The Hero Returns

Chapter 193: Chapter 193

"Thanks to you, Su-hyeun, my dream of traveling around the world will come true."

"You haven't been to that many places yet."

"Meh. If we move around in a private plane like this, a journey around the world won't take too long. Have you ever read the book, Around the World in 80 Days?"

"That book came out a long, long time ago."

Su-hyeun and Hak-joon were sitting on a bench outside of the airport in Paris. The airport, which would normally be packed with crowds of travelers, wasn't busy at all because of the recent incidents.

"People don't look well," Hak-joon said.

"The people here are probably aware of recent events, so they must be scared."

People came to Paris with the anxiety of not knowing when, where, and who would attack them. The only people coming now were probably on essential business, but they all looked like they wanted to get out of Paris as soon as possible.

"But, Su-hyeun, do you really think that happened because of the dungeon?"

"I've got a feeling, you know? And monsters aren't the only things that can come out of dungeons."

"What else can come out then?" Hak-joon asked.

"Well. Actually, once in Osaka, Japan, poisonous smoke came out instead of monsters. It almost killed a lot of people, but, fortunately, it was stopped before there was a major loss of life, because it was just an orange dungeon."

"You know all kinds of stuff."

While they were talking, the plane that they had been waiting for arrived. After a bit more waiting—

"There he comes."

—the man they waited for walked out.

"Su-hyeun—!"

The red-haired man ran from afar, shouting in a loud voice. It was Thomas. Thomas dashed forward, opening his arms wide as if he was in a hurry. Since he was good at running, he reached them very quickly.

Whoosh—

Su-hyeun grabbed Thomas nape, who jumped high to hug Su-hyeun. Thomas laughed. He seemed very happy to see Su-hyeun after a long time.

"Don't run like that. If you fall, you'll get hurt," Su-hyeun said.

"Okay!" Thomas replied, nodding his head.

He still spoke like a child, but his Korean was remarkably improved. Even Su-hyeun was a little surprised.

"His language got better quick, and he's adjusting to society well," Hak-joon said. "He just didn't have someone to teach him so far. He's a real quick learner."

"Is that so? That's good."

"He also works the most out of all of us. I'm sure Thomas is as famous as you now."

"Ahem." At Hak-joon's praise, Thomas expressed his triumphant mood with an exaggerated gesture.

After Thomas joined, the three of them left the airport by car.

While they walked away, Hak-joon asked Su-hyeun, "When can we get police support?"

"They're probably evacuating people now. I don't feel safe since they're just civilians, too. But, oh well, we have no choice."

"What if we use awakeners? I'm sure there are many awakeners in the French Authority."

"I thought about that, too. But they might cause more trouble since they have powers. So, I asked the Authority to arrange awakeners, but keep them at a distance, just in case."

Vroom—

Su-hyeun started the car. They headed for the Rue des Champs-Élysee, the center of Paris. The street was quiet, and there was no traffic. People had been leaving Paris since the incidents first started. The city was almost empty.

Screech—

Su-hyeun parked the car on one side of the street. The few people who were still left in Paris were moving under the order of the police.

"Please empty the city as soon as possible."

Su-hyeun had asked both the chief of the National Police Agency and the Awakeners Authority of France. His first request was to evacuate people from Paris. The incidents were getting worse. People had already been talking about emptying the city before. And Su-hyeun requested they do that, so the chief of two major organizations didn't hesitate to evacuate people.

"And how many awakeners belong to the Authority?" Su-hyeun had asked.

"There are about 200 people who can be mobilized right now, regardless of their levels."

"If there are awakeners who have mind control skills, we need them. It isn't a common skill, but, with about 200 people, I assume we'll get at least ten people. Also, we need people who have resistance to magic or mind control skills."

"What about other awakeners?"

"I'd rather you use normal police manpower than awakeners. If awakeners go crazy, it'll only cause more trouble."

Su-hyeun opened the door and got out of the car. He looked around the street. Some stores were stained with blood. The windows were broken and the cars on the road were smashed.

"Wow. It's pretty bad," Hak-joon exclaimed.

"It shows what happens when everyone goes insane."

Ring, ring, ring—

Su-hyeun's phone started to ring. It was a call from Lee Ju-ho.

"Hello?"

-Hey, Su-hyeun. I think you were right.

Lee Ju-ho spoke in an urgent voice. Su-hyeun could hear the keyboard sound. It seemed like Lee Ju-ho was busily typing away.

"What happened?"

-I just sent you an e-mail. Look at it while we talk.

"Okay."

Su-hyeun turned on the speakerphone mode and opened his inbox. The mail that Lee Ju-ho had sent was there.

"What are you doing?"

Hak-joon and Thomas leaned closer to Su-hyeun with curious faces. Su-hyeun quickly read through the e-mail.

-It happened a few hours ago. A group orgy occurred on a beach in Florida, United States. A large scale theft occurred in Brazil. And—

Lee Ju-ho read out the list of incidents that attached to the e-mail.

"Lust, greed, envy, gluttony," Su-hyeun muttered.

-Everything matches with what you said. Well. Except for pride.

Kee hee, hee hee hee—

A strange laugh came from somewhere. Su-hyeun, Hak-joon, and Thomas, who were listening to Lee Ju-ho through speakerphone, looked around.

