The Hero Returns

Crack, crack—!

Slash—!

Hundreds of armors were cut off and fell on the deck, one by one. Each armor had miscellaneous weapons such as a sword, spear, or ax. They moved like well-trained elite troops. They were especially more agile when Su-hyeun got closer to Dullahan. Among them were armored soldiers that could use magic.

"So they are not all the same," Su-hyeun thought.

Every one of them looked like they had been well-trained in life. Some looked like they had possibly been knights before. It was not an ordinary army.

"Or they were given power after they died."

Individually, none was very special, with less power than a monster in a green dungeon. The problem was their number, organization, and locations of the magic circles.

Slash—!

Su-hyeun cut the armor in half, but it did not fall. One of the two half-split bodies swung the sword at Su-hyeun. He dodged the sword and checked the location of the magic circle engraved inside the armor.

"Is it on the arm-side this time?" he thought.

Crack—!

He reached out and twisted the inside of the magical armor. When the magic circle broke, the soul escaped as the armor stopped moving. Su-hyeun looked around the remaining half of the armor.

"Somebody used the brain," he mumbled.

He assumed this would be difficult enough for the people underneath. The armor itself was very hard. It looked like it was enchanted. So it was too hard to destroy the whole thing. And the locations of the magic circles were all different. That made it difficult to find and destroy each one. It was either wasting power or accepting inconvenience to fight with these armors.

"Then…"

Su-hyeun thrust his sword at an oncoming armor.

Swish—!

Boom—!

He put his sword to the joint of the armor and caused an explosion. He continued to move around the field, targeting the different armors. Each time, he found the joint, stabbed his sword, and unleashed his Flame skill inside the empty armors. He did not need to cut through the solid armor—the important thing was that destroying the magic circle inside. As long as they kept the magic circle, they would not die. So all he had to do was burn them.

[This is amazing. Very amazing.]

Clang, clang, clang—!

Dullahan, who sat alone on his bow far away, started to clap. Then, a hollow, metallic sound echoed on the bow.

[You are different from the strong idiots down here. You are a real knight with strength and skill.]

The applause praised Su-hyeun's ability. Su-hyeun stopped for a moment and looked at Dullahan.

He thought the compliment was ridiculous. But suddenly, he felt a little discomfort from what Dullahan said.

"Were you watching the fights down here, too?" Su-hyeun asked.

He didn't answer. But Su-hyeun could figure it out.

"I guess you're sharing the vision with these guys," Su-hyeun said.

Dullahan remained quiet. Su-hyeun thought if Dullahan had a face and expression, it would be crumpled by now.

"Is it because your head is empty? You can't even think like a monster. At least they keep their mouths shut, so they do not show their stupidity," Su-hyeun sarcastically remarked.

[How do you mock your opponent as a knight? Shame on you.]

"What about you guys? The so-called knights gang up on one person. Shame on you."

Crack—!

Su-hyeun stared at Dullahan while he approached him.

"You wait right there. I will clean these all, crush your armor, and sell it to a junk shop."

[You used a skill Provocation. You will be recognized as an enemy, except for the target you specify.]

As the skill activated, armored soldiers on deck rushed toward Su-hyeun. Dullahan, who had planned to exhaust Su-hyeun's physical strength slowly, shouted in surprise. [Stop! Keep the formation!]

The soldiers did not listen to his command because they were more influenced by Su-hyeun's skill than Dullahan's order.

Crack, crack—!

Boom, boom—!

Su-hyeun's movement emitted light among the hundreds of armored soldiers. He thrust his sword at the joint of each armor, unleashed his Flame skill, and destroyed the magic circle. The immortal army that could move without limbs dropped easily.

[I can't believe it!] Dullahan was more surprised than before. As Su-hyeun had said, Dullahan was able to share his sight and mind with the armored soldiers. It was the power given to him, the chief of the dead soldiers. It allowed him to see other awakeners who were fighting underneath, and he could check their level. Even though Su-hyeun was strong, Dullahan thought he would not be much different from other people.

On the other hand, no matter how strong Su-hyeun was, he would have had to work hard to take down an army this size. But something unexpected happened—Su-hyeun was knocking down armor soldiers with minimal strength and stamina.

Purr—!

Whizz, whizz—

As Miru's support continued, Su-hyeun moved so fast it was like he had wings. Although Miru was young, he was sharp-sighted. As far as his strength allowed, Miru continued to give Su-hyeun appropriate support.

"Thank you, my son," Su-hyeun said.

Purr—! Miru shook his head with excitement at Su-hyeun's praise.

Now there were about a hundred of them left. That was an amount that Su-hyeun could knock down within minutes.

"I need to speed up," Su-hyeun thought.

Swish—!

At that moment, Su-hyeun's sword turned upward.

Clang—!

Rumble—!

A heavy armor fell from above. It swung a huge sword over Su-hyeun's head. It was a surprise blow but did not affect Su-hyeun. Su-hyeun lifted his sword and blocked instead of dodging. But the shabby deck had an issue.

