The Hero Returns

Act 5

Stomp, stomp—

The sound of footsteps going up the stairs echoed through the castle. They were the only sounds in the empty building. There was no other sound, not even a gentle wind. Karne, who walked up the stairs very slowly, arrived at his room.

"Hello, sir."

In front of Karne's room, another orange-colored dragon was waiting for him. Karne, who was expecting the other dragon, asked without a greeting.

"Have you waited long? If it was something urgent, you could have come down."

"No, sir. I just came by to say hello since it's been a while since I've seen you."

"Is that so? Then, please come in."

At Karne's word, the other dragon opened the door and left the way open for Karne. In the room, there was only a sofa, a small table, and a bedside cabinet.

"This place always was simple. Nothing's changed."

"I have no use for great jewelry or colorful pictures, Ralph. Why are you so obsessed with such useless things?"

"I don't think I can ignore them like you do. It's our instinct to like glittering things, isn't it?"

"I was like you when I was young. But, as I got older, those things felt vain and empty. Do you want some tea?" Karne asked.

"Yes, please. Thank you, sir."

Karne brewed tea quickly and came back. Ralph, seated on the sofa, patiently waiting for Karne's return, asked.

"So, are you still walking?"

"You mean the stairs?"

"Yes."

"Well. We have a lot of time, as dragons. I have strong two legs and enough time to wait. There's no need to hurry, is there?"

"You're very unique."

"Do you think so? Well, other dragons have said things like that to me many times before."

Karne lifted his cup, laughing quietly. Then, Ralph, hesitating slightly, opened his mouth with difficulty.

"Are you really going to sit back and watch?"

"You're talking about the human and the red dragon?"

"Yes."

"Well. If they went to the Cintamani forest, it would be hard to come back alive. Even if they do come back, they can't enter this city again, unsuccessful." Karne looked at himself, reflecting at the cup. "It's been over a thousand years that we've had our position."

"Yes."

"We can't give it back to the red dragon."

Rumble, rumble—

The cup in Karne's hand trembled, and the surface of the tea in it waivered. Ralph, seated close by Karne, realized he wasn't as calm as he seemed. Ralph was relieved.

"But still," Ralph said, "don't you think sending those two to the forest might not be enough? That human looked pretty reckless, but…"

"Hey, Ralph," Karne said.

"Yes?"

"Have you ever seen the Titan Turtle?"

Ralph shook his head at Karne's question. He born after the war, so he had never seen a huge demonic beast like Titan Turtle.

"That turtle lives there, and that is enough."

"Is it…that strong?"

"We lost dozens of dragons to it during the war. I also almost died fighting it, myself."

Karne put down his cup and covered his face with his one hand as if just the thought of it gave him pain. Ralph bit his lips, seeing Karne like that.

"What did the red dragons do then?" Ralph asked.

"They did nothing. That's why I'm still upset with them."

Ralph had heard about the red dragons a lot. And, every time he heard about them, he got upset. While Karne sacrificed himself, dedicated to the clan, the red dragons, the most powerful of all of them, had done nothing. No. They had even run away.

"Still…I can't forgive them," said Ralph, shaking his head, "They were cowards to abandon the clan, with as much power as they had. They betrayed us. I can't admit such dragons' descendants as a descendant of the Dragon King. I can't."

"Yes. They were cowards."

Karne got up from his seat, putting down his cup. Soon, he walked toward the window. He muttered while looking out the window.

"That's why…the red dragon doesn't deserve to come back."

"So, are you sure we'll be okay?"

"Yes. Don't worry," Karne said, trying to soothe anxious Ralph. "They'll be swallowed up by forest before they even meet the turtle."

The Cintamani forest wasn't dangerous only because of the Titan Turtle.

"There's no way that man can survive against those hordes of monsters."

***

One of the wild beasts in the forest, named Cerber, had two heads and four eyes. It was big, like a tiger, and had sharp claws that could tear through steel. It was very agile, had excellent reflexes and a very sensitive nose that could detect enemies kilometers away.

It was named Cerber because it had one less head than a Cerberus. Among the beast-typed monsters that lived in the forest, they were the most numerous. They were called the savage beasts of the forest, or the rulers because there were so many of them.

Krrr, Krrr—

But the food chain of the Cintamani forest was reversed that day.

Drip, drip—

Splatter—

Dozens of Cerbers stepped back unconsciously. They had always been running forward and forward, and they had lived without knowing that they could be scared of someone. They charged at enemies even if they were about to die. If they kept trying, someone of their clan would bite the neck of the prey soon. But this day was different.

"Yea, it feels good."

Thump, thump—

The body of a headless Cerber fell to the ground.

Hiss—

The Cerbers felt like a giant snake was looking down at them. They weren't sure if that snake was an illusion or not. The group of Cerbers, only half of their original number remaining, couldn't decide what to do. It looked as if they were debating if the human was prey, or a predator who would change the structure of the forest's food chain. Su-hyeun smiled when he saw those confused monsters.

<<It would be best to use this skill in this way,>> Su-hyeun thought.

