I Escaped the Exile Story Only To Find It Was a Regret Trope

46 – 9# Sage Subjugation (3)

Exile Story.

A hero who saved the world is exiled to another world or back to their original world due to someone else’s greed. The story of those left behind regretting it.

But.

At least, I wanted to believe you were a true comrade. We overcame countless hardships together. We saved each other’s lives countless times.

But now, there are no comrades left to laugh and chat with comfortably. We’ve walked too many paths to turn back. Now, only one thing remains.

To take a life. Whether it’s his or mine. This duel will bring an end to it. Knowing that, I couldn’t just stand still.

The overall situation was turning in Yushin’s favor. Cutting off the arm with the first strike was the biggest factor. But he couldn’t let his guard down.

‘That guy had many trump cards.’

The sage always pulled out unexpected trump cards. When they were comrades, it was reassuring, but as an enemy, it was terrifying.

Just like now.

Yushin struck the sage’s only remaining arm hard. Unable to withstand the force, the sage’s upper body was completely exposed.

It seemed like a perfect opportunity, but Yushin’s accumulated experience sounded an alarm. An alarm that had never been wrong before.

This time too, Yushin trusted his instincts and retreated. And as soon as Yushin moved back, flames flickered in the spot where he had just been.

“Your instincts are still sharp.”

The sage clicked his tongue in regret. The flickering flames took the shape of a human arm. He knew what it was.

“The Fire Spirit King Ifrit, so you had it after all.”

“It’s a mutually beneficial relationship through a proper contract.”

“A fraudulent contract is still a contract.”

The Fire Spirit King Ifrit. Originally, it was a comrade who fought alongside the sage through a contract. But after the sage’s fall, it was completely captured.

Now, it was just a weapon, with all its will removed. Yushin sighed in relief inwardly. The arm imbued with the essence of the Fire Spirit King.

Even with the current Yushin, who had been enhanced by reinforcement magic, it was still dangerous. Even in his prime, that attack had been extremely threatening.

‘But even so, I can’t afford to widen the distance here.’

It was true that it was threatening, but even so, he couldn’t afford to widen the distance here. If he did, the sage would regain his pace and launch a fierce attack.

Closing the distance again in such a state was extremely difficult, even for Yushin. Therefore, he had no choice but to be as cautious as possible with Ifrit’s prosthetic hand.

He had no choice but to aim for an opening. Quickly finishing his judgment in his head, Yushin started his attack again. Seeing Yushin closing the distance again, the sage clicked his tongue.

‘As expected, he won’t go down easily.’

Even if he used variables, Yushin would quickly figure out the countermeasures or ways to deal with them and execute them without hesitation. Indeed, a hero is a hero, even if he’s rotten.

But even so, it was nothing more than a correctable error. In the end, the winner would be himself. The sage clenched his hand as if grabbing a lifeline.

With a rustling sound, flames erupted from the ground. Yushin frowned. It wasn’t magic. Rather than magic, it was an alien power.

“Can you even use Kang Hyun-woo’s power?”

“You have to do at least this much to say you’ve taken the vessel, don’t you?”

“Bragging, just bragging.”

Despite being defeated. Not only did he survive disgracefully, but now he was even taking over the body and life of a complete stranger. Saying such things.

No, let’s not turn our heads. This is partly my fault. If I had properly finished off the sage? At least this wouldn’t have happened.

But unfortunately, Yushin didn’t have any means to turn this situation around. So what should he do? The answer is simple.

Revenge.

At the very least, delivering judgment to that trash who stole his life. That is the minimum duty and repayment Yushin can do as a hero, no, as a human.

This time, Ifrit’s prosthetic hand was pulled out from the sage’s shoulder. It was called a prosthetic hand, but it was practically a versatile hand. It could be used as a prosthetic hand.

Or it could fly through the air and spew fire like now. It could also grab and melt things. Ifrit’s will had disappeared, but its essence remained.

In other words, if you got caught by that thing once, it was game over.

However, Yushin was confident that he would never get caught. He had already fought countless unreasonable enemies like this. The sage was no different.

‘I will definitely destroy him.’

