◈ Episode 331. Disaster Level: Claudi (4)
Compatible mana blanketed the entire Arcana Continent.
An infinitely deep darkness.
Those who knew of it immediately sensed it.
Claudi’s territory.
“My lord……?”
The spirit of darkness.
Diend Crisiad Eternal Darkness.
Diend could not continue.
“How is it that such an aura……?”
From their very first meeting, Diend had regarded Hoyeol as an infinitely deep darkness and served him as such. But the compatible mana Hoyeol had revealed until now was on an entirely different level from this emission—this darkness.
Concern came first.
Naturally, it was not concern for Hoyeol.
Diend possessed boundless loyalty toward his lord.
There was no such thing as doubt toward his lord.
The emotion he felt now was solely concern for the continent.
Ssssss—Diend, being a spirit of darkness, would not be strangely described as a mass of compatible mana. For that reason, Diend knew well the dangers of compatible mana.
Was that not why he had remained on his own in Tepern Labyrinth, one of the Ten Wonders of Arcana that no one sought out? Because compatible mana could affect its surroundings simply by existing.‘That is why I served my lord.’Hoyeol had been the one to extend a hand to such a Diend.
And Diend had resolved to serve that Hoyeol as his lord.
His firm trust did not waver.
“It is beyond my ability to fathom.”
He merely thought.
His lord could not possibly be unaware of something even he knew. Surely, there had to be a reason worthy of such darkness being unleashed.
That was not only Diend’s sentiment.
Dududududu—the Iron Castle, flying through the sky.
Darkness that had covered not only the continent, but even the heavens.
Chainwalker, who had been watching, opened his mouth.
“It seems they have met.”
The dwarves flew through the sky, all but monitoring the entire continent.
Thanks to that, they had acquired and grasped a certain amount of information regarding the Four Houses.
Of course.
“With the Black Dark Dragon who observes all things.”
They also knew that they had encountered Hoyeol.
However, they had not expected a change of this scale to visit the continent in the process.
Walswile, who had been looking out over the continent beside him, spoke.
“Chainwalker, do you remember that day?”
“What day are you talking about?”
“The day the legend of the Black Dark Dragon resounded.”
“How could I ever forget that?”
He still remembered it vividly.
That day when dragons, which he had regarded as a vague legend, and more than a dozen of them at that, flew across the continent and scattered thunderstorms over the Arcana Continent. Walswile swallowed dryly.
“……
I swear, this has an even greater influence than that.”
It was not wrong.
Even if they were dragons who commanded the weather and poured down lightning and rain, they would not be able to make darkness this dense descend upon the Arcana Continent.
Chainwalker nodded.
“With Sir Hoyeol’s abilities, it is no strange thing.”
Even if it was an ability that surpassed dragons, there was nothing to be surprised about. From the very beginning, even the kings of all creation, the dragons themselves, revered and looked up to Hoyeol as the Black Dark Dragon.
However, Walswile bit his lip.
“That is why I am afraid, Chainwalker.”
“Afraid? What do you mean by that?”
“With great power comes great responsibility…….”
“……!”
“Can you feel the weight he bears?”
Walswile’s eyes grew moist as he looked upon the continent.
“I do not dare even guess how much responsibility he must be shouldering in order to bear such power……. Nor whether insignificant beings like us can truly share in that heavy burden.”
Of course it was possible.
Even if it were not possible, they had to strive.
Like tempering iron.
They had to be patient and not give up.
“…….”
If it were the usual Chainwalker, he would have said so as the leader of the dwarves. But Chainwalker could do no more than remain silent. Because he, too, was watching.
“……
It truly is an infinitely deep darkness.”
The darkness that had settled over the continent.
It was a depth that made even allies fall into deep thought.
So that darkness.
There was no way to express the feelings of those who had to face it directly.The Four Houses.
Excluding Ignite, who had fainted.
The heads of Yugrik, Cansel, and Akamond realized it.The Four Houses could not defy Claudi. No matter how much they expanded their forces, racked their brains, or resorted to vile cunning, they could not deny their master-servant relationship with Claudi.‘I understand now, Father, even if it is late.’A gap so overwhelming.
So utterly beyond any thought of approaching.
That overwhelming difference made them forget even the emotion of despair.
It was enough to make them truly look up to their master.The retainers and soldiers who had served the Four Houses were the same.
