◈ Episode 379. Perhaps You and I
The battle for the Demon King’s throne—if need be, we simply have to change the battlefield.
To the Demon Realm, a place that was neither the Arcana Continent nor reality. In truth, it was only natural. If one asked them why they were choosing their own king in someone else’s homeland, even those bastards would have nothing to say.
The problem was whether there existed a madman insane enough to do such a thing.
Whether on the Arcana Continent or in reality.
That was why Marcelo was visibly startled.
“You intend to enter the Demon Realm? What do you mean by that?”
Because Marcelo, who was in reality, had not witnessed it.
—“I really thought you were going to disappear beyond the Demon Realm, you know?”
The moment I lost consciousness.
Granfell’s steps as he advanced toward Behemoth’s maw, which led to the Demon Realm. From the beginning, Granfell’s destination had been the Demon Realm. The high-ranking Demon King Buer and the usurper Discus had merely been encountered by chance along the way.
‘Two of them weren’t enough to satisfy Granfell.’
The price for that vanished ray of light.
At that time, Granfell had truly seemed ready to take on the entirety of the Demon Realm.
Perhaps it was thanks to that experience.
I was able to shift my thinking simply.
“We cannot hand over our homeland for mere demon play.”
When whales fight, the shrimp’s back gets broken.
There was no better way to describe the position of reality and the Arcana Continent before the battle for the Demon King’s throne. So I intended to move the place where the whales would fight to the Demon Realm.
Then, instead of the shrimp’s back, wouldn’t the demons’ backs get broken?
‘With me as the bait, that is.’
As I said, my position in the battle for the Demon King’s throne was unparalleled. That did not mean I was unparalleled in strength. It meant I was certain to receive more fervent attention and challenges than any high-ranking Demon King.
‘Because I’ll look the easiest to deal with.’
A high-ranking Demon King who had only just ascended the throne and was at the very bottom of the hierarchy.
Even if I put myself in their shoes, I would target me first.
If such an appetizing Demon King.
Appeared in the Demon Realm of his own accord, what would happen?
Marcelo answered slowly.
“……You will be subjected to concentrated attacks from countless challengers. If you set foot in the Demon Realm, my lord, the beings of the Demon Realm may no longer have any reason to cross into the Arcana Continent through Behemoth’s maw. They would have no reason to do so.”
But there was no way his expression could be bright.
“……However, is that truly your grand cause?”
I nodded.
“It is.”
I knew what he was worried about.
In truth, I myself was extremely worried.
The Demon Realm must also be a completely different world. The effect of [Last Adventurer], which worked on the Arcana Continent, would not apply there. If I died in the Demon Realm, they might truly not even be able to retrieve my corpse……
All sorts of thoughts had crossed my mind.
But no matter how much I thought about it, this was the best course.
This time, I was not being swayed by Granfell’s pride.
Commander-in-Chief of the Holy War Alliance.
It was the judgment made by me, Lee Hoyeol, who had accepted that position.
Marcelo forced the corners of his mouth upward.
“In that case, I will no longer try to dissuade you.”
And then he immediately began thinking of the next move.
‘I like how clearly he separates public and private matters.’
Perhaps it was because of this side of Marcelo that I always discussed every major matter with him first. Before long, Marcelo had hidden his emotions and become faithful to the plan.
“As you know, the most important thing before entry is information. In that sense, the Demon Realm can only be dangerous.”
The Demon Realm.
Before the demon race appeared in earnest, it was said to have been regarded like a legend. That was a story from when Arcana was nothing more than a game. To put it in terms of the game system……
‘It means only the foreshadowing had been dropped.’
Some NPC had discovered a demon monster called an imp.
Or had been possessed by a lost demon.
Rumors like that had even reached Akshan.
‘There was definitely a story like that in the Akshan quest, too.’
Marcelo continued bitterly.
“Looking back, the Magic Tower at the time was nothing but arrogant. Claiming to pursue hollow truths, we did not even think to look at the threats approaching the Arcana Continent.”
What that meant was simple.
It meant the Magic Tower had no information regarding the Demon Realm. However, the Arcana Continent was vast, and it seemed there had been at least one person who had been wary of the Demon Realm early on. Marcelo brought up such a figure.
“Lorentsk once sent a letter to the Magic Tower.”
Lorentsk.
How could I not know that name?
Every time I visited the Explorers’ League, the name I saw and heard was Lorentsk. The Hellfire necessary to activate [Akshan’s Legacy]. Even the [Torch of Hell], which burned with that Hellfire, was an item Lorentsk had collected.
