◈ Episode 371. Not a Bad Picture
The players returned to the Claudi estate.
EXP, drop rate, skill proficiency buffs…….
The results of a single hunt accompanied by tremendous buffs were staggering.
"How long has it been since I gained a full level in one day?"
"You bastards, I got a unique item!"
"I hit max proficiency now too!"
However, there was something more important than the staggering loot.
It was the message that had popped up mid-hunt.
That’s right, Grandfell Claudi…….
"……What came after, again? Anyway!!"
In his heart, he wanted to ask I Hoyeol, who was clearly the person in question, right this instant. Just what was a Myth-grade quest! But it was common sense to refrain from asking sensitive questions among players.
Likewise.
Shining had appeared in the grand mansion.
Camilla spoke to Dmitri, who was leading the way.
"You know better than anyone, don’t you, Dmitri? You, who value privacy more than anyone. After getting completely hounded by player paparazzi……"
"Th-that’s clearly different from this!"
Hup—!
He answered as if it were no big deal.
But Dmitri had already turned away.
Judging by his moist eyes, he still hadn’t overcome the pain of his heartbreak.
The watching players clicked their tongues in pity.
Dmitri protested with effort.
"Of course, from a player’s perspective, quest progress is much more private than something like heartbreak. But it’s I Hoyeol, you know? Our commander-in-chief?"
He wouldn’t have asked if it were any other player.
Before the Cataclysm and after.
In Arcana, information was more precious the less it spread.
It was human nature to want to hide such information.
Dmitri added the real reason.
"He’s not an ordinary person, is he?!"
But it was Hoyeol.
Of course, he was no mere player.
I Hoyeol, who at times displayed an aspect that seemed to transcend humanity.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.
As mentioned before, Hoyeol was the commander-in-chief of the Holy War Allied Forces.
Dmitri clenched his fist as if he had truly made up his mind.
"I’m going to ask. As a member of the Holy War Allied Forces, I can at least ask that much, right? Whether he answers or not is up to the commander. If information about the Myth Quest is necessary for our allied forces, that is."
There was logic in Dmitri’s words. The onlookers could even tell that Dmitri felt a rather serious sense of belonging to the Holy War Allied Forces.
Roks muttered quietly.
"That would be a bit problematic."
"Huh? What did you say, Roks?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
A sidelong glance.
"……."
Camilla examined Roks’s faintly smiling face.
But she couldn’t observe it for long.
Was it because of Dmitri’s gruff voice?
There were those who had gathered.
"What, it’s Nam Taemin’s crew?"
"We have something to say, Dmitri."
"What, a scouting offer? W-well, I appreciate the sentiment."
The Arcana continent.
In their first hunt, most players must have realized.
The need for a reliable tanker.
It was different from the rifts that provided enemy levels through update notes.
His muscular shoulders puffed up with pride.
"You have to clash with them directly to gauge the monsters’ levels. And the only one who can make that possible is a tanker. I think it’s only natural to want this Dmitri’s help. But I am one who dies for loyalty and lives for loyalty……"
"What nonsense are you talking about, Dmitri?"
"Huh? Wasn’t it? A scouting offer?"
The current massive coalition.
Gang Euntaek, formerly of Gaon, swallowed a sigh.
Americans sure count their chickens before they hatch better than I do.
"Would we need you when we have Nam Taemin?"
"Wh-what, wha—?!"
A Barbarian is a DPS-tank, not a traditional tanker!
He wanted to passionately retort, but he couldn’t.
Because excluding I Hoyeol, who was off the charts, Nam Taemin had achieved player ranking number one.
On top of that, Gang Euntaek added with a serious face.
"The reason we stopped you is simple, Dmitri. You’d best refrain from asking the commander about the name that appeared in the message and the Myth-grade quest."
This time Dmitri properly flared up.
"What? So now that you stick by his side as his closest confidant, you’re his spokesperson too? But well? Isn’t that for the commander to judge, not you?"
Ignoring Dmitri.
The moment he tried to brush past Gang Euntaek.
Gang Euntaek let out a sigh and finally explained in detail.
"Phew. You should know this, Dmitri."
"What do you mean I know, from earlier?"
