The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 230

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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 230. The Spider and the Empress (7)
Following Professor Elisha, I arrived at the entrance through which we had descended into the Imperial Underground.
In other words, our starting point.
“Here?”
“Yes. The aura of the primordial flame leads this way.”
….
What?
It wasn’t in the Imperial Underground after all?
Click.
Passing through the secret wall, I returned to the Imperial Palace Corridor.
‘What’s going on here?’
Just as I was squinting and glancing around in confusion, Professor Elisha strode forward purposefully.
“Something bothered me earlier.”
“What do you mean, Professor?”
“That underground cavern—there wasn’t just one passage.”
“You’re… right.”
Just as Professor Elisha said.
The underground cavern where we had encountered the Eternal Order, Mephistopheles, and the Apostles of Destruction had multiple passages converging in one place.
It was rather like the structure of an ant nest.
“Doesn’t that seem odd? If a secret escape route for the royal family had multiple entrances, pursuers might encounter each other inside.”
“Now that you mention it, that does seem strange.”
“I suspect… the Imperial Underground itself might have been a kind of decoy. To mislead pursuers who thought they were chasing a secret passage.”
A decoy.
“Then… there’s a separate true evacuation route?”
“Probably.”
Professor Elisha closed her eyes gently.
Drawing a shallow breath, she spread both arms wide.
“Bind.”
Whiiiing!
Webs spun from her ten fingers, blanketing the Imperial Palace Corridor.
“Ugh.”
Professor Elisha bit her lower lip firmly as she drew upon her mana.
The ten strands of web continued to expand, spreading across the Imperial Palace Corridor, walls, and ceiling.
Soon, the webs she had woven enveloped the entire Imperial Palace.
I gazed at the impossibly fine webs that now blanketed the interior of the Imperial Palace and let out a quiet gasp of admiration.
“This is….”
What? I didn’t recall ever seeing her spread her webs this extensively before.
‘Could her abilities have grown stronger from the influence of the primordial flame because of that kiss earlier?’
No.
That couldn’t be it.
The Primordial Flame was no mere buff spell—giving it to another would never strengthen them simply by transfer.
‘Even with Lanez, it wasn’t that the Primordial Flame itself made her blessing stronger, but rather that her control over the Blessing of Eternal Winter improved, making her feel stronger.’
And what she had absorbed wasn’t even my blood, but merely saliva from my mouth.
Just because the Primordial Flame dwelt within me didn’t mean its essence permeated my saliva.
Which meant.
The reason Elisha’s abilities had grown so formidable was….
“Why do you have that expression on your face?”
“Oh, no reason. It’s just that you seem far stronger than before.”
“Hehe. Is that so?”
Elisha shrugged with a faint smile playing at her lips.
“There’s a saying, you know.”
“What saying?”
“That women become stronger when they fall in love.”
“….”
“I thought it was nonsense before… but now that I’ve experienced it myself, I understand.”
Elisha caressed my cheek with a knowing smile.
“My younger siblings have been growing unrecognizably day by day, so as an older sister, I couldn’t possibly stand idle, could I?”
Older sister, she said.
Laughter escaped me unbidden at the unexpected term.
“So we’ve decided to call each other older and younger sister now?”
“Of course, that’s after graduation. For now, I must fulfill my responsibilities as a professor rather than as an older sister.”
“Hmm. Elisha, older sister….”
“Hehe. Doesn’t it feel refreshingly different?”
Elisha’s expression turned playful.
“Then how about you call me ‘big sister’ instead, Dale?”
“By age, I’m considerably your senior.”
“Then would you prefer I call you ‘older brother’?”
“…We can discuss that later.”
Being called older brother by Elisha.
I’d experienced it once before, but nothing could have fit less naturally than this.
“Very well.”
Elisha nodded and began walking.
“Follow me.”
“Have you found the way?”
“Yes.”
After traversing a long corridor, Elisha arrived at a location marked by the most ornately decorated door among the dozens and hundreds of chambers within the Imperial Palace.
Before the door stood two knights of unmistakable presence, guarding the entrance.
“That’s….”
“It appears to be Camelia’s chambers.”
Camelia’s chambers, then.
“Is there really an escape route inside that room?”
“Based on what I’ve confirmed through the Web, yes.”
“Hmm.”
Come to think of it.
It was only natural that an escape route would be built into that room so the imperial family could flee in preparation for an attack.
“For now, it doesn’t seem like Camelia is inside….”
“The problem is those guards.”
I had granted Camelia a sort of free pass to move about the Imperial Palace freely.
But whether that would allow entry into the imperial family’s private chambers was uncertain.
“Let’s first check if we can get in.”
“And if they refuse?”
“Then there’s nothing for it.”
We’d have to force our way in if necessary.
“…Sigh. I’m worried this might escalate into a diplomatic incident.”
“If we don’t extinguish the spark now, it will only grow into a larger conflict.”
I approached Camelia’s chamber door, leaving Professor Elisha hesitant in my wake.
