The Second Salvation Myth of a Retired Regressed Hero

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Doyun dispelled all the emotions he had harbored towards Torn.

To Doyun, who had spent over 200 years on battlefields, Torn held no significance as an opponent.

Doyun was too busy, and compared to his grand ambitions, the petty provocations of a fresh-faced fledgling were far too trivial.

A valorous warrior race pursuing strength. An excellent physical talent. A fledgling to be nurtured. That was what Torn represented to Doyun.

But now, he had dismissed all such positive feelings.

He had simply thought he was a foolish, short-tempered friend. There were those with such dispositions due to their racial traits – trolls and werewolves being prime examples.

But they were warrior clans. Their foolishness was akin to valor, and while unruly, they were transparent with their insides matching their outsides. In his previous life, Doyun had built many friendships with such individuals.

‘I had thought you were the same.’

Seeing Torn’s envious reaction to his performance during the mana test, Doyun had assumed his combative spirit stemmed from valuing strength.

He had even understood, if disliked, his harassment of Sophie. It was common sense among tribes that powerful males claimed excellent females.

But that wasn’t the case.

He was simply a pitiful fellow who resorted to violence and vile means to satisfy his selfish desires.

Even on the allied side in his previous life, there had been such individuals.

Disregarding the war against the Demon Lord, the survival of the alliance, world peace – they only cared about selfishly lining their own pockets through vile, underhanded methods. Parasitic scum.

Before achieving the might to remain unoppressed by anyone, Enoch too had endured great torment and even death at the hands of such vermin. He had tried to reform them as a hero should, but the results were always fruitless.

Doyun was no saint. Rather, he was close to an extremist when it came to such issues.

People weren’t meant to be corrected, but filtered and utilized. This was Doyun’s doctrine after 200 years of tumultuous experiences.

Whenever he encountered such repulsive vermin – those who only undermined the alliance even on the eve of the bloody battle against the Demon Lord – he adhered to a simple solution.

Assassination.

The 14th regression where Enoch had killed his emotions to pursue only efficiency. The nickname he had earned after slaying the rotted king of an allied nation was ‘Executioner Vagabond’.

For Doyun, encountering someone ‘without any emotions’ meant they were a target he could decapitate like a mere scarecrow.

Let alone some random person – even members of the alliance deserved respect by that virtue alone, as they were all comrades battling the Demon Lord.

But now, Torn had lost even that meager value.

And for someone who would go as far as embracing death and killing solely to assassinate the Demon Lord to lose that basic ‘respect’…

For Torn, it was a catastrophic calamity.

“…Both students, step forward.”

Doyun and Torn stepped forward.

Torn was still snickering away, while the watching crowd frowned grimly on Doyun’s behalf.

“Attacking after surrender, attacking when one side is incapacitated, and killing are strictly prohibited.”

“Pffhuhuh.”

“Yes.”

“…Then, prepare yourselves.”

The instructor raised his hand towards the sky.

“Begin!”

He brought it down, exiting the ring.

“Rrrooaarrr!”

Torn made the first move. Lunging his massive body forward, he swung the hammer horizontally.

A powerful enough attack to make the watching students flinch. But the hammer didn’t strike Doyun’s body.

Woosh-

“Hmph!”

The hammer swept through empty air, and Torn let out a bewildered grunt at the futile swing.

He was certain he had hit him. Just before the hammer struck, he had clearly seen his figure.

But when he actually swung, he was no longer there – calmly standing just half a step away. As if Doyun had remained still while Torn simply whiffed his swing.

Torn recovered his weapon and swung horizontally again. But the result was the same – Doyun wasn’t there. No matter how many times he attacked.

“Rrrgghh…!”

Incensed, Torn wildly flailed the hammer. But each time, Doyun evaded by a paper-thin margin, the hammer only striking empty air in vain. Ephemeral, barely perceptible movements.

The students couldn’t comprehend the mystifying sight before their own eyes.

“What… is that right now…?”
“What’s that cow doing? Dancing?”
“No, it’s Han Doyun who’s doing something…”

In his previous life as the dim-witted Enoch, he lacked the agility of other geniuses and sturdiness of other races.

For him, efficient footwork was a desperately needed skill for survival, an extra life.

The instructors let out hushed exclamations at Doyun’s movements.

‘Those aren’t ordinarily mastered movements. He must have an immense amount of actual combat experience.’
‘Are those really the bodily movements of a 25-year-old…? Just what kind of life did he live in his original dimension?’

The presiding instructor felt the same, marveling at Doyun’s movements while keeping both eyes wide open to accurately judge. Yet he still occasionally lost track of Doyun’s motions.

Outside the ring, a new assistant instructor muttered to his senior presiding instructor.

“Woah… So that’s what the Earthling race is like…!”

