The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 174

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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 174. Omens (3)
Thud, thud.
The demonic beast that emerged from the undergrowth possessed a frame far too modest to warrant the title of “demonic beast.”
It barely exceeded the average height of an adult man.
Had it stood beside Berald, he would have towered over it—such was its diminutive stature.
“….”
Its physique, its build.
At first glance, the demonic beast bore an appearance so eerily similar to human form that distinguishing it proved difficult.
Yet I identified it as a demonic beast instantly, and the reason lay in its grotesque visage.
No nose. No mouth. No ears.
Like a face melted and fused by flame, the anatomical features that should have existed were simply absent.
What marked the demonic beast’s face were only five pairs of eyes embedded across its featureless surface.
‘A Ten-Eyed Grade demonic beast, perhaps… Certainly distinctive in appearance.’
At a glance, I could discern nothing about what creature this demonic beast had once been.
“That demonic beast….”
Elisha’s pupils trembled faintly.
I released my arms from around Elisha and rose to my feet.
“Have you encountered one before?”
“…Yes.”
Elisha bit her lip firmly and nodded.
I wanted to ask where she’d seen it, given the gravity of her expression.
“Hrooooooo.”
With a grotesque cry, the demonic beast raised its right arm.
The limb liquefied like mud before reforming into the shape of a crimson blade.
“Tsk.”
Contemplation could wait.
First priority was dealing with this insolent creature radiating murderous intent potent enough to shred us where we stood.
“Huu.”
I drew a sharp breath, channeling my mana upward.
The mana dormant within my stigma flowed through my meridians, spreading throughout my entire body.
“Hrooooooo!”
The demonic beast shrieked in fury and charged.
I briefly wondered where it produced sound without a mouth.
I leveled my blade toward the charging creature.
Whoooooosh!
A crimson aura blazed savagely from the demonic beast’s arm, now transformed into a blade.
‘A demonic beast capable of wielding aura.’
Observing that ferocious aura, I understood why only top-tier rankers could face a Ten-Eyed Grade demonic beast.
Clang!
Blade met blade, and the violent impact reverberated through my hands.
Regardless of their human-like appearance, a demonic beast was still a demonic beast.
Their fundamental physical specifications far transcended those of humans.
“Bind it!”
Zzzzzzzt!
The web that Elisha shot forth wrapped around the demonic beast.
“Grrrraaahhh!”
As the demonic beast thrashed violently with an eerie shriek, Elisha’s body staggered and was pulled toward the creature instead.
“Tch!”
Elisha severed the web herself.
She gazed down at the corpse of the wolf-type demonic beast she’d just faced, her eyes narrowing.
“Just two extra eyes, and yet the difference is this stark…”
“That’s because Ten-Eye rank creatures are fundamentally on a different level.”
I flexed my tingling hand and gripped my sword again.
“But even accounting for that, this one is far stronger than a typical Ten-Eye rank demonic beast.”
In my previous life, I’d fought many Ten-Eye rank creatures, but specimens this powerful were rare.
“….”
Elisha bit her lip, as if she’d grasped something.
Leaving her behind, I stepped toward the demonic beast.
It was certainly true that this creature was stronger than a typical Ten-Eye rank demonic beast.
It could wield aura despite being a demonic beast, and it possessed overwhelming strength that made it hard to believe it had a frame comparable to a human’s.
But.
‘It’s still just Ten-Eye rank.’
I had the track record of incinerating an Abyss demonic beast with twelve eyes.
Of course, I wasn’t in ‘Avatar’ form like back then.
“Ignite.”
But I could mimic it to some degree.
Whoooosh!
Ash-white flames engulfed my body, blazing fiercely.
Gray smoke poured from my pores, spreading like a thick fog.
“Hah.”
I exhaled ashen breath.
Boom!
I drove my foot into the ground.
“Grrrraaahhh!”
The demonic beast shrieked and swung its right arm.
That limb, transformed into the shape of a crimson blade.
Ash-Fire Blade, First Form.
Ash Severance.
My blade, wreathed in ash-fire, cuts through.
“Grrrraaahhhhh!!!”
A piercing scream tore through the air.
I lashed out brutally with my foot toward the beast, which was hunched over while clutching its right arm.
A sickening crack echoed.
My leg swept low in a vicious arc, striking the beast’s leg with tremendous force.
The limb twisted at an unnatural angle.
The beast’s body staggered.
“Grraaaaahhh!”
As the beast shrieked, the twisted leg melted away like mud.
In its place, a new leg formed—this time shaped like a sharp scythe.
The beast writhed and thrust its leg upward in a vicious strike.
The scythe, wrapped in a blood-red aura, aimed directly at my head.
“Not so fast!”
Professor Elisha crossed her arms in an X and spread them wide.
Dozens, hundreds of strands of webbing shot forth from her fingertips toward the beast.
“Grraaaaahhh!”
Perhaps because the beast had experience cutting through webbing before.
Even as the strands were launched, the beast didn’t hesitate and continued to swing its leg.
But then.
“How presumptuous.”
Professor Elisha smiled coldly.
She brought her spread hands back together and twisted them with precision.
A sharp whistling sound filled the air.
