The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 83

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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 83. The Moon Swallowed by the Sun (5)
A dim underground chamber.
Within the chamber where only the ethereal glow of magical circles carved densely across the floor and walls flickered in quiet splendor, a noblewoman in an ornate dress furrowed her brow with displeasure.
“The first Sun Gate has been breached?”
Rosanna Helios, the head of the Helios Family, narrowed her eyes at the absurd report coming through the Hero Watch.
The Sun Gate, under constant surveillance by hundreds of security personnel around the clock, had been penetrated?
“How many intruders?”
“W-well, just one person.”
“One person? You’re telling me one person?”
Rosanna glared at the Hero Watch from which the security commander’s voice emanated, her eyes narrowing further.
“Get your head straight and report accurately. What exactly is the situation?”
[As I reported, sir! The intruder subdued all 282 security personnel guarding the Sun Gate single-handedly and breached through the Main Gate!]
“….”
Not by sneaking over the relatively lightly guarded outer walls, but by breaking through nearly 300 security personnel head-on?
‘This makes no sense….’
Of course, the 300 security personnel weren’t ‘Heroes’ blessed with stigmata, but they were all skilled fighters equipped with magical artifacts.
No matter how superhuman a Hero’s strength was, breaking through 300 armed security personnel alone was no simple feat.
“Report any distinctive features of the intruder.”
[G-gray hair and wearing a Hero Academy Candidate Program uniform!]
Gray hair and a Hero Academy Candidate Program uniform?
‘Surely not.’
Rosanna’s expression hardened like stone.
The face of that impudent Republic mongrel who had dared to talk back to her on the day of the observation class flashed through her mind.
“…Where is the intruder now?”
[Rapidly approaching the mansion along the path!]
“Deploy the Knights of the Sun to suppress the intruder.”
The second Sun Gate protecting the Helios Family.
The knight order, ranked among the top three in the Empire, was permanently stationed within the Helios Family Mansion grounds and tasked with protecting the family from external invasion.
[Understood!]
With the sound of hurried footsteps rushing away, silence descended upon the underground chamber.
“Mother, surely you don’t mean….”
“Don’t get up. Just lie still.”
Rosanna turned to Yurina, who was attempting to rise from the treatment table, and bit her lip with an irritated expression.
Several minutes passed.
Another report came through the Hero Watch.
[The Knights of the Sun are currently engaged with the intruder!]
“Well done.”
At the ensuing report, Rosanna exhaled a sigh of relief.
Unlike the security personnel guarding the entrance, the Knights of the Sun were an elite force composed entirely of awakened ‘Heroes’ bearing stigmata.
Moreover, it was a formidable order formed by selecting only graduates from the Hero Academy with outstanding records—not some ragtag assembly of mediocre Heroes.
The Knights of the Sun, capable of standing against even large-scale guilds, would make short work of a mere Candidate Program recruit….
[T-The Knights of the Sun are being pushed back!]
“What?”
[Currently, half of the Knights of the Sun have lost consciousness and fallen, and the remaining half are barely holding on!]
“W-What are you even saying right now?”
Rosanna brought her face closer to the Hero Watch, her expression bewildered.
Less than five minutes had passed since the report of combat, yet this made absolutely no sense.
Half of the Knights of the Sun unconscious?
The remaining half barely managing to hold their ground?
‘What in the world is happening?’
The situation was so absurd that she wanted to believe it was some elaborate surprise orchestrated by the Unit Commander.
[Unit Commander Robert is currently engaged with the intruder!]
[R-Robert is being overwhelmed!]
[Robert has fallen! All Knights of the Sun are now combat-incapacitated!]
At the successive reports, Rosanna’s face went pale.
Robert Helios, her closest confidant and commander of the Knights of the Sun, was a hero who carried the blood of the Helios Family.
Of course, as the child of a concubine rather than a legitimate heir, he had never mastered the Sun Blade, the secret technique of the Helios Family.
Yet he was still a formidable hero, ranking within the top hundred of the Three-Nation Hero Rankings—a so-called “ranker.”
“A Candidate Program recruit… defeated a ranker?”
And it wasn’t even a hard-fought victory where Robert barely managed to lose.
Judging by the timing of the reports, Robert hadn’t lasted even three minutes before being overwhelmed.
And that was with the combined efforts of the other Knights of the Sun.
“What is this… What exactly is happening?”
Rosanna pressed her palm to her forehead, unable to comprehend the situation unfolding before her.
It was already absurd enough that a single Candidate Program recruit had stormed the Helios Family Mansion alone, but to breach both Sun Gates—which had never been penetrated in five hundred years of history—in the blink of an eye….
It would have been impossible unless an Archbishop-class Demon had attacked.
[The intruder is heading toward the mansion!]
“S-Stop them!”
[But there are no more troops available….]
“There must be forces on standby inside the mansion! Take every last one of them and block that bastard!”
[Y-Yes, understood!]
The voice grew distant as the urgency in it faded.
“The situation appears to be deteriorating,” Faust remarked, standing before the surgical table and calmly observing the unfolding events.
“Ah, n-no! It’s fine! Please don’t worry and focus on the procedure, Master!”
“Hmm. This hardly seems like an appropriate time for surgery….”
Faust shrugged and continued.
“But there’s truly nothing to worry about, is there?”
