◈ Episode 118. The Demon King’s Castle (4) [Demon King’s Castle of the Hunt].
Once the rift’s location was detected, players flocked to it.
Among them were some who arrived at the rift faster than Hoyeol.
Wasn’t Hoyeol someone who always acted consistently?
“I guarantee it. If it’s Hoyeol-nim, there’s a one hundred percent chance he’ll come to this Demon King’s Castle of the Hunt! How can I be so sure? I mean, can’t you tell just by looking at the patch notes?”
They had the experience they’d built up as players.
Figuring out the difficulty of conquering a rift—
just looking through the patch notes was more than enough.
“Our Hoyeol-nim isn’t the kind of person who pushes difficult work onto someone else, is he? Even when it seemed like it might be too much. He’s entered rifts that others wouldn’t even dare touch and shown us time and again how he takes the lead, hasn’t he?”
Sure enough, that prediction hit the mark.
Breaking news arrived one after another about the other rifts.
[Demon King’s Castle of Rhythm]
And.
[Demon King’s Castle of Indulgence]
And.
The news was that Hoyeol had not appeared at either of them.
The players waiting in front of [Demon King’s Castle of the Hunt] were already swallowing their drool.
‘This is a huge catch.’
A jackpot angle unfolded in their minds.
At this very moment, how many massive factions had moved?
The long-quiet Lionheart Knights and the Shadow Mercenary Corps.
The paladins of the Goddess Church, of course.
And even the Magic Tower, which was essentially beginning its first external activity!
‘Honestly, even just filming their performance would be a jackpot.’
Yes, even if they could do nothing more than capture their exploits on camera, it would draw enormous attention.
But as if that weren’t enough, Hoyeol still remained.
“Aren’t you excited? The sight of Hoyeol-nim leading those forces!”
That meant attention.
Views.
Putting aside whether it was NetTube material or not.
If one was an Arcana player, it was only natural for that thought to set their heart racing.
Who could have imagined it? That the day would come when a single player would lead forces of this scale to conquer a rift.
And amid those immense expectations.
Hoyeol revealed himself.
With only two allies.
“……
Huh?”
It took only an instant for anticipation to turn into doubt.
Those watching could only be bewildered.
-Is this for real? Only 3 people??? fr??
-No, this is different from the [Cracked Dimensional Gap] time;;
-Exactly, that was like a bug, and this is a regular update……
[Demon King’s Castle of Rhythm]
The troops gathered there numbered in the tens of thousands.
[Demon King’s Castle of Indulgence]
The troops gathered there numbered one hundred.
They knew the scale of each.
“……
This is a little different from what I imagined.”
Among the three Demon King’s Castle rifts,
[Demon King’s Castle of the Hunt] boasted the highest difficulty.
It was only natural to expect that even more forces would be deployed.
Click—
Yet the only ones approaching the rift were truly Hoyeol and two shadows.
However, the closer they got, the more the questions melted away like snow.
“Wait a second, everyone. Is that, by any chance……?!”
Marcelo, the Chief of the Magic Tower, who left an intense impression.
Kichi, the leader of the Shadow Mercenary Corps, famous—or infamous—for his reputation.
Before long, they could recognize the identities of the shadows.
-That combination really makes my chest swell;;
-Crazy lol does that mean 3 people are enough??
-Isn’t this basically an all-star lineup?
The two’s levels and skills had never been officially revealed.
And yet, from the days when Arcana had been nothing more than a game until now,
they had been renowned as the strongest.
However.
-But wait, what is that??
There was Hoyeol,
radiating such an overwhelming presence that he stole their gazes even from those two.
The players watching him spoke in dazed voices.
“……
Wow, that’s no joke.”
“Even at a glance, compared to before, it’s on an entirely different level……”
“Hoyeol-nim’s equipment seems to have become unbelievably powerful!”
Hoyeol had equipped three additional Unique items.
Certainly, the level of his equipment had risen compared to before.
But it was not a rise so great that it should have drawn such admiration.
The thing that focused everyone’s gaze
and made him reveal an overwhelming presence—
[Aesthetic: Intermediate]
It was all thanks to his increased Aesthetic stat.
