◈ Chapter 362. Welcome (2)
From between my lips.
Beyond mere composure.
An arrogant voice flows forth.
“Thou art an existence not even equal to a garden insect.”
Grandfell, who is always cruel to demons.
But somehow, hasn’t the intensity of his remarks grown even stronger lately……?
If it were like before, it would have ended at the level of ‘insect.’ An existence not even equal to an insect. It is not simply that disappointment in demonic behavior keeps him from speaking kindly. Grandfell’s treatment of demons has never once been adjusted upward from rock bottom.
Then there is only one possibility.
‘……The temperament of his prime is truly something else.’
[Curse, Understanding of Darkness].
Through it, my understanding of Grandfell has risen, making my loose tongue even more prickly, changing it to be ever more like that time.
‘Even if I do not activate it, one-tenth of that understanding does not simply vanish.’
Suddenly, such a thought occurred to me.
[Understanding of Darkness].
And the [Unrivaled Under Heaven and Earth] linked to it.
I wondered what would happen when its proficiency reached one hundred percent. It is not as though I am only worried about hair that will sway and flutter.
I soon shook off those thoughts.
‘……No, not now.’
To be immersed in such luxurious worries—
The stench of the demon wafting before my eyes was excessively unpleasant, to say the least.
By the way, you certainly do not disappoint.
Great Evil, Lust of the Seven Deadly Sins.
“How, how is it that you are here……?”
A surprised expression.
He must have thought I crossed over to the Arcana Continent with the players? It was a mega-event. And the media must have made a huge fuss over it.
[The Holy War Alliance Finally Sorties to the Arcana Continent!]
[Ihoyeol, “Where I go is the path itself.”]
[Experts Unanimous, “It is no exaggeration to say the future of humanity rests upon Ihoyeol……”]
The Holy War Alliance.
Whether the pride they held in their hearts remains unchanged or not—
Even I cannot say.
But they are the vast majority of players belonging to the Holy War Alliance.
As the commander-in-chief of such a Holy War Alliance.
I must have needed to monitor the Alliance’s entry into the continent.
After all, the Arcana Continent is a place more dangerous than any rift.
‘Even the Magic Eye of the Heavens alone is proof of that.’
Players entering the Arcana Continent for the first time?
Frankly, it would not be strange for them to panic.
It is the current state of a continent completely different from the one they knew. But unlike the early days of the Arcana Continent, no friendly tutorial exists.
‘He must have thought my help would be needed.’
But he was wrong.
A prior appointment.
All things have their priority.
“I have not forgotten for a single moment.”
“……What are you talking about?”
“The fact that you draw breath alive upon this land.”
Grandfell’s tenacity.
And that tenacity toward demons is at a level that easily surpasses all expectations. Ever since facing the half-blooded demon Gremory, I have not overlooked the existence of Lust, who shared blood with Gremory, for a single instant.
And so, I lightly raised my palm.
“Insects drawn by fragrance to a garden desperately attempt to escape the palm. Yet you do not even pretend to escape from within my palm. If that is not the case—”
As expected, the scolding continues.
“You must not even realize that you are within my palm.”
“……!”
“Because you are not even equal to an insect.”
Had its pride as a Great Evil been scratched? Lust’s eyes blazed fiercely before turning at once to the magic circle engraved upon the floor. It must be a magic circle for the ritual.
Still, his situational judgment is swift.
‘He judged that there is no chance of victory as things stand.’
Let alone the half-blooded demon Gremory, I was the one who had hunted down Jealousy, likewise of the Seven Deadly Sins, even while missing an arm. Though I was the one who had cut it off in the first place.
‘I did have Marcelo and Vangrit’s help when cutting off the arm.’
Regardless, after that, I had even defeated the Demon Dragon Yunaxus.
Lust must have judged while watching my track record. By ordinary means, he cannot rival me. He too had no choice but to mix blood like Gremory and enter the realm of [The Otherworldly].
The Demon King chosen to mix blood with is—
‘The Demon King of the Ten Thrones.’
Ten Thrones.
They are the upper demon kings.
Of course.
The top-ranked upper demon king I encountered within the curse—
Even before Baal, I was one who did not bow his proud head.
Thus, the words I would utter were simple.
“I am curious what desperate struggle you will show me.”
“Desperate struggle?”
“In the end, the conclusion of your belly being turned inside out shall not change.”
“……!!”
Regardless of the worries of I, Ihoyeol—
Would Grandfell be one to fear the summoning of an upper demon king?
Rather, he might greatly rejoice.
Two birds with one stone.
An opportunity to uproot both the Great Evil and the upper demon king at once.
However, I knew.
Through Gamigin and Baal, the two upper demon kings I had grown familiar with facing, I knew how great a price was required for them to reveal their forms. Thanks to that, I was able to clearly read Lust’s movements.
‘There is no place more suitable for a large-scale sacrificial ritual than China.’
The collapse that began with unification under heaven.
Elsidor had immediately sealed the collapsed rift, but the surging negative emotions could not completely vanish. And China, where the number of sacrificial victims is likewise incomparably vast.
Shring—
I raised Gwicheol.
“However, it is regrettable.”
If demons had been sacrificed as offerings, as during Gamigin’s summoning, I might have watched the ritual quietly.
What is two birds with one stone?
If you count on the abacus, considering even the demons sacrificed as offerings……
Grandfell might have shown generosity to a demon for the first time.
But.
“I cannot let Elsidor’s labor be in vain.”
The offerings in this ritual were the citizens of China.
To hunt demons using the sacrifice of others?
