The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 72

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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 72. In Search of the Demon Sword (4)
A sharp, metallic stench pierced my nostrils.
In the center of a vast Cavern shrouded in crimson mist.
A blood-red blade bound in iron chains stood planted in the stone.
“It’s been a while.”
I gazed at the blood-red blade and let a faint smile play across my lips.
The first time I came here, my legs trembled uncontrollably beneath the overwhelming pressure radiating from the Demon Sword.
Recalling memories from my past life, I approached the Demon Sword with leisurely steps.
“Have you been well?”
Clang, clang, clang!
As I waved my hand affectionately as if greeting an old friend, the blade trembled in response to my call.
No—it wasn’t just trembling as if responding; it was actually ‘responding’ to my words.
Begging me to free it from this place at once.
‘The Crimson Archbishop, Beskal.’
Five hundred years ago, during the Demon God War, a cruel Demon Human who claimed countless human lives was sealed within a blade, creating the ‘Demon Sword Beskal.’
“Heh.”
I approached the iron chains binding the blade.
Clang clang clang clang clang!
The Demon Sword’s movements grew increasingly violent.
“What, begging to be freed?”
I couldn’t see a face or hear a voice.
Yet I could almost visualize Beskal trapped within the blade, desperately pleading.
“Fine. I’ll free you.”
Clang, clang….
It hadn’t expected me to agree so readily.
Rather than trembling with joy, the Demon Sword’s movements became cautious, wary.
“Don’t be scared, you fool. I really will free you.”
I drew the blade at my waist and channeled mana into it.
An ashen aura wrapped around the blade as ethereal flames flickered to life.
The flames were far weaker than when using ‘Avatar’ or ‘Ignition.’
‘But this much is sufficient for now.’
I swung my blade toward the iron chains binding the Demon Sword.
Solar Blade.
Third Form, Light Severance.
Kaaaaang!
The horizontal slash collided with the iron chains restraining the Demon Sword.
The formidable chains that had sealed the Demon Sword for five hundred years were severed without resistance.
Krrrrrung!
The entire Cavern trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
[Hehehehe… hahahahahaha!]
A laugh filled with madness echoed through my mind.
Not the heavy, resonant voice I’d heard before entering, but an unpleasant sound like metal scraping against steel tore through my head.
[Finally…! Finally freed from this suffocating seal!]
A terrifying aura spread across the surrounding space.
A dizzying wave of power swept through the entire Cavern with such intensity that I couldn’t even imagine the being was trapped in a sword without a physical form.
“The Cavern’s going to collapse, you bastard. I get that you’re excited about being freed, but try to keep it down.”
[You….]
The sword lodged in the center suddenly rose into the air with a whoosh.
[Hehehehe. Thank you, human. Thanks to you, I’ve been freed from a long seal.]
Krrrrgh!
The blood-red mist filling the Cavern gathered around the sword.
The sword floating in the air shifted its form like slime, transforming into the shape of a blood-formed humanoid creature.
“In return.”
Within the thick stench of blood that made my nose twist.
Yellow eyes formed on the creature’s face turned toward me.
“I shall grant you the honor of becoming my new flesh.”
A voice that came as actual sound, unlike before.
A voice dripping with sordid desire and murderous intent echoed in my ears.
“Ugh, how predictable. So damn predictable.”
Watching Beskal, formed from quivering blood, I let out a deep sigh.
“Why is there nothing different about you from before?”
“…What? Before?”
Doubt flickered in Beskal’s eyes.
“Before? Don’t tell me you know Reynald Helios?”
“Huh?”
“Kehehehe! So that’s how it was! I was wondering why I faintly sensed that damn bastard’s aura in my domain—so you’re his lackey!”
Perhaps Beskal had sensed Yuren’s aura, who was likely sleeping soundly in the Tent by now.
Beskal unleashed a thick killing intent toward me and shouted.
“…That’s not what I meant by ‘before.'”
I swallowed a bitter laugh and gripped my sword.
The “before” I had spoken of.
Memories from my previous life flashed through my mind.
‘My entire Mercenary Company that had fought alongside this monster for years was annihilated.’
After a month of searching, we discovered a secret chamber in the Ruins and, following the client’s instructions, released the seal on the Demon Sword.
The result was total annihilation.
The mercenaries, except for me, were absorbed by Beskal’s hand, reduced to mere puddles of blood.
‘I was so terrified back then that I even wet myself.’
I gripped my sword, pushing away the shameful memory.
‘Well then.’
A formidable enemy I couldn’t have dared face in my previous life.
Against a monster that was nothing short of a nightmare.
‘Let me see how much I’ve changed.’
A blazing ashen aura.
I pour strength into my grip on the blade and plant my feet firmly.
Boom!
With a heavy tremor, the surrounding landscape stretches and blurs.
In the blink of an eye, I reach Beskal and slash downward.
Clang!
Ashen and crimson collide.
A savage wave of force reverberates through the Cavern.
Crash, crash, crash, crash!
A fierce exchange of blows at a speed the eye can barely follow.
In the tense clash between ashen and crimson, the crimson retreats first.
“Ugh!”
Saliva drips from Beskal’s mouth.
