The Hero Returns

* * *

“You’re asking me what kind of a person His Majesty is?”

Inside a small reception room within the imperial palace.

Su-hyeun was sitting on the opposite side of Binladen. Before he could be introduced to the emperor, they had to wait for a little while.

“He’s an amazing person, of course.”

“Is it alright for a man of such a stature to meet someone like me?”

“What do you find unusual about that? His Majesty the emperor only wishes to meet talented and skilled individuals, that’s all.”

For sure, someone on Su-hyeun’s level would be seen as an incredible talent in this world.

Although Su-hyeun didn’t know where Binladen would be placed in this world’s hierarchy in terms of strength, he nevertheless was a commander of a knight order belonging to the imperial palace, which implied that he was stronger than average knights.

So, Binladen didn’t even need to question Su-hyeun’s skills when Su-hyeun was capable of subduing him in the blink of an eye.

“That’s why I think it’s a problem. Normally, you wouldn’t openly invite someone with an unknown background inside the imperial palace, am I wrong? For instance, what if I wanted to harm His Majesty, or…”

“Did you just say that for laughs?” Binladen chuckled in dismay at Su-hyeun’s words. “His Majesty? You will do what?”

“…”

“Now that I think about it, you may not be aware of it due to your memory loss, completely forgetting about what kind of a person His Majesty is.”

“Well, that…”

Of course, Su-hyeun had no clue. He had just arrived in this world, and the only comprehensive conversation he had so far was with Binladen.

He asked about what kind of a person the emperor was simply because he heard that the same man was responsible for unifying the continent for the first time in its history.

“His Majesty is the strongest individual in the entire continent.”

“I knew it,” Su-hyeun thought.

Binladen’s reply affirmed Su-hyeun’s initial guess that the massive presence he sensed earlier belonged to the emperor.

The emperor who successfully unified the continent for the first time in its long history was an absolute being who ruled over the continent for over a hundred years without letting go of his throne once.

That was the current emperor, Wick Bradley, in a nutshell.

“His Majesty was born a slave, a position even lower than that of a commoner, but he still became an aristocrat and then, eventually, a king by relying only on his own strength. I heard that His Majesty has lived for several hundred years already, but he personally has said that he can live past 1,000.”

After the initial introduction, Binladen continued on with a really long-winded tale of Emperor Bradley’s exploits. Rather than a character introduction, it verged on exaltation at this point.

However, Su-hyeun did pay close attention since these stories were of the emperor’s actual accomplishments. Some of the things, “abilities,” he heard just now definitely fell into the category of the “Sage Arts” Su-hyeun was familiar with.

“Splitting the ocean apart with just a single sword strike probably means cutting through the Gyeol,” he thought.

Even those outlandish-sounding accomplishments would not be impossible to pull off if he had mastered the Sage Arts to some degree.

For instance, Su-hyeun could also split water in half, albeit only for a brief moment, by also cutting through the Gyeol.

“So isn’t it obvious now? No one in this world can harm His Majesty. And that’s why not only you don’t see any personal guardian knights around him, but His Majesty also doesn’t care about letting suspicious people inside the imperial palace.”

“I see. I get it now.”

Actually, Su-hyeun got it from the very beginning.

It would not make much sense for a stupefyingly powerful emperor to fear for his own safety and be reluctant to let people inside the imperial palace, after all.

It was just that Su-hyeun felt deeply curious about just what kind of a person he was.

“From what I can see, Mister Binladen doesn’t seem to know where the emperor learned the Sage Arts from,” Su-hyeun inwardly considered.

Apparently, the emperor was the progenitor of the Sage Arts called “aura control” in this world. Along with his arrival, other knights learned the Sage Arts, and in turn, humanity had become stronger than ever before.

“In that case, just where did the emperor learn the Sage Arts from?”

One question simply birthed another one that continued to brush past his mind.

And so, while he was chatting to Binladen about this and that…

“He’s here,” he thought.

Su-hyeun shifted his gaze toward the reception room’s entrance.

And right at that moment…

“His Majesty the Emperor has arrived.”

“W—what? He’s here?”

Binladen was taken aback by the announcement coming from outside the door and hurriedly shot up from his seat.

He had been thinking that the emperor would obviously call for them once the message got to him, yet for some reason, the emperor himself had personally come to visit the reception room instead.

