Ch.102Chapter 102. The Result of Surpassing Limits

“I’m a Silver-rank adventurer, Hyoseong Woo.”

An unexpected intruder that no one at the scene had anticipated.

While everyone remained cautious, the man who retrieved his spear and carried a group on his back revealed his identity as he watched the convulsing corpse golem.

At least to prove that he was an ally.

“Hyoseong Woo…?”

“Hyoseong Woo… you mean the Hero Hunter?”

Upon hearing this, the reconnaissance unit members exchanged glances with a sense of familiarity.

But Marcus, unlike them, had to interpret the identity of the person before him differently.

He was the disciple of someone who was once Marcus’s old comrade, but now considered an enemy.

The reason he had allowed this enemy to enter this place was to confirm what he had been trying to accomplish by investing his entire life.

“Why are you here…?”

“I was training nearby and heard the commotion, so I came to check. One person seems to have been too late, but…”

The result of that effort was standing there, maintaining his posture and trying to imprint the being before him in his eyes.

The golem, made of hundreds of intertwined corpses, was trying to regenerate its body despite the previous javelin attack.

The massive body that had been raised again was considered a monster that would require battalion-level forces to have any chance of victory without a special strategy.

In a direct confrontation, casualties would be a concern.

Only those called Heroes could face such a being without injury.

“Please stay back. I’ll handle this as a test of my training results.”

Yet there was no hesitation in his approach toward such a monster.

From that confident appearance, Marcus felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

As if he had seen such a back view before.

‘Stay behind me, Sir Knight. I’ll handle this.’

The back view of a young soldier who had stepped forward when his country was in danger.

That image was now overlapping with the man’s back.

-Wuoo… Oooooh…!

But there was no time to indulge in such nostalgia.

The golem that had risen back up was now fixing all hundreds of its eyes on him.

This massive corpse golem was created by a lich squeezing out its last strength after sensing the extinction of its existence.

The operating principle of this monster, whose body and even self-awareness were patched together like rags, would be nothing more than following instincts based on the collective.

And at this moment, that fragmented consciousness was focused solely on the being before it.

When such a phenomenon occurs with countless intertwined consciousnesses, their actions inevitably lead to a rampage.

-Kugugugugugu.

Despite being exposed to such killing intent, he remained undaunted.

He merely channeled his will into the armor he wore, attempting to draw out its power.

-Kugugugu, gugugung.

The output was on a completely different level from ordinary equipment.

While equipment made from processing high-ranking Demon Tribe corpses can exert magical power on their own, that is usually just auxiliary to the output of the mana core.

Despite this common knowledge, the magical power he was emitting at this moment was affecting the surroundings as if it were the power of a high-ranking Demon Tribe member itself.

To the point where one might worry that the user himself would collapse under the pressure of that magical power.

-Jiiiing.

But contrary to such expectations, at some point, the output began to subside.

To the eye, it looked as if the mana had evaporated in an instant.

‘No, it didn’t evaporate.’

Marcus and the soldiers watching from behind could clearly detect the change occurring in his body.

‘The mana is adhering to his body…!’

Such a thought briefly crossed their minds, but they immediately shook their heads in denial.

After all, manipulating mana is essentially drawing the flow of power toward oneself.

Handling a flow of power that is invisible and formless solely through sensation…

Naturally, since it’s not easy to handle, using mana inherently means accepting massive power loss.

This applies even when creating a “circle,” a phenomenon that occurs when power is concentrated.

‘But that’s different. He’s not just gathering power into a circle; he’s adhering all the gathered mana to his body.’

As if wrapping his entire body with a membrane impenetrable to mana, he was operating it without any power waste.

If such a thing were theoretically possible, it could reduce the inevitable power loss to a level approaching zero.

The vast output from the armor was being compressed back into the armor to its limit.

And in his hand, where the mana movement was most active, it took the form of a glove rather than a leaking circle.

-Wiiiiing.

Even the noise generated was beyond vibration, almost ultrasonic, and the concentration of physical force condensed in his body was beyond imagination.

It was essentially an impossible level of control without the blessing of mana, but upon witnessing this absurd scene, what Marcus felt was familiarity.

The déjà vu he had felt while looking at the man’s back view.

He felt it even more strongly now as he watched him exert his power.

-Kuoooaaaa!!

At that moment, the corpse golem began to swing its fist with a roar.

The destructive power of a giant’s punch, composed of hundreds of humans fused together, was equivalent to a siege weapon targeting castle walls.

Nevertheless, the man did not disrupt his mental focus on mana manipulation and quietly raised his spear shaft to prepare for the attack.

-Paang!

The fierce attack was pushed back by a single swing of the spear shaft, causing the golem to lose its balance, and the opposite hand swung in an unstable posture was also easily deflected by the spear shaft.

-Paang! Paang!

He simply moved his spear to match the trajectory of the attacks and swung to deflect them.

The smooth flow of power without any minor damage eventually broke the giant’s balance, creating a huge opening.

Such an opening was the optimal moment to launch an attack.

Not missing that opportunity, the man put his weight into his lower body and gripped his spear with full force.

Then he threw it.

-Kwaaaang!

As magical power expanded at the point of impact in the abdomen, the giant’s body, unable to withstand the shock, collapsed and burst into fragments.

No, the areas close to the explosion point had turned to powder rather than fragments.

The only part still functioning was the being that had once been a lich and formed the core of the golem, but even that was merely a good target for the vigilant man.

-Keu, eeek. I, I…

Kwajik! The head was crushed by a swing of the spear.

Still maintaining his vigilance, he turned to the reconnaissance unit members and called out.

“Everyone, could you help me clean up here?”

“Huh, what?”

