The Returnee Wants to Live Comfortably

The Moment You Need Popcorn (2)

"Why are you acting like this all of a sudden!"

"Silence! Prepare yourselves, forces of evil!"

The sudden change in Alois's party's attitude left the Hunters utterly flustered.

After all, they hadn't done a single thing to deserve this.

All they'd done was shake hands, nothing more.

"Magic team! Attack!"

Several people standing behind Alois raised their staffs.

Magic circles formed, and a barrage of elemental spells, including fireballs, erupted forth.

"This is driving me insane!"

With no other choice, the Hunters rushed to counter, pushing their shield-bearers to the front.

Whether they needed to subdue or negotiate, first, they had to bring the attackers under control.

"Argh!"

But with just a single fireball from the mages, the shield squad was blown away.

It didn't take long before even the shields started breaking.

"Why are they so strong?"

"We are the Order of the Imperial Guards who protect the Reveli Empire! We're composed of people who have honed their strength to the ultimate limit to slay monsters."

As if to prove those words weren't an empty boast, the shield-bearing Hunters were rendered combat-ineffective in an instant.

These were not pushovers that ordinary Hunters could handle.

"Don't look down on the power we've honed. I will surely follow my father's legacy and eradicate all demonkin!"

"We keep telling you, we're not demonkin!"

"Shut up! The dark magic power radiating from your bodies is all the evidence I need!"

This time, Alois himself brandished a spear.

Magic power surged through his body—then he vanished.

The evaporated Alois had suddenly appeared right in front of Yoo Cheon-hwa.

"Prepare yourself!"

"Tch!"

Yoo Cheon-hwa quickly conjured a spear of lightning and swung it.

KUUUUUUNG—!

When their spears collided, the ground split and the roof trembled.

The shock almost felt like an earthquake throughout the whole space, and even the others staggered.

An S-class Hunter, one of the top Hunters on Earth.

Commander of the great imperial order from Mewzealand.

Their duel was so close, it was almost impossible to tell who had the advantage.

"Stronger than I expected."

"Urgh!"

While Yoo Cheon-hwa was impressed, Alois, driven by a desperate desire to kill, pressed even harder.

The same went for Yoo Cheon-hwa—neither side showed signs of backing down.

But Alois refused to give up.

"My father's enemy...!"

"What?"

"I will never forgive you!"

"Who's your father?"

Honestly, Yoo Cheon-hwa had no idea.

Why are they doing this to us?

While fighting back with all his might, Yoo Cheon-hwa couldn't help but feel wronged.

'I don't know what happened in that world...'

But it was clear enough that Alois's world had fallen because of a Demon King.

Apparently, someone like his father had been slain by said Demon King.

So if he wanted vengeance, he should take it out on the Demon King—why was he targeting them?

"While I'm holding this one off, you all, go and kill those demonkin!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Leave no demonkin alive!"

They hadn't done anything wrong, yet they were being attacked simply for being called demonkin.

On Earth, 'demonkin' must mean those mutant-like Mutamit.

"Damn it! Just why are you so obsessed with this demonkin thing anyway!"

Furious, curses spilled from Yoo Cheon-hwa's mouth.

But Alois's response didn't change.

"I told you! You demonkin who wield dark magic power are a blight on humanity!"

He had no idea what this 'dark magic power' even was.

It seemed like, in that other world, people who manifest this strange energy could not survive.

Because they'd just get witch-hunted by types like this.

"Hahaha..."

"What's so funny?"

Of course it was laughable.

"I think I have a good idea why your world got ruined."

"What?"

A world where people are condemned just because dark magic power appears or they look like Mutamit.

Clear evidence? Who needs that. Read full story at novᴇlfire.net

They just unreasonably force their truth on everyone else.

"When you've got so many people ready to call the innocent criminals and talk about justice—the outcome is obvious."

"What did you say?"

"How could a world like that not fall, you bastard!"

CRACKLE—

Yoo Cheon-hwa discharged electricity from his entire body, summoning another spear in his other hand.

Alois, surprised, staggered backward, but the new lightning spear grazed his chest.

"Ugh!"

Blood flowed from his chest.

Worse, from the moment he was grazed by the spear, his movements became slow.

It felt like strong glue had been smeared all over his body, making his actions rigid.

"Is this paralysis...?"

The cause was the touch of the lightning spear's blade.

Next, the spear Yoo Cheon-hwa threw pierced Alois's shoulder.

"Arrgh!"

Originally, Yoo Cheon-hwa had aimed for Alois's heart.

But even while paralyzed, Alois barely managed to move and deflect the blow away from his vital organs.

"You can't be allowed to live."

"Ugh!"

But it was over.

Just as Yoo Cheon-hwa was about to finish things with his remaining spear—

"Khak!"

Suddenly, Yoo Cheon-hwa spat up blood.

An ambush? No, that wasn't possible.

He had been vigilant in every direction using his Third Eye, so a surprise attack was impossible.

In fact, there wasn't a single wound on his body.

"Poison...?"

Yoo Cheon-hwa, realizing too late, dropped to his knees.

It was definitely poison, but something was strange.

He hadn't eaten or drunk anything before entering the Gate.

He hadn't inhaled any poison in the air, either.

He was still lost in confusion when his teammates approached him.

One of them spoke.

"The effects are finally showing."

"What?"

Yoo Cheon-hwa was taken aback by his teammate's proud tone.

Then, approaching Alois, the teammate began to support him.

"I'm glad you're safe."

"Why are you...?"

"This should explain things quickly."

The teammate held Alois's hand.

The moment they made contact, Alois was startled by the magic power he sensed.

