◈ Episode 319. A Fine Line (1)
●Track the half-blood demon by following the blood trail. (In Progress)
The quest objective flickers.
So you were the culprit behind the monster outbreak in the Zero Mountain Range.
As expected of someone who appeared in the latter half of a class quest, your ability is extraordinary.
But I have a question.
‘Natural Enemy Relationship.’
For a Demon Hunter, [Natural Enemy Relationship] is an indispensable bread-and-butter skill. It is no exaggeration to say that it accompanies you from beginning to end, and thanks to that, you inevitably grow more adept at utilizing it.
‘But it didn’t activate.’
If it was a big-shot demon like a half-blood demon, I would have sensed its presence from the moment I set foot in the Zero Mountain Range. No, [Natural Enemy Relationship] would have activated a step faster.
Yet even at the moment the quest objective flickered, [Natural Enemy Relationship] did not activate. Then there is only one thing I can think of. The half-blood demon is clearly different from the demons I have encountered until now.
I opened my mouth.
“Petty tricks?”
A cold rebuke toward the demon.
It was no different from my usual behavior.
The problem was that there were ears listening nearby.
The players flinch and immediately bow their heads.
“Th-thank you for saving us!”
“We apologize if we got in your way.”
“All four of us have reached level 400, so we thought we could hunt here without difficulty and entered the Zero Mountain Range……. Even if you say we are pathetic, we have nothing to say! We will know our place properly from now on!”
No.
Just what kind of image do I have,
for the players to be so intimidated like this?
As I said, everything is because of the demon!
I answered magnanimously.
“I am not blaming you.”
Our noble Lord Geurangpel’s pride is exceedingly complex. It looks down on demons, yet cannot leave demons be, and yet at the same time cannot tolerate procedures being disrupted because of a demon.
Literally.
‘It is truly the sensibility of a storm and raging waves.’
In the past, I would have desperately turned a blind eye.
Regardless of whether others’ gazes were favorable or not.
Because I would not have been able to endure the rising sense of shame.
But now, things have changed.
Because I have gained the ability to realize this absurd, embarrassing pride. Whether that is thanks to Geurangpel’s setting that makes spoken words come true, or thanks to my own struggles, I cannot tell.
I continued speaking.
“And from now on, it is ‘their’ time.”
“……Pardon?”
“I speak of ‘them’, not you.”
“……P-pardon?”
At my words, the players look at each other.
They exchange bewildered expressions, seemingly unable to grasp my meaning. That is not the players’ fault either.
‘It is this damned manner of speaking that is the problem.’
I added another word.
“Look behind you.”
“……?”
And it is because they are always like that.
At this moment.
Unable to leave the half-blood demon who has latched onto my ankle alone, yet at the same time unable to tolerate the procedure being derailed just because of a demon, the solution offered by me and Geurangpel.
It was simple and clear.
“……Behind us?”
The players turn their heads at my words.
“!!!”
Soon, they shout in shock.
“Th-that outfit……!”
“Do you know them? I’m relatively a newbie, so…….”
“Ah, it’s Akshan! Th-those Demon Hunters who were making a fuss in the news!!”
[Legend, ‘Hero of the New Era, Akshan’ materializes.]
In the days when Arcana was merely a game.
There was only one reason Demon Hunters captivated players.
Style was life.
The sheer coolness radiating from their appearance.
Why, it still takes my breath away.
A black combat suit that fits just right.
A billowing black cloak.
And to top it off, a black mask covering more than half the face.
Moreover, the times have changed.
In the days when Arcana was just a game, Demon Hunters were all flash and no substance. After demonic monsters appeared, their treatment improved to levels unimaginable in the past.
‘It just wasn’t obvious because there was only me.’
Exactly seven Demon Hunters had materialized through the Akshan legend.
Revealing themselves from behind, each having maintained an appropriate distance from one another.
The players, spellbound by their bearing, come to their senses.
“As expected……. Lord Hoyeol is…….”
That’s right. As you might guess, my class is Demon Hunter.
I have said it time and time again.
Did I not say I had no desire to hide my class?
‘Though I have recently felt the need for secrecy.’
Why, I have realized that the more cards you have up your sleeve, the better.
But, to be blunt, it is a tiresome personality…….
