The Last Place Hero's Return

The small misunderstanding that had arisen inside the party house was easily resolved once Yurina removed the pendant around her neck and returned to her true form.

Camellia let out a hollow laugh. “So, Yuren Helios was actually a woman. How surprising.”

Yurina flinched, and her shoulders trembled. “T-that... Your Majesty, I sincerely apologize for deceiving you.”

Although the Helios family was one of the most powerful noble houses in the Empire, the person standing before her was still the Empress herself. The fact that the Helios family had hidden Yuren’s death and deceived the Empress for all these years had effectively come to light. Yurina could only lower her head.

The Empress replied, “Do not worry about it. It wasn’t something you chose to hide on your own. However, Rosanna Helios, was it? The current head of the family... I suppose I will need to have a word with her.”

High-ranking nobles such as the Helios family were required to regularly visit the imperial palace and report on their family’s current affairs and achievements. It meant that Rosanna, the current head of the Helios family, had been concealing Yuren’s death while continuing to submit false reports for over a decade.

While many noble families likely hid a thing or two in their reports, the important point was that this particular matter had now reached Camellia’s ears. It would have been one thing if she had never known about the deception, but now that she did, she could hardly let it pass without any punishment.

She looked at Yurina. “Taking into account that she is your biological mother, I will issue an appropriate punishment.”

However, Yurina’s eyes sparkled. “No! I ask that you deliver the harshest punishment possible! One severe enough that she will deeply regret what she has done!”

Camellia looked momentarily taken aback. But she soon nodded. “Hm. Very well.”

Then she turned her gaze toward Dale. “Still, to think I’m the fifth. I knew it already, but your lust is truly astonishing.”

Camellia clicked her tongue with an exasperated expression. Dale couldn’t even find the words to defend himself. He could only watch helplessly as his lovers chimed in enthusiastically.

“Right? Exactly! He deserves a proper scolding!”

“Ah, Your Majesty,” Iris suddenly spoke up. “If you don’t have any other plans afterward, would you like to join us for a hot spring bath?”

“A hot spring?”

“Yes. Dale said you ordered to have a hot spring facility built right next to the party house, Your Majesty.”

Camellia vaguely remembered ordering her attendants to construct a new hot spring next to the party house. “Ah, that’s right.”

“Since you’ve now become Dale’s fifth lover, I thought it might be a good idea for us to spend some time getting to know each other better,” Iris said with a bright smile.

Camellia could easily sense the true intention hidden behind that gentle expression. “Oh? Are you planning to establish the hierarchy the moment a newcomer joins?”

“Oh no, nothing like that. I just thought it would be nice if we all got along peacefully without fighting,” Iris replied.

“You have quite the sly side for someone called a Saintess.”

“So, are you interested?”

Camellia smirked and shrugged. “No reason not to. Let’s go.”

From the moment she became Dale’s lover, she had already thought it would be necessary to spend time building a smooth relationship with the others. In that sense, this was actually a good opportunity.

“Dale, please stay here and clean up,” Iris said.

The lounge was a mess, filled with all kinds of food and drinks the party members had brought to celebrate his discharge from the hospital.

“Wait, but yesterday, you said I should rest,” he replied.

Iris smiled. “Oh my! And didn’t you rest last night? Right? I mean, surely the patient who just woke up after two whole weeks wouldn’t immediately spend the evening sweating through a passionate night because he got overwhelmed with desire, even though the Saintess of the Holy Empire specifically told him to rest his mind and body.”

Dale couldn’t come up with a reply. “Ah, well. That’s...”

You see, Saintess, it wasn’t exactly my idea, he thought.

Iris stared at him. “You will clean up, won’t you?”

“Of course. I’ll even finish mopping the place.”

“Hehe. Then we’ll be heading off first.” Iris waved cheerfully as she led the others outside.

* * *

Left alone, I looked around the chaotic lounge and let out a deep sigh. To think that the first thing I would do after becoming something like the Demon God was cleaning the lounge. “Well, I guess I should be thankful things ended this lightly.”

After finishing the cleaning, I immediately headed to the training hall within the party house. I took a deep breath and slowly drew up my power. Ashen Flames burst forth and instantly wrapped around me. “Alright, let’s see... Just as I thought! The power of the Primordial Flame has grown to a ridiculous degree.”

After I had absorbed the Demon God’s powers, the power of the Primordial Flame had increased beyond control. Before, it had felt like the Blessing of Resurrection overpowered the Primordial Flame. Now it felt more like the Blessing of Resurrection was on the same level as the Primordial Flame. For the moment, the two powers were somehow maintaining balance.

