Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 63

EP.63 Return Part 1

Karina, the Second Princess, stared at the two figures standing above. One had a mask, concealing their identity, but the other was someone she recognized all too well.

‘Bishop Lea.’

Lea, a long-time companion and a member of the party that had been formed to defeat the Demon King. Seeing her standing near the corpse golem brought a complex and bitter expression to Karina’s face.

‘No matter what the truth is… this confirms everything.’

Every recent incident, including the “Academy Incident,” would now be irrevocably linked to Bishop Lea. It would be acknowledged that she was behind it all.

‘This is already a complicated enough situation…’

But the real issue was that Marpe was implicated in all of this.

‘If they conclude that Bishop Lea orchestrated everything… then they’ll begin to claim that Marpe, who’s known to be an accomplice, is also involved in every one of her actions.’

Karina realized that her enemies would exploit this to launch an attack against her.

‘So, if I… no, if I handle Lea, it’ll create more problems with the church. I need to deal with that masked individual instead.’

She knew it was critical to clear Marpe’s name and prove that there was no connection between these recent incidents and herself. Having made up her mind, she channeled mana into her sword and charged toward the masked figure. However, she came to an abrupt halt, forced to stop as a powerful divine power pressed down on her, stifling her movement.

‘…Is this even possible?’

Such immense divine power… She hadn’t felt anything like it since the Hero.

A title she now longed for, one that brought a wave of nostalgia. Clenching her teeth, she glared at the masked figure. He finished putting Lea into the subspace and then turned to her, casually flipping her off with a mocking smile.

A blatant provocation.

After all she had witnessed on the battlefield, such gestures no longer phased her. The provocation did nothing to stir her emotions. What troubled her wasn’t the insult, but his use of subspace magic.

‘He’s been carrying around a person in the subspace?’

It wasn’t uncommon to store a person in subspace, but the issue was how he managed to move around without being detected.

‘Subspace is a magical tool created by mages. In other words, it’s merely an object crafted by human hands, not by the gods.’

As such, subspace had its fatal flaw—its lack of security, especially against high-ranking mages.

‘When a high-level magician casts a detection spell, they can not only see the contents of the subspace, but if their skill is significantly superior, they can even steal what’s stored inside.’

That was why it was rare for anyone to carry important items in subspace, especially inside a palace full of high-level magicians.

She could only feel bewildered as she watched him nonchalantly place Lea into the subspace with no regard for the situation.

‘Does he have something up his sleeve?’

Aside from the immense divine power he wielded, nothing else seemed to be discernible. Determined to find out more, she ordered the nearby high-ranking mages to investigate his subspace. However, their reports were troubling.

“W-We cannot interfere.”

“It’s impossible to even detect it beyond this point!”

Not only was it impossible to retrieve items, but exploring the subspace itself was also beyond their capability.

‘Why?’

Confusion welled up. These court mages were not amateurs; they were highly skilled and experienced, far beyond the average mage. It was hard to understand why they couldn’t break through a single subspace.

‘Sigh.’

Although she didn’t know the exact method, she decided that she would have to confront him directly and break through his defenses herself. She instructed the surrounding knights to protect her and then leaped back into the fray, sending a wave of sword energy toward him.

With the sound of the air being torn, everything around her momentarily slowed down before returning to normal. As the sword energy flew toward him, shattering everything in its path, the people around her expressed their admiration.

“Indeed, Princess Karina…!”

“Everyone, help the Second Princess and launch an attack!”

“This is the opportunity Princess Karina created! Capture him now!”

The overwhelming power of her attack led everyone to believe victory was imminent, and they rushed to finish the fight. However, an unexpected scene unfolded before their eyes.

Bang!

The white divine power he emitted blocked her sword energy entirely.

‘Not just blocked, but it might be more accurate to say it was devoured.’

As her sword energy vanished without a trace, she clenched her teeth, a sudden hypothesis flashing through her mind.

‘Could it be that the divine power prevents detection of the subspace?’

Whether it nullified or consumed mana, it seemed likely that this peculiar property was preventing magical detection. After all, detection magic worked by spreading mana to gather information.

