Chapter 250 – Savior (3)

The Demon King’s army had launched a surprise attack on the entire world.

In just one week, humanity was literally pushed to the brink of extinction.

“It went into the shopping district over there!”

A jet-black, spider-like creature fled from the Hunters’ shouts.

It began scaling a wall to evade its pursuers.

“Casting!”

Magic-specialized Hunters inscribed skill patterns into the air.

Moments later, a series of bolt-type spells tore through the spider-creature’s back.

In the end, the straggler from the Demon King’s army fell, its brains splattering across the ground.

The military and the Hunters were focused on eliminating the remaining forces of the Demon King’s army.

Korea had become the first nation to slay a Demon King, but its internal situation was dire.

A noble sacrifice had been the price for the Demon King’s death.

-Please save our children who were taken by the monsters.

People were holding a picket protest in front of the Hunter Management Bureau.

“If only my children could come back… I’d do anything…”

“They took my mother, and I couldn’t do anything… Please, save her…”

During the invasion of the Demon King’s army, countless people had been abducted.

This wasn’t just happening in Korea; it was the same in other countries.

The government issued a statement saying they were looking into ways to retrieve those taken by the Demon King, but in reality, they were just standing by and watching.

And for good reason—there was no solution.

The Demon King’s army was gone from this land, and humanity had won. They had accepted such sacrifices as the cost of victory.

There was no way to save them, and even if there were, the cost would be too great.

To save 100, they would have to sacrifice more than 1,000, and even that might not be enough.

-The International Hunter Association has stated that due to concerns of a repeat incident, all nations must maintain a continuous cooperative relationship…

-The United States has developed an anti-kaiju mana-stone missile and has promised to share this strategic weapon with all nations in preparation for the day the invasion repeats…

-Casualties from an unidentified virus transmitted by the otherworldly lifeforms continue to rise, prompting a warning from the authorities…

Humanity swiftly focused on choices for survival.

For reasons unknown, the Demon King’s army had ceased its invasion, granting them a brief respite.

They would be back.

The proof was that the announcement of doom had not yet been deleted.

Amidst all this, a troll post appeared on an online community.

-Fuck, I can’t believe I’m using the internet again.

└Did you get summoned to another world as a hero or something?

└Got dragged off by the Demon King’s army and came back.

└Watch what you say, given the times. You could get arrested for lying like that these days.

└No, fuck, I’m serious, I was actually captured and came back lololol.

└What kind of deal did you make with the Demon King for him to let you go?

└The deliveryman saved me.

Such an absurd lie was just another day in a community full of delusions, so it was quickly buried.

“Have you heard the term ‘returnee’?”

The next day, a reporter began his segment.

“For the first time since the survival game incident eleven years ago, the word ‘returnee’ is being used again.”

“People who were abducted by the otherworldly lifeforms are coming back.”

The news screen showed the woman who had been holding a picket sign in front of the Hunter Management Bureau, sobbing as she embraced her returned daughter.

She wasn’t the only one. Others who had been protesting for their families’ rescue were having emotional reunions with their returned loved ones.

“They all have one thing in common to say. And that is.”

“It was the deliveryman, Lee Hyunbin.”

The reaction was explosive.

What was initially thought to be nothing more than a troll’s rant was now being corroborated by more and more people, solidifying into a concrete fact.

An interview with Jang Jae-soo, a B-rank Hunter from the Shinhwa Guild, was also added.

“After rescuing the survivors, I was at a loss. A monster pursuit squad was coming, I had so many people to protect, and I was all alone. That’s when he appeared, like a miracle. Hunter Lee Hyunbin.”

The man touched his own hands and feet as if still in disbelief.

Then, with a look of sheer ecstasy, he spoke.

“I knew Hunter Lee Hyunbin was strong, but seeing him with my own eyes proved the rumors were understatements, if anything.”

In addition to Hunter Jang Jae-soo’s interview, the protesters also shed tears of joy, expressing their gratitude through the news.

Focusing on the people who had been safely reunited with their families, the anchor began to speak.

“It has been one hundred days since Hunter Lee Hyunbin was put on the wanted list as a villain. He is a hero who saved Europe, but in his home country, he is a criminal sentenced to death.”

While Europe was clamoring to invite Lee Hyunbin, he was still registered as a criminal in his own country.

