The Hero Returns

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One, two, three…

This was an old habit of his, counting to three before throwing his spear.

The speed of the countdown didn't matter. It could be fast or slow enough to be yawn-inducing. However, the countdown itself would never change.

It was also his internal process to set the zero point and confirm his target.

What about simply throwing the spear according to his gut feeling?

That wouldn't be so bad, but the difference between him counting down and not was actually quite noticeable. The amount of power permeating the spear would be that much greater, and its accuracy would also go up.

He rapidly counted to three in his head.

And then, the spear flew out of his hand.

RUUUUMBLE—

POW—!

The spear pierced and punctured a hole in the Colossus' left chest, and powerful flames exploded from that huge hole.

Keo-urhk…

The Colossus hurriedly grasped at its left chest.

It crumpled in pain from the rumbling purple-hued flames and went down on its knees. At the same time, Su-hyeun pulled out yet another spear.

[Dragon Slaying Spear]

[Flame]

[Wave Spear - Explosion Style]

Giiii-iiiing—

Flames came alive on the spear that Su-hyeun held in his hand, and the moment it left his grip…

Fwhoooooosh—!

The spear split into dozens of pieces and stabbed mercilessly into the kneeling blond Colossus.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stabbbb—!

Rumbleeeee—!

The Colossus turned into Swiss cheese with the numerous puncture holes on its body, and flames danced all over it.

Thud—

Soon, it collapsed face-first.

The battle had come to an end with just two spear throws.

"That was simpler than I—"

Thinking that it wasn't as hard as he thought, Su-hyeun turned around to leave, but then…

Whooooosh—

Ka-boom—!

A cudgel flew in his direction and slammed into the very spot where he had been standing moments ago before he activated "Leap" to evade.

Upon jumping up high, Su-hyeun looked down below him to find the blond Colossus, which entire body was still on fire and stabbed all over by seemingly thousands of spear pieces; it was swinging around its cudgel.

"You dare to turn your back on me with this much?"

Whoosh—

Craaaack—

The cudgel that was swung in Su-hyeun's direction split the ground apart, and a deep crater formed below it. It literally took one moment for the earth to completely overturn and for the terrain to alter beyond recognition.

Su-hyeun wrapped himself up with the Somersault cloud to protect his body from the impact and stared at the Colossus through the foggy protective layer.

Getting directly hit by that attack could prove to be dangerous. It was powerful, but as a consequence, it wasn't all that fast.

"That doesn't sound like something you should say in your state," Su-hyeun said.

"I can say it regardless of what state I am in."

Tap—

Crackle, riiiip—

It was around then that the Colossus rested the cudgel on its shoulders as the wounds on its body healed at a visibly rapid rate. Its rate of recovery seemed scarcely believable, considering that the divine Flame had been burning its wounds until then.

"Now do you understand?"

"No."

Ku-gugugu—

Su-hyeun replied while staring up at the heavy, gloomy clouds covering the skies now. "I don't think I get it even now."

"Is that so? Then, allow me to—"

"Strike down," Su-hyeun said, ignoring the Colossus as if there was no point in listening to it anymore, as he clenched his fist to finish his command, "Somersault cloud."

FLASH—!

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Ka-boom—!

A lightning bolt struck.

That wasn't natural lightning either. A cloud cover appeared, and a lightning bolt struck out of the blue, so it definitely couldn't have been a normal phenomenon.

Hercules furrowed his brows at the loud thunderclap and the bright flash of light going off nearby. Although he had to frown from the searing flash of light, inwardly, he wasn't feeling so bad at the moment.

"Well, I guess I don't need to worry too much about him."

He was thinking of finishing his fight quickly to lend a helping hand over there, but it seemed that he didn't need to be in a hurry anymore.

And while still looking away…

SMACK—!

He swung the club that he held in his hand.

Keok!

Fwooosh, boooom—!

The bald Colossus was struck by the club and flew away before crashing noisily into the ground. Hercules turned his head to his front and lightly tapped his palm with the club before saying something that would directly wound the Colossus' pride, "Man, even after receiving this much beating from me, you still can't figure it out yet? You can never win against me."

To be defeated twice by not even a low-ranking god but Hercules, a mere demigod whose veins were filled with human blood?

The Colossus thought, "There was a reason why those gods decided to raise this man."

