The Returner

Kim Dah-Hyun dashed towards Park Seong-Chan with an expression of a man who lost his reasoning from sheer anger.

“You son of a biii*ch!” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

He could clearly see Park Seong-Chan’s hand piercing through Yi Ji-Hyuk’s back. His lightning-fast approach prompted the burly man to pull his hand out and quickly take some distance away.

“Woah, woah, there… Calm down, junior.” (Park Seong-Chan)

“Uwaaaah!” (Kim Dah-Hyun)

Kim Dah-Hyun threw a punch with everything he had and it landed on the intended target, but he couldn’t inflict any damage on Park Seong-Chan’s body reinforced by dark Mana.

“Tsk.” (Park Seong-Chan)

Park Seong-Chan grabbed the back of Kim Dah-Hyun’s neck and simply tossed him aside.

“You crazy b*stard?!” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Yun Hyuk-Gyu also lost his mind and was about to pounce on Park Seong-Chan, but then, a loud yell suddenly woke him up.

“Protect him!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon hadn’t lost his reasoning yet. He hurriedly pulled the collapsed Yi Ji-Hyuk closer to him and raised his voice even louder.

“He’s not dead yet, you idiots! Surround us and make sure no one can reach us!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“…Yes, sir.”

“Contact the Blue House and tell Miss Jeong Hae-Min to bring Dah-Som over here, too! Others should connect Miss Affeldrichae! Hurry!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

People hearing him still showed a moment of hesitation, so Choi Jeong-Hoon roared out at the top of his lungs.

“Get a move on, you stupid retards!!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Yes, sir!”

He then proceeded to press down on the gaping hole in Yi Ji-Hyuk’s chest and murmured in a trembling voice.

“He’s fine. He’ll be fine… He won’t die from something like this.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Alpha watching this pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and mouthed it, before tossing the cigarette packet over to where Yi Ji-Hyuk was.

“He seems to enjoy smoking, so why don’t you put one on his lips, Mister Choi Jeong-Hoon? Since he’s on his way now, doing that will make this whole thing more noir-like, wouldn’t you say?” (Alpha)

Choi Jeong-Hoon bit down on his lip.

When his rage boiled over beyond control, it felt like his head was sinking lower.

Alpha saw the light burning in Choi Jeong-Hoon’s eyes and shook his head, then pulled out a black marble from his other pocket. He proceeded to lightly kick Argolas still collapsed on the ground.

“Hey, you useless demon b*stard. It’s time to wake up.” (Alpha)

“Keuh-euh…” (Argolas)

The demon flinched slightly, then managed to raise its head up in visible agony.

“So, you did manage to survive one hit.” (Alpha)

“I was almost extinguished just then. What an absurd power that was.” (Argolas)

“Still, it worked out as we calculated. Didn’t I tell you that you won’t die?” (Alpha)

“…Don’t make a mockery of this, human. I really did almost die.” (Argolas)

“You and your exaggerations.” (Alpha)

Alpha flicked that black marble into Argolas’s mouth. 𝑓𝔯𝑒e𝘸e𝘣𝓷𝘰ѵe𝚕.c૦𝙢

The moment ‘Crunch!’ sound resounded out, vitality immediately returned to the demon’s body.

“What a dangerous gamble this was.” (Argolas)

“It’s fine since it’s a success. So, go ahead and get back to your job.” (Alpha)

“Of course.” (Argolas)

Alpha turned away from Argolas and spoke while licking his lips.

“So, then. Why didn’t you protect him better?” (Alpha)

Choi Jeong-Hoon alternated his glare between Alpha and Park Seong-Chan.

“Is this mind control, too?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Excuse me?” (Alpha)

Alpha chuckled in dismay.

“You don’t seem to be the type to fail so badly at analysing the situation, so I don’t understand why you asked that. After all, Mister Park Seong-Chan’s mind isn’t so weak that it can be this easily manipulated.” (Alpha)

Choi Jeong-Hoon bit his lip even harder.

“Then what?! Are you saying it’s out of his own free will?? Park Seong-Chan!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Park Seong-Chan shrugged his shoulders.

“Don’t look at me like that, Mister Choi Jeong-Hoon. I’m completely sane-minded.” (Park Seong-Chan)

“Did you betray us, then??” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“…What do you mean, betray? I’ve always belonged to this side, you know.” (Park Seong-Chan)

Park Seong-Chan sighed under his breath.

“It’s not like I don’t feel guilty about this, alright? This godd*mn punk had a seriously bad mouth on him but he did treat us real well and all. But what can I do, my cause is with this side. A man should know when to forget about minor things.” (Park Seong-Chan)

“Stop running your sh*tty mouth, you son of a b*tch!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Park Seong-Chan carried on with a lonely expression.