I answered.
“You mean the Romantic Explorer.”
“As expected, you knew him as well! That is correct. The Romantic Explorer, Lorentsk, showed interest in the Demon Realm early on as well.”
Ssssss.
When Marcelo lightly flicked his finger, mana rippled through his office. The documents on the desk. The books on the shelves stirred for a moment. Then a faded sheet of paper flew gently between Marcelo and me.
Flutter.
“And this was Lorentsk’s letter.”
Even when picking up a mere sheet of paper, my arm remained at a perfectly upright angle.
I read on with an unruffled expression, then flinched.
This was……
It was no simple warning letter.
──────Travelogue of the Demon Realm──────
Marcelo nodded.
“That is correct. The Romantic Explorer, Lorentsk. He had already grasped the Demon Realm well enough to write a brief travelogue. In other words, it means he had experienced the Demon Realm.”
The contents were concise. It was filled only with descriptions of the Demon Realm’s scenery, and the lack of complicated modifiers made it seem all the more credible. The only problem was that it cut off around the middle.
“He wished to borrow the Magic Tower’s power with the travelogue as evidence. Whether his goal was to explore the Demon Realm more deeply, or to confirm its dangers, we cannot know…… But of course, his request was not accepted.”
Marcelo added.
“For reference, Senior Vensh William volunteered, but the leadership did not permit it. Rather than saying they did not trust Senior Vensh…… it was likely, as expected, due to the influence of the demon worshippers.”
……
Was that so?
I did think that if it had not been Vensh and some other senior had volunteered, perhaps permission might have been granted. But it was not an important matter. So I did not say it aloud.
“It is simply a deep regret. Lorentsk—if the Magic Tower had built a connection with him, he would have been a great help to you now, my lord…… This, too, must be due to the Magic Tower’s inadequacy.”
Marcelo’s words were only half right.
Lorentsk, who had set foot in the Demon Realm.
He would be a great help to me as I prepared to enter the Demon Realm.
But there was no need for regret.
Because although Marcelo did not know it.
I had witnessed it through a message.
The vanished beings spat out by the Ominous Bird.
The buffs currently being applied to the Arcana Continent through their return.
Among them.
[The missing Romantic Explorer, Lorentsk, has returned to the Arcana Continent. Having survived dramatically, the Romantic Explorer has decided to end his life of seclusion, and his knowledge enriches the Arcana Continent further. : The Romantic Explorer, Lorentsk, roams the continent and spreads knowledge.]
Lorentsk’s name.
“When we belatedly tried to inquire after Lorentsk, it was already too late. Even when we traced his handwriting and mana with magic, we could not find a single trace of him.”
Marcelo let out a low groan.
“Considering the rumors surrounding him, it would be stranger to think he has survived until now. It seems I have brought up an unnecessary matter. Vain expectations only cloud the mind……”
“No, it is not a vain expectation, Marcelo.”
Once deleted.
Lorentsk, who had been swallowed by the Ominous Bird and disappeared from the Arcana Continent.
It meant he had returned to the Arcana Continent.
“It is not a vain expectation, my lord?”
However, Granfell’s way of speaking.
Would never explain every last detail of the circumstances.
So this time, too, I had no choice but to state only the main point in grand terms.
“I have just brought Lorentsk back to life, you see.”
“B-brought him back to life? Surely you mean resurrection, my lord?”
……
There was a limit to dressing things up grandly.
Even so, it was not entirely wrong.
For me, simply staying still was the best option.
Thanks to that, Marcelo began making magical speculations on his own.
“Could it be……! Did you reverse even death with reversal magic? Watching you, my lord, I realize it once again. As expected, the position of Tower Master should rightfully go not to me, but to you……!!”
Clink.
‘Now he’s gone so far as to make reversal magic into a miracle of resurrection?’
As I set down my teacup, I thought.
Somehow, stripping away my inflated reputation might be harder than finding Lorentsk, who was said to be wandering the vast Arcana Continent……
*
A small village that had collapsed under the demons’ offensive.
Men sat in a tavern from which the acrid dust had been roughly brushed away. Their appearances were all different. Not just their clothes—they did not even look like people who lived in the same era.
A rough voice rang out.
“Though the ages we lived in may be different, aren’t we all fellows who popped out of the same belly on the same day? Hahaha! We’re all just as empty-handed as each other. So let’s get along, why don’t we!”
All of them were people who had popped out of the Ominous Bird.
Among them, they were those who had nowhere to rely on.
Someone muttered bitterly.