Indeed, Hercules would live for less than a hundred years, yet someone like him was already this powerful. This power level easily matched the likes of a low-ranking god, never mind a measly little demigod.

"But that would be true if I was alone," said the bald Colossus. It seemed that he had already accepted the fact that he alone could not deal with Hercules.

And that was precisely why it brought along its father, another Colossus.

"Although the plan went slightly awry because of the presence of an unexpected fool, all I have to do is buy more time. Nothing's changed."

That's what the bald Colossus thought, but such a thought process was far too easy even for Hercules to read, someone who could be argued as not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Hercules replied, "Doesn't matter whether it's one or two of your kind showing up, nothing would've changed in the end. But—"

Ka-boom—!

Another lightning bolt slammed down just then.

The bald Colossus turned its head in that direction. Hercules followed suit, and while smirking deeply, he muttered to himself, "He even possessed clouds?"

He was initially worried.

He already knew that Su-hyeun was strong, and he also saw him meet Apollo to receive the godhood of fire, but wielding that new power was a separate issue.

As it turned out, however, his fears were baseless.

Despite Hercules's worries, Su-hyeun had no issues whatsoever with utilizing his new power. Not only that, but he also possessed another type of godhood that Hercules didn't recognize.

"Well then, I guess it's about time to wrap things up on this side."

Hercules smirked deeply and shifted his gaze over to the bald Colossus. The latter was actually getting ready to flee by retreating slowly by then. Hercules got the feeling that he had already experienced a similar event to this one before.

The demigod's eyes gleamed sharply as he quickly moved toward the bald Colossus.

"I won't let you go this time."

Crack—!

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Buzzz, buzzzz—

Electricity arced and raced in all directions.

These strands of electricity were intense enough to burn a person's body simply by coming into contact with it. The only one not to get burned black inside this electrical storm was Su-hyeun.

The arcs of electricity traveled and moved according to his hand gesture. They coagulated into a single point and then morphed into a powerful spear.

"One, two, three."

Then, the spear of lightning left Su-hyeun's hand.

RUMBLE—!

Accompanied by a loud roar of a thunderclap, the spear slammed into the Colossus' body. The large creature was already scorched jet-black by then.

"Looks like you can't regenerate yourself anymore."

Su-hyeun took a close look at the Colossus' body currently stabbed through by a spear and burned beyond recognition.

Even after ending up in that state, the creature still didn't fall down. However, the only reason it hadn't fallen to its knees must have been its final show of pride.

That was indeed amazing willpower—or would that be stamina?

Su-hyeun didn't expect the Colossus to withstand so many of the Somersault cloud's lightning bolts, so he was quite stunned but refrained from showing this reaction.

"Man, that's seriously nasty," he said instead.

Su-hyeun lightly swung his sword.

Whoosh—

Plop—

At the same time, the Colossus' body shattered like a boulder, and the pieces tumbled down to the ground.

Su-hyeun wiped away the small traces of sweat off his forehead. Above all else, this Colossus certainly boasted a frightening level of life force and physical strength.

"And there are way more than one or two of such creatures up there," he thought.

Hercules said that he had already dealt with over 10 of such Colossi so far. However, he also said that this would be the first time two individuals appeared together, and that was the problem here.

"What if the numbers gradually increase and become three or four…?"

When that happened, this would no longer be on the level of a mere migraine. Things could balloon rapidly to an uncontrollable level and become impossible to deal with.

Splat—!

It was then that the sound of something being crushed resounded.

Su-hyeun shifted his gaze over to a far-off distance and spotted Hercules's club currently resting inside the caved-in skull of the bald Colossus lying on the ground.

"I see that side's also finished now."

The two Colossi had been dealt with almost at the same time.

As for the final remaining side…

Crunch, munch—

Rumbleeee—

One hundred Giants and Gigantes were currently being munched on by Gluttony, while Miru was firing its Breath at them, and then, there were his other summoned creatures.

And finally, Phaethon was freely wielding flames by borrowing Apollo's powers as well.

"It's over," Su-hyeun thought.

Although a loud commotion had broken out, they were able to end it without too many problems somehow.

"No, wait."

Su-hyeun alternated his gaze between the two downed Colossi and muttered to himself, "I guess this is only the beginning."

Fifteen days still remained, after all.

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The people of the Holy Kingdom including Phaethon had left.

