The Hero Returns

Buzz, bzzzz, vrrrrrrr-

Balmung's blade resonated, as if it might shatter at any second.

Any other regular sword might have already. That was how incredibly large the gathered amount of magical energy was, and how harshly it was vibrating.

Kkiiii-aaaah-!

The monster worms sensed something suspicious was taking place and angrily rushed in Su-hyeun's direction. With their maws wide open, those initially-lardy looking brutes rapidly closed in on him.

And, just as the monsters were about to reach him…

Rumble-

The magical energy gathering in the blade was released and the blinding sword aura was swung out in every direction.

Flash-

Kwa-boooooom-!

The light, so blindingly bright, exploded forth, accompanied by the sound of thunderclaps going off, completely filling up the dome-shaped underground space.

Rip, riiiiip-

Split, spliiiit-

The bodies of the monster worms pouncing at Su-hyeun were torn to shreds and sliced apart.

The blinding pure-white rays of light were actually the corporeal forms of a sword aura that had divided into ten, no, hundreds of thousands of individual strands.

Tumble, drop-

Splat-

Bloody chunks of monster worm rained down. Su-hyeun stared at the green-colored blood pooling on the ground and muttered, "Man, that's surprising."

He was in the middle of concentrating on gathering the magical energy, but when the monster worms suddenly pounced on him, he ended up reflexively swinging the sword.

That's why he failed to gather enough magical energy, and the full amplification effect hadn't been achieved, either.

All of those factors were to blame for the skill not manifesting its true strength just then.

Of course…

<< Well, it's still quite usable even if it's just this much. >>

Even then, the destructive power on display far exceeded every skill Su-hyeun had acquired until now.

[Wave Sword- Explosion Style.]

* Magic Tier: 8.

* LV: 1.

* Gather magical energy in the sword and create waves of sword pressure to completely obliterate all enemies in the front. The greater the amount of gathered magical energy, the higher the skill's destructive power.

A skill that had been classified as 8th tier in the magic rating.

There weren't all that many skills with a magic rating of seven around, to begin with, so, unsurprisingly, a skill rated at tier eight was so incredibly rare that even Su-hyeun only had a handful in the previous timeline. And maybe it was predetermined that this particular skill fit him like a glove, because he got lucky and reacquired the Wave Sword that he used frequently in the past.

<< For sure, this skill perfectly matches Balmung. >>

Crack, split-

Su-hyeun watched the faint cracks running along Balmung's surface repair themselves and thought to himself.

<< The adamantium's the hardest and most durable metal in the world, plus the highest-grade Ether stones in the sword grant the blade automatic repair function. >>

The combination of such an Ether Stone and the adamantium was the most ideal possible.

The highest-grade Ether stone not only amplified the magical energy injected into the sword, but it also maximized the adamantium's innate self-repair ability, as well.

That was why Balmung was so much more than a tough, ultra-sharp sword. No, it was the greatest sword ever to exist. It possessed the ability to repair itself even if it was broken. That factor alone made it more suitable for Su-hyeun's skill than any other sword out there.

<< I can now use the 'Explosion Style' without worrying about the sword shattering. >>

Of course, even Balmung couldn't withstand magical energy that exceeded its capacity.

Indeed, there was a moment in the past when it broke after he injected it with too much magical energy that exceeded its limit and then used the Explosion Style. He also needed to consider that until the cracked blade finished repairing itself, its hardness and sharpness would fall quite a lot, as well.

But, even after taking everything into account, Balmung remained the most perfect sword for the 'Explosion Style'.

Most of all, the Wave Sword- Explosion Style was a skill that would grow more powerful when the sword's hardness and durability were higher. After all, the skill's destructive power would get more ridiculous the greater the amount of magical energy you managed to gather in the blade, until it was just about to shatter to bits.

And there was no sword tougher or more durable than Balmung in existence in the entire world.

<< I might need a fair bit of time to raise my proficiency, though. >>

A skill's proficiency was closely related to the user's understanding of the skill itself, as well as the number of times it had been utilized.

As far as his understanding was concerned, it was basically past the limit. His problem was with the number of times the skill had been used.

He had finally gotten his hands on Balmung, though, so that problem should be resolved, in time.

"Well, then. One more time…."

The monster worms were faltering, as if they had gotten scared by Su-hyeun's Explosion Style attack. He raised his swords toward the monsters once more.

"Here I come."

***

Three and half days.