They had long since skipped the stage of denying reality and, toward the new master who had shown them mercy, had bowed their heads after their household heads.
And among them.‘……
This is insane.’Tremble, tremble—Yong Seongrak was shuddering with goosebumps. He did not know how Retel Akamond and the other Arca Arcanians felt about this situation, but as a player, Yong Seongrak could be certain.‘D-Does everyone really understand what’s happening……?’He was the only one who knew the gravity of the situation.
Because they had appeared right before his eyes.
The moment the Arcana Continent had been engulfed by an infinitely deep darkness.
A shocking number of messages, too many to count……![Status abnormality, ‘Vision Blocked,’ has occurred.][Status abnormality, ‘Suffocation,’ has occurred.][Status abnormality, ‘Confusion,’ has occurred.]……
After Jesse Heinness withdrew from Shining.
Unification Under Heaven had raised Lee Hoyeol’s setting to their principal enemy. Naturally, analysis of Lee Hoyeol had been carried out at the guild level, so even Yong Seongrak, who had been flustered at first, could recognize it.‘It was definitely black magic.’That darkness just now.
It was the compatible mana said to be necessary for manifesting black magic.
That was why he could not help but be even more terrified.
Lee Hoyeol had not manifested black magic.
He had merely emitted compatible mana, and yet.
As if status abnormalities were not enough.[The infinitely deep darkness covers all blessings of the Arcana Continent. Until the darkness lifts, all currently applied buffs will be deactivated.]
“……!”
It was as though the Arcana Continent had briefly shut down.
That was how immense its effect had been.
Of course, Lee Hoyeol was Lee Hoyeol.
Yong Seongrak swallowed dryly.‘……
I don’t know what kind of conversation they had.’It seemed Lee Hoyeol had shown mercy to the Four Houses, just as he had shown mercy to Unification Under Heaven all this time. He could be certain of it now that the darkness that had covered the continent had cleared and even the deactivated buffs had returned.
However, Yong Seongrak could not raise his head all the more.‘If even low-level black magic had been manifested……?’I, we, perhaps even the continent, might have fallen into an abyss of deep darkness from which we could never return. As he breathed raggedly, Yong Seongrak remembered.
“!”
The words that Lee Hoyeol had spoken to him.
-“Brave one. I have remembered your face.”……
He said he remembered my face?‘No, why on earth my face?!’Even now that everything was over, Yong Seongrak could not help trembling in fear. He could not guess why Lee Hoyeol had said he would remember him, but…….
Yong Seongrak’s eyes flashed.‘At any rate, I have to prove my worth.’Lee Hoyeol must suspect that he belonged to Unification Under Heaven. The clever Yong Seongrak knew very well how he had to prove his worth.
The secrets of the utterly closed-off Unification Under Heaven.
Providing them to Lee Hoyeol.
That was his only value.‘In a way, is this revenge?’Yong Seongrak stroked the corner of the eye not covered by his eyepatch. Before Lee Hoyeol, he did not have the confidence to hide even the smallest secret. So first, he would have to speak truthfully about the contract bound to this eye.‘More importantly.’The corner of Yong Seongrak’s mouth rose.‘……
He must have seen everything too, that son of a bitch, right?’Suddenly, he grew curious.
That son of a bitch who had watched everything through his eye.
What kind of face was Ryu O Jwinchun making right about now?*It was a succession of scenes that made him doubt his own eyes.[Chalice of Harsh Contracts].
The scenery that surfaced upon the water through its effect.
Ryu O Jwinchun opened his mouth.
“This sovereign cannot be seeing things.”
The guild master of Unification Under Heaven.
Unification Under Heaven was a supermassive guild that had split the Arcana Continent in two alongside Shining. On top of that, he possessed the rare class [Monarch]. Because he was such a person. He had thought he knew more than anyone about hegemony over the Arcana Continent.
“Unbelievable.”The Four Houses.
He had never imagined there would be as many as four powers possessing military might that overwhelmed the empire at its prime. Ryu O Jwinchun praised the owner of the last remaining field of vision out of seven.
“I don’t know who you are, but you’re proving worth the effort of raising you.”
The only sense shared through the chalice was sight. Because of that, he had no choice but to judge solely by the scenes he could see. But was it because he had begun walking the path of a tyrant beyond a monarch?It was not particularly difficult to read the greed of the Four Houses.
