The Purest Hero's Request
KRA-BOOM!
As the Ragna Buster, one of the most powerful spells in existence, erupted forward, all the remaining debris was utterly vaporized, leaving not a single trace behind.
"Ah! That was much easier than I thought."
In fact, clearing away the debris had been more of a hassle. He shrugged, as if to say it hadn't been all that difficult.
Fwoosh!
As he re-entered the atmosphere, flames erupted all over Yunjae's body.
But there was absolutely no way atmospheric friction could deal any damage to him. The flames merely danced harmlessly around his form. Clad in a shroud of fire like a majestic robe, he descended rapidly back to Earth.
"He... he vaporized it like it was nothing. This is insane..."
Watching from a portal at the dimensional border, Poe's face was pale with sheer shock. He had split the entire continent of Elysium in half with a single strike.
"Unbelievable. How can a human..."
He was definitely strong enough to stand against Mamon. He was undoubtedly far more powerful than she had ever imagined. At the very least, he was on the level of a god!
"Slender Forearms... 'Giving up is only for counting heads of cabbage'... Ugh, so annoying!"
Muttering his ridiculous alias, Poe vanished back through the portal.
A massive continent, obliterated in the blink of an eye!
"...He blew it away."
The entire spectacle was already being broadcast live to the world. The Phantom Research Institute's satellite was streaming this world-ending crisis globally, and the sight of Yunjae effortlessly shattering both the portal and the falling continent left humanity in absolute awe.
"He's a god! A god!"
Even those who had harbored deep suspicions and spun wild conspiracy theories about his existence could do nothing but marvel at his overwhelming presence. Everyone knew this wasn't CGI or a fabricated broadcast. And the one who had saved them was none other than Yunjae—the very same hero who had rescued them during the last great invasion!
"He did it!"
Naturally, the place celebrating the hardest in the entire world was Seoul.
"I knew it! Yunjae did it again!"
"Oppa!"
Lupinus, Mari, and Akemi cheered at the top of their lungs.
"Where... where is he?"
And then there was Rozamy. Having been with him in Elysium until the very end, she was deeply worried about him physically falling back to Earth without a portal.
"Is the Savior returning?"
Kuhn, who was already acquainted with Mia, also looked incredibly excited upon hearing that Yunjae was the prophesied Hero. Although their home world of Elysium had been destroyed, it was thanks to him that Kuhn and his attendant, Harin, had been rescued, and this world had been spared from total annihilation.
"He's coming right here!"
Sensing his divine energy, Lupinus grinned brightly and bolted outside.
"He's coming here?"
As everyone rushed out of the building after her—
BOOM!
Something slammed into the ground right in front of them with a thunderous roar.
Fwoosh!
Shaking off the lingering embers of his atmospheric re-entry, Yunjae stood before them.
"Yunjae!"
Because he was currently in his Demonic Swordmaster class, he wore jet-black armor and held the dark demonic sword, Slaida. He looked completely different from when he wore the Goddess's Sacred Armor—sharper, colder, and far more imposing.
"Are you okay?"
But more than his appearance, what shocked everyone was his status window. His health bar was dangerously low, hovering at a critical level.
"W-Why is your health like that?!"
Mari, who had been worried sick since his departure, cried out, her eyes welling with tears.
"Ah! This is just because of a skill! Please don't worry!"
Yunjae offered a bright, reassuring smile.
Flash!
The moment he switched back to his Holy Knight class and equipped the Goddess's Sacred Armor—
"Huh?"
His health bar began to shoot up at an absurd speed.
"Ah, when I'm a Holy Knight, my health regenerates by thirty percent per second!"
Though he had cleared the game and defeated Mamon using every single class, he preferred the Holy Knight because it offered the highest stability. Watching his fatigue vanish as he instantly regained his usual radiant, pristine appearance, everyone stood there, utterly dumbfounded.
"Oppa, don't you think thirty percent health regen per second is a bit much?" Akemi asked, blinking.
"Ah! Well, I ended up min-maxing with unique-grade items, so..."
"I guess that makes sense..."
Since Yunjae was literally the strongest entity in Mamon Saga, such game-breaking stats didn't even seem like cheating anymore.
"My little darling!"
Lupinus lunged forward and threw her arms around him in a tight hug.
"Ah! Goddess Lupinus!"
"I never imagined you could pull off something like that...!"
"It was just really big, but it wasn't actually that hard once I got started. I've done plenty of time-attack quests before!"
There was no need for complex micro-management; he just had to pour all his raw power into it. To him, it really hadn't been a big deal.
"You are just too precious!"
To Lupinus, he was the physical manifestation of hope itself. As the goddess wept tears of pure joy, Yunjae offered a shy smile. Then, his eyes fell upon Mia, Kuhn, and Harin, who had returned safely.
