The Hero Returns

"Just what is he expecting from that human?"

This was strange.

He didn't feel all that threatened by Su-hyeun's presence no matter how great the strength of the human was.

The power he displayed just now indeed exceeded the Jade Emperor's expectations by a great margin. Even if that was the case, however, it would always pose a far less of an impact to this war when compared to the scenario of the Bull Demon King deciding to step in.

To put it simply, that human was far too lacking to act as the Bull Demon King's replacement.

Despite that, anxiety began to fill the Jade Emperor.

"Dangerous."

He thought that he was dealing with a mere human, but that had to change now.

The Bull Demon King was behind that human, after all.

"I'll kill that human now," he decided.

Rustle—

The Jade Emperor's feet left the ground, but just as he was about to head toward Su-hyeun who was getting ready to go against Prince Nezha...

"Where do you think you're going?"

Shudder—

The Bull Demon King who had remained silent until then suddenly opened his mouth.

The Jade Emperor suddenly froze on the spot as he was about to move. He had a feeling that taking another step would result in his head flying off.

"He's being serious," he thought.

The Jade Emperor finally realized what the anxiety he had been feeling until now was.

The Bull Demon King was backing Su-hyeun.

And the Yogoe's attention and interest were solely focused on that human, which meant that he would never permit the Jade Emperor from doing something—anything—to this human named Su-hyeun.

"I can't do anything to that human here," he realized.

The Bull Demon King wouldn't allow that.

The Jade Emperor might have brought in the Heavenly World's army, but the one truly commanding this battlefield was none other than the Bull Demon King.

The only thing the emperor could do in the meantime was to spectate from the sidelines.

"For now..."

The Jade Emperor intensely stared at the man kitted out in leather clothing who also sported dark skin and a thuggish countenance.

"I don't have a choice but to leave it to Prince Nezha."

Act 6

Rumble, ruuumble—!

Kwa-boom—!

Sun Wukong's battle got underway.

Lightning bolts crackled in the distance, and the massive Ruyi Jingu Bang scythed through the clouds. Just one hammering blow and thousands of Heavenly World's gods fell.

Sun Wukong's battle was as epic as what Su-hyeun had read in the stories.

"So that must be Erlang Shen," he observed.

Erlang Shen was a general of the Heavenly World's army that wielded a guandao, which was taller than his own body, with feminine facial features that displayed an icy emotionless expression.

Along with Prince Nezha, he was one of the Heavenly World's major characters who opposed Sun Wukong. And at that moment, he lived up to his fame and was battling the Monkey King, along with the Heavenly World's army.

Soon, though, Su-hyeun's gaze shifted over to the man with darker skin who appeared before him.

"And this guy...must be Prince Nezha."

He studied Nezha.

His instinct was ringing warning bells, so he couldn't make any careless moves. It was saying that the opponent standing before his eyes should not be taken lightly.

Not too long after that, though, he figured out the reason for the warning.

"Here he comes."

Black spheres flew all around him. They could no longer stay back and began attacking him in earnest.

Swiiiish, swoosh—

Pa-aaahng—!

The spheres tore through the atmosphere and flew in toward him. They were one of the six weapons Nezha used.

"Fast."

Whoosh, whooooosh—

Just a blink of an eye later and the spheres were already brushing past Su-hyeun's sides.

Rather than directly attacking him, they focused more on breaking his stance. While Su-hyeun was dodging them, a large flaming weapon that resembled a wagon wheel—the Wind Fire Wheel—materialized in Nezha's hand.

Ruuumble—

Rumble—

At the same time, Su-hyeun's blade was also enveloped in flames.

Crimson and indigo flames clashed, and the two weapons collided at the same time.

Claaang—!

Jiii-iiing—

A powerful impact force was transmitted through Su-hyeun's arms.

The collision left both of his arms numb. The energy from the impact spread out everywhere and ripped through the atmosphere, and the rebound caused them both to fly in opposite directions.

Buzz, numb—

Su-hyeun furrowed his brows a little at the pain that shot up his arms.

"His strength is something else, but that weapon..." he thought.

Su-hyeun took a closer look at Nezha's Wind Fire Wheel.

"That thing's hardness is extraordinary."

