Chapter 585

After Erebos’s flames appeared within Lumene’s World, Rodia and Carr hurried toward a certain location.

“Rodia-nim! More black flames ahead!”

“Damn it!”

Rodia cursed.

She could not see the black flames.

They were visible only to the challengers.

However, even though the figures recreated inside the Hero’s World could not see Erebos’s flames, those flames could still harm them.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

“S-Save me!”

The people nearby screamed without understanding what was happening.

Carr bit down hard on his lip.

To Rodia, they appeared to scream suddenly before crumbling into ash.

Carr, however, could clearly see the black flames consuming them.

“Don’t lose heart, Carr Thomas!”

Rodia shouted at him.

“They aren’t real! In actual history, none of them met such an end... Urgh!”

Rodia clutched her head.

She had once again suffered the shock of destroying her own consciousness.

Whenever Rodia recognized that she was merely a false recreation, the Hero’s World attempted to consume her consciousness.

“I know.”

Carr firmly supported Rodia as she staggered.

“Finding Lumene-nim comes first.”

“...Right.”

Rodia steadied herself and took a deep breath.

“I may as well be blind right now. Will you be my eyes again, like before?”

“Yes. I’ve just thought of a good way to do that.”

Carr grinned and raised his Mana.

Fwoosh—!

An image of flames appeared before Rodia’s eyes.

She stared at it in surprise.

“What is this?”

“Illusion magic.”

Carr glared ahead.

“I’ve recreated the black flames I can see.”

Rodia looked impressed.

“You’re remarkably quick on your feet.”

“Clever tricks are my specialty!”

Carr grinned broadly.

'This seems like more than mere cleverness.'

He was supporting Rodia perfectly amid this desperate situation.

Of course, the illusion before her appeared incredibly crude by Rodia’s standards.

Carr had merely overlaid what he could see before her eyes.

However—

'Reflecting everything happening before him in an illusion in real time would be impossible without extraordinary powers of observation.'

Furthermore, when they fought the black flames earlier, Carr had issued precise instructions to Rodia, who could not see them, allowing them to overcome the situation.

'He possesses exceptional command ability.'

He was remarkably skilled at reading the flow of battle and issuing orders.

'Even though he’s still so young.'

Although Carr lacked talent as a mage, Rodia could see potential in him.

With Carr’s support, Rodia extinguished every black flame before withdrawing her Mana.

“In the future, do children like you also rise to become heroes?”

“Ack? Rodia-nim, that question is...”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Rodia’s eyes briefly grew unfocused.

Her head felt as though it might split apart, but she ignored the pain.

Carr hesitated before scratching his cheek.

“No.”

“What?”

“The future is the same. Only those with the power to accomplish great feats can become heroes.”

Rodia smiled bitterly at his answer.

“I suppose... the gods’ preferences do not change easily.”

Disappointment crossed Rodia’s face.

“I had hoped the Hero’s Worlds would allow many people to realize their potential.”

“Oh, they have certainly helped a lot.”

Carr raised his thumb.

“If not for the Hero’s Worlds, I wouldn’t have lasted until my second year at Lumene. I owe all of that to you, Rodia-nim. I’m grateful every day!”

Rodia burst into laughter at Carr’s cheerful response.

“By the way, did you already know about the gods?”

When Carr told her that Lumene had gone to find a god, Rodia had said she knew where he might have gone.

She continued walking briskly as she answered.

“No. I only knew that something existed at the center of the World, beneath Lumene. That was why Lumene gathered us in the first place.”

“Then if a god is here, it must be somewhere beneath Lumene.”

“That’s right. Ruins from the Age of Gods, before the Age of Calamity, lie buried beneath Lumene. If a god is anywhere, it can only be there. We’re heading toward the entrance to those ruins.”

After following a hidden passage underground, Carr found himself standing before an enormous open entrance.

Rodia stared at it in confusion.

“It’s open?”

“Was it normally closed?”

“Yes. Nothing we tried could open it.”

“...Let’s go inside for now.”

The two entered the temple.

Neither knew what obstacles they might encounter, so they remained as vigilant as possible while advancing.

However, their caution proved unnecessary. They reached what appeared to be the very center of the temple without encountering any significant difficulties.

Even the door leading into the central chamber stood wide open.

A long corridor stretched beyond it.

At the end of the corridor, they found a tightly shut gray door.

“What in the world... is beyond this?”

Rodia pushed against the gray door with a tense expression.

Sliiide—

The door opened smoothly.

Beyond it lay an unknown space containing countless bookshelves that stretched endlessly into the distance.

“What is this place?”

Rodia and Carr stared in bewilderment.

“Today has brought one rare experience after another.”

A beautiful, androgynous child with gray hair and eyes approached them.

“A being recreated by the Record System and a challenger coming together to find me... It’s almost a shame that all of this is false.”

“Rian-nim!”

“Hm? You know me?”

When Carr called his name, Rian tilted his head before adopting a listless expression.

Carr sensed a strange disparity.

'When I met Rian-nim in the bathroom, he seemed... kind.'

The Rian from reality had felt approachable, but the Rian inside this Hero’s World was entirely different.

He regarded Carr with dull eyes, as though staring at a pebble on the roadside.

“So you’re a god. You truly have survived until now... Urgh!”

Rodia clutched her face.

Rian stroked his chin as he watched her.