His expression instantly softened into one of deep apology.
"I'm so sorry."
Even though Elysium had already become a barren wasteland of death, he was the one who had physically blown it to pieces. Feeling responsible, he bowed his head.
"No, please don't be."
"Thanks to you, we survived."
"Thank you so much for saving my master."
Mia, Kuhn, and Harin shook their heads in unison. With almost the entire continent—save for Ashubal—already destroyed by the Great Demon King Gainax, they had truly been left without a shred of hope.
"We are deeply, deeply grateful to you."
In the first place, Yunjae had no obligation to go to Elysium to save them. Yet, he had personally traveled to another dimension and rescued the beastmen. While the destruction of Elysium was tragic, if he hadn't done it, even Earth would have been destroyed.
Still, the realization that her homeland was completely gone and that she was now the sole surviving elf brought tears to Mia's eyes. Seeing this, Yunjae shot Lupinus a look, silently asking for a moment.
Lupinus nodded understandingly and took a step back.
"Um..."
Yunjae stepped in front of Mia and reached into his inventory.
"I thought... maybe you'd like this..."
"Pardon?"
Yunjae pulled his hands out of his inventory and gently held them out. In his palms lay a handful of soil and a small, green branch he had gathered from Ashubal.
"Ah..."
At that sight, tears welled up not only in Mia's eyes but also in Kuhn's and Harin's.
"I thought it might be able to grow here, too."
He had brought back a tiny, precious piece of their home—a seed of new life.
"...Thank you so much."
Mia carefully took the soil and the branch with both hands, her tears dripping onto the dry earth. "Really... thank you..."
Even if it was just a single branch, it was an incredibly thoughtful, delicate gift that they had never expected. Watching her tears fall, Yunjae looked deeply pained.
"Please don't look so sad. I am truly, deeply grateful."
Overwhelmed by his kindness, Mia shook her head and forced a smile. Before she knew it, she leaned her head against his chest. Yunjae, now quite accustomed to this, gently patted her back.
"I will stay strong."
Feeling that showing any more weakness would be a burden to her savior, she took a step back. Kuhn and Harin also blinked back their tears and stood proudly by her side.
Honestly, they wanted to talk to him more, but...
Hug!
Seeing Rozamy suddenly throw her arms around him, unable to hold back any longer, everyone felt that this was a moment no one should interrupt.
"R-Rozamy!"
Yunjae flushed crimson, utterly flustered by the sudden back-hug in front of everyone.
"..."
But Rozamy didn't say a word. She simply squeezed her eyes shut and held him tight, as if he were the most precious thing in the world. Though startled, Yunjae knew she had been in grave danger before his arrival. He quietly turned around and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back.
"They look so good together."
The sight of them was so heartwarming that Mari, Akemi, and even Lupinus remained silent, quietly watching the tender embrace.
"Rozamy."
"Yes?"
She had already harbored deep affection for him, but this incident had made her fall completely, irrevocably in love. He was the true Hero she had spent her entire life waiting for.
"But no matter how much I think about it..."
"...Think about what?"
"There's only one thing left I want to ask of you!"
However, it seemed the Hero had been influenced a bit too much by the Goddess of Greed.
"Wh-What?!"
Remembering her promise to do anything for him once he returned safely to Earth, Rozamy panicked. It was embarrassing enough that she had hugged him from behind in public, but was he really going to declare his request right here and now?
"I've already hugged you, and we've already had our first kiss, so..."
Rozamy flinched, her heart hammering against her ribs.
"Ah, ah..."
They had hugged, and they had kissed. Which meant the only thing left was...
Thump-thump!
That!
"T-To ask for something like that..."
Yet, she knew she couldn't bring herself to refuse him. It felt incredibly fast, but still, eventually, they would...
Whoosh!
As her face flushed a violent crimson and she froze completely in shock, Yunjae's face also turned as red as a tomato.
"You idiot! Are you seriously planning to ask for that in front of everyone?! Have you lost your mind?!"
Unable to hold back, Mari barked, interrupting them.
"Yeah! That's way out of line, Oppa! That's way too lewd!" Akemi chimed in, waving her hands frantically.
"I mean, I support you guys, but how dare you covet the Saintess before your own Goddess?! Obviously, I should be your first!" Lupinus shrieked in protest.
Yunjae's pupils dilated in sheer panic. "Ah! Why are you all reacting like this?!"
"What do you mean, why?!"
Smack!
"Ow! That hurt, Mari!"
Yunjae cried out as Mari delivered her signature back-smack—the only one capable of bypassing his defenses.
"How can you look so innocent while harboring such dirty thoughts?!" Mari scolded.
