The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 247

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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 247. Bitter Cold (2)
The Training Ground situated on the first floor of the Party House.
Standing at the center of the Party’s exclusive Training Ground—a spacious facility designed for combat drills as realistic as actual warfare—I gazed upon Lanez.
Having changed from her maid’s uniform into training attire, Lanez bounced on her feet with sparkling eyes, clearly delighted to be training after so long.
“Dale, what should we start with?”
“Well… first.”
I positioned myself roughly twenty meters away from Lanez.
“Attack me with everything you’ve got.”
“…What?”
Lanez trembled and her cheeks flushed crimson.
“D-Dale… you have that kind of preference?”
“What?”
“I-I’ll do my best to meet your expectations!”
“No.”
What is she talking about now?
“Hehe. Just joking.”
“I thought you were Elisha…”
“Huh? Why would Professor Elisha…?”
Ah.
“Ah, it’s nothing!”
Ahem.
“But really… do I have to attack you?”
Lanez’s expression twisted with genuine reluctance.
“Yes. I’m testing something lately. You don’t need to hold back—just attack me with your full power as you are now.”
“F-Full power?”
Generally speaking, telling a mage-class hero to attack you while standing still with their full power was tantamount to declaring suicide.
Mage-class heroes were considered “essential to have at least one in every Party” precisely because of their overwhelming firepower—they fell behind warrior-class heroes in versatility, mobility, and instant response capabilities in nearly every other respect.
‘Especially if it’s Lanez.’
With the blessing she possessed—powerful enough to have transformed half the Continent into the Snowy Wasteland in her previous life—unleashing her full power without restraint would produce a force even I found difficult to fathom.
“A-Are you really sure? Even with full power?”
“I’m sure.”
“B-But…”
“It’s not like I’ll die anyway.”
“That doesn’t matter! I don’t like seeing you hurt, Dale!”
Lanez stomped her feet and cried out.
Her genuine concern for me was genuinely heartwarming.
“I probably won’t get hurt, so you don’t need to worry.”
“Really…?”
“Yes.”
I nodded reassuringly, but hesitation still lingered on Lanez’s face.
“Ugh…”
Lanez trailed off, unable to bring herself to unleash a full-powered attack on her beloved.
“Hmm, if it’s too difficult, why not try a little roleplay scenario?”
“Roleplay?”
Lanez’s eyes widened in confusion at the suggestion.
“Just imagine you’ve caught me cheating on you with another woman.”
“…What?”
“In my Dormitory Room. Not Iris, not Yurina, not Elisha—a woman you’ve never seen before.”
I continued with vivid details to help her immerse herself in the scenario.
“She has platinum hair as beautiful as melted gold… sleepy eyes, much taller than you, and such a noble, radiant appearance that you’d know at a glance she comes from high birth.”
I was deliberately poking at her insecurities about her own small stature and her mixed heritage with Demons.
“You came into the Room this morning to wake me up, and you caught me naked in Bed with this woman, rolling around together.”
“…Stop.”
“Huh?”
“Dale, this is… too much…”
The light drained from Lanez’s eyes.
Her gaze turned toward me, cold as the Snowy Wasteland itself.
“I trusted you, I trusted you, I trusted you, I trusted you, I trusted you…!”
“W-wait, Lanez?”
This is just roleplay, right?
“I trusted… you…!!!”
Whiiiine!
A fierce blizzard erupted across the vast Training Ground.
A bitter cold that threatened to freeze even the soul itself.
The howling snow coalesced in the air, forming into the shape of a massive ice flower.
‘No.’
This looks like she’s actually trying to kill me.
‘Still…’
I narrowed my eyes as I observed the colossal ice flower taking shape in the air.
‘Her control over her blessing has improved even more.’
Despite the extreme rage she should have been consumed by at witnessing her lover’s infidelity, the divine power she emanated remained remarkably stable.
“Bloom.”
White breath escaped between Lanez’s lips.
The massive ice flower blooming in the air scattered dozens, hundreds of ice shards in all directions.
Whiiiine!
A torrent of ice fragments swept toward me.
“Hah.”
I drew a slow breath as I watched the avalanche of ice shards descend upon me.
Fwoooosh!
Primordial flames ignited, wrapping around my body.
‘And.’
Another stream of light flowing from the stigmata.
An aura shimmering in deep emerald merged with the primordial flame.
Where fire and wood intertwined.
Ashen embers, stained in deep gray, blazed ferociously.
“Ugh, hck.”
My body burned as if molten lava flowed through my veins instead of blood.
With each surge of agony, the ashen flames engulfing my form grew more violent.
And then.
Whoooosh!
My flesh incinerated and vanished, replaced by ashen embers.
A tidal wave of ice shards crashed down upon my body transformed to ash.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!
The ice shards shattered into fragments the instant they touched the ashen flames, scattering into nothingness.
