The Returner Chapter 169

Step.
Step.
His steps felt like they weighed a ton.
‘So, this must be the worst I’ve ever been, right?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk had been forced to maintain his peak condition forever, so this was a rather strange experience to have - the one where he had to fight something when he was in such a sorry state.
As far as his combat experience was concerned, he had earned so much that he’d still be called a battle junkie if he took the half of his experience and dumped it somewhere else. But then again, he was acutely feeling it right now.
….That his own experiences had been incredibly limited.
"Aaaaah!!"
Seo Ah-Young’s flames enveloped Beltreche.
However, the reptilian demon king simply shook off her flames with a fed-up expression.
"This is getting boring." (Beltreche)
Irritation was writ large on its face.
"At least, the humans of the other world managed to entertain me a little bit. Yet, the humans of this world can only amount to this much?" (Beltreche)
The absolute ability to defend.
Even though the reptilian demon king wasn’t a tanker-type creature, the attacks of the human ability users failed to pierce Beltreche’s scales.
Seo Ah-Young despaired at the weakness of her flames.
Her firepower had been greatly enhanced after receiving Yi Ji-Hyuk’s dark Mana, yet her flames failed to affect Beltreche in any shape or form.
"D*mn it!!" (Seo Ah-Young)
It was then, Choi Jung-Hoon finally stopped observing the situation and made his move.
"Chris!" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
As soon as he shouted out, Christopher McLaren also shouted out, too.
"I know!" (Christopher McLaren)
Christopher McLaren sent out his signal, and the waiting American ability users all rushed into the fray.
"Keuk! Why only now?!" (Seo Ah-Young)
Even though he heard the resentful cry of Seo Ah-Young, Choi Jung-Hoon’s eyes continued to gleam rather dangerously.
In the end, all these people were nothing more than cannon fodder.
No matter how many attacked, none of them were expected to do more than defending against Beltreche’s attacks, just once.
If NDF agents were seen as meat shields, then these American ability users were the meat shields that protected the meat shields.
Christopher McLaren knew this, yet he still willingly let loose his country’s own ability users. And Choi Jung-Hoon knew the score, but he still chose to send them out to their deaths.
Because, everyone here understood that, if they failed to defeat that creature right here and right now, they would never be able to kill the d*mn thing later down the line.
Loud shouts and swearings.
Rage and hatred pouring down….
Beltreche tilted its head as it watched hundreds, nay, thousands of ability users come at it.
The reptilian demon king thought of this question rather often, but regardless, the existence of humans proved to be a bit of a quandary to it. They all knew that none of them would ever get to reach it with their feeble powers, yet why were they still trying anyway?
Both the monsters and demons were truer with their instincts. So, when they ran into opposition, a being they believe couldn’t be defeated with their powers, they would not resist and submit, or flee.
Meaning, they knew those were the smarter choices if they wanted to continue breathing for longer.
Wasn’t that the reason why Yi Ji-Hyuk had to implant all those slave seals on the monsters to forcibly make them do his bidding?
However, humans always acted strangely.
They would ignore their own safety and resist their enemies till the bitter end.
Such an act was something rarely seen among the so-called higher creatures with intelligent brains. The type of actions only seen in superorganisms like ants or bees, being performed by singular organisms that should act independently of one another, it was a rather bizarre and unique event for the demon.
‘However, all of it is useless.’ (Beltreche)
Beltreche lightly wiggled the ends of its hands, and powerful gust of wind blew the oncoming humans away like pieces of cardboard.
Kuwaaahh!!
In the meantime, monsters arrived at Beltreche’s location and began to claw and bite the demon king. Beltreche’s face remained unimpressed as it simply dusted its hands.
Slice.
Not even a sound of air being parted could be heard as the monster’s head flew off. That monster acted as if it never had a head to begin with, before falling to the ground with a loud thud.
"How dare these lowly beasts…." (Beltreche)
Irritation bloomed even greater in Beltreche’s face.
Yi Ji-Hyuk and the Dragon Lord should know better than anyone just what kind of an existence a demon king was. Yet, how dare they resort to using these lowly creatures to obstruct the great demon king’s path?
If they had forgotten it, then all Beltreche had to do was to remind them.
….Just what a terrifying being a demon king was!
"Kururu…."
Pure-white steam rushed out of Beltreche’s mouth.
Power throbbed and pulsed within its body. Its two arms and four legs quivered and wiggled as if they might explode at any moment.
POOOOW!!
