◈ Episode 225. I Will Engrave It in Your Mind
『A new region comes to be at your side.
New region, “Demon King’s Castle of Conflict,” has been added.
A new boss monster has been added.
Demon King, Andras: Lv.888
New named monsters have been added.
Demon Legion Commander, Panarun: Lv.600
Demon Legion Commander, Yugar: Lv.600
…….』
The appearance of a Demon King.
The update details quickly spread throughout the world.
Not only to the players hunting monsters in the Zero Mountains.
Yusra, Muon, Frost.
The Arcanians who had not stopped training in each region also received the news.
There was no hesitation.
No, beyond hesitation, everyone gathered.
Yes, beneath the Holy War, they were one.
A battle against a Demon King was an event that had to take priority above all else.
Had they not, from the very beginning,
been repeating hunts and training for this very day?
Frost.
The Lionheart Knights.
Their commander, Harkon, put on his helmet and said,
“How spiteful of fate. Of all days, it had to be the day of the regular conference.”
It would be best if the news did not reach Sir Hoyeol’s ears.
“We must end this swiftly on our own, so as not to disturb him.”
Yusra Kingdom.
The Shadow Mercenary Corps.
Vice-captain Wolf looked at Kichi.
Drunk out of your mind since midday and passed out, are you, Captain?
‘It’s a hassle, but I suppose it can’t be helped.’
Wolf opened his mouth before the members.
“The Demon King’s Castle that appeared is only one. Therefore, the number of people who need to move will be three, including me. Let’s see, excluding our captain, who is in the middle of her nap, it seems everyone is gathered…….”
“Me! Me! Me!!!”
Crash!
The one who came rushing toward Wolf with a shout was the lowest seat, Rockid.
Rockid’s muscles were already bristling with fury.
And yet, his face was perfectly bright and innocent.
The 9th Seat, Dshev, sneered.
“I told you, there aren’t any rewards for working hard in a Holy War.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you so motivated? So much that it’s annoying just watching you.”
“Heh heh. I heard a rumor.”
“……
A rumor? What rumor?”
“The rumor that if I get close to him, I can clink teacups with him!”
……
Not wine glasses, but teacups?
Rockid did not even use wine glasses.
After all, when it came to alcohol, he was the kind of man who gulped down the entire bottle whole. Imagining Rockid holding some tiny teacup was enough to make them laugh, but……
His expression was so serious that they held it in.
Wolf lowered his head, trying to suppress his laughter.
Rockid pleaded with Wolf.
“Wolf. No, Vice-captain!”
Excluding Kichi, Rockid acknowledged no one in the mercenary corps.
Even so, the reason he had used the respectful title of vice-captain
was simple.
“I absolutely have to repay that big-eared bastard for the humiliation!”
It was because of an unpleasant grudge.
The elf, Elsidore.
He had swum out of the underworld to repay that bastard what he owed him.
Yet that damn bastard had somehow become an ally before he knew it.
Beyond that, he was tending the garden of Hoyeol, their lifesaver.
In other words, he had become someone Rockid could not carelessly lay a hand on.
Rockid ground his teeth.
“I plan to formally get permission while clinking teacups.”
That’s right, the person he would clink teacups with was none other than Hoyeol.
“Permission for a duel with that big-eared bastard!”
After hearing the specific reason, the members of the Shadow Mercenary Corps did not particularly feel like stopping him. If you were wronged, you paid it back. It was one of the iron rules of the Shadow Mercenary Corps.
Wolf continued.
“Then I’ll take one more volunteer.”
A flowing silence.
After sweeping his gaze over the members once, Wolf continued.
“Then, Fimby, you’re chosen.”
“……
Pardon? Why does it have to be me!”
“A big guy and an archer. For the remaining one, a mage seems appropriate, doesn’t it?”
“Ugh.”
The 4th Seat, Fimby, grumbled but did not resist.
When Captain Kichi was absent, Vice-captain Wolf’s orders were absolute.
“Wahaha. Let’s all do our best, then. Just don’t drag me down.”
Rockid’s noisy voice gradually grew farther away.
Once the three left, silence settled over the hideout.
The one who broke that silence was none other than the 6th Seat, Isabelmar.
A necromancer.
As one who handled the dead,
she was more sensitive to breath than anyone else.
Isabelmar looked at Kichi.
“Why are you pretending to be asleep, Captain?”
How did you know?
I’ve been found out.
Kichi did not even play dumb as she usually did, and merely muttered softly.
“……
Because I heard a name I wanted to turn away from.”
*
The Holy War Allied Forces.
Including the Grand Alliance,
most of the guilds, excluding Unification Under Heaven, had gathered.
On top of that, the Lionheart Knights and the Paladins of Muon.
This was different from before.
Different from the past, when they had been helpless against demons’ status abnormalities.
Far from having their momentum broken before demons, their morale had risen instead.
