The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 79

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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 79. Consumed by the Sun (1)
The Sacred Mark.
A blessing from the gods that every hero possesses—a power that allows mere mortals to wield mana and reach the divine realm, transcending the limitations of humanity.
These Sacred Marks are divided into seven distinct types, each bestowed by a different deity.
Sun, Moon, Star, Sky, Earth, Sea, and Forest.
Of course, there exists one more—the “Demon God’s Mark,” born from the Demon God’s blessing—but when heroes speak of Sacred Marks in general, they refer to those granted by these Seven Gods.
So then, what differences exist between these marks?
The conclusion was simple: “There are no significant differences.”
Certainly, depending on the type of mark, mana could be slightly more destructive, refined, or flexible, but viewed in the broader context, they were all fundamentally the same—no decisive distinction existed among them.
On this matter, Jade Bastian, the Continent’s foremost expert on Sacred Marks, offered a direct analogy.
Sacred Marks were like differences in “skin color,” he said.
Just as people from the southern Empire possessed dark skin, those from the Holy Kingdom possessed pale white skin, and those from the Republic possessed yellow skin.
While skin color varied by race, there was no difference in being “human”—similarly, though Sacred Marks differed in type, there was no difference in being a “Sacred Mark.”
Yet because of this.
And precisely because of this.
The history of discrimination surrounding these marks had never ceased since heroes first appeared in the world.
Among them, two Sacred Marks were most despised by heroes.
The Mark of the Moon God and the Mark of the Forest God.
The reason these two marks were treated as worthless and became objects of contempt among heroes was simple.
Five hundred years ago, none of the Five Great Heroes who sealed the Demon God and saved humanity possessed either the Moon God’s Mark or the Forest God’s Mark.
Reynald Helios, the Sun Swordsman, bore the Sun God’s Mark.
Julius Bastian, the Great Sage, bore the Sea God’s Mark.
Iron Fist Ryu Jinseong bore the Earth God’s Mark.
Baek Seung-hyuk, the Divine Spear, bore the Star God’s Mark.
Grace, the Light of Life, bore the Sky God’s Mark.
Certainly, during the Demon God War, heroes bearing the Moon God’s Mark and the Forest God’s Mark sacrificed their lives fighting the Demon God’s forces, yet all that posterity remembered were the achievements of the Five Great Heroes.
A contempt born from such a trivial reason—this “Mark discrimination.”
This prejudice flourished especially among ancient noble families and those in power.
At the end of this long history of hatred, a technique was developed: the “Mark Replacement Technique.”
A method to overlay another’s mark upon one’s original mark.
Naturally, this technique was abandoned almost immediately after its creation, never properly implemented even once.
The Holy Kingdom vehemently opposed such sacrilege—daring to artificially alter a mark granted by the gods themselves—but the greater reason was the technique’s fatal “flaw.”
A Sacred Mark was not merely a vessel for mana.
The soul of the mark’s owner dwelled within it.
What would happen if one carelessly replaced such a mark with another’s?
Memory confusion and physical transformation were merely the beginning; in severe cases, convulsions would occur, and the subject would often die before the procedure even concluded.
Thus, the “Mark Replacement Technique” was forbidden as a forbidden art, and by now it had become so forgotten that few people outside of scholars specializing in mark research even knew of its existence.
And yet, why.
“You’re saying you’ll overlay my brother’s mark?”
I stared at my mother with trembling eyes.
My mother nodded, her expression brimming with excitement.
“Yes. Fortunately, Yuren’s stigma has been kept safe by the family all this time. There will be no complications with the procedure.”
“Ah, no. That’s not what I meant….”
“Yurina, you’ve suffered so much all this time trying to imitate Yuren, haven’t you? Training your swordsmanship relentlessly every single day, bearing the pressure of always having to be first.”
My mother caressed my cheek with a pitying expression.
“But once you receive Yuren’s stigma transplant, you won’t have to struggle so hard anymore.”
Not anymore.
“You won’t have to imitate the sun.”
“….”
A high-pitched ringing pierced my ears.
Tinnitus echoed through my head.
My vision blurred into a haze.
My throat constricted, and I couldn’t breathe.
I had always known.
That what my mother desired was not me.
That I, bearing the stigma of the Moon God, could never become the ‘sun’.
I had known, yet I ignored it.
I desperately denied it, clinging to the rotted threads of a futile hope.
The fact that a day like this would inevitably come.
“Mom….”
No.
“…Mother.”
“What’s wrong? Surely you’re not about to say you won’t undergo the procedure now?”
The warmth that had filled my mother’s eyes just moments before turned glacial.
“Do you forget who your brother died because of?”
“….”
“If you hadn’t pestered Yuren that day with your foolish request to pick a flower blooming on the cliff, none of this would have happened.”
My mother’s words that followed cut sharply into my chest.
From the reopened wound, the memory of that day surfaced.
-Big brother! Can’t you pick that flower for me?
