The Hero Returns

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When one practiced in the Sage Arts, one would eventually awaken a unique ability that matched one's attributes.

Su-hyeun knew about that story after the Bull Demon King had told him. As for Bradley, he certainly had stepped up onto the realm that allowed him to awaken his ability.

"His ability allows him to bend and move through the dimensions."

Su-hyeun figured out what Bradley's unique ability was on the day he was appointed as the emperor's personal guardian knight.

That day, Bradley had watched the commotion taking place in the underground drill hall. He did so while hiding in space that "belonged" to another dimension.

Simply put, Bradley's ability wasn't precognition as he claimed. No, he simply deceived Su-hyeun by saying he could see the future.

He said that in 15 days, a monster called the predator would invade this world.

The truth was the exact opposite. Actually, he had summoned the "predator" to this place from a completely different dimension using his unique ability.

"I told you so, didn't I?"

The Somersault cloud spoke to Su-hyeun back then.

"I said that fool would never be satisfied by being a mere emperor of humanity, didn't I?"

Bradley was born a slave, yet with his own strength, became a nobleman and, eventually, a king.

Was that all? He founded the empire and succeeded in unifying the continent, too.

As a human, Bradley had nothing more left to accomplish.

Not only that, but the administrator's hint was also related to "greed," and Bradley himself said that Su-hyeun should become a monster true to his desires.

Only then would he become even stronger and reach godhood much easier as well, he said.

The administrator's hint and what Bradley said lined up perfectly, and Su-hyeun became confident after what Bradley asked him to do.

"This trial isn't about killing the predator," Su-hyeun realized back then.

[Prevent the birth of the predator.]

Su-hyeun would never forget a trial's goal after committing it to his memory, and he became certain when what Bradley had said and the trial's goal differed in their objective.

"I'm supposed to stop the birth of the predator."

Su-hyeun was in a dilemma from that.

Could he really be able to defeat Bradley?

The odds were fifty-fifty. Considering the possibility of him hiding some cards up his sleeve, Bradley should be about equal in power to Su-hyeun.

However, even if he managed to defeat the emperor, one more problem remained.

"Even if I do manage to kill Bradley…"

The emperor wanted to use Su-hyeun's power and hunt the "predator" with him.

"As I thought, I keep worrying about that dragon."

It was the dragon that resembled Fafnir that Su-hyeun couldn't help but worry about.

Just who among the two would end up as the predator?

His feelings said that it had to be Bradley, but he just couldn't stop thinking that the black dragon that appeared in the emperor's illusion could potentially go on to become Fafnir in the future.

The goal of this trial, the one about preventing the birth of the predator, just who was it referring to?

"There's no need to complicate this."

He had already figured out what Bradley's end goal was. The latter most likely wanted to get his hands on the heart of the dragon he summoned. From what Song Hyeong-gi had told him, a dragon apparently had another heart dedicated solely for storing its magical energy reserve somewhere in its chest area.

"I'll simply stop both of them."

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"That item…Put it down."

Bradley's voice became icy in an instant.

However, when he took a step forward, Su-hyeun strengthened his grip.

Crack—

That action caused a crack to run across the large sphere in Su-hyeun's hand, which was also enough to stop Bradley's advance in an instant.

"Even if my whole body is a wreck…"

Grip, craaack—

"You feel up to it? One stupid move and I'll shatter this thing right away, you know," Su-hyeun continued while gripping the sphere harder.

"S—stop, wait—!"

Bradley immediately shouted out and hesitatingly lowered both of his hands.

Su-hyeun confirmed that the emperor was not trying to get closer anymore and relaxed his grip.

Bradley glared at him. "Bastard, do you have any idea what you are trying to do?"

"I do. So why don't you and I have a brief chat first?"

Su-hyeun no longer addressed Bradley with polite speech. There was no need, anyway. They were no longer comrades in arms but enemies now.

"You fool, do you also wish to make that power yours?"

"Not really."

Su-hyeun shrugged his shoulders.

If he could earn it then sure, it would be nice, but he was well aware of which dragon's heart this sphere was.

This object was, in the end, nothing more than a way-too realistic illusion manufactured by the administrator. He had no reason to be interested in the sort of power that would scatter away like some mirage once the trial came to an end.

"However, I do not want it but you do, don't you?"

Bradley was also a person of a world that existed in the past, created by the administrator as well. Therefore, Su-hyeun didn't know if Bradley could make this power his even if he managed to acquire the dragon heart.

"…What if I do?"

"Let me ask you a few questions, then. This monster, is this thing really the predator?"

"If I answer you, are you going to hand over that item?"

"If I think you're being truthful."

Su-hyeun's reply made Bradley take a bit of time and studied Su-hyeun's expression. However, Su-hyeun was able to read what he was thinking through that act.

Bradley was in a dilemma.

He was wondering if he could snatch the dragon heart away in time or if he should reply to the question while hoping that Su-hyeun would hand it over later.

Soon, though, Bradley opened his mouth, "No, it's not. I do not know what the predator you were looking for could be."

He gave up on snatching the heart away. To him, that's how important it was.

If for some reason, Su-hyeun destroyed the heart in his hand and scattered away the power contained within it, then just like that, Bradley's end goal would turn into nothing more than popped bubbles.

"I simply used it to entice you."

"Then, what is this monster?"

"It's a dragon from another dimension that knows aura control or, more correctly, a power similar to that." Bradley suddenly took on an entranced expression after he replied. "Do you have any idea how small this world we call home actually is? Did you also know that outside this world exists far wider and far bigger worlds populated by higher-dimensional existences?"

"I'm not really interested. Anyways, this monster is one such creature, that's what you're saying, right?"

"Indeed. And I became certain after discovering this creature."

