The Returner

Chapter 291

“Drain . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk began sucking in the mass of Mana . Its concentration was so high that rather than regular Mana, it felt like a completely different ‘something’ else, instead .

“Keuh-euh-euhk . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He gritted his teeth . The pure Mana dug into his body and clashed against the dark Mana residing within him .

“Wu-euhph . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He bit down hard on his lip .

It felt like a bomb had gone off inside .

The magical energy endlessly flowed in and repeatedly wrecked, cut apart, and blew up his innards . The continuous clashes caused impact ripples to explode out from his body .

“Darling!” (Erukana)

Erukana sensed Yi Ji-Hyuk’s current condition and tried to approach him, but stopped herself . She remembered that interfering now would only endanger him even further so she couldn’t do anything .

She was well aware of how dangerous the collision of two Manas possessing opposing qualities could be .

Not only that, Mana inside Yi Ji-Hyuk and the new Mana being sucked in were just too large to be stored in a person’s body .

Once both Manas combined into one, the total amount should easily exceed what a high-ranking Demon King possessed . Such Manas were busy colliding inside his body, so it was already a miracle that he wasn’t ripped into pieces by now .

If she was talking about the sturdy physique of a demon king, fine, but Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body still remained within the physical constraints of a human being . Even if he came back to Earth and acquired Ether which in turn reinforced his body somewhat, it was still a human’s body at the end of the day .

Even the best body reinforcement type in the world, Park Seong-Chan, was only on the level of scraps of paper easily torn apart by a single demon king .

“Darling… . ” (Erukana)

Erukana looked at Yi Ji-Hyuk with worry-filled eyes .

She should’ve stopped this when considering the pain he’d suffer and the danger he’d be under, but she couldn’t do that . As the boundary between Earth and the demon world grew unstable, one’s weakness would eventually become the slowly-tightening noose .

He needed to regain at least half of his former strength if he wanted to have any chance of survival .

She knew that, so she couldn’t stop him at all .

“Keuh-euh-euh… . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body finally couldn’t endure the reaction and began rupturing in places .

“Lizaaaard!!” (Erukana)

Erukana yelled out loudly, and Affeldrichae practically flew to her side .

“Heal him . ” (Erukana)

“But… . ” (Affeldrichae)

“Can’t you see it’s already clashing inside him?” (Erukana)

“Understood . ” (Affeldrichae)

Now normally, Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body would be destroyed by doing that, but the light and dark Manas were already busy colliding inside his body . He was crumbling away anyway, so a little extra injection of light Mana wouldn’t change the matters .

Affeldrichae understood what Erukana was saying here and quickly cast Heal on Yi Ji-Hyuk .

“Mister Ji-Hyuk, be strong . ” (Affeldrichae)

This was all she could do .

Pah-aaaht!

His temple ruptured and blood spewed out like a fountain .

The crimson blood splattered on Erukana’s face but she didn’t back away one step and continued to observe him, both of her eyes wide open .

“Keuk . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk gritted his teeth .

‘Is this really meant to kill me?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

If someone set this trap up knowing that Yi Ji-Hyuk would try to absorb this Mana, then it should be called a truly inspired effort, that’s for sure . The concentration of Mana exceeding his prior estimation rushed into his body as soon as he began absorbing it .

This energy was so highly concentrated that he couldn’t end ‘Drain’ midway even though his body was rapidly filling up . Sure, it might be rather inefficient way to kill him, but it was also pretty logical, too .

He knew that his theory was nonsense, but that was how critical the condition of his body currently was .

The two Manas that could easily blow up Seoul in its entirety if they collided in the open were busy headbutting each other inside his body . Without his exacting control over Mana gained through near-infinite amount of experience, he’d have died after his flesh exploded to bits by now .

A very precarious “walking on a tightrope” situation was currently unfolding .

“… . Can he continue to withstand it?” (Affeldrichae)

Affeldrichae asked but that only elicited a sharp retort from Erukana, instead .

