Pararararak—!
Chloe opened the black magic book with her right hand.
She saw the array of magical formulas.
Holding her staff in her left hand, she focused her mind and began chanting.
The spell structure caused a massive surge of mana.
"Hup!"
Chubarn’s eyes widened.
His instincts screamed that Chloe’s magic was dangerous.
"Move aside, remnant of the Great Hero!"
"Getting impatient, are we?"
Leo smirked.
Whoosh! CRACK—!
Chubarn swung his axe toward Leo’s waist.
Gritting his teeth, Leo braced himself.
Flash—!
But in the end, he couldn’t withstand it and was sent flying.
Normally, he would have dodged, but he deliberately took the hit to buy time.
Looking at his grotesquely twisted left hand, Leo gave a savage smile and gripped his sword with his other hand.
Then he stood before Chubarn once again.
"You bastard!"
"Sorry, but this is the end."
As soon as Leo declared this—
Fwoosh—!
Chloe's flames engulfed Chubarn.
'Not ice, but flames?'
"Kuaaaaargh!"
Chubarn screamed in agony as the flames consumed him.
"Even the Nullification Curse is useless against flames that never go out!"
Chloe’s words were true.
Chubarn’s body repeatedly burned and regenerated in an endless cycle.
Eventually, the [Nullification] Curse lost its power.
Fwoosh—! Thud—!
Chubarn collapsed.
By that time, Alia’s party had also defeated Chubarn’s subordinates.
As long as they weren’t dealing with something on Chubarn’s level, they could handle themselves.
Seeing Chubarn fall, Chloe excitedly ran to Leo.
"Leo! We took down Chubarn! We actually defeated him!"
Chloe hugged Leo tightly in excitement.
Then, realizing how close their faces were, she gasped.
"Chloe, sorry to say this, but… my left wrist is broken…."
"Ah! S-sorry!"
Chloe, blushing furiously, quickly pulled away.
Leo held his broken wrist and looked toward Chubarn.
"Anyway, your unique magic is amazing."
"Uh, um… my unique magic…."
Chloe trailed off.
Leo found her reaction strange.
Fwoosh—!
The flames on Chubarn suddenly flared up violently.
Leo’s eyes narrowed.
Goooooo—!
The red flames that had burned Chubarn slowly turned black.
Crack—!
"Huh?"
Chloe looked down at her staff in shock.
Cracks had formed in the orb.
"Chloe! Dispel the magic! Now!"
At Leo’s urgent shout, Chloe quickly tried to dispel it.
Fwoooosh—!
CRACK! BOOM—!
"Kyaa!?"
But the orb suddenly shattered, and the flames grew even stronger.
"W-why?! I can't control it!"
That wasn’t all.
The black magic book in her right hand began forcefully draining her mana.
Seeing this, Leo grabbed the book from Chloe and tossed it away.
Stagger—!
Deprived of her mana, Chloe stumbled.
Leo quickly supported her and turned to Chubarn.
"Kuaaaaaargh!"
Chubarn roared, engulfed in black flames.
"Wasn’t he defeated?"
"Chloe."
"Yeah?"
"Tell me the truth."
Leo looked at Chloe with a blank expression.
"Your never-ending flames… are they really your own unique magic?"
Chloe flinched.
Struggling with her emotions, she gritted her teeth as she watched the magic spiral out of control.
"No."
She tightly shut her eyes.
"It’s actually a spell I found in that magic book."
'Just as I thought… Erebus' Flames.'
Everything made sense now.
Why Chloe had been acting strangely.
How she had created flames that never went out.
"Listen carefully, Chloe. That magic is black magic."
"What?"
"It's not a spell you should be able to use. You knew it too, didn’t you? That your own power alone couldn’t activate it."
"T-that book… what exactly is it?"
"It’s a Demonic Artifact."
Powerful weapons for demons—
But if a human wielded one, they would slowly lose their sanity.
'I used black magic? And even declared it as my own unique magic?'
Chloe’s face turned deathly pale.
"Ah… Ah…!"
She clutched her arms as despair took hold.
Seeing her trembling, Leo stepped forward.
"Chloe. Watch my back."
"Huh?"
"Nothing has changed. We still have one job left to do."
Leo gripped his sword tightly with his good hand.
"Take down that damn demon and clear the Hero’s World."
Leo grinned.
