Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 197 : Where You Are (4)

Where You Are (4)

For a long time.

It had been a very long time.

An unimaginably long, endless time, as if an eternity spent in darkness.

She had done nothing wrong.

In a place where not even a sliver of light could reach, burying her face in her knees, endlessly praying was all she could do.

Oh God, please get me out of this hellish place.

She forgot when she last saw the light.

She had been here for so long that she couldn't remember.

Because she was a Saintess, no one could touch her, but she could not die by her own hand.

An eternity without the permission of death was unbearably cruel.

'Please.'

When had she stopped praying to God?

Swallowing her breath in the darkness, all that remained within her was malice.

"If only I could escape this darkness, I was determined to take revenge."

Again and again, she repeated those words.

Only that malice upheld her heart.

"Of course, right? It's been a thousand years. I was in that place for a thousand years."

It might have been better if she could have gone mad.

But even that was not permitted by the mind of a Saintess.

"And so I kept thinking. How would I exact my revenge? How could I get back at them...?"

The answer was not hard to find.

The very fact that she had not died even after a thousand years meant that what humanity currently most desperately wished for was the power she possessed.

"Hope."

The Saintess's power signifies the universal value of the era.

Sometimes, that could mean overwhelming strength, or it could be whatever humanity of the time most desperately desired.

The fact that Estella had not died meant that humanity of this era continued to dream of that vague miracle. It meant that people were living on in this world full of despair without losing hope.

"I wondered, just how thrilling would it be if I could destroy that completely?"

When people cherished the hope that, maybe, they could defeat the demons and set humanity free from their grasp.

At the very end.

She intended to shatter that hope right in front of everyone's eyes.

She planned to go over to the demons, fulfill their wish, and be killed by the Demon King's hand.

If she died, no other Saintess possessing the same power as her would be born.

So, not even the vaguest hope would be permitted to humans.

"And, now it was almost the end."

She contacted the demons and summoned them.

She just had to finish her revenge by going over to them, and it would be over.

That was today, only a few dozen minutes ago.

"...... But."

She couldn't do it.

Something as simple as leaving with the demons—she just couldn't do it.

"You came......"

Estella's hand tightened, wrinkling the collar of Jung-woo's shirt.

Estella's faintly trembling hand mirrored the shaking of the emotions in her heart.

"Why."

Her forehead leaned against Jung-woo's back.

It seemed as if she was leaning on him so she wouldn't collapse.

Jung-woo had never seen Estella so weak.

From the first moment he had met her, she had never wavered, never shown emotion.

Always bright, a person who was truly like the sun.

"Why, just why!!"

Her cry was directed at herself.

She forsook her own long-cherished wish.

It was just a little more.

But she couldn't do it.

She knew the reason why.

"If it weren't for you!"

Three years, the brief time she had spent with him.

Compared to a thousand years in darkness, it was but a fleeting moment, yet that time remained in her heart deeper than a thousand years.

"It doesn't concern you, after all."

The three years she spent with him, moving to save this world, were the happiest times of her life.

They were too precious to be dismissed as just part of her revenge.

"It's a world that has nothing to do with you. It only brought you pain, a place you have every reason to hate."

A person from another world.

He too had suffered terrible things in this world.

How much must he have endured, using such power without being an awakener.

And it was humans of this world who did such things to him.

"And yet, why do you want to save this world?"

He truly wanted to help this world.

Everyone called her noble, but the truly noble one was him.

He had nothing to do with this world.

Even though he had only received pain, he genuinely sought to save it.

"...... It wasn't for any particularly great reason."

That's when Jung-woo, who had been quietly listening, finally opened his mouth.

He unwound Estella's hand from his collar and slowly turned around.

"You."

He took Estella's rain-chilled hand.

With an awkward smile, he gazed into Estella's tearful eyes and spoke.

"...... Because this is the place where I met you."

Estella was at a loss for words.

It felt as if her breath had stopped.

The place where I met you.

Estella realized at those words.

This world had only ever given her endless pain.

But because she was in darkness, she was able to meet him.

'Prayed, and prayed again.'

But God never answered.

The one who responded to her prayers was him.

'Who are you?'

He suddenly appeared, breaking down the wall she thought could never shatter.

She, crouched alone in the darkness, gazed up blankly at the one who arrived with the light.

Maybe her gaze embarrassed him.

'Were you sleeping or something?'

She smiled inadvertently at his awkward, teasing face.

There was something she had always, always wanted to say.

'I've been waiting for you.'

For the time, someday, when she finally escaped that endless darkness.

To the one who answered her vague prayers.

To her precious miracle.

***

Something strange had happened.

Sebin, who had been observing the situation, could acutely perceive it.

The two collapsing dungeons, the rapidly growing rift—everything had gone as planned.

Now, the only way to stop it would be to use the Demon King's power.

Whether they succeeded or failed, they had little to lose.

If the rift swallowed Jung-woo, nothing would be better, and if he forcibly closed the rift with the Demon King's power, his demonification would accelerate even further.

It should have been that way.

"But this feeling......"

Having recently made use of divine art, Sebin could not mistake it.

It was similar to divine art, yet completely different.

Its origin, a power held by only one Saintess in all of history.

"The Saintess. Estella!"

Sebin was a top-rank demon who had been born after the war three hundred years ago, so it was only a guess, but Henate was different.

He had actually felt this power three hundred years ago.

'Shin Ah-yeon, so that's how you closed the rift!'

He knew Shin Ah-yeon was the one who closed the rift that had appeared three years ago in Korea.

But both Sebin and Henate had assumed there was some kind of mistake.