“It kinda hurts, hearing you say that. Especially when I always thought of you as a little brother and all that. I hope that you understand this, though. I didn’t do this out of personal greed or anything like that.” (Park Seong-Chan)

“I told you to put a cork in your piehole.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Park Seong-Chan raised both of his hands and slowly retreated.

“Well, whatever. It’s fine. I’ve no desire to keep fighting anymore, so let’s call it a day, shall we?” (Park Seong-Chan)

“Says who?!” (Seo Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young stood up from the spot, her eyes blazing in anger. She had been pressing down on Yi Ji-Hyuk’s chest along with Choi Jeong-Hoon up until then, so her hands were stained deeply by the crimson blood. She stared at Park Seong-Chan with a terrifying spectre-like glare.

“I also never viewed Yi Ji-Hyuk in a good light, but never did I think that I could stab one of my comrades in the back like this. You son of a b*tch, I’m gonna let you burn in the flames of hell, so reflect on your guilt while being cooked alive, okay?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“…See, Alpha? I told you, they’ll really kill me.” (Park Seong-Chan)

Alpha watched all this and simply shook his head.

“Why don’t you just let him go? If not, I’ll just hop over there and end Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk’s life with my own hands.” (Alpha)

“Try it, then!” (Seo Ah-Young)

It was then, Choi Jeong-Hoon yanked Seo Ah-Young’s hand.

“Let me go!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Sit down!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“I said, let go!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“I said, shut up and sit down! Can’t you hear me?!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Seo Ah-Young was stunned by that sudden yell and stared at him with dazed eyes.

“D*mn it, all of you, stop getting on my nerves for a second and just shut the hell up!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon’s enraged voice was effective in shutting everyone up. None of them had ever seen him lose his composure to this degree before.

“All NDF agents, get over here! I’m changing the mission! Don’t even let a single ant come near us! If Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk dies here, then we’ll all perish here, too!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

His voice was thick with such heavy murderous aura that not even Seo Ah-Young could say anything and did as ordered by standing guard over Yi Ji-Hyuk.

“Is Jeong Hae-Min not here yet?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Shu-shushut…

Almost at the same time as he finished asking that question, Jeong Hae-Min appeared with a pale face right next to them. She had implanted a mark on Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body and that allowed her to teleport to his side whenever it was necessary.

‘And back then, I thought she was just wasting a valuable mark.’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon couldn’t be any more grateful even if he tried right now.

“Oppaaaa!” (Kim Dah-Som)

“Ji-Hyuk-ah!” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Kim Dah-Som showed up too while holding onto Jeong Hae-Min’s hand, and after seeing Yi Ji-Hyuk’s state, she freaked out and hurriedly rushed over to his side. Pure-white rays of light came from her hands as she pressed down on his chest.

“Cough.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s complexion was getting paler and paler.

That wasn’t surprising, since a regular person would’ve died ten times over by now.

Choi Jeong-Hoon watched Kim Dah-Som desperately press down on Yi Ji-Hyuk’s chest and urgently asked her.

“Can you save him?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“I will save him! I must!” (Kim Dah-Som)

That was enough for him.

Choi Jeong-Hoon turned his head around and slowly stood up.

“…I’ll kill you all, you bunch of trash.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Alpha receiving that hostile gaze formed an unreadable smile.

“Now that is the best praise one could ask for. I finally got the reward for all of my hard work.” (Alpha)

“You really outdid yourself, didn’t you?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“This was, by no means, as easy as you think it was to pull off. The moment I heard that a person like Yi Ji-Hyuk had shown up, I began making some preparations, but when I finally met him in person, he was even more ridiculous than all the stories I’ve heard. That’s why I paid especially more attention to this plan.” (Alpha)

Alpha’s tone of voice sounded as if he wanted others to understand all the hardship he had to go through.

“As long as that man was around, it was quite obvious that no matter what we tried to do, it’d end in failure. Plan A was to persuade him and make him our ally. Of course, you know how that went. Plan B was simpler in nature. Eliminate him or make sure he can’t interfere. And as you can see, we succeeded.” (Alpha)

“Shut up!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Alpha wagged his finger and addressed Choi Jeong-Hoon.

“No need to get so angry. In all honesty, it’s not an exaggeration to say that you were the enabler of this plan, Mister Choi Jeong-Hoon.” (Alpha)

“….What??” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“You let him out of the cage too often. You unleashed him far too many times. So much so that I didn’t really need to meet Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk personally to figure out what he was like and what kind of weaknesses he had.” (Alpha)

The inside of Choi Jeong-Hoon’s mind blanked out.

