◈ Episode 321. A Hair’s Breadth (3)
What awakened Gremory from despair was a shout.
“Defend her with your lives!”……
Good. My authority has nothing to do with the fear I feel.
She forced herself to come to her senses.
The power of her mixed blood was still beyond her control.
If anything, that was fortunate. Regardless of Gremory having lost her will to fight, even at this very moment the players and monsters were sparing no devotion to protect their queen.
Uwooooh—!
At last, the monsters of the Zero Mountains burst through the undergrowth. Just as Akshan had targeted Gremory, they too charged at the demon hunters who had targeted their queen.
Gremory’s eyes flashed.‘……
An opening.’Madmen though they were, they were still human in the end. With claws hanging over their own throats, they couldn’t possibly continue aiming for her. If she seized that opening, escaping this place and planning for the future would be more than……
“!”
Of course, that too was a delusion born of ignorance.
Thud.
Akshan.
Even if a blade were plunged into their hearts.
They were beings who would not stop the hunt so long as a demon stood before them. And though Gremory could not know this, the Akshan of now were [Legend]
—not human.
Moon Glaive Bear.
Even if they were slashed to pieces by vicious claws.
They did not scream, nor even let out the faintest groan.
Still maintaining their silence.
They gazed only at their prey and did not cease moving. The sight shook Gremory’s mind even further. Yet reality still had not abandoned Gremory.
“Hey, snap out of it. Hey!”
“When did we fall under a status abnormality……?”
“Enthrallment? Is that a superior version of Charm as a status abnormality?”
The confusion of the awakened players.
“……
What the hell are those black-clad guys? What guild are they from?”
Those negative emotions were likewise fleeting.
But they became power.
They pushed Gremory’s judgment to its limit.
Gremory ground her teeth.‘I can’t be hurled into hell like this.’She looked at her own body.
It was still beautiful.
A flower blooming from the mud that was the Demon World—that was her. Humans of the Arcana Continent, other races, even elves, could not approach her beauty. With Gremory’s lofty pride, wearing another’s shell? There was no way she would ever have cared for something like possession.
“Tch.”
She touched her long, flesh-pink hair one last time.
Then she made her decision.
Now was not the time to cling to a worthless stubbornness.‘I need a new body.’Possess a human amid the chaos.
She had to shake off the demon hunters’ pursuit. Gremory’s gaze turned toward the slaves of her authority pouring in. Then one human caught Gremory’s eye.‘That much……. is passable.’Black hair and features rarely seen on the Arcana Continent.
Yet rather than seeming lacking, it was different.
A flawless beauty.
One that did not offend even her lofty aesthetic sense.
Gremory did not hesitate.
She immediately attempted to possess the target.
The instant she seized the body with little difficulty.
“……!”
Knowledge and common sense of reality burrowed into her mind.
And even the player’s abilities.‘Well, well.’Gremory, opening her eyes in her new body, thought.‘I never knew the price of throwing away my pride would be this sweet.’Her admiration lasted only a moment before she swallowed her saliva.
If only she could survive this place…….‘……
Then revenge truly isn’t a dream!’*Somewhere near the summit of the Zero Mountains.
I am sitting in an old-fashioned chair. If you ask where a Renaissance-style chair suddenly came from in the middle of these layered mountains……. I shall answer that there are no limits to my architectural magic and the application of [Aesthetic].
And the important thing is not where I am sitting.‘Why.’How.
In a place like this.
In this posture.
That is what matters!
Jesse and Mary’s archmage lesson.
At some point, I had become an observer of that lesson.‘Strictly speaking, I did start as an interpreter…….’Even realizing the difference between magic and skills is no easy task.
And yet, twilight magic?
I had thought communication itself would be impossible without my help.
But contrary to my worries, there was no need for me to step in.
Shamelessly, from atop a dizzying peak.
I looked down at Jesse and Mary.
A flowing silence.
I hadn’t heard any conversation for a while, but the violet mana rippling in the surroundings showed that the archmage’s lesson was proceeding smoothly.‘In any case, thanks to that.’I was able to observe twilight magic in the capacity of a spectator.
Unlike my timid resolve to peek over someone’s shoulder.
I was watching and learning with an excessive amount of confidence.
Needless to say, Grandfell’s talent was outstanding today as well.
“Opportunities to explore the root are rare.”
His grandiose monologues were also outstanding, of course.
The standard of the Magic Tower’s chief.
Even by that distant criterion of evaluation, twilight magic was remarkable. Shall I give an example? Why do you think Marcelo’s theoretical magic has recently been regarded as the greatest magic in the Magic Tower?‘Because it integrated everything into one.’It was because it could bind and organize magic, which even just among the Magic Tower’s schools was divided into dozens, into a single whole. In that sense, twilight magic was……
The root of all magic.