“…”

Momentarily distracted by his ridiculous misconception, the instructor quickly refocused on Doyun’s movements.

“You! Rat! Bastard!”

The exchange continued. Torn excitedly flailed his hammer while Doyun didn’t receive the blunt attacks.

In reality, Doyun was simply toying with Torn in the palm of his hand, but the instructors analyzed it differently.

‘While their skill mastery is incomparable, Torn is continuously using mana. But Doyun has mana deficiency and isn’t using any mana.’

‘The output gap is too severe. He can’t even think of landing a lethal blow, let alone pressing the attack.’

‘To reach that level, he must have shed immense blood and sweat. But in the end, he couldn’t overcome his innate limitations, could he…’

There was still a glimmer of hope for Doyun. Fortunately, Torn was too foolish. If he just kept evading until Torn’s stamina was depleted, he could land a decisive blow.

‘But if he makes even one mistake in that process…’

With an Earthling’s frail physique and inability to protect himself with mana, Doyun’s game would instantly end. It was an overwhelmingly disadvantageous fight for him.
It would have been, if Doyun truly couldn’t use mana.

“Don’t! Evaaaade!”

With a beastly roar, Torn brought the hammer crashing down from above – a vicious strike that made the spectators instinctively step back.

The instructors expected Doyun to evade again. But strangely, he remained still even as the hammer’s shadow loomed over him.

“Oh, no…!”

Doyun was a beat too late. He had finally slipped up.

‘This will hit…!’

That’s what they thought.

Doyun belatedly moved his body back half a step. But the hammer was already descending right towards his forehead.

The students squeezed their eyes shut. A horrific crunching sound would ring out, blood and flesh splattering. Everyone was certain of Doyun’s defeat.

But then, an anomaly occurred.

Clang!

“Kuhh!”

The resounding clash of metal on metal, accompanied by Torn’s bewildered exclamation, sent the hammer flying sideways.

A clear handprint was imprinted on the hammer’s side, while Doyun stood with his arm outstretched as if he had just slapped someone.

“Kuh, aahhhck…!”

Torn was crouched on the ground, clutching his right hand that had been gripping the hammer, as if it had been torn open.

The students who had squeezed their eyes shut were dumbfounded.

“Huh…?”
“What… just happened?”
“He, he deflected the hammer with his palm!”

A student who had clearly witnessed the scene shouted out.

Without moving his legs, Doyun had truly deflected the massive hammer with just a slap of his palm.

A simple arm motion without using his waist or shoulders, just his palm – and the enormous hammer went flying.

However, the students’ shock didn’t match the instructors’.

They had already sprung to their feet, faces etched with dread.

“M, mana! He used mana!”
“What the heck! How could that Earthling use mana!”

They had distinctly felt it. At that critical moment, mana had emanated from Han Doyun’s body.

Moreover, the output was at an incomprehensible level. With that kind of mana output alone, he could immediately claim the Cradle’s top spot.

“He didn’t have mana deficiency?!”
“Hey! You personally examined that student during the test! What’s going on here!”
“No, no! He really did have mana deficiency! His channels were definitely blocked!”

The area around the arena instantly descended into pandemonium. Torn was too occupied clutching his hand and whimpering, while the instructors were flustered by this unprecedented phenomenon.

Among them, some were rapidly punching calculators.

“This, this is huge! A talent who could break steel plates even without mana can now use mana!”

At those words, all the instructors realized.

What had been the reason for underestimating Student Han Doyun until now? His mana deficiency.

But now, for whatever reason, he had overcome that mana deficiency. He could use mana.

In the talent market preoccupied with the boss monster killer, a meteoric newcomer had appeared.

The commotion around the arena grew even louder as they failed to conceal their excitement over this sudden event and its implications.

“Wait a moment.”

But soon, a heavy stillness descended at someone’s words.

“Then… if Student Han Doyun truly knows how to wield a sword as well… the boss monster killer is…”

“…!”

In an instant, the instructors were struck with a sledgehammer-like realization.

Why had Student Han Doyun suddenly insisted on using a sword?

If this talent, who had been top of his batch despite having no mana, could now use mana?

If his insistence on fighting with a rusty sword wasn’t mere recklessness?

“…”

Eventually, they arrived at an exhilaratingly dreadful assumption.

‘If Han Doyun…’

Truly knew how to wield a sword?

‘The boss monster killer is…’

Everyone gazed at Doyun, standing nonchalantly in the ring, as if entranced.

He raised the sword he had been casually dragging.

“Come.”

Sring-

Despite the rusted blade and lack of a hand-guard, a crisp sound rang out as if the blade were being drawn from its scabbard, scraping against the air.

“Get up.”

Doyun walked towards the fallen Torn.