The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns-Chapter 402

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Chapter 402

The bastard’s flustered voice lasted only for a fleeting moment.

But no one present here failed to notice it.

‘This guy… he’s got more openings than I thought?’

Lucifer fell silent, as if he had nothing more to say—but the judgment had already been made.

“Such a shame… most of the ruins have been damaged. Regrettable, but… I’d like to remain here and investigate what remains.”

“Then I’ll head to R’lyeh.”

Lispa tried to casually tag along, but Diablo grabbed her by the back of the neck.

“What.”

“You’re supposed to help me.”

“Can’t I go there too?”

“You must keep your promises.”

“Tch.”

“Diablo. Make sure to contact the Holy Kingdom.”

“Ah. So Saint Nadia noticed after all. Understood.”

Leaving her regret behind, Lispa Elde approached me and tightly clasped my hand.

“Let’s meet again next time, Leon.”

“Take care of yourself. And like I said before—I can’t accept your feelings.”

“It’s okay. For now, that’s enough for me.”

Someday, with time, she’d sort out her feelings.

A line had been drawn.

That was enough.

I picked Luna up in my arms and lightly kicked off the ground, slipping out through the shattered ceiling.

“Nothing serious happened, right?”

“You fought Michael?”

“It was intense.”

“Surviving that was a miracle.”

She gently brushed my cheek, worry written across her face.

“His title is God’s Martial Might. He didn’t get that name for nothing.”

Archangel Michael was said to be exceptionally powerful even among the archangels. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Leon is strong, that’s true… but don’t forget—right now, the one directly holding back that outer-dimensional monster is Michael.”

At the very least, I knew firsthand how strong Michael was.

Among all the opponents I’d faced in the Labyrinthos, he ranked near the very top in difficulty.

Then…

What, exactly, was Lucifer—who had forced Michael back with nothing more than a momentary loan of power?

The question arose, but I quickly discarded it.

Overthinking wouldn’t bring any answers.

Returning from the Holy Kingdom to Cascadia took only an instant.

To begin with a preliminary check, I entered R’lyeh’s hidden space.

Inside, Arc Dragon Tooths were neatly displayed in two orderly rows.

At first, the place had been a near-complete mess, but I couldn’t just leave it like that—this was the result of tidying up.

Without a word, I stepped further inside and examined the sealed space where traces of the Progenitor Dragon had once remained.

At a glance, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary wall—nothing that suggested a hidden space beyond it.

But the patterns carved into the wall, and the strange energy leaking from within, were unmistakably unnatural.

“Doesn’t seem like something you can break with magic.”

It wasn’t even on the same wavelength as sealing arts.

This wasn’t something you could open just because you wanted to.

Yet, as if possessed, I took a necklace out of my subspace and brought the engraved pattern into view.

“A Progenitor Dragon, huh…”

Since it had been in Lucifer’s possession, there was no way it was meaningless.

Even attempting to analyze it with the Heart of the Machine God was blocked by some unknown force.

Conclusion, this thing definitely held something.

With quiet anticipation, I brought the necklace closer to the wall.

What started because of Prince Paris—who Melissa had been flirting with—had grown far larger than expected, but thanks to that, I’d uncovered some extremely important information.

The necklace began to react.

Wooooong… Wooooong…

As if verifying its rightful owner, the necklace resonated—and from within it came Lucifer’s irritated voice.

—Damn it. What rotten luck.

Judging by his reaction, it was certain.

A faint light began to seep out of the necklace, and strange patterns of light formed on the previously blank wall.

“Prove it. Sing. Resonate.”

Luna muttered softly.

“You can read it?”

“Roughly. But that’s all it says, so even I don’t know what it really means.”

At her words, I fell into thought.

I clicked my tongue.

“Honestly, this is the problem with old fogeys. They talk in vague riddles and expect people to understand.”

Luna flinched.

“L–Leon. Am I an old fogey?”

“You’re an exception.”

“But I have lived a long time.”

“Don’t worry. You’re not the only one.”

If we’re talking about age, I wasn’t exactly young either.

When she puffed out her lips gloomily, I lightly pinched them.

She looked up at me with clear, shimmering eyes.

“Since they’re clearly trying to keep people out, wouldn’t explaining it directly defeat the purpose anyway?”

“That’s true. Let’s just try something.”

I retrieved the necklace and scanned the inscription again.

So… sing and resonate.

Something like that, right?

I checked my subspace for suitable materials.

Fairy wood—check.

