The Hero Returns

* * *

Step—

Su-hyeun took a step forward.

Kali stared into his eyes. Su-hyeun's eyes, where blue light had been coming from after he used Insight, had now changed its color to gold in hue.

"What has changed in him?"

This inexplicable sense of danger took root deep within her mind. Outwardly, the only thing that had changed about him was the light shining from his eyes, but she thought that something else had changed for sure.

"His method of controlling his powers and his familiarity with them...Even though it hasn't been one year since he became a god!"

Kali finally understood the reason why Su-hyeun continued to evolve during their battle. It was a problem that could be resolved pretty quickly if one thought about it for a moment.

It hadn't been that long since Su-hyeun became a god. Even Kali herself mentioned that his mindset was still that of a human's not too long ago, didn't she?

That was indeed a problem that initially didn't seem like one—the fact that he had not yet fought as a full-fledged god before and that he hadn't fully grasped or was unaware of all the powers sleeping within his own flesh.

The longer he fought, the more proficient he got with his own abilities. In other words, by fighting against Kali, he was getting better at controlling his godhood.

"It's not a smart idea to drag things out, but..."

She understood it in her head. The longer this fight dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would become for her. However, she was conflicted.

"I do not wish it to end this quickly."

It had been too long since she felt the tremor that was running down her spine.

After her battle with Asura, Kali hadn't had a single chance to have a battle of this nature. For one thing, she couldn't meet another Ten Great Evils, and not only that, they didn't desire to fight each other.

To be more precise, getting into a fight with another Predator in that rank was basically the same as breaking their agreement. Only Asura was worth breaking that agreement and starting a fight.

But now, an opponent capable of making her heart pound as much as Asura had appeared before her eyes.

"I've bled enough."

Drip—

Blood continued to drip down from all of her open wounds. A normal life form wouldn't be alive after losing this much blood. However, Kali was an exception.

To her, the meaning of bleeding was the same as getting sufficiently warmed up.

"Why don't we bleed some more together?"

Ka-boom—!

The ground under Kali's feet caved in, and her figure shot forward. Rain of blood constantly fell from the skies that were still dyed in a crimson hue. As the blood fell on Su-hyeun's body, he also shot forward to meet the incoming Kali.

Clang—!

RUMBLE—!

Their collision ripped apart the clouds. At the same time, their figures leaped high, turning into two lines that intertwined messily. Thunderous blasting noises began exploding from the heavens above one after another.

Boom, baaaang—!

Flash—!

Blood splattered as Kali's chest was sliced open.

Baaaang—!

Her shield slammed into Su-hyeun's head; loud and clear bell noises rang out in the air as the Thunderbolt brightly flashed.

Ruuuumble—!

Lightning exploded between their figures.

Su-hyeun observed Kali's arms; the Thunderbolt that he threw was blocked by her hand holding the skull. Meaning, she actually decided to lose her hand and have it ripped apart into pieces.

Pah-suk—

Right after that, her balance crumbled just as her remaining three arms moved about.

Powpowpowpowpowpow—!

BOOM—!

Kali directed spears of blood to stab into Su-hyeun's back. At the same time, her shield with cracks running on it broke through the Thunderbolt and tried to slam on Su-hyeun's head. Then, her noose came flying in, its target being Su-hyeun's throat.

Sliiiice—

Rumble—!

The noose was sliced apart by Su-hyeun's blade. The shield that Kali swung toward his head collided with yet another Thunderbolt and was thrown up in the air along with Kali's arm, while the blood spears were blocked by the Somersault cloud.

However, one spear still managed to stab him in the shoulder. Su-hyeun suppressed the painful sensation of his blood wanting to drain from his body and opened his mouth, "Blow away...!"

Ruuuumble—

Flames rapidly enveloped his sword. Even though it hadn't touched her yet, the heat that was intense enough to cook flesh still reached Kali's body, so she quickly manifested the armor of blood on herself.

Right at that moment, Su-hyeun's sword finally made its move. "Palm Leaf!"

Fwhoooosh—!

Kuwaaaaah—

The flames whooshing about like sharp blades began slicing Kali's body and burned her wounds with their intense heat.