Creak—

Once the door began opening up, Su-hyeun imitated Binladen and also stood up from his spot.

It didn’t matter which country it was, no subject would welcome their kings and queens while sitting down. Although Su-hyeun wasn’t a denizen of this world, only he himself knew that.

“So, he’s the emperor,” Su-hyeun silently observed.

Ba-dump—

Su-hyeun’s heart powerfully pounded away.

What greeted his sight was a young face that seemed to be of a similar age to Su-hyeun, with a head full of short-cropped blonde hair standing upright. Just from his outer appearance alone, you would never believe that the emperor had lived for hundreds of years by now.

However, Su-hyeun could still read the passage of time from the emperor’s expression and the light gleaming within those eyes.

“…First brother? No, wait. He’s not on the same level, but…”

His hands discreetly clenched into fists by his sides.

“As I thought, he’s a monster.”

The emperor.

Seeing this man drove the fact home a little harder: that Su-hyeun was stuck inside the world of the trial found on the 100th floor.

Emperor Wick Bradley strode inside the reception room and then alternated his gaze between Su-hyeun and Binladen. The latter hurriedly went down on one knee and bowed his head to act according to the established decorum.

“Your loyal subject Binladen is honored by your presence, Your Majesty.”

“We’re not even inside the audience chamber so no need to be such a stickler for formalities. Be at ease, gentlemen. At ease.”

Bradley motioned for Binladen to stand up and settled down on the seat of honor.

His gaze then shifted over to Su-hyeun and remained there. “So, it’s this man? The wandering swordsman who managed to subdue you in 10 moves?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Due to his memory loss, he doesn’t know who taught him swordsmanship nor where he’s from. Hence, I thought of bringing him here.”

“You’ve done well. I welcome any talented individuals.”

“Thank you for your favorable evaluation. But Your Majesty, you didn’t have to personally grace us with your—”

“My curiosity got the better of me,” Bradley replied, smirking. “I’ve never seen a man like this before, you see. As a matter of fact, it’s like staring at my past self.”

“The past version of Your Majesty…?”

“Binladen, please leave us for now. Why don’t we have a chat at another time?”

Binladen got up after receiving Bradley’s order. Although he seemed affable and easy-going on the outside, the emperor had an extreme dislike for repeating himself.

Thud—

Binladen closed shut the rather heavy door behind him and left, leaving Su-hyeun and Bradley alone in the reception room.

Su-hyeun didn’t have anything particular to say, so he kept his mouth shut and waited for the emperor to speak first.

“Say, you’ve lost your memories?”

“Yes.”

“How did it happen?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t remember that either, Your Majesty.”

“This is strange. If there was someone like you, then I’d have definitely known about it.”

The emperor settled further into the chair and crossed his legs and then, while making a puzzled expression, stared openly at Su-hyeun.

He studied Su-hyeun’s hair and eye colors, before asking another question. “Are you from another world?”

That prompted Su-hyeun’s eyes to narrow. This question…it sounded somewhat familiar.

“As I thought, he’s quite similar to the first brother.”

As implied, Emperor Wick Bradley was similar to the Bull Demon King.

However, that was about it. Being “similar” also meant “not the same.” The difference between Bradley and the Bull Demon King would be their “class.”

Su-hyeun read the suspicion contained in Bradley’s question. The latter suspected that the former had come from another world but did not feel confident about his guess.

Which was different from the Bull Demon King who was quite certain of Su-hyeun being a person from another world altogether.

From Su-hyeun’s observation, this man was well below the Bull Demon King. Well, his first brother was like a massive castle; you would have a tough time looking up to see how tall he was, figuratively speaking.

“I think you could be correct,” Su-hyeun replied.

“I could be?”

“Even I’m not sure where I came from, actually. However, there is only one reason why I came here. And that is to…”

The initial reason why Su-hyeun came up with the excuse of amnesia and acted accordingly was to find the necessary information about this world.

And now, the emperor holding the most information than any other person in this world was sitting right before his eyes.

“Defeat the one called the predator.”

And as such, Su-hyeun decided not to continue with his charade in front of Bradley. He chose to come clean and see what his reactions would be like.

“The predator, you say?”

Bradley’s expression became unreadable after hearing Su-hyeun say that. It was a confusing expression, where he might or might not have an idea.

