Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 194
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
194
[A shadow fairy? That’s the first time I’ve heard of such a fairy.]
Ignite looked at Elsi with an expressionless face.
[Seeing that you’re a fairy with clear will, you must be quite a powerful fairy. So, what do you want to talk to me about? Do you want to come under my command?]
At that question, Elsi’s eyes widened and she smiled brightly.
[No. Though I may look like this now, I’m still a Great Fairy. As a fairy with the authority of dominion, I cannot bow my head to another fairy.]
[Nonsense. It’s impossible for two or more Great Fairies of the same attribute to exist in one era.]
[Yes. I’m a fairy from the past who shouldn’t exist in this world.]
[Are you an insane fairy?]
Despite the insulting words, Elsi only smiled brightly.
If it had been another Great Fairy, they wouldn’t have let this remark slide.
If one calls themselves the Great Fairy of Darkness, they would be an existence worthy of being called the king of all dark fairies.
That dominance is so powerful that it affects not only dark fairies but also fairies of other attributes.
If they set their mind to it, they could even rise to the position of absolute ruler governing vast territories like Undine, the fairy of the deep sea.
Having received such an insult, it wouldn’t be strange if war broke out between Great Fairies and the surrounding area became a wasteland.
But Elsi smiled.
She felt no displeasure.
Elsi was a being from the past who had crossed over to the present world through the divine miracle called Hero Record.
Anyone who heard this would have shown the same reaction as Ignite.
‘Perhaps if I had been in the same situation as him, I would have felt similar emotions.’
At Elsi’s reaction, Ignite showed an expression of interest.
[Let’s say you really are a Great Fairy from the past. However, I have never heard the name shadow fairy anywhere.]
[Yes. I only lived in this world for a very short time.]
Elsi stepped forward and smiled faintly.
Elsi was the only Great Fairy in this world who couldn’t even leave her name in history.
[What does a Great Fairy who couldn’t even leave her name in history want to discuss with me?]
[Why do you hate humans?]
[Because they are ugly beings.]
Ignite said curtly.
[Other Great Fairies say this. That fairies only have value when they form pacts with the races of the Earthly Realm. That we Great Fairies have a duty to form pacts with worthy beings and become their strength.]
Ignite tilted his head.
[But is there really a need to do so for the utterly ugly beings of the Earthly Realm?]
Dark fairies are evaluated as the most gloomy among all fairies.
At one time, dark fairies were symbols of misfortune and ill omens, and they were even condemned as beings of Tartaros themselves.
Fairies who could only grow their power in shadows, not in light.
Because of such characteristics, people turned away from dark fairies.
Even if they had the qualifications to form contracts with dark fairies, they denied those qualifications.
As a result, those who formed contracts with dark fairies were naturally only those with unfortunate fates who needed power.
Ignite was a Great Fairy who had existed for nearly 1000 years.
He had seen too much of the dark side of humans.
[Isn’t your contractor the same?]
Ignite looked at Leo and spoke expressionlessly.
[He’s a student of Lumern, but he must have an unfortunate past.]
At Ignite’s words, Elsi looked at Leo.
Elsi didn’t know Leo in detail.
But she knew what path he had walked.
[Yes. Leo probably lived in darkness that I can’t even imagine.]
Elsi’s words were correct.
Leo had lived through the Age of Calamity.
He survived seeing all sorts of ugly things, and even when he was active as part of the Erebos Expedition, he buried ugly people behind the scenes of history.
With the single belief that he couldn’t let his comrades’ hands be stained with blood, he secretly took on dirty work himself without his comrades knowing.
If other Great Heroes shook off the darkness and moved toward the light.
Kail stepped into darkness in order to move toward the light.
That was the difference between other Great Heroes and Kail.
‘The past me that I don’t know must have been drawn to such an appearance of Kail.’
[I haven’t lived as long as you, nor have I experienced as many unfortunate things as you.]
Elsi looked at Ignite with pitying eyes.
[But if you’re also a dark fairy, you must be drawn to light, right?]
