The Hero Returns

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Pow—!

Crumble—

When Su-hyeun struck the skeleton just below its jawline using the blade in his hand, the pitch-black bones cracked apart and crumbled to pieces. This creature never got to find out how it got attacked from behind as it collapsed in a heap to the ground.

Crack—!

Su-hyeun stepped on the skull to completely crush it.

Normal Lichs would've had "life vessels" that acted as their life source inside their skulls. However, the skeleton Su-hyeun had stepped on didn't have such a thing in its skull.

"So, the bones themselves possess the necessary energy and use that as their medium to move around?"

These things operated in a fundamentally different way than other Lichs.

Initially, Su-hyeun wondered if they were once upon a time Predators, or Preys that hadn't become Predators yet, but as it turned out, even that guess was wrong.

"They are not Lichs but summons."

Despite being rather similar to Lichs and Death Knights that use magic and sword techniques, and even more crucially, despite being dead creatures, not a single one of them responded to Su-hyeun's Death Aura.

But that still didn't mean they were "living," either. It simply meant that some other force stronger than Su-hyeun's power to command the undead was at play here. Thus, he couldn't rely on his Necromancer trait to wrestle control of them away.

"This should be enough, I guess," Su-hyeun glanced at his surroundings.

Using Insight, he could clearly see every single one of these undead hiding throughout the forest as if this was happening on top of his palm.

Bang—!

Su-hyeun jumped up high. Right after that…

[Wide Area - Provocation]

Giiii-iiiing—

With him in the center, his aura spread out over a wide area, meaning the entirety of the forest itself.

When that happened, the summons gathering around Su-hyeun changed their behavior.

Pahk— paaahk—!

Fwhoooooosh—!

To take potshots at him, the undead creatures hiding in the forest chose to leave their hiding spots to jump up toward him instead.

Su-hyeun, who had been waiting for this to happen, quietly muttered, "Strike them down…"

Flash—!

[Somersault cloud - Rain of Thunder]

"Somersault cloud."

Ruuuumble—!

Dark storm clouds gathered in an instant, and bolts of lightning emitting a blinding light crashed down like raindrops. The skeletons were charred black and turned into ashes that got scattered away by the blowing winds.

Su-hyeun didn't immediately go back down to the ground, instead of taking a bit of time to scan the forest's interior.

There were none left.

"Did they run away?"

He was certain about this not being all of them.

Even at a casual glance, the number of the undead that had gathered here easily reached the four-digit mark. He only had dealt with about half of them, but the rest of them were gone without a single trace by now.

It didn't look like they escaped to avoid falling for his Provocation, either.

"They weren't planning to fight properly from the very beginning, then."

They constantly skulked around Master Subhuti and him but didn't do anything else besides. At first, he thought they were planning to harm Subhuti, but his thoughts had changed now that some time had passed.

Would someone like Osiris, the "god" of the dead, send some measly summons with only this much strength to kill Master Subhuti?

Indeed, they weren't here to kill Subhuti at all. They were simply meant to locate him.

"They achieved their goal, is that it?"

After confirming that no other summoned undead remained, Su-hyeun returned to the forest below.

Thanks to activating the Rain of Thunder high up in the sky, there wasn't much damage to the forest below. Only some leaves down there were lightly singed by the electric currents.

"Huh-uh. Leaves got burned in the end," complained Master Subhuti still.

Su-hyeun looked back at him. The old man with a slightly bent back trudging along was currently dragging a limp skeleton behind him.

"You've arrived, Master Subhuti?"

Someone benevolent-looking was dragging along a skeleton, so this sight came across a bit surreal somehow.

It seemed that several summons managed to reach Master Subhuti's side.

"The rest have run away," said Subhuti.

"They did accomplish what they set out to do, after all."

"And just like that, my current lifestyle is now over. Tsk," Subhuti tutted as if he was deeply unhappy while walking up to the tallest tree in the surroundings. He reached out and began rubbing the tree along its grain.

Vitality quickly returned to the leaves that got slightly singed by the Rain of Thunder. He smiled faintly and nodded in satisfaction, "It's done."

"Are you going to leave now?"

To think that they had to part ways right after meeting for the first time…

Su-hyeun still had many things to ask Subhuti. No, even if that wasn't the case, this individual had deep connections to the Bull Demon King, Sun Wukong, and the Roc Demon King.

