The Hero Returns

Whoosh—

A gentle breeze blew by.

Su-hyeun lightly swung the sword as if it was a hand fan, and Waffman, who was watching this scene, couldn't help but form a puzzled expression.

"…?"

Just what was he trying to do here?

He was acting so mysterious and all, as if he wanted to display something truly immense, yet to take a lame swing like that?

"You dare to fool around in our current situ—?"

Slash—

Slash, slaaash—

Just before Waffman could say something to express his dismay…

He looked down at his own body and discovered numerous thin red lines running across his entire figure.

"Huh?"

Splaaaash—!

Fountains of blood exploded from Waffman. The wounds themselves weren't all that deep, but there were just too many of them. As a result, a lot of blood flooded out from him.

Waffman suddenly felt dizzy and went down on his knees.

Plop—

Keo-uhrk…

He tried to prop himself up with his hands to prevent himself from collapsing on the ground, but he still ended up kissing the floor with his face.

"My…My arms…"

His arm was torn to rags.

Unlike the rest of his body, only his arm was inflicted with deep injuries. With all the important muscles severed like this, his arm was now no better than a dirty rag.

Both of his arms were in the same state.

Would he be able to wield his sword ever again with these arms?

When that thought filled his head, Waffman's pain was quickly overtaken by the fear welling up from deep within him.

U-uwaaaah—!

"You asked me to show it to you, didn't you?"

"I—I'll kill you!!!"

"It's what you've been telling me only a few seconds ago. Yours is not my life, anyway."

Clack—

Su-hyeun sheathed his sword and continued to speak, "You're indeed correct, so do your best to live on with those arms."

Uwaaaah—!

Waffman's screams resounded throughout the drill hall.

Su-hyeun no longer paid attention to that. With both of Waffman's arms in that state, he should not be able to wield a sword ever again.

"Or maybe he'll start swinging one around with his feet. Who knows?" he thought.

Step—

Su-hyeun began walking away.

A bone-chilling air circulated within the drill hall now. Several members of the crowd, who were previously scared silly by Waffman's sudden bout of madness, had shifted the target of their fear—from Waffman to Su-hyeun, that is.

Su-hyeun nonchalantly accepted their gazes. He was ready for this eventuality when he decided to leave Waffman in that state.

Of course, that was that, and this would be something else…

"Did you enjoy the proceedings?"

Riiiip—

Su-hyeun walked toward a certain spot and stopped to extend his hand in the empty air. Then, when he moved his hand as if to rip the air itself, that space wavered slightly before a person's figure was revealed to the world.

It was a person that everyone present could easily recognize.

"Y—your…"

"Your Majesty?"

Wick Bradley.

Indeed, it was none other than this nation's emperor.

He stood there with his arms crossed and smiled in amusement. He then alternated his gaze between Su-hyeun and Waffman. The latter still hadn't been able to get a hold of his body and was kneeling on the floor.

"That was an entertaining match," Bradley said.

"It wasn't a normal match either."

"Indeed, his state isn't very good. Men, hurry and take Waffman to the healers."

The knights responded quickly to Bradley's order and helped Waffman out of the drill hall.

Su-hyeun observed Bradley, who was still smiling despite his loyal subject ending up in that state, and decided to ask, "Did you plan for this?"

"Plan for what, exactly?"

"That guy going out of control."

"Of course not. But thanks to you, the match ended without any further issues, and I'm much relieved by that."

Any further issues?

Su-hyeun narrowed his eyes into blade-like slits and stared at Bradley. The latter seemed to really think that there had been no issues with this match, judging from how his expression didn't waver once.

That would be understandable from Su-hyeun's perspective, but wasn't Waffman a loyal retainer who served Bradley until he reached that advanced age?

How could he not feel at least a bit concerned about Waffman's current state?

From what Su-hyeun had observed so far, Bradley didn't seem like a righteous enough person to simply think that Waffman did something wrong and, thus, needed to be punished.

"And so, everyone's suspicion has been cleared with this, I hope?"

