The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 176

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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 176. Assault (2)
The engine of the magical vehicle roared with a deep, resonant howl.
Black smoke billowed from the Academy, and as we drew closer, the sight of the burning institution became increasingly vivid.
Professor Elisha wrenched the steering wheel sharply, brought the vehicle to an abrupt halt, and kicked open the door.
“Dale, we run from here!”
“Yes!”
For distances like this, sprinting on foot was far swifter than any magical vehicle could manage.
I pushed off alongside Professor Elisha, our feet pounding toward the Academy as smoke continued to rise into the sky.
As we drew nearer, the acrid stench of blood mingled with the thunderous sounds of fierce combat.
‘Damn it.’
I hadn’t expected the assault to begin this quickly.
My expression tightened as I bit my lip, drawing upon even deeper reserves of mana.
The world blurred past us, and the Hero Academy came into view.
“This is….”
An endless tide of demon beasts surged forward, while professors and Candidates fought desperately against their onslaught.
“Well. They seem to be holding their ground remarkably well.”
Professor Elisha placed a hand over her heart, exhaling a breath of relief.
True to her words, the ground was carpeted with the corpses of demon beasts—no casualties among the Academy’s defenders yet.
Though the demon beasts still numbered significantly, the tide of battle had shifted in favor of the Hero Academy.
‘The Hero Academy has the advantage?’
I studied the advancing demon beasts, my expression hardening.
“Hmm? Why do you look like that?”
“…Something is wrong.”
“Wrong? What could possibly be wrong?”
“In my previous life, a thousand heroes united from the Three Nations fought a desperate, grueling battle before barely defeating the demon beast army.”
Yet now, without even the Three Nations Alliance, merely the professors and Candidates within the Academy were gaining the upper hand?
“Perhaps the demon beast forces are simply weaker now than they were ten years hence?”
“That’s possible. However….”
I drove my feet hard into the ground and launched myself skyward in a powerful leap.
My vision expanded, revealing the entire battlefield where fierce combat raged.
‘Just as I suspected.’
My premonition had been correct.
I descended back to the earth, my expression twisted with concern.
“What is it?”
“They’re absent.”
“Absent?”
“There isn’t a single Ten-Eyed Demon Beast or higher among them.”
“….”
Though the sheer number of demon beasts exceeded ten thousand, the core forces of the demon beast army—those Ten-Eyed Demon Beasts and above—were nowhere to be seen.
The sheer number of demonic beasts exceeded at least ten thousand, but not a single high-tier demonic beast of the Ten-Eyed rank or above, which could be considered the core force of the demonic beast legion, was visible.
Even the Archbishop of Beasts Jackal, master of the demon beast legion, was nowhere to be found on the battlefield.
“That means….”
“It’s bait. To concentrate attention here.”
“What?”
“Damn it.”
Damn this all.
I bit my lip and pressed my palm against my forehead.
I had been mistaken.
I had overlooked something critical.
Just because the same event occurred as in my past life didn’t mean the ‘purpose’ behind it would be identical.
“Jackal’s target wasn’t… the Hero Academy.”
“Then what in the world was he after with such a massive assault?”
Professor Elisha’s eyes narrowed in confusion.
‘Jackal’s true objective.’
Honestly, nothing comes to mind immediately.
Even in my past life, the exact reason why Jackal attacked the Hero Academy was never revealed.
‘But.’
I continued my reasoning.
Past life and present life.
I analyzed the situation by cross-referencing both.
‘The core strength of Jackal’s demon beast legion consists entirely of Ten-Eyed Demon Beasts and higher.’
So where exactly did Jackal deploy those Ten-Eyed Demon Beasts?
What was he targeting?
Where was he heading?
“Ah.”
A soft exclamation escaped me, and a single word struck my mind like lightning.
“…The Abyss.”
“The Abyss?”
“Jackal’s target isn’t the Hero Academy, but the Abyss buried beneath it.”
At my words, Professor Elisha’s eyes narrowed further in bewilderment.
“But didn’t you say before that only you know how to descend below Abyss Layer 1?”
That was true.
The passage to Abyss Layer 2 was constructed based on the Great Sage’s three trials, so unless the Demon God’s seal itself weakened, no one but me could access it.
“I don’t know about that. But I’m certain that what Jackal is targeting is the Abyss.”
Jackal’s core strength consists of Ten-Eyed Demon Beasts and higher.
And the location where I encountered those Ten-Eyed Demon Beasts was the mountain with the entrance to the Abyss.
Following that entrance downward, one would eventually reach the massive Ruins beneath the Hero Academy.
‘Activating the magic circle at the center of those Ruins opens a gate leading to Layer 2.’
I didn’t know how Jackal learned to activate the magic circle leading to Abyss Layer 2, but one thing was certain—his destination was the Abyss.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stripped away all his core forces just to use the demon beast legion as a mere distraction.
“We need to pursue Jackal.”
“You mean we should retrace our steps?”
“Yes.”
I nodded solemnly, my expression grave.
Professor Elisha gazed toward the Hero Academy, where fierce combat still raged, her expression hesitant.
“But right now….”
The advantage had tilted toward the Hero Academy, yet the demonic beast legion was far from completely annihilated.
Thousands upon thousands of beasts remained, their razor-sharp fangs and savage claws flashing as they hurled themselves toward the professors and Candidates.
If we turned back now and headed for the Abyss, casualties could mount.
She and I possessed enough power to drive a decisive wedge into the current favorable battle conditions.
“I don’t think that will be necessary to worry about.”
