Chapter 507: The Incarnation Who Chose His Family [Part 2]

The Incarnation Who Chose His Family [Part 2]

The moment he stepped into his original world, the emotions he had kept buried for so long nearly overwhelmed him.

Home.

The word had never meant this much to him before.

He stood there for a moment, simply breathing.

The air felt different.

The ground beneath his feet felt familiar.

Everything around him was ordinary.

And yet, to him, it felt more precious than anything he had seen in years.

Then he saw them.

His family.

His father was there.

His mother was there.

His little sister was there.

For a few seconds, Niva could only stare.

He had imagined this moment countless times during those three years.

He had wondered what it would feel like to see their faces again.

Would they have changed?

Would they still recognize him?

Would he even be the same person after everything he had gone through?

But none of those thoughts mattered now.

They were standing in front of him.

Alive.

Safe.

His family.

Something inside him finally loosened.

For the first time in years, Niva felt like he could breathe without looking over his shoulder.

There was no battlefield.

No monster hiding in the darkness.

No enemy waiting for the right moment to strike.

No death hanging over his head.

Just home.

He had spent three years surviving another world.

Three years of blood, pain, fear, and countless moments when he had been certain he was going to die.

He had fought things no ordinary human should ever have encountered.

He had endured wounds that should have killed him.

He had watched people die.

He had walked through places where death was more common than life.

And somehow, he had survived all of it.

Now he was finally back.

He had made it.

He had escaped that nightmare.

He had returned to the people he loved.

For the first time in a long while, Niva allowed himself to believe that it was over.

He had won.

At least, that was what he believed.

The truth came later.

And when it did, it shattered everything.

The devil that had originally been supposed to be summoned through his sacrifice had somehow found another way into the world.

It had not been destroyed.

It had not disappeared.

It had followed him.

All the way back to Earth.

Niva didn’t realize what had happened immediately.

By the time he discovered the truth, it was already too late.

A tunnel had formed between the two worlds.

Somehow, something had managed to connect Earth to the world he had escaped from.

And on the other side of that connection was the devil.

It was trying to cross over.

Niva stared at the tunnel.

His expression slowly hardened.

He understood the danger almost instantly.

If the tunnel remained open long enough, the devil would make it through completely.

Once that happened, there would be no going back.

Earth had nothing capable of stopping it.

No weapon.

No army.

No human technology.

Nothing.

The thought of it made Niva’s stomach tighten.

His gaze shifted.

His family was behind him.

His home was behind him.

Everything he had spent three years desperately trying to return to was standing right there.

And now it was in danger because of him.

Niva clenched his fists.

No.

He couldn’t allow that.

He understood what would happen if the devil crossed over.

His family would die.

Millions of people would die.

Perhaps the entire world would fall.

Everything he had fought so hard to protect would be destroyed.

He couldn’t let that happen.

There was no time to hesitate.

Niva stepped toward the tunnel.

Then he felt it.

Something was wrong.

He tried to use his magic.

Nothing happened.

Or rather, almost nothing.

The amount of mana available on Earth was painfully small compared to the world he had spent three years in.

Back there, mana had surrounded everything.

It flowed through the land.

Through the air.

Through every living thing.

Here, it was different.

Thin.

Weak.

Barely enough to support the simplest spells.

Niva’s expression became grim.

He examined the tunnel more carefully.

The connection was enormous.

Closing it would require an absurd amount of power.

Far more than he could gather from Earth.

He tried anyway.

He pushed his magic toward the tunnel.

The response was immediate.

His power weakened.

The tunnel barely reacted.

Niva’s jaw tightened.

"Damn it..."

His voice was quiet.

For the first time since returning home, he felt truly helpless.

He had become powerful in that other world.

He had survived battles that would have been impossible for the person he once was.

He had fought monsters.

He had faced death again and again.

But none of that changed the simple truth standing before him.

Earth didn’t have enough mana.

And without enough power, he couldn’t close the tunnel.

Niva slowly lowered his hand.

For a moment, he said nothing.

His eyes remained fixed on the connection between the two worlds.

Behind him was his family.

Ahead of him was the world he had spent three years trying to escape.

It was almost cruel.

He had finally returned.

He had finally reached the place he had dreamed about for so long.

He could stay.

He could pretend this wasn’t his problem.