He taught them the Sage Arts. Not only did he take in Sun Wukong, who had to say goodbye to his Yogoe family back in the Mountain of Flower and Fruit a long time ago, but he even acted as a father figure to them, too.

Su-hyeun also wanted to talk to him for a bit longer.

"How can I leave right away? We should have a couple of days of leeway. I don't know about the others, but I definitely have to say goodbye to Wukong at least. He might not show it on the outside, but he'll definitely get depressed," Master Subhuti said and then grinned bitterly. "I'm also kind of worried about the Bull Demon King."

"First Brother, you say?"

Now that was a surprise.

It might not be the case with the other two, but if it was the Bull Demon King, Su-hyeun naturally thought that he would be unperturbed by the prospect of saying goodbye to Master Subhuti.

Subhuti shook his head to reply to Su-hyeun's question then avoided the subject altogether. It seemed that hearing more about the Bull Demon King would not be possible now.

Subhuti turned around and headed toward the house where the Bull Demon King and Sun Wukong should be waiting for them. "Why don't we get a move on now? I fear that there isn't a lot of time left for us to chat like this."

Step—

Whoosh—

He took one step, and he simply vanished from the spot.

That was the "Earth Shrink Technique."

However, it was impossible to tell just how far he had moved with that single step. Despite using Insight, Su-hyeun couldn't see where Master Subhuti was.

"That fast…?"

Su-hyeun's brows rose slightly while staring at the spot where Subhuti used to be.

The Earth Shrink Technique was a sorcery-like technique that allowed you to leap over a fixed space by "folding" it. It wasn't a simple movement technique at all, and it required a little bit of prep time to use, just like a magic spell.

But Master Subhuti clearly didn't require any prep time at all.

Su-hyeun, too, could use Earth Shrink Technique, but what Master Subhuti used here was literally on another realm compared to his.

"I've got a lot to learn from him, it seems," Su-hyeun smiled faintly and got going as well.

The space folded, and Su-hyeun began tracing the steps of Master Subhuti.

His own Earth Shrink Technique kind of felt shabby, for some reason.

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The location Master Subhuti headed to was a small hut inside the forest, with Sun Wukong and the Bull Demon King in it.

Originally, it should've taken several hours of nonstop walking in the forest to reach here. However, Su-hyeun and Subhuti reached the hut in only a matter of a few steps.

Since they approached the hut without trying to hide their presence, Sun Wukong and the Bull Demon King quickly noticed that Su-hyeun and Subhuti had returned.

Sun Wukong quickly leaped outside the house first.

"Huh? Uncle?" He alternated his gaze between Su-hyeun and Master Subhuti, then asked them a question, "Why did you arrive here together?"

"Well, it happened somehow while I was on my way," Su-hyeun tried to brush it aside since he wasn't sure how to explain it in depth.

Technically speaking, he wasn't lying there. It was true that while he was on his way, Master Subhuti did seek him out, after all. Not only that, but Subhuti also asked him a favor.

"It might be fine with the Bull Demon King, but to Wukong, I'd like you to keep what happened to us as a secret, please."

"You mean, the bit about Osiris targeting you?"

"Yes, that. Knowing Wukong's personality, he'll definitely go on a rampage if he finds out. He might even throw an uncontrollable tantrum, saying he'll take down Osiris all by himself."

"Well, yes, considering his personality…"

"Oh, and also, the thing about me and the system."

"That one, too? Why?"

"For now…I beg of you."

So, Su-hyeun decided to humor Master Subhuti's request, at least for the time being.

The latter had been looking after and helping Sun Wukong grow for a far longer time than Su-hyeun could even imagine, not to mention, he even went to the great trouble of teaching the Sage Arts, too.

Someone like that would surely not do anything that might harm either Sun Wukong or the Bull Demon King. That was what Su-hyeun believed.

Sun Wukong asked again, "While on your way here? Ah, now I remember. Uncle did say he wanted to meet you, didn't he? Okay then, did you two have a good chat?"

"Yes, it was a fruitful discussion."

"Really? What did you discuss, though?"

Su-hyeun was momentarily rendered speechless at Sun Wukong's follow-up question, not knowing what to say. Just as he began hesitating…

"My back's killing me. Let's just go in already," Master Subhuti suddenly walked into the hut while massaging his lower back.

