The fiends scowled and turned around.

‘Who is he?’

'Is he the school’s gym teacher…?'

He was easily over two meters tall, and the mere sight of his muscular body was intimidating.

‘But most people with that body type are useless.’

The Vice Captain’s snake-like eyes quickly assessed his enemy. His body wasn’t trained quite to its peak.

‘If he had a little more muscle, it might be a different story…’

However, reaching that level was a matter of natural talent and genetics, not effort. In his current state, the man couldn’t meet their standards.

Twirling the dagger, the fiend muttered, “Seems like we got another volunteer.”

“Um, are you planning to steal all the fun?”

“Are you saying you’re just gonna kill them all and leave us with the measly students, Vice Captain?”

“You guys make a good point, for once.” Lust casually intervened as the fiends started to complain. “Just leave that meatbag to me. And then, well…”

It would be first come first serve. They didn’t come all the way here to have fair one-on-one duels, after all.

‘Hm, but…’ 

Lust crossed his arms, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the soon-to-be-dead man.

‘I’ve definitely seen that face somewhere…’

He looked extremely familiar, and the mere sight of him made Lust feel repulsed, but he couldn’t figure out why.

Lust waved his hand. “Let’s not drag this out. Kill them quickly. We still have a lot to do.”

He had no thoughts of stopping after killing the teachers and students at Nest. The Heavenly Demon himself had broken the Dimensional Elevators, so no help would be coming from upstairs for the time being.

‘The Big 6, other big guilds, and the Player Associations probably have their own personal elevators…’ 

But even then, the elite members of the Big 6 were too occupied with the 3rd floor’s Floor Master. They wouldn’t be able to come down right away.

Thus, they would be able to kill as many people as they wanted without worrying for a while.

“It will be over shortly.” The Vice Captain nodded. Ironically, they had the same feeling as Lust.

‘Something about this bastard bothers me.’ 

Honestly, it could be that the fiend just didn’t like him.

For that reason, the Vice Captain attacked harder than usual, despite usually treating murder as a game. They swung the dagger unconsciously and frowned. It was a clean, nimble strike that even the fiend themselves appreciated.

‘All things considered…This guy’s a lot weaker than I thought.’

The bulky man hadn’t been able to react even as the fiend stabbed him. He simply stood there with a dumb look on his face and looked down at where he had gotten injured.

“Yeah, people like you are never any good,” the Vice Captain said. If a body were as big as a mountain, it would inevitably be slower. And as someone who used a speed-based fighting style, the fiend hated being slow.

“Hn.” The muscular man let out a heavy breath. Most people screamed when they bled, but he simply grinned. “It feels nice to feel the wind in there for once.”

“Then let me make you another hole, you lunatic…”

Bam!

“...?!” The Vice Captain’s words were cut off as their face contorted in pain. The crazy meatbag had landed a headbutt with his hard skull.

“Aaaack! You crazy bastard!” The fiend had never met someone of such a high level that fought so unsophisticatedly. The Vice Captain wiped away the blood from their nose as their eyes shone red. After being humiliated in front of their subordinates, their bloodlust was so powerful that it could even be felt by normal people.

“Captain. I’m sorry, but this might take some time.”

“...Do what you want.”

In other words, they wouldn’t give this man a quick death. The students paled as an overwhelming amount of demonic energy radiated out of the Vice Captain’s body. The mere presence of it made them tremble with fear.

‘His eyes, first!’ 

People were helpless when they lost their sight. It would make them lose their sense of direction, and their fear of the dark would make them wither. They would also look pathetic as they flailed about in the dark. For those reasons, the fiend had developed a habit of attacking the eyes first when they wanted to ridicule an opponent and kill them slowly.

Swoosh! 

The dagger drew a straight line as it stabbed into the man’s eyes.

“Huh. Is this some kind of trendy fighting style?” The giant stroke his chin after standing still the whole time. “With this much bloodlust, you must have killed two hundred…or no, maybe around three hundred?”

The Vice Captain carried the strong stench of blood. It wasn’t the kind of stink that someone would give off after only killing a few people.

“Are you crazy? You’re about to die, and that’s what you’re curious about?”

“I’m not that curious.” The flesh started to bubble around where the beast’s eyes had been. And his flesh and eyes regenerated as if time had turned back.

