Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 265 : Advent of the Demon God (2)

Advent of the Demon God (2)

【Soo-ah unni went alone to stop Ryan Knox.】

Alencia's voice was heard through the earphones by my ear.

Currently, even smartphones had lost signal, and yet, surprisingly, her voice was incredibly clear.

【Ryan Knox and Kang Min-gi, the two of them seemed to have split off while heading toward the Unique side.】

"Then Kang Min-gi and other top-rank demons probably went in that direction."

【Right. I think we'll be fine, but Soo-ah unni is......】

Alencia's tone was quite heavy, probably because she was worried about Soo-ah.

It meant the strength she had felt from Ryan Knox was truly formidable.

'Cade.'

I was sure that he would return using that heart.

I just didn't expect that the one to return would be Ryan Knox.

Until now, he had never shown much interest in demons as a hunter.

'Come to think of it, maybe even now, he doesn't.'

Ryan Knox had no reason to follow the intent of this round of demons or Jin Su-hyuk.

If he made a deal with the demons, it wouldn't be because he sympathized with their ideology, but for wholly personal reasons.

"There's no need to worry about Soo-ah-ssi."

【Oh, really?】

"Yes. No matter how powerful Ryan Knox has become, if he uses a sword, he will never defeat Soo-ah-ssi."

Especially if Ryan Knox joined hands with demons out of personal desire.

He could never defeat Soo-ah.

"Soo-ah-ssi is much stronger than you think, Alencia."

Certainly, the existence of a Saintess was remarkable, and Alencia may have worried over Soo-ah for that reason.

However, as I saw it, Soo-ah definitely was not inferior to Alencia.

One beloved by mana.

On that side, she would have been called that.

"Rather, be cautious of Kang Min-gi. I think he's more dangerous than Ryan Knox."

Ryan Knox had too little time to become perfectly one with Cade.

So, there had to be shortcomings.

But not Kang Min-gi.

As Jin Su-hyuk's right hand, and after his long disappearance, he would have reached 'completion'.

【Got it. Then, what about you, manager-nim?】

"I have to do what I must."

I raised my head and looked up at the giant 'Dark Star'.

I'd already been here once before, but seeing it from the outside, instead of buried underground, its size was overwhelming.

Countless golden threads were still connecting to the Dark Star, growing its size and strength.

"And......"

Thump, thump, thump.

Now that I had drawn this close, the pulsations radiating from the Dark Star were far stronger than before.

It was not the simple beating of a heart, but the pulse announcing the birth of something.

"Looks like someone's come out to greet me."

Saying that, I switched off the earphones.

Someone familiar was waiting for me at the entrance to the Dark Star.

"Ivan Hunts."

The man once called humanity's worst great mage.

"Well, what can I say, should I be happy to see you?"

At my words, Ivan gave a relaxed smile.

Unlike the last time I saw him, it was a smile filled with exultation.

***

A sword strike that surpassed simple physical law and reached the level of principle.

In a way, it was like foresight.

No, perhaps 'fate' was the correct word.

Fast or slow aside, what Ryan desired would be realized through the sword.

So his sword strikes should have already torn Soo-ah to pieces.

'Block it.'

If she were seeing this for the first time, there would have been no way to defend against it.

Because it was something that went far beyond mere swordsmanship.

Without even knowing its true nature, she would have collapsed helplessly.

But Baek Hojun had already shown this to Soo-ah.

When he faced Cade, who was far stronger.

There, the robustness or frailty of the flesh meant little.

Through the wish, even surpassing the limits of lifespan, Soo-ah had glimpsed the pinnacle of that realm.

Kaaaang!!

She blocked a sword that should have been unblockable.

Even if a sword touched destiny itself, as long as one faced its flow, in the end, it was still a mere sword strike.

'Block it.'

Kang! Kakang! Kang!!

Once, twice, three times.

She continued to break the flow that should have continued endlessly.

'Ha.'

Ryan felt it too.

That Soo-ah was keeping up with his sword.

'So, this is what a true genius is.'

At first, Soo-ah couldn't block them all.

Because of that, her body was covered in minor cuts, and she was being thoroughly overwhelmed by Ryan's sword.

No matter how much Soo-ah had glimpsed Baek Hojun's realm, she hadn't reached it.

She was only barely hanging on to a thread.

So Ryan needed only to cut that thin thread with his sword in order to win.

But why?

No matter how many times he swung, the thin thread wouldn't break.

It became a twine, then a thick rope.

And now, it was a sturdy chain made of metal.

"But Lee Soo-ah."

Still, she couldn't compare to him.

But even if he kept dragging this out, he couldn't take Soo-ah down.

"You're not the only one who saw it."

Certainly, Baek Hojun had displayed a sword capable of touching the heavens.

Cade had seen it up close, and that experience and understanding had been passed to Ryan.

Cade had been far above Soo-ah.

Of course, he had seen and understood much more.

Geh-geuk, geu-geu-geu-geuk!!

The sword in Ryan's hand trembled, emitting a pure white radiance.

Baek Hojun's 'Heavenly Sword' revealed itself in Ryan's hand.

'A sword capable of cutting even the sky.'

The white light in his grip.

The moment the light emitted from Ryan's hand, the entire flow of everything in the area was severed.

The world, once connected by many flows, now streamed toward that one thing.

