◈ Episode 153. Keep to the Line [Sublimity]
The effect of [Sublimity] is to exert an “influence” on one’s surroundings.
So, to be precise, on the area around me.
It feels rather awkward to say this myself, but…… it influences the surroundings of a “sublime one.”
The brilliantly shining Aquariu oak tree.
At first, I thought only its appearance had become excessively flashy, but I was mistaken.
Because the oak tree, which had sprouted leaves before I knew it thanks to Haiel’s blessing, was radiating the energy of life.
It wasn’t the kind of metaphor people commonly used.
[Life force regeneration has slightly increased.]
The effect really did appear as a message.
Moreover.
I looked at the fallen citizens.
……
Twitch.
They had yet to regain consciousness, but the citizens who hadn’t moved a muscle were now showing signs of movement.
Their life force, which had been drained by the status abnormality and the downpour, must have begun to recover.
‘The effect has become just as grand as its appearance.’
A change of this level was far beyond what could be achieved through my impure influence alone.
As Haiel had said, it was clearly the influence of [Sublimity].
‘The same goes for Shreig.’
He had definitely said it was a silver haze.
He had clearly witnessed my Sword Aura.
I had an intuition.
That the small change mentioned in the message might be referring to Shreig’s growth.
But I didn’t have the leisure to ponder it deeply.
Splash—
The wraiths approached with the sound of water.
As I raised my umbrella, I drew up my mana.
Even if I couldn’t evaporate the pouring rain, the likes of you are no problem at all.
I murmured toward the water wraiths.
“If that form is meant to imitate humans, then it was wrong from the very beginning.”
Whoosh—!
“What matters is not outward appearance, but the pride held within one’s heart. Pride is something that cannot be imitated.”
...
[A small change occurs due to the effect of Sublimity.]
……
Sublimity?
Judging by the message, it was clearly a buff.
But it was strange.
‘What is this?’
Not only was Sublimity a skill Shreig had never heard of nor seen before.
There were no guild members nearby who could have placed a buff on him.
Yes, the only player nearby was one person.
Hoyeol.
‘Unless he really has eyes in the back of his head…….’
While fighting wraiths with an umbrella.
He had also placed a buff on Shreig.
If it were any other player, he would have denied it as nonsense.
But with that man, one could never know.
If it was Hoyeol, who hunted level 600 monsters with a single umbrella.
‘……But he has no reason to buff me.’
The buff, Sublimity.
He couldn’t tell what its effect was.
But no matter what special effect it had.
Clench—
Shreig clenched his fist.
‘I won’t be able to play an active role anyway.’
The enemies were level 600.
Compared to them, he was only around level 400.
As if that weren’t enough, his class was Fencer.
Even his compatibility against the enemy was the worst possible.
‘This isn’t a problem that can be solved with a single buff.’
He knew that better than anyone.
But Shreig gritted his teeth.
Facing reality once more was painful.
Because Hoyeol had definitely said it.
‘……If you cannot believe in yourself, believe in Lee Hoyeol who believes in you.’
It was certainly unfamiliar.
Until now, Shreig had only encountered Hoyeol through the media.
His attitude of lightly ignoring rude questions.
His actions had made it impossible to see him as anything but a man whose nose was as high as his skill, rather than someone humble.
That was why he understood it even less.
‘Why, even to someone like me?’
Nam Taemin, Hisagi, and Leonie of the Great Alliance.
And even the great mage, Jesse Heinness.
He could understand if it were them.
‘They’re from the same faction.’
Moreover, every single one of them was a player with tremendous potential.
They were raw gems of talent on an entirely different level from him, someone who was barely clinging to past glory.
‘……Enough. This isn’t the time to be lost in such sentiments.’
But his worries did not last long.
Overcoming the questions rising within him,
Shreig lifted his head to face reality.
Wooooo—
“!”
Why was it?
Hoyeol’s Sword Aura was clearly reflected in his vision.
……
Could this be the effect of Sublimity?
Shreig, flustered, asked Hoyeol.
But no answer came back.
Splash, splash.
As if the first five had only been the beginning,
Wraiths began to reveal themselves all across the street.
‘When did they……?’
Shreig raised his foil.
He had become able to witness something called sword energy, but he could not tell exactly what it was.
Of course, he had no means of damaging the wraiths either.
‘But I can’t just stand here and watch.’
He could see the citizens lying defenseless on the ground.
Until Hoyeol brought down the wraiths,
He had to protect the citizens, even if it meant acting as a meat shield.
Shreig took a combat stance.
Then he looked at his own sword, stretched out like a needle.
Damn it, no matter how he looked at it, it didn’t look reliable.
However.
‘……It’s all nothing but excuses.’
Wasn’t Hoyeol’s umbrella far flimsier than this?
