Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 141 : Life Lantern Ignition (命燈導火)(2)

Life Lantern Ignition (命燈導火)(2)

"How about you stop now?"

It was always this way.

She could never hold onto what she wanted.

The baseball she loved—she could no longer play once she became an awakener.

Even the hunter work she had a talent for became unappealing because of the phenomenon of magic power diffusion.

"This isn't the kind of work that suits you."

Everyone who saw her said that.

Her parents were no different.

You can't do it.

They always told her to find something else.

"Of course, it's because we want to scout Soo-ah-ssi for our Unique."

And yet, he had said that as if it were only natural, smiling all the while.

Of course, at first she thought it was a scam.

She wondered if he was luring her with sweet talk to pull off some odd trick.

It was natural to think so.

Until now, no one had ever wanted her.

Soo-ah had always been someone people tried to avoid, always hearing words telling her not to do this or that.

"I believe that Soo-ah-ssi can do it."

Somewhere along the way, she had found herself wanting to trust those vague words.

That was why, when she reached S-rank, she was overjoyed.

Now she could finally live up to his expectations.

'Soo-ah-ssi relies way too much on Manager Park.'

She knew it.

But what was so wrong with that?

Wasn't it human nature to want something or someone to depend on?

'That's why.'

But now, she realized that Baek Hojun's words were right.

"For that reason, it wasn't okay."

The temperature around Soo-ah's body suddenly shot up.

Her black hair gradually turned blue and began to blaze like fire.

Her brown pupils also burned blue as she stared directly at the presence before her.

"Because I'm weak."

Ah-yeon and Yeon-ji, and even Alencia.

Whenever an incident broke out, Jung-woo would step in to help just enough so that they could resolve it.

But it was different with her.

Even during the Shim Chun-hoo incident, and now as well, Jung-woo acted while leaving her out.

That must be because she wasn't someone he could count on.

Because she couldn't be relied on.

This, right now, was the result.

"Speak."

Soo-ah asked the ashen man in front of her.

Ardan Bello.

Unlike when she had seen him before, he no longer felt lucid.

The proof was in the blue glow flowing from his eyes.

"... Where is Manager-nim?"

But to Soo-ah, that didn't matter much.

What mattered was only—where was Jung-woo.

'Did something happen to Manager-nim because of this man?'

No way. She knew Jung-woo's strength well.

If so, why hadn't Jung-woo returned yet?

Why had Ardan lost his sanity?

Could it be because of something to do with Jung-woo's heart?

She didn't know.

Since she didn't know, there was only one choice left for her.

Keep asking, and if there's no answer—then she'd kill.

"...!"

Ardan's eyes flew wide open.

Because Soo-ah's foot had somehow approached right in front of him.

Kwaaang!!

Swept up by her kick, Ardan's body pierced through the ice tower and flew to the other side.

As Soo-ah chased after him and drew her sword, blue flames erupted and burned along the blade.

"Ru—run!!"

The hunters, witnessing this, screamed in fright and scattered.

They didn't know the details, but they understood that the monster who had fallen from the tower was not something they could possibly face.

'Is that really the power of an S-rank who awakened just a few months ago?'

God-given talent.

That's how the media put it, but honestly, it always sounded exaggerated.

'It wasn't an exaggeration.'

They could see the giant ice tower melting away under the blue flames pouring out from Soo-ah's body.

Though the steam from the melting ice obscured the view, they could see that Soo-ah wasn't backing down even an inch against that unknown monster.

"Ardan Bello."

Their swords crossed, both straining to push the other back.

An icy sword trying to freeze its opponent, and a flaming sword bent on burning.

As Ardan was met with Soo-ah's blue, blazing gaze, the black energy welling up from his heart grew stronger, spreading frigid chill all around.

Death.

It was right there—within reach.

Only Ardan and the embodiment of fire that wanted to kill him, was there.

'How did it come to this?'

Ardan watched, dazed.

Consumed by black blood, having lost control of his flesh, he could only witness.

'It's the same as back then.'

He couldn't utter a single answer.

Just one word would do, but he couldn't even get a proper word out to this woman.

"Answer me!!"

Crack!!

Breaking the ice sword, Soo-ah's blade advanced another inch.

Ardan pulled out another sword from his waist, blocking her.

A pure white three-edged sword.

It was the sword he had brought—even though he had abandoned everything else.

The sword of his daughter, Yuria: Almas.

He'd wanted to avoid drawing it in a fight like this, but his body wouldn't listen.

'It was fate that things would turn out this way.'

He'd come to this world to find his daughter's heart.

That was an undeniable truth.

'He'd known it was an unattainable wish.'

If even the kings of the demonic zone didn't have it, there was nothing he could do.

It was obvious what would happen if he went to see Damian.

He was at the bottom among the highest-ranking demons; he could no longer resist the king's blood. He'd just become a monster obeying Damian's word.

'If I could defeat Park Jung-woo—if I could draw out even a fraction of the Demon King's power...'

Damian had set such a condition, but Ardan knew it was impossible.

Even with the help of his comrades, Jung-woo was the man who had fought and defeated the Demon King in his prime.

Ardan couldn't possibly win.

Even so, maybe he'd accepted it out of hopeless resignation.

'That man—he might know something.'

He might know where his daughter's heart was.

But the moment he had the king's blood in his body, it was pointless.

If he tried to follow Jung-woo's words, the blood would reject it.

"You want to know what I did to... that man?"

All he could do now, after being consumed by the blood, was force out these words.

"... Fine. What if I said I killed him?"

At Ardan's words, Soo-ah's eyes widened.

