I Became a Foreign Worker Loved by Transcendents

Chapter 118: The Hero Returns

Chapter 118: The Hero Returns

“What on earth, what…?”

The eastern part of the garrison area.

As the battle there subsided into a lull, Ga-ram climbed a nearby hill to grasp the situation and looked down at the place that had been the garrison.

The Red Knight, who led her forces towards the White Knight as if to support him right after the dragon appeared.

Her sudden action turned the fierce fight into a lull in an instant, and the corpses that had been endlessly reviving and overwhelming them vanished in the flames.

In such a situation, all she could do was create a barrier and resist the waves of heat coming from afar.

“What is that?”

But following that, an absurd event was unfolding in the place swept by the breath.

An ominous power seeping into the ash-filled land solidified into human form.

-Kiiiyaaaahhhhh!!!

The reason she watched that scene—even covering her own mouth—was not just because the screams were chilling.

The situation where the force spreading around was being trampled and crushed, repeatedly scattering blood and flesh on the ground.

From the crushed flesh, people grew again, and the cycle of being crushed and regenerated continued, making the ground visibly soaked with blood from afar.

Since the phenomenon originated from something in human form, it made a significant impression on her mind as a fellow human.

“…If hell exists, would it feel like this?”

Ja-seong, watching the land turning red from this, soon let out a hollow laugh and slung the shovel handle over his shoulder.

“Ah, mister. Are you going? To there?”

“I have to go. After all, I have nowhere else to retreat to here.”

Even though he boldly killed those in power for committing acts that betrayed humanity, he was not so unreasonable as to ignore the responsibilities that followed.

If he left this place without laying down his bones and returning to the human forces, he would lose his qualification as a hero and be treated as an uncontrollable, dangerous person, either imprisoned or living his life on the run.

There would inevitably be significant harm to the people of the Order who trust in him alone.

“So, kid, go back to the Empire now while you can. The journey might be tough, but if you have the strength of a hero, returning should be manageable.”

“D-don’t talk nonsense! Going in there would be suicide… Huh?”

Someone passed by next to her just as she tried to dissuade her with such self-talk.

Realizing that her hand was being held, she blankly stared at the man facing her.

“What’s the matter, friend? Why all of a sudden…?”

“Two thousand times.”

Hero Im Tae-yang.

The undefeated and strongest hero who had never lost a one-on-one battle against any formidable foe.

And the moment he, who was always reticent, first opened his mouth to stop him…

“Even before that, I rushed in, but there was almost no way to strategize.”

“What?”

“You can’t win.”

Therefore, his words carried that much weight.

If he indeed declared ‘impossible.’

“That is not something you can win against.”

That in itself would mean, from humanity’s standpoint, there was absolutely no way to counter it.

Yes, that was the future that every human who witnessed what was unfolding before them envisioned.

Even at this moment, their numbers increased, and despite being crushed, they kept regenerating, a sight that filled even the battle-hardened soldiers with fear.

‘Why…?’

But only Marcus could grasp it within the bounds of human understanding.

After all, he was the only veteran here who had experienced the era of war where humans were hostile to each other.

In his homeland, even the lives of others, always regarded as noble, would be crushed and disappear without a trace once they stepped onto the battlefield.

The only way to forget fear and pain in such a place was to succumb to madness, something Marcus remembered while watching the scene before him.

“Why are you there, Tacchia?”

And the one who had given meaning to it was none other than the hero who had led him.

When his knight order was evacuating humanity from dangerous areas, it was the hope of the old era, who had fought the dragon alone.

“Why, you… you, the hero, why…?”

He understood it in his mind.

No matter how noble the belief, it was also a result stemming from suppressing one’s true feelings through patience.

What could be called folly in life taking such an ugly form could only be more pronounced because it was borne by someone burdened with heavy responsibility.

Being the hero who had traveled the most battlefields and grown stronger, it was inevitable that she would inherit even more of humanity’s madness and loathing…

“The worst disaster targeting humanity is, without a doubt, one created by humanity itself.”

This threat, and the malice it embodied, surpassed any disaster they had faced before.

But even now, their numbers were increasing, and the troops around him showed no signs of leaving his side.

As they were still gaining strength, this might be the only chance to stop them.

“We have to stop that, right now…”

“It’s impossible.”

Despite the obviousness, the defiance came naturally.

Yet, Marcus couldn’t urge him on.

He just looked around the scene, trying to ignore the truth, and looked back at his subordinate with empty eyes.

“It’s impossible. How could we exactly…?”

“Even if it’s impossible, we must. Didn’t we agree to risk our lives for humanity?”

Even if it meant dying, they must never yield.