"Your magic erased the Nullification Curse. That thing is just rampaging due to the effects of black magic now. It’s time to finish it off."
Leo began walking toward Chubarn.
"You know that the final, decisive blow always belongs to the mage, right?"
Leaving those words behind, Leo strode toward Chubarn.
"W-we'll help too!"
"Yeah! If we combine our strength—"
Thead and Dina stepped forward.
"You're exhausted. If you push yourselves, you'll only get in the way."
Leo had only been able to keep Chubarn at bay due to his overwhelming combat experience.
Predicting an enemy’s attacks, defenses, and counters—
This kind of dangerous balancing act wasn’t something just anyone could pull off.
Seeing their frustrated expressions, Leo smiled.
"Protect the rear."
Chloe stared at Leo’s back, entranced.
The definition of a hero is someone who does not give up when faced with a limit.
'Get up, Chloe Müller!'
Chloe’s eyes regained their composure as she pushed herself forward.
'That magic is the only way.'
The unique magic she originally planned to create but had given up on halfway through.
'I’ll complete it now!'
Completing an unfinished spell in the middle of battle was reckless beyond measure.
But she had to do it.
She reached for her staff but hesitated upon seeing it broken.
"Here, Chloe."
Alia smiled as she handed her staff to Chloe.
"Please, use this."
Accepting Alia’s staff, Chloe closed her eyes.
'I just wanted to catch up to Leo.'
But looking at that back, steadily moving forward, she realized how foolish she had been.
'Feeling jealous is pointless… He’s just too incredible.'
Like a hero from a fairy tale.
The way he boldly challenged his limits was dazzling.
'I’ll surpass my limits too, Chloe Müller.'
She couldn’t shame the back that believed in her.
She started assembling the floating spell formulas in her mind.
Runes began flowing from Chloe’s lips.
She was constructing a spell formula on the spot.
Hearing her chant, Leo smiled.
'This is amazing.'
Without hesitation, he strode forward.
'Why does the pure rune chant of a mage give such courage?'
It reminded him of the times when he had relied on Luna’s back.
Leo coolly assessed Chubarn’s current state.
'Thanks to Chloe’s black magic, the most troublesome [Nullification] curse is gone. And he’s taken a massive hit.'
Although Chubarn had gone berserk, he was far from being in perfect condition.
Leo ignited his aura.
'I just need to buy time until the spell is ready.'
"Kuwaaaaargh!"
Chubarn’s axe, engulfed in black flames, came crashing down on Leo.
In response, Leo swung his sword upward, engulfed in red flames.
Clang! Boom!
Leo’s sword deflected Chubarn’s axe.
Using the embedded axe as a foothold, Leo adjusted his sword and charged at Chubarn.
Whooooosh—!
Black flames surged toward Leo, trying to reduce him to ashes.
Leo enveloped himself in his own flames to repel them.
Fwoosh—!
The two flames intertwined.
But the black flames gradually consumed Leo’s, encroaching upon his territory.
Seeing this, Leo increased his firepower.
Fwoosh! Sizzle—!
His own flames burned his flesh.
But Leo didn’t care.
'More. Just a little more!'
Leo’s red eyes gleamed fiercely as he shouted.
'Until I completely burn away these damn flames!'
Roar—!
Leo’s flames completely overwhelmed the black fire.
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
Sensing danger, Chubarn gripped his axe with both hands and swung it toward the sky.
Whoosh—!
Leo’s body was flung into the air.
Chubarn aimed his axe at the airborne Leo.
Leo concentrated his maximized firepower at the tip of his sword.
Clang—!
Sword and axe clashed.
And then—
Crack—!
Leo’s sword cleaved through the axe.
Swish!
"Kuaagh!"
Leo’s sword then struck Chubarn’s defenseless neck.
Slice—!
Chubarn’s head flew through the air.
Leo landed on the ground and watched as Chubarn stopped moving.
Fwoosh—!
The black flames didn’t die out; instead, they flared up even more fiercely.
'It’s going to explode!'
Leo’s eyes widened as he braced himself for the shock.
At that moment, Chloe’s chanting stopped.
"Frozen World."
Crack—!
The entire area froze in an instant.
Sssssss—!
The black flames that had been burning Chubarn vanished completely.
Crack—!
Cracks began forming on Chubarn’s body.
Whooooosh—!
And then, he disintegrated into dust.
[You have rescued the first-year students in danger.]
[You have slain Chubarn.]
