I’ll Retire After Saving the World

TL: SHW

When the hell did he get here?!

I knew Hope used Runes to move, but I'd never failed to detect his Presence this completely before. It wasn't even as if I'd let my guard down.

I wasn't the only one who'd missed it. Hong Seok-young had too. This was practically the same as sprouting up from empty ground.

Hope clicked his tongue and shook his head with exaggerated flair.

"I told you not to let your temper run wild."

"You...!"

Bloom squirmed. Scrunched his face. Did they know each other? But hadn't that guy told us to kill Sem Bloom?

Hope slowly raised a finger and pointed at Hong Seok-young.

"Hong Seok-young's here."

The finger moved slowly. This time it pointed at me.

"And she's here too."

Then he let out a heavy sigh.

"I definitely told you to be careful. You couldn't hold it together for a few minutes and did whatever you pleased, and this is what happens. Did you want my help that badly?"

"...Ngh!"

"And I told you, right after finishing the contract, you're as fragile as a newborn cockroach."

The revelation that these two knew each other, that one had hired someone to kill the other, the hints of something hidden beneath it all, half of that was forgotten the moment Hope's bizarre analogy came out. And it seemed Sem Bloom felt the same way.

"A cockroach?! What kind of...!!"

Of all the things to compare him to....

"But that's what you look like right now. A cockroach."

Hope tilted his head side to side and grinned.

"That's a compliment, by the way."

How, exactly?

I was baffled just listening, so imagine how the man himself felt. Sem Bloom thrashed about, heedless of the blood gushing from the shoulder where the Sword was embedded.

"You! Hope!!"

Despite the wretched spectacle, Hope was now clapping his hands and cackling.

"See? I'm telling you, you really do look like a cockroach."

"Hope!!"

"Ah. That one wasn't a compliment."

That... was obvious at a glance.

An air of bewilderment lingered in the Cavern.

"But the first one really was a compliment? You've managed to stay alive against these two, haven't you?"

Hope continued talking to Sem Bloom alone, never once glancing at me or Hong Seok-young.

"Hmm. Though maybe those two humans were more merciful than they look. You're in that state and they didn't take your head off the moment they saw you. How very humanitarian."

Only after saying that did Alex Hope look directly at me. His irises seemed unusually dark. The smile that had gotten under my skin for two days at the Forum was gone.

His face was pale and shadowed, just like when he'd told us to kill Sem Bloom before we descended into the Dungeon.

"If it were me, I would've killed first and asked questions later."

"Are you saying you want me dead right now?!"

"Or maybe your skills were better than I thought?"

Hope carried on as if Sem Bloom's voice didn't exist.

But then, as though his own words were some kind of joke, he broke into a loose, lazy grin.

"Nah, that can't be it, so, Sem, Semmy, it must be that your survival instincts are as impressive as a cockroach's, right?"

"Hope!!!"

"That is my name, yes. Let's see. From what I can tell, you used Magic, didn't you? To buy time? That was smart. If you can't win and you can't run, you wait for someone who can help. Knowing your own limits is actually really important."

"......"

"You haven't swapped out your brain yet, have you? Well, it still seems more useful than the rest of you, so you should probably keep it... wait. Did you swap your brain? Swapped it for something that makes up for your lack of intelligence?"

Finally, Sem Bloom exploded.

"What are you even here to do?!"

"Uh... you're the one who called me. Forgot already?"

"Then why are you just standing there watching?!"

"Because it's fun."

Sem Bloom thrashed his arms, seemingly numb to the pain. The wound was tearing wider. Not that he could break free anyway.

Still, it was annoying, so I pressed down harder with my foot. I'd only restrained him because he seemed to still possess some shred of human reason, but maybe I should have broken an arm or a leg after all.

I recalled Sem Bloom kneeling before a monster. Whatever that act had been, it was certainly not something any decent human being would do.

I looked at Hong Seok-young. He'd been watching Alex Hope warily with narrowed brows, but when our eyes met, he nodded. Permission granted.

"Alex Hope."

I called out to Hope, keeping my voice low.

It was hard to believe Hope had come to kill Sem Bloom himself. The reason Sem Bloom was throwing that tantrum, calling Hope's name, was...

Because Hope had come to rescue him.

"You clearly..."

"Now, it looks like our little cockroach's patience has run out!"

I raised an eyebrow.

"Don't call me a cockroach!"

"If cockroaches knew you'd rejected the title, they'd be hurt."

That bastard, just now... he cut me off, didn't he? So I couldn't say anything else?

"What do cockroaches have to do with anything right now! Either save me or get lost!"

"I came all this way and that's what I get? That'd be pretty sad. And if I really did leave, the one who'd be sad is you, isn't it?"

"...Then do what you came to do!!"

"Hmmmmm."

Hope hummed a little tune.

"Sem, you're not someone who gets to give me orders."

"......"

"Remember what I told you last time? How you're supposed to ask if you want something from me?"

"......"

Screeeech....

Sem Bloom dug his nails into the ground. Red streaks trailed where his fingers passed. A torn-off nail showed just how furious he was.

But then Sem Bloom let his arms, or wings, droop limply, and spoke quietly.

"......ease."

"Hm? What was that? I can't quite hear you."

I watched Hope with a peculiar expression.

Don't tell me that bastard asked someone to kill a coworker he didn't like?

"Pl, ease, help, me."

"Hmm."

"I'm, beg, ging, you."

"Hmmm."

"Please...."

"Okay!"

Hope smirked.

And vanished.

He didn't trace a Rune with his toe or kick at the ground. He just vanished.

"A cute little cockroach is asking for help."

Hope's voice came from behind me.

"Gotta help, right?"

