REAPER SCANS
Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student
[Translator – Aine ]
[Proofreader – Ash ]
Chapter 329
"Push beyond your limits and do the impossible..." Leo said, observing Chelsea, who was intently focused on him.
"You know it’s not as easy as it sounds, right?"
A wide grin spread across Leo’s face.
It was different from his usual gentle smile.
This smile was sharp, exuding an overwhelming presence.
The mere sight of each other was enough to give anyone else pause.
But.
‘I can’t just back down.’
Chelsea was resolute, not giving up in her desire to be recognized as an equal.
It was as if she was trying to match Leo’s pace despite the distance between them.
Wiooooo-!
The wind swirled around Chelsea.
Leo, observing Chelsea’s wind-powered stance, gave strength to Arty’s reins.
Crackle-crackle-!
Arty charged at Chelsea.
With a flash of white cutting through the sky, Leo swiftly closed the distance to Chelsea.
Chelsea pointed her cane at him.
"Wind Sickle!"
When Chelsea unleashed the spell, numerous wind sickles flew toward Leo.
Crash-crash-crash-!
Leo easily dodged hundreds of wind sickles, maneuvering with Arty’s control.
His evasive tactics, enhanced by the Pegasus’ speed, were almost a spectacle in themselves.
Chelsea clasped her cane as she observed this.
'I’ve already anticipated his movements.'
No matter how skilled Chelsea was with sorcery, overcoming Leo was a tall order.
After all, her opponent was Leo Plov.
A man of overwhelming strength.
Chelsea began to chant another spell.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-!
Her body multiplied into several.
‘Wind clone.’
A spell to create alter egos made of one’s main sorcery attributes.
Among the second year students, the student who was the best at using cloning sorcery was Chloe, followed by Chelsea.
Ten Chelsea alter egos charged at Leo in unison.
Leo’s eyes narrowed.
'She’s improved her cloning sorcery technique to a higher level.'
Leo recognized Chelsea’s mastery of sorcery.
Chelsea’s main specialty was using her clones to disorient her opponent in close combat.
'Can’t tell the real one from her copies.'
The spell had become more sophisticated.
Leo assessed Chelsea.
"Wind boom!"
As Chelsea’s spell completed, her ten copies advanced towards Leo.
Leo’s red eyes shimmered for a moment.
Whoosh-!
Just before reaching Leo, Chelsea’s sorcery transformed into a gentle breeze.
Instead of blocking or avoiding the attack, she nullified the sorcery itself.
Chelsea’s other specialty was high-speed casting.
The advantage of her swiftly enchanted movements allowed her to complete spells at great speed.
However, the disadvantage was also clear.
The spell used in such a rapid-fire manner had to be relatively simple.
Of course, the spells she used weren't simple enough to be analyzed and nullified instantly.
Especially for someone of Chelsea’s skill level, however, the spells used in high-speed casting were quite complex.
‘But my opponent is Leo.’
Chelsea gritted her teeth.
As a sorcerer in battle, her 'competence' was fundamentally different from Leo’s.
She was keenly aware of that fact.
Flash! Crash-crash-crash-!
Leo charged at Chelsea with a blinding flash of light.
Chelsea, taking a deep breath, opened her eyes and scattered herself.
"Wind chain."
Whish-whish-whish-!
A chain of wind sprang from Chelsea’s cane, wrapping around Leo’s body.
Leo, now restrained, looked at Chelsea.
Chelsea’s goal wasn’t to defeat Leo.
It was to keep Walden occupied until he was ready to attack.
She only needed to stall Leo a bit.
So dragging her feet like this wasn’t a bad strategy after all.
"In a typical case."
Whish-whish-whish-! Whooooosh-!
Leo released the wind chain that bound his left arm with sheer force.
Then he grabbed the wind chain and yanked one of Chelsea’s copies.
Whoosh-!
The clone, lifted by Leo’s immense power, struggled in the air.
Fwooom-!
Leo wielded his hand, and the alter ego exploded like a balloon, vanishing without a trace.
Leo’s sharp eyes turned to one of the nine remaining Chelseas.
‘He caught one!’
Chelsea’s complexion shifted.
"No matter how perfect your mimicry, it’s surprisingly easy to find the real thing."
Yank!
Leo grabbed Chelsea’s wind chain and pulled with tremendous force.
Chelsea was pulled right towards him in an instant.
Swoosh!
Leo grabbed Chelsea by the scruff of her neck.
