The world was burning.
Before the gray-haired man, a massive black dragon was breathing with difficulty.
-Kyle.
"Don't speak. I swear I'll save you!"
Kyle gritted his teeth and used healing magic.
Immense magical power surged.
But the gaping wound in the dragon's stomach would not heal.
"Damn it! Damn it! I can't lose you, too!"
-No… I'm done for, Kyle. So take my Dragon Heart and move forward.
"Hey, stop spouting that crazy nonsense and shut up!"
Kyle said harshly.
"Don't you dare die in vain like Ar-on and Luna! Like Dweno! You're a dragon! Act like the great race you are and hang on! You damn lizard!"
-Kyle… do you remember when we first met?
He swallowed hard.
Lisinas spoke, wearing the same smile as back then.
-We're going to save the world.
"So we…"
-I'm sorry… for leaving it all to you.
Slowly, his eyelids closed.
"..."
Watching the black dragon's last breath escape, Kyle looked up at the ashen sky.
A black rain was falling.
A rain of death that ate away at life.
Proof that the world was hurtling toward its doom.
"Hahaha… Damn it all."
Making no move to avoid the rain, Kyle spat out a curse.
After carving into his companion's chest and taking out the heart, Kyle turned his head.
In the distance, he could see a burning tower.
"Erebos."
He bit out his enemy's name.
"I will kill you. I swear it. Even if I'm the only one left."
The last Great Hero headed for the final battlefield.
And… the world was saved by a single human.
* * *
"Leo~ Mommy's going to read you a storybook."
The mistress of the Flove household, Reina Flove, said as she approached her one-month-old son.
Watching her, Dade Flove burst into laughter.
"Reina, you've already read that storybook over a hundred times, haven't you? If you count the times you read it while you were pregnant, it must be over a thousand."
"But Dade, this story is my favorite tale about the great heroes."
Reina looked lovingly at her son, sleeping soundly in his cradle.
"And Leo loves this book the most. He gets so happy whenever I read it to him."
"Really?"
"Yes. Do you want to see?"
Reina moved to the cradle and opened the storybook.
"Leo, dear~ Mommy's going to read you the story of the [Heroes of the Beginning]."
Leo's eyes snapped open.
"Once upon a time, a long, long time ago. To be precise, 5,000 years ago…"
"Agoo! Abboo! Addd!"
"See!"
"Haha, it's true!"
Dade Flove wore a look of surprise as he watched his son babbling and waving his head about.
Smiling brightly, Reina continued reading the storybook.
The Elf Archmage, Luna.
The Dwarf Master Smith, Dweno.
The Beastman Warrior, Ar-on.
And finally, the wise Dragon, Lisinas.
"And so, the Great Heroes defeated the evil Erebos, and peace came to the world. The end!"
"Agoo! Aguuu!"
Leo flailed his short arms and legs wildly.
Watching their son, the couple smiled with pride.
Looking at his parents, Leo screamed inwardly.
'For the love of God, stop reading that damned storybook!'
The Floves would have been shocked if they knew.
That their newborn child possessed such a clear will of his own!
But what was even more surprising was his true identity.
A long time ago—to be precise, 5,000 years ago.
He was one of the Great Heroes who had saved the world.
Kyle.
The man who subjugated the primordial evil, Erebos, and saved the world.
But he was also the unfortunate man forgotten by the world's history.