Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Hero
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Hero Heineken emerged from the dust.
"Man, what the hell is going on..."
Heineken looked at Do-yoon.
"Hey. You okay..."
He trailed off mid-sentence, freezing at the sight of Do-yoon's wretched state.
"Yes. I'm perfectly fine."
"...Doesn't look like it."
Do-yoon's condition was horrific at a glance. But urgent matters came first.
He gripped his spear and trudged toward the direction the Treasurer Minister had flown.
"Watch out for the invisible sword."
"You giving me advice? A Cradle cadet?"
The moment he stood before the pile of crumbled outer wall, a sword strike shot out from the rubble.
Heineken didn't even glance that way. With an incredulous look at Do-yoon, he merely tilted his head to dodge the visible sword, then lightly swung his spear shaft to bat away the phantom blade.
"Unbelievable."
Then he swung his spear.
Do-yoon watched the five spear thrusts plunge downward. Each strike embodied the profound principle of Revolving Heaven, bravely pulverizing the rock pile as they bored into it. It was like a beast baring its fangs.
There was no scream. But Do-yoon knew. Four thrusts had shattered the Treasurer Minister's limbs, and the final one had pierced its gut.
It was an overwhelmingly swift barrage of five strikes.
"Hmm..."
Heineken lifted his spear, extracting the gut-stabbed Treasurer Minister from the rubble. With its perforated limbs dangling limply, it looked just like a fish impaled on a harpoon.
"Just worried, that's all. You took so long to show, I figured you must be pretty slow."
"Hah."
He snorted derisively as he examined the Treasurer Minister.
Do-yoon watched him, clicking his tongue in admiration.
'So that's the Hero of this generation.'
Weakened by the holy stone or not, it was an assassin close to the pinnacle of the Demon King's direct assassination unit. Yet Heineken had subdued it like a child.
And his Intent Concealment was far better than expected. Even Do-yoon, who knew of his presence in advance, had nearly been thrown off.
An assassin of that caliber hadn't noticed him at all.
It was skill beyond expectations. Was this guy one of the strong ones? Or were all Heroes around this level?
'At that level...'
He wouldn't yield to Zeke, Enoch's guild's top spearman and a top-five talent.
Do-yoon nodded in satisfaction. The Earthling earlier was the same—the current generation's caliber was truly impressive and heartening.
"First time facing an assassin weakened by a holy stone, and it's too easy. No wonder the seniors swear by those top-grade ones... You must be riding the holy stone boost, huh?"
Heineken said it with deliberate swagger, conscious of Do-yoon.
Saying it aloud made his face burn. He wasn't the type to brag normally. But he had to appeal to Do-yoon now, so he endured.
And Do-yoon saw right through the intent and the awkward performance. It was amusing, seeing this burly guy put on such an obvious act.
Do-yoon couldn't help but chuckle. Spouting that nonsense without a clue. He probably hadn't met any legion commanders.
Seeing it, Heineken couldn't contain his burning frustration and glared murderously at Do-yoon.
"Laughing? You laughed?"
"Scaring a cadet on the brink of death?"
"Cut the crap. You said you were fine."
"Feels like a heart attack coming on. I'm a scaredy-cat, and you look downright terrifying."
"Un-fucking-believable. What kind of prick...?"
Heineken clicked his tongue. His body a total rag, yet cracking jokes with that composure.
He shook his head in exasperation and pulled an item from his belt—a keychain bundled with several small swords.
He set the Treasurer Minister down and tossed the keychain into the air. The small swords instantly grew in size, transforming into blades of light that pinned the kneeling Treasurer Minister's soles, hands, neck, and chest, binding it. It was clearly a restraining artifact.
He tore his eyes from the Treasurer Minister and turned to Do-yoon.
"You're the Boss Monster Killer. Not that big-ass woman."
"Yes."
"A monster's a monster, alright."
He kept his tone as nonchalant as possible to maintain dignity, but inwardly, he was in awe.
That phantom sword attack had been sneaky enough—even he would have been rattled without warning, though he'd played it cool.
Moreover, his initial thrust had been a perfect ambush. Yet the assassin had anticipated it, twisting to take the blow on its shoulder instead of its head.
'A mere cadet... survived a clash with this kind of expert?'