“How should I know, you dumb cow?!” (Erukana)

“………”

Although her expression remained the same, Erukana was deeply anxious inside, as well .

Affeldrichae studied Yi Ji-Hyuk with worried concentration .

It was almost impossible to absorb into one’s body two disparate types of Manas that attacked each other . Even if that person was Yi Ji-Hyuk .

He was quickly converting all regular Mana entering him to dark Mana and stored them . The problem with doing that was he needed to accept the ‘light’ Mana continuously in his body .

Wu-du-duk… .

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s tightly clenched teeth were breaking under the pressure .

His flesh was rupturing, his bones couldn’t endure against the pressure and turned to powder, but all of his wounds were healed by Affeldrichae’s magic – only for the cycle to repeat again and again .

“What about his mind?” (Affeldrichae)

Affeldrichae urgently shouted out .

“His mind will break first! This has already gone past the level of what a human can endure! He no longer enjoys an immortal body, too!” (Affeldrichae)

“I know, so shut up . ” (Erukana)

“Erukana-nim!” (Affeldrichae)

“I said, shut up!” (Erukana)

Killing intent was thickly permeating Erukana’s voice .

“A lizard dares to question my hubby’s mental fortitude?” (Erukana)

“………”

“As a human, he managed to climb up to the position of a demon king . No human alive could’ve done that regardless of fixed body state or not . He possesses a powerful mind that the likes of you can’t even fathom so keep your mouth shut and just watch . ” (Erukana)

Affeldrichae bit her lower lip .

She was well aware of how strong Yi Ji-Hyuk’s mind was . She had spent much more time with him than anyone else, after all .

However, now wasn’t the time to blindly place one’s faith .

He was no longer the same man from the past who could immediately recover from whatever injuries he had suffered . His body was currently being maintained by Affeldrichae’s healing magic . Even then, every repeated cycle of suffering and healing placed a heavy load on his mental state .

A regular person would’ve already died in shock in less than one second from pure pain alone, yet she had to simply watch and do nothing?

“No need to worry . ” (Erukana)

Erukana spoke in a low, gloomy voice .

“He’s not a weak man . I wouldn’t have fallen for such a man, anyway . ” (Erukana)

Her sharp eyes were fixed unwaveringly on Yi Ji-Hyuk .

However, her hands were trembling ever so faintly .

*

‘Huh?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk became aware of something .

Did I black out for a moment there? Why do I feel so numb?

N-no, hang on a minute… .

Why can’t I see anything?(Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tried to move his body .

At the same time, indescribable pain assaulted him .

“Keuh-heuk . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Instantly, the memories he momentarily forgot rushed back in and he clamped his mouth shut . However, a fountain of blood welling up from his innards forced his lips open and still poured out, anyway .

‘H-hey, won’t I die at this rate?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

If there was a scale indicating the balance between life and death, it should be tilting a lot towards the latter right about now .

“How embarrassing . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He wasn’t sure if his words came out correctly . His eyeballs had ruptured and perhaps his eardrums were gone too, because he couldn’t see or hear anything .

Even then, he increased the rate of Mana absorption .

Bones in his hand dragging in the Mana couldn’t endure and began to crumble to powder . Pain so severe that his lips parted all on their own rushed in, but well, he had already experienced such pain countless times before .

One would never get used to pain, sure, but still, his threshold was higher than everyon else’s . As the amount of Mana entering his body increased, he thought he could hear thunderclaps going off inside his already-deafened ears .

He gritted his teeth and forcefully converted all Mana entering him to dark magical energy .

He continued to pile on more and more dark Mana, and soon enough, it began devouring the regular Mana entering his body .

“Whew-woo . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

It had stabilised .

Once the dark Mana in his body grew larger than that of the incoming regular Mana, he could absorb and convert the latter without experiencing a great deal of pain .

