The Hero Returns

The spectators finally figured it out.

KA-BOOM—!

They finally knew the "only opponent" Su-hyeun was talking about.

"It wasn't Gordo Rohan!"

"It was Sun Wukong all along!"

"Just who exactly is that guy?!"

The arena had become badly destroyed that it was barely recognizable anymore.

It was already damaged from trying to endure various skills of S-Rank awakeners. Even then, the extent of the damage wasn't as bad as now, with the floor caving everywhere and deep craters forming here and there.

Not to forget, the Ranking Wars tournament arena had been reinforced by countless Ether stones to prepare for the battles between powerful S-Rank awakeners.

Yet, such an arena was utterly wrecked.

Ka-boom—!

Ku-gugugugu—

The ground exploded and overturned as Ruyi Jingu Bang slammed down, and then…

Flash—!

Rumble—!

The floor got scorched right before a crater was gouged out every time a Thunderbolt fell.

KA-BOOM—!

"Heeeeeiiik?!"

A spectator gasped in pure fright when Ruyi Jingu Bang's extended shaft flew right in front of his nose.

The staff extended past several kilometers in length, and for a moment there, everyone thought that the weapon would crush a section of the grandstands, killing hundreds of people in the process.

But then…

Shu-woook—

Ruyi Jingu Bang didn't get closer to the grandstands and got "cut off" in the middle.

Judging from the scary noise it made, the staff must be getting longer even now, but the half of its shaft seemed to have "arched" around a curve. The spectators couldn't understand what had just happened, but at the very least, they now realized that some safety device was already in place.

"Whew…"

"But, of course."

"I mean, this is the Ranking Wars we're talking about. Of course, they would have installed a safety device or two of this caliber."

They were all under the impression that the organizer of the tournament, the Gordon Company, was also responsible for installing this safety device.

However, Gordon Rohan, listening in on them, shook his head. He was definitely not responsible for creating something like this, after all.

"I had no idea something like this was even possible."

The oblivious spectators continued to think that this was a "device" meant to protect them. Of course, they were not wrong in that regard.

They did not know how complicated and truly insane it was to pull off something of this magnitude.

"Connecting to another dimension? Not just that but casting a doorway like that all around the arena, too?"

Gordon Rohan heard about Su-hyeun's ability to cast magic from the man himself a long time ago.

For one thing, one of the summons Su-hyeun commanded happened to be a dragon. Therefore, it would not be weird for him to study magic through the dragon in some shape or form.

Also, awakeners specializing in magic were pretty commonplace. Even so, a skill or a spell capable of folding space, then activating it over such a vast area, was simply beyond the common sense of an average person.

"And then, what's even crazier is that he—"

KA-BOOM—!

Ruuuumble—!

Gordon Rohan stared at Su-hyeun as he flung another Thunderbolt to deflect the incoming Ruyi Jingu Bang.

"Despite activating such an incredible spell, he still has more than enough magical energy left."

A "device" created to stop anyone from interfering and to keep the caster from worrying about anyone else was what this barrier was. It also signified how seriously those two felt about this fight.

Their battle was getting more brutal with every passing second.

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The arena was expansive.

It was as large as dozens of World Cup stadiums or the Han River park located in Seoul.

However, it was still lacking for Su-hyeun to go all out. Even so, both he and his opponent had to fight within the restricted boundaries of the arena. Knowing this, he wasn't going to complain about unfairness, inconvenience, or anything like that.

"Well, this is a bit of pandemonium."

Their brief battle had utterly devastated the arena.

For a moment there, Su-hyeun felt sorry for Gordon Rohan. The arena's construction must have cost him an arm and a leg, after all. No, wait—never mind the cost involved, was it even possible to repair the damage before next year's tournament?

The arena resembled a craggy mountainside by now. No corner of it could be considered level, and plenty of its terrain jutted out in every way to serve as obstacles to one's view.

"Now!"

KA-BOOM—!

Just as a piece of the floor rose to obscure his vision, Ruyi Jingu Bang rapidly extended and brushed right past Sy-hyeun's head.

That attack was aimed for the exact moment when he lost his line of sight. Sun Wukong might not be a deep thinker or the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was a certifiable genius when it came to fighting.

He fought his battles instinctively. He just knew what to do to trouble his opponents and the best way to attack in a more threatening manner while using a similar level of strength as before.