Setting efficiency aside, Grandfell’s noble pride could never permit such a thing.
Lust sneered.
“You speak well. But it is I who am regretful. The ritual has already begun. Once a ritual for an upper demon king has begun, none can stop it!!”
That—who should be saying that?
I answered calmly.
“For the first time, the words of you who are not even equal to a pest are correct.”
“You still do not understand the situation……”
“That is right. The ritual has already begun.”
“……?”
[Demon Subjugation Ritual].
A battle of mental strength between a demon hunter and a demon.
The one who seizes the upper hand in that tug-of-war—
Shall reign supreme over all things of the ritual.
I spoke to Lust.
“It seems this sight appears as such to you now.”
“……What?”
Lust’s bewildered expression.
Leaving him behind, I shifted my gaze and looked around. As calm as if a typhoon had swept through. The magic circle for the upper demon king manifestation ritual had not manifested either.
Beyond that, the gazes pouring down were terribly stinging.
Buzzing murmurs.
“I-it’s Ihoyeol!”
“Ihoyeol? Who’s that?”
“The censorship really is terrifying. How do you not know Ihoyeol? He is the pinnacle of players, incomparable to that cowardly fake, Liu Aojunchun. From infinitely deep darkness, he holds dozens upon dozens of titles……!”
……No matter what, dozens is rather an exaggeration, isn’t it?
‘Regardless.’
It was Lust and I who had met in midair. That sight was enough to draw the surrounding attention. From smartphone cameras to drone cameras, they spared no effort in capturing my image.
“What are you saying?”
Of course, the important thing was Lust.
He was still seeing things that were not there.
What those words meant was simple.
I had grown.
“Let us end this.”
To the extent of treating even a Great Evil of the Seven Deadly Sins as ‘merely’—
“……!!!”
He finally seemed to grasp the situation.
He appeared to attempt to move belatedly, but—
I had no intention of waiting any longer.
“It would not do to keep a visitor waiting.”
Time in the Arcana Continent flows roughly four times faster than reality. Let’s see, no matter how vast the Claudi family mansion is, it is not fully restored either.
‘Before catching the faintest whiff of dark history in the mansion……’
As the master of the house.
It means I must return to the mansion and watch over the players.
And so, I moved.
The most efficient movement when hunting demons.
Akshan.
Like them.
Grand magic is a luxury for merely a Great Evil.
Two hands holding a sword and a crossbow loaded with silver bolts are sufficient.
As if to prove that fact—
Fwoosh!
The fired crossbow bolt pierced through Lust’s shoulder blade.
He seemed to try twisting his body to dodge.
But it appears he hit bone in the process.
“Kuk.”
His drooping shoulder was enough to stir even my, Ihoyeol’s, meager sympathy, but would Grandfell care for the emotions of a demon not even equal to a pest?
Tap—charge.
I kicked off the ground lightly and shot forward.
Of course, movement speed is affected by the [Agility] stat. Even if [Predator and Prey] has activated, my pure physical ability is far lower than that of martial-class players of lower level than myself.
“!”
Yet the reason I could move at a speed that flustered Lust was due to the desperate struggles until now. To be exact, thanks to the propulsion of magic emanation added with every step, and mimicking Elsidor’s movements.
Moreover, this is within the Demon Subjugation Ritual that I dominate.
A mere Great Evil.
Cannot follow my speed.
[A ‘critical hit’ occurs on Great Evil, Lust of the Seven Deadly Sins.]
[‘Bleeding’ occurs on Great Evil, Lust of the Seven Deadly Sins.]
[‘Helplessness’ occurs on Great Evil, Lust of the Seven Deadly Sins.]
……
This is not a battle.
Literally, a hunt.
And one completely one-sided.
The predator-prey relationship between natural enemy and prey.
Kwakakakang!
I looked down at Lust, who had fallen wretchedly upon the building rooftop.
His blood was soaking the rooftop floor.
“Damn it……”
He ground his lips and spoke.
“I thought I had grasped my standing. After falling upon this damned land, I did not underestimate you for a single instant. After all, were you not the last survivor?”
The corner of my mouth twisted upward.
“Survivor of Akshan and Claudi. Unbelievable. How is it that you shoulder two fates impossible to bear even one at a time? I am interested. Truly pure interest……”
A demon lives up to its name after all.
‘Pure, my ass.’
The sight of him licking his lips with his tongue reminds me once more that a demon’s words cannot be trusted for a single syllable. However, Lust eventually laid his upper body, which he had painstakingly raised, back down upon the ground.
It was grotesque to say he had lain splayed in the shape of the character for ‘great.’
Neck, arms, and legs bent at strange angles.
From such a Lust, a hollow voice flowed out.
“Perhaps I failed to grasp my standing. I set my mind to surpass you by dominating the upper demon kings. But your composure made me realize. That I cannot surpass you.”
Then the final words followed.
“Thus, I shall become your offering. Buer!!”
At the same time.
I recalled.
Demon Kings.
To summon them.
An altar is required.
The recapture of Frost.
In the past, Decarabia had arranged corpses in a star shape to create an altar, and Karim Zeva, who had tried to summon Gamigin, had likewise manifested the fissure of the ‘Dimensional Rift’ in the shape of a horse.
Therefore, the grotesquely bent Lust was literally—
Himself the altar.
And attempting to become the offering to summon an upper demon king.
Therefore, my—
No, Grandfell’s reaction was unmistakably clear.
My cold gaze turns toward the splitting sky.
[The Demon King of the Tenth Throne, Buer, appears.]
“Two birds with one stone, indeed.”