The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 124

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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 124. Extreme Circumstances (4)
“Phew.”
Elisha leaned her back against solid stone, a thin cigarette held between her lips.
Kraaaaaaagh—.
From far away, the anguished roar of what was presumed to be Behemoth echoed across the landscape.
“…It’s begun.”
A battle between the Beast King who reigned over the Abyss and her particularly cherished student.
“Student, she says….”
She shook her head with a bitter expression.
What kind of student was he when she had taught him nothing?
Snap.
Elisha flicked her fingers lightly.
Dale had strictly warned her not to enter the restricted zone before three days had passed.
“But I can’t just sit here twiddling my thumbs waiting.”
If her role was to extract Dale, then at the very least she needed to confirm how the situation was unfolding.
Ssshhh.
A single thin strand of spider silk, drawn from her fingertip, slithered like a serpent across the ground and into Behemoth’s domain.
Through the silver thread, vibrations in the air transmitted to her, and the faint roar she had been hearing became far clearer.
If she activated “Blessing of Insight” on top of this…
‘Is that beast truly Behemoth?’
The complete outline and appearance of Behemoth materialized in her mind.
A beast bearing the head of an ox, the horns of a demon, and the tail of a dragon.
Twelve eyes gleamed with ominous light across its head.
‘A Twelve-Eyed Beast…’
She had witnessed beasts up to the Ten-Eyed rank before, but never anything beyond that.
‘It’s only recorded from the Demon God War five hundred years ago.’
Elisha swallowed hard, her fist clenching.
Even a Ten-Eyed beast was a creature that could not be faced unless one was a ‘Ranker.’
Yet here was a beast with not just one, but two additional eyes beyond that.
Considering that the beast’s power increased exponentially with each additional ‘eye,’ Dale’s assertion that only someone of the Archbishop of Madness’s caliber could face it was certainly accurate.
‘Is Dale really fighting such a monster?’
She bit down on the cigarette in her mouth, her expression contorting.
No matter how strong Dale was, she knew he himself was well aware that he could not win against a beast that even an Archbishop would struggle to face.
Yet there was only one reason he had stepped into Behemoth’s domain.
“…Extreme circumstances.”
Dale had said he needed to place himself in extreme circumstances to awaken the ‘Primordial Flame’ dwelling within him.
He said he needed the strength to stand against beings like the Archbishop of Madness if they ever invaded the Academy again.
That was how he had convinced her.
‘But still.’
No matter how justified the reasoning…
“Was it really necessary to go this far…?”
Crunch! Crack! Snap!
Horrifying sounds transmitted through the spider web.
The sound of blood spilling, flesh being crushed, bones shattering.
Imagining what pain Dale must be experiencing now sent an icy chill racing down my spine.
“…Dale.”
I wanted to hurl a sharp rebuke at his reckless determination to grow stronger by throwing himself into the depths of hell itself.
But when I thought of the ‘past life’ he had told me about, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
No one, not even she who had heard his entire story, could dare imagine just how horrific a life he had lived.
‘I hope he obtains the results he desires.’
All I could do now was pray that his desperate self-inflicted torment would be rewarded accordingly.
Professor Elisha crushed out her half-smoked cigarette and sank into her seat.
The battle unfolding within the domain continued to flow through the spider web.
Roooaaarrr!
Behemoth, raging and howling ferociously.
Crunch! Snap! Crack!
Dale, rising to his feet again and again despite his entire body being crushed.
‘At first he managed to hold out somewhat….’
The moment the flames engulfing Dale’s body extinguished, the battle turned sharply against him.
Dale’s attacks left only superficial wounds, while each of Behemoth’s strikes tore Dale’s body to shreds.
“Three days like this….”
Dale had spoken of it as though it were nothing.
But three days was far from a short span of time.
Especially not when it meant a fierce battle where death hung in the balance every second.
“….”
Professor Elisha kept her eyes shut as she drew another cigarette from her pocket and placed it between her lips.
Click.
The tip of the cigarette glowed red.
And so, one day passed.
Gasp! Cough! Ahhhhh!
Dale’s anguished screams reached me through the spider web.
The battle remained one-sided, with Dale dying and being resurrected every ten seconds.
Behemoth showed no signs of fatigue, breathing steady as it continued its relentless pursuit of Dale’s death.
And so, two more days passed.
Grrrrr!
By now, even Behemoth seemed to be growing weary, its movements sluggish and its breathing ragged.
But perhaps because it was a demonic beast that moved only on instinct for destruction and slaughter, devoid of reason.
Behemoth’s assault on Dale, who had died and been resurrected hundreds of times over, showed no sign of ceasing.
Even knowing its opponent was an entity that would not die, the slaughter continued without end.
Again, and again, and again.
Dale rose to his feet and gripped his sword.
Four days had passed.
Behemoth’s movements had noticeably slowed compared to the beginning.
His breathing had grown ragged, gasping as though his lungs were about to burst from his throat, and the countless shallow lacerations carved into his dark skin now numbered well over a thousand.
A battle that transcended fierceness—it had become utterly brutal.
Behemoth continued his desperate struggle against me, blood pouring from every inch of his body.
“…I honestly can’t tell which one of us is in an extreme circumstance anymore.”
Elisha let out a hollow laugh under her breath.
Dale had said he would fight Behemoth to place himself in an extreme circumstance, but now, three days later, it appeared that Behemoth was the one in dire straits.
However.
That was only what appeared on the surface.
“Dale…”
It transmitted through.
She could sense it.
Beyond a single thread of spider silk thinner than a hair.
