Chapter 162: A Single Person’s Danger

The cult of mysticism.
Xenia Niflheim couldn’t even open her mouth under the suffocating pressure.

Sweat dripped down from her forehead.

It was only natural.
She had never experienced pressure like this in her life.

But that wasn’t all.
What was constricting her body now was clearly some kind of special power.

Mystery, Warrior of Petrification.

Even Paladin Centriol had been bound by it, unable to move—a power of mysticism.

Vulcan possessed a unique trait.

Just as magical engravings are amplified when combined with mysteries, Vulcan had a special constitution that could amplify mysteries.

[Beloved by the Mystic]
This was Vulcan’s inherent trait.

Through Vulcan, the power of the Petrification Warrior was amplified and turned everything to stone.

‘Move. Move!’

Xenia shouted internally, trying to stir her mana to move her body.
But no matter how much she channeled mana, her body refused to respond.

Xenia felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

She had believed in her magic, at least up until she entered.
But the moment she saw that man, she saw no chance of victory.

Even she, a perfectionist, had to admit defeat in an instant before such overwhelming force.

Vulcan Zebra.
A hidden bloodline of the Zebra Kingdom.

One who, having endured countless adversities in life, came to vomit rage and hatred toward the world.

Vulcan wasn’t much older in actual years than the others here.
The reincarnations of the heroes had all been born within a short span of time.

However, his appearance was vastly different from theirs.
His face was lined with deep wrinkles, resembling that of a withered old tree—like a man well into middle age.

He looked like a dark sorcerer who had sacrificed his own life force.

A black wind blew, ruffling Vulcan’s signature hair—a mixture of ashen gray and black.
Beneath it, a deep scar was etched across his forehead.

It was a horrific mark left by someone who had once tried to tear through his brain.

Then, the scar split open, revealing a new eye.
With the appearance of the third eye, the pressure intensified even more.

At some point, Xenia had forgotten to breathe.

“You came all the way here on your own.”

Vulcan twisted his face into a grotesque smile.

“How very kind of you.”

The blood-red eye of the third eye locked onto Xenia, tightening like a vice.

Terror closed in, choking the breath from her lungs.

Around Vulcan, the Hands of the Abomination descended one by one.
The grotesque hands reached toward those frozen in place.

“Aquiline.”

Vulcan was the one who sold Musica to the Abomination.
Aquiline—Musica’s past self—was a thorn in Vulcan’s side.

“You should never have come back.”

Though Musica had returned only in spiritual form,  this meant Grantony had no reason to keep the Reverse World sealed.

And that became the root of all this trouble.

The Abomination resolved to do whatever it took to reclaim Aquiline.
As a result, it made a pact with Vulcan, sharing its power with him.

Thud—

Suddenly, the stairs below collapsed.
Darkness rushed in to fill the space in an instant.

The moment anyone set foot into that darkness, the endless abyss would devour them.

Yet even in this chaos, no one could move.

Vulcan had not only consumed the soul of the hero Ordo.
He had burned and absorbed numerous souls to augment his own strength.

As proof, a power even Vulcan himself couldn’t fully control was surging out of him.
Normally, such power should have gone berserk, but with the Abomination’s help, it was kept in check.

“Zeryon.”

Xenia’s body shuddered.
She was overwhelmed with the urge to escape this place, nearly moved to tears.

Yet her perfectionist nature barely managed to keep her rooted there.
Her obsession with perfection somehow suppressed the fear.

“Your magic was ultimately meaningless.”

It was meaningless.

It was in the past tense.

To Xenia, who had no memory of Zeryon, it was all a mystery.

“Narea.”

Vulcan looked at the tense Acrede and let out a dark, ominous laugh.

“The goddess betrays us to the very end.”

Having delivered a message to each of the heroes gathered there, Vulcan pulled his hands together.
At that moment, the Hand of the Abomination above his head mirrored him, folding its hands together as well.

“The time for vengeance, over a thousand years in the making, has come.”

Under the crushing pressure from Vulcan and the Abomination, everyone was frozen in place by petrification, looking up in helpless despair.

Xenia clenched her eyes shut, staring at the Abomination’s hand now right in front of her.

This was the end.

“I declare, here and now—”
“I’ve heard enough of that already.”

At that moment, Vulcan’s words were cut off by a boy’s voice echoing through the space.

Vulcan slowly turned his eyes.
There, a boy stood with one arm raised above his head.

