The Hero Returns

Chapter 328: Chapter 328

Act 8

His insides were pitch-black.

Those were some abstract words, indeed. On top of that, one's outside not being the same as their inside would not be a good thing either.

But why was this? Su-hyeun didn't take those words as Hercules's actions and his true thoughts not matching up, so the meaning of his insides being pitch-black was probably…

"Big brother, are you saying his heart is not well?"

"I can't even imagine what worries him so much. He reminds me of you back when we first met each other."

"What about me?"

"You were too impatient, filled with worries and concerns, and you never saw the future in an optimistic light, and instead chose to see it only negatively. In your own way, you must've been preparing for the absolute worst possibilities."

"But brother, isn't your criticism a little too harsh?"

While smiling away, the Bull Demon King continued with his observation that was sharp enough to stab Su-hyeun's heart, "It's history now. Although you haven't changed a lot, you've taken a step in the right direction."

Su-hyeun sighed softly under his breath.

No doubt his mental state has improved a lot compared to his past, but there was nothing he could do about agonizing and worrying about the future to come in the circumstances he found himself in.

If such a thing could be seen as one's nature, then it must've been his, too.

Of course, he did improve as hinted at by the Bull Demon King.

"At the very least, I've now stopped worrying about unimportant things," he thought.

Some things could be solved by worrying, while some others, not really. After meeting the Bull Demon King, Su-hyeun learned how to put aside those matters that fell into the latter category.

That resulted in his impatient streak disappearing, and the void left behind was soon replaced by some breathing room for his mind.

Su-hyeun was already doing his very best, and he couldn't try any harder even if he wanted to.

The Bull Demon King taught him that what Su-hyeun needed wasn't worries or impatience but the composure of mind and patience. Then, he even taught the latter how to attain those things.

"Did you say he's almost become a monster?" Su-hyeun asked.

"That I did."

"Does that mean I was also close to becoming a monster?"

"You might have if you mastered the Sage Arts incorrectly, and my teachings were not up to par."

"Hah-ah—"

He couldn't deny that.

Su-hyeun recalled the figure of Bradley whom he met back in the 100th floor's trial.

Bradley, the one who devoured the black dragon and became the predator, could only be suitably called a "monster."

He sought out an even greater strength and, due to his lust for power, ended up becoming a monster.

Su-hyeun required power as well, even if his purpose was different.

In a way, maybe he too…

Inwardly, he continued his musing, "Is this the reason why the administrators seemed so unhappy about me mastering the Sage Arts?"

Su-hyeun had no idea what kind of existences these administrators were nor what their goal could even be. However, one thing was certain: they were in an antagonistic relationship with the "predator."

And according to what the Bull Demon King said, and also judging from Bradley's case, it wasn't necessarily only gods that could reach the pinnacle of the Sage Arts.

If one continued to crave power, and to attain this power, didn't hesitate to cross the line, then, in the end, one would end up as the monster called "predator."

"It's a little scary," said Su-hyeun.

"You need to remain cautious even in the future."

"Yes, I'll engrave it to my heart."

The advice of needing to be cautious, it probably implied that Su-hyeun could end up like Hercules or Bradley at any time.

He said inwardly, "Besides all that, Hercules being in a similar situation as Bradley can only mean…"

Su-hyeun picked up the teacup he had to put down earlier and glanced at the door where Hercules should be.

"Something big will happen pretty soon."

* * *

Late at night.

The bed Hercules used was made out of an expansive and large tree so that it would be roomy and wide.

While he was lying on the sheets and slumbering away, cold sweat began coating his forehead. He clenched his chest with one hand as if to dig into his flesh, while moans escaped from his mouth.

Euh, euh…

"You think you've become someone special after people started praising you as a hero?"

Hercules could hear a voice, and even if its pitch was indistinct, it rang inside his head. At the same time, his chest became very hot as if flames had lit up inside.

"You're weak. Or rather, your enemies are too strong. You can tell, can't you? With your current strength, you can't protect anything."

"Shut up! Get lost or I'll kill you!"