His body, composed of blood, cannot withstand the impact and convulses violently, like a stone thrown into still water.
“Indeed… you have the skill to be arrogant!”
Beskal, staggering backward, roars fiercely and thrashes about.
From his body of blood, long tentacles of crimson extend outward.
At the tips of these blood-formed tentacles, gleaming sharp fangs.
Dozens of fangs shoot forth from all directions, aiming for me.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Rather than evade the fangs shooting from all sides, I throw myself forward.
Concentrating mana into my feet, I stomp the ground violently.
“Berald Combat Art.”
Earth Tremor.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The Cavern floor shatters, and an earthen wall of stone fragments erupts upward.
The crimson fangs shooting from all directions are swept up by the wall and deflected away.
“What—!”
Before Beskal’s cry of astonishment can even finish.
Boom!
My fist, brimming with mana, slams into Beskal’s abdomen.
With a sound like a shell detonating, the blood composing Beskal’s body scatters in all directions.
But only for a moment.
With a gurgling sound, the hole in Beskal’s abdomen—large as a human head—regenerates at remarkable speed.
“Tch…! An attack of this caliber won’t work on me…!”
“Is that so?”
Then what.
I have no choice.
“So I just need to keep smashing until it breaks through, right?”
Berald’s martial technique.
Heaven Shattering.
Boom!
Beskal’s body burst apart once more.
I didn’t stop there, unleashing a barrage of consecutive punches.
Boom! Crash! Bang!
“Ugh! Hack! Grrrrgh!”
Beskal’s body, unable to keep pace with its own regeneration, gradually shrank in size.
“You, you damned brat!”
Grrrrgh!
Blood churned violently.
Beskal’s body, composed entirely of blood, spread wide as a crimson Demon Sword rose into the air.
“Die!”
The Demon Sword, wrapped in blood, surged forward at a terrifying speed.
I met its charge with my own blade, releasing a tremendous aura.
“Ignite.”
Sizzzzle!
With a sound like flesh burning, ashen smoke erupted from every pore of my body.
The flames wrapping around the blade surged fiercely.
Solar Sword.
Seventh Form, Halo.
A ring of fire formed by wrapping around the blade.
The ring of fire rotated savagely, continuously amplifying the magical power that composed it.
And then.
Krrrrrash!
A deafening roar shook the entire Cavern.
The Demon Sword, struck by the ring of fire, was sent flying pathetically and embedded itself in the ground.
[This… this can’t be real…]
The voice of the Demon Sword, its body of blood now completely gone, echoed through my mind.
[How… how is this even possible!]
Even though he was trapped within the blade and unable to use his full power, he had once been the “Blood Archbishop,” a pillar of the Demon God’s forces.
He had never suffered such a humiliating defeat even against Reynald Helios, the very one who had imprisoned him in this blade—yet now he was being overwhelmingly crushed by a mere boy who looked barely over twenty.
[Who… who exactly are you…?]
Beskal’s blade trembled as he stared at Dale.
Dale, offering no response, strode steadily toward the blade embedded in the ground.
Ashen smoke hung thick in the air.
Flames blazed along the gripped blade.
Through the gray haze, a sinister green gaze pierced through.
[Don’t… don’t come any closer!]
Beskal, stripped of all dignity as the “Crimson Archbishop,” shrieked pathetically.
He writhed desperately to escape from Dale, but his body remained trapped within the blade.
The Demon Sword embedded in the ground trembled violently, clattering with each convulsion.
[Don’t come any closer!]
I ignored the anguished screams echoing through the space.
I grasped the Demon Sword planted in the ground.
“Damn. Still as annoyingly loud as ever.”
I poured the Primordial Flame into the Demon Sword I held.
[Ahhhhhhh! Stop, please!]
A death cry reverberated through my mind.
The Primordial Flame flowing into the Demon Sword devoured Beskal’s consciousness with ravenous hunger.
About five minutes passed like that.
Shhhhhh.
The grey smoke billowing from my body gradually faded, and the flames that had engulfed the Demon Sword began to subside.
No voice came from the Demon Sword anymore.
After confirming that Beskal’s consciousness had completely vanished, I lifted the blood-red, gleaming blade.
“Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped unbidden.
In my past life, how much suffering had I endured to erase Beskal’s consciousness dwelling within this Demon Sword?
‘Back then, I thought he’d actually take over my body.’
The blessing of Rebirth didn’t merely restore physical death.
Spiritual death as well.
That is, the moment my consciousness was completely consumed by mental domination, the blessing of Rebirth could restore even that consciousness to its original state.
Using that principle, I had waged a grueling battle against Beskal’s consciousness attempting to consume my body for nearly a year before finally succeeding in completely erasing his consciousness from the Demon Sword.
‘But this time, I erased Beskal’s consciousness in just five minutes.’
It was a moment that made me acutely realize how much I had changed from my past self.
“Actually, I never expected I’d win this easily.”
Even accounting for the fact that Beskal was sealed within the blade and couldn’t use his full power, I hadn’t anticipated overwhelming him so completely.
“Just how much stronger have I become?”
I looked down at my body, still faintly leaking ash, and furrowed my brow.

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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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