The Hero Returns

Tap'”

Su-hyeun checked out the signboard half-buried under the burned debris of a building.

Asgard.

Although it was written in an unknown language, he could definitely read it. Probably the system's correction ability was to thank here.

"Even though Master Subhuti is now dead, the system granted to individuals remained."

He knew he shouldn't be thinking this way, but he felt massive relief even so. After all, if the system completely disappeared, he wouldn't have been able to read these letters.

It wasn't only Su-hyeun who received the system's correction, however. Sun Wukong also had begun climbing the Tower, so he was also a recipient of the system's perks.

"Wow, so it was true." Taking all this in as if he found everything somewhat mystifying, Sun Wukong turned around and asked Su-hyeun, "By the way, little bro? What's this Asgard thing? I can read this, but I still have no idea what this place is supposed to be."

"It's the name of the world supervised by a god named Odin, Third Brother."

"Eh? Does that mean we're in the wrong place? Aren't we supposed to reach the God Realm?"

"To be honest, I'm also not sure," Su-hyeun scratched his head. He also got to learn about this fact just now, after all. "But at the very least, I think Odin as the god in charge of the God Realm seems to be true."

He got this information from none other than Brahma's Apostle, Luslec. Even when Luslec's true identity had been uncertain, his information always proved entirely trustworthy. On top of that, Brahma was one of the Five Godly Sages, so he was far closer to being Su-hyeun's ally rather than an enemy.

Therefore, Luslec wouldn't have a reason to give him false information. Not only were they not in a hostile relationship, but he also thought of Su-hyeun in a very favorable light.

The god ruling Asgard was Odin, and the god ruling the God Realm was also Odin. This implied that Asgard and the God Realm were, at the very least, the same place. Either Asgard was a part of the God Realm or the other way around. It had to be one of the two.

"Is that so? Hmm..." Sun Wukong made a troubled face as he scanned their surroundings. "By the way, it looks like no one's alive around here anymore."

"What do you mean 'no one,' Third Brother?" Su-hyeun stared at the rubble of a collapsed building.

When he did...

Giii-iiing'”

The rubble began floating.

It was telekinesis-type magic at work.

Although a bit cumbersome to use during a battle, it was more than enough to lift some rubble from a collapsed building.

Boom, thud'”

The rubble had been shifted over to the side, allowing them to spot a figure of a man barely clinging onto his life underneath the cleared debris.

"What's this? He's still alive?"

His breathing was truly faint. It looked as if he would die at any moment. Regardless of what, he was still alive.

Su-hyeun quickly approached the man and cast a healing magic spell. He wasn't very good at recovery-type magic, but it was still better than nothing.

Huff, pant...

"It seems that he's not going to wake up right away," said Su-hyeun.

This man was so severely injured right now that even a simple act like lifting his hand had to be performed extremely carefully.

Su-hyeun picked him up using a cloud and addressed Sun Wukong, "For the time being, let's find a shelter first."

* * *

Su-hyeun and Sun Wukong entered a basement found under the rubble of a collapsed building.

They needed to figure out the current situation first. Unfortunately, the only person alive in the surroundings'”no, wait, a god to be precise'”was this man and no one else.

He had a set of neatly trimmed beards, and blood was staining his muscular figure.

They wondered what to do next if this man failed to regain consciousness, but what a relief it was; he seemed to boast a rather robust regenerative power.

About 30 minutes later, he slowly opened his eyes and raised his torso, "Euk...."

"How are you feeling?" Su-hyeun asked while helping the man. The latter was holding his aching head.

Honestly, Su-hyeun would've liked to tell this man to get more rest and not force himself, but now wasn't the right time for that.

The man waved his hand, signaling that he was fine. He still held his pounding head for a little while, though, before shifting his gaze over to Su-hyeun and Sun Wukong, "Asgard... What'”what happened to Asgard?"

Before all else, he was still most worried about Asgard. Despite escaping from the clutches of death, the first thing he thought about was not the relief of being alive or despairing. No, it was none other than his sense of duty.

