Chapter 5 Part 5: Return

I’ve been through a lot.
Being dragged into another world, becoming a hero.

At first, I was struggling to survive, and after that, I wanted to return to the original world.

But at the very end, I wanted to rest comfortably the most.

At first, I struggled to even catch a mercenary with a sword, but before I knew it, I had cut off the heads of all the demon kings and erased the demon god that even the goddess could not handle.

That was the end.
A story that was too miserable, terrible, and incredibly long to be ordinary.

I put an end to it.
I saw the ending, so do I need more stories after that?

Perhaps, that will be determined by what I do in the future.

‘Hmm.’

Let’s think.
The last thing that comes to mind is the sight of my body shining brightly in the fading consciousness.

The demon god finally disappeared.
The beautiful sight of the brilliant light filling the space where only I and darkness existed.

I lost consciousness.
And, when I came to my senses again.

‘…What is this situation?’

I had no idea.

I haven’t opened my eyes yet.
My mind rises above the surface of sleep.
The vagueness disappears quickly, and my consciousness becomes clear.

The senses that have transcended human limits sharpen my consciousness and accept all things around me.

I unconsciously gathered all the energy that was leaking out. It was because my body and mind remembered that it was best to hide my strength in an unknown situation.

The thoughts that stemmed from countless experiences tried to understand the situation rather than panic.

‘This energy, Sephie?’

A trembling sensation.
It was the energy of the most noble and powerful angel among the eight angels.

It was also the reason I woke up from my sleep.

It was the most intense feeling, but rather than being scary, I was glad because it was familiar.

‘It’s been a long time.’

After parting after awakening, I could hardly meet her.

The short recollection was brief.
The situation was not yet understood.

‘…Sephie, is fighting.’

The process of making a judgment and finding the basis happened in an instant.

In the intense energy emanating from Sephie, two fairly strong energies resisted.

I was a little surprised.
I didn’t know who it was, but that humans could withstand Sephie.

But I immediately changed my mind.

‘…No. I don’t know why, but Sephie is holding back.’

Because Sephie’s energy was calm and serene, while the other two energies were unstable and weak.

It looked like a battle.
But considering the Sephie I know, it was more like a game.

In fact, Sephie only spread her energy to keep them in check, and she didn’t show any other movement.

‘The opponent seems to be human…’

Finally, I could also sense a very faint presence a little further away from the three energies.

No matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t enough to handle Sephie.

Nevertheless, the fact that they were alive meant that Sephie had no intention of killing them.

‘Hmm. Shall I open my eyes?’

The action was swift.
When I opened my eyes, the overwhelming light bothered my eyes, but it was only for a moment.

The act of seeing was the simplest but most effective way to face the situation.

As proof.

‘…It’s Sephie. But what is she doing?’

Right below Sephie, who was floating in the sky, a long-haired woman with black hair and a bald man who reflected light were standing in a disheveled manner.

In the back, many people were lying down.

I was startled by the sight, and my body almost jumped out, but no one was dead. They seemed to have lost consciousness due to Sephie’s energy.

I swallowed a sigh of relief and turned my gaze further back. There was an ordinary woman there.

‘…Machine? Wait, a machine?’

My eyes were more focused on something she was holding in her trembling hand than on her.

I didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was a very elaborate and complexly designed object.

It was also quite a familiar shape.
It didn’t exist in another world, it looked like a tool used to film something.

‘Could it be that I returned? But, that’s…’

I thought of a possibility.
However, there was more evidence of denial than affirmation.

First of all, just looking at the surrounding scenery. There was a large temple that I often saw in another world, and the biggest reason was Sephie’s existence.

‘If it’s Sephie… She’s the type to follow me even if I return.’

If I did return, when?
I remember erasing the demon god. It was so desperate that I couldn’t forget it even if I wanted to.

Since I dealt with the demon god, who was the root of all evil, the contract with the goddess was fulfilled. She had an obligation to send me back to the original world.

Of course, I agreed to that, but it’s a little upsetting that she sent me away without saying anything.

That wasn’t important now.
I made a decision.

‘…Shall I watch a little more?’

I decided to do so.
I was about to close my eyes, gathering my energy so that the fact that I had regained consciousness would not be known to them.

It happened in an instant.
Not the two men and women who were facing each other, but the woman standing at the very back, stepped back and finally turned her body.

“Stop.”

Sephie’s familiar voice flowed into my ears like quiet music.

“You’re making a fuss and trying to leave without apologizing? How rude.”

As if those words had the power to attract people, the body of the woman who was returning stopped.

“I think I’ve already shown enough mercy.”

At the same time as the words ended, Sephie’s figure disappeared.

The two men and women standing right below were startled and turned their bodies belatedly, but my eyes kept following Sephie.

At the end of my gaze—.
There was Sephie, holding the woman’s neck.

I observed Sephie’s arm. Very slowly, a clear and pure energy was flowing from her shoulder to her hand.

She was exerting force.
This time, it was clearly an action with murderous intent.

The judgment was quick. The action was simultaneous.
My body immediately jumped out. I also grabbed the head of Sephie, who was holding the woman’s neck.

Sephie’s body trembled, but I didn’t feel any resistance from her fingertips.

I opened my mouth.

“I don’t know what’s going on.”

Indeed.

“W, wait.”

Sephie didn’t seem to.
She noticed who was holding her head and seemed to want to explain something.

But, I was going to punish her first and listen.

