Chapter 555

Zeron.

A family counted among Lumene’s three great houses, alongside Riguard and Turcia.

Three thousand years ago, during the Calamity’s return, three heroes exterminated countless demons alongside the Twilight Knight, Lumene. Those three heroes became the founders of the great houses.

The Twilight Sage, Zeron, served as Lumene’s adviser.

The Twilight Sword, Riguard, always stood at the vanguard and slaughtered the enemy, while the Twilight Shield, Turcia, served as the shield that protected Lumene.

After Lumene founded Lumeria City and established Lumene Academy, his trusted confidants—Zeron, Riguard, and Turcia—each assumed a duty of their own.

Zeron became chairman of Lumene Academy’s board.

Riguard became mayor of Lumeria City.

Turcia became commander of the knight order Lumene had once led.

The three houses carried on Lumene’s will, and all three established their seats in Lumeria City.

Not far east of Lumeria City stood House Zeron’s ancestral estate.

Creak—!

The door of a griffin-drawn carriage opened.

The household retainers awaiting the family’s future head paused when they saw a white-haired boy step out of the carriage.

A moment later, they easily recognized him.

'White hair and red eyes?'

'Is that Leo Plov?'

As everyone’s attention turned toward Leo, he extended a hand to the carriage.

A pale hand emerged from within and took his.

Holding Leo’s hand, Elena stepped lightly onto the ground and smiled.

“You certainly know how to escort a lady.”

“Someone has drilled etiquette into me until I’m sick of hearing about it.”

“Your parents?”

“No, Celia.”

Although Leo was the heir to House Plov, he was also acknowledged as a direct-line member by his maternal family, the Zerdingers.

At House Zerdinger, belonging to the direct line meant far more than merely bearing the family name.

With its long history, House Zerdinger possessed vast territories and an enormous population.

Leo had already been assigned five knight candidates.

Those five, who formed the knight order he had named the Slayer Order, were all first-years at Lumene.

He would soon be granted a domain as well.

'Got it? Being part of the direct line means you’re a full-fledged member of the family! A member! I know you have a free-spirited personality, but you have no choice but to be mindful of how others see you! Understand?'

Leo chuckled as he recalled Celia’s nagging.

“Come to think of it, Rhys Sunbae is your cousin, isn’t he?”

Elena lightly twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she approached the retainers.

“A distinguished guest has visited our house today. He is also House Zeron’s benefactor, so see that your conduct toward him is impeccable.”

“Yes, Young Lady!”

“Lord Plov, we will show you to your room.”

“Did you bring any luggage?”

“I’ll show Leo around, so everyone else can prepare dinner. Let’s go, Leo.”

Elena led the way into the mansion.

Leo followed her inside.

House Zeron’s mansion was enormous.

It certainly felt ancient, but its architectural style was somewhat haphazard.

“Has it been expanded over thousands of years?”

“That’s right. House Zeron’s motto is change.”

“Hmm.”

“You don’t actually know our family’s history, do you?”

“No.”

“You’re awfully unapologetic about it, aren’t you?”

The history of a family renowned throughout the world was usually just as famous as the family itself.

House Zeron, in particular, was far more than merely the family entrusted with chairing Lumene Academy’s board.

It was a family of mages that had quite literally left its mark on the history of magic.

Not knowing the history of such a prestigious family could easily have offended Elena, but she showed no sign of displeasure.

“Our family devised and spread the foundational theory of Hero Magic. That means we must always embrace change.”

[Hero Magic.]

Mage Heroes each possessed Original Magic that could be called their personal symbol.

For Luna, it was Star Magic. For Leo, it was Bible.

True Original Magic could sometimes be passed down through bloodlines or knowledge, but most could not be inherited at all.

Another method of inheritance was through a Conquest Reward obtained by conquering a Hero’s World.

Hero Magic referred to the magic inherited through Hero’s Worlds and adapted so that anyone could learn it. House Zeron was the family that pioneered the underlying spell-formula system.

“Hmm, I see.”

“Yeah. Well, you have no need to learn Hero Magic, Leo.”

Elena smiled.

She was right.

Leo’s Original Magic was Bible.

It was a spell formula that allowed him to use any magic through his Original Magic system without penalty—in other words, in its unaltered original form.

“Bible isn’t omnipotent either.”

“Of course not. Every spell has a capacity of its own.”

A mage was a vessel that held magic.

No matter what Bible could do, Leo could not use magic that exceeded the capacity of his vessel.

“It would be impossible to use magic such as Chloe’s Ice World, Abad’s Tempest, or Chelsea’s Heatwave.”

Elena stopped in front of a room.

“Still, I think they’re similar—the magic our family ultimately pursued and your magic.”

“Ultimately pursued?”

“You can sleep here tonight, Leo.”

She opened the door, revealing a spacious and luxurious room.

“Rest until dinner.”

Elena smiled and left.

Once she was gone, Leo entered the room and sat on the sofa.

He noticed a portrait hanging on one wall and spoke.

“It seems the magic House Zeron pursued was the same magic you pursued.”

