The Hero Returns - Chapter 361

“Are you saying we should fight?”

The light gleaming in Luslec’s eyes seemed a bit suspicious.

His question of “what should they do next?” contained the intent of “shouldn’t we fight each other as well?”

And their situation certainly seemed ripe for that.

Now normally, the token of the grand duke could only be acquired by someone after defeating other grand dukes.

If it weren’t for the fact that they knew each other, Su-hyeun would have punched the other party first the moment they met.

Luslec went first, “Tokens can be yielded to the other party, you know?”

“I’m not thinking of doing that.”

“However, I was.”

“…?”

Now that was an unexpected reply.

Su-hyeun became slightly flustered and stared at Luslec. Unlike how sharp his eyes remained, there was a happy grin plastered on his lips.

“I have to say, what you’re saying right now doesn’t really match your expression.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Luslec pointed to his mouth and eyes. It seemed that he himself was aware of the discrepancies between his expression and the light burning in his eyes.

Luslec said, “That’s not that surprising since I’m holding back at the moment, you see.”

“Holding back, you say?”

“I told you this already, yes? I’m a fan of yours, and as my feelings regarding this matter are genuine, I also have this desire to fight you at least once.”

“If you know about me, then you should also be aware that I’m not the biggest fan of fighting.”

“It’s the same story for me. Well, this is more like…” Luslec trailed off in his sentence for a bit as if he wasn’t sure of how to continue and even began frowning. “Curiosity. Yes, it’s something like that. I’m really curious about just how close I’ve gotten to the hero that I respect.”

“And the reason for not satisfying your curiosity this time?”

“Because now isn’t the time for that,” Luslec said as he walked up to the broken window.

The room he and Su-hyeun were in was located on the 10th floor. When they looked down from there, they could see many buildings set closely together below.

“This place is one of the most elaborate ones out of all the worlds I’ve been to so far, which is a clear proof of how excellent this predator’s true ability is.”

“Are you implying that its creation magic is that amazing?”

Luslec turned around to stare with surprised eyes and asked, “You even know about the creation magic?”

Su-hyeun nodded silently. Honestly speaking, this was what he found most shocking after setting foot in this world.

“The ‘creation magic’ is magic where you outright create something you want through nothing but your own will. Creating base elements like fire, water, earth, and wind can also be seen as the basic form of creation magic, but when you’re talking about the actual creation magic, then you are referring to the act of creating something through just your will without relying on magic formulas or magic circles.”

When Ellid explained the ultimate pinnacle of magic to Su-hyeun, the first example he went with was the “creation magic.”

His reasoning was simple. Starting from the base elements, which were the foundation of the creation magic itself, this magic allowed one to create an intact world and even a whole dimension at its absolute pinnacle.

“Of course, creating a planet, and more than that, a whole dimension, is only possible in theory. Even the upper-tier supreme-rulers would find it impossible to pull off.”

“When you say that the predator created this world, are you implying that it actually created this dimension?” Su-hyeun asked while thinking that it couldn’t be true.

Ellid said he had taught himself the basics of the creation magic, and the basics referred to his ability to create an object he wanted in the shape he would like to see it in.

However, the story would be on a whole another dimension if it was about creating an entire world out of nothing.

According to Ellid, even upper-tier supreme-rulers like Hades and Zeus would’ve found it impossible to pull off something like that.

Luslec replied, “I’m sure it’s not as grand as that. What the creature has created should be just that city down there where people can live, as well as this system thing. As for the planet and the sky, or the other large objects that act as the foundation of the world? I’m pretty sure that they existed from the get-go.”

Luslec knew quite a lot regarding what’s going on here—things that even Su-hyeun didn’t know much about—or more correctly, Luslec held a lot of information on these creatures called the “predators” even though Su-hyeun had only begun learning about them recently.

“This isn’t your first time dealing with such enemies?” Su-hyeun asked.

“Yes, it’s not. This would be my third.”

