The Last Place Hero's Return

“You bastard!” Johan Basilio, the Sword of the Holy Empire, kicked his chair back and shot to his feet.

Mana burst from him like an explosion as he glared at me with a violently twisted expression. He was born in the Holy Empire and raised on the doctrines of the Seven Star Church before he could even walk; to him, the very concept of the Demon God was a heretical deity that had to be eradicated at any cost. And now, right in front of him, I had openly declared myself to be that very thing. A reaction like this was only natural.

“Calm yourself,” Headmaster Ryu shouted.

“Is this really the time to stay calm?” Johan replied, not withdrawing his killing intent.

Amid the heavy tension that had settled over the room, Pope Marianne looked at me with deeply sunken eyes. “I believe a more detailed explanation is required.”

I nodded. “Yes. To be precise, I absorbed the remnant power left behind when the Demon God was destroyed.”

Unease spread among the Masters. Until now, they had all believed the Demon God had merely been sealed.

“Destroyed?”

“W-what do you mean by that?”

I explained, “Five hundred years ago, the Demon God wasn’t sealed. His soul had already been destroyed. What remained were fragments of his body, left behind in the deepest part of the Abyss.”

“Then are you saying the records left by the Great Five Heroes were falsified?”

I said, “More accurately, they were altered. By the Great Five Heroes themselves.”

“What?”

I continued explaining about the Demon God’s death and about the Sixth Hero. As the explanation went on, the expressions of the Masters gathered in the headmaster’s office shifted into a mix of shock, confusion, and disbelief.

Headmaster Ryu and Khalid sat stiffly, deep in thought.

“Good heavens.”

“A Sixth Hero!”

Marianne also traced her fingers across the sign of the cross as she tried to organize her thoughts.

In contrast, Johan slammed the table again, glaring at me with fierce eyes. “Ridiculous! The Demon God already perished five hundred years ago, and the hero who destroyed him is supposedly the Prophet of Eternity? Hah! And you expect us to believe such nonsense without any proof?”

I pondered his words. “Proof...”

“If you want proof, it’s right in front of you.” Camellia, who had been silent until now, spoke up. She leaned back with a relaxed expression.

“Right in front of us? What do you—”

Not letting Johan finish, she continued, “Dale was not the only one who entered the depths of the Abyss back then. I was there as well. Even after reaching the deepest part of the Abyss, I saw no Demon God sealed within. Just as Dale said, the Primordial Flame left behind by the Demon God was the only thing burning within the Abyss. In other words, I myself am the most certain proof and the witness.”

Johan flinched slightly. It was the Empress herself who had stepped forward as a witness. To deny her statement would essentially mean doubting the Empress. Yet, what had come out of Dale’s mouth was simply too shocking.

“It’s difficult to believe,” Johan replied.

“Oh? Are you saying you dare not believe my testimony?”

“Even you can make mistakes, Lady Camellia.”

“I do not make mistakes.”

Johan persisted, “At the time, the situation was extremely chaotic. You were also severely injured while fighting the Archbishop of Ruin. I don’t believe you were in a condition to judge the situation accurately.”

Then, he slowly shifted his narrowed gaze between Camellia and me. “I’ve been thinking this since before, but it seems you favor that cadet quite a bit, Lady Camellia. Far beyond the level of simple trust.”

“What exactly are you implying?” Camellia asked.

“I received a report not long ago. It seems that after the war, Your Majesty, you set aside your state affairs and remained at the intensive care medical ward for two full weeks.”

“And?”

“Emotions can sometimes blind a person. Even if you are called the incarnation of the Seven Gods, Your Majesty, at your core, you are still human.”

The entire headmaster’s office shook as if struck by an earthquake. A burst of seven-colored aura exploded outward, and an overwhelming killing intent filled the room, so intense it felt suffocating.

“Then let me confirm something.” Despite the violent surge of magic raging through the room, Camellia calmly crossed her legs, looking as relaxed as if she were sipping tea. “Are you claiming that I have been blinded by love and am therefore giving false testimony?”

Her expression remained peaceful, but her voice carried unmistakable fury. The tension in the room felt like a spark had been dropped into a chamber filled with gunpowder. One wrong move, and everything would explode. In the silence, the ticking of the clock in the corner sounded like thunder.

It was Marianne who chose to break the silence. “Both of you, please calm down. There are still many questionable points in Dale’s claim. However, with Camellia’s testimony as well, we will accept it for now.”

Johan was unwilling. “B-but, Your Holiness!”

