The Hero Returns

That voice was so faint that no one else could hear it.

However, the end of that command said by the voice coincided with the predator's maw being clamped shut tightly.

Ka-claaack, squeeeeze—!

Kurung, krrrrr—

A sound of something exploding inside the predator's maw resounded. The black dragon, unable to open its mouth and screech in pain, violently shook its head around.

The knights trying to escape from the Breath's range all stared at that sight in pure shock. All they could see just then was that the predator suddenly closed its maw and thrashed about for some reason.

"W—what just happened?"

"Why did it suddenly close its…?"

"H—hold on!"

Kiii-aaah-oh—!

It was at the moment that they finally saw the figure of a massive snake-type monster. However, that wasn't the only one.

Many large monsters several meters tall began appearing one by one. None of them were as large as either the predator or the suddenly appearing gigantic snake, however.

"M—more monsters…"

"Just how many of them are here?"

Unsurprisingly, the knights thought of them as new enemies but only until they witnessed what happened right afterward.

Chomp—

Cruuunch, crunch—

The massive snake, the Ouroboros, began biting and ripping into the predator's side.

It was the same story for the other monsters as well. Knights stopped for a moment at the sight of these unknown monsters attacking the predator and analyzed the current situation once more.

"Those creatures…"

"Are they enemies or allies?"

"As the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is an ally."'

"If they display any hint of attacking our side, then immediately treat them as enemies."

Most of them came to similar conclusions.

The enemies of their enemy would be their allies.

Even then, they were still monsters in the end, so the knights all concluded that they needed to deal with the most threatening enemy, the predator, first before getting rid of these creatures afterward.

Just as they came to that conclusion…

Crunch, cruuunch—

SHATTER—!

Kiii-aaaah—!

The predator, shaking its head around and forcing its maw open, finally managed to free itself, and at the same time…

Flap—

The predator spread its wings wide open.

That flapping of its wings caused the blood that leaked out from the numerous wounds adorning its body, both small and large, to splatter in all directions.

The skies turned crimson simultaneously as well.

The predator was launching an attack.

"Something's coming!"

"The sky, it's…!"

Shoooooo-eeeehk—

A shower of large and small crimson meteorites began descending on the capital city. They fell like raindrops, prompting the knights to either duck inside the nearby buildings or use their swords to deflect them.

Aaaaahk!

"E—evade them!"

BOOM—!

Mixed among the meteor shower were several rocks the size of houses. Individually, each rock was not very powerful, but even then, the magical attack encompassed the entirety of the city and caused a catastrophic level of damage everywhere.

Before the predator could ready its next attack magic…

"Yogoe…Slaying Sword."

"Blow away…"

Just as the predator spread open its expansive wings and floated up, low, hushed voices came from both sides of its head.

"Palm Leaf."

Chwa-aahk, chwa-aaaaaah—!

Humongous sword aura and sword winds smashed into the black dragon from both directions.

The predator's scales were split apart, and its flesh underneath was torn to bits. Although the creature was screeching out in pain, it still shifted its head in the direction where the sword winds blew in from and opened his maw.

Split—

Ruuumble—

It was another Breath.

Right at that moment, Su-hyeun extended his hand forward.

"Block it…"

To answer Su-hyeun's will, the clouds covering the skies descended to his front.

"Somersault cloud."

KWA-AAAAAHT—!

The Breath exploded forth from the predator's maw and rushed toward Su-hyeun. He watched the Somersault cloud that was acting as his shield gradually got shaved away and layered his body with several skills.

[Indomitable Body]

[Spirit's Grace]

[Armor of the Mage]

[Sky King's Feather]

[Reflect]

All of them were meant to raise his magic resistance. Even if these skills demanded heavy magical energy consumption, he didn't hesitate for a moment to use them.

Soon afterward, the protection offered by the Somersault cloud was breached, and the predator's Breath flooded over Su-hyeun's figure.

Kwa-wuwuwu—

While Su-hyeun's figure was obscured by that Breath, and he disappeared from view…

Gu-wuwuwu—

A blade as heavy as a falling meteorite slammed down on the predator's head.

SLAAAAM—!

