The Returner

“...Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon ended up asking a question even before noticing that he did.

‘What’s different about him?’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

He just couldn’t figure it out.

This wouldn’t be his first time seeing Yi Ji-Hyuk with reddened eyes. Well, the latter’s eyes always became bloodshot whenever he used his magical powers, that’s why.

However...

Something felt different this time.

Choi Jeong-Hoon couldn’t sense any emotions meant for him from those dead-still eyes.

Maybe Yi Ji-Hyuk’s expressionless face was to blame, or maybe something really did change about him. However, Figuring out just what it could be was hard. It’d be practically impossible to understand what a person was thinking of from their eyes only, after all.

However, Choi Jeong-Hoon’s instincts were screaming at him right now.

Do not approach him.

That man is no longer the ‘same person’ that you know.

“Mister Yi J...” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

It was right then, Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body quivered a little.

He oh-so very slowly turned around and quietly stared at Choi Jeong-Hoon with a face completely devoid of any emotion.

“...What’s wrong with him?” (Seo Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young standing next to Choi Jeong-Hoon also sensed that something was wrong with this scene, and couldn’t approach Yi Ji-Hyuk as well.

She too had instinctively felt that getting closer to that ‘thing’ standing over there would be too dangerous.

Choi Jeong-Hoon addressed her and everyone else behind him with a trembling voice.

“We need to move back.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Pardon?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Don’t provoke him and slowly, very slowly, back away. Right now.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“But why?” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Do I really need to explain that to you now?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon’s urgent tone of voice caused Seo Ah-Young to shut her mouth up and slowly back away. Other NDF agents heeded his warning and slowly stepped back as well.

But then...

The stone-faced Yi Ji-Hyuk began walking towards them.

One step.

Then another step.

His steps were definitely not fast, yet...

“H-hey, he’s actually coming over here?”

“...Godd*mn it.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon’s complexion paled as he stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk.

If that one event he always worried about had finally happened, then not a single person present would escape from here alive.

No, wait.

This event would certainly not end with their deaths. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that humanity was now done for.

He fervently prayed that this was not that event, but Yi Ji-Hyuk wordlessly walking over to them was the proof enough.

Here was a guy who would never ever shut his mouth up even if he was threatened with imminent death. There couldn’t have been any clearer proof than such a man suddenly becoming utterly mute and unresponsive.

“We, we need to escape...” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Don’t raise a ruckus unless you want all of your pals to die.” (Erukana)

Choi Jeong-Hoon’s flailing lips clamped shut from the cold voice coming from somewhere behind him.

“...You’re finally here?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Heh, you somehow survived until now.” (Erukana)

Erukana chuckled lightly and poked Choi Jeong-Hoon’s head a couple of times.

“But you know, you looking at my darling as if he’s some kind of a monster is really making my heart ache. Especially when both of you are humans, too.” (Erukana)

She left those words behind and approached Yi Ji-Hyuk.

Only then could Choi Jeong-Hoon breathe a sigh of relief.

Erukana just now said that ‘both of them’ were humans. If Yi Ji-Hyuk had turned into a demonic being, she wouldn’t have said that in the first place.

Which meant that Yi Ji-Hyuk hadn’t become a full-on demonic creature, and Erukana was closing on him because she felt confident of reverting him back to how he was before.

But contrary to Choi Jeong-Hoon’s sense of relief, Erukana was incredibly tense as she cautiously approached Yi Ji-Hyuk.

“Darling, what are you doing? This doesn’t suit you at all. That sort of an expression definitely doesn’t suit you.” (Erukana)

“...”

Even though she spoke to him, he showed no response.

No, he simply shifted his gaze over to her face so very slowly. As if he was studying this lifeform called ‘Erukana’ approaching him.

“Ah, ah. I really don’t like those eyes, you know?” (Erukana)

Erukana shrugged her shoulders.

“Those are the absolute worst possible eyes that a husband can use to stare at his loyal wife. I prefer your usual annoyed expression, instead. I mean, even I can’t sense anything from such expressionless eyes, you know? Don’t you agree?” (Erukana)

Erukana didn’t stop her strides.

Yi Ji-Hyuk expressionlessly stared at her before changing his direction, this time towards her.