With a heart forged like steel, Yushin walked forward again. At the same time, the sage also rushed towards Yushin.

* * *

30 minutes.

It felt like such a long time had passed, but in reality, only 30 minutes had passed. With the continuous fight, the sage was gradually getting physically exhausted.

On the other hand, Yushin was still relatively fresh. The difference between the vanguard and the rearguard was clear. But even so, the sage did not lose his composure. What on earth?

What is he hiding? Feeling an ominous premonition, Yushin started to press the sage even more to finish it quickly. The sage smiled and said.

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

Brushing off the sage’s provocation, Yushin did not stop moving. Indeed, the overall situation was favorable to Yushin, but he couldn’t shake off his anxiety.

‘What is it? What is that guy plotting?’

Thinking about it, the sage already had various kinds of magic. For example, teleportation, or other enhancement-type magic. And so on.

He even had many spells that could be used in close combat. Except for Ifrit, he hadn’t used any of them. Was it a burden?

Or was he plotting something else? It was impossible to know his true intentions. But that didn’t mean he could stop attacking. Attack, attack, and attack again.

Crash! Bang!!

Yushin’s fist finally pierced through the sage’s defense and inflicted direct damage. The sage flew back and crashed into the wall. Yushin spoke.

“What have you been doing since earlier?”

Yushin wanted to finish it quickly in his own way. But since earlier, this guy had been pouring all his energy into defense, making it hard to break through. No, wait. Defense?

Yushin had already experienced a similar fight. Very recently, too. Something finally clicked in Yushin’s mind, but it was already too late.

“You’re slow to catch on, or did you not expect it at all?”

“You b*stard!!”

“I see, this is the power called ‘Blossoming’ in this place.”

“……!!”

“I can only implement it as it is for now… but this alone is enough.”

Eventually, wings of flame appeared on the sage’s back. It was the power of Blossoming that Hyunwoo had used. But Yushin heard something he couldn’t ignore.

“You can implement it as it is? Then you can implement other things at will?”

“Something like that. Blossoming is ultimately the power to implement one’s values as they are. It’s not much different from magic. It’s just that the direction of use is different.”

“……I see, I understand clearly.”

If not now, there would be no chance.

If he didn’t defeat him here and now, he would never be able to win against him again. Yushin felt this clearly. It wasn’t just about magic.

This guy was always researching new powers and getting stronger. Moreover, if he got hold of the power called Blossoming here, he would become unimaginably strong.

But what could reverse the current situation? Yushin pondered. But there was no time left for him to ponder.

Using his wings, the sage soared into the sky in an instant. Yushin tried to block him belatedly, but the blazing wall of flames made it difficult.

“The distance has widened?”

“Damn it.”

The sage snapped his fingers. As if calling a maid or servant in a restaurant. Soon, numerous magic circles began to be drawn in the sky.

The sight of countless magic circles spread out like stars in the sky was spectacular if it weren’t for the fact that they were aimed at him.

Flames, ice, lightning, poison, rocks, acid, poison. Even sharp blades, axes, and even meteors. There were countless spells.

Eventually, countless spells fell mercilessly towards Yushin. At first, Yushin defended with his sword to some extent, but only for a very short while.

Soon, Yu-shin was completely buried under countless spells and disappeared entirely. Looking down at the scorched academy, the sage laughed heartily.

“Thank you, my old friend. Thanks to you, we can be saved.”

“What the hell, you b*stard?”

“? !”

For the first time, the sage was astonished. He thought he would never hear that voice again, and felt a slight loneliness. But then, he heard that voice again.

Screech!

With a chilling sound, one of the sage’s wings was cut off. The wings of the phoenix, though they do not fall even when mortally wounded, one wing is cut off as a price.

“How is this possible?!”

On the surface, there was no significant change. But the sage immediately realized. That guy also used the Blooming. Yu-shin smiled and said,

“What do you mean, what? Did you think you were the only one who could use that so-called Blooming?”

From noble mtl dot com

In hindsight, it was a simple logic.

Drawing the ideal image of oneself.

Thus, Yu-shin’s Blooming was achieved.

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