Hundreds of strands of webbing tangled together in midair, forming a thick rope.
As the heavy rope coiled around the beast’s leg, its movement came to an abrupt halt.
“Grraaaaahhhhh!”
The beast thrashed about, shrieking in rage.
But no matter how desperately it struggled, it couldn’t break free from the webbing binding its leg.
“Stay still, you wretched thing.”
I approached the struggling beast.
‘I should capture it alive for now.’
I scratched my palm with my fingernail to draw blood, then pulled out the demonic blade that slumbered within my bloodstream.
A sharp metallic sound rang out.
I drove the blood-red demonic blade deep into the beast’s solar plexus like a stake.
“Grraaaa… grraa.”
As the demonic blade greedily drank in the beast’s blood, its movements grew noticeably weaker.
“Well then….”
I turned my head toward Professor Elisha.
Professor Elisha stood with her lips pressed firmly together, her expression complex as she gazed down at the beast.
“Professor.”
“Ah… my apologies. I was lost in thought for a moment.”
“Where have you seen this demonic beast before?”
“….”
Elisha closed her eyes for a moment, then opened her mouth with a slightly trembling voice.
“When I was young. When the Rural Village where I lived was attacked… I have a memory of seeing it.”
“Then….”
“Yes. Not a common wild demonic beast, but one of Jackal’s subordinate beasts.”
“….”
One of Jackal’s subordinate beasts.
‘Then the powerful demonic beasts appearing in the Danger Rank C Zone as well….’
It was all orchestrated by Jackal.
“Why would one of Jackal’s subordinate beasts be here of all places….”
Elisha furrowed her brow, unable to comprehend.
There had been a previous instance where she’d secretly infiltrated a subordinate beast into the Academy’s Test Site, but that was merely an Eight-Eyed rank demonic beast.
A Ten-Eyed rank would be a powerful demonic beast commanding core forces among Jackal’s subordinates.
There was no reason to send one of her subordinate beasts here without a specific purpose.
And….
“It doesn’t seem like she sent just one.”
“Pardon?”
Elisha examined the brush where the demonic beast had appeared, her violet eyes gleaming.
“There are multiple traces of demonic beasts. It seems… there are other subordinate beasts besides this one.”
“Then the first Eight-Eyed rank wolf demonic beast as well….”
“There’s a high probability it was one of Jackal’s subordinate beasts.”
“….”
Jackal’s legion of demonic beasts numbering in the thousands, tens of thousands.
It meant they might have come to this place.
“Dale.”
Elisha turned to me and asked.
“In your ‘previous life,’ did something similar happen?”
“….”
Jackal’s demonic beast legion appearing around Hero Academy.
Though more than thousands of years had passed, the event remained vivid in my memory, and it surfaced in my mind.
“Yes, there was. An incident where Jackal’s demonic beast legion appeared around Hero Academy.”
“Hmm.”
“However….”
I continued, my expression contorting.
“That incident occurred ten years after my graduation… in other words, approximately twelve years from now.”
Twelve years into the future.
It was when I had just finished ten years of mercenary work and formed a Party with Yuren.
“What exactly happened then?”
“….”
That day.
I hadn’t been at the scene where the incident occurred, but I knew exactly what had happened.
“It was an attack.”
“…An attack?”
“Yes. A large-scale assault by the beast legion under Jackal’s command.”
“….”
Elisha’s expression hardened visibly.
“Jackal… attacked the Hero Academy?”
“Yes.”
I nodded and continued.
“Heroes from the Three Nations Alliance gathered to stop Jackal’s beast legion… and a war erupted between over a thousand heroes and the beast legion.”
And then.
“In that war… you succeeded in killing Jackal, Professor.”
“….”
Perhaps she sensed something in my expression.
Elisha gazed at me with heavy eyes.
“What happened after that?”
“….”
“After I killed Jackal… what became of me?”
“…You died.”
That was the final fate of the Crimson-Eyed Spider, Elisha Baldwin.
“Huh. I see.”
Elisha smiled bitterly, as though she had anticipated this answer.
“It’s quite a strange feeling to hear of a death I don’t even remember through someone else’s words.”
“It’s alright.”
I placed my hand on Elisha’s shoulder and spoke with firm resolve.
“This time, I’ll protect you, Professor.”
“…Ahem.”
Elisha let out a cough and turned her head away, avoiding my gaze.
The tips of her ears, visible between her black hair, had flushed a deep crimson.
“W-well anyway, does this mean another large-scale beast legion assault will occur?”
“I’m not certain. The mere appearance of Jackal’s familiar near the Academy isn’t enough to be sure… but there’s a possibility a real attack could happen.”
“I should report this to the Principal right away.”
If a beast legion assault truly occurred, we needed to prepare in advance.
“Let’s head back to the Academy.”
“Yes.”
After disposing of the captured Rank 10 beast, Elisha and I carried its corpse down the mountain.
Once we loaded the body into the trunk and boarded Elisha’s magical carriage heading toward the Academy.
“Wait, that’s….”
“….”
Elisha and I stiffened simultaneously.
The Hero Academy loomed in the distance.
From that place.
Thick black smoke billowed upward into the sky.

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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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