Chapter 493: Hero King’s Wrath [Part 1]

Everyone covered their eyes as a blinding light drove back the darkness of the night.

Leone, still desperately calling for his Great Uncle, could only shield his eyes with his hands. Even with his eyes closed, tears streamed down his face.

Suddenly, a voice made him lower his hands. His great-uncle was there, smiling at him.

"Why are you crying, Leone?" Gundar asked with a smile.

"Great Uncle... you... hic." Leone fought off the sobs that escaped his throat, but he failed to fully suppress them.

His body moved on its own, charging at the old man. His arms wrapped around the old man’s body.

"You’re already this big. Why are you still a crybaby?" Gundar said in a teasing tone while patting the young man’s back, as if helping him calm down. "You are the future Barbarian King of the Borderlands. You must act with dignity and never show weakness to anyone."

"I’d rather be called a crybaby than lose you, Great Uncle!" Leone held onto the great shaman tightly, unwilling to let go. "Stay with me, Great Uncle! Please, don’t go!"

"I’m sorry," Gundar replied softly. "I’m sorry I can’t see you become the King you are meant to be."

"Great... hic... Uncle," Leone cried, his tears falling nonstop as if a dam had burst open.

"Leone, please listen to me," Gundar said firmly. "Promise me that you will live a great life and die a great death. Live life to the fullest. Laugh, cry, love, and fight for the things you believe in. Make mistakes, learn from them, and never allow the regrets of yesterday to rob you of the joys of tomorrow."

The great shaman paused for a moment as he looked at the young man who clung to him as if letting go would make him disappear from the world.

"Most importantly, don’t let the weight of the crown crush the boy who first dreamed of wearing it. You may be the Barbarian King, but before that, you are Leone Frontera. A mischievous, shameless, and utterly ridiculous young man who had somehow managed to make an old monster like me look forward to tomorrow."

"Great Uncle..." Leone cried bitterly because, through his tears, he was starting to realize that the great shaman’s body was slowly becoming transparent.

"Child, make the whole world know the name of Leone Frontera," Gundar said with a smile, patting the young man’s head as if he were his own son. "Make the Borderlands flourish until it becomes a place where no one starves, where no child has to grow up fearing the world."

Gundar’s voice grew louder with every word, as if he were trying to pour every last ounce of his remaining strength into the young man before him.

"And when you’ve finally accomplished all that, when you’ve finally built a kingdom that even this old man would be proud of, raise your head and look at the sky."

The great shaman’s smile softened as he cupped the young man’s face that had become a mess of tears and snot.

"Because even if I’m no longer standing beside you, I’ll be cheering for you somewhere up there. So, smile for me." Gundar pinched the young man’s cheeks lightly, raising them to force him to smile. "And please promise me one more thing."

"Anything, Great Uncle," Leone replied, doing his best to smile through his tears.

"Don’t waste your time mourning me," Gundar stated. "I have lived a long life and died a great death. Also, I apologize. I did my best, but it seems like those two fellows have managed to survive my last hurrah. But don’t worry. They are now in very bad shape. They won’t be a threat to you at the moment."

"Great Uncle..."

"Leone, let us part with smiles on our faces. After all, death is not the end. It’s a gift for those who have lived great lives like me."

Gundar’s body was already turning into particles of light, and yet he continued to smile. He knew that if the corners of his lips dropped, the heart of the young man in front of him might break apart.

Suddenly, the Great Shaman of the Borderlands saw the two auras that swirled inside Leone’s heart.

One of them was colored crimson, while the other was a royal purple.

"Look after him for me," Gundar said to those two entities. "Make him understand that he is never alone."

Finally, the great shaman, who had protected the Borderlands until his dying breath, turned into particles of light, slipping from Leone’s embrace.

"Noooooooo..." Leone desperately tried to catch the fleeting particles, but it was of no use. He could only watch as they ascended to the sky, getting farther away from his reach.

By the time he regained his composure, he was once again standing in the ruined city of Eden.

It was supposed to be night, but everything was as clear as day.

A miniature golden sun hung in the heavens, illuminating the land.

This was the aftermath of Gundar’s final attack, which he had unleashed to eliminate the two powerhouses from the Aurelion Empire and the Kingdom of Britannia.

Suddenly, he saw two people fall from the sky before crashing at the center of the city.

"Gah..." Zepharion coughed out a mouthful of blood before panting for breath.

His entire body was covered in blood, while white smoke was rising from it.

"Kuh..." Samuel, who landed a few meters away from him, tried to prop himself up from the ground, but fell over again.

If one looked closely, they would notice that he had lost his right arm and that his ear had been burned to a crisp.

