The situation changed rapidly.
The man who suddenly appeared muttered to himself as he swept away the zombies that had broken into the castle in an instant.
The guards who had come as reinforcements stood there dazed, unable to believe the sight before their eyes.
Thwack!
Every time the man swung his Two-Handed Sword in a horizontal arc, the heads and limbs of the zombies were cleanly severed.
The Corrupt Hero Taelder flicked his finger.
“322.”
At Taelder’s command, a monster that was incredibly massive even for a zombie appeared. It was a giant over 4 meters tall. The creature, which had multiple arms and legs, rushed toward the man while opening the massive mouth located on its stomach.
“Avoid it…!”
The soldiers all had the same thought. However, instead of dodging, the man took one step forward.
Swish!
It felt as if a flash of sword light had ignited. A faint trajectory of the sword was left diagonally in the air. Walking through that space, the man leisurely opened his mouth.
“Next.”
“Yeah.”
The number of enemies was still vast. As if they had made a pact, the zombies rushed forward, and the man swung his sword down without hesitation.
Thud, slash!
Every time the man swung his blade, a zombie was crushed.
“T-This makes no sense…”
The soldiers muttered to themselves instinctively. Even as they watched with their own eyes, something unbelievable was happening.
The Demon King’s Army—nearly a three-digit number of immortal zombies—had already been destroyed.
“Is he a… Knight?”
A Knight. Even in this holy city, there was an existence known as a Knight. They were no different from tactical weapons of war, individuals capable of changing the tide of any battle.
“He is no mere Knight, you useless idiots.”
At that moment, the guard captain muttered. He knew. No matter how great a Knight was, they could not overwhelm such a large number of enemies alone.
“That is a real Hero.”
“Sir?”
He surely wasn’t referring to Taelder, the Hero in Black Armor who was currently commanding the monsters. The soldiers wondered if the captain had lost his mind. In that moment, the soldiers saw something shocking.
“Yes, a real Hero.”
The fierce-looking guard captain was shedding thick tears through clenched lips. That notoriously harsh captain was crying. He recalled the back of someone he had seen in his youth.
A face and a gallant style of combat that hadn’t changed at all from fifteen years ago. A man who had come from another world and picked up a sword for those he had no connection to. And a Hero who had ultimately achieved a feat that no one else could. Leaving behind only scarred glory, he was the Hero who had returned to his own world without wanting anything in return.
He had appeared here now, amidst the crisis of the Continent that had begun once again. The captain hadn’t mistaken him for someone else. Anyone who had seen the Hero even once could not help but sob right now.
“However, it is unsightly to just stand here crying in emotion! Confirm and kill any zombies still moving in the path the Hero cleared! You, move the wounded comrades elsewhere! The rest of you, join me in replacing the drawbridge’s emergency chains! Move quickly!”
The captain wanted to admire the scene longer, but the situation was dire. He knew the legendary Hero Bin was an all-time great. However, the one standing before him was Taelder, who was also a Hero. Corrupt Heroes were monsters that surpassed imagination, possessing the powers of both the Goddess and the Demon King.
‘I have to help him quickly.’
Reinforcements from the Knights would arrive soon. No, perhaps they could succeed even without them. Because the legend was right in front of them. The most urgent task now was repairing the castle gates. To do that, clearing out the things crawling through the gates was the priority.
“Move fast! Hurry!”
The soldiers also realized what they had to do and began to move.
“Gah!”
The Hero slashed through a charging zombie. However, these things didn’t seem to tire as they kept swarming in. There were too many zombies. They poured in incessantly through the open drawbridge.
‘Are the Knights still not coming?’
The captain bit his lip. Soldiers holding bows fired arrows in rapid succession to support the Hero.
Whiz, thwip!
Of course, a zombie wouldn’t die just because it was hit by a few arrows.
But the atmosphere was such that if anyone jumped into that fight now, they felt like they might get struck by the Hero’s blade instead.
Therefore, the soldiers assisted in the battle from a distance while proceeding with the repairs on the drawbridge.
“There are too many of them.”
Despair-filled words came from the Hero’s mouth. After saying that, the Hero plunged his Two-Handed Sword into the ground. It was a sight that made it look as if he had given up the fight.
“Hero, please rest for a moment! We will take over until the Knights arrive!”
Misunderstanding the Hero’s words, the soldiers burned with fighting spirit once again.
“Even though fifteen years have passed…”
The Hero laughed bitterly and muttered.
“To think there’s someone who recognizes me.”
The Hero said that and waved his hand.
“It’s fine, so everyone get back.”
The Hero spoke while extending his right hand forward.
“I was just saying that the warm-up is over.”
The coat the Hero was wearing began to flutter in a sudden current of air. It was an ominous flow of Magic Power. It was an aura so intense that even the soldiers who couldn’t use magic could sense the anomaly.
“Thunder.”
The Hero uttered the activation word. As the skill motion and activation word combined, Auto Casting began.
Magic patterns were intricately embroidered in the air. A light so luxurious and brilliant that it didn’t seem to belong in the middle of a battle began to unfold like a firework display.
Boom! Crash! Bang!
Lightning that shook the earth drew chaotic trajectories and flashed through the air. The limbs of the zombies were shattered and decomposed, flying in all directions. The smell of burning was nauseating. Instead of dust, the flesh of zombies rose into the air before falling back down to the ground.
