The Hero Returns

BAAANG—!

It sounded like a vast balloon had blown up.

If someone saw this scene from afar, they probably would've thought that a tiny little needle had burst a giant balloon.

As for the "air" contained in the balloon, it lost the surface tension that held it inside and instantly began spreading everywhere.

Sizzle...

Su-hyeun's skin pricked and itched.

The hardened ground he stood on began melting down, while his body also got scorched black, all because of the energy bursting out from Shiva's sphere.

"Jeez, now that's pretty strong!" Su-hyeun coughed loudly.

It felt like he had sucked in a lungful of stinky gas. Although he never got drafted into the army, he figured this would be pretty similar to the gas-mask training he heard about.

Even so, his physical self didn't sustain any noticeable injuries.

The insides and skins of most low-ranking gods would have started decomposing the moment they breathed in the gas, but it was not strong enough to affect Su-hyeun overall.

"Even though it's not to the degree of complete destruction, with how things are, no living being can survive on this land."

Simply put, he only succeeded halfway. Nevertheless, it was still a success.

Su-hyeun raised his head. The black current dispersed like smoke, eventually clearing up the view.

Driiiibbbbble—

Drop, splat—

Blood was freely flowing and in quite a quantity, too. Each drop of falling blood was rather substantial.

The ground was already soaked as if a deluge of blood had fallen.

"Wait, did all this amount of blood come from such a small body?"

This scenery reminded Su-hyeun of Kali.

A large hole had opened up in Shiva's chest. Its location wasn't where his heart might be in. Still, a copious amount of blood poured out from the hole that was bigger than an adult fist.

Shiva was staggering around, too. The impact force he felt must have been considerable.

"I need to hurry and..."

Wobble—

Stab—

A rush of dizziness forced Su-hyeun to stop moving and stab his sword on the ground to steady himself.

"Dammit."

His right arm that threw the spear earlier wasn't listening to his commands. Not only could he not feel anything with that arm, but he also couldn't even clench his fist. It seemed unlikely that he would get to use his right arm for the time being.

To make matters worse, his unresponsive body had morphed into a lump of lead after forcibly drawing out too much power in one go.

"At times like this, having too much power is a problem, huh?"

His tired body couldn't deal with the still-overflowing energy. It would be challenging to fight in his current state, in other words.

At the very least, he needed to mend his arm or let his body recover from the fatigue. Both Shiva and Su-hyeun were not in good shape at the moment.

"Whatever happens..."

Yank—

Su-hyeun pulled out the sword from the ground meant to steady himself.

"I must see this through till the end."

He gripped the spear and sword in his hands and then activated Earth Shrink toward Shiva just as the latter began regaining his balance.

And the moment he rapidly closed the distance...

"That's enough."

Shu-wuk—

Su-hyeun's vision suddenly turned pitch-black.

Just as he began wondering, "What's going on here?" he realized that it was the fault of Shiva's palm.

"Let's call it a day here, shall we?"

"What kind of bullsh*t are you on about?"

Whoosh—

Sliiiiiice—!

Su-hyeun's sword sliced past Shiva's chest.

A hand blocking his vision didn't matter at the end of the day. He already knew Shiva was right before him, so the direction of the sword swing had already been decided.

The left hand that swung the sword felt the definitive feedback. He had definitely cut through some bones just now.

"Is this it?" he thought.

It couldn't be that easy, could it?

Despite the feedback he got, an uneasiness didn't want to leave his mind. Shiva's hand still covered his view, preventing him from seeing anything.

Right at that moment...

"What?"

Su-hyeun spun around urgently while dropping his right arm.

CLANG—!

Buzzzzz—, throb—!

Su-hyeun's body was shoved far back. His already aching right arm was now screaming in pain.

Even so, he still managed to defend himself.

Su-hyeun glared at Shiva, who was somehow standing behind him.

"Was that Foresight? But you haven't awakened it by yourself, and it's only on the level for instinctively sensing danger."

Shiva's palm was about to strike Su-hyeun's unguarded back. The latter defended himself in the nick of time, but it was more like he got lucky just now rather than skill.

Su-hyeun thought, "If Foresight didn't suddenly activate just now..."

Most probably, his back would've been left completely exposed.

Just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine. He realized that he acted too rashly by using Earth Shrink to close the distance.

Su-hyeun assumed a combat stance.

"I can't use my right arm at all. Who will end up in a more favorable position if I drag things out to recover?"

Su-hyeun racked his brain while comparing Shiva's injuries to his own.

"He's injured a lot worse than me, but that movement earlier..."

Shiva blocked Su-hyeun's vision and slipped right behind the latter.

It must have been some unknown trick since Su-hyeun couldn't figure out how Shiva could move like that without letting out any sounds or traces whatsoever.

"It's not going to be great for me by dragging it out for too long."

While he couldn't use his right arm, Shiva didn't seem unrestricted in his movements.

It meant that it would not be favorable for Su-hyeun to drag this fight out any longer. If Shiva decided to turn this battle into a war of attrition, Su-hyeun would get exhausted much sooner with only one usable arm.

"In that case..." Su-hyeun inwardly considered.

"I told you. You don't need to rack your brain that much," Shiva raised both of his hands. "Although this isn't a surrender, let's call it a day, shall we?"

"What are you saying?"

"Your test is over. You passed your trial."

[You have passed the 210th floor's trial.]

[Stamina has risen by 1.]

[Will you transfer to the 211th floor?]

Now that seemed a little too lackluster for a trial reward.

He already knew that both his magical energy and the Demonic Aura couldn't increase any further, thanks to the World Tree residing within his body. Even so, just one point increase in his stamina was enough to allow a lot more vitality than a second ago to circulate within Su-hyeun's body. Still, he didn't have the leeway to mind that at the moment. A more pressing matter was at hand.

