◈ Episode 434. I Knew It (1)
Cooperation, from demons?
That couldn’t have been easy, yet they reached an agreement well enough.
Or perhaps I had gotten under their skin that badly? ‘I know you’re impressive, so let’s relax those shoulders a little, Granfell.’ I silently went over the details of the emergency update.
The eight high-ranking Demon Kings, excluding Baal and me.
They were reaching out their claws not from reality, nor from the Arcana Continent.
But from the rifts. ‘Honestly, I didn’t expect this.’
Of course I hadn’t.
Rifts were spaces of the bizarre. Even I, who had seized the title [Grandmaster of the Bizarre], still did not fully understand them. But now, eight high-ranking Demon Kings, born and raised in the realm of the bizarre, had joined hands.
Even a sheet of paper is easier to lift together. ‘They might be able to exert that much influence.’
Reality’s reaction?
The world had no choice but to be shaken.
Possession alone was already troublesome enough, but now there was a new status abnormality called [Corruption]. And its effect was that ordinary monsters could be used like demon-type monsters.
People would wonder where such outrageous creatures had suddenly come from.
But even that was only part of it.
Considering the true nature of high-ranking Demon Kings… ‘That isn’t their full strength.’
Rifts.
Because they were using an unstable medium of the bizarre—one even they did not fully understand—the eight high-ranking Demon Kings simply could not display their full abilities.
At the same time, that was also why I could step forward as usual.
“We will support you, Commander-in-Chief.”
The imperial palace.
The Crusade Alliance, which had also received word from reality, sent me determined gazes. Among them, the players, including Nam Taemin in particular, had especially fierce momentum.
“We can’t let those bastards get away with this.”
Rift collapse. ‘It had been peaceful for a while.’
It was awkward to say that was thanks to me…
But it was true that countermeasures against collapsing rifts had developed recently.
No, to begin with, the frequency of rifts collapsing had become extremely low.
Of course, every player belonging to the Crusade Alliance gathered here was a veteran from the days of the Arcana Continent. In other words, they had personally experienced the horrific early days of the Cataclysm. ‘Although I, the Commander-in-Chief, didn’t properly experience them myself…’
Even so, I remembered that in the early days of the Cataclysm, monsters backflowing from the rifts had caused devastating casualties. Perhaps that was why I could guess how the players felt.
After a brief silence.
A resolute voice continued.
“The continent was boiling over, but now, even if only for a moment, it has calmed. The Empire’s Lionheart Knights are more than capable of marching out, Commander-in-Chief. Please grant the knights of the Lionheart a chance to repay the world of adventurers.”
It was Harkon. ‘He must have grown attached in his own way while staying in reality.’
At present, the four houses and the forces known as the great powers of the continent had gathered in the Empire at my summons. In my head, I scribbled out an estimate with a quill pen. ‘To put it bluntly, we might be able to clear every rift that exists on Earth. And in just a few hours of real time, at that.’
It was even a calculation that took the emergency update into account.
Some might call that an overestimation, but it was no exaggeration.
The Crusade Alliance was practically held together by my own inflated reputation, wasn’t it?
Moreover, it wasn’t as though the real high-ranking Demon Kings had descended.
This was nothing more than a taste, wasn’t it?
Besides. ‘It’s the same for us, in that we’ve never gone all out.’
That saying about even a sheet of paper being easier to lift together could be brought up on our side too.
However, the problem was always this damned stubbornness.
Honestly, that blasted love of rules…!
“Regrettably.”
I answered firmly.
“This is solely my war.”
That was right.
The problem was that the cause of this incident was the struggle for the Demon King’s throne. The eight high-ranking Demon Kings had not reached out through the rifts to devour the Arcana Continent or reality.
Simply. ‘They joined forces because they didn’t like me, those bastards.’
I, Lee Hoyeol, might be shameless, but I wasn’t completely without conscience.
Of course, if one looked at the bigger picture, this was ultimately a battle against demons.
I could vaguely insist that it was a holy war…
But in the end, wasn’t this a situation that had arisen because I took one of the Ten Seats?