Seeing her face, Ardan gave a wry chuckle.

A person blessed by mana.

Come to think of it, there had been someone like that in the party that once defeated the Demon King.

'All I can do is this much.'

He instantly picked up on what Soo-ah was struggling with most.

That her strong dependence was holding back her growth.

If so, how to break it?

'By taking away the object of dependence.'

Blue flames blazed fiercely, spreading in all directions.

It wasn't just her body now—the ground for dozens of meters around was burning.

'Damian, this is the only gift I can offer you.'

This was all he could do.

All that was left was to hope the blue flame-wielding woman before him would cut off Damian's head—

—as had happened long ago.

"I'll kill you."

As if all the flames so far had been mere lies, Soo-ah's fire roared higher.

Flames began to spark endlessly from Ardan's chest.

Chijik, chijijik!

It was exactly what she had seen on Kang Gi-hun's chest at Relic Fiesta.

Now, those sparks were at least twice as strong as back then.

The blue flames had always shown Soo-ah the way forward.

The path when Baek Hojun's sword was swung.

The path for her own movements, for attacking.

Even now, Soo-ah could see flames blooming and spreading in all directions in her sight.

But the flame now blossoming on Ardan's chest was different from the rest.

「The Conceptualization Technique manifests that which you desire most. It represents your life.」

It could be the trace of a life walked so far, or the direction you hope to walk.

For Soo-ah, it was the latter.

Resentment toward the wall that always blocked her path.

Loathing for not having been able to protect what was precious to her.

She wanted to burn all of it away.

To incinerate and erase everything that stood in her way.

'Ignite.'

Fwoooooooooosh!!!

The flame that had sparked on Ardan's chest exploded into full blaze.

This was a fire different than any before.

It wasn't just a flame meant to burn an enemy. It was a life lantern.

The blue flame visible to Soo-ah was the flame of life held by Ardan.

'Life Lantern, Ignition(命燈導火).'

The lantern of life was lit.

Staring at that blue flame, Soo-ah gripped her sword again.

As always, she understood the meaning behind the blue flames.

If she stabbed that flame burning on Ardan's chest with her sword—

—and extinguished it.

The opponent would die. That was certain.

***

"Hm?"

The ice tower began melting rapidly, and the waves of magic power outside grew much stronger.

'What on earth is happening out there?'

Perhaps Soo-ah was having a hard time erasing the black blood from Ardan's body.

After all, it was the Demon King's blood, so it wouldn't be so easily removed.

"... So you're that unidentified S-rank hunter?"

Maybe because the tower was melting, or maybe something was wrong with Ardan's body, but the ice imprisoning the Mirae Guild's hunters was starting to thaw.

Naturally, the high-ranking hunters with more resistance were freed first, and of course, Nam Ho-seung was the fastest.

Though he couldn't move perfectly yet after being frozen for so long, he'd probably recover soon.

"As you know, I'm just a manager, not really a hunter."

"Ha."

Even with my face covered by a hood, at this distance it was impossible not to be recognized.

Especially by Nam Ho-seung, who had a sharp eye, concealing my identity was even harder.

"You really aren't just an ordinary returnee."

"I didn't think you'd actually believe that."

"I figured something was up since Shin Ah-yeon was sticking close to you."

The fact that I was a returner was probably already public knowledge.

A little digging was all it took to find out.

But whether to believe it or not, that was a separate issue.

No matter what the information said, it couldn't be easy to believe that I was a regressor.

"So Unique now has not just one, but three S-rank hunters. That's more than half of Korea's S-rankers in Unique."

Nam Ho-seung shook his head in disbelief.

"And if Shin Ah-yeon regains her abilities, four. There are eight S-rank hunters in Korea now—truly unprecedented."

I gazed quietly at him as he spoke.

There was something I'd always wanted to ask him.

"... Why did you feel the need to release Shin Ah-yeon from the guild?"

Even if her mana hall was damaged, Ah-yeon's symbolic value was more than enough merit.

But the Mirae Guild expelled her just months after her mana hall was ruined.

"Unnecessary sympathy is poisonous to someone with strong pride."

"..."

"Would she have been satisfied if we kept her by force?"

"I think it left a bit of a lingering scar for her."

At my words, Nam Ho-seung gave a wry smile.

"Even if that's so, if she'd stayed any longer, she would've left on her own feet."

"Well... maybe so."

Knowing Ah-yeon's personality, staying in the Mirae Guild and holding a spot for no reason would have been a source of enormous stress for her.

She was oddly timid in strange ways.

"Is your curiosity satisfied now?"

"Yes, I did think that might be the case."

Nam Ho-seung had never objected even after seeing that Ah-yeon was with us.

At first, he did look at us with some suspicion, but that was more about checking whether we were a proper organization, not about us taking Shin Ah-yeon in.

One way or another, he'd been concerned about her situation.

"Well then, now that we've rounded up the Mirae Guild's hunters—"

Just as I was about to say we should head out—

FWOOOOOOSH!!

"Huh?"

Suddenly, blue flames appeared all at once on the chests of everyone inside the tower.

Frowning at this clearly abnormal situation, I saw Nam Ho-seung point outside the tower.

"Looks like this isn't the place for you anymore. I'll handle the rest here."

The ice tower started to melt and tip even faster.

It was probably not just the tower; the frozen Han River must be thawing as well.

'That is...'

Looking out past the now fully-melted outer wall, I saw the ground outside consumed by blue flames.

And there was Soo-ah, swinging her sword with a cold expression at Ardan.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Tsk.

【(⩌_⩌ )】