Player who Returned 10,000 years Later
chapter-341

“Brother…?” Iris von Arnan muttered in bewilderment. She had ended up calling the man enveloped in blinding light in front of her, her brother before she had realized it. “Ah.”

However, after her thoughts settled and she took a closer look at the man in front of her, she realized that the man was a completely different person from her older brother. The man had black hair and eyes, and was handsome enough to be a work of art, to the point that she wondered if he had been blessed by the high elves as well.

“Wh-Who are…” Iris asked in a trembling voice.

Kim Si-Hun took her hand and helped her up while smiling faintly. “I came here after I heard the noises while I was passing by with my party members. Thank goodness I’m not too late.”

Iris flinched. It did not seem like this man knew who she was. The man glared at the masked men.

“Why would you attack this poor woman?” Si-Hun asked.

“Hah, poor woman, you say?”

“Do you have any idea who that woman is?”

“That’s Iris von Arnan! The witch who brought the empire to ruin!”

The masked men exclaimed in fury.

“Ngh…” Iris lowered her head in pallor from their screams.

She knew very well her reputation among the public, and a portion of the spreading rumors were true.

“I see, you’re the Imperial Highness.” Si-Hun purposefully expressed surprise.

The masked men snorted and approached Si-Hun. “Step aside. The empire can only regain its peace once that witch is dead.”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot.”

Si-Hun raised his shining sword, firmly expressing that he would not step aside. He turned his head toward Iris, who was trembling behind him.

“Don’t worry.” He stretched out his hand and placed it on her cheek. “I will protect you.”

“Ah…”

Iris’s eyes widened. It had been far too long since someone had said that they would protect her. Her eyes unwittingly teared up. She shuddered all over.

‘Nghh.’

Unlike Iris’s reaction, Si-Hun was having mixed feelings.

‘Is this really gonna work?’

In Si-Hun’s opinion, a woman being told by someone who had literally fallen from the sky that they would protect her would only raise her caution instead of trust.

‘I’m doing it because hyung-nim told me to, but…’

He honestly did not have much hope in the plan.

‘But I’ll stick to it, since it’s for hyung-nim.’

Si-Hun had unconditional trust for Kang-Woo.

‘Don’t worry, hyung.’

Si-Hun gripped his sword handle and poured his bloodlust toward the masked men. This operation was crucial for establishing a connection with Princess Iris, as well as the very first step for him to become a savior.

‘For hyung…’

He could not afford to let the plan fail. Si-Hun glared at the rebel army with blazing eyes.

“K-Kuh!”

“S-Such eyes…”

Si-Hun was powerful enough to face the princes of Hell. His assimilation rate with the Martial God had almost reached 70% during the past few months of training, so there was no way that mere soldiers of a rebel army would be able to handle his bloodlust.

Tap.

Si-Hun leaped forward with a step so quiet that one would not be able to hear it unless they concentrated, but unlike that faint sound, his body shot forward so quickly that it looked as if his body was being stretched.

‘Heavenly Dragon Foot Technique.’

It was one of the martial arts techniques of Martial God Tian Taihuang; Si-Hun moved as if a dragon was soaring across the sky. He sliced the sword of one of the masked men without hesitation with his holy sword.

“Wh-What the fuck?!”

The masked men were shocked by how Si-Hun had reached them in the blink of an eye and sliced a sword clean in two. Si-Hun kicked a masked man’s stomach with his right leg.

“Kurgh!”

The masked man rose slightly into the air and tumbled to the ground. Si-Hun rode the momentum and continued to swing his sword. Clang! Clang! The weapons of the masked men were sliced in two, one after another.

“Y-You monster!”

“He must be the witch’s puppet!”

“Kill him!”

The masked men did not back down even after witnessing Si-Hun’s prowess. They depended solely on their numbers which reached five hundred. The masked men approached Si-Hun while getting into a military formation that they seemed to have practiced thoroughly.

“Tsk.”

However, such a strategy was utterly ineffective against Si-Hun.

“Heavenly Dragon Lightning Strike.”

A blue dragon appeared from the shining holy sword. Si-Hun jumped toward the center of the formation without hesitation while flying in the air using Void Steps. He gripped his sword with both hands and swung it down while falling, as if he was chopping firewood.

Crackle—!!

The blue dragon that was leisurely flying in the air opened its mouth. It clad itself in lightning and descended to the ground.

“Kurgh!!”

“Aaaarrgghh!”

The masked men screamed. The ones that had been struck by the lightning head-on collapsed on the spot. The unexpected tight formation by a rebel army had been destroyed from a single attack from Si-Hun. Si-Hun stood up from the crater that had been formed as if a meteor had crashed down. The brilliant light flowing from the holy sword enveloped his body.

“A-Aaaahh.”