And yet, it had damaged the wraiths.
Shreig steadied his breathing.
Looking at his foil, he muttered quietly.
“The fault lies with my own inadequacy.”
He had only barely been able to witness sword energy thanks to Hoyeol’s buff.
With such insignificant talent, he was going to imitate sword energy?
It was so absurd it made him want to laugh.
He knew it made no sense.
However.
—“Believe in me, who believes in you.”
Hoyeol’s voice once again circled in his mind.
‘Yes. Even if I can’t believe in myself, I can believe in Lee Hoyeol.’
The corners of Shreig’s mouth rose.
“I will join the fight. Use me!”
Class: Fencer.
No matter how inadequate a class might be, every class had unique skills.
Unique skill, [Master of the Duel], activated.
Thud—
The moment Shreig raised his sword vertically,
The gazes of the wraiths turned toward him all at once.
It was the effect of his unique skill.
──────
Master of the Duel: Taunts the target until the duel ends. A target invited to the duel receives additional fixed damage, but this effect also applies equally to the user.
──────
To explain it simply, it was inviting the target to a fencing match.
He couldn’t believe he was doing something this absurd.
Even after already doing it, he was shocked once again.
‘Even one-on-one would be too much, but twenty at once?’
He had activated [Master of the Duel] on every wraith.
It was to concentrate the wraiths’ aggro on himself and protect the citizens.
It was certainly reckless. As written in the effect, the additional fixed damage also applied to him.
‘If even one of them grazes me, I’m dead for real.’
However, Shreig had faith.
Even if something went wrong with him,
He believed that Hoyeol would be able to protect everyone.
Thud—
At last, Shreig pointed his foil toward the wraiths.
And then he flinched.
“……!”
At the sharp tip of the foil.
Though it was faint and hazy to the point of embarrassment,
It was nevertheless rising.
“……
Sword energy?”
Sword energy becomes clear at the crossroads of life and death.
Shreig had staked his own life to protect others.
His sacrifice was more than enough for [Sublimity] to resonate with it.
*
[O Sublime One. Your sublimity has brought about a small change.]
The message blinked once more.
Then Shreig succeeded in emitting sword energy.
Watching that scene, I thought.
‘Sublimity. As expected, this isn’t just something that looks impressive on the surface…….’
It seemed to have quite a significant effect……!
When you thought about it, even the difficulty of obtaining it made no sense.
I couldn’t know the exact acquisition conditions.
But for starters, it was certain that you had to die once.
‘If it weren’t for the effect of Last Adventurer.’
That would mean I acquired such a fraudulent title, then closed my eyes without even being able to confirm its effect, right? If I found out late, I would be so wronged that I’d wake up glaring inside my coffin. Its effect was that ridiculous, seriously.
I calmed my excited inner thoughts and organized my mind.
‘So, to summarize.’
The exact effect of [Sublimity] was to cause changes around the sublime one.
In other words, me, Lee Hoyeol.
It seemed that, as long as something was nearby, it did not discriminate between targets.
From Haiel to the oak tree, and even Shreig.
It was effective on spirits, objects, and players alike.
The problem was the degree of change.
‘The message clearly said it was a small change.’
However, it was by no means a change that could be considered small.
‘Even if I set aside Haiel and the oak tree for now.’
Shreig.
No matter how much he had staked his life, and no matter how outstanding his talent was, the fact that he had witnessed sword energy and even emitted it, however faintly, in such a short time must have been greatly influenced by “Sublimity.”
‘……Wait, then later.’
Like stats or skill proficiency.
If the effect of Sublimity develops.
If it becomes capable of bringing about not small changes, but great ones?
‘What in the world would happen then?’
Try putting that flower-garden head of yours to work, Granfell.
With my head as Lee Hoyeol, I simply can’t imagine it.
In any case, I had unexpectedly reaped quite a harvest.
To think Sublimity had an effect like this hidden within it.
As expected, living with pride brings fortune.
Of course, I don’t know about Granfell, but I can’t live on pride alone.
“……
Sword energy?”
Shreig had witnessed sword energy and succeeded in emitting it.
Which meant there was no longer any need to inefficiently swing my umbrella.
Then from now on, it would be a quick decisive battle.
Pride is all well and good, but I still have to take what I can get.
The second [Hexagram Brooch]!
If they ran with their tails between their legs, things would become extremely troublesome.
“It is already afternoon, is it?”
Search, interference, manifestation were carried out swiftly.
It’s unfortunate for you, but this also happens to be my specialty.
I mean boiling water with magic.
“However, one cannot brew tea with rainwater.”
Bubble, bubble!
Indeed, this was my full power after giving up teatime.
Mere level 600 wraiths were no problem at all. They weren’t named monsters or boss monsters, and with [Natural Enemy] activated, nothing would change even if they attacked in a swarm.