Where did this come from.
Harassing people in front of me?
Even the joy I felt disappeared, and I only felt pathetic.

I repeatedly warned her not to do that again, but it seemed that I had to use ‘that’ method.

“I clearly warned you. Forgiveness is only once.”

I quietly sentenced.
My hand was already holding Sephie’s two wings.

I flap slightly.
Along with that, Sephie’s excuse was heard, but.

“T, this is a misunderstan— Kyaaaaa?!”

Without any hesitation, I forcibly pulled her wings.

I heard a ripping sound, but it’s okay. It won’t tear off with this much.

…Probably.
I smiled softly, ignoring Sephie’s scream.

Then the woman who met my eyes trembled, flinching.

Shall I reassure her?

“I’m sorry. I was watching to understand the situation.”

“Oh, yes…”

The woman answered awkwardly.
She didn’t seem to be relieved. Rather, she seemed to be more frightened.

Why is she like that?
I had no idea.
I thought I had done enough, and I let go of Sephie’s wings.

Thud.
Sephie fell to the ground.
It was because I put energy into the hand that was holding her wings.

Leaving Sephie, who was lying on the ground and groaning, I spoke to a total of three people, including the men and women who had come close.

“I just woke up, so I don’t know what’s going on. I have a lot of questions, so please answer them.”

The three nodded with dazed expressions.

The conversation went well.

At the same time.
The employees of the Awakened Association were busy, as if their feet were on fire, even though it was late.

Most of the employees had bloodshot eyes, or their hair was all disheveled because they had pulled it so much.

They gave up their dream of going home and burned even their fatigue to overcome the current situation.

It was during that time.
The large monitor in the situation room, which everyone was watching with tension, stopped, and the connection was cut off.

They could no longer know the situation inside the S-rank gate.

But they didn’t lose hope.

Until they realized that the cause of the large monitor in the situation room turning off was a problem with the broadcasting side, after Diligently analyzing it.

It wasn’t just the employees.

The meeting room of the association’s executives, which was held late at night, was also noisy.

The chairman of the association, who was in the top seat, collapsed, holding the back of his neck in the unprecedented situation, and left his seat.

Even in the midst of that, the meeting continued.

“Damn it! What’s the point of gathering awakened ones! They can’t enter!”

The man who hit the desk and stood up, Jang Baekdo, one of the association’s executives, said so.

“Before it’s too late, we should send in all the guys who have gathered now!”

“Are you crazy?! We can’t even confirm the lives of the two S-ranks, why would we do such a crazy thing!”

But a rebuttal came right away.

Jang Baekdo glared at the executive who had a completely opposite opinion to his own, as if he wanted to kill him.

Jang Baekdo was in the situation room.
It meant that he was watching the large monitor in the situation room turn off, along with the staff, after a few loud noises, presumed to be the aftermath of the battle, after the raid team encountered something presumed to be the boss.

They had no idea what was going on inside the gate.

That was the problem at hand.

“Then, are you telling me to sit here and scream?!”

Jang Baekdo glared neurotically.

There was no one who didn’t know his heart. Everyone must have felt the same way.

The association has been overturned a total of three times now.

Once when the news came that the precursor of the break was felt in the potential S-rank gate.

Twice, after that, when Shin Hakcheol, who entered the gate, said that it was definitely S-rank.

Finally, when the broadcast that showed the situation inside the gate was cut off.

Three times in total.
The chairman collapsed on the third.

“Everything just went wrong from the start! Why did it have to be at night! And, if we had waited until other forces gathered!”

One executive said, pulling his hair.

It was a heartfelt regret.
But he wasn’t just talking uselessly and doing nothing.

Thanks to the fact that all the executives gathered, the association’s response was actually faster than ever.

In the middle of the night, an evacuation order was issued in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

All portals across the country were temporarily suspended for inspection and were being reactivated to gather awakened ones.

Thanks to that, guilds that were contacted and awakened ones who were not affiliated with guilds or associations were able to gather.

But that didn’t mean the situation improved.

Because of the time, there were more people who could not be contacted. They were responding in some way, but the situation did not fundamentally improve.

As the executive who was pulling his hair spoke, the atmosphere was about to get worse, but Jang Baekdo gritted his teeth and refuted.

“Nothing changes by doing that now. Anyway, the precursor of the break also appeared, so if we had dragged it out, it would have been more terrible?”

Jang Baekdo’s words meant that the current situation was not the worst, and at the same time.

It meant to shut up and not ruin the atmosphere with that kind of talk, when it was already desperate enough.

In fact, the executive who was pulling his hair also realized his mistake, and he closed his mouth without any particular reaction.

Jang Baekdo sighed.

It was a really urgent situation.
An evacuation order was issued in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, in the middle of the night.

It was crazy.
But the association did that crazy thing.

Jang Baekdo, who knew that better than anyone, wanted to run out of the building right now and drink alcohol, regardless of work.

But who is to blame?

The raid team that went into the gate recklessly?

Or the association that acted too hastily and tried to clean up late?

“Damn it. Why is this our fault?”

Jang Baekdo muttered quietly.

It’s not cleaning up, it’s responding.

He added the latter words.

This time, the executives seemed to feel the same way, and they just nodded quietly.

“Please… God.”

Jang Baekdo prayed earnestly.

The raid team that entered the gate.

The association staff who would be restless while controlling the external scene, and the awakened ones who would be summoned.

Furthermore, I hope that nothing will happen.

Fortunately, that wish was being steadily fulfilled, although in a strange form.