“Since they’re Undead, they’ll keep regenerating unless we destroy their vital points.”

“Ah, right. That makes… sense.”

The reconnaissance unit members exchanged glances and nodded, preparing to dismantle the scattered Undead corpses with their weapons.

Unlike the previous Hero, he showed caution by not missing the confirmation of kills.

As safety was gradually secured, a feeling that could be called relief began to emerge among the reconnaissance unit members.

Yes, as long as the enemy didn’t send reinforcements, they should be fine for now.

It was at that moment that Marcus sensed a presence behind him.

“What do you think? Quite impressive, isn’t it?”

Jean Cleo.

His hateful former comrade and the mentor of the man who had just successfully dealt with a corpse golem made of hundreds of bodies single-handedly.

“…So it was your doing after all.”

As soon as he faced him and expressed his displeasure, Jean stroked his beard and replied leisurely.

“I originally thought it would take at least a few months, but I never imagined he’d come this far in just one month. Surprisingly, that young man’s innate abilities seem to match well with handling spirits.”

In a way, it’s a natural result.

Spirits are clusters that repeat birth and death with each communion, and what remains for the practitioner is just a tiny residue of that communion.

To achieve results with even such residue requires decades of training.

This is because spending that much time is itself meant to ‘teach the spirits,’ which means that the ability to interfere with their memories also affects that learning.

Even if that power is merely the ability to engrave names.

For actions that need to be built up from trivial memories, it can demonstrate efficiency superior to anything else.

“The Imperial folks are so complacent. They gauge abilities only by their own standards and end up neglecting talented individuals.”

Such talent, inherited from dragons and now blooming after meeting a mentor who knows how to handle those spirits.

Facing the result now, the mentor who guided him felt immense satisfaction.

Though still somewhat lacking, he firmly believed that soon he would possess strength befitting someone like her.

“But Marcus, you seem quite dissatisfied with the current result.”

Despite also remembering her, Marcus’s face still showed displeasure even after realizing everything.

“…You ask the obvious.”

Considering that glimpses of her could be seen after just one month, in a few years… no, in a few months, he might possess strength comparable to her in her prime.

Although he was summoned to this world as a Foreign Laborer, by meeting Jean, he had learned how to utilize his innate abilities.

Essentially, he should now be classified like ‘other Heroes,’ and no one could deny that the evaluation of Hyoseong Woo as an individual had risen.

“If the result of your lifelong investment is just ‘that one Hero,’ isn’t it natural to be disappointed?”

And currently, the Empire has hundreds of Heroes with power like hers, and they are continuously attempting summonings even at this moment.

No matter how strong and cautious, in the end, it’s just the capability of one Hero.

In this world where only by mass-producing Heroes as an army can disasters be barely prevented, isn’t it foolish to invest a lifetime in creating just one strong individual?

****

Yes, Marcus also acknowledged the potential that Hyoseong Woo possessed.

But based on what he had shown so far, he couldn’t think that even if his potential was fully realized, he would surpass other Heroes.

Even Jiho Shin, if he hadn’t been careless, would have easily burned the corpse golem.

If they weren’t careless, the same would be true even if other Heroes were brought to that position.

“The death of one Hero is quite a painful loss.”

Of course, now that it’s certain that the Lord of Corpses’ forces are targeting this place, the death of one Hero would affect not only the loss of military strength but also morale.

The responsibility would be directed at the commander who gave him incorrect instructions, but facing such evaluation would be a matter for after returning to the Empire.

After all, a commander cannot leave his position until the operation is over, no matter what happens, unless there are orders from above.

“For now, I’m turning a blind eye, but perhaps after this incident, the way Heroes and soldiers view you might not be so favorable.”

“…That’s not for you to worry about, Jean Cleo.”

Late that night, after everything was settled and they returned to the garrison area, Marcus turned to Jean who had followed him into his quarters and began to threaten him.

Eyes still sharply honed despite the passage of time.

There was still dissatisfaction remaining even after seeing the achievements made since coming here.

“Seeing that you’ve brought me here at this late hour, you must have quite a lot to say to me.”

Thinking that this too was something he had to endure, Jean maintained a composed attitude.

Even that attitude seemed detestable to Marcus, who unleashed his threat toward him.

“Jean Cleo. You.”

After her death, realizing that the path they chose began from the death of a hero.

And through the results created at this moment, keenly feeling that they were now in a state where they could no longer understand each other.

“Do you really believe that with just one hero like her…”

Not like himself, who was reinforcing the ‘military force’.

Did he truly believe that by creating just one successor to her, all the calamities of this world could be annihilated?

“Cough!”

A cough erupted just as he was about to ask that question.

Along with it, Marcus’s eyes widened as he saw Jean’s body stagger from his seat.

“What…?”

Cough, hack.

His body trembled as coughs repeatedly burst from his mouth.

Nevertheless, he somehow raised his head, trying to face his old comrade while gasping for breath.

Despite coughing up blood from internal injuries and tears of blood flowing from burst capillaries in his eyes.

“Haa, haa…”

“Oh no, quickly, get a priest…!”

“Ah, no… there’s no need for that.”

Jean stopped Marcus who was hurriedly trying to leave the quarters.

Grabbing his hand to make him stand before him, he spoke while laboriously catching his breath.

“You know too, don’t you? What happens when mere humans like us try to exceed our innate limitations.”

A body that had long been aware of its condition.

Having come here prepared to leave his bones behind, there was nothing to be surprised about now.

“…Don’t… bother yourself unnecessarily. This body… doesn’t have much time left anyway.”

What was regrettable was that he couldn’t fulfill the mission she couldn’t accomplish with his own hands.

What was sad was that he wouldn’t be able to see with his own eyes the outcome of the one who would follow in her footsteps.