Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 264 : Advent of the Demon God (1)

Advent of the Demon God (1)

Ordinariness.

To Ryan Knox, that was something utterly alien.

He had lived his whole life under the illusion that he was extraordinary, so when sudden ordinariness struck, he had no idea how to deal with it.

He put down his sword and merely kept his place, staring off vacantly.

In his mind, the events of that time kept replaying.

The genius he had seen in Odyssey.

And the overwhelming power that shattered the rift.

Compared to that, he felt utterly insignificant.

Without even a hint of humiliation, all that remained for Ryan was a sense of defeat.

He would never become extraordinary again.

When that thought hit him, one thing came to mind.

The existence of demons.

Especially Owen McGregor, who had acquired transcendent power.

'Owen became one with the demons, but lost his own consciousness.'

Ryan acknowledged Owen's strength.

But he had always judged himself superior in terms of talent.

'If I could only obtain that demon's power.'

Surely, he could ascend to the highest ranks.

He might even gain the strength to collapse rifts like Park Jung-woo.

Extraordinariness.

That trait, which had grown so distant from him, might be within reach again.

With that conclusion, Ryan sought out the demons first.

Before they came to him, he moved to make contact.

To Cade, the demon who had become one with Owen McGregor.

"Well, this is interesting."

Cade spoke, looking at Ryan.

He had seen Ryan once at the rift, and anyone could tell Ryan was on humanity's side.

He didn't seem like someone who would ever side with the demons, so Cade had refrained from making rash contact.

There's no point tempting those who show not even the slightest opening—they would only push back all the harder.

"I never thought you'd give up and come this easily."

Ryan did not particularly hate humanity.

Nor did he trust the demons.

He simply wanted to become stronger.

No matter what method it took, Ryan's deepest wish was to become extraordinary.

That intense yearning was so sincere even Cade could feel its desperation.

"Such pure desire..."

Not wanting anything else, only seeking a singular purpose—it reminded him of Jin Su-hyuk.

"You're better than Owen."

"Better than Owen?"

"He was someone who lost his way."

Owen and Ryan were similar.

Both believed themselves exceptional, and in fact, they were.

Thus, they were arrogant and wished for more, but were never so desperate.

Owen was a clumsy hero.

Someone captivated by the belief that he should sacrifice himself to save everyone.

"But you are different. More desperate, more emotional. You have the resolve to throw everything away for just one thing!"

Divine art, the power of desire, responds to intense wishes.

Jin Su-hyuk could become something akin to a 'demon god'—at least partially—because he was more purely mad with desire than anyone else.

"You can become that too. I'll help you."

Thus, Cade readily forfeited himself.

If he left even a shred of his own consciousness, he would never become a complete being like Jin Su-hyuk.

To become a demon god, one cannot simply fuse with a top-rank demon and accept holy power through divine art.

A top-rank demon must fully sacrifice itself, purely.

Cade accepted this with a pure heart.

In the demonic zone, he burnt his all, and delivered his heart to Ryan.

"This is the result."

Even before absorbing Cade's power, Ryan had reconstructed his body.

By means of divine art, he had absorbed the lives of countless humans, thus gaining a body nearly 'divine'.

Just like Benedict.

And finally, he embedded Cade's core into the heart of that body.

"And so I am complete, Lee Soo-ah."

Now, he could surely cleave a rift in half.

The current of the world seemed almost within his grasp.

No, he could see destiny itself.

The realm of sword mastery he thought forever unreachable was now within his hand.

"I should be grateful to Baek Hojun. He made Cade go all out."

Ryan too had seen the 'Heavenly Sword'.

He had witnessed the level of Baek Hojun through the live broadcast of the demonic zone raid.

Even though Cade's power flared up at full capacity, burning away his very life, he failed to kill Baek Hojun.

That meant, when it came to the sword, Baek Hojun was still his superior.

Even if that feat was accomplished with the power of desire, Ryan was genuinely impressed.

"Thanks to that, I could reach a level equal to—no, beyond—that."

Because Cade had seen that, because he had crossed swords with Baek Hojun, there remained in the core the memory of a sword that touched the heavens.

"Having you as my first opponent is lucky for me."

Slowly, the sword moved.

The sword in Ryan's hand described a large arc and swung straight ahead.

It was not an especially elaborate motion.

But to Soo-ah's eyes, it looked completely different.

She saw a sword strike that went against the flow, creating an entirely new current.

A sword suited for 'defying the heavens'.

Shhk──.

Soo-ah reflexively bent at the waist.

She couldn't even clearly hear the sound of the swinging blade.

It simply felt like something slicing through the space as it passed.

Drrrrrrt!

Only belatedly came the sound of something moving.

'The nearby buildings...'

There was no need to check.

Just from the sound, she could tell that a nearby building had been sliced at a diagonal.

"Isn't it amazing? I never imagined such a thing was possible with a sword."

If people had been inside those buildings, there would have been a catastrophe.

But Ryan's face showed not the slightest concern for such things.

He was absorbed only in pure admiration.

"You've given up being human, haven't you?"