The destructive power somehow exceeded the total amount of energy contained in the weapon in the first place. However, that wasn't surprising, considering the weapon was also referred to as the Heavenly World's hidden secret treasure.

"If it weren't for Balmung..."

His blade would've shattered by now.

Squeeze—

It certainly had been a while.

Since he wielded it all the time, he hadn't felt grateful toward Balmung too often, but at least at the moment, he couldn't thank it enough.

He also didn't forget to thank Kim Dae-ho in his mind for crafting the sword as well.

"However, Prince Nezha has more than two weapons."

According to the legend, he apparently wielded a total of six weapons.

Only two have been revealed so far, so Su-hyeun had to fight while staying extra vigilant about when and how the other four would be utilized.

"This is nuts."

Nezha wasn't an opponent on the level he couldn't fight yet.

Thanks to his stats all experiencing a rapid boost, he didn't have much problem stamina-wise, and he could also more or less keep up with the movements of the Heavenly World's god.

Even then, he definitely got a feeling that this trial's difficulty had increased quite steeply compared to the others so far.

Swoosh—

Clang—!

Suddenly, a long and thick sword materialized in Nezha's hand and was aimed for Su-hyeun's crown.

Blocking that sword caused the weighty pressure to bear down on Su-hyeun. It was the third weapon belonging to Nezha, the Yogoe Slaying Sword.

Swirl—

Whoosh, whoooosh, fwhoooosh—

Right after that, several spheres flew directly toward Su-hyeun's head.

Dodging them wasn't the correct solution. Those spheres were meant to break his stance rather than damage him outright.

[Reflect]

Giii-iiiing—

Paaang—!

The spheres were deflected in all directions. Normally, the skill "Reflect" was meant to deflect the attack and send it back the way it came from, but doing that perfectly against the spheres still proved to be too much of a task.

Clang—!

Su-hyeun deflected Nezha's sword and created some distance between them. And as he activated "Leap" to fly higher into the air, he grabbed another from his back.

Squeeze—

Paaaaahng—!

The spear that permeated with a massive amount of magical energy shot out of Su-hyeun's hand and flew straight toward Nezha.

Moments before the spear pierced through the latter's throat, yet another weapon materialized in his hand.

Daaaang—!

The spear that was flying in with a powerful momentum was violently deflected up into the air.

This was the fourth weapon, a steel mace five times larger than Nezha himself—the Yogoe Beating Mace.

Buzz, numb—

Nezha made a stunned expression at the impact force that traveled down the mace. He had been expressionless so far, and that was the first time a change had occurred on his face.

"This is the first time that I felt this way, other than when I fought against the Great Sage Heaven's Equal."

Joy.

What surfaced on his face wasn't just surprise but also ecstasy from the battle.

Grip—

"You're indeed a good opponent. Conceding the Great Sage Heaven's Equal to Erlang Shen wasn't a bad choice, it seems."

"Why are you grinning like that as if you're happy about something?"

"Isn't this enjoyable? Also, you're a human, so you couldn't have been a good match to fight someone of my caliber."

"Isn't it stranger to actually enjoy fighting, though? It's not like you're a pervert or something."

Su-hyeun stared at Nezha with a pair of eyes full of reproach.

There were sometimes people like this guy among those who were proud of their own strengths—the type that enjoyed fighting.

Nezha was exactly like that.

Su-hyeun had found them the hardest to comprehend. "Fighting is like an act of torture itself. It's not meant to be fun or entertaining."

"How unfortunate that unlike your physique or your senses, your mindset wasn't blessed with the spirit of a general."

"Why don't you stop babbling nonsense, and..."

Pah-ahk—

The spear deflected by the Yogoe Beating Mace returned to Su-hyeun's hand.

"Let's try this again."

Giii-iiing—

Whiiiiirl—

The spear connected to him by a thin strand of magical energy began spinning around quickly. While keeping the weapon spinning with one hand and wielding the sword in the other, Su-hyeun dashed toward Nezha.

"…!"

His speed was far quicker than before.

Nezha's expression failed to hide how stunned he was by this. In the meantime, Su-hyeun's figure darted in and around the Heavenly World's god.

Pahk, paaahk—

Slice, sliiice—

The sword and spear began inflicting small wounds all over Nezha.

