The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 282

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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 282. War (6)
Thud, thud.
Savage black flames rippled and danced.
A man pierced through the black inferno, his heavy footsteps echoing with ominous weight.
“…Amon.”
Though indistinguishable in appearance from his other avatars, I recognized him the moment I laid eyes upon him.
This was no avatar—this was Amon himself.
‘The Archbishop of Destruction.’
The apex of Demons that humanity had failed to overcome even in my past life now stood before me.
“Calling yourself a whelp before the Master of Destruction….”
A sigh.
“It seems I must first teach you the proper etiquette for addressing your master, heir of Destruction.”
“You keep calling me heir, heir—trying to connect me to your master. But the only relationship between us is that of victim and perpetrator.”
And of course, the victim crushed beneath unreasonable violence would be Amon.
“…True, it seems you excel at least in running your mouth.”
“I wonder—is that truly all I excel at?”
I gripped my sword and stepped toward Amon.
Whoosh!
Amon’s avatars arrayed behind him closed in menacingly.
I smirked as I surveyed the avatars surrounding me.
“So your only allies are your own avatars? You should have made more friends while you had the chance.”
Like I did.
Rummmmmble!
The warp gate through which all the Candidates had escaped began to shimmer.
What emerged from the warp gate were the elite forces of each nation.
And.
“Hehehehe! At last the memorial day for those Demon bastards has arrived!”
The first to appear was Kalid Han, the Falling Blossom Sword.
“A memorial day wouldn’t be complete without alcohol.”
Kalid Han pulled a bottle from his waist and gulped it down greedily.
“Sigh. Must you drink even at a time like this?”
Johan shook his head in disapproval as the Sword of Holy Nation followed behind.
“Please don’t rebuke him too harshly, Johan. Drinking is Kalid’s own ritual.”
Following the Sword of Holy Nation came the Pope himself.
And finally.
“It has been a long time, Amon.”
The Empress emerged through the warp gate.
“….”
Amon’s eyes narrowed as he surveyed the Masters assembled in the Grand Hall.
“Five Masters… or is it six?”
Amon turned to look at me and clicked his tongue with a tsk.
“You’ve prepared quite thoroughly.”
It was no exaggeration to say that virtually every ounce of the current Heroes’ combined strength had gathered within this Grand Hall.
Such overwhelming power that even Gra, standing at the pinnacle of Demons, would find the opposition formidable.
“But.”
Amon’s lips twisted upward into a cruel smile.
What did it matter how much strength was displayed here?
“It’s all futile.”
From the beginning, Amon’s purpose in coming to this place was never to battle Heroes.
What he desired was singular.
To awaken the flame sleeping in the Deepest Part of the Abyss and be reborn as the true master of Destruction.
Whoooosh!
As Amon stamped his foot violently, the black flames within the Grand Hall began to rage and writhe ferociously.
The Heroes inside the Grand Hall swiftly deployed protective magic against the raging black inferno and assumed defensive stances.
But the target of the black flames was not the Heroes.
“What?”
“My… my body…?”
“Ah, Lord Amon! What is happening…!”
The black flames descended upon the Demons arrayed behind Amon.
That is, the Apostles of Destruction who served him.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
“It burns! It burns so much!!!”
“My body!!!”
“Why… why are you doing this to us…?”
Even the Heroes within the Grand Hall wore expressions of shock at Amon’s sudden attack on his own forces.
“Be careful!”
Iris, who had been treating the wounded from behind, cried out with a deathly pale expression.
At that same moment.
Kaboom!
The black flames, having consumed the lives of the Demons and grown in size, unleashed a violent explosion.
The entire Grand Hall collapsed in an instant, and waves of destructive fire consumed everything around it.
“Seven Gods above!”
“Protect your children!”
The prayers of Iris and Marian echoed through the collapsing Grand Hall.
A pure white protective barrier unfurled in a circular formation, enveloping the Heroes within the Grand Hall.
Crash!
“Ahhhhh!”
“It’s collapsing!”
“Quickly, take shelter within the barrier!”
Thick smoke billowed upward.
The massive Grand Hall, which could accommodate thousands, was subjected to an explosion so tremendous it could have leveled the structure in an instant—yet thanks to the Saint and Pope’s swift intervention, there were no casualties.
Of course.
“Cough!”
“Hah… hah!”
“S-Saint! Your Holiness! A-are you alright?!”
The condition of Iris and Marian, who had borne the full brunt of the explosion, could hardly be described as good by any measure.
“Amon…”
I surveyed the Grand Hall now transformed into chaos, my eyes narrowing.
‘This doesn’t make sense.’
If Amon’s objective was to resurrect the Demon God, he shouldn’t be sacrificing his subordinates’ lives like insects as he was now.
Reaching the Deepest Part of the Abyss required enormous time, effort, and manpower, and to achieve that, he would need to completely ‘occupy’ the Hero Academy built above the Abyss.
Occupation.
Yes, occupation—not annihilation.
And naturally, maintaining and managing occupied territory would inevitably require a foundational force.
‘Yet the first move he made was an attack using his subordinates as living bombs?’
