◈ Episode 317. And Yet, Thou Art Contemptible (1)
Aren’t you moving far too recklessly?
Actually, that is the question I want to ask in return.
A soliloquy echoing coldly through the silent Magic Tower.
“A clear challenge, indeed.”
Of all places, to pull such tricks inside the Magic Tower. It is an act that cannot be explained unless one’s guts have spilled outside their belly. And in the Void, no less. ‘There truly are all sorts of ways to hasten one’s own death.’ But soon, I felt a sense of incongruity. ‘…
Wait.’ The Void is a space where nothing exists.
Having one’s five senses fail to function is a given. One cannot even manifest magic. So how did I notice the presence emanating from such a Void?
To dismiss it as merely heightened senses… I am a Demon Hunter. It means my five senses expand befitting a natural enemy only when chasing demons, but in all other cases, I am hopeless.
Furthermore, only the highest-ranking executives of the Magic Tower can enter the Void. Access is permitted only to those at Chief rank or higher, meaning even seniors cannot enter.
Click.
Soon, I reached a conclusion at the entrance to the Void. ‘A change has occurred inside.’ It wasn’t someone entering.
The two Elder Mages imprisoned in the Void.
No, a change had occurred in the demon worshippers.
“As Chief, I command you. Open the gate to the Void.”
Rumble.
Though I had detected an ominous sign, I spoke even more boldly. Whatever the case, this is the Magic Tower. Should anything happen, there is no shortage of mages who would come running. ‘Besides, it’s the Void, isn’t it?’ An environment where my unwavering composure shone particularly bright.
I was someone who had drunk green tea and even read books in the Void, which others couldn’t endure for even a few minutes. Rather than being worried, this was a situation to be welcomed.
And so I took a step forward. For a moment, even the clicking of my shoes in the Void was swallowed. I immediately grasped the reason for the impure presence.
“I see.”
Mages possess fundamentally powerful mental strength. Even so, having endured in the Void for so long befitting an Elder Mage, in the end, they must have reached their limit.
If they had quietly breathed their last.
Granfell, who has no mercy for demons, might have done otherwise, but—
I, I Hoyeol, might have prayed for their peaceful rest.
We had our disagreements, sure, but could I not even pray for a dead man’s soul?
But it seems my suspicion that they were filled with malice to the very end was not unfounded.
The black wall of the Void.
There were writings made with fingers as brushes and blood as ink.
No, to call them writings… ‘I can’t make them out.’ One who had even forgotten how to speak in the Void could not possibly write properly, so it was something that was neither writing nor drawing. Yet I immediately grasped the meaning contained in that will that was not a will.
Not because I was quick-witted.
It was a Demon Hunter’s intuition. [You have discovered the curse, ‘The Unstoppable Flow’.]
It was a message I hadn’t seen in a while.
Because it was a message I had only seen back when Arcana was merely a game.
One of Akshan’s routine quests was precisely this.
Destroying a demon’s curse. ‘It sounds grand when you call it destruction.’ The reality was no different from a chore quest.
Back then, so-called demonic curses were merely at the level of graffiti. Thus, they were treated no differently from chore quests where you erased graffiti drawn on village or city outer walls. ‘No wonder Akshan was shunned by the players.’ However.
I assessed it calmly.
“Its intent is impure beyond compare.”
The demons of then and now are of different dimensions.
The curse would be the same. Moreover, this was a curse left behind by a great figure who was once an Elder Mage as he died. If curses had weight, this was clearly an incredibly heavy one. ‘It certainly looked the part.’ The blood writing filling the black wall.
It was so dreadful that anyone without a fairly strong heart would frown upon seeing it. But who am I, who is Granfell? To the point of wondering if my heart even beats, beyond merely having a strong one.
The natural enemy who does not show even a hint of agitation before demons, in the flesh.
I offered a dry impression.
“However, you have no talent for creation.”