Crunch, crunch—!

Crack—!

The deck collapsed and Su-hyeun fell. A dark, large space appeared. Light came through the collapsed deck above. Soon, the remaining armored soldier followed. As soon as he landed, Su-hyeun got ready. He looked at the armor that had just attacked him.

"Are you moving, too? Finally?" Su-hyeun asked.

It was Dullahan, a huge armor about three meters tall with a helmet in his hand. He started to move.

Rumble—!

Filled with black magic was enough for Dullahan to be called as the leader of the armored soldiers.

Clang—!

The armored soldiers came down under the deck and made a large circle around Su-hyeun and Dullahan.

Su-hyeun looked around at those armored soldiers and said, "I guess your head's not totally empty."

Dullahan's ability was that he could share vision with his soldiers. In other words, he could see Su-hyeun's movement from all directions. It was a pretty big advantage in a one-on-one fight. That was why Dullahan moved before all the soldiers were killed by Su-hyeun. He wanted to take Su-hyeun's energy as much as possible, but that plan had failed.

[Do not trample the honor of the knight!]

Dullahan rushed toward Su-hyeun as if he felt offended by his words. Due to Dullahan's size, the movement was almost impossible to believe Even though the inside of the armor was empty, the armor itself was several times heavier than the weight of a normal adult man. But his speed was incredible despite that weight.

Whizz—!

Clang—!

Of course, the destructive power was not something negligible. Su-hyeun stepped back as he saw the floor cut off by Dullahan's sword. Dullahan quickly checked where Su-hyeun moved and immediately followed.

Whizz—!

Clank—!

Dullahan's sword backed off and hit Su-hyeun, who jumped. He was certainly strong. Moreover, the black magic that spouted from the armor doubled his power. His swordsmanship and posture were also flawless. He had said that he was a knight when he was alive. It seemed like he was a pretty good one. But…

"Is there anything else you're good at?"

Crack, crack—!

[The Transfiguration Skill: Imoogi.]

The scales of Imoogi started to grow on Su-hyeun's body. As skill proficiency increased, so did the range of the scales. Now they covered his entire arm, below his neck.

"I'm good at that, too," Su-hyeun said.

[What?]

Whizz—!

Su-hyeun stretched out his arm. Dullahan, who had hesitated a little, rushed to Su-hyeun. The iron armor was huge and had massive force. As Su-hyeun had said, Dullahan was confident in his power. Not only in physical size but also the magic that amplified his power. So to him, there was no reason to avoid Su-hyeun' sword.

Clank—!

Su-hyeun's small, shabby sword and Dullahan's big sword hit each other. And at that moment...

Boom—!

Dullahan's heavy armor bounced back, then fell on the empty armored soldiers, crushing them.

[What...the...]

He could not understand what had just happened. He could not believe that he was pushed out by the power. The armored soldiers hurriedly pulled him up.

Thump, thump—!

Su-hyeun walked toward Dullahan. Dullahan raised his sword again, thinking that what had just happened was impossible.

"That sword is pretty hard," Su-hyeun said.

Swish—!

Again, Su-hyeun swung his sword at Dullahan.

Clang—!

Whirl, whirl, whirl—!

Unlike before, Dullahan did not bounce off. He stiffened his legs and endured. He thought that if he lost strength, there would be no way he could win. But that judgment was rather a factor to accelerate defeat.

Crack, crack—!

Clang—!

Dullahan's sword broke into pieces. And those pieces flew everywhere. Dullahan stepped back reflexively. Su-hyeun did not miss.

Slash—

Clank—

Dullahan's vision slowly tilted and fell to the side. He was sure he did not move. He was in wonder and checked himself through the shared vision of another armored soldier. Then he looked down at his legs.

[Uh…?]

Bam—!

His legs were cut. Since he could not feel the pain, he even did not realize it. He had not seen it through the vision of his soldiers. Hundreds of eyes could not follow the sword of Su-hyeun.

"Not even a million eyes can allow you to see the invisible," Su-hyeun said.

He pointed to the head in Dullahan's hand with the tip of his sword.

[N-no…]

"If you took it for granted to kill someone."

Stab—!

"You, too, take death for granted."

Whoosh, whoosh—!

Boom—!

The fire of Flame skill burst in Dullahan's helmet and destroyed the magic circle that held his soul.

Rattle—!

Boom—!

Dullahan's body finally fell. Su-hyeun looked around at the remaining armored soldiers. The subordinates who lost their head looked like they also lost their fighting spirit.

"It was too easy," Su-hyeun thought.

It was much more difficult than the yellow-colored dungeon. But still, it was too easy compared to the discomfort he had felt when he entered the dungeon.

"Something still remains. Something I missed. Maybe..." Su-hyeun thought.

He raised his head and looked up. Through the broken deck, he could see the sea. Su-hyeun narrowed his eyes. He saw something far off. And it was getting closer.