The Returner Chapter 180

Dark Mana was similar to ‘negative’ energy. Basically, Dark Mana was all things negative and gloomy being harnessed into a half-physical state. It might have a few names, like ‘Dark’ Mana or ‘negative-attributed’ Mana, but at the end of the day, their origin was the same.
If you excluded the fact that it had a different foundation to ‘Light’ Mana, then the Dark Mana’s other big difference would be its specialisation towards destruction, annihilation, as well as casting curses and hexes.
And, if one were to think of one other special point of it, then that would be….
The Dark Mana would oppose Light Mana, but it was outmatched when pitted against divinity - about that much?
In the past, Yi Ji-Hyuk got to learn about this fact while on the run for his dear life. However, he had forgotten about it in recent times, only for those memories to resurface one after the other. Seeing the divinity pouring out like a gushing waterfall right in front of his face, he felt dizziness threatening to overcome his mind.
"Wowsers. I… might get traumatised at this rate." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Indeed, his ignoble memories of running away from this crazy amount of divinity in the past was flooding back into him now.
Back then, simply getting brushed by that divinity caused various effects on him, such as - snapping his spine in half, burning his innards to cinders, or making him perform a writhing dance routine on the floor as if he had swallowed a white-hot charcoal or some such.
Arghhh! Just remembering them p*sses me off!
But, it’s a different story now! (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
The current Yi Ji-Hyuk was not the same, wet-nosed amateur of a Dark Wizard from back then! Wasn’t he the Bringer of Apocalypse, the one who plunged the entire Berafe and the demon world into utter chaos?
So, the current him was…..
….Huh?
Hang on, isn’t the amount of Mana I possess right now pretty much the same as what I had back then??
Uh?
Wait, now that I think about it, it’s true, isn’t it?!
So, if I get hit by that, what will happen to me? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
Yi Ji-Hyuk soon got to find out.
The divinity completely perforated through the Shield he cast out of pure reflex as if it didn’t exist in the first place and pounced on him.
"Aaaaahhhhhk?!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
The power of divinity dug into Yi Ji-Hyuk and began burning away the Dark Mana hidden within his body. Soon, he should be wrecked by the sensation of every drop of his blood being boiled and suffer from this hellish pain…. but?
The divinity digging into Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body… couldn’t do much and began withering away at a visible pace.
Eh?
What’s going on here?
Because, back then, I definitely….. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
In the past, if the power of divinity of this scale entered him, Yi Ji-Hyuk would have been utterly destroyed into tiny little pieces. Indeed, he’d be busy spraying blood to all corners of the globe while performing that writhing dancing routine.
So, like, does this mean that lunatic of a woman has gotten weaker?
….No, hang on. I saw that divinity with my own two eyes, so that can’t be it. There’s no way!
So, what changed? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
Yi Ji-Hyuk began checking out the condition of his body once more.
"Uh? What’s this?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk tilted his head. He wasn’t the only one tilting heads, though.
"W-what happened?" (Roabell)
Even Roabell was stewing in her confusion as she looked at Yi Ji-Hyuk.
She poured out that much power of the gods, yet Yi Ji-Hyuk was standing all fine and dandy, not a sign of bodily fluid flying anywhere, while looking back at her with a dumbfounded look on his face.
"But, but, this can’t be?" (Roabell)
Could this be because the god Buzugote’s influence didn’t extend to this world, and that weakened the power of divinity greatly?
Roabell quickly gathered divinity at her fingertips. A massive amount of water-coloured divinity bubbled up instantly.
"But, that isn’t it?" (Roabell)
It might be harder to replenish the divinity from the god once it was spent, but still, she should have more than enough within her right now, so how could a situation like this even happen?
"H-mmmmm?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk arrogantly raised his head.
He couldn’t figure out what just happened, but at least he was sure of Roabell’s divinity not being able to harm him in the slightest.
Most likely, the Mana residing within him became two, three times stronger after it was swapped out, so the relationship between the power of divinity and Dark Mana could have reversed now.
Which meant….
"Are you done showing off?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
….The woman in front of his eyes was basically a shivering little prey now.
"Kekekeke." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk cackled ominously and slowly approached Roabell.
"Thanks, you just reminded me of something. All that sh*t you put me through in the past, I remember them now." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"M-mm?!" (Roabell)
Roabell flinched and quickly took several steps back.
