Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 64

EP.64 Return Part 2

As Jeong-hyeon landed near the academy, he let out a wry laugh.

‘Did that bastard lose his mind?’

He was baffled by the audacity of someone he didn’t even know, daring to provoke him and touch on his rage.

‘I don’t even know who it was.’

It was clear that Jeong-hyeon needed to make him pay. He decided to do so and continued to watch the activated teleportation device. If he entered it again, he could return to the previous location, but…

‘There’s a simpler method.’

Instead of moving directly, he had a better plan. He raised divine power in one hand and pulled it back.

‘Just insert my hand into the teleportation device and throw the divine power into the church.’

In other words, he planned to insert only his hand into the teleportation device and throw the gathered divine power outside the church.

‘Of course, given that my divine power devours mana.’

The chances of it working were slim, but he couldn’t afford to do nothing. He decided to try it.

‘And above all.’

Even if the divine power didn’t pass through and caused a significant explosion here, it would be the church suffering the damage, not him. There was nothing to lose, so he decided to proceed.

He gathered a much larger amount of divine power in one hand than he had used at the auction and inserted it into the teleport device before throwing it out and quickly withdrawing his hand.

Boom!

Even though he quickly withdrew his hand and closed the teleportation device, the divine power burst out during that brief moment, creating a strong shockwave in the surroundings.

‘…Oh.’

Though it wasn’t a direct hit, the shockwave that escaped through the teleportation device’s gap had caused all the nearby trees to snap. He smiled with a certain degree of satisfaction.

‘It’s a shame I couldn’t crack their heads directly.’

But it was his first attempt, and the situation hadn’t been fully addressed yet. He decided to keep it light for now and brushed off his hands.

‘I’m curious about what happened to the church…’

Since he couldn’t check immediately, he decided to leave that joy for later and turned his attention elsewhere.

‘Now, shall we return to the academy?’

Since others would handle the aftermath of his mess, he decided to take it easy and head back to the academy for some training.

***

Since becoming a saintess, Lucia had faced numerous trials and tribulations. She had always been confident that she could overcome any challenge that came her way, but…

Seeing the ‘trial’ before her, for the first time, she thought it might be impossible to overcome.

“I don’t want to… Daddy… I want to see Daddy.”

Watching Hana curl up like a pill bug, sulking, she couldn’t help but feel dejected. The children in the church that she had taken care of had always listened well to her, so she had assumed Hana would be the same. However, Hana ignored her completely, leaving her at a loss for what to do.

‘I gave her plenty of divine power and water every day… Why doesn’t she listen to me?’

Considering Hana referred to her as “Mom,” it seemed she recognized her as a parental figure. Yet, she couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t even listen to her. Lucia felt frustrated and defeated.

Beside her, Miria, who had dark circles under her eyes, sighed and spoke.

“At least you can talk to her…”

“…”

She could only offer Miria an awkward smile in response. While she only faced Hana’s refusal to listen, Miria had endured endless trouble as Hana cried all day and ran away while under her care.

‘I hope Jeong-hyeon returns soon…’

Only then would this unbearable trial come to an end. Lucia wondered why she felt so exhausted despite not having moved much.

At that moment, someone opened the dormitory door.

“I’m back.”

At those words, Hana, who had been crying and calling for Jeong-hyeon, quickly stopped her tears, ran to the door, and said with a bright smile.

“Daddy… Daddy.”

She clung to Jeong-hyeon, as if she had never cried at all.

“…Sigh.”

Miria, who had witnessed the scene, sighed in disbelief and covered her face with both hands. She muttered with a touch of frustration.

“Seriously… I took such good care of her, but she didn’t listen to me at all…”

Feeling a strange sense of sympathy from her words, he almost reached out to pat her on the shoulder. However, Miria evaded him, narrowing her eyes and saying.

“You’re the same… deceiver.”

“Me? A deceiver?”

He was puzzled by being called a deceiver, especially since he felt he had been as swayed as Miria. He felt a bit aggrieved but kept silent, realizing it might be a natural reaction from Miria’s perspective.

Jeong-hyeon, looking somewhat bewildered, asked.

“What’s wrong with both of you?”

Watching him nonchalantly carry Hana inside, Lucia felt a mix of emotions. His carefree expression annoyed her, so she responded somewhat irritably.

“Didn’t you bring any gifts? I was really looking forward to it!”

She voiced her complaint, pressing Jeong-hyeon about not bringing any presents, trying to convey her disappointment.

Unlike what might have been expected, Jeong-hyeon calmly responded to both Lucia and Miria.

“Of course I brought something. But first, let’s eat… I haven’t had a proper meal since yesterday, and I feel like I’m starving.”

“Is that so?”