It was an evaluation of the demon worshipper who had once been an Elder Mage.
Something like a demon’s curse.
To Granfell, it would be nothing more than unsightly graffiti. ‘But I am not him.’ Writing my name in red makes me inexplicably uncomfortable, I distribute points so that a 4 doesn’t end up in my [Luck] stat just in case it brings misfortune, and I avoid stepping on door thresholds—a devout believer of superstitions.
That is me, I Hoyeol. ‘Let’s erase it.’ In my heart of hearts.
I wanted to splash hot water with magic and wipe it clean.
But manifestation of magic is impossible in the Void. ‘…
Do I have to scrub it off with my hands? Like back then?’ The attire I had carefully groomed since the crack of dawn would be rendered meaningless.
A Demon Hunter is a Demon Hunter to the very end, huh.
At the moment I swallowed a sigh.
My vision flickered. [Will you enter the curse, ‘The Unstoppable Flow’?]
Aha, so that’s how it works? [To enter the curse, ‘Natural Enemy’ is required.] [To enter the curse, ‘Exorcism Rite’ is required.] [Skill ‘Natural Enemy’ proficiency is sufficient.] [Skill ‘Exorcism Rite’ proficiency is sufficient.]
I immediately shifted my stance.
“Utterly contemptible.”
That’s right, the demons who are prey have grown too.
Shouldn’t the natural enemy Demon Hunter also develop for the balance to be maintained?
Reaching this point, such a thought occurs to me. ‘…
Was it really because it’s a Return-of-the-King character?’ Characters that seem unimpressive in the early stages but boast outstanding performance in the later half are often likened to the Return of the King and commonly called comeback characters or comeback classes.
Truthfully, most comeback classes can be recognized from the seedling stage.
For example…
Close at hand, there is the Dragon Knight, Skal. ‘He’s that strong even without riding a dragon.’ The whole world could guess and was anticipating what abilities Skal would display if he climbed onto a dragon’s back and became a true Dragon Knight. In that sense, if the Demon Hunter were a comeback character, everyone would laugh.
But I, the only Demon Hunter, could feel it.
What is seen is not everything. ‘It’s the same with skills.’ Even if they didn’t show in numerical values, the skills [Natural Enemy]
and [Exorcism Rite]
had clearly grown all this time. Above all, wasn’t noticing the demon’s presence wafting from the Void the proof of that? ‘Thanks to that growth, I can see the curse immediately too.’ The moment I realized.
I took a step toward the curse left by the demon worshipper.
Added to my desire not to leave such a fishy curse behind, I was purely curious. What purpose could be contained in the curse that the demon worshipper had left behind so meaningfully at the moment of death?
“The Unstoppable Flow.”
I wanted to confirm the reason they had even attached such a grandiose name on top of that.
Of course, given Granfell’s temperament too.
The will of a demon and such.
“Then I shall defy it.”
Until the very last moment.
For denial is only natural.
This time too, there was no hesitation. [Entering the curse, ‘The Unstoppable Flow’.]…
A vast field of view.
I could intuit it. ‘Is there no battle, like in rifts or dungeons?’ I had wondered if monsters might appear inside the curse.
As could be seen from the fact that no appropriate level existed.
It seemed that wasn’t the case.
However.
“Save us!!”
“W-what the hell are those monsters!”
“The gate to the Demon Realm has opened!”
“Retreat!! Everyone run awaaaay!!”
The scenery visible below my feet was undoubtedly a horrific battlefield.
No, could that even be called a battlefield?
It was closer to one-sided slaughter.
Demons were trampling the city.
At first, I wondered if it was a city on the Arcana continent.
But it was unfamiliar to be the Arcana continent. The statues and architectural styles visible at a glance, even the appearances of the residents, were forms I had never seen anywhere on the Arcana continent.
Just then, a message flickered, resolving the question. [You have entered the ‘Seoreun Continent’, heading toward destruction.]
