Chapter 543

Leo glared at Ulein with murderous eyes.

An unimaginable amount of Magic Power radiated from him.

It seemed endless.

For a moment, Leo glimpsed Luna's shadow within it.

But he soon shook his head.

'Comparing him to Luna is an insult to her.'

Luna's Magic Power was strength she had attained entirely through her own efforts.

The Ulein before him was different.

'That Magic Power clearly exceeds the capacity of his vessel.'

It was obvious that the Magic Power was overflowing because his vessel could not contain it.

Leo could also sense that its source lay underground.

It was not difficult to determine what kind of power it was.

Clear, transparent Magic Power.

'Life force.'

It was not Ulein's own life force.

Leo's gaze turned downward.

'There are countless people beneath us.'

Ulein was clearly extracting their life force and using it as the source of his Magic Power.

Leo concentrated Magic Power into his eyes.

The Magic Formula engraved upon Ulein's body became visible.

“It's Original Magic.”

Surprise flashed across Ulein's face.

“Is your Mana Trait the ability to use other people's Mana?”

“Impressive.”

Ulein marveled at Leo for seeing through both his Magic and his Mana Trait.

“What do you think of my Magic, which has seized infinite possibilities?”

“You have a lot of nerve talking about possibilities while extorting power from others.”

“Possibilities take many forms. Is it not our duty to use everything available to us to reach the heights of our predecessors?”

Ulein spread his arms.

“Surely those inferior beings are pleased as well. They have become the foundation of our journey toward the great figures of the past.”

That nonsense was precisely what Luna had loathed most in the world.

There was no meaning in possibility gained by trampling upon the possibilities of others.

But no matter what Leo said, someone like Ulein would never acknowledge that unless Luna herself appeared before him.

“I suppose conversation is meaningless.”

“How unfortunate.”

A sharp energy radiated from Leo's body.

Entering the realm of Hyper Sense, Leo swiftly assessed his surroundings.

He perceived everything around him with absolute clarity.

Then he sharpened his Hyper Sense even further.

Entering the realm of Hyper Sense created by Arron was exceedingly difficult.

But the true complexity of Hyper Sense only began after one entered that realm.

Arron had attained mythical martial prowess through The Hero's Breath and Hyper Sense.

However, those two abilities followed entirely different paths.

The Hero's Breath amplified power, while Hyper Sense dealt with information itself.

The enemy's appearance.

The scent they gave off.

The sound of their movements.

Hyper Sense allowed its user to perceive all of that more quickly and completely than anyone else.

Information was an incredible weapon.

But it was useless to someone incapable of utilizing it.

Even Leo had endured countless trials and errors before he could properly use the information obtained through Hyper Sense.

Swoosh—!

Leo thrust his sword forward.

His senses were already acute.

But he honed them further, refining the information flooding his mind.

Everything around him began to slow.

It was a realm one could only reach by honing Hyper Sense to its extreme.

And it was the final realm Kyle had attained.

'If you take one more step beyond the realm where everything slows, objects will begin to look as though they've stopped.'

'Is the next step seeing the future?'

'In a way. You'll be able to do it soon too, Kyle.'

Recalling Arron's words, Leo smiled bitterly.

'It was impossible for me, you bastard. If I could do it, I wouldn't have gone through so much trouble.'

Leo lowered his stance.

Remaining within the realm of Hyper Sense rapidly consumed his stamina.

It would not have burdened his body much in his past life, but his current body was another matter.

'Because this body hasn't reached its prime yet.'

No matter how relentlessly he trained and surpassed his limits, it was still the body of a boy.

In his past life, he had possessed strength incomparable to what he had at his current age.

Even so, he had yet to regain the full power of his previous life.

'I still have a long way to go.'

Leo tensed his entire body.

'Merely reaching the level of my past life isn't enough.'

Vroooooom—!

Gray Aura surged from Leo's body.

'I must go further than I ever did in my past life.'

Thud—!

Until now, Leo had believed that Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning who had survived that era, had already done everything required of him.

'I thought saving the world meant I had finished everything I had to do—everything I could do.'

Leo bit his lip hard.

Seeing Velkia had made him realize how wrong he was.

'If I'd thought about what I wanted to do after saving the world, just as the others did, things might not have ended this way.'

He had always been prepared to die without regret.

He believed it would be enough to sacrifice his body to save the future in which his friends would live.

