The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

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Chapter 154: The Cadet Disappearance Case (8)

"An artificial stigma, huh."

Listening to Professor Jade and Senior Sophia's conversation, I recalled memories from my past life.

‘Professor Jade gave up on researching artificial stigmas back then.’

Did he only give up on artificial stigmas?

He even gave up on his own life.

But now—

‘Things have changed.’

I don’t know what triggered it, but he decided to continue his research again.

In a life filled with despair, he dared to dream of hope.

‘And someone took advantage of that hope.’

The unsettling sense of discomfort I'd been feeling finally made sense.

“So, it was that ‘snake’ who coaxed the professor?”

I snapped my fingers while pointing to a bush nearby.

Fwoosh!

A fierce flame surged up, setting the tree ablaze.

Rustle.

A pure white snake slithered out of the burning tree.

With mischievous eyes, the snake looked at me, then shifted into the form of a woman with snow-white hair.

“Oh my~ How did you know I was here?”

The white-haired woman looked at me with an intrigued expression.

I shrugged and replied,

“That rotten stench has been lingering over there for a while now.”

“Oh dear, calling a young lady’s scent rotten? Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“A young lady, you say.”

I stifled a laugh as I looked at the white-haired woman.

I wasn’t sure if I should be thankful, but I knew her identity.

‘The Bishop of Corruption, Serpente.’

One of the demons who worked behind the scenes on countless incidents across the continent on behalf of the elusive Archbishop Mephisto.

“Hmm. Judging by that expression, it seems you know who I am?”

Serpente narrowed her eyes, folding her arms.

She looked me over from head to toe, flicking her long, snake-like tongue.

“Dale Han… just as Lord Mephisto described.”

She muttered my name, nodding as if she knew about me already.

After examining me with a careful expression, she lifted the corner of her lips into a smirk.

“But it’s already too late. The heir of the Great Sage has already heard my ‘Whispers.’”

The Blessing of Whispers—a mental-type blessing that encourages the ‘hope’ in someone and compels them to act.

“Right, professor?”

With a sly smile, Serpente turned to look at Professor Jade.

“Huff… huff…”

Professor Jade was panting heavily, with a dark stigma shining ominously on his right chest, his bloodshot eyes glaring.

Serpente watched him and whispered softly.

“It’s time to deal with the one interfering with your dream.”

The sweet whisper echoed in his ears.

Professor Jade’s bloodshot gaze focused on me.

He formed a hand seal in the air.

Bzzzzt!

A geometric pattern appeared in midair, shimmering with a jewel-like light, but tinged with a gloomy black that gave it a sinister, dark blue hue.

“Bloom.”

The intricate geometric pattern bloomed like a flower.

The surge of mana had grown exponentially since before.

The light waves shot from the pattern rushed towards me like a tidal wave.

“Danger!”

Sophia’s face paled as she shouted a warning, recognizing the formidable power behind Professor Jade’s magic.

Indeed, the power behind his magic was almost terrifying, but—

“Blossom.”

Fwoosh!

Flames engulfed my body.

I swung my sword at the dark blue waves surging toward me.

Ashen Blade, Form 1 Modification.

Diffraction - Wave.

Boom!

The ash-gray aura split into dozens of ripples, shattering the dark blue light waves.

“Bloom.”

But that was only momentary.

With a low incantation, the dark blue waves surged forth again.

Watching the glyph continuously unleash waves, I frowned.

‘What kind of mechanism is that?’

The glyph was intricately crafted like a well-designed machine, producing blasts in endless succession.

“Haa!”

Ashen Blade, Form 2.

Fire Blade.

I created a blade of flame from a distance, but as it neared the glyph, it twisted sharply, flying off in the wrong direction.

‘It’s an attack that not only fires waves continuously but also defends itself.’

The title of “Heir of the Great Sage” was indeed well-earned with such a formidable spell.

‘But.’

I held a power in my heart that was far more formidable.

“Burn.”

Fwoosh!

The flames engulfing my body intensified, swirling with ash-gray smoke.

Encased in fire, I lunged toward Professor Jade.

Vroom!

The dark blue light waves rained down from all directions.

Smirking fiercely, I extended my sword.

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Ashen Blade, Form 3.

Flame Spear.

The ash-colored flame greedily absorbed the oncoming dark blue waves, forming a sphere of gray fire at the tip of my blade.