“What the f…?” The Vice Captain was about to curse unconsciously, but the giant man interrupted.

“Once you meet Yama, the God of Death.[1] tell him this.”

“...What?”

“Tell him that Rahmadat Khali sent you.” As soon as he was done speaking, his fist flew out. Despite his size, it was extremely fast.

‘Dammit!’ 

Sensing danger, the Vice Captain quickly used their skill, spitting at Rahmadat.

“Ptoo!” 

It was a deadly poison that burned flesh and melted bones on contact. There was a sizzling sound, like meat on a grill.

‘Is it poison?’ 

Rahmadat glanced at his melting arm.

And that was his only reaction.

‘It doesn’t matter.’ 

He trusted his own regeneration abilities. He trusted his body, which was tougher than diamond and more durable than rubber. His fist was half-melted to the point that bone had become visible, but it still struck like a rhino’s horn.

Baaam! 

The fiend’s skull cracked, and their body convulsed once before collapsing. The auditorium floor was instantly soaked in blood.

“Hm.” By that time, Rahmadat’s arm had returned to its original state.

After witnessing what just happened, the fiends started to waver.

“That bastard definitely said he was Rahmadat Khali, right?”

“Looking closely…I think it is.”

“Then that means that’s Super Regeneration…”

The fiends licked their dry lips and drew their weapons. Rahmadat Khali was much bigger than they had remembered. But because he had lost a sizable amount of muscle, the impression he gave was different.

“Ah, ahh…” Elliot Nelson let out a small groan. She was lying down on the ground, receiving treatment. She somehow managed to sit up.

“R-Rahmadat-nim…” she muttered. Among the 5 Heroes, she remembered him as the most energetic and bold member. He would never dodge any attacks, for he would take them confidently. He was Earth’s strongest iron wall.

He had returned.

“It’s been a while, Elliot Nelson.” When he called her name, Elliot couldn’t believe it.

“D-do you remember me?” she asked.

“Of course.” He said it like it was only natural. “I remember you carrying a huge sword and following us from behind. You’ve gotten old.”

“...Ahem.” She knew that it was ridiculous at her age, but her eyes couldn’t help but sparkle with hope.

Everyone considered those glory days as merely another page in history. But now, she felt like she had gone back.

Just like in the old days, the Hero she had longed for was standing in front of her.

“We’ll talk later.” That was it for their reunion. Rahmadat turned back to his enemies. There were still closer to twenty fiends left.

‘This is…Too much.’ 

It hadn’t even been a day—no, half a day since he had awakened. He was clearly in a bad shape.

‘I’m a little worried about the penalty, too.’ 

Thanks to Super Regeneration, his penalty was much less than what others would receive. But after being trapped in ice for 26 years, there was no way around it. He needed at least two weeks of intense rehabilitation, but because he was fighting instead of being in rehab, his entire body was screaming.

‘And that Captain guy… He’s definitely stronger than my current self.’ 

Though he was facing the fiends head-on, his attention was still trapped in his thoughts. How could he fight this many fiends while protecting so many people?

Since he had just awakened, it was impossible for him to do that.

“...If I was alone, that is.” Rahmadat grinned. As he did, magic sprouted from the auditorium floor and covered the people.

“W-woah! Is this an attack?”

“No, this is… Defensive—Defensive Shield!”

“This technique was definitely in Skaya-nim’s Introduction to Magic…But how is it protecting hundreds of people?”

“Impossible!”

It covered the students and even the teachers. The magic shield was so big that it made them wary. Protecting this many people not only required a great amount of magic, but it also required precise control over magic energy, as well as additional technical skills.

“I always tell you. You’re good at breaking things, but you don’t have very good defensive skills.” Skaya appeared in the air and stepped lightly down onto the auditorium floor. She looked at the Defensive Shield she had made with a happy expression. “Hehehe, isn’t it so pretty? Do you want to know the kinds of cute little techniques that went into it?”

“No,” Rahmadat said flatly. He released his fists. “Focus on the enemies before you. They’re not weak.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’ve already fought with the Fiend Association twice since I returned. And last time…” Skaya's eyes sparkled as she looked at Lust. “Someone stole the Squadron leader from me. So, it’s okay if I kill him this time, right?”