Put nicely, pride sits heavily in my heart.
Even if I do not go out of my way to say it first.
‘It means I cannot tell lies to hide it.’
Anyway, it was something I had steeled myself for.
Actually, every time the news guessed my class, I flinched.
Starting with Black Wizard,
to Endlessly Deep Darkness,
and even opinions that the Black Abyss Dragon was actually a hidden class. It means there were more than a few times I nearly blushed during those bizarre investigations.
But reality always exceeds expectations.
“So you were the leader of Akshan!!”
I doubted my ears.
……Leader of Akshan?
Me?
Why?
How?!
‘Again?’
It is a given, but players do not know about the [Legend] system.
So they must be mistaking the Akshan Demon Hunters materialized through the Legend effect for the real thing.
If I put myself in their shoes…….
‘It would look like they simply responded to my command.’
Going by seniority, I was practically the youngest of Akshan.
To call someone like me the leader of Akshan.
There is no greater insubordination than this.
But it did not end there.
The players begin to murmur in assent.
They let their imaginations run wild among themselves.
“That certainly makes sense.”
“Given Lord Hoyeol’s reputation…….”
“Then Akshan disappearing from the continent was also part of a grand scheme……!”
Anyway, Akshan’s bizarre structure is the problem.
It is a situation brought about by our seniors, who, as long as they can hunt demons, do not even listen to the world’s evaluations with the backs of their ears.
‘But you guys can speak, can’t you?’
Whether they know that silence means consent or not.
The Demon Hunters blatantly heard the players’ words yet only moved forward in silence. I was not one to add lengthy explanations either.
In the end, there was only one choice permitted to me.
‘I don’t even know anymore.’
Resignation.
Yes.
To realize pride, one needs choice and focus. I will leave the half-blood demon to the Akshan seniors, and I will go find Jessie and Mary first to keep to the procedure.
“If Akshan has moved…….”
“This means it’s a demon’s doing, right?!”
“This is huge news……!!”
I don’t know how much the hype will inflate again during that process…….
Let’s think positively.
Is it not the law that legends grow stronger the more they inflate?
I muttered.
“So it is finally the beginning of a legend.”
Anyway, this damned mouth of mine won’t stop chattering for a moment.
Nonsense spouted gravely with a solemn expression.
The players’ eyes go wide.
“Th-the beginning of a legend!”
Looking at the players as if they had witnessed some grand spectacle.
I swallowed a sigh.
I truly am guilty, aren’t I……?
*
Half-blood demon.
Ecstasy welling up from this body coursing with foreign blood.
Authority.
“Huhu.”
Gremory was intoxicated by the experience the Authority provided.
Lust, that bastard—she would surely tear him to shreds someday.
To the point where the resolve she had harbored became meaningless.
It was a world of adventurers she had considered unfamiliar.
But those she encountered were favorable to her. They did not even question her appearance, despite being drenched in blood, to the point of gladly giving her everything they had.
“It is an honor to serve you.”
She was even guided to the Zero Mountain Range, her destination.
Gremory smiled.
Lust, you will regret this endlessly.
‘This Authority was truly meant for me!’
Gremory was convinced.
At this moment, she was using the Authority more skillfully than that lecher Lust. That was her confidence. A superior appearance that demons, humans, and even elves could not rival. Confidence surging thanks to the Authority added on top of that.
If you do not believe it, behold the proof.
“……Wow.”
Aren’t the foolish humans’ gazes directed at me?
Gremory looked at the Zero Mountain Range.
It was as vast as it had been on the Arcana continent.
‘In a place like this, even he won’t be able to find me.’
No matter how much of a natural enemy he is, the Zero Mountain Range is immensely vast.
Especially if she hid her body in the Hundred Thousand Caves.
Even searching alone for decades, he would not be able to find her.
‘That amount of time is sufficient.’
Because she would expand her power with the newly obtained Authority.
Gremory swallowed her smile.
She imagined her natural enemy, the Demon Hunter, being devoured by her.
‘The sight of that arrogant bastard kneeling and begging for mercy…….’
It even improved her mood, which had been soured by being toyed with by Lust.
But Gremory overlooked something.
That the Authority of a great evil is not something so easily handled.
The fact that the Authority mixed with her completely different blood was bound to run even more rampant.