That's how long it took Bak Yun-gyu and his group to fully raid the blue-colored dungeon.

The safety of the group's members had to be considered first, and the dungeon's scale itself was truly vast as well, which inevitably meant they had to take their time with the raid.

Even then, three and a half days was a pretty short time frame.

After the boss monster was defeated and the raid came to an end….

Bak Yun-gyu was busy confirming the losses suffered by the raid team.

<< It took us three and a half days. Five slightly injured, while one heavily injured. >>

He grew quite flabbergasted by this. In a good way, of course.

<< No one died. >>

This was the blue-colored dungeon. Only the second blue-colored dungeon to ever appear.

When raiding dungeons of lower difficulty, such as green-colored or yellow-colored ones, critical injuries and KIAs were bound to appear. But not a single person died during the raid of this dungeon. It was truly a miraculous achievement.

<< Thomas, Choi Hak-joon. >>

Bak Yun-gyu took a closer look at those two.

If someone asked who was stronger, it'd obviously be Thomas. Not only was his ability tremendously powerful, but it could also be used in a wide variety of ways, as well.

As proof, no one dying during this raid was all thanks to his ability. But that didn't mean Hak-joon's abilities were lagging behind, either.

<< The awakener only reached S-Rank recently. Despite that, he still managed to get through the main matches of the Ranking Wars and reach the finals. >>

Bak Yun-gyu didn't get to personally witness the finals of the Ranking Wars.

He was supposed to participate in the competition, but his work became really hectic with the appearance of the blue-colored dungeon, and he didn't even have enough time to watch the finals on TV.

That's why this would be his first time seeing Hak-joon's combat ability in action.

Bak Yun-gyu thought that, maybe, it was all a fluke. No matter how overflowing with talent the young man was, a rookie who only barely managed to reach S-Rank made it to the finals of the Ranking Wars?

The truth was, he didn't have very high expectations of Hak-joon, since the young man's match-ups had been favorable to him until then.

But now…

<< Maybe, when talking purely about innate talent, he might even exceed Thomas. >>

Hak-joon's ability wasn't all that great when considering its versatility alone.

When looked at from a different perspective, though, he was rather similar to Bak Yun-gyu in a way. An honest ability that focused on destructive power, a swordsmanship so pure and honest that it could be called the true way of the sword, without relying on complicated skills to boost himself.

<< If there's a difference between us, then he's better than me in the rate of growth? >>

Bak Yun-gyu had acquired his abilities not too long after awakeners and dungeons made their first appearances. On the other hand, Hak-joon had been an awakener for only three years. His rate of growth was easily far more rapid than Bak Yun-gyu's.

And, finally, there was Kim Su-hyeun.

<< Three verifiable monsters, is it… >>

The South Korean awakener combat force, which had fallen behind the United States, China, and even Britain, had shot up to the top of the world in the proverbial blink of an eye. Not to forget, Su-hyeun was an awakener capable of defeating even the great Gordon Rohan.

Bak Yun-gyu was worried about other things, as well.

<< Thankfully, this happened in South Korea. >>

What if these twin blue-colored dungeons appeared in some other country? For instance, like one of those South-east Asian nations that only boasted one, maybe two S-Rank awakeners, max?

<< That would've been catastrophic. >>

Chills ran down Bak Yun-gyu's entire body.

Lee Ju-ho looking really exhausted walked closer and asked, "Is it finally over?"

Bak Yun-gyu confirmed one more time that the boss's corpse wasn't budging and nodded his head. "Yes, it's over. And that over there looks like the exit."

"Hah-ah. I'm tired out of my mind here. I'd like to get out of here right away and then take a long, long holiday or something."

"Thank you for your hard work. The Ether stones of this dungeons will be extracted by the miners first and then delivered to you at a later date."

The miners were those people who entered the now-empty dungeon specifically to extract the Ether stones found inside.

The group finally emerged outside after the raid was successfully concluded.

The blue light wrapped around them, and when they stepped outside…

"You know, I was getting tired of waiting."

…A familiar voice welcomed them back.

"If you guys weren't back by daybreak, I was seriously thinking of entering the dungeon as well, you know."

"M-Mister Su-hyeun??"

"It's Su-hyeun-!"

"Bro!"

Su-hyeun was sitting on a small boulder in front of the viaduct. He got up and trudged towards the group. Seeing how he had even changed into a set of clean clothes, it must've been more than one or two hours since he finished his own raid and emerged outside.

