Chapter 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Returned
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Gyeonggi Province, inside a warehouse.
In the dimly lit warehouse shrouded in a sinister atmosphere, there were two groups of people.
Ten 'Sacrifices' bound tightly and kneeling on their knees.
And two men looking down at them impassively, with ten bodyguards lined up behind them.
The 'Black Magician', his face hidden under a black hood, opened his mouth.
"Men and women mixed together, exactly ten. You've gathered them well, Young Master."
At those words, the 'Young Master', who had been standing a step back with his arms crossed, shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, this much is nothing. Easy."
"As expected of the one who will inherit the great Cheonhwa Guild. I'm impressed."
"......More importantly, you're certain you can summon the demon? If it fails, your life won't be spared. My brother never lets anyone who targets his life live."
The Black Magician smirked at those words.
"As long as the Sacrifices are prepared, there's no way it will fail."
He pulled a small book from his bosom.
It was a Grimoire made from human skin.
The Black Magician opened the Grimoire, which exuded an ominous aura, and swung his other hand. Then, ten skeletons armed with swords slowly emerged from the darkness.
"Ugh, uwaaack!"
"Sp-Spare me! Please spare me!"
"Pl-Please!"
The 'Sacrifices' screamed and writhed upon seeing the skeletons. Watching them, the Black Magician, who had been smiling darkly, lightly snapped his fingers.
Slash!
Instantly, the skeletons swung their swords down. At the same time, ten heads rolled across the floor. Blood sprayed like fountains as headless corpses sprawled messily on the ground.
"......"
"Mm......"
At the gruesome sight, some of the lined-up bodyguards frowned.
But that was just the beginning.
The skeletons then began hacking the corpses to pieces.
Slash! Slash!
As soon as the brutal slaughter ended, the Black Magician slowly began chanting the incantation.
Then.
Splash!
The blood soaking the floor began moving on its own, drawing a bizarre pattern. At the same time, black energy started rippling in the air.
Seeing this, the Young Master's eyes widened.
"Ooh."
And the moment the pattern was finally complete.
Wooong!
The air tore open lengthwise.
From beyond the torn space, a dark red energy rippled. Watching the scene for a moment, the Black Magician took a deep breath.
Now, if he just formed a contract with the demon summoned by the Grimoire...
At that instant.
Sizzle!
The torn space shredded apart completely, and the hole in the air grew enormously in an instant.
"What is this...?"
The Black Magician panicked at the sudden situation.
But the abnormality didn't end there.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, black flames erupted from the hole in the air.
'Wh-What?'
The Black Magician swallowed dryly and rolled his eyes.
The passage to hell suddenly enlarging was suspicious enough, but flames erupting?
'This isn't supposed to happen...'
The moment he thought something had gone wrong.
The hellish hole writhed and spat something out.
"Huh...?"
It was a naked woman with skin as white as snow. She possessed a beauty that seemed not of this world, lying in the air as if asleep.
Seeing her, the Black Magician's pupils trembled.
At the same time, the Young Master narrowed his eyes.
"What? What the hell happened? What's that woman?"
"Uh, ah. Um."
"Can't hear you? Explain, now!"
The Young Master, unable to understand the situation, urged him, but the Black Magician's mind was filled with other thoughts.
'......What I tried to summon was a mid-tier demon.'
And something resembling a human popped out?
Ordinary demons could never take human form.
That means...
'A high-ranking demon!'
The Black Magician's eyes gleamed. Sweat beaded in his clenched fists, and his pupils filled with greed.
Success in summoning a high-ranking demon!
'I don't know how this was possible, but this is my chance!'
The dumbfounded Young Master behind him was no longer in his sight. If he could contract with a high-ranking demon, he could gain tremendous power incomparable to before.
'I could become S-Rank. No, beyond that!'
Immediately, the Black Magician stepped forward and shouted.
"I am your summoner! Contract with me!"
"Huh?"
The Young Master let out a dumb sound in confusion at the sudden turn. But soon, having grasped the situation, he distorted his face and yelled.
"Y-You bastard! Betrayal? The contract was supposed to be mine...!"
At those words, the Black Magician twisted his trembling lips.
"I don't need you anymore. No, you should die."
"What?"
At that, the bodyguards standing behind immediately surrounded the Young Master. They were all Awakeners equivalent to A-Rank Hunters. From beyond the bodyguards who swiftly formed a protective formation, the Young Master let out a hollow laugh.
"I don't know what crazy stunt you're pulling, but you've lost it. What confidence does a B-Rank like you have to betray me?"
"The ones who can't grasp reality are you."
The Black Magician smirked and shouted.
"Demon! Kill them all!"
And then.