Bradley looked around at the crowd with an expression that said, "See, I told you so."

The gathered nobles at first questioned Su-hyeun's abilities, and then, after Bradley made his declaration, they wanted to defeat Su-hyeun and become the next personal guardian knight of the emperor.

But now, they knew the truth.

They understood now why Bradley suddenly created a position of the "guardian knight," which didn't exist until today.

They also knew how much of a talented individual the man named Kim Su-hyeun was.

"In that case, go home, take a bath, and have a good night. Alternatively, you can reflect on your own inadequate strength."

Bradley sneered at his own retainers and dismissively waved his hand around. He was signaling them to stop complaining and go home.

The gathered crowd began dispersing from the drill hall, and by the time everyone was gone, Su-hyeun turned to look at Bradley and addressed the emperor, "We need to talk for a minute."

"With me? Why?"

"It's only for a minute. I know you're not busy anyway, so make some time for me."

"Well, I don't have any problem with that." Bradley maintained that amused smile as he stepped outside the drill hall. "Follow me. We should move from here first."

* * *

Bradley led Su-hyeun to the flower garden at the back of the imperial palace.

The garden that boasted of tens of thousands of square meters in size was so complicated that a first-timer could potentially get lost inside it; nonetheless, it was just as beautiful to behold.

Su-hyeun spoke first. "You seem to like this place."

"Why? Doesn't it suit me?"

"You don't seem to be the type to enjoy looking at flowers, actually."

"Is that so? But then again, I'm a tyrant and not some benevolent leader, after all. Honestly speaking, I don't like them all that much. Even then, isn't it wonderful? Knowing that I possess a garden of such unparalleled beauty."

He didn't like it but still wanted to possess it.

Su-hyeun could understand where that mindset was coming from. A person, regardless of who, would always harbor some desires to possess and show off their possessions. It was just a matter of how big or small those desires were.

The story wouldn't be any different just because the person was an emperor.

"Alright, so? What did you want to talk to me about? No one can enter here without my permission, so you can relax and speak freely."

"Just what did you teach those people?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've heard that it was you who invented aura control and made others train in this discipline. But this…" Su-hyeun recalled the figure of Waffman from earlier and frowned deeply. "It's far too different from what I know."

Su-hyeun had been under the impression that the discipline of this world was exactly the same as the Sage Arts because the nature of the energy that accumulated in one's body after mastering aura control was the same.

As the two discipline branched off in different directions from the same root, there should be different and new types of techniques to be found within aura control, and he was thinking about spending some of the remaining time to learn those techniques.

However, through his match against Waffman, he came to realize that his thoughts were wrong.

For sure, both the Sage Arts and aura control had the same roots. The starting point for both was the same, so unsurprisingly, the energy type that accumulated in one's body was also extremely similar in nature.

However, the direction of the growth of one's strength was completely different. Only their starting point was the same, but as the two disciplines branched off into completely disparate directions, it was inevitable that the distance between them would grow further apart the more you trained in either one.

In Su-hyeun's eyes, this aura control was…

"Do you believe that a discipline that allows you to become stronger after discarding more of your humanity is truly beneficial?"

"Is there something bad about it?"

And then, that answer came his way.

Su-hyeun had been wondering to himself.

Did Waffman twist this discipline called aura control and master it incorrectly, or was this the correct way of mastering it in the first place?

However, he eventually thought that Waffman had mastered aura control the correct way.

The reason for that was simple—rather than the other knights who also had practiced aura control, the air Waffman gave off happened to resemble Bradley's the closest.

It was precisely Bradley who came up with aura control and taught it to everyone.

"At the end of the day, the purpose of the martial arts we train in is to kill people. We don't need emotions to do that. When you discard all your emotions and focus solely on killing, then inevitably, you will end up becoming stronger."

Bradley replied in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone.

However, that reply only caused Su-hyeun's brows to furrow heavily.

But at the same time, his heart shook. What Bradley said just now had something similar to the larger framework of the Sage Arts' ultimate goal that the Bull Demon King told Su-hyeun in the past.

