Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 574
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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574.
Rea clenched her fists as she looked at Aina blocking her path.
‘Aina Beidna.’
It was a name she had heard sickeningly often from the moment she enrolled at Seirun.
‘The world made a fuss about her being the Sword Saint’s bloodline. Just like me.’
Just like herself, who had shouldered the expectations of her entire race as the heir to the Tingel Family.
Aina must have been the same.
That’s why she couldn’t help but be conscious of her.
Even after learning that Luke was Leo’s mentee, that remained the same.
An opponent she absolutely had to defeat.
From the moment of enrollment, countless people around her had watched, hoping to see Rea defeat Aina.
‘I guess this person isn’t much different either. Seeing as she came to face me.’
Rea smirked.
“It must be bothersome for both of us. Having people around who expect us to defeat each other.”
“What?”
At those words, Aina made an expression of confusion.
“Didn’t you come to defeat me?”
“No.”
“…”
For a moment, Rea looked dumbfounded.
“Didn’t you just say your opponent was me?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you came to defeat me, right?”
“No.”
Watching Aina shake her head, Rea was left speechless.
“I just want to protect Luke from you. You’ve been obsessed with Luke to a strange degree since before.”
“Are you appointing yourself as Luke Elda’s guard?”
“Yes.”
Swish—!
Aina swung her sword.
Sword energy scattered around Rea.
“Luke must not fall to anyone.”
Aina’s eyes gleamed sharp as a blade.
“Until he falls to me.”
From Aina, an obsession with Luke no less than Rea’s could be felt.
‘Luke Elda is certainly worth defeating.’
When Rea first learned of Luke’s existence, she was interested because he was Leo’s mentee.
Her feelings toward him were closer to jealousy than competitive spirit.
And at the end of the first semester.
Luke’s appearance at the World Summit was surprising.
‘Even while fighting Aina Beidna, he kept growing.’
The image of Luke endlessly challenging his limits and surpassing them was vivid in her mind.
Only then did she realize why Leo had chosen Luke.
‘He was amazing during the training camp too.’
So she understood why Aina, as a rival from the same school, was strongly conscious of Luke.
‘But… but still…’
Rea’s shoulders trembled.
“There’s a limit to ignoring people! What’s with that attitude of not even considering me!”
Extraordinary mana burst forth from Rea’s agitated body.
Crack—!
Countless fissures appeared in the ground Rea was standing on.
“I’ll defeat you and make sure you remember!”
Mana concentrated in both of Rea’s hands.
“If you want to defeat Luke Elda, you’ll have to defeat me first!”
“As long as I’m here, you can’t touch a hair on Luke’s head! Because I’m going to defeat Luke!”
Boom—!
Explosive mana and sharp sword energy clashed in a chaotic collision.
***
Luke broke out in a cold sweat at the ominous collision sounds coming from behind.
“Why do I keep hearing my name when those two are fighting?”
“Heh. It seems they’re fighting fiercely to claim you.”
“I’d rather decline that kind of claiming.”
Luke made a tearful expression.
As a Mage Knight, Luke keenly felt how terrifyingly advanced Aina’s swordsmanship was and how destructive Rea’s magic could be.
Having that sword and magic aimed at him was not welcome at all.
‘On top of that, lately Juwen, Shasha, and Havedon are all dying to get their hands on me too.’
It wasn’t that their relationship was bad.
No, it was actually good.
But his friends’ gazes, like predators eyeing prey, always made Luke nervous.
Now with Aina and Rea, who had been hostile toward him from their first meeting, joining in, Luke was having a terrible time.
‘And even this person.’
Luke gulped as he looked at Medvez, Ajonia’s first-year representative.
An overwhelming build with bulging muscles.
Of course, being big didn’t automatically mean being strong.
But Medvez wasn’t just big.
‘He’s strong.’
Every time his muscles flexed, Luke unconsciously tensed up.
Watching Luke lower his stance, Medvez spoke.
“Like a herbivore.”
“Excuse me?”
“Aren’t you excited at all watching those two fight?”
“I am nervous.”
Just thinking about those deadly attacks being directed at him made him tremble.
“That’s not what I mean.”
Medvez looked at Luke with disapproving eyes.
“Those two strong fighters are giving their all to earn the right to defeat you. Yet you just tremble in fear. Pathetic, truly pathetic.”
At Medvez’s words, Luke took a deep breath.
‘Is this person at least trying to lose interest in me?’
He had no intention of avoiding fights that came his way.
But what Luke needed to focus on now wasn’t defeating strong opponents.
‘Lumern’s victory.’
Rea, Aina, and Medvez all seemed to have forgotten that purpose slightly.
A group battle with 100 people combining their strength.
Moreover, they were selected from the first-years.
‘It’s impossible to single-handedly turn the tide of battle.’
Thinking rationally, wasting energy now would be foolish.
If Medvez lost interest in him and left, that wouldn’t be bad for Luke either.
‘Though it wouldn’t be bad…’
Luke glanced up at the sky.
There was Leo, who had announced the opening match.
‘Leo-senpai single-handedly shook the entire battlefield.’
The image of Leo displaying overwhelming prowess in the 2nd Year Dormitory competition flashed through his mind.
‘It’s ridiculous for someone like me to even compare myself to Leo-senpai, but…’
That intense image wouldn’t leave his head.
That’s when it happened.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble-!
The ground began to vibrate.
The small tremor soon began shaking violently as if an earthquake had occurred.
“Wh-what is this?”
The freshmen who had been forming ranks and attacking other schools wore bewildered expressions.
Crash crash crash crash-!
