The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 24

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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 24. So It Was You? (5)
The Sunblade.
A swordsmanship technique created by Reynald Helios, the leader of the Five Great Heroes who sealed away the Demon God five hundred years ago.
The Sunblade consisted of nine distinct “Forms,” each progressively more difficult and exponentially more powerful as the numbers increased.
‘According to Yuren, even Reynald Helios himself, who created the technique, only theorized the ninth and final Form but never mastered it in practice.’
In any case.
Though called a swordsmanship technique, the Sunblade only maintained the form of conventional “swordsmanship” through the fourth of its nine Forms.
Upward slashes, downward slashes, horizontal slashes, thrusts.
Four Forms born from honing these four fundamental movements to their absolute limits.
And from the fifth Form onward, it could no longer be called swordsmanship at all—it transformed into something closer to magic or miracles.
‘Normally, I can only manifest Forms up to the fourth with my mana reserves.’
Originally, the fifth Form and beyond were techniques beyond my capacity to execute.
‘But now.’
With the stigma amplifier coursing through my body.
For merely five minutes, I could reach a realm previously beyond my grasp.
“Ugh… m-my eyes!”
“Wh-what is this light!”
The Demon Humans squinted against the brilliant white radiance pouring from the blade.
Before their eyes could even adjust to the searing luminescence,
Schwick! Schwick! Crack!
Three Demon Human heads separated from their bodies with a sickening sound.
“What the—!”
I hadn’t moved to sever their necks.
The brilliant white light erupting from the blade.
The bodies of the Demon Humans touched by that radiance split apart as if cleaved by the sword itself.
“L-light! Dodge the light!”
One Demon Human cried out in desperation and hurled himself away from the brilliant white radiance pouring from the blade.
Schwick!
As the blade’s tip shifted slightly, the Demon Human’s upper and lower halves split asunder.
A slash that transcended distance itself.
One by one, the Demon Humans touched by the light from the blade collapsed, spraying blood.
“You fools! Don’t scatter—attack together and kill him! He’s alone!”
Calix barked savagely at his subordinates.
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Surround him!”
“Hyaaagh!”
At his command, the Demon Humans drew their weapons and rushed toward me.
Schwick! Schwick!
Two more Demon Humans were bisected by the light as they charged, but those who avoided direct contact with the radiance managed to close the distance.
“Die, you bastard!”
The Demon Human closed the distance and thrust a short spear wreathed in demonic energy.
Having just swung his sword, it seemed impossible to block the spear aimed at his vital points.
“Heh.”
Dale’s lips curved upward, revealing pristine white teeth.
He pivoted with a quick step, twisting his body slightly to wedge the incoming spear between his ribs.
A maneuver bordering on acrobatics—one misstep would have meant his heart pierced clean through.
Even a seasoned hero with extensive combat experience would have hesitated at such a life-or-death gambit.
“This madman…!”
Dale harbored no such hesitation whatsoever.
That’s right.
As if he possessed multiple lives to spare.
“Gack!”
Crack!
He wrenched the spear free from his ribs and twisted the Demon Human’s neck with his bare hands.
“H-hieek!”
Another Demon Human charging forward with weapon raised let out a terrified whimper upon witnessing his comrade’s neck snap right before him.
“What are you making such a fuss about?”
Dale hurled the corpse of the Demon Human—neck bent at a grotesque angle—to the ground and licked his lips as if savoring the moment.
“We’ve only just passed the one-minute mark.”
Dale lunged at the encircling Demon Humans like a ravenous beast.
“Gack, cough!”
“Aaaahhh!”
“P-please… urgh!”
Against Demon Humans attacking from range, he swung his sword to unleash brilliant white light; against those drawing near, he subdued them with unarmed combat.
He positioned himself with his back to walls and pillars to prevent encirclement, while simultaneously exploiting sudden openings to drive forward and tangle the Demon Humans with one another.
The scene was less “combat” and more “slaughter.”
The thirty-odd Demon Humans had been reduced to half their number in less than three minutes.
“P-Priest!”
The helpless Demon Humans’ gazes turned toward Calix.
“You useless wretches…!”
Calix gnashed his teeth and bellowed at his subordinates.
‘What in the world is that monster?’
How could he possibly be a “Candidate”?
No, wait.
Even granting that a Candidate could be as strong as an active hero, or even stronger—
There were rumors that Yuren Helios, who currently held first place in the Candidate Program’s comprehensive evaluation rankings for three consecutive years, was far stronger than most professors.
‘But.’
The way he handled the coordinated assault of thirty Demon Humans without retreating an inch, moving with practiced ease and merciless efficiency—
‘This isn’t a Candidate. This is….’
A sight one could only witness in a seasoned hero who had spent decades grinding through battlefields before retirement.
“Damn it!”
Calix gnawed at his lip, his expression taut with anxiety.
Though he hadn’t directly engaged in combat yet, merely witnessing that monster’s battle—no, massacre—was enough to understand the truth.
‘I cannot win.’
Even as a Demon Human who had ascended to the position of ‘Priest’, there was no way he could defeat a monster that had slaughtered fifteen Demon Humans in less than three minutes.
‘But if I flee now, that person won’t simply let it pass.’
Imagining the enraged Archbishop’s visage sent a chill racing down his spine.
He withdrew a wand embedded with a fist-sized mana stone from his robes and aimed it at Dale.
‘If death awaits me either way!’
Black luminescence erupted from the stigma on his left chest, and dozens of demonic thorns materialized, hovering around him.
“Haaah!”
Whoooosh!
The demonic thorns shot forth with terrifying momentum.
A Demon Human caught in the barrage shrieked as the thorns pierced through him, but Calix did not relent in his assault.
“You’re trying hard, aren’t you?”
