The Returned Hero

Xia Lun knew in his heart that the two men before him weren’t lying.

But he couldn’t quite bring himself to accept this fact.

In Xia Lun’s understanding, people with such strength could be adventurers, knights serving nobles… but mere farmers from a village? That was just too strange.

Xia Lun… felt that something was off about this village.

The next moment, as Xia Lun blinked, the scenery before him underwent a drastic transformation.

The light dimmed instantly, and the surrounding sounds grew muffled. Xia Lun instinctively opened his mouth, only for bubbles to gurgle out in a stream.

What was going on?

A lazy fish drifted past Xia Lun’s face, locking eyes with him for a brief second before darting away in fright, as if startled by this sudden human appearance.

Where on earth had he been dumped?

The ground beneath his feet was slippery, covered in algae and moss—the bottom of a lake.

Where was the village? How had he suddenly ended up submerged in a lake?

Utterly bewildered, Xia Lun looked up and saw a dazzling, radiant patch of light directly above—likely the sun.

Well, first things first, he needed to get to shore. Breathing underwater was uncomfortable, after all.

Xia Lun could swim, but that would be too slow.

With a slight bend of his legs, the lakebed trembled violently as a dull thud echoed through the water. A massive crater formed beneath his feet from the sheer force of his push-off.

The water’s surface exploded as if a torpedo had been launched from below, sending towering geysers into the air along with a plume of steam.

Xia Lun’s figure descended from the sky, landing steadily on solid ground.

Swimming was too slow—Xia Lun preferred jumping.

The lake was deep, over seventy meters… but he might have overshot his leap, likely misjudging buoyancy and resistance.

Surveying his surroundings, Xia Lun found himself in a dense forest, with a wide road leading to another city in the distance. But there was no trace of Nameless Village.

Had the village kicked him out?

After a moment’s thought, Xia Lun concluded that he must have triggered some mechanism in the village, forcibly ejecting him from its bounds.

Was it related to those two farmers?

Regardless, he needed to return quickly… If he disappeared without a word, Aina would surely scold him.

"You do remember who you belong to, don’t you, O Great Hero? To leave without even a word… After all your grand promises of dedicating your life and yourself to me…"

Hmm… Aina might say something like that.

But to go back—where was the village?

Xia Lun closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a faint blue glow shimmered in his pupils.

The outlines of buildings slowly materialized above the lake’s surface.

So, Nameless Village was hidden within a pocket of space hovering over the lake?

Xia Lun turned his gaze back to the tranquil waters, detecting an unusual trace of magical energy.

No way…

Xia Lun’s pupils contracted slightly as his lips parted in astonishment.

Someone had drawn a spatial magic array on the lake’s surface!

Only when the water rose to a certain level would the array complete itself, allowing Nameless Village to manifest through the fully activated spatial magic.

Though he didn’t know who had crafted this array, the sheer ingenuity left Xia Lun in awe.

While Xia Lun wasn’t well-versed in arrays, he had his own way of returning to the village.

If it involved space… then this was simple.

Clenching his hand into a claw, Xia Lun tore open a rift in the air just large enough for a person to pass through, then stepped inside.

Aina and the others were still in the village, so all he needed was to trace Aina’s presence…

Amid the chaotic turbulence of spatial currents, Xia Lun shut his eyes.

Locating someone based solely on their aura in such disorder was no easy feat.

But for Xia Lun, failing to find Aina was impossible.

The violent spatial currents raged against him, yet they might as well have been a gentle breeze, leaving him unscathed.

With a single step, the space around him fractured like shattered glass, spiderweb cracks spreading with an eerie whisper as Xia Lun forced his way through.

When he reappeared, he was back in the room.

Aina sat on the bed, pulling on a pair of knee-high boots.

"My, Xia Lun, what a dramatic entrance. Were you so desperate to see me that you shattered space itself?" Aina chuckled, pausing mid-motion. One boot was already on, while the other seemed ready to be kicked off again.

"Well… there was a bit of an issue," Xia Lun replied, carefully smoothing out the torn space behind him to prevent any unintended damage.

"You were gone just now, weren’t you?" Aina lifted her bare foot, playfully wiggling it in front of Xia Lun as if anticipating what might come next.

"I’m not entirely sure what happened. This village is strange, but—"

Xia Lun’s words cut off as the scenery shifted once more.

This time, however, he wasn’t dumped into the lake—just reappeared on the shore.

The puddle from his earlier landing was still there.

He’d been kicked out again!

Xia Lun’s brow furrowed. Being interrupted mid-conversation with Aina was infuriating.

Without hesitation, he punched through space again and stepped inside.

When he returned, Aina had finished putting on both boots, her robes now concealing her graceful figure.

"It seems the village really doesn’t want you here," Aina remarked, unsurprised by his reappearance, though her expression carried a hint of pouty disappointment, like a child denied a toy.

"Aina, have you noticed anything unusual about this village?"

Xia Lun reached for Aina’s hand—only to grasp empty air.

The scenery warped yet again.

Xia Lun let out a cold laugh. This was the third time.

If Nameless Village was so determined to reject him… then he’d make a point of staying.

His figure flickered, reappearing mid-air.

In his hand materialized a crystalline sword, its edge gleaming with frost.

This was one of the blades Aina had mentioned—a treasure from the Demon King’s vault, said to rival Xia Lun’s former holy sword.

With a single swing, the surrounding space frosted over, a white mist of ice enveloping the vast lake below.

Crack—

The frozen air itself splintered with countless fractures, as though the entire space might collapse at any moment, banishing the village into the void.

"Try sending me out again," Xia Lun growled, feigning menace, before stepping back into the village.

Aina watched as Xia Lun returned to her side for the third time, covering her mouth with a light laugh. "Quite the spectacle, my hero."

"What can I say? All for you, my Demon King."