The False Hero's Glory
Whether from the sheer magnitude of the shock or because he believed his current performance was landing perfectly, Jo Giman remained lying there with his eyes closed. The agitators who had been so active earlier stared at him blankly for a moment before something seemed to occur to them. They hurriedly resumed their work.
As a few of the instigators began weaving propaganda laced with just enough truth, the hunters who remembered none of the actual events quickly started accepting it as fact.
Yeah, you go ahead and swallow it all, you bastard.
Thinking back to that alien presence that had revealed itself so briefly, seeing this farce actually brought a sense of relief.
That guy is too dangerous. His judgment is ice-cold and his actions completely unhesitating.
It was like the end result of Jo Giman regressing through a hundred loops. Is it even supposed to be possible for an evil god to descend by borrowing Jo Giman's body?
Of course, judging from the agony he'd shown earlier, there were clear limits. From the tone of what he'd said, it seemed he'd made specific preparations to maintain that form.
Even if I grow stronger, I have no confidence I could beat him...
The one silver lining was that the existence linked to my skill acted as a suppressor. The Seven-Headed Dragon's distorted perception was probably thanks to the Fragment of the Great Existence as well.
I made a mental note to ask the orb master about it later and struggled to my feet.
Creak. Creak.
Damn... My body is completely wrecked. No wonder I passed out last time.
I'd thought I could endure a little longer, but the sight of my armor crumbling in multiple places sent a chill down my spine.
"Ugh..."
"Ow... My head."
I poured freshly drawn Irmana's water into the mouths of Lee Yeonhee and Baek A-rin, who were only now regaining consciousness, helping their recovery.
"Puha—what the hell happened?"
"Did I... end up dying after all?"
Baek A-rin still couldn't adjust to reality, while Lee Yeonhee kept clutching her head in distress, overwhelmed by the flood of information swirling through her mind.
As expected, the messages that had appeared when I defeated the Great Calamity, along with the mountain of achievements that came with them, must have all come rushing in at once. She had been frozen in place like everyone else, but every piece of information I had seen and felt might now be placing an enormous burden on her newly awakened mind.
"Aaaah... It hurts... Sob..."
Watching Lee Yeonhee suffer more than the rest made me feel unexpectedly guilty, so I gently stroked her head.
"Hing... Use both hands, please."
Pat. Pat.
As I continued stroking her hair, I couldn't hide the bitter feeling in my chest.
If I could obtain some healing-type abilities, would it be different?
An undead healing others? It was nothing but a vain delusion.
If Ham Eun-yeong had been here, this would have been resolved right away.
Irmana's water couldn't completely relieve mental anguish like this. And Ham Eun-yeong couldn't stay by our side forever. Therefore... I needed to acquire far more abilities. If I kept collecting different ones, the exact power I wanted might eventually emerge through combination.
I also needed to be far more cautious going forward. Accumulating those marks this time had been somewhat unavoidable and couldn't really be called a bad decision. If I hadn't done it, Jo Giman would have survived, but who knows what would have happened to everyone else. So I had no regrets about my choice.
Still, it seemed I'd been thinking too much in terms of my own benefit. Jo Giman had definitely sensed something strange from my attack. With all the skills and traits he possessed, he must also hold an enormous number of unique achievements. Even things I considered common sense would need to be doubted again and again.
The way the Seven-Headed Dragon possessing Jo Giman's body had instantly detected and eliminated Geum Jae-hyeon, who had been hiding with barrier arts, proved that perfectly.
From now on, when dealing with Jo Giman, I would have to use that monster as the baseline for all my preparations.
Sigh... Isn't that standard a little too high? Compared to him, the Great Calamity really was child's play.
A sigh escaped me before I could stop it.
Crack—
The barrier...
The barrier Geum Jae-hyeon had restored was collapsing once again.
The people still hadn't completely shaken off the fear of death, so they reacted sensitively to even the smallest comment. Still, it was remarkable that the barrier maintained its form even after that colossal entity had descended. Come to think of it, the Great Calamity and Jo Giman had been right next to each other, yet the entity had precisely devoured only the monster. For something of that size, its ability to wield power with such precision was truly impressive.
One of the agitators suddenly climbed atop a building and shouted.
If I had an agitator with that level of enthusiasm, even I would want to pay him to join my side.
It was the kind of suggestion an old department head at some company might make, yet the hunters—who had been helplessly anticipating their deaths when the Great Calamity appeared—eagerly joined in the cringeworthy act and roared with all their might.
Woooooooooargh───!!
The thunderous cheer echoed like orc warriors charging into battle. At the same time, the speed at which the barrier binding us was being dispelled began to increase noticeably.
"It should be released within the hour."
Kang Yeonsu had been dragged into meeting after meeting, but she finally found a spare moment to approach us and share what she knew.
"The barrier is still holding even though Geum Jae-hyeon... that person is dead?"
Lee Yeonhee asked out of curiosity. Kang Yeonsu replied that it had been one of his special traits and expressed her regret.
"He was an S-rank barrier master. One of the few talents we have in this country. He must have been trying to pull something, but killing him immediately wasn't necessary."
"Exactly!"
