Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 196 : Where You Are (3)

Where You Are (3)

'I see, I understand.'

Cade, who had been confronting Park Jung-woo, realized his comrades' intentions.

'So you intend to open a rift in this unstable place and kill this man.'

It was quite a decent idea.

If they opened two rifts, there would be no way to block it unless numerous mages were present at this spot.

'If this man tries to stop it...'

The power of the Demon King would inevitably be required.

Unlike the power of the Saintess, closing the rift with the Demon King's strength would require twice as much power.

Unlike Estella, who intervened in the laws themselves, the Demon King's power forcibly closed the rift.

Naturally, it would be a burden for Park Jung-woo as well.

Given the current amount of miracles existing in his body, it could even be dangerous.

'Even if he doesn't die, that in itself is a gain.'

If the Demon King's power was overused, terraforming by the demon realm would proceed all the faster.

Having thought that far, Cade couldn't help but smile.

Kwaang!!

"What are you smiling at?"

As he smiled, Park Jung-woo's fist pierced through Cade's guard and slammed into his face.

Though Cade withstood it with just a slight tilt of his head, an ordinary demon would have died instantly.

"Shouldn't you be stopping it?"

There was no need to explain what "it" was, but Park Jung-woo knew he meant the rift.

"Of course, I won't let you go so easily."

He could not help but hesitate.

Would he unleash the power of the Demon King here?

First, he had to shake off Cade.

'If he were someone I could kill easily, it'd be different.'

It would take the power of the Demon King to quickly defeat Cade, who was on the defensive.

He needed to close the rift as well, so he couldn't afford to waste strength on Cade.

After exchanging a round of attacks, Park Jung-woo and Cade created some distance, measuring each other and catching their breath.

As the pounding of the growing rift increased, Park Jung-woo's hand moved to act.

Drip, drip-drip.

Raindrops began to fall from the sky.

"It's raining, I see."

Most likely, it was a weather anomaly caused by the rift.

Looking up, he saw black storm clouds swirling like a typhoon.

"It was like this the first day I saw you."

When Park Jung-woo and the heroes he led approached the demon's stronghold.

It was the day before the subjugation of the Demon King.

That day, Cade had a promise.

"Of course, our meeting wasn't part of the plan though."

When Saintess Estella unexpectedly contacted the demons, he thought it was likely a trap.

But he simply could not ignore her request, so he kept in touch with her regularly and watched the situation.

Estella was sincere.

When the subjugation of the Demon King was close at hand, when all of humanity harbored hope for liberation,

In that very final moment, Estella planned to betray humanity.

To snuff out all hope.

"It's a truly regrettable affair for us."

"You're talkative today, Cade."

"I've always been."

At that, Park Jung-woo clicked his tongue briefly.

He couldn't deny it.

'Rain, huh.'

Standing face to face with Cade in the rain, he indeed recalled that day.

When he searched the forest desperately looking for the missing Estella and finally found her,

He never forgot the gaze she gave him when he called her name.

"Go ahead and see if you can shake me off this time too. Twice—"

Kwa-rrrrrrng!!

At that moment, a blue flash struck, colliding with Cade's body.

'Wha—...?'

It was at a speed barely visible to the eye.

By the time he sensed it, Cade's body was rolling across the ground at an alarming speed.

As he lifted his head, a blue flame fell toward him.

'That is...'

Dangerous.

Cade instinctively dodged out of the way.

Though he could withstand even Park Jung-woo's attacks head-on, he instinctively knew he must not be hit by that blue flame.

"Tch!"

Lee Soo-ah gritted her teeth as she saw Cade dodge her strike.

She and Alencia had launched a simultaneous surprise attack, but even that had missed.

"Manager-nim! Are you okay?"

Alencia hurriedly approached Park Jung-woo and asked.

Up until now, she had been in the dungeon monitoring the rift, but as the situation deteriorated, she'd rushed out immediately.

Thanks to being the fastest, and carrying Soo-ah on her back, Alencia had been the first to arrive.

