Everyone is Young Except for Me - Chapter 358

At Send-off Volcano, the Labyrinth of Souls…

Hercules led the three injured sisters back to the volcano that was home to Atlas. It was three days after entering the labyrinth that he finally managed to meet Atlas.

[Aegle, Erytheia, Arethusa…]

Atlas, the giant monkey carrying the sky, had wide eyes when he saw his wounded daughters. They were the daughters he reunited with after a few decades. Yet he met them in such a wounded state. Atlas was heartbroken. Once Atlas heard about the circumstances from Hercules, he thanked Hercules for saving his daughters. Hercules replied that he just did what was natural. Atlas immediately started treating his daughters. One day passed and it was the fourth day.

“…Thank you for the help.”

Hercules sat on a rock in a corner of the Labyrinth of Souls. He was watching the souls heading to the Underworld when he heard a familiar voice behind him. He asked, [Are you okay?]

“…Thanks to you.”

Arethusa responded while pretending to be fine. However, it could be seen she was in pain from her frown. Arethusa sat on the rock next to Hercules. There was quite a distance between his rock and the rock next to Hercules’. Therefore, the two of them were sitting slightly apart.

Hercules burst out laughing at the thought that this was the distance from her heart to his. “Why are you laughing?”

[No, just. It’s been a while since I’ve sat next to you like this. I thought this wouldn’t happen again.]

“Bah. I would’ve punched you in the face right away if it wasn’t for my father asking me to forgive you. My father said you made up for the wrongs you’ve done by saving me this time. I would still hate you if it wasn’t for my father’s words.”

[……]

Hercules stared blankly at Arethusa before taking a deep breath and standing up. Arethusa cocked her head and wondered, “Where are you going?”

[I’m confirmed that you are safe, so I’m going to do my job.]

“What is it?”

[Revenge.]

“Revenge?”

Arethusa had a question mark over her head like she didn’t understand. Hercules nonchalantly turned his back to Arethusa. He was going to find Lucifer, who made the three sisters like this. Hercules decided in his heart that he could never leave Lucifer alive.

Step, step.

Arethusa watched his back as he moved away. She had a rough idea of what he was going to do. She wanted to hold him back, but she couldn’t stop him. Hercules was a stubborn man who never gave up until he achieved his goal. He was so good that she loved him. In fact, it was the same now.

[Wait a minute.]

Just then, Atlas finished treating Aegle and Erytheia and called out to Hercules who was moving away. Hercules turned in the direction of the voice. A small cloud flew in front of him.

[This…]

[Ride it. My body can’t leave this place. That guy called Lucifer is heading to Metheus now, so you can get there quickly if you ride this.]

Hercules glanced at the cloud in front of him and raised his head to express his gratitude to Atlas.

[Thank you, Father-in-law.]

[Bah. Who is your father-in-law? How cheeky. Get out of here.] Atlas ordered Hercules to leave in a rude tone.

Hercules smiled and disappeared into the fog of the labyrinth. Arethusa and Atlas watched him leave together. Then Atlas turned around and muttered in a small voice, [I have a weird guy as my son-in-law.]

The distant Hercules paused for a moment and gave a little smile. Then he headed back into the depths of the Labyrinth of Souls. Arethusa stared at Hercules as he disappeared into the fog.

* * *

At the capital of the Atlan Kingdom…

Park Muyeol was deeply troubled as he looked up at the crescent moon from the balcony of the royal palace. The night sky wasn’t dyed black. It was a pale purple that looked like a black pearl. It was due to the influence of the barrier magic used by Hecatiana, goddess of the moon and magic.

Hecatiana had never left the temple in order to maintain the barrier after Jupiter’s warning that day. Park Muyeol was deeply moved by her bold determination to protect humans.

“……”

Park Muyeol’s forehead wrinkled as he sighed and looked down at the night scenery of the Atlan Kingdom. This place that was incomparably beautiful to before was the new hometown of Park Muyeol. The Atlan Kingdom had a stillness that was like the calm before the storm. The scene of the kingdom facing death was enough to make Park Muyeol emotional.

“There are three days remaining.”

Three days remained until the one week deadline that Jupiter spoke of. According to the photos and information that Union had uploaded to the community, it was possible to know the route of the demonic army and its size. It was a large army of demons close to one million so it would probably be a fierce battle.

Fortunately, the governments of each country have promised through Arkstagram that they would give enormous wealth to the rankers in each field if they participated in the war against the demonic army and survived. From the government’s point of view, this was the only way to save the large number of innocent, weak hostages. It couldn’t be helped.

‘But…’

Park Muyeol was filled with absurd worries. Those people said they would participate in the war, but it was unknown if they would really risk their lives and fight fiercely. No one wanted to die in a place like this. The only ones who would truly fight for Atlan were the NPCS.