Two notification windows appeared before them.
Seeing them, Leo withdrew his aura.
"Leo!"
Chloe ran over in a panic.
"Are you okay?"
"Thanks to you."
Leo smiled and pointed at the black magic book lying on the ground.
"Chloe, with magic this amazing, why did you rely on that pathetic magic book?"
"I… just wanted to beat you somehow…."
Chloe spoke in a quiet, trembling voice.
Leo chuckled.
"Your real unique magic is way more incredible than anything in that stupid book."
He looked around at the frozen landscape.
"A field magic spell? I could never pull off something like this."
Field magic, which claimed an entire area as the caster’s domain, was a type of magic that couldn’t be replicated with normal spell books.
"I've always envied mages who can use magic like this."
Leo smacked his lips.
Chloe, staring at him, spoke up.
"I plan to tell the school everything."
"Huh?"
"That I cheated during the practical exam. That the spell I presented was black magic."
Chloe lowered her head.
"I might get expelled… but it’s something I have to do."
Hearing this, Leo smirked.
"You won’t be expelled."
"Huh?"
"Where else are they going to find a hero candidate like you?"
Leo raised his right hand and patted Chloe’s head.
"You’ll become a hero. I guarantee it."
Chloe stared blankly at Leo’s warm smile.
Then, her face turned bright red.
"Uh, um… th-thanks…."
He lowered his head and answered in embarrassment.
"You're amazing!"
"You really looked like a hero!"
At that moment, Alia’s party gathered around and cheered.
Leo looked at them, their eyes sparkling, and said,
"Give me a moment to talk. I need to finish something up."
Leo walked toward the Black Grimoire.
Though faint, it was still emitting an ominous aura.
'Sen Liu… and Chloe too. It seems Tartarus is up to something. Now I understand why Hero Albi's world went out of control and became a Hero Dungeon.'
Leo gripped his sword and struck down on the Black Grimoire with force.
Squelch! Squelch!
Black blood gushed out in thick streams.
The demonic artifact was a fragment of Erebus.
A massive piece of it.
As Leo applied pressure on his sword, it soon crumbled into dust and vanished.
After sheathing his sword, Leo brought his right fingers to his temple.
"This is Leo Plov. Can you hear me?"
-Huh? Leo? Leo, is that you? Ah! You're alive! Thank goodness! I will deactivate the Hero’s World immediately!
A startled voice came from outside.
Since he was able to make contact, it seemed the Hero’s World had stabilized.
"No, the mission is almost complete."
-What? Mission?
"It took a while, but cut me some slack."
Leo smiled as he looked at Alia’s party.
"Leo Plov from Class 5 and Chloe Muller from Class 1. We defeated Chubarn and rescued Alia’s party."
"Over here!"
"We have survivors here!"
At that moment, frantic voices called out from a distance.
It was the rescue team dispatched from Lumerne.
"We made it!"
"For a moment, I thought we were done for!"
As Leo ended the transmission, Chloe and Alia approached him.
Alia bowed to them.
"Thank you for saving us, Leo, Chloe. As the party leader, I sincerely thank you."
"Oh, no. We actually got a lot of help too."
Chloe waved her hands dismissively.
"Alia!"
At that moment, a boy with glasses called out urgently from the rescue team.
"Albi?"
Alia widened her eyes and ran toward Albi.
"Professor Albi looks so young."
"It’s from 30 years ago."
[The safety of the first-year students in danger has been secured.]
[Albi’s World: Prologue - The Chedmurders Incident has been cleared.]
Seeing the message appear before her, Chloe collapsed onto the ground.
"They really… succeeded with just the two of them."
"Good job."
Leo smirked.
"Leo! Please take this as a token of gratitude!"
"This is all I can give right now, but it's a pretty good magic ring."
"Thank you for saving us!"
"I'll make sure to repay you properly in the future!"
Alia’s party members handed over accessories as thanks.
Since they were Lumerne students, the items were quite valuable.
"I'll give you this. It's something very precious from my family."
Alia handed over the staff she had lent to Chloe earlier.
"I don't really need something like this."
"No, you saved our lives."
Alia smiled brightly.
At that moment, the world was engulfed in a brilliant light.
The collapse of the world.
It signified the conquest of the Hero’s World.
As the world faded away, a message appeared before Leo’s eyes.
[Mission Reward: Relic]
End Of Chapter