Grit—

Bradley clenched his teeth tightly and spat out words filled with resentment that he had been suppressing until now. "I am certain that, once I devour that dragon heart, I can obtain far greater power, as well as the qualifications of godhood."

"Really?"

"That's why…" Bradley smirked darkly next. "It's about time you put it down on the ground."

Swoooosh—!

Right at that moment, when Bradley finished speaking, a sharp sword swung into Su-hyeun's midriff.

The blade approached without making any noise whatsoever, and Su-hyeun couldn't respond in time. Watching this scene from the distance, Bradley became sure of it.

"He's dead," he thought.

However, what he heard next was the sound of hardened steel.

CLAAANG—!

The sword failed to cut Su-hyeun apart in the waist. Something blocked it mid-air and stopped it dead.

Su-hyeun turned his head and stared at the wielder of this blade.

A middle-aged man was staring with wide-open eyes at his own sword. It was none other than Duke Layard.

"Enjoy your trip."

Duke Layard failed to comprehend what Su-hyeun said just then.

Slice—

He didn't even know that he would die after being sliced apart in half there and then.

In one sharp stroke, a sword had split his torso apart into two clean halves.

It was the Yogoe Slaying Sword belonging to Su-hyeun's summon, the God of War Prince Nezha.

Krrrrr—

Kiii-aaah—!

Sha-aaaah—

And at the same time, Miru and the other summoned creatures appeared all around Su-hyeun's side.

Every single one of his summons that got burned and crushed to death by the predator's magic had all been revived.

"So, this was your unique ability, then?"

Bradley gritted his teeth when Duke Layard's sneak attack ended in failure. It seemed that he thought all these creatures had been summoned here through Su-hyeun's unique ability awoken by the Sage Arts.

"No, it's not exactly like that."

Crack, crack—

Su-hyeun began cracking his knuckles and shoulders all of a sudden. It felt like his body, covered in wounds all over until a few seconds ago, had finally recovered to some degree.

"Finally done. Feels like I'm alive again."

"That bastard, his wounds…?" Bradley studied him quietly.

His eyes shot open wider when he witnessed Su-hyeun touch and inspect his body here and there.

Without a doubt, blood used to trickle down from Su-hyeun's body not too long ago, but now, only a few minutes later, almost all of his bleeding had been staunched somehow.

His previously pale complexion had regained its normal flushed color, while his heavy panting had returned to normal as well.

"You even knew recovery magic as well?" Bradley asked.

"But I didn't sense anything like that from him?" he thought.

Only then did Bradley realize that the reason why Su-hyeun suddenly started talking to him wasn't solely to dig some information from him.

It was also to buy enough time to recover from all of his injuries.

"It's not magic but something similar to that."

[Snake's Blood]

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Proficiency: 3.67%

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It was the passive-type skill he acquired back on the 99th floor's trial.

This "Snake's Blood" skill turned out to be rather useful. It boosted his stamina recovery rate, as well as his regenerative powers, quickly stopping the bleeding from whatever wounds he suffered.

Not only that…

"I haven't even activated the Immortality skill yet," Su-hyeun thought.

He had been saving one final card all for this moment.

The skill that raised his physical abilities to the absolute limits and, at the same time, temporarily recovered all of his depleted stamina and injuries he sustained—that was his Immortality skill.

"My odds are more than good enough," he mulled.

If Bradley had managed to get his hands on the dragon heart, then the ensuing battle would've been so much harder. He already possessed enough strength to threaten Su-hyeun's life, so if the heart was added on top of that, it became as obvious as staring at burning wreckage that the fight would become incredibly tough.

Thankfully, the dragon heart was in Su-hyeun's hand right now.

"I said this to you already, right?"

Crack, craaaack—

The crack on the heart's surface gradually and rapidly spread out.

"I warned you that if you do something stupid, I'll shatter this thing right away."

"W—wait a mi—"

Shatter—!

Even before Bradley could finish, the dragon heart in Su-hyeun's hand shattered into pieces.

The heart lost its shape from a powerful external force and scattered into the air like small sand particles. At the same time, the energy it contained also scattered everywhere.

Blood vessels bulged hideously within Bradley's eyes. "You bastard—!"

Ka-boom—!

Bone-chilling murderous intent and rage instantly blanketed the surroundings. On the other hand, Bradley's roar out of sheer rage only elicited a smirk from Su-hyeun.

"Alright, then. Hurry up and come at me, you—?"

Su-hyeun was about to raise his sword after confirming Bradley's enraged state, but he couldn't finish his own sentence and stood there stiffly.

The cause of this was the sudden stop in Bradley's movements as he kicked the ground to pounce on Su-hyeun. It wasn't only him, however—everything within this world had come to a stop, and even all sounds ceased to exist as well.

"The world…has stopped?"

Su-hyeun had to doubt his own eyes.

He knew that this world of the trial had been recreated by the administrator, but this would be his first time experiencing the sensation of being inside a frozen time.

"No, wait…It hasn't actually stopped."

A few breaths later, though, Su-hyeun had to revise his own thoughts.

"Time is actually being rewound."

Bradley, who was about to pounce on him, was stepping back. The dragon's heart that was shattered into powder reverted to its original state, and then, the dead predator with a big hole in its chest had fully recovered before floating back up into the clouds.

Time itself had rewound. As if Su-hyeun had become the odd man out, everything except him rapidly returned to their original positions.

And so, the amount of time that rewound back was about 15 days in total.

"It's the world before I arrived."

Indeed, it was back when Su-hyeun first arrived in this world.

"And what's about to be shown to me is…"

The world began ticking forward again from that moment on, and while watching it progress from a distance, Su-hyeun became certain of something.

"The original history of this world without my interference."