◈ Episode 35. Incorruptible (1)
Harkon recalled his last day in the Empire.
He still couldn't forget his liege lord's bitter voice.
“The trials never end, Harkon.”
“……Your Majesty.”
“What in the world does God want from me? Even as Emperor, I cannot fathom His will. I feel as though I've been cast into a deep darkness without a single ray of light…….”
Demons appeared, and adventurers vanished.
As if that weren't enough, the Empire's territories and its people evaporated without a trace.
Even the Magic Tower.
Harkon was certain.
The root cause of all this was the demons.
But knowing the reason didn't mean there was a solution.
Fighting demons beyond that strength was a continuous cycle of despair.
His liege lord knew this as well.
“They say a Demon Legion Commander has appeared in the northwest. A Legion Commander. Thousands of soldiers will die in this expedition too. And I am the one driving them to their deaths with my own hands.”
“Your Majesty, such words…….”
“Harkon. Every night, I ask God, the Goddess. What have we done so wrong? If They pity us even a little, I ask Them to tell me what choice I must make.”
The Emperor smiled bitterly.
“But not once has there been an answer.”
Harkon couldn't say anything.
He merely fulfilled his duty as his lord's sword.
“I will slay the Demon Legion Commander and return, Your Majesty.”
That was his final memory.
When he came to his senses during the expedition.
“……!”
Harkon opened his eyes in a strange world.
Only then did Harkon finally understand his liege lord's heart.
That feeling of truly being abandoned by God.
“Why! Why us! We were facing the Demon Legion Commander……!!”
This strange world was the adventurers' homeland.
The vanished adventurers were here.
The vanished buildings, people, and even the Magic Tower existed here.
When he learned that fact, he had dared to hope.
But that hope vanished like foam in no time.
“……You too don't know the reason?”
The adventurers' homeland was in no less chaos.
The demons' clutches had reached even this place.
‘What must I do here?’
The first thing that came to mind was the Magic Tower.
‘If it's the Magic Tower.’
With their wisdom.
Might there not be a plan to overcome this situation?
But they were the mages of the Magic Tower, whom even the Emperor regarded lightly.
Realistically, expecting their help was impossible.
Then, a rumor reached his ears.
“……The Yusra Archipelago?”
A legendary treasure island.
The story that the Yusra Archipelago had appeared in this world.
A thread of hope?
Honestly, he didn't expect much.
‘A legend is nothing but a legend.’
Even if the treasure of the Yusra Archipelago existed.
What use would that treasure be in this situation?
Nevertheless, the reason Harkon and the Lionheart Knights sought the Yusra Archipelago was simple.
Because if they stayed still any longer, they would truly go mad.
‘……I cannot lose.’
If demons were the root of all this.
It was because he wanted to resist the schemes of such demons to the very end.
Then, he met a man, an adventurer.
‘That brooch? It's clearly from the Magic Tower……!’
At first, he thought it was an unparalleled opportunity.
To think there was an adventurer with close ties to the Magic Tower.
He thought he could contact the Magic Tower through him.
He had approached him with such a purpose.
But the more he observed, the more that thought changed.
‘……Even after noticing my impure motive.’
Far from making an issue of it.
He let it pass magnanimously.
That magnanimity showed itself in battle as well.
Despite possessing such magical prowess.
To simply open the way so that they themselves could distinguish themselves.
Harkon, who was well-acquainted with the arrogant mages of the Magic Tower.
He couldn't help but admire him.
‘Truly, the bearing of a true noble……!’
It started then.
“Lord Hoyeol.”
That was when the title he used for the adventurer, Hoyeol, changed.
But it didn't end with mere admiration.
The island shook, and a golden palace revealed itself.
Harkon knew that chilling aura all too well.
‘To think demons exist here as well.’
And a considerably powerful one at that.
Harkon swallowed a sigh.
‘In the end, am I being toyed with in the palm of their hands once again?’
But the sigh soon turned into a breath of relief.
“I was waiting.”
