The Second Salvation Myth of a Retired Regressed Hero

“Fo, formation…”

Leona could barely issue the trembling order, her voice quavering like dry leaves. Everyone except Doyun struggled to steady their shaky breaths.

Leona’s head whipped around rapidly, almost frantically.

‘Scatter? Engage?’

If they scattered and someone unluckily drew the Ogre’s pursuit, that person would undoubtedly perish. And the fleet-footed ranger herself would likely be that unfortunate soul.

But battling it didn’t seem to offer much better odds either. No, the chances seemed exceedingly low.

She agonized over the choice – sacrifice one team member to save the rest, or gamble their slim hopes on fighting together?

The weight of their lives rested upon her decision.

Thump. Thump.

As everyone panicked unable to act, Doyun’s voice pulled Leona back to her senses.

“Noona.”

His deep baritone resounded with potent mana, making Leona feel as if his presence was dispelling the darkness, her anxiety and confusion instantly cleared.

The hand on her shoulder felt remarkably warm and large.

‘…That’s right. This is my team. I can’t let anyone die.’

Leona steadied her resolve.

“Everyone, battle stations.”

The team leader’s composed order rallied them all, the members mirroring Leona as they regained their stances.

Eventually, the Ogre that had approached slowly extended its arm towards them.

“Kaperman!!”

With Leona’s resounding cry, combat began.

“Hrrrgh!”

Kaperman charged forward with his tower shield raised, blocking the Ogre’s reach.

“Grrrr…?”

But only momentarily. To achieve its objective, the Ogre began relentlessly pushing against Kaperman’s tower shield.

“Ggrghhh…! Grrghhhh…!”

Kaperman’s muscles bulged, tendons protruding as he strained with all his might.

Yet he could feel his utter helplessness against this overwhelming force, no matter how hard he resisted.

The only reason Kaperman could even endure this long was because the Ogre wasn’t taking this battle seriously at all.

“HRRRAAAAHHH!!”

Kaperman’s agonized bellow alerted his teammates – he wouldn’t last much longer. Chiwoomen and Leona swiftly darted forward.

First, Leona rapidly closed in to draw the Ogre’s attention, slashing her dagger against its thigh.

Clang!

“Tch…!”

But Leona’s attack couldn’t even scratch the Ogre’s thick hide.

“What is this body…!”

She recoiled in shock at the jarring impact – not the sensation of tough, thick leather, but more akin to striking steel.

“HYAAH!”

Chiwoomen’s attacks proved equally ineffective.

‘Is this even possible?’

While Leona had never encountered an Ogre before, they were living beings after all. Could a creature’s hide truly be this unyieldingly hard?

‘This is strange.’

A sense of abnormality nagged at her.

But she had no time to ponder further. The Ogre swatted them aside like brushing off gnats, forcing Leona and Chiwoomen to expend all their efforts just evading its overwhelming strikes – far too swift for its colossal bulk.

Still, they persisted in attacking relentlessly.

Their agile movements kept the Ogre engaged enough that it started getting heated, no longer dismissively swatting them aside.

With murderous intent, the Ogre struck down at Chiwoomen with its fist.

WHAAM!

“Ghuh!”

Barely evading that thunderous, lightning-fast blow, Chiwoomen’s legs buckled as he collapsed momentarily.

“Chiwoomen! Get up!”

Leona cried out in shock at the resounding impact, but the disoriented Chiwoomen moved a beat too slow – leading to catastrophe.

The Ogre raised its foot, its shadow looming over Chiwoomen’s head.

“No!!”

Witnessing this, Leona shrieked in anguished dismay.

The Ogre’s weighty foot descended rapidly with crushing force.

‘Ah…’

Flashes of memories flickered across Chiwoomen’s widening eyes.

‘I should have confessed…’

Ultimately, he clenched his eyes shut.

But just as everyone recoiled in horror, something shot forth from the rear lines with blistering force.

Thwack-!

“GRHRUGHh!”

Striking the Ogre’s eye, it whipped its head back violently.

THUD!

Thanks to that, its foot only stomped heavily into the ground, the narrowly-spared Chiwoomen scrabbling away.

Thwack-!

“GRHRRUGHHHh!”

In that moment, another projectile whistled through the air, smashing the Ogre’s remaining eye. Clutching its ruined eyes, the Ogre thrashed about blindly.

“Fall back now!”

At Doyun’s voice, the stunned team members snapped to their senses.

A few javelins lay embedded around Doyun – where had he even produced those? Already adopting another throwing stance with one in hand, the javelin he launched seemed intricately crafted with excellent flex.

It struck the flailing Ogre squarely on the forehead, the staggering blow whipping its head back again before it lost balance and crashed onto its rump with a ground-shaking thud.

“Doyun? You…!”

As Leona tried to question his unexpected prowess, Jillaine’s magic spell reached completion.

A blinding flash of devastating power seared the Ogre, lightning exploding upon impact and crackling currents enveloping its massive frame.

But.

“GRHRUNKh…”

“Shit, dammit.”

Jillaine cursed under her breath.

Merely brushing the side of its scorched head, the Ogre rose back to its feet as shards of shattered javelins clattered to the ground, its eyes somehow intact.

