The Hero Returns

"Chase you out?" Su-hyeun formed a puzzled expression at Megara's reply. "Why would they want to go that far? Is there a problem with defending this place together?"

"The problem is 'political power.' Everyone already knows that the Giants are invading our world and that it's my husband who has been stopping them all this time. But what if a kingdom can perform that role instead?"

"Do they even have the necessary confidence to pull that off?"

"My husband is fighting in their stead exactly because they don't have the confidence to. They have already lost their army in the battle against the Giants in the past, after all. But now…" Megara shook her head. "I don't understand why they suddenly chose to show up here."

A complicated mixture of emotions clouded her face, and judging from how tightly she hugged her children, she seemed to be quite anxious as well.

Su-hyeun shifted his gaze back outside the window.

If those people already knew they were helpless in the battle against the Giants, why did they choose to show up now?

"Well, something has finally happened at least," Su-hyeun thought as he suppressed a chuckle that was trying to break free.

He had been feeling anxious since nothing of note had happened so far, yet something was finally starting to unfold. He felt more settled now that an event was about to happen.

There was no need to waste time pondering stuff.

Dururuk—

Su-hyeun pushed his chair back and got up.

Megara asked, "Are you going somewhere?"

"I'll go outside and join the conversation for a little bit," he replied and exited from the house.

He should simply go and listen if he wanted to know why they showed up today.

* * *

"…So, let me get this straight. To put simply, you want us out of here?" Hercules asked.

"Although I'm grateful that you have simplified our proposal so succinctly, you're also making us look quite ill-mannered. All we are saying is that you can rest easy from now on and retire," replied a middle-aged knight kitted out in pure-white mail armor.

Hercules, wearing a simple thin robe, stood there with his arms across his chest and stared at the knight before him.

This middle-aged knight was quite tall at two meters in height and was ably filling up the heavy-looking armor, but even then, he still came across as a little kid in front of the demigod.

"You are still the same. You care more about keeping up appearances rather than the actual heart of the matter, so what's the difference between what you said and how I understood it?"

The tone of Hercules's voice noticeably changed. A man who seemed like a gentle sheep transformed into a mighty beast after a little yawn.

The middle-aged knight flinched and hurriedly waved his hands. "That's not true. Please, don't think of it as us trying to keep up appearances but trying to treat you with absolute respect. Surely, you also do not wish to waste the rest of your life in this place?"

"Just because I look like this, you think my head is also filled with muscles or some such?" Hercules smirked, the corners of his lips contorting a little. "You came here to really let me retire? Not even a stray mutt would believe that. You better stop with such pretensions. I'll just simply flip everything on its head if you don't."

Hercules sounded like he was almost kidding. It was unknown what the soldiers behind the middle-aged knight felt at that moment, but for him, he ended up sensing a vague hint of danger from the demigod's current attitude.

"So this is none other than the son of Zeus, Hercules?"

The rumor was widespread and well known—the son of Zeus was a hero who fought head-on against the race of the Giants.

Although more than a decade had passed by and the tale became something of a legend to the newer generations of knights, there were still quite a large number of them that idolized him even now.

It was the same story for the middle-aged knight as well. Back in his youth, he grew up listening to the heroic tales of Hercules.

However…

"We can't forever stand aside doing nothing while watching you fight alone."

A legend would just be that, a legend.

It would be different from reality.

"Please, step aside from now on, Hercules."

The middle-aged knight's insistence prompted Hercules to narrow his eyes.

The demigod hadn't emitted any special aura or didn't even change his expression all that much, yet even then, the middle-aged knight still ended up taking a large step backward.

Hercules scanned the middle-aged knight and the soldiers behind the man, before asking a question out loud, "After I step aside, then what?"

"…"

"You really think you can handle the aftermath? After you lot did something as stupid as this back then…has it been 15 years already?"

Fifteen years ago…

The event back then was an unforgettable part of history for the Holy Kingdom. Half of the army they prepared so meticulously was wiped out, and the kingdom had no choice but to rely on Hercules in the end.

"Back then, you all couldn't deal with the aftermath and dumped everything on me. But what would've happened if I ended up going down the wrong path, or I got fed up with your disgusting nonsense and decided to drop everything?"

"Back then—"

"Right, you said it was a mistake. But you think you won't repeat the same mistake twice? Because of your stinking lust for more power, hundreds of thousands of soldiers had to enter the land of death. They exploded like worms under the feet of the Giants, and your proud knights were too busy turning tail to escape."

Hercules growled like a wild beast.

Bulge—

Veins bulged clearly on his arms all the way down to his hands. The middle-aged knight nervously swallowed back his saliva and quickly studied Hercules's mood.

Any more unnecessary stimulation, and it would not be strange to see the knight's head go "pop" like a ball by the demigod in this place.

"Are you confident you will not repeat the same mistake?"

"…Yes," the middle-aged knight replied at Hercules's question with a slight quiver in his voice. "It'll be different this time."

"…?"

Hercules became puzzled by that.

This knight, who was clearly scared silly and seemingly ready to slink back home only a few moments ago, was now making a confidence-filled expression.

"Does that mean there's something he trusts in?" Hercules thought.

However, it didn't matter what that was. Hercules still didn't trust the knight's words.

The horrifying spectacle of countless soldiers crushed to death like worms was not something he would like to witness ever again.

"Okay, so what you're saying is that you will fight the Giants from now on, and you want us out of here, is that it?"

A voice suddenly came from behind Hercules, and the middle-aged knight shifted his gaze in that direction. An unfamiliar man was currently walking out of the house where only Hercules and his family should have been staying in.

