The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 224

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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 224. The Spider and the Empress (1)
The excitement that had swept through the Seven Star Cultural Festival faded quickly.
With the second semester final evaluation looming, the Candidates bustled in and out of the Training Ground, intensifying their preparations for the exam.
Of course.
That was only true for the ordinary Candidates.
“Sigh.”
I sat in the Second Floor Lounge of the Party House, gazing out the window as I exhaled a deep breath.
Though my suspension—which had felt eternal—had finally ended, I wasn’t preparing for the final evaluation like the other Candidates.
‘What’s the point of taking the exam when I’m already ranked last anyway?’
My ranking had been sealed at the bottom after receiving severe disciplinary action: one suspension during the field trip, and a second for the matter involving Lanez.
Even if I somehow used Raonel’s influence to prevent expulsion, there was no way to salvage my already ruined grades.
And more than that.
‘Even setting aside the suspension, the current situation isn’t one where I can focus on the final evaluation.’
I had obtained crucial information from my battle with the Archbishop of Madness.
‘The Eternal Order.’
A mysterious organization whose very existence I hadn’t known about in my previous life.
‘They’ve headed toward the Imperial Palace.’
I couldn’t discern their purpose, but one thing was certain.
“The Empress, Camelia Padshah….”
The current number one ranked hero.
Given her status, I’d never directly spoken with her, let alone seen her face in person.
‘But she’s supposed to be incredibly powerful.’
Though she’d rarely demonstrated her actual strength.
The tale of how she had destroyed half of Gehenna—the city of Demons—with a single gesture was so famous that even I, who had been in an orphanage on the Republic’s frontier at the time, had heard of it.
‘She became rank one immediately after that incident.’
The source of Camelia’s power was her blessing.
It wasn’t that she had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship or the apex of magic—she simply possessed an absurdly powerful innate blessing.
‘Similar to Lanez.’
Camelia’s blessing, known as the ‘Blessing of the Seven Gods,’ allowed her to temporarily draw upon the power of the Seven Gods themselves.
This was why she bore the title ‘Avatar of the Seven Gods.’
The Empress, Camelia Padshah, possessed power that transcended the superhuman realm and approached that of a demigod.
“The problem is… who could possibly have killed someone like Camelia?”
The Eternal Order?
‘I don’t know how strong they are… but could they really be powerful enough to kill Camelia?’
Who knows.
That remained unknown, but there was one more critical fact.
‘I heard there were no signs of significant struggle at the scene of Camelia Padshah’s murder.’
In other words, she hadn’t used the ‘Blessing of the Seven Gods’ against her killer for some reason.
‘Whether she chose not to use it or couldn’t use it, I can’t say.’
Sigh.
With my eyes closed, I continued my thoughts and let out a deep sigh.
In any case, what mattered now was that the Eternal Order had set their sights on the Imperial Palace.
‘And.’
I had to prevent Camelia Padshah’s death at all costs.
‘If Camelia dies, that war will repeat itself.’
The war that had erupted between the Republic and the Empire.
I had to prevent that war—the one that had claimed the lives of hundreds, thousands of heroes so meaninglessly.
“The problem is… how to get inside the Imperial Palace.”
The Imperial Palace wasn’t some neighborhood community center where you could just walk in whenever you pleased.
The only person with any real chance of entering was Yurina, who held the status of an Imperial noble.
Yet even she couldn’t simply waltz into the Imperial Palace without proper authorization.
“Ugh.”
I’d think about how to get inside the Imperial Palace later.
‘Besides, worrying about it now won’t solve anything anyway.’
If worse came to worst, I could always sneak into the Imperial Palace.
Of course, it wasn’t a method I wanted to resort to if I could help it.
‘Let me train for a bit and clear my head.’
Between thoughts of the Eternal Order and Camelia, I hadn’t been able to train at all recently.
I descended to the first floor of the Party House and stood in the center of the spacious Training Ground, closing my eyes.
“Exhale.”
I slowly drew in a breath and recalled memories of the recent Cultural Festival.
More precisely, my battle with the Archbishop of Madness.
‘I won thanks to the blessing of resurrection, but overall, I was pushed back.’
Even after using ignition followed by escalation, I couldn’t block all the crimson thorns that rained down like a storm.
‘If I had used terror flame… would I have been able to block it?’
If there was one card I hadn’t drawn during my battle with the Archbishop of Madness, it was terror flame—a technique I’d gained from absorbing the Primordial Spark.
A powerful technique that would engulf an entire surrounding area in Primordial Fire.
Had I used terror flame, I could have easily incinerated the Archbishop of Madness’s crimson thorns.
But.
‘Terror flame is… still too difficult to use in actual combat.’
The reason I hadn’t used terror flame during my battle with the Archbishop of Madness wasn’t because I was trying to hide my trump card while fighting.
The fatal weakness of terror flame.
Its mana consumption was beyond imagination—that was the greatest reason I hadn’t used, or rather, couldn’t have used terror flame during this battle with the Archbishop of Madness.
“If I absorbed one more Primordial Spark, I think I could actually use it in real combat….”
But I had no idea where to obtain another Primordial Spark.
