Chapter 223 – Farewells  

While the Demon King shed his human body and transformed into a lich, we stood before the newly created portal, bidding farewell to the locals.  

“This is where we part ways. I wish we could have escorted you to Jeju Island and protected you a little longer. It’s unfortunate.”  

At my words, Seo-eun shook her head.  

“The situation doesn’t allow it.”  

Fortunately, both she and the remaining locals understood our circumstances.  

Luckily, Yelena had been to Jeju Island with us before, so she was able to create a portal connecting the Jeonju safe zone to Jeju.  

Thanks to that, the Koreans in Jeonju and the American soldiers who had traveled south with us could all be sent to Jeju via the portal.  

They wouldn’t have to walk to the southern coast and then take a boat to Jeju, significantly reducing the danger.  

However, even with the portal, Jeju wasn’t entirely safe.  

After all, since we hadn’t defeated the Demon King, nowhere on Earth was truly secure.  

But we couldn’t stay in Jeju to protect them.  

We were the Hero’s party, the ones who had directly interfered with the Demon King’s plans.  

Moreover, with a mage capable of opening the Gate to Ea among us, the Demon King would undoubtedly come after us first.  

Though the dimension-merging magic had escalated things, our original mission was to destroy the Gates connecting Earth to Ea.  

For that reason, we couldn’t remain on Earth.  

So, upon arriving in Jeonju, we immediately linked the portal to Jeju and requested that the people there be taken in.  

Fortunately, the New United Government ruling Jeju readily agreed.  

They had heard of our deeds, and the leader of the new government was none other than Yang In-hyuk—the former district chief, now Prime Minister—who had been with us since Busan.  

He and the new government promised not only to take in the Koreans from Jeonju but also to contact the U.S. government via satellite phone to arrange for the sailors to be sent to the remaining American military bases.  

It wasn’t just out of loyalty to us that Jeju’s government and Prime Minister Yang made this decision, but thanks to them, we could leave for Ea with peace of mind.  

With that settled, everyone in Jeonju had crossed over to Jeju via the portal, and now only a few remained to bid us farewell.  

Seung-ah was exchanging reluctant goodbyes with the other party members, while Jae-ha, Seo-eun’s husband, waited at the portal entrance for his wife.  

I had already said my goodbyes to both Jae-ha and Seung-ah.  

Now, it was time to part ways with Seo-eun, the representative of the locals.  

“You’ve worked hard all this time. Once you get to Jeju, take a break and spend some time with your husband.”  

Not knowing when we’d meet again, I offered her advice-like words.  

“Do you think that’ll be possible?”  

Seo-eun smiled and shook her head at my remark.  

Indeed, as she said, resting wouldn’t be easy.  

Even if the Demon King left Jeju alone, it wouldn’t become a safe zone free of undead.  

And even if they fended off the undead well, conflicts among people would remain.  

Those who had crossed over were all outsiders who had joined later—bound to clash with Jeju’s original residents or those who had settled earlier.  

But Seo-eun didn’t have to shoulder those problems herself.  

“If you don’t go looking for work, you’ll find time to rest.”  

At my calm words, Seo-eun’s expression shifted.  

She stared at me intently, her face serious.  

Why? Did I say something wrong?  

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Seo-eun spoke.  

“The timing never matched, and your appearance was different, so I kept dismissing it… but this time, I have to ask.”  

Looking at her expression, I had a feeling I knew what she was about to ask.  

“You’re the person I’m thinking of, aren’t you?”  

‘She’s figured it out.’  

It seemed remnants of my past life’s speech patterns had given me away.  

That’s why I had tried to avoid her as much as possible.  

But I couldn’t shake my head in denial.  

Because Seo-eun was already wearing a look of certainty.  

Even in my past life, denying anything to that expression of hers had been pointless.  

Yet, with her husband standing behind her, I couldn’t exactly nod either.  

All I could do was smile.  

Though I said nothing, Seo-eun seemed to take my expression as confirmation.  

With a warm smile, she hugged me tightly.  

“Thank you. For meeting us again, and for saving us.”  

I reflexively raised my arms, then placed a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back.  

“Your husband is waiting.”  

At my words, Seo-eun stared at me intently.  

After studying my face for a moment, she finally nodded.  

“…Right. Yes. He is waiting. I’ll do my best to follow your advice.”  

She bowed deeply to me, then turned and hugged Yerim tightly.  

Yerim burst into tears again.  

Seo-eun comforted the weeping Saint gently.  

Then, Seung-ah, Jae-ha, and Seo-eun stepped through Yelena’s portal to Jeju.  

We watched as they disappeared, and once they were gone, Yelena erased the portal’s magic circle from the ground.  

The portal to Daejeon had already been dismantled earlier, and now the one to Jeju was gone too.  

All that remained in the Jeonju safe zone was the Gate connected to Ea.  

Reactivated after the Demon King’s magic was dispelled, the Gate had been modified by Yelena to break after one use—once we crossed.  

We gathered our belongings and lined up before the Gate.  

Before stepping through, I made one final check.  