They were no match for Si-Hun. After realizing that they were in completely different leagues, the soldiers of the rebel army lost their morale and trembled on the spot with their mouths agape.

‘This should be enough.’

Si-Hun loosened his grip on the sword handle while staring at the rebel army stricken by fear. They had already lost their will to fight, so Si-Hun did not see the need to slaughter them.

‘It’s a bit uncomfortable.’

Si-Hun frowned as he stared at the terrified men. He was not physically uncomfortable; it was just that using his powers on fellow humans, albeit a rebel army, did not feel right to him.

“Kuh! Kurgh!”

“Wh-What the…?! This is…”

Just then, the corpses of the rebel army sprawled on the ground, rose. Their eyes were gray, and they were staggering. Si-Hun’s eyes widened.

“Undead?”

It was not just the corpses of the rebel army. Skeletons wielding weapons also appeared from all around the forest.

“What’s going on…?”

Si-Hun fell into confusion. Why were there Undead monsters all of a sudden? He scanned the group of Skeletons with sharp eyes; they came out of the forest and stood in front of the rebel army as if protecting them. Such behavior from Undead monsters only meant one thing.

“Sons of bitches…”

Si-Hun bit his lip. His resentment toward the demonic that had grown ever since his first encounter with Satan surged.

“You’ve joined forces… with demons.”

If that was not the case, nothing could explain why Undead monsters would protect the rebel army instead of attacking them. Si-Hun regretted going easy on them because they were fellow humans.

“Y-You’re wrong!”

“Urgh! Wh-What the hell is wrong with these Skeletons?!”

The rebel army grew confused as well. The resentment dyeing Si-Hun’s face momentarily faltered as he saw the masked men’s genuine confusion.

Just then, Kang-Woo, who had been watching from above, came down the canyon. “I knew something was off.”

“Hyung-nim?”

Kang-Woo continued while staring at the rebel army and the horde of Undead, “Si-Hun, I think they’ve joined forces with demons.”

“There are demons in Aernor as well?”

“Have you forgotten where Lucifer came from?” Kang-Woo mentioned with sunken eyes.

“Ah,” Si-Hun expressed. He nodded and glared at the rebel army and the Undead. “I see.”

There was likely a group similar to the Demon Cult in Aernor as well.

“Si-Hun.”

“I know without you telling me, hyung-nim.”

Si-Hun raised his sword while emitting chilling bloodlust. Kang-Woo above all others had assured that the rebel army had joined forces with demons. They had done something they should have never done, for the sake of overthrowing the nation. In that case, there was only one thing for Si-Hun to do.

‘Formless Sword.’

Swords made out of pure-white sword energy formed around Si-Hun. He lowered his stance and charged toward the rebel army and the Undead.

***

“Are you okay, Your Highness?”

Si-Hun approached Iris, who was on the ground, after clearing out the Undead that had appeared from the forest. She was trembling slightly, possibly from seeing Si-Hun’s astounding combat prowess.

“I-I’m alright… Urgh!”

Iris tried to stand, but grimaced from the sharp pain shooting up her ankle. Si-Hun quickly ran up to her and helped her up.

“Ah…”

Iris blushed. She looked around warily, and then asked hesitantly, “M-May I ask who you are?”

“My name is Kim Si-Hun.”

“Kim Si-Hun.”

She engraved the name in her mind. Although such a name did not exist in the Arnan Empire, she paid it no mind.

‘I heard the Eastern Federation uses such names.’

He even had black hair and eyes, so Iris was sure that he was from the Eastern Federation. If that was the case, it also made sense why he had not called her a witch since he likely did not know of the exact situation in Arnan.

“A-Ahh.”

However, whether Si-Hun was from the Eastern Federation or not did not matter at the moment. She stared at Si-Hun dreamily, shivers traveling down her spine.

“I see. Then may I call you… Sir Si-Hun?”

“You don’t have to address me so formally, Your Highness.”

“N-No! I will call you Sir Si-Hun!” Iris responded brightly.

Kang-Woo smirked from seeing Si-Hun and Iris.

‘This exceeds my expectations.’

Thanks to Si-Hun’s fantastic looks as well as his perfect rescue timing, Operation “Knight In Shining Armor” has been a huge success.

‘Getting her support will be a piece of cake.’

Seeing how Iris was acting, they could even hope for her full support for everything instead of just having her as a backer.

‘Right, then.’

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. It was time to squeeze out some information from the imperial princess about the things that were bothering him in regard to the rebel army.

“Princess Iris, there are a few things I would like to ask you.”

“Who the hell are you?” Iris glared at Kang-Woo as soon as he approached her. “Stop bothering us and screw off.”

She was staring at him in disgust as if he were a bug. She hid behind Si-Hun as if she would throw up just from Kang-Woo getting closer to her.

‘Huh?’

Would you look at this bitch?