The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

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Chapter 155: Interlude – Snake Hunt

“You….”

Professor Jade looked at Sophia with trembling eyes.

Just as he was about to say something,

Buzz!

“Urgh!”

The artificial Stigma engraved on his right chest began to blink with a dark, blue light.

Grotesque, root-like veins started to spread from the place where the artificial Stigma was carved.

“What…?”

Sophia looked back at the fallen Professor Jade with a pale face.

“What, what’s happening? Wasn’t the artificial Stigma already completed?”

Though he had borrowed power from a demon, Professor Jade had said himself that the artificial Stigma was “completed.”

“It’s not a problem with the artificial Stigma.”

I approached the fallen Professor Jade, clutching his chest.

Placing my hand on the artificial Stigma engraved on his right chest, I focused my mind.

‘Just as I thought.’

It was as I suspected.

“If it’s not a problem with the artificial Stigma, then….”

“It means there was an issue with the demonic stone that the demon gave him.”

“…….”

From the start, the artificial Stigma was likely designed to have only a temporary stabilizing effect, with various aftereffects emerging later.

‘There’s no way the demon would have genuinely helped him complete his artificial Stigma research with pure intentions.’

There must have been some ulterior motive behind the demon’s “support” for Professor Jade’s research.

“W-What should we do? Oh, right, didn’t you say you knew the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom? If we contact her….”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

Placing my hand on the artificial Stigma on Professor Jade’s right chest, I slowly summoned my flame.

If the demon had tampered with the artificial Stigma—

‘Then I’ll just burn the entire Stigma away.’

Fwoosh!

Flames from the embers ignited Professor Jade’s right chest, where the artificial Stigma was engraved.

“Urgh! Ugh!”

“Just bear with it for a moment.”

After all, the artificial Stigma was a mere imitation, a fake that only mimicked a real Stigma.

Even though I couldn’t yet fully control the Primordial Flame, removing the artificial Stigma wasn’t difficult.

Sizzle!

The sound of burning flesh rose along with ashen smoke.

Professor Jade clenched his lips, enduring the excruciating pain.

But only for a moment.

“Argh! Stop! Stop it!”

Perhaps the pain was too intense.

Professor Jade screamed, writhing in agony.

“Berald. Come and hold him down.”

“A-All right.”

Hesitantly, Berald approached and held down the thrashing Professor Jade.

Ignoring the spit dribbling from his mouth, I pressed my hand back onto Professor Jade’s artificial Stigma.

Sizzle!

“Argh! Ugh! Aaaagh!!!”

The scream echoed again.

After about thirty more seconds,

The embers had completely burned away Professor Jade’s artificial Stigma.

“Hah… hah… hah!”

Covered in sweat, Professor Jade breathed heavily, his face exhausted.

Looking at me, he asked with a trembling voice,

“Have you… always endured this kind of pain?”

“…….”

As he said, the pain Professor Jade was feeling now wasn’t much different from the pain I felt when I used ignition or flame amplification.

“How… how do you….”

“I’m used to it.”

“…….”

At my calm answer, Professor Jade’s gaze trembled slightly.

It was the same look Professor Elisha once gave me.

A tender gaze, as if looking at something broken and pitiful, to which I could only smile bitterly as I rose.

“You should rest and recover.”

“…Understood.”

Nodding, Professor Jade sat heavily on the ground.

“…You.”

Sophia, who had been watching the scene silently, looked at me with trembling eyes.

“Who… are you?”

“…….”

It made sense.

After seeing me not only effortlessly subdue Professor Jade but also burn away the Stigma, even if it was artificial, it was natural for her to be left speechless.

“I’ll explain in detail later.”

“…….”

“Berald, could you go with Sophia and fetch Iris?”

“You’re staying here?”

“Yeah. I still have some unfinished business.”

Berald nodded and left with Senior Sophia.

“…….”

“…….”

The forest grew silent, leaving only me and Professor Jade.

An awkward silence descended.

“There’s something I want to ask.”

“…What is it?”

“Why did you hide the research on artificial Stigmas from me?”

Professor Jade knew that I possessed the Blessing of Revival.

If it was for the research on artificial Stigmas, it would have made sense to approach me rather than the demon.

Even if side effects led to fatal attacks, I would be able to resurrect.

“…….”

Professor Jade let out a deep sigh at my question.

“It would be a lie to say that I hadn’t considered that option.”

However,

With a bitter smile, Professor Jade shook his head.

“But I didn’t want to see any more of my cherished students dying in front of me.”

Even if that student possessed the Blessing of Revival and would come back to life.

“…….”

A cherished student, he had said.

Hearing those words from Professor Jade brought a faint smile to my lips.

“I understand. Then I won’t press you any further.”

