The sole heir to a ruined world

“The Sole Heir of the Fallen World,” Episode 12

“Thor!!”

Asterra reached out her hand toward Thor.

Crimson blood gathered in her hand, soon transforming into a sharp blade that shot toward Thor.

Kwarrrr!

The blood blade vanished before it could reach Thor, dissipating in a flash of lightning.

Asterra continued to swing her hand.

The blood that erupted from her hand attacked Thor in various ways, but none of the attacks even got close to him.

“Have you weakened?”

As if evaluating her performance, Thor muttered as he watched her.

“Or have you been abandoned by Baal? You used to be able to at least touch my body.”

“Shut up! Arrogant warrior of the gods!”

Asterra shouted in anger.

She hated Thor.No, she hated Asgard itself.

The arrogant family of gods.It had always been that way.

Back when Asgard was still thriving.

From the time when they ruled over nine dimensions, the gods of Asgard looked down upon the remaining eight dimensions with arrogance.

The demon realm did not belong to those nine dimensions, and thus the gods of Asgard treated the existence of the demon realm as an inferior race.

Among them, Thor would come to the demon realm whenever he was bored and murder its people.

How many demon kings had died at his hands, and how many were left?

Even Baal, who was said to be the second strongest among the existing demon kings after Satan, had knelt before Thor.

It was a humiliating sight.

Seeing the king one served kneel before another was not something a commander wanted to witness.

“I will tear you apart and present you to my king!”

Astera flew up in the air and charged at Thor.

Thor watched her with a light chuckle.

“No matter how weak I may have become, do you think your king can defeat me?”

As Thor said this, he reached out his hand but hesitated.

A sharp pain shot through him.

Ouch.

The pain radiated from his fingertips.

「Time remaining 3:27」

There were barely four minutes left.

As he looked down, the outline of his body was becoming blurry, and the power of the lightning and thunder that followed him was gradually weakening.

As time decreased, the force that constrained him grew stronger.

“…I can’t afford to drag this out any longer.”

He was too excited about the rare battle.

Thor clenched his fist tightly and stared intently at Astera.

Lightning gathered in his hand.

Crackle!

A brilliant light enveloped Thor’s fist, bright enough to blind anyone nearby, even with their eyes closed.

Boom! Kwarrrr!

Thunder roared around Thor like an angry beast.

Astera’s face hardened as she watched.

She felt an overwhelming force that she could not resist.

That power was precisely targeting her.

“Your master is waiting. It’s time to end this.”

Thor’s fist aimed for Astera’s head.

Though it wasn’t moving quickly, she couldn’t evade that fist.

It was as if there was an absolute law that dictated she must be hit by Thor’s fist.

“Thor…!!!”

“I’ll see you next time.”

Kwarrrr!

Crackle!

Asterra’s body was blackened and charred.’ has defeated Baal’s third legion commander, Astera.」

“Looks like annihilation isn’t possible after all.”

Thor clenched his fist and bitterly smiled.

With only one-tenth of his original power, he couldn’t annihilate the commander of the demon realm.

As he watched Astera turn into black smoke, Thor turned his body toward the direction where he sensed Lee Hank-yul’s energy.

「Time remaining 1:12」

He didn’t have much time left.

He had already eliminated the greatest threat, and when he disappeared, Lee Hank-yul would be able to return to Asgard.

‘If it’s the humans outside, they should be able to handle the remaining remnants.’

Right now, it was more important for him to face Lee Hank-yul and have a conversation than to finish off the monsters.

‘It seems our master still doesn’t know the true nature of Asgard.’

As Thor flew through the sky, he spotted Lee Hank-yul, who had come out to evacuate people to the shelter.
He quickly scanned his surroundings and reached out toward Lee Hank-yul.

Vroom.

“…Huh?”

Lee Hank-yul’s body floated up into the air.

His body shot into the air and landed in front of Thor in a flash.

“…Thor?”

“You have faithfully completed your master’s command.”

“Uh….”

“It seems you are aware of the surrounding gazes, so I have blocked them with lightning. You can speak comfortably.”

At those words, Lee Hank-yul looked around.

Indeed, lightning was densely surrounding them.

It was fascinating.

The fact that lightning could act in such a way.

“Master.”

“…Huh?”

“You possess boundless potential. However, it seems our master is not fully aware of this fact.”

“…”

Lee Hank-yul couldn’t respond much.

Potential.

It is said that every hunter has their own potential.

This potential plays a significant role in determining a hunter’s strength.

‘For me, potential… Does not it revolve around Asgard?

The only thing he could do was grow Asgard.

He hadn’t thought much about personal potential beyond that.

“It seems the master is under some misunderstanding.”

Thor grinned, as if reading his thoughts.

“Potential is nothing special. Simply put, it’s an individual’s ability. Yes, it’s what we commonly refer to as skills or stats.”

“Hmm.”

“However, the master is different from ordinary ability users. The master is the world, and the world is the master. Therefore, the concepts of stats and skills are not significantly important to the master.”

Thor placed his hand on Lee Hank-yul’s shoulder.

“My existence is the master’s potential and power. And the countless warriors, heroes, and gods that the master will summon in the future are the master’s strength.”

