◈ Episode 433. Heed the Arrangement (2)
System messages do not lie.
If something has risen dramatically, it means it truly has achieved remarkable growth, and a warning message means the player truly has fallen into grave danger.
In that sense.[Grand Magic (Master): The inherited secret magic has developed without limit, reaching a realm that cannot be denied even if it is called grand magic. Yes. Grand magic is the pinnacle of the magical path.]
Inside the pointed hat.
Great mages, each of whom had dominated an era of the Arcana Continent.
Jesse’s ability, now beginning to fully wield the secrets of her predecessors.
Inside the swaying helicopter.
Gulp.
It was enough to make Joshua murmur once more.
“Level is nothing but a number……!”
The official player rankings.
At present, Jesse Heinness’s level was not greatly different from those of the top-ranked players. No, recently, she had actually been pushed out of the top ten rankings.‘While the other players were attacking the Arcana Continent and the Zero Mountains.’For some reason, Jesse had hardly shown herself. Thanks to that, vague rumors had circulated.
Rumors that the Tower Master’s death might have had an enormous impact on Jesse’s mind…….
It was also why Joshua had been surprised by Jesse’s appearance.
“From the beginning until now. You always exceed my imagination, Miss Jesse.”
Even their first meeting had been unexpected.
Back when Arcana was nothing more than a game.
For someone who had obtained the hidden class of Great Mage, Jesse had seemed lacking in passion.
After the Cataclysm, once he had been appointed head of the AAU Western United States branch, he had even resented that Jesse.
To possess such immense potential, yet use that potential as if letting it rot. If only the hidden class of Great Mage had gone to Rocks or Dmitri instead…….
He had even let his imagination run wild like that.
“I will formally apologize later.”
After Jesse left Shining.
Joshua had practically been in a state of self-abandonment. Jesse had never been someone they could restrain in the first place, and from the moment she left Shining, even the last connection between his country and Jesse had been severed.
“I thought it was truly over with you, Miss Jesse.”
But that Jesse was before his eyes.
“I understand the gap in your activities, Miss Jesse.”
In the form of a true Great Mage.
Kugugung!
New York.
The Demonic Eye that had appeared in the sky began to slowly sink toward the ground. As the head of an AAU branch, Joshua’s knowledge of Arcana was more extensive than that of most players.
Perhaps thanks to that.
“Meteor Strike……!”
He could guess that the magic Jesse was manifesting had gone through an interference process no different from the highest-tier magic, 『Meteor Strike』, which the Tower Master and Hoyeol had once manifested.
“!”
Of course, the Demonic Eye was not so easygoing.
Rattle.
Its pupils rolled.
From Jesse, who was dragging it down, to the monsters that had flowed backward.
Joshua’s voice brightened a level.
“You’re looking away so arrogantly?”
The Demonic Eye with eight pupils.
The primordial beings of the Demon Realm.
There was a clear limit to the influence the AAU had estimated they possessed.
“There are no demon-type monsters nearby.”
Exactly as the message that had appeared in the players’ sight said.
They merely stained demons with a deeper malice. Their gaze should not have any particular effect on ordinary monsters that were not demon-type monsters that had flowed back through a collapsed rift.
And yet.
-Chief Joshua!!
Radio transmissions came in all at once.
-A n-new message has appeared……![Under the influence of the Demon Realm’s primordial being, the area is corrupted.]
“What, corrupted?!”
Was it a status abnormality, a buff?
Or simply a change in the field?
He could not grasp its exact effect.
But one thing was clear.
“What are those things doing all of a sudden?”
The monsters that had flowed back from the collapsed rift, all at once.
Had begun to charge at Jesse.
As if the fact that Jesse was levitating meant nothing at all.
“They’re building a tower……?”
With their own bodies, with their corpses.
They were building a mountain to reach Jesse.
Joshua was left speechless.
No, it was not only Joshua.
“Holy sh…….”
“What the hell am I looking at?”
“Lord, God above.”
Beyond America, across the entire world.
Through the broadcast footage.
Everyone watching the situation found it difficult to continue speaking.
They were not swallowing sighs out of concern for Jesse.
A true Great Mage.
Jesse was proving that she had entered another dimension.