Vulcan recognized him.
He was the one who had stirred up the Empire—constantly interfering in Vulcan’s affairs for reasons he couldn’t understand.

The one who stopped the hostage crisis of the noble Saint Narea of Acrede, who rescued Musica.
And strangely enough, one who used Zeryon’s elder dragon magic.

Which made him even more incomprehensible to Vulcan.

Hanon Airei.

He stood there, holding his right hand above his head.

‘How?’

Vulcan’s eyes narrowed.
He realized how the boy was moving.

Mysteries cancel out other mystic powers of the same class.

The steel body enveloping him—
It was a mystic power superior to that of the Petrification Warrior.

Hanon was the only one in the group who could move freely.

The Petrification Pattern.
Hanon had known about it for a long time.

So from the moment he had the steel body, he had already been prepared.
Even as fear gripped everyone else, Hanon’s eyes shone, utterly fearless.

While all others were petrified, Hanon was already planning his next move.

Vulcan had joined hands with the Abomination.
Yet Hanon remained calm, undaunted.

This world had already begun with the variable known as Lucas.
So it was no surprise that another variable would emerge—he had anticipated it all along.

That’s why he had prepared, again and again, never letting his guard down.

A ring gripped in his right hand began to glow.
If it had been an unknown variable, maybe there would be fear—but a known pattern? There was nothing to fear.

BOOM!

The Abomination, realizing what Hanon was about to do, trembled—but it was too late.

“Forced skip.”

The ring on Hanon’s right hand burst into light.
Answering the ring’s call, the darkened sky split open—and in its place, blue lightning opened its maw.

Come, Lightning Catcher

The goddess’s lightning, able to pierce even the divine bow, crossed through space and descended.
The Abomination, having been struck by it multiple times before, hurriedly lashed out with its hand.

――――――――――――!

The incandescent light that swallowed even the sound of explosions erupted around them.
Xenia, overwhelmed by the blinding brilliance, instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.

“Musica!”

At that moment, Hanon’s voice rang out, cutting through the light like thunder.
The Petrification Warrior was forcibly dispelled by the lightning of the goddess.

A stronger power had nullified the mystic spell.

The Abomination’s hand, seething with rage, lunged forward.

It had been struck by this lightning many times—
It was furious now.

Hanon dodged the flying hand and shouted:

“Reverse-summon the Abomination together with Grantoni!”

When everyone else had been petrified, Hanon was the only one who had looked ahead to the next move.

How could they stop the Abomination?
The answer had already been chosen from among those present.

Hearing Hanon’s call, Musica extended both hands.

The Reverse World is not like reality.
Even Grantoni, back at the academy, could intervene in this moment.

On the contrary, because he was in the academy, the Abomination couldn’t immediately interfere with Grantoni.
That was precisely why they hadn’t bothered to bring Grantoni here in person.

Needless to say, Musica was more than ready.
She had spent more than enough time in the Reverse World to be sick of it.

She knew exactly how to make use of the Reverse World.

“Perfect!”

Musica moved her now-freed body and gave a chilling smile.
In her eyes, fierce rage swirled toward the Abomination.

“It’s payback time!”

The pain she had endured at the hands of the Abomination.
Her life, like that of her family, had been destroyed and stolen.

Even the consciousness of Vinesha, dwelling beyond Musica, burst out in fury.

Dark currents surged, and the wails of vengeful spirits filled the air.

The time for revenge had come.
As a soul sorceress, she unleashed her full power.

KWAOOOOOOM!

The Abomination’s hand came crashing down, obliterating the altar.
Musica slipped into the Reverse World.

Not yet.
This alone wasn’t enough to stop the Abomination.

“Lady Acrede, Sir Centriol—you two as well!”

While Musica and Grantoni performed the reverse summoning, someone had to hold back the Abomination’s physical body that had emerged into this realm.

The Abomination’s power could be neutralized with the power of the goddess.

“Y-Yes!”
“We accept the mission.”

The Abomination was a being sealed in the Reverse World—not a complete existence.

The two—one a saintess, the other a paladin—
They had the strength to push the Abomination back.

And once the Abomination was driven back, Vulcan was within expected limits.

Just then, dark beasts burst through the smoke conjured by the Abomination.
Made of inky, liquid-like matter, the black beasts bared their fangs.
Hanon and Isabel both kicked off the ground, slicing through with the edge of a hand and a sword.

BOOM!

