The Second Salvation Myth of a Retired Regressed Hero (Complete)

+++

Gulp, gulp.

Doyun tilted the bottle, swallowing the last of the grape wine.

“Phew… I’ve finished the alcohol too, I’ll be going.”

He had muttered to himself at length before the shattered goddess statue.

He knew it was a meaningless act. The deity had self-sealed as payment for creating the System and the Cradle’s dimensional gate.

There was no deity to bless him. He had simply grown overly sentimental facing the final battle.

No, perhaps he had felt apprehensive.

“…Bless me, will you?”

Doyun set down the empty bottle and turned away.

+++

The Alliance forces prepared for regroup, organizing their supplies, fortress, and wounded.

Yet midway through the preparations, Doyun halted his movements.

“…”

He gazed towards the Demon Lord’s Citadel.

“Lord Enoch?”

Doggomu-yeong asked in puzzlement.

“…Abort the regroup preparations.”

“Sir?”

“Abandon all baggage and wounded, retreat at top speed.”

“But what could possibly…”

Before he could finish questioning, Doggomu-yeong’s head whipped around, face hardening as he sensed the approaching Satan and his forces – joined by the higher Paladins.

“Th-This scale… and that aura…!”

“It is akin to the Demon Lord who manifested in Muspelheim! How could a mere Vanguard Commander…!”

“We cannot prevail. All forces, retreat.”

Doyun spoke those words as he walked towards the front lines facing Satan’s approach.

Before anyone could react, the Heroes had instantly formed ranks around him.

“Lord Enoch’s intentions…?”

“The Lion King, the Citadel Lord. You two shall follow me.”

Doyun calmly addressed the two kneeling before him.

“For the Alliance’s retreat, you two shall perish here.”

“Yes.”

They answered without the slightest hesitation.

Thus, Doyun ordered the retreat of all others. He stood alongside the two Monarchs, facing the enemy forces.

The two lingering questions Doyun had carried into this battle:

How had Azure and Crimson been created? Why had Satan not appeared until now?

‘…I underestimated the Demon Lord’s reserves.’

My oversight. So Doyun reflected.

Yet it was understandable. Who could have foreseen such a reversal beyond the 18th Iteration’s experiences? But he had always shouldered full responsibility.

“My apologies.”

The trio faced forward resolutely as they exchanged pre-battle words.

“I have led you to your demise.”

“Lord Enoch. We are soldiers of the Alliance. Our deaths come by the Demon Lord’s hand, for the Alliance’s sake.”

“To perish on the same battlefield as you, Lord Enoch. We can meet Lord Heckleous in the afterlife without shame. We are honored. And…”

The respectfully speaking Citadel Lord glanced behind.

“That child seems to feel the same.”

“…”

The expressionless Doyun squeezed his eyes shut, then turned to look back.

Luna stood there, impassive.

“…”

“…”

Mother and daughter regarded each other.

Doyun swallowed the urge to tell her to turn back that had welled up in his throat.

‘I cannot say that.’

He was the Alliance’s leader.

Luna was a precious asset rivaling or exceeding the two Monarchs. She had to fight here alongside them.

And she too would likely perish.

“…”

Doyun bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. But he turned back to face forward, thankfully without uttering a word.

And with an expression far more emotionless than before… an expression devoid of all emotion, he outlined their tactics in a flat tone:

“We fight. The four of us cannot defeat the enemy. We will only buy time before perishing valiantly. And I shall retreat last.”

He placed a hand on his chest – the Return Stone Doggomu-yeong had passed him before the total war.

Not a callous or selfish judgment, but one solely considering the greater whole. Without him, there was no Alliance to defeat the Demon Lord.

And Luna, the Citadel Lord, the Lion King – they would become part of the burden and weight he carried, as had happened countless times across the previous 18 Iterations.

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

They answered in voices devoid of any regret.

After a brief span, the enemy finally arrived before them.

The over 10-meter gargantuan frame, the demonic hide bristling with innumerable spikes, the hateful visage.

Satan, imbued with might equivalent to the Demon Lord Doyun had faced in the 18th Iteration, had come upon them.

[Războlnic.]

He flashed a crooked grin.

A seething ocean of Imp forces stretching beyond the horizon undulated restlessly.

