Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 268 : Decisive Battle (1)

Decisive Battle (1)

She hadn't liked it from the beginning.

From the first time she had seen it in Jung-woo's memories.

Of course, she later learned that it was herself, but that feeling hadn't changed much.

Estella was Shin Ah-yeon, and at the same time, not Shin Ah-yeon.

To be honest, Ah-yeon had never thought of herself as such a noble or great person.

If she herself had been buried alive underground for a thousand years, she would have killed everything in sight, "noble" be damned.

Estella had that kind of power, and the only being who could truly stop her was essentially the Demon King.

Even if it was a power that could only be used in the presence of humans, if she leveraged it, she could easily bring about mutual destruction.

'The problem is, should I be calling that Estella, or not.'

Obviously, Ah-yeon was the reincarnation of Estella.

Her memories and Stigmata were proof of that.

In other words, what was in front of her was nothing but a fake.

A divine art that mimicked the Authority of Wishes.

A demon god, created by combining the Demon King's power with demon techniques.

Naturally, the power it used resembled the Authority of Wishes, but it was a divine art that consumed life to bring about miracles. Except the one wielding that power was the remnant of Estella that had been hiding inside Ah-yeon all this time.

'What do you want to do?'

She wanted to ask.

But even though her gaze must have been felt, the opponent showed no intention to converse.

"Alencia, how many viewers are there right now?"

If they were to find a winning chance, it would be the number of viewers Alencia was currently gathering through the broadcast.

The wishes being gathered through the viewers tuning in to the broadcast.

But that wish wasn't only something Ah-yeon could use.

The halo visible on the demon god's back—a massive cluster of golden threads gathering in real time.

Things that ordinary humans couldn't see piled up to become one great light.

'Just like we're trying to use the wishes.'

The enemy was trying to use those as well.

Of course, both Jung-woo and Ah-yeon knew that.

Nevertheless, they couldn't stop, since it was absolutely necessary.

"Alencia?"

Calling Alencia while face-to-face with the demon god, but there was no reply.

She wondered if something had happened.

Bzzzzzt!!

A bolt of lightning struck from the direction of Unique's headquarters, far away.

At the same time, an enormous energy surged so intensely it made her skin tingle.

Extreme concentrations of electrical energy.

Judging by the fact that the surrounding lights hadn't vanished, it hadn't absorbed the area's electricity.

But the amount of power she sensed now was greater than anything Ah-yeon had ever felt.

KWA-AAAAANG!!

The ground shook and the thunderclap of thousands of lightning bolts echoed.

Some people clutched their ears and rolled on the ground, the sound almost tearing eardrums, and even Ah-yeon, who had prepared in advance, squinted slightly.

'This is...!'

The flow in the vicinity warped, and from far away, blue strands like golden threads could be seen converging on Korea.

'They're fighting.'

With whom? she wondered, but belatedly remembered Alencia's words.

Korea's strongest S-rank Hunter, Kang Min-gi.

And the remaining top-rank demons.

Alencia was undoubtedly fighting them now.

***

"Behold, Park Jung-woo,"

Jin Su-hyuk lightly raised his hand.

Then, from the golden flowers in full bloom on his back, several petals floated up into the air.

Those petals showed scenes from around the world—including the demon god in confrontation with Ah-yeon.

And a display of Alencia fighting fiercely.

"You and your Hunters are certainly putting up a hard fight. Ryan Knox... We never imagined Lee Soo-ah would be the one to kill him."

On another petal, it showed Soo-ah, leaning against the wall, looking skyward after defeating Ryan Knox.

She had somehow managed to overcome someone far above her, but she was certainly not unscathed.

"But that doesn't really matter."

With a flick of Jin Su-hyuk's finger, Ah-yeon and the demon god appeared on another petal.

"In the end, it depends on the world's will."

The world—all humanity watching the current situation.

Jin Su-hyuk had bet everything on them.

The broadcast sent through Alencia to the entire world was a device to gather wishes for Ah-yeon, but it worked equally for the demon god.

"By using divine art, I created awakeners, gathered their power, and birthed a demon god."

But that was only the foundation.

A continuation of what Benadic had done. Nothing more.

The real aim was to usurp the wish now gathered in Ah-yeon, reversing its flow.

"If the wish moves toward the demon god instead of Shin Ah-yeon, things change. Or even if it goes to her—that can simply be stolen."

Jin Su-hyuk believed.

That the demon god could make all the world's wishes gathering in this land its own.

'Certainly, yes.'

As befit its name, the image of the demon god shown in the vision was worthy of reverence.

Not an existence seeking the world's destruction, but one born for salvation.

If that's how it simply appeared, if people believed it, then it wasn't strange for wishes to turn toward the demon god.

In fact, the golden threads connecting to the demon god were still increasing.

If earlier those had belonged to awakeners Jin Su-hyuk had caused to be born, now they were those of ordinary people.

People who gathered through their broadcast, hoping for salvation amid crisis.

"This is my final production."

The last awakener he had created, the star of his grandest play.

The demon god was indeed a being fit for that role.

A singularity to end and then recreate the world.

"And..."

Jin Su-hyuk looked at Jung-woo.

He had once been someone Jung-woo revered.

