Chapter 210 – Unification (1)

Jeonju Safe Zone.

The bustling area where hundreds had gathered was once again filled with knights and mages returning.

Though only half of those who had left returned, the expressions of the survivors weren’t bad.

Everyone knew that this operation had been close to a suicide mission.

As expected, the losses were heavy, but the operation had succeeded, and now all that remained was to return home.

The surviving mages began erasing the portal connected to Daejeon, while Yelena and the others activated the gate.

Among the spatial mages who had helped create the gate, only Yelena and one other had survived, but since the gate was already fixed, the other mages could easily open it.

As Zahina rushed to help open the gate, the others watched their surroundings with some tension.

“Is there no pursuit?”

“There will be traces of the portal crossing, but it won’t be easy for them to track us here.”

At the archmage’s confident words, the old swordsman nodded.

If the archmage was so confident, they wouldn’t be disturbed until they returned.

“By the way, don’t you need to step in?”

“Aside from the spatial mage handling the gate and coordinates, everyone else just needs to pour mana into the gate. Besides, as a lightning mage, it’s difficult for me to mix my mana with others.

Well, with Ea’s greatest spatial mage and a mage of my caliber involved, there shouldn’t be any issues even without me.”

“Ea’s greatest spatial mage and a divine tree archmage.”

The Duke narrowed his eyes as he watched the two women casting spells near the gate.

“It’s truly amazing. How did they gather such a team?”

At the archmage’s words, the old swordsman turned his head to look at the knight standing in the distance, gazing down at the ruined city.

Compared to the young hero, he was a proper knight with experience, but to the old man, he was still very young.

However, even as a swordsman, he couldn’t gauge the knight’s strength.

‘In terms of mana and swordsmanship, we’re equal. If I’m lucky, I might win.’

In a prolonged battle, his age and lack of stamina would likely lead to his defeat, but he didn’t think he would lose to the young knight.

However, that was without considering holy power.

In both the capital of Posen and the northern city, the holy power the knight had displayed was beyond comprehension.

Holy power—a mysterious divine force unrelated to a knight’s skill. When a swordsman-level knight possessed such power, the results were something he had witnessed firsthand.

Of course, holy power was specialized against the Demon King and the undead, but that didn’t mean it was useless in battles against humans.

‘Well, it’s not like we’ll ever fight. Or rather, we shouldn’t.’

With that thought, he answered the mage’s question.

“Gathering such mages must be because of the hero’s party.”

“I thought that was just a fabricated story. The hero parties I’ve seen were all created by the Empire and the royal family.”

At the archmage’s words, the old swordsman—the instructor of the royal knights—frowned.

Some of the past members of the hero’s party had been assigned by him.

“Those hero parties weren’t fake.”

“Well, they’ve all performed well so far. Of course, their recognition and skills were often inferior to yours.”

“Tsk.”

The Duke clicked his tongue at the archmage’s sharp words.

It wasn’t wrong, which made it even more unpleasant to hear.

But this wasn’t the time to get angry at someone who had fought alongside him in another world.

He changed the subject.

“By the way, I never thought the operation would end like this.”

“Are you dissatisfied?”

Though he had changed the subject, his discomfort must have still been visible.

The Duke shook his head at the archmage’s words.

“The operation succeeded, and we survived. How could I be dissatisfied?”

“Still, you don’t look very satisfied.”

Upon reflection, his expression hadn’t softened because of the archmage’s words.

Indeed, he still felt uneasy about this operation.

Why was that?

Was it because so many knights and mages had died?

No, more than that, his discomfort stemmed from the young knight standing over there.

The moment he realized who was causing his unease, he also understood the reason.

“It’s because the new hero likely won’t align with the Empire’s royal family.”

At the Duke’s words, spoken while looking at the young knight, the archmage shrugged.

“He’s not a hero yet, is he? He himself says so.”

The old swordsman snorted at the mage’s words.

“Do you believe that? Someone who emits holy power far stronger than the young hero isn’t a hero?”

At his words, the mage crossed his arms with a troubled expression.

“It’s not holy power he created himself, like the previous heroes. Hmm. So, a half-hero, perhaps?”

“In any case, as long as he’s with the saintess, it doesn’t matter. Besides, the saintess with him is from this world. He might be different from the previous heroes.”

The reason he had come with that knight was to confirm this.

A hero candidate different from the previous heroes. It was necessary to confirm the possibility.

And now, there was no need for further confirmation.

That young knight wasn’t a hero candidate—he was a hero.

Different from the previous heroes, but stronger.

A hero Ea, the Empire, and the royal family desperately needed.

“Is that so? Then, if he gains the power of the previous heroes, he’ll become even more remarkable.”

That’s why the Emperor had considered abandoning the previous hero.

Even his own daughter.

Of course, he hadn’t expected the new hero to wield holy power so soon, but even then, he had been a hero candidate traveling with the saintess.

And he himself was a swordsman-level knight.