“…All forces, engage.”

Doyun drew his sword. The Citadel Lord clenched his fists, the Lion King emanating scorching heat.

Luna gripped her twin blades.

“And perish. For the Alliance.”

“”Yes!””

Thus, the great battle against Satan commenced.

+++

48 hours passed.

The four fought endlessly. But Satan did not even deign to directly engage them, and the Imp forces showed no signs of thinning, seeming utterly inexhaustible.

The Citadel Lord and Lion King perished in succession. Doyun barely endured through his [Deathless] Skill evolving into [Undying], but his stamina was utterly spent.

With Vyuskr’s aid, he had attained Swordsmanship Level 10. Yet facing this upgraded sea of Imps in an endless battle proved futile, even for him. Moreover, he was already greatly depleted from the previous clashes.

In contrast to their prior shoulder height, the enhanced Imps now towered over 3 meters tall, each rivaling an elite officer in might.

Doyun felt Luna’s back pressed against his, battered herself.

Luna would soon perish. Enough time had been bought for the Alliance’s retreat. It was time for him to escape.

“…”

Holding the Return Stone, Doyun hesitated before ultimately infusing it with mana to activate.

The Return Stone shimmered with light. Though aware of what transpired behind her, Luna did not change her expression – willingly prepared to die for her father’s sake.

But Doyun shoved her aside and threw the glowing Return Stone to her instead.

“…?”

Luna’s eyes went wide.

“…You shall live on.”

As the Return Stone flashed brilliantly, Luna’s form vanished.

The sole Alliance member remaining on the battlefield was Doyun.

He briefly gazed skyward.

‘…Forgive me, Brudhild. Vyuskr.’

He had told his friend to forsake his child for the Alliance’s sake, yet here he was doing the opposite.

‘Now I understand… your feelings, Vyuskr.’

One’s child was an existence far greater than imagined.

‘…I have committed an immense act.’

He was the Alliance itself, his life the Alliance’s continued existence. He had betrayed the Alliance.

‘…No.’

Not betrayed the Alliance.

He would save them all. Without perishing here, he would return and save everyone, forsaking nothing.

An impossible feat, but he resolved to accomplish it. If so resolved, then so it would be – such was his will.

He drank the Elixir.

Instantly, his wounds healed and immense power surged through his veins.

In that heightened awakened state, he gathered all that energy before igniting his second dragon heart.

[Temporarily increases ‘Mana’ Stat. Current Level: 9]

Dividing that gathered energy between the two dragon hearts triggered an anomaly.

The two hearts expanded to an unprecedented size. Then, the dragon hearts in his chest melted back into pure mana.

It flowed through his vessels towards his core, merging into his original heart.

The two had become one.

His eyes shone with radiance.

Fwooooooosh—!

[‘Mana’ Stat has leveled up. Current Level: 10]

That singular heart, surpassing even the Dragon Lords’ in its complete form, blazed forth with unparalleled intensity.

He swung his sword, the gushing sword aura obliterating hundreds of Imps in a single strike.

The evolved [Undying] Skill, the Elixir and combat insights coalescing into that unified heart, Mana Level 10, his burning willpower.

He entered the ranks of the enlightened.

[Skill ‘Swordsmanship’ has leveled up. Current Level: 11]

He continued fighting, yet even in this new realm, he could not prevail.

When Satan finally entered the fray, his sword shattered. Utterly spent, he could not defeat the Demon Lord-level Satan.

But he fought on as if still wielding a blade, swinging at an invisible sword.

In that moment, the enlightened Doyun finally attained the ultimate realization.

“…!”

[Skill ‘Swordsmanship’ has leveled up. Current Level: 12]

An insight piercing through all creation.

The nature of will. The essence of divinity.

He had reached the sword path’s culmination.

‘Ah…’

Yet he sighed in dismay.

Relentless combat had cost him both arms and his right leg. His eyes were already gone, viscera trailing behind his ruined body.

He slumped against a boulder.

[At last… I can kill you.]

Satan’s voice reached him.

[Die, Războlnic.]

The fiend raised his hand.

In that moment, the world stilled.

Doyun raised his head towards the enclosing divinity.

“…Huh.”

