◈ Chapter 119. Annihilation Pact.
It is a tale from when the King of Dwarves still lived.
What toppled the Dwarf King, immovable as a mountain, was neither elf nor dragon, but a mere little imp.
"Your Majesty. Are you not taking these absurd tales too seriously……?"
Because it was so small.
Because to a great mountain, it did not even appear to be a threat.
Failing to cut it down from the very beginning was the root of the disaster.
"Quiet. Such outside rumors are not something one hears every day."
The dwarves had little contact with the Arcana Continent.
The imp gained the Dwarf King's trust under the pretext of news from the continent.
The stories it conveyed revealed impure intentions.
"The humans fear your technology, yet are jealous of it. They may be busy fighting amongst themselves now, but who knows what the future holds? Moreover, there is something I have seen……"
Was it true?
Was it false?
But the dwarves had no way to discern the truth of those words.
In the end, being toyed with by its 'malice'
was as obvious as fire.
"Silence."
"Do not disturb My amusement."
"Yawn. Domestic affairs? A story as boring as they come."
The great mountain withered into evil at a rapid pace.
The Dwarf King was no more.
Only a puppet moving according to the imp's will remained.
The dwarves put their heads together and agonized.
"Is there truly no way to turn our lord's heart?"
"Damn it……"
"He will not even try to listen to us."
"At this rate…… It's as if we are looking at a completely different person."
Technological prowess rivaling the magic of the Magic Tower.
Brilliant minds that had built a glorious mechanical civilization.
Yet even putting such heads together, no answer came forth.
"But what if what it said is true?"
"……What? What nonsense are you spouting now!"
"No, I merely think we should not dismiss it as nonsense."
To the point that infighting even broke out among the dwarves.
That agony did not end easily.
Then one day.
"Your Majesty, why are you alone today……?"
The imp that had hovered by their lord's side had vanished.
It should have been a truly joyous occasion.
Yet they could not.
"!"
Why?
Their lord's black pupils, darker and denser than usual.
Because the tone of voice they had heard throughout their lives had clearly changed.
"Indeed. Speak your minds today as well."
"……?"
"My mood happens to be pleasant today. Speak to your heart's content."
"!"
It was certain.
That was the imp's manner of speech.
Those who noticed the change were not few.
But it was not something they could easily voice.
"The crime of treason is quite convenient."
"……?"
"If someone is displeasing, you may simply kill them, may you not? By branding them a traitor."
How in the world were they to resolve this situation?
Pitch black.
An abyss of despair from which there was no escape.
They simply could not believe it.
That all of this had started from a single little devil.
So they could not have even imagined it.
"A man? How could a human find our homeland?"
Even when they heard the soldier's report.
"According to the man, he is a demon hunter from Akshan. He says he chased after the demonic presence he felt during the hunt and reached this place."
"……!"
That a single man would resolve this situation.
"……What have I been doing all this time?"
After that day.
The awakened Dwarf King and Akshan formed a pact.
It was a cooperation to hunt demons, in all but name.
"Demons are more dangerous than anything else."
The Kvernberg Machine Towers erected across the Arcana Continent were the very symbol of that pact.
Even after the king passed and closed his eyes, the dwarves never forgot his will.
Holy War.
Even with the Great War approaching, the pact between dwarves and Akshan remained firm.
They thought they could finally repay the debt they owed Akshan.
But they could not.
Communication with Akshan had been severed, as if by a lie.
"……No answer comes from Akshan."
They could not exchange telepathy like mages.
But between them and Akshan, there was a machine imitating that ability.
A machine that they, the dwarves, had made.
They were certain it was not a matter of performance.
"Unless it is from one end of the continent to the other, voices should reach any region…… Did we not converse well just last night?"
They did not know if some disaster had befallen Akshan.
Like themselves.
They sent letters to the forces participating in the Holy War as well.
Asking if there was any news of Akshan.
And they realized.
"……Something is terribly, terribly wrong."
The attitude of those including the Goddess's Church, which had changed overnight.
By the time they realized the severity of the situation, it was already too late.
"Impossible……! How……!!"
Akshan had disappeared from the continent in just one morning…….
In the Holy War, the dwarves vowed.
That they would never again reveal themselves.
To the Arcana Continent, to the humans.
Though they did not know if ugly schemes were entangled in the Holy War.
Since Akshan had disappeared, to them, humans were merely a race no longer worth dealing with.
And so it was.
Whether the Arcana Continent was trampled by demons.
Or imperial soldiers were annihilated, it was none of their concern.
*Clank—!*
The symbol of the pact.
The decisive war weapon of Akshan that they had developed.
