The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 173

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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 173. Omen (2)
A mountain not far from the Academy.
I arrived at the place I had visited before when I descended with Professor Elisha into the massive Underground Ruins beneath the Academy—the Abyss.
Of course, the location I would be investigating this time was not the Underground Ruins.
The Great Forest near the entrance of the Underground Ruins.
It was a danger-rated C-rank demonic beast habitat frequently used as a Training Ground for Candidates to gain practical experience.
“Hmm… so if I consolidate what you’ve said, Dale….”
After hearing everything about Lanez, Professor Elisha stroked her chin and nodded thoughtfully.
“Are you saying that thanks to Dale’s rather indiscriminate romantic entanglements, we were able to prevent a catastrophe that would have occurred in the future?”
“….”
There was certainly a lot of omitted information.
Well, yes.
Looking at the results, it was undeniable that by straddling two paths, I had been able to suppress Lanez’s rampage.
“Haha! This is quite… I suppose one could call it a solution befitting Dale….”
“Is that really befitting of me?”
What kind of person had I become in Professor Elisha’s mind?
“In any case, Dale has changed the future once again. And such a terrible future at that—one where half the Continent would have frozen solid.”
“Looking at the results… yes.”
“However….”
Professor Elisha narrowed her eyes and trailed off.
“Whether this change will necessarily lead to a good outcome… it’s still difficult to judge.”
“Still, it should be better than my previous life.”
How much worse could the future be than a catastrophe where half the Continent froze and tens of millions of people perished?
“I’m not so sure. My thoughts are somewhat different.”
“Different?”
Professor Elisha shook her head quietly and continued.
“According to what you said, in your previous life, wasn’t Lanez a calamity to the Demons as well?”
“Well… yes.”
Because the power of the Blessing of Harsh Winter was so overwhelming, she had indiscriminately slaughtered both allies and enemies alike.
“Then couldn’t Lanez’s decision not to betray humanity and side with the Demons actually be good news for them as well?”
“…What?”
My eyes widened at Professor Elisha’s words.
Lanez’s change could be good news even from the Demons’ perspective?
“I… hadn’t considered that far.”
Certainly, in my previous life, Lanez had been the primary culprit who nearly sabotaged the Demons’ long-cherished plan to liberate the Demon God.
If I, Yuren, and countless heroes hadn’t managed to kill her, the Demon God might never have been freed from its seal.
‘But if that had happened, the entire Continent would have frozen, not just half of it.’
The liberation of the Demon God and the survival of the witch.
I couldn’t judge which outcome was better or worse.
But what was certain was.
‘If the Demon God hadn’t broken free from its seal, humanity might not have faced complete annihilation.’
Perhaps 99% of mankind would have been swept away by the relentless blizzard and perished.
But 1% of humanity might have survived even in that brutal cold.
In other words.
There was a possibility that killing Lanez with my own hands in my previous life had led to humanity’s complete destruction.
“….”
My mind tangled with thoughts I had never considered before.
“You mustn’t blame yourself, Dale.”
Elisha gently patted my back as she continued speaking, as if to console me.
“Even if humanity had survived because of that, they would have merely clung to life, shivering in that harsh cold day after day. Could that truly be called ‘living’?”
“That’s….”
“You of all people know best that mere survival isn’t everything, don’t you?”
“….”
Memories from my previous life naturally surfaced in my mind.
When humanity had perished and I alone remained.
When I wandered the endless Snowy Wasteland, crying out in solitude.
For me, existence became a curse beyond all comparison.
“…Yes, I know. Painfully well.”
Being alive wasn’t what mattered.
How one lived mattered far more.
In that sense, I couldn’t call killing Lanez in my previous life a wrong decision.
However.
“Still… I wonder who made Lanez side with the Demons in my previous life. Did they not know she was an uncontrollable force?”
“That’s… unlikely.”
Whoever had drawn Raneez Malam to the Demons’ side must have known she couldn’t fully control her power.
‘Then why did they recruit her?’
It was never revealed who had drawn Lanez to the Demons’ side in my previous life.
But.
If they recruited her despite knowing she would become a calamity even to the Demons themselves….
“….”
My mind grew turbulent.
Questions piled upon questions, but no clear answer came to me.
As I continued thinking alone like this.
“I seem to have said something unnecessary.”
Elisha gave a bitter smile and pinched my cheek lightly with the hand that had been patting my back.
“Don’t worry too much. Just because you’ve experienced the future doesn’t mean you know everything about this world, does it?”
“That’s true, but….”
“More than that, I’m concerned about the fact that you’re currently walking a precarious line.”
“….”
At Elisha’s next words, my shoulders flinched involuntarily.
I had long known that she harbored feelings for me that went beyond those of a mere student toward a teacher.
Standing before her and boldly declaring, “I’m dating another woman. Two of them, actually, at the same time,” was far from an easy thing to do.
“The ones you’re referring to are Iris and Yurina, correct?”
“…Yes.”
“Hmm. I see.”
Elisha stood before me with her arms crossed, regarding me with an unreadable expression.
Though she feigned composure and indifference, I could easily discern the faint tremor at the corners of her eyes as she looked at me.
“Two… yes, two of them.”
Elisha continued her train of thought, a faint smile playing at her lips.
“Now I understand Lanez’s feelings a little better.”
“….”
“Hehe. There’s no need to worry too much. I have no intention of making things difficult for you, Dale.”