Seeing the rain of rotten flesh, Olivier covered her mouth.
“Ugh, you always have to handle things this way. If it were the Demon King, he wouldn’t have fought so messily.”
“That Demon King guy fights with an Eye Technique.”
“Don’t you know that eye battles are the ultimate truth? The strongest techniques in this world are Eye Techniques.”
“Once eye battles start, every series turns into a masterpiece-turned-failure. That’s a universal rule.”
Looking at the falling bits of zombie flesh, the Hero muttered.
“One more for the road.”
“You crazy bastard!”
Boom! K-Boom!
The energy of Thunder poured toward the Undead army once again.
“Seriously, Hero, are you a pervert? Do you get excited seeing rotten meat flying everywhere? Ugh… I almost got hit by a piece of flesh just now.”
Olivier nagged at the Hero’s shoulder as if she were thoroughly annoyed.
“Sometimes, you have to do things on purpose.”
“On purpose?”
Olivier questioned the Hero’s words. However, she soon understood what he meant. The eyes of the soldiers were filled with various emotions. Unbelief, shock, and joy.
A Transcendence Skill that was said to be possible only for a Hero had unfolded before their eyes. It wasn’t a mistake. The person in front of them was the true Hero who was revered as a legend.
“H-Hero…”
“The Hero is really…!”
The soldiers cheered. At the same time, they were sobbing one by one.
“We weren’t abandoned…”
“Is this a dream we’ll wake up from?”
“Considering how much it hurts, I don’t think I’m dreaming.”
They had thought they were abandoned. Abandoned by the Goddess, the Continent, and this world. All the Heroes had forgotten their duty and turned away. For those filled only with despair, they needed something called hope. And salvation had arrived.
The soldiers’ morale skyrocketed in an instant. It was hard to believe these were the faces of people who had been swimming in a swamp of death just moments ago. Olivier swallowed hard despite herself. She might have forgotten because she often saw his pathetic side in the other world.
This was a Hero. Every single action he took contained meaning.
“Waaaaah!”
The battle wasn’t over yet. However, the soldiers shouted, and the residents who hadn’t evacuated yet opened their windows. To anyone listening, these were shouts of victory.
“Hero…”
The Corrupt Hero Taelder stepped forward with a sinister smile.
After seeing the energy of Thunder just now, the Undead were unable to rush forward recklessly.
It was a laughable sight. The Undead were already dead beings, meaning they shouldn’t fear death. Yet, they were instinctively feeling a sense of repulsion toward the ferocious energy they had just witnessed.
Taelder took off his helmet and threw it on the ground.
“Um. Can you put the helmet back on?”
“…?”
“What were you thinking, looking like that…”
Olivier responded to the Hero’s sad muttering.
“It’s understandable why he became corrupt…”
Taelder curled his lips.
“I know you. The first Hero.”
As Taelder coated his sword with Magic Power, a black aura flared up ominously.
“Finally, a worthy opponent has appeared.”
He smiled, baring his teeth. It was as if he had been in so much pain and so lonely because there had been no one to face him until now. They say a tiger must do its best even against a rabbit. But is that really true? A tiger hunting a rabbit is merely for hunger. But a rabbit cannot satisfy that hunger, nor is it enough to reveal the tiger’s true strength.
The lonely tiger wanted an opponent he could fight while revealing his full power.
“You were bored, weren’t you?”
“Yes, I was bored.”
“You don’t have to worry. No matter what you do, you can never beat me.”
“Do not bluff. Having used Thunder consecutively, your Magic Power consumption must be extreme.”
Taelder continued speaking with a sneer.
“I heard you were the ‘strongest’ back in the days when I wasn’t around.”
Ominous Magic Power began to swirl from beneath Taelder’s feet.
It was the cursed magic inherited from the Immortal Demon King combined with the Transcendence Skill of a Hero blessed by the Goddess.
“This is the real ‘Thunder’.”
In an instant, the surroundings inverted into darkness.
A black light symbolizing misfortune cast a magic circle into the air. The soldiers trembled at the sight. It was the same feeling a mere human would have when facing a storm head-on.
If they weren’t mistaken, it looked more powerful and more magnificent than the Thunder the Hero had used.
“I shall show you the power I obtained by giving up my humanity.”
Laughing blatantly, he poured a massive amount of Magic Power into the magic circle.
Soon, as he formed a hand seal, the Transcendence Skill was activated.
Stab!
In that moment, Taelder felt something flying toward him. His body, which should have already forgotten pain, transmitted a sensation as if it were being torn apart.
“You talk too much.”
The sword that was in the Hero’s hand was gone. It was natural. It had already passed through his chest.
“You have no professional etiquette…”
“Are you crazy? You think I’d wait for you to use your ultimate move?”
Olivier looked at the Hero with a face that said he was ruining the mood. The Hero looked back with an expression that asked, ‘What was I supposed to do?’
Taelder fell to his knees. Then, slowly leaning over, he collapsed to the ground.
“Waaaaah!”
The soldiers cheered at the unbelievable sight. The Knights who arrived late were confused because they didn’t know the situation. The soldiers and the hidden residents had all come out together, sobbing and cheering.
“Well then.”
The Hero curled his lips as he looked at the people. For now, this was the first step toward finding the Heavenly Sword.
“Next.”
The Hero waited for the next one to challenge him. Of course, no more monsters entered the castle.