“That aura’s color is….”
“T-the Empress’s blessing?”
The knights’ eyes widened as they beheld the seven-colored aura emanating softly from my form.
“There was an order that anyone bearing the Empress’s blessing may freely enter and exit any place!”
Contrary to Professor Elisha’s concerns, the knights stepped aside without hesitation, as if wondering if this was even permissible.
‘Now I understand why Camelia is called the heart of the Empire.’
At Camelia’s command, they didn’t even question or scrutinize this stranger they’d never seen before entering the Empress’s chamber—they simply cleared the way.
While following the Emperor’s orders is natural for knights, for them to obey so unconditionally as mere humans requires unwavering loyalty.
Click.
In any case.
So I entered the Empress’s chamber.
“Living long enough, you end up entering the Empress’s chamber directly.”
“Indeed.”
I had expected Professor Elisha, from a nameless village, and myself, a lowly hero, to witness an otherworldly spectacle beyond imagination….
“Huh? It’s less impressive than I thought?”
“Hmm. It’s certainly different from where the throne was earlier.”
Unlike the reception hall, which had been filled with countless luxurious furnishings and artworks of incalculable value, Camelia’s chamber was surprisingly modest.
“Well, even an Empress probably wants to sleep comfortably when she rests.”
“A fair point.”
“Let’s find the escape route first.”
“Wait a moment.”
Professor Elisha, who had been spreading the Web throughout the room to search meticulously, moved to one spot.
A wall with no furniture or decorations.
“I can sense energy coming from inside this….”
“Step aside for a moment, please.”
I placed my hand against the wall and closed my eyes.
A faint surge of mana transmitted through my palm.
‘As I thought, it’s protected by a Barrier.’
Unlike the illusory secret passage created to deceive, the true escape route was safeguarded by a formidable magical Barrier.
But.
‘No matter how powerful the Barrier might be.’
Whoooosh!
Ash-white flames erupted from my hand, engulfing the wall.
The magical Barrier protecting the wall was consumed entirely by the flames and vanished.
“…It never ceases to amaze me.”
Elisha stared at the revealed passage, letting out a hollow laugh.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
The underground corridor we entered together.
Dust filled the passage, suggesting it hadn’t been used in a long time.
A musty stench assaulted my nostrils. The thick, stagnant air clung unpleasantly to my skin.
And.
‘I can feel it.’
Whoooosh!
The primordial flame slumbering within my heart stirred violently.
The same sensation I had felt in the underground cavern when I descended with Grace.
‘There’s a spark of the primordial flame here.’
I narrowed my eyes and gazed down the corridor stretching endlessly below.
“Professor Elisha.”
Tap.
I grasped the hand of Elisha, who was leading the way.
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Fall back behind me.”
“But then the path—”
“I can find my way from here.”
I positioned myself protectively in front of her and began descending slowly.
The heat intensified with each step deeper into the corridor.
When we finally reached the end of the passage, what lay before us was.
Whoooosh!
The depths of the Imperial Palace.
A colossal flame burning fiercely in that abyss.
“Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped unbidden at the sight of the inferno.
‘It’s far larger than what I saw before.’
The primordial flame burning beneath the Imperial Palace was several times larger than the spark I had witnessed beneath the Termal Region.
‘That spark alone had possessed enough power to transform an entire region into a volcanic wasteland.’
So what did it mean that this spark down here possessed such tremendous power?
“…The Empress must have had good reason to die without accomplishing anything.”
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue and approached closer to the flame.
Click, click.
Footsteps echoed through the underground cavern.
The Black Robed Criminal emerged from the shadows.
“….”
Judging by the slender frame, a woman.
The face hidden beneath the lowered hood was obscured by what appeared to be black mist—some kind of magic—making it impossible to see.
[How did you get in here?]
A magically distorted voice echoed grimly through the underground space.
I turned to face the Black Robed Criminal and clicked my tongue. “Tsk.”
“There’s no need to wrap yourself up so tightly like that.”
[What do you mean?]
“No matter how much you hide your face and voice, I already know who you are.”
[….]
The grim voice fell silent.
“Someone who can freely access the secret passage that can only be entered through the Empress’s chambers. Someone who receives such absolute trust that they can conspire without raising suspicion, even evading the Empress’s notice.”
And.
“Someone connected to the Demon Human in some way, past or present.”
If I hadn’t known that the primordial flame was burning beneath the Imperial Palace, perhaps.
But now that I knew, this wasn’t even a riddle.
“As far as I know, there’s only one person within the Imperial Palace who fits that description.”
“…Tsk.”
The black mist obscuring the face dispersed and vanished.
The woman pulled back the hood she had been wearing low and drew out a spiked mace from within her robes.
“I really should have crushed your skull back then.”
Melina lifted the mace with a fierce scowl.
“Should have crushed my skull, you say….”
I smirked and gripped my sword.
“Well.”
That wouldn’t have been enough.

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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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