Choi Jeong-Hoon held his breath.

It wasn’t as if he fully trusted Erukana, but it was also true that the most trustworthy person in this situation was none other than her. If she couldn’t fix this problem, then no one could.

A bizarre situation was developing here, one where he needed to cheer on a demon king for the survival of humanity itself.

“Let’s go home and play some video games, okay? I mean, you’ve already finished what needs to be done, anyway. Am I right?” (Erukana)

Erukana finally reached right next to Yi Ji-Hyuk and formed a truly bewitching smile.

“I can tell that you’re full of frustration from your face, so if you really want...” (Erukana)

It happened then.

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s claws lengthened and cleanly penetrated through Erukana’s abdomen.

Driiip...

Black blood leaked out from the corners of her mouth.

“Ah, aaaah....” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon’s jaw helplessly fell.

It was over.

Even Erukana couldn’t revert Yi Ji-Hyuk back to how he was. 𝘧r𝗲𝑒𝔀𝘦𝙗𝓃oν𝑒l.𝐜𝗼m

She looked down at the claws stabbing through her abdomen, then grinned softly.

“Your prank this time is a bit too much, don’t you think?” (Erukana)

“...”

“Well, come here. I’m sure you’re really confused right about now.” (Erukana)

Even with her belly stabbed through like that, she still took another step forward and embraced him. He didn’t resist and fell into her arms.

It was then, a faint flicker of light briefly flashed behind his back, only for Affeldrichae and her hardened expression to appear there. She cautiously placed her hand on Yi Ji-Hyuk’s head.

Erukana nodded her head, then Mana emitting blinding rays of pure light began digging into his head.

“Keuh-euh-euh-euh...” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Behave now.” (Erukana)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tried to twist his body, but Erukana held him tightly and didn’t let go.

“It’ll be over soon. Very soon. It might hurt now, but once you wake up later, you’re going to thank me for real, you know? You’re still cool after turning into a demonic being, but... I wasn’t a fan.” (Erukana)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s convulsion seemed to be lessening gradually, then he eventually went limp. Affeldrichae used magic to lift him up in the air and sighed deeply.

“There won’t be next time.” (Affeldrichae)

“I guess so.” (Erukana)

Erukana replied, sounding not that surprised by the revelation.

“I agree that there won’t be next time. We won’t be able to revert him. But this idiot will step forward next time too, and that will really be the end.” (Erukana)

Erukana furrowed her brows.

“If only he was a weakling, I’d have forcibly restricted him by now, but too bad, he’s no longer on the level that I can do anything about. I can’t subdue him anymore.” (Erukana)

Choi Jeong-Hoon and his hardened face approached the two women and he cautiously asked them.

“Is he alright?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Ng, he sure is. His head is completely tainted by the dark Mana, and from this point on, using even a simple magic will turn him into a demon. That’s his current state. Right now, even the simple act of breathing will cause him untold pain, but what a relief it is, he’s not going to destroy the world after becoming a demonic creature. From you people’s perspective, everything is perfectly alright.” (Erukana)

Erukana continued on with her biting remarks.

“No, hang on. Since you won’t be able to exploit him anymore, I guess that doesn’t qualify as being perfectly alright. So, what will you do about that, human? Since my darling hasn’t completely lost his humanity, are you planning to ask him to sacrifice himself a few more times in the future, too?” (Erukana)

“Lady Erukana.” (Affeldrichae)

Affeldrichae tried to dissuade her, but Erukana didn’t stop.

“As pathetic lowly lifeforms, all you can do is cling onto someone amazing and whine like little pups. So, take a good look. Look at the end result of your whining. All thanks to you, my darling now looks like this. Do you feel satisfied now?” (Erukana)

Choi Jeong-Hoon quietly studied Yi Ji-Hyuk, before replying with a stiff voice.

“Does that mean he’s no longer capable of combat?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“What if he can?” (Erukana)

“Then we must ask him to keep fighting for us.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Human. If my darling was awake, I’d have killed you with my own hands already.” (Erukana)

“I know full well that I deserve such a treatment, but...” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

“I’ll choose the suffering of Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk over that of the complete annihilation of the human race itself. Even though I hate myself for thinking about it, I have to. Besides, I’m not the romanticist type that mouth dogsh*t like ‘You’ve done everything you can until now, so let the whole of humanity step forward to protect you from now on’, unfortunately.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Oh, so you’re going to keep squeezing him dry, is that it?” (Erukana)

“Yes. That is if we can.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Erukana wordlessly glared at Choi Jeong-Hoon.

