◈ Episode 185. Be Grateful for the Procedure
The air froze in an instant.
I’d felt this at the Mage Tower and in the AAU conference room too, but I’m certain my mouth comes equipped with an air-conditioning function.
How does the atmosphere turn chilly every time I open my mouth?!
But now that I’d said it.
Backing down wouldn’t look right either.
‘Above all, I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.’
One rule of the Space-Time Social Hall.
All hostile acts between participants are forbidden.
Of course, there was no law saying that matters in the Social Hall would end within the Social Hall.
I might end up paying for my loose tongue outside it.
But that had nothing to do with me.
Why?
Because unlike the other transcendents.
I was in reality, not on the Arcana Continent!
In other words, I couldn’t go to the Arcana Continent even if I wanted to.
‘I don’t need to worry about the immediate aftermath.’
So glaring at me like that isn’t scary at all, Shegwin.
“…….”
Shegwin, whom I had summoned, gave no answer.
Asking out of nowhere whether he knew his crime.
Honestly, he probably thought I was spouting nonsense.
But now that I’d gone this far, I had no intention of backing down either.
I had just made up my mind.
‘What happens here, I’ll settle here for good.’
Yes, whether it turns into porridge or rice.
I had to pay the price for running my mouth here.
Even if the Arcana Continent and reality were severed from each other, there was still the variable called rifts.
Just imagine Shegwin appearing through a rift while still holding a grudge.
‘……
I don’t even want to imagine it. Seriously.’
For those complicated reasons, I continued.
“I shall permit you to sit across from me.”
“……!”
Please don’t cut out so much when you speak, Grandfel.
Just explain it kindly.
The Social Hall is so large and grand that it seems difficult to have a proper conversation from this distance.
So how about we sit face-to-face and have a nice little chat?
You could say it nicely, really.
But it was too late to lament.
Step—
Shegwin had begun walking toward me.
I felt it anew.
Once someone reached the level of a transcendent, the atmosphere they exuded was no joke.
Not just Shegwin, but everyone visible in the Social Hall was the same.
First of all, even their appearances were extraordinary. To put it in terms from when Arcana was nothing more than a game, they looked like named NPCs made with great care.
Of course, their actions were the same.
Thud—
Shegwin set his sword down on the table.
At times like this, Grandfel’s eye for beauty, which recognized luxury goods with uncanny accuracy, felt truly resentful.
‘No matter how I look at it, it’s at least Unique-grade, right?’
From the ornate patterns on the scabbard, it was practically saying, “I am no ordinary sword.”
Well, it was the sword used by the Sword Saint and the continent’s only Grand Sword Master, so of course it would be impressive.
Of course, I knew he hadn’t placed the sword on the table to show it off.
It was probably an expression of his displeasure. But I was displeased as well.
I looked at the sword and murmured.
“Is this the sword?”
“……?”
“The one that cut down the Quirnberg Machine Tower.”
Flinch!
Shegwin’s eyebrow twitched.
He seemed to be wondering how I knew that.
For now, just listen to the rest.
“Do you know? That the Quirnberg Machine Tower you destroyed had been hunting tens of thousands of demons until just before that. And that it would have continued hunting demons until its pride was exhausted.”
And that Machine Tower was the one you shattered, Shegwin.
Thanks to you, tens of thousands of demons on the Arcana Continent survived.
And I lost a whole five levels.
That was right.
Antonium was important.
But before that, I needed to hear about this matter first.
[Quest: Pointless Deed]
Shegwin considered demon hunting a pointless deed.
Talk with Shegwin,
and determine the truth behind his actions.
─Encounter Shegwin. (In Progress)
As I said.
Depending on that truth.
My, Grandfel’s, judgment would inevitably change.
I looked into Shegwin’s eyes and said.
“Why did you.”
“……?”
“Cut down the Machine Tower I had activated?”
“!!!”
...
Thud—
Shegwin placed the sword that was as good as his symbol before his opponent.
It was to test the man. In the Social Hall, where troublesome rules existed, it was a method he often used to gauge an opponent’s ability. It was also a method that had once been used on him.
‘Bare your fangs.’
There was much information to be gained by casting out bait.
If hostility appeared on the opponent’s face.
That meant he was ignorant of the Social Hall’s rules.
But if he remained expressionless as he did now…….
‘It seems he knows the rules.’
He did not know how the man knew the rules of the Social Hall on his first entry.
But it was not enough to surprise him.
Because he had not yet reeled in the bait.
Soon, the man’s gaze turned toward the sword.
From that gaze, Shegwin felt puzzled.
