◈ Episode 239. Like a Dragon (1)
Senior mages were waiting in front of the office. Kiko Armin, Bellier Yusia, Bangrit Tom, Mathis Dean Karl, Nasrou…… Even several seniors with whom he had no point of contact. ‘What’s this all of a sudden?’ But every one of their expressions was dark.
There was only one thing that came to mind.
First, it probably wasn’t about matters concerning the Arcana Continent, right?
That they would be dealt with according to the rules.
He had just announced as much in the Crystal Hall a moment ago.
Then. ‘……Is it that, after all?’ That thing about borrowing magic tools until the day he died?!
Especially when he looked at Senior Kiko, whose dark circles seemed to have sunk all the way down to his chin.
The guess gained even more credibility.
It made sense that so many seniors had come to find him. ‘It’s because I borrowed a whole pile of your schools’ magic tools, isn’t it?’ Seeing that even Curtain Revell, the senior of Cryomancy, had come, it seemed that was indeed the case. So how was he supposed to explain this……? Just as he was turning it over in his head.
Kiko spoke first.
“I apologize, Chief Lee Hoyeol.”
No, what is there to apologize for?
If anything, I’m the one more at fault for borrowing not just ten, but twelve decisive-battle magic tools without even coordinating it.
Despite having a guilty conscience, he brazenly opened his mouth.
“You have nothing to apologize to me for.”
“……No, sir.”
“I know that you have come to find me because you have business with me.”
So, shall we talk while walking slowly?
After all, we were going all the way to the top floor.
I had just been thinking it would be lonely climbing the stairs alone…….……
Click—
Just before the top floor of the Magic Tower.
I stopped walking.
……I wondered what business they had, but what is this? ‘I’m going to die? Die, my foot—why would I die?!’ The root of the problem was this damned way of speaking that was far too direct. In other words, Kiko and the other senior mages had completely misunderstood……!
“We cannot let you go like this, Chief……!”
They thought I was entering the Arcana Continent prepared to die!
I looked back on my actions.
When I thought about it that way…….
I could understand their overreaction.
To begin with, leaving the connectors out like that.
How should I put it? It did kind of feel like I was leaving behind a legacy, didn’t it? ‘A nuance like, “Please take care of things even if I’m gone.”’ The same went for borrowing decisive-battle magic tools in bundles.
And on top of that.
I had even specified a rental period that was perfect for being misunderstood as a solemn declaration before setting out. ‘In the end, this too was something I brought upon myself.’
Naturally, the misunderstanding had to be corrected.
In truth, I wanted to explain the effect of [Last Adventurer] in detail. But just as players could not understand magic, it would not be easy for the senior mages to understand the concept of a system.
In the end, the best thing was to speak like myself.
“It is not unpleasant to receive your concern.”
“……!”
“However, there is no need to worry about this either.”
Because I’ll come back alive and well.
No, strictly speaking, I might actually die once…….
In any case, I would return to the Magic Tower.
“Do you not know as well?”
“Know what……?”
“That I always keep the words I have spoken.”
“……!”
“Believe me. I will return.”
I added an unnecessary extra remark that I didn’t even have to attach.
“If only to review your documents.”
Honestly, I’m far too faithful to my duties, aren’t I?
“!!!”
Only then did the seniors’ faces brighten even a little.
But Mathis alone still looked worried.
But as I said, there was no need to worry, Mathis.
It was hard to explain, but you really can rest assured, you know?
When I sent him that look, Mathis bowed his head.
“I will be awaiting your return, Chief Lee.”
There’s no need for you to bow your head, though…….
I nodded and headed toward the top floor of the Magic Tower.
Now then.
I had corrected the rules and the misunderstanding alike.
At last, it was time to return to the Arcana Continent....
Thud!
Mathis closed the office door.
Then he murmured quietly.
He knew. ‘The Chief has always kept what he said.’
Because he had seen it until now, he did not doubt it this time either.
His lordship would surely return to the Magic Tower.
However, precisely because he was a man who always kept the words he spoke.
There was one phrase that pierced his chest.
“……Until the moment of death.”