The ferocious onslaught of ice shards was instantly engulfed and consumed by the ashen fire.
“…What?”
Lanez’s mouth fell open in shock.
“D-Dale’s body… it’s… turning into flames….”
“Hah!”
Before she could finish, I exhaled a ragged breath and collapsed to the ground.
My body, which had transformed into ashen embers, returned to its original form.
The terrible agony of burning entirely still lingered like an echo, yet I couldn’t suppress the smile spreading across my face.
‘As expected.’
It was exactly as I’d anticipated.
‘The power of the Tree of Creation was the key to the divine incarnation state.’
Divine incarnation—or perhaps it was more fitting to call it flame embodiment.
A kind of ultimate technique that transformed my body into fire, granting me nearly infinite magical power.
Since I first used it during my battle with the Archbishop of Illusion, it was a technique I couldn’t control at will, but learning of the Tree of Creation’s existence finally allowed me to grasp the thread of its power.
‘From the start, it wasn’t a technique possible with only the primordial flame’s power, which is why no amount of effort could let me use it at will.’
Of course.
Knowing the method didn’t mean I could perfectly execute the technique.
Currently, I could only maintain the flame embodiment state at will for mere seconds.
‘Still, it’s far better than when I had no clues at all.’
If I continued merging the power of the Tree of Creation with the primordial flame’s power, one day I would be able to enter the flame embodiment state freely.
‘Merging the power of the Tree of Creation and the primordial flame into one.’
I gazed down at the gray flames blazing around my body.
Ashen embers.
Not ordinary crimson flames, but flames burning with a deep gray hue—I’d been calling them ashen embers for convenience.
‘I never expected the pieces would fit together like this.’
Since ashen embers referred to flames born from the ashes of burned wood, in a sense, it perfectly matched my current state.
A body forged from the power of the Tree of Creation. And the cinders born from burning that flesh.
‘A flame created when the Tree of Creation and the Primordial Fire intertwine.’
If I could master this power completely, what kind of being would I even become?
“…Ha.”
At such an unrealistic thought, I let out a soft chuckle and shook my head with a wry smile.
“All right, let’s try once more.”
“Wait, are you sure you’re okay, Dale? You look pretty exhausted.”
“I’m fine. This much is nothing.”
Now that I’d finally grasped the thread of the incarnate state I’d so desperately sought, it felt wasteful to abandon training simply because I was tired.
“Ah, I understand. Then….”
Lanez squeezed her eyes shut and muttered as though hypnotizing herself.
“Dale is a flirt, Dale is a flirt, Dale is a flirt….”
“….”
No.
How could a spell of courage possibly become ‘a flirt’?
* * *
After training with Lanez all morning like that.
Lanez pulled out the lunch box she’d prepared.
“H-here, eat up, Dale.”
Lanez opened the lunch box lid with a bashful smile.
Inside, it was packed with various ingredients said to be good for vitality—garlic, Chinese chives, eel, and more.
“Oh, yeah. I’ll enjoy it.”
Right.
Even so, I could overlook this as cute affection.
“Munch munch.”
“S-so, how is it, Dale…?”
“It’s delicious.”
“D-do you feel your body getting hot or your strength surging or anything like that?”
“Ha ha. It hasn’t even digested yet, so no.”
Besides, ingredients said to be good for vitality were simply nutritious foods that were good for the body—they couldn’t produce the same effect as actually taking a vitality supplement.
“T-that’s strange… the professor said the effect would show immediately after eating….”
“….”
This is just nutritious food, right?
She didn’t mix anything else in there, did she?
I cast a suspicious gaze toward Lanez and finished the lunch box completely.
“That was delicious. Thank you, Lanez.”
“Ehehe. No, I’m just happy you enjoyed it.”
Lanez beamed with a bright smile and reached her hand toward the empty lunch box.
“Rest now. I’ll take care of the cleanup.”
“Oh, no! Let me do it!”
“Ah, I even made you a meal—I can’t ask you to clean up after yourself too.”
“No, it’s fine!”
She stubbornly pushed me aside and finished tidying up on her own.
“Hmm. At least let me handle the cleanup.”
“Hehe. I’m Dale’s exclusive Maid, after all. This is my job.”
Lanez smiled brightly as she placed the lunch container into her bag.
“Still, I feel bad about it somehow.”
“Well… um, actually.”
Lanez glanced toward me, her words coming out hesitantly.
“Could you… could you do just one thing for me?”
“Of course.”
“There’s… a place I’d like to go to, if Dale doesn’t mind coming with me.”
“Where?”
“That is…”
Lanez hesitated, her lips trembling slightly before she finally spoke with difficulty.
“…the Cemetery.”
“The Cemetery?”
“Yes. My mother’s… Cemetery.”
The place that came from Lanez’s lips was somewhere I had never once considered.

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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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