“Do you intend to swallow the empire?”
He would bring down the empire.
Though Ryu O Jwinchun had resolved to do so, he did not feel as if they had stolen his place in line. Was it not good news? Because Ryu O Jwinchun, too, was a monarch who sought hegemony like them, he could understand.
“I can see it clearly. Your future.”
That flimsy alliance would end the moment the empire fell.
From then on, the true war would begin, where four different powers would kill and be killed over the vacant throne. Ryu O Jwinchun intended to leisurely watch that mess unfold.
“I must prepare for the future, must I not?”
After all, he would have to defeat one of those four and claim the empire. Ryu O Jwinchun calmly thought that, whoever the last contractor was, it would be good if they endured for as long as possible.
However, premature predictions were bound to be wrong.
“……!”
The plains of Antonium.
At their center.Hoyeol appeared among the Four Houses.
“This is unexpected, Lee Hoyeol.”
And alone, at that.
To Ryu O Jwinchun, it was good news.
He had already thought this would prove profitable.
If Lee Hoyeol happened to die on the battlefield…….
If this went well, it might even become killing two birds with one stone, might it not?
Clench—Ryu O Jwinchun tightened his fist.
At that time, it would not be merely hegemony over the Arcana Continent.
The hegemony of reality, where he had completely surrendered the initiative, would naturally have no choice but to return to him. The moment Ryu O Jwinchun adjusted his posture and stared fixedly at the chalice.
“?”
The rippling surface of the water began to turn black.
At first, he thought the foolish wretch had been struck in the eye by an arrow or something.
But that too was a premature prediction.
The identity of the darkness.
Was the compatible mana Hoyeol had emitted.
Ryu O Jwinchun muttered without realizing it.
“……
What is this?”
Was the person looking around?
The field of vision changed chaotically.
However, even when it looked toward the end of the horizon.
Even when it gazed up at the lofty sky.
No matter where it looked in every direction.
The darkness pouring out from Lee Hoyeol lay thickly over everything.……
Glance.
Ryu O Jwinchun reflexively checked his own status window and system messages. He knew that the only thing he could share through the chalice was sight, but it was a player’s instinct born from frustration.
However, the frustration did not last long.
“!”
Because it turned into despair instead.
The Four Houses, whom he had thought surpassed the empire at its prime.
Before Hoyeol.
They knelt without even mounting a proper counterattack.
They were pledging loyalty with their heads bowed low.
Ryu O Jwinchun’s face froze as it was.‘Then, in order for me to claim the empire…….’Not only the original empire, but the Four Houses.
And in the end, even Lee Hoyeol had to be faced?
Did he truly have to surpass that monster?
“Damn iiiiiit…….”
The tyrant’s shoulders slumped for the first time.*The infinitely deep darkness that covered the Arcana Continent affected even Ryu O Jwinchun in reality, an entirely different world, so it was more than enough to affect those who had been swallowed by the ill omen and returned to the Arcana Continent.
The darkness laid over the continent.
“Whew.”
As she inhaled, sorrow so dense it made her shudder climbed up her body.
She did not want to face it.
Enough that she wanted to pretend she did not know.
However, the woman lifted the veil that had been draped over her face.
She faced the darkness and opened her mouth.
To be precise.
“Goddess. I am afraid. I do not have the confidence to face a sorrow so deep it could swallow the Arcana Continent. But if this is Your will……. I will gladly obey. If my flesh can hasten Your second coming, I will gladly offer it.”
She offered a devout prayer.
“Since You returned the life You took from me through Akshan. I, Saintess Freyja, shall once again offer my life to You. In the name of the Goddess, I shall drive away this darkness.”...
Blink—the flickering vision.[World Quest: The Saintess of the Second Coming]
A world quest……?
I wondered if it was all right for a quest with such an extraordinary name to pop up so suddenly. Then again, perhaps this too was an aftereffect of going dark. I wanted to check its contents immediately, but according to procedure, there was something I had to deal with first.
That’s right.
From this moment on, I had to deal with something more important than anything else.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Yong Seongrak.”
A player who knew my embarrassing full name.
I had to question this man called Yong Seongrak or whatever.
So……
“Would you prefer that I call you Lee Hoyeol-nim? Or perhaps Grandfel Claudi Arpheus R…….”
Could you please just answer only what I ask you?!