Clench—

He clenched his teeth and roared out frantically in his head, yet the unknown voice didn't even sound agitated in the slightest.

"I'm sure you're scared. Never mind the world, at this rate, you won't even be able to protect your family. Megara? Hale? Palaemon? Let me show you what their future looks like."

Fwooooosh—

The scenery suddenly spread out before Hercules's eyes.

He didn't want to see it, but he had no choice. It didn't matter whether he closed his eyes or turned his head away, the scene continued to follow after him.

It was a mountain of piled-up human corpses.

Drip, drip—

"Daddy…"

"Dear…"

And from somewhere in the middle of the corpses whose blood was flowing rivers, the voices belonging to Hale, Palaemon, and Megara came to him.

"Ah… ah, ah…"

Hercules opened his mouth.

He wanted to scream at the very least but couldn't. He shook his head to deny the vision, telling himself that it was merely an illusion, yet even doing that proved to be too difficult.

He couldn't deny it. This was the future waiting for him.

Corpses might not pile up into a mountain like this, but he was certain that he would fail to protect them at the very least.

"You already know the truth, don't you? Even if I don't come out and say it. Don't you agree?"

"Shut up, please…"

"You require power. In that case, become a monster, and that will be all."

A "monster," he was familiar with that term. A long time ago, he often heard his friends called him that.

He swore he would never go back to being that thing. If he became a monster out of his desire for more power, then he thought that would be like a repeat sign on a music sheet.

However…

"If you don't, your family will die."

Such a thing must never happen. Never.

And as the enticing voice continued, Hercules, lying on the bed, slowly opened his eyes.

"That's why we should join hands."

That voice…it sounded exactly like his own.

* * *

Dawn broke.

The dungeon in the sky started emitting light even from early morning, and Giants came visiting once more. Thankfully, Colossi didn't show up this time.

Crack, crunch—!

Poooow—!

Hercules's club obliterated a Giant's head, but he continued to smash down on the already-dead Giant's head on the ground again and again.

Whoosh—!

Grab—

Su-hyeun reached out and grabbed Hercules's arm that was repeatedly bringing down the club.

"Why are you wasting your energy like this?"

"Let me go."

"It's already dead."

"I can see that."

Kku-du-duk—

More strength gathered in Hercules's arm.

This strength didn't seem right for some reason. He glanced to his side, but his eyes were filled with thicker killing intent.

Pah-aht—

Crunch—!

In the end, he managed to yank his arm from Su-hyeun's grip.

Hercules's hands showed no mercy, and Su-hyeun quietly stood by the sideline and observed the demigod's attitude.

The Giant came down here to slaughter humans, so Su-hyeun didn't have much of a reason to stop Hercules if the latter wished to vent some steam.

"I don't think he'll listen to me even if I say something now, anyway," he thought to himself.

Su-hyeun waited a long while for Hercules to stop swinging his club. Eventually, when he did, his appearance did not betray any sign of being worked up—his breathing wasn't rough, and not a drop of sweat could be seen on his face.

He walked up to the demigod once more and asked, "What's gotten into you?"

"It's getting more frequent."

"Excuse me?"

"In the past, it was around once a month, then once every fortnight, but now, they show up every couple of days."

Hercules held his face with his hand that was dyed in crimson from splattered blood. He didn't seem to be conscious of that as he continued to mutter, blood now staining his face.

"As for the Colossi…Two, three of them will probably show up. But what about Uranus?"

"Did something happen to you?"

"Something? Yes. And it's in the middle of happening, too. In the past, in the present, and even in the future," answered Hercules, whose glare became so much more vicious and savage.

He somehow also seemed impatient.

Su-hyeun recalled Hercules struggling in his sleep last night. It seemed that something indeed had happened to him yesterday.

Not only that…

"The whites of his eyes are disappearing," he silently observed.

It wasn't the mere external change in his eyes either, but even the aura emanating from him was transforming along with that change.

"It's similar to the aura I sensed from Gluttony back then."

Hercules was changing into a monster.