They came to acknowledge their lack of abilities. As for Phaethon, the battle this time taught him that his combat abilities were only good enough to handle the Gigantes class.

On the other hand, Hercules was powerful enough to deal with a Colossus-class Giant without breaking too much sweat.

The same also applied to Su-hyeun.

The Holy Kingdom and the rest of the world were still too weak to handle the Giants.

"Welcome back."

When Su-hyeun and Hercules returned home, Megara welcomed them back with a bright complexion. She must've been worried sick until a few moments ago because her expression showed how relieved she was.

Hercules lightly embraced her and placed his children on his back.

"Daddy!"

"It's daddy!"

"Yes, I'm home, my children."

Hercules smiled and playfully raised and lowered his two kids a couple of times before looking back at Megara.

He held her gaze for a little while, and then, as his brows arched in a warm smile, he spoke in a gentle voice, "By the way, were you preparing supper, dear?"

"Pardon? Ah, yes. I was just preparing it."

"Please make them extra delicious. I have something to discuss with our guest for a little bit, you see," Hercules said as he shifted his gaze over to Su-hyeun.

Discuss something? Su-hyeun was puzzled for a moment but eventually nodded his head. He figured that the topic was probably something best discussed without Megara's presence.

"In that case, I'll look forward to supper," said Su-hyeun, and then, he lightly patted the heads of Hale and Palaemon.

After walking outside the house with Hercules, Su-hyeun settled down on an outdoor chair. "What do you wish to discuss?"

"You saw them, right?"

"You mean, the Colossi?"

"Yeah, them. What do you think?"

Su-hyeun shook his head as if just thinking about them caused a headache. "The one I fought against was a lot more tenacious than I thought. He didn't want to die and was really strong, too. Besides, you mentioned that there are many others. The ones like him, I mean."

"Yeah, it's not just one or two, that's for certain. I think there are more of them than the number of the gods, actually."

"Still, they are weaker than the gods, aren't they?" Su-hyeun asked while recalling Apollo's figure.

The sun god was the second "person" Su-hyeun had encountered that qualified as a being that existed outside of the norm.

If the Bull Demon King's scale felt like an immeasurably large but calm ocean, then Apollo gave off a feeling of a dense fog where one couldn't even see its depth.

In Su-hyeun's estimation, the Colossi were nowhere near the level of Apollo or the other gods, and that's what Hercules also thought.

"Well, that's not surprising. They might be diametrically opposed to the gods, but originally, they are also derivatives of a god, after all."

"Derivatives of a god?"

"Uranus…Hmm, since he's the grandfather of my father, does that make him my great-grandfather? I've never seen his face, but well, the children born from his blood are none other than the Giants."

Su-hyeun didn't know the Greek myth in detail, so he could only nod slightly at Hercules's explanation. He only took those Giants as nothing more than some monsters that opposed the gods, and in all honestly, he wasn't really interested in learning about their origins.

While halfheartedly listening to the explanation, a thought abruptly popped up in his head.

The Giants came from Uranus's blood, and existences such as gods, as far as Su-hyeun knew, lived for near-eternity like the Bull Demon King.

Could it be?

"Is Uranus still alive?"

The question that he asked while assuming the worst-possible scenario was answered by Hercules with a nod.

His affirmation prompted Su-hyeun to ask another question. "Does that mean he's riding in the same boat as the Giants?"

"That's correct. Not only that but he's also completely changed now."

This was the absolute worst possibility—a full-fledged god was in bed with the Giants. That revelation threw the insides of Su-hyeun's mind into a messy tangle.

"Is the current trial related to this god named Uranus? But if that's true…" his thoughts trailed off.

Then, it meant that the difficulty would be too outlandish. Su-hyeun shook his head when his thoughts reached that far.

"No, there's no way."

This was merely the 102nd floor.

The jump in the difficulty from the 101st floor's trial, where he was asked to kill Gluttony, would be too large in that case. There was a possibility of the trial being distorted like what happened back on the 60th floor, but such a case should be quite rare.

"What kind of a…god is Uranus?"

"Talking about my great-grandfather in this manner is undignified, but it's also true that calling him a god is incorrect at this stage."

"What should we call him, then?"

"My father, Zeus," Hercules began, minding his next words.

Then, a familiar term left his mouth and entered Su-hyeun's ears.

"He once referred to him as the 'Predator.'"