Even if the corrupted monsters charged at her all at once.
Pajijik.
They could not even draw close to the edge of Jesse’s cloak.
Basseuseu.
They were reduced to powder by the vast mana being released.
Even while watching Jesse’s performance.
The reason humanity could not hide its shock was simple.
“It’s smiling……?”
The eight pupils curved deeply.
Because it was smiling with its eyes.
As if every sight before it was truly amusing.
An entirely different reaction from the demons.
And the Demon Kings they had faced until now.
And an entirely different ability.‘A demon with the ability to corrupt monsters just by looking at them.’Joshua shook his head.‘……
No, don’t think useless thoughts.’Yes, demons were beings that fed on negative emotions.
Joshua judged rationally.
Whether it was smiling with its eyes or sneering.
The Demonic Eye was being crushed by Jesse’s magic and sinking toward the ground.
“That fact does not change.”
Joshua typed up the information he had obtained through this collapsed rift raid. He quickly transmitted it to the AAU. Fortunately, Joshua’s actions were of tremendous help to the AAU and humanity.
Indeed.[Unidentified flying sphere appears near the Osaka collapsed rift.][Demonic Eye appears near the Australian mine collapsed rift.][Sphere presumed to be a Demonic Eye appears near the Seoul subway collapsed rift.]…….
Because the Demonic Eye had not appeared only in New York.*On Earth.
Messages appeared over every existing rift.
And at each rift, a Demonic Eye with eight pupils revealed itself.
“Are you done, Senior Feiyan?”
“Huh? Y-yes!”
“What are you eating so much of?”
“I really wanted to come here. A large mart full of food!”
“Did you pay for that?”
“……
Ah.”
Successfully cleared.
Closed rifts, as seen, were no longer a problem.
However, collapsed rifts were different.
Just as a Demonic Eye had appeared in the sky above New York.
There remained the possibility that Demonic Eyes would appear at other collapsed rifts as well.
The players near the rifts all froze at once.
Wiiing—their smartphones vibrated.
“Looks like an emergency update went up on the homepage?”
“What does it say?”
“Let us see too!!”【Chronicles of the Arcana Continent Official Homepage】※Emergency Update Notice『From now on, the Demon Realm’s primordial beings will exert influence over rifts.
A rift’s collapse rate will rise at a faster speed.
Monsters consumed by a Demonic Eye will be corrupted.
Corrupted monsters will possess the same racial stats as demons.』“W-wait a second. What kind of patch is this?”
Even the fact that rift collapse rates would rise at a faster speed alone.
Was enough to cause an enormous aftermath.
The AAU, players, and rift collapse rates were tightly interlinked.
Even a slight deviation in that calculation could cause massive chaos.
“There were a lot of rifts nearby that were already over 80 percent.”
“Doesn’t that mean they’ll all collapse by tomorrow?!”
“More importantly, what kind of status abnormality is corruption? The same racial stats?”
They would possess the same racial stats as demons.
“In any case, they’re still not real demons, so they won’t be able to possess anyone, right?”
“No, this isn’t the time to feel relieved about that. Did you see the New York rift video that just went up? The monsters charging at Jesse! That eye, that Demonic Eye, was controlling them on its own?!”
“……
If we just leave this alone, things are going to get bad, aren’t they?”
A phrase from the Zero Mountains suddenly flashed through their minds.
Appropriate level: not recommended for anyone.
The monsters of the Zero Mountains were purely high-level.
So high that even demons could not easily look down on them.
If such monsters were corrupted under the influence of the Demonic Eye, possessed the same racial stats as demons, and came to be swayed by the Demonic Eye’s control……. The players’ faces turned white.
“That’s literally the end of the Earth……?”
Thanks to never neglecting their investigation of the strange.
“The atmosphere is unusual.”
The senior mages who had left the Tower to close the rifts also roughly grasped the seriousness of the situation. The senior of Pure Mana Studies, Vangrit Tom. He forced himself to speak to his companion, the senior of Dark Magic Studies, Matisse Dean Karl.
“Their appearance is different from the Demonic Eyes of the Arcana Continent.”
“I-is that so?”
Horribly enough.
The conversation kept cutting off.