He could run.

Maybe someone else would find a solution.

Maybe humanity would somehow survive.

Maybe there was another way.

Niva knew better.

There wasn’t.

If the devil crossed through that tunnel, nobody on Earth could stop it.

Nobody except him.

He closed his eyes.

For a brief moment, he remembered everything.

The first day he had arrived in that other world.

The fear.

The confusion.

The pain.

The people he had met.

The battles he had survived.

The nights when he had wondered whether he would ever see his family again.

And then he remembered why he had kept going.

Because he wanted to come home.

Because he wanted to see them again.

Because he wanted to sit beside his family and live an ordinary life.

That dream was finally within his reach.

Yet now, protecting it meant giving it up.

Niva slowly opened his eyes.

There was no fear in them anymore.

Only determination.

He turned his head slightly.

His family was still behind him.

They had no idea what was happening.

They didn’t understand what stood on the other side of that tunnel.

They didn’t know how close their world was to destruction.

And Niva didn’t want them to know.

He looked at them one last time.

His expression softened.

He had finally returned home.

But perhaps home wasn’t a place he could simply return to anymore.

Sometimes, protecting the place you loved meant standing between it and the thing that wanted to destroy it.

Even if that meant leaving it behind again.

Niva turned back toward the tunnel.

He took a slow breath.

Then another.

His hands tightened into fists.

He had already survived one world.

He had already walked through hell once.

If he had to do it again to protect his family, then so be it.

He didn’t want to leave.

He wanted to stay.

More than anything, he wanted to stay.

But he knew the truth.

If he didn’t do it, nobody else could.

And if the devil crossed over...

His family would die.

That was enough.

Without hesitation, Niva crossed back into the other world.

The instant he returned, the devil and its minions attacked.

The tunnel trembled violently.

Dark energy surged through the surrounding space.

Niva was assaulted again and again.

Every attack had the same purpose.

Stop him.

Break his concentration.

Keep him from closing the passage.

But Niva endured.

He gritted his teeth and kept moving.

His body was already covered in wounds. Blood soaked through his clothes and ran down his arms, dripping from his fingertips.

It hurt.

God, it hurt.

But he refused to stop.

His hands remained pressed against the unstable passage as he continued pouring his power into it.

The tunnel trembled violently.

Space twisted around him.

Every second felt like his body was being torn apart from the inside.

Still, he endured.

There was no room for fear.

No room for regret.

Not now.

Whenever his legs threatened to give out, Niva forced himself to think about home.

His home.

His father’s quiet presence.

The way his father could sit in the same room for hours without saying much.

His mother’s cooking.

The familiar smell that used to fill the house.

His sister’s annoying voice.

That damn voice.

He could almost hear her complaining.

Almost hear her calling his name.

The memories were ordinary.

Nothing legendary.

Nothing grand.

And yet, they gave him more strength than any heroic speech ever could.

Those were the things he had fought to return to.

A normal home.

A normal family.

A life where the biggest problem might have been his sister annoying him over something stupid.

He wouldn’t let that world be taken away.

Not after everything he had gone through to get back there.

Not after coming this far.

The battle grew more brutal.

The devil’s minions surrounded him from every direction.

Dark energy tore through the battlefield.

Explosions shook the ground.

The air itself seemed to scream as powerful attacks ripped apart everything around him.

Niva barely managed to avoid one attack before another came crashing down.

He stumbled.

One knee hit the ground.

Blood spilled from his mouth.

For a moment, his vision blurred.

Then he clenched his teeth.

"No..."

His trembling hand pushed against the ground.

He forced himself back up.

"I’m not done yet."

Another attack struck him.

Pain exploded through his body.

Niva staggered backward.

His clothes were torn.

His skin was covered in cuts.

Blood ran down his chest, his arms, his legs.

His breathing had become rough and heavy.

Every muscle in his body screamed at him to stop.

To lie down.

To rest.

But his hands never stopped.

The passage was beginning to collapse.

Slowly.

Bit by bit.

The enormous tunnel connecting the two worlds began to distort.

Space folded inward.

The edges of the passage twisted like glass being crushed by an invisible hand.

The connection between the two worlds was weakening.

Niva saw it.

His exhausted eyes widened slightly.

He was almost there.

Just a little more.