"The situation inside the dungeon seems very bad."

"A rift was opening. I... I tried to do something about it, but it didn't go well."

Alencia was a Saintess as well.

She had tried various things to block the rift, but nothing worked.

That was natural.

Alencia's power was not suitable to close a rift.

"We'll block that person instead. It's not Owen... right?"

"It's the same as Sol Mayer. A demon has taken over the body. But he's far stronger than back then, so be careful."

"Understood."

Honestly, Park Jung-woo wanted to end Cade here, but closing the rift came first.

With Alencia and Soo-ah together, Cade could be handled.

'Especially with Soo-ah's power.'

Soo-ah's Conceptualization Technique, 'Life Lantern Ignition', lit the flame of life.

When that was attacked, damage was taken regardless of defense, so her compatibility against Cade, who specialized in defense, was top-tier.

And since his speed wasn't particularly fast, he wouldn't be able to keep up with Alencia either.

If Yeon-ji joined later, his swordplay wouldn't be a threat anymore.

"Park Jung-woo! Where do you think you're going? We must settle that score from that day!"

"What score..."

The Blade of Malice, the demon realm's Greatest Wall.

Though he carried titles befitting a faithful knight, whenever things got tough, that guy always ran away.

He was also sturdy and good at escaping, so fighting him further was just a waste of time.

'I'll close the rift first.'

The two rifts were both growing, feeding off each other.

Soon they would consume the dungeon and reveal themselves.

There had never been a time when two rifts opened simultaneously, so the exact effect was unknown.

"Mana dissipation is occurring nearby!!"

"All dungeons within the Grand Canyon are collapsing—at this rate...!"

From nearby, the agents of the Bureau of Paranormal Phenomena were relaying the situation.

At the center, Shin Ah-yeon was also visible.

'The rift is opening much faster than expected.'

If it hadn't opened yet, Shin Ah-yeon might be able to close it. But once it was open, she couldn't.

If she overexerted herself, something like before could happen again.

'Most likely, they accelerated the rift's formation by using the Demon King's remains.'

Jung-woo could more or less guess their intentions.

Currently, S-rank hunters were gathered in the US, so this was likely intended to eliminate them all at once.

Thus, four rifts had been prepared.

But now only two were activated, meaning they had intended to kill him here.

"Hooo..."

He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky.

Rain was pouring from the sun-blocking clouds.

The trajectory of the raindrops twisted mysteriously as if being sucked into something.

Kwakang! Kwakwakwakang!!

As the dungeon collapsed, a pitch-black hole appeared in the world.

Its radius was about 5 meters.

Not very large, but it was slowly growing.

The problem was that the dungeons where the rifts had occurred were not far apart.

'If those two rifts come into contact...?'

No doubt a completely unprecedented phenomenon would occur.

Jung-woo made up his mind and steadied his breathing.

The blood in his heart sped up, awakening the 'Demon King's Heart'.

At the same time, the divine power left by Estella in his body clung to his life.

He won't die.

No matter what, he will not die.

Estella, Shin Ah-yeon both granted his wish.

So even this time, he will not die.

'Wait just a bit...'

Shin Ah-yeon watched Park Jung-woo position himself at the center of the two rifts.

It appeared he intended to close the rifts alone.

'With the Demon King's Heart.'

Was that even possible?

No, it was certainly an overreach.

He planned to forcibly suppress the rift and close it with sheer strength.

Just as he destroyed an S-rank gate in Jeju Island before.

'No.'

The fact that he was stepping forward himself meant he believed he could do it.

However, Shin Ah-yeon thought this was unwise.

'If you suppress it by force, it will only backlash even harder.'

For one rift, maybe. But there were two here.

If you pressed down recklessly, they wouldn't be destroyed; the two would merge into one.

No, to destroy them, you would first have to merge them into one.

But doing that would take too much power, and even for Park Jung-woo, it could be dangerous.

Would he realize this?

'No, he probably knows.'

That's why he stood in the center, where the two rifts converged.

To merge them into one and deal with it all at once.

