Returned With Horns

* * *

"...Ugh, that's cruel."

Han Ayoung closed her eyes tightly as she saw her body being shattered into pieces. Behind her, Director Baek opened his mouth.

"By the way, it's certainly different."

"What is?"

"The atmosphere changed as soon as she drew her sword. Deputy Director Han, how long would it take you to subdue Kaiser Nepherion if you fought with full power?"

"Hmm, about 15 seconds, I guess."

As Han Ayoung answered after pondering for a moment, Director Baek slightly furrowed his brow.

"It took Miss Seohyun about 3 minutes to subdue Kaiser Nepherion. But as soon as she drew her sword, she cut down Deputy Director Han's doppelganger in an instant."

"...So drawing the sword is the real deal, huh."

"That's right. Moreover, this ominous magical power felt as soon as she drew the sword..."

"Ominous or not, it's a demonic sword, so of course it is."

"Oh, Miss Seohyun?"

"Why are you up here already?"

"I drew this demonic sword. It's obvious I'd die if all my magic power gets sucked out, so I just gave up. Damn, what are you? What have you been doing to give off such a pressuring aura?"

Grumbling, Seohyun wiped off her cold sweat and sat down on the sofa. The sudden drain of magic power had momentarily left her in a state of magic depletion.

Although she was continuously inhaling mana through her horns, her pounding heart wouldn't easily calm down.

"Well, that's to be expected. Although she's working as an association employee now, Deputy Director Han's nickname was once 'Yaksha'."

"Yaksha?"

"Ah, w-what ancient story are you talking about?! That's dark history! Dark history!"

"Hmm, was I not supposed to talk about that?"

"Of course not!"

I tilted my head at the sight of Han Ayoung, her face bright red, covering Director Baek's mouth. Is it that bad? It was then that Seol-ah, who had been chuckling at the banter between the two, opened her mouth.

"By the way, that sword. It's dangerous."

"It is dangerous. But it's the only sword I can use."

To begin with, there are hardly any swords that can withstand my Soul Dance.

Perhaps only Atilea, the hero's sword I used in my previous life. But I had already returned Atilea to the god, so this demonic sword was my only sword now.

A demonic sword whose name I don't even know, and all I know about it is that it can't be unequipped and that it sucks mana.

All I can do is hang it dangling at my waist since I can't even put it in a scabbard.

Of course, for me who has nearly infinite mana, the mana-sucking isn't such a big penalty. With all sorts of modifications, I even have a stable magic power supply to the Dragon Heart.

"...The magic power is too ominous. It feels like the magic power is wailing, that's what I mean."

"Is it that bad?"

"When it comes to magic power, Seol-ah's words are probably right. She has the Mind's Eye."

"To be more precise, it's closer to Magic Eyes."

"Even if it's ominous, there's nothing I can do. It's not an item I can unequip in the first place, and even if I could, this sword is the only one that can handle my swordsmanship."

"How powerful is your swordsmanship?"

"That's..."

Just as I was about to answer Han Ayoung's curious face, the person who was said to be the deputy director of the Test Department came running. Wondering what was going on, I looked at him, and he opened his mouth with panting breaths.

"Won't you take the magic power test? If it's above a certain level, it's a confirmed EX-rank!"

"Ah, the magic power test was left."

"Magic power test? What's that?"

No, do I even have a reason to take such a test in the first place? It'll come out as infinite anyway. Thinking that, I looked at Deputy Director Jung, who pointed to a machine door connected to the corridor.

"You can go in there."

As I opened the machine door and entered, the first thing that caught my eye was a sphere floating in the air.

What's this? As I was blankly staring at it thinking that, the noise-mixed voice of the speaker was heard from above again.

[Ah, can you hear me!]

"Yeah, I can hear you."

[That sphere has a function to absorb magic power! Basically, it can absorb about 10 billion magic power, which is 10 times more than the 100 million magic power that an S-rank hunter can produce! So you just need to hit it once, just once with full power!]

"Aha, so it's like a punching machine."

[That's right! We'll give you time to gather magic power!]

"I don't need that."

Shing, the demonic sword hanging at my waist is drawn. Along with that, it instantly sucked in magic power, but this time, unlike before, it wasn't so hard. It was natural. Even if it sucked magic power from a near-infinite magic container, the regeneration speed was faster.

Hmm, the last dance would be that one, right? Then... I'll use the one before it.

"Sixth dance."

I take my stance while stepping into the footwork. A posture that looks like it's about to cut down what's in front of me, and with that, the sword is drawn.

"Dark Revolution."

