The Hero Returns

Su-hyeun wasn't surprised or flustered by Osiris's entrance. He already knew that the Predator was watching the three of them some time ago.

"Hmm..." Osiris rubbed his waist without saying anything else. That was where the wound inflicted by Odin was. "Not bad."

The sacrifices from a second ago helped heal the wound just a little more. Osiris smiled in satisfaction and grabbed the other floating eyeball.

He then began slotting this eyeball into his eye socket previously covered by his eyelid. Su-hyeun frowned at this rather unpleasant sight and generated a Thunderbolt in his hand.

Flash'”!

Rumble'”!

He threw the lightning spear, and it flew instantly toward Osiris.

For a greeting, it certainly was a bit on the nasty side. Su-hyeun fired this attack, thinking he needed to gauge how tough Osiris was as an opponent.

Sure enough...

Bzzzzz'”

Osiris easily defended against the Thunderbolt with his bare hand, then grabbed it casually, "Isn't this a little over the top for a welcome?"

"That's because I'm just so glad to see you."

Pazzzik'”

Su-hyeun retorted and generated yet another Thunderbolt. This new one was noticeably bigger than the previous lightning spear. He planned to wage reconnaissance warfare by gradually amping up the firepower.

"I'll use Gungnir later," he thought.

If it was at all possible, he didn't want to use Gungnir, which was currently mounted on his back.

Su-hyeun spotted the wound on Osiris's waist as soon as the Predator made his appearance.

That was the kind of injury you'd get after getting stabbed by something. If that wound resulted from fighting Odin, it must've been inflicted by Gungnir.

An existence on the level of Osiris should possess a powerful healing ability, yet the wound was still there. It could only mean that Gungnir was definitely capable of fatally wounding this creature.

"At the very last second, I'll use it to bring him down for sure."

Su-hyeun had already strategized on how to fight Osiris for quite some time. Now was the time to put it to good use.

But then...

"Expand'”!" Sun Wukong suddenly appeared right behind Osiris and swung his staff down. "Ruyi'”!"

KA-BOOOOOM'”!

Ruyi Jingu Bang grew as big as a mansion and slammed down on Osiris's head. Sun Wukong tutted in irritation and muttered lowly, "He dodged?"

"Third Brother!" Su-hyeun hurriedly called out to Sun Wukong. The latter looked like he had lost his mind during that sudden attack.

Sun Wukong shrunk Ruyi Jingu Bang, slung it around his shoulder, and then looked back at Su-hyeun. His eyes began burning in murderous intent as soon he spotted Osiris, probably because of Master Subhuti's matter.

His eyes glowed in a crimson color; the Fiery Golden Eyes had been activated. Also, the golden fillet had revealed itself on his forehead.

After awakening the two supernatural powers signifying the Great Sage Heaven's Equal, Sun Wukong yelled back at Su-hyeun in a booming voice, "What?! What's wrong now?"

"I'd like to deal with him by myself."

"No, hang on. First of all, I should'”"

Grab'”!

Sun Wukong couldn't finish his sentence courtesy of a hand gripping his throat from behind.

"Is this punk the so-called Great Sage Heaven's Equal? Now that I've taken a good look at you, it seems you're much more like a vicious little monkey, aren't you?"

Cough, kek!

Sun Wukong struggled mightily to break free from Osiris's hand.

Su-hyeun couldn't make a move. Even though he wanted to, Osiris's other hand pointed at where Sun Wukong's heart was.

"I didn't come here to fight. I only came to talk."

"In that case, why don't you let him go first?"

"I'd love to do that, but this one seems not very keen on that idea. It seems you're the same, too," Osiris replied while maintaining that permanent smile of his.

The current situation was indeed advantageous for Osiris.

"Even if he's an immortal, I'm quite sure he wouldn't be able to move around for a long while after his heart is pierced. I wonder, what will happen if I rip him into thousands of pieces and send them to different hells under my care? Now I'm getting rather curious."

"You said you wanted to talk, isn't that right?"

"That's right, talk. It looks like you've finally calmed down enough for a'”"

"Hey."

