The Hero Returns

Act 7

Whiiiiiish—

The winds flowing out from the Palm Leaf Sword gathered in a spot and turned into a small tornado.

Su-hyeun wordlessly stared at the sight of the gathering winds. The colorless winds coalesced into one solid shape and took on a half-transparent silhouette of a person. Soon, colors were added to the figure.

It was a man about a head taller than Su-hyeun who had white hair, a broad and expansive dragon robe, and a pair of horns on a head that was too small to see unless one looked closely.

"Are you really…the first brother?" Su-hyeun's voice trembled ever so slightly.

"It has been a while, little brother."

"Are you truly him?"

"Rather than my answer, trust your eyes."

There was no doubting it.

The man before his eyes, this being that appeared in a completely unrelated world, was none other than the Great Sage who Pacifies Heaven, the Bull Demon King.

"It must've been difficult going, brother. You've lost some weight."

Su-hyeun replied hurriedly, "Ah, no. I'm doing okay. Besides all that, how did you even…?"

"Why don't we discuss that later? But first…" The Bull Demon King stopped his affable laughter and shifted his gaze over to Hades. "I must do something about the mouth of that arrogant god," he said as he brushed past Su-hyeun's side.

Hades, who discovered the Bull Demon King's presence before Su-hyeun could, simply stood there with his hands on his back and observed the approaching Yogoe.

As for Apollo, he was standing a fair distance away, as if this had nothing to do with him, and watched the situation develop while resting his head on his interlocked hands.

Hades spoke, "I've heard that a truly amazing Yogoe lives in a small dimension located somewhere in the outskirts. It seemed that the rumors were talking about you."

"My apologies, but as I'm not a god yet, I haven't heard about your names."

"To a powerful Yogoe like yourself, a god isn't much of an importance, I'd say. Besides, it's not that you 'couldn't' become a god but 'haven't' yet, is it?"

The Bull Demon King smiled faintly at what Hades had said.

Although that smile was outwardly warm, Su-hyeun caught a little of that smile as he stood behind the Yogoe and felt a vague chill in his heart.

"In any case, I've confirmed it, so it's all fine now. I was wondering just who was sticking to that human like a guardian, but as it turned out, you were—"

Grab—

Hades couldn't finish the rest of his sentence because the Bull Demon King, who was already in front of the god of death before anyone could notice him move, had grabbed the god's mouth hard and lifted him up high in the air.

Ka-boom—!

The Bull Demon King then wordlessly slammed Hades's head straight into the ground below.

The earth was instantly overturned and split apart, causing Apollo's flames that filled up the surroundings to waver faintly.

Pah-sususu—

Hades's body became black ashes and scattered before reappearing in a spot about a couple of steps away from the Bull Demon King.

The latter raised his head and stared at the god of death.

Hades muttered, "That hurt quite a lot. Since I let you hit me once, I hope your fury has been lessened somewhat."

"It's not as bad now, so I advise you to vacate yourself from this place right away."

"I'm relieved to know that your methods are not so vicious. Apollo?"

"Yes, uncle."

"We shall now return. And you should prepare yourself for 10,000-year-long imprisonment in hell."

"But, uncle, that's a bit—"

"We'll discuss it further after we return."

Apollo let out a lengthy groan at Hades's reply. He then glanced in Su-hyeun's direction and waved his hand.

Giii-iiing—

Split—

A circular pathway materialized before Hades and Apollo. It gave off a similar vibe to the "doorway" that led directly to the Tower of Trials.

The two gods disappeared into the pathway a moment later.

Rumble—

Hiss, sizzle—

After Apollo disappeared, the flames in the surroundings also petered out and vanished, and when the sights of the bright and clear skies above and the wide-open plains entered Su-hyeun's view, all nervous tension flew out from his body.

"Ha-ah—"

"Are you injured anywhere?"

"Ah, no. I'm fine, first brother," Su-hyeun replied in a slightly stiff expression.

Honestly, even now, he could scarcely believe that the Bull Demon King managed to appear in this place. This was inside the 102nd floor's trial, while he met the Yogoe back on the 60th floor.