The Seoreun Continent…
So that’s why it was unfamiliar.
Was it a completely different world from the Arcana continent?
What is always important is the questioner’s intent.
I thought from the demon worshipper’s position.
At the moment of death, what did he want to leave behind with the curse?
The answer came easily.
“I see.”
I recall once more.
The goal of the three demon worshippers, including the Elder Mage, Karimzeva.
They had tried to manifest a ‘Greater Demon King’ in reality.
Flash—
As if announcing the correct answer.
Demonic Eyes (魔眼)
align simultaneously in the sky above.
The arrangement was familiar.
It was similar to the summoning circle of Decarabia I had witnessed in Frost.
However, seeing the scale of drawing a magic circle across the vast upper sky.
I could guess what was being summoned.
It would be a Greater Demon King, as expected.
Karimzeva had tried to draw magic circles through rifts across the world to summon the Greater Demon King, Gamigin. But this scale is far greater than back then, isn’t it? Those demonic eyes would be entities floating through space beyond continents and planets.
Thanks to that, I could identify which Greater Demon King it was among them.
“Bael.”
The Demon King ranked first, Bael.
Yes, now I felt I somewhat understood the purpose of the curse the demon worshipper had left at the last. So it was called the Unstoppable Flow… He must have wanted to say that no matter how much I struggled, it would be meaningless before the absolute power of a Greater Demon King.
I thought objectively.
It made sense.
The sky darkened.
Thud.
Thud…
Thud……
Along with dull noises.
It was because the demonic eyes that alone illuminated the sky were bursting one by one. Because I am a Demon Hunter, I could tell. To devour such things as offerings…
Just what kind of monstrous being is he, exactly…?
But let’s think positively. Thanks to this curse, I should be able to gauge the combat power of a Greater Demon King. At the very least, I should be able to see Bael’s face. ‘…
What?’ But that was my mistake.
When all the demonic eyes in the sky burst, the sky literally split open. From within the split sky, something massive enough to cover the Seoreun Continent revealed itself.
It was merely a forearm.
Srrng—To be precise, it was a fist gripping a sword.
In that moment.
I flinched. …
They had offered dozens of demonic eyes as sacrifice.
Surely, with that massive offering too.
Did it only amount to summoning a single forearm of Bael?
And the hesitation soon turned to shock. Because that hand lightly swung its sword, and the Seoreun Continent was outright pulverized and began sinking into a deep abyss.
I could tell because I too am a Demon Hunter.
It did not use a demon’s abilities or a Demon King’s authority.
Bael, with only the physical might of his pure body, the Seoreun Continent—
Had annihilated a single world.
I, I Hoyeol.
This time, I realized it because I was a player.
That this was an enemy against whom not even an estimate could be made.
Thanks to my experience fighting against Gamigin, I had been able to guess how great the Greater Demon Kings were.
The Demon Hunters of Akshan in Hell.
Even when they, who were stronger than anyone before demons, clung with all their might. If it hadn’t been for the flames of Hell, they would not have been able to drag Gamigin down to Hell.
Bael was an existence that far surpassed even such a Gamigin. ‘So this is what they call a curse?’ I didn’t want to admit it, but it felt like my spirit was about to break.
Bael, no matter how much I struggled.
Seemed like an existence I could neither reach nor fathom.
Yet regardless of my despair.
There was not the slightest change in my expression.
My heartbeat was calm, and my head was cold. ‘The pride of Granfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo paradoxically soars highest before demons.’ Perhaps thanks to that.
“Who dares attempt to lecture me?”
I recited nonchalantly.
“Even without showing me, I know everything.”
It was not bluff.
“Bael, even the way to hunt you.”
It was then.
Rumble!
Bael raised the blade of his sword.
He began to move.
Precisely toward me.
“I expect no understanding from an inferior species.”
I continued as if I had been waiting.
“Consider it an honor. I shall personally make you realize.”