Seeing that he was hungry, Miria decided to halt the questioning for the moment. They decided to get something to eat first and talk later, taking the lethargic Miria outside.

***

Jeong-hyeon, carrying Hana in his arms, headed towards a nearby high-end restaurant. With plenty of money to spare, he felt it was reasonable to indulge a bit.

While heading to the restaurant, Hana, with a teary voice, started to fuss and touch his cheek.

“Daddy, don’t go…”

With her childlike, whiny voice, Hana’s reluctance to leave made Jeong-hyeon somewhat perplexed. He tried to calm her down by patting her back and looked for help from Lucia and Miria.

“Why don’t you handle it yourself?”

“This is all Jeong-hyeon’s karma.”

Instead of offering assistance, both Lucia and Miria watched him with a somewhat satisfied expression. Jeong-hyeon couldn’t understand why he was being treated like the villain and tried to comfort Hana.

“We’re just going to eat something delicious, so stop crying.”

“I don’t want delicious food… I want Daddy more…”

With tears and snot streaming down her face, Hana buried her face in his shoulder, leaving Jeong-hyeon quite flustered. Realizing that accepting the situation might be easier, he decided to let her cry it out.

“Mmm.”

Since it seemed better to at least wipe away her tears and snot, he used the handkerchief Miria had given him to clean her face. Miria then quietly asked him.

“So, what happened? The awards ceremony should still be going on, so why are you back already?”

Without immediately answering, Jeong-hyeon looked around and then responded with a serious expression.

“Let’s discuss it once we’re inside the restaurant. It’s not something we should talk about here.”

Miria, noticing the seriousness of the situation, showed a complex expression as she pondered. It seemed she realized something significant must have occurred.

Jeong-hyeon thought it was good to have someone perceptive in conversations and briefly reassured her.

“Don’t worry; it’s not a major problem for us.”

“Really? If it’s something you’re reluctant to talk about, then it must be quite a big deal. That’s a bit worrying.”

Instead of answering, Jeong-hyeon simply smiled and led the way into the restaurant.

***

Once at the restaurant, Jeong-hyeon ordered food and then briefly explained to Miria and Lucia what he had been up to.

“First, I made corpses of the royal family into corpse golems and let them wreak havoc. Then I ransacked the royal treasury and Karina’s room… and set the place on fire before making my escape. Oh, and I made sure it looked like the church was behind everything.”

Miria appeared overwhelmed by the brevity of his summary, staring at him with a look of sheer confusion as if she were overloaded. Shaking his head, Jeong-hyeon patted Hana on the head and spoke.

“Hana, don’t end up like that, okay?”

“Okay…!”

“Good girl.”

Hana was certainly cute. As Jeong-hyeon gently touched her tiny cheeks, feeling a rare moment of healing outside of training, Miria, who had finally snapped out of her shock, shouted in disbelief.

“Are you out of your mind?”

Jeong-hyeon sighed and spoke.

“Let’s be more careful about what we say with the kid around.”

Miria flinched at his rebuke, then apologized, mumbling, “Sorry,” before sitting back down and continuing.

“No, seriously… What exactly did you do? I can understand the treasury being hit, but you set the castle on fire and turned the king and the royalty into corpse golems? That’s insane…”

Overwhelmed by the enormity of it all, Miria covered her face with her hands and bowed deeply, remaining in that position for a while before quietly speaking.

“Since you’ve made it look like the church did everything, it should be safe for a while. However, the kingdom isn’t stupid. They’ll eventually realize something’s off about this sequence of events.”

Given how blatantly the incidents pointed to the church as culprits, someone would eventually question the situation once emotions settled.

“If that happens, the kingdom will likely mobilize forces that were previously restrained due to fear of the church, under the guise of finding the real culprits.”

Miria anticipated that these forces would tighten their grip on Jeong-hyeon and restrict his actions.

“I know you’re strong, but I don’t think you can take on the entire kingdom by yourself. Even the strongest individual has limitations.”

“That’s true.”

“So, it’s about time you start forming a group. A group composed of individuals who can assist you.”

At that moment, Hana, who was nestled in his arms, spoke up hesitantly.

“Hana can help too. I can help Daddy.”

Her adorably earnest statement made Jeong-hyeon smile softly. He patted her head, feeling thankful for her support. Then he remembered the fragment of the holy sword he had obtained from Karina’s room.

‘Come to think of it, Hana’s growth is tied to the Holy Sword’s growth.’

Thinking that perhaps giving her this fragment might help her in terms of growth, Jeong-hyeon retrieved the fragment from his subspace pouch and handed it to her.

“Here’s a gift.”

At those words, her eyes sparkled as she took the metal fragment and swallowed it whole.