The Hero Returns

Set scanned their surroundings.

The coliseum was rebuilt according to his will, and it largely looked the same as before. However, there was one crucial difference, and that would be the sense of desolation in the audience seats, as well as the arena itself.

He muttered, "So many have disappeared already."

Compared to the beginning, only a fraction of the past lives remained now.

All of Su-hyeun's innumerable past lives filled with negative thoughts of the world and the universe were gone. They had been forcibly subjugated by Su-hyeun and could no longer voice their opinions.

With this, Su-hyeun's dilemma stuck in a delicate balance began tilting to one side.

"However, what good would any of this do?" Set wasn't disappointed in the least, however. "After all, if we kill you here now, the ideals you held dear, in reality, would be crushed flat, leaving behind not even a husk."

This space that seemed similar to the Dark World was actually Su-hyeun's visualized inner world. His war against his past lives had been taking place in such a space.

In other words, none of this was real.

Quite literally, he had been fighting countless personalities and ideals of his past lives inside his mind.

And so, as his ideal was clashing against the others inside the coliseum...

"We have won."

Two of the biggest headaches remained among their ranks.

Step—

Another individual stepped forward from behind Set.

This man's eyes were strange. Their whites and irises had been swapped around.

He had the same face as Su-hyeun, but he was making an eerie grin that he would never make in his life.

Su-hyeun was exhausted, but the man with the same face as him looked completely fine. No matter who saw it, they would agree that the difference in their remaining stamina was too great.

"You—no, hang on a sec. You are all me anyway, so it's kinda weird to say it like this, huh? In any case," Su-hyeun scratched his head, "I knew you were here since the beginning, but I never worried about you."

"What?"

"I think I know myself pretty well. Like, what I really want and what I really wish to achieve. And also..."

Grip—!

"Huh?"

Su-hyeun's hand grabbed the throat of his other self. In the blink of an eye, he was already in the middle of his enemies, including Set.

"I know what my desire is."

KA-BOOM—!

He then slammed the head of his other self on the ground.

The barely restored ground exploded and overturned in an instant, causing a curtain of dust to kick up. With a loud rumble, incredibly hot crimson flames billowed up to force the enemies to step back, including Set as well.

"What I want to achieve isn't something grandiose like destroying the whole world or killing everyone I can see. It's nothing like that. I don't care about revenge, nor do I have lingering resentment."

Kuk, kugh...!

"What I really want, though, is to live a simple life in a perfectly normal world. Like, going to a cafe on my day off with a good book in my hand or just staying in bed for the whole day. Things like that."

Squeeze—

Su-hyeun's desire urgently grabbed Su-hyeun's wrist. It tried to pry off the hand gripping its throat somehow, but Su-hyeun remained steady and unmoving.

The difference in raw strength between the two was just too stark.

"That's not that amazing, right? Meaning, you're not that amazing, either."

Crunch—

Bones broke, and desire's eyes rolled back. Just like that, Su-hyeun had trampled on his deepest desires with utmost ease.

"You see? Don't you agree?"

Shuffle—

Su-hyeun's head shifted to his side.

He saw Set and a few thousand others still remaining.

All thanks to the continuous battle, his magical energy reserve and stamina had been depleted, almost reaching their limit. It didn't really matter, however.

[Trait, "Hero - Immortality," is activating.]

[Vitality and stamina are rapidly recovering.]

[All physical stats are being greatly enhanced.]

Squeeeeeze—

His depleted stamina filled back up rapidly while much greater strength than the start of the battle welled up in him.

There wasn't much he could do about the exhausted magical energy reserve, but his physical abilities alone were more than enough to deal with the remaining enemies before him.

Pah-aht—

His figure vanished from the spot, but he wasn't using the Earth Shrink Technique.

Slice—!

No, he was simply too fast for naked eyes to follow.

Splat—!

Two, no, three more heads went flying in the next second.