It pounced forward, and the air immediately split wide open with a huge explosion of noise, and an equally powerful sonic boom was left behind in the demon king’s wake.
"Keuk!"
Park Sung-Chan gritted his teeth as he stood at the frontline as the tanker, watching and waiting for Beltreche dashing towards him.
‘I’m gonna block this!!’ (Park Sung-Chan)
This was his role, and this was all he could do at this moment.
"Barrier!!" (Affeldrichae)
Multiple shields of light were erected in front of him.
As if several body bunkers were placed in front of him, transparent shields of light formed a thick wall, and meanwhile, Park Sung Chan dug his heels deeply into the ground and leaned forward as much as he could.
Unfortunately, that was all.
KWAAABOOM!!
It was just a simple but powerful punch.
There was no special technique or anything particularly unique about the punch, but the destructive force behind it easily exceeded everyone’s imaginations.
One hit, and all the shields of light crumbled into nothing, while Park Sung-Chan’s shoulder was crushed and his internal organs smashed into meat paste. As if his vocal chords were destroyed, he couldn’t even scream out in pain.
Park Sung-Chan’s body was launched backwards like a fired cannon shell and flew into the crowd of his colleagues.
"Keo-heok!"
"Kuwaaahk!!"
Being smashed by the flying Park Sung-Chan, the victims spat out the noises of winds leaking out of a boiling pot and they too all flew away, getting entangled with even more people in the process.
"Heal!!" (Affeldrichae)
Affeldrichae hurriedly cast one healing magic spell after another on Park Sung-Chan. If she hadn’t done that, he’d have died before hitting the ground.
"Wuooooh!!"
Thinking that Beltreche had opened a gap, the American ability user ‘Bodyshot’ slammed his darkened fist into the head of the reptilian demon king.
Woo-duduk.
However, his fist was shattered into fine pieces as soon as it landed on Beltreche’s scales.
Slash!!
Beltreche’s hand lashed out and drew a straight line through him, sending him away to a place he’d never be able to come back from.
"Stoooop that thing!!" (Christopher McLaren)
Along with Christopher McLaren’s loud yell, the American ability users all pounced on Beltreche. Their eyes shone with a light of determination as they tried to grab hold of the demon king’s pant leg if they had to.
"F*ck, us resorting to suicide attacks like this…." (Christopher McLaren)
Christopher McLaren gnashed his teeth.
The thing he hated most, resorting to sacrificing his men while relying on nothing but grim determination, really crushed and p*ssed on his pride.
This didn’t make one jot of sense, and he knew that. But he also knew that no sensible option would be able to defeat that monster. In that case, all he could do was to resort to this tactic. The best they could do was to give everything they had and then die afterwards.
"Are you still not finished yet?!" (Christopher McLaren)
His glare landed on Yi Ji-Hyuk.
Christopher McLaren already knew that Yi Ji-Hyuk was a long-range type. And he also knew that a long distance attack needed time to get ready. Well, he heard that from the horse’s mouth, so there.
That was why, the best he or anyone could do was buy Yi Ji-Hyuk enough time to prepare, regardless of the cost.
However!!
Christopher McLaren saw yet another ability user perish as he was torn to shreds. The deed was done in the literal blink of an eye.
It hadn’t even been a minute since they started attacking, yet already, almost 100 had died in the most gruesome fashion imaginable, their torn and shredded bodies now practically impossible to recover.
What a clear difference in combat capabilities between them and the NDF agents, who were still somehow holding on.
But then, the overwhelming difference between his men and the demon king’s powers easily rendered such a gap totally meaningless. Christopher McLaren was truly despairing right now.
"You’re too slow!! You godd*mn son of a b*tch!!" (Christopher McLaren)
Do something! Anything!! Please!!!
"Kekeke." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk cackled at Christopher McLaren’s desperate cry and continued to trudge forward in a leisurely pace.
Why are you in such a hurry?
This much of a sacrifice is a cheap price to pay when you’re trying to bring down a demon king. If this was back in Berafe, no one would bat an eyelid if a few kingdoms got destroyed in the process, you know.
Yup, you’ve all been living a cushy life, that’s what this is. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
Yi Ji-Hyuk slowly approached Beltreche while raising and prepping his Mana.
If there was something different compared to before, then that would be him shoving all the amplified, agitated Mana inside his body, instead of gathering it in either the front of him or above him.
Using his own body as the medium, he began circulating the mass of Mana.