"How did you get here, brother?"

"Thankfully, the Palm Leaf Fan was safely delivered to you. Although, it's no longer a fan now but a sword," replied the Bull Demon King.

Su-hyeun came to realize from those words that the Yogoe used his Palm Leaf Sword as the medium to reach this world.

Back when the Palm Leaf Fan was handed over to Su-hyeun, the administrator also passed along the message that he and the Bull Demon King would meet again. It seemed that the latter had foreseen an event of this nature taking place.

"But why did you appear only now? You could've appeared a little earlier, you know," said Su-hyeun while sounding a little rueful.

If the Bull Demon King could visit Su-hyeun whenever he wanted to, then well, he could've appeared much sooner for a reunion.

"I still have two very worry-inducing little brothers on that side, so I can't just simply cross over to where you are. Besides, as the littlest of the siblings, you are still at an age where you need to mature more outside the care of us older siblings."

"Even then, wasn't that a little too harsh even for you?"

"I was far worse to the second and third brothers. I've grown a lot more benevolent these days," said the Bull Demon King, smiling softly.

For sure, the "Bull Demon King" Su-hyeun knew wasn't the type of person to step up willingly and lend his aid even if a particularly dangerous event or a truly difficult task had presented themselves.

No, he actually thought that one would grow as a person after experiencing all those things and actively recommended that one should accept trials and tribulations as invaluable life experiences.

"And this time, it was probably because Hades called out to the big brother first…" he thought.

Would the Bull Demon King have shown himself if Hades didn't call him out first and threatened to instantly end Su-hyeun's life?

It was possible both ways. He could've shown up or not appear at all.

That's what the Bull Demon King was like. He might care deeply about Su-hyeun as Su-hyeun's older brother, but that didn't mean he personally stepped up to solve all the matters troubling his little brothers.

"In any case, we have a lot to talk about, don't we? There are so many things I'd like to hear from you, and our reunion greeting has been delayed somewhat."

With the situation being what it was, the Bull Demon King could only say the following words only after some time had passed by since his appearance.

"It's been a while, youngest brother. How have you been?"

* * *

Step, step—

The passageway was really long.

Apollo and Hades walked down this dark path that led to the world referred to as hell located in another dimension.

Although the path was supposed to be walked on only by the dead, and even then, only those who had committed wicked deeds, Apollo didn't look all that worried or anxious. After all, he knew he possessed enough abilities to escape from hell if he felt like it.

And with an expression filled with not worries but curiosity, he asked, "Just who was that, by the way? That absolute monster of a guy?"

The sun god couldn't suppress his curiosity any longer and had to ask Hades who was walking ahead of him.

"Monster," that word actually left the lips of Apollo, a god who was strong enough to be included in the upper tier of all gods.

However, Hades didn't even feel a single hint of incongruence from that term. The Yogoe they had encountered earlier definitely deserved such a lofty description.

"He's called the Great Sage who Pacifies Heaven. He's a famous Yogoe who's often talked about among the gods living in a dimension not too far from ours."

"Not a god, but a Yogoe?"

"Indeed."

"Why hasn't he become a god already? The way I see it, he can become one at any time he wants to. No, wait…" Apollo shook his head as if to imply that what he muttered just now was incorrect. "Isn't that monster of a guy basically on the same level as the Three Deities already?"

The Three Deities—it was the title that referred to the three strongest and most famous gods in Olympus: the king of the gods, Zeus, the god of the oceans, Poseidon, and the god of hell and death, Hades.

"Apparently, it's because of his little brothers."

Apollo nodded sagely as if he knew that such an answer was coming after listening to Hades's explanation. "So, he can't ascend to full divinity because he can't forsake his blood ties. Something like that often happened in the past as—"

"Since they share no blood, it's more correct to call them sworn brothers."

"Sworn brothers?" Shock overcame Apollo's expression.

To become a god, one had to escape from the fetters of lingering attachments from one's previous life. Only then could one acquire eternal life and leave the bounds of one's previous species and experience a rebirth.

The things that definitely needed to be severed were the blood ties and loved ones, meaning, other people.