Welcome? Relief? He could not tell. He felt no pain, only tranquility.

[Long time no see.]

Doyun raised his unseen gaze.

“…Long time indeed.”

He spoke to that lofty, yet familiar presence.

“Deity.”

They conversed.

“How did you aid me? Were deities not forbidden from intervening in the mortal realm?”

That was why the deity, mightier than the Demon Lord, could not actively safeguard the continent.

But the Demon Lord was an intermediary existence transcending to divinity in a mortal form. Hence, she had effectively reigned as the mortal realm’s strongest. Of course, she was not entirely exempt from the world’s indirect regulations as she still retained some divinity. But it was enough to overwhelm the continent.

Yet the deity could not abandon the continent to such a fate, resolving to intervene despite the penalty – creating the System’s blessings, the dimensional gate pulling in otherworldly Paladins, and the national Citadel Stones. Those had been the three miracles it bestowed.

Sealing its own existence had been the price. Yet here it appeared before him, even aiding Doyun directly.

[Indeed, deities must not intervene in the mortal realm.]

“Then how…?”

[But interference between deities is far more permissible.]

“Ah.”

Doyun grasped the implication immediately.

“…So that recent realization was…”

[The second instance in history after the Primordial Demon Lord – of a mortal transcending to divinity. Congratulations.]

He understood, yet the situation seemed different from the description.

“Will you slay Satan and the others? They are mortal realm existences.”

[I have done nothing yet. I have merely borrowed the world’s consent to temporarily halt the flow of time. As is, I cannot change anything.]

“Then…”

[I shall only influence you. In a manner easily achievable even in this sealed state.]

“I see.”

[In the way familiar to us.]

The deity extended its hand towards Doyun, who understood its intention.

[You asked for a blessing before that statue, remember? I shall grant it.]

Divinity infused him, a system window appearing before his eyes.

[‘Blessing of Regression (1 use)’ has been applied.]

[You and the world shall regress.]

“…Thank you.”

[May blessings attend the Hero’s path.]

Doyun let his fading consciousness drift away.

And when he opened his eyes once more.

“…”

[At last… I can kill you.]

Satan and his forces were before him again.

He looked to his sides. The Citadel Lord and Lion King stood resolutely arrayed, Luna drawing her twin blades.

His body was unscathed as well – regressed to the state before battle.

But not everything had reverted fully.

The rules of regression.

His memories and mana reserves carried over.

The immense heart pulsing in his core. And the realization.

“…”

Doyun sheathed the sword he had drawn.

“…Lord Enoch?”

The trio looked at him in puzzlement.

Clack, clack.

He walked forward. Even Satan narrowed his eyes at the sudden movement.

Visible Edge – expanding the ‘cleaving’ phenomenon through sheer force of will.

The culmination Doyun had attained with the aid of Vyuskr, Heckleous, and many others was an altogether different realm.

‘Heart Edge.’

His will itself became the blade.

The divinized voice commanded.

[Cleave.]

Războlnic’s Style Swordsmanship – Word Cleave

And his will reshaped reality itself.

Will alone manifested the phenomenon.

The Lion King, Citadel Lord, Satan, and even Luna – all gazed at him with eyes bugging out in shock.

Horizontal cleave. The sea of Imps blanketing the ground bisected in a single sweep.

Vertical cleave. A gleaming line traced Satan’s colossal form.

[Ugh… ah…]

Satan felt his vision misalign, split into two segments.

Will had manifested reality, no process of swinging a blade required.

Only the result of ‘cleaving’ existed.

Satan’s pupils vanished as the sea of Imps and the Demon King’s body crumbled to dust.

Clack, clack.

Doyun walked on.

“I shall slay the Demon Lord and return.”

He would deliver the world, so he vowed.

So the delivered heard.

+++

[…]

The diminutive Demon Lord gazed at the man who had arrived before her.

[…So it has come to this.]

He had transcended to true divinity.

Doyun asked her:

“…And my daughter?”

[Does not exist here.]

The other existence dwelling in her daughter’s body – the Primordial Demon Lord – replied.

[Only you and I exist in this place, Războlnic.]

“…”

Doyun could sense it. The being before him was not his daughter, the Demon Lord he had faced in Muspelheim.