“No need to worry?”
“Look at that.”
I pointed toward the sky above the Hero Academy, where the fierce battle raged.
An elderly man hovering high in the heavens, calmly surveying the battlefield below.
The Headmaster of the Hero Academy—one of only five ‘Masters’ across the entire Three Nations.
Raonel Ryu, the Thunder God, leisurely raised his arm toward the converging demonic beast legion.
Crack, crackle!
Blue lightning engulfed the sky above the Hero Academy.
Even from hundreds of meters away, a savage maelstrom of magical force made my skin tingle.
The blue sky bathed in sunlight vanished beneath black storm clouds.
And then.
BOOOOOM!!!
Bolts of lightning poured down upon the earth in unison.
The converging demonic beast legion was swept up in the descending lightning and utterly annihilated.
“Ah… so that was your meaning.”
A faint, hollow laugh escaped Professor Elisha’s lips.
With the Thunder God joining the battlefield, there was nothing for her to fear.
“Understood. We’ll pursue Jackal.”
“Yes.”
“Then shall we take the magical carriage again….”
“No.”
I shook my head and drew the sword at my waist.
“…What are you planning?”
“We don’t have time to go back.”
I didn’t know what purpose drove Jackal toward the Abyss—or rather, precisely because I didn’t know, I had to act.
I needed to pursue him as quickly as possible.
I gripped the sword in reverse and pointed its tip toward the ground.
“Did you know? Abyss Layer 1 is far wider than the entire Hero Academy grounds.”
“W-wait, surely you don’t mean…!”
Whoooosh!
Ashen flames erupted along the blade’s edge.
Before Professor Elisha could say anything about what I was about to do.
“Now.”
Crack!
I brought the burning blade down with brutal force.
I condensed the aura within it to a single point and fired it downward.
Rummmmmble!
The ashen flames melted the earth itself, piercing straight down through hundreds of meters of ground in a perfect line.
“If we just dig straight down through the earth, there’s no need to circle back through the entrance.”
“…Ha.”
Professor Elisha stared at the impossibly deep chasm and let out a hollow laugh.
“You really are… completely insane.”
I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders.
“It’s the life I’ve lived.”
I approached Professor Elisha, who stood there in a daze.
“Stay still.”
“Huh? W-wait!”
I scooped her up in what you’d call a princess carry.
“W-what are you doing, Dale?!”
Professor Elisha, cradled in my arms, asked with a flustered expression.
“The heat from the ashen flames still lingers. It would be dangerous for you to descend alone.”
Holding Professor Elisha in my embrace, I drew upon the power of primordial fire.
“Ignite.”
Sizzzzle!
With the sound of flesh burning, ashen smoke erupted from my pores.
The ashen smoke pouring from my pores enveloped both Professor Elisha and me.
And then, I jumped.
Kyaaaah!
A cute scream unlike her usual demeanor escaped Professor Elisha’s lips, but I ignored it.
* * *
Having fallen hundreds of meters, we arrived at Abyss Layer 1.
“Y-you really are…!”
Professor Elisha glared at me with her face flushed red.
The contrast with her usual cool image made my heart race unexpectedly.
“Let’s go.”
“Ugh….”
But this wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things.
I headed toward the center of the Ruins, to the place where I could open the gate leading to Abyss Layer 2.
At the center of the Ruins where Professor Elisha and I had arrived.
“…As I thought.”
“The gate is open.”
A rift leading to Abyss Layer 2—identical to the one I had created before—had materialized before us.
Professor Elisha and I exchanged glances, and without hesitation, we stepped through the gate.
My vision flickered as the landscape of Abyss Layer 2 came into focus—a sight I had witnessed once before.
“Where is Jackal?”
“…It seems he descended further down.”
The demonic beasts that had rushed at us upon our arrival at Abyss Layer 2 before were nowhere to be seen—likely dealt with by Jackal as he passed through.
Descending further with Professor Elisha, we arrived at Abyss Layer 3.
A ceiling wreathed in flickering flames as if a massive wildfire raged overhead, and a cursed orange-tinted earth stretched beneath our feet.
And at its center.
“Ho.”
An elderly man covered entirely in intricate tattoos.
The Archbishop of Beasts, Jackal, regarded us with widened eyes.
“…Jackal.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. This is quite something… I’m beginning to understand why you’re called the ‘Spider of Calamity.’ How utterly tiresome.”
Jackal shook his head in disbelief, clearly not having anticipated that I would follow him this far.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Is there any reason I should tell you?”
“Tsk. Well… I suppose the reason doesn’t matter much.”
Jackal twisted his weathered lips into a grin and shrugged his shoulders.
“Still, since you’ve chased me all the way here, I suppose I owe you a gift.”
“…A gift?”
Snap.
As Jackal flicked his fingers, the patterns inscribed upon his body blazed with light, and a colossal rift tore open in the empty air.
Boom, boom, boom!
From the massive rift emerged a demonic beast whose body stretched dozens of meters across.
Eleven gleaming eyes, savage and predatory, fixed their gaze upon her.
“…!!!”
Professor Elisha’s eyes widened in shock.
“How is it? Does it bring back old memories?”
Jackal let out a chilling laugh as he watched her reaction.
He caressed the colossal demonic beast that had emerged from the rift with an almost affectionate touch, then continued.
“This creature… it is the very same one that devoured your parents alive and trampled your homeland.”
“….”
The throbbing scar above her left eye.
The nightmare that had consumed her life, the despair without end.
It had returned before her eyes once more.

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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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