The Hero Returns

"Eww. They look gross," Su-hyeun muttered.

Crack, crack, crack—

Su-hyeun looked down to the ground. There were eyes all over the place. He had no idea how all those eyes suddenly appeared, but they were staring at him. It seemed like the reason why Ouroboros laid down was because it noticed that Su-hyeun was inside of its body.

'I guess it can only focus on either the inside or outside of its body.'

Su-hyeun had made the wrong decision.

'No way. I didn't know it was capable of noticing the stuff inside of its body. This was a mistake.'

It was a mistake that he made because he was not familiar with the demonic beast. However, even if he knew about this, there would be no better alternative on how to defeat the creature. Even if he decided to attack Ouroboros from both the inside and outside, there was nobody who could help him in passing this trial.

'Well, I already made a mistake. It can't be helped.'

Hiss—

Su-hyeun turned his head in the direction of the snakes crying.

Hiss, hiss—

They were not just in a couple of areas. There were snakes everywhere.

"Are these snakes natural inhabitants of this body? Or are they small versions of Ouroboros?"

Su-hyeun called them small, but each of them was bigger than an anaconda. Since many snakes had gathered in the area, they looked like wiggling worms. Although they were as big as anacondas, Su-hyeun felt like they were small in comparison to Ouroboros.

'These snakes appear to be a part of some kind of defense system.'

Just like an immune system in a human's body that kills viruses, it seemed like these snakes function in the same way for Ouroboros' safety. The black venom and the small snakes in its large body seem to function like an immune system to get rid of enemies like Su-hyeun.

Shwing—

Su-hyeun drew out his sword that he had put away for a while. He could see thousands of snakes right at that moment. He assumed there would be tens of thousands more in the deeper area.

'I will go through them.'

Swish—

Su-hyeun penetrated through numerous snakes. At the same time, the snakes rushed towards Su-hyeun, revealing their black fangs.

Slash—

Syaa—

He cut the bodies of the snakes that jumped toward him, but no blood flowed from their wounds. These snakes were made of just flesh and had no blood or intestines. They didn't fear death either. Although many of the snakes were slaughtered, many more still rushed toward Su-hyeun without hesitation.

Slash—

Rumble—

Su-hyeun's sword moved unceasingly. Soon, snakes appeared again in the path that Su-hyeun had been clearing. It seemed that snakes kept reappearing in the area.

Kiyaa—!

The fangs of the snakes rushed towards the back of Su-hyeun's neck.

He utilized the Doppelganger skill.

Slash—

Su-hyeun swung his sword and cut the snake's body in half. He had to pay attention to his entire surroundings since they were coming from every direction. They were weak individually, but there were too many of them.

'I can't hesitate.'

There was a long way to go. From now on, this would be a physical battle.

'I have to find its heart.'

He had to reserve his magic power as much as possible. He didn't know where the heart was in this huge body. Since he had no idea how long it would take to find it, he could not waste his power.

Rumble—

Su-hyeun stretched his arms to access the subspace. He grabbed a Dragon Slaying Spear made by Kim Dae-ho. He didn't have many of them left, but no other weapons could handle many enemies efficiently like this one.

'Mr. Kim will scold me about this.'

Kim Dae-ho had nagged Su-hyeun to save this weapon, but he had to use it again. He had no other choice and grabbed the spear tightly. He didn't need to aim accurately. Everything in front of him was an enemy that needed to be killed. Su-hyeun bent his body like a bow and threw the spear as hard as he could.

Whiz—

***

The delicate scent of tea filled the room when the hot water was poured into the teacup. Dozens of the dark magicians stood behind Raeng. Malcolm looked awkwardly at the old man who was escorted by so many dark magicians.

"You've changed a lot," Malcolm said.

"Not as much as you."

At Raeng's words, Malcolm turned his gaze toward the dark magicians standing behind him. The dark magicians, who usually frowned their faces at Malcolm, avoided his eyes. They didn't know Raeng, who they served, was acquainted with Malcolm.

"Please explain this," Malcolm said.

"You are smart. What do I need to explain?"

"So, was it you?" Malcolm asked while putting the teapot on the table. "The one who wanted power over Ouroboros?"

"I didn't feel comfortable using my friend to gain control over the creature."

"If you truly thought of me as your friend…"

"I did consider you as a friend, and I mean it."

Malcolm stared at Raeng's face while he sipped on his tea. This was the friend that he met for the first time in over ten years, but he felt more betrayed than welcomed.

"A long time ago, you said that dark magic is the study of a higher concept of magic," Malcolm said as he remembered the words that Raeng had told him. "Do you still think so?"

"I feel sorry." Raeng put down the cup and took his hand off of it as if he did not want to drink tea anymore. "We could stay good friends."

'You were no longer my friend,' seemed to be the hidden meaning behind Raeng's words. Malcolm wasn't too shocked about this since he also did not consider Raeng as a friend of his. His response answered Malcolm's question.

Raeng had been devaluing ordinary magic, but he considered dark magic as the best to study. He was different from Malcolm. Malcolm had figured out the truth of the dark magic and turned away from it.