Meanwhile, Seo Ah-Young was busy gathering her Ether in case she needed to make a move in an instant.

Considering the exchange between the two so far, it’d not be strange to see Erukana blow away Choi Jeong-Hoon’s head right this second.

Even forgetting for a moment whether his declaration was right or wrong, Seo Ah-Young was deeply terrified by Choi Jeong-Hoon’s boldness allowing him to clearly enunciate such words in front of Erukana.

“Oh, so such a thing is absolutely obvious, you say?” (Erukana)

“Yes.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon replied clearly.

“Even if it wasn’t Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk but me, the story would have remained the same. It’s something we simply have to do.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“And why is that?” (Erukana)

“Because we wish to survive.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“...”

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s us or Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk, if we don’t win, then we’ll all die. We certainly can’t say, ‘You struggled so hard until now, so why don’t you let go of everything and die in peace’, now can we? Humans always struggle bitterly right till the end. That’s what makes us humans.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Hmm...” (Erukana)

Erukana withdrew her scary aura a little, and nodded her head in understanding.

“For sure, it is worth talking to you, human. I enjoy the fact that you don’t try to dress it up with flowery words.” (Erukana)

“Thank you for your compliment.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Unfortunately for you, though, darling can’t fight for you anymore. Even if he wishes to step up and fight, you will now have to stop him at all cost. Unless you wish to hasten an even more unavoidable destruction of this world that’s far worse than the demon world’s invasion, of course.” (Erukana)

“...Is it that bad?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“I’ve already done some investigation on you humans. You all have this tendency to think that everything is still alright even as you’re barrelling straight towards your doom. The fossil fuel, the foundation of your technological advancement, are rapidly running out yet despite all the pledges to save and preserve it, you show not one single hint of doing so.” (Erukana)

“...”

“Darling’s the same as you. That’s why you’ve been warned countless times before. But you thought that everything would be alright somehow in the end, didn’t you? I’m sorry, but this really is the end for you. If darling uses any more dark Mana, then either he dies or becomes a demonic being. You saw how he couldn’t recognise me, someone he spent over a thousand years together. Or maybe you have a short memory span?” (Erukana)

Erukana lightly tapped the holes still visible on her abdomen.

“Next time, his claws won’t only be directed at me. I’m warning you.” (Erukana)

Erukana turned around to leave, then Affeldrichae activated teleportation magic to whisk Yi Ji-Hyuk and herself away.

Choi Jeong-Hoon looked around his surroundings with a somewhat hollow expression.

The half-destroyed city of Seoul was greeting him.

“...Is it over?” (Seo Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young’s question elicited a helpless chuckle from Choi Jeong-Hoon.

“Yes, it is over.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Humanity is.

Choi Jeong-Hoon chose not to say aloud those last two words.

They lost Yi Ji-Hyuk, and the capital was half-gone now, too. And the achievement at the end of all that was the elimination of a single demon king out of several dozens.

If such exchanges happened a couple more times, then not a single human city would remain standing anymore.

But they now faced an even worse problem than that, and it was... humanity had lost its only method to combat the demon king threats.

As long as Yi Ji-Hyuk was in no state to fight...

Choi Jeong-Hoon continued to look around with a vacant look on his face.

“What will happen to us now?” (Yun Hyuk-Gyu)

Yun Hyuk-Gyu’s question accurately pointed out the crux of the matter, and Choi Jeong-Hoon found himself unable to answer. Well, he couldn’t reply to a question he didn’t know the answer to, that’s why.

“For now...” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

Choi Jeong-Hoon spoke softly as he observed the defence command personnel rushing over to his location from afar.

“Let’s go back to the HQ. Then, think hard about the future. About what we should do next.” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

A victory full of injuries.

There wouldn’t be a more succinct phrase to describe this situation. Choi Jeong-Hoon tightly bit his lower lip.

< 411. We must ask him to keep fighting -1 > Fin.