To save the world future generations would inherit.

But that also meant he had never prepared himself to live.

'Wasn't defeating Erebos already more than enough?'

Of course it was.

The world's only promised future had seemed to be despair.

Even if Leo had dreamed of what came next, as his friends had...

Even if he had possessed ideals and beliefs of his own, there had been no possibility of surviving the final battle.

Leo knew better than anyone that wishing for such a possibility would have been greed.

'But at least... Velkia and Vihar might not have lived the way they did.'

Leo had wanted to stand upon the same battlefield as his disciples.

It was not some romantic desire to fight alongside them.

He had simply wished for it because he desperately needed comrades who could fight beside him.

But if that was what he wanted, he should at least have taught them how to live peacefully once everything was over.

Kyle's own life had been far removed from peace.

Even so, he could have taught them what shape life could take after the fighting ended and peace finally arrived.

Both of his disciples had been hopeless when it came to finding happiness in peaceful times.

Luna and Arron could not have taught them that.

Those two dreamed of returning and enjoying a happy life together, so it would never have occurred to them that such a lesson was necessary.

Only Kyle could have taught them.

'But I turned away from it.'

He had simply assumed his disciples would manage on their own.

'I have to change that, even now. And this time, I can't solve everything by dying.'

Therefore, he had to surpass himself.

He had to surpass who he had been in the past.

Taking only one or two steps forward would not be enough.

Until now, he might have been satisfied with that.

'Surpass your limits.'

Those were the words his unknown successor had left for future generations.

They were also the words Leo had repeatedly emphasized to the Hero Candidates who would carry on those generations.

But...

'Since being reborn, have I ever truly challenged my limits?'

To others, Leo might have appeared to constantly surpass his limits and accomplish the impossible.

But strictly speaking, that was not what he had done.

'I've done those things countless times in my past life. That's merely repetition, not surpassing my limits.'

Therefore—

'I will set a clear goal.'

Leo looked toward the distance.

'In Aura, I will pursue Arron.'

It was a clear challenge.

'In Magic, I will pursue Luna.'

They stood in realms he had once believed he could never reach.

'In Summoning, I will pursue Lysinas.'

But...

'There is a path, isn't there?'

His friends had already pioneered those paths.

All he had to do was run along them.

Toward the realms he had once considered ideal.

Toward heights he had believed he could never reach.

His Hyper Sense grew even sharper.

'I will surpass my limits!'

Leo shot forward at incredible speed.

Ulein, now the target of Leo's charge, stared in disbelief.

'How can he wield such power at that age?'

It was power that defied common sense.

Boom—! Crackle—!

Leo's sword struck Ulein's barrier, sending cracks across its entire surface.

Ulein hurriedly deployed Magic.

His incantation was incredibly fast.

However, the amount of Magic Power it consumed was immense.

Just as Leo was about to pursue Ulein, he abruptly changed direction.

Ulein, who had been preparing for Leo's attack, looked momentarily bewildered.

Then shock crossed his face when he saw where Leo was headed.

Clang—! Screech—!

Leo's and Velkia's swords crossed, scattering sharp sword energy in every direction.

The impact made the bones throughout Leo's body vibrate.

Hummm—!

A magic circle formed above Velkia's palm.

Leo immediately ducked.

Kaboom—!

A tremendous flash erupted from the Magic activated at point-blank range.

The beam shot forward in a straight line, sweeping away everything in its path.

The immense power of the spell sent a cold sweat down Leo's back.

“Luna would have been delighted to see this, you damn disciple!”

Thud—!

Leo slipped inside Velkia's guard and drove his shoulder into her torso.

He used Aura and a shift in his weight to maximize the attack's destructive force.

Had the target been an ordinary Hero, every bone in their body would have shattered.

Skid—!

But Velkia merely slid backward across the ground.

Leo, on the other hand, clicked his tongue at the pain that made his shoulder feel as though it had been crushed.

'Armor of Animus.'

Velkia's Original Magic.

The moment Leo tried to prepare for Velkia's counterattack—

Flash—!

[End] descended upon him once more.

Leo escaped its range with Spatial Movement Magic.

Rumble—!

Powerful waves of Magic Power surged from the place where [End] had struck.

“Are you trying to stop Velkia-nim from harming others while fighting me?”

Ulein spoke in admiration.