And he'd even predicted the assassination attempt, sending a telepathic request for backup. Heineken himself hadn't realized the Treasurer Minister was an assassin.
'Crazy bastard.'
The talent hunter smacked his lips.
Sophie was incredible too—a once-in-a-few-years genius, no doubt.
But this Han Do-yoon guy was on another plane. It wasn't just talent; he felt like a fully formed monster already.
'No matter what it takes.'
I'm recruiting him to our guild.
Heineken resolved.
At that moment, someone came rushing over at the sound of the commotion.
"What? Why's there a hole in the wall...?"
It was an assistant instructor nearby.
He poked his head out the hole.
"Huh, Hero? What're you doing h— Huh? Huh? Tr-Treasurer Minister?"
He tried to grasp the situation, then spotted Do-yoon and went pale as a ghost.
"...Huh?"
He prayed it was a mistake.
Cradle's treasure—no, the Alliance's treasure—Boss Monster Killer Han Do-yoon. His state was utterly wretched.
His entire body was red. Covered head to toe in blood.
His left shoulder was sliced deep, arm barely hanging on. His remaining arm clutched his side to keep his guts from spilling. Even that hand was missing fingers.
One eye was crushed shut, bloody tears streaming from beneath the eyelid. A long gash from jaw to ear exposed teeth inside his mouth, and blood was fountaining from his thigh like a severed artery.
And that was just the start—his body was riddled with wounds large and small. A total ragdoll.
To him, Han Do-yoon looked one breath from death. Whether from blood loss or shock.
"Ah... Uh, ah..."
His brain short-circuited from the unprecedented crisis, leaking only weird groans.
"Demon King's assassin. Mobilize every healer in the Cradle, and call the inspection team and the dean."
But Heineken spoke calmly. To him, Do-yoon's wounds weren't critical at all. He could see that insane stamina already knitting them closed.
Snapping to, the assistant instructor bolted off, face drained white, too stunned to reply.
"Such a fuss..."
Even as he said it, Heineken fully understood.
Do-yoon's wounds were genuinely gruesome. Any other cadet would have died ages ago. Hell, not even his own guildmates could guarantee survival with injuries like that.
'Just how high is his Stamina? Toughness seems high too...'
By his sharp eye, at least 8. No—even pure regeneration put it in the upper ranks of level 8.
But absurd. No cadet could have level 8 stats.
Level 9 holders were top-five in the Alliance. Level 9s were freaks beyond norms; level 8 was the practical peak.
A cadet with level 8 Stamina? Impossible.
'I went through hell to hit Agility 8, and this punk has it?'
He couldn't just ask for stats—that crossed a line.
'Some freak regen encounter? But a cadet can't leave the Cradle.'
Truly, a guy who shattered norms from one to ten.
Above all, he seemed utterly accustomed to such wounds. To the pain.
Honestly... it looked painful. Really painful. If Heineken had those injuries, he'd be whining nonstop about the agony and how he was gonna die.
'Insane mental fortitude. ...Or more like, something's broken in him.'
From the start, he'd been watching Do-yoon's eyes. Eyes that showed no emotion since his arrival.
No terror of the assassin, no relief at the Hero's arrival, no agony from the horrific wounds. Nothing. Just endlessly calm, abyssal depths that hid everything.
Much like his own master.
'Just what...'
Heineken thought.
'...kind of life did he live in his past incarnation?'
He averted his gaze from Do-yoon's eyes and shook his head.
+++
The inspection team, having quieted down a notch, was now verbally coaxing the instructors.
Then someone came charging toward them, bellowing at the top of his lungs.
"Huge incident!! It's a disaster!!"
All eyes turned that way. It was the assistant instructor.
"...What happened?"
Someone from the inspection team stepped forward to ask. The standoff with the instructors paused.
They sensed something grave had occurred. The assistant instructor's cry was so desperate, it sounded like a scream.
Eloa suddenly felt a chill of foreboding from his demeanor. Something... bad.
"Di-Disaster...! Assassin! A Demon King's assassin appeared in the Cradle!"
"What?!"
The spokesman roared in shock.
"Cadet Han Do-yoon...! Cadet Han Do-yoon got attacked by the assassin!!"
Thud.
Eloa's heart sank.