Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 73
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
73.
“What the hell is this!”
“Th-this is… the curse of the dead!”
As they entered the center of the forest, Runia and Eiran’s faces turned pale from the powerful curse energy they felt.
Even for elves who were born with naturally strong resistance to curses, the current curse was powerful enough to be suffocating.
Runia gritted her teeth and looked at Leo.
‘Is he completely unaffected?’
For Leo, who had even fought directly against Demon King Hel Kaiser, this level of curse couldn’t have much effect on him.
Leo turned his head and seeing the two elf girls with worsened complexions, he activated his mana.
“Bi Arte.”
Light overflowing with vitality flowed from Leo’s hands.
Runia and Eiran’s complexions became much more comfortable.
“This should make you feel a bit better.”
“Is this Star Magic?”
“That’s right.”
“W-we don’t know this magic.”
“You don’t know this magic?”
Leo made a puzzled expression.
“It’s magic that restores vitality. It’s not particularly difficult magic.”
“Amazing, is this magic that Leo developed?”
“No. I’m just implementing magic I saw in a grimoire.”
To be precise, it was magic that Luna frequently used, but he couldn’t say that directly.
Hearing Leo’s words, Runia spoke.
“Leo, where did you get the grimoire from which you self-taught Star Magic?”
A grimoire containing Star Magic that even Seirun students couldn’t access.
‘Moreover, Leo even interpreted the Progenitor’s magic that hasn’t been deciphered for a long time… Perhaps that might be one of the few grimoires directly left by the Progenitor. Even if it’s not the Progenitor’s grimoire, it might be a grimoire containing the original Star Magic used by the Progenitor…!’
If so, it would be a great discovery.
“It was in my family’s library.”
Runia stroked her chin.
‘Leo’s mother Lady Raina is a direct descendant of the Jerdinger Family. Even if she severed ties with the family, it wouldn’t be strange for her to have the family’s precious books.’
Runia’s eyes sparkled.
“Could I see that grimoire?”
“It’s not there now.”
“What? What happened to it?”
“I burned it while practicing magic when I was young.”
“How could you burn something like that!”
Runia grabbed her head and screamed.
Of course it was a made-up story, but there was no way Runia could know that.
Eiran also made a regretful expression.
“Seeing you scream, you seem to have recovered your energy.”
Leo chuckled and glared at the center of the forest.
“Then let’s hurry and get rid of this damn curse.”
Saying that, Leo stepped inward.
A moment later.
Leo’s group arrived at the entrance to what used to be Fairy Land.
And seeing the person there, they curled up the corners of their mouths.
“What are you doing here at this late hour?”
“That’s what I’d like to ask.”
Lauta crossed his arms and furrowed his brow.
“As first-years, you shouldn’t have been permitted to leave the dormitory, right?”
“The same goes for you, doesn’t it?”
“Hah? Your tone is arrogant. Are you acting like that because you’re from a different school? I can see Lumern’s level.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Lauta flashing a bitter smile.
Runia spoke urgently.
“Senior Lauta. Undead are appearing in this place right now!”
“I know. I’m currently investigating the cause.”
“If you mean the cause, it’s because of the curse!”
“Curse? Are you saying there’s a curse spread in this place right now?”
“Huh?”
‘With such thick death energy spreading around… he can’t feel this?’
Runia made a bewildered expression.
Instinctively, she felt that Leo’s words were correct.
Lauta was definitely in league with Tartaros.
‘No way… that’s impossible! A Seirun student couldn’t do such a thing!’
But her reason was rejecting it.
It couldn’t make sense for a proud Seirun student to fall into being a necromancer.
Moreover, wasn’t Lauta from the advanced class?
Runia’s eyes wavered.
“I’ll ask once more.”
Leo’s voice sank coldly.
“What were you doing here?”
“I was exterminating Undead and investigating the anomaly in Fairy Forest. Do you think it makes sense for a first-year brat who’s still wet behind the ears to threaten a second-year like me?”
Lauta spoke irritably.
“I am a student carrying on the will of the great Progenitor of the Starry Skies, Luna. For someone like me to tarnish Lady Luna’s honor…”
“Lauta Algraya.”
Runia and Eiran flinched and unconsciously stepped backward.
Lauta, who saw Leo’s expression head-on, was momentarily struck with fear.
“Don’t dare mention Luna with that filthy mouth.”
“You bastard…!”
“Among the Lumern first-years, there were students who accidentally touched items leaked from Tartaros.”
“…!”