Su-hyeun's figure was too fast to follow, but at least during the moment he swung his sword, he could clearly be seen.

"That's nothing more than his last-ditch struggle! He wears a set of armor, so aim only for his head or neck! If you cannot follow his movements, wait until he needs to stop to take a swing with his weapon!" Set immediately started commanding the battlefield.

Out of everyone in the coliseum, only he could accurately track Su-hyeun's movements. That was why he was able to respond in time.

CLANG—!

Creak, creaaak—

He was able to parry Su-hyeun's sword as it slashed down.

"You blocked it?"

"It seems that I can at least hold my ground."

Su-hyeun had been thinking of eliminating Set first, so he couldn't help but tut unhappily.

He suddenly began thinking that all the magical energy he used up to deal with the small fries until now had been a waste. He still had a little bit left in his reserves. Still, carelessly using that might make it harder for him to move around later.

"I need to think about what will happen after the end of Immortality's duration," Su-hyeun thought.

His assessment was quick, his actions even quicker.

Pah-aht—

Swish, slice—!

He cut off several more heads in a row. A little swifter, he kept moving without rest.

But then...

"No need to fight back!" Set issued a new command. "Buy as much time as you can! Hold on until he runs out of his newfound stamina!"

It sounded like he changed the battle tactic.

Set and Su-hyeun were the same person in the end. It wasn't that hard to figure out where Su-hyeun had gotten his second wind from.

It was the same story for the others, too. They all figured out that Su-hyeun had activated Immortality to gain a sudden burst of strength and stamina. Their movements switched to something much more passive.

Clang—!

Slice—

Of course, it didn't matter one jot in the end.

"Dodging or blocking. You think things will change by doing that?" Su-hyeun yelled out while cutting off a magician's head using a wall of magic circles to protect itself.

His sword had shattered all those dozens of magic circles and barriers in one strike.

What happened afterward could only be described as a one-sided massacre.

Even Set, the only one capable of detecting Su-hyeun's movement, had to think that way.

Su-hyeun ignored Set and dashed around. He was planning to eliminate everyone else except Set within the allotted time.

Tick, tock...

Fifteen minutes passed by like that.

Tick, tock...

And soon, it became 29 minutes.

Splat—!

The head of the last remaining past life was sliced off.

At a certain point, Set gave up chasing after Su-hyeun's figure, his hands resting by his sides. He was the only one remaining now.

Su-hyeun called out, "Hey! Have you been waiting long?"

"Surely, now can't be a good time for you to leisurely shoot the breeze with me."

"Obviously."

Swiiiish—

Claaang—!

Flying like a flash of light, Su-hyeun's sword slammed down on top of Set's sword. The ground beneath Set's feet caved in deeply, his arms quaking unsteadily.

"I... know that all too well!"

Whoosh—!

Clang, claaaang—!

Su-hyeun's sword strikes came flying in from seemingly every direction.

Set stood resolutely on his two feet and defended against the strikes. He focused all of his magical energy on his weapon and did his best to keep up with Su-hyeun's speed.

And so, after they crossed swords about a hundred or so times...

Pow—!

Sliiiiide—

Set's foot kicked Su-hyeun's abdomen, pushing the latter far back.

"It's been 30 minutes."

The last minute passed by without too many surprises.

Drip—

No, the truth was, something did happen. Su-hyeun's sword managed to cut off Set's ear.

However, this level of blood loss was nothing much. Set wiped the blood off with his hand before staring at the stain. "Well, losing only one ear for this end result? This isn't a bad trade-off at all. Don't you agree?"

When Set asked that, Su-hyeun simply reined in his heavy breathing.

Immortality's duration came to an end, and Su-hyeun's fatigue rushed in like a tidal wave. His body, overflowing with vitality only a second ago, now felt as heavy as a lump of lead. His breathing became so heavy and shallow that he found it hard to breathe properly.

In a way, you could call what was happening now Immortality's side effects.