“Tsk.”
In the end, all I could do was increase my control as much as possible to minimize terror flame’s consumption.
‘First, one meter.’
The ash-white flames that had been wrapping around my body spread outward in a circle, manifesting a domain.
The embers that had been burning while engulfing his body spread in a circular pattern and expanded their domain.
It was merely a one-meter radius domain—hardly grand enough to warrant the term “domain expansion”—yet.
“Hah.”
A tingling thrill rippled down my spine.
A domain no larger than one meter.
Within this space alone, I could feel an omnipotence as though I had become a god myself.
Whoooosh!
With a mere flick of my finger, cinders erupted from empty air, and a gentle gesture sent them dancing wildly like a living flame.
Of course, this much I could already do without invoking my Ashen Fire.
‘But the sensation is entirely different.’
To draw a comparison: it’s like the difference between throwing an object by hand and having it rise into the air and fly of its own accord.
Both result in the object flying through the air.
‘Yet when the act of “throwing by hand” itself vanishes, I can wield my power far faster and with infinitely greater freedom.’
‘A god who freely commands the Primordial Flame, that is what I am.’
Yes.
Within this domain alone, I harbored the illusion that I had become a Demon God.
“Ugh.”
The dizzying omnipotence that had enveloped my body faded just as quickly.
My Ashen Fire domain suddenly contracted, and the cinders scattered into nothingness.
“Hnn.”
And yet here I am, hardly a Demon God.
“Phew.”
As I recovered my depleted mana by retrieving water from the refrigerator set up in one corner of the Training Ground, I drank.
Click.
The Training Ground door opened, and a woman in a black suit stepped inside.
“Professor Elisha?”
“There you are.”
“What brings you here at this hour?”
“The Headmaster has summoned you, so I came to fetch Candidate Dale.”
Headmaster Raonel has summoned me?
“If that’s the case, couldn’t you have just contacted me through Hero Watch?”
“Hehe. Isn’t it more heartfelt to deliver the message in person? Besides, I got to see something else as well.”
Professor Elisha approached with a faint smile and gently stroked my sweat-dampened hair.
“The sexy side of Candidate Dale.”
“…Sexy?”
“They say a man working hard is always sexy, don’t they?”
Our professor certainly has unique tastes.
“Anyway, are you finished with your training?”
“Yes. I was just about to rest.”
“Perfect then. Go wash up and head straight to the Headmaster’s Office.”
“…Don’t tell me you’re planning to soak in the hot spring together again?”
“Ahem. Oh, well, we don’t have time today, so let’s save that for another occasion.”
Elisha’s cheeks flushed at the memory, and she averted her gaze.
I let out a soft chuckle and made my way toward the hot spring in the basement.
* * *
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
The Headmaster’s Office of Hero Academy.
As I entered the room, which was crammed with old books as if an entire antiquarian bookshop had been relocated here, I spotted Raonel.
“I heard you wished to see me.”
“Yes, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What is it?”
Raonel continued speaking with a faint smile creasing his weathered lips.
“Before that… I heard you personally dealt with the Demon Human who had infiltrated the Academy.”
“Ah, yes. That’s correct.”
I had kept the identity of the infiltrating Demon Human as the Archbishop of Madness hidden, but all other information had already been reported to Raonel through Elisha.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, we were able to prevent a tragedy like what happened during the Sealing Festival.”
“Well… it was thanks to Professor Elisha’s assistance.”
“Tsk, tsk. Your humility is quite admirable.”
Raonel nodded with a satisfied smile.
“By the way, regarding the information you reported about the Beastkin Group… or rather, the ‘Eternal Order.’ I’ve already informed Empress Camelia Padshah about it.”
“What did she say?”
“As expected, she didn’t seem concerned in the slightest.”
“….”
Well, that made sense.
It was a natural reaction, when you thought about it.
From Camelia Padshah’s perspective, news of some unknown organization targeting the Imperial Palace would seem as trivial as a cat hissing before a tiger.
‘So using an investigation into the Eternal Order as a pretext to contact Camelia Padshah is now off the table.’
The thought that I might actually have to infiltrate the Imperial Palace itself made my head throb.
‘If I’m discovered even by the slimmest chance, it won’t end with just expulsion from the Academy.’
In the worst case, the Empire could publicly mark me as an enemy.
If that happened, the damage wouldn’t end with me alone.
‘Everyone connected to me would be dragged into it.’
No matter how formidable our Party’s strength was, we couldn’t win a war against an entire nation.
And even if we could, all that would remain would be meaningless blood and death.
“Ugh.”
I was seriously contemplating whether I should give up when—
“Ah, that’s right. I haven’t told you the real reason I called you yet.”
Raonel stroked his beard and continued in a low voice.
“Camelia Padshah heard about you and sent an invitation, saying she wanted to see you in person.”
“…What?”
An invitation?
“Well… I know we’re still in the middle of the semester, but if you’re willing, wouldn’t you visit the Imperial Palace for a few days?”
“….”
I already knew that the future had shifted beyond all prediction.
‘Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d receive an invitation from the Empress.’
It seems there are always new surprises waiting in life.

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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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