“Perhaps now is the time not to post wanted posters that tarnish a hero’s name, but to pay attention to the battle he has been fighting alone. This has been your news briefing.”

Lee Hyunbin’s case had been analyzed multiple times. And there were those who recognized that he had not wielded his sword for personal gain.

But the shock of that incident was so great that some voices still condemned Lee Hyunbin as a criminal.

Of course, those voices of condemnation had vanished since the Demon King’s invasion.

The world was now in a state where even if the world’s strongest Hunter was a felon, they would have to beg for his help.

Public opinion was shifting. The international situation was rapidly changing.

Even in these circumstances, the Regressor bit her lip hard.

“Why…?”

The Regressor muttered under her breath.

She couldn’t understand.

Hyunbin had saved so many people. But he himself had a future where he could not be saved.

In his teens, when others fought with their studies, he fought monsters to survive.

And even as an adult, he had suffered from severe PTSD.

He shouldn’t fight anymore. It was time for him to live for himself.

She thought that was the only way to save him. But she had failed again.

The Regressor could see it. The Hero’s lonely battle and his death.

She couldn’t understand why he would choose the path of death for himself.

“In the end, you may know my Mister, but you haven’t understood the man named Hero Lee Hyunbin at all.”

Demon King Im Jae-joon spoke in a relaxed tone.

As if he knew this would happen.

The Regressor opened her mouth to deny his words.

“There must still be a way. If I meet him…”

“Get a grip.”

Seeing the Regressor’s mental state so blatantly shattered, Im Jae-joon chided her.

The cold, seemingly perfect Regressor was gone.

She was on the verge of losing her sanity, like someone who had lost something precious and was now facing despair.

“Looking at you now, I see why you failed every time you regressed.”

The Regressor couldn’t say anything in response to Im Jae-joon’s taunt.

The Hero’s death is visible. Surrounded by countless legions, his situation is already beyond recovery.

“I don’t know if you joined hands with me in your past life.”

She had maintained a friendly relationship with Im Jae-joon, but they had never truly joined forces. This was the first time.

“And I can’t know if I suggested this method in your past life.”

Im Jae-joon glanced at Olivier, who was sitting blankly in the corner.

To think that the two women who claimed to care so much for the Hero were having mental breakdowns.

Foresight is not absolute.

The more intricate and complex the interwoven gears, the more everything can be thrown off by the smallest change.

“Do you know the term ‘butterfly effect’?”

The butterfly effect means that a very minute difference can change a predetermined outcome.

Just as the flutter of a butterfly’s wings can change the environment.

“If you want to change the future, introduce unspecified variables, from one to ten. The more useless calculations there are, the more unnecessary computations will expand.”

No matter how he calculated it, joining the Demon King’s faction was the most profitable move.

But Im Jae-joon reconsidered.

Was such a life, such a version of himself, truly Demon King Dantalian?

As the lowest-ranking Demon King, he had always been scorned.

The real reason he became a Demon King was to save the oppressed demons.

He had no interest in the power and glory they spoke of.

‘That fool probably saw the same outcome.’

Im Jae-joon thought to himself.

“The idea that regression is all-powerful is something that only works in web novels.”

“What are you trying to say?”

At the Regressor’s weak question, a smile formed on Im Jae-joon’s lips.

“From now on, we discard the failed data and fight with new data alone.”

Nothing was over yet.

Now, he too was about to make a choice.

Between humans and demons.

No, between the Demon King and the Hero.

***

Demons were fundamentally similar in appearance to humans, but they were different from birth.

God created humans, and the failed, hideous lifeforms created before them were called demons.

The world of demons was one of pure survival of the fittest.

Unlike humans, there was no need for noble birthright.

Only the strong.

As long as one possessed the toughness to crawl up from the depths of purgatory, they became an object of worship.

In the world of demons, it was natural for the weak to be devoured by the strong. That was why they had long treated humans as food.

But today was the day they were threatened by that very food.

“Are my ears deceiving me?”

“You heard correctly, Commander Shabl.”

Commander Shabl offered a cynical sneer. The person before him, the commander of the 59th-ranked Demon King Orias, had just told him something absurd.

“So, you’re saying the enemy is just one person?”

“That is correct.”

It seemed he hadn’t misheard after all.

At his words, Shabl, commander of the 43rd-ranked Demon King, Sabnak, burst into laughter.

Despite the ridicule, Orias’s commander silently endured the shame with a blank expression.

