The Extra Can't be A Hero

Chapter 253: Start of the Apocalypse (2)

Leon excused himself from the crowd, a sudden unease tugging at his senses. He moved swiftly, weaving through the throng as his focus locked onto a faint, elusive energy in the distance—like a candle flame wavering between light and shadow.

The closer he drew, the clearer it became. Agios, the Solaris Saint, watched her successor with mild confusion. She reached out several times, questioning his abrupt urgency, but her words fell on deaf ears. Leon was already sprinting toward the grand building at the heart of the capital.

As he passed, heads turned. Many were captivated by the young blonde's striking looks. Fortunately, Leon had kept his identity hidden for so long that none realised the Hero stood among them. But if he lingered, that would surely change. A voluptuous woman noticed the handsome stranger, licked her lips, and began to sashay toward him.

"Hey there, handsome. Are you lost?"

"..."

"Are you a new joiner? Wow, the ladies upstairs will go crazy for you! Actually… the men too."

The woman continued to whisper sick thoughts into Leon's ears, and the more he listened, the more disgusted he became.

"What is this place?"

"Hmmm? Aren't you a new initiate to the Utopia Church?"

"Utopia Church? I see…"

Once Leon had heard who the owners of this building were, the dots connected. The Utopia Church's Pope was the one responsible for incapacitating Amon, and they were in bed with the Demon Cult. Add together the fact that he could sense his mentor's faint presence within the building… There was no need for Leon to keep up with appearances.

"Move aside if you don't want to get hurt."

Leon could sense trace amounts of demonic mana within the curvaceous lady's body, but it wasn't enough to label her as a demonic human. She was either an early initiate or someone manipulated by the Utopia Church. There was no need to involve the innocent.

"What are you…?"

Ascalon appeared in Leon's hands as he mustered up solar mana. All of Leon's Suns orbited the young hero, allowing the spectators to deduce his identity. Some of the Utopia Church's followers instantly rang the alarm, while the remaining bystanders ran to safety. Only the sultry woman remained, her eyes trembling in fear as she stumbled to the ground.

But Leon didn't care.

Ascalon raged with holy fire, creating a field of pressure that cracked the ground and pillars. Without hesitation, Leon pointed the Holy Blade onto the ground and let loose all of his pent-up rage.

"Dawn!"

A pillar of fire decimated the lower floors of the building and only stopped when it hit the deepest basement. With a hole created, Leon could now sense the nefarious demonic mana far clearly, and a silent rage washed across his face. But more importantly… he could feel that familiar mana signature once more.

Leaping down as if he were weightless, Leon landed on the lowest basement. At first glance, it looked like any storage floor. Boxes with dust were scattered haphazardly, while the air was sterile as if no one had bothered to ventilate it. The only thing out of place was a plain-looking stone door, one that didn't fit the architecture of the building.

Even without Agios hounding his mind, he could sense the hidden demonic energy seeping through the stone door. Without hesitation, he lifted Ascalon and charged a wave of Holy Power through the blade. In terms of Holy Power, there weren't many artefacts or even priests that could contend with the Holy Blade.

Slicing at the door, the sound of glass shattering reverberated within Leon's ears as the stone door, which didn't seem to budge in the slightest, creaked open eerily.

Leon strode forward without a single care in the world and kicked open the door. Instantly, a tsunami of thick, demonic miasma entered his lungs. The chilling, ghostly mist tickled his pale skin as a foreign energy attempted to enter his body to corrupt his mind.

Alas, Leon was the Hero for a reason. Immune to curses, especially those of demonic origin, the young man raised Ascalon, letting its sealed Holy Power surge freely. A blinding radiance erupted, purging the oppressive miasma and unveiling the truth behind it.

Before him lay a putrid prison, lined with decrepit, long-abandoned cells. The rusted bars could have been broken easily by anyone with even a sliver of strength, but the prisoners within were far beyond escape.

Naked, drooling, and bound by nothing more than chains, the men's once-imposing physiques were rendered meaningless. Their minds were shattered, their wills extinguished. Only one remained barely conscious, his body still, yet his eyes faintly aware.

Leon froze.

He knew that face.

His first mentor… the man who had raised him after his father left him at Hyarum.

The Paladin Commander, Sir Arthur Pagiel.

"Sir Arthur!"

Leon hurried to Arthur's side, channelling Ascalon's sacred power into the broken man. The Holy Blade's light seeped into his flesh, and for the first time in ages, a flicker of life returned to Arthur's hollow eyes. The glow deepened as fragments of his mind began to resurface.

Still dazed, he swayed unsteadily, struggling to open his eyes fully.

"... L-Leon?"

"Sir Arthur! What happened here?!"

Leon was just one word away from exploding in rage. Sir Arthur wasn't just his mentor, but also someone he cherished deeply. He was no different from a loving uncle who had a hand in raising him. If not for Sir Arthur laying down his foundation and teaching him the way of the righteous, Leon wouldn't have been as accomplished as he is today.

And to see this cherished figure of is reduced to this state…

"Leon… I…"

"No, take your time! I'll wait for you."

Realising that Sir Arthur wasn't in a state to explain his situation, Leon continued to heal the Paladin while extending Ascalon's holy light to the other fallen paladins. All of them slowly awakened from their trances, but it was a mystery if they would be able to recover from the mental damage they suffered.

