While fighting ardently with the changed heroes, Allen Leonard suddenly felt something was odd.
‘Hm? What is it?’
His hands and feet were much more stable now, unlike a moment before when he was busy blocking a flurry of countless attacks. Now that he had some breathing room, he was able to observe his surroundings. Stricken with fear, his enemies were gradually backing away; and in their center, there was a figure he hadn’t expected to see at all, running in a wild spree like fish finally meeting water.
Even as Allen Leonard saw with his own eyes, he couldn’t believe it. Every time Chi-Woo swung his fist, the enemies scattered by the lot. He simply had to kick their shin, and they fell to the ground; when he placed his hands on them, they shuddered like mad and returned to normal. Forgetting that he was in the middle of battle, Allen Leonard gaped at what was transpiring before him.
“…Teacher?”
Allen’s voice seemed to have reached Chi-Woo. Chi-Woo suddenly stopped moving and turned to Allen. He looked pleased to see him.
“Oh, Mr. Allen Leonard.”
“How did…you…” Allen’s mouth opened and closed. Ru Hiana responded similarly beside him.
“You guys prepared quite the party for my return,” Chi-Woo said while thrusting away a changed hero he had been gripping by the neck. After shooting a satisfied smile at the heroes who had collapsed to the ground and returned to normal, he said, “I also like my welcome-back gift.”
Allen Leonard didn’t know what Chi-Woo was talking about at first, but soon understood and burst into laughter. ‘Ha!’ Then he replied smoothly while smiling, “I was worried that you wouldn’t get the invitation.”
It was then that their surroundings suddenly became dark.
“Huh?” Ru Hiana was the first to notice the strangeness of it all. Heavy darkness swallowed the moonlight and shrouded the area. Allen Leonard’s face also stiffened after brightening for a fleeting second. It seemed a mysterious power was binding his surroundings, and a dark, ominous energy spread across the entire fortress. Not long afterward, an indescribable darkness filling the sky began to come down like it was going to swallow the fortress whole.
‘What…’ Chi-Woo’s eyes narrowed, and he recalled what had happened on their way to this fortress—at that time, they had almost given up facing an army made solely of mutants, commanded by a lich. A skeleton hanging on a pole had suddenly appeared then.
[Witch! The Witch!]
[The Abomination of Bably!]
The lich had yelled out in anger seeing the skeleton on the pole, and with a single gesture from the skeleton’s hands, the entire army of mutants was wiped out. Chi-Woo’s complexion darkened immediately. It brought goosebumps onto his skin as he recalled how the army of mutants turned into ashes without a single exception.
“Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood—.” Without thinking, a verse from the Book of Proverbs escaped his mouth; he hadn’t meant to do so, but the words came out like a habit.
[Don’t be afraid.]
[It’s fine whatever you do—whether you curse, sing joyfully, piss, or poop. Don’t restrain yourself from any means to cast your fear away.]
Like his master had told him, Chi-Woo murmured the first religious texts—whether they were Bible verses or the sutras—that he could think of when he was afraid, which helped him maintain some composure in front of an unknown.
“A heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong—” Chi-Woo loosened his bag and opened it. “A false witness who pours out lies and a—” He quickly rummaged through it and found something. “…my son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching—” He finally found the bundle of yellow papers that he was looking for. “Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck.” He muttered Proverbs while clutching the talisman with his hands. “Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck.” Then he quickly took out the ones that chased away spirits. “When you sleep, they will watch over you.” Chi-Woo looked up. The darkness was already settling down to the rooftops of the building. “When you awake, they will speak to you.”
Chi-Woo glared sharply at the darkness shrouding the sky and balled up his fist so tightly that he poured exorcism mana into them without realizing. Thus, he didn’t notice that the patterns on the talisman were beginning to emit a red light. “For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life!” Chi-Woo scattered the talisman in his hands at the same time he yelled. The talisman fluttered above Chi-Woo’s head like an umbrella.
Hwaaaa! They let out a whitish light, and each talisman flew like it was alive before attaching itself to the darkness. Then they started to glow.