‘It was my fault??’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“I’ve seen several of his battles, and I noticed how weak he was against direct impact to his body. On top of this, he seemed to completely lose his wariness of needing to stay alert after Ether began strengthening his body, too. Yes, he remained wary of attacks coming from the distance, but what I’m saying is that he never even entertained the idea of someone close by betraying him. If I was him, I’d never have done something so monumentally stupid like entrusting my own safety to others while chanting my spells, but he did it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. It’s as if he believed that he was an immortal who couldn’t be killed no matter what.” (Alpha)

Griiit.

Choi Jeong-Hoon gritted his teeth. 𝐟𝗿𝚎𝐞𝓌e𝒃𝑛𝒐ѵ𝒆𝑙.c𝚘𝓶

“It’s not over yet! Stop yapping as if you’ve won already!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Of course, you’re right. However…” (Alpha)

Alpha turned his head slightly.

Argolas nodded its head with a smile.

“Do you still have any other unresolved questions?” (Alpha)

“…What?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Tsk, tsk. You’re a sharp person, but this event must’ve shocked you a great deal. Can’t you see the puzzle pieces falling into their places? This was my plan all along. Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk had to come here. Don’t you still get what I’m trying to say here?” (Alpha)

Alpha then pointed in a certain direction.

Choi Jeong-Hoon followed that finger and turned his head only to spot all those countless people.

‘Five million.’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Chill ran down on Choi Jeong-Hoon’s skin.

He had forgotten.

Forgotten about what Park Yong-Hui had said.

In order to open the doorway to the demon world, a massacre was a necessity.

“N-no, wait…!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Too late.” (Alpha)

KWA-BOOOOM! BOOOOOM!!

Choi Jeong-Hoon watched with a forlorn face as the massive explosions went off one after the other right in front of him.

The entirety of Pyongyang was crumbling down. A storm of merciless conflagration was completely sweeping across the city.

“Euh….” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon’s body shivered.

Countless lives that used to live in all those buildings were blown apart in a single moment.

“Alphaaaa!!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

He nearly lost his mind from the pure rage. If he could, he’d rip that truly despicable b*stard to shreds right now.

“Begin.” (Alpha)

Alpha gave his command, and Argolas got to work.

“Very satisfactory.” (Argolas)

The demon spread open its arms, and faint, darkish aura oozing out from Pyongyang, now resembling a devastated plain burning in flames and choking smoke, streamed towards Argolas.

“Very, very satisfactory.” (Argolas)

The corners of what should be Argolas’s lips curled up.

“From the very beginning, it was wrong to plan all of your missions and defence strategy around Yi Ji-Hyuk’s existence. You grew so dependent that you even forgot all about the basics of war. Well, I can’t really blame you for it, since it’s proof that your kind has fallen behind in natural evolution.” (Alpha)

Alpha’s mocking words entered Choi Jeong-Hoon’s ears.

The blackish Mana streaming towards Argolas circled around the demon once before being shoved into a black Gate.

Choi Jeong-Hoon’s eyes trembled after seeing that scene.

That thing needed to be stopped.

He wasn’t sure of what the hell was going on here exactly, but without a doubt, not doing anything about this unfolding situation would lead to the portal to the demon world opening up.

‘W-we gotta stop them!’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Stop them! Do whatever it takes to stop that! Hurry!!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon’s loud yell caused everyone standing around in a dazed stupor to instantly shift their gazes over to the black Gate.

“Kill that demon first!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Wuuuong!!

No one replied back. Rather, their replies came in the manner of them raising their Ether and firing intense attacks towards Argolas.

“That won’t do.” (Alpha)

Alpha used both of his hands to draw a big circle in the air. Then, a large Gate suddenly appeared before him and Argolas.

“A Gate?!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“It’s only a half-complete version. I tried to imitate him, but it was not possible, unfortunately. However, I can still do this.” (Alpha)

All of the Ether attacks flying in were seemingly sucked into the pseudo-Gate Alpha had created.

“They should’ve landed somewhere in the world, then. Others might be too scared about the aftermaths and wouldn’t dare, but… well, it doesn’t matter to me.” (Alpha)

“You crazy son of a b*tch!” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon was about to fling a few more choice words, but Alpha raised his hand and cut him off.

“It’s too late now. Now, behold this moment. The moment that our world changes.” (Alpha)

The black Gate began to buzz and resonate noisily.

< 389. What the! Isn’t this a bit too much?! -4 > Fin.