‘……
He did not recognize me by the sword.’
Swift Sword, Atlas Sword.
A sword that was practically Shegwin’s other self.
That was why when he presented Atlas Sword.
The other party should have reacted like this.
—“……
Who are you?”
—“Shegwin, to be in the hands of such a greenhorn……?”
—“I never heard Shegwin had a child?”
Return to Youth (返老還童).
Shegwin.
Only an extremely small number, including transcendents, knew that he had regained his youth. That was why he had placed the sword down and confronted him face-to-face.
The man should not have been able to think that his rejuvenated self was Shegwin.
But what was this?
“Is this the sword? The one that cut down the Quirnberg Machine Tower.”
……
How did he even know that?
Had he been nearby at the time?
The thought crossed his mind, but he shook it off.
‘No. There’s no way I wouldn’t have sensed him.’
Now that he had recovered the body of his prime.
His senses were sharper than ever.
Moreover, the strong recognized the strong.
There was no way he would have failed to notice a transcendent of this level…….
‘……
Wait.’
As Shegwin chewed over his memories, he paused.
He had recalled the High Demon King.
A being of a different rank, one that could not even be dared to be measured.
This was the man who had cast such a High Demon King down into hell.
If he possessed the same rank as a High Demon King.
‘Could it be that his power is beyond even my ability to measure?’
Hoyeol’s words continued.
But Shegwin did not hear them properly.
Because another possibility had surfaced in his mind.
‘There is only one place from which he could have watched that.’
The towering capital castle, Antonium.
This man had looked down upon everything from Antonium……!
In that fleeting moment, Shegwin came to a judgment.
‘A blunder.’
The reason Antonium had not fallen under the assaults of demons and Demon Kings was nothing else.
It was because this man was there. Because this man, whose rank even he could not fathom, was there……!
As if acknowledging that fact.
The man calmly asked.
“Why did you. Cut down the Machine Tower I had activated?”
“……?!”
The Quirnberg Machine Towers currently operating on the Arcana Continent.
Their existence was a mystery even among transcendents.
The ones who built the Quirnberg Machine Towers were the dwarves.
Then only dwarves, or those who had formed close ties with them, should have been capable of operating such Machine Towers.
But were the dwarves not the ones who had vanished from the Arcana Continent after coming to despise humans?
The answer to the questions that had led one into another was before his eyes.
‘At last, everything makes sense.’
‘So he’s been pulling the continent’s strings.’
‘Heehee. You picked the wrong opponent, old Sword Saint.’
Shegwin swallowed dryly.
If he answered as he had back then, saying that it was noisy and he hated it.
—“Depending on your answer, I shall decide your punishment.”
He could not know what kind of action the opponent sitting across from him would take.
But one thing was certain.
The man had already endured as much as he could.
One only had to look at the fact that he had not appeared on the battlefield during the Siege of Antonium.
‘I don’t know the reason, but it is welcome to me.’
Shegwin had already made his decision.
He would withdraw from Antonium.
The trust of countless lords?
He could say with certainty that compared to turning them into enemies.
Turning this man into an enemy was far more dangerous.
And so Shegwin gritted his teeth.
‘Just as he endured, it is time for me to endure.’
Shegwin finally opened his mouth.
“I did not know. I acknowledge my blunder.”
How long had it been since he had uttered words like these?
Even Shegwin himself felt it was distant.
In this Siege of Antonium, he too had staked much. In particular, losing the magic tool sleeping in the imperial palace’s warehouse, the “Milky Way Whetstone,” would be a terribly painful matter.
However.
“Furthermore, I shall withdraw from Antonium.”
He could not offer up his life just to obtain a magic tool.
Above all, he did not want to overexert this body.
Shegwin thought inwardly.
‘I admit it. For now, you are strong.’
But I have regained my youth.
Even if it is a youth obtained in an ugly way.
In the end, time is on my side.
Rustle—
Just as Shegwin reached for his sword to leave his seat.
A voice reached him.
“Was your objective not the throne?”
Hmph, Shegwin snorted.
A transcendent.
And one of a different rank at that, asking such a question.
He was probably telling him to speak his true objective.
Now that the plan had gone awry, there was no reason he could not say it.
“I do not care who wears that trifling crown. I merely lent the lords my strength in order to obtain the magic tool, the Milky Way Whetstone.”
Milky Way Whetstone.
When he had even revealed his specific objective, the man said.
“I shall believe your words.”
“Much obliged.”
“Then, the next question.”
“……?”
But at the words that followed, Shegwin clenched his fist.
‘……
Is this humiliation still not enough?’
For an instant, anger surged up.