Until the Kvernberg Machine Tower activated.
"Demon Hunter! We found a survivor of Akshan!!"
The leader of the dwarves, Chainwalker Hardrock.
Chainwalker could be certain.
"……That man."
That silver-haired man pouring magic onto the Demon King was surely the demon hunter who had activated the Kvernberg Machine Tower.
It was thanks to the afterimage left in his memory.
"Do you not see it as well? The demon trembling in fear."
In the past, the Dwarf King.
No, the imp wearing the king's skin.
That very fellow who had knelt and begged shamefully before the demon hunter.
"I-I was wrong. Save me. Please!!"
Because the one who had pleaded with the Demon King of the earth overlapped with the sight before him.
But back then and even now.
There was no mercy in the demon hunter.
"Akshan, we once again find ourselves in your debt."
Therefore, Chainwalker did not hesitate.
"Iron Castle, descend in altitude immediately!"
Now was precisely the moment to fulfill the pact with Akshan.
*Stab—*
Demon Legion Commander, Etio.
Kichi pulled the dagger from the nape of his neck.
*Gurgle, gurgle.*
Blood poured out in surging waves.
Without blinking an eye, Kichi shook off the blood. At least when holding a dagger, Kichi was the most cruel and cold-blooded killer of all.
But the eyes of such a Kichi went wide.
"H-he's doing that insane thing again……!"
Know yourself and know your enemy.
Kichi possessed magical knowledge rivaling that of an ordinary mage.
On the Arcana Continent, mages were beings who garnered resentment in many ways.
For requests for their lives often came even at the cost of a thousand gold.
"At that rate of pouring spells out, he can't even avoid them."
But the magic manifested by Hoyeol was on a different dimension.
No, to be precise, it was 'magics,' wasn't it?
To the point that even Kichi's keen eyes could not grasp.
It was a feast of simultaneous magical manifestations.
"As expected."
Marcello knew of the magic tool, the outer wing of Hundred Colors.
Magic tools capable of storing magic were not common even in the Magic Tower.
But he had judged its practical value as a magic tool to be low.
'Even if it can skip the searching process through storage.'
The backlash of interference and manifestation had to be borne solely by the user.
Even if it could store one hundred attribute magics.
It meant the user could not possibly draw out nearly that many.
One need look no further than himself; he could barely pull out a dozen or so.
However.
"There is likely no one who can utilize that magic tool better than you, Lord."
For Hoyeol, it was merely a needless worry.
Marcello could smile, if only slightly.
"As expected, because you are here, I can be at ease."……
Damn it.
Even with Grandfel's body, optimized for trickery.
This time, the backlash was no joke.
'……Because even I have never been this reckless.'
Having gulped down so many elixirs.
Having loaded up on mana regeneration items.
Still, pulling out one hundred magics at once was no easy task.
Moreover, these magics were nowhere near ordinary. They were one hundred attribute magics that devoured mana like hippos……!
Mana exhaustion.
A feeling of powerlessness binding the entire body.
But I.
Gazed at the Demon King, Flauros, with an unwavering gaze.
Light attribute magic made his skin weak.
Flame attribute magic burned the weakened skin.
Strong winds fanned the flames even more fiercely.
From the sky, judgment—lightning struck down.
Demon King's dignity or whatever—wouldn't he want to avoid it if he could?
But these were magics stored for the purpose of crushing annihilation.
Among them, of course.
The only realm magic I could manifest, [『Absolute Zero』]
was included as well.
"Inferior demon who calls himself a king."
"……?"
"Bear the weight of that arrogance."
"……!"
[The Demon King, Flauros, is afflicted with 'Freezing'.]
Absolute Zero.
An extreme temperature where even molecules cease moving.
The apex of flame magic that boasted extreme affinity against ice magic, [『Gii』], which even Karimzeva could do nothing against. It was only natural that he could not resist.
Soon, messages surfaced before my eyes.
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
…….
A boss monster of a whopping level 850.
Whether by frontal assault or by trickery.
The fact that I felled it alone remained unchanged.
It meant I had acquired enough experience to easily satisfy and surpass the exponentially increasing experience requirement per level up.
Moreover.
[Demon King, Flauros vs Dwarves]
Demon King and Dwarves.
Who is the victor?
The Demon King's castle and the aerial fortress.
What is the symbol that remains?
Everything depends on your judgment.
You shall claim the rewards of victory according to your merit.
—Achieve victory in the war against the Demon King, Flauros. (Success)
●Slay the Demon King, Flauros. (Success)
Can't forget the quest either.
The goal was to help the dwarves achieve victory in the war, but as you can see, I accomplished the additional objective, slaying Demon King Flauros. Yes, the merit measured from that was…….