That attack caused the predator that was beginning to flap its wings to screech out and stagger around precariously once more.

"Where do you think you're going?"

That blade belonged to Bradley who had been watching the battle without doing anything until then.

His sword might have been small, but having been infused with the powers of nature and Bradley's own aura, its weight easily rivaled the meteorite Bradley had dropped earlier.

After successfully shoving the predator down to the ground, Bradley quickly distanced himself.

Kwa-wuwuwu—!

Just as he suspected, another Breath immediately shot out from the predator's maw. Almost at the same time, the black dragon's body began floating upward again.

It managed to rise up even though its wings weren't moving.

"Is it flotation magic? How troublesome."

Witnessing that, Bradley was about to frown, but then…

"Strike down…"

Su-hyeun's voice resounded throughout the sky

"Somersault cloud."

FLASH—

KWA-RUMBLE—!

The gloomy sky was briefly illuminated. At the same time, a light enveloped the predator's figure.

BUZZZZZZ—!

The humongous body of the predator trembled, and then, it became visibly paralyzed. The electrical shock must have been rather considerable because the flotation magic it had cast lost its effect, and the creature fell back down to the ground.

Bradley muttered in admiration, "Hoh-oh…"

"Why are you standing around looking so impressed?"

Shu-aaaahk—

Su-hyeun's blackened body shot forward, and he started cutting the predator's body down with his sword. "If you have enough leeway for that, you should think about swinging your weapon one more time instead."

Despite the great distance between the two, Su-hyeun's voice still reached Bradley's ears clearly.

The latter had been under the impression that Su-hyeun got sucked into that Breath and was killed off, so a faint little grin crept upon his face as he gripped his sword tighter.

"Controlling the clouds and winds, eh?" Bradly mused.

He was rather surprised.

This would be his first time to properly witness Su-hyeun's fight.

He did see Su-hyeun control clouds and winds during his match against Waffman, but back then, that ability didn't seem all that impressive.

However, those attacks just now—the thunderbolt that struck the predator's head and the sharp winds that cut the dragon's back—wouldn't fall too far back when compared to his own strength.

"Didn't he say that our paths are different?"

At first, Bradley thought that those words were short-sighted, naïve, and rather idiotic.

But now, he began to feel a little different as he witnessed Su-hyeun before his eyes. There was little doubt that the latter was so much younger than he was, yet seeing just how high he managed to climb up so quickly, the emperor couldn't help but get a feeling that maybe the path he walked on until now was indeed incorrect.

"However, even then…"

Squeeze—

Bradley's eyes, which were locked on Su-hyeun, turned crimson as he made his next move.

"In the end, you'll also give up," he thought.

* * *

The capital was laid to waste.

Countless people lost their lives. Half of all those who gathered in the city were turned into sacrifices. The Ouroboros that bit and ripped into the predator's body was burned away after being struck by the dragon's magic, while even the God of War Nezha had lost one of his arms after it melted away.

Krrrr—

On the other hand, the predator was just as exhausted and weakened. Blood continued to leak from its whole body, while one of its wings was almost completely severed and flapped about precariously.

Pant, pant—

Su-hyeun panted heavily in exhaustion, too.

This battle had already lasted for over one hour. The price of borrowing and using the powers of the Palm Leaf Sword and the Somersault cloud was making his body lethargic.

"That thing's power of recovery is no joke."

The predator's physical defense wasn't that impressive. It certainly was greater than a regular run-of-the-mill monster, but it was still nothing to write home about in terms of the intense pressure the black dragon gave off.

However, that made sense because this monster waged war not through physical means but through its magical attacks.

The real issues were with the creature's stubborn life force and the rate of its recovery that matched its massive size.

"I didn't think it would heal its wounds with magic and keep fighting on."

As its body was humongous, the creature didn't bother to protect itself. It probably thought that it wouldn't get killed off in one stroke.

On the other hand, it chose to gradually heal its body. The magical recovery was added on top of its inborn healing factor, so there was no real need to protect its body.

Most of its regular wounds would recover fully given enough time, in other words.