The skills of the third eye were Predator, Body reinforcement, and Cancellation. Of those skills, the Predator skill was absolutely overwhelming when dealing with many weak monsters. He could suppress the weak monsters with his gaze alone. Thanks to that skill, Su-hyeun was able to stand in a superior position in the fight against many monsters.

But it had only one weakness; the skill consumed too much magic power. So, Su-hyeun studied the technique and figured out a way. It was simple. When he used the Predator skill, he just reduced the power to reduce magic consumption. The power was lowered, but it was enough. He just needed to make the Cerbers confused.

Slash, slash—

Swish, swish—

Su-hyeun jumped into the group of Cerbers and swept at them with his sword. The Cerbers were terrified. They reacted in one of two ways.

Arf, arf, arf—

Some of them charged at Su-hyeun.

Moan, moan—

And some of them ran away. The group was divided into two. But Su-hyeun did not miss either of them.

<<It'll be annoying if they bring more monsters back with them later. I can't miss them now.>>

Su-hyeun shouted toward the Cerbers trying to escape.

"Miru!"

Purr—!

"Catch the monsters that are trying to escape now!"

Flip—

Swish—

Miru spread his wings and chased the Cerbers that were trying to run away. Miru spouted Breath from his mouth. The Cerbers who fled burned like charcoal and fell to the ground. And, during the fight, they could meet really giant monsters sometimes.

Caw, caw—!

Krrr, Krrr—!

Something huge covered the sky. Su-hyeun lifted his head and saw…

<<I knew it would be here.>>

It was a flying-typed monster. Those monsters were the reason Su-hyeun couldn't ride on Miru's back. Su-hyeun's strength came from fighting on the ground. Air combat was his weak spot. Su-hyeun didn't have the sort of skill that could let him fly freely. But…

<<If it shows up first…>>

Whoosh—

[Leap]

Su-hyeun jumped dozens of meters in an instant. As he leaped twice, he could meet the giant flying monster. It only had bones, and the eyes were empty.

[One Sword Cutting Through Everything.]

Su-hyeun grabbed the sword with both hands.

<<I can cut it.>>

Slash—

Su-hyeun cut down.

Crack—!

Boom—!

As he swung the sword, the bony flying monster's head split, and the large body began to fall.

Caw, caw—!

Soon, another group of flying monsters flew up. At that moment, Miru flew above Su-hyeun's head.

Swoosh—

[Breath.]

Whoosh—!

Breath from Miru's mouth swept over the flying monsters. The heat hit deep in their bones. The flying monsters screamed and fell to the ground. Su-hyeun stroked Miru's back as he sat down on it.

"Good job, Miru."

Purr—!

Miru replied with a proud face. Su-hyeun looked over and around as he came back down to the ground with Miru.

<<There sure are a lot of monsters here.>>

It had already been half a day since they had entered the Cintamani forest. He had been fighting nonstop, but the monsters were pouring in unceasingly. Each of them had a level akin to the monsters who appeared in the blue-colored dungeon. Sometimes, there were monsters about at boss-level.

<<Their numbers are bad, but the real problem is that the monsters are getting stronger as I go deeper into the forest.>>

Su-hyeun could understand why Blanc was so worried. First of all, there were too many Cerbers. Moreover, they didn't attack one by one. They always attacked in groups.

He couldn't go to the air to avoid them since there were flying-type monsters. Those were actually more dangerous than the Cerbers because there was no place to hide or run away in the air. Of course, Su-hyeun had no intention of running away at all.

<<At least, I can get a lot of rewards.>>

Since the monsters' level was high, and there were a lot of them, he could get more achievement points. The stats, which hadn't been raised well so far, rose by a point. As a hunting ground, this place was the best among all Su-hyeun had seen in his trials.

<<I honestly want to stay here more.>>

A smile played about his lips. In fact, the meaning of the hunting ground faded a lot from a certain point. At Su-hyeun's present level, it was a tough thing to collect achievement points or raise stats just by catching monsters in the trials. But there were a lot of monsters there. For Su-hyeun, this 40th-floor trial was sort of the best possible hunting ground to catch monsters and raise his stats.

"Let's take a break for a moment."

Su-hyeun and Miru had been moving for more than half a day. Although Su-hyeun had deep reserves of physical strength and magic, he still needed to rest. In places with a high concentration of monsters like here, they had to rest when they could.

While Su-hyeun was resting, Miru wandered around to see if other monsters were approaching. Another few hours later, Su-hyeun stood guard for Miru. It was possible because there were two of them, not Su-hyeun alone. Miru was undoubtedly playing his part now.

"You did a good job, Miru."

Purr—!

After taking a break, Su-hyeun started moving again.

Thump, thump—

Splash—

They walked around about 30 minutes.

<<I can't see any monsters.>>

Monsters had been appearing non-stop for more than half a day, but they stopped. Something was strange. Su-hyeun looked around and reached his hand to the bushes that had turned dark. He could feel moisture from the bushes.

<<No way.>>

Su-hyeun sat down on the ground and touched it with his palm. And at that moment…

Pitapat, pitapat—

He could feel little heartbeats through the ground.