"Hesitating to become a god because of some others who don't even share a drop of his blood…"

Apollo, someone born a god, couldn't understand that at all. He cared about humans more than other gods, and that's why he found humanity's limited lifespan a lamentable, even pitiful, thing to behold.

"Although it is difficult to comprehend, that's what I heard. And we've confirmed it with our own eyes," Hades said.

"I knew it. That human, I recognized he was special right away. Even though he's just a human being, he's a little brother to a Yogoe like that guy."

"Indeed, I admit that he was a rather excellent human."

Hades recalled the figure of Su-hyeun who, despite facing up to the god of death, didn't avoid meeting his gaze right up until the Bull Demon King appeared to disrupt the proceedings.

"Despite facing death right in front of him, he didn't back off…" Hades mused.

He originally planned to kill Su-hyeun next to Apollo.

"Death" was a type of aura that humans, never mind low-ranking gods, couldn't withstand. It was an aura that killed the living and extinguished the dead.

It was one of the authorities that belonged to Hades, the possessor of the godhood of death.

However, Su-hyeun didn't choose to run away or avert his gaze when he confronted such authority. Whether that was out of his unyielding pride or not, Hades couldn't tell, but regardless of what, the human endured and stared right back into the god's eyes.

"He's certainly no ordinary human."

At least by a little bit, Hades began to understand why Apollo chose to yield a portion of his godhood to Su-hyeun.

Apollo was the son of the strongest god, Zeus, and his own strength nearly rivaled the Three Deities. His discerning eyes had not failed him this time, it seemed.

"Apollo."

"Yes?"

"I commute your sentence to 1,000 years."

A thousand years, that was the new sentence handed out to Apollo, the culprit who ran away after burning hell down.

Originally, it should've been 10,000, and Hades planned to imprison Apollo for a much longer time than that, but he commuted it to one-tenth of the original punishment instead.

"It seems that your decision may not have been poor, after all."

* * *

Su-hyeun walked alongside the Bull Demon King.

It would be nice to chat leisurely while sharing a pot of tea, but before they could talk about what happened so far, it wasn't good to inconvenience Hercules's family unannounced like this.

"How long has it been since I left?"

"It must be about two years now."

Su-hyeun nodded while not looking surprised at the Bull Demon King's reply.

He became aware that the time flow between this side and other sides were not the same after the 60th floor's trial ended.

"Since it's been two years, I guess it hasn't been as long as I initially thought," he said inwardly.

For Su-hyeun, it had been only a few months, but for the Bull Demon King, two years had passed by.

But unlike the former who had lived for just over 20-odd years so far, the Bull Demon King had existed for unknown tens of thousands of years. The period of two years should be not that long of a time for him.

"How are the other brothers doing?"

"The second is spending his time among humans lately."

"The second brother?" Su-hyeun was surprised by the revelation that the Roc Demon King was living among humans since he knew that the Yogoe originally hated humanity. "What kind of a reversal is this?"

"Even I was surprised, but he seemed to be enjoying his new life far more than I thought. He certainly has changed a lot."

"Does it qualify as a fortunate thing?"

"Well, at least it's not an unfortunate thing. Besides, it was nice to see him like that. His eyes were used to be filled with so much murderous intent, but now, he smiles more often than before."

"I can't even imagine it."

The Roc Demon King smiling along with the humans?

Su-hyeun tried to picture that scene but couldn't really imagine it. He couldn't tell what kind of a personality shift happened there, but ultimately, he didn't think that this transformation was a bad thing.

Unlike Sun Wukong who was energetic and friendly to just about everyone, the Roc Demon King used to be hostile with pretty much anyone he met, after all.

Not to forget, the Roc Demon King also hid a painful memory related to humans, so this pointed to his wounds being healed to some degree.

"What about the third brother?"

"The third is…"

The Bull Demon King smiled meaningfully while making the end of his sentence inaudible.

Wondering what the Bull Demon King wanted to say here, Su-hyeun stopped walking and stared at the Yogoe.

The Bull Demon King didn't say anything for a little bit, but then, while suppressing his laughter, he finally continued, "From what I hear, he's been climbing the 'tower.'"