"You can’t hide from me."
Grip-!
"Choke!"
Leo applied his strength to Chelsea’s neck.
Chelsea, now strangled, looked distressed.
Chelsea smirked as she gazed at Leo, who said calmly, "It’s over."
"T-this is getting interesting! You thought I’d give up so easily?"
A sorcery trap exploded around Chelsea.
Leo’s eyes widened at the sight.
A powerful wave of energy swept over her.
‘A self-destructing spell?’
"You’ll be the only one to be declared defeated, though?"
"Isn’t it only natural to put so much on the line against you, Leo?"
Chelsea grinned.
There was something vaguely familiar in her laughter.
Observing Chelsea, Leo said, "Impressive."
Flash-crash!
Leo was engulfed by flashes emanating from Chelsea.
The explosion ignited her mana.
The force of the blast at close range dizzied Leo.
The bracelet representing her life glowed orange.
Leo watched Chelsea fall to the floor.
'She avoided it for a short time.'
A spell that consumed all her energy to create an explosion.
Chelsea’s desperate gamble was her best chance to take Leo down.
Leo raised his head.
Rumble-rumble!
The massive earth summoned by Walden flew towards Leo instantly.
Whoosh!
Abad, wielding his wind sorcery, urgently descended to save Chelsea.
Whoooom-!
Eliza’s Delphinus opened a water barrier to block Leo’s escape.
Their one coordinated attack, prepared with great effort, finally struck Leo.
"How are these kids growing so fast?"
Leo laughed.
Just a year ago, they were merely young children.
'Well, they’re still children even now... But.'
In just a year, they had grown enough to challenge him with such formidable trials.
Today would have been their worst nightmare.
Leo’s motives differed from theirs.
After enduring endless trials, despair, and losing everything, he had managed to subdue Erebos.
And now, against young boys and girls in their mid-to-late teens, barely into adulthood.
‘The starting line was never the same for us.’
For Leo’s classmates, Leo was an insurmountable wall.
That’s why he had been so considerate of them until now.
But...
'Some things can only be learned through failure and getting back up again.'
People called it an ordeal.
‘You must pick yourself up, raise your head, and get back at it.’
Leo had thought it would take them much longer to learn.
But the difference he had shown them was so vast.
Yet they had overcome it in the blink of an eye.
Perhaps it was the spirit of challenge innate to teenagers.
Or perhaps it was simply childish rebellion.
In either case, it was more than Leo had expected.
Leo murmured, looking at the mass of earth that loomed before his nose.
“...But I don’t take kindly to being pushed down.”
Crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash!
The earth struck Leo.
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Aine]
[Proofreader – Ash]
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
* * *
“C-Class president…”
Eliana slumped down.
The other Glory students did the same.
The Harmony and Noble students, who had been swept away by the tsunami during their attack, clenched their fists and cheered.
“Ugh, it’s over!”
“This is the end for Glory, right? This is it!”
“Woooooooo!”
Celia and Duran also stopped fighting.
Chloe sighed, and Chen Xia smiled brightly.
Shhhhhhhhhhh-!
The water in Lake Lumeria, under Leo’s control, slowly drained away.
It wasn’t a landslide.
It was as if a mountain itself had fallen on them.
“This isn’t even a Mountain Attack.”
Carr, who had devised the plan, made a tired expression.
“It was a good plan.”
Abad, who was supporting the unconscious Chelsea, came to Carr with his signature smile.
“Ahem! If we consider Chelsea out of the picture now, does this mean our dormitory wins?”
“I guess that would be right… otherwise, Duran and Eliza would never forgive us, right?”
“Just kidding. Chelsea and Celia are gonna kill you anyway. Not much different for you whether we won or lost, no?”
Carr slumped down in his seat.
“My legs are giving out.”
Walden and Eliza also gathered around Carr.
“Really… we only barely held them off for half of the time by pure luck. It’s fortunate that Leo insisted on an all-on-one war against us, or else we wouldn’t have gotten the job done.”
Walden glanced at the spot where Leo had been buried.
“… This won’t happen again. Whether we won or lost today, I’ll face him alone next time.”
“Hm, same here.”
“Hey, that was great teamwork today. But you’re doing too much again!”
Carr shone his characteristically witty smile.
However, Walden used a wind spirit to snatch Chelsea from Abad.
Abad and Eliza shielded Carr.
