The Hero Returns

Kee hee hee hee hee hee—

The sounds of dark ghosts flowed out from Warth’s black sword. The sword was the source of the laughter of the souls, these castles, and the rage that filled the whole dungeon.

“You know me, but you still attack me with a sword?” Wrath gnashed his teeth. His eyes were as cold as ice. “How dare you...!”

“Of course, I won’t defeat you only with just a sword.”

Su-hyeun was an outstanding awakener, but his opponent at the moment was a genius who had wielded the sword every day since he was a baby. If Su-hyeun had to fight with only a sword, he wouldn’t be able to win against him.

“But fighting is—”

Swish—

Su-hyeun rushed to Wrath.

Craaack—!

“Argg!”

Wrath’s body was pushed back by the strong attack. His eyes widened at the shock. He felt like his hands were tearing apart.

“—not just a matter of technique.”

“...!”

Swish—

Su-hyeun swung his sword once more at Wrath’s head.

Clank—!

Tingling, numb—

Wrath’s hands holding his sword trembled. He tried desperately to block Su-hyeun’s sword, but it pressed down at him too hard, so he couldn’t dodge.

Clink—

It was a short clashing of two swords. Wrath’s sword finally slid down Su-hyeun’s. He aimed at Su-hyeun’s body. It was an exquisite sword technique that came from an unavoidable angle. Su-hyeun reached one hand out to Wrath’s sword.

[Indomitable Body.]

Crack—

Su-hyeun managed to grab the sword with his bare hand. Wrath’s eyes widened once more. He was sure that Su-hyeun wouldn’t able to block his attack with the sword, but he didn’t even imagine that he would catch it with his bare hand.

Su-hyeun kept saying, “Sometimes, if you have enough power—”

Swish—

Craaack—!

Su-hyeun, still holding onto Wrath’s sword, threw the sword away. Wrath had learned that he should never let go of his sword, so he flew with it and stuck into the wall.

“—you don’t need fancy techniques.”

“Argg...” Wrath moaned.

It wasn’t a difference in techniques. It was an overwhelming gap in power. Wrath, stuck to the wall, started to panic.

“You...you...!”

“Stop chatting with me and show your real power. Or you can borrow it from that bloody sword.”

“I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you...!” Wrath shouted.

Puff, puff—

The black smoke flowing out from the sword wrapped around Wrath’s body. His atmosphere changed in an instant. And that was exactly what Su-hyeun intended.

<<I have to break that sword,>> Su-hyeun thought.

Wrath wasn’t the main boss of the dungeon. The real boss was the sword in Wrath’s hand. It was a magical sword that could become stronger by eating the rage of people. It could control the souls with that power and could create more anger using the souls.

<<It’s a f*cked up item.>>

“Huu—”

Su-hyeun took a deep breath at a sudden feeling of rage welling up in his chest. Among the seven deadly sins, Su-hyeun was most weak to feelings of wrath. The seven deadly sins were pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust. Among them, the Su-hyeun felt the most and could control the least was wrath.

Whenever he felt intense, Su-hyeun thought of those days; the days when the world was doomed. Everyone had died, and Su-hyeun felt upset and promised himself revenge on the monsters. His emotions at that time were no different from Wrath’s right at the moment. There was only a difference in degree, but it was the same emotion.

<<But...>>

That time was gone now. He didn’t feel like that anymore. And Su-hyeun’s mental strength wasn’t weak enough to be controlled by this personal feeling.

<<I can withstand this,>> he thought.

Wrath, who was wrapped with dark smoke, let his arms hang loose. His eyes turned white. He hardly took a step forward. It seemed like he had no power.

Stomp—

He moved another step.

Swish—

Whiz—

All of a sudden, Wrath charged at Su-hyeun, quicker than before.

Rumble—

Clank—

Wrath swung his sword, aiming at Su-hyeun’s neck. The Strength and Magic in his sword became much stronger. It was as if he were a different person. Of course, it wasn’t just his power that had changed.

“Did you gain power and gave up on your techniques? I guess you can’t have both,” Su-hyeun said.

“Kiyaaaaa—!” Wrath swung his sword, screaming like a monster.

Although he moved like a monster, he could still use quite sophisticated swordsmanship techniques. It seemed like his well-trained instincts remained. But Su-hyeun could easily avoid his attacks because they weren’t as good as his original gifted abilities.

Whirl—

Boom—!

The dark magic spewed from Wrath’s sword. Su-hyeun backed up a little at the sudden shock covering his body.

“Kiyaaack, kaayaack—!”

Shhhh—

The souls that floated around Wrath were sucked back into the sword. Whenever he moved his sword, the dark afterimages emitted a powerful force.

Clang— Clank—!

Swish— Craaaaack—!

Su-hyeun dodged the broad sword strike. The sword hit the wall behind him, cutting deep. The great castle shuddered as if it would collapse at any moment. Su-hyeun continued to block and avoid Wrath’s strikes.

<<I have to hold on some more,>> Su-hyeun thought.

Swish, swish—

Whiz—

A small wound was made on Su-hyeun’s cheek. Wrath penetrated the defense of the Indomitable Body and left a scar. His sword didn’t even touch his cheek. His sword was longer than it looked. Wrath didn’t use a particular skill, but it was a characteristic of Wrath’s swordsmanship. He misled his opponent about the length of his sword and left them in range of a strike.

