The Hero Returns

"What's going on?"

Su-hyeun scanned his surroundings.

The sky was reverberating. Of course, it was an empty space, so it couldn't be physically shaking around.

The atmosphere itself was rumbling, and it started exactly at the same time as Lang Mei's blood fell.

No magic or some sorcery was activated just then. Also, even though Su-hyeun was staring with his Insight activated, he couldn't spot any devices or installations on the altar.

"Yet, the whole world reacted?"

She was supposed to be a Shamaness.

A Shamaness was a sorcery wielder loved by the world itself. When Su-hyeun heard that description, he just nodded and said, "Oh, I see." Honestly, it didn't feel real to him, so to speak.

Loved by the world itself?

What did that even mean? And what kind of powers would that grant you?

It was all rather difficult to understand.

But now…

"Is it reacting to her blood?"

It seemed that her blood contained a type of her will. Things like holding a ceremony like this must have been to announce her will to the world.

Su-hyeun didn't move from the spot and continued to observe her from far away.

Even if it was only a minor wound, blood continued to flow from it. She didn't try to stem the bleeding and instead squeezed her finger even harder to draw out more blood.

The quantity of dripping blood increased by quite a lot.

The world rumbled and shook harder and harder.

"I beg of you," she finally said something, and when she did…

Kyah-aaaah—!

Kyah-rak, krrrrrr—

Kkkeeeeehk—!

Su-hyeun's ears caught the screams of the distant monsters.

They were struggling and thrashing about in torment. Some of these screams belonged to the monsters he passed by while riding on the Somersault cloud since he was in a hurry to meet Lang Mei and the Bull Demon King.

The monsters started dying.

"Sounds like she's finished," Sun Wukong next to him muttered. "But the response she's getting this time seems much greater."

"What exactly is going on here, Third Brother?"

"You know what's a Shamaness, right?"

Su-hyeun nodded. He already heard about it from the Bull Demon King and Lang Mei during supper in the past.

"Someone who is loved by the world, that's what I heard."

"At first, I wondered what kinda nonsense was that. But as it turns out, it literally is that. However, there's more."

"More?"

"The Shamaness's power is to receive the world's love, and then," Sun Wukong raised his head to look up at the sky. "Squeeze that world as much as she wants."

The skies had become crimson.

Su-hyeun intensified the strength of Insight to look even further ahead, wondering if it really was true.

The reason for the monsters' tormented howls could be found inside their bodies.

This was something Lang Mei had already shown him before. Monsters were dying in droves as the magical energy flow in their bodies reversed, causing blood to pour out from their orifices like eyes, noses, ears, and mouths.

Back then, though, the range of this ability wasn't as extensive. Sure, she killed thousands of monsters in one go, so one couldn't dismiss that as a minor thing. Even so, Su-hyeun was only a little bit impressed by her powers.

Her ability was undoubtedly amazing, but it didn't reach a level that was shocking enough to impress him. At least, that was what he thought.

But now…

"This easily exceeds my imagination," he thought.

Lang Mei was currently ruling this entire world. She had turned this expansive world as her own and drove every single monster existing in the Path to Reincarnation to their demise.

Su-hyeun continued to watch the event unfold in sheer amazement.

And so, he had to wonder just how long time passed them by like this.

Shuffle…

Lang Mei's figure fell without much energy, then…

"You did well, dear."

The Bull Demon King gently caught her crumbling figure.

* * *

Su-hyeun, the Bull Demon King, and Sun Wukong returned home together.

Lang Mei hadn't regained her consciousness even then.

As soon as they settled down, the Bull Demon King placed a cool towel on Lang Mei's forehead. Her body was burning up right now, with visible streaks of sweat trickling down her figure.

"First Brother, this isn't her first time, yes?"

"Yes. This happens once every 10 days," the Bull Demon King replied with a slightly listless voice. "But I can't tell her to stop, either."

"Does she repeat this process whenever new dungeons show up?"

"Yes."

"It seems to have a fairly heavy backlash."

"It actually eats away at her lifespan."

Su-hyeun's heart tumbled to the pit of his stomach the moment he heard that.