Riiip—

Giii-iiing—

Even before anyone had noticed it, the Third Eye was fully open on Su-hyeun's forehead by then.

[Third Eye - Predator]

Sha-aaaah—

An image of a gigantic snake suddenly appeared before Nezha's eyes.

However, he didn't pay it any mind. He thought that since it must have been a simple illusion-type skill meant to threaten the opposition, there was no need for him to worry about it.

More than that, a skill like the "Predator" wouldn't be enough to restrict Nezha's movements in the first place. He knew that fact better than anyone.

Still...

"I see." As more wounds accumulated on his body, a grin began spreading on Nezha's face. "It's not that you became faster, but I got slower, is that it?"

He realized what was going on sooner than Su-hyeun expected.

Chwa-ruruk—

A saber with a bright-red blade suddenly materialized in Nezha's free hand.

The Yogoe Rending Saber meant for ruthlessly cutting down Yogoes.

Flash—!

The moment the saber came down, the gigantic snake that appeared like a mirage was sliced in half.

Shatter—!

The Predator skill was instantly shattered. As it was rather similar to an illusion-type skill, the opponent who broke out of it couldn't be influenced anymore.

"Now that was a shabby little technique. A warrior is meant to fight without relying on such petty little tricks."

Whoosh—

Nezha spoke while lifting that huge Yogoe Rending Saber up in the air. "Now, take a good look. Marvel at the strength of a warrior who has fought millions, nay, tens of millions of Yogoes in his lifetime."

Gu-wuwuwuwu—

The size of the Yogoe Rending Saber grew larger and larger.

Nezha grasped the saber with both of his hands, which was already big enough to almost completely cover the sky. The sheer sense of its weight and scale was even transmitted to Su-hyeun in the distance.

"The moment that thing falls..."

The ground below would utterly be devastated.

Su-hyeun sneaked a glance at the Bull Demon King spectating on the battle in the far off distance. He could also see the Jade Emperor as he stood tall next to the Yogoe, his hands behind his back.

"The Bull Demon King is keeping an eye on the Jade Emperor," he thought.

As long as the former was there, the latter wouldn't be able to make any rash moves.

It meant that Su-hyeun would need to defeat Nezha as Sun Wukong dealt with Erlang Shen in this place.

"I'll go all out, then," he finally decided.

Su-hyeun calmed his breathing.

Since the beginning of the fight up until now, he had been rapidly getting more familiar with his breathing technique without him even noticing it.

[Basic Breathing Technique]

* Grade: -

* Category: Active (activation type)

* The Sage Art's basic breathing method. Maintaining the breathing pattern reduces magical energy consumption by 21%.

* Proficiency: 10.12%

* Your magical energy concentration will increase depending on your proficiency.

The breathing technique's proficiency that slowed down to a crawl began increasing rapidly again through the actual combat. Thanks to that, he still had enough leeway with his magical energy reserve.

"Let's pour it out in one go," he thought.

Su-hyeun gripped the spear with both hands.

Squeeeeze—

Giiii-iiing—

Magical energy gathered on the spear tip and got amplified rapidly. If he were to choose the most destructive skill in his current arsenal, then, without a doubt, he'd choose the "Explosion Style."

The skill was so powerful that it actually destroyed the weapon it was used with. For sure, the "Explosion Style" boasted far superior destructive power than any other skill Su-hyeun knew.

However...

"I'm sure it won't break. Hopefully."

Su-hyeun had almost never pushed the "Explosion Style" to its absolute limit before.

This skill not only completely exhausted his magical energy reserve but also utterly damaged his weapon.

On the other hand, as long as he had enough magical energy and the weapon boasted enough toughness, then it was anyone's guess just how incredible this skill's destructive power could get.

"Well, if it breaks, then there's nothing I can do about it."

If that happened, then he would have no choice but to ask Kim Dae-ho to craft him another one later.

Giiii-iiing—

[Wave Spear - Explosion Style]

[Wave Spear - Explosion Style]

[Wave Spear - Exp…]

Tremble, tremble—

The spear tip shook.

It felt like the spear shaft would explode at any second.

At the same time, he thought that he would be able to do anything he wanted with that thing.