"Are you reinforcements?"
"That's right."
Leo gave a short answer to the brown-haired female student’s question and kicked off the ground.
Then, he charged at the nearest demon.
The demon hastily stretched out its palm toward Leo.
Vwoom!—Pugagagak—!
A black summoning circle formed in front of Leo, and from it, crimson leeches the size of human heads poured out.
"Ah! Watch out!"
The female student shouted urgently.
'Gorgoros Leeches.'
These demonic beasts latch onto their prey and suck blood, making them a bad match for close-combat knights.
Slashing them recklessly would only result in a flood of acidic blood.
'Normally, they’d be a pain to deal with. But that’s only if I were normal.'
Fwoosh—!
Fiery aura erupted fiercely from Leo’s sword.
The Zerdinger flames instantly turned the Gorgoros Leeches to ashes.
The female student, who had warned him of the danger, gasped in awe.
"A-amazing!"
'If he's using Gorgoros Leeches, then he must not be a high-ranking demon.'
A demon’s abilities could often be determined by the techniques they used.
The demonic beasts just summoned were ones commonly used by low-ranking foot soldiers.
'There’s no major threat. A fast attack is the best approach.'
Leo quickly analyzed the battlefield and closed the distance without hesitation.
Slash—!
The demon beast tamer’s head flew through the air.
"He took down two of them in an instant!"
The brown-haired female student clenched her fists tightly.
Vwoom—!
At that moment, Chloe, floating in the sky, completed her spell.
"Ice Bullet."
A barrage of ice projectiles rained down on the demons.
Pabababababat—!
The demons desperately dodged the icy hailstorm, but their formation was completely disrupted.
"Alright! I’m going in too!"
A male student, who had been locked in a standoff, adjusted his grip on his spear and charged.
"Haap!"
Stab—!
"Guhh!"
The demon impaled through the chest turned to ash and disappeared.
'Impressive.'
Leo admired the male student's skill before shifting his gaze toward the brown-haired female student.
She had her hands pressed together, chanting a spell.
Vwoom—!
As she separated her hands, small orbs of light began forming in the air.
"A Crei!"
Whiiiing—!
As the spell activated, the orbs of light shot out in erratic trajectories, raining down on the demons.
Leo immediately recognized the magic and was impressed.
'Star Magic.'
Even though she was a first-year student, the difference between her and Leo, who had memories of his past life, was vast.
'Her magic sense is incredible.'
As Leo marveled, one of the demons struck by the light orbs was torn apart without a trace.
Six demons remained.
Having lost a comrade, the demons quickly began reorganizing their formation.
'Demon foot soldiers may be weak, but their teamwork is excellent.'
Though their formation had been broken by the initial ambush, they had quickly restructured, making them a tricky opponent once again.
Leo reached into his inner coat and pulled out four daggers he had prepared as backup weapons.
Then, he charged at the demons.
"Foolish human."
Seeing Leo recklessly attack without preparation, the demons sneered.
Vwoom—!
But as a magic circle appeared in Leo’s right hand, their expressions changed.
"A magic swordsman?!"
As the demons grew wary, Leo threw the daggers in his hand.
The demons dodged the daggers and braced themselves for a magical attack.
However, when no spell followed, they immediately went on the offensive.
"Was it just a bluff?"
"Such a shallow trick."
Four demons in the lead moved to encircle Leo.
But just as they were about to strike, their movements abruptly halted as if something had grabbed them.
"Huh?"
The demons hurriedly turned to look behind them.
Leo’s daggers had embedded themselves precisely into their shadows.
It was Shadow Hold, a spell that binds a target’s shadow.
Dark-attribute magic was generally less effective against demons.
As soon as the demons realized what had happened, they dispelled the magic.
But that brief moment was more than enough for Leo.
Fwoosh—! Slash! Crack! Stab!
"Kugh?!"
"Guhh!"
Leo’s sword cut through the demons in fiery arcs.
Schwack—!
Suddenly, black blades erupted from the ground, aiming for Leo.
It was black magic, cast by the demons in the rear.
Leo instantly muttered in the rune language.
The black magic crumbled and dispersed.
"You dispelled black magic?"
The brown-haired female student was shocked.
Crash—!
A freezing wind swept over the now-vulnerable demons.
Crackle—!
Leo walked up to the frozen demons and gave one a light push.
Clang—!
The demon’s body shattered into glass-like shards before turning to ash.
"Well done, Chloe."
"......"
"What? You have something to say?"
"Why did you use dark-attribute magic against demons?"
"Oh, that?"
Leo smiled as if it were nothing.
"Demons rarely expect dark-attribute magic to be used against them. That’s why even a simple spell can catch them off guard."
"But you didn’t dodge the black magic—you dispelled it instead! That was reckless."
"True, but dispelling that level of black magic is safer than dodging. Even though black magic operates on a different system, it's still built on formulas. Simple black magic can be quickly dispelled. You can do it too."
