◈ Chapter 375. The Picture I Painted (1)
It feels as though I have fallen into a deep sleep.
A profound rest where even dreams cannot reach.
Hasn’t this been the first time I’ve properly closed my eyes since awakening?
In its own way, it was welcome, and at the same time, I thought, So this is what sleeping like the dead feels like.
The great evil of the Seven Deadly Sins, Wrath.
To think that bastard would have such a novel pattern.
Wrath was far stronger than expected, but I was not worried.
Because I have faith.
Faith that if it is Grandfell, and not me, he will surely hunt it down.
Rather than worrying about Grandfell...
It would be right to worry about myself.
The enemies I will face from now on are on an entirely different level.
I realize that once again.
And that before such enemies, I, Lee Hoyeol, am endlessly lacking.
It is different from before.
For all that I am nothing but foam, I am carrying far too many burdens.
If I drown in pride, those burdens will sink with me as well.
Thus, what I had to do was simple.
I had to raise the proficiency of the skill, [Heaven and Earth, I Alone Am Supreme].
Through the curse, [Understanding of Darkness].
I had to fully revive the abilities Grandfell possessed in his prime.
Because the one capable of dealing with the situation that has befallen reality and the Arcana Continent is not me, Lee Hoyeol, but Grandfell. In that sense, I laughed. Because I thought that perhaps I would have to get used to this sensation.
It is dark.
Somehow, it feels darker than when I have my eyes closed. In that darkness, I have the sense that I am somewhere, but there is nothing I can see or feel, so I cannot say for certain.
However.
I could tell that my body was not moving according to my will.
Should I say it feels as if my loose tongue has spread through my entire body?
To put it another way...
Perhaps I can think of it as my usual position and Grandfell’s being reversed.
I had thought of it before.
The moment the proficiency of [Heaven and Earth, I Alone Am Supreme] reaches 100 percent.
What will happen to me?
Perhaps, thanks to the fact that I fainted, I am experiencing the future ahead of time. I feel like I saw a message saying [Darkening] at the very end... Maybe it is because of that influence.
In any case, as expected, it does not feel very good.
Still, the reason I do not complain is simply putting myself in another’s shoes. It is because I wondered if this is how Grandfell usually feels. As I drifted in the darkness, I suddenly heard a voice.
“You have taken even a single ray of light from me.”
It was my voice, but not my voice.
Then those must be words Grandfell had spoken.
By the way, a single ray of light.
I do not know what he means, but even at a glance, it sounds profound in a way befitting Grandfell’s tastes. It is probably nothing, and he is just assigning meaning to it again. Like tea bag green tea or internet surfing.
However, I could not help but flinch at the words that followed.
“Then I, too, shall take something from you.”...
What?
“The Demon World, and all that you possess.”
The demons’ homeland, the Demon World.
With the exception of the Seven Deadly Sins born on the Arcana Continent, all demons, including the high-ranking demon kings, are beings that originated from the “Demon World.” What Grandfell’s declaration meant was simple.
As compensation for that single ray of light being taken from him.
Grandfell intended to take the entire Demon World.
Only then did I understand where these steps were headed.
Once again, I became newly aware of it.
What I felt when I first activated the skill, [Heaven and Earth, I Alone Am Supreme].
As expected, it is certain that I do not properly know Grandfell.
Just as the system that does not lie said.
It is certain that I know only about one-tenth of him, no more than his proficiency.
There had been a subtle discrepancy between the settings I had scribbled down and Grandfell’s words and actions. It was the same even now. The Grandfell of this moment was openly furious.
『The first thing Grandfell learned as the next head of the family was not to be swayed by personal matters.
The position of head of the Claudi family was one that permitted not the slightest disturbance.』
Unlike the setting.
Why?
As I am now, I cannot know.
Let’s see.
Normally, I would have been making a fuss around here.
You’re charging into the Demon World alone?
What are you going to do if even a high-ranking demon king comes rushing out...!
I really am going to end up drowning in pride, aren’t I, I would have thought.
But that was, until the end, from my perspective as Lee Hoyeol.
Of course, Grandfell, if it is you, you might be able to do it.
It was around then that I realized.
Perhaps remaining with my eyes closed like this.
Might be the best thing I can do for everyone...
However, life was not so easygoing.
Because a voice came to me through the darkness.
“Who are you? As I thought...”
A man’s voice, faintly audible.
But because it was familiar, I realized at once.
It was Nam Taemin’s voice.
And that Nam Taemin was reciting solemnly.
“Grandfell Claudi Arpheus R...”
That damned full name...!!
The full name, from another person.
And not even a complete stranger, but from Nam Taemin’s mouth.
Even just listening to it in earnest was unbearably painful.
‘No matter what, Romeo is absolutely out of the question?!’
...
So, unfortunately, the conquest of the Demon World will have to be postponed until next time, Grandfell. I desperately opened my mouth. I did not show panic, nor any sign that I had just woken up.
I simply spoke as I always did.
“What an unnecessary question.”
Brazenly.
“I am Lee Hoyeol.”
Then my vision began to brighten.
Not completely.
Only to the extent that a single ray of light shone into an endlessly deep darkness...
*-
“I am Lee Hoyeol.”
Thud.
With those words as the last, Hoyeol collapsed.
It was not strange in the slightest. How could anyone stand upright with that amount of blood loss? How could he walk forward? Rather, it was enough to make one doubt one’s own eyes.
“...Hoyeol-ssi!!”
Nam Taemin’s bones had been crushed, but he kicked off the ground and shot forward. He succeeded in supporting Hoyeol before he toppled to the floor. Hoyeol, no one else but Hoyeol, had fainted.
It was only natural to be concerned...
“Damn it.”