[Your level has risen.]
The wraiths evaporated without a trace.
That was the end of it on my side.
I looked at Shreig.
Indeed, it was sword energy worthy of making up for the gap in levels.
Moreover, unlike Demon Hunter, which had absolutely no swordsmanship-related skills, Shreig’s class was in the swordsman line: Fencer. The very foundation itself was different.
Swish, swish—
On top of that, there was the mobility of the Fencer, which set it apart from other swordsman classes.
So that was what it meant to dodge everything and strike everything.
His movements were so perfect that they made me think that.
‘That must be the true performance of sword energy.’
Demon Hunter.
For someone like me, who inevitably ends up ambiguous in everything, it was an unreachable realm. However, there was no despair.
Because no trial could put a scratch on Granfell’s lofty self-esteem.
The duel ended.
To Shreig, who had defeated the wraith, I spoke calmly.
“That was a splendid duel, Shreig.”
……
Don’t talk like you’re his master, Granfell.
“No, sir. If not for the effect of Sublimity, I alone would never have……”
“No. It was possible because of your resolve.”
“Resolve…… I will keep your words in mind from now on.”
……
Don’t play along with him, Shreig.
My chest had always been held proudly, but somehow I felt even more arrogant than before. However, if I became conscious of it, I would be the only one to suffer.
I quickly shifted my gaze.
“Unless we eliminate the fundamental cause, the wraiths will continue to be generated. We had best hurry, Shreig. Haiel, I leave this place to you.”
Well, what need does a Demon Hunter have to handle sword energy better than a swordsman?
As long as I hunt demons well, that’s all that matters.
At my words, Haiel bowed respectfully.
“Please entrust it to me.”
Water and plants.
Having confirmed with my own eyes that Haiel, who wielded {nature} abilities, had the advantage in compatibility, I could ease my worries and leave the fallen citizens to him.
Above all, the effect of Sublimity was still valid for Haiel as well.
“Then I will be counting on you. Lord Haiel.”
Bow—
Shreig bowed to Haiel as though he had seen a Spirit King, then hastened his steps.
Indeed, as expected of a local, once we cut through a shortcut, a large building came into view before long.
So that was the AAU London Branch.
The area was as still as the eye of a storm.
As if it were quietly holding its breath and hiding.
[You have entered the depths of the dungeon, “City of Melancholy Rain.”]
The message appeared as we entered the AAU building.
With a troubled expression, Shreig opened his mouth.
“Would it be better to investigate from the top floor downward……?”
“No, there is no need for that, Shreig.”
“……?”
But no matter how much it held its breath, it was useless.
To me, to the senses of a Demon Hunter, it was plain to see.
Through Natural Enemy, through the developed senses of a Demon Hunter,
I scanned the building’s floor guide.
“It is there.”
At last, I saw the root cause of this situation.
*
The rain had stopped.
He rubbed his eyes again and again, unable to believe it.
Yet the scenery beyond the glass window did not change.
“Why?”
It had been perfect.
A plan beyond perfection.
The nameless low-ranking demon could not believe this situation.
The human he had possessed.
A name that he himself had never even had.
Not only did that bastard possess one, he had made it widely known throughout the world.
At first, even after possessing him, he couldn’t understand it.
How could a worthless human who was not even an adventurer
Possess this level of knowledge about the Arcana Continent?
It was a quantity of knowledge that even he, born on the Arcana Continent—no, even most high-ranking demons, even Demon Kings—would not know.
So greed had arisen.
With that bastard’s knowledge and the accursedly gloomy atmosphere of this city,
He thought he could swallow the entire city whole and obtain power beyond that of a Demon King. And the moment the rift transformed into a dungeon, that thought became certainty.
That was why he could not understand it.
“……
It makes no sense!”
The unfamiliar trees rising all over the streets.
Shining so brilliantly it gave him chills.
What in the world were those trees?
After the trees rose, the rain stopped, and the rain fog disappeared.
It was a variable that had not been in the plan.
Was that its influence?
“!”
Thump.
His heart had been beating rapidly for a while now.
So violently that it could not be explained merely by blaming the situation that had gone awry.
Of course, that question did not last long.
Creak—
Because before long, the door opened.
At the same time, a man’s voice was heard.
“Branch Manager Baker? Have you come to your senses?”
What a relief.
It was the adventurer, Shreig.
He was a foolish human who was still being deceived by the outer shell.
‘……Let go of regret. I can aim for the next opportunity.’
Deceiving an idiot would not be difficult.
‘I’ll pretend I just woke up…….’
However, it was far too soon to feel relieved and move on to the next move.
Click—
Another presence was felt.
Soon, a black long umbrella entered Baker’s field of vision.
“……!!!”
At the same time, his heart malfunctioned.
Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump!