The Hero Returns

* * *

Boom!

Clang! Rumble!

The first floor of the Gordon Tower had broken into pandemonium.

Out of ten awakeners, two had already died.

Stjepan hid, trying to avoid the battle, a single black stone held firmly in his hand.

<< Goddammit! Please, please, let someone reply before- >>

In case of emergency, the European Union's awakeners had established a signaling system that allowed them to quickly send messages to one another. A stone with magical energy would vibrate dozens of times louder than any smartphone, allowing them to sense an incoming signal even in the middle of battle.

<< Could it be that the other side is also…? >>

Buzz, buzz.

A reply finally came. Stjepan hurriedly yanked his smartphone out of his pants' pocket. The caller was Adel.

"Goddammit! What took you so damn long?!"

"What happened?"

"What do you mean, what happened?! This bastard. We can't deal with him alone!"

BOOM!

"Aaaaahk!"

Just then, a scream came from behind him, causing Stjepan to hurriedly turn his head around to look. One of his allies was writhing on the ground in pain, missing an arm. With that, the number of combatants remaining in the fight dwindled to seven, including himself.

He grew even more desperate. "You have some leeway there, right? Send at least five more to this side! Hurry up!!"

"We don't have any leeway either."

"What's that?!"

"I was about to ask for aid from your group. But then…"

Stjepan didn't need to hear the rest of the sentence to know that both sides were struggling at the moment. That also meant that neither of them had succeeded in their mission.

<< Which means… >>

His eyes shifted to Su-hyeun.

<< We need to face a monster like that by ourselves. >>

Forget about an injury. They had failed to even scratch Su-hyeun up until now. At this rate, all of their efforts would be meaningless, and the hapless European Union awakeners would die for nothing.

"W-what should we do now?"

"That's…"

Buzz, crack.

He heard the sound of something breaking through the phone, then the call disconnected.

"F*ck!!"

Crack!

Stjepan threw the phone to the floor angrily. He watched its screen shatter into pieces, and yet that didn't make him feel any better. The situation remained as bad as it could get.

"What do we have to do so that-"

"Looks like things aren't working out for you?"

Step, step.

Stjepan spun his head around to the voice coming from behind.

Su-hyeun was walking closer as he choked another awakener with one hand. As for the rest, they didn't dare to approach, they were too frightened by Su-hyeun to do anything.

"I told you, didn't I? It was a mistake to divide your forces."

"How dare you spew out such arrogant—"

"You don't even have the necessary skills, and yet, what's with that ego of yours?"

Su-hyeun directed a mocking chuckle in Stjepan's direction and let go of the awakener's throat.

Plop.

"Cough, cough!"

The awakener grabbed at his neck and panted heavily, clearly in agony, eyes bloodshot. A short while later, his breathing settled down just a little. He looked up at Su-hyeun, and his terrified face became deathly pale.

"H-hiiieeek!!"

The awakener spun around and crawled away to escape. Stjepan, who was watching the unsightly spectacle, could only gnash his teeth. The odds of this battle were tilted against him for sure. Only six people, including himself, could possibly carry on with the battle.

"Why don't I give you all a chance?" Su-hyeun looked at Stjepan, who seemed to be the leader of this little group, and spoke. "An opportunity for you to get out of here alive."

"…An opportunity?"

"That's right. So, how about it? Interested yet?"

He felt like Su-hyeun was looking down on him, but it was also undeniable that Stjepan's ears did perk up, just a little. If they kept fighting Su-hyeun here, it would only result in their ignoble deaths. If an opportunity to save his life presented itself, then, regardless of what it was, he'd grab it with both hands.

"W-what is it?" The man who Su-hyeun had choked earlier asked first, voice trembling greatly.

Stjepan got angry, and he glared daggers at that awakener. But Su-hyeun made his reply a step faster than Stjepan could react.

"All you have to do is to run away."

"R-run away?"

"Correct. It's easy, right? If you run away, I won't come after you. I'll even forget about what happened here, too. That is, as long as you don't come up with yet another underhanded scheme later on. But…"

Shudder, shudder.

The tone of Su-hyeun's voice, as well as the light gleaming in his eyes, changed rapidly and caused his magical energy, spreading out through the first floor, to roil and seethe ominously.

"But, if you insist on attacking me, I'll just kill you all right now."

Grrr.

Stjepan clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth in pure rage.

Run away.

As logical as the suggestion was, nothing would be so humiliating.

The suggestion was a sign of generosity that the 'strong' would always display to the 'weak'.

<< No, wait. >>

It was then that an idea flashed through Stjepan's head.

<< He wants us to run? But, why? >>

Up until now, Su-hyeun had displayed more than enough strength to overwhelm everyone present. There was no doubt about that.

There was also no reason to be generous here and let his attackers live to cause future trouble. That meant that there had to be another reason he was so willing to let them go.

<< Could it be…. >>

A smirk spread across Stjepan's face.

Su-hyeun saw that and his brows furrowed. "What are you smiling about?"

"The one who needs to run isn't us, but you, isn't it?"

"…?"

"I'm guessing that the price to pay for all that power is weak stamina, isn't it? I knew it. I was wondering how a punk who got his powers only three years ago got this powerful."

The atmosphere, filled with choking fear, quickly shifted with Stjepan's accusation.

"Stamina?"

"Maybe his fitness level isn't so good?"

"That makes sense, considering that he was fighting while pouring out this much magical energy…"

Indeed, the idea sounded logical. Even without Stjepan's accusation, questions of "how could he?" had been circling in their heads for a while already.

How could he be this strong?

How could he not be tired yet?

And now, Stjepan had just put forward a plausible theory. Judging from Su-hyeun's reaction, it looked credible too.

"So, I'm right, aren't I?"