Being drawn to light is an instinct for dark fairies.
[Don’t you want to see light too?]
[Light.]
At Elsi’s question, Ignite understood why this being who claimed to be a Great Fairy from the past had spoken to him.
[Are you understanding and pitying me?]
[Yes.]
Watching Elsi nod her head, Ignite curled up the corners of his mouth.
[Then prove it.]
[What…?]
[That you understand my darkness.]
Darkness began to seep out around Ignite.
[If you understand my darkness, you should be able to maintain your sanity even in this abyss.]
It was on a different dimension from the darkness that had attacked Leo and Lil earlier.
[If you want to have a conversation with me, that comes first.]
Elsi looked at Leo.
It was because she was worried that she might put her contractor in danger due to her stubbornness.
Seeing such Elsi, Leo chuckled and said.
“Elsi. Who do you think I am?”
At that question, Elsi’s eyes widened.
Then she smiled brightly.
[‘The Survivor.’]
“Right. So I don’t know how amazing this abyss thing is, but there’s no reason to worry about me. No matter how heavy it is, it can’t be heavier than what I’ve carried.”
At the words of the man who once carried the world, Elsi nodded and looked at Ignite.
[Alright.]
Watching such Elsi, Leo smiled bitterly to himself.
‘She’s too kind.’
Her concern for Ignite was pure meddling.
She truly pitied Ignite because she understood his misfortune and suffering.
Because she was such an Elsi, even after she came to hate the world, she ultimately sacrificed herself for the world until the very end.
Whoosh—!
Ignite’s abyss struck Leo.
He felt his head throbbing.
‘Mental destruction?’
The endless abyss began to erode Leo’s mind.
Ignite’s mental pain and suffering rushed into his head.
The moment he recognized that.
Step— Step—
[What?]
Ignite’s face hardened.
Leo walked out of the abyss too calmly and walked toward Ignite.
[How on earth?]
“Isn’t it simple?”
Leo smiled.
“It means I lived a more unfortunate life than you.”
There was no way Leo, who had to live through the Age of Calamity, could be happier than Ignite, who lived in an age of peace.
No matter what anyone said, Kail had witnessed the world on the brink of destruction.
Even if he had lived in darkness for nearly a thousand years, the depth of darkness he experienced was different.
“And.”
Leo glanced at the mass of abyss.
A massive shadow formed around the mass of abyss.
Soon, the shadow swallowed the abyss.
Then the abyss thrashed about.
But it soon seemed to calm down, becoming quiet in the shadow’s embrace.
Seeing this, Ignite’s face was colored with shock.
[My darkness was dominated?]
[I didn’t dominate it. I simply embraced your darkness.]
The shadow lifted, and there a beautiful woman revealed herself.
Leo showed a surprised expression.
Elsi’s appearance had changed.
From the form of a young girl to that of a mature woman.
It was just like Elsi when Kail first met her.
And the power she emanated had also grown stronger.
‘Did she absorb the Abyss Spirit’s power?’
Elsi was a great spirit, but she wasn’t in a complete state right now.
A subordinate spirit who couldn’t exist without maintaining a contract with Leo.
In other words, the power she could exert was determined by Leo’s capabilities.
But now she was emanating strong power.
Of course, it still fell short of the power Leo remembered from the past.
Even so, Elsi had succeeded in making Ignite’s darkness her own.
‘Did she devour not just the power but even the characteristics?’
Leo noticed that one of Elsi’s eyes, which had sparkled like obsidian, now held a hazy darkness.
Though they were the same black pupils, they were different from Elsi’s usual eyes.
[Are you truly a great spirit?]
Ignite’s voice trembled.
Even among great spirits, there were differences in power.
The authority of domination was far greater in Elsi than in Ignite.
[Yes. I told you, didn’t I? That I’m your distant senior.]
Elsi smiled sweetly and approached Ignite.
The closer she got, the more Ignite’s darkness was absorbed by Elsi.
Elsi, who was devouring Ignite’s power, was literally regaining the dignity of a great spirit.