During the conversation on the stairs leading to the top floor, Mathis had listened closely to Hoyeol’s exchange with the other senior mages. Even within that conversation, Hoyeol never denied those words to the end.
Mathis said in a low voice.
“Do you always keep death at your side, my lord?”
All of a sudden, Hoyeol’s alien mana came to mind.
The immeasurable alien mana that had surged within the Demon King’s Castle of Conflict.
‘Is the fact that you do not fear death also related to your past, my lord…….’
As the founder of black magic, Mathis had wandered the continent and witnessed countless forms of black magic. Naturally, he could not help but be more familiar than others with Arcana’s shadowed places.
The shadowed places where death was everywhere. However, having death close at hand and not fearing death were clearly different things.
Mathis could say with certainty. ‘No one except his lordship.’
No one could stand so upright before death.
That was why he could gauge it even less.
What sort of past his lordship carried.
He could only make one rough guess.
“Claudi…….”
That it must be related to that word whose meaning he did not know.
*
Aboard the Another Space.
“Oh, right. Did you hear the news?”
“News? As if I’ve had time to look away.”
“Tsk. If you say it like that, even what I had to say disappears, you know? You make me sound like someone who was looking away.”
The Zero Mountains.
Ever since the day a dragon had been spotted at the summit.
The man had not taken his attention off the Zero Mountains.
The reason was simple.
Because the dragon that had torn through dimensions and vanished somewhere had not returned.
“So you’re really not curious?”
“What news is it that you’re making such a fuss about?”
“This is real big news, senior!”
It had better be big news.
“Otherwise, I’m going to make you sit in this seat instead of me.”
Only then did the man take his eyes off the mountain range.
Then he accepted the tablet his junior was holding.
On the screen, news from Earth sent by the AAU had appeared.
“……What is this?”
“See? I told you I was right, didn’t I?”
“It’s not April Fools’ Day today, is it?”
“No, senior. Even if the time difference between Earth and here is severe, that’s going too far ahead for April Fools’ Day. More importantly, now you know why I was being so clingy, right?”
Big news.
Raymon Sean had pulled the trigger on a World Quest.
Because of that, a path to the Arcana Continent had opened.
And the medium was none other than the connector for Arcana Continent Chronicle.
The man swallowed dryly.
“This isn’t news we can just be happy about.”
It would surely bring about enormous repercussions.
Damn it, his already complicated mind became even more chaotic.
However, the man’s worries did not last long.
It was thanks to the time difference between Earth and space, as he had just mentioned.
“S-Senior?”
“……!”
A strange sense of déjà vu in the voice calling him.
The man reflexively looked at the instrument panel.
Then, just like when the dragon had torn through dimensions and glided down.
“!!”
The instrument panel showed no sign of dropping from its maximum value.
What that meant was simple.
The dragon had returned to the Zero Mountains.
Tap tap tap!
When he operated the lever, the lens of the Another Space moved.
Soon, the scenery of the Zero Mountains appeared on the monitor.
But something was strange.
“……This can’t be.”
Nothing was visible except fog.
Unlike that time, no black hole had been detected.
An unexpected situation.
A voice reached the flustered man.
“Senior, not that way—upward……!!”
“Upward?”
The man frowned as he asked back.
On Earth, there was no place higher than the top of the Zero Mountains.
But that was not the “upward” they meant.
The Zero Mountains were located in the Pacific Ocean.
Upward along that latitude.
To be precise, 37 degrees north latitude, 126 degrees east longitude.
Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea.
A black hole was rippling in the sky above Seoul.
“W-Why is that thing in Seoul……!!”
His shock lasted only a moment.
The lens’s field of vision shifted urgently.
Another Space soon pinpointed its exact location.
The man opened his mouth.
“The Magic Tower…….”
His words trailed off.
“Could it be that General Manager Lee Hoyeol……?”
...
Well done, Lee Hoyeol.
No matter how I thought about it.
Manifesting the portal of the Anomaly on the top floor of the Magic Tower had been the right call.
It was different from an ordinary portal.
There could be no expression more appropriate than truly tearing through dimensions.
Craaaaaack!
As if a rift were appearing.
The empty air was torn apart.
Mana was sucked into the gap in the torn dimension.
Its force was so tremendous.
