Resurrection Chapter 54 - Nothing Went Wrong, Did It?

The Scorching Archdemon opened its mouth. What sounded like a roar to my ears was only half-translated by the Awakened System.

From the context, it was clear what the archdemon was saying. It was undoubtedly offering to let Heesoo hyung go if he gave up and backed down now.

Hearing that, my eyes widened. Min Gongchan must have anticipated the archdemon would say this and brought up the subject of giving up.

I shot up from my spot and pressed myself close to the pillar of fire. Practically hanging on to the fiery bars, I shouted to Heesoo hyung.

“Heesoo hyung! Stop now and give up! The archdemon says it’ll let you go! Give up and back down!”

Heesoo hyung turned to look at me askance. With one of his eyes gone, it was clear he couldn’t see me from that angle.

He turned almost completely toward me, and I was forced to face his miserable state head-on. At the sight of his gruesome condition, so horrible it was a wonder he was still alive, I burst into tears and screams all at once.

“I was wrong, I was wrong… I’m sorry, Heesoo hyung. I didn’t know… what you’d have to go through… how much you’d have to hurt…! I asked you to do something impossible…! I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

Heesoo hyung said calmly.

“You don’t need to be sorry. I’m fine.”

His tone was so composed it was bizarre considering the state of his body. He even managed to raise his half-missing lips into a smile.

His words that he was fine were so agonizing that I fell to my knees on the spot. I spoke to him as if I were begging, pleading with him.

“I’ll never do this again. I’ll give up. I’ll give up, so let’s just stop… Stop, just stop…”

“Don’t give up.”

His voice was monotonic and calm, firm and without hesitation. For a moment, I forgot what I was saying. I just looked at him with my tear-filled eyes.

Heesoo hyung didn’t lose the smile that graced his lips. Despite his horrifying appearance, that smile was beautiful.

“I will not give up. So you shouldn’t give up either, Mr. Yitae.”

“Hee, Heesoo hyung.”

“Mr. Yitae’s dream is now my dream.”

Hearing those words, I felt as if I had been hit on the head with a hammer.

Heesoo hyung hadn’t been possessed while dying and being revived dozens of times. Ulfheðinn would pop out over the slightest things, yet he hadn’t been possessed even once while experiencing extreme pain and repeated deaths.

That meant Heesoo hyung had been desperately preventing the possession. He must not have wanted the will of another being to interfere with his own.

The same went for him continuing to fight now, dying and being revived over and over again in this place. He never once said he would quit or give up. During his dozens of revivals, he had silently accumulated experience and leveled up as he fought.

It couldn’t be solely because of my request. Heesoo hyung was fighting here of his own will. For me to tell him to give up was arrogant and an overreach of my authority.

“I am the one who wants to make Mr. Yitae’s dream come true. I, and no one else, want to be Mr. Yitae’s savior.”

Having said that, Heesoo hyung forcefully raised the greatsword he had let hang at his side.

At some point, the trembling in his body had vanished. The groans had also disappeared. As if he had forgotten fear, he turned to the Scorching Archdemon and said,

“However, it seems impossible to defeat it in my current state. I apologize, but I will take my own life. I will level up when I am revived, so please do so.”

Heesoo hyung said that and plunged the greatsword into his own body. He stabbed the large sword into his stomach and twisted it upwards vertically. Yet he didn’t let out a single scream. The one who screamed was me.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!”

Heesoo hyung collapsed with a thud, unable to even pull the greatsword from his body. I had to use the revival skill again.

“Resurrection!”

As the light shot up, an alarm rang out.

「Congratulations! You have used Resurrection on the same person 30 times consecutively! The target, Seo Heesoo, has achieved the 30 Revivals accomplishment! The target, Seo Heesoo, has acquired the title <He Who Does Not Die Even When Killed>! The MP consumed when casting Resurrection on the target, Seo Heesoo, will decrease. The effective duration of Resurrection on the target, Seo Heesoo, will increase. The activation time of Resurrection on the target, Seo Heesoo, will be shortened. The target Seo Heesoo’s HP and MP will increase. The target, Seo Heesoo, will be given bonus experience points.」

With that, a mysterious, five-colored light flickered around the revived Heesoo hyung.