He found himself resenting Senior Bensch for no reason.‘No, didn’t they say you were extremely active?’Why did you fail again this time!
Vangrit thought of Bensch, who had been unable to leave the Tower. A cat would never simply pass by a fish shop, so as always, Senior Bensch’s application to leave the Tower must not have been approved this time either.
Matisse murmured toward the Demonic Eye.
“Do you remember the Great Mage, Jesse Heinness, Senior Vangrit?”
“Ah, yes. I remember her.”
“They say she fully completed Lady Mary’s trial.”
“Yes, I heard that news as well.”
Vangrit nodded. It was news he had heard through the players. They said she had perfectly suppressed a Demonic Eye identical to the one floating in the sky, in a land across the sea.
Matisse continued.
“We must not fall behind her growth either.”
“Of course!”
Matisse and Vangrit.
The two senior mages each teleported toward the Demonic Eye.
Just as Jesse had done.
The senior mages did not have to expend much effort in dealing with the Demonic Eye.
“It’s smiling? If Senior Bensch saw this, he would be furious.”
It was smiling unpleasantly with its eyes.
But the Demonic Eye had no combat ability whatsoever.
For now, it was simply bothersome.
However.
Kwa-kwa-kang!
The rifts that continued to form and collapse were the fundamental problem.
“Where is it this time?”
“They say it’s the subway rift.”
“Don’t tell me, is it that one? The one where waves pour out in the subway?”
“That’s right! Appropriate level 150.”
“Damn it, everyone hurry!”
It was impossible to accurately count the number of rifts that existed on Earth. After all, hundreds of rifts formed in a single day, and hundreds were cleared.
But what was certain was this.
“Is it a blackout……?”
When any rift collapsed.
Its danger level rose dramatically.
The subway suddenly stopped.
Passengers looked around.
Someone uttered words that invited misfortune.
“D-don’t tell me it’s a rift collapse!”
“Excuse me. Please don’t make a fuss for no reason.”
“No, I’m not talking nonsense. This is also undeniably a subway rift where players operate! Since it’s connected through transfer stations, you can basically consider it one connected rift……!”
It was then.
Clank.
With a heavy sound, the subway car doors opened. Shock settled over the faces of the citizens, who had looked indifferent until just moments ago. They had no choice.
“Everyone, run…….”
Thud.
A blood-soaked player collapsed.
What that meant was simple.
Just like those ill-omened words, the rift had collapsed.
“A-are you all right?”
“First, help him up!”
“Even if you run away alone, it’s over if you run into a monster, you all know that, right?”
However, if there was a silver lining amid the misfortune, it was that this was not the early days of the Cataclysm. Thanks to that, there was little agitation. The passengers all began to move according to the manual.
“It may look unfamiliar, but a rift is ultimately the scenery of the Arcana Continent overlaid onto reality. So the path leading to the exit probably hasn’t changed.”
Everyone pushed through the darkness, relying on memory.
But if there was something they had overlooked.
It was that this was not an ordinary situation.
A trembling voice followed.
“Th-there’s s-something on the ceiling……!”
Everyone raised their heads following that voice.
“Ah, fuck.”
The curse he had been desperately suppressing slipped out of his mouth.
Even so, he maintained his composure.
The passenger who had been chattering from earlier began explaining again.
“One, two, three……. Eight pupils! That must be the Demonic Eye. It looks incredibly disgusting, but they say it doesn’t attack, so that’s a huge relief.”
He added.
“They say smiling with its eyes is just its habit, so don’t be needlessly startled!”……
Smiling with its eyes was its habit?
Swoosh.
Turning her head to look at the reactions around her, it really seemed that way.
Everyone glanced at the Demonic Eye as if it was nothing and moved on.
But one person.
Lee Yerim could not do that.‘……
That’s smiling?’For some reason.
The eight pupils were staring straight at her.
Among them, one pupil engulfed in green flame.
As if it had discovered something interesting.
Was sending her an intense gaze....
At the same moment.
“Eight, is it.”
News was conveyed.
That the primordial beings of the Demon Realm had finished some sort of agreement.
To the new Demon King of the Ten Thrones.
“Because this is collective responsibility.”
To Hoyeol as well.
“The severity of the punishment will be heavier than ever.”