That would be the proper comparison.
Only now do I understand.
Why Mary, despite not understanding the structure of the portal I manifested, was able to intervene in the processes of search, interference, and manifestation.
I looked at Jesse, whose eyes were closed.‘Will it be possible?’Jesse had needed a great deal of time and effort just to understand simple 『Magic』. Still, thanks to diligent effort, she had become the only player besides me who could manifest magic.‘It won’t be easy.’Honestly, I did not have great expectations.
But that, too, was presumptuous meddling.
How much time had passed?
Violet twilight mana began to shimmer from Jesse’s body as well.
I flinched.‘……
Wait, she might be faster than me?’The influence of her class quest is certain.
In fact, from the moment she witnessed twilight mana that even Marcelo and the seniors had never seen. When it came to twilight, Jesse’s learning ability was practically proven.
I spoke calmly.
“Taking into account that this is the first day, the result is not bad.”
Anyone hearing me would think I was the teacher.‘When in truth, I’m the one worried about my future here.’Thinking back to the days when I learned magic by watching NetTube……. To handle twilight mana, I might have to write at least several papers’ worth of material.‘More importantly.’Perhaps because.
I had finished my prior engagement according to procedure.
At last, my attention turned elsewhere.‘Did they find it, the mixed-blood demon?’The manifested Akshan demon hunters.
Somehow, I feel as though I say this every time I use [Legend], but no matter how many times I emphasize it, it is not enough. The strength of [Legend]
depends on how widely it has resounded.‘It goes without saying, but they must be inferior to the original.’The Akshan seniors in hell never stopped hunting demons there for even a moment, so of course they were strong. And were those demons ordinary demons? Even just the great evils and upper Demon Kings were tremendous.
The same went for the Akshan seniors who sealed the dire omen. The ability born from that obsession was enough that even the dire omen could not endure it. In truth, even without comparing them to the seniors, the manifested Akshan legend could not be strong.
-“Akshan? It was so long ago my memory’s hazy.”
-“Ah, demon hunters! Right, there was a class like that too.”
-“In the end, were the Akshan not losers?”
Both in reality and on the Arcana Continent, Akshan was not treated particularly well. Of course, compared to the past when they had been completely forgotten, things had improved now……
“A natural enemy relationship is something that cannot be defied.”
Well, to Grandfell, demons were all the same demons anyway.
His reaction was no different from usual.
Unlike my bluster, however, I could not shake the unease.
Because I knew.
The ability that mixed-blood demon had shown.
It was not enough that it had beguiled monsters; even its presence had gone undetected by [Natural Enemy Relationship]. Perhaps because I had not faced it directly, I was worried, even if it was only needless anxiety.
Of course, this damn pride of mine is absurdly complicated.
Naturally, showing it on my face was out of the question. Failing to adhere to procedure because I was swayed by a mere demon was also unacceptable. It was even impermissible to check on the situation in the middle of a procedure.
“Let us end here for today, Miss Jesse Heinness.”
In the end, until Mary finished the archmage lesson.
I focused on observing with my eyes wide open.
Then, shamelessly, I rose from the Renaissance-style chair.
“Then we shall meet again at this hour tomorrow.”
Leaving behind that brief remark, I moved.
The first thing I had to do was decided.
Let’s check the smartphone that had been vibrating for a while.
A message from Nam Cheolmin greeted me.
—I apologize, Commander-in-Chief! There’s urgent news, so I contacted you like this……!
To summarize the flustered text, it was simple.
Akshan’s demon hunters had appeared in the Zero Mountains.
And they were in battle against the players.
Nam Cheolmin might not know, but I was not surprised.‘Most likely they were in the middle of an exorcism ritual.’Well, it was understandable to misunderstand. Still, during an exorcism ritual, the attacks of demon hunters harm only demons. The players would not be injured.
Besides.‘Do you think demon hunters were called a trash class for no reason?’Without a natural enemy relationship, demon hunters have more insignificant combat power than any other class. To put it bluntly, if they fought players, they’d lose a hundred times out of a hundred, wouldn’t they? If they weren’t even real demon hunters but a manifested legend, all the more so.‘Let’s see.’I checked the next message.
As expected, he wasn’t an analyst for nothing.
It was practically a live text broadcast, wasn’t it?
It was so vivid that simply reading it painted the battlefield in my mind.
Bzzzt—!
And that broadcast was even ongoing.
—Th-The last demon hunter has just fallen……!
As expected, Nam Cheolmin was shocked.
But there was no need to worry about that either.