At the very least, they had to protect the messenger who would inform others about this threat, delaying its advance towards humanity even by a little.

“What comes next after we stop that?”

But even such courage could only be mustered if they found meaning in their sacrifice.

The soldiers here had been broken so many times, shattered beyond repair.

“What’s waiting for us next?”

“…What?”

“Commander, I…

The smiles on the faces of those who confronted him were born of madness, meant to forget such despair.

“The demon army turned my homeland into ruins, so I fled to the empire. Soldiers who fled were annihilated by the Furry Tribe, and in the place we barely escaped to, we lost our families and properties to traitors. And yet, following you here, we could only suffer helplessly.”

“You, what on earth…?”

“There’s no end. No matter how hard we fight!”

No one contradicted his words.

Some turned their gaze away, while others clenched their fists in helplessness.

“Legion Commander. In this world, does hope even exist?”

Faced with such despair, or perhaps what could be called enlightenment, Marcus could no longer deny anything.

“By our sacrifice, can humanity truly be saved?”

Even the hero, who fought for a greater cause, was unaware that, in the end, she harbored hatred towards humanity.

Though her end was noble, the species of humanity might have been too vile and filthy from its very foundation to retain it even after death.

“Rather…”

So, this must be the natural course.

Perhaps the end humanity truly needed to face had already presented itself before them at this moment.

“Rather, if we become one with them…”

“Wait, stop!!!”

A soldier, caught in such an impulse, ran down the hill.

As the soldiers below noticed him voluntarily throwing himself into the swarm of corpses, they tore him apart, absorbing him into their midst.

And the will he left behind soon awoke.

-Kiiyaaaaaaa!

The army that drank his blood became one with him, and together they raised a war cry, united in the sins committed by humanity.

The moment the screams, louder than before, erupted, the commander of the army finally fell to his knees and muttered in despair.

“…Jang Cleo, did you know?”

He had once considered his old comrade contemptible.

But now he felt his emotions shifting towards a sorrowful sympathy for the comrade he thought he understood.

“Did you know our idol would end up like this?”

He hoped not, but even if he did, it wouldn’t change anything.

Training a successor to fight against the dragon was, in essence, the same as creating someone like the one before him now.

Clang.

At that moment, the crystal ball, which had revealed this entire situation, fell to the ground.

Despite this, Airi couldn’t bring herself to pick it up, covering her mouth and trembling in place.

“This, this… It doesn’t make sense.”

What awaited them in the near future was war, and more war…

A world where the entire continent would be overtaken by an undead army, resulting in an endless hell of mutual slaughter.

The being who could realize such a possibility was right before them at this moment.

Soon, a disaster incomparable to dragons or the Demon King—an aberration at the end of the destiny she wished to pursue—had emerged.

“How could such a future…?”

Tacchia Pheloi was the Red Knight of War.

At least, no such sign was evident when looking at Tashian’s past.

Her body had been used to extract the soul for forging a weapon, then placed in a coffin and sent down the river.

‘The place where the coffin drifted to, was it really the domain of the Corpse Lord…?’

No, that alone was not enough.

She must have had some catalyst to regain her identity even before meeting the Corpse Lord.

There must be a link between the Corpse Lord and her, and she had to be precisely in a position where Tashian could exert her power, for such a future to unfold.

Being able to gauge such possibilities, the fortune teller could only see this moment as despairing.

‘A possibility, if we can stop it now…’

Despite such despair, Airi tried to remain calm, attempting to pick up the crystal ball with her trembling hands.

But her shaking hands knocked it over the edge, sending it plummeting down the cliff.

At that moment, the treasure of the Haven family, which enabled her to use her full power, slipped from her hand.

Yet, for a brief moment, she felt a strange sense of relief, perhaps because her subconscious wanted to avoid the future before her.

‘Possibility? There’s no way such a thing exists.’

Even Tashian alone could cause damage severe enough to collapse civilizations, making recovery difficult, let alone human extinction.

She had given up so much to stop a disaster that could single-handedly cause such havoc, ignoring even the helplessness of her companion, who she hoped would grow into a savior, and risking the elimination of that self.

‘But even if Woo Hyo-sung comes…’

Could her companion, if he returned, resolve this situation?

A being growing into a disaster far beyond the weakened Tashian, a harbinger of the end?

“…It can’t be.”

It can’t possibly be.

No current hero could defeat such an opponent, especially not him, who was just beginning to grasp the potential to become a hero.

“It can’t be, dragging Woo Hyo-sung into such a dog’s death…”

Yes, at least in her view, not even a sliver of possibility existed.

