The Hero Returns

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Kiii-aaaaah—!

The Bone Dragon's howls reverberated throughout the sky.

Countless skeletons wielded battered swords and spears made out of bones. Meanwhile, magic spells chaotically flew about everywhere.

The Bone Dragon flew toward the human army. However, the magic fired out by the Lichs suppressed the undead creature's body, and meteors summoned by the magic circles began raining down on it.

The Lichs certainly couldn't attack Herrels, but they could still attack the other undead like them.

Swoosh—

A sword sliced down sharply toward Herrels' back.

Quite unsurprisingly, he couldn't respond in time. Other than being able to command the legions of the undead, he was not much different from a regular person who hadn't taken up swordsmanship training.

However…

Clang—!

The sword was deflected back midway during the strike.

Seward Christine who targeted Herrels' open back was now staring at the hulking pile of bones blocking his view.

"So, it was this guy? The knight who was reputedly the strongest in history, Sir Louw?"

Seward's curious gaze was fixed squarely on the Death Knight.

This Death Knight kitted out in the worn-out heavy armor used to be called the strongest knight in history until Count Balt appeared.

Such a creature had been protecting Herrels from the closest vantage point for a very long time, and that was precisely why no one could assassinate or harm him until now.

"If it's Sir Louw, then he certainly is not someone that I can so carelessly provoke. However, what about you, Lord Herrels?"

Seward smirked haughtily as he stared at Herrels. For a while now, the latter's complexion had been getting paler and paler.

"Even if you can command an army of the dead, you're still just a human being. You can bleed, and you can get tired as well. And right now, my friend, you look rather fatigued."

"It's not a problem right now."

"Indeed, you're correct. For now, that is." Seward then shifted his gaze over to the distant Lichs sending out a barrage of attacks at the undead that Herrels had summoned. "It is a shame that all you can do is command the undead, and you can't seem to control the Lichs in the far off distance. They can't attack you, but they sure can attack the undead you have summoned. And you're gradually getting tired as we speak."

Every word coming out from Seward Christine's mouth that explained everything in detail and left no room for argument. It was as he said—the Lichs couldn't attack Herrels, but that didn't mean he possessed an inexhaustible supply of stamina and power.

"When you reach the point of collapsing from overexertion, you shall die by my hands."

"I see. As far as you being a rotten bastard, you haven't changed at all," was all Herrels could say in reply.

Herrels' glare remained locked on Seward Christine despite the cold sweat that trickled down his forehead and his vision that was growing dimmer. Even his concentration had begun wavering gradually as well.

I can't keep this up.

Herrels heaved a long sigh and took a good look around his surroundings. All the crossbow bolts, swords, and spears flying in at him were being fended off by the Death Knights protecting him.

He wanted nothing more than to control those Lichs.

To do that, however, he had to wield immense power, and the undead he was controlling were just already too many. Moreover, the human army that served as a wall between him and the Lichs was also simply too impregnable.

They have completely analyzed me down to the last detail.

For the past several years, Herrels had to fight off the Lichs many times to rescue his son Roy. In the process, he ended up killing countless undead or had to openly use his ability many times.

It seemed that the Lichs had been planning and strategizing this very battle for a long time. They mobilized a human army, causing him to summon his own undead army to fight back, and then, they proceeded to weaken his undead next.

They also made sure not to come close to him. They rigorously kept their distance and aimed only at his undead summons.

Clearly, their plan was to gradually shave off his stamina in this fashion, and then, they'd let Seward's sword take his life away.

So, it's only a matter of time, huh?

Herrels already knew that the battle would be difficult, but he never imagined that the enemies would come prepared to this degree.

Smirk

A grin spread on his lips next. He had two reasons to do so.

I was planning to die anyway, so I should cut loose and go all the way.

A smile automatically broke out the moment he cast away any lingering attachment toward life. And secondly…

Today is really the end.