A system message rose before my eyes.[Manifestation is being解除ed.]
The response came immediately.—……
B-But they vanished without a trace?!‘In any case, explaining this in words would be impossible.’For now, let’s go.
At that point, I put away the smartphone and raised my mana. First, I needed to organize the situation. For one thing, the Zero Mountains had unintentionally become a complete mess.‘I’m the only one who can clean this up.’Let’s arrange the flow of events.
The players, drawn by the mixed-blood demon, blocked the demon hunters.
The woman called queen, presumed to be the mixed-blood demon.
Suddenly disappeared from sight.
The battle continued as demon hunters, monsters, and players tangled together.
The fallen demon hunters vanished without even leaving corpses.
Fortunately amid the misfortune, all the players escaped the status abnormality…….‘It looks like it’s roughly settled for now, but.’It was not over yet.
The high-level monsters that had come down from the highlands would still remain.
They had to be dealt with before they became a threat to low-level players.‘Did we miss it for the moment?’In truth, I had not thought.
That a big shot like a mixed-blood demon could be hunted easily.
But there was no need to grow restless, either.
After all, unlike before, we had obtained information, hadn’t we?
“To flee in panic—what a fruitless effort.”
Akshan’s dependable guardian spirit, Tempest.
If it was Tempest, who had tracked the primordial evil, he would be able to track the mixed-blood demon without difficulty from the remaining traces of its presence. Let’s see, if I’m going to clean up the situation……. At this rate, even the evening schedule will be cutting it close.‘Let’s hurry.’I entered a portal.
As my field of vision changed, a clamor greeted me.
Players and monsters were shouting all mixed together.
“What the hell is going on?!”
“If you’ve come to your senses, pick up your gear first! It seems Akshan saved us somehow. Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain!”
“……
Akshan saved us? Then the status abnormality message was the demon’s doing? Shit, then why don’t I remember anything……”
“Damn it, it’s a pack of mountain wolves!!”
Indeed, I could feel that a demon had swept through once.
In other words, it was an utter mess.
But that was not a problem.
I raised my mana.‘Honestly.’There was no such thing as moderation in Grandfell’s dictionary.
What I was preparing was none other than the twilight magic I had just watched and learned. Come to think of it, is this the first time since awakening as a player that my head has been so complicated while manifesting magic?
That was how much I could feel I was forcing it.‘As expected, it is not clothing that fits me.’The descendant of twilight.
And the one who possesses the quest line related to the descendant of twilight.
Only the archmage class should be able to manifest twilight magic.
But when has Grandfell’s forcefulness ever been ordinary?
Goooooo—Violet mana faintly bloomed before my eyes.
Using the settings full of sheer insistence as a shield, he had, in the end, managed it again this time.
A message appeared.[The Blessing of the First World Tree rejects the ‘Curse of Twilight’.]
The Curse of Twilight.
The effect of the debuff was rejected, so I could not know what it was, but I could guess why it had appeared before me. It must be a warning for wearing clothes that did not fit. But with [The Blessing of the First World Tree]
active, do you really think I would care?
I spoke arrogantly.
“Do not dare attempt to sway me.”
It was a monologue directed at the debuff.
But how could those listening possibly guess that?
In the end, the players who recognized me were startled out of their wits.
“L-L-L-Lee Hoyeol!”
“Don’t try to sway me……? Could he have already guessed the cause of the situation? No, more importantly, was it Hoyeol-nim who moved Akshan?”
“S-Simply Homen.”……
The reaction was enough to make even me startle, but only for a moment.
Tingle—Violet magic covered the area.
Search through twilight mana, and the interference of pure mana theory, manifested.
It was an unfamiliar application of twilight magic.
“!”
Yet the effect was certain.Even without [Natural Enemy Relationship]
being active.
I had subdued over a hundred monsters in one stroke with only magic.[Your level has risen.]
I could not be happy even though my level, which seldom moved, had risen. Of course not. I had let a demon escape, of all things. It was not a situation Grandfell’s disposition could tolerate.‘Before I blurt something out in anger.’Let’s hurry and summon Tempest to begin the pursuit. By the way, with so many people watching……. Do I have to say that bizarre full name, Tempest Over the Horizon, out loud……?
It was the moment I agonized, if only for an instant.
—I-I apologize for the urgency, but I have something to tell you.
Suddenly, telepathy burrowed into my mind.
It was Marcelo’s voice.
Just like Nam Cheolmin, this was not something that happened often.
However, put the other way.
It meant the situation was that urgent.
Without wasting words, Marcelo immediately added the reason.
See, there was a reason to omit the prior appointment.
—A demon has come to the Magic Tower of its own accord.