“……?”
“You vile demon who calls yourself a great evil.”
“……!!”
That, too, was thanks to Hoyeol.
Harkon watched in disbelief.
How could one, before a demon.
And one who calls itself a great evil at that, overflow with such confidence?
‘What is that unfaltering dignity?’
Such an attitude was something he had never seen even in himself, or even in the Emperor.
Harkon couldn't help but blame himself.
“……It is my failure, Your Majesty. If only I had known a little sooner.”
If I had known of Lord Hoyeol's existence.
Before the demons' clutches reached the Empire.
I could have executed them.
Regret was brief.
Soon, Harkon's eyes gleamed.
‘Yes. This is a chance to correct my mistake.’
No more excuses were needed.
Demons existed even here, in the adventurers' world.
Whether this was God's trial or heavenly punishment, it didn't matter.
‘I shall fight.’
If I can't even slay the demons of this world, how can I say I will protect the Empire and the Emperor!
As if supporting Harkon's resolve, Hoyeol's words continued.
“I don't believe in any god.”
Truly, a declaration befitting Lord Hoyeol.
‘Perhaps we are of like minds.’
Harkon smiled.
Thump—the heart of the sleeping lion began to beat again.
*Lionheart Knights.
I now well understood why they were called the strongest knightly order in Arcana.
Crunch—the Skeletons approaching with the sound of grinding bones.
Those wretched things were Level 500, of all things.
The moment I checked, shock was only natural.
Leonie’s absurd voice reached my ears.
“……The difficulty's fucking insane. For real.”
Of course, while the degree of expression might differ.
I agreed.
No matter how great an evil it is, what's with this difficulty?
[Sleepless Soldier: Lv.500]
[Sleepless Soldier: Lv.500]
[Sleepless Soldier: Lv.500]
…….
If there were only one or two of them, I wouldn't even mention it.
There were so many they seemed packed even from afar.
Even if undead were a race with clear weaknesses.
With such an extreme level difference, even their weaknesses would inevitably dull.
‘I guess it's impossible to conserve mana.’
……The moment I thought that.
“Offer your hearts! So that Lord Hoyeol may reach the great evil!”
Suddenly, Harkon's shout rang out.
“Offer your hearts!”
With that, the morale of the Lionheart Knights surged.
It wasn't a delusion.
The knights stepping to the front lines.
They literally began to smash the Skeletons.
Among them, what stood out were.
The three knights including Harkon.
[Harkon Kingsguard: Lv.600]
[Yeshika Bright: Lv.430]
[Enoch Loren: Lv.400]
Goooo—Harkon's blade glowed faintly.
Each time he swung his sword, skulls fell powerlessly.
Since Harkon's level was overwhelmingly higher than the Skeletons', it wasn't strange.
However, Yeshika and Enoch.
How should I describe those two knights' exploits?
‘They are certainly at a disadvantage in level. But.’
Though not as much as Harkon, they were fighting fiercely.
Strength beyond level.
I could figure out the reason.
‘The shining swords. So it really is that.’
Goooo—it wasn't as clear a light as Harkon's.
However, Yeshika and Enoch.
A faint light flickered from their swords as well.
So that's the source of strength that can even offset level.
I looked at that light with Grandfel's gaze.
Just like when I first witnessed “Magic”.
Search, Interference, Manifestation…….
Like when I had scribbled words I didn't know on paper.
I could discern the true nature of that light.
‘……Sword Qi(劍氣).’
Does something like that really exist?
Even I had my doubts.
But there was no need to think deeply about it.
Because, like magic, I would know once I experienced it.
And what mattered more at this moment.
‘By the way, what? Offer their hearts for me?’
It was Harkon's attitude, growing more devoted by the moment.
‘Scary. It's scary.’
Of course, I acted as if even that declaration was nothing.
I felt it was natural, but.
The players who were with me naturally reacted fiercely.
“……How did you build up that much intimacy?”
“Ugh, he's a monster. A monster.”