"Who you might be?" the knight asked.

"Name's Kim Su-hyeun. Although, you wouldn't recognize my name, anyway."

"Kim…what?"

"And who are you?"

"I'm Chris, the commander of the Holy Kingdom of Apollo's Second Holy Knight Order. And who could you possibly be that you're living in this place?"

The knight introduced himself as Chris, and while asking that, he looked over to Hercules.

Hercules seemed to be somewhat flustered as well. He shifted his gaze over to Su-hyeun with a confused look on his face. "Friend, you don't seem to be all that renowned?"

"I've led a quiet life, you see."

"No matter how quiet it was, rumors should still do rounds with your skill level?"

"I guess I'm from another world, then."

Su-hyeun's reply made in jest brought about a dumbfounded expression on Hercules's face next.

However, Su-hyeun paid no mind to the demigod's reaction and stepped forward to take a better look at Chris. The knight was still alternating his confused gaze between Su-hyeun and Hercules even then.

He then asked, "Can I trust you to make the necessary introduction on who this person is?"

"Didn't I tell you already? I'm Kim Su-hyeun."

"That's not what I—"

"My relationship with him is that of a comrade. We're currently fighting the Giants as partners."

"…A partner?"

Chris frowned deeply and began scanning Su-hyeun from top to bottom. He then shifted his gaze back to Hercules. His eyes seemed to be asking the demigod for the veracity of that claim.

"What seems to be the problem?" Hercules asked back.

"Isn't this different from what you've been telling us earlier?"

"Sure, there are two points of difference here. One, he didn't tell me to get lost from here, and we're fighting side by side. And two…" Hercules raised two thick fingers and continued on while scanning not just Chris but all the soldiers behind the knight as well. "Unlike you weaklings, this guy is pretty damn strong, you see."

"Now that…insults our pride," Chris muttered while sweeping back his blonde hair.

Although not comparable to the one and only Hercules, Chris was still one of the top knights of the Holy Kingdom, so to think that he was compared and evaluated to be worse than some unknown, no-name punk? That was definitely not something he could overlook.

"If you don't like it, why don't you have a go at him then?"

"Oh, is that fine with you?"

Chris's eyes were set ablaze from Hercules's suggestion.

At the same time, he reached down and unsheathed his sword mounted on his hips. He was planning to not beat around the bush and immediately test Su-hyeun's capabilities.

But right at that moment…

"You use a good-quality sword."

The voice that should've come from Chris's front was now coming from behind him.

"Huh?"

Also, his hand felt empty now.

Before Chris turned around, he brought his hand up to his eye level first.

His sword was gone.

"But just when did he…?" he thought.

Clack—

Just as he was about to turn his head, the sword was returned to its scabbard on his hips. Su-hyeun, standing right next to Chris, had put the weapon back.

"You should take good care of it. You'll feel bad if its edges get damaged or something," said Su-hyeun.

Shiver—

Chris fidgeted with the hilt of the sword that he had pulled out but was then returned to its scabbard by someone else's hand.

He was dazed.

When would he ever get to experience an event like this again? Never mind "experiencing," he had never heard of something like this before either.

There was no point in fighting anymore. If Su-hyeun wanted to cut off Chris's head just now, then he certainly had more than enough time to do so.

Su-hyeun carried on, "Would you like to continue? If you do, I won't stop you."

"…I concede defeat."

Chris bit down on his lip after realizing that fighting on any further would be meaningless.

Hercules was still standing there with his arms crossed, the corners of his lips curling up into a grin. Being a commander of the Holy Kingdom's Second Holy Knight Order implied that Chris was one of the very best they had.

"Now then, why don't you all go back now? Rather than wasting time like this," he said.

The red-faced Chris bit his lower lip again then replied to Hercules's suggestion, "The reason why I said it'll be different this time, was…not because of me."

"What then?"

"Do you believe you're the only one with a god's blood?"

Hercules's brows shot up at what Chris said, and Su-hyeun mirrored his expression.

With Chris's use of the words "a god's blood," he was properly referring to Hercules as Zeus's son.

And also…

"Please step forward, Phaethon."

Step—

A young man with golden hair extending all the way down to his waist stepped forward from among the soldiers.

His presence was "blinding"—with him merely stepping forward like that, he made his audience feel a stifling heat as if a small sun was approaching.

Phaethon. Now that was a familiar name.

"It's the same name given by the administrator."

The administrator of the 102nd floor was the first one ever to reveal his name. And now, someone possessing the exact same name had appeared before Su-hyeun.

He took a much closer look at the golden-haired man, Phaethon. For a moment there, their gazes met.

In the meantime, Chris continued, "This man is Phaethon, none other than the son of the sun god, Apollo. He's like you. He belongs to a god's bloodline."

"He's the son of Lord Apollo?"

"Yes. We believe that Sir Phaethon will stop the invasion of the Giants just like you have. Our job is merely to assist him from the sidelines."

Chris's expression had changed now. He seemed defeated in spirit from Hercules and Su-hyeun only until a few seconds ago, but now, he looked as if he had gained a powerful and dependable backer.

"Didn't I say it before? That it'll be different this time."

Phaethon had a disinterested expression all the while. It seemed that he was not particularly interested in the conversation between Hercules and Chris.

"With the blood of a god, huh?"

Su-hyeun frowned a little while studying Phaethon, allegedly the son of Apollo.

"It feels like he's an imposter."

This Phaethon gave off a different vibe from Hercules.

No, this man was not a god's son. He didn't emit any feeling of "godhood" similar to what Su-hyeun could pick up from Hercules.

But still…

"He does possess something similar to a godhood qualification, though."