Soon, a side effect that even Lust hadn’t expected crept up on Gremory.
“……What?”
The group of adventurers that had been leading the way like vassals halt in their tracks.
Shwing!
Suddenly drawing their weapons, they declare with grave expressions.
“Your Majesty. We shall protect you with our lives.”
……What the hell is this all of a sudden?
Gremory did not want to draw attention.
Regardless of the Authority, this place was the home of the last Demon Hunter. According to Lust, he was primed and ready to hunt her down.
But.
‘These trash.’
Aren’t they trying to stir up trouble?
Gremory stepped forward.
She had heard until her ears hurt that the Zero Mountain Range was a dangerous place even when she was in the demon world. Especially the rumor that a dragon lived atop that peak.
‘Crazy lizards.’
Though they might not reach the upper Demon Kings, dragons were also beings capable of entering and leaving completely different worlds. Gremory had witnessed the ferocity of such dragons in the demon world.
“……Absolutely not.”
A Demon Hunter alone already made her head throb; drawing a dragon’s attention as well was unthinkable. Gremory pushed past the players surrounding her and moved forward.
“It is dangerous, Your Majesty!”
“Step back.”
“But……!”
“I told you to get lost.”
She had no intention of indulging in playing king while her lifeline was in peril. From now on, she had to move as quietly as possible, find a suitable cave, hide in it, and steadily expand her influence using her Authority. It was the moment Gremory took a step alone for her purpose.
“……!”
A chill─!
Countless presences reached her skin.
She could sense it.
That it was the movement of countless beings drawn by the Authority.
But the reason she got goosebumps was something else.
“……What?”
Being charmed by the Authority meant they had become insignificant vassals.
There is no master who gets goosebumps before their vassals.
That was true.
What made Gremory flinch was the pressure slowly choking her neck.
“!”
East, west, south, north.
No, directions split even finer than that.
Was it thanks to the two bloods drifting in her body?
Gremory grasped a more accurate number.
‘……Seven directions!’
Presences were closing in on her from exactly seven directions.
Gremory calmly recalled.
There was only one existence that could exert this level of pressure on her, a Demon King.
‘Demon Hunter.’
But it was the ‘last’ Demon Hunter.
Meaning there was no way the single one could split into seven.
Gremory gritted her teeth.
‘Whatever they are, it means they aren’t Demon Hunters, right?’
……Could it be dragons?
Still, that was better than that man.
It was worth trying.
‘If I run, everything is over anyway.’
Gremory had no intention of retreating.
She intended to break through the crisis head-on.
Of course, it did not take long for Gremory to regret her judgment.
Pusshuk─!
Suddenly.
Arrows flying from her blind spot.
But they all absurdly missed and embedded themselves in the dirt.
“As expected.”
Gremory sneered.
“So drunk on my Authority that you can’t even aim properly.”
“…….”
“Huhu. Can’t even answer?”
“…….”
But it was a clear misunderstanding.
Click─
A sound ringing from the arrows stuck in the ground.
“?”
Swaaaak─!
“……!”
The arrows glint.
No, precisely, the thin threads connected to the arrows reflect the light.
And then they accelerate so fast Gremory’s eyes cannot follow.
Swish!
Tangling with each other, they begin to narrow Gremory’s range of movement.
Goosebumps rise on Gremory’s skin once more.
‘……What is this?’
Silver thread (銀絲).
Threads made of silver……!
Having belatedly realized the identity of the glinting threads.
Gremory opens her mouth in disbelief.
“……Who are you?”
“…….”
But what returned this time, too, was silence.
Yes, hadn’t someone said it to the point of tedium?
Do not engage in unnecessary conversation with the prey.
“H-how can you……!!”
That is Akshan’s first and foremost iron rule.
Ssk─
The seven Demon Hunters pull the silver threads taut.
Swaaaaak!
Using the silver threads as ropes, they glide down upon Gremory.
‘……No!’
Natural Enemy Relationship.
‘I can’t see. Too fast. Where. Where are you approaching from?’
Acceleration of the hunters that the prey’s eyes cannot follow.
‘At this rate……!’
The tightening encirclement.
“P-protect me……!!”
The prey’s desperate struggle.
Silver daggers gleaming coldly.
And.
……Denggeung─!