The root of all evil. The most horrific existence. The progenitor who had inflicted such suffering upon him and the continent’s denizens.

The Primordial Demon Lord.

[Războlnic. You cannot defeat me.]

“I know.”

He felt it. Even having transcended to divinity, he was still weaker than the Primordial Demon Lord before him.

In the 18th Iteration’s finale, she had not unleashed her full might. From the very beginning, she had been this unfathomably powerful.

But Doyun did not falter.

“But I will defeat you nonetheless.”

For him, nothing was impossible – his life’s journey proved as much.

[…]

The Primordial Demon Lord did not respond.

After a brief exchange of gazes, the final duel to decide the world’s fate began.

[Die.]

[Cleave.]

Resounding beyond the range of sound, their twin wills clashed.

They battled. Islands shattered from their airborne forms, the heavens and earth torn asunder by their ceaseless commands.

But the victor was inevitably the Demon Lord. The newly ascended Doyun could not defeat the fully matured absolute existence that was the Primordial Demon Lord.

Kwaaaaaaah—!

His body crashed into the rubble of the Demon Lord’s Citadel.

[Hero. Any final words?]

“…”

Doyun flashed a bloody grin.

“…How many times must I say it?”

Then he plunged his hand into his own abdomen – his core, to be precise.

“The Hero always wins in the end.”

The hand that emerged clutched a fist-sized gemstone – his resplendent golden dragon heart.

Doyun immediately put it into his mouth and, as with the Breath, channeled his mana.

Brandish – the method of controlling that concentrated energy in his maw was to reabsorb and reutilize it in his own unique way.

Immense energy. Not mere numerical ‘Mana Level 10’… but the entirety of the deity Enoch’s power condensed, coursing through his body.

It did not recrystallize into a gemstone heart in his core. As infinitely pure mana, it suffused his entire being.

And when he assimilated that full power not through a mortal method like storing it in his core, but truly made it his own…

[Stat ‘Mana’ has leveled up. Current Level: 11]

He had become a true deity.

The Demon Lord moved with body and will. But his arm had already been cleaved.

Enoch, having become a perfect deity, was no longer an existence the sub-divine Primordial Demon Lord could contend with.

[…So it culminates in this.]

The future she had glimpsed beyond the distorted timestream, the one she could not evade.

Enoch Războlnic ultimately transcending to divinity to slay her. It was inevitable.

Doyun did not hesitate. He commanded definitively:

[Cleave.]

The Demon Lord. Her neck began cleaving apart – an immutable phenomenon and result, impossible to evade.

As the Primordial Demon Lord’s divinity and self vanished, Doyun furrowed his brow gazing at the Demon Lord’s body.

“You…”

Those golden eyes.

The increasingly severed neck. In that pretty face above, his daughter – the Demon Lord – was unmistakably visible.

[…Father.]

“…”

Doyun did not speak.

He could only look down with a mournful expression.

[I’m sorry…]

Crunch—

The Demon Lord’s neck fully cleaved apart.

Thus perished the Primordial Demon Lord, root of all evil, and her successor the Demon Lord.

The Hero had triumphed over the Demon Lord. The world was delivered.

“…”

After briefly regarding the decapitated small girl’s form with sorrowful eyes, Doyun moved.

With a single step, his body vanished from that place. He had already rejoined the Lion King, Citadel Lord, and Luna amidst the Alliance – in Muspelheim.

Doyun walked towards the royal citadel’s entrance, where the continent’s denizens fervently prayed for the Hero’s victory in his final battle.

Countless citizens packed the capital’s streets, buildings, and rooftops, kneeling with joined hands in solemn entreaty.

Doyun’s voice rang out.

[The Demon Lord is slain.]

All raised their heads.

“Ah…”

“The Hero…!”

Everyone wept.

[I have delivered you all.]

Doyun looked down upon their tearful faces.

[The war is over.]

At that long-awaited declaration they had awaited for centuries, a resounding cheer erupted:

Waaaaaaaaaah—!!!!!

The continent’s lands and skies trembled with joyous celebration.

The Regression Hero’s second deliverance mythos.

Forever etched into the continent’s legacy, to be recounted through generations thriving in that hard-won peace.

–The Second Salvation Myth of a Retired Regressed Hero– End.