The Hero Returns

Caw, caw—!

Late in the night, a strange-looking bird cried out in the forest. Looking closely, it might cry similar to a crow but looked like a dove's mixed breed as well.

Whatever it was, Su-hyeun stood up from where he sat. He could see a castle standing tall in the distance.

'This is enough for a break...'

He had used up quite a bit of magic after crushing that gate.

Immediately after, Su-hyeun chose to retreat. He decided that it was not wise to barge into the castle without knowing anything.

"Now is a perfect time."

The sky grew darker as it went deeper into the night.

Even if he started a fire, the fear emitted from the darkness was unavoidable.

Of course, that fear was an exception for him. Su-hyeun had experienced a dark world with no sun in the far future.

He had no idea where the enemy would be.

The gate was crushed, and it would be unsure when would one be stabbed in the back.

Now was the best time.

'Of course...'

Crack!

Su-hyeun picked up a thick tree branch nearby and broke it into half.

'I won't head back.'

As he took each step, he headed towards the castle.

If possible, he wanted to clear the trial within one night.

* * *

Grandalum's commander, Maxman, stayed awake and stood guard on the castle top.

It was the same for the other soldiers. Even if they were exhausted, they could not sleep a wink and waited all day for the intruder.

'What the hell is that intruder doing?'

Maxman recalled the stranger who crushed the gate.

He had thought the man who first approached the castle was strange.

They were up against the Kingdom of Audram, not individuals.

But that individual had achieved what the Kingdom of Audram could not. That person took down Grandalum's iron castle gate.

'Just what is he, that weirdo.'

That same thought kept echoing in his mind.

He had his doubts about the other party. Maxman might have probably seen hallucinations.

But when he saw the smashed iron gate, that thought had gone away.

Even if there was a castle wall several hundred meters tall, there was no use for the gate that had been taken down.

Repairing the castle gate would've taken a long time. If the Kingdom of Audram attacked them at a time like that...

'No, that's not it.'

It wasn't the Kingdom of Audram; that was their only problem.

What if that kid from earlier today came attacking them again?

"Damn it."

Precarious thoughts continued to ensue and tangle.

At that moment...

"What kept you so focused on?"

A gloomy voice spoke up from behind Maxman.

Maxman turned his head around and looked at the person.

It was a guest from the center of the Kingdom with his face hidden by a black robe. Accompanying him was his superior, the newly appointed chief.

Nobody even knew his name.

But as per orders from the higher-ups, Maxman had no other choice but to treat him as his superior.

"I was worried about the gate being crushed."

"Was it because of the kid from earlier today?"

"Yes. I was worried that the kid would come at us again."

Maxman let out a long and deep sigh as he shared his worries.

"Honestly, as soon as the gate was taken down, it became tough to even protect the castle. It would be better to call the soldiers back and protect the next fort..."

"That won't do."

The robed man cut off Maxman's words and spoke firmly.

"I'd rather all of us die here than do that."

"...What?"

Did he mishear the robed man?

For a moment, Maxman had doubted his hearing.

No matter how obstinate a person is, no commander had ever told his soldiers to die so readily, even if it was his thoughts.

However, the man in front of him said without hesitation that he would rather die than run away.

It was a difficult situation for Maxman, who had been on the battlefield for several years.

The robed man continued speaking without acknowledging Maxman's reaction.

"Please hold out by all means, without letting it become a reality. You only need to do so for the coming month."

"A month... Is there any point in waiting for a month?"

"Yes, there is."

Just what significance did it have?

It was a period that Maxman, the commander of the soldiers, could not understand. Did it mean that they would be receiving a substantial helping hand after a month?

Though he was filled with curiosity, the robed man turned around, seemingly having no intentions to explain further.

"Just hold out for a month. That's all."

Before he left after leaving those words, he did not forget his last words of cruelty.

"Hold out even if it costs all the lives of the soldiers in this castle."

"...Yes. I got it."

Maxman bit his lips, almost tearing them.

That was one example of how the battlefield was unreasonable.

As it was his superior's orders, he was obliged to carry it out no matter how unfair it was.

Thinking objectively, it was right to make their escape to save the lives of their soldiers.

However, he could not disobey the direct orders from his superior, the robed man who held the nameplate that was given directly from the Kingdom's court. Doing so would have been considered treason.

'It would be better if it was just me defying orders...'

If he ignored what the robed man said, what would happen if he had the soldiers retreat?

He might be accused of treason and executed, but wouldn't he have saved the soldiers?

Or would the soldiers be accused of committing treason as well?

If that's not the case...

"It's the enemy!"

Just then, a soldier's cry interrupted his thoughts.

Maxman quickly shifted his gaze to the bottom of the castle.

The guy from earlier that day was walking towards them.

* * *

"Being welcomed like this doesn't feel that bad."

Su-hyeun looked up at the numerous soldiers who were waiting for him at the top of the castle.

It seemed that the numbers had increased as compared to the day. They seemed to be waiting for him, unable to sleep in that panic situation.

Flick, flick!

He lightly swung the tree branch in his hand.

It was a weak tree branch that could break anytime, it did not produce a massive sound.

'Replace the lacking strength with magic...'

Crack, crack!