—Current Merit: 1,000,000p
Exactly one million points.
Of course, I was the only player undertaking this quest.
There was no comparison target for the merit score.
But I am not without sense.
Process aside, I had slain the Demon King alone.
'I can still expect some kind of reward, right?'
Suddenly, the [Frost Recapture] quest came to mind.
That quest reward was the activation of Frost's [Authority Function] through an increase in relationship chart and influence.
But were the dwarves and I in any position to quibble over relationships or influence?
It was a relationship bound by a far deeper pact.
At least, a different reward than from Frost would be given.
Even if it weren't for the reward, I had something to ask of the dwarves.
The precious minerals stored in my inventory—or to be exact, the orichalcum that serves as material for ego equipment.
'This really gives me a lot to talk about in many ways.'
[You have succeeded in the quest.]
I raised my stiff head and looked at the dwarves' aerial fortress.
The quest was a success too.
I wanted to meet up with the dwarves right away.
I had wanted to chat over a leisurely tea time.
[You have cleared the Dimensional Rift of the Demon King of the Hunt.]
The message announcing the rift clear.
*Crackle—*
At the same time, the space of [『Gii』] began to collapse.
The scenery of reality began pouring through it.
Kichi glanced at the aerial fortress and asked me.
"……Will it be alright for you to part ways with them like this?"
Kichi was no stranger to entering rifts.
She would know that reuniting with them would be difficult.
But that did not apply to me.
"Hiel."
To me, there is Hiel Crisiad…….
No, the rest is omitted.
Because Hiel, who served as the eyes and ears of the Arcana Continent, was there.
“Hiel, I have answered your call.”……
But somehow, she seems even more elegant?
Her appearance changed every time I saw her, to the point that I might have mistakenly thought spirits had growth spurts too. However, as the senior in Spirit Studies, I had heard from Feiyan and knew the truth.
It must be because I had given her the name Hiel, allowing her to be reborn as a {Unique Spirit}.
“……
Y-you even made a contract with a spirit?!”
Marcelo exchanged a brief greeting with Hiel through their eyes.
Kichi replaced her greeting with a hiccup.
Of course, I had no time to leisurely exchange greetings myself.
Because even at this very moment, the rift was collapsing.
I transmitted my thoughts to Hiel through telepathy.
Hiel immediately grasped my intent, and her gaze turned toward the airship.
Then she promptly bowed her head and greeted me with elegance.
“I shall follow your will.”
Summoning Hiel, and even telepathy on top of that……
Now I’m truly at the limit of my mana!
I really had scraped the bottom of the barrel clean.
So I turned away without regret.
Flutter—at this moment, I was grateful for the unnecessarily extravagant and trailing
white outer wings.
They would be able to hide these trembling legs of mine……
Kichi, having barely stopped hiccuping, asked me.
“Um, that…… Are you sure you don’t need to collect any spoils?”
Grandfel was the very embodiment of integrity.
A man who had transcended greed itself.
But I, Lee Hoyeol, was not.
Spoils.
There was no way I would forget them.
Especially not Demon King drop items.[Due to your high contribution to the kill, the spoils will be acquired automatically.]
In other words, they were already safely stored inside my inventory....[Demon King’s Castle of Hunting].
The players who had been hesitating to enter finally made up their minds.
“……
That’s right. It’s not just any player—Hoyeol-nim is in there!”
It was a decision they could make because of everything Hoyeol had shown so far. Hadn’t Hoyeol always entered rifts of every appropriate level before anyone else, and without fear? It was a decision made because they believed in him.
-The donation milking is finally over lololololol-All right, let’s go in
-I thought he’d drag it out for a few more minutes, but I guess not lololol-The stream content is still alive frIt had only been about ten minutes.
That was why they could not even imagine it.
A player who had finished all preparations suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“……
W-wait a second!”-???
-What are you doingㅡㅡ-Boring as hell-Wtf? He’s trying to milk donations here???
-He’s lost itThe chat exploded.
But the misunderstanding did not last long.
Because soon, the reason the players’ faces had gone deathly pale appeared in the frame.
A flood of light.
The rift disappearing.
Within that intense light, Hoyeol and two others revealed themselves.
That’s right.
After Hoyeol entered [Demon King’s Castle of Hunting].
Exactly 10 minutes and 41 seconds later.[Demon King’s Castle of Hunting] had been cleared.
Right after the regular update.
The three Demon King’s Castles that appeared.
The time it took for the three Demon Kings to fall
was barely more than ten minutes.
There was one word that could summarize this major event.
Yes.
It was, in every sense of the word,
annihilation.