The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 249

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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 249. Bitter Cold (4)
The Frozen City.
Among the frost-covered ruins of buildings, a woman with deep violet hair gazed at Lanez with a gentle smile.
“How… is this possible?”
A question tangled with countless conflicting emotions.
Lanez stumbled backward, watching her Mother wave slowly toward her.
“How… how can Mother be…?”
Her mother, Seria Malam, had died sixteen years ago at the hands of the “Holy Sword” and the “Pope.”
Her final moments—her heart pierced through, blood pouring from the wound—
remained vivid in Lanez’s mind even now.
But how could this be?
How could Seria possibly be here in this place?
“How am I alive, you ask?”
Seria smiled knowingly.
She continued speaking with eyes hollow and devoid of light.
“He brought me back to life.”
“…Brought you back?”
At Seria’s absurd words, I contorted my expression.
“Nonsense.”
I, who had been resurrected thousands and tens of thousands of times.
I, who had once wandered through endless ages trying to resurrect a fallen comrade.
I knew better than anyone.
Resurrecting the dead is impossible, even if the Seven Gods themselves were to manifest.
“It’s not nonsense.”
Seria turned to face me, a faint smile gracing her lips.
“As proof, I’m standing here right now, aren’t I?”
…
Though a smile lingered at her lips, her eyes remained as hollow as a winter night sky.
“Is it really… you, Mother?”
“Yes.”
Seria approached Lanez slowly.
She spread her arms wide and continued.
“Come here, my beloved daughter.”
“Mother…!”
Lanez rushed toward Seria with tears streaming down her face.
Faded memories surfaced.
The wish to be held tightly as she had been on that day long ago.
To have her back patted gently while being whispered words of love.
“Lanez!”
Crack—crack—crack—crack!
I urgently grabbed Lanez’s shoulder and pulled her back.
A pristine layer of frost erupted from the ground beneath her feet.
“…What?”
Frost crystallized into needle-sharp spikes.
Had she taken just a few more steps toward Seria, her body would have been pierced straight through by those jagged shards.
“Damn it.”
I positioned myself in front of Lanez, whose face had drained of all color, and glared at Seria.
“My, why aren’t you coming faster?”
Seria threw her arms wide open and burst into delighted laughter.
‘…Has she revived in her berserk state?’
I’d heard that when Seria went berserk in the past, she’d tried to kill not only her husband but Lanez as well.
I had no idea how Seria had been revived.
‘If she’s trying to kill Lanez…’
I drew my sword from my waist and slowly advanced toward Seria.
“Ignite.”
Whoooosh!
Ash-colored flames erupted violently, engulfing my body.
Seria Malam, the Bitter Cold Archbishop, was a formidable Demon whom the Holy Sword and the Pope—two Masters—had barely managed to defeat by combining their strength.
No matter how many recent accomplishments I’d achieved, she was not an opponent to be taken lightly.
“My, I called for Lanez, didn’t I?”
Seria gazed at me with an amused smile.
“What’s your relationship with Lanez? Oh my, could you be her boyfriend?”
“….”
“Ahahaha! My goodness, my goodness, our daughter has a boyfriend…!”
Seria clutched her belly and burst into uncontrollable laughter.
“It’s really… fortunate that I’ve been revived.”
I exhaled sharply.
My breath came in ragged gasps as I continued.
“Do you know? When our husband died… how mournfully Lanez wailed?”
Kekeke.
“It’s truly wonderful.”
Her face overflowed with unbridled joy and anticipation.
“To think I can witness our daughter’s anguished cries once more—!”
Her lips twisted into a grotesque grin as she spread her arms wide, then crossed them in an X formation.
Whiiiiing!
A pristine white mist of frost radiated outward from Seria’s center.
The ground touched by the frost mist froze solid in an instant.
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
A tempest of crystallized frost hurtled toward me at tremendous speed.
“You….”
I ground my teeth as I watched the approaching frost storm bear down upon me.
I wielded the sword wreathed in ashen flames with savage intensity.
Whoooosh!
The wall of burning ashen flames melted away the blizzard composed of pristine white frost.
“My, my—calling your girlfriend’s mother ‘you’? Where on earth did you pick up such manners?”
“Shut up.”
I didn’t know what Seria Malam had been like before her rampage.
But at this moment, she was far too twisted to be wrapped up in the word “Mother.”
Hssss.
I drew in a breath and summoned forth the power of primordial flame.
I kicked off the ground violently and charged toward Seria Malam.
Whoooosh!
Burning ashen flames.
I melted through the raging frost storm and closed the distance in an instant.
Hehehehe.
Seria Malam gazed at my face with a deep smile.
“You’re quite handsome up close, aren’t you?”
Crackle crackle crackle!
The frost storm surged upward.
In that moment, the ashen flames scattered and the frost storm struck my body with full force.
“Ugh…!”
Where the frost touched me, my skin necrosed into a violet hue.
I hastily created distance and threw my fist toward the raging frost storm.
Berald martial arts.
Mountain Shattering.
Boom!
Ashen flames erupted from my fist, tearing a hole through the frost storm.
I aimed my sword’s tip toward the opening and drew upon my mana.
Ashen Flame Sword, Third Form.
Flame Halberd.
The concentrated ashen flames shot toward Seria Malam.
Seria Malam spread both her hands toward the incoming ashen flames.
Shhhhhhiing!
Colliding frost and ashen flames.