All the rebels, including Leslie, had shown a willingness to fight. The wandering mercenaries who were former knights of the Orca Kingdom also wanted to become Atlan’s power. The surprising thing was that Gorba, the orc chieftain attacked not long ago, went all over the continent and gathered the scattered orcs.

It was Park Maksun who helped Gorba travel. She used space magic and placed all sorts of stealth magic on Gorba who went to the orcs and persuaded them, bringing them here. Their number reached as high as 30,000, so Park Maksun had made a great contribution prior to the decisive battle.

“I can’t sleep.”

Park Muyeol headed straight to the training ground in the backyard only to see an unexpected figure carrying out something like a stabbing regime. The wind that blew with every stab was extraordinary.

“Gorba?”

“Um? Ah, Jackson’s friend. Chwiik.”

“What are you doing? Are you doing moonlight gymnastics?”

“Gymnastics? What is that?”

“…Nothing. It was my fault for asking.”

Park Muyeol shook his head with a smile before walking to Gorba. His entire body was covered in sweat.

“Were you training?”

“Yes! Gorba is going to show that Lucifer! Chwiik!”

“It is nice to see you working hard.”

Park Muyeol smiled happily. It was questionable if Gorba was as strong as a demon king, but it was only something that would be discovered after hitting directly. Still, he was a chieftain so his strength shouldn’t be weak. However, was it possible even with reinforcements like this?

“Can I help you?”

“Okay! Chwiik. Bring it on!”

Park Muyeol really couldn’t get used to this type of personality. Well, sometimes it was better to fight against a person without any thoughts.

“Huhu. You should be careful. My wooden sword is a bit harsh.”

“Are you afraid of losing to me? Chwik.”

“Wait and see.”

Behind Park Muyeol’s back, an intangible power surged that caused ripples. The ground cracked and the intangible energy that rose spread out from his entire body. There were three days left until the day of the battle.

* * *

The wind in the black desert of the Underworld was cold. It had been four days since I came here and started training. In the meantime, I spent a harsh time learning how to deal with the snow, rain, and thunderbolt from the tundra dragon and blue sky dragon.

I had already used the Snow Flying Kick Technique once, so I quickly restored it within two days. The problem was the rain and thunderbolt. It was something I had never handled. No matter the memories I had, it was hard because my body couldn’t keep up.

Day 5. Finally, I succeeded in fully acquiring the Rain Flying Kick Technique ‘Fox Rain’. Named Fox Rain, this Flying Kick Technique was an attack that fell from the sky. As the name suggested, it was a skill that attacked in a wide range using foxes made of water that fell from the sky like rain. I had no doubt that this Flying Kick Technique would be of great benefit to me.

Day 6. I learned the Thunderbolt Flying Kick Technique ‘Thunderbolt Strike’. It was still inexperienced, but since I used it in conjunction with the cloud elemental, Jinny, it was a technique that boasted tremendous destructive power. Thunderbolts flashed from the sky everywhere my feet touched like my feet had become lighting rods. Terrible thunderbolts fell from the sky without distinction. My movements resembled thunderbolts so I had very fast acceleration.

The long-awaited seventh day. I sat down on the ground, arms folded as I was deep in thought.

“In the end, I can’t learn these two things?”

In front of me were the scrolls for the Star Flying Kick Technique and Moon Flying Kick Technique that Alexus had given me. There was a detailed description of the method and effectiveness of using both Flying Kick Techniques. The problem was that conditions were needed to use them.

“The star elemental can’t be found here and you can’t absorb the energy of the full moon, so it is a difficult situation.”

Alexus said that the star elemental, Stella, was required to use the Star Flying Kick Technique. It had been with Lupeon, the god of stars and mercy. The problem was that he was now dead and the whereabouts of the star elemental unknown.

Secondly, the Moon Flying Kick Technique could only be used by accumulating the energy of the moon. The disadvantage was that it was difficult to accumulate and it couldn’t be used unless it was a full moon night.

However, Alexus said both Flying Kick Techniques were strong enough to offset their shortcomings so I thought it was worth looking forward to. I was currently gathering knowledge about how to use both Flying Kick Techniques just in case. At this moment—

[Would you come to see me for a minute?]

My wife’s voice was heard in my words. I immediately got up, climbed the stairs and headed to the place where she was waiting. Two days ago, she and Alexus said they would go back to avoid interfering with my training.

[You came. I’ve been waiting.]

“Um?”

I was stunned for a moment. Next to her were all the commanders of the death army corps that I had been beating up over the past few days. Their cold eyes scanned me from the top of my head to the tip of my toes.