◈ Episode 290. Neither Great Nor Grand (2)
‘You vermin……!’
Envy looked at the hidden weapons burrowing into his flesh. They were nothing more than crude blades made by human hands. With an evolved body, an attack like this shouldn’t have left so much as a scratch.
‘Kuh!’
And yet he felt agony beyond pain.
He tried to spread his new wings and shake them off.
But even his wings would not obey.
“……!”
As though they had never existed in the first place.
Only then did he realize something was wrong.
Envy ground his teeth.
‘Was I seeing an illusion?’
If he had been, then since when?
Then what of his new form?
Was even that nothing more than a delusion?
“Uuuuuugh.”
Where had it gone wrong?
His mind was in utter chaos.
But Envy did not collapse.
I am a Great Evil.
Claudi, with Akshan at his back, may be one thing—but the Shadow Mercenary Corps?
I will not kneel to the attacks of insignificant humans.
Flash—
“I’ll kill you.”
Killing intent filled Envy’s glaring eyes.
Wriggle—
His tattered body began to heave, as though trying once more to stretch out its grasp. The nine members of the Shadow Mercenary Corps. Every one of them had driven their respective hidden weapons into his body.
Envy’s mind raced.
‘I need to buy time to recover.’
They were lowly, yet troublesome.
After all, the Shadow Mercenary Corps were people with abilities specialized in killing someone. The blades that had cunningly burrowed into his flesh were each attacking his weak points, suppressing his vitality regeneration to the extreme.
Envy opened his mouth.
“If you don’t want to die, get away from me, crow.”
You are still mistaken, Claudi.
What do you know of humans?
I have watched humans since the beginning of time.
Humans do not change.
In extreme situations, humans are beasts that will even abandon the bonds between parent and child.
And yet you trust such beasts to the very end.
‘How pitiful. How laughable.’
Crunch—
However.
Crack, crack, crack—
“……
Kuh-huk?”
Envy could not burst into mad laughter.
“What’s so funny? Let me laugh with you, you bastard.”
Even though he had released his killing intent, the blades burrowed even deeper into his flesh.
Unable to believe it, Envy shifted his pupils.
Looking again, it was unmistakably the Shadow Mercenary Corps.
A group that was despicable, materialistic, and cruel beyond measure.
That was precisely why he had made use of them.
And yet, how could they……
Their pupils, which should have been no different from the eyes of dead fish…….
‘What is that sparkle……?’
Why were they shining so brilliantly?
He couldn’t understand it.
So he muttered without realizing it.
“Can humans truly change?”
Soon, Envy’s gaze turned toward Hoyeol.
At the same time.
Envy’s pupils shook violently.
“……!”
So that was it.
What they were looking at was “you.”
The light held in their pupils was your light.
The moment he realized that, Envy’s illusion began to shatter.
Flutter—
The black-feathered wings were nowhere to be found.
What entered his sight instead was his right arm, still severed.
His wounded body.
And.
Tremble, tremble—
Himself, shuddering in terror.
The Great Evil had no choice but to remember.
The inescapable natural predator relationship he had thought he had overcome.
The terror of being hunted.
Envy dropped to his knees.
“……
P-please, spare me!”
*
The Shadow Mercenary Corps.
AAU’s information that they were supposed to remain active until the very end of Arcana Continent Biography’s story had not been an exaggeration. In a special situation like this, their abilities seemed to multiply.
[You have obtained command authority over the Shadow Mercenary Corps.]
Of course, because they followed me completely, the Dawn set effect activated.
The greatly increased morale must have played no small role.
Even so, the Shadow Mercenary Corps was incredible.
“No, I was wrong. O Claudi……!!”
They had decisively brought a Great Evil to submission, hadn’t they?
One might suspect it was a pathetic act.
But system messages did not lie.
[The Great Evil, the Seven Deadly Sin Envy, is afflicted with ‘Fear.’]
Envy knelt.
Perhaps because he was trembling in fear.
Ssssss—
Each time his body shook, it crumbled into powder and scattered into the air.
He grew more and more insignificant, more and more trivial.
Before long, the Shadow Mercenary Corps’ daggers, which had been embedded deep within him, slipped out naturally.
Wolf withdrew his weapon and spoke.
“That’s enough.”
Bow.
Then, after lowering his head toward me.
He stepped back with the members.
I looked at Envy, who continued to shrink.
“I sincerely apologize……!!”
There was no majesty left befitting a Great Evil.
What remained was nothing more than a demon.
If it meant preserving its life.
A demon no different from an imp that would even resort to begging.
“If you spare me, I will tell you everything I know! What are you curious about? No, there is something you absolutely must know. Regarding Pride, a Seven Deadly Sin just like me……! Claudi, there is something I must tell you!”
The Seven Deadly Sin, Pride, is it?
He says there is something he absolutely must tell me about that one.
That is certainly tempting.
‘After all, information is important.’
If it were me, Lee Hoyeol, I might have listened to that much as his last words before sending him to hell. Of course, with Grandfell’s eyes wide open right now, it was a meaningless assumption.
“Why should I do that?”
“……
Pardon?”
“The world is vast, and there is much that must be placed within my mind. And yet, why should I remember the circumstances of a worthless demon and keep them inside my head?”
Truly, this confidence is driving me insane…….
Could anyone really imitate Grandfell’s way of speaking?
Of course, I’ll be the one who suffers for it later.
‘But it’s not as if this is the first or second time.’
Grandfell’s pride would never allow him to negotiate with a demon.
“…….”
Perhaps because even the last sliver of hope had been denied.
Envy’s face began to twist.
As if burning his final flame, he shouted in a voice filled with malice.
“Fine. Even to you, my words must sound ridiculous. How bitter. That I cannot see you, who stood so upright to the very end, collapse in your final moment!!”
