The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 274

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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 274. Omens of Destruction (4)
“Ah… ugh.”
From the lips of the figure engulfed in black flames—no longer something that could be called Hectar—came a halting groan.
Contrary to the fierce roaring of the flames, the light that had once gleamed in his eyes was hollow, like a snuffed candle.
Both soul and flesh had been completely consumed by Amon.
‘This isn’t the main body.’
A memory of Amon’s avatar that I’d seen in the Abyss with Elisha not long ago flashed through my mind.
If there was a difference from then.
It was simply that this avatar before me was still very much alive.
“D-Dale!”
Perhaps sensing something amiss.
Yuren rushed toward me with an urgent expression.
“Don’t come closer.”
I raised my hand to stop Yuren.
“B-But…!”
“Take the rest of the party and fall back.”
Regardless of it being merely an avatar and not the true body.
The opponent was ranked first among the Archbishop Order—the apex of countless Demons.
‘And those flames…’
Elisha’s words echoed in my mind.
-The residual power within Amon’s avatar and the aura of the ‘flame’ within you are remarkably similar.
Though the exact reason remains unclear.
Amon apparently possesses a power akin to the primordial flame I carry.
‘If that’s truly the case, keeping my party members nearby is far too dangerous.’
Even if it were merely an avatar.
Without any sense of how much power it wielded, fighting alone was the better choice.
If I faced it alone, even in the worst case, ‘death’ would be acceptable.
“Dale…!”
Perhaps realizing what I was thinking.
Yuren’s voice trailed off, and his expression grew sorrowful.
“And Yuren, I have something else to ask of you.”
“Something to ask?”
“Those creatures earlier… when they saw me, they said ‘So you were here,’ right?”
It didn’t seem like they’d specifically tracked me down, so they were likely after the Candidates who’d entered the Demon Realm.
‘I have no idea how these bastards learned about the Academy’s curriculum.’
Regardless.
If their target was the Candidates.
“The Demons roaming the Demon Realm won’t be limited to just these ones.”
“Which means…?”
Yuren’s expression hardened visibly.
Each member of our Party far exceeded the standard level of ordinary Candidates, so we suppressed the Demons without difficulty, but the other Candidates faced a different situation.
They wouldn’t even be able to resist properly, let alone suppress the Demons—they’d be paralyzed by fear.
“Damn it!”
Yuren looked around with an anxious expression.
He tried to spread his senses widely to locate the other Candidates, but the Demon Realm was vast and the Candidate parties were scattered in all directions, making it difficult to pinpoint their positions.
‘If only Elisha were here…!’
As I gnawed at my lip with growing anxiety.
“If you’re looking for Candidates, leave it to me!”
Morris stepped forward and began chanting an incantation.
Rustle, rustle-rustle.
With each line of the chant, the surrounding trees and undergrowth trembled, rustling loudly.
“Ugh….”
Perhaps from expending an excessive amount of mana all at once.
Morris’s expression twisted in agony as his body trembled.
“Just… a… little… more… I… can… do… this.”
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
Morris’s breathing grew ragged, and perspiration soaked through his clothes.
And then.
“…Found them!”
With a cry of joy, several vines slithered across the ground like living serpents.
“This is….”
“Follow the vines and you’ll reach where the others are! The thick ones are close by, the thin ones are far away—just follow the thickest one first!”
“Thanks.”
Yuren grasped the thickest vine and nodded.
“We don’t have time—scatter! Iris, go fetch Lucas Kane first!”
“Y-yes! Got it!”
Following Yuren’s command, the Party members dispersed in perfect coordination.
‘Good, then I’ll leave that to them.’
With narrowed eyes, I turned my gaze toward Hectar—no, Amon’s avatar, engulfed in black flames.
“Bloom.”
Whoosh!
Ash-colored flames roared to life, wrapping around my body.
“Th-that fire… is…?”
What.
This bastard could even speak?
“S-so… you… you are… a descendant of… Destruction after all.”
“….”
A descendant of Destruction.
Now that I think about it, Melina had said something like that before.
“I don’t know who keeps calling me a descendant, descendant—”
Whoooosh!
I gripped the sword wreathed in ashen flames and took a long stride toward Amon’s avatar.
“I couldn’t care less whether I’m some heir to Destruction or whatever.”
“….”
Amon’s avatar’s movements came to an abrupt halt.
“Y-you… are, quite…”
“What’s your problem, you bastard?”
“You… don’t… understand… what… Destruction… is… at all.”
“Why should I need to?”
Destruction, nonsense, whatever.
There was only one thing I needed to do right now.
“Stop running your mouth and come at me. I don’t have time to mess around with you.”
I flicked the tip of my blade, igniting ashen flames higher.
“Insolent… whelp.”
Amon’s flames flickered with savage intensity.
“How… dare… you… a mere heir… defy… your master…”
From what he was saying, it seemed he believed he was the master and I was Amon’s heir.
“What utter nonsense.”
Who the hell made him think I was his heir?
Boom!
I stomped forward violently and charged straight at Amon’s avatar.
Whoooosh!