Even if Amon won this war, the only future remaining would be the mutual destruction of Heroes and Demons.
Amon couldn’t possibly be unaware of this, yet he still played this card.
‘What if his true objective… wasn’t occupation from the start?’
Surely not.
“Damn it!”
I cursed harshly and rushed forward, cutting through the thick smoke rising into the air.
Were they thinking the same thing I was?
Camelia, Kalid Han, and Raonel were also charging toward where Amon stood.
“Indeed, you’re quite perceptive.”
Amon watched the approaching Masters and smirked slightly.
“But.”
It was already too late.
Whoooosh!
A rift composed of black flames materialized where Amon stood.
“The Hero Academy’s Main Building was constructed with the center of the Abyss as its focal point. In other words, if one descends straight down from here…”
One could reach the Deepest Part of the Abyss.
Of course, if one were to descend in a crude straight line as his words suggested, reaching the Deepest Part of the Abyss would be impossible.
After all, the Deepest Part of the Abyss was protected by countless barriers that couldn’t be breached through physical means.
But.
Whoooosh!
Beyond the rift of black flames.
Through that gap, an endless expanse of burning earth blazed into view.
That place, evoking images of hell itself, matched the records of the Great Five Heroes—the very sight of the Deepest Part of the Abyss.
“How in the world did he…!”
Raonel clenched his teeth in incomprehension.
As Chancellor of the Hero Academy built directly above the Abyss, I knew all too well how the Abyss was shrouded in countless protective barriers.
Without such barriers, we could never have guarded the Demon God’s seal from the Demons’ grasp for the past five hundred years.
And yet.
The seal that had steadfastly protected the Abyss’s entrance for five hundred years.
The legacy of the Great Five Heroes.
Could it all be pierced with nothing more than a simple gesture from Amon?
“The reason is simple.”
Amon stood before the black fissure, a smirk playing at his lips.
“The very architect who created this seal taught me the method himself.”
“What do you mean—”
“Raonel! This is no time for questions! We must prevent him from descending into the Abyss!”
Kalid Han rushed toward the fissure.
Whoooosh!
Roiling black flames hurled Kalid Han backward.
“Ugh!”
Kalid Han staggered back, gasping in agony.
“Then, until we meet again.”
Amon let out a bitter laugh and hurled himself into the fissure.
“Stop!”
Camelia, wreathed in a rainbow aura, attempted to follow Amon into the fissure.
“Ugh—!”
Boom!
Camelia was flung backward as if repelled by an invisible force.
“It’s futile. This fissure is a gate that only those chosen by Destruction may pass through.”
A mocking voice echoed from beyond the fissure.
As the fissure suspended in mid-air began to close slowly.
“Is that so?”
I kicked off hard and threw myself into the fissure.
Unlike when Kalid Han and Camelia had approached the fissure, the black chasm showed no resistance whatsoever.
“So I can enter as well?”
“You…”
Amon’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at me.
“Didn’t you just call me the heir of Destruction?”
“Tch!”
Amon hastily unleashed demonic energy to force me back, but he lacked the power to expel me from within the fissure.
Whoosh.
The black fissure that had consumed both Amon and me sealed shut completely.
‘Where am I…’
Having followed Amon through the fissure, I surveyed my surroundings.
What lay before my eyes was an endless expanse of earth consumed by roaring flames.
It resembled the place where the primordial flames burned, the one I had witnessed in the Mental Realm.
“What a tedious nuisance you are.”
I never imagined he would follow me all the way to the Deepest Part of the Abyss.
Amon regarded me with an expression of utter exasperation.
“However… now that you have arrived here, the outcome remains unchanged.”
Unless he had reached the Deepest Part of the Abyss before me.
Having come to this place, there existed no one who could stop him.
This place was filled with the flames of Destruction.
In other words, it was the optimal location where his power could manifest at its absolute greatest.
….
Of course, I understood this fact better than anyone else.
In my previous life, the moment Amon reached the Deepest Part of the Abyss, the seal on the Demon God shattered and he was resurrected.
‘Damn it.’
Somehow I had managed to follow Amon to the Deepest Part of the Abyss, but what came next was the problem.
From my experience in my previous life, I had learned viscerally that in this place, there was no one who could defeat Amon.
‘I should have prevented Amon from coming here in the first place.’
How could I have anticipated it?
That Amon would suddenly tear open a direct passage leading to the Deepest Part of the Abyss.
“Well then, let us bring this to a close.”
Amon slowly raised his hand.
It was the moment he had yearned for ever since inscribing the stigma of the Demon God upon his chest.
“Come forth—Destruction incarnate.”
Whoooosh!
The flames that had been consuming the Abyss converged toward him.
Amon spread both arms wide, his expression radiant with ecstasy.
“Now I shall be reborn as the true master of Destruction!!!”
With a cry that sounded almost like a wail.
The flames of the Abyss gathered together.
Not toward Amon, but toward where I stood.
“What?”
What is this?
Why are they coming toward me?
“?”
“?”
Within the raging inferno.
Two bewildered gazes crossed through the empty air.

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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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