Dale clicked his tongue dismissively as he observed the demonic thorns raining down from all directions.
He threw himself toward the vicious barrage of thorns and stomped the ground with tremendous force.
Berald Combat Art.
Earth Tremor.
Booooom!
The entire Hideout shook as though an earthquake had struck.
Rotten wooden planks and earth debris erupting from the fractured floor became shields, blocking the cascading demonic thorns.
“Ugh!”
In the moment he squinted against the billowing dust—
Slash!
A brilliant white luminescence pierced through the dust and grazed Calix’s arm, the one gripping the wand.
Flesh tore open, and blood spilled forth.
Searing pain radiated through his arm and consumed his entire body.
“Kugh!”
Calix clenched his teeth and wrapped his hand around the half-severed arm.
A pained groan escaped his lips, but only briefly.
Calix gripped the wand with his other hand and fixed Dale with a sharp, piercing gaze.
‘A contest of strength is futile.’
Whether he unleashed dozens or hundreds of demonic thorns, it seemed impossible to suppress that monster.
‘Then.’
Shhh.
Calix drew in a long breath and grasped the fist-sized mana stone affixed to the wand’s head with his hand.
Uuuuuung!
The power flowing from the mana stone resonated with the demonic energy and radiated outward.
Crackle, crackle!
Cracks began spreading across the mana stone affixed to the wand’s tip before it crumbled into powder.
“Come forth, power of illusion!”
The magic he cast by sacrificing the mana stone belonged to his master, the Archbishop Ashtaroth.
It was a terrifying spell that imprisoned its target in an illusory world called ‘Reverie’, shattering their mind.
“Ugh…!”
Blood streamed from Calix’s eyes and nose as he wielded magic beyond his own rank.
For a mere priest—not even a bishop—to channel an Archbishop’s magic was perilously reckless, a gamble with his own life, but there was no time for caution now.
“Die trapped in Reverie!”
As the wand disintegrated, tendrils of black light erupted forth, coiling around Dale’s body.
Dale, who had been rampaging like a wolf among sheep, froze motionless.
“Heh heh… Yes. No matter how wildly you thrash, there’s no resisting his magic.”
No matter how formidable one’s strength, a shattered mind rendered it useless.
Watching Dale stand paralyzed, Calix’s lips curled into a bloodstained smile.
“Kill him before he awakens—!”
He barked the order at his stupefied subordinates.
Thunk.
The cold sensation of metal piercing through flesh.
“Gah.”
A strangled gasp escaped as suffocating agony flooded through him.
Turning his head, he saw Dale—who had been frozen in Reverie—now standing mere inches from his face.
“Wh-what… how?”
How had he escaped Reverie?
Calix’s eyes widened in incomprehension.
“Turns out that doesn’t work on me.”
Dale smiled faintly as he watched the shock bloom across Calix’s face.
“Kgh… hack, cough!”
Calix clutched his impaled abdomen and slowly collapsed.
Whoooosh.
The black tendrils of light that had enveloped Dale’s body returned to their master like homing birds.
The residual magical energy from the broken Reverie flowed back to its caster.
In that fleeting instant as the mental magic shattered and rebounded, Dale’s consciousness and Calix’s consciousness became intertwined.
Among mental mages, this phenomenon was commonly known as ‘mental resonance’.
“…Ah.”
The world inverted before his eyes.
Calix’s body convulsed violently, his consciousness linked with Dale’s.
“Wh-what… is this…”
The entire world burned.
Everything was consumed in flame.
Crackling, sizzling.
Everywhere he looked, in every direction, in every place.
Fire.
Massive—a conflagration so colossal it seemed poised to devour the world itself.
Scarlet flames, like a demon’s tongue, greedily consumed the illusory visions of the Mirage he had staked his life to manifest, burning with ravenous intensity.
What in the world was this?
I had witnessed mental synchronization phenomena countless times before, but never a sight like this.
What was that?
As Calix surveyed the world engulfed in flames, a single entity entered his vision.
Within the savagely burning inferno.
A dark silhouette curled within it.
What in the world was that?
Had my voice somehow reached it?
The dark silhouette that had been curled up slowly lifted its head.
And then.
Emerald eyes within the roaring flames turned toward him.
“…Ah.”
Calix stumbled backward, a sword still embedded in his abdomen.
“Ah, ugh. Ahhh.”
As if he had forgotten the very fact that a blade pierced his belly, Calix crawled desperately across the floor, fleeing from Dale.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
Calix crawled toward the Hideout entrance, desperate to distance himself from Dale.
The consequences of his escape? His fear of Archbishop Ashtaroth?
None of it remained in his mind anymore.
“Run, run… faster…!”
All that occupied his thoughts was a visceral terror of that nameless Candidate Program member.
“What’s wrong with this bastard all of a sudden?”
It was Dale who found himself bewildered by Calix’s sudden behavior.
Dale approached the fleeing Calix, who was hemorrhaging, and pressed his foot firmly against his neck.
“Gack.”
Fragmented gasps escaped between Calix’s lips.
“Well, there’s no point asking anyway—the geis would prevent me from getting anything useful….”
Tsk, I clicked my tongue and applied more pressure with the foot that pinned Calix’s throat.
“Just die.”
Crunch!
Calix’s neck bent at a grotesque angle.
“P-Priest…?”
“This can’t be real….”
The Demon Humans, witnessing Calix’s death without even a proper struggle, fell into shock.
They exchanged nervous glances and cautiously retreated backward.
“Let’s see… about a minute left?”
Checking the time on his Hero Watch, Dale gazed at the retreating Demon Humans and grinned wickedly.
“That’s sufficient.”
Once more, a brilliant white flash illuminated the dim Hideout.

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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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