Ian tried to speak calmly.
“What do you mean it won’t do?”
“Ian-nim cannot return.”
By that point, Ian couldn’t hold back anymore either.
“Why are you deciding whether I can go back or not? The goddess promised. And you’re a Holy Knight who serves as the goddess’s child. Are you going to break your promise with your mother?”
“Even children have times when they go astray. But still, mother will embrace all of that with love.”
The expressions of the surrounding people, who had been watching with excited faces at first, became subtle. It was shocking that a Holy Knight who served god would utter such problematic words.
“Now, let’s stop this.”
The Crown Prince, one of those watching them, intervened.
“Vermouth. Ian-nim didn’t come here of his own will. It’s time to send him back.”
At least that Crown Prince bastard had a minimum of conscience. But the problem was that Vermouth had no conscience. Vermouth opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it. Then he turned around just like that and left the hall where the party was being held.
“It’ll be okay, right?”
Ian looked at the Crown Prince with anxious eyes.
“It has to be.”
Ian couldn’t prepare to return to his original world alone. The High Priest, the Emperor, and the Crown Prince cooperated for him.
Vermouth quietly withdrew from the party, but that was to gain momentum for what he would do afterward.
On the day the return date was set, he kidnapped Ian and imprisoned him in the castle of his territory.
“You crazy bastard!”
Ian was shocked and tried to use his divine power to escape, but he’d even set up a barrier.
“Are you really insane?”
“I am in my right mind.”
Vermouth answered calmly.
“If I’m not visible, people will look for me, won’t they?”
“The Demon King is already dead. Ian-nim is no longer needed. We can handle the remaining demons sufficiently.”
Just looking at what he was saying, he seemed rational. But the conclusion was insane.
“So please stay here, Ian-nim.”
“Until when?”
“Until you change your mind.”
“My mind changed.”
He quickly changed his words, but there was no way Vermouth would fall for it. As soon as he realized that he had no intention of releasing him, Ian went wild.
BANG!
He struck the window with a chair, but it didn’t budge. It was the same with the other doors. The house itself was covered with so much magic you could call it an artifact. And what about those watching him?
The Shadow Clan members that Vermouth occasionally summoned for guarding didn’t listen to Ian’s words even with the edge of their ears.
“That crazy bastard!”
He tried all sorts of methods while hurling curses, but not a single one worked. In that situation, he was able to escape Vermouth’s mansion thanks to Crown Prince Allen.
“I knew this would happen.”
Allen had learned swordsmanship from the same master as Vermouth since childhood. In other words, they were what you’d commonly call ball buddies. He knew about Vermouth better than others.
“Still, this isn’t right.”
First, the Emperor bought time, and second, the High Priest restrained Vermouth. He heard that quite a bit of blood was shed in the process. But thanks to that, Ian, who had been imprisoned for a whole month, was able to safely reach the magic circle together with Allen.
Thus, his long journey in the other world ended.
***
His head was dizzy. His whole body felt heavy, as if crushed by something. But Ian got up from that spot through sheer willpower. He staggered and touched a nearby wall. When he looked up, it was a building with a familiar shape.
“I succeeded.”
He’d succeeded in crossing over to his original world. His heart, which had been wrapped in anxiety all along, began to swell with hope. Ian looked around his surroundings as he was.
A half-collapsed building, cracked sidewalks, abandoned-looking cars on the road. He looked for people, but couldn’t see them anywhere. When he looked more closely, there were suspicious red marks here and there. As if the world had been destroyed.
Ian unconsciously bit his lip. What on earth happened? Is this really where I lived? His body trembled faintly with belated anxiety.
‘Let’s first find out where this is.’
Divine power still remained in his body. Fortunately, it seemed god hadn’t taken away his divine power. Well, if you have any conscience, you shouldn’t do that. Ian walked down the empty street.
“This is strange.”
There wasn’t a single sign on the street indicating the area. It felt more like a separate place imitating Earth rather than Earth itself. And Ian had seen this kind of space several times before.