“…Where are you going?”

Professor Jade called after me as I turned and started walking into the forest.

I looked in the direction Serpente had fled, grinning.

“I’m off to hunt a snake real quick.”

* * *

“Damn, damn, damn!”

Serpente sprinted frantically through the forest.

Her breaths came in short gasps as a chilling fear crept up her spine.

‘Who is that guy?’

She remembered the blazing gray flames.

A monster who overwhelmed the “Great Sage’s” successor as though he were a mere child.

Of course, she knew that while Jade Bastian excelled in magical theory and research, his combat ability didn’t quite live up to the title of the Great Sage’s successor.

‘But there are limits to everything!’

He was still a man of enough skill to make a mark in his field.

[Translator - Night]

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Even if his combat skills fell short, it was only by the lofty standards of the “Great Sage’s successor.”

He could still take on a high-ranking hero in most cases.

‘And I even used the “Shard of Corruption”!’

The demonic stone she had given to Professor Jade.

Known as the “Shard of Corruption,” it contained a trace of Mephisto’s power.

‘But…’

She lost.

And not just any loss, but a total, one-sided defeat, without so much as a decent resistance.

To a mere candidate, no less.

‘No, that guy can't possibly be a candidate.’

Serpente flicked her long tongue irritably, scowling.

What candidate in the world could possibly wield power on par with an archbishop?

‘I need to inform Lord Mephisto.’

She had heard of this "Dale Han" from Mephisto before.

But seeing him in person, he was far more dangerous than she had been told.

A threat serious enough to potentially interfere with Mephisto’s plans.

‘First, I need to get out of here.’

Fortunately, it seemed no one was tracking her.

Serpente quickened her pace, sprinting through the dense forest.

“Hah…”

After clearing the woods completely,

Serpente entered an abandoned house in Valhalla City.

It was a hideout often used by demons on covert missions to conceal themselves.

‘First things first… I need to report to Lord Mephisto.’

Crack.

As she extended her hand into the air, part of the space around her warped, as if a glass pane shattered.

She reached into the fractured space and pulled out a crystal ball that glistened with a dull, ominous black hue.

The only means by which she could communicate with her master, the Archbishop of Corruption, Mephisto.

Just as she placed her hand on the crystal ball, preparing to pour her demonic energy into it…

“Well, well. Fancy running into you hiding in such a rundown place. Must be the snake instincts, huh?”

A voice echoed from the darkness.

“When did you…?!”

Serpente whipped her head around, her face full of shock.

Standing at the hideout’s entrance was the gray-haired candidate, gazing at her with a sinister smirk.

“What, you really thought no one was tracking you?”

“You…”

Serpente’s eyes darted around the room.

With Dale standing at the entrance, the only remaining escape route was out the window…

“Hold still.”

Whoosh!

The room burst into light as cinders flared up.

Serpente gulped, watching the fierce flames dance in front of her.

She excelled at manipulating others from the shadows with her "Blessing of Whispers," but in terms of raw combat power, she was among the lowest in the demon hierarchy, even for a bishop-level demon.

Fighting a monster with the strength to rival even an archbishop was out of the question.

“What… what do you want?”

“Who knows? That's something I'll have to think about slowly, starting now.”

Dale dragged over two chairs from the corner of the room and gestured for her to sit.

“Take a seat. We have a lot to discuss, don't we?”

“Uh…”

Serpente, pale and trembling, hesitated before forcing a seductive smile onto her lips and murmuring softly.

“How about… we have a different kind of conversation than with our mouths?”

A sweet whisper in his ear.

I grinned and snapped my fingers lightly.

Fwoosh!

The small flames erupted, expanding as if to swallow her whole.

“Kyah!”

Serpente screamed, falling back in fear as the heat scorched the air.

It was a pitiful sight for a demon who had orchestrated countless schemes from behind the scenes in her past life.

‘Well, her combat skills were never great anyway.’

She was indeed a troublesome demon due to her skill in infiltration and her "Blessing of Whispers," but in pure combat ability, she was far weaker than Harris, the bishop I fought in a frontier village with Professor Elisha.

“If you try anything funny again, it won’t just be a warning.”

“…Alright, I get it.”

Serpente slumped into the chair, visibly nervous.

“Alright then…”

I turned on the Hero Watch.

‘Maybe I should record this just in case.’

It might come in handy later, either to threaten or provoke Mephisto.

Not that there was much chance of actually intimidating or provoking Mephisto, but Serpente was a favored subordinate of his, after all.

“Well then.”

After switching the Hero Watch to recording mode, I looked back at Serpente, who was sitting quietly in her chair.

“First, look at the camera and state your name and age.”

“…Yes.”

Hmm.

Something about this atmosphere felt a bit off.

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