Surging ashen flames.
Jet-black fire and ash-grey fire collided head-on.
Rumble! Crash—KABOOM!!!
The earth flipped, the ground twisted.
Trees were uprooted and scattered like pebbles, and the dense undergrowth crumbled into ash that scattered on the wind.
A symphony of destruction upon destruction.
The Demon Realm itself screamed at the collision of transcendents far beyond human comprehension.
“Ugh…!”
When the fierce clash finally broke, I was the one forced back.
A dizzying pain spread across my entire body.
The heat of the black flames burned me as if it would melt my very soul.
‘He’s strong.’
A power on an entirely different level from the rabble I’d fought before.
I could now fully understand why Amon held the top position in the Archbishop Order’s hierarchy.
‘And this is just his avatar…’
Just how powerful was his true form?
Then again.
Come to think of it, in my past life, there was never a single Hero who defeated Amon in combat.
He had single-handedly routed the Three Nations Alliance and descended alone to the deepest reaches of the Abyss to resurrect the Demon God.
‘Though he was ultimately consumed and killed by the Demon God afterward.’
In any case.
The result was that no Hero had ever defeated Amon.
“Is… that… the end?”
Amon’s avatar wore a bitter sneer across his lips.
“How… disappointing.”
“How amusing. You were so eager to praise me as the heir of Destruction, yet now you find me disappointing?”
Of course.
I hadn’t exhausted my full power in this battle.
I hadn’t yet invoked the Resurrection’s blessing, nor had I activated my ‘Avatar Form’.
The power I’d wielded against Amon was nothing more than the primordial flame’s strength.
I had deliberately refrained from using the power of the Tree of Creation.
‘After all, this is merely his avatar.’
As long as Amon’s true body remained, I couldn’t afford to play all my cards.
‘The question is whether I can defeat him without using the Tree of Creation’s power.’
Well.
I had given that some thought.
“Very well then! Let’s make sure we don’t disappoint our magnificent Amon!”
I bared my teeth in a savage grin and charged toward Amon’s avatar.
Whoooosh!
Flames tangled and collided.
Black fire coiled around my body, and a dizzying wave of agony rippled through every nerve.
“Is… that… your… answer?”
Amon watched me surge through the raging black flames with a cold laugh, his body piercing through the inferno.
“Can a human… truly endure… the torment… of black flame?”
The black flames he wielded—the Blackfire—burned not just the body, but the very soul itself.
And the agony of a burning soul inflicted a pain so extreme that no words could capture it.
Humans scream at the mere touch of a candle’s heat.
No matter how formidable a Hero’s willpower, there was no way they could endure the torment that Blackfire brought.
Sizzzzzzle!
The black flames consumed my flesh.
Skin blistered and charred, acrid smoke rising in thick plumes.
Vast.
A tsunami of agony crashed over me.
“Surrender.”
Amon warned me quietly as I pushed through the Blackfire’s heat toward him.
He knew better than anyone the torment of Blackfire.
He understood that no human could withstand this pain—
“Hm.”
Amid the inferno consuming my body, I twisted my lips into a cruel smile.
One step.
I planted my foot forward toward Amon’s avatar.
‘As expected.’
Amon’s avatar had barely moved from its position since combat began.
‘Or rather, it couldn’t move.’
Just as a puppet manipulated by strings couldn’t move like a living creature.
If Amon was controlling the avatar from a distance, executing intricate movements would be beyond his capabilities.
In other words.
Once I pierced through this ‘black flame,’ subduing Amon’s avatar would be effortless.
And.
“Is it already over?”
Enduring pain was hardly a difficult feat for me.
“Wh-what…?”
“Disappointing.”
The black flame erupted into ash and embers.
I thrust my blade savagely through the black flame toward Amon’s avatar.
Ash-tinged steel pierced forward.
A wet, sickening sound.
My blade drove through the heart.
The ash-flame clinging to my sword seared the stigma carved upon the avatar’s chest.
And.
“Ah… ugh.”
A dull thud.
Like a kite with its string severed, Amon’s body collapsed limply to the ground.
“H-how… did you… endure the pain?”
“I’m accustomed to it.”
With my body ravaged and flesh melting away, I let out a chilling laugh.
“Ha.”
Amon exhaled a bitter chuckle, as if finding it absurd.
“Remarkable…”
“Weren’t you disappointed a moment ago?”
….
A sharp, crackling sound.
Amon’s body, now stripped of its stigma, gradually transformed into black ash and scattered away.
“Remember this, successor.”
“Not long… you will face me again, face Destruction.”
“And then it won’t be so easy….”
A harsh crunch.
I savagely trampled Amon’s head beneath my heel, my lips curling into a feral snarl.
“No, I think you’re misunderstanding something.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I’m not the one welcoming you—you’ll be the one welcoming me.”
That’s right.
Destruction would come to welcome me… Dale Han.
And.
When that day arrives.
“You’ll witness Destruction destroying itself.”
Crunch.
I twisted the trampled foot roughly and turned my body away.
The scattered black ashes were swept away by the wind and vanished.

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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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