The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 163

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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 163. Witch of Night (4)
Thus was formed our mentoring class party.
Our party’s destination lay in the Demon Beast danger zone far to the south of Valhalla City.
For heroes, the direction “south” carries multiple negative connotations.
It is where Gehenna City, the city of Demons, is located; it is also the notorious region densely packed with Ruins boasting the highest danger ratings; and humanity’s foremost defensive line, teeming with all manner of Demon Beasts, is positioned in the south.
The reason why Demons and Demon Beasts gathered so distinctly in the south was simple.
The Empire occupied the western continent, the Republic the east, and the Holy Kingdom the north.
And finally, the Hero Academy and Valhalla City were situated in the central region.
After the Demon God’s seal weakened their forces, the Demons had nowhere else to choose but the Southern Region, filled with treacherous terrain and Ruins, and naturally the continent’s south became humanity’s most dreaded demon realm.
And now.
We were advancing toward that southern continent.
“Ah, Aaron. Are you really sure about this?”
Laios, following behind, opened his mouth with tension etched across his face.
“The place we’re heading to right now… isn’t it rated as danger rank A by the Three Nations Hero Alliance?”
A danger rank A would be so perilous that even active hero parties confident in their abilities would hesitate to venture there.
Exploring a danger rank A region required at minimum a ranker—and specifically one from the upper echelons of skill.
“Haha. No need to worry like that. With our party’s level, it shouldn’t be difficult.”
Aaron flashed a refreshing smile and shrugged his shoulders.
It wasn’t the sort of foolish, arrogant bluster common in clichés.
Aaron genuinely possessed the strength of a high-ranking ranker.
With Bella Leonhardt and Laios added to the mix, our party was objectively capable of exploring even danger rank A regions.
Of course.
That would be the case in a “normal” scenario.
“But….”
Laios’s gaze turned toward me and Lanez, following at the very rear of the party.
His expression twisted harshly.
“We’re not seriously bringing those dead weights along, are we?”
“Dead weights? Watch your tongue, Laios. They’re fellow party members, aren’t they?”
Aaron’s eyes narrowed with displeasure.
Laios flinched at the weight of his gaze.
Aaron exhaled a short sigh and continued.
“In the worst-case scenario, I can use my ‘blessing,’ so there’s no need to worry.”
“Mm… understood.”
Laios, who had been wearing a worried expression, immediately assented upon hearing the word “blessing.”
Rather, it was Bella Leonhardt beside him who reacted to those words.
“Aaron! Didn’t you promise not to use your blessing with me?!”
“I said I’d only use it in the worst-case scenario. I have no intention of using it unless absolutely necessary.”
Aaron chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.
Bella lectured him for a while about why he always chose to do dangerous things, but ultimately she couldn’t break through Aaron’s stubbornness.
“Anyway. The road ahead will be quite treacherous, so everyone keep up. If it gets too hard, let me know anytime.”
Aaron took the lead, quickening his pace as he spoke.
Squelch, squelch.
True to Aaron’s words, the path ahead was far from smooth.
Even in broad daylight, we had to use Light magic to illuminate our surroundings in the dense jungle, and the boggy marshland that swallowed us up to our ankles drained our stamina with every single step.
Still, Aaron, Bella Leonhardt, and Laios, who possessed exceptional abilities as a foundation, managed the situation reasonably well.
“Huff, huff!”
Lanez, whose skills were already lacking and who carried heavy baggage on her back, looked as though she might collapse at any moment.
Despite her ragged breathing, Lanez pressed on desperately behind the party without uttering a single word of complaint.
“Lanez.”
Unable to bear it any longer, I approached her.
“Huh? Y-yes?”
“Let me carry that.”
“N-no!”
Lanez shook her head firmly, guarding the backpack on her shoulders as though it were a treasure chest.
“The only role I can play in this party is… this. Just this. I have to carry it myself.”
In Lanez’s face, I could sense a kind of desperation.
….
Watching her with a frown, I turned my head toward Aaron, who led from the front.
“Aaron.”
“Hmm?”
“I feel like I’m about to collapse from exhaustion. Could we rest for a bit?”
“Oh, sorry. I forgot you were with us.”
Aaron scratched his head with an embarrassed smile.
“Got it. Let’s rest and camp around here.”
Aaron grasped the spear on his back and swung it lightly.
A blue aura burst from the spear, felling the trees.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
In an instant, several trees toppled, and chairs of convenient size were created.
“How does it feel? Nervous being outside the academy?”
Aaron asked as he sat on a tree stump he’d cut down.
I nodded and sat beside Aaron.
“Yes, I’m quite nervous.”
“Haha. I felt the same way when I first hunted Demon Beasts outside the academy.”
Pleased by my response, Aaron launched into a nostalgic reminiscence with enthusiasm.
“Things I thought I’d learned well in lectures just vanished from my mind, as if my head had been wiped clean.”
….
“But don’t worry. That’s how it is for everyone at first. Once you get used to it a little….”
“Aaron!”
Crack!
Bella Leonhardt, sitting beside Aaron, frowned and struck his back.
“Aaahhh!”
“And here we go again—can’t you go five minutes without lecturing someone?”
“L-lecturing? I’m simply trying to help my junior adapt properly to the mentoring program’s purpose….”