“So the royal family and the Emperor are placing their hopes on him.”

“Indeed…”

“Well, without him, we wouldn’t have survived this.”

The hero candidate—no, the hero—was even more remarkable than the royal family and the Emperor had anticipated.

Thanks to him, both the previous hero and I had survived.

“But the problem is that he doesn’t want to become a hero and doesn’t like the Empire’s royal family. Though he doesn’t seem to dislike the Empire itself.”

The archmage recalled the knight’s behavior after meeting him and traveling together.

No matter how he thought about it, the knight was an excellent knight.

Not a royal knight loyal to the Empire, but the kind of knight from old tales.

The knight he had seen didn’t discriminate based on the Empire or his homeland.

He was a free knight who saved the weak in danger and defeated enemies for their sake.

In fact, it was because he had seen the knight after he had amassed enough gold, his heart now rich, but regardless, the knight he had seen was an excellent free knight.

“The royal family is the Empire.”

“That’s true.”

The mage was, after all, a subject of the Empire.

He nodded at the Duke’s words.

“It’s a problem we’ll have to ponder upon returning. Or rather, the problem is that the hero and saintess survived.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s bad to have two heroes and two saintesses. With the time we’ve bought, the novice hero can also grow stronger.”

At the mage’s words, the Duke nodded with difficulty.

“…That’s true. That hero is loyal to the Empire. In any case, the Emperor will have much to ponder.”

“Let’s save those worries for later and rejoice in our survival as we return. If we delay, we might end up like the last gate.”

As the mage finished speaking, a door floating in the air revealed another world.

All that could be seen inside was a dark wall covered in piles of dirt, but it was undoubtedly another world—Ea.

Once again, Hoffman was the first to step forward.

Having survived and returned from Daejeon, he was the first to cross the gate this time as well.

After crossing the gate, he overcame his dizziness and signaled that he was fine, and then the others began to cross one by one.

The surviving knights and mages crossed the gate in turn, and beyond the gate, the blocked wall began to crumble.

Fortunately, the world beyond the gate remained unchanged.

This meant the ruined city was still there.

“Shall we go?”

At the Duke’s approach, I shook my head.

“I need to talk to some people. I’ll cross last with Mage Yelena.”

The Duke, who had followed my gaze, made an awkward expression.

What he saw were the locals gathered in one corner of the safe zone, the people who had crossed over from Daejeon.

“A free knight who cares for the weak…”

I tilted my head at the Duke’s sudden words, but he didn’t explain.

With a serious expression, he crossed the gate.

“Then, I’ll go ahead. Come after saying your goodbyes.”

The archmage also spoke to me and crossed the gate.

After the knights, mages, and the two swordsmen had crossed, the hero and saintess crossed the gate.

Before crossing, the hero seemed to want to say something to me, but since we would continue to see each other after crossing, he remained silent and crossed with the saintess.

Now, the only Eaians left in this world were our party.

We said our goodbyes to the Earthlings.

The three mages—Zahina, Yelena, and Irene—stayed by the gate to maintain it, while Yerim moved among the people, infusing each with holy power.

“This is all I can do for you. Stay strong.”

“Can’t you stay here?”

“I’m sorry.”

Many people, including a little girl, asked her to stay, but Yerim shook her head with a regretful expression.

“I have to fight the Demon King with the knight, so I can’t stay.”

At her answer, the children and people who had asked her to stay could only fall silent.

While she infused the people with holy power, I also said my goodbyes.

“You can stay here, but I recommend heading to Jeju Island. Once we leave, the chances of being tracked are low, but not zero.”

At my words, Seo-eun nodded.

Unlike the others, Seo-eun didn’t ask me to stay.

Whether they stayed here or headed to Jeju, our help would be a great boon, but in the current situation, our departure was for the best.

Most importantly, we couldn’t leave the gate here.

Nor could we take them with us to Ea.

To them, Ea would be no different from this ruined Earth.

“Will we ever see each other again?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to say.”

In truth, if we destroyed the gate here, it was unlikely we would return for several years.

If the hero grew well, there would be no reason for me to come back to this world.

But I couldn’t say that at a time like this.

“Now I can finally thank you properly. Thank you.”

Her eyes sparkled as she looked at me.

Her eyes seemed to know something, but both of us pretended not to notice and simply bowed our heads.

After finishing our goodbyes, Yerim crossed the gate, and before I entered, I took one last look at the northern sky.

It wasn’t out of nostalgia.

A bright light flashed in the northern sky.

Not just once, but several times.

It was an astonishingly bright light, but it was clearly a reflection in the sky.

If so, it was certain that something had happened far beyond the horizon.

For light from beyond the horizon to reflect so brightly…

For light created so far away to be this intense meant something tremendous had occurred.

Moreover, I recognized that light.

I had seen it before.

That light was undoubtedly the light of a nuclear explosion.

Moments later, dozens of mushroom clouds rose in the distance beyond the horizon.