The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 196

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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 196. The Witch’s Resolve (3)
Valhalla City.
The sprawling metropolis built before the Hero Academy was already teeming with people from the Three Nations even in the early morning hours.
“There are… so many people here.”
Lanez trembled visibly as she observed the crowded streets.
Given her naturally timid disposition, the mere sight of such throngs made her feel dizzy.
‘Still… I have to go.’
Of course.
My formal withdrawal request had not been officially accepted, nor had I left the Academy through proper channels.
After all, ‘withdrawal’ from the Hero Academy was far more difficult than one might imagine.
‘I could only withdraw by swearing never to engage in heroic activities again and equipping myself with multiple surveillance artifacts.’
A withdrawn candidate—someone without an official hero license but still bearing a ‘stigma’—must live the rest of their life under strict surveillance.
Most unregistered heroes inevitably turn to illegal activities, after all.
Lanez bypassed all those complicated procedures, submitted only a withdrawal request, and secretly climbed over the Academy’s walls.
In other words, I had committed an ‘unauthorized withdrawal’—classified as a serious crime under Academy rules, equivalent to assault and theft.
It was the equivalent of desertion in military terms.
‘A pursuit team will follow soon.’
Since unauthorized withdrawal was uncommon, the response might not be immediate, but eventually a team of professors would be assembled to hunt me down.
‘I have to run as far as possible before then.’
I cannot use the warp gates.
Gate access records would expose my location immediately.
“….”
Lanez wandered aimlessly through the streets, recalling yesterday’s memories.
My companions who had gathered out of concern for me.
A warmth I could never have imagined before meeting Dale—such a precious moment.
“…Ah.”
Only hours had passed since leaving the Academy, yet longing already filled my heart completely.
Perhaps I should just return now.
Conflict and regret weighed heavily upon me.
‘I can’t.’
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head firmly.
‘Until I can perfectly control the Blessing of the Harsh Winter… I must stay as far away as possible.’
When I learned about my past life.
When I discovered the future where I would become the Witch of Night and slaughter countless people.
I made my resolve.
‘I cannot be with them.’
I must distance myself from Dale and my other companions.
‘I’m like a bomb that could detonate at any moment.’
The instant I lose control of the blessing’s power, countless lives could be lost.
“Heh… if I had only known Dale, I wouldn’t have had such thoughts.”
I’ve never seen it directly, but they say Dale possesses the blessing of resurrection, so he returns to life even after death.
‘But.’
What about my other companions?
If I fail to control the blessing’s power and hurt the people I cherish?
‘People I cherish….’
A smile bloomed across Lanez’s lips.
Before meeting Dale, there were no people she cherished in her life.
The world was bitterly cold and suffocatingly frigid.
In that kind of life.
A warm flame had kindled.
People she cherished… no, ‘people’ plural had come into existence.
‘Sophia, Iris, Yurina, Berald, Professor Elisha….’
Beyond them, Camilla, Juliet Kang, and Albert whom I’d met during this field trip.
I’d grown close to far more people than I could have ever dared imagine before.
I now lived in a world where no one called me a ‘witch’.
That’s why.
‘I don’t want to ruin it.’
I didn’t want to hurt them with my own hands.
I didn’t want to extinguish the warm ember I’d barely grasped with a cold breath.
“…Let’s go.”
Lanez moved forward with heavy steps.
* * *
After walking for several more hours.
Having left Valhalla City behind, she deliberated on her next destination.
“East is the Republic, west is the Empire, north is the Holy Kingdom….”
But no matter where she went, she couldn’t escape the pursuit.
The Three Nations and the Hero Academy were closely connected.
“Then what’s left….”
Lanez turned her gaze toward the south.
The southern Continent.
The direction where Gehenna City, the city of Demons, existed.
Since almost no one lived there, even if her blessing of eternal frost ran rampant, the damage would be minimal.
‘Let’s head south.’
Lanez journeyed toward the southern Continent, reviving memories from a past mentoring lesson.
It wasn’t called a cursed realm for nothing.
The path toward the southern Continent was so desolate that not a single person could be found.
“…I miss Dale.”
Lanez trudged along, gazing at Dale’s photos saved on her Hero Watch.
“I wanted to have the photo of Dale right after the hot spring….”
As she walked the lonely path, recalling the photo she hadn’t yet received from Iris.
Scrape, scrape.
An ominous sound reached my ears.
Turning my head, wondering if it was a monster, I saw….
“…W-who are you?”
An unidentified grotesque figure wearing a half-mask shaped like a wolf.
From the sharp jawline visible below his nose, he was clearly male.
“Raneez Malam, right?”
“….”
Though she didn’t answer, the Wolf Mask Man seemed already certain of her identity, continuing in a low, measured voice.
“Follow me. He wants you.”
“He…? Who is that?”
“You don’t need to know.”
The man spoke in a voice as parched as if all emotion had been carved away.
Raneez lowered her head, her expression guarded.
“I refuse.”
“Well, I expected that.”
The wolf mask nodded as if the response was anticipated.
“Then there’s no choice.”
Shling.
The Wolf Mask Man drew a greatsword from the scabbard strapped to his back.
Whoooooom!
The stigma blazed with light as an aura crystallized along the blade.
“…Huh?”
Raneez’s eyes widened as she beheld the aura.
Given his suspicious appearance, she had inwardly suspected the Wolf Mask Man might be a Demon Human.
‘A Hero?’
Not a trace of demonic energy—the very symbol of Demon Humans—emanated from the Wolf Mask Man.
“Will you just stand there?”
“Ugh…!”
Before her question could fully form, the man kicked off the ground and rushed toward her.