The curse continued.
Envy looked down at his own body, then bit his lip.
Paying no attention to the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, he continued.
“Even if I have become this small and insignificant. I am a Great Evil. I am a being born from original sin!! And yet you look down on me because I have lost my power……!!”
Envy.
As his name suggested, he seemed to be shouting in a frenzy of jealousy and spite.
But do not misunderstand.
Didn’t I say it?
“You are neither great nor grand.”
What Great Evil? What Demon King?
The Seven Deadly Sin Pride?
No matter what kind of demon it may be.
In Grandfell’s eyes, they are no different from a nameless, insignificant imp.
I continued speaking to Envy.
“From the very beginning, to me, you were no different from a tiny imp.”
Man, isn’t he scraping at his nerves a little too harshly before sending him to hell? So this is why you must never make Grandfell your enemy. You’d die twice over from sheer rage.
That was when I thought it.
For some reason.
A hollow laugh rang out.
“Haha…….”
Envy was laughing.
“I see.”
Flutter.
Beyond the disappearance of his shell, even his frail original body was now burning in the fires of hell. Just as I wondered whether he had lost even the strength to hold on, Envy’s voice reached me.
“A shell wrapped in envy had no meaning to you.”
Are those your last words?
More importantly, what do you mean?
Don’t tell me you also speak in Grandfell’s style?
I muttered inwardly in disbelief.
Soon, Envy was completely engulfed in the flames of hell.
Leaving behind a single sentence, uttered as though it were scattering away.
“……
As expected, I have no choice but to envy you.”
At the same time, messages flickered before my eyes.
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
……
[Your relationship with Akshan has increased.]
[Your influence within Akshan has increased significantly.]
……
[Your contribution to the defeat of the Great Evil, the Seven Deadly Sin Envy, has been acknowledged.]
[Due to your high contribution to the defeat, spoils of war will be acquired automatically.]
……
Messages rose up dizzyingly.
Seeing how the flickering would not stop, unlike Greed, who had revived.
I could truly feel that we had defeated a real Great Evil.
The gazes of the Akshan seniors poured toward me.
As expected.
There was no sense of praise in their eyes, no “well done.”
Nod.
Simply actions rather than words.
Since I knew that was Akshan’s way of communication.
It wouldn’t do to feel disappointed now.
I looked around.
The Great Evil had fallen into hell.
Thanks to that, the Zero Mountains were completely regaining their own light.
Now that the battle was over, had the morale-boosting effect ended as well? The Shadow Mercenary Corps, who had charged at Envy desperately in a struggle prepared for death, sat down or collapsed onto the ground.
And.
In the midst of that scenery.
I was as unchanging as ever.
That uprightness that had not bent for even a single moment.
Yes, I had achieved the overwhelming victory I had aimed for.
And my figure.
Tududududu—
Dozens of helicopters.
Hundreds of drones were filming it.
To be precise, this world was watching.
‘……
Hoo—’
Truly. For pitiful me, Lee Hoyeol, this was a dreadful situation.
Leaving aside the shamefulness of my self-illuminating outfit.
I had a feeling everything had been exposed to the world in full.
Akshan.
The demon hunters.
Even Claudi……!
I suppose it was the guilty conscience of a thief.
I, who knew the whole truth.
Once again wanted to hide in a mouse hole.
[Sanctuary of the Small Champion Beneath the Mountains]
That was how I felt.
However.
“Has this served as a warning?”
The current Grandfell had crushed a Great Evil.
And his pride was filled to the brim.
There was no way this damned mouth of his would remain still.
‘……
Yes, let’s endure it for now, Hoyeol.’
Akshan.
The demon hunters.
Claudi.
‘No one can be certain of anything yet.’
Among them, especially, no one knew Grandfell’s damned full name yet. Soon, I managed to compose myself. I held on to my sanity and spoke.
Naturally, my cold voice was directed toward.
The one responsible for the current situation.
“Unification Under Heaven.”
Yes.
The monarch of adventurers.
Luo Junchun, it’s you.
*
A guild capable of establishing a base camp in the Zero Mountains could practically be considered a corporation. That meant it was standard for each guild to have dozens of drones in the air for analysis.
“Master, AAU is requesting cooperation!”
“The broadcasting stations are asking for video footage as well……!”
“C-Captain. The government, and someone really high up at that……!!”
Guilds, AAU, governments, the media.
Complicatedly intertwined interests.
Because of that, cooperation requests flooded toward players affiliated with guilds.
With Raymon Sean having stopped announcing update details.
The only thing they could rely on was the real-time situation in the Zero Mountains relayed by players. However, the players themselves had no concrete information.
“Will anything come out just by watching?”
“We don’t know anything besides the appearance message.”
“Only that it’s an incredible one, enough to change the field…….”
But that was nothing more than needless worry.
The full view of the mountain range appeared through the drones.
“!!!”
There, no complicated additional explanation was needed.
Even expert predictions were meaningless.
Yes, it was a simple hunt.
“Wh-what the hell is that?”
There could be no differing opinion about the hunt.
It was annihilation itself.
And had it not shown everything clearly?
“That flowing outfit is definitely a demon hunter……!”
“Then is that wolf Akshan’s wolf?!”
“Just now…… Didn’t he say Claudi?”
Akshan’s resurrection.
And even the meaning of that word which had plunged the entire world into confusion.
“Claudi.”
-“Has this served as a warning?”
Standing upright in the eye of that storm.
Hoyeol finally opened his mouth.
The sudden appearance of a Great Evil.
He identified the root cause.
-“Unification Under Heaven.”
At the same time, the entire world erupted.
-Luo Junchun, it’s you again?!!
-Those Unification Under Heaven bastards lolololololol
-Let’s deliver justice!!!!!