But, this couldn’t be happening?!
How could that evil, vile Dark Wizard receive the pure and holy divine power of god Buzugote and still be fine?
"This can not be!" (Roabell)
She couldn’t accept this!
Roabell began pouring out more divinity out of her once more.
The power of divinity, its colour getting richer and richer until it actually resembled flowing water, oozed and danced around her entire figure. And when that flowing strands of divinity coagulated into streams and eventually into a mighty river, it descended on Yi Ji-Hyuk like a flood.
The flood itself was incredibly fast, but because of its massive scale and the way it smoothly flowed out of her, it felt as if it was gently embracing him rather than pounding on him. It didn’t even look scary at all.
If you were someone who could accept the divine power of Buzugote, this divinity would feel as warm as their mother’s touch, but if not, then it was only obvious that you’d think this river of divinity was dark and gloomy like the river Styx from hell.
However, Yi Ji-Hyuk accepted her divinity without flinching once as if he couldn’t feel a thing.
"H-mm…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
The river of divinity swallowed Yi Ji-Hyuk up.
"Euh!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
He began shuddering grandly out of the blue.
‘D-did it work?’ (Roabell)
Roabell inwardly thought, I knew it!! and stared closely at Yi Ji-Hyuk, but when he straightened his back and loudly spoke up, she was overcome with a sense of helplessness.
"Hey, you know….. This buzzing sensation feels really nice! It’s like I’m getting a massage." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
A refreshing smile formed on Yi Ji-Hyuk’s face, now utterly cleansed of years of accumulated fatigue. Roabell saw that, and the sceptre held in her hand slowly drooped towards the ground.
This, this can’t be….
This shouldn’t happen…. (Roabell)
Yi Ji-Hyuk cackled on and approached closer while enjoying her tormented look.
"So, what were you saying about a Dark Wizard and whatnot?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"….T-to eradicate….." (Roabell)
"M-mm? What was that? I can’t hear you, since you’re a loser who can’t even use divinity properly." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I, I said, I will eradicate you!!" (Roabell)
"Can’t hear you~. I can’t hear you~~." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk’s cackles continued on as he slowly stood before Roabell.
Affeldrichae could only groan under her breath after seeing this spectacle unfold.
"What a rotten personality he has." (Affeldrichae)
"You were expecting something else?" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
Choi Jung-Hoon wasn’t all that surprised by this development. It wasn’t as if Yi Ji-Hyuk’s terrible personality suddenly came about yesterday.
He was always a terrible human being, he remained a rotten b*stard, and he’d continue to behave like one in the future, too. Like the river flowing downstream, his personality would naturally be dirty and terrible, always.
Of course, there were some people who couldn’t accept that reality.
"Hold on. Wait!" (Roabell)
Roabell thought that the current situation was heading in a strange direction.
The ‘Bringer of Apocalypse’. Just how often did she have to hear that name while being confined for hundreds of years within the Elf prison?
The spirits passing by whispered it, the prison guards mentioned that name so many times out of sheer fright. And when she found out that the identity of the Bringer of Apocalypse was none other than that Yi Ji-Hyuk, she was overcome with two emotions.
One, a sense of guilt for failing to finish him off for good back when she was still chasing after him. And two, a powerful sense of determination to finish her job once she was allowed to leave this prison.
It was precisely because of those two reasons that she decided to follow after the Lord of the Dragons when she mentioned needing help "from" Yi Ji-Hyuk, but this….
‘But, I underestimated everything.’ (Roabell)
She was confident of her chances.
If he was the Bringer of Apocalypse, capable of plunging the entirety of Berafe into hell, then even ten of her, no, one hundred of Roabell wouldn’t be able to stop him. She certainly possessed a brain capable of thinking that far ahead.
However, from what Affeldrichae had told her, the current Yi Ji-Hyuk was not that much different from the Dark Wizard she used to chase after way back when.
That was why she thought of eradicating him right now to prevent him becoming the Bringer of Apocalypse again in the future and sow chaos in the world, but this…..
"I, can’t, hear, you~~~." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
But now, all she could do was to facepalm helplessly as the cackling Yi Ji-Hyuk stood before her.
‘It’s over.’ (Roabell)
An evil grin formed on Yi Ji-Hyuk’s face.