Lauta’s face hardened stiffly.
“In the case of those students, since they touched those items without knowing, the school just gave them a warning and let it pass.”
Leo raised his hand.
A small white orb of light shot up into the sky from his fingertip.
Whiiiik! Flash-!
The orb of light burst and the surrounding area became as bright as broad daylight.
Runia’s face was colored with shock and Eiran unconsciously covered her mouth and stepped backward.
Behind Lauta, countless monster corpses were scattered here and there.
A giant summoning circle was drawn with blood and entrails extracted from those corpses.
“The only things that would use monster blood and entrails as catalysts are black magic or necromancy. We let our school students off saying they didn’t know, but…”
Killing intent rose in Leo’s eyes.
“You seem to be cooperating knowingly.”
“Sharp little bastard.”
Lauta made a bitter smile.
“Do you have to dig your own grave to be satisfied?”
“This can’t be… A Seirun student becoming a necromancer…!”
“Watch your words, Runia El Runda. Do you think disrespectful words toward a senior will be tolerated?”
“You use necromancy and call yourself a Seirun student?! Stop talking nonsense!”
Runia shouted fiercely.
“I’m not using necromancy. I’m simply utilizing Tartaros.”
“What?”
“Do you know what slumbers here? No less than the Progenitor’s Hero’s Page is sleeping here! Do you understand what this means? Runia.”
Ecstasy appeared on Lauta’s face.
“It’s no different from becoming Luna’s direct disciple! You’ll become one of the few great heroes in elven history!”
By now, there were hardly any Hero’s Pages of the Great Heroes remaining.
Under such circumstances, discovering a new Hero’s Page and inheriting its power would indeed make one a hero worthy of elven history.
“What’s wrong with using Tartaros to reclaim our heritage?”
“Haven’t you considered that you’re the one being used?”
Leo smiled coldly.
“Hel Kaiser is a legion commander who fears Great Heroes more than anyone. Do you think such a commander would just let you inherit Luna’s power with open arms?”
“There’s no need to worry about that. That foolish Hel Kaiser gave me the power to control the Undead!”
Lauta grinned wickedly as he showed off a black ring.
“With this, mere Undead pose no threat to me.”
“There’s no getting through to you.”
If Hel Kaiser could be manipulated by a mere student rather than a hero, countless heroes wouldn’t have died during the Age of Calamity in the past.
‘He’s emotional and has poor cognitive ability. Similar symptoms to Sen Liu’s case.’
He recalled Sen Liu going berserk during the summoning exam.
“Leo, let’s beat him down. We need to smash that damn face of his and drag him to the teacher!”
Runia growled.
Eiran also showed strong hostility toward Lauta, who had tarnished the Academy’s honor.
“Don’t fight with a half-hearted mind.”
“What?”
“Think that you might have to kill him if it comes to that.”
Runia’s eyes widened at Leo’s advice.
“That’s what fighting Tartaros is like.”
Leaving those words behind, Leo approached Lauta.
‘Kill? A school senior?’
While Runia was flustered.
“Hehehehe-“
Kargor appeared along with black smoke.
“You seem to be in a troublesome situation.”
“Kargor. Kill them!”
At Lauta’s shout, Kargor charged.
“Runia! Eiran! Handle this guy!”
Leo left Kargor to the two and charged straight at Lauta.
“Foolish bastard! I’ll show you the dignity of a 2nd year.”
Seeing Leo charging head-on, Lauta began chanting a spell.
Hearing that spell, Leo also quickly chanted his own.
“Ra Tiarga!”
“Ra Tiarga!”
Kwagagagak-!
The same magic was cast simultaneously, colliding and canceling each other out.
Lauta’s face contorted.
“How dare you use Star Magic?”
“You’re the one using Luna’s magic while acting as Tartaros’s lackey.”
“Shut up! I’m an elf who will inherit the Progenitor’s power! I’m different from a rootless bastard like you!”
Lauta, with bloodshot eyes, began chanting magic.
Hearing this, Leo also chanted his spell.
“Ri Ezernia!”
“Ri Ezernia.”
Flash-!
Crackle-!
Intense lightning swept through.
“…!”
When the magic was canceled out again by the same spell, Lauta’s face hardened.
‘This bastard… could it be!’
Lauta hastily began chanting.
Hearing Lauta’s chant, Leo also quickly recited his spell.
Whoosh-!
This time flames swept through.
Lauta’s body trembled.
“This, this bastard dares!”
It wasn’t a coincidence that their magic overlapped.