However, if the power of the Primordial Flame were to run wild now, it probably would not destroy just humanity. The entire continent could be reduced to a handful of ash. It was like I were carrying a bomb inside my body, one capable of ending the world. The suffocating pressure weighed heavily on my shoulders.

“Whew.”

After steadying my breathing, I raised my power once more. This time, I intended to test the Flame Body, a form that allowed me to wield near-infinite mana. In truth, it was the most powerful and destructive technique I currently possessed.

“Before, my limit was about one minute,” I muttered.

But now, I could go longer in the Flame Body state. The Ashen Flames wrapped around me as my body began to break apart within the blaze and transform into burning embers. A thrilling sensation raced down my spine, and an overwhelming sense of omnipotence filled my mind, like I could burn the entire world to nothing. One minute passed, then two, and then three. But the Flame Body state didn’t end.

“What?”

Did that mean I could maintain this state indefinitely?

“I never imagined it would reach this level...”

At that moment, the embers began to swell, spewing waves of mana in every direction. The party house trembled violently, as though an earthquake had struck. Groaning, I hurriedly deactivated the Flame Body, but the Ashen Flames only burned more fiercely, swelling even larger.

“Damn it!”

I quickly drew upon the power of the Tree of Creation, suppressing the raging flames. The fire that had been greedily expanding suddenly lost its momentum, gradually shrinking until it finally died down. Returning to my human form, I collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily. A hollow laugh escaped my lips.

Does that mean I can maintain it indefinitely now, but the longer I hold it, the greater the risk of losing control? I see. For now, I should seal it away and avoid using it for more than a minute if possible.

The ability had grown, but so had the risk. If the Primordial Flame ever ran wild, the disaster would be irreversible.

“Still, it doesn’t seem like it’ll rampage as long as I don’t overuse the power.”

Observing the now-calm energy inside me, I let out a relieved breath. If the power showed signs of running wild even when I wasn’t using it, things would have been far more troublesome.

In the end, the best option was to avoid using my power as much as possible. I sat down on a bench in the corner of the training hall and looked up at the ceiling. “Not using my power, huh.”

The demons were practically wiped out. And the Demon God himself had completely vanished after I absorbed all the remnant power he left behind. That just left the Prophet of Eternity.

If I could eliminate him, then it would probably be possible to finally create a world where I no longer needed to use my power, a world people had longed for desperately, for hundreds, even thousands of years; a dreamlike world that now lay just one step away. But for some reason, every time I thought about the Prophet of Eternity, an inexplicable sense of dread tightened around my chest. It felt like standing before a bottomless abyss. It was an overwhelming, unfathomable unease.

“Tch.” I shook my head and stood up. I was going to do what I had always done. The goal I had longed for was now only a single step away.

“Maybe I should head back early and rest today,” I muttered.

I hadn’t gotten any real rest yesterday either, though that was admittedly my own fault. Today, I planned to simply lie down on the bed and get some proper sleep without thinking about anything. However, just as I finished tidying up the training grounds and turned to leave, a crack formed in the empty air, as though glass had fractured.

“What?”

I gripped my sword tightly while staring at the spreading fissure. As I slowly gathered mana and watched the crack widen, with the sound of shattering glass, something burst out from the rift. It was a white-haired man, drenched in blood from head to toe and gasping for breath. A broken golden monocle dangled from his neck.

“You...” I frowned as I recognized the familiar face. “Mephisto?”

Mephisto staggered as he tried to stand, but lost his balance and collapsed onto the floor.

“What happened to you?” I asked.

“I... was defeated.”

“By the Prophet of Eternity?” I asked.

“Haa!Haa! Yes. That man... He never... cared about Eternity, not even a little.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Y-you must... run... quickly. The Prophet of Eternity, he...” Mephisto reached out with a trembling hand and grabbed my shoulder. “He’s going to erase humanity. No, the entire world!”

I was confused. “Erase it?”

“You must... stop him. Kugh! Kgh! Cough!”

Dark red blood spilled from Mephisto’s mouth. Then he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Soon after, a pure white flower bloomed, tearing through his skin.

What was happening right now? My thoughts tangled into chaos. “What the hell?”

Then, a voice echoed from beyond the crack in space. “Heh. And yet you still managed to run all the way to where he is.”

I bit down on my lip as I stared into the rift. “You...”

“Is this the first time we’ve spoken face-to-face?” said the voice. Laughter echoed from beyond the fracture. “Nice to meet you, Dale Han.”

It was the voice of the Prophet of Eternity.

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