*
"You better raise your arms straight, you hear?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk started behaving like a b*stard to Roabell, currently kneeling down on the floor, both of her arms raised up high in the air.
"What the heck? Would you look at the angle of her arms? The motto of an Elf is supposed to be all about being honest and trustworthy, yet you wanna cheat and maintain 178 degrees with your arms, not 180? Did you develop a problem with your sense of balance or something?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Tremble, tremble….
Roabell could only shudder from this unbridled shame, but there was no one here that could help her out. Basically, she was all by herself in this world.
Sure, she had some vague semblance of what could barely qualify as an ‘acquaintance’ with Affeldrichae, but from the Dragon’s perspective, an argument between a human and an Elf would come across much the same as a dog and a cat bickering to a human being.
She didn’t have any reason to be on Roabell’s side, nor would she have any desire to do so, either. That meant that Roabell alone had to contend with Yi Ji-Hyuk, but well….
"Please, repent now! It’s not too late for you!" (Roabell)
"Repent what now?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Your sin of tormenting countless people of the world." (Roabell)
"Why don’t you repent for your sin of tormenting me first?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"God Buzugote has forgiven me already." (Roabell)
"Ohhh, really now? Well, that’s one heck of a convenient religion, no? I mean, you can be forgiven without involving the victim in question, too. Maybe, I should make a religion of my own? How about, the Order of Yi Ji-Hyuk? And sooo, I asked for forgiveness there, and since I’ve been forgiven, everything’s cool now." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"You’re committing blasphemy!" (Roabell)
"Yup, that I did. So, whatcha gonna do about it?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Euh, euh…." (Roabell)
"Blasphemy or shoe philosophy, who cares? So? What will you do now?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
You could only convict someone if you possessed necessary strength.
Throughout history, many weak religions faded into the rivers of obscurity without even anyone remembering their names. Without ‘power’, even religions would become a waste of space, instead.
Yi Ji-Hyuk looked at Roabell going through her deserved punishment and fell into a bit of dilemma.
If it were any other times, he’d be tempted to break off all of her limbs and stuff her inside a small box before throwing her into a river or something. But, he couldn’t deny the simple fact that she could very well be the only hope for saving this planet right now.
"Why did you have to go and fetch someone like this…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Oh, so you think there was another way?" (Affeldrichae)
"There always is another way. You just didn’t want to think about those, that’s all." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Then, why didn’t you think about them yourself?" (Affeldrichae)
Yi Ji-Hyuk’s narrowed eyes glared at Affeldrichae.
Why does it feel like she’s becoming more and more rebellious as time goes on….?
Wait, why is it that every female around me becomes coarser and more violent with every passing day? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
Yi Ji-Hyuk never worried about the reasons, though. He only cared about the end results.
"Well, I guess it’s too late to worry about it now." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk shifted his attention back to Roabell.
"Hey, you!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"….Yes?" (Roabell)
"Can you purify a couple of zombies?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"It’ll depend on their conditions, but yes." (Roabell)
"They got bitten by some bugs and changed to zombies." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Mm….."
Roabell nodded her head.
This wouldn’t be hard, considering that a high-ranking demon didn’t personally turned the victims into zombies.
"I believe it’s possible." (Roabell)
"Indeed, it won’t do if you couldn’t do that much." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Roabell thought she heard him mutter out "That’s why I’m keeping you alive" really softly under his breath, but she desperately pretended to not hear it.
She crossed over to another world thinking that she was embarking on a mission to exterminate a demon, and it sure felt like she was already fighting for her survival in less than ten minutes of her arrival.
"So, how many are there?" (Roabell)
"Maybe, around a million?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"………..Excuse me?" (Roabell)
Did she hear that wrong just now?
"I think it’s a little over a million. No, wait. I think it’s more like a million and half right about now. It’s not that many." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Ahhh, so it was a million." (Roabell)
"Yup."
"You sure it’s over a million zombies?" (Roabell)
"Yup."
Roabell suddenly formed a bright smile.
"Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with, you stinking evil b*stard of a monster?" (Roabell)
Yi Ji-Hyuk shrugged his shoulders and glanced at Affeldrichae.
"See, I told you. She’s a complete loon." (Yi Ji-hyuk)
If not, she will become one soon.
Kekekeke.
Fin.