The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 121

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 121. Extreme Circumstances (1)
A training ground so vast it hardly deserved the name “Private Training Ground.”
I stood alone in the center of the expansive arena, finally placing a hand over my chest.
Mana bullets smaller than millet seeds, forged within the bloodstream.
The mana bullets flow through the bloodstream and detonate directly within the heart.
Squelch.
The sound of the heart being crushed.
Pain radiates throughout my entire body, accompanied by the dull sensation of a blunt strike crashing down upon my chest.
My vision flickers black, and all strength drains from me.
But only for a moment.
Whooooom!
The stigma blazes with light, and my shattered heart regenerates to its original form.
Haah.
Ash mingles with the breath I exhale.
“Ignite.”
With the whispered incantation, my entire body becomes engulfed in pale flames.
Ashen smoke erupts from every pore, blanketing the surroundings.
Ignition.
A technique that stimulates the primordial flame through my own “death,” temporarily granting immense power.
“Haah.”
I exhale breath laced with ash and grip the sword.
Whoooosh!
Ashen flames dance along the blade’s edge.
Only seconds have passed since I ignited the ashen flames, yet I can already feel the mana filling the stigma draining at an accelerating rate.
I swing the sword violently through the empty air, blade in hand.
Ashen Flame Sword, First Form.
Ash Severance.
The blade wreathed in ashen flames tears savagely through the void.
Crack!
The entire training ground trembles from the shockwave alone created by the sword’s swing.
“Next…”
I extend the gripped sword lengthwise and conjure a mana bullet in the empty air.
Or rather, not a mana “bullet,” but a blade forged from pure mana.
Whoooosh!
Ashen flames dance along the mana blade.
Ashen Flame Sword, Second Form.
Flame Blade.
The mana blade wreathed in ashen flames sweeps savagely through the surroundings.
Click.
With a light snap of my fingers, the mana blade drifting through the training ground disperses into the empty air.
‘And finally.’
It was a technique I’d learned recently, so my proficiency wasn’t high yet.
Whoooosh!
The ashen flames that had been wrapping around the blade coalesced at the sword’s tip.
The ashen fire gathered at the tip absorbed the ash particles scattering around it, gradually swelling in size.
The ashen flames pooling at the sword’s tip burned fiercely, as if ready to consume everything around it.
Ashen Flame Sword, Third Form.
Infernal Lance.
Just before the concentrated ashen fire at a single point was unleashed.
Beeeep!
[Warning.]
[An abnormality has occurred in the impact mitigation barrier.]
The Training Ground’s interior flashed red with a loud alarm.
‘I haven’t even fired it yet.’
I frowned and dispersed the ashen flames concentrated at the sword’s tip.
“Phew.”
I slowly exhaled and returned the blade to its sheath.
Checking the mana within the stigma, it was nearly depleted.
‘This technique certainly consumes mana at an alarming rate.’
Both Refraction and Ignition consumed considerable mana, but this newly acquired ‘Infernal Lance’ consumed even more.
Sizzzzle!
Along with the sound of flesh burning, the nearly empty mana rapidly refilled at high speed.
‘When in the ignited state, mana continues to recover, so it’s at least usable then. But normally, it would be difficult to use.’
I looked down at my body engulfed in soft flames and frowned.
‘It’s not enough.’
I recalled the memory of facing the Archbishop of Madness days ago.
A suffocating pressure that made it hard to breathe just by looking at him.
Though I hadn’t actually fought him, it was certain that even with ‘Ignition’ active, I would be overwhelmed against such an existence.
“To fight that brat….”
I closed my eyes tightly and traced my memories further back.
During the Seal Festival.
To when I fought Ashtar Ashtaroth.
-You don’t understand the concept of moderation?! What?! Does this even make sense?!
Flames burning fiercely, wrapping around my entire body.
Infinite mana surging endlessly.
All the techniques I had been unable to unleash due to the shackles of ‘mana’ could be freely deployed, and with a single gesture, the surroundings became an inferno.
‘Indeed, I need the incarnate state.’
As I recalled the memory of primordial fire burning through my entire body and generating infinite mana, a thrilling sensation spread down my spine.
If I could freely control that power, I could easily crush the Archbishop of Madness.
“The problem is, I don’t know how to achieve that state.”
I furrowed my brow and exhaled a long sigh.
I had attempted countless methods to trigger the Incarnate State, but none had yielded meaningful results.
‘Simply dying repeatedly wasn’t enough to activate it.’
Multiple experiments had confirmed that the Primordial Flame responded to my death, but.
Even when I created mana bullets and repeatedly detonated my heart, the Primordial Flame never engulfed my entire body in blazing inferno like it had before.
“So there must be another condition beyond death….”
I narrowed my eyes and continued my train of thought.
When I retraced that situation, there was only one hypothesis with the highest probability.
“…It was an extreme situation.”
A tension so intense my heart felt ready to burst.
A desperation that constricted my throat.
Malice pressing down on me savagely, and pain as if every cell in my body was being crushed.
‘That’s definitely not an emotion I could feel by repeatedly dying alone in a room.’
