Lesia.
Lesia Leaegrove.
He was the eldest son of the Leaegrove Baron family.
Born with overwhelming magical talent, Lesia was a prodigy from a young age.
Everyone said it: this child will be the one to bring glory to our family.
As if to live up to their expectations, Lesia began to showcase his talents to the world.
He entered the academy with the highest score in its history and, from his first semester to his final one, never once lost his position as the top student, eventually graduating as valedictorian.
It was unheard of for someone to earn the title of Grand Magician right after graduation.
Two years later, he won the “Magician of the Year” award from the Mage Tower, becoming the youngest to ever receive the honor.
Everyone spoke in unison: Lesia would either become a Grand Sage or the magician of a hero’s party.
Either way, he would be a great figure who would leave a profound mark on humanity.
No one doubted it.
Lesia was the pride of his family and the hope of mankind.
Moreover, he was handsome.
This made him quite popular in high society.
Rumors even circulated that he was dating Princess Irene.
Given Lesia’s stature, it would make sense that someone like him would be with a princess.
But neither party ever commented on these rumors, so the truth remained unclear.
Anyway… Lesia was the perfect man, the perfect magician.
That was, until the incident.
At the age of 24, Lesia received his second “Magician of the Year” award.
The grand banquet was held, with prominent figures from all walks of life gathering to congratulate him.
The host, with a joyous voice, announced:
“It’s the first time since the Grand Sage Minerva that someone has received the ‘Magician of the Year’ award twice! Let’s send our congratulations to the future Grand Sage, Lesia Leaegrove!”
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
Everyone applauded eagerly.
Lesia Leaegrove, beloved by all, stood on the stage to receive his award and then approached the microphone.
And that’s where the tragic event began.
“Ah… I truly thank you all for gathering here for me. Receiving the ‘Magician of the Year’ award for the second time means a lot to me. You know, because I’ve always tried my best to suppress my talents.”
“I realized this when I attended the academy: my talents are so destructive that they could be a burden to others. So… since my third year at the academy, I haven’t done any studying or research. And yet… my grades were always excellent, and with the papers I submitted in my first and second years, I’ve won ‘Magician of the Year’ twice. The world is truly strange. There are so many people out there desperate to gain recognition, and yet, someone like me receives such an honor.”
“Honestly, it feels a bit absurd. Recently, I’ve even gotten tired of suppressing my talents. I’ve started to wonder: what would happen if I just fully unleashed them? I mean, here we have nobles, officers, high-ranking magicians… If I wanted to, I could kill everyone here within a minute. Doesn’t that sound funny?”
A murmuring noise began to spread through the room.
“What’s he saying?”
“Is he crazy?”
“Is this a joke?”
But it wasn’t a joke or madness.
Lesia Leaegrove spoke calmly with a soft voice.
“Do you know the legend that says if you kill a thousand people, you can become a demon? It seems there are about a thousand people gathered here…”
Lesia pulled out his staff and cast a spell.
“Great Destruction! Overdrive!”
A scream of horror echoed through the room, but it was already too late.
With just that one word, the banquet hall was left in ruins.
The thousands of people present turned to dust, and only Lesia remained standing.
Among those he killed were skilled soldiers and magicians, yet they had no chance to resist.
Blood spilled across the floor and even stained Lesia’s face.
Dark streaks under his eyes made it look as though he were shedding blood tears, though it wasn’t the case.
He was instead grinning manically.
“Heh… heh-heh… there’s no turning back now… kuh-heh… kuh-kuh-heh…”
From that day onward, Grand Magician Lesia became a wanted criminal.
Armies were dispatched across the country to capture him, but no trace of him could be found anywhere.
After causing the Blood Ceremony incident, Lesia crossed over to the Demon Continent.
He fully transformed into a demon, rising through the ranks until he became one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Lesia’s betrayal caused the Leaegrove family tremendous suffering.
His parents, the Barons of Leaegrove, committed suicide, and the lone survivor, Cynthia Leaegrove, had to grow up isolated, shedding tears all the while.
Her only reason for enduring life was to kill Lesia.
This goal kept her alive.