Such was the case, so how much worse would it have been for the Bull Demon King explaining it?

"In this world, her actions mean she's gradually inching toward her complete extinguishment."

"That means, she—"

Su-hyeun was about to say that she needed to stop, but his lips didn't want to part.

Just how many lives were being saved by Lang Mei's actions?

No, this matter was already beyond something simple as saving a few lives.

Her act of preventing the severance of reincarnation's cycle was not simply about saving thousands, tens of thousands, by sacrificing one life. It would be the same as potentially saving even more future lives as these souls would get to reincarnate over and over again.

Knowing this, Su-hyeun couldn't bring himself to say that she needed to stop for her own sake.

"I know what you're thinking about, little brother," the Bull Demon King said. Then, while using the back of his hand to carefully wipe away all the streaming sweat on Lang Mei's neck, he explained, "Even though I do not like this, this is what she wants to do. I can't force her to stop."

"Are you okay with this, First Brother?"

"I got together with her, knowing what kind of person she is. I always knew that my wife would eventually do something like this. It was this side of her that attracted me in the first place—the part of her that made me love her, a human being."

The Bull Demon King made a wry face, "Ironic, isn't it? This side of her attracted me, and I fell in love. Yet, watching her be like this is tearing my heart apart."

"What will you do now?"

"The only reason I turned my back on the world of the living after my ascension was because of my desire to stay next to my wife."

The Bull Demon King didn't wish for many things. He abandoned everything just for the sake of fulfilling one wish. Even then, that one little wish was not working out as he wanted.

"But with how things have turned out, how can I sit still and do nothing?"

"In a way, this could be what Shiva wants."

"It doesn't matter." Heavy murderous intent bubbled away in the Bull Demon King's voice. "Once that creature called Shiva is dead, everything will be resolved, after all."

It had been such a long time since the Bull Demon King spoke with so much intent to kill.

The Bull Demon King usually seemed gentle and warm, but the moment he unleashed his murderous intent, even Su-hyeun sitting in front of him felt chills run down his whole body. The unconscious Lang Mei also began shifting uncomfortably around on the bed.

Only then did the Bull Demon King remember Lang Mei being nearby and withdrew his killing intent.

"First Brother will make a move," Su-hyeun pondered.

The scope of his actions would be limited to dealing with Shiva, but that would still prove to be a massive help regardless.

This was what Su-hyeun initially wished for, anyway. However, putting aside the result for a moment, the "how" remained a bit of a problem.

"I wasn't the one to make the First Brother act."

It was Shiva. For some reason, he ended up making the Bull Demon King act.

The ascended Yogoe wasn't planning to do much even after Su-hyeun asked for a favor. However, when the issue involved Lang Mei's life, the Bull Demon King decided to kill Shiva.

"I can't tell whether this is good or bad."

Su-hyeun felt confused by this situation and could only sigh in his heart.

The Bull Demon King seemed to know Su-hyeun's inner dilemma, as he didn't inquire further about the topic. "And so, little brother, what are your plans from now on?"

The reason why Su-hyeun came to the Path to Reincarnation was to search for the Bull Demon King.

Although the process itself took an unexpected turn, the initial goal of making the Bull Demon King help out has been achieved with this.

This war couldn't end without the death of Shiva, after all.

"I'm thinking of starting my climb up the Tower again, First Brother."

That must've been an unexpected reply because the Bull Demon King made a slightly confused face, "The Tower, you say?"

"Yes."

"But is there a reason for that? It didn't seem like you have any more to earn from that system."

"Well, the thing is…"

Su-hyeun spoke of what happened while he was repairing the system.

He started from the structures of both the system and the Tower as created by Master Subhuti and then the trials issued during the process of climbing the Tower.

His tale ended at the part where he heard that mystery voice.

"You said that wasn't your first time hearing that voice?"

"Yes. I've heard it once before when my clairvoyance skill, Foresight, was activated."

"An existence from the future recognized someone from the present, hmm… Indeed, that does sound rather worrisome."

"I need to find out who that is, First Brother."

