The Hero Returns

Other awakeners who had not felt anything until then began to be wary of the unpleasant, shrill sound. But still, the sound was only heard — nothing happened.

“What-what is this sound?”

“Monsters?”

“But it doesn’t…”

Any experienced awakener would know what this sound was. And the awakeners in this place were at least B-Rank. Even if one did not have enough experience in dungeon attacks, everyone in here had experienced the Tower of Trials many times.

“Is it…the sound of armor?” Lee Ju-ho also noticed what sound it was.

Su-hyeun nodded and answered, “Yes. It’s probably the sound of unfixed armors shaking and bumping each other.”

“Why can we hear the armor sound in here…? No, why that is only sound can we hear?”

“It is more than just a sound,” Su-hyeun said.

“Then?”

“They are coming.”

“What?”

In response to an irrelevant answer from Su-hyeun, Lee Ju-ho lifted his head following Su-hyeun’s gaze.

At that moment, Lee Ju-ho shouted reflexively, “It’s coming from above!”

“What?”

“Above?”

Everybody looked up. Soon, they could see a giant shadow and small falling objects.

“Incoming!”

Bam, bam, bam—

Clink, clank—

Numerous armor fell from above. The awakeners quickly scattered in all directions. They had gathered together so far, but there was no choice but to avoid falling armor. In the meantime, some people from the same guild gathered together. It seemed like the colleagues who had been working together for a long time had a similar sense to avoid the enemy.

<> Su-hyeun thought.

He looked around the fallen armor. The only one who did not avoid them was Su-hyeun.

“Hey, Su-hyeun!”

“L-look…!”

Lee Ju-ho shouted to Su-hyeun. Other people were surprised to find the truth about the fallen armor. They had thought it would be monsters wearing armor, but the armor itself was moving when they checked again.

“Ghosts?”

“Don’t be deceived! It might be a trick!”

“Don’t panic! We always have strange things before!”

The guild masters were encouraging other guild members. It looked like there was a reason why they became the guild masters. Su-hyeun, on the other hand, was more focused on understanding the situation than taking care of the awakeners under him.

“It looks like they came…”

Crack—

Su-hyeun punched the armor that rushed to him and looked up.

<<…from the ship over there,>> he thought.

He got an idea about the background and the theme of this dungeon. He looked around the empty armor that surrounded him.

“It is different from the headless knight, Dullahan. Probably…”

Slash—

Su-hyeun cut the nearest armor from top to bottom.

Clang, clang—

The armor broke in the two pieces and fell to the ground. The inside of the armor was empty, as Su-hyeun had expected. At that moment, he quickly checked the small patterns on the inside of the armor.

“It looks like the soul has tied to the armor with some sort of magical device.”

Each armor had a soul in it. And if the soul could be considered as a life, this armor could be called a monster.

<>

The people who had scattered in all directions now looked at Su-hyeun. And then, they saw Su-hyeun’s action and realized what was the moving armor was. It would be easy to handle now. The armor might have looked scary, but it wasn’t all that threatening.

“Do you mind if I leave it to you?” Su-hyeun asked Lee Ju-ho, who was standing far away.

“I don’t mind.”

Lee Ju-ho, who grasped the situation, nodded his head. Su-hyeun grinned and raised his sword. The armor was coming closer to Su-hyeun, narrowing the siege little by little.

<> Su-hyeun counted in his mind.

Purr—!

Whirl, whirl—

Again, the magic was amplified from his sword. The magic that wrapped around Gram shined for a moment. There was a flash everywhere. People could hear a cracking sound around Su-hyeun.

Cling, clang—

Clank, clank—

Much of the armor fell to the ground. About 20 meters around Su-hyeun, hundreds of pieces of armor fell at once. Even though they were empty and weak armor, there were too many of them. Thankfully, Su-hyeun’s sword killed a lot of them at once.

“That is my present before I go,” Su-hyeun said, looking at each of the three guild maters. Then, he jumped from where he stood.

The place where Su-hyeun jumped to was a huge ship that appeared directly above. Kim Taek-hyun, the guild master of the Red Devil, asked, “Are all S-rank awakeners like that?”

Park Mo-young, the guild master of the Gambler Guild answered that question.

“I have no idea.”

They had never seen S-Rank awakeners’ fight. All three of them were also called talented in the A-Rank group. But when they saw Su-hyeun’s ability with their own eyes, it was something hard to believe.

“What are you doing?

Lee Kang-hee distorted his face and yelled to the guild members.