That even the two people and one cat watching quietly flinched.
The Tower Master, his tail standing straight up, said to me.
“Chief Lee, if by any chance you change your mind, just say the word at any time.”
Honestly, look at that cat and his tricks.
Trying to shove the position of Tower Master onto me whenever he gets the chance……!
Naturally, I ignored him lightly.
“You need not worry about the votes of approval from the upper leadership, Chief Lee.”
Now even Yugweed was joining in, which was truly maddening.
Still, Marcelo alone was firmly on my side.
Because rather than speaking, he was simply looking at me with worried eyes. ‘There are actually many things I want to tell him.’
[Quest: Marcelo’s Research]
Marcelo, Chief Mage of the Magic Tower.
In order to reach magic that has advanced to a higher dimension.
He wishes to be with you.
Aside from the Demon Hunter class quest, it could be called the first large-scale quest I had begun. I had succeeded in and was still carrying out countless quests.
But Marcelo’s research quest was still ongoing even now. ‘Because its goal is absurd.’
He would explore the Anomaly and return to the Arcana Continent!
Despite that grand goal.
If Raymon Sean had not presented the connector as the answer.
Only in the distant future would he likely have reached a realm similar to what we had now.
Marcelo knew that as well.
That was why he could not raise his head.
But do not overlook Granfell’s pride, Marcelo. ‘Even if not right away.’
Do you think Granfell would be satisfied with an answer spoon-fed by someone else—especially by Raymon Sean, by prey? Why, you can tell just from the fact that even now, I’m not using the far more convenient connector, can’t you?
Besides. ‘There are only ten connectors.’
With an Anomaly imitating the structure of such connectors, the most I could do was manifest a portal that would allow me alone to travel to and from the continent. So, if I were to evaluate the portal I had just manifested in Granfell’s way…….
“Does it not seem inefficient even to your eyes, Marcelo?”
It would mean that the structure was utterly poor.
“……!”
I spoke calmly to the surprised Marcelo.
I wanted to kindly explain the thoughts in my head to him.
But as I said earlier.
The amount of mana it was devouring in real time was no joke……! ‘At this rate, I’ll run out of mana before I even enter.’
As expected, compressing it into a single sentence was best.
“After my return, we shall continue the research on the Anomaly.”
As expected of Marcelo.
Whether he understood my true meaning even from such a rough statement.
Color immediately returned to his face.
Marcelo bowed his head and offered his farewell.
“I will keep those words in mind and await you, my lord.”
Receiving that send-off, I advanced toward the portal of the Anomaly.
If light poured from an ordinary portal.
Then dense darkness poured from the portal of the Anomaly.
But what was my epithet? ‘I hate even mentioning it with my own mouth, but…….’
It was “Infinitely Deep Darkness.”
For me to be frightened in advance by a mere darkness like this.
My dark past was darker, and more terrifying……....
I opened my eyes in the darkness.
I’m here.
The Arcana Continent.
A familiar message greeted me.
[You have entered the Arcana Continent, which is headed toward destruction.]
I will return to the Arcana Continent.
This time, too, you ended up keeping the words you spoke, Granfell.
In that sense, it reminded me of the time I had set foot on the Arcana Continent through the [Map That Communicates with All Things].
When I had been on the verge of death.
Just before I scattered together with millions of demons alongside the Iron Castle’s mana cannon.
I had clearly spouted such words.
-“This is merely the beginning.”
-“I am a Demon Hunter.”
-“I am your natural enemy and your fear.”
That’s right.
I would have to keep those words as well, without missing a single one.
Do not think that the Lee Hoyeol of now.
Is the same as the Lee Hoyeol of that time.
I recited coldly.
“Did I not say it? That millions were merely the beginning.”
[Skill, ‘Natural Enemy Relationship,’ has been activated.]
Then messages appeared.
[‘Fear’ occurs in the Demon Realm Sage, Shahinfakum.]
[‘Fear’ occurs in the Cruel Swindler, Russell.]
[‘Fear’ occurs in the Corpse Scavenger, Demon Worm.]
[‘Fear’ occurs in Copyscream of the Skin Armor.]
…….
Tens of millions of messages.