Cynthia never cared about why Lesia betrayed humanity.
The only thing that mattered was that Lesia had caused her parents’ deaths.
That was enough for her to carry in her heart.
She studied tirelessly and became a magician of a hero’s party, all for the purpose of avenging Lesia.
Lesia became as famous as a Demon King or a Hero, and now, Cynthia was finally facing him.
“Lesiaaaaaaaaa!!!! I’ll kill you!!!”
“Kill me? You? Me? Ridiculous.”
Lesia smirked.
Cynthia returned his smirk with a more derisive one of her own.
“Ha! You think it’s impossible? Are you out of your mind? What made you think you could stand before us all alone? Don’t you remember how even if the Four Heavenly Kings joined forces, we were still barely evenly matched? It was only because the hero held us off that we ended up with a draw. This time, we brought a real hero with us, didn’t we? And yet, you think you can take us on alone? Is this a suicide declaration?”
“Wait a second, Cynthia. Calm down.”
Tiffany said, looking around.
“Why did he come alone? We need to think about that. Could this be a trap? We need to figure out why the other Four Heavenly Kings aren’t with him.”
“I don’t care about that, Tiffany! This is the perfect opportunity to kill that bastard! Just focus on that! There’s no better situation than taking down the Four Heavenly Kings one by one, right? Let’s kill him before he can regroup!”
Cynthia swung her staff in an X-shape.
Her companions shivered.
It was ominous.
This was a sign of a great spell.
Cynthia was about to cast the most powerful magic she knew.
“Is she planning to end it right here… that Cynthia.”
“Certainly, with that magic, even the Four Heavenly Kings would have a hard time surviving.”
“She’s concentrating her mana in one moment…”
Jeanne, Esther, and Tiffany were all startled in turn.
Hero Raul was only confused by the swirling wind.
“Suddenly, the wind is blowing…”
Cynthia shouted.
“God of Fire, Ignir! Take hold of my right hand! God of Wind, Niph! Take hold of my left hand! Gods! Answer my call and annihilate the enemies standing in my way!!! Fire Blast!!!!”
Flames surged like a whirlwind.
It was intense and harsh, as if it would burn everything around it to ash.
“This is impossible… It feels like we’re seeing the end of the world.”
Esther collapsed onto the ground.
“Cynthia almost killed one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Mapalok, with this magic in the past.”
Jeanne said.
“Of course, even another Four Heavenly King, Lesia, would either die or be severely injured by Fire Blast. We need to finish him off, so let’s stay on high alert.”
Tiffany made sure the others knew what they needed to do.
“Fire! Fire! If this keeps up, we’ll all burn to death!”
“Don’t worry, Hero. Cynthia is adjusting the magic so it only targets the demons.”
“Are you sure, Jeanne?!”
Just as Jeanne said, Fire Blast didn’t affect the Hero Party at all.
It only rushed toward Lesia.
With incredible speed.
So fast that Lesia had no chance to dodge.
“Die, Lesia!!”
With a whoosh, the flame whirlwind engulfed Lesia.
“Hahaha!! Hahaha!! How do you like it, Lesia?! This is the strength I’ve honed to kill you!!”
Cynthia burst out laughing.
“Hahaha!! Hahahahahaha!!! Hahahahahaha!!! Ha… haha…”
And her laughter gradually faded, along with the dwindling flames.
“Ha… ha?”
“I’ll solve the mystery for you.”
From within the flames, Lesia’s voice was heard.
“The reason I came here alone is because I don’t need help from the other Four Heavenly Kings.”
“W-What does that mean?”
“What do I mean? Are you really that stupid, Cynthia?”
By now, Fire Blast had completely vanished, and as the smoke spread, Lesia’s figure appeared.
He was completely unharmed.
“It means, I alone can kill all of you.”
With a sharp sound, Lesia crossed Cynthia’s path.
Blood dripped from the edge of his hand, a sign of the lethal cut.
“AAAGH!!!!!!”
Cynthia’s arm flew through the air like a ping-pong ball.
The right arm of the magician was severed.
With a pop, a crow flew into the sky.
It seemed to foreshadow the tragedy that was about to unfold.
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