"The first brother, he had to discard all of his emotions to become a god," he thought.

It was the same story for Bradley as well—the emperor said one should discard all of their emotions. It also means discarding one's humanity.

In the end, those two ways were the same.

In a certain sense, you could say that you being truly honest with your purest ambition was the same thing as you discarding all of your emotions.

Su-hyeun spoke, "The path I walk is different from yours."

They had similar yet different disciplines. No, more correctly, they were the same, yet the paths they were taking were different.

Or as the Bull Demon King told Su-hyeun while he was teaching him about the Sage Arts, "The one who taught me said that this power had been created for 'man' to become good again."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, those words came across as utterly nonsensical to Bradley's ears. He was the one who invented aura control in this world, after all.

"I'm the one who came up with aura control. Where did you even hear such a crazy—?"

"It's merely the difference in the direction."

Bradley's forehead creased ever so slightly from Su-hyeun's reply. "Direction?"

"Yes, direction."

With this, Su-hyeun witnessed two different paths.

The first one was about discarding all attachments and emotions like the Bull Demon King had done to earn the qualifications of a god.

The second path was about discarding one's humanity and only leaving behind one's desire—one's ambition—like Bradley before his eyes had done and slowly erased one's emotions away.

Su-hyeun couldn't say either of these were the correct way.

"Well, I'll acknowledge some parts of that. I'm the one who created it, after all, so of course, I would know. If one can reach godhood by discarding all emotions and even lingering attachments, then yes, that method seems rather viable."

In the end, it didn't matter whether it was the Sage Arts or aura control. They both had the same roots.

Bradley was the inventor of aura control that happened to have the same roots as the Sage Arts, and both disciplines' ultimate aim was to reach godhood in the end.

"But why should one do that?" Bradley asked.

"What do you mean?"

"That method is much harder, isn't it? The easiest way to discard your emotions is to throw away your humanity and become a monster that's only true to your desires. Why should you choose a harder path when there's a simpler one right there?"

Those words helped Su-hyeun understand why aura control, which was seemingly the same as the Sage Arts, was headed down a different path.

"An easier path and a harder one exist on the road for one to become stronger. In that case, why do you need to select the harder path, especially so when there's a much easier and quicker path to your goal?" Bradley said before narrowing his eyes. "Do you remember what I said about you ending up as the same type of person as I am in the future?" he continued.

"Yes, I do remember."

"I'll acknowledge that for the time being, you and I are rather different. However, as long as the ideal end you seek to reach is the same as mine, there will come a day when you don't have a choice but to accept that my way is correct." Bradley smiled mockingly and turned around to leave. "I'm sure you want to reach it too. Godhood, I mean."

He left behind some words meant to provoke Su-hyeun.

"…"

Now left alone in the garden, Su-hyeun quietly stared at the spot where Bradley previously stood.

The difference between aura control and the Sage Arts was how one's attachments and their emotions were discarded. Rationally speaking, Su-hyeun knew that Bradley wasn't wrong with his assertion.

In fact, everything he said so far was correct.

Su-hyeun desired to be stronger, and all the trials he had gone through were precisely for that purpose.

If he discarded his humanity and chose the easy path rather than the hard one, then he would become stronger.

Also, doing so could make him stronger much faster. Honestly, if he heard those things first, then he might have been swayed by them.

However…

"You have no idea," he inwardly said.

Su-hyeun truly felt that he was fortunate to have met the Bull Demon King first.

"You don't know that on the path I'm walking on, there exists one being who has managed to reach a realm far higher than you can even imagine."

Su-hyeun had witnessed that person who walked on the path that Bradley had deemed too difficult and unnecessary, and he ended up becoming stronger than anyone else.

And that's why Su-hyeun's belief wasn't shaken.

"I was right, wasn't I?"

Jiggle—

Whitish cloud-like currents wrapped around Su-hyeun's figure, and then, the Somersault cloud's voice entered his ears.

"Yes."

Su-hyeun made his reply while still mulling over what Bradley had told him just now.

"I think you were right."