“When someone says they’re exhausted and need rest, standing next to them droning on about ‘back in my day’ isn’t going to help them adapt one bit. Let them rest in peace.”
“Ugh.”
Aaron swallowed hard under the barrage of criticism.
Even Laios watched from the sidelines, his gaze tinged with jealousy.
‘The party’s dynamics are working out well.’
I exhaled softly and shifted my attention toward Lanez.
“Haa, haa… phew.”
Lanez sat upon a tree stump, finally catching her breath as if she could live again.
“….”
I observed her with a complicated expression.
Thud, thud—boom!
Heavy footsteps echoed through the jungle.
Not just one set, but multiple.
“Combat positions.”
Aaron rose swiftly, gripping his spear.
He pointed it toward the source of the sounds, his eyes scanning the surroundings with sharp intensity.
“Grrrrrowl.”
“Shrieeek!”
What emerged from the jungle was a demon beast—a lizard with the head of a serpent and the head of a human.
It resembled a smaller version of the Crocodile Demon Beast we’d encountered during the midterm evaluation.
“…Seven-eyed class demon beast.”
Aaron quickly counted the creature’s eyes and turned his head.
Five Seven-eyed class demon beasts surrounded us.
True to the A-rank danger rating of this region, the demon beasts appearing here were formidable.
“I’ll take the vanguard. Everyone else, provide backup.”
After issuing orders to Bella Leonhardt and Laios, Aaron charged forward.
“Haaah!”
Aaron’s azure aura flared brilliantly, transforming into a streak of light that shot forth.
Crack!
“Kyaaaaaahhh!”
The blue meteor pierced through the lizard demon beast’s hardened scales, burrowing deep.
The creature shrieked and thrashed violently.
Though the wound was severe enough to pierce its body, a Seven-eyed class demon beast wouldn’t perish from such an injury.
“Grrrowl!”
The lizard demon beast exhaled heavily and wrapped its long tail around the spear shaft.
Just as it began to swing its tail to wrench the spear from Aaron’s grasp—
“Blink.”
Whoosh.
Aaron’s body, dissolving into the empty air, reappeared behind the Crocodile Demon Beast.
It wasn’t a warp—not a leap across space itself.
Rather, he had simply moved behind the beast with speed so blinding it seemed to vanish.
Crack!
The spear tip burst through the creature’s skull and erupted from the other side.
“Shrieeeek!”
One of the Crocodile Demon Beasts encircling them lunged toward Aaron.
“Not on my watch!”
Bella Leonhardt stepped forward, blocking the creature’s path.
Her eyes gleamed with crimson light.
“Hah!”
Shwiiiiiiiiick!
A devastating flurry of slashes erupted from her cry.
The Crocodile Demon Beast’s body was shredded to tatters in an instant.
“Gurgh!”
“Kyaaaah!”
The remaining three beasts exchanged glances before charging toward the rear of our party.
But when they arrived, they found—
“Pathetic lizard whelps, where do you think you’re going?!”
Laios Ryu stood blocking their advance.
“Thunder, answer my call!”
Rummmmmble!
A colossal wall of lightning materialized around Laios’s body with a deafening roar.
“Shrieeeek!”
One of the charging Crocodile Demon Beasts couldn’t control its momentum and collided with the lightning wall, shrieking in agony.
‘Impressive.’
A quiet murmur escaped my lips as I observed my seniors’ combat prowess, true to the spirit of this “mentoring lesson.”
‘Quite impressive indeed.’
The skills of Aaron, Bella Leonhardt, and Laios truly exceeded my expectations—worthy of the title “legendary generation.”
‘Especially Aaron Baek.’
The explosive acceleration he displayed was nothing short of extraordinary.
Indeed.
As I marveled inwardly at a hero once called “Yuren’s rival” in my past life—
Crack!
Aaron, having dispatched another Crocodile Demon Beast, turned toward me.
“What do you think?”
He pointed his spear at the last remaining beast and asked.
“Want to try facing the final one, junior?”
“….”
His gaze was like that of a jeweler appraising a stone picked up from the ground—determining whether it held the brilliance of a precious gem or was merely a common pebble.
Only then did I understand why Aaron had taken the risk of bringing me to this place.
‘Ah, so that’s what this is about.’
It wasn’t unusual for a mentor to give a junior the opportunity to participate directly in combat during mentoring sessions.
But deliberately bringing a low-ranking Candidate to a Rank A danger zone and pitting them against a Seven-Star Demon Beast—that couldn’t be motivated by the simple, pure intention of ‘giving a junior an opportunity.’
There was only one reason Aaron was gazing at me with such luminous eyes.
‘He wants to test me?’
He wanted to see firsthand with his own eyes what my abilities were truly like—abilities he’d only heard rumors about.
“So, what do you say? Ah, no pressure though. If you’re scared, it’s fine to refuse.”
Aaron regarded me with a faint smile.
Faced with such an obvious provocation, I let out a hollow laugh.
‘So this was his plan all along in bringing me here.’
I chuckled softly and rose to my feet.
Gripping the hilt of my sword, I walked toward the Demon Beast with an unhurried pace.
A test.
A test, indeed.
‘How transparent.’
The kid’s playing a cheap trick.

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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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