Chapter 261. Ragnarok Pt. 3

Thud.

“Ugh!”

Right as Lee Jun-Kyeong took a step toward the group, Odysseus, who already had smaller mana reserves, Liu Bei and his brothers, and Won-Hwa clutched their chests in pain. The others responded similarly, albeit to different degrees.

“…”

Zeus, Horus, and Merlin frowned as Athena lifted and then lowered her shield, Aegis.

"Why are you…?” Jeong In-Chang said as he looked at Lee Jun-Kyung with a surprised gaze. However, they soon saw Lee Jun-Kyeong quickly take a step back, flustered.

“I, I’m sorry!”

Realizing this, Zeus spoke as he looked at him. “You can’t control your strength.”

Everyone could feel that the Hunter had grown ridiculously after defeating Baldur.

“So it’s to a point where you can’t control it whatsoever…” Zeus took a slow step forward. Flustered, Lee Jun-Kyeong tried to take a step back in turn.

“What are you going to do if you can’t even control that much?” He stopped at Zeus' cold words and soon nodded. Lee Jun-Kyeong closed his eyes, his mana fluctuating and surging.

Thrum!!!

Within an illusion of a storm, Lee Jun-Kyeong opened his eyes and said, “I’m sorry.”

The mana that seemed to pierce their bodies didn’t go away, but at least now, it wasn’t to the point where they were all frozen in place like before.

***

“My growth was so rapid that it’s difficult to control,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as if he was concerned with how to proceed.

Both his body and mana had grown very rapidly, but his senses and control didn’t seem to grow in turn. Although he had tried to hold back, the mana that leaked out had been enough to almost kill Won-Hwa and the others. Lee Jun-Kyeong’s face was wracked with guilt.

“Still, didn’t you manage to control it to this degree?” Jeong In-Chang said as if to cheer him up. Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at him and smiled, after which he slowly approached the Hunter.

“Mr. Lee.”

“Your thoughts and support were conveyed well.” He had defeated Baldur, gained a title, and grown close to a form of evolution. “I am always grateful for you.”

But even through all of that, he could always tell that Jeong In-Chang would continue walking toward him. Jeong In-Chang had still tried to come to his side even through overwhelming pain.

“Are you feeling okay?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked. With the power he suddenly gained, he had healed those who came into contact with his senses, restoring their mana.

‘Restoration.’

He had healed them with the powers of the source that he had both awakened within himself and obtained from Mistilteinn.

“As expected, it was you who had done it, Mr. Lee.” Jeong In-Chang nodded. “You really are… quite impressive now…”

Jeong In-Chang was right; it hadn’t been just his own body. Lee Jun-Kyeong had restored the mana of Fenrir and all of the other companions while also healing them. More than anything, it was amazing that even the apex Hunters, including Zeus, had been able to recover in an instant.

"Hmm." And still, he had almost killed them with just the remnant power flowing out of him when he approached them. “Are you no longer human…?”

“I don’t know,” Lee Jun-Kyeong answered. “However, what I do know is that you will always be my strongest shield, Mr. Jeong.”

When he had returned to the past and became a Hunter, Lee Jun-Kyeong had picked a weapon for the first time during the training program called the Tutorial. He had chosen a spear and a shield then. But, at some point, Lee Jun-Kyeong had stopped using the shield. It must have occurred after meeting Jeong In-Chang. Since Jeong In-Chang would always throw himself to block any attacks aimed at him, all Lee Jun-Kyeong had to do was focus on attacking.

“Mr. Lee…”

When Jeong In-Chang looked up at Lee Jun-Kyeong with tearful eyes, Lee Jun-Kyeong spoke again while looking behind him, “Thank you, Fenrir.”

Covered in blood, the boy who had recovered somewhere along the line came to his senses. Even though Lee Jun-Kyeong had helped him recover, the small boy remained in Ungnyeo’s arms.

“Jun-Kyeong…”

In truth, he had never fully recovered.

“You have to overcome it.”

Even with Lee Jun-Kyeong’s abilities, he was unable to erase the power of Odin trapped within the boy. Odin had truly been persistent, but he would no longer be a threat to Fenrir.

Lee Jun-Kyeong slowly looked away. “Everyone…”

In every direction, there were his companions who had successfully completed the missions that they had each been given.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

They had defeated Odin, saved the people, and struck down Baldur.

“But it’s not over yet.”

The most important thing still remained. Lee Jun-Kyeong turned his head, looking at the black gate. The others couldn’t even feel the mana that the gate was emitting.

‘It’s an astonishing power.’

However, it was different for Lee Jun-Kyeong, who had reached level 100 and received a title. His whole body was shaking. Even though he had gained such enormous power, he was scared.

“The Demon King remains.”

The thing before them was Gehenna, and the Demon King, who had never appeared, would be there.

“Are you sure you want to go alone?”

“We will go with you.”

“We will follow you, Mr. Lee!”

Each one of them said something different, but each of them declared their intentions to go to Gehenna alongside Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“Have a safe trip,” Ungnyeo said while holding Fenrir in her arms, a stark difference from the others. “That’s not a place we can go anyway. It’s a little shameless, but we’ll leave it to you.”

She seemed calm, yet sad. “So, please make sure you return.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong listened to her and slowly nodded. “I will go alone as planned. Everyone, please wait for me.”