The dark Mana that exploded, roiled, quivered, and danced violently in the atmosphere did the exact same thing within his body, too.
Pow!
Phurk!
Parts of Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body ripped open along with the sounds of leather drums being beat. A part of his bicep shredded open, and a fountain of blood exploded out. One of his thighs split up and his entire body teetered.
It couldn’t be helped, really.
He had trapped the raging storm of Mana within his body, so it had to contend with every violent reaction taking place.
Far too much Mana for a human’s to endure was boiling inside. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that, at this rate, his own end would not be all that nice even if he somehow managed to kill Beltreche.
But, then again, what other choice did he have? His own mental safety trigger had been destroyed a while ago, so nothing could stop him now.
Yi Ji-Hyuk’s eyes burned with flames of determination. His glare quite clearly caught the sight of Beltreche easily pulverising dozens of ability users in one hit.
The demon king.
The Ender of worlds.
Its advent signalled the impending hell on earth.
However, even if one was a demon king, one should never look down on Yi Ji-Hyuk. And he was planning to etch that lesson into the reptile’s head.
Even if he was nothing more than a shell of his former self….
He’d teach it the difference in one’s status.
"Beltrecheeeee!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
It was then, Beltreche turned its head and glared at Yi Ji-Hyuk.
"Mm?"
Beltreche’s eyes grew wider.
‘What does he think he’s doing?!’ (Beltreche)
It could see clearly.
It could see quite clearly what that man was trying to do.
Mana oozing out of his hands went through the Mana amplifiers fashioned out of Dragon Hearts in his arms and grew several times more powerful before digging back into his body.
The amplified Mana violently tore and ripped and broke Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body.
"Are you planning on killing yourself, then?" (Beltreche)
Its mouth may ridicule, but even Beltreche had to face Yi Ji-Hyuk in a cautious manner. It could sense that the amount of amplified Mana was quite threatening now.
More importantly, the person planning to use that Mana was none other than Yi Ji-Hyuk, which was a rather worrisome matter.
He might have lost his immortality, but still, he was a sorcerer who did reach the level of godhood.
He was weak now only because he lacked Mana, but even then, if he could use that amount of Mana to attack, then there would be no problem to call him a demon king.
Just one attack.
Indeed, all that preparation would give him one single shot, but at least, he had regained his former magnificence of the demon king for the time being.
"How threatening." (Beltreche)
For the first time ever since arriving in this world, Beltreche formed a tense expression as it glared at Yi Ji-Hyuk.
However, that was all.
As long as the reptilian demon king blocked that attack, it’d get to reconfirm that there was no other being in this world capable of obstructing its path.
"Seo Ah-Young!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Contrary to the demon king’s expectations, though, that attack didn’t materialise.
Instead, having received the signal from Yi Ji-Hyuk, Seo Ah-Young suddenly attacked Beltreche with the kind of firepower that easily exceeded anything that had come from her before.
"How meaningless!" (Beltreche)
Beltreche roared out in irritation.
And then, it began smashing away the incoming fire balls.
"Kim Dah-Hyun!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Kim Dah-Hyun suddenly appeared behind Yi Ji-Hyuk and grabbed the latter at his waist.
"Rudra!!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
At the same time, a powerful gust of wind blew up behind these two men and flung them forward, hard.
"Let’s goooooo!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
The Path Drifter Kim Dah-Hyun, still holding onto Yi Ji-Hyuk, gave everything he had to raise their speed to the absolute max, as they flew straight to Beltreche.
"Kuwaaahht!!"
Kim Dah-Hyun’s arms gained a tremendous momentum as he spun Yi Ji-Hyuk once and threw the latter at the demon king while still in the air and moving at the scarcely-believable velocity.
Smashing straight into the wall of air at the speed far exceeding sound, the skin on Yi Ji-Hyuk’s face split up and blood freely flowed out.
"Yi Ji-Hyuuuuuk!!" (Beltreche)
Seeing that spectacle, Beltreche howled out and madly dashed forward, too.
Just one hit!
It was only a single hit!
Unlike in the past, he could no longer spam attacks with his infinite Mana, so Yi Ji-Hyuk simply had to succeed in this one hit, and he definitely had to hit his target.
In that case, what he needed to do was to shorten the distance.
He’d get as close as possible, and smash down!
"Uwaaaahhh!!"
Yi Ji-Hyuk roared out loudly as Beltreche rushed at him.
Almost at the same time, the rays of blindingly white light poured out of his entire body.
Fin.