It was not that hard to guess who this man could be, judging from the hammer he continued to hold on to despite getting beaten up to a bloody pulp. Still, giving him an answer came first.

"It's been destroyed."

"Ah," the man held up both of his hands.

The blood staining his hands had hardened by then, turning his skin crimson-black. That blood seemed to be from the blisters and injuries pock-mocking his hands. At the same time, it also seemed to have come from someone else.

He shielded his face with stained, dirty hands. He silently wept for a long while before raising his head, "My apologies. I've shown you something disgraceful."

"No, it's alright."

The man sensed the extraordinary air emanating from both Su-hyeun and Sun Wukong and asked cautiously, "May I ask who you are? I have not seen your faces before. And I can sense that you're not some ordinary gods, either."

It seemed that he was thinking to himself, "I should be able to recognize a pair of gods on their levels, but I can't." Besides, Su-hyeun and Sun Wukong were practically spotless despite what had happened to Asgard.

Su-hyeun replied, "You wouldn't know even if I tell you, though. We aren't related to Asgard or the God Realm."

"By the way, who are you? No, hang on a second, before that, what the heck happened to this place?"

When Sun Wukong asked that, the man staggered back up to his feet, probably thinking that introducing himself while sitting on his butt was against etiquette. "My apologies, I was tardy in my introduction to my benefactors. I am the prince of Asgard, Thor, a great god who rules the half of Asgard on behalf of my father."

He spoke with a voice overflowing with confidence.

He was Thor, Son of Odin and the God of Thunder. When judging solely on the type of godhood, he closely resembled Zeus, and he also happened to be the closest in terms of strength to the Five Godly Sages.

"Even so, he actually said he's a great god outright," Su-hyeun thought.

What a cringe-inducing level of confidence that was. Even so, Su-hyeun didn't show it outwardly.

"What the'”you called yourself great?! You sure have a thick skin, don't you?"

Of course, Sun Wukong wasn't anything like Su-hyeun.

Thor furrowed his brow deeply and stared at Sun Wukong. Thankfully, though, the God of Thunder didn't seem to be cursed with an out-there personality capable of forgetting the savior of his life because of some throwaway taunt.

All he did was frown back at Sun Wukong's mischievous expression and explain the situation without any salty comebacks, "Asgard was attacked."

"By whom?"

"An outer god called Osiris. Have you heard of him before?"

Su-hyeun nodded at Thor's question. Sun Wukong also knew that name. In all honesty, both of them had suspected it to some degree.

An existence capable of attacking the God Realm ruled over by Odin could only be one of the two remaining Three Destroyers'”Shiva or Osiris.

"And the one being most active recently has been Osiris, hasn't he?"

When Su-hyeun and Sun Wukong nodded, Thor continued as if their confirmation made explaining easier, "Osiris's goal is the roots of Yggdrasil we at Asgard have been protecting. With those destroyed, Yggdrasil will collapse, causing many, many worlds to be destroyed in the process."

"The collapse has already begun, unfortunately."

"Already?"

Grit'”

Pazzzzik, bzzzzzz'”

Thor visibly got angry, causing arcs of azure lightning to dance in the surroundings.

Nearby, Sun Wukong yelped loudly when a spark landed on his hand, complaining that it freaking stung, and he hurriedly took a step back.

"It seems I have been unconscious for too long," said Thor.

"Where is Lord Odin?"

"Father has gone to the frontline to deal with Osiris. There has not been any news since then..."

"Could it be that he had been defeated?"

"That's not possible." Thor, still gripping his hammer, took a large stride forward. "I am the Son of Odin, Thor. I can certainly sense whether my father is still alive or has passed on, at the very least."

"Meaning, he's still alive?"

"Although it's very faint... Yes, he's still breathing."

Plop'”

Thor turned around and suddenly knelt in front of Su-hyeun and Sun Wukong, "Please lend us your assistance."

"Huh?"

"I alone do not possess enough strength to rescue my father. It is shameful to admit this, but I acknowledge that I am also inadequate. However, you two seem to be heroes fully capable of saving not just Asgard but also the God Realm itself."