Sharp Killing Intent drove into me, just like when he'd ambushed Kang Tae-woo. Ignoring Hong Seok-young and coming at me. Bold of him.

First he tells us to kill Sem Bloom, now he's trying to save him.

There was so much I couldn't understand. Who Alex Hope was, what Sem Bloom was after, whether Noah Michel truly was the one who'd orchestrated all of this.

Once I left the Dungeon, nothing but headaches awaited. But the task at hand was simple.

Alex Hope's hand reached toward my neck. A straightforward move, his target plain as day.

So straightforward it felt like a trap, and then I thought maybe that reaction was exactly what he was aiming for.

He hadn't seemed like the type to play those kinds of mind games during our brief clash at the ambush, but who knew.

Hmm.

Hope vanished.

I bent backward at the waist on instinct.

Hope's foot passed through the space where my head had been a moment ago. He vanished again.

Had the Rune-drawing been a feint all along? Or did he only need to draw them when taking someone else along?

An annoying ability.

I couldn't let go of Sem Bloom, so having to stay near him while fighting put too many restrictions on my movement.

I had no choice but to stop dodging.

When he'd appeared mid-conversation, I hadn't detected his Presence at all. But it seemed hiding his Presence while moving this violently was beyond him.

Just before he attacked, when he reappeared, I could sense his Presence. It helped that since I wasn't moving from this spot, where he'd show up was obvious.

I'd fought Hope only once before. When he ambushed the kids.

Back then, Hope had attacked using a violent flow of Mana. I'd countered it easily enough, but it was a vicious attack that could have leveled everything around us if things had gone wrong.

Right now, Hope couldn't use that method, not with Sem Bloom here. But his habit of using his hands remained, so I deflected the strike upward with my forearm, then grabbed his arm with my other hand and pulled him toward me. Then I drove my elbow into his side.

"Ow!"

He let out a pathetic groan.

My vision warped for an instant. I didn't let go of Hope. He moved with me. I'd thought it might be high-speed movement, but it wasn't. Once I'd traveled with him, I understood.

Hope moved several more times.

"So annoying, seriously!"

Around the fourth jump, Hope moved to the Cavern's ceiling.

We plummeted toward the floor. This time Hope pressed his elbow firmly into my solar plexus. A fall from this height wouldn't kill me. Hope knew that too. He was only trying to use the impact to shake me off.

Remarkably, he hadn't accounted for Hong Seok-young at all.

"An amusing trick you've got there."

Hong Seok-young had simply kicked off the ground and risen to our level. He reached out, grabbed Hope by the scruff of the neck, and hurled him toward the floor.

CRAAAAAASH!!!!!!

An unbelievably violent sound.

The Dungeon shook. Dust billowed thick. Sem Bloom, who'd been wriggling to pull out the Sword I'd driven through him, stared at Hong Seok-young with a face drained of color.

Hong Seok-young didn't stop there. He threw the Spear he was holding downward. Right where Alex Hope had fallen.

The Spear didn't make much noise.

I twisted and landed softly on the ground.

Hong Seok-young was approaching Hope when...

"A miscalculation on my part."

I turned my head.

"Ow ow ow...."

Just once. He'd been caught by Hong Seok-young only once, but that single time had left Alex Hope in ruins.

Blood dripping steadily from his head. Every cough brought bright red blood spilling from his mouth. The arm I'd been gripping was broken, and the impact of being thrown by Hong Seok-young had wrecked his leg and shoulder.

Even so, he was still standing on both feet. Hong Seok-young hadn't thrown him carelessly, either. Among everyone attending the Forum, the number who could have survived that attack could be counted on one hand.

Alex Hope wiped roughly at the blood blinding his vision.

"Good thing I'm built tough. Otherwise, that would've been bad."

"Too tough, if anything. I should have cut you down instead of throwing you."

"Sounds like you're saying you won't go easy next time."

"You heard right."

Hong Seok-young smiled fiercely. Alex Hope smirked.

"Then let's meet again soon."

Where that confidence came from, I had no idea.

No, more than that, I had no idea what he was scheming. Even less than with Sem Bloom.

"Let's go, cockroach!"

Alex Hope grabbed Yoo Ji-eun's Sword embedded in Sem Bloom's shoulder. The Sword, refusing to acknowledge Hope, flared up on its own, but he paid it no mind.

Clang.

He shook his burned hand.

"Bye!"

Hope tapped his feet and vanished along with Sem Bloom.

*

"Hong!"

Rachel Bennett pushed through the crowd and approached.

"That tremor from inside the Dungeon, that was you, wasn't it?"

"Why do you assume it was me?"

"Who else would it be?"

Hong Seok-young stared hard at Rachel Bennett, then smiled.

"Yeah. That was me."

"Knew it."

Bennett shook her head.

"Goodness, who would've guessed a Dungeon would appear here of all places."

"Right?"

"With all the world's top Hunters gathered in one spot.... I don't know what kind of monster the boss was, but I almost feel sorry for it."

I thought of the blue-haired Mage who'd been treated like a cockroach to the very end.

Hong Seok-young asked Bennett.

"So, have the casualties been tallied? I didn't see any other monsters inside the Dungeon, so it should've been fine."

"A few hotel staff tripped and sprained something, but that's about it. The Mages near the Gate site got hurt, though."

"Is that so?"

"Probably... I only overheard this, so."

Bennett lowered her voice and spoke carefully.

"It sounds like the Mage who was closest to it died."

"There did seem to be some kind of explosion.... Unlucky. Do you know who?"

"Originally a Mage who wasn't qualified to attend, but came on a recommendation from that woman in France."

"That woman?"

"You know, Noah Michel."

"...Ah. The Archmage."

Bennett nodded.

"Seems they were still young. What a shame."

***

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