Chapter 82
Leon Wolf belonged to the generation of ruin.
He was born in the very year the apocalypse began… truly, a child of that doomed era. At first, it was bearable. Hermadion had always been fighting, even before the apocalypse arrived. This was merely an addition to what was already there.
This world had creatures known as monsters, beings mutated by environments saturated with mana. They were born and acted purely on instinct.
Hermadion was a territory with a frontline wall, serving as a barrier to prevent monsters from entering the Empire. Because of that, Hermadion was, in a sense, resistant to this kind of apocalypse.
And Leon Wolf was born there, carrying the surname “Wolf.”
A military family of Hermadion. Naturally, Leon Wolf was raised as a soldier. Born with a massive frame, he had already surpassed 2 meters by the age of fifteen, and his talent overflowed; he absorbed everything he learned like a sponge.
Swordsmanship, magic. And the fusion of both: ‘magic swordsmanship’. That was Leon Wolf’s pride.
Which was also Hermadion’s pride. And the pride of the Wolf family.
“I am a Wolf.”
“I am the sword of Hermadion.”
“I am a knight of the Empire’s frontlines.”
That belief was what drove Leon Wolf.
He was young. Too young to understand the weight he carried. He simply lived with a sense of duty to protect this place.
Perhaps, in a way, that duty was what protected him.
At eighteen, Leon was appointed commander. He resolved to devote his entire life to Hermadion.
No… truthfully, he had never had a choice.
It was a crown of thorns placed upon him the moment he was born.
Every time cries of despair echoed from within the Empire, Leon Wolf picked up his sword again and cut down his enemies.
“Move. We are knights of the Empire. Knights of Hermadion!”
Was it the crown of thorns that drove him onward?
Or perhaps Leon was simply talented, even at bearing such a burden.
He believed he could cut down even other worlds.
***
At twenty-two.
Leon stepped into a passage that connected to another world.
Such passages had to be destroyed.
From the moment the choice appeared, he believed the correct answer was to invade the other world and eradicate it.
What happened to Belpheborn, the world that failed to do so?
It was completely consumed and vanished.
And in the process, countless people from the merging world had rushed in to barely stop the collapse.
A horrific war, with countless casualties.
That must never be repeated.
The moment a passage appeared, it was to be eradicated.
—
Stage 130: Helin’s Cabin.
—
Leon stepped inside.
Strangely, the others who had entered with him were nowhere to be seen. Only Leon stood there, blankly, in front of a small cabin.
The surroundings were dense forest, dark as well. If he didn’t find his men immediately…
“Yonas! Ida!”
He moved to search for them.
Just as he turned his gaze toward the forest…
The cabin suddenly lit up.
Encounters in places like this were usually with enemies.
Leon immediately raised his sword.
No matter what came out, he would cut it down.
If this were the stage of the passage, then killing everything would bring the stage to an end.
The narrator grumbled about how boring that would be.
But this wasn’t about “fun.”
To Leon, this was survival.
The survival of his world and everything he stood for.
“Ah…”
What emerged when the door opened…
Was a small woman.
Long brown hair tied neatly behind her. Slightly drooping eyes. Yellow irises are blinking calmly.
A fragile, petite woman.
Compared to Leon, who was over 2.5 meters tall, she wasn’t even half his size.
But there was no room for carelessness.
Creatures that looked weak were often the most dangerous.
Leon frowned and raised his sword higher.
The woman stared at him for a moment.
It was a strange standoff.
A heavily armed giant of a man… and a woman in sleepwear, holding nothing.
“Um…”
After a brief silence, she spoke in a small voice.
“Hello…?”
It was absurdly calm.
Too calm.
Leon tightened his grip on his sword.
“What trick are you playing, woman?”
“Trick? You’re the one who showed up in front of my house, you bastard.”
“…?”
Leon’s face blanked for a moment.
What kind of bizarre form of address was that?
Was that normal in this world?
But the expression quickly vanished. He raised his sword again.
“State your purpose.”
“I should be asking that, you crazy bastard.”
“…?”
“…What did I just hear?”
At twenty-two years of age…
This was the first time Leon had ever been insulted like this.
“…Y-you… who are you?”
“Who do you think? I’m the owner of this cabin. My name’s Helin. And you?”
His mind spun.
“…Leon Wolf.”
“I see. So why are you here?”
Why?
Had he come to the wrong place?
Or was this woman misunderstanding something?
One of them had to be mistaken.
But then…
Something appeared in his vision.
—
This is a world of the end!
A plague has wiped out all life, leaving only one survivor.
The one who has lived her entire life in this cabin, Helin!
Persuade ‘Helin.’ Or kill her.
Once Helin is either persuaded or killed, the story will end!
—
Persuade?
Persuade what?
“If she’s the only one left alive…”
Did she fail to become a “named being”?
Someone who survived alone until the end of the world?
Though, to be fair, Leon’s world had none of those either.
His world was still in the process of collapse.
But most worlds connected by these passages were already destroyed.
A woman who survived alone without gaining a name.
A woman who connected the worlds just to survive.
Leon raised his sword.
Persuade or kill.
Then killing would be faster.
Killing the weak went against his knightly code… but he could not allow this world to fully connect.
A plague.
A plague that wiped out all life.
If the worlds merged, that plague would come with it.
That must not happen.
Leon moved.
He gripped his sword tighter, layered magic over it, and closed the distance in an instant…
then swung.
Slash!
A perfect strike.
A clean horizontal cut aimed directly at where the woman stood.
Leon watched it through to the end…
to ensure the blade connected.
But just before it reached her…
A massive armored hand appeared out of thin air… and grabbed the sword.
Clang!
The blade bit halfway into the gauntlet.
“…What?”
An unbelievable reaction speed.
Leon had enhanced himself with magic even before moving.
Normally… someone of her level, as he had judged, wouldn’t even be able to react before being cut down.
As Leon stared in shock… the severed hand dissolved into dust and vanished.
“…Ah, Sir Sherin.”
The woman frowned slightly.
As if sympathizing with someone else’s pain.
Sir Sherin?
There were only two people here, Leon and her.
So that name…
belonged to that hand?
Leon’s mind expanded rapidly under the shock.
Because that hand… had been far larger than his own.
Even among the large-built people of Hermadion, he had seen many giants, but that hand had been far bigger than his.
And yet, unmistakably human.
Even down to the cut surface.
“Excuse me.”
The woman called out to Leon, who was lost in confusion.
“What are you going to do?”
It sounded like a whip crack.
A demand.
Will you continue?
Despite having just been attacked, she remained completely calm.
A red signal flared in Leon’s mind.
This woman…
“…What exactly are you?”
She answered calmly.
“I told you already.”
“….”
“I’m Helin. And this is my cabin.”
“You know that’s not what I’m asking.”
She quietly looked up at him.
Her clear yellow eyes showed no fear… even as she faced the towering Leon.
Then it hit him.
Kill her… or persuade her.
“Was my explanation lacking?”
“I’m Helin. And this is my cabin.”
…In other words… the last remaining being of this world…
Helin.
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