The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 179

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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 179. Interlude – Web
“….”
“….”
Silence descended like a curtain.
I had made such a grand spectacle of introducing a surprise guest during the performance, yet that surprise guest had vanished into thin air as if by magic.
An awkward, uncomfortable atmosphere settled between Jackal and me.
“W-wait… this can’t be happening…?”
Jackal’s eyes narrowed in confusion.
According to the records, Behemoth, the tyrant of the Abyss, possessed an obsessive attachment to his domain—the moment even a sliver of it was violated, he would come charging to tear apart the intruder.
‘So why isn’t he coming?’
Jackal had not only set foot within Behemoth’s territory but had even stomped around provocatively, yet neither Behemoth nor any other demon beast showed the slightest sign of appearing.
“W-why!”
Jackal cried out in bewilderment.
“Ah….”
Watching Jackal’s distress, I let out a quiet exclamation.
‘So Jackal came to the Abyss to enslave Behemoth?’
I had wondered what purpose drove him to invade the Abyss while sacrificing entire legions of demon beasts as bait, but now I finally understood his true objective.
For one with Jackal’s ability to command demon beasts, Behemoth would be a prize more valuable than any other.
But.
The very Behemoth that was Jackal’s target….
“Why! Why won’t he come!”
“Ah, well…”
“Tch… could it be this isn’t actually Behemoth’s territory?!”
“No, it is his territory, but….”
“Silence! What would you know about anything?”
“….”
The words ‘He’s already dead’ rose to my throat, but I held them back.
There was no point telling him—Jackal wouldn’t believe me anyway, and I had no reason to enlighten him.
And to be honest.
‘This is rather amusing.’
Watching Jackal desperately search for Behemoth, who had been dead for quite some time, I couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.
“Tch…!”
Jackal swallowed hard, took a step back, then charged at me with a desperate cry, lashing out with his feet.
“Raaaaaaah!”
Well, it was only natural.
The melee combat of the Archbishop of Beasts without his demon beasts was so clumsy it was laughable.
Thud!
“Hack!”
Jackal flew backward, kicked away by a casual sweep of my leg.
“You’re trying hard, I’ll give you that. So now we’ve resorted to hand-to-hand combat?”
That’s quite pitiful to watch.
“You… you bastard….”
Jackal trembled violently, his lips quivering as he gnashed his teeth.
Not only had I reduced the Ten-Eyed Demon Beasts—the core fighting force of the demon legion—to ash, but I had overwhelmed him as though he were nothing more than a child.
No matter how weak he was in close combat, this was not something a mere Candidate could accomplish.
“You… who are you?”
Jackal’s voice trembled as he asked.
“Why? Didn’t Mephistopheles tell you? Then you already know who I am, don’t you?”
I shrugged and continued speaking.
“Hero Academy Warrior Department, third year. Ranked dead last in the comprehensive rankings—a lowly hero named Dale Han.”
That’s me.
“Nonsense!”
Jackal ground his teeth and spat out the words.
Warrior Department third year? Dead last in the rankings?
It was absolute absurdity.
“Who are you really, disguising yourself as a Candidate?”
Jackal’s eyes, filled with suspicion, suddenly widened as though he’d remembered something.
“You… could you be Kalid Han?”
“Huh?”
At his absurd guess, I couldn’t help but laugh.
Kalid Han, the Falling Blossom Swordsman.
A hero currently ranked fifth, earning the title “Falling Blossom Swordsman” because petals scatter with every swing of his blade.
He also bore another epithet—”Last-Ranked Master”—because he barely scraped into the “Master” tier, which is granted only to those ranked fifth and above.
In any case.
Though he was considered far inferior compared to other Masters, he was still a Master nonetheless.
“Wow, that’s quite an honor. You really think I’m Master-class?”
“Don’t play dumb! Tsk… now that I think about it, you’re from the Republic too, and your surname is the same!”
Jackal cried out with an expression of certainty that I was Kalid Han.
I shook my head with a look of pity.
“It’s clear you know absolutely nothing about the Republic.”
“What?”
“Do you have any idea how many people in the Republic share the same surname? By that logic, even our neighbor’s dog Poppy would be a Han.”
“….”
While there are rare surnames like “Ryu” that represent entire clans, most citizens of the Republic share similar surnames.
And more importantly.
“I’m an orphan.”
“….”
“Both my name and surname were given to me carelessly by the Orphanage director.”
From what I heard as a child, one of the Orphanage’s sponsors had recommended a name, and that’s how I received mine.
In any case, Jackal’s assumption that I was Kalid Han hiding my identity to enter the Academy was completely off base.
“W-what on earth are you…?”
“How many times must I repeat myself? Dale Han, third-year Candidate of the Warrior Department at Hero Academy.”
“….”
Jackal’s mouth clamped shut, his expression one of utter disbelief.
He contorted his wrinkled face as he continued speaking.
“Nonsense! How could… how could a mere Candidate…cough!”
I swept Jackal’s legs out from under him mid-ramble, then pressed the tip of my blade against his chest.
“Question time is over. Now it’s my turn to ask.”
“Ugh….”