“Third, is it…?”

“A world that had been completely destroyed and another world where the predator acted as its ruler, just like this one. The world I went to before coming here was far smaller than this one. Not many people lived in there as well.”

“There’s such a small world out there?”

“I’m sure there are even smaller ones somewhere out there, and some worlds should be far bigger than what our imaginations can come up with, too,” said Luslec while placing his hand on his chest.

Jiii-iiiing—

The two tokens emitted a light before tumbling onto Luslec’s palm. He extended his hand at Su-hyeun. “Please take them.”

“You sure about this?”

“There is this saying in your world, yes? That it doesn’t matter which road you take as long as you end up in Seoul. Well, if you fail, it can’t be helped. I’ll just try my luck after you. It won’t be all that hard to wait for my turn, anyway. Besides, I’m your fan, remember?”

To put it simply, he was “yielding because he’s a fan.” This was an unexpected development from Su-hyeun’s perspective.

“Does that mean he believes in me?” Su-hyeun inwardly considered.

Honestly speaking, Su-hyeun didn’t trust Luslec. They were complete strangers, after all.

Not only that but he also didn’t know anything about the other party’s goal or for what purpose the other party had come here.

The only two things Su-hyeun knew about Luslec were that the latter was a Necromancer of some kind and also his “fan.”

“For now, I’ll gladly hold onto these.”

Su-hyeun held Luslec’s offered hand. When he did, the two tokens in the latter’s hand traveled up Su-hyeun’s arm to reach his chest.

[You have acquired the token of the grand duke. ×2]

[You have acquired the right to challenge the emperor.]

[A new emperor candidate has been born.]

[At midday tomorrow, the duel will take place in the imperial palace’s combat arena.]

“The arena?” he thought.

The moment he gained all three tokens, the right to challenge the emperor as well as the time and place for the duel had been set.

However, Su-hyeun wasn’t the only one who received that message.

“So, midday tomorrow, in the imperial palace’s arena, huh?”

“Mister Luslec, you also received the message?”

“Yes. It seems that the message has been sent to everyone in this place. But then again, it’s an occasion where this world’s emperor will be decided, so I’m sure it’s an important event even to the other citizens.”

“Well, this system sure made things quite annoying, didn’t it?” Su-hyeun scratched his head in irritation.

At this rate, he would have to fight in front of a lot of people, and since he was assuming that the emperor sitting above the peerage of the grand duke was indeed a predator, he wanted to avoid having many people show up during the fight if possible.

“Can you do me a favor?”

“You can ask anything. Even if you order me to kill myself.” Luslec looked really willing as if all he needed was to be asked. His eyes that used to sharply gleam with the desire to fight was gone now and were replaced by a pair of happily shining eyes.

Su-hyeun chuckled slightly at Luslec’s mischievous-sounding reply and said, “Never mind that. Actually, what I want is…”

Luslec paid attention to what Su-hyeun said next.

Meanwhile, the sun was setting outside.

* * *

Late into the evening after the sun had set.

After concluding the discussion, Su-hyeun left the wrecked room. He was planning to ask Kyle for dinner and then take a short rest.

No one knew where the emperor was residing. Even though the being occupied the position meant to rule this world, his whereabouts were still a mystery. Meaning, Su-hyeun had no choice but to wait. But that wasn’t such a bad thing. After all, Su-hyeun had made his move directly after the end of the third trial.

“Urgh…”

Around at the same time…

The ex-grand duke, now demoted to merely a duke, Kang Mu-hyeok finally regained his consciousness inside this dark room.

He moaned at the throbbing pain in his head. The impact force that he received had been so enormous that he ended up blacking out for several hours.

“How did I…?”

Right at that moment, his memories cut off before starting again.

That last punch…

After the moment he realized that the punch, the fourth one in a row, had landed on him, he regained his wits only to find himself in this state.

“I…have lost.”