They even thought maybe Park Jung-woo, who was present at the scene, had done something.

Dozens of great mages are required to close a rift.

For an individual to do so is absolutely impossible.

Even top-rank demons like them could not close a rift alone.

Didn't they have to use the Demon King's remains just to open one?

Until now, Shin Ah-yeon had certainly shown remarkable talent, but she was still just an ordinary human great mage.

"...... To think she was hiding something like this."

Cade also let out a hollow laugh, gazing into the distance.

No matter—whether the one he was facing was Soo-ah or Alencia.

Both were formidable—a swordswoman with tremendous talent, and the Saintess of this era.

Neither was an easy opponent, but they did not compare to old grudges of the past.

"Step aside."

He had thought to withdraw after a suitable fight, but he'd changed his mind.

Here and now, either Park Jung-woo or the woman with Estella's power needed to die.

Otherwise, damion's plans could suffer a significant setback.

Cade's form stretched, in an instant slipping past Alencia and Soo-ah.

'This isn't just speed.'

Alencia, who could move at speeds close to lightning, recognized it.

This was not mere speed, but a power that distorted some fundamental law.

Bzzzzt!!

Alencia belatedly chased after Cade, sending out a burst of electricity, but with her power not fully charged, she could not stop Cade's charge.

The only thing that could harm him was Soo-ah's blue flames, which could hit his origin directly.

But unlike Alencia, Soo-ah was not fast enough to pursue Cade.

"Unni!!"

Soo-ah cried anxiously in the direction where Ah-yeon was.

For some reason, Ah-yeon was just standing still.

'Something's wrong.'

Ah-yeon blankly stared at the black blade approaching right before her.

It felt as if she were watching events unfold from a third person's perspective.

It was like this sometimes.

When saving Ji Yeon-hwa, and on Jeju Island.

The only difference now was that she hadn't lost consciousness.

Why had this change occurred?

Maybe it was because of the memories she just saw.

'Estella.'

"Estella!!"

Ah-yeon's thoughts and Cade's cry overlapped.

Taking Alencia's lightning with his body, he directed his sword only at Ah-yeon.

The blackened blade aimed for Ah-yeon's heart.

"Calm down."

Someone caught the blade right before her.

When she moved her eyes, Jung-woo was there before she knew it.

As always, he wore an unruffled face, even in this situation.

Thanks to his composure, Ah-yeon managed to steady her confused mind a little.

"How's your back? Is it hot?"

"...... It's hot."

At Ah-yeon's faint, wavering voice, Jung-woo nodded.

If her back was hot, it meant the Stigmata on Ah-yeon's back was currently activated.

'I had hoped this wouldn't happen, but—'

As long as the demons existed in this world, maybe it couldn't be helped.

If so, it was better to show her how to handle this power.

She probably wanted that as well.

"...... Park Jung-woo."

Cade growled like a beast, trying to pull his sword free from Jung-woo's grip, but it didn't budge an inch. Impossible.

No matter how strong Jung-woo was, for the sword not to move at all—

"You... no way."

At Cade's stunned gaze, Jung-woo smirked and casually flicked the sword away.

"Ugh! Gah!!"

CRASH! BOOM!!

Like a skipping stone, Cade's body bounced off the ground and smashed into a distant wall.

'Yeon-ji said it was possible enough to become one with a demon.'

Until now, he had been forcing the Demon King's heart to obey.

That's why he had coughed up blood after using it.

But as Owen said, this wasn't enough anymore.

Instead of forcing the Demon King's power, he needed to fully unify with it.

Impossible for now, but he needed to begin using Yeon-ji's method little by little.

"Estella's power responds to the wishes around her. So listen closely."

Jung-woo explained calmly, watching Cade struggle to his feet.

She had said it before.

When she used her power, she could hear countless voices.

The prayers and wishes directed at her, voices hoping for a miracle.

There would surely be such voices here, too.

Hunters watching the rift. Or the agents from the Crisis Bureau of Paranormal Phenomena present at the scene.

Surely there were people here wishing for a miracle in the face of this calamity.

Ah-yeon needed to answer their wishes.

"Can you hear them?"

"...... Yes."

"Just answer them, that's all. Easy, right?"

Jung-woo's words left Ah-yeon even more confused.

Indeed, as he said, she heard unfamiliar voices in her ears.

'Easy, he says.......'

But she could not figure out how to answer them.

It was nothing like magic.

Unlike magic, which was an act of creation by her own will, this was a power that responded to the wishes of others.

"You can take your time."

Jung-woo reassuredly surveyed their surroundings.

There was still time before the rift burst.

Wuuuung, wuuuuung!!

But the most pressing thing at the moment was the sudden appearance of 'gates' in the air.

For the demons to have forcibly opened gates while the rift was active meant they were pushing themselves as well.

'Besides Cade and Henate, there's at least one more top-rank demon here.'

They would undoubtedly try everything to kill him or Ah-yeon.

"It's all right."

He stepped in front of Ah-yeon, who trembled behind him, as if to shield her.

It was a situation he was quite used to.

Whenever fighting alongside Estella, it had always been like this.

Besides, he was not alone here.

Soo-ah, Alencia were here.

And there were also several S-rank hunters, so the gates were not an issue.

The real challenge was the top-rank demons about to attack.

He was not afraid.

They were incomplete, just as much as he was.

"I won't let them lay a finger on you."

The Demon King's heart beat.

An immense power spread from his heart to his whole body.

Jung-woo observed that power and slowly began to move.

In a somewhat different way than before.

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

The Saintess's backstory is fucking sad.

【｡° ૮₍°´ᯅ`°₎ა °｡】