Nam Taemin thought himself an idiot for smiling, even slightly.
Are you suspecting as you please and being happy as you please, Nam Taemin?
Even as he reproached himself, “I am Lee Hoyeol.”
That answer of Hoyeol’s echoed in his head.
“The operation is a success! All forces, retreat!”
The Sacred War Allied Forces returned to the Iron Castle with their commander-in-chief, Hoyeol. The process was not smooth. After all, Behemoth’s Maw was no easy place.
“So demons were all pouring out from there?”
Demons enough to cover the Arcana Continent.
It was a sight that made their numbers understandable. There were many demons being torn apart, but the number of demons that survived and safely set foot on the Arcana Continent was not small either.
Bang.
Chainwalker knocked a demon away with his hammer and said,
“Do you understand now? The continent did not sit idle and allow their invasion. It was merely that, though we knew, there was nothing we could do. It was already too late to interfere. That is why we should have listened to Akshan.”
Hisagi nodded. If not for the dwarves’ tanking, backed by their excellent equipment, and the fire support from the Iron Castle, it would not have been strange if they had died sudden deaths.
But as could be seen, they had succeeded. Though the commander-in-chief had lost consciousness and returned to the Iron Castle... It meant that everyone had returned to the Iron Castle.
Hisagi looked at the two spirits, Hiel and Diend.
“Forgive us, my lord...”
Once Hoyeol collapsed, the consciousness of the two spirits also returned.
The endlessly deep darkness that had covered the Arcana Continent disappeared as well.
As if nothing had happened.
Hisagi looked at Nam Taemin.
‘What kind of muscles are those?’
His arms and legs had been fractured, and there had not been a single part of him intact, but it seemed he had already naturally healed to some extent. Thanks to that, Nam Taemin was sitting upright in a chair, wrapping bandages with his own hands.
“I said I’m fine. I’ll do it.”
“Stay still.”
“No, do you even know how to wrap bandages? You’re a berserker. To you, bandages are basically a debuff. If it’s not Cheolmin-hyung, then rather than asking you...”
“Will you shut up?”
Tight.
Leoni wrapped the bandage so tightly that blood could not circulate. Nam Taemin’s brow furrowed on its own, but Hisagi could tell. That was an expression of relief.
Gaon and Inazuma.
As the masters of guilds that had once represented Korea and Japan, the two knew each other well. They could understand at least each other’s emotions just by looking at their faces. Only after Leoni left did Hisagi ask Nam Taemin.
“What conversation did you have?”
“You curious?”
“Yes, I am curious.”
Nam Taemin flinched in surprise.
His sworn enemy, who had never once easily yielded to him in anything, was being docile.
Nam Taemin let out a wry chuckle anew.
It must be because of the gravity of the situation.
“Well.”
Even as he opened his mouth, Nam Taemin thought.
‘My head is extremely complicated, too, and I don’t know what’s what.’
Hoyeol, whom he had faced while enduring the pain of his entire body being crushed.
As expected, that had not been Hoyeol.
Aside from the long hair, he had looked no different from usual.
But that gaze had not been Hoyeol’s.
‘But it didn’t feel like he was looking at an insect either.’
Perhaps, in his gaze, he himself was not even visible.
He must have appeared as a tiny speck of dust.
Just as no one cares what happens to a tiny speck of dust drifting nearby.
He, too, must not have had even the slightest concern for his pain.
Thanks to that, Nam Taemin had been certain and asked.
“Can you even call that a conversation? It was just a question.”
“What question did you ask?”
“Just... Who are you?”
Hisagi recalled Nam Taemin’s words.
-“That isn’t the commander-in-chief I know. No, that isn’t Hoyeol-ssi...”
The moment they had stepped into Behemoth’s Maw.
Nam Taemin had said that.
Hisagi had not taken it lightly.
“At the time, I thought it was a simple figure of speech.”
He had merely taken it to mean that Hoyeol was different from usual. But considering Nam Taemin’s usual direct manner of speaking... Hisagi smiled faintly and continued.
“As expected, there is no need to use my head when talking to you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It is a compliment.”
“Yeah? Then fine.”
It was not only the two of them.
The Iron Castle was still filled with questions.
Why had the endlessly deep darkness covering the continent disappeared the moment Hoyeol collapsed?
Why had his long hair returned to normal?
Why had warmth returned to him?
Because there was still nothing they could answer.
And so, simply looking at the door of the cabin where Hoyeol was resting was the best they could do. Of course, while not neglecting their own duties according to his teachings.
Suddenly, Hisagi asked.
“How did the commander-in-chief answer your question?”
“Do I have to tell you every single thing? What, are you going to write a memoir or something?”
“As it happens, I do have such an intention. A biography recording the commander-in-chief’s footsteps. While browsing the books in the Magic Tower, I resolved myself. To think there is not a single book recording the commander-in-chief’s great achievements. If so, I must write one myself.”
“...You know, at that point, that’s madness.”
Nam Taemin clicked his tongue in genuine disbelief.
However, Hisagi’s face was utterly serious.
To be precise, it looked as though he would not give up.
So, if only to shake off this troublesome snake.
“Well, it’s not like I can’t say it.”
He opened his mouth.
“Before that, my question didn’t end there.”
“Please leave nothing out.”
“Try being that obedient normally.”
After a brief jab, Nam Taemin continued.
“As I said earlier, he didn’t seem like Hoyeol-ssi. Then I wondered who that was, wearing Hoyeol-ssi’s uniform. And then only one person came to mind.”
“I suppose so.”
“That’s right.”
It was then.
“Grandfell Claudi Arpheus R..., the one Hoyeol-ssi set out to find in the Claudi Territory...”
Click.
“...!!!”
The door to the cabin where Hoyeol was lying opened.