Lumene, the subject of the portrait, wore a resolute expression.

As Leo gazed at him, he recalled his conversation with Rian.

===

“Surpass your limits. That was the educational philosophy the Twilight Knight, Lumene, adopted when he founded the academy.”

Rian took a gemstone statue of Lumene from within a pocket and placed it on the desk.

“It was also a message he left for future generations.”

Rian lightly turned the statue’s head with a fingertip.

“A message telling them never to become like him.”

“That’s strange.”

Leo muttered with a puzzled expression.

“I’ve never met Azonia or Damienne. But Rodia and Seiren were always challenging their limits.”

The Genesis Heroes had undoubtedly failed to defeat Erebos’s fragment.

Yet despite experiencing unending despair, they trusted future generations and willingly chose to sacrifice themselves.

That alone showed that the Genesis Heroes were people who never gave up.

Just as they had been five thousand years ago.

They had imprisoned themselves within endlessly repeating time.

'They did something even we would never have dared.'

Leo could not accept that one of those Genesis Heroes had despaired of himself.

“Did the lessons left behind by the others carry the same kind of meaning?”

Rian shook their head at Leo’s question.

“The educational ideals left behind by the other Genesis Heroes each reflected the ideal they aspired to embody.”

Rian took out dolls of the Genesis Heroes and Great Heroes one after another.

“Seiren admired Luna’s unwavering belief in herself. She wanted the children who inherited her will to possess equally strong faith in themselves.”

Seiren’s doll was placed behind Luna’s.

“Azonia truly envied Arron’s courage to press forward without retreating even while terrified. She wanted to learn that courage for herself.”

Azonia’s doll was placed behind Arron’s.

“Damienne admired Dweno’s insight, which allowed him to find possibilities even in desperate situations. He wanted to become like that himself.”

Dweno believed the world was every bit as hopeless as Leo did.

The difference between him and Kyle was that Dweno still believed in possibilities.

Luna’s... Arron’s... Lysinas’s... and even Kyle’s potential—the potential Kyle himself had denied.

Dweno’s perspective was fundamentally different from that of Lysinas, who held the foolish conviction that hope still remained; Luna, who possessed unwavering faith in herself; and Arron, who had the courage to overcome his fear and press forward.

After placing Damienne behind Dweno, Rian took out Lysinas and Rodia.

“Rodia left no words behind, but she was deeply moved by the sight of Lysinas bearing the world on her shoulders.”

Rian smiled.

“They sincerely wanted to become like the Great Heroes they admired. They called themselves their successors and genuinely rejoiced that they could follow in their footsteps, even if only a little.”

“Was Lumene different?”

“Lumene respected Leo-nim no less than the other four did. The way Leo-nim never gave up was Lumene’s ideal itself.”

Rian wiggled Lumene’s doll, which stood behind Kyle’s.

“Following in Leo-nim’s footsteps, Lumene succeeded in defeating Erebos. He then defeated Erebos time and again whenever it showed signs of revival.”

Until then, Lumene had never given up.

Just like Kyle, whom he admired.

“But at some point, Lumene realized something.”

“What?”

“That while his companions were growing more like the other Great Heroes, he wasn’t becoming anything like Leo-nim.”

By conquering the Great Heroes’ Worlds, the Genesis Heroes inherited the powers of their predecessors.

But Lumene could not.

“Lumene conquered Leo-nim’s World several times, but he never obtained a Conquest Reward.”

“Why couldn’t he obtain anything?”

“Because Leo-nim’s power cannot be inherited as a Conquest Reward.”

“That’s true.”

A power that held limitless possibilities.

Innocent Mana, which even the gods had praised as extraordinary, was likely a power no one else could inherit.

“But failing to inherit my power shouldn’t have stopped him from doing his part, should it?”

“No. Lumene was never weaker than the other Genesis Heroes. He simply came to realize something.”

“What?”

“That he could not fulfill the role of the Hero of the Beginning.”

“...”

Rodia, Seiren, Azonia, and Damienne could stand in for Lysinas, Luna, Arron, and Dweno.

But Lumene could not do the same.

“Lumene believed he needed to obtain the power to defeat Erebos. That was when he became obsessed with Leo-nim’s swordsmanship and magic.”

Leo recalled the Lumene doll Rian had made before.

Its swordsmanship had been identical to his own.

“Even knowing it was impossible, Lumene tried to become you.”

Rian flicked Lumene’s gemstone doll.

Crash—!

The fallen doll shattered into pieces.

“Wanting to become someone and forcing yourself to become them are two different things. By clinging to someone he could never become, Lumene lost his potential.”

Rian let out a deep sigh.

“Eventually, he reached his limits and collapsed beneath them. In the end, he gave up trying to become like you. That was when he came to find me at the center of the world.”

Afterward, Lumene obtained from Rian the wisdom needed to stop Erebos and, together with the Genesis Heroes, imprisoned Erebos within a Hero’s World.

“If the Great Heroes they admired represented hope to the other Genesis Heroes... then to Lumene, Leo-nim represented despair.”