The blazing ash-gray sphere launched toward the barrier of glyphs created by Professor Jade’s magic.

And—

Boom!

The explosion was so loud that my ears rang, and trees and stones around us were flung away like ants caught in a typhoon.

The pattern Professor Jade had crafted shattered into pieces, scattering into the air.

“Cough!”

Professor Jade, who was thrown back, coughed up a handful of blood.

“What…?”

Serpente looked at me in shock, clearly never imagining that the descendant of the “Great Sage,” Professor Jade, who had even gained enhanced power through artificial Stigma, could be so pathetically overpowered.

‘This can’t be happening.’

With trembling eyes, she watched me carefully, and as I was in a momentary lull after using a big technique, she leaned in and whispered again to Professor Jade.

“Professor? At this point, wouldn’t it be wise to capture another candidate as a hostage?”

Her sweet, insistent whisper echoed again in my ears.

Professor Jade’s gaze turned toward Sophia.

“Eek…!”

Sophia sensed the danger and tried to step back, but Professor Jade’s hands moved faster, sketching a pattern in the air.

A dark, ominous blue light shimmered from a pattern that was much smaller than before.

Wooong!

“Watch out!”

“Kyaaah!”

Berald pulled Sophia close, turning his body to shield her.

He shut his eyes tight, bracing for the impending impact.

But then… nothing.

“…?”

The geometric patterns Professor Jade conjured glowed with a sinister blue hue, but nothing else happened.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and capture the hostage!”

Serpente, growing impatient, glanced at me and then barked at Professor Jade.

“…”

But Professor Jade’s hand, which had been directed at Sophia and Berald, stopped again.

Instead…

“Ah…”

A faint groan slipped from Professor Jade’s lips.

Even though his eyes were bloodshot, and he was gasping for breath, he ultimately didn’t cast his spell on Sophia and Berald.

“He resisted my ‘Whisper’?”

Serpente looked at him, stunned.

In fact, Professor Jade wasn’t the first to resist her “Whisper’s Blessing.”

There had been a few heroes who resisted her whispers in the past.

However…

‘That was only possible because they had resisted it from the start.’

Her Whisper's Blessing was, at first, simply a small “whisper” that could be ignored by closing one’s ears.

But once someone yielded to her Whisper, it grew until it filled their entire mind.

Someone like Professor Jade, who had yielded for a long time, shouldn’t have been able to hear anything else but her voice.

“Why… isn’t my Whisper working?”

Grinding her teeth, she whispered again towards him.

But despite her desperate attempts, Professor Jade’s bloodshot eyes gradually regained their original color.

“Haah.”

With her Whisper extinguished, another voice resonated in him.

The voice that mattered most to him at that moment.

Slowly, he turned to Sophia and began to speak in a low, heavy voice.

“Cadet Oscar…”

He continued in a soft, melancholic tone.

“...was a terrible student.”

“…”

“Arrogant, selfish, unruly, and only cared about himself.”

A tear formed in Professor Jade’s eyes as he looked at Sophia.

“But… but…”

He placed his hand over the artificial stigma engraved on his right chest and sobbed.

“He was… my… my most precious student.”

“You…”

Sophia looked at him with trembling eyes.

She gently nudged Berald, who was still holding her, and rose to her feet.

Step, step.

Slowly, she walked toward Professor Jade.

“I’m sorry… I should never have… never dreamed of saving the world. Such an absurd dream shouldn’t have even begun… It was my foolish dream that led your brother to his death.”

“…”

“To think I completed the research I’d begun to save the world by relying on demonic power… What a pathetic, disgraceful ending.”

Though the dream had faded, it had not been tarnished before.

But he had sullied it with his own hands.

“Don’t forgive me.”

Professor Jade knelt before Sophia, giving her a bitter smile.

“I wasn’t planning on it anyway.”

Sophia extended her staff toward him.

Red energy swirled around the tip of her staff.

And then—

Thunk.

A gentle impact landed on his forehead.

“Huh?”

As Professor Jade rubbed his forehead, confused, Sophia walked past him and murmured softly.

“Next time… finish it without relying on demonic power. The dream you and my brother had.”

“…”

“If I help, you’ll finish it in no time.”

Sophia shrugged her shoulders, looking at the dazed Professor Jade.

“Believe it or not, I’m much better at magic than my brother.”

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