◈ Episode 262. Your Name and Its Name (2)
Agentress asked.
“Tempest Over the……. Is that your name?”
No, don’t say such horrifying things, seriously. ‘……
I’d rather be ill than die of shame.’ This bizarre naming sense of his never gets any better.
Anyway.
I had wondered whether it was all right for me to name an Akshan wolf however I pleased.
“Awooo—”
For now, since it seems happy, let’s let it slide.
Of course.
Granfell never let anything slide roughly.
“The storm upon the horizon. Could there be a name more fitting than that?”
As if worried Agentress might not understand.
He was even kindly adding an explanation.
Perhaps thanks to that, Agentress understood and nodded.
“Indeed. If that is the meaning, I can understand.”
At this point, pride itself is the problem.
You’re actually accepting a name like this.
Of course, it’s not entirely wrong, either. ‘When I think back to the Akshan wolf’s appearance…….’ It really did sweep in like a storm, enough that the name Tempest-something didn’t feel wasted at all. The problem was just that the wrapping was far too gaudy…….
And so.
“Lee Hoyeol.”
Let’s be sincerely grateful that he didn’t spit out Lee Hoyeol Claudi.
As if trying to remember my name.
Agentress muttered, Lee Hoyeol, Lee Hoyeol, a few times, then continued.
“There is a need to settle how I should address you.”
Address me?
Sure, fine.
Since we’ve resolved to pull together from here on.
We can’t keep stiffly calling each other by name forever.
In truth, whether by age or by the World Tree’s genealogy.
I should be the one lowering my head here…… ‘Like that would ever be possible.’ Would that be possible with Granfell’s personality?
But there was also no justification to openly treat him as an equal.
So here, I had no choice but to gloss over it appropriately.
“Forms of address are nothing but empty shells.”
“……
Is that so?”
“You may call me whatever you wish.”
“In that case……. Understood.”
Up to this point, it had been an utterly ordinary conversation.
But as always, this damned mouth.
That loose tongue was the problem.
“Just as Yunaxus uses honorifics with me.”
“……?”
Anyone could see you’re blatantly pressuring him, you know?!
That shamelessness of yours really is thick, Lord Granfell.
Agentress seemed somewhat startled.
“Mm…….”
It was certain he was surprised that Yunaxus, of all dragons.
Used polite speech with me.
In truth, if this had been in the past, he probably would not have even snorted at it. ‘Their relationship had been that bad.’ Unlike Yunaxus, who at least unfailingly called him little brother.
Agentress had referred to Yunaxus not as elder brother, but as a lizard.
But that was a story of the past.
Agentress hesitated for a moment, then continued.
“……
Then I shall do the same.”
This must be exactly what it means to force someone to bow to you……?
Somehow, this is incredibly embarrassing.
But as expected, I couldn’t show it.
So let’s hurry before this mouth runs off again. ─Track the Primordial Evil. (In Progress)
Had it sensed my intention?
Or else.
Was it truly living up to the Akshan name after all?
Sniff, sniff!
Tempest twitched the bridge of its nose and rapidly pursued the Primordial Evil.
Its traces.
It’s a little late to say this, but…….
At times like this, I’m glad there are no watching eyes.
No players on the Arcana Continent.
Because objectively speaking, my current appearance…… ‘Wouldn’t it be quite a spectacle?’
The faster we moved.
The more the Dawn Jacket draped over my shoulders fluttered—common sense, physically speaking. As if that weren’t enough, I was riding atop an Akshan wolf, once the face of Akshan in the past.
An appearance impossible to forget after a single glance.
Most rankers would likely recognize exactly what it was.
It would be like advertising it to the whole world.
That I, Lee Hoyeol, had the class Demon Hunter……!
Of course, there was no reason to hide my class. I simply didn’t want to show anyone else this overly cumbersome, overly gaudy appearance of mine…….
In that sense, it was fortunate.
The only ones seeing me in this state were Agentress and the Magic Eye of the Sky.
I was trying to force myself to be grateful by adopting a positive mindset.
“!”
The path along which we pursued the traces.
As if to block our way.
Something appeared beyond the horizon.
There was no need to identify it with my eyes.
Its presence reached my skin first.
There was no doubt.
It was a demon.
And no ordinary one at that.
“Grrrr!”
Looks like you noticed too.
Tempest immediately changed direction.
It began rushing toward where the demon was writhing.