“Now that we’ve taken out Leo Plov, you guys are next.”
“Huh. Since we’ve taken out Leo Plov, there’s no reason for us to cooperate anymore,” Walden and Eliza said simultaneously.
At that, Carr muttered, “…Don’t jinx it.”
“What did you say?”
When Abad asked with a puzzled look, Carr explained, “Come on, guys. This kind of thing always happens in novels. Where once you say you’ve taken out the enemy, they don’t always stay down…”
Rumble-rumble-rumble-
“… And then they appear again… .”
Rumble-rumble-rumble-! Boooooooooom-!
The ground that had covered Leo soared upwards.
Leo emerged from beneath it.
Carr's face turned pale at the sight of Leo, who appeared with a cold smile as he broke through the earth itself.
Walden, Abad, and Eliza instinctively assumed their battle stances.
However, they couldn’t help but look tired as they watched Leo, who appeared with a murderous expression.
"That was good. So, what else do you have?"
Leo smiled and raised his hand.
Flutter--fwooooooosh-!
He unleashed a tremendous flame.
But this was the limit of his power.
Walden, Abad, and Eliza.
All three had just poured all of their strength into the attack.
Leo's bracelet, which also represented his life, was glowing red.
However, the three of them did not have enough strength left to protect Chelsea, who had fainted from Leo's flames, and Carr, who had low combat ability to start with.
Leo, observing his friends, said coldly, “If you have nothing else for me, should we end it here?”
At that terrifying sight, Carr muttered in a desperate voice, “… At this point… you’re basically the Demon King.”
Crash-crash-crash-!
Leo’s flames engulfed them all.
Chelsea opened her eyes.
‘The… hospital…?’
Chelsea blinked and exclaimed, “Ah!” before suddenly sitting up.
“The grand finale! Agggggggggggghhhh?!”
Chelsea, who had been shouting urgently, screamed in response to the sudden pain all over her body.
“Are you awake now?” Celia, her eyes slightly red, asked.
Chelsea then asked urgently, “How did it end?”
“…”
Celia let out a small sigh and turned on the magic communication device installed in the ward.
Zip-!
[Now, we will begin the dormitory competition award ceremony. The award ceremony will be held by Professor Sedgen, the second year head professor. The award ceremony will be held in person, where the trophy and plaque will be presented. This year’s MVP, Leo Plov.]
Leo was seen walking up to the stage as announced.
[Congratulations on your victory in the competition.]
[Thank you.]
“…We lost.”
Chelsea smiled bitterly.
Celia stood up from her seat as she watched him.
"Well, I wanted to check to see if you were awake, so I'll be going back now."
"Yeah."
Chelsea answered without taking her eyes off the screen.
Chelsea clenched her fists as she watched Leo’s performance.
Whenever she saw his achievements, Chelsea felt as happy as if it were her own.
But today...
Despite her best efforts, she and her team couldn’t win.
She knew far too well the gap between them.
And yet...
‘He beat me.’
With her head down and teeth clenched, Chelsea held back tears.
Celia gave her a sharp slap.
'No crying. Crying won’t change anything.'
Celia, taking a deep breath, straightened her back.
She knew she had to congratulate her cousin Leo as a fellow Zerdinger.
At the Noble dormitory.
"D-Duran. I told you not to overdo it. What’s wrong with you?"
"Shut up."
Duran was busy training in the training room.
He responded coldly to the dissuasion of a fellow dormitory resident.
"Abad~ there’s a party today, aren’t you going to get ready? You’ve been studying for so long. Don’t worry about losing...We’re all done with the exam, so we should go have some fun.”
Noble girls whined at Abad, who was engrossed in a sorcery textbook, but he only smiled warmly in response.
Eliza sat on the top floor of the Noble dormitory, closing her eyes to meditate.
Walden responded to spirits in the Harmony dormitory.
At the center of Lumene.
Standing on the roof of the Tower of Heroes, Mel gazed down at the sunset over Lumene.
“You wanted an indomitable hero who could stand up even after hitting a wall… being defeated… and reaching their limit, right?”
The great hero who had blamed himself for not being able to stand up again after defeat.
He wanted his successors to tread a different path than he had.
That’s why he left behind the motto of 'pushing beyond your limits' for future generations.
"Your wish is still well received by the generations that followed. So please hold on a little bit longer."
Mel clenched her fist as she looked at Lumene, bathed in twilight.
"The hero you longed for... will save you."
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