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Various metals—check.

Lubricant—check.

Confirmed.

I scattered the materials into the air and manifested the Heart of the Machine God.

KRRRRRACK—!!!

The materials resonated and fused together, forming a large shape.

“A piano?”

“Want to hear it?”

I lightly pressed the keys, and a clear, beautiful sound flowed out.

The wide range of tones from the eighty-eight keys gently stirred my heart.

As I quietly played, Luna tapped a key with curiosity.

At the clear note, her eyes filled with expectation.

—Stop wasting your time. Did you really think the legacy of a Progenitor Dragon would open just because of something like that?

Lucifer sneered, but I ignored him.

If it worked, great.

If not, I’d find another way.

No need to whine about it.

“Leon. Will you play for me?”

“Let’s see. What should I play?”

When I played in the Labyrinth, I often drew on memories from my previous life.

Of course, I hadn’t been a pianist or a classical music enthusiast back then, so my knowledge was extremely limited.

Still, I recalled familiar melodic patterns and adjusted them in my own way.

As a result, some pieces resembled what I remembered, yet differed in many parts.

Art can never be exactly the same, no matter how much time passes.

After some thought, I chose a piece.

[Ballade Pour Adeline]

To be honest, I didn’t know much about this piece.

But among the music I vaguely remembered from my previous life, it had left a particularly strong impression.

‘I used to hear it at a piano academy when I was a kid.’

Back then, I didn’t know what the piece was called.

But years later, when I heard it again as an adult, those childhood memories came flooding back.

Now, those memories were little more than fragments—but my recollections of my previous life were unusually vivid.

And back when I played instruments in the Hall of Communion, I’d spent an enormous amount of time doing so.

As I began to play, Luna focused silently on the performance.

Even Lucifer, who had been grumbling mockingly, fell silent.

Feeling as though I’d returned to my past life, I immersed myself completely in the music.

The melody I created seemed to take form, scattering into prismatic lights that drew out the power of communion.

Astonishingly, the sealed wall began to resonate with those lights.

Eyes closed, I surrendered myself to the music.

Opening the Progenitor Dragon’s ruins was part of it—but more than that, this song was for Luna, and for the child growing within her.

When the gentle yet swift, swift yet gentle performance ended, Luna clapped quietly.

“Leon. That was truly beautiful.”

“Really?”

The piece I’d played borrowed only fragments of what I remembered, so it differed greatly from the original.

But after refining it again and again over countless hours, the result was something I was genuinely satisfied with.

“But… the door opened?”

I rose from the piano bench, seeing that the once-solid wall had transformed into a passage leading inward.

“Let’s go.”

Luna quietly climbed onto my back, and I carried her forward.

* * *

The ruins of the Progenitor Dragon.

Hidden within the special space of R’lyeh, it was impossible to determine which dragon had once ruled this place.

As we advanced into the cave, softly illuminated by self-luminous stones, a massive door came into view.

On either side stood enormous armored statues, as if guarding the entrance.

“These aren’t ordinary stone. Golems?”

“Hm.”

As we were considering that—

Luna hopped off my back and placed her hand against the tightly sealed door.

Despite the door being five or six times taller than her, she pushed it as if it were a toy.

GRRRRRRNNNNN—!!!

The door began to open.

“Leon. It opened.”

“Uh… yeah.”

Luna’s raw strength really was something else.

That was when it happened.

A massive burst of light erupted, swallowing both of us whole.

And when I opened my eyes again—

An endlessly wide expanse stretched before me, shallow water—one or two centimeters deep—covering the ground.

It felt as though we were standing on water itself.

The sky glowed violet, countless shooting stars streaking across it, while soft lights drifted gently through the air.

Then, I beheld a breathtaking sight.

“A Progenitor Dragon.”

An unimaginably massive dragon lay curled up, eyes closed, completely motionless.

Its size was easily on the kilometer scale.

Dragons were already enormous creatures.

But compared to this being, even they were insignificant.

I had seen something of this scale before.

In fact, I had once succeeded in killing a very similar existence within the Labyrinthos.

Strangely, softly glowing medicinal herbs grew all around the dragon.

At a glance, I could tell—those herbs were anything but ordinary.

Still, what drew my attention even more was the small box placed before the dragon’s head.

Everything else felt natural.

Only that box felt distinctly out of place.

I didn’t know what was inside—but it was certainly important.

—The Star Dragon. Kos.

At that moment, Lucifer’s voice finally broke the silence.

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