"This is... holy magic power...? Then, could it be...!"

"We too are people who came here to this world from Mewzealand. Currently, we act under the name the Holy Church."

Realizing there were allies in this world, Alois's face filled with emotion.

Then he frowned for a moment.

"But why is your holy magic power so unstable? It's as if it's mixed with dark magic power."

"The environmental conditions on Earth make it unavoidable. We must accept that and live with it."

"..."

"Let's go to our Holy Church headquarters. You'll learn more there."

Yoo Cheon-hwa, watching this, found it hard to accept.

"Hey, Lee Jin-su! What the hell are you talking about!"

His teammate, Lee Jin-su.

The idea that he was actually a Holy Church agent was unbelievable.

They'd been together for so long as teammates.

"Ah, do I still look like Lee Jin-su to you?"

"What...?"

Suddenly, Lee Jin-su and the other teammates' appearances began to change.

When they revealed completely unfamiliar faces, Yoo Cheon-hwa was utterly dumbfounded.

"Then... my real teammates..."

"They're probably sleeping at the Gate entrance. We only knocked them out because we were in a hurry."

They had switched places when sending the students outside not long ago.

From that point, the enemy had already infiltrated.

"Then... the mana stone you tried to give me...!"

"Yes. You were poisoned the moment you touched it."

Yoo Cheon-hwa had been tricked while not looking.

Even with his Third Eye, there was no way to discern their true identities.

Their disguises were so flawless, there was nothing suspicious until the end.

"Come to think of it, I haven't introduced myself. I am Xylo, a Hunter with the Holy Church."

"Urgh...!"

"All right, everyone, let's stop acting now."

With a clap, xylo shouted, and suddenly the Hunters from Poison Guild started attacking their own allies.

The others fell helplessly to the surprise assault.

The now-hostile Hunters all gathered at Xylo's side.

"Pretending for that long almost killed me."

Kang Hyun-seok, S-class Hunter from Poison, complained in an irritated voice.

It wasn't just him—the whole guild had turned traitor, and Yoo Cheon-hwa was aghast.

"What is your goal!"

To that, Kang Hyun-seok looked seriously at Yoo Cheon-hwa and said,

"As you see. We came to add more allies."

"Allies...?"

He meant the people from the other world, like Alois.

They wanted to bring more people from Mewzealand into this world.

Holy Church—a secretive organization the Angel Guild kept in check—but he never guessed they were this insane.

"To think they're actually from such a deranged world...!"

"Deranged? You're the weird ones, living normally with demonkin like them."

Even though they were demonkin—even though they were Mutamit—there were many who lived peacefully.

Even the young woman the guildmaster adopted six years ago was Mutamit.

Yoo Cheon-hwa found their logic utterly absurd.

"Mr. Alois, you said earlier this world is ruled by the Demon King, right?"

"Yes..."

"That's not true. There's not even any confirmation the Demon King exists in this world."

"Is that so...?"

Alois quickly accepted Xylo's words.

After all, he had to trust his own kind.

"But once our numbers grow, we'll be able to eliminate all dark magic power from this world."

"Right, if we pool our strength, it's possible."

"Before that, there's something we need to do..."

Poison Guild's Hunters dragged the unconscious Sura Guild members forward.

They'd also been caught off guard during the surprise attack.

"We have one more purpose besides inviting you all."

And that was to execute Sura from Sura Guild.

Among the Sura Guild Hunters, there was a single girl with her face covered.

"In truth, they're also from Mewzealand, just like us."

"Then why..."

Kang Hyun-seok answered the implicit question—why attack them.

"They fell into despair amid this world's dark magic power, and chose to believe in another god. The evil god, 'Asura', who stands in opposition to our guardian god."

"The evil god Asura...?"

Alois's eyes widened in sudden understanding.

Then, without hesitation, he said,

"Then there's no choice but to eliminate them."

"Yes, since they walked a different path, we must kill them."

With his answer, toxic miasma began pouring out of Kang Hyun-seok's body.

Toxic fumes filled the entire space, and the surviving Hunters began retching.

"You... you bastards..."

Already paralyzed by poison, Yoo Cheon-hwa couldn't resist and passed out.

If even an S-class like Yoo Cheon-hwa couldn't withstand it, it was obvious what happened to the others.

"It's fine to go all out here, right?"

"Of course. They're getting in the way of our plan. There's only one unrelated student left."

Not long ago, a select group of students had earned the chance to enter the Golden Gate.

All but one ran away in terror.

Only one student remained.

If that last student had simply left, they wouldn't have gotten caught up in this—but it was too late now.

"It can't be helped. This must be that student's fate."

"A student...?"

But Alois was puzzled by that.

"Where is this boy you're talking about?"

"What?"

Xylo looked around among the Hunters.

Strangely, the student was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he'd left after fighting a few monsters and running out of energy?

Without any of the Hunters to guide him.

"Doesn't really matter. Anyway, about Sura—"

"Captain! We have a problem!"

Suddenly, a subordinate called out in a panic.

Xylo turned his head, wondering what was going on.

"Sura is..."

"What?"

Before killing the unconscious Sura, they'd lifted the veil over her face.

But beneath it wasn't a person, it was a wooden doll carved in the shape of a girl.

"What the hell?"

There was no way Sura's true form was a doll.

Which meant only one thing.

"It was a fake?"

"Yeah, it's a fake."

At that moment, a voice came from behind, sending shudders down everyone's spines.

They turned to see the student, who had been invisible until now, standing with a bright smile.

And then—

STAB—!

Before anyone realized, the student's dagger pierced straight into Xylo's heart.