"What are you scheming, Shiva?"

The trial ended just like that. Meaning Su-hyeun prevented the apocalypse, which was the same as stopping Shiva.

"Is he really not planning to fight anymore?" Su-hyeun thought incredulously.

It couldn't have been a system error. If the trial was set as the battle against Shiva and the goal was to kill Shiva, it shouldn't just abruptly end here.

Therefore, the trial ending at this point meant that there had to be another goal that didn't involve Shiva's death.

"What do you mean, scheming? I merely did my job as per the trial's contents."

"Is this an arrangement you made with Master Subhuti?"

"That's right."

"In that case, the goal of this trial was...?"

"Getting my acknowledgment, obviously."

Shiva's acknowledgment was the real goal of this trial?

Also, killing Shiva wasn't the only way to prevent the apocalypse. All that was needed was to stop him somehow.

"If that hadn't been it, I would probably just have killed you already. It would have been a pretty tough job, even for me. Now I've fought you personally and saw for myself."

"Your acknowledgment, hmm..."

Su-hyeun, with his stamina, restored slightly, began massaging his right arm.

The pain had lessened to some degree, and his previously paralyzed senses were coming back to him. That was how great of an effect one stat point increase had on him in his current state.

"You think I'll be happy to gain something like that?"

"Nope. Of course not, when you're so dead set on killing me sooner or later."

Su-hyeun could only make a puzzled face at that playful reply from Shiva.

Shiva knew so much about Su-hyeun's personality and even his ultimate goal. Even so, Shiva had been waiting for Su-hyeun in this place. On top of that, he didn't even try to carry on with the battle.

Su-hyeun wondered, "Does that mean he has another goal in mind?"

Regardless of what, wasting time talking like this would benefit Su-hyeun because once his right arm regained all of its feelings...

While thinking that, Su-hyeun spoke up again, "But why?"

"So, I assume you finally feel like talking, then?"

"A little."

"That's a relief. My original plan was to beat you up until you're half-dead—until you couldn't even lift a single finger. But now, I don't have to do that, right?" Shiva shrugged his shoulders as if he was relieved.

He even plopped down on the ground. If another fight broke out, he would have to get up, which would complicate things, yet he still sat down—and what a bold move this was.

Su-hyeun briefly wondered if he should sneak an attack right now.

But maybe a little bit more...

While thinking that it would be nicer for time to tick by a little faster, Su-hyeun asked another question, "What exactly do you want to talk about?"

"What you want is my death, isn't it?"

"Stating something so obvious."

"That's because you probably think I'm planning to destroy the world you live in."

Shiva was saying something rather obvious.

Usually, Su-hyeun wouldn't have wasted time listening anymore. That was why he wasn't paying much attention right now.

Until they got to the next part, that was.

"In that case, what about Vishnu?"

"What are you trying to say here?"

Shiva suddenly brought up Vishnu.

Su-hyeun found this odd since, in his eyes, both Vishnu and Shiva were enemies to kill. Both of those gods wanted to destroy the universe, after all.

"That fool Brahma seems to think Vishnu as our father, but I don't share his sentiment. Not only do I not know what he looks like, but I've also never even seen the dude before. I know he's incredibly powerful, though."

"But don't you and that guy share the same goal?"

"The same goal? No way! It's not the same, but it's kind of similar."

"Be more specific."

"Brahma creates, while I destroy. We've been repeating this cycle for an eternity, and we shall continue it in the future, too. At least, that's what I believe."

"Why?"

"That's because that's the reason for my existence," Shiva answered while making the most serious expression he had made so far.

Shiva clearly understood the reason for his existence, and just like Brahma or even Vishnu, his goal had not changed despite the passage of eons of time.

His goal was only one thing—to destroy universes no longer deemed necessary. That was all.

"And that's exactly my reason for wanting to kill you."

"Even so, you can't kill me. Even I don't know how to kill myself. Maybe you can force me into another slumber lasting for a few billion years, but that's about it."

"That's a good enough reason to try to kill you, then."

"Listen till the end, will you? What I'm trying to say isn't about us starting another fight."

While listening, Su-hyeun began clenching and unfurling his right hand.

He initially thought that a few hours would be needed for his right arm's recovery, but it was happening much sooner than he anticipated due to the increase in his stat. Without showing it outwardly, Su-hyeun was preparing to strike Shiva at any given moment.

"Three more minutes—No, wait."

He could move right this instant if he wanted to do that. However, he was getting interested in what Shiva was alluding to here.

"Carry on," Su-hyeun said.

"Do you know what is Vishnu's ultimate goal?"

"Isn't it the same as yours?"

"No, I told you earlier, didn't I? They're not the same but merely similar. That's because there's no 'next' in that guy's mind."

There's no next?

When he heard that, Su-hyeun fully understood where Shiva was going with this conversation. "Are you saying you don't wish for a complete destruction?"

"Vishnu's goal is obviously the destruction of this universe and then Brahma's death. He believes that no more universes are necessary, you see."

Su-hyeun had already heard all these from Brahma.

No new universes would be born if the universe was destroyed and Brahma died alongside it. According to what Shiva said just now, Primordial Gods like Shiva and Brahma might get revived sometime later after their deaths. However, the story could be different if it was Vishnu, the creator of both gods.

"A being who wishes to destroy everything, while another being who solely exists for the sake of destruction..." Su-hyeun continued to mull over.

Indeed, the two of them sounded somewhat similar. Still, that minute difference made them opposites as well.

"If there is no next universe, what am I supposed to destroy?"

Those words sounded like a rambling of a madman to Su-hyeun's ears, but it still helped him become even more certain about something.

"Let's work together to kill Vishnu."

Shiva was an enemy.. Nonetheless, he was an ally at the same time.C