Sun Wukong tilted his head a little, then wordlessly followed after Subhuti. Also stepping into the building, Su-hyeun was inwardly relieved at how innocent and simple the Monkey King was.

"Huh?"

"Hey, you're finally here?" The Roc Demon King greeted Su-hyeun with a wave of his wing.

He must've finished the Autumn harvest while Su-hyeun and Master Subhuti were chatting away.

Even though the Roc Demon King didn't know the Earth Shrink Technique, he was renowned as the fastest Yogoe alive once upon a time. Flying from the village to get here shouldn't even take a few minutes for him.

Su-hyeun, Master Subhuti, and Sun Wukong all stepped into the room. With four people inside the relatively small room, it began feeling rather cramped now.

"When did you arrive, Second Brother?" Su-hyeun asked.

"It's not too long after you left the village, actually. Anyway, how was your chat with the old man?"

"It went well. He's a kind person, as it turns out."

"Sure, he's kind. But I don't like him."

"Why not?"

"That's because he got beaten up a lot."

When Su-hyeun asked in a slight puzzlement, the reply came from a different direction.

It came from the Bull Demon King. "Unlike Wukong or myself, this child didn't want to learn the Sage Arts back then. He was still filled with bloodlust toward all humans, you see."

He was entering the room with a bottle of booze and four cups. That had to be the "Bamboo Leaf Wine" or something that the Roc Demon King previously talked about.

The Bull Demon King settled down on the spot in the room, then continued, "In the end, uncle had to apprehend the Roc Demon King and forcibly taught him the Sage Arts. So, by the time you first met him, he had gotten a lot less intense compared to how he was initially."

"Back then, you say?" Su-hyeun recalled the Roc Demon King of back then who emitted an intense killing intent because he was human.

The Yogoe looked like he held some serious animosity against humans back then. But to think that that version of him was a lot less intense one…

Such a thing was quite hard to even picture. Su-hyeun wondered just how bad the Roc Demon King must've been initially, so he was about to ask Master Subhuti, but then…

"Huh?"

"What's going on? Where did uncle go?"

Master Subhuti, who had definitely entered the building a couple of steps ahead of him, was nowhere to be seen now.

Surprised, Su-hyeun rose about halfway while Sun Wukong simply leaped to his feet.

"It seems that he wishes us to spend this time together."

Drip…

The Bull Demon King used some water to clean out the cups, then handed one over to each of his younger brothers, "Now then, take one."

The proceedings got going rather abruptly.

Su-hyeun and Sun Wukong both settled down and awkwardly accepted the cups. They were common bluish-green shot cups taken from the village.

Driiip—

The very first cup to be filled was the Roc Demon King's. Next up was Sun Wukong, then finally, Su-hyeun.

"Let me pour you some," Su-hyeun hurriedly took over the bottle and poured the Bull Demon King's cup next.

The alcohol was pristine-clear, enough for one's facial expression to be reflected on its surface.

"It has taken a while, but we're finally all together," said the Bull Demon King.

Everyone shifted their gazes to him.

The Bull Demon King acted unlike himself and spoke in a somewhat awkward manner, "Honestly, I have not learned many things in life. That's why I'm not certain what needs to be said in an occasion like this one, but…"

He extended his cup forward.

"At least know this one thing. We are family."

"Yes."

Cling—

Inside a small hut located in an expansive forest and a small room inside that hut illuminated by a small lamplight, the four sworn brothers lightly clanged their cups in an honest yet straightforward manner.

Su-hyeun brought the booze to his lips. He couldn't even remember the last time he drank alcohol. The piquant scent of the alcohol was mixed with the aroma of the bamboo leaves, and the mixture went down his throat relatively smoothly.

He didn't really like to drink, but even so, he thought that this drink was easily the tastiest one he had ever drunk, even sweeter than any top-grade honey.

Today was the first time Su-hyeun learned that alcohol could be this delicious.

Their cups continued to cling, and the emptied cups were refilled. They chatted about what happened to them and shared genuine laughter together.

While spending their time like this, Su-hyeun abruptly thought of something: sometimes, there would be moments like this.

A moment when he was actually living through like this one would somehow be remembered, like a scene being viewed by someone else from above.

A moment that would vividly live on in his reminiscence like a painting—this moment was exactly like that to Su-hyeun..