Su-hyeun recalled what the Bull Demon King had said.

The "monster" the Yogoe was referring to was "prey." In other words, he was talking about a monster with nothing but desires remaining, which was only a step away from becoming a predator.

"Don't be too impatient. There must be a reason why not only Uranus but also the other Colossi can't simply appear here. That's why just like how it's been so far, they should continue showing up one at a time, sticking to some kind of a schedule or something like that."

"A reason? What reason?"

"Such as gods are currently stopping them."

"My father is doing what? You speak such things because you don't know," Hercules snorted derisively. "Father is definitely not someone like that. You think he will step up to personally stop the Giants for his son or his grandchildren?"

"There are other gods under Zeus's command. For instance, you know very well that Lord Apollo cares about humanity, don't you?"

"Indeed, Lord Apollo is a good god. However, there is still no guarantee, is there?"

"Even if that's true, what good will beating up a corpse of a Giant do for you?"

"But I just can't get rid of this damn frustration!"

Bang—!

Hercules stomped down hard on the blameless ground and raised his voice high. "I'm still this weak, and all alone, yet…Not only are they not alone, but someone even stronger than I am is hiding among them, too!"

Grit—

Hercules gritted his teeth.

Madness.

His eyes had completely gone pitch-black.

"This is bad," Su-hyeun thought.

Hercules had been displaying some hints of impatience in the recent past. However, they were never this bad. Of course, he harbored some anxiety in his heart all the time, but something had to have happened for him to change this much in one day.

Ku-gugugu—

The purple-colored sky began wavering once more.

They were coming again. The Giants were here.

Su-hyeun spoke up, "It looks like you might need to calm down first. They are coming again."

"Calm down? Right, be calm. Yes. I should be calm," Hercules said while hoisting his club on his back. He then completely pulled down the Nemean Lion headdress on his head and turned around to trudge away from the spot and went in the direction of his own home.

"Where do you think you're going now?" Su-hyeun asked.

He was about to go after Hercules but quickly stopped his advance because of what Hercules said next.

"Do not come after me," came his icy voice. "I…I can no longer trust you."

"…"

There was an extreme level of anxiety and wariness in those words, and a naked warning was clearly visible in his expression as well as his voice tinged with killing intent.

Su-hyeun could only sigh as he stared at Hercules's retreating figure. It seemed that the demigod was no longer interested in the appearance of the Giants. Without a doubt, his state was not normal.

"Which means, I must stop them by myself…"

Stopping the Giants wasn't the issue here; the problem right now was leaving Hercules alone.

"Well, it is a relief that I'm not alone right now."

Su-hyeun unsheathed his sword once more.

Giants were descending like a swarm of bees.

* * *

Trudge—, trudge—

While walking away in great anguish, Hercules hid his face in his hand. Right after the battle today came to an end, the voice he heard last night began whispering into his mind nonstop.

"That man is dangerous. Stay away from him. You can't trust him. Who knows when he'll try to harm you?"

"Shut up…That's not true."

"What's not true? You only met him recently, didn't you? He could be an agent of the kingdom. Or maybe even the Giants. Really now, where would someone that strong suddenly pop out from?"

"That—that is…"

"Trust no one. You can only trust me. And you know why? Because I'm you."

He walked forward while listening to that headache-inducing voice, and before long, he had reached his house.

Hercules regained his wits and examined his hand. Seeing all the blood on his palm, the inside of his head became hot once more.

"You need an even greater power, right?"

Hercules nodded slowly; his eyes that changed to a pitch-black color was more prominent now.

"You want me to tell you the fastest method to power up?"

"What is it?"

"Take away someone's godhood."

"I can't take godhood away from the gods."

"No, you know it too, don't you? It doesn't matter whether it's a god or not."

Urgh—

His head pulsed painfully as if it would shatter right now.

He tried to hold onto the thread of his reason, but a far stronger power snapped it in half.

"Our son and daughter…"

His anxiety and obsession with power that he managed to suppress until now finally managed to paralyze his reasoning completely.

"Devour them both."