The Hero Returns

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Luslec watched Su-hyeun's fighting from a distance. Su-hyeun's combat against dozens of heroes at once was something admirable. Heroes like Hercules, Chun Ha-jin, and Ifrit lost their luster compared to Su-hyeun.

<<He's very good.>>

Luslec, who was watching the fighting leisurely, looked up, following Su-hyeun. Su-hyeun pulled a spear from his back. And, at that moment, Luslec gave the order.

"Prepare for defense."

Rumble, rumble—

Heroic Spiritism. It was the specialty of the hero named Luslec. Luslec could control numerous spirits and fight by borrowing their power. Also, he was a master of swordsmanship. He had better skills than Hercules or Chun Ha-jin. At his order, the summoned heroes moved quickly and accurately. And the Dragon Slaying Spear poured down.

Swish, swish—

Cling, clang—

Luslec wielded his sword and the fragments of the Dragon Slaying Spear bounced off. Dozens of heroes died in the aftermath of the spear. Although they were relatively weak ones, it was surprising enough that dozens of them fell at only one attack.

"Great." Luslec grinned, but soon his smile faded.

<<But he's just like I expected,>> Luslec thought.

He had hoped Su-hyeun could show abilities beyond his expectations. Su-hyeun's level was good enough to not disappoint Luslec, but he thought it wasn't worth interfering with the trial himself. At the very moment he began to think that…

Rumble—

Su-hyeun's demeanor changed suddenly. No. It wasn't just his demeanor.

<<His magic is amplified.>>

Luslec's eyes turned black. He used the Eyes of Heroic Spirit, the highest-grade skill in the Heroic Spiritism. It was a name given in the sense of seeing through the soul of other people. Luslec could clearly see Su-hyeun veins, tendons, and even the flow of magic through his body. When he looked inside Su-hyeun like that, he seemed like a totally different person.

<<He became stronger suddenly.>>

And it was at that moment…

Swish—

Su-hyeun's body disappeared.

Crack—

"…!"

Luslec opened his eyes wide. Su-hyeun's feet, which appeared in front of his eyes in an instant, were deeply embedded in the ground of the stage. He already brandished his sword. Luslec's reaction was late; Su-hyeun moved faster than Luslec could.

Slash—

"Wow."

A long cut was made on Luslec's body.

Clang, clank—

The Spirit Armor covering Luslec's body began to crack. If he wasn't wearing Spirit Armor, his body would be the thing being split in half.

Swish, swish—

Slaash, slash, slaash—

He couldn't follow every move Su-hyeun made. Su-hyeun was definitely faster than before. Su-hyeun attacked Luslec persistently, avoiding the movement of the heroes trying to protect him. It was a very smart move, because the weakness of all Summoners, including Heroic Spirit Summoners, was themselves.

"Explosion Style," Su-hyeun said in a small voice.

Whoosh—!

Enormous magic covered Luslec's body.

Craaack—!

By the time the magic had passed, Hercules appeared in front of Luslec.

Flop—

Hercules knelt down. Su-hyeun, who had been using Immortality skill, also used Explosion skill. And that attack even made Hercules, who was strong and wore the Nemean Lion skin, kneel.

Swish—

Craaack—!

Shortly after that, Chun Ha-jin's sword fell on Su-hyeun's head. Other than Luslec, Chun Ha-jin was the strongest hero there. Su-hyeun couldn't just ignore his attack. So, he stepped back all the way to dodge.

Swish— Whiz—

The shadows that Luslec had summoned surrounded Su-hyeun once again. Luslec, who was still using the Eyes of Heroic Spirit, could see the change that was happening inside of Su-hyeun's body.

<<It looks like a type of skill that burns Health to maximize physical ability and magic. Is it a skill specialized for short-term wars rather than a war of attrition?>>

It couldn't be said that there was no side effect, but the ability that Su-hyeun had just had shown was way beyond Luslec's expectations.

"That's so cool."

Whiz—

Su-hyeun moved again. There was no time for rest. Since he started using the Immortality skill, he had to finish the battle quickly.

Clank, clank—

Swish, swiiish—

Because of his overwhelming speed, it seemed like there were many of Su-hyeun's body. The bodies of the heroes who blocked Su-hyeun's way were split and fell. Su-hyeun aimed at their weak spots, such as their necks or hearts. His magic control was superb, but that was not it. He knew how to kill or defeat his enemies effectively.

"Huff— Hwoooo—"

Su-hyeun swept over the stadium, took a long breath, and then exhaled it. Su-hyeun looked at Luslec, still surrounded by heroes. There were still a lot of them left.

<<It's hard to ignore the heroes since they surround him like that.>> Su-hyeun quickly judged the situation. <<Chun Ha-jin is guarding Luslecclosely. He won't attack me first.>>

Su-hyeun expanded his horizons. He thought of the stage as a chessboard. Luslec was a king. Next to him, Chun Ha-jin could be considered the strongest sword, the queen. Heroes like Hercules and Ifrit were generals like the knight, rook, and bishop. There were numerous other pawns.

<<I can't kill the king right away.>>

Whiz—

Su-hyeun rushed to the numerous heroes that were protecting Luslec.

<<I'll kill the pawns off first.>>

[The Wave Sword, Explosion Style.]

[Flame.]

Craaack—

Whoosh—!

A one-to-a-hundred fight was, among all the trials Su-hyeun had gone through, the hardest one so far. Let it begin.

***

Immortality was the best skill that Su-hyeun had when compared to his other skills power-wise. But there were also many side effects.

"Gasp, gasp—"

His Health was rapidly undermined, and there was a reaction to the amplified magic. Also, he had been using Explosion skill, which consumed a lot of magic at the same time.