Flash!
The woman floating in the air opened her eyes.
The woman's body slowly descended. The tips of her toes lightly touched the warehouse floor soaked in blood.
Finally standing on both feet, the woman raised her head.
And her red lips moved.
◈ ◈ ◈
"Is this Earth?"
I looked around and asked.
My senses were roughly telling me this was my home planet Earth, but you never know.
The shady-looking man standing in front of me frowned.
"What?"
"I asked if this is Earth."
"What does that...?"
"Let me see. They're speaking Korean, so it seems like Earth."
I took a deep breath.
The air filling my lungs was cool.
No pungent sulfur smell.
"Mm. Mm. Definitely Earth."
A grin spread across my face naturally.
I finally returned. Finally.
After a whopping 10,000 years. 10,000 years!
"This is too good. The best."
I strode forward, grabbed the shady man's hand, and shook it. He flinched in surprise and stepped back, then yelled.
"I-I am your summoner!"
"So?"
"Wh-What?"
I passed by the shady man, who had a dumb look on his face.
"I just locked onto the dimensional coordinates, but it seems I got pulled into the summoning circle. Interesting."
Then I suddenly realized I wasn't wearing clothes.
"Ah, I'm naked."
I lightly snapped my fingers.
Instantly, flames wrapped around my body and turned into clothes.
A snow-white suit, pristine white shoes, and a red tie.
I adjusted my tie and looked around.
"Looks like you butchered some people to summon a demon."
The surroundings were a sea of blood, with chunks of flesh scattered across the floor.
Back when I was in hell, there were plenty who killed people to draw summoning circles for demon contracts.
I don't know if these guys are demon worshippers or Black Magicians, but they're definitely scum.
"Well, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let it slide."
I beckoned to the suited men frozen in place.
"Get lost."
Oh, right.
"Ah, if you know a good seolleongtang place nearby, tell me."
"......What the hell? Hey, what is this bitch?"
Then some moldy-faced guy contorted his face viciously.
"Did the summoning fail? Huh? What is it?!"
"Ah, so noisy. Shut up for a bit."
I furrowed my brow and lightly snapped my fingers.
Then.
Zap zap zap!
In an instant, the moldy guy's mouth was sewn shut.
"Mmph, mmph?! Mmph!"
The moldy guy, whose mouth suddenly closed, let out a scream that wasn't quite a scream. At least the decibels were lower now.
"Y-Young Master!"
"Y-You bastard!"
Then the suited men flinched and charged at me. They seemed to be that guy's subordinates...
"Hmm?"
Their movements were no joke.
Speeds that easily surpassed humans. The power in their swinging weapons was beyond what any human could produce.
Moreover.
The lingering mana emanating from their bodies told me they were no ordinary beings.
'Something strange must have happened on Earth.'
Well, I can figure that out step by step.
"Die!"
"Haat!"
Since they were the first humans I met right after returning, I planned to go easy on them.
But if they got annoying, that was another story.
They didn't seem like good people anyway.
Snap!
I snapped my fingers again.
Instantly.
Boom boom boom!
The heads of the suited men charging at me exploded simultaneously.
The headless corpses rolled like trash.
"Mm."
I looked down at the corpses and clicked my tongue.
'I didn't bring my power, huh.'
The immense power I had accumulated in hell.
None of it existed in this current body.
All I had was a tiny amount of mana.
And I just used it all blowing up those heads.
'No, not quite.'
Very slowly, mana was regenerating. More precisely, it was continuously supplied from somewhere. I focused my mind and traced the source of the mana supply.
'Still connected to hell.'
It seemed my true power was so vast that it took time to cross dimensions.
'Well, that makes sense.'
I hadn't lost it entirely; it was just arriving late.
And power could be rebuilt anyway.
I glanced back.
I could see the shady man scrambling to flee.
"Hey. Leave that in your bosom behind."
I lightly flicked my fingertips, and the shady man's ankle was severed.
"Kyaack!"
The shady man rolling on the floor, having lost his ankle.
I walked toward him step by step.
Clatter!
Instantly, the skeletons lunged at me.
But they turned to bone dust before they could even approach.
"Ugh, uwaaack! Die! Kill her!"
I crushed the head of the shady man screaming curses at me. Then I pulled the Grimoire from his bosom.
"Well, better than nothing."
While absorbing the tiny bit of mana in the Grimoire, I approached the guy whose mouth I had sewn shut earlier.
"Mmph! Mmmph! Mmph!"
Stroking the head of the guy sprawled on the floor, trembling and crawling.
"Hey."
"Puha! U-Uwaaack! Ack!"
"So, where is this place?"
If he doesn't answer, no choice.
Thwack!