As the frost melted away, thick steam rose up and blanketed the area like fog.
“…Remarkable.”
Seria Malam gazed down at one of her arms, charred by the ashen flames, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Where on earth did our daughter find such a man?”
A sensation I had never experienced even when fighting against the Holy Sword Johan Basillio and Pope Marian in the past.
The savagely burning gray flames were far more alien than any power she had ever witnessed.
What surprised her even more, however, was this:
“It doesn’t even seem like you’re fighting at full strength.”
“….”
She was right.
I hadn’t yet unleashed my full power.
“Hehe. Is it because you’re the mother of the woman I love?”
“…Be quiet.”
I narrowed my eyes and tightened my grip on the sword.
“Who brought you back to life?”
“Ah, you mean the Cult Leader.”
“…The Cult Leader?”
“Yes, that’s right. The great Cult Leader who holds ‘Eternity’ within them.”
“….”
Could it be.
That it was the Cult Leader of the Eternal Order who had resurrected Seria Malam.
‘Eternity… I see.’
Now that I thought about it, the Wolf Mask and Fox Mask I’d faced before in Valhalla City also possessed lifespans that defied common sense.
‘If their extended lifespans were granted by the Cult Leader’s power…’
Though I didn’t know who this person called the ‘Cult Leader’ was.
It was clear that they possessed the ability to directly influence the lives of others.
“They gave me a chance.”
Seria Malam smiled brightly, gently caressing her arm—which had been charred black by the ash fire.
As if time itself had reversed.
Fresh flesh sprouted anew upon the blackened arm.
“A chance to meet my beloved daughter again.”
“….”
The power to resurrect the dead.
The power to extend the lifespan of the living.
And beyond that.
Even the regeneration of wounds inflicted by ash fire.
‘What exactly is that Cult Leader’s true nature.’
I bit my lip firmly and gripped my sword tighter.
“Now then, don’t interfere any further.”
Seria Malam raised her regenerated arm high.
Her vacant eyes turned toward Lanez.
Lanez, meeting Seria Malam’s gaze, stumbled backward with a deathly pale face.
“Even one second sooner… I want to hold my daughter tight—!”
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
The thick steam that had blanketed the air froze solid in an instant.
A tempest of frost converged through the empty space.
A sphere of frost tens of meters—no, hundreds of meters in diameter—ascended high into the sky.
Whiiiiing!
A white sphere gathering in the void, swirling ferociously.
“That is….”
I had heard of it before.
During the rampage incident of the Archbishop of Bitter Cold.
A white meteorite had fallen and frozen an entire city in an instant.
“Haah.”
Seria Malam exhaled a low breath and lowered the arm she had raised.
And then.
Kuguguguguung!
A white meteorite composed of frost plummeted toward the earth.
The frozen buildings trembled, and thunderous sounds echoed across the city.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue at the apocalyptic scene unfolding before me and gazed upward at the white meteorite descending through the void.
An attack that would engulf the entire city.
Though it was a ghost city devoid of inhabitants, if I allowed the meteorite to fall as it was, Lanez would be caught in its aftermath as well.
‘Not a technique ready for practical use yet.’
Given the circumstances, there was no choice.
Whoooosh!
Calamity Fire.
Ashen flames spreading in a circular pattern from my body as the epicenter.
Gray flames colored the surrounding space, creating a domain.
‘This is insufficient.’
A domain far too narrow to block a meteorite of frost spanning hundreds of meters.
To completely consume the meteorite, I would need ten times—no, perhaps far more than that—the magical power I currently possessed.
‘If magical power is lacking.’
Whoooosh!
Ashen flames blazed, engulfing my entire body.
My very flesh transformed into ashen fire.
And then.
Kuruuuuung!
The entire surrounding earth trembled as a colossal inferno erupted.
Lasting mere seconds at most.
The infinite magical power generated as ashen flames consumed my body expanded the domain of Calamity Fire across the entire city.
“What….”
Seria Malam’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
Leaving her behind, I stretched my hand high into the sky.
“Devour it.”
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!
A massive ash spirit, so colossal it made a meteorite spanning hundreds of meters feel like a mere pebble, swallowed the entire meteor whole.
“H-hieek!”
Seria Malam stumbled backward.
I pushed off the ground and closed the distance between us.
In the moment I was about to drive my raised blade straight into her heart.
“Ah….”
My eyes met Lanez’s.
A sharp intake of breath.
Without thinking, the strength drained from my sword hand.
And then.
“Kugh…!”
As my body transformed from ash back to its original form, the backlash of the ‘Incarnation’ state wracked through me.
A horrifying agony, as if molten lava flowed through my veins instead of blood.
Clang!
The blade slipped from my grasp and clattered to the ground.
“Huh? What?”
A peculiar light flickered across Seria Malam’s eyes.
“My, my. Did you really push yourself to protect my daughter?”
A deep smile bloomed across her lips.
“Hehehehe. At this rate, I might just fall for you myself.”
Seria Malam slowly reached out and caressed my cheek.
“What about me instead of Lanez? My husband just died, and I’ve been feeling so lonely.”
“….”
Just as Seria Malam attempted to pull my neck toward her in a seductive gesture.
“Get your hands off Dale, Mom.”
Lanez roughly swatted away her mother’s hand that had been caressing my cheek.
And then.
Crack!
Lanez struck her mother’s cheek with a resounding slap.

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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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