At any rate, not standing by when it comes to demons is very Akshan of you.
That was what I thought.
Crack, crunch!
On the barren plains of the Arcana Continent.
A demon revealed itself from the ground.
The stench wafting from it.
An exterior made of flesh from unknown origins, tangled together in chaos.
Even its size was unusual.
This was neither reality nor a rift.
So there were no update notes to exist or to check.
But I could tell from the message that rose before me.
You really aren’t ordinary, are you? [The demon, ‘Byproduct of Primordial Evil,’ appears.]
An appearance message.
A message displayed when an overwhelmingly powerful monster appears.
Compared to the monsters that normally appear in the area. ‘There’s nothing around to compare it to, though.’
Instead, I had the instincts of a demon hunter.
It was stronger than most demons with true names.
No, that thing was even stronger than a Demon King.
The message that followed proved it. [The demon, ‘Byproduct of Primordial Evil,’ alters the field.]
Just as the ice dragon, Froznax, had done.
The surrounding area began to change merely from its appearance.
Its flesh started covering the ground at a terrifying speed.
At that sight, someone might raise a question.
Wasn’t this just a monster we’d happened to encounter by chance?
How could something like that be stronger than a Demon King?
But do not overlook this.
I was not crossing the continent for any ordinary purpose.
I was chasing the Primordial Evil.
The Primordial Evil.
It had not only driven a wedge between the World Tree, the dragons, and the elves.
It had tampered with the Fruit of Good and Evil, and in the end, brought down the World Tree itself.
There was no way a thing like that would meekly let us chase its tail.
How about it?
I’m right, aren’t I?
As if answering, the quest objective updated. ─Track the Primordial Evil. (In Progress) ●Eliminate the Byproduct of Primordial Evil. (In Progress)
A class-exclusive skill was given as a reward.
Use that to defeat the monster.
Grow stronger through the experience.
Well, now it finally feels like a proper class quest.
Yes, that’s all well and good……. ‘But isn’t the scale way too huge?!’
It was so bad that even Agentress said,
“I will handle it.”
Even having lost the World Tree’s blessing, elves are strong. You could tell just from the way Elsidore instantly slaughtered demonic monsters that players could not even dare approach.
And yet.
“I will follow after you immediately.”
Agentress was saying that.
It meant the opponent was formidable enough that he had to send me ahead first.
That’s why I said the scale and difficulty were too much.
No, its name is the “Byproduct” of Primordial Evil, isn’t it? ‘In what way is that thing a byproduct, seriously.’
It was different.
From ordinary demons, and even from Demon Kings, starting with the presence it gave off.
Above all, there was no emotion to be felt in its movements.
Truly, purely.
It felt as if it moved by malice alone.
I opened my mouth.
“So it is the lowest of the low.”
The stronger the demon.
The more Granfell’s mouth looks down on it.
Calling it the worst of the worst means it’s extraordinarily strong, doesn’t it?
Use your head, Hoyeol. ‘First, a pincer attack.’
And then let’s size it up.
The Primordial Evil’s byproduct, was it?
I needed to gauge just how strong it was.
After all, while tracking the Primordial Evil.
I had no way of knowing how many byproducts like this I might encounter. ‘We need to conserve our strength.’
A joint attack with Tempest and Agentress.
Quickly eliminate the byproduct.
Then chase the Primordial Evil together.
No matter how I looked at it, that was the better judgment.
Of course, I did not reveal those meticulous calculations.
I moved as smoothly as flowing water.
I got down from Tempest and stood beside Agentress.
Then I recited.
“Then I shall cast you beyond that bottom, into hell itself.”
The moment my words fell.
“Awoooo!”
Tempest kicked off the ground and lunged at the byproduct.
Indeed, its speed suited the name it had been given.
In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of it.
Crunch!
With its sharp teeth, it bit into one of the byproduct’s tentacles and tore it off whole. Perhaps because it had no emotions, there was no sign of flinching. It merely continued writhing its mass of flesh as before. ‘Does it not feel pain either?’
Well, since emotion itself did not exist in it. That must be why it had dared reveal itself on the Arcana Continent, where the legend of the Dark Dragon was surging. As I watched, Agentress said to me,
“I shall join in.”
A bow of mana soon appeared in his grasp.
Granfell’s talent could awaken simply by observing.
That was why I could immediately tell.