Stjepan was flustered until a few seconds ago. He smiled triumphantly once more, as he regained his composure.

His attitude also helped others to regain their confidence, as well.

"Phew." Su-hyeun sighed softly under his breath.

Stjepan saw that and became even more convinced that he was right. He began walking toward Su-hyeun, "Hah. You should've run away while you had the power to spare, you little-"

Suddenly, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and his voice froze in his mouth. He grabbed at his throat in a furious attempt to find his voice, but there was no use. His voice had been sealed away, as if something was blocking him.

<< What's going on?! >>

[Third Eye- Predator.]

Shuwuwuwu.

When he met the gaze from Su-hyeun's third eye, Stjepan finally realized it.

It was because of that eye.

He instinctively grew fearful and his entire body froze stiff. He had sensed some sort of restriction binding him a little during the fight, but this was the first time he had felt such intense, constricting pressure.

"It would have been better if you had run away in one piece while I was willing to let you go."

Stab.

Su-hyeun's sword plunged into Stjepan's head. Stjepan's eyes grew wide as he felt the cold metallic sensation coming from the inside of his head.

Never mind reacting on time, he couldn't even tell just when Su-hyeun had appeared before his eyes.

"What… kind of a… skill…"

Slice.

Even before he had finished speaking, a thin red line appeared, running vertically on Stjepan's body, top to bottom.

Right afterward…

Splash!

Stjepan split in half and his blood splattered everywhere.

It happened in the blink of an eye. The remaining six awakeners fell into a state of unbridled panic. They had been convinced that Su-hyeun was exhausted, but, unfortunately for them, he looked even more energetic than ever before.

Su-hyeun looked down at Stjepan's corpse and asked again, "Anyone else?"

The European awakeners stumbled backward before they took off running. He lowered his sword while he watched them escape. It didn't look like there were any other idiots with a death wish still trying to attack him.

<< What a mess. >>

The fight itself didn't take long, but the entirety of the Gordon Tower's first floor was now completely ruined. It seemed that the building's official grand opening would have to be postponed for quite a while.

<< What's happening downstairs, I wonder? >>

Su-hyeun headed in the direction of the elevators.

Gordon Rohan was currently fighting below.

* * *

Clang!

Thump! Clang! Pow!

Gordon Rohan and Adel continued with their contest of strength, their hands firmly locked in their own weapons.

A single smartphone lay shattered nearby— the phone that had to defend against Gordon Rohan's attack just now.

"That was a pretty sharp reaction. Didn't expect you to use the phone as a shield," said Gordon Rohan.

"Well, it was quite an expensive device, you see."

"I know. After all, my company makes them."

That smartphone was considered to be the best on the market, with a single Ether stone used as the phone's energy source. The device was sold for an enormous amount of money. It was known for its incredible hardness and an everlasting operational lifetime that would never need a recharge.

"I should've told my people to make it a bit softer. If I had done so, your head would be on my spear by now."

"I'm grateful that you didn't."

Thump! Pow!

Adel frowned from the pain shooting up his hands. They somehow ended up grabbing each other's hands and started a contest of strength but, as expected, fighting head-on wasn't going to work.

Thump! Pow!

Suddenly, dozens of spears shot up from the ground Gordon Rohan was standing on. He quickly released Adel Castle's hands and leaped up from there. His gaze was already scanning the three or four awakeners that had closed in on them.

"You, damned small fry…"

For a moment, his eyes gleamed pure-white and the spear in his hand emitted a blinding light once more.

At the same time, two of the awakeners roused their magical energy and activated their defense skills.

Purple-colored walls spread out all over the place, and Gordon Rohan's spear pounded on them, creating ear-ringing ripples of exploding noises.

RING!

CLANG!

The walls shattered in an instant. But, in that brief moment, Adel created distance between himself and Gordon Rohan.

The Briton shook his hand lightly, as if it ached from the strength contest earlier. "I see that your physical strength is also ridiculously strong."

"You're better than I thought." Gordon Rohan too clenched and unfurled the hand not holding the spear repeatedly, before asking a question. "Wait, now that I think about it, you were a fist-fighter, weren't you? I shouldn't have used my bare fists."

He then fell into thought for a moment before continuing to fight.

"If that's your level, then let's see. You won't even touch Kim Su-hyeun, so forget him. Maybe you're about the same level as Thomas or Bak Yun-gyu? No, wait. Maybe you're a bit worse than them?"

His words caused Adel's expression to tense up just a little.

The Briton already knew he was nowhere near Gordon Rohan's level. But the assertion of him being weaker than Kim Su-hyeun, Thomas, and even this unknown Bak Yun-gyu was no different than spitting on his pride.

"You truly are filled with boundless ego, aren't you? Just for how long do you think you'll remain the—"

"Nah, not yet." Gordon Rohan shook his head at Adel's words.

Did the one and only Gordon Rohan deny that he's the best?

"Right. That's something I'll prove soon enough."

"What are you talking about?"

"I told you, didn't I? I'm hosting the Ranking Wars to prove that I am indeed the best in the world. To prove to the much, much wider world whom I haven't met yet—to prove that I'm truly the best," said Gordon Rohan, before smirking deeply. "Kim Su-hyeun."

"Kim Su-hyeun?"

"That guy has shown me up before, you see. Only by defeating him, can I claim to be truly the best in the world."

This was the very first time Gordon Rohan had acknowledged someone's skills this much.

Adel thought to himself. <>

To think that a man who possessed this level of might wasn't sure of his chances against him.

"Were you publicly declaring something deeply embarrassing just now?"

"…!"

Adel hurriedly spun his head in the direction of the voice coming from behind him. His eyes caught the figure of Su-hyeun leisurely walking into the arena where the battle was still ongoing.