From the perspectives of the inheritor of the Ralwsman bloodline and his son…

Herrels could now see the end of the long and arduous road Roy had to experience so far during his young age, and that fact was enough reason to smile.

"Come forth, my slaves," Herrels commanded.

Geu-guguguguk—

And the fallen skeletons began rising up once more.

"Let's end this, you damn persistent bastards!"

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[Dragon Slaying Spear]

Kwa-ahahahaht—!

Chwa-ra-ra-ra-rak—

The spear that had left Su-hyeun's hand split into tens of thousands of shards and rained down on the Lichs' heads.

However, as if they had been waiting for this attack, they quickly made their next move. Did they already figure out his battle style?

Swish, swish—

Rather than blocking the shards, the Lichs began dodging them. It was indeed the wiser choice. Unfortunately…

"You think you can dodge just because you know now?"

"…!"

Giiii-iiiing—

Fwoooosh—!

A spear that was connected to him through a thin thread of magical energy flew out while spinning viciously. After beheading several Lichs in a row with the thrown weapon, Su-hyeun yanked hard at the thread and pulled it back.

Swoosh—

Boom—!

The spear than flew in the opposite direction.

It was too fast to be blocked or evaded. Lichs reflexively activated magic in Su-hyeun's direction.

Crackle, crackle—

Freeze—

Bitterly cold air blanketed Su-hyeun's body. However, the ones to get flustered were the Lichs, instead.

Dammit.

Magic-based attacks were almost completely useless against Su-hyeun. Not only was his innate magic resistance high, but all the skills currently draped around his body also aided in boosting his defenses against all things magic-related.

The physical defensive capability offered by his armor alone should not be ignored, but if the Lichs had to choose, rather than magic-based attacks, they needed to find a method to inflict actual physical damage to him.

Shatter—

Su-hyeun moved again as if nothing had happened to him.

It didn't matter whether it was the choking heatwave or freezing air, the built-in magic resistance of the Armor of Hades cut off the effects of those magic spells before they could negatively affect him.

Fwooooosh—!

Swoosh—

An arrow as thick as a tree trunk suddenly flew in toward Su-hyeun's head.

The siege weapon designed to penetrate castle gates—a ballista—had been fired at him. He tilted his head out of the way and, then, shifted his gaze toward where that ballista had come from.

"Load the next round! Prepare to fire!"

"Fire!"

Pow—!

Fwooooosh—!

Another ballista flew toward Su-hyeun, and then, dozens upon dozens of the thick arrows followed. He dodged every single one of them or cut them down with his sword.

Split—

Stab, stab—!

The large arrows stabbed the ground after getting sliced in half by the sword.

"Son of a…"

"Every single one?!"

"Is he even really human?"

Disconcerted voices began rising up.

Their disbelief made sense. These weapons were designed for siege warfare—they were meant to destroy tightly closed castle gates and not to attack a lone human being.

However, said human being proceeded to not only dodge them but he also even went and cut down some of them. It was not something a normal human could do.

Could Count Balt, reputedly the continent's number one swordsman, pull off the same feat? But then again, that famous count had already died by Su-hyeun's hands, didn't he?

"I'm not a fan of fighting against people, but…" Su-hyeun complained softly under his breath and, then, spun his body around. "Then again, some people just can't be redeemed, after all."

Su-hyeun raised his sword up high, and immediately, an incredible amount of magical energy pooled at the tip of his blade.

Giiii-iiiing—

[The Wave Sword - Explosion Style]

[Flame]

Rumble—

Along with the intense dark blue-colored flames, the gathered magical energy on the blade expanded rapidly.

Then, ever so slowly, Su-hyeun swung down the weapon.

[One Sword Cutting Through Everything - Earth Divider]

Gu-wuuuung—

A sound similar to a massive sword descending from the heavens resounded.

When Su-hyeun's blade touched the ground…

Split—!

Crack, Crumble—

The spot where the army of the thousands had been standing on split apart into numerous unstable chunks. The magical energy that seeped underground had utterly decimated the foundation below.

