The Hero Returns

"It's been a while since I last used a spear…."

He hadn't had a lot of opportunities to throw a spear recently. The Dragon Slaying Spear was basically a consumable item, so he had to preserve them as much as possible, and also, lately, he hadn't run into a powerful enough enemy that he needed to use the spear, either.

Was it because it had been a while? The spear gripped in his hand felt just a little different, a little fresher than it had before.

"One."

Su-hyeun's body arched back like a bow.

"Two."

His body leaned forward like a released spring, and…

"Three."

His arm, cocked back, swung forward powerfully and threw the spear.

Swiiiiiish-

Spliiiiit-

The three spears split apart and turned into tens of thousands of smaller spears before stabbing into Karne's body.

Stab, stab, stab…

Kiii-aaaaah-!

Karne screamed and tottered precariously. He straightened his legs and tried his best not to fall, but it wasn't enough in the end.

BOOM-

Eventually, the dragon's legs gave way.

Krrrr…

Bits of drool Karne couldn't manage to swallow trickled down the orange dragon's maw. Even then, he continued to growl, a low rumble, causing Su-hyeun to roll his eyes.

"How persistent are you? Seriously."

In defensive capability alone, Karne wasn't as sturdy as a Titan Turtle. But his automatic recuperation ability, the defenses offered by the scales, plus the surrounding barriers that continuously regenerated, meant that the orange dragon possessed a truly incredible defensive ability.

"M-mm."

Su-hyeun poured out attacks without rest until he staggered somewhat from dizziness. He too had no choice but to stab his sword into the ground to support his weight that way.

Now that all the tension and adrenaline had deserted him, not just the feeling of lightheadedness, but even a sense of enervation washed over his entire body. He felt drained.

Even though various defensive skills were layered on top of his body, and despite cutting the Breath down with his sword, it was still impossible to completely avoid getting damaged from Karne's attacks.

An orange-colored dragon was right below the level of the red color, after all. Karne's Breath wasn't something one would normally face head-on.

<< I won't be able to withstand a second hit from that. >>

Should he have changed his attack method to one where he took his time a little more? But if he did that, how would he have gone about countering Karne's flight ability?

Just as all sorts of possibilities popped up in his head…

Flap-

Karne unfurled his wings once more—even as blood continued to flow from the thousands, nay, tens of thousands of spears stabbing into its massive body.

"This crazy son of a…"

Su-hyeun thought this would've been enough to suppress the dragon, but, somehow, his quarry still managed to move.

He knew that the dragon's recuperative power was considerable, but this easily exceeded the word "recuperate."

The tenacious will to survive. That was what kept Karne moving.

"You're really stubborn, aren't you."

Pak-

Su-hyeun yanked his sword out of the ground. But, right at that moment…

Chwa-rurururuk-

Squeeze, tighten-

Dozens of chains flew in at Karne's body as he tried to take flight and held him in place. That wasn't all, however.

Hundreds of varied magics, such as round bands that grabbed at his wings, shadows rising up from the ground to cling onto the body, etc., simultaneously tightened around Karne's figure.

Su-hyeun looked up to the sky. "They sure came fast, didn't they."

Hundreds of dragons had come chasing after Karne. Their magic had imprisoned the orange dragon.

Grrrr…

Karne crashed back down to the ground and growled angrily.

Dragons arriving late on the scene looked between Su-hyeun and the grounded Karne in surprise.

-What kind of situation is this?

-Why does Sir Karne look like that….?

-Did this human stop Sir Karne alone?

Although there were many dragons giving chase, it was never going to be easy to catch up to Karne, who was determined to escape from them and had even gotten a head start by flying away without warning.

It was obvious why. Not only was there a difference in their flight speed, Karne could even use teleport as long as a small window of opening presented itself to travel a far distance.

If he had willed it, he could've hidden away for dozens, no, hundreds of years.

But…

-It seems… they did really fight?

He made a fatal error of not paying attention to Su-hyeun. The moment he tried to teleport, the human blocked him.