So it would be better to leave this place immediately and seek another opportunity…

To secure a reprieve until her chosen companion could gain enough strength to handle such a disaster.

-Kiiiyaaaaaaaah!!!!!

In the moment she tried to grasp onto that hope, a scream erupted, halting her breath.

Watching the crowd swell with even more fervor than before, Airi could no longer hide her dismay and reluctantly sank to her knees.

‘In the first place… does such a thing even have meaning?’

Hadn’t her ancestors prophesied? That the end of the world would soon come to pass.

Even if the form it would take remained unclear, if her ancestor’s prophecy was intended for a distant future, what lay before her might not even mark the beginning.

Facing something she deemed impossible to confront, she now realized a force much greater than the daunting adversary she had considered awaited her.

Every moment tested her resolve to accept an even greater burden, continually pressing the burden onto the person she had trusted.

The possibility of success seemed minuscule, or perhaps non-existent, forcing her to push the person she had trusted to their limits.

“I can’t do such a thing…”

The fortitude that had been maintained, albeit precariously, collapsed.

Finally, a sob escaped her lips.

“This is… impossible.”

Only after saying that did she realize.

Even if she had received the full power of her family and attained the status of a demigod.

Her very foundation was no more than an existence that, like the soldiers below, who felt no hope, would be swept away by the harshness of this world.

“…Please.”

Yet, she couldn’t just stand by and watch this reality unfold.

For the first time in her life, she recited a futile prayer to the heavens, turning away from reality.

“Please. Someone, teach me the answer. I…”

She was afraid of the prophecy she believed in breaking any further.

She feared the reality of feeling powerless and having to impose even greater despair on her companion.

She just wanted to stop being conscious and run away.

At that moment, feeling even the mission of a savior crumbling under such impulses…

“…Don’t cry.”

Hearing the kind voice behind her, Airi began to turn her blurry gaze towards the source behind her.

A man’s figure was looking down at the scene from behind her.

“…Hyo.”

A familiar face.

And the smile she had wanted to see again.

“Woo Hyo-sung?”

After showing such a smile, he jumped down.

The soft smile directed at her transformed into light, surpassing the afterimage with its speed.

-Kwarrrung!!

The crash at the end of the fall struck the heart of the army.

Flesh and blood spread out in all directions, dispersing in the strong currents emitted by the colliding entity.

-Kudangdang, kwaang!!!!

Then, gathering that power, he surged forward.

The soldiers, recognizing his presence, focused their attention and tried to swing their weapons, but by then, the weapons manifested before them were already aimed at their bodies.

-Kwakang, kwakang!!

Swords, spears, and axes manifested in mid-air pierced their bodies, slicing through flesh and repeatedly causing explosions of magical power from within.

Two times, three times…

After repeating the action more times, he successfully cleared a path, and in his hand was a spear made from pure mana.

-Bang!!!

At the moment the thrown attack with the spear hit, a fierce explosion occurred, causing the enemy knight to feel a thrill in the hand holding the sword.

He, who had become stronger by accepting the blood of a dragon.

Felt that his opponent had taken some damage, albeit minor.

“…What are you?”

Yes, he was not to be underestimated.

But that assessment was not just about the power of the spear.

Weapons such as swords and axes manifested where he had passed through, incapacitating bodies as numerous as those that were lying on the ground.

A temporary material creation using only pure mana.

A skill achievable only by those who have reached the pinnacle of manipulating spirits.

“What exactly are you? How can you… use my technique?”

But such a feat was impossible for a human by nature.

Because, depending on the rank of the spirit being, to be drawn in by it and for that to rise to the level of creation, one must have the status of the sovereign of all beings.

It’s said that one must at least be acknowledged by a dragon, or such a dragon, to use it.

“…Well, even I’m not sure who I am anymore.”

Amidst these doubts, he firmly grasped the spear manifested in his hand, preparing to confront the enemy in silence.

Even as the soldiers he had previously crushed were re-manifested as if nothing had happened, and gradually formed an encirclement upon receiving orders.

“I’m not even sure if a mere porter like me deserves to stand here.”

Yet, his upright gaze was still directed at the enemy before him.

The madness born of humanity’s original sin.

Even amid this spectacle carved out of that madness, he maintained his composure and prepared to charge.

“Still, she was crying.”

Recalling the tears of the person who had brought him here and loved him.

Considering that alone was a sufficient reason to move, he intended to confront the apostle of the apocalypse before him.

“So now, in this place, I’ll tell you this.”

He declared so.

Feeling that everything he had gone through was solely for this moment, boldly and confidently.

“…I am a hero.”

Hero Woo Hyo-sung.

He joined the war to defend humanity’s dignity.