However, even the Magic Tower did not know the effects of the [Aesthetic] stat.
The eyes of the entire world were on him.
No matter how many were watching,
they could not know the truth, so all they could do was marvel.
In the midst of it, Hoyeol opened his mouth.
“Let us begin.”
Flutter—
At the same time, Hoyeol’s cloak billowed.
It was like a pair of fluttering wings.
That sight was such that
he could have been called a judge descended from the heavens without shame.
Click—
Fear? Hesitation? Concern?
His dignified stride showed none of it.
The moment Hoyeol, Marcelo, and Kichi entered the rift,
the players who had been entranced by their bearing came to their senses.
“T-Then I should hurry too!”
At that level, even just filming it would make for a masterpiece scene.
What stopped the players who tried to enter the rift with that thought was—
“……!”
None other than a message.
The rift’s information, making them realize reality.
[Demon King’s Castle of the Hunt]
[Appropriate Level: Lv.850]
[Rift Collapse Rate: 23.0%]
“…….”
A rift with an appropriate level of a staggering 850.
Words that came to mind at times like this.
Get grazed, and you’re dead.
Or the proverb, when whales fight, a shrimp’s back is broken.
‘Even so, trading my life for views is a bit…….’
Even as the players hesitated, time passed.
Hoyeol’s objective was, above all, overwhelming annihilation.
They could not know
that there was not even much time to hesitate.
“Wait a second…… Right! Let’s put on some buffs first, and take a deep breath!”
They could not possibly know.
*
“My poor life……”
Kichi muttered as he watched the others’ reactions.
He had been dragged out with no choice, but he hated things like this.
Above all, whether last time or this time,
the cost-benefit calculation did not add up.
‘……There’s no helping it. This is self-defense.’
Lee Hoyeol, you’re the one who made me like this.
Yes, depending on the situation…….
‘I should keep running away in mind too.’
However, Kichi’s impure thoughts remained nothing more than thoughts.
That was because of the two men beside him.
Those damn co-chiefs of the Magic Tower.
Marcelo said calmly,
“I do not think it will take very long.”
Kichi was shocked.
‘……Is that really something you say while looking at a Demon King’s Castle?’
Well, if it was just words,
what was there that one couldn’t say?
Why, even he himself, in order to cling to the Yusra Kingdom,
had spat out lies that were nowhere in his heart, hadn’t he? But because Kichi was skilled at lying, he could tell.
Marcelo’s words were completely sincere.
“It will be over before the tea cools.”
……
Of course, it was the same on Hoyeol’s side.
No, he went one step further.
To say he would finish it before the tea cooled.
Wasn’t that a statement treating the Demon King’s Castle as less than a mere sandcastle?
Kichi quietly let out a sigh.
“Phew—”
He had fabricated words he didn’t even mean in order to cling to the Yusra Kingdom……
Yet not only had Hoyeol seen through the lie, he was using it against him instead.
Now that the man was glaring right beside him,
“I should only expect what my fate allows.”
Kichi had no choice but to give up on his schemes.
Instead, he started turning his head in another direction.
‘So those small fry probably aren’t my share.’
It would all be over if he just took the Demon King’s head, or an executive’s, right?
The moment he thought of a target,
Kichi’s eyes changed abruptly.
The change in his presence was enough for even Marcelo to notice.
‘An excellent assassin.’
He must possess that level of skill for Sir to have brought him along.
Marcelo’s thoughts on Kichi went no further than that.
“!”
The Demon King’s Castle grew closer.
At the same time, a roar struck their eardrums.
Rumble—!
It was a sound coming from the sky.
Before long, what emerged from within the dark clouds was an airship.
Marcelo was not surprised.
He had heard the circumstances from Hoyeol and had guessed as much.
But Kichi was not the same.
“Wh-What is that……?”
The leader of the Shadow Mercenary Corps.
Naturally, Kichi was well-versed in the rumors, legends, and information drifting around the Arcana Continent.
But he had never heard of a machine that flew through the sky.