Similar to Zepharion’s condition, he was covered in blood and had suffered serious injuries.

But both of them were alive.

And Gundar was not.

A moment later, a cheer erupted from the Aurelion Army. They instinctively knew that the Great Shaman of the Borderlands had finally died, and that their Guardian had survived.

Although he was injured, he managed to activate an artifact that mitigated the damage he received from Gundar’s desperate life-burning attack.

The barbarians all looked at this scene with grim expressions on their faces.

Their Great Shaman had died, but the enemy’s Guardians still lived.

The cheers of the Aurelion Army lowered their morale, for they knew that they were at a great disadvantage.

It was then that they instinctively looked at the young man, who stood in front of them with his hands reaching out to the space in front of him.

He was the symbol of the barbarian tribes.

The one who led them into battle.

In a time when they had just lost one of their pillars, the only one who could make them regain hope was this young chieftain, who looked very pale and frail, as if he would be blown away by the wind at any moment.

"I’ll give you a chance to surrender, you savages!" Zepharion shouted, using the power of wind to let his voice spread far and wide. "If you kneel and beg for forgiveness, then I will spare your lives!"

As if snapping out of his daze, Leone pulled back his hand and pressed it over his chest.

He then closed his eyes as tears continued to stream down his face.

The barbarians who saw him act so weak and helpless thought that he was going to surrender to his enemy.

But suddenly, Leone took a step forward.

The cape on his back fluttered, while the grimoire strapped around his waist glowed softly as if answering his call.

It was then that something akin to a whistle hovered in front of Leone.

The young man didn’t hesitate as he held the Worldcaller’s Whistle and placed it on his lips.

"Watch me, Great Uncle," Leone said softly. "I’ll finish what you started."

A moment later, the sound of a whistle reverberated across the battlefield.

Suddenly, something rose up from the ground hundreds of meters away from the young man.

An Earth Elemental, towering over two hundred meters tall, materialized in front of everyone’s eyes.

Its eyes were bloody red, and it roared in defiance against its summoner.

The Aurelion Army, who saw this, flinched, while Zepharion and Samuel’s eyes widened in shock.

They sensed that this Earth Elemental was more powerful than them. In their current states, it would be very difficult for them to fight it.

But just as they thought that the giant monster would charge at the city, it turned around to look at its summoner and pulled back its arm.

Leone gazed at the Earth Elemental fearlessly before raising his hand, as if planning to block the monster’s punch using the strength of a mere mortal.

"For years, the barbarians of the Borderlands have worshiped and prayed to you," Leone said. "They called out to your name with affection and loved you like their own mother. And yet, these lands, where they only wanted to live in peace, were always invaded by people who wished to enslave your children.

"Despite all that, they still pray to you. They still call out your name. They still hope that you will answer their prayers. But what have you done?!"

Leone’s tears fell down the side of his face, not from fear, but from anger.

"What have you done?!" Leone asked the Earth Elemental that was preparing to unleash its deadly strike that would turn Leone and those around him into meat paste.

"Even now, they still hope that you will bestow upon them a miracle," Leone roared as the giant fist descended upon him. "Stop being a silent witness to their suffering! Show them that their prayers have not fallen on deaf ears! Answer me! Does the Earth really remember?!"

Soon, the Earth Elemental’s fist and Leone’s palm clashed against each other.

But the horrifying scene of the young man being smashed into a pulp didn’t happen.

Instead, the Earth Elemental’s fist stopped in place, as if it had hit an invisible wall.

Suddenly, the rocky fist that should have ended Leone’s life crumbled as if it was shedding its old skin.

The rough fist turned into a delicate hand, which spread towards the entire body of the Earth Elemental.

And right before everyone’s eyes, a familiar figure made its appearance.

"T-This..." Hagen muttered in disbelief.

The Earth Elemental had turned into a beautiful giant statue that looked exactly like the one at the center of Aslan City.

It was the statue of the Earth Mother that the Aslan Tribe worshiped.

The statue of the Earth Mother then opened the palms of her hands, as if asking Leone to step on it.

It then spoke in a voice that made the barbarians tear up, for it sounded like the women who were closest to their hearts.

"The Earth remembers..." The Earth Elemental declared.

Leone wiped the tears on his face with the back of his hand before stepping onto the palm that was laid out in front of him.

The Earth Mother then placed the young man on her shoulder before turning around to face the invaders that had repeatedly harmed her children.

Magnus subconsciously took a step back after seeing this giant lady turn in their direction.

It wasn’t only him who acted this way.

Everyone felt like they were seeing a legend come to life.

Then, it happened.

The Earth Mother took a single step, and in response, the ground beneath her shook as if telling everyone that the time of reckoning had come.