"That you shouldn’t pry into personal affairs."
……Personal affairs?
At those words, the eyes of the players watching the confrontation, including Shining, were drawn to him. Gang Euntaek recalled Nam Taemin’s words. Because he had said it would be best to inform all the players if possible.
Gang Euntaek caught his breath and continued.
"That’s right. Grandfell Claudi……"
For reference, the name was too long, so he glossed over it.
"……Romeo. Anyway, hereinafter Grandfell. Currently, after witnessing the message of Grandfell undertaking a Myth Quest, the commander summoned an Akshan wolf at the mansion. He has left his seat to follow that trail."
"……!!!"
Gang Euntaek spoke calmly, but the contents were anything but calm.
Because those few sentences contained unimaginable information. The players who had just arrived at the mansion and didn’t know the situation were agitated. They grabbed the players who had remained at the mansion and asked.
"Isn’t that a lie?"
"I saw it too. The Akshan wolf and Commander I Hoyeol!"
"R-really?"
Grandfell and I Hoyeol.
Did this mean the two were not the same person?
Dmitri seemed to have taken quite a shock.
He spoke quietly to Roks beside him.
"……I guess you were right, Roks."
"Yeah?"
"Just what kind of family is this?"
He looked up at the Claudi family mansion.
From a territory treated as a Hidden Piece to a grand mansion surpassing most royal palaces.
He had thought it unusual, but to this extent…
But what was more shocking than anything…….
"Is that there’s another existence like I Hoyeol?"
One capable of undertaking a Myth Quest.
He had believed I Hoyeol was the only one in all of Arcana and reality combined.
Was it because it was an area beyond his knowledge?
Even the talkative Dmitri couldn’t easily continue speaking.
Only the sound of players whispering could be heard.
"It certainly is a personal matter."
"Isn’t it also something like family circumstances?"
"Judging by the Akshan wolf, there’s a possibility demons are involved……"
But the shock didn’t last long.
If one were to ask how such a shock didn’t last long.
It was because an even greater shock struck the players.
Someone spoke.
"Time moves fast, though. Just now the sun was high in the sky. But it’s already pitch black? Not a single light coming in……"
Even then, everyone sensed something was off.
It was dark, but too dark.
This wasn’t darkness that could come from the sun simply setting.
Each looked out the nearest window.
And then they were startled.
Camilla, who had unusually broad vision, stammered.
"……I can’t see anything."
A landscape where pitch-blackness seemed to cover the sky, the earth, even the floating air was unfolding.
Because it was a Hidden Piece treated differently from the Arcana continent, perhaps this was a phenomenon unfolding only in the Claudi territory.
The moment the players were thinking that.
A message popped up.
[The Arcana continent is engulfed in endlessly deep darkness.]
"!!!"
It was different from when it had been Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo.
Endlessly deep darkness……!
At least here, the players of the Claudi territory knew of that epithet.
The silent Dmitri opened his mouth.
"……Just what is happening, I Hoyeol?"
* * *
Wrath asked itself.
What is happening……?
It surveyed its own authority.
Greed, Envy, and Lust had fallen into hell.
The malice they governed had lost its destination.
The masterless malice had transformed into wrath and become its power.
And that wasn’t all.
Though it didn’t know what was happening, at the same time, it seemed crisis had found Gluttony and Sloth as well.
Their malice too had been converted into spine-chilling wrath and lodged in its flesh.
Such authority of wrath?
It dared to boast.
Even if it were the king of all things, a dragon.
Even if dozens of them rushed in a pack.
The current self could face them with dignity.
Thus, it couldn’t understand.
Endlessly deep darkness.
Fluttering silver hair.
To a mere human like that.
Why was this body feeling terror?
Moon and stars, demonic eyes, even the night sky were buried in darkness.
The ground was the same.
Darkness to the extent that one couldn’t distinguish what existed an inch ahead.
The only thing visible was.
The last of the Claudi and the last survivor of Akshan.
‘Something is strange…….’
The rapidly changed scenery.
The moment Wrath was racking its brain to find the reason.
An irresistible pressure crushed Wrath down.
It was neither mana nor swordsmanship.
It was merely a voice.
"Kneel."
"……!"