"Do you think it's the One Overlord?"

"Either Shiva or the One Overlord, it has to be one of the two. Regardless of who it is, though," Su-hyeun hesitated a little before continuing, "I don't know why, but the owner of the voice seemed familiar to me."

It was only a vague feeling, so he found it a bit hard to discuss. Nonetheless, he could openly talk about this matter circling in his head because the Bull Demon King was his current conversation partner.

Su-hyeun had no basis when he said it seemed "familiar." It wasn't as if he could recall that voice. Even then, that voice was like a persistent splinter embedded under his skin.

"There must be a reason why it sounds so familiar to you."

"It could be down to nothing more than my feelings, First Brother."

"But you're about to climb the Tower once more based on just your feeling."

"That, well—"

"It seems that you still don't know much about yourself."

Su-hyeun became confused at the Bull Demon King's assertion. He still didn't know about himself?

"Even a microscopic organism possesses instincts. Beings like humans, gods, and even Yogoes boast a certain level of wisdom. Let's not forget, little brother, you even possess intuition capable of seeing through the assigned fate, too."

"Intuition capable of seeing through fate?"

"You said you even opened the eyes of clairvoyance, didn't you? If you're worried about it, then look at it this way. There must've been a good reason for all of it—that they have their beginnings from something as minor as your gut feeling. You will reach the place you wanted to get to sooner or later if you stick to this path."

What the Bull Demon King said just then reached in and engraved themselves deeply in Su-hyeun's mind.

Even only a second ago, he was in a dilemma. He didn't know any cloning technique similar to Sun Wukong's, which meant that he could do only one thing at a time.

Should he remain in the Path to Reincarnation and search for Shiva?

If not, should he stay on Earth and prepare for an unknown crisis that might appear at any time?

Or, should he climb the Tower once more and seek out the owner of the voice, the one topic that had been bothering him for a little while now?

Out of the three choices, Su-hyeun chose the last one. He had a feeling that this was the right move to make.

However, he couldn't help but be conflicted about making a choice based on just a vague feeling with no solid basis. However, now that he had heard the Bull Demon King's advice, he felt sure of what to do.

"Thank you, First Brother," Su-hyeun got up from the seat.

At his surprisingly urgent movement, the Bull Demon King decided to ask, "Are you planning to head out right away?"

"Yes. It feels like I must."

Lang Mei was prepared to do something despite the danger of her soul being extinguished.

He couldn't afford to be lukewarm about it, considering her sacrifice. She couldn't protect the Path to Reincarnation by herself forever, after all.

He thought, "The system has been restored, so things should gradually improve moving forward, but…"

In the end, this was not the fundamental solution to their problems.

Split—

A portal opened up in front of Su-hyeun. It was much larger and deeper than in the past. It directly led to the 203rd floor of the Tower.

"Whichever task it is, I need to hurry," he inwardly said.

Although their methods were different, what Lang Mei, the Bull Demon King, and Su-hyeun wanted was ultimately the same: the complete and utter disappearance of all dungeons.

Also, they desired Shiva's death, which would lead to victory in the war for the fate of this universe.

Step—

Su-hyeun bowed to the Bull Demon King to bid goodbye, then stepped inside the portal.

The scenery then changed to reveal a brand new world.

This, too, was an already-destroyed world, with scattered debris belonging to ruined buildings and darkened skies above.

It didn't matter where; all destroyed worlds looked similar to one another. It seemed that all destruction led to the exact same conclusion.

He suddenly realized something while staring at this place: This universe was filled with so many already-destroyed worlds, just like this one.

"I've returned."

No administrator showed up this time. That was fine. Su-hyeun didn't require their help, anyway. After all, the privilege of controlling the system didn't only belong to them now.

[The trial on the 204th floor will now begin.]

Su-hyeun watched the scenery rapidly change, then sucked in a deep breath.

His heart was racing.

Just like how he used to prepare before a fight, he repeatedly tensed his body up before relaxing.

"From now on…"

And when the scenery stabilized and spread out all around him, his senses had become so much calmer than before.

"I'm going to start running at full tilt."