“H-How can something that huge be in the sky?”
Outside the rift, in the adventurers’ world,
he had seen something similar called an airplane.
But that was an object that had appeared over the Arcana Continent.
To that Kichi, a composed voice was heard.
“An airship.”
“……
An airship?”
“Indeed, it lives up to being the crystallization of dwarven technology.”
“……!”
Dwarves!
He didn’t know what an airship was, but he knew what kind of race dwarves were.
Among the requests that came into the Shadow Mercenary Corps, there had occasionally been requests to track down equipment made by dwarves.
‘But how can neither of them show even the slightest hint of surprise?’
No, among the two men, especially Lee Hoyeol.
His reaction was as if he had anticipated this situation.
‘……No, even so, that’s going too far.’
Kichi restrained himself.
Because his weakness had been caught,
he was overestimating the man too much.
‘Well, unless he can see the future.’
How could anyone on this side of the world
know what was happening on the Arcana Continent?
However, at Hoyeol’s next words, Kichi was left aghast.
“As I heard, you have not forgotten the old covenant.”
……
As he heard?
What, had he really anticipated a situation like this?
And what was this old covenant now?
What is this, scary.
Kichi once again had no choice but to furtively watch Hoyeol’s expression.
Yes, even if he couldn’t understand what was going on.
‘I’m glad I gave up on any stupid ideas early…….’
...
The crystallization of dwarven technology.
The moment I witnessed the airship,
the quest window flickered.
Two of them, at that.
[Class Quest: Akshan’s Extinction]
The extinction of Akshan and the demon hunters.
Last demon hunter.
Uncover the truth entwined with the Holy War.
—Train your weakened body. (Repeat)
—Identify the forces that participated in the Holy War. (In Progress)
●Encounter the saint of the Goddess Church. (Success)
●Identify the true nature of the Goddess Church’s saintess. (Success)
●Hunt the demon disguised as the Goddess Church’s saintess. (Success)
●Identify the Magic Tower’s original sin. (Success)
●Confirm the covenant with the dwarves. (In Progress)
The Holy War.
It seemed the dwarves were also connected to the event that had led Akshan to ruin.
There was news of the Arcana Continent that I had learned through Hiel.
‘I had guessed as much.’
The dwarves who had disappeared from the continent.
They were said to have revealed themselves after the decisive weapon, the Quernberg Machine Tower, was activated.
They were said to have begun hunting the demons of the Arcana Continent while leading airships.
From that news, I could infer it.
‘Like the Magic Tower, the dwarves also owed a debt to Akshan.’
I looked at the quest objective.
‘Not just a promise, but a “covenant”…….’
It seemed the dwarves might be trying, even now,
to uphold the covenant they had broken in the Holy War.
Even if the one blocking their path was a Demon King.
The proof appeared in the next quest window.
[Demon King, Flauros vs Dwarves]
The Demon King and the dwarves.
Who will be victorious?
The Demon King’s Castle and the airship.
Which symbol will remain?
Everything depends on your judgment.
You shall seize the reward of victory according to your achievements.
—Join a faction and lead the war to victory. (In Progress)
●Join Demon King Flauros’s side. (Select)
●Join the dwarves’ side. (Select)
—Current Contribution: 0p
To the dwarves, the airship was an existence akin to the Magic Tower.
The fact that they had staked that airship and entered battle with a Demon King—
there could be no clearer proof than this.
“As I heard, you have not forgotten the old covenant.”
A gap of ten years and several more.
I didn’t know about Akshan’s demon hunters,
but I personally had not suffered anything.
Far from suspicion, not even lingering resentment had existed in the first place.
And yet, shamelessly, I said,
“I shall no longer doubt your pride.”
Of course, I had finished making my choice too.
[Faction selection complete.]
[You have joined the dwarves’ side.]
[Demon King Flauros is hostile to your faction.]
The presence felt from the Demon King’s Castle.
As expected, even its aura was different from Decarabia’s, wasn’t it? If one had mediocre mental fortitude, it wouldn’t be strange to fall into a status abnormality right away from this pressure.
However, there was no mediocre person here.