One of the beasts exploded in a burst from Hanon’s strike, reduced to pieces.
Isabel’s goddess-blessed sword cut cleanly through another without hesitation.

Through the smoke, they saw Vulcan stomp the ground.
At once, the altar floor morphed into a towering column.

Hanon dodged skillfully and shouted:

“Xenia! Vulcan has a mystic power similar to teleportation!”

Vulcan’s plan had been to bind everyone who came here as Petrification Warriors—and then kill them.
Or if not kill them, let them be devoured by the Earth Dragon in the end.

And he himself had planned to escape using his mystic powers.
In fact, in the scenario, if Xenia wasn’t taken along, Vulcan would successfully flee.

Even now, he was ready to bolt the moment things turned against him.
That couldn’t be allowed.

“Your Celestial Magic can cancel his!”

But with Xenia here, the situation was different.

“I can do it!”

Xenia was shaken.
Vulcan’s power was beyond imagination.

And with the addition of the Abomination, they had revealed overwhelming force.
Vulcan manipulated his mystic powers freely, preventing anyone from getting close.

But Hanon had plunged into the situation without hesitation and stood against him.
Someone her own age was leading this battle.

He was truly planning to defeat Vulcan.
She almost wondered if he was out of his mind.

But he was serious.
Just like at the beginning, he intended to bring Vulcan down.

In the chaos, Xenia swallowed a breath.
Explosions rang out as they clashed with Vulcan, and the altar was being reduced to ruin.

Yet through the smoke, Hanon emerged, swinging his hand like a blade without hesitation.

As Xenia watched, she remembered how Hanon had introduced himself.

A student of Zeryon Academy.

She, a reincarnated hero, had been afraid.

Meanwhile, the students of the academy built under Zeryon’s name—
They were standing against Vulcan.

Smack!

Xenia slapped both of her cheeks.
Her eyes lit with new resolve.

I am Xenia Niflheim.
The proud heir of House Niflheim.

She set aside self-criticism and embraced only perfectionism.
It was a situation where she had no choice but to do so.

Starlight flared all around her.

She could not allow the name of House Niflheim to be tarnished.
She would claim victory in the name of Xenia.

Raising her staff, she shouted with all her might:

“I’ll neutralize it!”

Hearing Xenia’s response, Hanon rolled across the ground and caught his breath.

Unexpected events always happened.
And it was always Hanon’s role to push through them.

So the objective remained the same as at the beginning.
Defeat Vulcan.

“Isabel.”

Calling out to one last person, Hanon thrust forward with his hand like a blade.
Within his body, the magic of an elder dragon roared uncontrollably.

“We’re going to bring Vulcan down.”
“Got it!”

Isabel answered instantly, spreading her divine wings.
Her eyes were filled with absolute trust in Hanon.

Everyone steeled their resolve, ready for a desperate final stand.
Seeing this, Vulcan grew deeply displeased.

His gaze locked onto Hanon.
A single individual had completely overturned the situation in a moment.

Xenia’s Celestial Magic erupted with starlight.
Vulcan’s spatial manipulation mystic power shrank back.

At this rate, escape was no longer an option.

Vulcan’s eyes narrowed lazily.
Half of Narea’s soul, Zeryon, Aquiline, and now three heroes—all had appeared simultaneously.

He had grown greedy, summoning the Abomination as well in order to seize the souls of all three.
But the resistance had been far stronger than expected.

He had hoped to end things swiftly using the Abomination and the Petrified Warriors, but the situation had unraveled.

Because of just one person.

Hanon Airei.
That boy had turned the tide in an instant.

Of course, the situation still favored Vulcan.
Only two were truly capable of standing against him.

Isabel Luna and Hanon Airei.
Two children who hadn’t even reached adulthood.

The most dangerous forces—like the heroes and paladin—were occupied trying to stop the Abomination.

So, by any measure, Vulcan still held the advantage.

Yet Vulcan was filled with discomfort.
That boy reminded him of someone from the past—uncannily so.

A man who had once led all others like a lone star forging a galaxy.

That man, too, had overturned hopeless odds just like this.

So he knew exactly what he had to do first.

‘He must be killed.’

That boy would become a grave threat if left alive.
Of that, Vulcan was certain.

To him, the most dangerous foe here wasn’t the three assembled heroes, nor the White Wood Duke outside facing the Earth Dragon.

It was a single student of Zeryon Academy—
Hanon Airei, also known as Vikarmern Niflheim.

He was the one.