'Being able to do it in real combat is a completely different story!'
For Leo, who had fought demons countless times in his past life, these things were second nature.
But for a 15-year-old girl, the level of overwhelming experience he possessed was unimaginable.
'Just how many steps ahead is he thinking?'
Chloe's eyes wavered.
"Thank you for saving us!"
The brown-haired girl smiled brightly and bowed.
"You're part of the rescue team, right?"
"Yeah."
"I was really worried when demons suddenly appeared, but now that the rescue team is here, I feel relieved!"
Seeing the girl's cheerful face, Chloe’s expression stiffened.
She quickly spoke up.
"Sorry, but can I talk with my teammate alone for a moment?"
"Huh? Oh, sure."
The girl looked surprised but then nodded and returned to her group.
"What's wrong?"
"That girl… she's Alia Jeron!"
"Alia Jeron? You mean…?"
"Yeah, that’s right."
The Hero’s World recreates past events.
But depending on how the one clearing it acts, the outcome can be different from actual history.
Thirty years ago, multiple first-year parties were deployed for a monster subjugation mission.
The midterm exam’s objective was to rescue those parties.
"You know what this means, right? Alia Jeron's party…"
Chloe swallowed hard.
"They're the one party in the Chedmurders Incident that was never saved."
***
"Of all the parties, we had to run into Alia's…"
Chloe stomped her foot anxiously.
There was an absolute reason why Alia’s party could never survive.
"Dark Warrior Chubarn. That guy never changes his target."
Chubarn.
During the incident thirty years ago, before being slain by Albi, he single-handedly wiped out four out of the seven assigned parties.
His first target?
Alia Jeron's party.
'To be precise, he was after Alia Jeron herself.'
Chloe stole a glance at Alia, who was chatting with her teammates.
Alia Jeron.
A direct descendant of the Jeron family, one of Lumeria's three great hero families, and the top student of her year at the time.
She was also the younger sister of Albi, the Mage of the Evil Eye.
Even thirty years later, her exceptional talent was still occasionally mentioned among professors.
But that very talent was what cost her life.
The reason Tartarus orchestrated the Chedmurders Incident was to eliminate future heroes before they could rise.
And their first target was Alia Jeron.
This was why Alia’s party was doomed to fall.
Regardless of the circumstances, whenever the Hero’s World activated, Chubarn would always annihilate Alia’s party first.
"Do you remember what our professor said when he announced the exam?"
Hearing Chloe’s words, Leo recalled Halind’s warning.
'With your current skills, you cannot defeat a Knight-ranked demon. If you encounter Chubarn, run. If you cannot escape, surrender the exam. If you disobey this command and engage in battle…'
At that moment, Halind's voice had carried a deadly seriousness.
'I will personally expel you on the spot.'
"Right now, we don’t stand a chance against him."
"So you’re saying we should just leave them?"
"I hate it too! But Leo, we have to think rationally! This is the Hero’s World. In reality, those people are already…"
Chloe hesitated before forcing out the words.
"They're already dead. And we’re in no position to help the dead."
"That might be true. But, Chloe."
"Leo! Get a grip! Yes! You're amazing! You're incredible! I admit it!"
Leo widened his eyes at Chloe’s sudden outburst.
Chloe glared at him with all her might.
"But now is not the time to do something reckless! Listen to me! If you want to act like a hero, do it later—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Before she realized it, Leo’s index finger was pressed against her lips.
"You shouldn’t say things like that, Chloe."
"What? What do you mean?"
"You shouldn’t call it ‘acting like a hero.’"
"Why not?"
"Because you’re a hero candidate."
Chloe sucked in a breath.
"You entered Lumerne because you wanted to become a hero, right? So this isn’t just an act."
Leo smiled gently.
"It’s the process of becoming one."
He was right.
A hero is someone who turns the impossible into possible.
Somewhere along the way, she had forgotten that goal.
'I was too busy trying to catch up… I didn’t have time to think about it.'
A burning emotion flared inside her.
"And history has already changed."
"What?"
"There’s now a way to save those who were supposed to be unsaveable."
"A way to save them?"
"Think about it, Chloe. The sun is already setting. Isn’t that strange?"
"The sun is setting? Ah!"
Chloe's eyes widened as realization struck.
"Exactly. Originally, Alia's party should have already fallen to Chubarn by now."
The wheels of history had already shifted.
"We've been inside the Hero’s World for three hours already. If Chubarn had attacked another party first, they should have all been wiped out by now."
In a Hero Dungeon, failing to meet the clear conditions meant being permanently trapped inside.
It was a choice.
Take Alia’s party and escape the forest, fulfilling the [Ensure Safety] condition.
Or follow the original strategy and seek out other parties.
Chloe clenched her teeth, conflicted.
"I’ll leave the decision to you."
"Alright."
Leo looked at Alia's party.
"Let’s escape with them."
End Of Chapter