Marcelo and Kichi, of course.
And as for me, for the great Sir Granfell to feel intimidated by a demon?
『Paradoxically, the pride of Granfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo rises highest before demons.』
That was absolutely impossible.
Marcelo and Kichi.
And I immediately entered battle.
As I had emphasized, what was needed was an overwhelming victory.
I had no intention of exchanging blows with him.
Had I not made every possible preparation for that very reason?
I recalled the effects of the buffs currently applied to me.[For 1 hour, the power of all magic increases slightly.][For 3 hours, mana regeneration increases slightly.][For 30 minutes, mana regeneration increases greatly.]……
Drug power.
I had consumed every so-called excellent elixir herb until my stomach was practically sloshing.
On top of that, there were the effects of the carefully selected magic tools and equipment from the Magic Tower.[Whirlwind’s Sigil][Grade: Unique][Restriction: Lv.350][Effect: When worn, the destructive power of all magic manifested for 1 minute increases by 100 percent.
- Cooldown: 24 hours][Masterpiece
-Lightning-Struck Branch Wand][Grade: Unique][Restriction: Lv.380][Effect: When manifesting elemental magic, mana consumption increases by 30 percent, but its destructive power increases by 30 percent.][Masterpiece
-Outer Wings of Hundred Hues][Grade: Unique][Restriction: Lv.350][Effect: When worn, stores elemental magic manifested by the user. The number of spells that can be stored is proportional to the colors of the outer wings, and when manifesting stored magic, mana consumption decreases by 30 percent.
- Current number of stored elemental spells: 100]
As one could tell from the item’s effect.
I intended to slam one hundred elemental spells into him.
Even thinking about it again, it was truly an unbelievably crude method.‘Even if I skip the search process thanks to the outer wings’ effect…….’I couldn’t skip the process from interference to manifestation.
In other words, it was a use most mages couldn’t even attempt.
A trick I could pull off thanks to Granfell’s talent.
However, this was my full power and my best.
Flutter—At the same time as I drew up my mana.
The hundred-hued outer wings fluttered like wings.
I called to mind the spells stored in the outer wings.
Because I was calling up stored magic.
The search process was omitted.
But I did not forget to utilize the [Aesthetic] stat during the interference process.……
Is this for real?
Mana drained away at a terrifying speed.
But I did not waver.
Drug power, item power—even if those were still insufficient.[Skill, ‘Natural Enemy Relation’ is activated.]
Before a demon, I could not show even the slightest falter.
That is the kind of human I, Granfell, am.
Marcelo, realizing my desperate manifestation, shouted.
“I will open a path.”
A swift manifestation incomparable to my petty tricks.
Ten thousand of the Demon King’s army were erased as if evaporating.
And from within them, the commander of the Demon King’s legion, Ethio, revealed himself.
“!!!”
But the creature immediately fell to one knee.
“Seriously, what rotten luck!”
Swaaak—It was because Kichi’s dagger had shredded his leg.
Beyond the fallen Ethio.
At last, the Demon King, Plauros, came into view.
I did not hesitate.[‘Ceremonial Robe Tainted by Evil’ has been selected as the sacrifice.][Skill, ‘Exorcism Ritual’ is activated.][You invite the Demon King, Plauros, to the ‘ritual’.]...
Clatter—!
The airship, Iron Castle, lurched violently.
“Damn it. Thunder and lightning, of all things.”
The Iron Castle’s only weakness: foul weather.
Even an embodiment of great technology could not defy the power of nature.
With the Demon King before them, they had no time for this. Still, perhaps thanks to their ceaseless work at the helm.
“We’re through. We got out!”
The Iron Castle was able to escape the thunderstorm.
And in the dwarves’ field of vision appeared the full view of the Demon King’s Castle.
“……
W-Wait. What’s happening down there?”
To be precise, the Demon King’s Castle collapsing.
The sight was utterly disastrous.
A being capable of driving not a demon, but a Demon King, into a corner.
“Could it be……?”
At the very least, the dwarves who had once formed a pact knew.
“The demon hunter! We found a survivor of Akshan!!”