Su-hyeun's fingertip lightly brushed the shaft of Ruyi Jingu Bang. That was when he sensed Sun Wukong's presence at the other end of the staff.

Bzzzik—

Su-hyeun's figure transformed into golden-hued electrical currents.

At the same time…

[Grand Thunderbolt]

Su-hyeun's figure reappeared right above Sun Wukong's head.

"Huh?!" Sun Wukong jumped up in surprise at the presence that suddenly announced itself in the air and hurriedly looked up.

However, by the time he confirmed with his own eyes, it was already too late.

FLASH—!

Rumble—!

The entire arena was bathed in the blinding golden-orange light. The spectators had to shield their eyes from the light, unable to continue watching.

A short while later, they could see the arena again.

Over there, Sun Wukong's figure was burned pitch-black.

It seemed like the battle was over, but then…

"You even knew how to do something like this, Third Brother?"

Poof—!

Sun Wukong's figure disappeared with a puff of smoke. The same thing happened to Ruyi Jingu Bang.

As for the real Sun Wukong, he was riding on a cloud above Su-hyeun's position.

"Wow, that was close."

One of Sun Wukong's trusted techniques, the cloning technique, had saved him just then.

In the blink of an eye, he swapped his position with one of his clones to dodge an incoming attack. This was Su-hyeun's first time witnessing this type of application, however.

"In that case, how about this?"

Pazzik, pazzzzzik—

A countless number of golden-orange light beams materialized in the air above the arena.

[Rain of Thunder – Grand Thunderbolt]

This was the rain of Grand Thunderbolts.

Every single one of these lightning bolts contained enough power to decimate the arena.

However, Sun Wukong looked up at the rain of golden-orange thunder and smirked deeply, "That's pretty good."

Poof, poof, poof—!

Hundreds of clones materialized all around Sun Wukong next.

Each clone wielded their version of Ruyi Jingu Bang, their tips pointing upward. Soon afterward, Su-hyeun's hand, clad in Zeus's Thunder Glove, went up before coming down with powerful energy.

The Rain of Thunder poured down to the ground below. However, at the same time, all the clones opened their mouths and commanded, "Expand, Ruyi!"

KA-BOOM, KAAAA-BOOOOOOM—!

Hundreds of Ruyi Jingu Bang slammed into the Grand Thunderbolts that came down, creating a chain of deafening roars. Sparks of electricity danced everywhere as the Ruyi Jingu Bang created through the cloning technique shattered into bits, its debris scattering to the ground below.

Clang—!

In the middle of all this chaos, Sun Wukong's real body and Su-hyeun entered close-quarter combat.

Creak, creaaaak—

Swhiiiiiish—

Su-hyeun's sword enveloped in the Palm Leaf's winds slammed down on top of Sun Wukong's Ruyi Jingu Bang. As the two weapons remained locked in position, Su-hyeun opened his mouth to speak, "Blow away…"

At the same time, clouds urgently wrapped around Sun Wukong's vicinity.

"Palm Leaf!"

Riiiiip—!

The clouds were ripped apart into pieces. It didn't stop there as numerous nicks and scratches appeared on Sun Wukong's skin, causing some blood to spatter in the air.

Winds swirled around the gap between the two; these winds acted like a gentle breeze while brushing past Su-hyeun but morphed into a deadly storm when nearing Sun Wukong.

Right at that moment…

Vuooooong—

The golden fillet floated up on Sun Wukong's head.

Splat—!

Five ultra-sharp blades chopped Su-hyeun's figure apart. For a moment there, blood seemed to dance in the air, only for Su-hyeun's body to disappear from the spot and reappear some distance away.

"That could've been a bit dangerous."

Su-hyeun was confident of his close-quarter combat ability, but the same applied to Sun Wukong.

With the golden fillet in the picture now, Sun Wukong's aura had gone through a qualitative change. To be more precise, it wasn't just his aura that had changed.

"Third Brother, what's up with your eye?"

Sun Wukong asked back as if he was not aware, "Eh? What about my eye?"

Instead of a verbal reply, Su-hyeun snapped his fingers, creating a mirror in front of Sun Wukong's nose. The latter looked at himself before crying out in shock, "Wha—?! What's this?"

His expression distorted as he began touching his face.

His eye color was naturally black. However, after acquiring the Fiery Golden Eyes, his eye color gradually shifted to red.

The catalyst was the eight-way trigram Crucible.