"Even if we couldn't uncover his true motives, if we'd slowly removed his restrictions, there were countless ways we could have brought him to our side. That damn Jo Giman acted far too decisively."
"You're right. It's such a shame to lose an S-rank hunter's talent like that."
I knew Geum Jae-hyeon had been attempting something far beyond what Kang Yeonsu imagined, so I believed Jo Giman's swift action had been appropriate. Still, I kept my mouth shut. And perhaps because of what Jo Giman had done to her, Lee Yeonhee now actively agreed whenever Kang Yeonsu spoke badly about him.
Kang Yeonsu glanced at Jo Giman for a moment before speaking.
"Well, aside from the fact that he's obviously faking the pain. He really did expend a massive amount of power. Let's leave him be for now. I'll ask about the contract document later."
"Thank you, sis..."
"Enough of that. You still have the 'Note of Well-being' I gave you, right?"
"Yes. I have two left."
"Good."
By now, a large crowd of hunters loyal to Jo Giman had gathered around him. Among them were Park Jin-gon and Seok Ryu-hwa, who usually spent their time criticizing each other.
Whether because they were strangely in sync when it came to matters involving Jo Giman, Park Jin-gon supported the guild master and moved toward the barrier. Seok Ryu-hwa then approached us.
He's really good at exploiting people using his A-rank dungeon management authority.
I already knew they weren't genuinely concerned for Jo Giman's well-being.
"Kugh..."
"A-are you all right, sir?"
"Hoo..."
After being helped to his feet by Park Jin-gon, Jo Giman let out a long sigh and gazed up at the sky. His eyelids trembled. His bloodshot eyes looked as if tears might form at any moment. Those tiny details revealed that his rage had reached its peak and crossed a line.
He must have been quite fond of Meteor. But once it's taken, can it not be manifested again?
It was something I couldn't know, having never lost anything in that way myself.
Jo Giman took a step forward, then suddenly turned his head to look in our direction.
"......"
......
But his mind still seemed unstable. He shook his head vigorously several times before finally tearing his gaze away from us.
Tsk. It looks like there was something he wanted to do, but he can't remember what it was.
I felt a lingering unease, but the thought that we had at least survived today finally allowed my heart to lighten a little.
Seok Ryu-hwa, who had now joined us, hadn't made any particularly standout contributions today, but she hadn't withdrawn from the fight either. Having expended an enormous amount of mana, she looked considerably more drained than when I'd first seen her.
She discussed the current status of the White Knight Guild members who had joined the battle late, as well as future compensation issues, with Kang Yeonsu. Given the guild's contribution in this battle, it was certain that massive government support funds would be coming their way.
"Lee Yeonhee isn't officially part of our guild yet. The conditions activating in April haven't changed..."
"Handle it yourself. I didn't keep her around to give her special treatment anyway."
"Understood."
We, who had been listening blankly to their conversation from the side, decided it wasn't something that required our attention and focused on resting instead.
"The world really is impossible to predict... One moment we're about to die, and the next everything is peaceful again."
"Before the gates opened, every single day was supposedly that peaceful. It wasn't a world trembling in fear of death."
......Was it really like that?
A world without monsters was simply impossible to imagine.
A short while later, when we heard the barrier had been fully dispelled, we sprang to our feet.
"Aigoo~ Our Yeonhee and Arin worked so hard. Go home quickly and get some rest."
"Thank you! We survived thanks to you!"
"It was an honor to meet you! Next time we must have a meal together at least...!"
"Hehe. All right. I'll treat you to something delicious."
"Waaah—"
"Ugh... Those little runts keep calling me back and forth. Tsk—"
We offered appropriate words of gratitude to Kang Yeonsu—who had somehow become even busier than during the actual battle—and left the horrific scene behind.
Once we stepped away from that place, it was as if the exhaustion had been forgotten. Lee Yeonhee and Baek A-rin walked with surprisingly light steps.
"Puha— Now I can finally breathe easy. Somehow, being around Yeonhee always seems to lead to events like this."
"Eh? I-is that so?"
"Hehe. It's not meant in a bad way. It's just... how should I put it? When I look at you, Yeonhee, it feels like I'm watching the protagonist of a story."
"M-me? The protagonist? That's ridiculous!"
"That's just the feeling I got. The protagonist is always at the center of every incident, right?"
"......"
Lee Yeonhee couldn't find any words to respond with. Soon both of them felt their stamina suddenly drop, so they parted ways and headed to their respective homes.
* * *
"......"
Denar Panigial. After hearing the report from the Blue Eye cultists, he remained speechless for a long time.
This can't be...
The ancient secret art that randomly transferred monsters from other dimensions. He'd believed that mysterious technique would buy him at least several days against the unknown man whose arrival time could not be predicted. The transfer itself had been remarkably successful.
If it's the Queen Slime from the Cursed Ancient Ruins... that would be like winning the lottery.
According to the stories that had been passed down, every single life form inhabiting the place known as the Cursed Ancient Ruins was overwhelmingly powerful. By otherworldly standards, most were disaster-grade entities equivalent to or exceeding Great Calamities. It was a monster that even Denar and his master working together could barely subdue. So how could it possibly have been cleaned up in a single day?