Only Sir Arthur Pagiel, the greatest living Paladin, had a chance of full recovery.

"L-Leon! The Holy Grail! No, Ella!"

"W-What? What happened to Ella?!"

"We were tricked! And ambushed! The Utopia Church, no… The Demon Cult has Ella!"

"What?!"

For the first time in a long while, Leon felt his world come crashing down. Until now, everything had been smooth sailing. After unlocking the Holy Sword and awakening the two remnant souls of his ancestors, he had surged through his training, well on his way to becoming a true Hero.

His family had been reunited thanks to Amon's intervention, and the calamities that were meant to occur had been averted. Together, he and Amon had dealt devastating blows to the Demon Cult—so much so that Leon believed their complete eradication was only a matter of time.

Oh, how complacent he had been.

Now… Amon has been incapacitated, his lover kidnapped, and… no one knew when the Demon Cult was going to succeed in their plans.

'No… Let's keep calm… Panicking will only worsen the situation.'

Fortunately, Leon had the bearing of a Hero. He knew that making decisions when his emotions were high would only lead to ruin.

"Let's get you out of here first, then we'll talk about Ella."

"Y-yeah…"

Fatigued and delirious, Sir Arthur knew that he didn't have the capacity to continue the conversation. He flailed his arms around Leon's shoulders as they exited the building. From the time he left the amphitheatre to the time he carried Sir Arthur out, barely two hours had passed. Yet, as he hoped to disappear into the night and tend to Sir Arhtur's wounds, Leon was stopped at the gate.

There, over a dozen authorities stood waiting. Among them were familiar faces such as Alrock, his grandfather, and three other High Council members who were sympathetic to Hyades's cause.

The President of the Demon Hunter League, Lady Katarina Voss.

The Grand Marshall of Hyades, Gerrick Ironblood.

The Archmagister of the Realm, Jex Amaris.

But among them were unfamiliar faces, too, such as the Chairman of the Hyades United Bank and the Prime Minister of the Hyades Republic. These two, while influential, had been keeping their distance from Eldorin and the Hero as a whole. Mainly because they feared the speed at which they were growing and feared that in the future, Eldorin would whittle down the influence of the Hyades High Council.

They didn't want their years of power to end just because a Knight Order wishes to chase the Demon Cult.

Therefore, when Leon came to the Utopia Church, a significant force within the capital, and messed up their headquarters, those bottom-feeding sharks smelled blood.

"Young hero, you caused trouble in the headquarters of a peaceful religion! I didn't expect you to be so lawless."

The Chairman of the Hyades United Bank spat. Given the significant benefits he had received from the Paradis Conglomerate in the past, it was no secret that the Chairman favoured the Utopia Church due to his ties to Paradis.

"Sir Leon, you may be the Hero of our generation, but that doesn't give you the right to barge into others' territory. If you wish to live in the Hyades Republic, you have to follow our laws."

The Prime Minister sternly reprimanded him, as if he were a senior giving advice. Well, to a certain extent, it was true, but he wasn't doing it out of the goodness of his heart.

The Prime Minister was another snake that had learnt to survive in politics. He knew that the Hero's influence had been growing rapidly, and in due time, if Leon used his position to launch a Holy War, there was little he could do to stop him.

But since Leon had openly disregarded the law and attacked an innocent religion… this was a golden opportunity to weaken the growing hero's influence.

"The Utopia Church kidnapped the Holy Church's Saintess and gravely injured its Paladins. I'm saving them."

A fiery rage blazed in his heart, but the young hero softened up before speaking. No. Leon spoke, not to explain himself, but to inform.

When they heard Leon's words, many people's eyes went wide. Then, they turned to the man who was resting on Leon's shoulder, and they recognised that striking red hair of Sir Arthur. Those who knew Leon were inclined to believe every word he said.

Unfortunately, some wished to stir the pot.

"Hah? What proof do you have? You didn't even go to the judges to get a warrant, and you invaded another's territory. Trespassing, vandalism, and even intent to hurt. All of this can get you multiple years in prison!"

"Enough, we should take him into custody and charge him!"

"Does the Hero really think he can do whatever he pleases?"

Derogatory words were spewed like venom, and it devolved into a public mob lynch. The Chairman of the United Hyades Bank smirked, delighted that his plan worked. But he made one fatal miscalculation.

"There's no need for you to believe me."

Leon shook his head, his blue eyes igniting with righteous fire. Even without channelling mana or holy power, his very presence was enough to make every onlooker break into a cold sweat. In that instant, those who had dared to oppose him understood a fatal truth… Leon stood on an entirely different plane.

He was the Hero—the bastion of humanity's hope, the light that led its way through the darkness. When he spoke, his words carried the weight of law itself.

"I'll speak the truth."

Leon's voice was soft, yet it resounded in everyone's minds.

"The Demon Cult is planning to harm the capital. Send your families to safety as soon as possible. Those who wish to leave may do so. I know many of you won't believe me, but it's the truth…"

Leon's words were impactful, not only to the spectators but to those who listened from the shadows.

In truth, Leon shouldn't have revealed this too early. He should have gathered evidence before presenting to the public, as his accusation lacked substance without it. But Leon was tired of the rules that bound him. If his actions today could just save one extra life… then it would be worth it.

"If you aim to stand on the side of the hero… of humanity. Stay and fight."