The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 58

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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 58. Midterm Evaluation (3)
“Grrrrr.”
A low, rumbling growl.
The wolf beast crouched low, its gaze sharp with wariness as it glared at me.
I swallowed a smirk as I regarded the wolf beast.
“What, haven’t seen me in ages and you won’t even say hello?”
“Krraaagh!”
Instead of an answer came a savage shriek.
The beast, which had been watching for an opening, kicked off the ground and lunged at me.
In my past life, I wouldn’t have managed a single proper resistance before those terrifying fangs tore into my throat.
“Really, you’re breaking my heart here.”
Berald Combat Arts.
Heaven’s Reversal.
Whoooosh!
The wolf beast that had been charging at me spun through the air and crashed hard into the ground.
“Kyieek!”
The beast thrashed across the floor, shrieking in pain.
“Krrgh…?”
Did it not even comprehend what had happened to it?
The wolf beast staggered to its feet, its eyes clouded with confusion as it stared at me.
“Hah. Memories, memories.”
While the wolf beast remained bewildered, I let out a hollow laugh as fragments of my past life surfaced in my mind.
My former helplessness.
The memories of those weak, pathetic days.
“They say that time beautifies all memories, don’t they?”
Well.
Despite the countless years that had passed.
Those memories remained unpleasantly vivid, like soup stains on a shirt.
“Seems that’s not always the case.”
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue sharply and stepped toward the wolf beast.
“Kr, krrrrgh!”
As I approached, the wolf beast began backing away hesitantly.
Fear flickered in its three blood-red, gleaming eyes.
“What, are you scared?”
“Kyi… kyiing.”
“Don’t worry.”
I was once like you.
Shing!
A sharp blade cut across the wolf beast’s front leg.
Blood poured from the severed wound.
“Krraaagh!”
The wolf beast thrashed in agony, releasing a pitiful shriek.
I approached the beast collapsed on the ground and raised my sword.
“There, one point.”
Thunk.
I drove the blade downward, piercing through the beast’s skull.
The sensation of shattering bone and penetrating brain matter transmitted through the sword’s edge into my hands.
“Ah, nothing feels more satisfying than this.”
Who was the fool spouting nonsense about revenge being hollow?
In my past life, I’d done nothing but have my throat torn out by this beast—but now, driving a blade through its skull in return filled me with a satisfaction beyond measure.
‘Those bastards who claim revenge is hollow are just terrified of getting what’s coming to them.’
Repaying what you’ve suffered—or more than you’ve suffered—could never feel hollow.
“Hah.”
Brimming with fulfillment, I activated my Hero Watch.
I checked the section marked [Score Status] to verify my points had increased, but—
“…Huh?”
The score displayed on the screen was zero.
‘What’s this?’
Now that I thought about it, the Hero Watch was supposed to automatically recognize a successful beast hunt and sound an alarm, but no such alarm had triggered.
“It can’t possibly still be alive.”
Unless this creature had awakened something like ‘Blessing of Resurrection’ like I had, there was no way it could survive with its skull split in half and brain matter spilling out.
‘Is there a system error?’
I tilted my head and examined the wolf beast’s corpse more carefully.
“…It’s not here.”
Test beasts normally bore some kind of marking indicating they were Academy-issued creatures, but I saw nothing of the sort.
‘There’s no trace of the marking being removed either.’
The markers used for beast management were fundamentally secured so firmly that they couldn’t fall off without a trace like some lost item.
“So this isn’t a beast prepared by the Academy for the test…”
With that thought, several odd details suddenly became apparent.
‘This beast… it definitely ambushed me.’
As Lucas Kane had warned, this test was genuinely dangerous—candidates who didn’t understand the rules could actually die.
Conversely, as long as you ‘understood the rules properly,’ there was no reason to die.
‘They would have used relatively less aggressive beasts for the test.’
Unlike Bianca’s familiar, the Unicorn, which didn’t initiate attacks at all, test beasts rarely burst from the undergrowth to ambush like this one just had.
‘I didn’t even enter the area where it was lying in wait first.’
In my past life, without the ability to sense presence, I couldn’t tell if I’d entered the beast’s territory first or if the beast had pursued me.
But this time, I could be certain.
‘This creature came here to kill me.’
And it had picked up my scent from quite a distance away.
“So that means… there’s a high possibility this magical beast entered from outside the Test Site.”
The magical beast that had first taught me the meaning of ‘death’ in my previous life was actually a creature that had flowed in from beyond the boundaries.
A hollow laugh escaped me at this truth I’d never even considered.
‘I should report this to the Academy.’
I took a photograph with my Hero Watch and submitted it to the Academy.
“Ugh. This won’t cause the exam to be suspended, will it?”
It felt like things were about to become unnecessarily complicated, but what could I do about it?
I couldn’t simply ignore an unmarked magical beast roaming freely within the Test Site.
‘I need to catch the Unicorn before the exam gets suspended.’
Even if the exam were suspended, defeating the Unicorn—which served as a hidden boss of sorts in this test—would likely have its achievements recognized in my final score.
“Let’s see….”