<<more, more.>>

Shhhh—

Su-hyeun’s eyes turned to the souls sucked into Wrath’s sword. More wounds were made, one by one, on Su-hyeuns’ body. It was at that moment...

<<Now!>>

Crack—

Su-hyeun grabbed Wrath’s sword with his bare hand one more time.

Swiiiish—

Slaaaash—!

And he raised his sword, stabbing into Wrath’s chest. The dark smoke rose instead of a splatter of blood, and Wrath’s body staggered.

“Argh...”

Thud—!

Slaaash—

Su-hyeun kicked the chest that he had already cut, and Wrath’s body was pushed away. Su-hyeun took the sword that Wrath was holding.

“You shouldn’t run around like a headless chicken with this kind of sword.”

Su-hyeun threw the sword that he was holding. Then, he lifted his own sword, Balmung. Wrath screamed in surprise, watching Su-hyeun.

“No—!”

Swish—

Clang—!

Balmung cut off the falling sword. At the same time, the body of Wrath, who tried to come to Su-hyeun, collapsed.

Flop—

Puffff—

Wrath’s body turned into smoke and began to disappear. So did the sword. The sword that sucked all the souls around it broke with the souls. It was the surest and fastest way to get rid of all the souls that filled the castle.

<<Damn. I can’t use this method ever again.>>

Su-hyeun was astonished. There was something strange about Wrath’s sword. He didn’t use a special skill to throw his aura off the sword, but somehow it was longer than it looked. Wrath’s sword wasn’t super-fast or strong enough to threaten Su-hyeun. But it was hard to avoid because he had enough techniques.

Wrath could make strong power from small efforts. Also, he could attack faster than his speed should allow. He paid attention to the attack timing of an opponent, brought the chance for him, and secured enough time for his next attack. It was swordsmanship both simple and skilled. There was a gap in their power, but, technique-wise, Wrath was way above Su-hyeun.

<<And he even lost himself because of the sword.>>

Su-hyeun had to admit. Even though Wrath had become a monster, his sword technique was the best.

<<By the way...>> Su-hyeun recalled an unusual item that was found here a long time ago. << Wrath’s swordsmanship book was here.>>

Su-hyeun looked around the vast castle. Su-hyeun wanted to get that book. It had been a while since he had wanted something like this.

***

“I’m bored—! I’m tired—!”

Thomas lay on the floor and rolled around with his arms wide open, not caring that his back was getting dirty. Crowds of people were watching Thomas, who was complaining and rolling around. The effect of the Dark World that had covered them had disappeared.

“What should we do now, sir?”

“Why do you ask me?”

“Don’t we have to get out of here?”

“He said we shouldn’t move. Let’s wait for now.”

The chief of the National Police Agency and his men whispered to each other. The Dark World skill had disappeared, but there was no more laughter. Also, they didn’t feel the intense anger they had felt before. It had been an hour since it disappeared.

“Oh! There he is!”

Thomas, who was rolling around ground, jumped up. He bounced up like a spring and ran to somewhere with a big smile.

“Suuu-hyeeeeuuunnn—!”

Thomas shouted aloud, and people’s eyes followed to where Thomas was heading. Two people were walking from the distance. They were Hak-joon and Su-hyeun.

“They’re here!” people shouted.

“Then...is it all over now?” Bnuir sighed with relief.

Su-hyeun had come there. And that probably meant he had handled the situation in Paris well. Su-hyeun naturally took Thomas and put him back down on the ground. Then, he headed to Bnuir.

“Now, the city is safe,” Su-hyeun said. “The dungeon is located under the Rue des Champs-Élysées. So, please contact us after you guys mine the Ether stone.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much!” Bnuir took Su-hyeun’s hand and bowed his head a couple of times.

Su-hyeun talked with Bnuir for a moment and went to where Hak-joon and Thomas were waiting. Hak-joon was comforting Thomas, who was sitting on the floor, crying.

“Let’s go,” Su-hyeun said.

“Where?”

“Where are we going?” At Su-hyeun’s word, Thomas’ eyes brightened, as if he hadn’t just been crying.

Su-hyeun answered as he dialed his phone. “You know. We have more dungeons to take care of.”

“Oh, yea. That’s right...” Hak-joon remembered the call and e-mail he had gotten from Lee Ju-ho.

Beijing, China. Florida, USA, São Paulo, Brazil. Similar incidents to Paris were taking place all over the world.

“Yes, Ju-ho. We are done now.”

-Hey, you bastard! You should have explained what was going on before you hung up on me! You seriously—

Lee Ju-ho gave the edge of his tongue to Su-hyeun since he had been worrying so much. He was so loud that Su-hyeun had to put the phone away from his ear.

He listened to him awhile and said, “I’m sorry. It was an urgent situation...”

-So? How are things over there?

“Good. But you said there were other problems, right? Where is the most serious place now?”

The problems occurred simultaneously. As far as Su-hyeun knew, the seven places probably had issues at the same time.

-The most serious place is in Florida, USA. But I don’t think you have to go there. Since it was so urgent, a request came in.

“A request? Then...”

-Yes. Who else in Paragon Guild would get a request except you?

For the first time of this phone call, Lee Ju-ho laughed slightly.

-Gordon Rohan took it.