“It stopped!” Ru Hiana’s eyes turned round. She was so surprised that she gasped out the words. Chi-Woo was caught off guard as well. He knew the effects of the talisman were stronger here than when he was on Earth, but he didn’t think it would be this powerful. Yet, the important thing now was that the encroaching darkness had come to a halt, intercepted by the circle the talismans had formed after soaring into the sky.
Then began the fierce battle between the darkness that kept trying to descend and the light that pushed it back. They pulled and pushed for a moment until the balance was tipped. The light that the talisman emitted faded, and Chi-Woo gritted his teeth.
‘It’s lacking.’ The talisman soaked with Chi-Woo’s exorcism mana burned fiercely against the darkness, but its enemy, the darkness, was too formidable of an opponent. The moment it ate away some of the light, more darkness pushed in from their surroundings. Thinking that he couldn’t let things be, Chi-Woo reached inside his bag once more and pulled out a long and large club, the gwibolsemyongsi.
‘I’m going to strike it when it comes down.’
They were at a disadvantage; it was as if he was coming out as the fourth hitter on his team and aiming to hit a complete home run so that his team could have a comeback. Chi-Woo grasped his club tightly; with the sheer force he had put into his grip, exorcism mana naturally flowed into the club. Chi-Woo looked up to the sky nervously, and again, he missed the way his mana flowed into the object he was holding.
Wing, wing, wing, wing!
He felt vibrations in both his palms and heard a muffled ring.
“?” Chi-Woo looked down at his hands in surprise and squinted at the sudden burst of light.
Shaaaaaaaa!
The light was so intense that even Allen Leonard and Ru Hiana couldn’t bear to see it and had to cover their faces with their hands. The dark energy inside the remaining heroes who had gone mad was cleansed just by the touch of this light, and they returned to normal before fainting on the ground.
‘What is happening…!’ He had only ever submerged the club inside the pool full of holy water for a couple of days; who would’ve thought it would transform into this intense burst of light? Carefully, Chi-Woo lifted his shining club and looked at it. Like iron that had just been pulled out of a burning furnace, it was completely white. From top to bottom, it radiated a tremendous light. Chi-Woo didn’t know the exact reason, but he sensed that the club had been awakened by the current situation.
With the thought in mind, Chi-Woo raised the club high in the air. An irresistible light spread from the club—bright enough to light up a fortress sunk into darkness. Then, Chi-Woo clearly heard a sound.
—Ah..!
He heard an elegant voice from heaven that sounded like a sigh or a gasp. At the same time, the darkness around the fortress was lifted like a curtain opening up to reveal a stage right before it could close completely. It was as if a play nearing its end was starting again. The darkness disappeared into the sky at a much faster speed than when it first came down, like it was running away from the light.
Just like that, the fortress became calm again as if nothing had happened. The storm had passed, and the atmosphere remained heavy and still.
Among the people who were still standing in this strange atmosphere, there was not a person who could say a single word. They all blankly stared at the same figure. Chi-Woo’s radiant club had reverted back to its normal state, but even then, there was still a subtle glow to it that illuminated the fortress. The sun rose from far away. Dawn had approached while they were struggling to deal with the invasion.
Ru Hiana seemed to still be in shock. An indescribable emotion filled her heart. She looked up at Chi-Woo with complex emotions and barely managed to say, “Senior…”
Chi-Woo’s gaze shifted to her. He saw Ru Hiana tightly clutch the Shahnaz’s statue and smiled brightly. Was it because the sun was rising? The light behind Chi-Woo seemed to form a halo-like the ones that only heroes who had risen to the ranks of Saints could have.
“It’s been a while.” Chi-Woo happily greeted her in that hazy circle of light. “I’ve returned.” He smiled and gave her a wink.
* * *
A man was climbing a hill. Both of his shoulders were slouched over, and his face was facing the ground. Surprisingly, it was Ru Amuh. Even though he was a hero that was upright and proper at all times, and he maintained a proper posture even while walking and washing and eating, he was now walking with his head tilted towards the ground. Recently, Ru Amuh was feeling intense doubts about himself. He had been feeling this since a certain meeting.
[Then, why don’t you show me?]
[Prove your worth.]