“As expected, you're beyond imagination, Mr. Hoyeol!”
Nam Taemin.
Even for a top-ranked player, this didn't seem to be a common sight.
This was a situation where one's shoulders might tense up, wasn't it?
I might have felt a bit smug without knowing why.
But my shoulders were heavy.
Noblesse oblige.
Thanks to that tiresome setting.
I couldn't help but feel responsible for the Lionheart Knights' sacrifice.
Therefore.
“Found you.”
The shadow sitting on the throne.
The message floating above its head.
[Avatar of Greed of the Seven Deadly Sins: Lv.650]
I didn't waver even before that great evil.
Tap—footsteps stepping forward confidently.
An upright waist and the angle of my neck.
A gaze unbent even before the towering throne.
I opened my mouth.
“How long do you plan to sit there, insignificant demon.”
As always.
“Truly no manners to be found, as befits an inferior race.”
...
“!”
Nam Taemin and Leonie.
The two shouted almost simultaneously.
“Everyone fall back!!”
“Don't come near!!”
It wasn't just any monster, but a demonkin.
Being stronger than absolute level was a given.
Demonkin that inflicted terrible abnormal statuses.
‘This isn't an opponent you can handle with numbers!’
Guild members with lower levels and equipment standards than themselves couldn't endure even slightly.
It was an order made with that judgment.
That said.
“Fucking hell.”
Leonie bit her lower lip hard.
Even she was by no means unharmed.
Her current level was 352.
A gap of 300 levels.
“……This seems like pretty serious trouble, doesn't it?”
369.
Nam Taemin was no different.
Berserker and Barbarian.
They were classes whose fighting spirit rose the more disadvantageous the situation.
Rather, their excellent combat senses were telling them.
That they were completely fucked.
However, the two were quick to judge the situation.
‘……Even if we can do nothing.’
We can't be a burden.
Resolved, Nam Taemin opened his mouth.
“For now, I'll hold on as long as I can. However, if I can no longer resist the abnormal status…… I'll back out of battle as I see fit.”
“Me too…… yo. I'll fight for now, but if it seems impossible, I'll just cut my Achilles tendon…… yo.”
“Oh, that's not a bad method.”
To cut one's own Achilles tendon.
Truly, a declaration befitting a Berserker and a Barbarian.
It sounded barbaric, but it was the best judgment.
Because they had seen it often.
Players who, afflicted by abnormal statuses, pointed their swords at allies.
Rather than becoming a threat to allies, it was better to crawl on the ground.
Injuries could be healed if one survived.
“……?!”
Just as they were thinking that.
The thing seated on the throne moved.
At the same time.
His chest suddenly felt stuffy.
[The Avatar of Greed of the Seven Deadly Sins is observing you.]
……What the hell is this message?
“Fucking hell.”
Unable to resist for even a single moment?
This was no ordinary demon.
Literally a “great evil.”
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before being afflicted by an abnormal status.
He might point his sword at allies, at Hoyeol.
He had to retreat quickly…….
[Your judgment clouds due to an unbearable desire.]
……No, was there really a need for that?
If he just cut open this suffocating chest.
Wouldn't everything end?
[Abnormal status: Greed occurs.]
It was the moment the two reached for their swords with trembling hands.
Hoyeol's voice rang out.
“There is no need for that.”
It was an exceedingly generous voice.
“I am here.”
Enough to quell even the surging greed in their hearts.
Clang—the two swords fell to the ground.
……What was I thinking?
At those words, the two suddenly came to their senses.
It wasn't an illusion.
Hoyeol had nullified the great evil's abnormal status.
For one who sat arrogantly upon a throne.
“Y-you, who the hell are you? How……?”
Its trembling, uneasy voice was proof of that.
[“The Vampire Count's Orb” has been selected as the offering.]
[Skill, “Exorcism Rite” activates.]
[Inviting the Avatar of Greed of the Seven Deadly Sins to the “Rite”.]
The demon hunt had begun.