Saying this, Thor reached out his hand to the right and caught a bolt of lightning, presenting it before him.

“What I can do, the master can do as well.”

The lightning was placed in Lee Hank-yul’s hand.

It was a strange sensation.

A collection of energy that could not be described in words transformed into a tangible feeling in his hand.

For an ordinary person, approaching lightning would mean being engulfed in flames, but what Lee Hank-yul felt while holding the lightning was simply intense.

“Time is up. I look forward to our next meeting, master.”

「The time of ‘Thor’s’ descent has ended.」

「The ‘laws of the world’ are pulling ‘Thor’ back to where he originally belonged.」

With a whoosh, golden chains poured down from the air, binding Thor’s arms, legs, and neck.

“Master, remember. We must grow ‘Asgard’ and ‘OOOOO’ to be freed.”

Kha ha ha!

Thor let out a hearty laugh as he was pulled into the rift along with the chains.

Lee Hank-yul stared blankly at the scene.

The lightning that had surrounded the area, now devoid of its source of power, vanished.

Lee Hank-yul’s body slowly descended to the ground, and he raised his hand to wipe his face but hesitated.

Crackle, crackle.

Lightning still lingered in his hand.

Even though Thor had been taken away, the lightning remaining in his hand seemed to indicate that its ownership had transferred to Lee Hank-yul.

‘What am I supposed to do with this?’

As Lee Hank-yul stared blankly at the lightning, a voice called out to him.

“It’s you, isn’t it? The hunter who saved the city.”

Startled, Lee Hank-yul turned to the side and froze at the sight of the crowd surrounding him.

People in suits, as well as armed hunters.

More than thirty people were all looking at Lee Hank-yul.

Feeling their gazes, he let out a small sigh.

“I was wondering how you cleared it…”

Among the crowd was a man.

He looked like an ordinary office worker, and a name tag was pinned to his chest.

「Team Leader Yoo Jin-cheol」

“People said that a hunter who can control lightning protected them.”

With a thud, Yoo Jin-cheol approached Lee Hank-yul as he spoke.

Lee Hank-yul stepped back unconsciously as he watched the man.

It was true that he had saved people, but he never wanted to be the center of attention.

He had merely fulfilled his duty as a hunter.

‘It wasn’t even me.’

Moreover, it was Thor who had saved the people and defeated the monsters.

He had only led the people to the shelter under Thor’s protection.

“I’ve never heard of a hunter who can control lightning. With such abilities, you wouldn’t have gone unnoticed… You must be a new registrant.”

Yoo Jin-cheol approached Lee Hank-yul.

His gaze was intense.

Feeling the weight of that gaze, Lee Hank-yul became uncomfortable, prompting Yoo Jin-cheol to stop in his tracks with an “Ah.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put pressure on you.”

“…”

“Can you tell me your name? We would like to reward you for protecting the city on behalf of our management office.”

After saying this, Yoo Jin-cheol took out a business card from his pocket.

“I forgot to introduce myself. I am Yoo Jin-cheol, the team leader of the Gate Management Team at the Hunter Management Office.”

He extended the business card.

Just as Lee Hank-yul accepted it, a crackle sounded.

The lightning in his hand vanished in an instant.

With a sigh of surprise, Yoo Jin-cheol stepped closer and said, “Thanks to you, the citizens of Dobong-gu are safe. This matter…”

The heavy gaze and countless words.

The eyes of the people around him.

Unable to withstand the pressure, Lee Hank-yul clenched the business card tightly and said, “I’m Lee Hank-yul.”

As he spoke his name, he moved to Asgard.

“Uh? What’s going on?”

Yoo Jin-cheol looked at the spot where Lee Hank-yul had suddenly disappeared, momentarily taken aback.

After a moment, his eyes sparkled with intrigue.

“Does he also have teleportation abilities?”

Yoo Jin-cheol turned his head and surveyed the surroundings.

Buildings lay in ruins, and the ground was cracked.

The bodies of charred monsters were scattered everywhere.

The entire scene seemed to convey just how fierce the battle in the city had been.

Moreover, the entity that had appeared in the city was a demon and a legion commander.

A hunter who had defeated such a being and protected the people…

“It’s going to be quite the commotion for a while.”

It was clear that this incident would stir the entire Republic of Korea.

Yoo Jin-cheol mulled over the name he had just heard.

“Lee Hank-yul… Lee Hank-yul.”

It was a name that would never be forgotten.

***

Back in Asgard, Lee Hank-yul took a deep breath to calm his racing heart.

He had never received so much attention from people before.

Their gazes felt quite burdensome.

Above all, for someone who had been paralyzed from the waist down, the stares he had received until now were not particularly pleasant.

Looks of contempt and sympathy and so on.

Perhaps that was why.

Lee Hank-yul didn’t particularly want the focus of people to be on him.

After taking a moment to breathe and steady his heart, he regained his composure and looked around Asgard.

Stacks of treasure piled up in one corner.

And empty fields and meadows.

「In exchange for the souls of the residents…」

A message he had seen before Thor appeared came to mind.

The extinction of the residents’ souls.

Before him, the residents who had welcomed him with joy were no longer there.