The devil realized it too.

Its expression changed.

For the first time, there was something beyond amusement in its eyes.

Anger.

The creature roared.

Its voice shook the entire battlefield.

The surrounding minions immediately unleashed everything they had.

Attack after attack came crashing toward Niva.

There was no longer any attempt to overwhelm him slowly.

They wanted him dead.

Immediately.

Niva knew it.

He didn’t care.

He kept pushing.

His body shook violently.

His vision was fading.

His lungs burned with every breath.

But he continued channeling his power into the passage.

"Come on..."

His voice was barely audible.

"Just a little more."

Another attack struck.

Niva’s body was thrown across the ground.

He rolled several times before finally stopping.

For a few seconds, he didn’t move.

The world around him became strangely quiet.

His ears rang.

His vision blurred.

He could barely feel his body anymore.

Then he thought about home again.

His father’s face.

His mother’s cooking.

His sister’s annoying voice.

Niva smiled faintly.

"Sorry..."

He slowly pushed himself up.

"I’ve got to finish this first."

He stood.

Somehow.

Nobody understood how.

Even Niva didn’t understand it.

His body should have already given up.

But he didn’t.

He returned to the passage.

He placed both hands against the collapsing space.

And pushed.

His remaining power surged forward.

The tunnel trembled.

The entire connection began to collapse.

Space twisted violently.

The passage shrank.

The distant world on the other side became smaller and smaller.

Until finally—

It disappeared.

The tunnel closed.

The connection between the two worlds vanished completely.

The path to Earth was sealed.

Silence descended over the battlefield.

For a moment, there was nothing.

No explosions.

No screaming.

No attacks.

Just silence.

Niva stood there alone.

Blood dripped from his fingertips.

His chest rose and fell heavily.

His entire body was battered.

Exhausted.

Barely standing.

But he had done it.

He had accomplished what he had come back to do.

His family was safe.

Earth was safe.

That was enough.

Or at least...

It should have been.

Because there was still one problem.

The devil was standing in front of him.

The enormous creature slowly looked down at the battered human.

Its presence alone caused the surrounding space to tremble.

Darkness gathered around its massive body.

The ground cracked beneath its feet.

Yet Niva didn’t step back.

He didn’t have the strength for another battle.

He knew that.

But he still didn’t retreat.

He simply stood there.

Bloodied.

Exhausted.

Barely able to remain upright.

And looked directly into the devil’s eyes.

The creature stared at him for several seconds.

Then its deep voice echoed through the surroundings.

"Oh, foolish mortal..."

The devil’s voice carried a strange mixture of amusement and disbelief.

"Why suffer such torment?"

Its eyes narrowed.

"Do you love your world so much that you are willing to sacrifice yourself for it?"

Niva listened quietly.

He didn’t answer immediately.

His body had nothing left to give.

His journey had taken almost everything from him.

His strength.

His peace.

His certainty.

Perhaps even his life.

But when he thought about his family on the other side of that sealed passage, something inside him became strangely calm.

A smile slowly appeared on his face.

It wasn’t a heroic smile.

There was nothing noble about it.

It was the same vicious smile shared by all the incarnations.

A smile belonging to someone who had already made his decision a long time ago.

Niva looked at the devil.

Then he chuckled softly.

The sound was weak.

Almost broken.

But there was still defiance in it.

Hearing the devil’s question, Niva couldn’t help but smile that same vicious smile the other incarnations had worn.

Then he spoke his final words.

"I don’t care about saving the world."

He paused.

His smile widened slightly.

"Or any other heroic shit like that."

His voice was exhausted, but there was no hesitation in it.

"I already knew I wasn’t the hero type."

He let out a quiet laugh.

"Especially after my delusion of being summoned to some fantastical world turned out to be nothing but bullshit."

Niva glanced back at the place where the passage had once existed.

There was nothing there anymore.

Only empty space.

But he knew what waited beyond it.

Home.

His family.

The people he had fought through hell itself to protect.

His expression softened for the briefest moment.

Then that vicious smile returned.

"All I care about..."

He looked directly at the devil.

"...is my family on the other side of that tunnel."

Niva’s battered body swayed slightly.

But he remained standing.

"And if I get to save the world while protecting them?"

His smile became almost shameless.

"That’s just a bonus."