He filled the empty insides of the tree branch with magic.

This would've been enough.

'It would be better to kill; it's so bothersome to subdue them".

He needed to be careful to avoid killing any of them or losing control of his strength. It was a tricky mission.

Numerous arrows with sharpened arrowheads were aimed at him.

It seemed that they have finished all the preparations.

When the gate was wide open, the arrows would've been pointless; they would never be able to hit him.

'Let's go.'

He finished taking a deep breath and started moving.

Spat!

Su-hyeun's body ran forward towards the wide-open gate.

That action flustered the soldiers who were at the top of the castle aiming their arrows at him.

"What?! How is he so fast?!"

"I can't aim at him!"

"Calm down and prevent him from entering the castle!"

"No, don't waste the arrows! You can't hit him!"

The soldiers shouted, scared out of their wits.

As the commander, Maxman used his magic and shouted.

"Forget about the arrows and block out the gate! Prevent that guy from entering!"

After going through several hardships for a long time, the soldiers' trust in Maxman was as strong as a sturdy castle. At Maxman's command, the soldiers moved entirely in unison.

'That's the commander.'

Su-hyeun knew that Maxman was the commander, whom he had spotted earlier in the day.

'I'll go after him first.'

However, before that...

Slash!

Hundreds of soldiers appeared, blocking out Su-hyeun's vision.

Holding spears and swords in their hands, they showed intense hostility towards Su-Hyeun.

He had to fight all these soldiers and subdue them without killing any of them.

"Kill him!"

"Prevent him from entering the castle!"

The soldiers started to run towards Su-Hyeun.

They should have known that they are no match for him, yet they were courageous enough to hunt him down. They must have seen Su-Hyeun's ability when he destroyed the gate earlier that day.

Worst of all, it was quite a pain when he couldn't kill them but instead let them off.

'How annoying.'

Slash!

Pierce—!

The tree branch, which was held in Su-hyeun's hand, struck the soldier's neck, who was running head-on towards Su-hyeun.

The soldier's body fell onto the ground, with his eyes rolling backward. It seemed that his neck did not break thanks to the sturdy armor.

"Even so, they aren't too much trouble to deal with."

Stab, stab, stab, stab!

The tree branch in Su-hyeun's hand accurately hit every soldier in their necks.

There were only these three points to consider: moderate strength control, accuracy, and evasiveness. If there was one more thing, it would've been Su-hyeun's unexhaustive stamina.

"If I were to fight with these dwarves, this fight might continue for four days..."

Flick!

Pierce, pierce!

Several invisible blades came flying towards Su-hyeun.

The wind passed, ticking Su-hyeun's skin. Thankfully he quickly used magic to protect his body. Otherwise, there would've been several cuts made on his body.

"Well, was I too ambitious?"

Su-hyeun hid behind the soldiers and observed the mercenaries who had their hands stretched out forward.

The mercenaries who dealt with magic became a problem.

There's no knowing how many skilled mercenaries were in the castle.

'Could I subdue all of them? No, if not...'

Just as when Su-hyeun stopped all his movements and stood silently:

"Wind Cutter!"

"Fire Stone!"

"Ice..."

Swish, swish!

Clank!

Magic fired at Su-hyeun caused a massive explosion. A faint smoke rose around Su-hyeun as he was hit by multiple magic attacks head-on.

"Done!"

"Well, that was no big deal..."

The men who gave out the magic attacks started cheering, but their faces soon hardened.

Su-hyeun trudged out from the thick fog around him. He remained safe from all attacks without sustaining any injuries.

"H-how?"

"He's not injured at all..."

"On top of that, shouldn't there at least be a speck of dust on him?"

Although they voiced out their unjust, the result remained unchanged.

Soon, another round of magic attacks was shot at Su-hyeun. A massive explosion, a sharp blade, and a spear flew and pierced through his body.

It was pointless.

'Force through the front.'

['Indomitable Body' was activated.]

[It increases magical and physical resistance by continuously consuming mana for a specified period.]

It was a rare skill which Su-hyeun had obtained as a reward when he cleared the 17th floor's trial.

Su-hyeun thought it could've granted him an extra life to be used in emergencies.

Although he didn't need to use the skill often since there were few life-threatening situations, it was quite useful in his current situation.

He couldn't kill off the enemies, but it was troublesome to even subdue each of them. The magic that each of them released was bothersome too.

If so, ignoring them would be the end of it.

'What I wanted wasn't their lives, but to take down the castle.'

To take down the castle...

There were a few loopholes and ambiguities in the conditions of passing the trial.

Firstly, the standard for taking down the castle was not clear. All the soldiers present weren't enemies, but he couldn't know under what conditions would it consider the castle to be taken down.

Secondly, he did not know the reason why he wasn't allowed to kill them. The Tower of Trials would not have cared less about respecting lives.

Moreover...

'Something smells fishy.'

Clank, clank!

Flash!

Su-hyeun received the magic attacks with his body and swept away the fog was covering his vision.

'The smell of a bad-tempered guy.'

Su-hyeun's eyes searched for someone located from within the castle.

He extended the range of his magic and found a human with a different kind of energy.

A man covered deeply in a black robe...

No, it had to be Lich.