<<Now, only half of them left.>>

Su-hyeun looked at the shadows that fell in front of him. Half of them were gone. But his Health was almost out.

Whoosh—

Boom, boom, boom—!

Ifrit's flame appeared in front of Su-hyeun to block him to cut other heroes.

[Indomitable body.]

[Armor of the Mage.]

[Sky King's Feather.]

Layers of skills wrapped Su-hyeun's body. He didn't wear the Falcon's Holy Armor right at the moment, but those were quite usable skills. They increased magic resistance. Ifrit's flame was lukewarm compared to Karne's Breath. Su-hyeun ignored Ifrit's fire and swung his sword.

Slash—

Thud—

Another hero's head fell to the ground. And, at the same time, many different kinds of skills flew to Su-hyeun.

Crack, Craaack—

Swiiiiish, thump—!

Somebody drilled a fist into Su-hyeun's stomach. The overwhelming shock shook his body.

Clench—

Crack, craaack—

Su-hyeun clenched his teeth and grasped his opponent's wrist. He held it in his hand and twisted. The shadow opened its mouth wide as if it was screaming, but no sound came out.

Slash—

Su-hyeun swung his sword and cut the shadow's neck. At the same time, he snapped his fingers, a dark blue Flame covered Su-hyeun's body.

[Armor of the Flame.]

Whoosh, whoosh—

The heroes who had been rushing to attack Su-hyeun hesitated. And, in that short moment of hesitation, Su-hyeun dug into the crowd.

Swish, swish, swish—

Slash— Splash—

The heads of the shadows were cut. Su-hyeun was splattered with blood.

Stab—

A sword penetrated Su-hyeun's shoulder. Su-hyeun turned his head and saw a shadow standing next to him. It was Chun Ha-jin.

<<The queen has moved.>>

The queen that was supposed to protect the king began to move. That meant a lot of soldiers had died.

Slaaash—

Crunch—!

When Su-hyeun waved his sword filled with magic, the aura of the sword that held Flame stretched out to Chun Ha-jin. Chun Ha-jin hurriedly pulled the sword from Su-hyeun's shoulder and tried to defend, but his shoulder was cut, deep. Su-hyeun covered his shoulder with the other hand and exhaled a long breath.

"Hwooooo—"

Stomp, stomp—

The surviving heroes made a formation while Su-hyeun took a breath. The heroes tried to make Su-hyeun use up his Strength. They were waiting for Su-hyeun to crash and burn.

"So, you guys are trying to exhaust me, huh?"

"Trial means hardship and suffering. If it's too easy, it wouldn't be a trial for you, would it?"

Luslec was still standing in the same spot. It seemed like he was waiting until the last moment. It was a bit of a nasty move but obviously the most reasonable choice.

"Yes. Now, it feels like a real trial." Su-hyeun couldn't deny it.

<<How long has it been?>>

None of the trials in his current life had been particularly difficult for Su-hyeun. The trial of the 30th floor, when he had to catch Ouroboros, was a bit difficult, but everything else was too easy, or easy enough. But this trial was different. The heroes in front of him were all high-level ones. There were heroes like Hercules, Ifrit, or Chun Ha-jin who easily could defeat S-Rank awakeners.

"But you chose the wrong way," Su-hyeun said.

"What?"

Su-hyeun checked his Fatigue stat.

[Fatigue: 70.]

It was the right moment.

[The Trait of 'Hero - Immortality' activates.]

[Vitality and Health will quickly be recovered. CC will partially be recovered.]

[The physical ability has already reached its peak. The physical ability won't increase anymore.]

Swish, swish—

Slash, slash—

The shadow heroes that rushed toward Su-hyeun lost their heads and fell to the ground. Su-hyeun's staggering body regained its balance. His magic, which had been fading like a candle in a breeze, was restored. Luslec grinned, even though his opponent became lively again, as if he liked it so much that he couldn't help but laugh.

<<Immortality will only last about 10 minutes,>> Su-hyeun thought.

The Immortality skill could be used in two different ways. The first one increased his physical power and amplified his magic. The second one recovered Vitality and Health temporarily. But the restoration of Vitality and Health was only a temporary measure. It was just first aid. The recovered Health and Vitality would return to normal over time. Su-hyeun knew that better than anyone. He had an intuition for when he had no time left.

<<First of all, I have to catch queen and bishop.>>

Swish—

Su-hyeun approached Chun Ha-jin, who had left Luslec's side. Chun Ha-jin swung his sword as if he was waiting for Su-hyeun. And it was at that moment…

[The Wave Sword- Explosion Style.]

Ruuuuumble—

The moment that their swords met, Su-hyeun's sword spewed a huge amount of magic. He activated the Explosion Style skill to maximize the aura of the sword. And the result of that—

Clang—

—Chun Ha-jin's sword, wrapped in energy, was broken—

Slash—

—and his neck was cut.

Whoosh—

Wham—!

A dull sound came over Su-hyeun's head. With a heavy feeling, Su-hyeun started to bleed from his head. It was a club of Hercules. Hercules had smashed the ground of the stage before. If Su-hyeun were an ordinary person, his head would have burst at once.

Whirl—

[Protective Barrier of the Dragon God.]

[Blessing of the Dragon God.]

"Good job, Miru."

Purr—

Miru answered from a distance. Su-hyeun had told Miru not to get involved in the fighting since it was dangerous. Miru broke the promise but, thanks to Miru, Su-hyeun wasn't too injured by Hercules' club. The queen was gone.

Grab—

Su-hyeun held tight to Hercules' neck. Now, it was time to catch the bishop.