Just how tremendous Agentress’s handling of mana was. ‘Exploration, interference, manifestation. The process itself does not exist.’
To explain it simply.
If an ordinary mage calculates with all sorts of formulas and tools.
Agentress finishes the calculation with a momentary mental arithmetic.
Furthermore, elven magic and human magic must have developed differently.
This wasn’t something I should be merely marveling at.
“An excellent manifestation.”
Even so, it was enough for Granfell to feel satisfied.
There must have been a reason he had been able to manifest the portal leading to the hidden piece, Sisley. The arrow that left Agentress’s hand shot toward the byproduct.
Whoosh!
Tempest’s close combat.
Agentress’s long-range support.
A perfect coordinated attack.
It was an onslaught even a Demon King, let alone a great evil, would have no means to endure.
The Akshan divine beast, Tempest, was enough to strike terror into demons.
And Agentress’s attacks lacked nothing when it came to dealing critical hits.
But no message appeared.
Since command authority over not only Tempest but also Agentress had been given to me.
If a status abnormality had occurred, a message about it should have appeared.
Yet the fact that it was quiet meant one simple thing.
No status abnormality had occurred.
From that, I could intuit it.
“I see.”
You have something similar to me, don’t you?
“If there is a blessing, then there must also be a shadow of that blessing.”
The World Tree, where good and evil coexist.
There must exist “something” standing opposite to [First World Tree’s Blessing].
It seemed that was offsetting the status abnormalities.
When I thought of it that way. ……
I got annoyed all over again.
Is this really a class quest they gave me to clear? [First World Tree’s Blessing]
It means this is a demon I can only barely contend with if I have that, doesn’t it?
In other words, perhaps that thing.
And the only one capable of defeating the Primordial Evil, its master.
Is me, the one who monopolized [First World Tree’s Blessing].
This time, too, it meant the burden had been placed on me. ‘I’d like to whine about it.’
But in truth, to Granfell, it probably held no particular meaning.
Was Granfell the sort of great man who would refuse to shove a demon into hell?
So there was no hesitation.
“Fall back, Tempest.”
“Grrrr…….”
Even at my words, Tempest could not calm its excitement.
I understood that feeling well enough.
It must be unable to forgive the demons that made Akshan like that.
But as I said, it was all right now.
I spoke generously.
“I know how you feel.”
“Grrrr…….”
“My feelings are no different from yours.”
“……
Rr?”
No, perhaps.
They might be far deeper and darker.
Like Tempest, I bore Akshan upon my shoulders.
And on top of that, I and Granfell also carried Claudi’s past.
Yes, when it came to hostility toward demons.
I had a background that would not lose to anyone’s.
But still.
“Do you not know?”
“……?”
“Negative emotions become a demon’s strength.”
“……!”
“Even if you have forgotten, you need only be reminded one by one.”
There is always a reason behind one’s constant posture.
Only then did Tempest distance itself from the byproduct and return to my side.
Agentress asked while staring at the byproduct.
“Do you intend to face it alone?”
That’s right.
It seemed that unless it was me, who had [First World Tree’s Blessing].
No one could even inflict proper damage on that thing.
Of course, I wasn’t at the stage where I could be certain yet.
I answered Agentress.
“For now, that appears to be the only way.”
“This is…….”
“However, there is no law saying it will remain so in the future.”
“……?”
Please watch closely with those eyes, Agentress.
In the battle between me and the byproduct.
Find its weakness!
I immediately reached for Gwicheol at my waist.
Even before gripping the sword, I could feel it.
Gwicheol’s pulse.
It seemed to have been impatient.
The moment I took it in hand, a voice rang out.
—I have been waiting, Master!
Ow, my ears.
Anyway…….
What were you waiting for so much, making me nervous?
—At last, the time has come to unfold my legend!
What? Legend?
Gwicheol, don’t tell me…….
You’ve been conscious of the Dark Dragon legend?
What, are you feeling some kind of rivalry, maybe?
If that’s the case, please stop. ‘Even now is already more than enough to handle…….’
But it was one thing piled on top of another.
Agentress’s keen eyes.
Would never simply pass over Gwicheol’s extraordinary nature.
And so he asked me politely, one question after another.
“……
If it is not rude, may I ask the name of that sword?”
I-its name?
The sword that cuts illusions, Illusion Breaker, that one?!
Rude or not, I’m seriously struggling in so many ways……!!