Magic power spreads out, dyeing the room pitch black. Along with that, the darkness gradually decreases. The darkness enveloping the sphere becomes sword strikes, cutting the sphere hundreds, if not thousands of times. All this process takes place in less than 0.5 seconds. Sword strikes so fast that an ordinary person wouldn't be able to see or feel them slice up the sphere.

"Oh."

As the darkness lifts, the sphere appears before my eyes, cracked with a crunching sound, but not shattered to pieces. If I had danced the last dance, this would have been smashed to pieces. Thinking that, I sheathed my sword again.

[...Measurement impossible.]

"Is that good?"

[Yes... To think that I would test Korea's first EX-rank. I'm truly overwhelmed with emotion.]

Hearing the seemingly moved voice, I smiled slightly and approached the sphere. It's fascinating.

Although it's not comparable to the last dance, Sura, Dark Revolution is also quite powerful. To think it only cracked after receiving such a sword strike.

[For the magic power absorption sphere to crack... honestly, it's probably the first time. I don't know about the EX-rank ability users from China and Japan, but even Howard, the EX-rank ability user from the US, couldn't make it crack.]

Howard? Who's that? To be honest, I hadn't even used my full power, so I shrugged my shoulders.

I don't know who the EX-rank ability users from China and Japan are, but are they stronger than the Demon King? Thinking that, I left the test room.

Come to think of it, the only time I had used my full power was against the Demon King. I had no choice but to bring out my full power when the Demon King and the 4 Dukes of the Demon King's army rushed at me simultaneously.

The last dance, Sura, was also a technique I created while fighting the Demon King.

The war that day only ended after turning that area into ruins. There was no part of my arms that was unscathed, and one of my legs was completely blown off. But the Demon King and the 4 Dukes all lost their lives.

My body, modified like a monster, regenerated me even after sustaining such injuries, and everyone who saw that sight feared me.

I think it was around that time. When I started to harbor hatred for the continent of Granterasia.

Abrahen, who had been kind to me, died after drinking poison, caught up in the political struggles of the nobles, and Elucia was confined to the parish.

Zelia, who was once my lover, finally announced our breakup after my body became like this. I used to resent her, but now I understand her. Even I wouldn't have been able to play lovers with such a monster.

It must have been her consideration to play the role of a lover until I caught the Demon King, at least to protect my mental state. At least, that's what I thought.

'Zelia didn't love you. She was just after the wealth and honor that came from the position of hero.'

Shut up. Shut up. Fuck. I shook my head roughly at the voice flowing in my mind. Then the voice laughed mockingly and disappeared. In the suddenly deteriorating mental state, I suddenly felt someone's warmth all over my body.

"Are you alright?"

"...Seol-ah."

"Your mana is fluctuating wildly."

"...Haah. It happens sometimes."

"It's natural for a returnee."

Seol-ah smiles brightly and looks at me. Of course, since her eyes are closed, I don't know if her gaze is actually reaching me, but it felt like it.

"You too... are like this?"

"I closed my eyes because I didn't want to see that sight."

"I see..."

Seol-ah is wise. Thinking that, I left the Test Department with Seol-ah.

I could hear excited voices from Han Ayoung, Director Baek, and Deputy Director Jung behind us, but I didn't want to pay attention to them. Right now, I just wanted to rest.

* * *

[Chae Seohyun]

The next day, I received my ID card, association employee card, and test results all at once. The ID card with my name on it showed that I was born 20 years ago.

"It's convenient for you to be an adult, and only adults can be hired as association employees anyway."

"Hmm..."

"Since you said you don't remember your age, we had no choice."

"Well, I don't have any complaints, but what's this EX-rank?"

"That... It'll probably be splashed all over the news soon, so you can just watch that."

Saying that, Han Ayoung turned on the news. Then I saw a news anchor talking about the appearance of the world's fifth EX-rank ability user.

[The personal information of this EX-rank ability user is shrouded in mystery, but as usual, it is speculated to be a returnee. Meanwhile, President Park Jeongmu said that the appearance of this EX-rank ability user will be a great help for South Korea's future steps...]

"So, what's an EX-rank?"

"As you've seen, it's a rank that only 5 people in the whole world have. They're powerhouses that can't even be expressed as S-rank."

"I see. And... this employee card?"

"Ah, you'll need it when entering gates from now on. But you probably won't have any work for a while, so you can rest. Seol-ah is on vacation today too."

"I see..."

Somehow, it felt surreal. I had never worked for a company before being summoned as a hero.

Nevertheless, the feeling wasn't bad at all.

At least, it felt like I had taken one step away from the sticky emotions of the voice that had been tormenting me yesterday.