On Earth, there had been three Gates: the two in Daejeon and here, connected to Ea, and one more in New York.  

“What about the Gate in the U.S.?”  

Zahina answered my question.  

“Before the Mother Tree passed, she contacted the other divine trees through their connection and instructed them to sever the Gate’s link.”  

As expected of a divine tree.  

Even while being consumed by the Demon King’s magic, the Mother Tree had accomplished more than I’d thought.  

She had single-handedly destroyed countless liches to aid us, contacted other divine trees in her land, and even severed the Gate’s connection.  

Thanks to her, we didn’t need to travel to New York.  

Now, once we crossed to Ea and destroyed this Gate, no trace of the Gates would remain on Earth.  

However, while I was relieved, Yelena and Irin’s expressions were grim.  

“The problem is, even if we destroy all the Gates on Earth, neither Ea nor the Divine Tree’s land will be safe.”  

“We were only buying time from the start.”  

The Empire—the people of Ea—had planned to sever all connections with Earth to buy themselves years, or even decades.  

They needed time to eliminate the undead that had crossed over and to nurture the Hero’s party to defeat the Demon King.  

Since this operation was meant to buy that time, I thought there wouldn’t be any major issues—but Yelena’s words suggested otherwise.  

“But we won’t even get that much time.”  

Her words made me sigh. It seemed something else had changed.  

“This is the Demon King who cast dimension-merging magic. Many objects and creatures from Ea have already crossed over… With the dimensions this close, he won’t need a specific target to create a new Gate.”  

Once again, my bad luck seemed to be complicating things.  

Or perhaps it wasn’t luck—just the inevitable outcome of the Demon King’s magic.  

“So you’re saying…”  

“Once the injured Demon King recovers, it won’t take long for him to create another Gate.”  

“How much time do we have left?”  

Regardless, the critical question was how much time remained.  

Surely not just a few hours or days?  

“Hard to say. It’s difficult to gauge how quickly the Demon King will recover or how fast he’ll rebuild the Gate… But at best, a few weeks. At worst, a few months.”  

That was a relief.  

Of course, compared to the years or decades we had hoped for, it was absurdly short.  

But even that much time would be a great help.  

At the very least, it gave us time to prepare.  

This battle had proven that we couldn’t stop the Demon King alone.  

Against an ordinary Demon King—or even one without such overwhelming mana—our party alone might have stood a chance.  

But the Demon King now floating in space, radiating light, was no ordinary foe.  

We needed help.  

Other people, other knights and mages. The strength of kingdoms and empires, temples and gods.  

Only then could we deliver the final blow to the Demon King and retire.  

‘Before the fight, I should at least secure a territory.’  

I planned to claim a remote, peaceful fief in the Empire and enjoy a leisurely retirement.  

But to do that, we had to defeat the Demon King first.  

I still didn’t understand why I had to fight the Demon King, but as the Hero, I couldn’t just ignore it.  

And so, we stepped through the Gate.  

After our party crossed, the floating Gate began to collapse.  

The magic circle engraved on its frame dimmed, and the doorway that had shown another world vanished.  

Only the empty frame remained.  

It fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.  

With the last Gate destroyed, the safe zone’s power also faded.  

The divine energy that had sustained it dispersed, seeping into relics meant to honor the gods.  

The mountain that had housed the safe zone became an ordinary mountain once more.  

Now, no trace of Ea or its people remained on Earth.  

On the other side of the Gate, we were greeted by a grand welcome.  

At the Ea-side Gate in Fosen, neither the Hero, the Saint, nor most of the knights, mages, or Sword Saints were present.  

They had left Fosen to fight the undead.  

Those who welcomed us were the few knights and mages who had stayed behind to guard the Gate.  

They bombarded us with frantic questions—understandably, since catastrophic events had unfolded in Ea after the Gates closed.  

“Buildings disappeared, people vanished, and even the barriers grew faint.”  

“Strange structures and cities appeared in the sky, and prophecies foretold the world’s end.”  

“Bizarre objects erupted from the ground or fell from above, terrifying everyone.”  

Even as they questioned us, the knights and mages eagerly recounted the situation.  

When I asked how they knew about these events, they shared some reassuring news.  

“Fortunately, the Demon King’s forces collapsed—their chain of command must have broken. They reverted to ordinary undead. The damage was severe, but we’ve been counterattacking and have reclaimed many regions. That’s how we’ve been able to hear news from other areas.”  

That was a relief.  

With time already short, the collapse of the Demon King’s army meant we wouldn’t have to waste any more.  

“Can we head straight to the Imperial Capital?”  

At my question, the people exchanged uneasy glances.  

“You can travel there, but it’ll take a while. Most portals beyond the barrier are non-functional. You’d at least have to cross the barrier to reach one.”  

I turned to Yelena.  

“Yes, we can go directly. I’ll create a portal now.”  

“Huh? What do you mean?”  

Leaving the bewildered mages behind, Yelena began drawing a magic circle.  

As it took shape at an incredible speed, the mages’ eyes widened in disbelief.