Just as the sensation differs when I massage my own shoulder versus when someone else does it, even with the same stimulus.
Even with the same ‘death,’ the sensation experienced varied dramatically depending on who was the agent of that death.
“In other words… I need to experience a genuine ‘death’ to recreate a situation similar to that one….”
The problem was that I had become so powerful recently that situations where I could actually die had become almost nonexistent.
Of course, if I forced it, I could ask someone else to kill me, but that was essentially no different from taking my own life.
“Sigh.”
In the end, it meant I had to push myself into an extreme situation—like running into a raging fire with oil strapped to my back.
‘As if that’s easy.’
If extreme situations could be created so easily, they wouldn’t be called ‘extreme’ situations.
And what constitutes an extreme situation ultimately differs from person to person.
Someone might consider encountering a stray dog on the street an extreme situation.
Someone might consider being slightly bitten by an insect an extreme situation.
And someone might consider their mother bursting through the door while they were comforting themselves late at night an extreme situation.
‘I think I’d definitely consider that last one an extreme situation too.’
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a mother who would burst through my door at night and enter my room.
Regardless.
With my immortal body, it was difficult to feel anything as an extreme situation unless it was a truly dire crisis.
“There is… a method.”
As I slowly traced through memories of my past life and continued my thoughts, I furrowed my brow.
There was indeed a method that could push me to an ‘extreme’ situation at my current level, but it was a gamble with considerable risk.
‘Still, do I have any other options right now?’
I exhaled a deep sigh and stepped out of the Training Ground.
Just as a gamble requires chips.
To realize the plan that had formed in my mind, there was one thing I needed.
* * *
“…You want a pass to leave campus?”
Inside Lucas Kane’s Office.
Lucas Kane, looking haggard from barely sleeping while grading the final exams, furrowed his brow.
“You don’t know that Candidates are forbidden from leaving the Academy during the final exam period?”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking you to make an exception.”
To leave the Academy grounds during the final exam period, one needed an exit permit signed by their supervising professor.
“Besides, hasn’t Elisha already finished grading our Party’s evaluations?”
“Rules are rules. I can’t issue exit permits during the final exam period.”
Lucas Kane shook his head with a firm expression.
“Something that Bianca would approve of….”
“No means no.”
Tsk.
Faced with Lucas Kane’s stubborn refusal, I clicked my tongue and sighed.
There were no classes anyway, and I could always sneak out of the Academy grounds.
‘But if I get caught, it’s straight to disciplinary action.’
I’d worked hard to place first in the final exams—I didn’t want to throw that away with a punishment that could ruin my scores.
‘Maybe I should just go later.’
Even if I went there now, there was no guarantee I’d find any clues about achieving the Divine Form state.
Just as I was about to give up, deciding it wasn’t worth pushing the issue.
Click.
The office door opened, and a tall, elegant beauty in a black suit walked in.
“An interesting conversation, I see.”
Elisha, having overheard my exchange with Lucas Kane, walked toward us with sparkling eyes.
“…What brings you here?”
Lucas Kane turned to look at Elisha, furrowing his brow.
She let out a soft laugh and tapped the stack of graded exam papers piled high on Lucas Kane’s desk.
“I finished my work long ago, and I heard my cute junior here has been burning the midnight oil grading exams, so I came to help.”
“Oh! Then could you grade Class B’s papers for me….”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
“Pardon?”
Lucas Kane’s face went blank.
Elisha glanced toward me before continuing.
“I overheard outside that Dale was requesting an exit permit.”
“Ah… yes. But according to school regulations, all Candidates are prohibited from leaving the Academy during the final exam period.”
“Hmm. Is that so? How strange….”
Elisha stroked her chin with a sly smile.
“As far as I know, a certain Candidate left the Academy grounds just fine during the final exam period to buy a gift for a female Candidate he likes.”
“…!”
Lucas Kane stiffened visibly.
“Let me see… that Candidate’s name was definitely….”
“S-Senior!”
Thud!
Lucas Kane abruptly slammed the table and shot to his feet.
Elisha turned to face him with a subtle smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
“You can issue a pass, can’t you?”
“Tch….”
Lucas Kane swallowed hard and shook his head.
He opened a drawer and hastily scrawled out a pass, flinging it toward me.
“As expected, Lucas is such an obedient junior, always listening to his seniors.”
Elisha turned toward me with a satisfied smirk, clearly pleased with herself.
“Will this suffice, Dale?”
“Thank you.”
Caught off guard by Elisha’s unexpected assistance, I picked up the pass with a bewildered expression.
I thought this would allow me to execute my plan without worry.
“However… it would certainly become controversial to grant special privileges to only you, Dale.”
She continued, arms crossed, stroking her chin thoughtfully.
“Hmm. I have a good idea.”
“…A good idea?”
“If you go out under the pretense of assisting me with external duties, there would be no controversy, would there?”
Elisha’s expression grew slightly animated.
“In that sense, Dale.”
Elisha gently tugged at my necktie, her lips curving as she licked them deliberately.
“Won’t you come with me?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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