The Returner

Chapter 119: Your heart might stop beating, you see (4)

“I said, keep as much distance as possible when fighting it!! You will die from just a little scratch!!!” (Seo Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young shouted out at the top of her lungs.

She wasn’t exaggerating, though. Seriously, just a slight little graze could kill a human being. As a matter of fact, a human being would die from being grazed by an elephant’s leg. But the weight of that Zombie Dragon was incomparably higher than any elephant found on this planet.

Hell, forget about a stupid elephant for a second. Because, one of its claws was already as large as an elephant, anyway!

Rooooooar!!

Fighting against a rampaging undead Dragon proved to be truly hellish. Without the presence of Affeldrichae who lent her aid at crucial times, human ability users would’ve met with utter annihilation by now.

Just what could be that woman’s true identity?

If I knew this would happen, I should’ve acquired more information from the Americans.

No, wait a minute. I should’ve nagged Yi Ji-Hyuk more.

Yi Ji-Hyuk.... Right, Yi Ji-Hyuk!! (Seo Ah-Young’s inner monologue)

“Why aren’t you here yet?! You crazy as*hole!!” (Seo Ah-Young)

We might all die at this rate!!

POW!!

Just a slight little punt from the Dragon’s front arm, and along with the noise of explosion, an ability user was sent flying away into the distance, far enough that naked eyes could no longer see the poor guy.

Instant death.

No need to even confirm that.

Seo Ah-Young gritted her teeth.

No matter how careful they were, casualties kept on piling up.

“Just when are you coming back, you b*stard?!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“What the hell, have you really lost your mind or something?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

What an irritating voice that was, yet what a welcoming one, too!

“Yi Ji-Hyuk!!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Ha-ah....”

Yi Ji-Hyuk had reappeared on the battlefield along with Jeong Hae-Min before anyone had the chance to notice it. He began loosening his neck muscles.

“Maybe I haven’t done enough educational training with you lot? How dare you spout random cussing at me, even though I haven’t left the spot for long?! Should I just, like, pah!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Seo Ah-Young flinched slightly and hastily retreated away from him.

“Argh, fine. That’s not what’s important right now, anyways.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Indeed, the important thing was....

“Hmm....”

Yi Ji-Hyuk slowly lifted his hand.

And on his palm, there was a pure-white gem-like item.

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s eyes gleamed brightly.

“You’re dead now, you piece of sh*t.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk smirked while looking at the Mana crystal in his hand. It was a crystal with a very high purity. Something like this was difficult to find even back in Berafe.

In order to procure this....

“Argh, those d*mn demon world b*stards....” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He was now pretty sure about the identity of the one behind the Gates opening up.

If it was in the past, he’d have summoned every single demon king out there and start meting out some good old fashioned disciplinary action, but as he was now, all Yi Ji-Hyuk could do was to gnash his teeth in frustration.

No, hang on a minute. If he mouthed off too hastily and a demon king really did appear, he’d get the holy hell beaten out of him, instead!

“By the way, what is that?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Jeong Hae-Min asked him with a bright expression.

“It’s so pretty.... This gemstone.” (Jeong Hae-Min)

....Does this girl truly not understand the concept of the ‘right place and right time’?!

Yi Ji-Hyuk made a loud disgruntled noise and kicked Jeong Hae-Min away.

“Get lost!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

With her butt getting kicked so rudely like that, the tearful Jeong Hae-Min glared at him and shouted out loudly.

“You just want to use me! Didn’t you say you needed me?!” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“That’s how this cruel profession operates.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“You’re a terrible man!” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“And you’re noisy!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Seo Ah-Young quickly began consoling Jeong Hae-Min.

“Don’t cry, unni. That’s why I told you to be careful around that guy. Especially a bum like him!” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Sob!” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Hey! Who the heck is a bum here?!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Seeing Seo Ah-Young hurriedly pretend to not notice a thing, Yi Ji-Hyuk gritted his teeth just a little.

You idiots aren’t the most urgent thing right now, so we’ll see later.

No, Oh-Sik’s far more urgent than you lot. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk stared hard at the Mana crystal, before throwing it inside his mouth.

“Hul?!”

The two females’ jaws nearly dropped to the ground after seeing that.

How could he try to swallow up such a pretty gemstone?! No, before that – would he even be able to swallow something that big in the first place?

“Woo, woooo-euph!”

Yi Ji-Hyuk suddenly grasped his neck and began choking all on his own, before raising his head while tears poured out from his eyes.

“Wow, I nearly died just now.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“....Please, some common sense. Please....” (Seo Ah-Young)

Yi Ji-Hyuk frowned deeply.

He also didn’t want to eat this thing. Unfortunately, it was far more efficient to absorb a Mana crystal from the inside of one’s body.

In the past, he’d just use a knife to cut his skin up and shove it in there without giving a d*mn, since he’d regenerate as good as new anyways. But he couldn’t do that anymore, so that meant he had to swallow it.

However, if he tried to do this for the second time, his oesophagus might tear up for good!

All this was because of that d*mn walking corpse of a Dragon!