Yunjae looked utterly betrayed. "I was just going to ask her to go on a date with me! Why are you all yelling?!"
The three excited women froze instantly at the Hero's defense.
"Huh?"
At the completely unexpected word, Mari, Akemi, Lupinus, and even Rozamy stared at him with wide eyes.
"Ah! What on earth were you all thinking?!"
If anything, Yunjae's face was now burning even hotter.
"W-Well... I mean..."
"...Naturally, we assumed you meant physical intimacy."
"Yeah. Your first time, obviously."
"G-Goddess Lupinus!"
Yunjae gasped, utterly scandalized by the goddess's bluntness. "I might have an open mind, but I don't want to just rush into things like that! I don't want to do it like we're roasting beans on a lightning flash!"
Even after spending fifty-seven years under the influence of the Goddess of Greed, his core remained the absolute pinnacle of purity.
"I just wanted to go on my very first date!"
In the first place, Yunjae's ultimate goal in life was simply to experience a sweet, fluttering romance. He was someone who thought he could die happy just from a simple hug. For someone with such incredibly low standards despite his god-like power, there was no way he would suddenly jump to that.
"Ahem!"
"...My legs were hurting so much, I think I lost my mind for a second!"
"Ah! Akemi, let me cast Cure on you!"
As Mari and Akemi desperately tried to cover up their embarrassment after jumping to conclusions, Rozamy, whose face was equally crimson, nodded shyly.
"I-If that's what you meant, then..."
To think she, a former Saintess, had actually let her mind wander to such scandalous thoughts!
I want to crawl into a hole and die!
Meanwhile, Lupinus crossed her arms and declared, "But a first date leading to a first experience is a very common occurrence! Therefore, I hereby ban Rozamy from staying out overnight!"
"W-We aren't going to do anything like that, Goddess Lupinus!"
"You're the biggest problem here!" Mari snapped. "You're the one who does all the weird stuff, so why are you the one getting jealous?!"
"Because I always assumed his first time would be with me! But then his first kiss got stolen by you!"
The moment those words left Lupinus's mouth, everyone's eyes locked onto Mari.
"Mari?!"
Feeling the intense, predatory gazes of a pack of hungry zombies, Mari flushed with unbearable embarrassment.
"S-Shut up!"
"Mmph! Mmph!"
She lunged forward and clamped her hand over Lupinus's mouth.
"A-Anyway, if it's just a date, then fine!"
Though she felt a pang of jealousy, she couldn't bring herself to oppose it. After all, they were a Hero and a Saintess who had risked their lives, and they looked incredibly good together.
"If it were this perverted goddess, I would've opposed it with my life, but since it's Rozamy, it's fine."
"Yeah. We can trust Rozamy."
At that moment, Lupinus slapped Mari's hand away and protested, "But think about it! Rozamy was totally thinking about that too!"
"N-No, I wasn't, Goddess Lupinus!"
Ignoring Rozamy's flustered denial, Lupinus put on a highly dramatic, solemn expression. "I'll be tailing you both, so you better watch your behavior."
"You stupid goddess! Why are you announcing that you're going to stalk them on their date?!"
"No, I definitely saw a flash of lust in Rozamy's eyes! If anyone's going to make a move, it's her! It's always the quiet ones you have to watch out for!"
"Ugh, shut up, you stupid goddess!"
"It's true! I'm the Goddess of Greed, I know these things! Mmph!"
"Your mouth! Shut your mouth!"
True to her title as the Goddess of Greed, Lupinus had read Rozamy's feelings with perfect accuracy. However, due to her notorious track record, absolutely no one believed her.
"Mmmph!"
Watching the goddess get suppressed once more, Yunjae let out a deep sigh. "Goddess Lupinus is really something. There's no way a Saintess like Rozamy would ever think about such things."
Hearing this, Rozamy pouted, her cheeks flushing.
"...I'm a former Saintess, though."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing! It's nothing!"
In any case, the crisis threatening Earth had been averted once again, and she couldn't help but giggle, feeling a wave of pure happiness wash over her.
And during all of this, no one seemed to notice that she was still holding Yunjae in a tight embrace...
"Excuse me, Savior."
"Ah! Mr. Kuhn!"
Recalling his full name, Ashbal Kuhn, Yunjae flinched slightly.
"By any chance... are you having a bad dream?"
"Pardon?"
"Ah, no! It's nothing!"
Kuhn let out an awkward chuckle, finding the contrast between the Hero's god-like power and his incredibly adorable, timid personality highly amusing.
"Anyway, there's something I've been curious about," Yunjae said, tilting his head. "Why were you and the cat-girl in the dungeons of Ashbal Castle? Since your surname is Ashbal, I assume that place was..."