Chapter 263 – For the Hero (2)

The army from another world, fully buffed, charged at the Demon King’s forces.

Shield bearers rushed forward with long spears to form a defensive line, but their formation was incomplete.

*Crash!*

The knights’ lance charge, like a fleet of tanks, mercilessly crushed and trampled the Demon King’s army.

These were the survivors of the war against the 4th Demon King, Gamigin.

They were the elite of the elite, having weathered countless battles.

Even for the Demon King’s army, facing them head-on seemed a difficult task.

“First Battalion of 500!”

Apostle Ismail, whose banner bore a muscle insignia, swung a Justice Chop that struck a demon’s neck.

Her muscular followers lifted the soldiers of the Demon King’s army as if they were bench-pressing them and kicked them away as if performing leg extensions.

The sudden appearance of reinforcements from another world.

The Hunters of Earth were bewildered by the unexpected aid. But there was no time to question where these people had come from.

The tide of battle had shifted.

Perhaps things would have been different if Barbatos had still been in command, but now, only the Legion Commanders remained.

“Armies from another dimension, are they?”

Agares muttered to himself.

“No matter how many ants gather, they are still just ants.”

Agares had no interest in the size of the otherworldy army.

He continued to unleash his attacks on Im Jae-joon.

Im Jae-joon dodged his blows and thrust his sword forward.

Even after fighting the Hero, Agares’s power was still overflowing.

Im Jae-joon detonated the sword he had plunged into his foe. Then, he drew another mana sword and attacked Agares again.

“Useless.”

Just as he said, Im Jae-joon’s mana sword was of no use.

Agares was as hard as steel. The blade couldn’t penetrate his skin. Instead, it just shattered.

Im Jae-joon successively summoned and swung mana swords, calling forth a new one before the fragments of the last had even hit the ground.

And just like before, the blades shattered like glass.

“Didn’t I tell you it was useless?”

Agares flicked his finger.

The ground where Im Jae-joon stood cracked open, and crimson magma erupted from below.

Dodging the pillar of lava, Im Jae-joon threw his mana sword.

Agares didn’t even bother to avoid the attack, taking it with his body.

Then, he threw a punch.

*Boom!*

Even bare-handed, his fist was a sufficient weapon.

Im Jae-joon blocked the attack with his sword, but the immense force of the mana sent him flying backward.

He tossed aside the broken sword and summoned a mana sword in each hand.

In that instant, Agares vanished from sight.

“Where are you looking?”

Agares, who had suddenly appeared beside him, kicked Im Jae-joon in the side.

*Crash!*

Im Jae-joon felt his body lift off the ground.

No, he tumbled across the ground several times, his shirt becoming caked with dirt.

When he looked up, Agares had already raised his foot to stomp on him.

*Thump!*

Im Jae-joon quickly scrambled to his feet and dodged Agares’s foot.

But another kick immediately flew toward his chin.

*Craaack!*

He blocked the attack with his twin swords, but once again, they shattered like glass.

Im Jae-joon was thrown back, his lip split open.

“It’s pointless to stall for time.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Im Jae-joon raised his hand and drew a pattern in the air.

The crimson wing on his back began to glow, radiating a fiery light.

At the same time, the entire area began to fill with red vapor.

“What kind of petty trick is this…!”

Agares moved to crush Im Jae-joon. At that moment, something flew toward him, tearing through the air.

Agares ignored it.

“…?”

A resonating red shard grazed his HP shield.

It left a distinct scratch mark.

*Zip!*

From all directions—left, right, front, and back—something flew in, scratching at his HP shield.

The floating sword fragments, glowing red, moved as if swimming through the air.

Spiral Nova.

Im Jae-joon’s skill had been activated. The fragments of all the mana swords that had been shattered until now were attacking Agares, tracing spiral trajectories in the air.

Agares’s shoulder was grazed.

Seeing a fragment finally tear through his shield, Agares unleashed a blast of mana, obliterating everything around him.