Sizzzzle—

Kali stomped her feet down and braced herself so that she wouldn't get shoved back. No, wait—her actions didn't simply stop at not getting pushed back.

Pah-aaahk—

She actually broke through the sizzling heat storm and extended that huge blood hand of hers toward Su-hyeun's head. It was the very same hand that had stopped the Yogoe Beating Mace.

Just as that huge hand made of hardened blood was about to crush him flat...

Ruuumble—

Whoosh—

His entire figure suddenly transformed into flames, and he easily slipped through the gaps of the massive descending blood hand.

[Flame - Transformation]

For the first time ever, he succeeded in transforming his entire body. In the past, he could only transform his hand, maybe his arm at the maximum, but this time, the Transformation of his whole being came about so naturally.

Ruuumble—

Purple-hued flames quickly surrounded Kali, and a hand shot out from the wall of flames to smash Kali's head down to the ground below.

KA-BOOOOOM—!

Crack, split, craaack—

A huge crater formed on the ground beneath her head before the entire terrain crumbled powerlessly. Almost at the same time, waves of blood explosively rose up all around Kali's figure.

Kwa-gagagaga—

BOOOOM—!

Blood exploded all around her. Su-hyeun wrapped himself up in the clouds and quickly slipped out from the commotion. At the same time, Kali pulled up her smashed head from the ground and rose into the air; her broken sword swung toward Su-hyeun's head next.

Claaang—!

Slice—, crunch—!

Pow, splaaaat—!

Su-hyeun's sword strikes had become even faster and harder-hitting. To match him, Kali also grew stronger the more she bled. The longer their fight dragged on, the more it got intense and more savage.

Ruumbleeee, ku-gugugu—

Crrrraaaack—

The terrain could no longer endure the battle and completely caved in. Over this broken and cracked land, a sword and a shield collided, creating a crack of a thunderous boom.

BOOOOM—!

Flash—!

And then, actual lightning materialized in the heavens.

[Divine Punishment]

More correctly, hundreds of Thunderbolts had appeared there. The moment they finished materializing, Kali hurriedly raised up the skull held in her hand.

Chwaaaaaah—!

A massive wave of blood covered her from above, becoming a huge wall that protected her. However, Su-hyeun didn't pay any heed to that and lowered his raised left hand that had created all those Thunderbolts.

And when he did...

Crunch, kwa-zzzzzzak—!

Dozens, no, hundreds of Thunderbolts slammed into the wave of blood.

"Keuh-ugh...." Kali moaned as her arms trembled.

In the end, she was the one controlling all this blood; the quantity of blood present was enough to form a small ocean, yet she needed to utilize all of it to barely block the Thunderbolts.

Her arms continued to shudder, but she managed to stop them all—when such a line of thought popped up in her head, Kali's lips settled into a smirk, "Looks like it's over now for—"

"Nope."

Swiiiiish—

Stab—!

Along with Su-hyeun's voice suddenly coming to her as if he was right in front of her face, she felt a sensation of white-hot metal penetrating her forehead. The inside of her head quickly grew hot; her entire body became rigid, and a familiar face filled up Kali's vision.

Su-hyeun's blade had cleanly stabbed through her forehead.

"This...is the end."

Swhoooosh—

Winds gathered on his blade.

"Blow away, Palm Leaf."

Then, when he gave the command, the winds began to go on a rampage.

***

Tumble, drop, tumble—

Bits and pieces of severed flesh blew up into the air before raining down.

Su-hyeun, standing amid the falling bits of meat, exhaled softly under his breath. His entire figure was literally bathed in blood as a result of his fight against Kali. All sorts of small wounds also pockmarked him.

"Something still doesn't feel right."

That was the very first thought that entered his head after he realized that the battle was finally over. At the same time, his body suddenly sagged, which was a rebound from using up all of his strength. Even fatigue belatedly hit him as well.

"Please, just die now," Su-hyeun muttered as if he was reciting a chant.

Although it was unlikely she was still alive after ending up in this wretched state, he just couldn't let his guard down after running into a Predator like Tyrant earlier.

"It... hurts..."

Sure enough, Kali's voice came to him as if she was waiting for this moment, but her voice lacked energy. She wasn't dead yet, but her voice indicated that it wouldn't be that long before she died for good.