A demon’s model garden.
“Aaaaagh!”
Just then, a person’s scream was heard from far away. Ian hesitated for a moment, then turned his body in the direction the sound came from.
“Get back!”
Hong Seoyoon, who had pushed the injured tanker back, drew his hand through the air. Then rain made of fire poured down from the sky.
“Rain of Flames.”
Someone who saw it muttered blankly. It was one of the specialties of Hong Seoyoon, called the Flame Emperor—a skill that poured down high-temperature flames like bombardment within range.
It was named Rain of Flames because its appearance was pretty compared to its destructive power, but in reality, it possessed terrifying might. However, the monsters didn’t run away even while howling in pain. Rather, they crawled forward screaming in rage.
The place they’d entered was a C-rank gate called “Street of Wailing.” It was a perfect place to train guild members who had accumulated some experience, but at some point, the rank suddenly jumped.
B-rank Gate: Street of Wailing
Up to there was fine. Because Guild Master Hong Seoyoon, who had followed them in just in case, was there. The problem was that the gate’s rank continued to rise after that.
A-rank Gate: Street of Wailing
And it finally became S-rank.
“Why is the rank jumping!”
Hong Seoyoon was an S-rank Awakener, but the problem was that most of the guild members, excluding a few, were low-ranked.
‘I can’t abandon them and go either.’
An S-rank gate with only one S-rank Awakener. That meant even if Hong Seoyoon went wild like crazy, there was a limit to the number of people he could save. Already more than half had been injured and withdrawn from the frontline.
“A-are we going to die?”
A new guild member in the back asked gloomily.
“Who’s dying?”
Hong Seoyoon, who had somehow heard that, answered sharply. But he was already injured as well. It was because he’d drawn too much power dealing with a giant monster just now. As someone who controlled fire, he had strong attack power, but weak defense.
He couldn’t receive treatment because he was blocking monsters, and there was no one left to support him. He’d brought healers in, but there were only two, and they were too busy right now.
In that situation, monsters kept pushing forward endlessly. One of the healers who had been diligently treating guild members said.
“Guild Master.”
“What?”
“Please leave us behind.”
“What?”
“There’s no hope. At least those who can live should live.”
If there was no one to protect, Hong Seoyoon could survive. Why would he be an S-rank Awakener for no reason? It was a rank he received because he had the ability for it. In this situation, they were nothing but obstacles to Hong Seoyoon.
This was enough. Hong Seoyoon had done so much for them until now. That’s why he could muster the courage to give up his life. But the problem was that Hong Seoyoon had no such intention.
“What kind of novel bullshit are you spouting? What am I supposed to do if a guild master abandons his guild members?”
“But!”
“Enough, just keep healing the chicks.”
“…Yes.”
Like that, Hong Seoyoon sent back the remaining healer as well. Now he was the only one standing before the monsters.
“Well, so what.”
It wasn’t that he had no regrets, but it was a life without regrets. He’d crawled up from the bottom and built a proper guild.
“The end should be decorated splendidly.”
Hong Seoyoon, for the guild members who believed in and followed him. To increase the probability of their survival even a little, he stepped forward.
“Come at me.”
Saying that, he beckoned his finger at the monsters.
Fire is beautiful, but dangerous. If it goes beyond a certain degree, it burns even the person handling it. That’s why there were cases where Awakeners who used fire died by burning.
The fire that had been red gradually turned blue. In contrast, Hong Seoyoon’s complexion became pale. But Hong Seoyoon smiled with his lips twisted up.
“Fucking bastards.”
Hong Seoyoon raised his hand and pointed at the monsters. Then fire that appeared from the air grew in size, using the monsters’ bodies as firewood. Even as the flames grew larger and larger, the monsters still didn’t retreat.
No matter how much monsters were beings that couldn’t be understood by human common sense, this was strange. And the source of that sense of déjà vu revealed itself before long.
“What a fun fireworks display~!”
Between the monsters crawling forward while trembling, a type of monster he’d never seen before appeared.