It was proof of a level-up.

Lv. 61!

He had surpassed level 60, the level he had originally intended to reach.

Heesoo hyung’s body, standing in the halo of light, was incomparable to before. His body looked not just flawless but divine. His body, now grown to nearly two meters tall, seemed to hold infinite power. Looking like a warrior forged from myth, Heesoo hyung stood tall and faced the Scorching Archdemon.

As he aimed his chipped and ash-covered greatsword at the Scorching Archdemon, a ferociously powerful aura, visible to the naked eye, suddenly erupted from his entire body. It enveloped Heesoo hyung’s whole body like armor.

His two eyes shone with the same radiance as when Ulfheðinn had been possessing him, and a roar that could tear his enemies to shreds burst from his lips.

“――!”

With a single roar, the valley shook as if it would collapse, and the Scorching Archdemon showed immense anger. The archdemon, as if regretting its mercy, let out a shriek and created not three or four, but dozens of wheels at once.

「How dare you…! Foolish, you will regret…! Die…!」

“Extinction Strike!”

As Heesoo hyung and the archdemon clashed, an immense force began to be released, breaking through the prison of fire. I could no longer stand near the pillars of fire.

The pillars of fire glowed white-hot as they struggled to contain the raging force within. I tucked Min Gongchan, still a bloody mess and sprawled on the ground, under my arm.

“Teleport!”

The upper part of the valley began to collapse, and the entire valley rumbled and roared as if an earthquake had struck. The bottom of the valley turned into a scene of carnage, and as dust and ash rose in a whirlwind, the clash between the flames of judgment wielded by the Scorching Archdemon and the blow from Heesoo hyung’s greatsword created a destruction of unprecedented scale.

Evacuating from there, I moved to the upper part of the valley, and even that wasn’t enough; I had to run with Min Gongchan tucked under my arm. Running through the flying debris, I shouted at Min Gongchan.

“If Heesoo hyung doesn’t give up… then I won’t give up either. I can’t give up!”

Min Gongchan, dumbfounded, didn’t answer. Or maybe he had belatedly passed out from the pain of his beating.

I used Feather magic to float my body in the air and looked down at the valley below.

Looking down from above, I could see Heesoo hyung drawing out a terrifying amount of energy. In front of him, the Scorching Archdemon looked not just angry, but bewildered.

Perhaps this time, Heesoo hyung would defeat the archdemon. If not this time, then maybe the next, or at least the time after that, it might be possible. I didn’t know exactly when that would be, but as long as Heesoo hyung and I didn’t give up, it wasn’t impossible.

I let go of Min Gongchan, who had become as light as I was, from under my arm. I grabbed his arm to make him face me, floating in mid-air, and said,

“Since I was the one who asked for this in the first place, I can’t be the first to give up.”

Min Gongchan hadn’t fainted. He looked at me blankly with his battered and swollen face. Then he hung his head as if discouraged, but he no longer tried to persuade or blame me.

He looked tired.

Seizing the opportunity, I took both of his hands in mine and said,

“I believe that you’re a regressor. You must have really seen Heesoo hyung destroy the world. But that time hasn’t come yet. The future that is to come can be changed! It’ll be possible if you help. So don’t you give up either. If you can’t trust Heesoo hyung, trust yourself. If you can’t trust yourself, trust me!”

Min Gongchan lifted his dark eyes. His expression was extremely skeptical, but I read the expectation pooled in a corner of his eyes.

I sensed that despite his anxiety and confusion, he wanted to believe my words. I snatched the hope that had been revealed for a moment.

“Because I will never let Heesoo hyung destroy the world…!”

Just then, Min Gongchan’s expression suddenly changed.

His eyes glaring fiercely, he looked not at me, but over my shoulder. I reflexively followed his gaze and turned my head behind me. And I saw someone approaching the end of the open area we had passed through, where the valley began.

The figure of the person closing the distance at a rapid pace was too far away to be identified at a glance. It should have been.

But the way the bastard was dressed was so gaudy that it was impossible not to recognize him. I knew who it was in an instant, and my blood ran cold.

As if to voice the scream in my ashen mind, Min Gongchan muttered in a frustrated tone.

“Yaksha…!”