“Sweep them all away!”

***

Swish, bang—

The ship was higher than he thought. In the end, Su-hyeun had to use the Imoogi skill to raise his leap and barely arrived at the ship.

“Wow. It is huge.”

The ship that floated above and blocked the light like a cloud was as big as a small island.

<>

The empty armor fell from the ship, but where did this ship come from? The theme of the dungeon was still covered in a veil.

<>

Su-hyeun climbed up on the bottom of the ship, which he had barely caught. He had made a hole under the boat with his sword and went inside. The bottom of the ship was empty. It looked like the armor was hidden here.

<>

He wondered if he made a trip in vain. But still, he looked around carefully. Soon, he found a staircase leading up.

Thump, thump—

The sound of the steps came to his ears clearly because it was so quiet. This wooden ship made a rustling sound, as old as it was. When he reached the top of the stairs, he smiled.

“Yup. There are still some here.”

Rattle—

When he opened the upper door to go to the deck of the ship, the light that was hidden by the door so far was finally revealed.

Clang, Clank—

Rattle—

There was a ton of empty armor. The number looked similar to the armor shown below. Half of them still remained here.

“No. Not just a half.”

Su-hyeun looked carefully among the armor filled on the deck. He found a giant armor sitting on the top of the bow. It held a helmet in its hand.

<>

It was similar to Dullahan, but a little different. Dullahan usually held his head, not a hollow helmet. It could be one of two options. This one was something that either evolved from Dullahan or degraded from it.

[Are you our enemy?]

The voice rang.

The ringing voice made it unclear where it came from.

Clang—

At that moment, Dullahan got up from where he sat. It was his voice.

“I am probably your enemy,” Su-hyeun said.

[Probably?]

“Let me ask you one question. Depending on your answer, I could be your guest. Of course, if you think of me as a guest.”

[Ask.]

“If you could get out of this place, would you attack people outside?”

[Yes.]

Dullahan clenched his fist. It looked like he firmly determined something.

[I will kill all living things. That is our mission. We will kill all the living things and defy our deaths since there is no way we will survive again.]

It was a selfish notion indeed. Since there was no way for the dead to survive, they would kill all living things to make everything equal. Su-hyeun crumpled his face. He wanted to hear what he would say, but what he said was just nonsense.

“Then if you planned to kill anyway, why did you ask me if I were your enemy? Su-hyeun asked.

[Becasue I do not want to fight against you.]

“Why?”

[You are dangerous. You have the power to kill us, the dead ones, again. So, I don’t want to fight.]

“…Is that so?”

The power he mentioned probably meant the Flame skill.

Even without that, they would die if he destroyed the magic circle engraved inside of the armor. But it looked like they were afraid of his Flame the most.

“So, does that mean you guys distinguish the weak ones and strong ones when you fight?”

[Of course. We do not want to experience death again.]

“Are you afraid to die?”

[Of course.]

“Then how do you kill living people? You know it is scary.”

[That is why we are going to kill them. We will kill all living things and make them share our emotions. Then, the dead ones will no longer be treated as dead.]

“So since you guys can’t be happy, other people should not be happy either. Is that what you are saying?”

Su-hyeun bit his lips. It was because he remembered bad memories. There was a guy who had said the same thing: Lich King.

“You are irritating me, really….” Su-hyeun said.

He had met intelligent monsters many times, but each time he could not help his feelings of disgust. Ignorant monsters who were not intelligent did not pick who to kill. But intelligent monsters liked to pick and kill their opponents.

“I don’t like it.” Su-hyeun said again.

Grrr—

Miru cried low as if it felt Su-hyeun’s feeling.

Thump—

Su-hyeun started to walk toward Dullahan.

Clang—

Clank—

Hundreds of pieces of armor split from side to side, making a road. The magic that spewed from Su-hyeun split the floor.

“I know a b*stard like you.”

Thump—

“There is a very, very bad son of a b*tch,” Su-hyeun said.

It was one of the worst monsters Su-hyeun could remember.

Lich King. He was the god of the dead and the king of Liches. He was different from other monsters that were simply strong.

He took even the rest of the dead ones and drowned them in their eternal torment.

<>

They looked similar too. It was just a difference between the skull and armor. But it was the same that they both died. Su-hyeun was furious. He had to blow off steam.

“Thank you for bringing back the dirty memories. In return—”

Crack—

Crunch—

Su-hyeun grabbed one armor that came close to him and twisted it with his hand. He lifted his eyes.

“—I will definitely kill you. I promise.”