It was from when I had gone to the Sacred Mountain, where the successive heads of the Helios Family were buried, following my brother.
I had pointed at a single flower blooming precariously atop the cliff and tugged at my brother’s sleeve.
Not knowing what might happen to him as he picked that flower.
The ignorant little girl had whined and pleaded with her brother, tears streaming down her cheeks.
And then.
-If only you… if only you didn’t exist! You didn’t exist!!!!
My brother died.
The hope of the Helios Family vanished so futilely, so meaninglessly.
It disappeared from the world.
“Ha, haha.”
Yes.
This is my punishment.
A penalty for the irreversible ignorance committed by a ten-year-old girl.
“…I’ll accept it.”
I nodded weakly.
At my response, Mother smiled with satisfaction.
“There’s someone I’d like to introduce you to.”
“…?”
As I tilted my head and looked at Mother, she withdrew a communication artifact from her bosom.
Pouring mana into the palm-sized orb, an image materialized amid a crystalline shimmer of light.
[Hello? It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Faust.]
A man with hair as white as snow, wearing golden monocle glasses.
“Faust specializes in Stigma research and possesses far superior skills compared to that Jade Bastian.”
“….”
Is this the person who will transplant my brother’s Stigma into me?
I stared intently at the white-haired young man visible beyond the screen, my lips pressed firmly shut.
The white-haired youth who had introduced himself as Faust smiled gently and spoke in a warm voice.
[Haha. There’s no need to worry so much. Among all those who have undergone ‘Stigma Replacement Surgery’ under my care, not a single one has experienced seizures or anything of that sort.]
“….”
[Of course, since it’s a procedure with inherent risks, there are minor side effects.]
“…What kind of side effects?”
At my question, Faust shrugged his shoulders.
[First, some memories may disappear as the Stigma changes. Ah, but please don’t worry too much. The memories that are erased are only an extremely small portion, after all.]
Faust continued speaking with a nonchalant smile.
[Don’t people forget what they had for lunch a week ago? Even if some memories disappear, you won’t experience any significant sense of dissonance.]
Watching Faust speak such absurd things as if they were nothing, I clenched my fists roughly.
Even if it’s only “some,” memories of my life disappearing could never be considered a “minor side effect.”
I wanted to strike that smug face hard, but there was no way to hit someone on the other side of a screen.
“Are there any other side effects?”
[There is one more.]
“…What is it?”
[You’re currently using a concealment artifact to appear male, aren’t you?]
I grasped the pendant around my neck tightly and nodded.
[Even if the chest size and basic skeletal structure can be adjusted to appear male, the reproductive organs cannot be changed, so you’ve likely experienced considerable difficulties.]
“What are you trying to say?”
[If you receive Yuren’s Stigma transplant, your body will undergo transformation, and your ‘sex’ itself will change.]
“…What?”
At Faust’s following words, my eyes widened.
My sex itself would change?
Then that means…
I swore to myself that from now on….
[You mean there’s no need to bother pretending to be male anymore. Isn’t that actually a benefit rather than a side effect for you, Yurina?]
“….”
Suddenly.
A mannequin I’d seen at the clothing store I visited with Dale today flashed through my mind.
A mannequin dressed in flowing, delicate garments.
‘I’ll never wear anything like that again.’
Why was that?
I thought I’d already abandoned the life of ‘Yurina’ long ago.
I thought I’d crumpled all the foolish fantasies of a naive girl into a corner of my heart.
“Ah, ugh.”
Why did my heart ache so piercingly?
“Yurina.”
Mother pulled me into her embrace and continued.
“For this mother’s sake, for the Helios Family’s sake… and for your brother too.”
My body burned hot.
The heat spreading through my heart consumed my entire being.
“Become the sun for me.”
Yes.
As if swallowed whole by the sun itself.
* * *
“Ugh. I never expected Lucas Kane to be waiting at the Dormitory entrance.”
I rubbed my head where Lucas Kane had struck me and entered my Dormitory room.
I’d been prepared to be called out and beaten to a pulp tomorrow for skipping class on a whim, but I never imagined I’d get pummeled today instead of waiting until tomorrow.
“Still, I wonder if Yuren’s okay….”
I’d told Yuren not to return to the Dormitory today and to hide in the Private Training Ground instead, unsure what Rosanna might do to him, but he’d brushed off my concerns and headed to his own Dormitory before I could stop him.
‘Maybe I should send him a message.’
I sent Yuren a message through the Hero Watch asking if he’d made it back safely.
“Hmm. Is he asleep?”
Well.
So much time had passed while I was held captive by Lucas Kane that it was already quite late.
‘I’ll just ask him directly when we meet tomorrow.’
Just as I removed the Hero Watch and lay down on my bed.
-Ding.
A clear chiming sound from the Hero Watch.
“Huh?”
I sat up and activated the Hero Watch to find a message from Yuren.
The message displayed on the holographic window read.
[Dale, can you meet up for a moment right now?]
“…What?”
Meet up?
At this hour?

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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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