Even if it couldn’t understand, it could feel it.
This was a command.
And an overbearing one at that.
A mere human giving a command to a great evil like me?
It was something impossible even when it wore human skin.
Now that it had absorbed the authorities of the other Seven Deadly Sins, it was even more impossible.
It would tear apart the muzzle that uttered such arrogant words.
Wrath’s veins writhed.
……Thud!
However, regardless of its surging emotions.
Its knees had submitted before the man.
Wrath was quick to judge.
As befitting the most intense primal sin, its momentum didn’t wane even before terror.
Crunch!
Wrath’s both hands moved toward its lower body.
Veins bulged fiercely in its grip.
With a horrifying sound, its legs were torn off.
Using the regeneration ability derived from overwhelming authority.
It would rise again with new legs rather than weak ones.
But the voice continued, rendering its decision meaningless.
"If you lack legs, press your forehead to the ground."
"……!"
It was so distant that it was hard to believe it was the voice of a mere human.
As expected, it couldn’t understand, but its body moved on its own.
Wrath’s head, which had been looking at the man, slammed into the ground.
Thud!……
Cut off its head?
Considering the overflowing regenerative power of its flesh, that would be fine.
Just as legs would regrow, so would its head.
But Wrath knew.
What was important was not the flesh. It was the interior.
Tremble, tremble, tremble—…….
Wrath ended up thinking.
If its head was cut off, what command would fall upon it next?
Thanks to that, it realized.
The situation where it, who had thought itself stronger than anyone, was being overwhelmed.
At this moment, in Wrath’s vision were blood-soaked hands.
It wasn’t its own blood.
They were the hands that had torn apart the man’s flesh moments ago.
Perhaps because that sensation was so vivid.
Wrath asked, unable to understand.
"……Who are you?"
It wasn’t a matter of strength.
Nor was it about the hair that had grown long in an instant.
The aura he exuded was different from the start.
Inside him was.
It meant a completely different personality existed than moments ago.
But of course.
Silence.
No answer came regarding that.
Clack.
Because its head was pressed down, fear was maximized even further.
The gradually approaching presence made Wrath impatient.
Wrath continued in an even more urgent voice.
"Are you saying you won’t tell me? Then I will tell you. You are no different from a demon. Two minds in one body. Is that not the same as possession!!"
No different from a demon.
The Claudi family and the last survivor of Akshan.
To him, who came from a background that couldn’t help but loathe demons to the extreme.
It would be the ultimate insult.
But what came was still not an answer.
Clack.
Wrath was aware.
It could not escape this crisis through its own efforts.
Its life was not in its own hands but in that man’s.
So a sincere doubt arose.
"……Why?"
The sensation of tearing through bone and flesh that it had felt at its fingertips.
That at least was not a mistake.
The man had clearly been driven to the brink of death.
"Why is one with power enough to scorn all things trapped in such a body? If I had gone just a little deeper, your heart would have burst and you would have died……!"
Only then did words arrive.
Was it consideration for itself?
This time it could understand.
But it was not an answer.
It was a one-sided muttering.
"Wrath is accompanied by loss."
"……What?"
"Because when you lose something precious, wrath grows greater."
At the same time, it was a mockery.
"But inferior races have nothing precious. Therefore, the emotion you feel is not wrath. It is merely a base impulse to tear something apart."
……A base impulse?
From Wrath?
Did this mean this body was nothing more than a base impulse?
Crack—!
The moment Wrath gritted its teeth.
The voice continued.
"In that sense, you have made me wrathful."
Slash—
Because the bowed head was cut off and faced the sky.
Only then could Wrath see the man’s face.
A demon whose breath is cut off by its natural enemy, a demon hunter, falls into hell.
Great evils are no exception.
It felt the heat of the rising fires of hell.
But Wrath did not scream in pain.
Because the man’s face it faced at the last moment was indescribable.
Wrath left its final words.
"Born at the beginning of time and having lived for eons, curiosity about a human arose for the first time. How regrettable, that I fall into hell without knowing anything about you……"
As Wrath was completely consumed by flames, the man, Grandfell, opened his mouth.
"You can take nothing more from me."
Coldly beyond compare.
"My—no, our—history is the same."