However….
Unlike her usual demeanor, Elisha continued with an expression tinged with something like fear.
“I just… hope you won’t forget about me either.”
“….”
Why was it?
Watching her avert her gaze uncertainly, my heart stirred violently.
Whether or not she sensed my turmoil, Elisha covered the scar near her left eye with her hand and continued in a dejected voice.
“Of course… I’m not young like the Candidates you meet, nor am I beautiful in appearance, nor do I possess charm as a woman….”
And yet.
“When it comes to the feelings I hold for you… I believe they are no less than theirs.”
“….”
At Elisha’s words, my already turbulent heart began to race even more intensely.
I barely managed to suppress the overwhelming surge of emotion and opened my mouth.
“I have to disagree with you on that.”
“…Disagree?”
“I think you’re plenty beautiful, Professor Elisha. I believe you have charm as a woman too. And as for age… well, if we’re counting by years lived, I’m actually the older one, aren’t I?”
“….”
Elisha’s pupils trembled slightly.
She desperately suppressed the corners of her mouth that were trying to curl upward and let out a small cough.
“You really do have a talent for saying cruel things to women, Dale.”
“What?”
What exactly had I done?
“Hehe. It’s nothing. Anyway, we’ve wasted quite a bit of time. Let’s resume our investigation.”
With that, Elisha walked briskly ahead of me.
Her gait as she walked ahead was light and buoyant, as if she were dancing.
I swallowed a bitter smile and followed in her footsteps.
Crunch, crunch.
We arrived at the location where the Candidates had encountered the high-ranking Demons.
“Certainly… there are traces of a Demon Beast here.”
Elisha’s violet eyes gleamed as she surveyed the surroundings.
“Are these traces of a Ten-Eyed Demon Beast?”
“No. I cannot determine that yet.”
Elisha shook her head quietly and approached the traces of the Demon Beast.
Then.
“Grrrrr.”
A faint, low growl echoed through the air.
My gaze and Elisha’s met.
“Professor.”
“It seems… this was that creature’s territory.”
She turned her head toward the direction of the growl.
Visible between the bushes was an enormous black wolf.
The beast’s body was covered in sharp spines like a porcupine, and its breath shimmered with blue flames.
And most importantly, the number of ‘eyes’ it possessed was….
“An Eight-Eyed Demon Beast.”
“As expected, the Candidates were mistaken.”
Of course, even an Eight-Eyed Demon Beast was formidable enough that ordinary Candidates would struggle against it unless they belonged to an exceptionally strong Party like the Aaron Party.
Still, compared to a Ten-Eyed Demon Beast, it was considerably weaker.
“I will handle it.”
“No, I will.”
Elisha stepped forward, blocking my path.
When I looked at her with a questioning gaze, Elisha clicked her tongue and shook her head.
“If Dale steps forward, that Demon Beast will turn to ash in no time. For the sake of investigation, it’s better to capture it alive.”
Indeed, if the goal was to capture it alive, Elisha was the better choice.
Her ‘web’ was specialized in restraint and capture rather than slaughter.
“Roooaarrr!”
The wolf Demon Beast roared and lunged toward Elisha.
Elisha spread both arms wide to meet the charging beast.
Transparent webs erupted from her fingertips, clad in black leather gloves, ensnaring the rushing Demon Beast.
“Grrk? Grrrkk!”
The Demon Beast was instantly wrapped in the webs.
As the wolf thrashed violently, the spines covering its body jutted out and severed the webs.
The wolf, having freed itself from the restraining webs, roared triumphantly and reached Elisha in the blink of an eye.
“Ho. Quite a formidable specimen among Eight-Eyed Demon Beasts.”
Elisha’s lips curled into a fierce smile as she faced the wolf bearing down on her.
Crunch.
As Elisha clenched her fist, transparent webs erupted and wrapped around it.
With that, she stomped the ground fiercely and struck.
“Bind it.”
With a final incantation, my clenched fist lashed across the wolf beast’s face.
Crack!
“Kiii-eeek?!”
The massive wolf beast’s body flew backward from the devastating impact.
Elisha straddled the wolf beast, raining down hammer-like punches.
Thud! Crack! Smash!
Blood sprayed in all directions.
Broken teeth and torn flesh scattered with each punch she threw.
I let out a hollow laugh as I watched the wolf beast’s face being pulverized.
“Uh, Professor? You did say we were capturing it alive, right?”
No matter how I looked at it, she seemed intent on killing it.
“Ah, I got a bit too excited.”
“Ugh… ugh….”
The wolf beast whimpered, blood dripping from its mouth.
Its condition was pitiful, but fortunately it still had breath in it.
Elisha dipped her fingertip into the blood the wolf beast had spilled on the ground and brought it to her lips.
“Now then, let’s confirm where this creature came from….”
That’s when it happened.
Rustle, rustle.
The faint sound of bushes moving.
The moment I heard that sound, my body moved before my mind could react.
“Get down!”
I wrapped my arms around Elisha and rolled us both away roughly.
Whoooosh!
A blood-red aura swept across the spot where Elisha had just been standing.
“Screeeech!”
The wolf beast’s body was torn to shreds by the aura.
“That’s….”
“….”
I turned my head toward where the blood-red aura had come from, and through the dim undergrowth, I saw five pairs of gleaming eyes.
“It seems the Candidates weren’t mistaken after all.”
I drew the sword at my waist and gritted my teeth.

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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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