Squeeeeze'”

Osiris's grip was gradually coming loose. Still caught in the Predator's hand, Sun Wukong had begun prying off the fingers from his neck.

"How dare you look down on me?!"

Crunch'”!

Osiris's fingers were bent in the opposite directions. Sun Wukong finally freed himself, but then, he spun around right there and punched powerfully behind him.

Smaaaack'”!

Osiris, struck firmly on the chest, was flung far away. At the same time, Sun Wukong aimed with Ruyi Jingu Bang, "Expand, Ruyi!"

KA-BOOM'”!

Ruyi Jingu Bang slammed Osiris straight into the ground. Sun Wukong held the staff in one hand while bending over. He then began coughing explosively.

Su-hyeun was concerned about Sun Wukong's condition, so he hurriedly approached his Third Brother, "Are you alright?"

"Seriously now. That guy is super strong," Sun Wukong managed to answer before coughing some more.

Su-hyeun agreed with Sun Wukong's assessment and nodded.

Up until now, he had never seen Sun Wukong lose to someone in terms of pure physical strength. Sure, he might lack a bit in the "techniques" department, but Sun Wukong never lost to anyone in strength or hand grip. This fact remained true from the very first moment they met until now.

One only had to look at how he easily wielded that heavy Ruyi Jingu Bang as if it didn't weigh anything. The staff was so heavy that one wouldn't even need separate strength training since lugging it around would do the job for you anyway.

"The Third Brother did lower his guard just now. Still, someone like him got suppressed by only one hand," Su-hyeun thought.

It could only mean that Osiris's grip strength was truly extraordinary. To make matters worse, he wasn't even specialized in physical combat like Sun Wukong.

According to the illusory recreation performed by Buddha, Osiris was more like a magician.

"Whether it's the physical or magical combat, I mustn't let my guard down."

Although everything happened very quickly, Su-hyeun still learned a few things just now. Besides, Sun Wukong also managed to land an attack on Osiris.

"Maybe it'll be better to leave it to Third Brother," Su-hyeun thought.

"I can't do it," Sun Wukong suddenly held up both of his hands.

Now that was an unexpected response.

Until only a second ago, he had been baring his murderous intent at Osiris, the culprit responsible for tormenting Master Subhuti for such a long time. That was why Su-hyeun couldn't help but feel puzzled by Sun Wukong's declaration of surrender.

"Just look at the bastard. He's totally fine, isn't he?"

Only after hearing Sun Wukong out did Su-hyeun shift his gaze over to where Ruyi Jingu Bang's tip was.

That was when he finally noticed.

Creeeeak'”

He saw the figure of Osiris deftly lifting the stupendously heavy Ruyi Jingu Bang with his hands.

He didn't seem hurt at all.

To Su-hyeun's eyes, it looked like Sun Wukong managed to hurt Osiris somehow. However, the one responsible for punching and swinging the staff, Sun Wukong, didn't feel any of his attacks connecting.

Even so...

"But only for that reason?" Su-hyeun still couldn't believe that Sun Wukong was ready to give up because of such a reason.

There had to be another reason.

"Is it because of me?"

"Well, I thought you two have something to discuss."

"You thought I did?"

"No, not like that." Sun Wukong shrunk Ruyi Jingu Bang, then stared at Osiris, "That guy has something to say to you, I think."

"Hmm..." Su-hyeun quietly looked around.

The ocean of Predators had stopped moving altogether.

No matter how many were chopped apart and burned to ashes, they still madly rushed at the trio. Only one existence present today could be capable of stopping all these Predators.

"Does he really want to talk?" Su-hyeun pondered.

Initially, Su-hyeun thought that Osiris was simply enjoying the current situation. Also, maybe he was trying to waste time for some reason.

But for the time being, at least, Osiris did not emit any hostility. When he grabbed Sun Wukong's throat from behind, he could've easily landed a grievous wound, yet he chose not to.

All this, just to talk with Su-hyeun?

"So, do you finally feel the urge to have a chat?" Osiris asked while lightly dusting his clothes.