*KABOOM!*

Pillars of lava erupted in all directions, crushing all the incoming sword fragments.

“How dare you use such a pathetic trick…!”

As Agares spoke, he saw something digging into his abdomen.

Im Jae-joon’s mana sword had somehow pierced him, drawing blood.

Agares swung his fist, generating a powerful gust of wind.

Im Jae-joon narrowly dodged it, summoned another mana sword, and plunged it into Agares’s thigh.

A terrifying low kick from Agares followed.

Im Jae-joon took the full force of the blow and was sent flying backward.

Agares looked down at the foot he had just used to kick Im Jae-joon.

A mana sword was embedded there as well.

*Vmmm—* Agares pulled out the sword, which was emitting an unsettling light, and spoke in a low growl.

“No matter how many times you stab me, no matter how many times you cut me, you cannot kill me.”

“That might be true,”

Im Jae-joon replied agreeably.

Even having claimed the throne, it was still too much for him to defeat a transcendent being like Agares.

“But he will be different.”

Im Jae-joon said with a curve on his lips.

Hearing his words, Agares turned his head.

In his line of sight was a muscular man raising a white-hot sword.

The vast blade stretched over ten meters long.

It was the Holy Sword, the symbol of the Hero. But it was different from before.

“I should have killed him.”

Agares said, grinding his teeth with a smile.

The Hero had clearly been holding a broken Holy Sword.

But the sword now scattering golden light clearly had a blade.

The runes engraved on the surface of the blade were shining brightly.

***

Agares was absurdly strong.

In the end, I had to manifest the power of Phase 3.

For a moment, I overwhelmed him. But I lacked a decisive finishing blow.

True to his title of ‘The Immortal,’ he was regenerating endlessly.

Unaware of that, his subordinate Demon Kings had swarmed me and landed their own blows.

Thanks to them, my Phase 3 came to an end.

Just as my Future Sight had foretold, I could feel the undeniable pull of death.

My first future vision showed me dying to Baal, and now I was being killed by Agares.

Perhaps the future had changed due to too many alterations.

The only thing that didn’t change was my death.

I did everything I could.

The rest would be up to those who remained. If they lived on, another hero would surely appear to take my place.

Then I heard Im Jae-joon’s voice, apologizing for being too late.

I even started to wonder why he had come in this situation.

But my vision was too blurry to see.

He was fighting Agares one-on-one.

Im Jae-joon—Dantalian—was a guy who truly fit the description of the weakest among us.

Rank wasn’t everything, but the supply of mana depended on it.

For a guy like him to fight Agares head-on was impossible.

I heard voices.

Telling me to get up, to be strong.

I didn’t know who they were. They were all unfamiliar voices. I felt like an athlete on a field.

Unknown voices, men and women, young and old, were cheering for me.

A few of them even cursed as they shouted. My ears were ringing so much I couldn’t fall asleep.

It seems I lost consciousness for a moment without realizing it.

How much time had passed?

It didn’t seem like long. Only a fleeting moment had gone by.

I knew because that guy Im Jae-joon was still fighting Agares.

“Hyung, shit! Wake up!”

I heard Kim Tae-yang’s insolent voice from somewhere.

Looks like he’s gotten cocky since I haven’t knocked him around in a while.

“Hyung!”

I heard Kim In-ho’s voice too.

“Oppa!”

Hey, Seo Hyun-ji. Calling me ‘Oppa’ now, are we?

I opened my eyes.

“Mister…”

*-Mister….*

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Karin.

But her hair was white.

I wondered if I was hallucinating, but no.

It really was white. And she was wearing a ridiculous red suit.

That was the suit the Regressor wore.

“Mister, I’ll heal you right away.”

*-Mister, I’ll heal you right away.*

Karin’s voice was doubled.

It wasn’t an auditory hallucination.

I quickly understood why.

“What have you done…”

“……”

Karin said nothing. She just smiled faintly.

The young Karin I knew, and the Regressor Karin who was twisted beyond recognition, had merged into one.