“...Do what you want,” Rahmadat said bluntly. His current self was unable to defeat Lust, either way. If he insisted on taking him on and got beaten up, Skaya would tease him for the rest of his life. “I’m going first.”

He squeezed his hands into fists and charged toward the fiends.

***

“Die! I said, die!”

“This bastard…How many times has he regenerated…?!”

“Die! Die! Just die!”

The fiends were panting and dripping sweat after attacking him countless times. Rahmadat’s entire body was pierced with spears, knives, and other weapons, but he gave a hearty laugh.

“Ahahaha! Is that all you got? Come on, hit me harder! Harder!”

“What a pervert…”

The fiends grit their teeth. They had always thought that the records about Rahmadat had mostly been lies, or had been otherwise exaggerated. Logically, there was no way a human could have better regeneration skills than trolls.

But he did...

“Hehe, fiends these days don’t have as much vigor as in the past,” Rahmadat smirked and turned his head. He silently started to swing his fists, killing the fiends one by one. By now, the fiends had an idea of the kind of person he was.

‘This bastard, he’s pretending to be a stupid idiot… But he’s not.’

‘His vital points. He always blocks or dodges attacks aiming for his brain or heart.’

‘Every single move is carefully calculated.’

He played the fool, but he was actually a wise soldier. That was how he was once remembered among the fiends. But by the time they realized it, they had already lost all chances of winning.

“Fall! Shooting Star!”

The fiends might have had a chance of killing Rahmadat if they resolved themselves and launched a pincer attack, but every time they tried, Skaya would strike them down with a spell that they had never even seen before. They were powerful attacks, and one or two of them died with every strike.

‘These bastards, they look like they’re attacking separately on the surface…’

‘But they’ve fought together countless times. They never step on each other’s toes.’

‘They know precisely what the other wants, and what they have to do to help.’

They were comrades.

The synergy that these two Players displayed was stronger than the combined amount of over twenty fiends.

“Oh my.” Skaya’s eyes curved into crescents. She waved her hand as she watched a spear fly all the way in front of her nose. “Oh, so close~”

“Shit!” Lust cursed. When his attack failed, he fell back, creating distance between them

‘Dammit, what are we supposed to do?’ 

He had fought countless battles before, but this was the first time he was experiencing something like this. One bastard was laughing every time he was attacked, while the other couldn’t even be attacked at all.

‘No. To be precise, the attacks do land.’ 

The problem was her shields. There were at least seven Defensive Shields covering her body. In other words, she wouldn’t die unless they could land seven attacks at the same time.

‘...A genius who has surpassed the limits of a mage.’ 

That was how the history books referred to Skaya Killiland. Lust had once scoffed at the nonsense, but he wasn’t laughing anymore.

‘What are we even supposed to do?’ 

No matter how much he pondered over it, no answer came. There was no decision that would allow them to win against those two.

“Now that’s a familiar face,” Rahmadat said after ripping out the spine of the last Squadron member. “That’s the face that says you have no idea how to beat us.”

“...” Lust swallowed. Actually, if Skaya wasn’t there, he was confident that he could at least kill this one guy.

‘But because those two bastards are working together…’

There was no answer.

For the first time since he became a Squadron leader, Lust started to cower.

“That’s a no-no! If a man takes out a knife, he should at least do something with it.” Skaya fully cut off his escape route.

Lust gripped his spear in his hopeless situation. “You filthy Players. Just remember this. You will be defeated. He will…”

Slice!

Skaya cut straight through his torso, and Rahmadat kicked away his falling upper body like a ball. The two of them stared at the unidentifiable body that had once belonged to the Envy Squadron Leader as they spoke.

“Oh, should I have let him finish what he wanted to say?”

“Nah, it’s fine. It was probably all bullshit anyways~”

The students finally started to breathe after holding their breaths throughout the entire battle. As the auditorium started to fill with the sound of crying, the two Players gave insipid smiles.

“They’re still kids.”

“...I’m really glad no one died.”

When they watched them spill tears of relief, they felt fulfilled. They had never asked for any kind of reward or glory.

That was why they had become the world’s most beloved Heroes.

***

And while everyone at Nest was laughing, crying, and hugging, the Heavenly Demon had finally set foot in Seoul.

1. Hindu god of death ☜