“If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have run away from that war…… I never imagined the punishment for defying fate would last this long.”
“Hey, must you ruin the mood like that?”
“I’m sorry. I was envious, that’s all, envious……”
Everything was relative.
Even the wretched Empire.
Though they had popped out of the Ominous Bird just like them.
Those who were not alone were objects of envy.
“Tsk.”
To govern such emotions, sometimes one needed a target on which to vent.
The men poured out the knowledge they had of the Arcana Continent.
“More than that, isn’t it absurd? To think the family that unified the Arcana Continent was the Seric Rose family. When I was alive. I mean, before I was swallowed by the Ominous Bird, Seric Rose was a frontier noble house among frontier noble houses……!”
“An era where dragons fly through the sky. If this isn’t the end times, what is……”
“More than anything, I was shocked by the news about Akshan. For the great Akshan to vanish from the continent overnight. Isn’t that utterly impossible? After all, Akshan was……”
At that moment.
The men’s gazes all turned toward the corner at once.
There had been a sound grating on their nerves for some time.
Scratch, scratch.
The sound of a sharp nib scraping paper.
“What the hell is with that bastard?”
The one ceaselessly writing something in the corner was a young man with a youthful face. As mentioned before, those gathered there were in an extremely foul mood. They happened to need someone on whom to express their emotions.
“Hey, what are you writing so much?”
Scratch, scratch.
No answer came back. Judging by his face value, he looked as though he might have only just reached adulthood. For a greenhorn brat to ignore my words. The middle-aged man drew a sharpened knife and approached.
“Seeing as you’re wandering alone, you must have popped out of that monster’s belly too, right? Are you looking down on me just because you trust that background? If so, you’re mistaken.”
The world was not a garden full of dreams and hope. The current Arcana Continent was a place where one had to cloak oneself in ugliness to survive. The middle-aged man glanced back at the group behind him.
‘More than anything, I can’t let them look down on me.’
Thud.
It was the moment he drove the knife into the wooden table.
The young man, who had been silent until then, opened his mouth.
“Fellows born from the same belly on the same day.”
“……What?”
“Indeed, that expression contains romance.”
The man who said so raised his head.
“?!”
The man who had been threatening him flinched.
‘……What are these eyes?’
Because the young man’s eyes were excessively clear.
As though the Milky Way of the night sky had been placed within his black pupils.
Facing them made goosebumps rise on his skin.
With those eyes, he asked calmly.
“May I borrow that expression and use it? You see, the writing I am currently composing will become an unparalleled novel of the Arcana Continent…… No, a history book.”
“……W-what did you say?”
“Do you think it is bravado? Very well, then I shall recite a passage for you.”
The middle-aged man exchanged glances with the group.
A man who, despite threats, simply said what he wanted to say was dangerous—extremely dangerous. A clear-eyed madman must refer precisely to a fellow like this.
Nod.
After nodding, the members of the group began rising one by one.
Unconcerned by that, the young man continued speaking.
He even cleared his throat first.
“Ahem! It was the moment when the Arcana Continent had sunk into infinitely deep darkness. The infinitely deep darkness took a step toward the Demon Realm. The King of Corpses howled. O infinitely deep darkness, why do you seek to swallow even the Demon Realm!”
……
I did not know what infinitely deep darkness was.
But to think he had been writing such an utterly burdensome story.
So diligently.
For that reason, he was undoubtedly a madman.
It was the moment the men began moving meaningfully.
The young man’s clear eyes sank.
“Oh dear, it becomes exceedingly interesting from here on…… What a pity. You gentlemen do not have the slightest inclination to listen seriously. Well, it matters not. Even if you do not understand, I shall certainly pay the price for the quotation.”
At the same time, something flashed in the young man’s hand.
“Gah!!”
Then, except for the young man.
Everyone collapsed to the floor with a death cry.
Perhaps he had paid the price for the quotation.
Quite literally, they were left with only their breath clinging to them.
Swoosh.
The young man paid them no mind.
As if nothing had happened.
He sat back down and picked up his quill again.
If the protagonist of the work he was writing were to hear it.
“The infinitely deep darkness ascended to the Throne of the Ten Seats. No, isn’t that expression too bland? There’s no romance in it, no romance! Let’s see, the infinitely deep darkness reached the true truth…… No, even this is insufficient. Get a grip, Lorentsk! Ordinary expressions aren’t enough. I need an expression more dignified, more splendid, more majestic, one that no one can dare rival……!!”
He would faint at the words Lorentsk was muttering……