The Wolf Mask wielded the massive greatsword—a blade that seemed impossible to lift with both hands—effortlessly in one hand.
A chilling sound of air splitting echoed in her ears.
“Haaah!”
Whiiiing!
Raneez released a sharp cry, extending both hands as a pristine wall of ice materialized in the empty air.
Clang!
The greatsword bounced off the wall and ricocheted away.
“Freeze!”
Raneez drew deeper on her blessing’s power, launching a barrage of ice spheres toward the Wolf Mask.
A ferocious blizzard swirled as dozens of ice projectiles hurtled toward their target.
“Tch!”
The Wolf Mask Man dodged the barrage of snowballs with sharp, fluid movements.
Where the snowballs struck, the ground froze instantly, ice spreading across the surrounding terrain.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Lanez stretched out her arm toward the Wolf Mask Man as he fled nimbly.
Whiiiiing!
A spear of snow, compressed from the blizzard into a sharp point, aimed at the Wolf Mask Man.
The Wolf Mask Man tried to evade the moment he saw the snow spear.
Crack!
“Hmm?”
Ice erupted from the frozen ground where the snowball had struck, binding his feet in place.
Squelch.
The snow spear pierced through the Wolf Mask Man’s abdomen.
“Ho.”
A flicker of interest crossed the Wolf Mask Man’s eyes.
“So this is the blessing of the Harsh Winter.”
The Wolf Mask Man nodded his head with evident fascination.
The abdomen pierced by the snow spear necrosed in an instant, blood streaming down profusely.
“However….”
Crack.
The Wolf Mask Man grasped the spear that had pierced his abdomen and tore it free with his hand.
“You’re still clumsy.”
The gaping wound in his abdomen regenerated at an astonishing speed.
“How… how is this possible?”
Lanez stared at the Wolf Mask Man’s wound regenerating at a visibly rapid pace, her expression one of shock.
He hadn’t received healing magic, nor had he used a recovery potion—yet his wound was closing so quickly?
And not just any wound, but one where frostbite had caused complete cellular necrosis.
“Are your tricks finished?”
The Wolf Mask Man’s eyes gleamed with an eerie light.
Boom!
The Wolf Mask Man kicked off the ground and charged forward.
A greatsword wreathed in a savage, blazing aura aimed at Lanez.
“Hah!”
Lanez tried to create a wall of snow to deflect his blade.
“Ah, ugh… argh…!”
The blizzard raged wildly.
The blessing of the Harsh Winter had slipped beyond her control and was rampaging freely.
“Hmm.”
The Wolf Mask Man stopped his swing as he observed the blizzard swirling around her body.
“So you still cannot control the blessing.”
“H-hah, hah! S-stop… making noise…!”
Lanez bit her lip so hard that blood trickled down, stretching her hand toward the Wolf Mask Man.
Whiiiiing!
The swirling blizzard converged at a single point, forming a window of ice.
“Ugh!”
Craaash!
The ice window shattered into fragments and scattered.
“Aaaahhh!”
As the window broke, the ice shards that scattered lacerated Lanez’s body.
Red blood seeped from her body, torn by the ice fragments.
“Ah, ugh… sob.”
Lanez knelt on the ground, trembling with sobs.
Not only could I not fight the enemy, but I was inflicting wounds upon myself.
‘How pathetic.’
Tears streamed down my face as self-loathing washed over me.
“Do you wish to control the blessing?”
The Wolf Mask Man looked down at Lanez and spoke in a parched voice.
Rather than wait for an answer, he drew a single magic stone that gleamed green from his pocket and tossed it to her.
Thud.
The moment the magic stone rolling across the floor touched her hand.
“…What?”
The blizzard instantly calmed.
Lanez’s eyes widened as she gripped the magic stone glowing with emerald light.
“What… what is this…?”
It wasn’t merely suppressing or dispelling the power of the Extreme Cold Blessing.
The moment I grasped the green magic stone, I could literally ‘control’ the Extreme Cold Blessing.
Whiiiiing!
The blizzard moved freely according to my will.
Crash!
The window of ice that had shattered the moment it was created now formed perfectly in the empty air.
Not just one, but dozens of windows.
“It is a magic stone imbued with that person’s power.”
“….”
“With that stone, you can control your blessing.”
Lanez stared blankly at the magic stone in her hand.
The Extreme Cold Blessing that had tormented her so.
To be able to control it so easily, so simply.
“Follow me.”
A low, resonant voice reached my ears.
That parched voice, devoid of even a trace of emotion, somehow felt overwhelmingly sweet.
“Then I can easily resolve your dilemma.”
There was no reason to doubt the Wolf Mask Man’s words.
The moment I held the magic stone he offered in my hand, I could easily control the power of Harsh Winter’s Blessing.
“….”
Lanez stared down at the green magic stone in her palm, her lips pressed firmly together.
“Why hesitate? Controlling the Blessing’s power was your objective all along, wasn’t it?”
Yes.
Just as he said, everything she had done—fleeing the Academy, even deciding to drop out without permission—had been for the sake of controlling the power of Harsh Winter’s Blessing.
With this magic stone alone.
She would not have to become a witch.
She could remain with Dale… and her precious companions.
“I see.”
Lanez slowly rose to her feet, the magic stone still clutched in her hand.
Her deliberation did not last long.
“I will….”
Lanez drew forth the full power of the Blessing.
And then.
Crack!!!
She concentrated that power into a single point and shattered the magic stone in her grasp.
“What—!”
The Wolf Mask Man’s eyes widened in shock.
Whiiiiiine!
The moment the magic stone broke, the power of the Blessing erupted anew.
“I will not follow you.”
Amid the swirling blizzard.
The witch spoke her ‘resolve’ aloud.

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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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