Ru Amuh recalled these words and tightly shut his eyes. Could he say with confidence that he had proven his worth? No, he couldn’t. After escaping the forest, the recruits who had been settling down bit by bit each day had become a mess again; their circumstances might have even turned worse than when they were in the forest.
And it all started after one person disappeared. Honestly, Ru Amuh also felt that it was unfair. Even though he was a hero who had solved a crisis at the level of Star Cluster, he was still a hero who had only saved one world. It was too much to ask of him to stabilize and normalize a world at a crisis level several times higher, especially when there were so many unfavorable conditions.
‘I’m tired.’ Despite his best effort, he couldn’t help but wallow in negative thoughts. He hated the circumstances that rendered heroes powerless, and he hated Liber. However, he couldn’t just cry and complain; there was a hero who had made significant achievements even under the same conditions—no, there used to be such a hero.
However, Ru Amuh wasn’t a great hero like Chi-Woo and couldn’t be like him, either. The more he lingered on these thoughts, the more useless he felt. After a while, he suddenly thought, ‘It would have been better if I died instead of him.’
He quickly shook his head to scatter the thought. ‘No.’ If he kept thinking so negatively, he would be surrendering to his opponent’s tricks. No matter how difficult and painful the situation was, he had to endure it. Ru Amuh opened his eyes. Even though his bag was empty because he couldn’t find any food, he raised his head and forced himself to get into proper posture. Then he turned on his device and looked at one of his stored messages.
[Let’s live and meet again.]
Ru Amuh read the line and tightly clenched his teeth. Chi-Woo wasn’t dead; the message had said as much. He’d definitely come back. Even though there was no basis for this belief, Ru Amuh was convinced of that future. It was as if he was somehow connected to Chi-Woo. Before he knew it, he had surmounted the hill, and the fortress entered his view. He picked up his pace.
‘I hope I’m not too late.’ Since he couldn’t find food no matter how hard he looked for it, he had returned later than planned. He hoped that nothing much had happened as he headed towards the fortress. When he approached the stone bridge, his eyes widened. Something was strange. The crumbled door and damaged walls were the same as before, but there were no monsters or corpses of their comrades. The area looked empty like someone had cleaned it all up. The rotten smell that had been haunting the fortress had also lessened.
‘Who…’ Ru Amuh stopped and scanned his surroundings. Flinching, he felt something strange; something was approaching him from his left side at a steady pace. Ru Amuh stared in the direction with sharp eyes with his hand on his sword, and then he was finally able to see who it was.
“One! Two! One! Two!” He saw Chi-Woo running along the walls early in the morning.
Ru Amuh’s hand slid from the hilt of his sword. His mouth slightly opened; he was so shocked that no words came out.
“Oh?” Chi-Woo, who had been running hard, looked at the frozen Ru Amuh in surprise.“Mr. Ru Amuh!” He smiled brightly and raised his hand before running towards Ru Amuh from a distance, shouting, “It’s been a while! Have you been well?”
“…Uh. Ah, what, what? No, yes! Sir, it’s been a while.” It took a couple of seconds for Ru Amuh’s stuttering brain to register Chi-Woo’s greeting.
“Yes, it’s great to see you again. Let’s meet up later because I’m training right now.” Chi-Woo swooshed past Ru Amuh as he said so, and Ru Amuh continued to stand in the same place, staring blankly at him.
“Uh…Yes, Yes… Later…” Ru Amuh replied in shock and furrowed his brows. Something was strange; he knew it was strange. But Chi-Woo had acted so naturally that he was momentarily confused. Ru Amuh scratched and tilted his head, blinking several times before resuming his walk into the fortress.
“!” But then his brain caught up after blinking thrice, and he came to a sudden halt, his eyes widening in shock as he whirled around to stare at Chi-Woo. “Teacher?” he shouted. “Teacher! Teacher!”
Chi-Woo was already far away. He raised his hand and waved at Ru Amuh. Instead of standing still, though, Ru Amuh immediately ran after Chi-Woo. “Wait! No! Please wait a bit!” Ru Amuh called out repeatedly, desperate. He would not miss Chi-Woo ever again.