"Even then…"

Su-hyeun observed the predator's body that no longer showed any sign of recovering and muttered to himself, "I guess this is the end, then."

Chwa-aaaah—!

Bradley's blade sliced open the predator's back.

After his eyes became crimson, the emperor seemingly had transformed into a different person altogether.

He swung his sword around like a man lost in the madness and didn't even bother to look after his own body. He just took on the predator's magic with his body and simply focused all his being in inflicting one more injury on the massive black dragon.

His state was exactly the same as Waffman's.

"Maybe there's something about those eyes?"

Su-hyeun wondered if those crimson eyes were similar to his own Sage's Eye.

"Whatever the case may be…"

Su-hyeun's eyes narrowed into slits. He locked his gaze on the "chest" area of the predator's bloodied and torn body.

That was the only intact part of the creature.

It was unsurprising, however.

Even though the rest of its body was basically uncovered, only that portion was being protected by magic.

It was not just any magic either but one so powerful that it could've protected its entire body without any issues. Su-hyeun had been wondering why this creature was paying so much attention to that particular location, but after taking a long, hard look, he could now tell the reason.

As a matter of fact, his Sage's Eye had shown him the truth.

That's where the "Gyeol" of this monster was located—the key to its defeat.

"There might be only one chance."

Su-hyeun began pouring his energy into the Palm Leaf Sword.

[The Wave Sword—Explosion Style]

Giiii-iiiing—

And then, through "Explosion Style," which he had refrained from using until now, he amplified the magical energy through the blade.

Shake, tremor—

At the same time, the Palm Leaf Sword began vibrating as if it would go out of control.

The "Explosion Style" skill was already difficult to control, to begin with, yet after Balmung's center was relocated to the jewel extracted from the Palm Leaf Fan and the sword evolved into its current form, the skill became even harder to wield.

The Explosion Style amplified one's energy at the cost of eating away at one's sword. Not to forget, the Palm Leaf Sword was also capable of summoning deadly winds when injected with magical energy.

In other words, the Explosion Style served to amplify the winds rushing out from the Palm Leaf Sword itself, so much so that even Su-hyeun found it almost too hard to deal with.

"Alright, now…"

Giiii-iiiing—

Su-hyeun, who was constantly soothing and pacifying the Palm Leaf Sword during the battle until now, finally changed his mind.

"Go on a rampage as much as you want."

What he needed right now was that one sure-kill hit.

[Leap]

KWA-BOOM—!

Su-hyeun activated Leap as his first step and rapidly flew up. In the meantime, he completely unleashed the Palm Leaf Sword's powers as it continued to amplify.

Piiit, piiii-iiit—

Chwa-aaaah—

Bit by bit, Su-hyeun's body was cut open.

He wrapped himself with the Somersault cloud, but that wasn't enough. His hand that was holding the sword was cut open, and the skin there was torn away.

And so, the moment the Palm Leaf Sword thrust forward to slice open the predator's chest…

Kwa-jajajajajajak—!

Kiiii-iiiiiiiiiing—

Countless sparks shot out from the magical barrier cast on the dragon's chest. However, it didn't take long for the weakened barrier to shatter completely.

Shatter—!

And then, the barrier was gone.

Su-hyeun took another swing with his sword toward the "Gyeol" hidden behind it.

"Blow away," He began while gritting his teeth and enduring the Palm Leaf's powers. "Palm Leaf."

Tu-kwa-gagagagak—!

Kiii-aaaaah—!

The predator's screams reverberated throughout the heavens. Su-hyeun's powerful swing managed to slice open a huge hole in the black dragon's chest, and Bradley's expression as he watched this spectacle unfold was filled with pure unbridled joy.

"Finally…" he thought.

Right now, he didn't even have enough mental leeway to admire the power Su-hyeun had just unleashed. The moment he had been waiting for in a long time had finally arrived before him.

It happened at that very moment when Bradley tried to approach the predator.

"The future you saw, it was this, wasn't it?"

Drip, driiip—

Su-hyeun emerged from the predator's back by penetrating through the dragon's torso, and then, he coldly stared at Bradley.

"This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

And in Su-hyeun's hand was a black sphere the size of a human head.