Suddenly, Soo-ah recalled the term 'demon god'.

The demons had tried many methods to create gods resembling 'saints'.

There must have been many ways.

Probably, Ryan Knox was one of them.

He desired only one thing.

A higher realm.

In a way, he resembled Baek Hojun.

The difference was that Baek Hojun fought for others.

Ryan fought solely for himself.

One couldn't say which was better.

But that pure desire was clearly leading Ryan down the path to godhood.

'This sword is for you.'

When Baek Hojun delivered the final blow to Cade, it was as if he was saying that to Soo-ah.

The Heavenly Sword. But it was Ryan, not Soo-ah, who now wielded it.

"Lee Soo-ah, you are definitely a genius."

Given time, Soo-ah would become even stronger.

Even now, she was growing step by step in real combat.

So, even if it was a stretch, he had to finish her in one strike.

Thud!

Ryan kicked off the ground, and Soo-ah felt as if space itself folded.

It wasn't simply fast movement like Alencia.

It was closer to magic.

There was well over ten meters between them, but it felt as if the distance vanished entirely.

She couldn't see the process.

When Soo-ah's eyes refocused, he was already right in front of her.

In slow-motion, the sword swung at her neck.

'I can't dodge it.'

She hadn't seen him cover the ten-meter gap, so there was no way she could evade this swung sword.

'I can't block it, either.'

Could she really parry that sword now?

Impossible.

She would surely be cut down along with it.

'No.'

Soo-ah held her breath.

'Absolutely not.'

She had already seen that sword countless times.

She had sparred over and over against the Heavenly Sword, wielded by Baek Hojun, in the past week.

So she knew.

How to respond, how to use it.

Kagagagak!!!

Two white radiances clashed in midair.

The light emanating from Soo-ah's sword was clearly weaker than Ryan's, but where it fell short, blue flames made up the difference.

The blazing fire devoured Ryan's light.

"Life Lantern Ignition."

Blue flames that existed solely to kill the opponent.

From Ryan's chest, blue flames bloomed, and the area started burning with blue fire.

Kaaaaang!!

Ryan drove at Soo-ah, trying to shake off the flames.

From the impact, Soo-ah's body was flung away, crashing into a nearby building and getting buried in the debris.

"...... Impossible."

Ryan's body trembled at the tingling shock running through his hand.

It wasn't just because Soo-ah used the 'Heavenly Sword'.

"She skipped the process?"

Everything has an order.

Soo-ah was still lacking much to reach the Heavenly Sword.

Ryan was barely managing to keep up with the flow himself.

Even having seen the Heavenly Sword, there were countless steps needed to wield it.

So he planned to finish her before she could reach it.

"To be able to master only the result, not knowing the intermediary steps?"

Impossible.

Had Soo-ah not shown it, he never would have believed.

'If that's so.'

Ryan saw the blue flames rising from the ruined building's debris.

He saw the incarnation of the flame, burning mana, melting the ground as it walked forth.

The sword, wreathed in blue fire that wrapped around the pure white glow in her hand, lit up the entire area.

Like a gigantic lantern.

"They say only geniuses can see the path reserved for geniuses."

That you don't have to follow the same path as others.

That she could follow her own path—so he said.

The words Jung-woo had spoken became the most important milestone in Soo-ah's life.

A milestone to chase her own path, not the same path as others.

"So."

She knew.

A huge amount of work was needed to reach this place.

That there were steps which had to be followed.

"I'll show you."

A path only a true genius could see.

The Heavenly Sword Baek Hojun had shown was nothing more than a push on Soo-ah's back.

To cut the sky, it wasn't enough to merely touch it.

She needed to reach the position not of heaven (천) but of god (신).

Just as Ryan Knox had sought to become a demon god.

One step.

As she merely put one foot forward, the blue flames streaked along the ground.

A serene killing intent was now distinctly felt.

When Soo-ah's blue-glowing eyes fixed on Ryan, he unconsciously felt strength pouring into the hand gripping his sword.

'It can't be.'

He couldn't understand it.

He wanted to cry out that it was impossible.

But those were always the words spoken by those who faced him in the past.

They screamed it was impossible by human talent and looked on in despair.

【────】

No sound was heard.

Soo-ah's sword moved, and a path of blue fire tore open at once.

His instincts screamed at him to retreat, to evade.

A fierce inferiority complex screamed inside, but Ryan couldn't look away from Soo-ah's sword.

To a swordsman, it was an irresistible magnetism.

The path Soo-ah showed—a path visible only to true geniuses—he wanted to see what it was.

He wanted to see how different that road was from his own.

'Is that so.'

Soo-ah's sword pointed at the sky, then fell straight down.

At the same time, Ryan also kicked off.

The distance between them was still considerable, but neither Soo-ah nor Ryan cared about that anymore.

'This is.......'

Certainly, Ryan was a little faster.

His thrust at Soo-ah's neck was inevitably faster than her sword, falling with a vertical slash.

That was what Ryan thought to be 'natural'.

────!!!

At some point, Soo-ah's sword struck the earth.

With a vertical swing, the sword cleaved everything ahead of her.

Ryan's sword, his body as he thrust at her—

And, at the very end, even the sky he gazed up at.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

17 chapters left.

Hmm. A bit anti-climactic... I think Baek Hojun's fight with Cade was better.

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】