And so, time passed and other dragons were able to track Karne down to this spot.

If it weren't for Su-hyeun currently looking like a piece of charcoal from Karne's Breath, none of the arriving dragons would've thought that a measly human could have driven a mighty orange dragon to such a wretched state.

<< A human did that? Really? >>

<< Siegfri getting done in wasn't a lie? >>

<< No, wait. Even if that wasn't a lie, this…. >>

They'd all heard about the green-colored dragon, Siegfri, tasting defeat at the hands of this human. But fighting an orange dragon was on a completely different level than that.

The difference between a green-colored dragon and an orange-colored one was so great that they might as well be members of different species.

The orange-colored dragons were the closest existence to the red dragons.

-Wait, that's not important right now.

The matter of figuring out who stopped Karne should be reserved for later. Blanc approached Karne, currently tied down by the hundreds of other dragons.

-Now, explain yourself, Karne. Explain the meaning of this, and why you tried to flee.

-…If you can't even figure that out by now, then it could only mean that you're all morons.

There was a hint of laughter mixed in Karne's voice. His reaction didn't suit the current situation at all.

-Heh, hehehe.

Karne chuckled with his distorted mouth. Blanc staggered back, creeped out by that laughter.

Karne, he… seemed to be completely deranged. How could he laugh in a situation like this? He looked so different from his usual past self, always majestic and dignified.

-I… I finally managed to escape from their shadow, yet…

-Shadow? What are you talking about?

-Blanc, you have no idea. No, wait. Not just you, but everyone else, too. You don't know how I… We had been overshadowed by them for centuries.

Karne's voice began to growl again.

-I too have devoted and sacrificed my whole being for our kind. I spent my entire lifetime serving our kin. I delved even deeper into research and did my best to serve our race! But, but…. dammiiiiit!

Clank-

The heavy cage confining Karne shook as he struggled mightily. His roars pierced the heavens and his rage swept across the land.

-In the end, what good was it?? Ellid and the red dragons!! What happened to all of my hard work? They continued to lead our kind wonderfully, didn't they?! Without paying any attention to all the hard work we put in!

-Effort? Dedication?!

-Right. It was the same story even after they were all dead. All of you kept waiting for the red dragons to return. Saying that they need to lead our race…

Wuduk, snap-

The bindings tying Karne down snapped and broke, one by one, as he continued to struggle against them.

-Dammit all to hell! Open your eyes and see for yourselves! See who is standing before you right now! Not the ones that died in the past!

-That's why you insulted the noble dragons who sacrificed their lives for us??

-They are already dead, anyway! Whether they're insulted or forgotten, what difference does it make?!

Karne's voice was full of resentment. And his words shattered, in one fell swoop, the faith of all the dragons that had believed in and followed him until now.

Step-

"You know, I wouldn't normally try to interfere in this sort of things, since it's a matter concerning your kin. I mean, it'll be like I'm sticking my nose in a stranger's family quarrel, almost."

Su-hyeun observing the situation from afar suddenly began walking toward Karne.

Fuu-wuu-

He spat out a lengthy sigh towards the sky—as if he was letting out the anger building up inside him.

"But then, I just can't sit back and listen to this anymore. What did you just say??"

His eyes burned with pure rage. Even then, he was doing his best not to lose his reason.

The dragons around him immediately realized that. And, they also figured out the reason for Su-hyeun's rage, as well.

Gya-ohohohk-

It was all because of Miru, curled up in a distant corner after hearing Karne's roars.

A young dragon hatchling, with its body curled up into a ball and crying as if it was terrified of something.

When the dragons noticed Miru's state, they all collectively sucked in their breath from the realization. No matter how young it looked, it was still old enough to understand what they had all been talking about.

"Well, sure. Fine. Let me concede hundreds, thousands of times and say you're not wrong. The thing about your dead ancestors, since they can't hear you anyway, it doesn't matter if you insult them or forget all about them. Fine. But, then…."

Step-

"What about Miru?"

Grrr-rrng-

Su-hyeun shifted his gaze over to Miru crying all by itself in a spot on the ground not too far away.

