The Last-Seat Hero Has Returned

1. Snowfield (1)

Walking an endless life.

A snow-covered field.

Long footprints stretched out as if painted on the pure white land.

“Haa, haa.”

Breath rising to the tip of the chin.

Staggering steps in the cold that feels like it could freeze the lungs.

A faintly burning flame is visible beyond the snowstorm.

“Found it.”

How long has it been since I started wandering in search of the ‘Primordial Fire’?

Hundreds of years? Thousands of years? No, perhaps more than ten thousand years have passed.

It was such a long time that counting the years was meaningless.

The past days of scouring the entire continent alone, dragging this body that couldn’t even die, flashed through my mind.

“Haa.”

The first time I realized I couldn’t die was during a practical training session in my third year as a hero candidate.

A beast suddenly jumped out of the bushes and bit my neck.

When my severed head rolled on the ground.

I thought, what a damn life, and closed my eyes.

‘How did I come back to life?’

Yes.

I came back to life.

I didn’t die.

The severed head was back on my neck, and the body that had been torn apart by the beast’s claws was back to normal as if nothing had happened.

That was the first time I realized.

Ah.

I can’t even die as I please from now on.

‘Well, it wasn’t a wrong prediction, considering how things turned out.’

472nd out of 472.

Even when I graduated from hero school at the bottom of the class and became a lowly mercenary rolling around the battlefield.

Even when beasts and demons ravaged the entire continent.

Even when a war broke out between the heroes of the Empire and the heroes of the Republic.

Even when the ‘Witch of the Night’ turned half the continent into a snowfield.

Even when I became one of the ‘Last Five Heroes’ who would be humanity’s last hope.

Even when I fought the final battle against the Demon God with my comrades.

Even when all of humanity was doomed by the curse the Demon God scattered as he took his own life.

I survived.

Only I survived.

Bound to this wretched life,

Struggling.

Striving.

I survived.

“Now… it’s over.”

I step towards the blazing flame in the swirling snowstorm.

The primordial fire.

The fire that is said to have burned the ‘Tree of Creation’ that shaped the ancient world and gave birth to the seven gods.

How long have I wandered the continent, searching for this mythical relic that may or may not exist?

One step.

When I took a step towards the blazing fire.

Rumble!

The ground shook, and something massive burst through the piled-up snow.

A golem made of intricate mechanical devices.

An ancient guardian I had encountered countless times while chasing the remnants of myths across the continent.

Whoosh! Crunch!

The guardian’s swinging arm struck my body.

My head was crushed, and my body was mangled.

My limbs twisted at unnatural angles, and my spilled intestines stained the white snow with red blood.

Instant death with no hope.

No matter how much of a ‘hero’ I had become with the blessings of the seven gods, such a fatal wound would be inescapable.

“Sigh.”

The crushed and mangled flesh turned to gray ash and scattered over the white snowfield.

The stigmata engraved on my left chest emitted light.

Starting from the stigmata, my crushed body returned to its original form.

In the blink of an eye, I, who had been ‘revived’, drew my sword from my waist with a familiar motion.

A single strike cutting through the fiercely raging snowstorm.

It wasn’t that the aura burned so brightly that it blinded me.

Nor was it that a thunderous roar shook the ground.

Like water flowing naturally, the sword pierced through the solid armor and split the guardian’s core in half.

Rumble!

The ancient guardian, who had been protecting the sanctuary for ages, fell so easily it was almost absurd.

-Clap, clap, clap!

As the guardian fell, applause echoed.

I turned my head in the direction of the sound.

“That was a splendid strike.”

“…Yuren.”

A young man with golden hair shining brilliantly like the sun.

With a slender build and an androgynous appearance that made it hard to tell if he was a man or a woman, he approached me with a faint smile.

“You used to struggle so much with wielding a sword.”

“That’s because I learned a lot from you.”

I continued, letting out a low chuckle.

“Maybe now, I might be closer to the ‘ultimate’ of the Solar Sword than you are?”

“Oh, what? Are you challenging me?”

“Anytime.”

As I shrugged my shoulders and provoked Yuren.

“Hahaha! To think you took down that giant guardian in one blow! As expected of you, brother!”

With a hearty laugh that echoed loudly, a large man in a worn robe approached.

He patted my shoulder with his thick hand, grinning widely.

“I trust you haven’t forgotten the martial arts I taught you, even though you seem to only use the sword these days.”

“Don’t worry, Berald. I remember everything.”

How could I forget?

The martial arts he had taught me so steadfastly, without a single harsh word, even to someone as clumsy as me.

“Hmph. For all that, you never even used the magic I taught you.”

Following Berald was a small woman with a large staff.

A woman with a wide-brimmed pointed hat and striking fiery red hair.

“Sorry, Senior Sophia. Magic is a bit…”

“I know. With your tiny bit of magic power, you can’t use proper magic. I was just saying.”

“Ah, but I’ve done a lot of theoretical research. I’ve solved all but one of the ‘Three Great Sages’ Dilemmas’ that you used to talk about all the time.”