The prince of Asgard was kneeling before them.

It went to show how desperate he was feeling right now. But Su-hyeun couldn't even look at Thor's eyes despite the latter's unwavering determination, all thanks to the unexplainable awkwardness in the air.

Sure, they had no real reason to refuse him, but...

"I get it, so stop being weird and get up already, you dolt," Sun Wukong, making an expression of someone about to die from cringing, grabbed Thor's arm and pulled the God of Thunder back up to his feet. "Never, ever use that tone with me, dude. I almost died of embarrassment trying to listen to you."

For sure, it seemed that these two were polar opposites to one another.

* * *

Asgard was a "nation" founded in the center of Yggdrasil's roots.

Its ruling philosophy from the very beginning was the protection of Yggdrasil, so its location simply had to be here. The place where Thor had collapsed happened to be the far outskirts of Asgard.

"Osiris's army easily outnumbered Asgard's army. In terms of pure ability alone, Asgard's warriors were much stronger, but the difference in number was just too overwhelming."

Thor, who spent his entire life in Asgard, was quite knowledgeable regarding the lay of his homeland, plus the terrain surrounding it.

Currently, they were near a defensive outer wall connecting to the inner part. This collapsed wall was the boundary dividing the inner and outer parts of Asgard.

"Our brave warriors fell when droves of them attacked. I, too, tried to oppose Osiris and engage him in a battle, but in the end, I could not break through the innumerable Predators before him."

Shu-wuk'”

They marched forward while pushing aside the rubble of collapsed buildings until they eventually sensed some ominous presence in the distance.

Thor spoke, "It's over there."

"There are quite a lot of them, for sure," Su-hyeun replied.

The outer walls were all in rubbles. Even so, countless Predators were still meandering around there, that location acting like a boundary line that shouldn't be crossed.

Their role was rather obvious'”to stop whoever wished to enter Asgard right here.

"And they seem pretty well organized, too," said Su-hyeun.

They could also be here to alert the ones inside about a potential invasion from the outside.

Thor nodded at Su-hyeun's observation.

Even from his view, these Predators weren't simple creatures. Seeing how every single one possessed excellent intellect, to begin with, their leader Osiris must've been a truly outstanding commander.

Without that, he wouldn't have been able to bring together these many Predators, who were deeply obsessed with fulfilling their desires under his command like this.

"For now, we must quietly infiltrate that location. Achieving victory through a head-on engagement will be difficult. Until we can safely rescue father, we'”"

"I think it's too late for that now," said Su-hyeun.

"What do you mean?" Thor asked back, puzzled. He turned his head to the side to look at Su-hyeun before he hurriedly scanned their surroundings. "Where did your friend disappear to?"

Thor was searching for Sun Wukong, who should have been accompanying Su-hyeun just now. The latter silently pointed to a location up ahead instead.

Step, step'”

And that was where they saw the back of Sun Wukong brazenly walking alone in the wide-open plain.

"What in the name of'”?!"

"That's what my Third Brother's original personality is like, you see."

"Make way, now'”!" Sun Wukong roared at the top of his lungs as if he wanted the whole world to look at him.

The "Roar of Lion."

It was a method of transmitting one's voice over a wide area to announce one's presence deliberately. Initially, it came from a martial arts school, but it seemed that something similar existed in the Sage Arts Master Subhuti had taught the Monkey King.

A handful of Predators had already spotted Sun Wukong by then, but now, all of them were shifting their collective attention in his direction.

Su-hyeun thought he could almost see Sun Wukong's deep smirk even from the back of his head.

He was already used to this side of his Third Brother, so he was not that surprised and could get up from his hiding spot, while Thor, who was currently making a stupefied face like someone who got smacked hard in the head, could not.

"What are you doing back there, little bro!"

Snap, crack'”

Sun Wukong urged Su-hyeun to come quickly while cracking his knuckles and loosening his muscles. "I say, let's have some fun for a bit, shall we?"