That was all he could say to them.

However, a man who stood awkwardly, unable to say anything even after meeting him again, piped up, “Before you go…”

Heimdall approached Lee Jun-Kyeong. "Let's talk."

***

"I…” Heimdall slowly opened his mouth. “Although I just wanted to talk to Jun-Kyeong, the two of us…”

Gazes, sharp and narrow, were focused on Heimdall.

Zeus asked, “How do you expect us to let you talk to him alone?”

“It is still too early to completely trust you, Heimdall,” Jeong In-Chang continued.

“No matter what happens, the Underdog is our student. We have no choice but to intervene in our pupil’s affairs,” Arthur and Merlin chipped in.

Even Horus spoke up. “It’s a matter between brothers.”

“…”

“Athena, do you want to hear it too?” Even Athena stood there with her arms crossed.

On the other hand, Ungnyeo didn’t follow along. Staying with Fenrir and the other companions, she sent Lee Jun-Kyeong away without another word, letting him speak with Heimdall.

‘Quickly come back.’

“Whew…”

Heimdall looked at the gathered people and exhaled. He had wanted to speak with Lee Jun-Kyeong alone, but there were more eyes and ears listening in than he had wanted.

“If you have something to say to me, you can say it to everyone here.”

Now that Lee Jun-Kyeong had even chimed in, Heimdall had no choice but to acquiesce, “I guess I can’t help it.”

With a complicated gaze, he glanced at everyone again before opening his mouth, “What I’m about to say from now on is something everyone has been curious about… Jun-Kyeong, in particular, you’ve been wanting to hear about this.”

Heimdall was going to tell them everything that he, as both Heimdall and Yeo Seong-Gu, knew.

“Although, I know that because you can’t trust me, it might be hard to believe…”

Although Yeo Seong-Gu spoke weakly, Lee Jun-Kyeong interjected before he could even finish speaking, “I trust you.”

Heimdall was rather taken aback by Lee Jun-Kyeong’s firm answer.

“I mean… You definitely had a reason for it all.”

“Because even though you had more than ample opportunity to kill us, you didn’t,” Arthur and Zeus added.

“Are you going to tell me the reason now?” Lee Jun-Kyeong continued. “The reason why you had no choice but to deceive me, Hyung… The reason why you had to fight with Zeus, Merlin, and the others.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong paused and then finished, “And about what had happened in the previous timeline.

“Was it Odin…?”

Heimdall was convinced now that Lee Jun-Kyeong had regained memories of the past. It was definitely the signs of Odin’s involvement, his abilities evident.

“Good, then," Heimdall said as if he had decided. “Then I’ll tell you everything, as we still have some time.”

He looked toward Gehenna.

“I don’t know where to start… But let me make one thing clear.” Heimdall’s gaze was clear and serious as it aimed at Lee Jun-Kyeong. “After hearing what I have to say, whatever choice you make, I will follow you.”

His heavy voice rang in everyone's ears. “Even if you abandon this world.”

***

“Even if I abandon this world? Are you saying that there’s a chance I might not enter Gehenna?” Lee Jun-Kyeong wasn’t sure of what Heimdall had to say, but it was clear that at the end of his tale, he was expecting Lee Jun-Kyeong to have to make a decision again. “Are you trying to say that I might not be sure of my decisions anymore?”

Whether he would enter Gehenna and confront the Demon King supposedly would be decided by this tale.

“That’s right,” Heimdall confirmed.

Slowly, his lips parted, “You heard her story, right?”

“Her?”

Heimdall pointed to Lee Jun-Kyeong’s side.

Ssss.

Somewhere in the midst of their conversation, Saeynkaed, who had gone to take a rest, had returned to stand next to the Hunter. Since she had been the one to unleash her power and herald the start of the battle, she had taken this time to hide near the back and just follow, trying to recuperate.

Of course, after defeating Baldur, Lee Jun-Kyeong had healed her, allowing her to stand tall among them again.

“Wait…” Lee Jun-Kyeong said, his pupils dilating as if he was surprised. “You already knew about my talk with Saeynkaed?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong turned to Zeus and the others. They were the only ones to have made contact with Heimdall. Thus, if Heimdall knew Saeynkaed’s story, then they would have been the only ones who could have told him.

However, Zeus shook his head in response. “No.”

They hadn’t said anything about Saeynkaed, Gehenna, or even the Sponsors.

“All we did was ask questions, not tell him about anything.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong turned to look at Heimdall again.

“Saeynkaed already knows about it all. She had been a puppet of the Sponsors… The king of dragons that came into contact with a fragment of the powers of the source.”

“...!”

Even though they had never said anything about her to Heimdall, he had still known exactly who she was.

Gulp.

Although Lee Jun-Kyeong knew what Heimdall wanted to tell them would have been unbelievable, he had a hunch that the scale would be bigger than he thought.

“You always needed a Sponsor and someone to tell you the secrets of this world. And, every time, she was the right being for the job,” Heimdall said.

There was too much information that could be inferred from that.

'Always. Every time.’

That meant…

"Wait…”

"That’s right."

Heimdall read Lee Jun-Kyeong’s thoughts and said, “This isn’t the first time you’ve returned to the past.”

A truth he had never imagined would now be revealed.