But Shegwin did not show it.
For now, the top priority was to avoid provoking the man and safely withdraw from Antonium.
When Shegwin nodded, the next question immediately followed.
“Shegwin, why is it that from you…….”
It was a question he had not expected in the slightest.
“I smell the stench of an ugly demon?”
“?!”
...
If nothing else.
I have a truly uncanny nose for the smell of demons.
─Encounter Shegwin. (Success)
─Find the link between Shegwin and demons. (In Progress)
I was certain.
The smell of demons was coming from Shegwin.
I stared at Shegwin with an unwavering gaze.
Indeed, that expression of his was quite a sight.
The Sword Saint and the continent’s only Grand Sword Master.
Shegwin glared at me and answered.
“I do not know what you are talking about.”
If you think playing dumb like that will work on a demon hunter, you are mistaken.
Above all, I know. I know that time, fair to all, flows even faster on the Arcana Continent.
Harkon had shared his impression of Shegwin.
—“The word ‘prime’ was meaningless for the Sword Saint.”
That was when I had a question.
The Shegwin I saw was a fresh-faced young man.
So why was he speaking as if he were someone past his prime?
I wondered if I had been mistaken.
But after facing him in person.
At last, I could tell.
I opened my mouth.
“What did you exchange for that youth?”
Demon worshippers, for all their pretensions, are ashamed of associating with demons.
Karimjeva had been the same.
He claimed his goal was “true truth.”
He had babbled that he had merely used demons.
If I had no experience.
Perhaps I would not have so easily realized.
The link between Shegwin and demons.
But through experience, I know.
On the Arcana Continent, eternal life.
Is an authority that only those who have received the [Blessing of the First World Tree]
can grasp.
The elves proved that fact for me, didn’t they? The proof was that they immediately showed themselves on the continent where they hadn’t even poked their noses out, all to take back the blessing from me.
“……
I did not exchange anything. An elixir. It is the effect of an elixir.”
It seemed the best he could come up with was an elixir.
Unfortunately.
No such elixir exists on the Arcana Continent.
Click—
I rose from my seat.
Shegwin, what he had traded for his youth.
I did not know.
But it did not matter.
“All humans live a day, and die a day.”
The quest objectives flickered.
─Encounter Shegwin. (Success)
─Find the link between Shegwin and demons. (Success)
I don’t know whether you’re aware of it yourself.
─Hunt the True-Name Demon, Shegwin. (In Progress)
Shegwin, you are no longer human.
As if proving that fact, a message appeared before my eyes.
[Skill, “Natural Enemy,” is activated.]
“You had best be grateful for the procedures of the Social Hall.”
It was not a bluff.
Now that I had reached the realm of transcendence and opened the Circle.
With the effect of [Natural Enemy],
facing Shegwin would not be impossible. No, beyond whether it was impossible or not, Grandfel’s pride was the sort that rose even higher before a powerful demon.
I spat coldly.
“Because I am desperately restraining myself right now.”
“!!!”
“Sword Saint. No, swordsman more hideous than a demon.”
...
Antonium.
The siege that would not end.
The exhausted soldiers looked up at the night sky.
The damnable Evil Eye was looking down at them.
“……
And yet, we’d seen hope.”
How.
In a situation like this.
When the continent faced extinction.
How could they stab their allies in the back?
In the end, a soldier who could no longer contain his resentment shouted beyond the walls.
“You bastards worse than demons!!”
That crazy bastard!
A hail of arrows would surely pour down at once.
It was the moment the soldiers hurriedly raised their shields.
“…….”
Contrary to their resolve, nothing happened.
The soldiers poked their heads out slightly from between the shields.
Clop-clop—
For some reason.
Clop-clop……
The sound of horse hooves was growing more and more distant.
Soon, unbelievable words were heard.
From the madman who had shouted that they were bastards worse than demons.
“They’re r-retreating!!”
“……?!”
“The enemy forces are retreatingggg!!”
That unbelievable news reached the emperor atop the walls as well.
The emperor looked over the battlefield.
The enemies were truly withdrawing.
From Antonium, which had been on the verge of falling.
They were retreating as if fleeing with their tails between their legs.
Was it a strategic retreat?
A cunning scheme?
The emperor considered every possibility.
But the words that slipped from his lips were…….
“……
Am I dreaming right now?”
It could not be helped.
Because in the sky he happened to look up at.
He saw a lion.
To be precise.
“Your Majesty! That emblem is……!!”
The symbol of the Lionheart Knights.
A flag bearing the image of a lion.
Because a spirit was descending, fluttering that flag.