“Pardon? What do you mean…?”
“The Helios Family has three Sun Gates, after all.”
“The Helios Family has three Sun Gates.”
“….”
At Faust’s words, Rosanna’s expression stiffened visibly.
The Helios Family’s third Sun Gate.
Within the mansion lay a protective barrier that the Great Sage Julius Bastian had personally installed in ages past.
“But if we activate the protective barrier….”
Rosanna trailed off, biting her lip firmly.
The protective barrier Julius had installed was not designed to merely ‘suppress’ intruders.
It was a barrier specialized in ‘elimination’—one that would reduce invaders to ash in an instant through countless magical barrages.
“Ugh….”
Even if he was a Republic bastard, Rosanna found herself hesitating at the thought of killing a candidate who had only just turned twenty.
“What are you hesitating for? Surely you weren’t thinking of showing mercy to a ruffian who dared breach the family mansion?”
“No, it’s not that….”
“Then quickly contact the security forces and activate the third Sun Gate.”
“….”
Rosanna gazed silently down at her Hero Watch.
[An intruder has breached the mansion!]
Urgent reports continued streaming across the Hero Watch display.
“Is there anything more important right now than creating a ‘sun’ for the Helios Family?”
Faust’s honeyed whisper continued.
As I swallowed hard and opened my mouth to speak.
“No, this can’t happen!”
Yurina, who had been lying on the surgical table, suddenly jolted upright.
It was not difficult to discern the identity of the ‘intruder’ currently wreaking havoc within the mansion.
‘Dale.’
I didn’t know why he had come here.
But among all the candidates I knew, only Dale possessed the strength to neutralize hundreds of security guards and the Knights of the Sun single-handedly.
My joy at Dale coming to rescue me was short-lived.
The moment I heard the order to activate the ‘protective barrier,’ a chilling dread coursed through my spine.
‘I have to stop Mother.’
No matter how strong Dale was, there was no way he could survive a protective barrier deployed by the Great Sage himself.
“Stop, Mother—ahhh!”
Crackle!
At that moment, brilliant light erupted from the magical circle surrounding the surgical table.
The burst of radiance transformed into chains that bound Yurina’s body.
“Ugh! Release me!”
“It’s unbecoming to talk back to your mother.”
Faust offered a cold smile as she turned to face Rosanna.
“Rosanna?”
“…I understand.”
Rosanna picked up her Hero Watch with resolve.
“Activate the barrier.”
[W-wait, a barrier, ma’am?]
“What, should I just sit here twiddling my thumbs while intruders breach the mansion itself?”
[N-no, of course not. I’ll activate it at once.]
Uuuuuuuuung!
The Great Sage’s barrier activated, and a powerful surge of magical energy transmitted all the way down to the Underground Chamber.
“No, wait! Please sto—”
Yurina stretched out her hand with a desperate expression.
But her urgent cry never had a chance to finish.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
A terrifying explosion shook the entire mansion.
Cracks spider-webbed across the Underground Chamber’s ceiling as dust and rubble cascaded down.
Soon, a report came through the Hero Watch.
[Protective barrier confirmed operational.]
“Phew. Good. What happened to the intruder?”
[I’ll go check directly.]
The sound of someone grabbing a communicator and rushing off urgently echoed through the channel.
The Unit Commander, who had been coughing and wheezing as smoke filled the mansion from the magical bombardment, finally spoke.
[Intruder confirmed dead.]
“Well done.”
Rosanna nodded with a bright smile.
“Ah…”
Yurina stood frozen, her eyes wide open.
“Ah, uh…”
Yurina wrapped her trembling arms around herself.
“Ah, uuuaaaaaaagh!”
She convulsed and let out a piercing scream, her body writhing.
Shackles of light dug into her flesh as blood seeped from the wounds.
“You, you, how dare youuuu!”
Yurina glared at Rosanna with bloodshot eyes.
“Yurina, you…”
“I’ll kill you! I swear I will!”
Rosanna’s expression shifted to shock as she watched Yurina radiate murderous intent toward her.
A daughter she had never seen like this before.
The gentle lamb who had always obeyed her every word was gone—in her place writhed a demon-faced Yurina, drenched in blood, thrashing about with all her might.
“You dare speak to your mother that way—”
Just as she was about to scold Yurina harshly.
[…What?]
A bewildered voice crackled through the Hero Watch.
[Why… why is it still alive?]
“…What did you say?”
Rosanna narrowed her eyes and lifted the Hero Watch to her ear.
“What’s the situation?”
[Ah, ah. No, don’t come.]
“Unit Commander?”
[Don’t come, you monster bastard!]
Crash!
The communication cut out with the sound of something shattering.
“What in the world is….”
Rosanna stared down at the Hero Watch with a dumbfounded expression as the connection died.
Thud, thud.
Footsteps echoing from beyond the Underground Chamber door.
Rosanna’s trembling eyes fixed on the firmly shut Underground Chamber door.
“Surely not….”
Before her words could finish.
Boom!
The Underground Chamber door shattered with a deafening roar.
Dense gray smoke billowed forth.
Through the swirling ash, a pair of fierce green eyes gleamed savagely.
“Yuren… no, was it Yurina?”
Dale walked leisurely into the Underground Chamber and reached out toward Yurina, who lay bound to the surgical table.
“I’ve come to take you.”

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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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