“Oh, really. Do you think magic is just about theory?”

“……”

Once, you said perfect theory was the essence of magic.

I stifled a laugh as I swallowed the words that were about to come out.

Yuren, Berald, Sophia.

As I looked back at the faces of my comrades who had been through countless battlefields together.

“…Are you feeling better?”

A warm voice tickled my ears as if it could melt the frozen snowfield.

“Iris.”

A woman with light pink hair in a pure white priest’s robe.

Even with her eyes covered by a black blindfold, her exposed nose, lips, and jawline exuded breathtaking beauty.

Iris approached with a worried expression and gently placed her hand on the stigmata engraved on my left chest.

“You shouldn’t use your body so recklessly.”

“Even if I die, I’ll come back to life soon enough.”

“But you still feel the pain the same!”

As always.

Iris scolded me in a sad voice.

Instead of answering, I gently pulled Iris by the waist and kissed her.

“Really! You always brush things off like this!”

Iris scolded me, her cheeks blushing like peaches.

With a faint smile, I turned away from her.

I took another step towards the distant burning fire.

“…Is that the primordial fire?”

Yuren asked as he stood beside me.

I nodded slightly.

“Finally found it.”

“Took a long time.”

It was an unbearably long time.

“Come on! Not much left now, brother!”

“Why aren’t you moving faster?”

At my companions’ urging, I quickened my pace.

How many more minutes did we walk?

Whoosh.

In the endlessly sprawling snowfield.

We stood before the brilliantly blazing flame.

“…Smaller than I thought.”

A small fireball, barely the size of a fist.

But the immeasurable, distant power emanating from it unmistakably proved that this fireball was a product of myth.

“Isn’t it amazing? That a fist-sized fireball contains the power to burn away the stigma.”

No answer came back.

“What will happen when the stigma burns away?”

“Then, even if we die, we won’t come back to life, right?”

No answer came back.

“Why is everyone suddenly so silent…?”

When I turned my head to where my companions had been standing, the snowfield was empty.

A raging snowstorm.

A silence that fell like a curtain.

Pure white.

A pure white world.

“……”

Yes.

I knew.

I knew, but I just tried to ignore it.

There is no one left in this world who will listen to me.

“Haha.”

With a dry laugh, I sat on a nearby rock and unpacked the bundle on my back.

Countless years that can no longer be counted.

My most precious treasures that I have kept throughout the endless time, even as my soul wore away.

“Yuren.”

I planted an old, worn-out sword into the ground.

“You were the greatest hero and swordsman I have ever known.”

Because of the courage you taught me.

I am here.

“Berald.”

This time, I laid down a tattered robe.

“At first, I thought you were crazy for being a wizard who didn’t use magic and just swung your fists, but your theory was right. To reach the pinnacle of martial arts, one must also learn magic.”

Because of the perseverance you taught me.

“Sophia senior.”

I laid down a broken staff.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t properly use the magic you worked so hard to teach me.”

Because of the wisdom you taught me.

“And….”

The last item left in the bundle.

My hand trembled as I held the black eyepatch.

“Iris.”

Never to be erased.

I remember the feel of your soft lips.

I recall the warmth of your skin.

“Thank you for loving someone like me.”

Because of the love you taught me.

I am here.

“Haa.”

I let out a low breath.

Grasping the brilliantly blazing flame with both hands.

Slowly, I bring the fire towards the scar engraved on my left chest.

“…….”

I recall.

To me, who grew up not knowing the faces of my parents, those precious people who became my only family.

A friend who was braver than anyone.

A sibling who was more steadfast than anyone.

A senior who was wiser than anyone.

And.

A lover who was kinder than anyone.

“…Ah.”

The emotions that had been pressing deep inside my heart.

They pour out like a torrent.

“Ah, ugh.”

There were so many things I wanted to say.

But there was nothing I could say.

In the snowfield where no one would listen.

Only the beast-like wailing mixed with the swirling snowflakes scattered.

-Whoosh!

The brilliantly blazing flame burned the scar and seeped into my body.

And then.

* * *

“Dael! Dael Han!”

A fierce shout struck my ears.

‘What?’

Who is calling my name?

“How dare you sleep in my class, you’ve got some nerve, huh?”

Whoosh!

I saw a hand as big as a cauldron lid swing through the air.

Before I could even think.

The body moved first.

-Thud!

Grabbing the swinging wrist, I pulled it towards me and struck the solar plexus with a clenched fist.

As soon as my fist touched the solar plexus, I exploded the magic imbued in it.

Explosive Force (發勁).

The martial arts I learned from Berald unfolded naturally, like flowing water.

Boom! Crash! Crack!

The unidentified man flew away with a roar, smashing the teacher’s desk and rolling on the ground.

“……”

“……”

And then, silence.

I frowned as I looked back at the students who were staring in shock with their mouths agape.

“…What?”

Where the hell am I now, damn it.