Just then, a memory surfaced in her mind.

– The Hero’s divine power has the property of consuming mana, so you must be cautious, Princess Karina.

It was Lea’s warning. With that thought, she looked at the mysterious man with a face full of doubt.

‘It can’t be. No… I know it’s impossible, but…’

She was overwhelmed by the bizarre sensation that everything about him resembled the hero.

‘… Hahaha.’

She couldn’t help but laugh at herself, finding the situation both ridiculous and unbelievable.

As she tried to suppress the uncontrollable laughter, she saw the blinding white divine power rapidly approaching.

***

Jeong-hyeon chuckled as he watched Karina struggle. It was clear she was putting up quite a fight, likely due to her status as a Sword Saint.

‘Of course, my divine power is stronger.’

It wasn’t particularly difficult to fend her off, but if they all took serious combat positions and came after him, it might become overwhelming. Therefore, he decided it was time to retreat.

‘But first, I need to take the corpse golem.’

He spread the divine power-formed smoke around and used his Domain Declaration those nearby. Then, he quickly descended and dismantled the corpse golem.

[Golem deactivation initiated.]

With a brief message, the corpse fell apart. He quickly gathered the body and the flowers into his subspace and dashed out.

***

The first thing he saw upon exiting was the castle, which was burning brilliantly. He was slightly disappointed not to have brought any snacks, but as he attempted to leave the area, he saw Princess Charlotte blocking his path.

“…Sigh.”

She sighed and glared at him before clenching her teeth and speaking.

“Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on, but… this mess is your doing, isn’t it?”

He shamelessly shook his head at her question, but she looked at him with disbelief and continued.

“There’s no point in hiding it. The divine power emanating from you… it’s too obvious.”

He paused, considering whether he should take action, as their previously friendly relationship might become problematic if it soured. He debated whether he should put her into his subspace, but before he could decide, Charlotte said something unexpected.

“Anyway, we’ll talk about this later. For now, if you run straight to the far right, there’s a small exit that leads out of the castle. It’s a hidden passage, so escaping through there shouldn’t be too difficult.”

He looked at her in confusion, wondering why she was helping him. Charlotte noticed his bewildered expression and narrowed her eyes before sharply saying.

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up! Do you want to die here?”

Deciding to deal with it later, he ran in the direction she indicated.

***

*-*

[You have achieved an incredible accomplishment!]

– Setting the kingdom on fire.

– Desecrating royal corpses.

– Acquiring an elixir.

– Obtaining a fragment of the Holy Sword.

You have earned a large number of achievement points!

*-*

As he exited through the passage Charlotte had pointed out, numerous messages appeared before him. Despite achieving so many accomplishments, it seemed he was still far from leveling up. He found the leveling conditions to be excessively demanding and looked around.

‘It would be best to use the teleportation device at a nearby church.’

Maintaining consistency in evidence was crucial. He decided to use the teleportation device at the church to tie the last piece of evidence to the church. As he made his way to the nearby church to activate the teleport device, someone spoke to him.

“Welcome. I’ve been expecting you.”

The words made him frown as he looked at the man in front of him who was smiling brightly. He felt a sense of unease, wondering why the man seemed to have been waiting for him. The man then turned the statue of the goddess, which had been facing away, to face him and spoke.

“You seem to be in a hurry. While I’d love to chat, perhaps we should postpone that.”

His tone, as if he knew everything about Jeong-hyeon’s situation, filled him with unease. He reached for his sword but stopped when the man raised a white flag and spoke.

“Please calm down. This is not the time.”

According to him, escaping was more important than causing chaos.

“Let’s talk later. It was an honor to meet you.”

After bowing politely, the man turned and walked away. He decided to let the man go and activate the teleportation device to return. Just as he was about to activate it, the man suddenly turned back with a bright smile and spoke.

“Oh! And welcome back to life, Hero.”

At those words, he instinctively threw his sword. Luckily, because his arm was moving, he managed to embed the sword in the man’s body. Unfortunately, due to the teleportation activating, he couldn’t do more before being instantly transported near the academy.