"Ju-ho, let's hang up for now. I will call you later."

-What's wrong?

"I'll call you soon."

Su-hyeun quickly turned off his phone and put it in his pocket. Hak-joon raised his magic power.

He asked in nervous voice, "Is this it?"

"Yes," Su-hyeun answered calmly.

"Oh, I feel like I'm burning with rage. It's like…I have to break something."

"Wrath."

It was one of the seven deadly sins and possibly the most dangerous among human emotions.

"Hak-joon. Can you feel where this is coming from?"

"Yes. It's coming from underneath." Hak-joon bent down and touched the ground. "Below us."

They were standing right on to of the dungeon. It was as Su-hyeun had said.

"You were right, Su-hyeun. It wasn't a skill from an awakener or something. The reason why people couldn't detect the magic power is—"

"…Is because the emotion itself was flowing out, not a magic power or skill," Su-hyeun explained.

"Is that possible?" Hak-joon asked in surprise.

"It can be, if magic makes up a chunk of emotion. The signs of magic disappear as time passes, but the emotions remain."

It was a simple reason. Magical power was a supernatural force. The power could be changed to fire or water depending on who used it. Some people could control souls, even control human minds. So, it was possible that magic could create emotions this time. And the traces of the medium, the magical power, gradually faded over time.

"So, it is possible. theoretically." Hak-joon nodded.

"And if it's really coming from the dungeon, there would be bigger chunks of emotion inside of it."

"…"

"Hey, Thomas."

"Yes, Su-hyeun?"

"Do you remember what I asked you? The things you have to do?"

"Yes, I know!" Thomas replied confidently.

Thomas seemed young mentally, but he looked very reliable today. Anyway, Thomas was a genius and one of the strongest S- Rank awakeners in the world.

"Then, it's time to move. Go over that way."

"Okay! Take care!" Thomas said and ran with all of his force in the direction Su-hyeun pointed.

Whiz—!

He was faster than any car. Actually, he would be much faster on foot than a car on a winding or traffic-filled road.

"Take care? When did he learn those words?"

Su-hyeun smiled at Thomas, who had a much broader vocabulary than before. Then, he lifted his feet.

"All right, then—"

Thud—

Craaaack—!

When Su-hyeun stomped, the ground began to crack.

"Let's go down there, Hak-joon."

<hr />

"Please keep your ranks! We're protecting you guys, so you're safe. Please move in order, slowly—"

Many crowds moved in line. Citizens of Paris, the capital city of France, were running out of their town.

"Do we really have to do this?"

"We have no choice but to leave. What if it happens again?"

Bnuir, the commissioner of Paris, nodded at the question of a younger policeman. The population of Paris was over two million, and they all started moving at once. It was a spectacular sight. He could see tens of thousands of people at the moment, and tons of people were following. He couldn't see the end of the crowd.

"What if nothing happens after all this, sir?"

"Well. Even so, the Paragon Guild said they would make sure that the mysterious violence never happens again. So, that's good for us."

Bnuir thought positively. The Paragon Guild had said that great damage could happen while they were eliminating the cause of the violence. They warned that the whole of Paris could be in danger. That was why police officers were evacuating all the citizens not only from Paris but also neighboring areas.

<<Now the question is how far will that disaster affect,>> Bnuir thought.

Not everyone had escaped from Paris yet. And a lot of people were gathering right at the moment to move.

<<If it happens again now…>>

Bnuir remembered the day that people had been violent without reason to each other.

<<There are so many people here, and they're so close to each other. If that happens again now… Oh, I don't want to even think about it.>>

Kee hee hee—

"…?"

Bnuir blinked and looked around. The officer next to him made the same face.

"Did you hear that, too?"

"Did you hear it, sir?"

Kee hee hee hee hee—

Strange laughter drifted from a distance. It was getting closer. Suddenly, Bnuir had a fit of anger rise from the depths of his heart. At that moment, Bnuir realized.

<<Wait. Is this…>>

He wanted to attack something. The phenomenon that had taken place in the heart of Paris happened again here.

<<No!>>

Gnashing—

Bnuir clenched his teeth. He shut his eyes tight and tried to calm himself down. But not many people were mentally strong enough to control their emotions. Even though he was the commissioner of a whole country, Bnuir was an ordinary human as well. It was about time that he began to lose his reason.

Whoosh—

Shhh, shhh—

[The Dark World - Black Forest.]

[Psychomancy.]

All of a sudden, the anger in Bnuir's heart faded. He opened his eyes. The world around him was dark.

"W-what the hell is this?"

"I can't see anything!"

"But…I'm not upset anymore."

People buzzed, they looked frightened. On the one hand, some seemed relieved when their sudden anger disappeared.

"Hehe."

Childish laughter came from somewhere in the dark. Unlike the dim and dark atmosphere, it was such bright laughter. Nervous people lost their vigor at that bright laugh. Bnuir also smiled wide at the laugh.

"He came!" Bnuir cheered.

Bnuir looked at the red-haired man who came from one side of the darkness. He was Thomas Mathiras, an awakener from the Paragon Guild, like Kim Su-hyeun.

"Su-hyeun told me to wait for him here," Thomas said in a powerful voice, smiling big. "And he asked me to keep you guys safe."