“Your entire legion was defeated by a single man, and you couldn’t even protect your master’s head?”

“That is correct.”

No matter how lacking Orias was in combat ability, he wasn’t someone who could be taken down by just anyone.

He, too, was a ruler of a dimension.

“You’re quick with your answers.”

“If I can avenge my master, I can endure far worse.”

Orias’s commander had lost his master and come to find Sabnak’s commander.

His words piqued Sabnak’s commander’s curiosity.

“Don’t tell me it was Baal who attacked you?”

“No. It may be an opponent even worse than him.”

Baal. The Demon King of Demon Kings, spoken of only in legends.

If not a being like that, what could possibly destroy such a large army single-handedly?

“A Hero.”

“A Hero.”

The word held little weight.

The system of the Hero existed wherever Demon Kings did.

Demon King and Hero. They were on opposite sides.

In other words, a Hero was not invincible. While some united all of humanity’s strength to defeat a Demon King, most became a Demon King’s plaything or a source of experience points.

“I urge you to inform Lord Sabnak, maintain the front line, and gather all your forces to kill the Hero. I, Arahan, have shamelessly survived to this point to avenge Lord Orias.”

“I commend your loyalty.”

A commander and a Demon King are one and the same.

For those who inherited power from a Demon King, the death of their master was more painful than the death of their own kin.

It was the relationship of a king and a subject who spend their entire lives together.

“I have no intention of belittling your army. However, I will clearly demonstrate the difference in power held by our legion, which has always fought on the front lines.”

Sabnak’s was a legion that specialized in war.

They were confident, composed of only the finest elites.

“…”

The commander of the deceased Demon King, Orias, remained silent, perhaps out of humiliation.

He was no fool.

He realized that no matter what he said, he couldn’t persuade the proud combat legion.

‘Should I go to another Demon King?’

He had not thrown away his life in shame, all for the sake of his master’s revenge.

But it seemed unlikely that he would achieve that revenge with Sabnak’s legion.

Soon, Sabnak’s commander, having received the report, went to the front lines, fully armed.

Orias’s commander left Sabnak’s legion without even checking the battle situation.

‘Only after a few more Demon Kings die will they be able to grasp reality.’

As Orias’s commander left the battlefield, he saw a pillar of light shooting up into the sky.

It was a sight that announced the Hero’s arrival.

“What in the world is that…!”

Sabnak’s commander witnessed a massive cross-shaped energy pattern etched into the ground.

An entire legion vanished the moment it touched that sacred light.

“Ha…!”

This wasn’t a battle.

Nor was it a war.

“The Demon King! Bring the Demon King!”

Though the battle had just begun, the commander realized.

This was a massacre.

A muscular Hero was charging, cutting down all the soldiers surrounding him with a single sword strike.

In his terrifying charge, soldiers who clashed with him were crushed into the ground like mashed potatoes.

After seeing the massive cross-shaped bombardment, the legion’s morale had already plummeted.

It was no wonder; tens of thousands of soldiers had been wiped out in a single attack.

“My lord, you must flee this place at once…!”

The commander saw his master walking over to observe the battle.

The moment he saw him, a chill ran down his spine.

An unnecessarily extravagant sight, completely out of place on a battlefield, appeared before him.

Beautiful demon women attended to the Demon King’s side, forming a long, trailing procession.

“Easy to spot.”

Hearing a chilling voice from behind, the commander swung his spear wide.

*Shnk.*

There was no sensation of the spear tip connecting.

The last thing he saw was a flash of black light from a sword, and then his consciousness faded.

Seeing his commander, his strongest knight, killed instantly, the Demon King’s pupils dilated.

But he quickly grasped the situation.

“Quite impressive, Hero. You are the second to point a sword at me…”

Sabnak tried to converse with the Hero who had come to assassinate him.

It was a sort of customary ritual before fighting a Hero.

But this Hero was different.

Without any preamble or conversation, he was just charging straight in.

The Demon King quickly threw up a barrier and simultaneously activated a spell of destruction.

An extreme magic that could disintegrate a body at the molecular level with a single touch.

He was a fool.

He had thought this one was a rather strong talent and had considered defeating him without killing him, to make him a new commander.

In that moment, what the Demon King heard was not a scream, but a low voice counting numbers.

“Quadra Kill!”

A brilliant, incandescent light that shattered the barrier with ease flashed across the area for an instant.