"Just tell me why you are here," Malcolm said.

"Malcolm, there is a way for us to go back to what we used to be."

"Used to be?"

"Yes. Wasn't it good back then? We studied together and understood everything. We walked the same path."

"As I said last time, I am no longer a dark magician. I am just an ordinary old man." Malcolm shook his head as if it wasn't worth mentioning this anymore.

Raeng's face was slightly distorted, but he soon smiled again. "I understand. You are entitled to your own opinion, of course."

"Then—"

"My request is not for you to learn dark magic again. What I want is this." Raeng reached his hand out to his back and handed Malcolm a book.

"Chimera composing method?"

Chimera making was a sorcery that was a part of dark magic. This book dealt with combining humans to animals, monsters, or demonic beasts.

"Why are you showing this to me? I don't know anything about chimeras."

"No, you know something about it. Don't lie to me," Raeng said as if he knew everything. He shook his head and opened the book. "You also know about Ouroboros better than anyone else."

At Raeng's words, Malcolm's eyes widened. Soon, Malcolm recalled the crying of Ouroboros. His face turned pale.

"Wait. Are you…?"

"What if humans have the same amount of power that Ouroboros has?" Raeng grinned and said, "Wouldn't it be quite the evolution for humans?"

***

Clank, clank—

Boom, boom, boom—

Slash—

Su-hyeun threw the Dragon Slaying Spear once more. It swept away the snakes in front of him. As soon as the spear left his hand, he grabbed his sword again, and he started running towards the path that he just created.

'I have only three spears left.'

He had seven spears originally, but he had used four of them so far. He decided that today was the day he would use them all, but he felt pretty bitter about it. A lot of Ether stone was needed to make a Dragon Slaying Spear. It also took a long time to create.

'I will save my remaining spears for now.'

The Dragon Slaying Spear was a weapon that could kill many snakes with minimal force, but he still had some strength left. So, he decided to rely on the sword more.

Da-dum, da-dum—

A small beating sound came from afar. It was the heart.

'Found it.'

Although he could hear the heart, he did not assume it was close by. The blood vessels that he was running beside at the moment were winded and irregularly connected. However, the heart was closer than he had been expecting. Su-hyeun touched the wall and tried to find the source of the sound. The sound was coming from under the esophagus and inside the wall. He had to make a hole.

"Sure, it was easy so far."

He couldn't guess how thick the inner wall around the esophagus would be, but since there were no scales, he assumed it would be easier to cut through. It wouldn't be as difficult as it had been to cut the outside of the beast.

'I should say thank you to Mr. Kim later.'

Chink—

Su-hyeun took out the small stones that he had been keeping in the pocket of his armor. They were the magic amplifiers. Su-hyeun put them on the wall and made a circular shape.

Hiss—

Kiyaa—!

Of course, the snakes didn't just stand by and watch. They tried to attack Su-hyeun, revealing their teeth. At that moment, Su-hyeun turned and swung his sword.

Slash—

Boom—!

The Flame that wrapped around his sword ignited brightly. It created a protective wall of flames around Su-hyeun. The snakes burned black and fell dead, but that wasn't the end. The Flame didn't extinguish as it surrounded Su-hyeun like a globe and continued to burn. Even if it was only for a limited time, that was enough for him.

'Done.'

Su-hyeun infused his magic to the magic amplifiers that were attached to the wall.

Rumble, rumble—

The stones shone brighter and brighter, but Su-hyeun instinctively knew that it was not enough. He focused and needed to concentrate on bursting his magic at once. One shot was crucial.

'A little bit more.'

Hiss—

Kiyaa—

A few snakes pierced the wall of the Flame and rushed toward Su-hyeun. Sharp fangs penetrated the armor and bit his shoulder. As soon as the black venom penetrated his skin, Falcon's Holy Armor began to detox the poison from his body. Su-hyeun remained focused. He ignored the pain in his shoulder and continued to infuse his magic.

'Now!'

At that moment, he released the magic he had been infusing.

Swish—

Su-hyeun tossed the snake that had been biting him off of his body and ran away from the spot.

Ka-boom—!

Boom, boom—!

The concentrated magic, which was amplified several times, caused an explosion. The explosion tore off the esophagus wall of Ouroboros.

Da-dum, da-dum—

The open wall made from the explosion led to a spacious area. There was no heart in this huge dome-shaped space, but the loud beating sound was still there.

Hiss—

In the enormous space, a lot of snakes were waiting for Su-hyeun instead of the heart.

"Damn, there are too many."

Da-dum, da-dum—

The heart was somewhere in here. It just wasn't visible.

'It is certainly here.'

Su-hyeun looked carefully among the hundreds of snakes. There was a space that a large number of poisonous snakes gathered around. He could see a small sphere about the size of a watermelon within that space.

'That's it!'

Su-hyeun's eyes sparkled. It was the power source that could control this giant beast. The moment he found it, he gave strength to his legs by using the Leap skill.