The skill Immortality did recover Su-hyeun's lost stamina, but it also came with a hefty penalty when its duration was over. Now that the skill had deactivated, all the strength and stamina he had been freely using had come back to bite him as a severe rebound.

"Yeah, I agree." Despite the rebound, Su-hyeun was still grinning. "It's not a bad trade-off."

He looked fatigued, yet he seemed at ease.

And at his relaxed demeanor...

"Wait," Set finally recalled something he had forgotten about.

"All of you, arise."

Shu-shushushu—

Black smoke rose from all around Su-hyeun. Then, shadows with all sorts of shapes and sizes rose from the darkness.

As for the number of summons he would be controlling...

"Every single one of you."

It consisted of all the summons Su-hyeun currently commanded.

Thuuud—!

The first creature to grab Set's attention was the biggest of them all, Gyges.

Shwa-aaaah—

Next was Kali, who appeared grandly as blood poured down from the air.

And then, Gluttony and Prince Nezha made their entrance. Aside from the quartet, more Predators now serving under Su-hyeun appeared as well.

A small but powerful army filled up the coliseum's arena.

"Well, now, it's the reversal of fortunes, isn't it?"

"Hah," Set watched this happen and chuckled hollowly.

Without a doubt, many were fighting against one man not too long ago. However, the situation had reversed. Now, Set was alone while Su-hyeun had become many.

Shu-wuk—

Set's arms moved. Su-hyeun reacted to that and was about to command his summons, but then...

"I give up."

Clang—

Set dropped his sword on the ground, then raised his hands high.

"Huh?" Su-hyeun made a confused face.

Was this a ploy to waste time or something?

"That's not going to be advantageous for him, though," Su-hyeun thought.

Indeed, Su-hyeun would benefit from wasting time like this.

He was currently exhausted, but if his stamina recovered in time, Set would have zero chance of defeating him.

"Well, he still doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell even now."

Breaking through all these summons, which included the members of the Ten Great Evils like Kali and Gyges, to reach Su-hyeun was simply impossible.

The current Set did not have the ability to do so. If he had existed for seemingly an eternity like Osiris, then maybe. However, Set wasn't like that.

He really was surrendering right now.

"I'm sure you already know this. Even if you give up now, I can't let you leave here alive. Doing this is basically pointless," said Su-hyeun.

"Yes, I know. All I need is a little time to talk to you."

"Time, you say?"

"I want to ask a favor," Set grinned as he spoke. "Osiris... Can you find out why that idiot ended up in his current state?"

"Why should I?"

"Something must have happened to him because, out of everyone I knew, that idiot used to love the world more than anyone else."

Su-hyeun wordlessly stared at Set, who was bowing down with a genuinely worried face.

What an ironic situation this was.

"Worrying about a friend you tried to kill with your own hands... Don't you think it all kind of sound weird?"

"That's true. I won't deny that."

"Well, sure. I'll do that. I'm also kind of curious, after all. And it's an undeniable fact that you are me, anyway."

"Thanks. Honestly, I'm hoping you'd lose to Osiris, and everything burns down to the ground, but I guess you won't allow that, huh?"

"Of course not."

"I see," Set muttered before picking up his sword from the ground.

Su-hyeun briefly wondered if he would try to fight back, but that wasn't it. Set simply pointed the sword at himself and powerfully thrust it straight through his throat.

Stab—!

Blood exploded forth from Set's throat. His body gradually scattered away in smoke.

"My favor... thanks for humoring it."

"Take care now."

Snap—

Ruuumble—

Su-hyeun snapped his fingers, setting Set's figure on fire. He watched his first past life burn down to nothing and ordered his summons to go back.

After that, the coliseum was left completely empty. In the beginning, this expansive space was teeming with activity, but only he remained now.

And right at that moment...

[You have satisfied the condition.]

[The "Guide of Past Lives" is activating.]

The fourth "option" of his Six Paths had awakened.