So I meant to untie the knot myself.
“But rifts all over the world are…!”
Nam Taemin forced the end of his words down with difficulty. Harkon and the other Arcanians nodded at my words, but the players’ position was bound to be different.
“…I apologize.”
There was no need to apologize. I understood well enough. ‘You’re worried.’
To be honest, I was worried too.
What if my blood relatives were caught up in a collapsing rift?
It was only natural to think that.
But in that sense, there was even less need to worry.
“I will protect them.”
You’ve seen it, so you know, don’t you?
Granfell’s dreadful love for his blood kin…!
Right now, I was desperately suppressing Granfell’s temper.
“Even for your share.”
So rather than worrying about reality.
I would like it if you worried about me.
Please, let nothing happen that would make me, Lee Hoyeol, suffer from “turning dark.”
“During my absence, I entrust the Arcana Continent to you.”
Soon, I manifested a portal.
Goooo—
I was about to step through the portal at once when I turned back. Because of Granfell’s way of speaking, I couldn’t explain things at length, but even so, I felt I had to say this much.
I spoke sincerely.
“Because you are here, I am able to leave my post.”
“…!”
I am always grateful to all of you for going along with Granfell’s pride, even though it is nothing but pure obstinacy. More importantly…
Amid the cluster of light from the portal, I counted in my head, one by one. ‘There were eight pupils, I’m sure?’
…
Somehow, wasn’t there one too many?
Before I eliminated Buer, ranked tenth.
I had hurled Gamigin, ranked fourth, into Hell.
According to the Black Dark Dragon, who had observed the Demon Realm, the apex.
Baal had not reached an agreement with the other Demon Kings, let alone exchanged words with them… ‘…Then?’
Gamigin, are you perhaps still alive in Hell?
*
A single pupil burning within green flames. ‘This feels filthy.’
Lee Yerim tried hard to shake off the unpleasant feeling and hurried her steps.
At times like this, the instructions for dealing with rift collapses that appeared endlessly on TV were actually helpful. No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say she had been lucky.
The man who had been making a fuss since they were on the subway.
“C-Crazy!! Those are the chief mages of the Magic Tower!!”
Where his finger pointed, men and women were levitating in midair.
Their clothing and aura were extraordinary at a glance.
They were the chief mages of the Magic Tower, people even most players could not meet.
“R-Really?!”
It was only natural for ordinary people to be shocked.
Especially in the current situation.
“W-We’re saved…!”
“Sob. I really thought I was going to die.”
“We survived because we were close to the Magic Tower. Good heavens, never in my life did I think I’d get my money’s worth out of my Seoul studio apartment rent with my life…”
It was, in the truest sense, magic.
The monsters pouring out of the collapsing rift were evaporating cleanly.
It was a perfect response, so flawless that not a single piece of flesh or drop of blood splattered.
Perhaps because the tension had loosened, exclamations burst out here and there.
“They’re even more amazing in person!”
Her head tilted slightly. ‘…Is it that impressive?’
Lee Yerim was the only one who could not easily sympathize. It was probably because of the winged letters Hoyeol, the dutiful son of the family, sent every dawn. Her eyes seemed to have grown needlessly accustomed to magic.
Lee Yerim muttered.
“…Wait, if you think about it, aren’t they Hoyeol’s coworkers?”
Hoyeol said he was the chief of the Magic Tower, after all.
Should she at least greet them somehow? While she was at it, shouldn’t she ask how Hoyeol was doing at the Magic Tower? As one of his only three older sisters in the world, she was burning with the desire to pry, but.
“Please evacuate this way!”
Well, now was not the time for that.
Lee Yerim shrugged and moved according to the guidance.
It was at that moment.
Rumble…!
A thunderous roar came from behind.
“!”
The ground shook violently.
Because of the impact, Lee Yerim ended up sitting down on the ground.
Whoosh.
Dust rose into the air.
In an instant, she found it hard to breathe.
Through the eyes she barely managed to open.
“…Huh?”
She saw a pile of stones.