"T—the ground?!"

"H—hold on!"

"Ah!"

A pure pandemonium ensued.

Su-hyeun watched the operators of the siege weapons as they sunk below ground, along with their devices, before turning away. His glare landed on the shrinking figures of the Lichs next. Their numbers had decreased significantly by now.

[Achievement Percentage: 68%]

[You have not satisfied the conditions.]

The achievement percentage had increased dramatically, but he still hadn't reached the condition to clear trial yet, even with such a high percentage, which hadn't happened before.

Still, there was little doubt that the battle against the Lichs was connected to passing the trial somehow.

The issue is whether or not my stamina and magical energy reserve can hold out until the end…

Fuu-wuu—

Su-hyeun exhaled deeply.

In the end, this fight had become a war of attrition.

If it was him fighting alone, he'd have rampaged to his heart's content, but right now, he needed to pay some attention to make sure no sneaky Lichs managed to approach Roy somewhere behind him.

Whatever the case may be, not losing Roy to them is the most import—

It was at that point that Su-hyeun briefly halted the battle to glance behind him.

"Huh?!"

Roy and Miru, who were definitely there when he looked a second ago, could no longer be seen. He hadn't been aware of their movements because of all the unfolding chaos, but even then, they had really disappeared without him noticing anything.

"Goddammit!"

Feeling the urgency now, Su-hyeun inadvertently swore loudly.

Ke, kekekeke—

Just then, he heard the ominous cackles of the Lichs.

"This is a battle where we're destined to emerge victorious regardless of what you do."

Su-hyeun's brows furrowed deeply. They sounded like they had something to bank on right now.

As I suspected, they did something to Roy's body, didn't they?

He did keep an eye out for such an eventuality. Thinking that the Lichs might have implanted some sort of magic in Roy, he checked and rechecked the boy's body several times.

However, he couldn't detect anything weird in the end. The boy's condition was normal, and he couldn't sense any hidden magical devices either.

So, he relaxed and told himself that it should be alright for now—and that had come to bite him in the rear.

I got careless.

Did it only activate after some time had passed and after he started fighting the Lichs? All sorts of hypotheses entered his mind, but it was too late now.

It was never too late to regret. No, actually, it was better to regret much further down the line.

For now, he needed to get a hold of this situation.

"Looks like I don't have any more room to drag this out," Su-hyeun spoke.

"That is unfortunate, but we must apologize, you have no choice but to play with us for a bit longer."

"I don't think so."

The moment Su-hyeun shook his head…

Rumble—

Dark blue-colored flames blanketed the forest as he grabbed several of the spears strapped on his back.

"Since time isn't on my side anymore…" Su-hyeun's figure then arched tautly like a bow. "I better give up on stuff like controlling the pace or whatever."

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Gya-ong, gya-ong—

Miru continued to chase after Roy.

The dragon's body was already riddled with numerous little wounds. They came from rolling on the ground several times.

Miru tried to stop the boy many times, but its efforts were in vain. The red dragon simply couldn't stop Roy without injuring the kid.

Meanwhile, a voice was whispering into Roy's ears as he walked forward with a cloudy vision.

"Just a little bit more. A little bit more."

He had been hearing that voice since a while ago. No, it wasn't merely a voice. It contained an irresistible power.

Roy continued to move in the direction the voice told him to go.

Kee-hee, kee-hee-eeee—

Countless dead souls rushed in all around Roy. They circled the boy before entering his body one by one.

The sensation didn't feel so bad to the child.

It felt like strength was filling up his insides. It felt like he was acquiring power he had never possessed before.

"You want far more than this, don't you?"

Roy nodded even unbeknownst to himself.

That was a rather obvious question, but normally, he wouldn't entertain such a desire. Unfortunately, Roy failed to notice this anomaly.

The voice tried to further entice him.

"If so, then—"

"Roy!"

But another voice interfered with the whispers that entered the boy's ears.

Roy's wits came back to him immediately.