He then gently floated in the air and hovered closer to Su-hyeun's position.

They maintained a suitable distance. The ocean of Predators coming to a complete stop forced Thor to stop ungainly as well. He walked up to Su-hyeun and muttered, "I don't understand what is going on here."

The battle had entered a temporary lull.

Sun Wukong sat cross-legged on a cloud. While Thor was panting heavily to recover from his fatigue, Miru continued to let out a threatening growl in Osiris's direction.

Clack'”

Su-hyeun sheathed his sword, then crossed his arms in front of his chest while staring silently at Osiris. As if he was trying to say, "Start talking, then."

When he did...

"It's kind of awkward in the current situation, so..."

Shu-aaaah'”

Black smoke rose in the surroundings.

"Looks like we require a suitable stage."

The black smoke spread around with Osiris and Su-hyeun as its center. Sun Wukong was about to shoot up from his spot at Osiris's sudden suspicious behavior, but Su-hyeun simply glanced back to him, "It'll be alright, Third Brother."

Sun Wukong hesitated slightly. For a brief moment there, all sorts of dilemmas could be spied on his face. Soon afterward, he settled back down and muttered softly, "I believe in you, little bro."

Shu-wuwu'”

The surrounding scenery changed. Now they were inside a space so dark that the walls here must've been painted in black ink.

The only objects with any color in this space were Su-hyeun, who was standing in front of the green-haired Osiris, and Osiris himself in his smart black business suit.

Su-hyeun wordlessly scanned this space. He found it somewhat familiar.

"It's the Dark World."

From a long time ago, he learned a lot about this space. In here, the thoughts of the user would become "reality."

Thomas was well known for using this skill. It had no limitation on how it could be used. Out of all the skills Su-hyeun knew, it was excellent enough to be ranked within the top 10.

However, Osiris activated such a skill as if it was nothing to him and with the level of proficiency that Thomas could never even hope to compare.

"Master Subhuti and the other gods probably created skills. Does that mean the Dark World is a copy of Osiris's technique?"

Still, what a relief this was.

Since he knew about the Dark World, he knew how to break through this space if the need arose.

Without that knowledge, he would have found relaxedly chatting like this pretty much impossible.

"In here should be perfect for us two to chat for a while. Don't you agree?" Osiris approached much closer to Su-hyeun. In fact, he was close enough to touch the other party by reaching out.

However, Su-hyeun still did not raise his guard. Both of them were unarmed, and they were not displaying any hostility, at least for the time being.

Giii-iiing'”

A flashy, gorgeous chair with dragon engravings materialized where Osiris stood.

He settled down on the golden chair. Another copy of the same chair appeared behind Su-hyeun, so he sat down, too.

And so, the two of them sat close enough to be in a touching distance and began their discussion.

"Okay, so? What do you want to talk about?" Su-hyeun leaned back and crossed his legs.

Osiris pondered something for a while. He was the one asking for a chat, but now that the stage had been set, it looked like he didn't have anything to say in particular.

After a bit of waiting, no reply came his way, causing Su-hyeun to furrow his brow.

Osiris watched the frown appear on Su-hyeun's face before finally opening his mouth, "I'm not sure where to even begin'”"

"If you have nothing to say, then I'll take it that you are merely trying to waste my time," Su-hyeun curtly retorted and was about to get up, but then...

"The current you, which side are you?"

Su-hyeun's movement came to a halt at Osiris's question. He stared silently at the Predator.

Which side was he?

It wasn't easy to decipher the true meaning of that question, but what really messed up Su-hyeun's thoughts were the words that came before it.

"The current me?" he thought.

If Osiris knew about Su-hyeun's Six Paths of Past Lives, then it made some sense he would ask a question like that. If that was indeed the case here, putting aside the question of how Osiris had figured out Su-hyeun's innate ability, the way he uttered "the current you" sounded too natural. It was as if he had said it before.

And the moment he heard those words, a certain scene flitted in and out of Su-hyeun's mind.

"Which side are you on?"

It was a similar question, with slightly different wording.

Without a doubt, that voice belonged to Osiris.