It seemed the exit of the subway station they had just come out of had collapsed.
The players who had been leading the subway passengers shouted.
“Fortunately, there don’t seem to be any casualties!”
“What was that all of a sudden?”
“The monsters that flowed back should be entirely handled by the Magic Tower…”
“Then does that mean a Demon Eye appeared here too?”
“But didn’t they say it didn’t have any attacking ability?”
Demon Eye.
“…!”
At that word, Lee Yerim’s ears pricked up. She had heard that it simply smiled with its eyes, but unlike what she had been told, the Demon Eye’s pupil had stared at her intently. ‘Especially that eye burning in green flames…’
As expected, this wasn’t something she could just ignore, right?
Perhaps it was information that could be even slightly helpful in dealing with the Demon Eye. Not only to the players, but to the senior mages of the Magic Tower working hard in the sky. In other words, to the coworkers of her one and only younger brother, Hoyeol.
Step.
“Excuse me.”
Having made up her mind, Lee Yerim stepped toward the players.
That was when it happened.
At the same time, a Demon Eye shot up into the air.
In a form different from before.
Whoosh—!
“Wh-What the hell?!”
“That’s not what we were told, is it?”
“Not eight of them, but one…?”
Demon Eye.
The pupil, engulfed in green flames, had its eye wide open.
Their panic lasted only a moment.
The two players reflexively raised their weapons toward the Demon Eye.
However, the Demon Eye’s vision was fixed solely on Lee Yerim.
It had nothing to do with the players’ level. The senior mages, having grasped the situation, were approaching, but the Demon Eye’s gaze remained fixed on Lee Yerim.
Yes, the Demon Eye was whispering only to Lee Yerim.
—□□□□□. □□.
It was a demonic mental attack that even most players could not withstand.
It was only natural that an ordinary person, not a player, could not resist.
Moreover, the opponent was a high-ranking Demon King.
An existence of the Demon Realm from primeval times, on a different level even from Demon Kings.
Even from great evils.
It meant that it would not be strange for one to go mad simply by facing it.
But Lee Yerim did not.
Because at this moment, it was not only the Demon Eye that entered Lee Yerim’s sight.
“…I knew you’d do something like this.”
The Demon Eye burning in green flames, floating in the sky.
Beyond it, on a sky far higher than the heavens.
Her one and only younger brother.
Hoyeol was there.
And everyone in the area was bowing their heads toward that Hoyeol.
Whether he was being respected as their superior at work.
Or whether he had drilled discipline into them mercilessly, she did not know.
Not only the chief mages of the Magic Tower.
But even the rampaging monsters that had turned the city center into a mess.
They were all bowing their heads before Hoyeol.
Lee Yerim muttered.
“Ten Thousand Demons Bow in Submission… The Heavenly Demon Descends…”
The corners of her mouth slowly rose.
“See? I told you the next one would be the Heavenly Demon, didn’t I?”
…
It was as expected.
The reason there had been eight pupils was that Gamigin, who had fallen into Hell, was tenaciously still alive. I had guessed as much. Unlike Buer, I had not neatly eliminated him and sent him to Hell.
Of course, there were situations I had not expected.
—I will take you. You.
I never imagined that bastard would say such words to my nemesis, Lee Yerim.
Needless to say, there was no need for unnecessary conversation with prey.
I merely raised my hand.
I looked down at the situation from a sky higher than the heavens.
A city in chaos.
Rampaging monsters.
Surging evil.
What a true mess this was.
I understood why the Black Dark Dragon had said such a thing.
—“To the point that even demons who cannot understand their place are made to submit. You must be reborn as an existence capable of instilling overwhelming fear.”
Because I finally understood.
I put on the gloves.
The Mythic-grade item, Yunaxus’s Legacy.
Ten Thousand Demons Bow in Submission.
All evil submits and bows?
Regrettably.
[The old dragon’s Draconic Speech dwells in your voice.]
This side is the King of All Things, to whom all creation submits, beyond mere evil. ‘So you understand, right?’
I am absolutely not some Heavenly Demon…!!