“Leo Plov, regardless of your ideology, you truly are a noble Hero.”

Ulein clapped his hands, then assumed a regretful expression.

“That is precisely why this is such a pity. I must return someone like you to the starlight.”

Leo chuckled as he looked at Ulein.

Ulein frowned.

“What is so amusing?”

“How could I not laugh when a third-rate Mage who mistakes power extorted from others for his own speaks as though he's someone special?”

“Did you just call me a third-rate Mage?”

Ulein had been praised as a genius since birth.

Never once in his life had anyone called him third-rate.

“If someone who relies solely on raw output to activate crudely cobbled-together Magic isn't third-rate, then what is he?”

“As long as I possess my Original Magic, [World of Stars], I can activate any Magic. Just as you can with your [Bible].”

Ulein spread his arms.

“Are you saying that someone who created such Magic is third-rate?”

“To be precise, you're worse than third-rate. You're a half-wit who can't do anything once he leaves this place.”

Ulein's face contorted slightly. Leo's words had accurately exposed his Magic's weakness.

“If Velkia weren't here, disposing of a half-wit like you wouldn't be difficult.”

“What a convenient excuse. If you're so confident, why not leave Velkia-nim alone?”

“A teacher who knowingly watches his disciple make a mistake and does nothing isn't qualified to teach. Besides, she asked me for a favor.”

“A teacher? I have no idea what you're talking about. Regardless, Velkia-nim will no longer be able to mov—”

Flash—! Kaboom—!

Magic erupted from the ruins where [End] had struck.

Horrified, Ulein hurriedly evaded it.

The barrier he had maintained shattered into fragments.

“How could she destroy my Magic?!”

“Dispersing a spell formula before it lands is fundamental in a battle between Mages.”

“How can an Undead be capable of that? She cannot even use Star Magic!”

Ulein's face twisted.

Leo looked at him.

“That's why you're a half-wit worse than third-rate.”

The corners of Leo's mouth curled upward.

“A half-wit who boasts endlessly about his own potential while doubting everyone else's.”

Ulein's face contorted at the mockery.

Rage surged within him.

Leo's eyes held a look Ulein knew all too well.

It was the gaze of someone looking down upon something insignificant.

The same gaze members of the Pureblood Society directed toward Elves incapable of using Star Magic.

Leo did not regard him as a Mage at all.

Fury erupted within Ulein at the gaze that denied his very essence.

But Leo no longer spared him so much as a glance.

His eyes remained fixed on his disciple.

'It's entirely possible, even after she's lost her reason.'

Velkia had trained without end until she could instinctively wield sophisticated swordsmanship and Magic.

She had carried the world through her strength alone.

'And being unable to use Star Magic has nothing to do with being unable to break it.'

Leo looked at Velkia.

'Because aside from Luna and me, Velkia probably understood Star Magic better than anyone else in the world.'

Although Velkia had ultimately failed to use Star Magic, she had worked harder than anyone to master her teacher's Magic.

Her inability to use it did not mean she failed to understand it.

'If Seiren inherited Luna's legacy as a Stellar Mage, then Velkia inherited it as a pure Mage.'

In a way, it was only natural that Velkia could easily break Ulein's Magic even after losing her reason.

Leo had not been bluffing when he said he could easily deal with Ulein.

'To others, he might be a formidable enemy armed with overwhelming Magic Power. To me, he's merely an oversized fool.'

Leo looked at Velkia.

'I have to subdue Velkia first.'

Leo tightened his grip.

Ulein would come afterward.

The moment Leo gathered his Magic Power, Velkia closed the distance at incredible speed.

The current Velkia made no distinction between friend and foe.

She was merely an Undead annihilating everything before her.

Just as Leo gritted his teeth and prepared to respond, shadows surged before him.

Chen Xia emerged from them and swung her dagger at Velkia's sword.

Clang—! Boom—!

When sword and dagger collided, an immense shock wave swept through the surroundings.

Leo's eyes widened as he stared at Chen Xia's back while she blocked Velkia's path.

“You...”

That familiar back reminded him of someone else.

Someone who was by no means a stranger.

“Vihar?”

At Leo's call, Chen Xia glanced back over her shoulder.

She gave Leo a faint smile.

“Master...”

The moment Velkia saw her, she involuntarily retreated from the clash.

“Ah...”

***