Harkon recited solemnly,
“The long-awaited moment has come.”
Even comparing their forces coldly, they held the advantage.
Even if Hoyeol and the Magic Tower did not join them.
It meant that with their current combat power alone, conquering a single Demon King’s Castle would not be difficult.
However.
“The problem is that the Demon King’s Castle has appeared not as a rift, but as a region.”
Nam Cheolmin had always proposed the best possible solution.
But this time, he could not.
A metropolis.
In the middle of a forest of buildings.
A Demon King’s Castle that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Most of the citizens had evacuated.
But there were bound to be those who could not.
The aftermath of a Demon King’s Castle that had appeared as though it had existed there from the beginning.
“To put it simply, the Demon King’s Castle that rolled in is pushing away the building it embedded itself into. On top of that, since the Demon King’s territory came buried along with it, the ground itself has become unstable. Because of that…….”
What Nam Cheolmin pointed to was a building that had tilted sharply.
The adjacent building was showing signs of collapse.
Nam Taemin’s brow twisted.
“So……. You’re saying there are people inside that building?”
Hisagi opened his mouth.
“If they moved carelessly, they could have accelerated the building’s collapse. It seems they waited inside for a rescue team. The rescue team appears to have moved quickly, but they were too late.”
Having grasped the battlefield situation, Harkon said,
“If we enter, can we rescue the survivors?”
Hisagi narrowed his eyes and answered.
“We will not be able to rescue all of them. To be even colder, it would not be strange if it collapsed the moment we entered.”
From the moment the Demon King’s Castle appeared.
The building had tilted steeply before anyone even had time to escape.
They had been watching that sight all along, and yet.
“Damn it.”
Even so, they had been unable to find a method.
It could not be helped.
Science could raise skyscrapers,
but it could not prevent such a skyscraper from collapsing.
The commander of the Goddess Church’s paladins, Talim Eber,
opened his mouth with a solemn expression.
“There is also a way to think of what comes after it collapses.”
“What do you mean, Sir Talim?”
“With the prayers of the Goddess Church’s priests, we can temporarily raise the life force in the area to an extreme degree. Even if they suffer fatal wounds that destroy their hearts, their breath should remain.”
“……!!!”
An extreme option.
But even that felt welcome
in a situation where no answer could be seen.
Then, suddenly, their thoughts reached magic.
“If science won’t work, and prayers won’t work……. What about magic?”
If it was magic, unbound by the laws of physics,
could it not resolve this situation?
Schreg of Second Sun shook his head.
“All mages belonging to Second Sun are attending the regular conference.”
“The Grand Alliance is the same.”
“We are also…….”
Camilla of Shining was the last to raise her hand.
“Unfortunately, we have none either.”
Even Shining had been wiped out.
That was right. In this place, there was only one mage.
The Shadow Mercenary Corps member, Fimby.
But even Fimby shook his head.
“I could prevent the building from completely collapsing one way or another……. But protecting the people inside is impossible with any magic. If I had to find the best possible method…….”
Wag, wag.
Fimby pointed back and forth between himself and the building.
“I guess it would be to rescue them by continuously manifesting portals?”
With portals, they could rescue the survivors while minimizing the shock.
However, they did not know the survivors’ exact locations.
Continuously manifesting portals while adjusting the coordinates
was a burden even for Fimby.
Also.
“By the way, are you all just going to stand there and watch that……?”
They could not keep focusing on the building forever.
Because even at this moment, the evil energy wafting from the Demon King’s Castle
was growing stronger and stronger.
A terrible howl came from the Demon King’s Castle.
Leonie frowned.
“……
What the hell is Claudi, for them to act like that?”
“Was there a player with that name among the rankers?”
“Not to my memory.”
And all while shouting
that unknown name, Claudi.
It was truly misfortune piled atop misfortune, a dilemma with no way forward or back.
A mercenary more certain than anyone about gains and losses.
That was why Wolf made a cold judgment.
“Fimby, join us after assessing the situation.”
“I don’t know how many I’ll be able to save…….”
“As many as you can without putting yourself in danger.”
Not every life could be saved.
If there was something to gain, there was also something to lose.
Hearing the conversation, Nam Taemin clenched his teeth.
‘In the end, we have no choice but to compromise again this time?’
He always felt this, but it was unfair.
“……
It’s dirty.”
The overflow of Arcana.
They had thought they had barely begun to counterattack.
Yet even so, they could not protect everything perfectly.
Every moment, they had to weigh what to give up to minimize the damage.
Grit—
It was so unjust that his teeth ground together.
Even so, they could not hesitate.
Because at last, the gates of the Demon King’s Castle had opened.
Even at this moment, the weighing continued.
In the end, the best defense would be offense.
They had to enter the Demon King’s Castle before the demons poured out.
Only then could they minimize the damage to the city.
Nam Taemin opened his mouth.