Su-hyeun couldn’t quite read the emperor’s thoughts from his expression alone. His reaction was too vague, and it was hard to tell whether he knew about the existence called the predator or not.

“Do you have any idea, Your Majesty?”

“No, I don’t. Maybe it’s not what I’m thinking of.”

“Unfortunately, I only know that much as well. I have no clue what it looks like nor where it could even be right now.”

“Is that so?”

“Can you think of something?”

“There’s one…”

“Your Majesty, what can it be?”

“I wonder. Hmm…” Bradley seemed to ponder on something after Su-hyeun’s question and then smirked softly. “If you wish to know more, then you should join me.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m actually in the middle of gathering strong individuals. If it’s you, I can even bestow you with a spot right next to me as the continent’s second most important being. So, how about it?”

The continent’s second most important being?

This decision seemed rather grave for something that asked for a quick yes or no. Su-hyeun ended up taken aback greatly by the offer. “Isn’t this headhunting attempt way too sudden?”

“What about it? I’ll just keep you around me, and if I don’t like something about you, either I’ll just cast you out or simply get rid of you. Because I’m stronger than you, right?”

Those words could be deemed quite harsh when spoken in front of the person in question. However, Su-hyeun didn’t find it strange for Bradley to say such things. Instead, he thought it suited the emperor rather well.

An arrogance that went beyond pure confidence but backed up by real abilities that ensured it wasn’t simply his conceit speaking.

Bradley was the “transcender” who possessed all these qualities.

“May I ask why you’re gathering strong individuals in the first place?” Su-hyeun asked.

“What do you mean, why?”

“Aren’t you strong enough to not care about forming a group?”

Su-hyeun stopped calling Bradley “His Majesty.”

But the latter didn’t pick a fault with that. He genuinely thought that Su-hyeun had ample qualifications to do so.

At least at this moment, no one in this world understood Bradley better than Su-hyeun. This was the type of problem that only those standing in the same realm as he could understand.

Indeed, what Su-hyeun said was correct. Bradley didn’t need to form a group anymore.

Which was obvious because he was already so powerful. Too powerful, in fact, that he could singlehandedly defeat an opposing group without the backing of his own group.

If he wished to appease his loneliness, then it would be more understandable, but what Bradley wanted was powerful individuals—as if he wanted to create an even stronger organization.

To Su-hyeun’s eyes, such an action seemed like a meaningless endeavor.

“The answer to that is connected to your earlier question,” the emperor replied.

“My earlier question, is it?”

“That creature called the predator. It sounds like someone that I know of.”

Su-hyeun’s eyes shot wide open at Bradley’s reply.

As he thought, he made the right call to come here. Bradley did indeed know about the creature called the “predator,” the ultimate goal of the trial given to Su-hyeun.

“What kind of being is it?”

“Didn’t I say it? If you want to know more, join me.”

“But, that—”

“I won’t hold onto someone who’s not willing. However, my goal of finding strong individuals is related to it.”

Snap—

Bradley lightly snapped his fingers before continuing, “Take your time and think about it. I’ll give you one day. Treat this place like your home and take a good rest. I’m sure you’re feeling worn out from all that traveling.”

“This is a bit…”

Su-hyeun formed a troubled expression at this sudden and out-of-control development.

Did the emperor want Su-hyeun as his subject when he said “join me”? If this was any other occasion, that was fine, but as he couldn’t get back to his own homeworld right now, he certainly didn’t feel like getting tied down by the empire’s matters and wasting his time.

“Ah, and by the way, this is a secret, but that creature called the predator?” Bradley suddenly said something else as if he was being generous as he got up from his spot and headed for the door to leave. “It’s a monster that preys upon the world. Well, that’s all I can tell you. I’m not sure if that’s the one you’re looking for, but if it is, then come see me tomorrow.”

Creak, thud—

And with those parting words, Bradley left the reception room.

Su-hyeun remained sitting in a daze from what the emperor told him.

“A monster that preys upon the world…”

Ache—

Suddenly, he felt a rush of a migraine.

It felt as if a piece of memory buried deep in the recess of his brain was floating back up to the surface. And this memory was not from Su-hyeun’s current life.

It was from…

“I shall devour you, and then, I’ll finish preying upon this world.”

Fafnir.

From his final battle against that abominable monster.