“Oho? You’re preserving your sanity by destroying your own consciousness? As expected of the Dragon of Genesis. You truly are a hero worthy of having saved the world.”

“Oho, oho,” Rian murmured admiringly.

“You came to find Lumene, didn’t you? How unfortunate. Lumene was holding back that abomination here until a short while ago.”

Rian pointed toward the ceiling.

“But the abomination escaped, and Lumene has gone to the surface in pursuit of it.”

Having said that, Rian seemed to lose interest. He returned to his chair among the bookshelves and dropped into it.

Plop—!

“Now that all your questions have been answered, would you leave?”

Carr asked,

“There’s something I’m curious about. Rodia-nim has suffered a mental collapse ever since she realized this was a Hero’s World. Why are you completely unaffected, Rian-nim?”

“Why should I answer you? What do I gain by doing so?”

'This god is more difficult than I expected.'

His attitude stood in stark contrast to the Rian of the future, who had answered all of Carr’s questions.

'If this is his original personality... does that mean he only cares about things he personally finds interesting?'

Carr considered that possibility before speaking.

“You seemed extremely interested in Rodia-nim earlier. Wasn’t that enough compensation?”

“So, because this phenomenon entertained me, you expect me to answer your question? How insolent.”

Rian regarded Carr with contempt before answering irritably.

“It’s simple. The Hero Record is an artifact created by the gods. Therefore, its system cannot interfere with beings whose existence rivals that of a god.”

Rian wore an arrogant expression.

“Although I am merely a false recreation created through the Hero Record’s power, my existence rivals that of a god. The system cannot classify me as an error.”

“What about the Great Heroes?”

“Oho? Has there been an instance where one of the Great Heroes recognized a challenger as an anomaly? How peculiar.”

Rian looked intrigued.

“The Great Heroes are special. They are the masters of the Hero Record. Of course, preserving a World after they recognize a challenger requires strict conditions. The Great Hero must identify the challenger’s existence entirely through their own power.”

Carr nodded, recalling Leo telling him that Dweno had discovered his identity while Leo was clearing Dweno’s World.

“Now, all your questions have been answered, haven’t they? I believe I’ve sufficiently repaid you for the amusement you provided.”

Rian waved his hand in a shooing motion.

“Now leave. You’re annoying me, so stop wasting my time.”

“...Don’t you have more time than you know what to do with?”

“Can’t you see that I’m making a statue of Kyle-nim?”

Rian showed them the gemstone statue he was carving.

“Go help Lumene dispose of that abomination.”

“Couldn’t you tell us Erebos’s weakness?”

“How bothersome. If you seek knowledge from a god, you must offer something of equal value.”

Rian glared irritably at Carr.

“Could an ordinary human like you possibly pay the price required to seek wisdom from a god?”

Carr sank into thought as Rian openly mocked him.

Rodia spoke to him.

“Carr, we won’t obtain any more wisdom from this god. Let’s leave and help Lumene.”

“We can’t stop Erebos without the Purity Mana Trait.”

Carr looked directly at Rian.

“And this god undoubtedly knows how to stop those black flames.”

Rian raised the corner of his mouth.

“You’re a perceptive human.”

“If you know, why won’t you tell us?”

Rodia’s face hardened.

Rian answered as though the reason were obvious.

“Because this is entertaining.”

Rian giggled, leaving Rodia dumbfounded.

“This World is fake anyway. Even if I burn away with it, I won’t truly die.”

Rian wore an arrogant expression.

“I’ve done nothing but manage the Hero Record for thousands of years. I’ve been unbearably bored. Watching Lumene fight desperately against that abomination is the finest entertainment I could ask for.”

“Ah, I see.”

Rodia smiled and started toward Rian.

Carr recoiled in alarm and clung to her arm.

“R-Rodia-nim, please calm down. Calm down.”

“Let go! God or not, I’ll smash him to pieces!”

Rodia’s eyes gleamed viciously.

Rian merely released a long yawn at her reaction.

“I’ll do it! I’ll persuade him!”

At Carr’s words, Rodia stepped back while huffing angrily.

“What a tedious little farce.”

Carr addressed the bored-looking Rian.

“If I give you enough amusement and intrigue to satisfy you, you’ll tell us Erebos’s weakness, correct?”

“Do you truly believe someone as insignificant as you can provide amusement and intrigue to me, a being who knows everything in this world?”

“In the future, the Hero of Beginning is reincarnated.”

“...”

Rodia stared at Carr in disbelief.

Rian scoffed.

“You certainly have a vivid imagination if you can fabricate such absurd nonsense.”

He stared directly into Carr’s eyes.

After studying Carr’s unwavering gaze, Rian rose from his seat.

Then he spoke.

“Sit.”

“Pardon?”

“No, please sit. Please, have a seat.”

Carr found himself sitting in the chair Rian had just vacated.

Rian knelt before him and looked up.

“Is it really all right for me to sit here?”

“Of course! It would be unthinkable for someone as insignificant as me to sit comfortably in a chair while the distinguished messenger bearing Kyle-nim’s words sat on the floor! Now! I’m prepared to listen attentively, Carr-nim. So, what were you saying? The Hero of Beginning, who is greater and nobler than any god, was reincarnated? Please tell me everything. Quickly. Yes? Yes? Yes?”

(T/N: Hahahahahahahahshs)