“I’m counting on you, Mr. Fimby.”
“……
Pardon?”
“We won’t let a single one slip through, so they won’t interfere with the rescue.”
“Understood, but please don’t expect too much.”
“Thank you.”
Nam Taemin and the rest of the Holy War Allied Forces.
They stepped toward the Demon King’s Castle.
It was at that very moment.
Flutter—
The sound of something flapping in the air was heard.
“!”
Everyone’s gaze naturally shifted.
A silhouette revealed against the backlight of a portal.
A deep indigo uniform.
An insignia shining brilliantly against that uniform.
Silver hair.
It was a single ray of light shining in the middle of a dilemma.
“There is no need for concern.”
That dawn said,
“For I have arrived.”
...
I always feel this, but I really am good with words……!
The one who actually spat out those words, namely me, felt like I was going to die from worry.
Why? Because even at this very moment,
a terrible name was ringing out from the direction of the Demon King’s Castle.
‘No, seriously, what the hell is this?’
It had been during the regular conference, and even in the middle of my own presentation.
Even so, I could not endure it without rushing here.
Claudi!
Just what.
Why.
Why was that name coming out of demons’ mouths?!
‘……
Could it be that the demons know?’
My name……?
Am I not a demon hunter?
That is why I know well what sort of creatures demons are.
What are demons?
Depending on the situation, there are no creatures with looser lips than demons. On the off chance. If, truly, the demons know my name as [Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo]…….
‘It’s only a matter of time before it spreads through the world!’
Waiting for death by shame.
It meant my life had been confirmed as terminal.
So even if I was worried about my life, I had no choice but to come running.
What about the weight of the chief, you ask? How could I abandon the conference and rush here?
What a pointless worry.
Who is Grandfell?
There is no weighing things on a scale in Grandfell’s dictionary.
There is no sacrificing the small for the sake of the great.
Because that is Grandfell’s heavy pride.
Nam Taemin opened his mouth.
But somehow……
he had a troubled expression.
“……
I know I shouldn’t be glad. We should have become strong enough to conquer a Demon King’s Castle like this even without you, Mr. Hoyeol. But to be honest, I felt relieved.”
“It is not because I doubt your abilities.”
“……
Thank you for saying that.”
No, that wasn’t empty comfort meant to console you.
‘If only the name Claudi hadn’t come up.’
I would not have opened a portal and appeared here like this.
Who am I?
Even if I don’t look it, am I not that great Commander-in-Chief?
Thanks to that, I knew the allied forces’ strength better than anyone.
“You are all doing more than well enough.”
“……!!!”
They were the Holy War Allied Forces who had crushed as many as three Demon King’s Castles.
Everyone had grown far more since then, and this was merely one Demon King’s Castle?
If I worried, that would be distrust toward my allies.
Hisagi added,
“More importantly, what about the conference? How did you come here…….”
As I said.
I had not given up on a single thing.
Naturally, I had not given up on my conference presentation either.
My departure from the tower after rushing out of the Crystal Hall
was part of an outdoor lesson to aid understanding of 『Reversal Magic』.
“There is no need for concern about that either.”
That’s right.
By now, the scene here should be floating in the Crystal Hall.
Why? Because I had carefully observed it in the Crystal Hall waiting room.
The structure of the magic that had projected the Crystal Hall’s appearance in real time.
To put it simply.
I had manifested magic
and left behind a live broadcast video in the Crystal Hall.
What about the consumption of mana, you ask?
There is no need for concern about that either.
With [Blessing of the First World Tree] alone,
I was now not far behind Marcelo, the Tower Master, by comparison. (Though my absolute quantity of mana was still lacking, my mana regeneration was close to infinite.)
And yet.
As if that were not enough, I had even encountered demons, hadn’t I?
[Skill, “Natural Enemy” is activated.]
What those words meant was simple.
The Holy War Allied Forces.
The mages of the Magic Tower.
And the cameras that would be broadcasting to the entire world.
Goooo—
At the center of them all, I drew up my mana.
『Reversal Magic』
Then the collapsing building began to stand upright.
As though nothing had ever happened.
The shattered windows.
The bent rebar.
The collapsed outer walls.
All of them began to return to their original forms.
Murmurs reached my ears.
“Th-that’s impossible.”
Impossible, you say?
In order to realize that impossible absurdity,
I had struggled desperately until now.
Is it truly possible to give up nothing,
and sacrifice nothing?
You cannot understand it no matter what?
Is that so?
Then, so that there is no need for you to understand,
I shall personally engrave it into your mind.
Reversal Magic.
“What is with this unbelievable amount of mana……?”
The natural enemy relationship between demon hunter and demon.
“Mr. Hoyeol!”
And finally, pride as well.
So.
Shut that mouth of yours.
And come out while I am asking nicely, Demon King.
Yes, that damned Claudi.
The Claudi you have been searching for so desperately—I have come here.