I looked around, then kicked off the ground and climbed onto a nearby tree.
I gazed down at the Forest spread out like a verdant sea and concentrated my magical power into my eyes.
The most fundamental effect of magical power was physical enhancement.
Beyond simply hardening the body, this enhancement also amplified the senses themselves.
‘At least… I can’t see it with my naked eye.’
The trees were too dense; even from this height, the Unicorn remained hidden from view.
“Then there’s another way.”
I took a deep breath and spread both hands wide.
I dispersed my magical power throughout my entire body into my palms.
Then I clapped with all my might.
Berald Martial Arts.
Hand Thunder.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
A terrifying explosion echoed across the entire Mountain.
Birds hidden between the tree trunks took flight in unison, and from all directions came the startled cries of Candidates and magical beasts.
Among them.
‘Found it.’
I glimpsed blue lightning flickering above the dense canopy.
‘Wind Step.’
This time, I dispersed my magical power into my legs instead of my hands and kicked off the tree trunk beneath me.
My body became light as wind itself.
I sprinted toward where the blue lightning had flashed, treading across the tightly interwoven branches.
“Hyiiiiing!”
After running for several minutes.
I spotted the form of a white horse near a Stream where water flowed gently.
Pure white fur covering its entire body.
A horn rising between its brows and savage lightning crackling around it.
Three pairs of eyes covering its face.
The magical beast I’d seen through the hologram raised its front hooves threateningly and looked around warily.
Was it because of that sound just now?
The unicorn stood on alert, its pristine mane bristling upright.
I’ll wait for it to calm down a bit first.
Fighting head-on wouldn’t be a major problem.
But there was no reason to foolishly engage in a direct confrontation with a magical beast that was so wary—especially when I’d be throwing away the advantage of striking first.
“Purrr.”
The unicorn, which had been glancing around with cautious eyes, soon lowered the hoof it had been holding high.
Clop, clop.
With elegant strides, the unicorn moved leisurely toward the Stream.
In that moment, I could no longer detect the sharp wariness from before.
It’s certainly remarkably docile for a magical beast.
Magical beasts, having absorbed magical energy into their bodies and undergone transformation, typically possessed ferocious and savage natures.
Especially in magical beasts that had absorbed large quantities of magical energy—those with many “eyes”—such traits manifested far more prominently.
This one wasn’t radiating killing intent around it, and it was controlling the magical energy within itself well.
It made sense why Bianca would use it as a servant beast.
Though I’d heard that unicorns were supposedly attracted to virgins.
Generally, magical beasts tended to retain the characteristics of the beasts they were before transformation.
For example, if a wolf transformed into a magical beast, it would have the trait of forming packs like wolves; if a mole transformed, it would have the habit of digging burrows and hiding underground.
Of course, not all of them were like that.
Sometimes, upon transforming into a magical beast, an individual would develop peculiar traits completely unrelated to its former self.
The perfect example of that was the unicorn right in front of me.
Among magical beasts transformed from horses—those with a horn on their forehead, commonly called “unicorns”—there existed the bizarre trait of being extremely attracted to human virgins.
Ah, could it be… the reason Bianca can use this magical beast as a servant is…
Ahem.
I’ll stop my speculation here out of respect for Lucas Kane.
Well then… it seems its guard has dropped.
Time to begin the real hunt.
“Hush.”
I drew in a slow breath, spreading magical power throughout my body.
I approached the unicorn with silent footsteps.
Now!
When I’d closed the distance to the unicorn.
I pushed off with my feet and drew my sword.
“Purrr?!”
The unicorn, sensing my approach, flinched and stumbled backward.
Too late, beast.
I bared my teeth in a grin as I thrust my blade toward the bell hanging around the unicorn’s neck.
Solar Blade
Fourth Form, Flash.
The sword, transformed into a single streak of light, shot forward with fierce momentum.
Just as my blade was about to cleave through the bell.
“Hah!”
A sharp battle cry accompanied a golden sword aura that streaked forward in a straight line.
Clang!
My blade bounced back with a clear, ringing sound.
The sword I’d thrust toward the bell grazed the unicorn’s cheek instead.
“Neeeigh!”
The unicorn shrieked with excitement, blood trickling from its wounded cheek.
“Tsk.”
I’d been hoping to shatter the bell in one strike, but instead I clicked my tongue and put some distance between myself and the creature.
Turning toward where the golden sword aura had come from, I spotted Yuren catching his breath.
“Ha, you chased after me that quickly?”
Yuren must have seen the azure lightning burst into the sky and rushed here immediately.
‘But.’
I glanced back at Yuren with a smirk.
“Sorry, but I’m taking first place, Yuren.”
Compared to me, who’d already closed in right before the unicorn, Yuren was over a hundred meters away.
On top of that, I was the one who’d made the first move against the creature.
Naturally, the unicorn’s attention should be focused on me….
“Neighhhhhh!”
The unicorn spun around and charged straight at Yuren, snorting fiercely.
“…What?”
No, damn it.
“Why are you going over there, you stubborn horse!”
I’m the one who pulled its aggro!!!

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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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