantly froze.

Trapped within the ice, Leo was rendered immobile, and in that fleeting moment, aura-infused swords and spears lunged toward him.

It was only an instant, but in that instant, they had executed a flawless coordinated assault.

"The world is wider than you think!" Seteon shouted.

Inside the ice, Leo's lips curled into a smirk.

Crack—!

A fracture ran through the ice.

Kk-kajijijik—!

The ice shattered, and Leo was freed.

The aura-infused spear and sword slashed through the air, crossing each other.

Kwaang—!

Leo lowered his stance, dodging the attack, and hurled his sword.

Kwak—!

"Guhhk?!"

The sword, moving at an invisible speed, embedded itself into the summoner's shoulder. In the next instant, it severed the shoulder clean off.

Ignoring the summoner, who had been flung helplessly to the ground, Leo quickly turned to the two knights swinging their swords at him and punched with both fists.

Crackle—!

The swords and spear that touched his hands shattered.

"No way…!"

"What the?!"

Ignoring their shocked cries, Leo's fists struck the female knight's shield and the other knight's mithril armor.

The female knight scoffed. "This is an adamantium shield! It boasts unparalleled defen…"

Crunch—!

The adamantium shield shattered like brittle glass.

"Wha…!"

Thud—!

Leo's fist smashed into the female knight's face, crushing it inward. She collapsed immediately.

His other fist crumpled the male knight's mithril armor like paper and then tore straight through it. The knight, his chest caved in, spewed blood as he collapsed.

Having taken down three guild members in an instant, Leo turned his emotionless gaze to Seteon.

"W-what… what kind of trick did you just use?!" Seteon's lips trembled violently. Three warriors from one of the world's greatest hero guilds had been struck down without even putting up resistance.

As Seteon stared in shock, Leo spread his palm. "Just a simple elemental technique."

"What?!"

"I just copied a friend's trick."

What Leo had imitated was none other than Lysinas's elemental arts.

"It's just a matter of fundamentals, really."

Leo nonchalantly spread his hand. A low-ranked water and wind elemental appeared, crossing their arms with an "Ahem!" as if smugly declaring their presence.

"If an elemental summoner can't summon their elemental, they're rendered useless." Leo glanced at the fallen summoner. "Looks like that guy was a water elemental summoner, so I had my contractees interfere with his contract. His synchronization rate was awful."

The summoner had a contract with a high-ranking elemental, but breaking it had been all too easy.

"For the knights, even if they reinforce their weapons with aura, the moment their weapons break, they're defenseless. So I used elemental summoning to corrode their gear."

"Mithril and adamantium wouldn't corrode so easily…!"

"If you know even the basics of alchemy, altering the properties of even the toughest minerals is a simple task. Of course, it wouldn't work if their aura reinforcement had been solid enough."

Step—

Leo reached Seteon. "And the same goes for your magic. I used elementals to disrupt part of your spell formation. That's why it didn't work properly. Your formulas were sloppy. Maybe you should have studied the basics a bit more?"

"Are you mocking us?! That's ridiculous! There's no way something like that is possible! You must have used some kind of special power! It's unfair! Why would the gods grant someone like you such abilities?! Why?! Why do I only have ordinary skills?!"

"The gods have nothing to do with it, you guys are just lazy. That's why you got taken down by something as 'simple' as this elemental technique." Leo snorted irritably.

Of course, it wasn't actually a simple technique. Theoretically, it was simple, but executing it required overwhelming synchronization, a deep understanding of elemental arts, and extensive experience.

In other words, it was an elemental technique that surpassed common sense.

Still, as Leo had said, if they had at least solidified their fundamentals, it wouldn't have worked on them.

It's the perfect technique to deal with those who chase only the extraordinary while neglecting the basics.

Those who fixate solely on visible results always end up tripping over their weak foundations at the most critical moment. Even without Leo, these people would have died somewhere along the path to achieving their so-called "great deeds."

"You've been barking about becoming heroes, yet you don't even realize how vast the world truly is."

"You bastard!"

Crack—!

"Guhh?!"

Leo's kick slammed into Seteon's chest.

Coughing up blood, Seteon collapsed, the light fading from his eyes.

Leo narrowed his eyes. "Sometimes, seeing trash like you makes me feel hollow. So many who put everything on the line never even got to enjoy this peace."

Letting out a deep breath, Leo scratched his head. "Well, it's not like I regret saving this world. I knew what I was getting into."

The same probably applied to all those who had fought to saved the world.

Leo gazed up at the sky. He could feel someone watching him from afar.

Still… I should at least have the right to take out the trash.

Leo grinned wickedly and raised his middle finger toward the empty sky. It was a declaration of war against the Justice Guild.

"I'll wipe you all out, you pieces of trash."