A mere manager who had achieved much and became a pioneer leading the new age.

But the man before him now was not the Jin Su-hyuk Jung-woo had known.

His outward appearance hadn't changed.

A body seemingly honed like an awakener, muscular and strong.

But now, power surpassing awakeners and rivaling gods inhabited what was once an ordinary body.

"You will die here."

Slowly, his steps moved.

Towards Jung-woo, one step at a time.

"Park Jung-woo, you truly are remarkable. Not only are you the only returnee to survive the rift, you killed the Demon King in another world and saved it."

That alone made Park Jung-woo extraordinary.

Even the demons had feared him, hiding in the darkness.

Even Damian, the Demon King's own son, hadn't wished to face him directly.

Just as humanity had in the past, to the demons, Park Jung-woo was practically a Demon King himself.

"Thus, by ending you here, it will all be finished."

Any chance Shin Ah-yeon could possibly defeat the demon god.

"Now that I think of it, you were never a good manager."

Stretching and warming up his body, he continued walking.

The petals behind Jin Su-hyuk glowed, the demon god's ever-increasing power converging on him in real time.

"To call you a manager... you became too great an existence for them."

He always thought—

A manager is like a bowstring.

An important part that makes the arrow more powerful and fly farther.

But if it breaks, it must simply be replaced.

That's what Jin Su-hyuk thought a manager was.

But Park Jung-woo was different.

He was simply too big—if he broke, many things would collapse.

At the very least, Shin Ah-yeon would surely be unable to fight any longer.

"Well, that might be true."

Jung-woo offered no denial to Jin Su-hyuk's words.

As he approached, Jung-woo also walked to face him.

"But you know, I've got something people normally say at times like these."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Jin Su-hyuk looked at Jung-woo with interest.

He was curious what kind of rebuttal Jung-woo would come up with.

As he expected, Jung-woo had a lot to say to Jin Su-hyuk.

There were things to refute, things to point out.

But if it all had to be summed up in one phrase—

"Your mom, bastard."

"...?"

It was the first curse Jung-woo ever learned from Ah-yeon.

The sudden, out-of-nowhere profanity left Jin Su-hyuk momentarily speechless.

KWA-AAAAANG!!

Jung-woo's fist crashed down on Jin Su-hyuk's head.

***

Kang Min-gi had never once felt his own power lacking.

He had been a genius since birth.

He was always hailed as the greatest awakener in Korea's history.

"Hunter Kang Min-gi, we'll grant you anything you want if you join our guild!"

"You'll get treatment that no S-rank Hunter in Korea has ever received...."

Every Hunter guild reached out to him.

Every time, Kang Min-gi drifted between different guilds, never finding anywhere he truly liked.

How to put it... it just bored him.

Those who extended their hands to Kang Min-gi were just swimming in small ponds, only seeking to lean on his strength.

"Looks like you're bored."

That was when someone spoke to him.

Jin Su-hyuk.

Back then, he was just acting as a guild manager.

"If I promise to make things exciting, will you come with me?"

Initially, Kang Min-gi thought it was nonsense.

What could a mere manager possibly do?

But the manager who visited him again and again soon created a management agency.

Grand Nova.

In the Korean awakener ecosystem, which had been dominated by Hunter guilds, "management" was something truly special. Maybe that was when Kang Min-gi decided to join Jin Su-hyuk.

He was curious what this manager was trying to do.

"I'm going to change the world."

Jin Su-hyuk, now the President, said so to Kang Min-gi.

The world would change soon, and he would ride that flow to transform everything.

It was absurd talk.

But somehow, Kang Min-gi thought it might be possible.

Because after meeting him, boredom never returned.

"Ha! This is...."

And now—

"Truly impressive."

Kang Min-gi's eyes sparkled.

Behind his sunglasses, both pupils glinted as he looked up at the sky.

Blue lightning crashed down, piercing the bodies of the demons in the area.

Those below high-rank weren't even allowed to resist.

Even though each was easily above an A-rank awakener, and just two could have handled an S-rank, they couldn't even react.

'The Saintess.'

No, an existence worthy of being called a god.

The demon, Sebin, who had come to Unique today, had said this.

Only Kang Min-gi himself would be able to face her directly.

Being the manufactured "saint" receiving backup from the demon god—he was the only one who could stand against her.

'Ryan Knox is dead.'

He instinctively knew it.

What's more, he'd been killed not by Alencia, the saint in front of him, but by Lee Soo-ah.

Because everything was shared through the 'demon god', he could tell.

"This is fun—really, really great."

An ordinary human, Lee Soo-ah, had killed Ryan Knox, who had backup from the demon god.

Then Kang Min-gi himself could definitely do it.

He could easily crush this embodiment of humanity's created civilization standing before him.

'Oh, was I told not to kill her?'

Alencia, at any rate, would naturally disappear when this age ended.

So Jin Su-hyuk had said there was no need to kill her.

But Kang Min-gi couldn't restrain his pounding heart.

Battle god.

So great was his love of fighting the strong, he was called that.

Simply, there had been no one left to contend with him for a long time.

That's why, in this moment, he was thrilled.

A life-or-death fight where he could throw everything he had.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

13 chapters left.

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