Yi Ji-Hyuk glared at the monster before taking a deep breath.

“Fuu-woo.”

Right now, he had to absorb the crystal first.

Buzzz....

Soon, an unknown aura began gathering all around Yi Ji-Hyuk.

Boom!

Accompanied by a weighty noise, the Mana crystal in his gut melted down and a powerful wave of Mana rapidly spread all over Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body.

“Hmm.......”

Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out a satisfied gasp.

The purity of the crystal was exceedingly high.

The pure Mana circulated within his flesh and quickly settled down according to Yi Ji-Hyuk’s control. Fierce, powerful beams of light escaped from his eyes as soon as he opened them.

“Ah?!”

Seo Ah-Young flinched, while Jeong Hae-Min was amazed by what they saw.

“He’s now shooting flames from his eyes.” (Seo Ah-Young)

“Still doing some creepy things. Seriously.” (Jeong Hae-Min)

‘Why are their reactions so weird?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Having received a bit of mental sucker punch from the duo, Yi Ji-Hyuk’s head swivelled unhappily towards the Zombie Dragon.

The ice giant’s movement speed hadn’t decreased by much as it tried to squash the Dragon to the best of its abilities; meanwhile, his other monsters desperately supported it from the side.

“Hah, making me proud and all that.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

What was the point of gathering hundreds of ability users?

They were all utterly useless in the end.

Yi Ji-Hyuk took another deep breath as he sensed the resonating Mana within his body. This was the first time since arriving back on Earth that he felt truly sated like this.

With this much....

Yi Ji-Hyuk raised his arms up high in the sky.

“Been a while, so should I do that?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Wuuoonnng!!

The ominous Mana oozed out from his outstretched hands and began to dye the sky darker and darker. The black Mana then began coagulating into a single solid sphere.

“Fuu-euph.”

At the same time, a current of black Mana that at once resembled smoke and flames flowed out from Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body. This Mana flowed down to the ground before rising up and slowly got sucked into that solid sphere.

Wuuooonnnng!!

The sphere grew larger and larger as more of the black Mana entered it.

“Get away!”

Affeldrichae shouted out in fright after seeing that.

How could he use ‘that’ here?!

“Pardon?” (Seol Ah-Young)

Seo Ah-Young asked back, completely unaware of the truth. Affeldrichae replied to her with a blunt tone of voice.

“Step back if you don’t want to die!” (Affeldrichae)

“....Everyone!! Everyone, step back!!” (Seo Ah-Young)

Sensing something was terribly wrong, Seo Ah-Young issued an order to retreat, and the ability users hurriedly fell back.

“No.”

Affeldrichae shook her head.

“Get away from him!” (Affeldrichae)

Him?

Yi Ji-Hyuk?

Seo Ah-Young looked at Yi Ji-Hyuk and flinched again, before urgently shouting out, this time even louder than before.

“Run in the other direction!!” (Seo Ah-Young)

She sensed some sort of suction force coming from around his body. Seo Ah-Young was understandably freaked out by this, and so, she ran away while carrying Jeong Hae-Min like a sack of potatoes.

Just what on earth was this crazy buffoon trying to do now?!

“Hmm~.”

A soft hum escaped from Yi Ji-Hyuk’s mouth.

Yeah, this is it.

Been a while. Been too long, actually.

The black smoke poured out and wrapped around Yi Ji-Hyuk.

This smoke circulated around him slowly, but eventually it spun around as fast a whirlpool while rising up and slammed into the black sphere overhead.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!!

The black Mana ceaselessly slammed into the sphere, causing it to expand at a rapid pace before it morphed into a huge cloud.

Indeed, it resembled a cloud – a large black cloud.

The black smoke pulsated and within it, black lightning crackled and popped menacingly. And the black flames were burning up.

The ancient darkness that threatened to swallow up all the light in the world was hiding within that cloud.

Beads of sweat formed on Affeldrichae’s frowning forehead.

That was Yi Ji-Hyuk’s unique magic. Only he could use this spell in the entire world.

The accursed magic spell that annihilated the combined might of Berafe’s armies of light in a single attack, had finally been unleashed in this world as well.

Of course, it was not as grand as the one performed by the Bringer of Apocalypse in his full power, but the mere fact that he was still able to perform that spell alone scared her greatly.

“Ha-aaaaah....”

A soft sigh of satisfaction left Yi Ji-Hyuk’s lips. It somehow sounded like the sigh of a devil leaking out from the depths of Hell.

He then looked at the ominous black cloud in the air and grinned brightly.

That’s right!! This is it.

I’m telling you, this is really it!

“Get out of my way!!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

The Hydra and Dae-Mang heard his roar and hurriedly ran away in fright.

“Go diiiiiiieeeee!!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s outstretched arms were yanked down, and.....

And the “clouds of destruction” rapidly descended on the Zombie Dragon.

Roooaaaarrr!!

The undead Dragon roared at the top of its lungs as it watched the black cloud fall on top of it. There was no place to run.

The Dragon’s emotions had been stripped away after it was turned into an undead, but it still must’ve felt fear, because its roar was unusually shrill as it reverberated around the world.