“How did you open the gate leading down into the Abyss?”
Abyss Layer 1 was connected by physical passages, but from Layer 2 onward, one couldn’t descend by physical means without activating the magical formation.
“…Mephistopheles. That bastard taught me how to open the gate.”
“Mephistopheles?”
“Ah… yes, that’s right! That’s how it was! That son of a bitch Mephistopheles! This was all his doing!”
Jackal’s eyes widened as if a revelation had struck him.
“Damn it! I should have seen it coming! I should have realized when that cunning bastard first proposed the deal!”
“….”
I narrowed my eyes as I watched Jackal thrash about in fury.
‘So this one was a puppet too.’
Even Jackal, an Archbishop like myself, had been dancing in Mephistopheles’ palm all along.
“Tsk.”
Whoooosh!
Embers blazed along the blade’s edge.
“W-wait! Let’s make a deal, a deal!”
“A deal?”
“Yes! If you spare my life, I’ll give you information about Mephistopheles!”
“Hmm.”
It was certainly an intriguing proposition.
I twisted my lips upward and continued.
“Fine. But I’m changing the terms of the deal.”
“Changing the terms?”
“Yes. If you give me information about Mephistopheles, I’ll kill you.”
“…What?”
Jackal stared at me with an expression of bewilderment.
“What kind of nonsense is th—cough, cough!!!”
Whoooosh!
I drove my blade, wreathed in blazing embers, into his body and grinned widely.
“Don’t worry.”
You’ll understand soon enough what I mean.
“Krraaaagh! Aaaaagh! S-stop! Stooooop!”
His body ignited in flames, and as ash scattered through the air, he let out a anguished scream.
* * *
With a soft squelch, I withdrew my blade from what remained of Jackal’s corpse.
I withdrew my blade from the ashen remains of Jackal’s body.
After a rather thorough interrogation, I recalled the information I’d extracted.
‘Mephistopheles is colluding with a Hero.’
I couldn’t determine which Hero, nor what their purpose was.
But one thing was certain.
‘There’s a traitor.’
A traitor who turned their back on humanity and joined hands with the Demons.
‘Well… it’s not like there’s only one or two Heroes who’ve betrayed humanity and sided with the Demon God.’
But which of them had joined hands with Mephistopheles—even I, having experienced a previous life, couldn’t guess.
“Ugh.”
While I was wracking my brain over this unsolvable puzzle.
“…Is it all over?”
Elisha approached with unsteady steps.
“You were awake?”
“Heh. I couldn’t very well rest comfortably while leaving everything to my student, could I?”
Elisha offered a faint smile as she withdrew a cigarette from her pocket and placed it between her lips.
She gazed down at Jackal’s ashen remains, her expression complicated.
“In Dale’s previous life… didn’t you say I died alongside Jackal?”
“…Yes?”
“Then Dale has saved my life.”
Elisha discarded the barely-smoked cigarette to the ground and drew closer to me.
She rested her forehead against my chest.
I could see her shoulders trembling faintly.
“Could I… could I impose on you just a little longer, Dale?”
“As much as you need.”
I patted Elisha’s back gently, as if soothing a weeping child.
“…”
Her trembling shoulders gradually steadied.
“Dale.”
“…Yes.”
Before I could respond, her lips met mine.
“Mmm.”
After the brief kiss, Elisha pulled away from me.
“There’s one thing I regret.”
“Regret?”
“Not being able to give you my ‘first’ time, Dale.”
She traced her lips with a bittersweet smile.
“Before I met Dale, I simply used the blessing of insight as a convenient tool—activating it through kisses with others.”
I could activate the blessing of insight by drinking blood or sweat, but the effect was far weaker than through a kiss.
I had never found that fact particularly inconvenient.
Because the act of kissing itself stirred no emotion within me.
“I never imagined I would come to cherish someone like this, nor that I would feel such happiness because of them. I thought… I had no right to such things.”
Her life had been an endless succession of despair.
Along with the flames that consumed the Rural Village, all her hope had burned to ash and cinder.
“But… paradoxically enough, it was the fire within Dale that gave me new hope.”
Flames burning with a dull, ashen hue.
Unlike the scorching inferno that had consumed her life in childhood, the fire she felt from him was nothing but warmth.
“Thank you. And….”
Elisha placed her hand against Dale’s left chest.
Feeling the gentle warmth of the fire sleeping within, Elisha continued softly.
“I love you. More than my own life.”
Elisha’s eyes trembled delicately.
“…Professor.”
I had known for some time that she harbored feelings for me, but hearing it spoken aloud like this made my heart race wildly, as if it might break.
As I tried to respond, Elisha smiled faintly and brought her index finger to my lips.
“Hehe. You need not answer now. I understand you’re in a complicated situation.”
“….”
“But… yes, I will promise you this one thing.”
Elisha brought her lips close to my ear, her voice beguiling.
“My other ‘first’… I will save it for you alone. Forever.”
Suddenly.
The image of a creature—a demon beast bound tightly in spider silk, utterly immobilized—flashed through my mind.
“Hehe. Let us return now.”
“….”
Perhaps.
The prey caught in that web was not only that demon beast.

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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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