The "gods" of the Heavenly World captured him, then threw him inside a cage burning in flames as hot as hell's conflagration for a long time. It was inevitable he would experience some change after that.

Then, after his trip to the Hell of Scorching Heat, his eyes became even redder than before.

But now, it had changed again.

"One of his eyes is gold in color now."

That change had only occurred after the golden fillet revealed itself.

It seemed that the change was related to weakening the golden fillet's seal.

"Golden eyes are supposed to be the eyes of a Yogoe, right?"

Su-hyeun recalled hearing that from the Roc Demon King during their drinking party in the past.

He said that a Yogoe's eyes would take on a golden hue if the said Yogoe lost its mind to its primal instincts, resulting in the creature acquiring an even greater power than ever before.

Su-hyeun also recalled that the Bull Demon King's expression was grave while listening to the Roc Demon King's drunken explanation.

Back then, Su-hyeun didn't know why such an expression was necessary. However, later, he learned about the Bull Demon King being also a Yogoe with a tragic backstory.

"A Yogoe, hmm…"

Now that he thought about it, Sun Wukong was also a Yogoe.

It's just that he had always been a friendly person since the beginning, making it difficult to remember the truth about his true nature.

The golden fillet was a tool created by Master Subhuti to restrict the nature and strength of a Yogoe. The current Sun Wukong had mastered a way to wield the powers of both the golden fillet and his nature as a Yogoe.

"Is this the reason for the weird feeling I've been getting from the Third Brother recently?"

Su-hyeun finally felt like he had grasped the truth behind that strange, unexplainable feeling from Sun Wukong.

This new aura wafting off Sun Wukong felt markedly different from the earlier one.

He was definitely a Yogoe, but through his mastery over the Sage Arts, his previous aura gave off this deep and pure feeling. The Sage Arts as a cultivation method was always meant to help one ascend to godhood, so it was no surprise that it purified one's aura in the process.

But now, the current Sun Wukong was more or less a complete opposite of that state. The aura wafting off him was pretty ominous and foul, something no human or god would possess.

But for some reason, the current Sun Wukong seemed better suited to being the real Sun Wukong than his old self.

"Are we not going to continue?" Su-hyeun asked while staring at Sun Wukong, who was still flustered by the shocking revelation of his own eye.

As soon as he heard the question, though, Sun Wukong quickly wiped off his previous expression, replacing it with something new. "Ah, right. That."

The expression of pure joy came back to his face.

He scratched his cheek, "I gotta tell you, you better be careful now."

"Are you sure you should be worried about me, Third Brother?"

"Fuu-haat!"

Sun Wukong exploded in a peal of laughter.

Su-hyeun was right about that one.

He didn't need to worry about him; even though their fight until now seemed intense, Su-hyeun also hadn't unleashed the true extent of his strength.

His retort just now was a display of his confidence.

"You punk, your personality really has changed, you know that?" Sun Wukong spun Ruyi Jingu Bang in his hand. "But I like that a lot."

Fwhoooosh—!

"Ah!"

Ruyi Jingu Bang extended in the blink of an eye, crashing straight into Su-hyeun's midriff.

The armor protecting his torso couldn't do much. Although it was made of adamantium, it failed to absorb much of the impact.

KA-BOOM—!

Su-hyeun's figure flew back before crashing and digging deep into the ground, but it wasn't over yet.

BOOM—!

Gu-gugugugu—

Sun Wukong's figure came flying in and stomped down on Su-hyeun, who was still buried in the ground. The latter reached up to grab the former's foot stepping on his throat, but then, Sun Wukong powerfully swung down with his staff.

CRACK—!

Su-hyeun's head spun.

The hand gripping Sun Wukong's ankle lost its strength. Sun Wukong then kicked Su-hyeun's figure even deeper into the arena's floor. Then, he flew high in the air.

"Expand, Ruyi—!"

KA-BOOM—!

Ruyi Jingu Bang burrowed into the ground where Su-hyeun was, burying him even deeper underground.

The enlarged Ruyi Jingu Bang was now stabbed in the middle of the arena.

It all happened so fast that not only the spectators but even Gordon Rohan, who was paying close attention, failed to follow the action.

Sun Wukong settled down on top of Ruyi Jingu Bang. He rested his chin and waited for a bit, but Su-hyeun still hadn't come outside yet.

"What are you doing down there, little bro?" His eyes remained accurately locked on Su-hyeun, who was still buried deep underground.. "It's time to get started, right?"