And!

Just as the clouds of destruction swallowed up the Zombie Dragon...

*SFX for Mana crazily swirling around*

The Dragon’s body proved to be as weak as a piece of paper in front of the Mana violently circulating, violently clashing, and violently exploding within the clouds.

*SFX for bones breaking*

Its body began breaking apart, right down to its molecules.

Choi Jung-Hoon hurriedly shouted out when he saw what was happening.

“Mister Ji-Hyuk!! Oh-Sik!! Oh-Sik’s still in there!” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

“Eh?”

Oh-Sik?

“Uwaaaaah?! O, Oh-Sik-ahhhhh!!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk cried out in alarm as he realised that he had forgotten about the pet Ogre.

“N, nooooo!!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He got too carried away after getting his hands on some real power! He had totally forgotten about his pet!!

Aigoo, my Oh-Sik.... What am I to do now....

It was then, Yi Ji-Hyuk’s eyes opened up wider instantly.

“There he is!”

Yi Ji-Hyuk pointed at the part of the Dragon’s body with his right hand, and suddenly, a black Gate appeared there. He had actually created a warp Gate inside the gut of the Zombie Dragon that hadn’t been affected by the clouds of destruction just yet.

The exit would be right next to him!

Another Gate appeared in front of Yi Ji-Hyuk, and right away, a huge creature with black and red fur jumped out.

Roooaaar!!

The scary-looking monster angrily spat out an Earth-shaking roar.

“Hah. Hey, you. People can make mistakes, you know. But, this hyung still managed to rescue you in time, didn’t I?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Roooaaar!!

“....You wanna die, then?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Whimper....

Oh-Sik quickly lowered his tail and plopped down on the ground.

However, seeing that the Ogre still turned his back on Yi Ji-Hyuk, it must be sulking really hard right now.

‘What a cute little kid.’

Yup, how adorable.

Yi Ji-Hyuk shifted his gaze away from Oh-Sik and towards the Dragon.

The clouds of destruction were like an avaricious demonic entity and they ripped into Dragon, devouring every little bit of the undead monster.

*SFX for things grinding down*

Along with the noise of a blender operating at full tilt, the Dragon’s body was utterly disintegrated into nothingness and scattered into the air. Not even a single bone was left behind.

“Ha-ah.....”

Yi Ji-Hyuk then reached out with his hand.

Drain!

All the remaining Mana in the air, as well as those that made up the black clouds were sucked into Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body. He spat out a long sigh afterwards.

The only thing remaining was the icy white ocean, frozen as far as the eyes could see.

“This was a toughie, that’s for sure.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He wasn’t even exaggerating on that one. Without that Mana crystal, the nation of Korea would’ve been destroyed for real.

“....Is it over?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)

When Choi Jung-Hoon asked him in a daze, Yi Ji-Hyuk lightly nodded his head.

He then placed a hand on the back of Oh-Sik and sucked the Mana out to revert the Ogre back to the size of a puppy, before placing the sulky creature on his shoulder.

Oh-Sik turned his head away, but he didn’t resist and quietly climbed on Yi Ji-Hyuk’s shoulder.

“Maaa~. I’m telling you, it was an honest mistake. Well, I’ll buy you meat later as compensation, okay?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Meat?” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Jeong Hae-Min reacted to his words, causing Yi Ji-Hyuk’s expression to crumple.

“Argh, you just butt out of my business!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Why?! Why! You use me when you need me for something, but when you don’t need me, you are always mean to me!! A person shouldn’t do that, you know!!” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“How foolish. That’s the existence of a shuttle in a nutshell.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk glanced at the frozen ocean where the Dragon used to be with a pair of rueful eyes.

One false move, and he would’ve been dead for good today.

‘This can’t go on.’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

There was no guarantee that a stronger monster than the undead Dragon wouldn’t appear in the future. In other words, it was now time to seriously think about a proper plan of action.

“Buy me meat!! Meat!!” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Oh, come on!!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk angrily picked Jeong Hae-Min and chucked her away, before shaking his head in defeat and muttered out.

“Argh, I don’t know anymore. Fine, fine. Let’s go eat meat.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“If you were going to buy it anyway, why did you throw me just now?!” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“You are excluded!!!!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Ahhh?! But, why!!” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Hah!! You....” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk suddenly froze up in the middle of arguing with her.

“Ng?”

Jeong Hae-Min tilted her head.

What was he planning to say now?

Blergh!

Yi Ji-Hyuk hurriedly keeled over and vomited out a fountain of blood.

“K, kyyyahck?!” (Jeong Hae-Min)

“Cough!”

Yi Ji-Hyuk vomited out a ton of blood, before collapsing on the ground with a thud.

“Yi, Yi Ji-Hyuuuukkkkk!!” (Jeong Hae-Min)

Jeong Hae-Min cried out and rushed in to hug him.

‘This....’

As his consciousness faded into darkness, Yi Ji-Hyuk began thinking.

‘....Can’t be good.’

< 119. Your heart might stop beating, you see -4 > Fin.