Leo had listened to Lauta’s spell and simply repeated the same incantation.
And he completed the magic simultaneously.
There was no greater humiliation for a mage than this.
Looking at the excited Lauta, Leo spoke.
“Your skill in handling magic is pathetic.”
Whoosh-!
Leo’s body disappeared in an instant.
Startled, Lauta quickly searched for Leo, but Leo was already behind him.
“It’s like you can’t even properly handle your own power.”
Thwack-! Crack!
“Kugh?”
Leo kicked Lauta’s ankle with his aura-infused foot.
With the sound of bones breaking, Lauta collapsed to the ground.
“Well, it’s not even your own power, so of course you can’t handle it properly.”
Leo’s gaze turned to the black ring.
‘Demon Artifact.’
Shing-!
Leo drew his sword.
Lauta’s face turned pale.
“Sp-spare me! I’m a student of Seirun! If you kill me, the relationship between Lumern and Seirun will…!”
Crack-!
“Kek?”
Leo’s sword pierced through Lauta’s throat without hesitation.
If he had been a proper Seirun 2nd year advanced class student, even Leo would have struggled.
But to Leo, who had experienced all kinds of hardships, Lauta was nothing more than a fool with brute strength.
Whoosh-!
“Hehehehe.”
Then Kargor appeared before Leo.
Runia and Eiran, who had been fiercely fighting Kargor, stopped when they spotted Leo while chasing after him.
And seeing Lauta with his throat pierced, they swallowed hard.
“Did you kill him? Hehehe! To kill someone who dreamed of being a hero alongside you! How ruthless! How cruel! And you still dream of being a hero! Huhahahaha”
Eyes gleaming, Kargor mocked Leo.
Runia and Eiran’s eyes shook violently.
They had expected such a situation might arise.
But now that it was actually happening before their eyes, the young girls couldn’t help but have their minds go blank.
Kargor, who had been bursting with laughter, suddenly made eye contact with Leo.
Kargor felt chills run down his spine when he saw those eyes.
‘Even though he’s fallen, he killed a hero candidate. Normally, he should show the same reaction as those elf girls.’
But Leo’s eyes showed no emotion whatsoever.
‘What are those eyes?’
They were simply calm.
‘Those aren’t the eyes of someone who dreams of being a hero. Nor are they the eyes of a hero. Those are….’
The eyes of a hunter.
“You’re next.”
Without bloodlust, anger, or fighting spirit.
At Leo’s utterly dry voice, the knight who had transcended even death felt fear.
It felt like standing before his master, the Demon King Hel Kaiser.
‘This bastard must be killed here!’
His instincts screamed that.
With that thought, Kargor plunged his greatsword into the ground.
Gooooo-!
Dark red energy flowed from the greatsword into the ground.
Along with that, Lauta’s black ring reacted.
Lauta’s body began to swell.
Seeing this, Leo urgently threw his body aside.
Kwang! Kwadeudeuk-!
Lauta’s body exploded, sending bone fragments and flesh flying in all directions like buckshot.
Leo deployed his aura armor to protect his body.
‘Self-destruction!’
Leo’s face contorted.
Lauta’s hand, wearing the ring that was the only thing that retained its form, clenched into a fist.
Kwagagagagak-!
Along with that, the bone fragments and flesh that had scattered began to gather.
“Ugh-!”
Runia and Eiran covered their mouths.
The gathered bone fragments and flesh clumped together like clay, then soon returned to Lauta’s form.
Opening his eyes, Lauta looked down at his hands in disbelief.
“I’m alive?”
“Hehe. By experiencing death, you have formed a contract with the great Overlord King.”
Kargor’s eyes flashed.
“Lauta Algraya! Don’t you want to become a great hero who has transcended even death?”
“Transcending even death… a great hero!”
Desire flickered in Lauta’s eyes.
“Accept it! The power of the dead!”
Gooooo-!
Dark magic power flowed from Lauta’s body.
Woong-!
Along with that, the summoning circle Lauta had drawn emitted an ominous light.
Kugugugugugugugu-!
The entire ground shook.
Runia and Eiran lost their balance and fell to the ground.
Leo hardened his face as he watched the giant skeleton rising through the earth.
‘As Lauta’s magic power strengthened, the summoning circle activated… That Death Knight. He planned to kill Lauta from the beginning.’
Uwoooooooooooo!
[What is that thing!]
Kirran cried out in horror.
“Skeleton King.”
Leo answered with a hardened face.
“One of the strongest Undead.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————