The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 153

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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 153. The Consecutive Disappearances of Candidates (7)
“Professor! It’s this! This one!”
Bang!
A red-haired youth burst through the laboratory door without so much as a knock.
Jade Bastian turned to face his student who had kicked open the laboratory door, exhaling a sigh so deep it seemed the ground itself might collapse beneath him.
“What is it now, Oscar?”
“Artificial Stigmata! I’ve discovered a crucial clue regarding Artificial Stigmata research!”
“…Sigh. You’re still obsessed with that research?”
Oscar thrust his face close to Jade Bastian, who was sighing heavily.
“Obsessed? This is conviction, conviction! I became your student after reading your Artificial Stigmata thesis, didn’t I?”
“That thesis was abandoned long ago due to safety concerns.”
“Exactly! That’s why I’ve found a clue that could solve those problems!”
Oscar laughed spiritedly, thumping his chest.
Watching Oscar, Jade Bastian shook his head slowly.
“…You’re going to cause an uproar in the Holy Kingdom again.”
“Ha. Isn’t that something you’re used to, Professor?”
“Looking at the research funding that decreases every year, I’d say I’m not used to it at all.”
Jade Bastian swallowed a bitter smile and pulled out the Artificial Stigmata thesis from a mountain of papers stacked before him.
“Fine, let me hear what you have to say.”
“The existing Artificial Stigmata was designed to artificially create and inscribe stigmata on those who don’t possess them, correct?”
“That’s right.”
Artificial Stigmata.
A device that inscribes false stigmata onto ordinary people who haven’t received divine blessing, allowing them to manipulate mana.
When this theory was first announced, it was so revolutionary that the entire hero society was turned upside down.
‘The Holy Kingdom didn’t just flip—it foamed at the mouth with condemnation.’
Humans artificially creating the blessing bestowed by the divine?
Even the heroes from the Holy Kingdom who had previously hushed up his stigmata research lit their eyes with fury and condemned him—it was such a daring theory.
‘But.’
If this theory could only be realized….
“The problem is, it’s impossible for humans to create a perfect stigmata.”
“Exactly. That’s why it was abandoned.”
“But! What if we pursued an ‘imperfect stigmata’ instead?”
“An imperfect stigmata?”
“Yes. We still can’t create a perfect stigmata with human power. So, we create a degraded version of it.”
“…Explain that in more detail.”
Oscar flashed a grin and handed him a paper filled with complex equations.
“The core of a stigmata is, above all, the ability to ‘manipulate the mana contained within the stigmata.’ This grants heroes superhuman power.”
“But artificially created stigmata have a fatal weakness—the problem of mana supply and demand.”
“Unlike normal stigmata, which naturally absorb mana from the air and recover to their original capacity when depleted, artificial stigmata lack this function.”
In other words.
Once mana is used, it becomes impossible to recover it.
“That’s why I thought of mana stones. We could replenish the mana of artificial stigmas through mass-produced low-grade mana stones.”
“…So you’re saying we should create a kind of mana auxiliary battery?”
“Exactly! This way, not only people without stigmas, but even heroes with stigmas could use artificial stigmas as mana supplements!”
Though they were called “artificial stigmas,” in terms of their effects, they were closer to magical artifacts or relics—anyone could use them.
“….”
Of course.
‘According to theory,’ with that caveat attached.
“But even if we source mana from mass-producible mana stones, we’d only be able to handle a pittance of mana.”
“Still, isn’t that something? If this were distributed to ordinary people, they could even face third-tier… no, depending on the person, even second-tier Demons!”
If that were to happen.
“We could dramatically reduce the thousands of people dying every year at the hands of Demons and Demon Humans!”
Oscar spread both arms wide and smiled brightly.
“With our own hands, we could save people… no, save this entire world!”
Yes.
That’s how you and I dreamed.
A dream that could never be realized.
A faded dream.
* * *
Along with tears glistening at the corners of his wrinkled eyes.
Jade’s consciousness returned from two years in the past.
“….”
Jade turned to look at Sophia, who had seized his collar.
The same crimson hair as his student.
Eyes that conveyed unwavering resolve. An intense presence as if an active volcano had been sculpted into human form.
‘It’s the same.’
With a bitter smile, he opened his mouth.
“Do you know how many heroes exist on this Continent?”
“What?”
“According to official records, 14,782. Including unofficial counts, roughly 20,000 or so. Not a particularly large number.”
It was inevitable.
After all, the number of people bearing stigmas wasn’t that large to begin with, and given the nature of heroes—who must fight creatures like Demons and Demon Humans their entire lives—the mortality rate was bound to be high.
“…What’s your point?”
“Compare the mere 20,000 heroes to the tens of millions of people across the entire Continent. If you divide the number of people each hero must protect, it exceeds 2,000 per hero. Do you understand how absurd that number is?”
“….”
At least 2,000 people per hero to protect.
There was no need to explain how unreasonable that figure was.