“Ouch!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

However, Mana that didn’t belong anywhere suddenly stabbed him in the side to stimulate his pain sensors . His now-healed eyes shifted to the side to discover Affeldrichae pouring in healing magic .

“Stop!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He waved his hand at her, and she lowered her hands .

‘Ng?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Her expression was rather unreadable .

I didn’t know that lizard woman could make a face like that .

She’s almost a human now, isn’t she?(Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk smirked before addressing her .

“Well, you might even start crying at this rate?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Did you know you almost died just now?” (Affeldrichae)

“I wouldn’t die from something like this . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He almost did die, though .

He shook his head and after locking his gaze on the lump of Mana that had shrunken down to the size of a basketball, he gritted his teeth .

“I don’t know which insane b*stard sent me this, but well, if this was a plan to get rid of me, what a cool scheme it was . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

One little mistake, and he’d have really died .

Unlike the attacks from demon kings that injured him on the outside, this was happening within his body . If he wasn’t careful, his flesh would explode into bits and pieces, turning into meat chunks that not even healing magic could do anything about .

“Darling, are you alright?” (Erukana)

“Yeah . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk lightly nodded his head .

Forget about being alright, he felt as if he could fly now – the slight exaggeration fully intentional, of course .

Although the differing nature did cause him a bit of trouble, it was still true that he managed to get his hands on an enormous amount of Mana today .

‘How long has it been since I sensed this much Mana in me?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

It’d be the first time since arriving on Earth, at least .

Yi Ji-Hyuk checked the nooks and crannies of his body and nodded his head . Being unable to replenish his supply again was a fatal shortcoming, sure, but with this much Mana, he should be able to deal with a regular demon king all by himself .

“It’s a good end result, but still… . . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk stared at the disappearing Gates, his eyes quietly gleaming .

‘Those Gates were created with me as the target . ’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

With this much, it should be fine to come to a conclusion based only on suspicions .

Not just the fact that many Gates opened up at the same time, but what came out from them were exactly the same, too – and also the fact that the only two creatures capable of wielding Mana on this planet were just him and Affeldrichae .

When considering all those facts, the end result should be clear .

“But, I just don’t get the purpose behind it . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk scratched his head .

Why was the other party doing this?

Was it really to kill him?

If that was the case, then this method was just too inefficient . When thinking about the amount of energy the other side had to sacrifice while trying to send this much Mana over here, then it simply made no bloody sense . No sane person out there would want to swallow such massive losses for a method with an uncertain success rate .

‘There’s definitely something I’ve overlooked… . ’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head .

No matter how hard he racked his brain, he’d not get any answers . For now, he needed to take care of the mess before his eyes first and wait . The other side would eventually seek him out, either due to good intentions or animosity .

He only needed to deal with it when that time came .

Choi Jeong-Hoon had walked closer by then, and he tried to engage Yi Ji-Hyuk in a conversation .

“How are you feeling?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“… . Where have you been?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Well, I was worried that you might explode, so… . ” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Ahhh . You were far away because you were worried about getting blood on your clothes . What a neat freak . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Ehehe . That’s not true . ” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“I heard that people supposedly don’t find their own blood dirty, so should we really find out with you?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I’m sorry . ” (Choi Jeong-Hoon

Choi Jeong-Hoon hurriedly changed the topic .

“Can you resolve that side now, please?” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“That side?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I mean, the North . If a monster horde of that magnitude rampages about… . . ” (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

“Ah, that . You’re right, but… . . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s smirk caused Choi Jeong-Hoon to shiver in anxiety .

“I’m starving, so let’s grab a bite to eat first . ” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Darling, I want a hamburger . ” (Erukana)

“………”

Choi Jeong-Hoon glanced at the distant dust clouds to the north .

‘Sorry . ’ (Choi Jeong-Hoon)

I did my best, you know .

No, really .

< 291 . Who the hell is Rhee Ji-Hyuk? -1 > Fin .