Lava began erupting through the ground.
The freshmen who saw this wore shocked expressions.
“The ground is shrinking because of the lava!
“Those who can fight in the air, quickly get airborne…”
Bubble bubble bubble crash crash crash-!
A massive monster erupted from the lava.
“A Lava Golem?!”
Cries of shock burst out among the freshmen.
The massive Lava Golem began wildly swinging its arms at the students flying through the sky.
At the same time, lava that fell from its arms dropped to the ground like rain.
“It’s dangerous to be in the air!”
“Grr! We have to deal with those guys while also worrying about the Lava Golem?!”
“That’s not all! The space to fight is shrinking because of the lava!”
Panicked voices burst out from everywhere.
Building defensive formations and hunting enemies became difficult.
With the situation like this, a strategy of quickly causing chaos and taking down enemies became favorable.
“Everyone attack!”
“Grr!”
“Try not to engage the Lava Golem! It’ll drain our strength!”
“Hmm, staying here will get us caught up in the Lava Golem’s attacks.”
“Tch! This is troublesome.”
“Luke, let’s retreat quickly.”
Medvez, Rea, and Aina, who had been near where the Lava Golem was summoned, tried to quickly escape from this location.
Then Aina momentarily looked at Luke’s face and slightly opened her mouth.
‘He’s smiling?’
***
“Seirun’s freshman representative is exactly like that thug elf.”
Ar muttered while watching the match.
Then she looked at her underclassmen.
“Good movement.”
In this chaotic battle situation, the Ajonia students with overwhelming physical abilities were much more advantageous.
In Ajonia where fighting never ceased day after day, such chaotic battles were frequent.
“The variable is definitely the Lava Golem.”
Arga crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.
It rampaged indiscriminately, causing damage to all four schools.
‘There’s no particular benefit to defeating that thing.’
It would definitely just drain their strength.
‘What would I have done?’
Arga tilted his head and soon came to a simple conclusion.
‘I would have defeated the Lava Golem first.’
There was no other reason.
It was simply a threat to all four schools.
And if they won in that state, the element of ‘luck’ would inevitably be involved.
‘The indiscriminately rampaging Lava Golem is literally an unpredictable variable.’
Even if they achieved victory, Arga wouldn’t be able to shake off the unpleasant feeling.
Arga had the confidence that even after defeating the Lava Golem, he could still beat the enemies.
Even if he lost, it wouldn’t be more joyful than winning.
‘A victory won by luck. It’s worthless. I’d rather lose.’
Arga looked around.
It seemed he wasn’t the only one thinking that way.
The Ajonia students felt the same.
It wasn’t just the Ajonia students.
Students from other Hero Academies seemed to feel the same way.
Everyone had pride that ‘we’ are the best.
In the end, they had to overcome all adversity and prove they were the best.
The Lava Golem was threatening, but if you were ‘year tower level,’ it wasn’t impossible to defeat alone.
They just didn’t engage because the risk was too great.
‘How devious, Black Rabbit.’
Arga, who understood Leo’s intention, looked at Leo in the sky and pouted his lips.
***
“Leo really can be ruthlessly harsh sometimes when you look at him.”
Cal shook his head.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Chelsea wore a puzzled expression.
“He cleverly set up the situation so the freshmen can’t defeat the Lava Golem.”
“Yeah. But is there a problem with that?”
Cal chuckled.
“Winning without creating risk is most ideal. But the Festival of Heroes is not just competition between Hero Academies, but also a place of festival and harmony.”
Cal said while looking at the freshmen who were busy passing the Lava Golem off to each other.
“Everyone in the world is watching.”
“Yeah. So?”
“This is why Heroes can’t understand ordinary people’s hearts.”
Cal burst into a hollow laugh and said.
“People want heroes.”
Cal looked at Leo.
“They want heroes who believe in themselves, pursue possibilities, move forward, and transcend limits.”
Cal turned his gaze from Leo to look at Chelsea.
“What would you have done in that situation?”
“I would have trusted myself and my companions and defeated the Lava Golem.”
“Right. That’s what people want to see. But the freshmen are still inexperienced. So it’s hard for them to move rashly like that.”
Cal narrowed his eyes while looking at the Lava Golem.
“Leo is testing them. Whether there’s anyone among the freshmen with that kind of caliber. Whether there are guys qualified to stand on stage with you all.”
“Ah…”
Chelsea wore an expression of understanding.
“But why ‘you all’ instead of ‘us’?”
Chelsea tilted her head.
Looking at Chelsea, Cal shrugged his shoulders.
“Could you not put an ordinary person like me in the same category as you all?”
“What do you mean by ‘our category’?”
“Monsters.”
Chelsea struck Cal’s side with her fist.
Looking down at Cal who had fallen to the ground clutching his side, Chelsea said.
“…Have you given up on advancing to third year?”
“Ugh.”
At that question, Cal got up while dusting himself off.
“Give up my ass. I’m going to struggle until the very end. But you know what.”
Cal chuckled.
“Just because you try hard doesn’t mean you can achieve everything, right? No matter how much you push past your limits, what can’t be done can’t be done. I know myself best.”
“…”
“This is as far as I go, Chelsea.”
“Cal…”
“Still, I’ll do my best as a supporting character. Keep using my products regularly! You’ll definitely become a Hero in the future. Having a Hero as a regular customer would be amazing for publicity!”
“Damn bastard.”
Chelsea let out a small sigh as she looked at Cal giving a thumbs up with a grin.
“Oh?”
Just then, Cal let out an exclamation.
“Luke’s taking on the Lava Golem?”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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