"No. On the contrary, it's human. Standing before you, I am simply a man who pursued his dream with pure intent."

There was only one wish.

To fulfill the wish to be extraordinary, he had cast away everything.

All the fame he had accumulated, his human relationships.

Even his family.

Ryan had thrown it all away.

The sword had been his reward for that.

"You coming to me first is a stroke of luck."

Perhaps she was the only one in the world right now who could fight him with the sword.

"... That's right. I'm lucky too."

Taking a step forward, Soo-ah stared at Ryan.

In the world where countless currents spread out before her, once again, blue paths fanned out in all directions.

Flames rose.

Soo-ah's hair gradually ignited, becoming a blaze.

The world was dyed in the light of blue flames, leaving their mark with every step she took.

"Because I'm your first opponent."

Ryan had not yet killed any other human.

Had he gone elsewhere and indiscriminately attacked people, how many would have died?

"You think you can win?"

"Yes."

"... Interesting."

Ryan tried to reply with pure admiration, but he couldn't.

For some reason, there was a churning feeling inside.

'Lee Soo-ah is serious.'

She truly believed it was fortunate to meet him here.

She felt no anxiety.

All that could be sensed from her was a slight tension.

"I understand. If you think of yourself as special, you can't help but think that way."

Ryan gripped his sword and advanced toward the blue flames.

In Lee Soo-ah, who looked at him squarely, he saw something of his former self.

The self that once believed he was special.

"I'll show you that it's nothing more than a delusion, right now."

Ryan's sword moved.

Its movement was neither fast nor slow.

But it could not be avoided.

Faster by a beat than expected, or perhaps slower, his sword swept toward Soo-ah.

Kaang!

As she parried his sword, which cut through the blue trajectory, her hand felt numb.

Apart from his swordsmanship, Ryan's body had far surpassed that of a human.

If she received the blade head-on, Soo-ah could have been sliced in two along with her sword.

Thus, she had to flow with the oncoming force, letting it pass.

"... Impressive."

With a voice full of admiration, Ryan's sword grew a little faster.

With that, the world as Soo-ah saw it began to change.

The blue-flame paths chased after Ryan's sword.

Kaang! Kang!!

Twice, then three times.

Their swords clashed in the air, scattered sword energy splitting the surroundings.

"Aren't you starting to feel it?"

At first glance, it seemed an even match, but Ryan was comfortable.

"The pinnacle that human strength can never reach."

There is a thing called 'principle'.

The true form and essence of something.

Right now, Ryan had reached that.

The principle of the sword.

It is a realm no human can ever reach.

By becoming one with Cade, the demon who was closest to being a Demon King, he had achieved this.

Ryan felt no shame in that.

Humans could never reach this realm anyway.

"Humans lack too much. Even if someone is born with luck and talent, the limits of the human species are clear."

Lifespan, the strength of the flesh.

Humans are weak in both.

They barely make it to a hundred years, and their bodies are no stronger than those of wild animals.

"Even among Awakener, the difference is not so great."

The advent of magic power gave humans a new chance.

With magic power, one could extend their lifespan, hold off aging, and gain a physique stronger even than monsters.

Yet there still was something they could not reach.

The current realm Ryan had achieved was just that.

Not even with increased lifespan or an empowered body could one attain the principle in his hand now.

"Not being able to use a Conceptualization Technique is regrettable, though."

The Conceptualization Technique is a realm achieved entirely by Awakener.

But Ryan's power was more akin to 'borrowed', so he could not use it.

But that didn't matter.

A sword at this level far surpassed Ryan's Conceptualization Technique.

It was neither slow nor particularly swift, yet the sword was already upon the opponent.

It was unavoidable, much like destiny itself.

Kaang!!

Who knows how many times now—the swords crashed and were deflected.

Soo-ah felt her sword hand trembling.

'Indeed.'

The sword, seemingly ordinary but moving against the flow, was a calamity.

Ryan was now in a higher realm than any swordsman she had ever faced.

Perhaps even more so than Cade, whom she had met in the demonic zone.

But that was only because Cade had witnessed Baek Hojun's sword.

Because, even for a moment, he had seen the sword cut through the sky, Ryan was able to touch this state.

Back then, Baek Hojun had said to Soo-ah,

'This is a sword for you.'

Heavenly Sword.

The end she once had yearned to reach—Baek Hojun had shown her a glimpse of it.

Why had he shown her that?

Was it because Lee Soo-ah, herself, was that special in his eyes?

'I'm not such a great person.'

Ryan, too, was mistaken in some way.

Soo-ah had never considered herself special.

She just tried to live as though she were.

The reason was simple.

'Because manager-nim thought so.'

And because everyone thought so.

Wasn't Baek Hojun the same?

Everyone regarded him as a genius, so he had no choice but to become one.

He proved it himself.

As a Heavenly Sword himself.

And as Soo-ah's Heavenly Sword.

So she did not let herself think she couldn't.

She can do it.

That was the only thought she would allow.

Genius is a proof of the irrational.

An incomprehensible existence.

If the world calls that genius, then Soo-ah will become just that.

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

18 chapters left.

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