I Escaped the Exile Story Only To Find It Was a Regret Trope

47 – 9# Sage Subjugation (4)

Return Warrior.

This was Yu-shin’s Blooming, imbued with two meanings. One was Yu-shin’s desire to embody the power of his prime. With that power, he wouldn’t need to rely on time.

And above all, he could definitely end that guy with his own hands. The other was a strong will to return to the original world.

These two wills combined to form Yu-shin’s Blooming, the Return Warrior. Yu-shin was already a man who had reached the peak, and the only thing he regretted was just one.

The power of a warrior who reached the peak in his prime.

He resolved that regret with Blooming. That was the conclusion Yu-shin reached. Meanwhile, the sage, who suddenly faced the power of the warrior in his prime, could not help but be astonished.

“That damned power has reappeared?!”

The sage plans for all contingencies. But even the sage did not assume that Yu-shin would regain the power of his prime.

The possibility was 0%, and even if it were possible, there would be no answer if it came to that. That was the power the warrior possessed.

Certain Kill

Demon King Slash

Once he returned to his prime, there was no room for any more games. Without even a moment to recognize the slicing blow, the sage’s arm was severed once again.

There was no time to react.

The Demon King. The warrior’s strike, which had cut down even the most powerful and perfect being created by the sage, was now aimed at him. Memories of that time resurfaced.

The past.

Back when the sage had banished the warrior and believed everything was going according to his plan. Honestly, the sage had nothing to fear back then.

The only being that could possibly hinder him was the warrior. But the warrior would never return. And even if the warrior did return…

If the plan succeeded, not even the warrior could stop him. Because by then, he would have become a god ruling this world, saving the people.

But that wasn’t the case.

Even with the power of a god, he couldn’t defeat the warrior at full strength. In the end, the sage was disgracefully defeated and ultimately killed by the warrior.

However, a part of the sage survived and crossed over to another world. Thanks to the insurance he had taken out just in case, he barely survived.

No, to be precise, the sage Icarus, who had once become a god, was undoubtedly dead. The one who now took the form of the sage was a remnant.

A being so pitiful that it was embarrassing to call him a living creature, let alone a human. He managed to obtain a living body through a deal with the demon Mephisto.

But compared to the time when he reigned as a god, the flaws were severe. So the sage made a new plan. To obtain a new vessel.

To be reborn once again.

He was almost there. Through the deal with Mephisto, he knew exactly who his opponent was. He even found a way to reach the gods. All he needed was time.

“Do you think I’ll be held back by someone like you again?!”

Not once, but twice, and by the one he hated the most? That was a humiliation worse than death for the sage. He could never lose.

Fortunately, it was still a fight he could manage. If he added all the magic he could use to the vessel’s awakening, he could definitely win.

The sage’s judgment wasn’t wrong. But there are always variables. At the moment he tried to use the awakening, the sage felt an inexplicable recoil.

“Ugh?!”

“An opening.”

Five seconds. It might be a very short time for an ordinary person, but in a fight of this level, five seconds was an eternity, and thanks to that, Yushin easily took his life.

‘Something’s strange.’

But Yushin also felt something was off. The guy who had been fighting so well suddenly stopped moving for five seconds? At first, he thought it might be a trap.

But soon Yushin realized it wasn’t a trap. Because emotions leaked from the sage’s expression. Outwardly, he seemed calm.

But he didn’t miss the subtle tension and anger within. Thanks to that, he easily took a life. But at the same time, he gained a question. What had happened?

“Damn it, there was another will in the vessel. What the hell is going on…?!”

[This is my body. I will never lose!!!]

“…This voice?”

The voice itself was the voice of Hyunwoo he had heard until now. But something was different. It was as if the nature had changed, a voice more kind and gentle than before.

For a brief moment, Yushin quickly grasped the situation through the sage’s reaction and the voice he had just caught. The vessel referred to that body.

In other words, one body with two wills. In other words, there were two souls. As far as Yushin knew, there was only one such case. Another soul had entered the original body.

‘Does that mean Hyunwoo was a possessor!’

If so, the soul extracted through the doppelganger before was most likely the soul of the possessor. In other words, the soul resisting now was the original owner of the body.

Having quickly grasped the situation, Yushin planned to help the original owner of the body to reclaim it. And in most cases like this, it is resolved by making the body guard itself.

If left as it is, the sage would easily suppress the original soul. But Yushin was not one to just stand by and watch. Yushin immediately moved his body.

The sage now had to deal with both external and internal enemies simultaneously. It was already a very challenging situation just to deal with Yushin, who had returned to his prime.

Whenever he tried to exert even a little power, he was constantly hindered from within. Normally, considering the sage’s abilities, it was an absurd situation.

Like trying to cover the sun with the palm of your hand.

The sage’s abilities had already far surpassed human limits. No matter how much interference there was from within, what could an ordinary human do?

However.

The sage made a mistake. Blooming was the power that manifested by synthesizing a person’s life and values. In short, it could be called a person’s soul.

However, the sage, who judged it as a convenient power to use, used blooming freely. As a result, the suppressed original soul awakened.

Unless, like the previously extinguished possessor, it was completely suppressed by an item or divine force, the current sage did not have that level of power.

Full Power

If the existing clone technique created and controlled a physical entity, the original technique enhanced through the returning hero used clones to attack at will.

The difference is simple.

Whether the clones obeyed the caster’s will or not. And now it was the latter case. The clones that appeared immediately followed Yushin’s will.

Three clones charged from different directions, attacking. One perfectly covered the blind spot, and the other two charged directly at the sage from the front.

Even in a desperate situation, the sage showed ingenuity. He simultaneously used fire and ice to create steam. The steam became a natural smoke screen.

Thanks to this, the clones’ attacks lost their way. Despite being past his prime, he was once one of the heroes summoned to subdue the demon king. He still had the basics.

But.

“I already knew that.”

“……!!”

He had seen it many times before.

Even though the end was unexpectedly near, Yushin did not feel at ease. They had once run towards the same goal. He had thought of him as a true friend.

But it seemed the other did not feel the same.

There is no relationship more heartbreaking than a one-sided one. The only thing Yushin could do now was to end it definitively as a comrade.

And finally.

The time for the end approached once again. Blocking the view through the steam wasn’t a bad idea. The problem was that it also blocked his own view.

In his prime.

If he had been a sage before losing his power. Even if he had been the sage before Hyunwoo woke up, it wouldn’t have been a big problem. He could just sense it.

But the current sage was not at full power.

Moreover, he had become significantly weaker compared to the beginning due to numerous adverse factors. On the other hand, Yushin had become unimaginably stronger thanks to his return as a hero.

The sage turned his head. But it was already too late. Yushin’s fist, which had pierced through like a flash, struck the sage’s abdomen. An enormous impact.

In the end, the sage couldn’t hold on and lost consciousness. Yushin, who had perfectly subdued the sage, slowly pondered. Somehow, he had managed to subdue him.

Now, the only thing left was to restore him to his original state.