“Even now, 500 years after the Demon God was sealed, people continue to suffer endlessly—not for any other reason. No matter how hard heroes try to protect people, their numbers are simply too few.”
And so.
“We tried to imitate the divine.”
I created the blessing of a god artificially.
I wanted to grant divine marks to those who didn’t possess them.
Even if they were incomplete, degraded versions of true divine marks.
I wanted to give them the strength to protect themselves.
But.
“The price for daring to imitate a god… was not cheap.”
I recall that day.
A divine mark spiraling out of control, and my disciple’s screams echoing through the air.
Myself, standing helplessly as my disciple died with their entire body’s vital energy twisted.
“You….”
Sophia stared at Jade with trembling eyes, as if unsure what to say.
She never imagined her brother’s obsession with ‘artificial divine marks’ stemmed from such a reason.
Her mind tangled in confusion.
Sophia released her grip on Jade’s collar, her expression filled with bewilderment.
And then.
Boom—!
“Kyaaaah!”
A burst of blue light exploded, sending Sophia’s body flying backward.
“Sophia!”
Berald rushed over in an instant and caught her.
Given how massive the explosion was, he expected her to be severely wounded, but her body was completely unharmed.
“…Sigh.”
Jade, having sent Sophia flying, let out a deep breath.
He pulled a small glass vial from his pocket.
Inside the vial, a blue liquid rippled.
As Jade formed a hand seal with his remaining hand, the unconscious Laios’s body levitated into the air.
“What are you doing right now?!”
Ignoring Sophia’s urgent cry, Jade reached toward Laios.
Light burst from Laios’s left chest and settled into the glass vial in Jade’s hand.
A mere handful of magical power.
But this ‘artificial divine mark’, created from the combined power of twenty-one divine marks, contained far more than a handful of strength.
“….”
Conflict flickered in Jade’s eyes as he gazed at the vial.
For two years afterward, I conducted research upon research, yet I still hadn’t found a way to stabilize this ‘artificial divine mark’.
Just when I was about to abandon the research entirely.
-Who are you?
-I’m Dale Han, a third-year candidate in the Warrior Department.
I met him.
Those days when I lived as if dead, having abandoned everything.
The dying ember in my chest ignited once more.
I sang of hope with fervent passion.
‘But… the world’s problems aren’t solved by hope alone.’
I threw myself back into researching artificial stigmata, yet the method to stabilize it remained shrouded in mystery.
While wandering through that graveyard of research materials, searching for answers that eluded me.
-Shall I make your dreams come true?
A snow-white serpent approached me.
-With this magic stone, you can stabilize that stigmata.
The serpent whispered, flicking its long forked tongue.
“….”
I recall it.
I remember it.
That day, two years ago.
The moment everything crumbled for me.
-Why… why did you continue the experiment without permission! Didn’t I tell you it wasn’t the stage to test on humans yet!
Myself, screaming in anguish as I stared at my fallen student.
Oscar coughed, spitting blood as he looked up at me.
-I heard… that this time… the Holy Kingdom issued a research ban order.
-That’s…!
-Professor… I… you see.
With a faint smile on his lips.
My student continued speaking.
-I… wanted to become… a hero.
Foolish bastard.
What hero could you ever be?
-Not just in name… but a real hero, like the Five Great Heroes.
So that’s why you secretly conducted experiments alone, defying your teacher’s words?
-So I could become such a hero… and save… many… people.
Ha. You can’t even manage your own body, and you want to save people?
You don’t deserve to be called a hero.
-So that’s why… I wanted to give you… a shiny new Laboratory too…
Because of you, not only did I lose the chance for a shiny Laboratory, but all my meager funding was cut off entirely.
Everything I’d accomplished in my lifetime crumbled in a single day.
-I’m… sorry.
Stupid bastard.
Stupid bastard.
Stupid bastard.
-But still… Professor. Our dream… it’s not over yet, right?
“Sigh.”
Jade gazed at the blue liquid inside the glass bottle as I exhaled a deep sigh.
“…Yes.”
With a final murmur.
Jade drank the blue liquid in greedy gulps.
Uuuuuuuuugh!
Magical power erupted explosively, and a searing pain blazed through his right chest.
The blue light wavered precariously, as though it might scatter at any moment.
“Aaaaahhh!”
Jade gritted his teeth, enduring the crushing agony that flooded through him.
He pressed a black magic stone from his pocket against the sacred mark etched upon his right chest.
Crackle, crackle, crack!
The black magic stone shattered into fragments, absorbed into his artificial sacred mark.
The unstable light stabilized in an instant, radiating an intense glow.
“Haah, haah, haah!”
His breathing grew ragged.
Jade’s eyes were bloodshot crimson.
He bared his teeth savagely and opened his mouth.
“We will… save the world.”
When he took a step forward, his voice consumed by madness and obsession.
“I beg to differ, Professor. You hardly look like a hero about to save the world right now.”
Dale advanced slowly, his hand gripping the sword hilt.

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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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