"You don't even have a mouth anymore, yet you can still say you're hurting, huh?"

"You...have won today."

"Right. I did win."

"Asura, too...died...at the...hands of another... not related to me."

A hint of laughter could be picked up from Kali's fading voice. For the parting words coming from dying bits of flesh, her voice sounded rather pleased right now.

"Are you...familiar...with that...black dragon?"

"Yes, I am."

"I...shall...wish for...your victory. Even though...I'm dead...Asura...I don't...want to lose..."

The tremor in Kali's voice grew more noticeable. Seeing how she couldn't finish what she wanted to say, it seemed that her end was near, which wasn't all that surprising.

"Managing to hold on when in such a state is the craziest thing here, obviously."

Su-hyeun took in Kali's state currently ripped apart into thousands of pieces from the Palm Leaf's winds. Her blood was still wriggling on the ground, indicating that she was somehow still alive.

He decided to finish her off for good and got ready to move, but then...

"This...fight...it's not...over yet."

His brows quivered a little at that rather nonsensical claim. "I didn't think you'd be one of those unreasonably obstinate types."

"Fighting...isn't always...about...swinging...swords around..."

"What was that?"

"You...can't... kill... people…because...you are...a hero."

"What are you on about?"

"A new...war...will begin."

Su-hyeun's brows shot up as he locked his gaze on the wriggling bits of Kali's body. Her voice was just about ready to fade, so to catch every little thing she was saying, he paid even closer attention.

"When...I die...Altars...activate…wars and...bloodshed...Slaughter...of the world...will start..."

"Time limit...destroy...Altar..."

"Stopping...the spell..."

"This battle...I...have won..."

Her words came in pauses, but he still got to understand their meaning more or less.

"The moment Kali dies, the remaining Altars will activate. The longer I take to destroy these Altars, the more people will die."

Su-hyeun was certain of his guess on what she said—he had to destroy the Altars as quickly as possible.

All the people influenced by the Altars would either kill themselves or bare their weapons to wage wars. This was Kali's final scheme meant to completely obliterate Pangaea.

[Remaining Altars: 48]

Su-hyeun confirmed the number of remaining Altars. "Forty-eight altars are left..."

Normally, he would have needed several days to destroy them all. However, he didn't feel pressed or anxious right now, all because he just thought of a pretty good idea.

"Okay, so that's how it is, huh?" Su-hyeun turned around and called out, "Miru?"

Riiiip—

Miru peeked its head out when Su-hyeun's voice reached it.

Without explaining himself at length, he climbed on Miru's back, but before he set off, he glanced at the dying Kali and said, "Do your best to hold on and not die too quickly, okay?"

He then lightly patted Miru's head, prompting the red dragon to unfurl its wings and began flying.

"After all, I will only need a few minutes here."

Flap—

Miru quickly beat its wings and began its flight.

Whoooooosh—

The dragon broke through the cloud cover and ascended higher.

The air became quite thin when they arrived at a really high altitude. However, they had no trouble breathing or anything like that. Actually, they wouldn't die just because they couldn't breathe for a few hours.

And so, after they climbed higher and higher for a few minutes...

"Fuu-woo..."

Air had completely disappeared now, replaced by a bone-chilling cold that caused white breaths to escape from his lips. He looked below, and the sight of the huge planet entered his view. Perhaps due to his Insight, he had no problem taking a closer look despite the incredible distance.

"Seriously now, being a hero isn't enough, so I have to act like a god, too?"

Bzzzik, pazzzzzik—

Dozens of Thunderbolts materialized above Su-hyeun's head. He squeezed out the remainder of his strength to create these. They numbered exactly 48.

"Huh, I guess this is my destiny, then," Su-hyeun groaned under his breath and then grasped one of the Thunderbolts above him. He powerfully hurled it at a certain location in Pangaea below.

A short while later...

RUUUUMBLE—!

A thunderous boom came from not the sky but the ground below. Now that was a new experience, alright.

However, he couldn't afford to take his time admiring the freshness of this experience.

"Okay, the next one is..." He grasped the second spear. "Over there, huh?"