Conversely, Ignite’s body gradually became smaller.
Ignite, whose face was contorted, looked up at Elsi and asked.
[What do you want from me? To annihilate me and become the new great spirit yourself?]
At that question, Elsi’s eyes widened and she laughed cheerfully.
[There’s no way I would do such a thing, right?]
Elsi reached out and patted Ignite’s head.
[I just wanted to tell you something. Don’t hate humans.]
Elsi took a step back.
Then Elsi’s power gradually returned to Ignite.
[You’re living in such a beautiful world, aren’t you? Yet seeing you burden yourself with unhappiness made me feel sorry for you.]
Elsi couldn’t forget the emotion of the first day she saw the night sky.
The fact that something so beautiful existed made Elsi feel like she owned the whole world.
To think someone would live such a gloomy life without a contractor while living in such a world.
Elsi’s body gradually became smaller like a girl.
Her appearance soon became similar in age to Ignite.
[Try to enjoy life a bit more. There’s surely a shining contractor in this world who suits you. Though you’ve lived a shorter life than me, I am still your senior, so don’t just brush this off.]
Ignite, who had been silently watching Elsi’s brightly smiling figure, spoke.
[You are… an existence that shines more beautifully than even a light spirit.]
[Hehe- Thank you.]
Elsi, who had become as small as a palm, flew up and sat on Leo’s shoulder.
Just then.
Whoosh-!
“Puha!”
Lil appeared, breaking through the darkness.
“Leo! I’m here to rescue you right now…!”
She spoke urgently but then made a gloomy expression upon seeing Leo standing perfectly fine.
“…Leo escaped before me.”
“I was lucky.”
“Ugh… I wanted to show my dignity as a senior this time.”
Watching Lil make a gloomy expression, Ignite looked fed up.
[What is that thing? A monster?]
“A monster?! I have a perfectly fine nickname called the Gale Spirit Mage! Don’t call me by such a strange nickname!”
Lil, who hated being teased as a monster girl, got angry.
Watching this, Elsi muttered.
[At that level, she really does seem like a monster.]
In Leo’s case, Ignite’s darkness didn’t work on him from the beginning.
So there was no escaping or anything.
But Lil was different.
She had fallen into Ignite’s darkness.
Yet she overcame that darkness and escaped.
A great spirit from the distant past and a great spirit of the present.
And it was amazing enough for even a great hero to acknowledge.
“Certainly. Now I understand why Elena and Hark call you a monster girl.”
“Leo! Even you!”
Just as Lil was about to cry.
Crash-!
“Alright! Juniors! Your senior has come to rescue…!”
Jin, who appeared late by breaking through the ceiling, shouted boldly but then muttered in a deflated voice upon discovering the two standing perfectly fine.
“…You escaped on your own? Are you really 1st and 2nd years?”
Jin knew about the Abyss Spirit’s characteristic of destroying minds, so he had broken through the spirit legion as quickly as possible to reach this central location.
Clicking his tongue at his juniors’ competence, Jin stood before Ignite.
“It’s been a while, Ignite.”
[Indeed, Knight of Undine.]
“No matter how much you hate humans, you know this crossed the line.”
Watching Jin emanate killing intent, Ignite spoke.
[I’ll accept the invitation, so withdraw your killing intent.]
Ignite withdrew his darkness.
And looking at Leo and Lil, he said.
[I’ll also consider contracts with Lumern students.]
At those words, Lil and Jin showed surprised expressions.
Ignite, who had disliked humans for hundreds of years and never had a contractor, was considering having a contractor?
“Is it because of Leo after all?”
Lil asked in admiration.
Since she had seen Leo already conversing with Ignite before she escaped on her own, Lil thought Leo had persuaded Ignite.
At Lil’s words, Ignite spoke in an emotionless voice.
[I have no interest in playboys.]
‘Playboy? Is it because Leo is Phoenix’s contractor?’
Not understanding the reason, Lil could only tilt her head in confusion.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————