The vast death he was experiencing, the endless agony, the bottomless despair.
“…Now, you can stop.”
Humans are creatures who will cry out like children if they stub their pinky toe on a doorframe.
Even state agents thoroughly trained to endure pain worry their resolve might shatter under torture, so they carry poison hidden in their mouths as a final escape.
“Surely that’s… enough.”
Dale had no such final refuge.
Death had been far too frequent, suffering beyond measure, and life would not end.
That.
Was the life Dale Han, the hero, had endured.
“Send the signal quickly…!”
For the past three days.
Without sleeping a single moment, she had waited for Dale to send a distress signal, yet not a single signal had arrived.
“…Damn it!”
Elisha bit her lip anxiously and cursed under her breath.
Who would have thought she’d be this worried over a single Candidate.
Just a few months ago, she couldn’t have imagined such a thing.
‘Dale.’
At first, it was mere curiosity.
She was intrigued by what kind of Candidate could fell an assistant instructor she’d grown fond of with a single strike.
When she examined him through the blessing of Insight, she discovered a vast, mysterious power dwelling within him.
That’s when she took a liking to him.
Few women wouldn’t develop affection for a man with such a promising future.
Beyond that, she found his appearance appealing, and his personality wasn’t bad either.
Yes.
That was all it was.
It’s not that I begrudge giving things to others—it’s simply tedious to exert effort acquiring them myself.
That’s what Dale Han represented to her.
But then.
“It’s beautiful, though?”
“What?”
“You said earlier it was a hideous scar. But looking at it now, it’s anything but hideous—it actually complements your appearance perfectly.”
At his presumptuous manner, offering himself up for her sake like some foolish man.
My heart wavered slightly.
I thought that perhaps—just perhaps—it wouldn’t be so bad to make an effort.
And then.
“Listen carefully to what I’m saying.”
That day.
“From now on, I’ll teach you how to resolve this ‘common problem.'”
Watching him extend his hand to me—someone who had abandoned everything—sparked yet another realization.
I wanted to have him. I wanted him by my side.
Yes.
To put it bluntly and directly.
I had fallen completely.
Elisha Baldwin, the unparalleled.
The Scarlet Spider, ranked ninth among heroes.
Had surrendered her heart to a mere Candidate who hadn’t even graduated yet.
“Damn it.”
Elisha pushed herself away from the rock she’d been leaning against.
I could no longer stand here waiting for Dale’s distress signal.
‘I’m going to rescue Dale.’
I stepped into Behemoth’s domain.
The moment I crossed the threshold, the very quality of the air transformed, as if I’d entered another world.
The thick stench of blood assaulted my nostrils.
“Ugh…”
Pinching my nose, I moved deeper toward where Dale and Behemoth’s battle still raged.
A haze of ashen smoke hung thick as fog.
The smoke that poured forth whenever Dale’s Blessing of Resurrection activated.
‘For the smoke to blanket this entire area…’
It meant Dale had endured countless deaths.
Elisha bit her lip and quickened her pace.
‘Hurry.’
The thought of potentially facing a Rank Twelve magical beast no longer occupied my mind.
All that filled my head was the single imperative: I had to save Dale from this endless cycle of death right now.
As I pressed deeper into the thickening ashen haze.
Whoooooosh!
Beyond the ashen smoke, fierce flames flickered and danced.
“That is….”
I had witnessed Dale create ‘fire’ countless times before.
But the flames now burning within the ashen smoke were of an entirely different caliber from any fire he had shown me until now.
Flames that burned as if to devour the very world itself.
The primordial inferno from the distant past—the fire that had once consumed the Tree of Creation—blazed through the ashen smoke.
“Dale! Dale, where are you!”
Elisha pushed through the smoke, rushing toward where the flames raged.
What greeted her upon arrival was.
“…sigh.”
Dale, engulfed entirely in ashen flames, and before him, the massive corpse of a demonic beast sprawled across the ground.
“Dale, you….”
“Didn’t you tell me to wait for your signal before entering?”
Dale turned to face Elisha, a faint smirk playing at his lips.
Elisha’s face hardened as she stared down at the corpse of the demonic beast scattered before Dale.
A body crushed as if trampled beneath the feet of a giant.
The King of Demonic Beasts that ruled the Abyss had been pulverized beyond recognition.
“…this is.”
If forced to draw a comparison, it resembled the aftermath of casually swatting an annoying flying insect between one’s palms.
“Hah.”
Elisha let out an incredulous laugh.
How could a sword or fist possibly create such a corpse?
And on a demonic beast over fifteen meters in size at that.
“Did you do this, Dale?”
“If not me, then who else?”
Dale shrugged and approached her.
The flames that had enveloped his body gradually subsided, and the ashen smoke dispersed.
And then came another shocking revelation.
“…!”
Dale stood completely naked, not a single thread upon his body.
“D-Dale….”
Gulp.
Elisha swallowed hard, her gaze slowly drifting downward.
As the ashen smoke cleared, another vicious demonic beast was revealed.
Elisha’s cheeks flushed crimson.
“C-cough! That… is quite the… concern.”
“Pardon? What is?”
“If I were to spend the night with you, Dale… I would have to contend with that… ferocious thing, wouldn’t I?”
“…?”
Dale’s eyes widened in sudden realization as he regarded Elisha with a bewildered expression.
“What the hell! What is this?!”
Dale looked down at his bare body and let out a scream.
“Clothes! Where are my clothes? At least give me some scrap of fabric….”
Click. Click.
“Hey, what are you taking pictures of?!”

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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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