'I should be the one to do it.'

She wanted to say so, but no sound came out.

Only Park Jung-woo's back lingered in her sight.

'Something...'

Shin Ah-yeon grasped her head, looking at Park Jung-woo's back turned toward her.

Was it the rain falling now that made her vision so blurry?

In the downpour, why did Park Jung-woo's figure with his back to her feel so strangely familiar?

She knew.

This familiarity did not come from Shin Ah-yeon's own memories.

It must have been Estella's, from that day.

The day before the final battle, when Estella disappeared alone.

The moment she contacted the demons to betray humanity.

It was the memory of that time.

"Estella, isn't this exactly what you wanted?"

Cade had spoken.

He had come to meet her deep in the rain-soaked forest, together with countless demons.

It was important.

The war between demons and humans.

This was the moment it could end in victory for demons.

"There is no time, quickly."

He had held out his hand.

If she took that hand, it would all be over.

This was the moment she—Estella—had longed for.

She could finally seize the wish she had so desperately prayed for.

"Why do you hesitate?"

But her hand would not easily reach out.

"This is what you first suggested. You said you lived only for this chance to take revenge upon the humans."

He was right.

Estella wanted revenge.

So there should be no hesitation in taking that hand.

"Estella!"

A voice called out to her hesitating self.

She couldn't bring herself to turn back,

Because she knew who was calling her.

Because, in that rain, there was only one person who would come searching for her.

"You, what are you doing here?"

Upon spotting her, Park Jung-woo rushed straight over.

He naturally stepped in front of her and at once attacked Cade.

After a brief but intense clash, Cade and Park Jung-woo came to a stop at a distance from each other.

"Park Jung-woo."

Cade swallowed as he looked at Park Jung-woo, who had appeared before him.

Behind himself was the demon army, and he was a strong fighter in the demon realm.

"Saintess Estella."

But facing Park Jung-woo was a different story.

Two top-ranked demons who'd confronted him so far had died.

Though not as strong as Cade, they were not ones who could die easily.

If he himself were to die here as well, things would truly become irreparable.

"Is this your will?"

Estella couldn't answer that question.

She didn't have the courage to turn her back on Park Jung-woo and go to Cade.

"... I understand."

Perhaps Cade understood this silent reply and asked nothing further, simply turning away.

Staying longer would only bring losses.

After confirming that Cade was completely gone, Estella finally let out a faint sigh.

"... Always."

Then she reached out carefully to Park Jung-woo's back.

"You always manage to find me."

There was no strength in her voice.

It was so fragile and faint, nothing like the confident, composed Estella.

Park Jung-woo tried to turn around to look at Estella.

But Estella stopped him.

Embracing his back with both hands, she grabbed the hem of his clothes.

"Wait, just... stay like this for a while."

Park Jung-woo couldn't force himself to turn around at Estella's words.

He simply stood in the rain, quietly.

"... Aren't you going to ask?"

"About what?"

"Aren't you going to ask what I talked about with the demons? Or what it meant?"

Park Jung-woo hesitated, unsure what to say to Estella.

It was certainly shocking that she had met with the demons.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't curious about why.

Still, he believed Estella must have had her reasons.

She always had reasons for her actions.

"Idiot. What would you have done if my plan really was to betray you?"

"You'd never do that."

At those words, Estella laughed softly.

The unwavering certainty in his answer amused her.

"... No, you're right."

"Huh?"

"I did plan to betray you."

Estella tried to speak as calmly as she could.

But she couldn't stop her voice from trembling.

"I was going to betray not only humanity, but you as well, and end everything."

Her grip tightened on Park Jung-woo's collar.

"I waited, only for the moment to take revenge on the humans who did such things to me."

A thousand years. It had been a thousand years.

During that long time, she had been forced to remain in darkness.

"Jung-woo."

And so, Estella hated humans more than anyone.

Even more than the demons.

"I am not the noble Saintess you think I am."

She merely faked goodness for the sake of revenge.

Just an ordinary person, who only pretended to be virtuous.

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

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