Insane magic resistance coupled with a steel-like hide. Even its eyeballs, mere soft tissue, were perversely durable – an abnormal level of resilience.

As the Ogre regained its bearings, Doyun flicked his wrist contemplatively.

‘As expected, that’s no ordinary Ogre, but a high-tier ‘Guardian’.’

The highest echelon that alone could decimate entire armies with sheer presence – a realm utterly beyond human ingenuity.

While still unable to fathom why such an existence manifested here, Doyun had also perceived something else equally baffling about its behavior.

It seemed to be specifically targeting him. Not simply to kill or devour, but with the apparent objective of ‘retrieving’ him – a truly incomprehensible motive.

‘No point dwelling on it now.’

For the time being, he had to subdue it to ensure the team’s safety and their path forward.

Retrieving another javelin from the ground, Doyun spoke,

“I’ll draw its attention. Let’s try again.”

Leona and the others nodded. While unable to inflict meaningful damage, Doyun’s javelins would at least let them persistently engage it.

Amidst the Ogre’s furious roars,

“GRRRRAAAARRGHHHh!!”

Combat resumed.

As he covered the vanguard, Doyun pondered.

This Guardian posed quite the challenge even for him. Its movements were simplistic enough as an Ogre, but its ludicrous defenses rendered his current output powerless against it.

Manifesting his sword aura at full force or using Manifest Sword could slay it, but that would utterly deplete Doyun too – an unwise choice.

‘Target the core for a one-hit finisher with a specialized weapon.’

Conveniently, his Void Space contained the perfect untested item for this very scenario.

Doyun aimed his javelins at the Ogre’s eyes, awaiting an opportune timing.

Meanwhile, Leona too assessed the situation grimly alongside him.

‘I have to end this.’

As the only one capable of manifesting even a modicum of sword aura, she alone could resolve this predicament.

‘Just hamper its mobility, then retreat with the team.’

Leona swallowed hard, gripping her dagger resolutely.

“Chiwoomen! Draw its focus!”

“Got it!”

Leona dashed aside, slipping into the forest’s concealment with her furtive ranger movements.

Whenever the Ogre attacked Chiwoomen or Kaperman, Doyun’s javelins would unfailingly intercept, hampering it.

The team marveled – since the start, not a single javelin had missed, precisely striking vital points or eyes at key moments to stall the Ogre’s advances.

Moreover, upon impact, the javelins would detonate with brutal force, the Ogre’s colossal frame staggering heavily each time.

‘What kind of javelin explodes like artillery shells!?’

‘Accuracy exceeding even skilled archers.’

‘Was his main role a rear archer or something?’

While stunned by Doyun’s hidden prowess, the team placed their faith in him and persisted.

And within the forest, Leona too marveled at his skill while calmly awaiting her timing.

As the team’s strongest, Leona alone had crossed the threshold into manifesting sword aura, if only slightly.

Though this single strike would deplete her mana entirely, it remained their sole recourse in this dire situation.

From the forest’s shadows, azure sword aura flickered. Leona’s razor-sharp ranger eyes locked lethally onto the Ogre’s Achilles’ tendons.

Finally, after a punishing barrage from Doyun’s javelins and Jillaine’s magic, the Ogre staggered heavily.

‘Now!’

Leona’s heart channeled mana throughout her body.

Investing everything into speed while conserving just enough for sword aura, her form blurred forth at maximum velocity.

This was an all-or-nothing strike, their very lives hanging by this singular moment – a desperate gambit fueled by sword aura’s decisive lethality.

An azure crescent arc of razor-sharp sword aura rent the air towards the Ogre’s violet Achilles’ tendons.

And.

Clang-!

“…Eh?”

Leona’s dagger shattered.

“Leona!!”

Chiwoomen screamed her name in dismay.

Just like Chiwoomen earlier, Leona felt the looming shadow descend upon her.

But her legs wouldn’t move. Having expended every last drop of mana, evasion was impossible.

“Ah…”

The experienced, lively, and capable team leader – yet at this moment, merely a frail, pitiful girl.

Tears streamed freely from Leona’s eyes as she opened her mouth in resignation, accepting her impending demise.

However, in that very instant.

Keeeeeeiiinng-!

Accompanied by an intense screeching of air being violently torn asunder.

Zwwwwwooooosh-

A jade flash harboring a razor hurricane pierced straight through the Ogre’s solar plexus.

“Ghrk, kkhhhk…”

The foot raised overhead never descended.

What filled Leona’s vision was simply the Ogre’s massive bulk slowly toppling sideways beside her.

Finally.

Thud.

The Ogre crashed lifelessly to the ground.

“……Eh?”

Leona let out a dumbfounded utterance.

Her psyche, consumed by terror until now, couldn’t immediately process the situation.

Still with tear-stained eyes, Leona gazed up at the fading jade trail gouged across the sky.

Like some lingering afterimage, it gradually dissipated, only the powerful lingering hurricane winds encircling its path.

Leona slowly refocused towards the origin point of that jade streak.

As her line of sight neared the ground, she saw her equally aghast teammates all staring in the same direction.

And at the center of their collective gazes.

“Just now…”

With his right arm extended as if having unleashed something.

“You… did that…?”

Stood Han Doyun.

Doyun calmly nodded, flexing his numb wrist from the recoil.