“Shh. I said calm down, Johan.”

“Ugh!” Johan bit his lip and slowly sat back down.

Marianne continued calmly, “But even if everything you said is true, many problems remain. Regardless of the circumstances, the crucial point is that the remnants of the Demon God now reside within your body. Is that correct, Dale?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“What state is that power in right now?”

“It’s stable.”

“Stable, you say.” With a bitter expression, she asked, “But how long will it remain stable? Everyone gathered here knows how powerful and dangerous the Demon God’s power is. Even those demons, who inherited only the tiniest fragment of it, have been driven by overwhelming urges for destruction, slaughtering countless lives.”

Then what about someone who had absorbed the remnants of the Demon God’s powers?

“How about the impulses?” She continued her inquiry.

“There’s no need to worry about that. I haven’t felt even the slightest destructive urge so far,” I replied truthfully.

“So far.”

“Just as you said, Your Holiness, I can’t guarantee that those impulses will never appear. But at the very least, for now, the power is completely under my control.”

“That doesn’t mean we can simply leave a bomb sitting here when we don’t know when it might explode.”

“And yet throwing away a powerful weapon, one capable of defeating the Prophet of Eternity, while that enemy still stands before us would be foolish,” I replied.

Pope Marianne and I locked eyes. She said, “If it explodes and we regret it afterward, it will be too late.”

“And if we’re defeated and regret it afterward, it’ll be just as late,” I retorted.

The argument stretched on, tense and unyielding. No matter how much persuasion I offered, our positions remained like parallel lines that would never meet.

Marianne spoke again, her voice no longer gentle or compassionate as it usually was, but cold and hardened. “I know that, contrary to public opinion, Dale, you have devoted yourself to humanity through countless hardships. That’s precisely why I chose to overlook your relationship with Iris, even though I know it goes beyond a simple friendship between classmates.”

Ordinarily, it was extremely difficult for a Saintess to find a partner. The doctrines of the Seven Star Church did not forbid clergy from marrying, but public perception was another matter entirely. And what if that partner happened to be the lowest-ranked hero cadet, the worst troublemaker in the history of the Hero Academy?

If people got wind of the relationship between Iris and me, voices of concern would undoubtedly erupt throughout the Holy Empire. Even so, Marianne had never once voiced a complaint about the two of them. Because despite his reputation, she knew how much the cadet named Dale Han had sacrificed for humanity.

She continued, “But now that I know the remnants of the Demon God reside within your soul stigmata, Dale, I cannot simply overlook it.”

As the Pope of the Holy Empire, and before that, as a devout follower of the Seven Gods of the Seven Star Church, she could not tolerate the existence of the Demon God. Countless records had shown, again and again, just how dangerous and destructive that being was.

The moment the Demon God’s power ran rampant, every human on this continent would burn and vanish. The faithful and the unfaithful, the humble and the arrogant, the diligent and the lazy, the rich and the poor, the brave and the cowardly, heroes and demons alike, all of them would die. Not a single person would be spared. All of them would die without mercy, with every last one reduced to ashes.

“I’m sorry.” Marianne stood and bowed deeply toward me. “Please... die for the sake of humanity.”

A heavy silence settled over the room. Then a deep sigh escaped me. “Die for humanity, huh.”

I shook my head with a faint, incredulous laugh. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“I thought you might say that.” Marianne nodded with a bitter expression. “In that case, it can’t be helped.”

She stood up from her seat. “I won’t cause a disturbance here. But from this moment on, Dale Han will be publicly declared an enemy of the Holy Empire, a heretic that must be eliminated. And I would appreciate it if you would no longer meet with Iris.”

A hollow laugh slipped out as I looked back at her. Marianne had already turned away, as if she had finished everything she had to say. Behind her, Johan Basilio stood as well, glaring at me with icy hostility.

Watching the killing intent radiating from him, I let out another dry laugh. I had tried my best to persuade them. I told them the truth about the Demon God, and I showed them that I could control the power. I even explained why that power was necessary. And this was the result. Fine, I had done everything I could. Now, I had no intention of wasting any more energy on tedious, academic persuasion.

From here on out, I’ll do it Berald’s way.

I stomped the ground violently. Before Johan could even react and draw his sword, I moved behind him in an instant, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and slammed him down onto the table. The solid table shattered, and the Masters stared at me in shock.

“W-what on earth are you doing?” Marianne’s face turned pale as she stammered.

“You’re telling me not to see Iris anymore?”

Then die.

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