Miru, who didn't belong anywhere. Seeing how it was ostracized by other dragons from its own race, Su-hyeun could no longer contain his anger.

"For now, you…"

Pah-ahk-

Su-hyeun's figure shot forward in an instant.

"You get a beating."

-Wait!

Swiiiish, smaaack-!

Despite the urgent voices coming from behind him, Su-hyeun still swung his fists.

-Kah-ahk!!

With fists laden with a ton of magical energy, no less.

"Why should an innocent little kid be…."

Smack! Bam! Bang, crack-!

-Stop! Please stop!

"Why should he get his heart broken by your rotting, stinking mindset, you son of a b*tch?!"

Chwa-rururuk, clank-!

Chains rose up from the ground and bound Su-hyeun's body. To stop his fists from flying, his arms were constricted and the bindings even wrapped around his neck.

Even if Karne had insulted the red dragons, each and every surviving dragon was precious to their kin. If punishment was to be handed out, they should be the ones to do it, and if that meant Karne's execution, then a human shouldn't be allowed to carry it out.

[Third Eye- Neutralization]

Wuduk, wududuk-

The chains from the dragons began snapping, bit by bit. The Third Eye's power weakened the effects of the magic and the chains began to rust rapidly.

"Don't you dare try to stop me!!"

Rumble-!

Enraged magical energy instantly spread through his surroundings. At the same time, the pressure suppressing his body disappeared. All the magic confining him had scattered away.

The dragons stepping forward to stop Su-hyeun all flinched at his furious aura. None of them could explain how their race was frightened silly by a mere human. But they were unable to even consciously recognize that fact at that moment.

Because of what Su-hyeun said next.

"What right do you have to butt in here?! Did you even try to comfort the little kid crying all alone? What have you done, anyway?!"

Su-hyeun's head spun away.

Just like he said, no one was paying attention to Miru. The fact that no one even bothered to go over to Miru and try to comfort it really ground Su-hyeun's gears to no end.

And his anger reached an uncontrollable level after learning that this misunderstanding stemmed from nothing more than Karne's greed and pride.

Grab, swooosh-.

KA-BOOOM-!

-Kah-ahk-!

Su-hyeun grabbed the scales right below Karne's jaw and, just like that, slammed the orange dragon's head to the ground. The latter didn't seem to have enough energy to mount any resistance, its body riddled with grievous wounds.

"Aren't you all ashamed? You worry about a jerk-off like this guy, claiming he's your kin and whatever, yet you push away a little kid that you should be welcoming with open arms?"

No one could reply to Su-hyeun's pointed questions.

They were all too embarrassed.

He wasn't wrong. Only after hearing Su-hyeun did their guilty conscience toward Miru grow larger than the anger felt for Karne's actions.

And that fact made them even more embarrassed than before.

Karne must've blacked out a while ago as he didn't even scream anymore. Su-hyeun, still not satisfied, tried to yank out his sword.

"Please…. stay your hand." Blanc approached him and grasped Su-hyeun's shoulder. "We were wrong. I apologize. We are… truly sorry."

Blanc slowly bowed to Su-hyeun. Hundreds of dragons followed his example and bowed, as well.

They bowed to Miru, as well.

The entirety of the dragon race bowed to one human and one young dragon hatchling. Such a thing had never happened before in the lengthy, unaccountable history of the dragons.

Su-hyeun pushed his half-unsheathed sword back into its scabbard.

Fuu-woo-

He stared at the unconscious Karne, the dragon's head still rammed deeply into the ground. Then, he shot a sharp, piercing glare at the silent dragons around him and raised his voice. "Fine. I'll stop for today. But you better punish this bastard properly. If you don't…."

Squeeze-

Su-hyeun gripped the sword's hilt still held in his hand tightly.

"I'll kill him myself."

His murderous, cold glare left the dragons unable to say anything.

Only one individual among them, Miru, staying at the corner until then, flew toward him while opening its mouth wide.

Gya-ong-!