“How could you…”

I couldn’t continue.

I had been betrayed by the kingdom, cast aside as useless.

The one who helped me then was Karin’s father, and Karin’s existence was what sustained me. Yes, she was someone I could call family.

Karin wasn’t a nuisance.

Karin was precious.

And while the Regressor Karin wasn’t the one who had been with me, I still considered her precious in the same way.

Through countless regressions, that young, fragile girl had fought and done all sorts of things just to save me.

“It’s okay. I committed sins, after all…”

*-It’s okay. I committed sins, after all….*

And yet, I had never once said a kind word to the Regressor.

To the girl who had given up her entire life just to save me, I had never even had a proper conversation.

In the end, she disappeared. Without ever getting to say goodbye to me.

She was probably the one who wanted my acknowledgment more than anyone.

But now, she was gone.

The two Karins, who should not exist in the same era, had become one.

There was so much I wanted to say, but a lump in my throat stopped the words. But this was a critical situation.

The surroundings were a chaotic mess.

Kim Tae-yang, Kim In-ho, Seo Hyun-ji, Seol Ji-hoon, the Company Man, Siegfried.

They were fighting a Demon King.

For some reason, all the other Demon Kings were on their knees, unable to move.

The one our guys were fighting now was the 5th Demon King, Marbas.

“Insolent fools!”

Marbas, perhaps sensing a crisis now that I was awake, activated a skill.

He summoned a multitude of demonic beasts.

Then, he charged straight for me.

“You son of a bitch!”

Kim Tae-yang chased after Marbas to stop him, but a demonic beast immediately bit his leg.

Kim Tae-yang activated his regeneration skill and kicked the beast’s jaw away. But in that time, Marbas was closing in to kill me.

I rose to my feet.

I had no weapon, but thanks to Karin’s healing magic, some of my strength had returned.

“Wait, Mister.”

*-Wait, Mister.*

Karin spoke.

Then she placed a hand on her chest.

“…!”

A brilliant light erupted from Karin’s hand. And what emerged, drawn from her fingertips, was a blade I had seen many times before.

*Vwoooom—!*

The hilt-only Holy Sword was crying out.

Karin was embracing the blade and hilt of the Holy Sword, forging the weapon anew.

*VWOOOOOM!*

A brilliant light stood in array.

Within that world of light, Karin smiled faintly and offered the Holy Sword to me with both hands.

The blade of the Holy Sword had been with Karin—no, to be precise, with the Regressor.

I took the Holy Sword without a word.

The moment it touched my hand, a vast light erupted from it.

The true Holy Sword.

The Flame of the Covenant.

And so, the complete Holy Sword Laevatein was once again in my hands.

“I’m giving it back to you, Mister.”

*-I’m giving it back to you, Mister.*

The Regressor, who had witnessed my death, had held only the broken Holy Sword to her heart.

And embracing it, using it as her only staff, she had endured until now.

*-I am a sinner….*

The moment I grasped the Holy Sword, I could feel her. The Regressor, no, Katrinne.

After losing me, the child who had wandered aimlessly, not knowing what to do, was forced to become an adult.

Graduating from her childhood, her goal became my revenge.

But it was not easy.

No matter how much of my data she absorbed, waging war against the great Demon King Alliance was impossible.

Eventually, she sought out the Goddess.

And…

I decided not to read any more of Katrinne’s thoughts.

The Goddess chose death.

By allowing herself to be devoured by the Regressor, as if awaiting another future.

“I don’t understand.”

There might have been a better way.

If the only thing the exhausted saint and the goddess chose was to save me, wasn’t that too humble a dream?

“Die…!”

In that short time, Marbas had conjured undying flames in both hands and was firing them at me.

I swung the Holy Sword.

The flames were split in two, then annihilated by the light.

“…How…!”

Marbas, his pupils dilated in disbelief, was also torn in half.

I raised the Holy Sword.

As if responding to my will, it shot a brilliant pillar of light high into the sky.

This was a signal.

That all the fighting was over.