He could count on one hand how many times he lost after his birth.

If he was the type to lose constantly, then he would not have survived until now. The strongest opponent he had ever fought up until this point was the dokkaebi, Maruhan.

But now…

“I can’t win.”

He was sure about that—that he would still not win even if they fought again for the second, or rather, ten times, maybe hundreds of times more.

Just when was the last time he felt such a difference in strength level?

“My master…”

That happened only back when he first started learning fist arts from the person whom he looked up to as his master, and the current Kang Mu-hyeok had surpassed the master from back then, too.

“He is one hell of a monster, that’s for sure.”

“No, not a monster but a hero.”

Paht—

Kang Mu-hyeok heard that chill-inducing voice coming from somewhere behind him and reflexively threw himself away before assuming a battle stance.

Even though he only had regained consciousness just now, he wasn’t suffering from a major injury. Kang Mu-hyeok grew deeply wary of the figure entering the room through the wrecked window.

“Who are you?”

He had definitely asked that question before.

His new opponent was a duke-ranked man, but his face was unfamiliar. However, Kang Mu-hyeok knew the faces of all five dukes.

“If he’s the new duke, then for sure…”

The inside of Kang Mu-hyeok’s head became filled with complicated thoughts.

“Wait, but I heard he became a grand duke after defeating Maruhan?”

Did that mean there was someone else who had newly become a duke?

Kang Mu-hyeok wondered if it was possible for so many strong people to show up during a single cycle like this, and his thoughts became even more complicated than before.

While he was thinking that, Luslec addressed him with a smirk, “You better change what you said while I’m being nice here. Say that he’s a hero. I really hate the word ‘monster,’ you see? So, can you imagine…”

Stab—

Keuph….

“How unhappy I’ll get when you say that stupid thing about him?”

Kang Mu-hyeok looked down at his own chest.

Luslec’s finger had dug into a spot right below where his heart was. Kang Mu-hyeok could only stand there like a tree stump after finding it too difficult to move his body.

“You know, that gentleman you fought earlier? He doesn’t really like killing someone. Doesn’t matter whether that person deserves to die or not, he still prefers not to. However, I’m of the opinion that someone like you deserves to die.”

Keuk, keuh…

“That’s why I’ll kill you instead. I mean, there’s no reason for him to dirty his hands with the tainted blood of a vile bastard such as yourself.”

Kang Mu-hyeok moaned in pain. Even lifting a finger proved to be difficult for him, but the pain spreading throughout his body made him want to flail about like crazy. This pain felt like his flesh was being ripped apart from the inside.

“Hey, man. You have a pretty unique hobby, don’t you? You’re pretty famous as the married women killer,” Luslec cackled.

Kang Mu-hyeok’s lips parted open. He couldn’t even swallow his saliva from the pain, and a strand of drool trickled down from the corner of his lips. “S—spare…me…”

“Sure, sure. Okay, so recant what you said earlier first. Now, follow after me—not a monster but a hero.”

“Not a…monster…a hero…”

“Well done.”

Pull—

Luslec pulled his finger out from Kang Mu-hyeok’s chest. Finally, the pain had subsided, and the latter faltered to his knees before completely plopping on the ground.

Pant, pant…

Stab—

But soon after that, Kang Mu-hyeok felt something hot inside his head.

The finger that had been stabbing his chest earlier was now impaling his head.

“But, why…?”

“I never said I’ll let you live. I only wanted to make you suffer less, that’s all.”

Driiip—

Blood trickled down from Kang Mu-hyeok’s nostrils and mouth.

Soon after that, his eyes lost all signs of life, and he collapsed on the floor.

“Ugh, that’s dirty.”

Luslec pulled his blood-stained finger out from Kang Mu-hyeok’s head and wiped it on the dead man’s clothing before turning around toward the window that he used to enter earlier.

But right at that moment…

“How long have you been there?”

He discovered Su-hyeun leaning against the window sill.