Bak Yun-gyu approached him and asked, "When did you come outside?"

Su-hyeun replied while picking up and placing Thomas on his shoulder. "It was sometime this morning."

Upon hearing that, Bak Yun-gyu couldn't hide his astonishment.

Although he couldn't tell the exact time, it must've been late evening, judging from the darkened sky above. But Su-hyeun had finished his raid in the morning, came outside and waited for the group until now.

"Are you injured at all….?"

"No, I'm fine. what about your team?"

"No deceased on our side."

"Now that's a relief."

After finishing his greeting with Bak Yun-gyu, Su-hyeun approached his companions right away.

He began discussing matters related to the dungeon with Lee Ju-ho and Hak-joon, all the while Thomas was clinging to him, whining for praise like a little kid.

Bak Yun-gyu observed Su-hyeun's back, deep in thought.

<< He really did raid a blue-colored dungeon all by himself. >>

Not only that, but without a single injury, to boot.

Bak Yun-gyu hadn't thought that such a feat was an impossibility since the young man was overflowing with confidence, and now, the difference between them felt even more stark than ever before.

If it was him, could he have pulled off the same feat?

<< Nope. Never. >>

At a bare minimum, Bak Yun-gyu would need another awakener of the same skill level as he was to feel confident about his chances. Which meant that Su-hyeun was, at the very least, twice as strong as he was.

It became just a bit more apparent to him just how much Su-hyeun was going easy on him during their one sparring session in California.

"How is the relationship between the association and the authority?"

It was then that Su-hyeun suddenly threw out a question.

Bak Yun-gyu was a little flustered by the unexpected question, but managed to reply while recalling Gwon Jae-hoon's face. "It's not amicable by any stretch of the imagination. The association isn't too keen on following the directives of the authority, and, from our perspective, the association centered around Gwon Jae-hoon not listening to us presents a rather troublesome situation."

The Awakener Authority was acknowledged by the government. Also, the authorities in various nations were basically the same as one giant cooperative that regulated the awakeners.

Meaning, you'd pretty much end up a public enemy by breaking the rules that various Awakener Authorities universally agreed upon.

Of course, the Authority wasn't omnipotent. All it could do was ensure that, while working within the established regulations, the other awakeners didn't stray too far away from the rule of law.

In other words, the organization was bound to the rules they had created themselves.

"Is the problem with the association, or Hahoetal Guild, or even Gwon Jae-hoon?"

Su-hyeun's expression was serious as he asked Bak Yun-gyu further questions.

Bak Yun-gyu studied the younger man's demeanor before asking something himself. "May I know why you ask, first?"

"Gwon Jae-hoon is dead."

"…!"

"I was sabotaged. Of course, since I'm here, it didn't turn out too bad for me, but…"

"A-are you saying that Gwon Jae-hoon tried to sabotage you? Not just anyone, but against you, Mister Su-hyeun??"

Bak Yun-gyu might be a soldier, but at the same time, also an awakener. Furthermore, as a man working for the authority and tasked with regulating other awakeners through his strength and the might of the law, he was well versed in the culture of awakeners.

As such, he understood what Su-hyeun meant by 'sabotage' right away. And he knew how malicious such an action was, too.

"Yes, that's correct," replied Su-hyeun.

"I knew he was an egotistic man, but to think that he'd risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people just for the sake of his own aspiration…."

Bak Yun-gyu clenched his fists tightly. He wasn't the type to publicly display his anger, but, at least this time, he found it hard to hold back.

The blue-colored dungeon.

If such a dungeon ended up causing an outbreak, then, quite literally, hundreds of thousands would have lost their lives. Gwon Jae-hoon's actions involved such an immense risk.

Bak Yun-gyu squeezed his fists so tightly that blood started seeping out. He opened his mouth again eventually and said, in a barely-composed voice, "In any case, I'm truly thankful that nothing terrible happened. As for Gwon Jae-hoon, is his death confirmed?"

"Yes, it's definitely confirmed."

Only then did Bak Yun-gyu figure out the intention of Su-hyeun's question from earlier.

"Let me ask you one more time." Su-hyeun changed his question and asked it in a more straightforward manner. "Was it Gwon Jae-hoon or the Hahoetal Guild that refuses to play by the rules? Or, is it the entire association?"

Bak Yun-gyu became certain after hearing that question.

He realized that, depending on how he answered, the association might get flipped on its head.