◈ Chapter 467. Yes, This Too Is Nothing More Than an Illusion
Gabriel watched Hoyeol being swallowed by the middle-layer barrier, the “Mirror That Does Not Reflect Shadows.”
Was it because he was a comrade of Akshan whom he had met after so long?
“I put more emotion into that than I realized.”
Being excommunicated from Akshan?
It was truly not a pleasant experience.
Leaving aside that dreadful process itself.
It had felt as though every achievement he had built up in Akshan had been denied.
“Though, to be honest, more than the achievements, I feel more wronged about all that damned physical training.”
The corners of Gabriel’s mouth twitched.
“Still, I am curious.”
His body from life was already rotting somewhere on the Arcana Continent.
He himself was nothing more than a shadow.
Even so, he recalled the last news he had heard of Akshan.
“Now then, did the holy war end safely?”
Belatedly, he thought back on Hoyeol’s attitude.
His lofty dignity and upright posture came to mind.
Regret surged up late.
“……
Actually, I feel like he would have understood if I had simply suggested it.”
The reason he had gone so far as to push Hoyeol off?
It was simple.
Even with those eyes that seemed to have seen through all things in the world.
At least when it came to himself.
It seemed he still had not properly looked back on himself.
Though he had been excommunicated.
“In any case, let us call it advice from a senior of Akshan.”
Gabriel felt that Hoyeol needed to look back on himself.
And the space most suited to looking back on oneself was none other than the “Mirror That Does Not Reflect Shadows.”
“You have no need to be impatient, do you?”
It seemed he had already accomplished more than enough.
If he looked back on himself through the mirror and gained enlightenment, he would break through the barrier at once and chase after him. Of course, now that he had fallen from this fellow’s back.
“Like Akshan, he will have to honestly walk his way up.”
Thinking of it that way made him feel even sorrier.
Even if he broke through the middle-layer barrier, there were still other hardships and trials lurking in the corridor. Among them was the upper-layer barrier that had blocked Gabriel himself.
However.
“No, perhaps it may not be a problem for you.”
After pondering, Gabriel shrugged.
“By the way…… should I hope that you climb up, or hope that you fail to? As someone with a sin to my name, I cannot simply cheer you on.”
If he had known it would be like this, he really should not have pushed him.
“Even as he was falling, his expression was terrifying……”
Even as he agonized, one fact did not change.
The closer he came to the very top of the corridor.
The more violently his body began to tremble.
The moment when he would face the Shadow God was not far off.
“To be honest, if I were to add one more thing……”
Gabriel let out a small smile.
“Perhaps I simply did not want to be interrupted.”
The Shadow Mercenary Corps, a group no different from demons.
He had wandered the continent to hunt them, learned that the Shadow God was behind them, and made a contract with that creature in order to hunt the source—the Shadow God.
A laugh escaped him anew.
“Honestly, even I cannot think of an excuse.”
That judgment had become the decisive cause of Gabriel’s excommunication from Akshan. Even so, Gabriel had no regrets. Even if he had broken Akshan’s laws.
Gabriel felt not the slightest shame in his actions.
Shrring.
“In many ways, Akshan is a shackle to me.”
Gabriel’s voice rang out solemnly.
“Even so.”
At last, the Shadow God welcomed Gabriel.
“For Akshan.”
Clack.
*[Class Quest: Even So, For Akshan]
Gabriel, the excommunicated demon hunter of Akshan.
He hunted evil by any means necessary. Unable to die even after death, he wishes to hunt the final evil that took everything from him.
Last survivor of Akshan, choose.
Is what you desire the observance of the laws?
Or the hunt for a new evil that is not a demon?
-Observe the laws of Akshan. (Select)
-Join Gabriel’s hunt for the Shadow God. (Select)
Akshan’s archenemy?
It had been limited strictly to demons.
Honestly, I thought that was realistic.
‘In truth, there are plenty of bastards worse than demons.’
Was this not a world overflowing with humans no different from demons?
The ability to make enemies of all of them and survive.
Screw-loose demon hunters did not have it.
That was why Gabriel had been excommunicated.
Because he had broken Akshan’s laws and hunted evildoers who were not demons.
I looked at the quest objective.
‘You’re telling me to choose?’
A great deal was probably riding on this choice.
After all, from the last survivor of Akshan.
I had now become the true leader of Akshan, hadn’t I?
‘The direction the new Akshan will take.’
In truth, the choice was not difficult.
‘Because I already said it.’
That I would hunt Raymon Sean, who was no different from a demon.
Had I not blurted it out with this mouth of mine, which always made reality of whatever it spoke?
Of course.
‘I didn’t expect that side to refuse this.’
I looked at the newly updated quest objective.
-Observe the laws of Akshan. (Select)
-Join Gabriel’s hunt for the Shadow God. (Failed)
-Track Gabriel. (Select)
Gabriel.
As for why our great senior had pushed me.
I could not guess from the words he had uttered in Akshan’s manner of speaking alone.
But one thing was certain.
Even if I, Lee Hoyeol, could overlook it.
“I hope you have prepared a suitable reason, Gabriel.”
Our Lord Grandfell was someone who could not tolerate unnecessary wastes of time. If there was no proper reason, senior or not, he had better be prepared for an appropriate punishment……!
I looked around again at the surroundings enclosed by mirrors.
[Hidden Piece: Mirror That Does Not Reflect Shadows]
Indeed, just as its name said, my reflection in the mirror had no shadow.
But that was not a major problem.
The truly major problem was the actions of me inside the mirror.
From the moment I came to my senses until now.
I, standing in place.
Had not moved even a single step.
Click—
Yet the me in the mirror was taking steps with the sound of dress shoes.
Was this what they called putting yourself in someone else’s shoes?
The Magic Tower mages and the AAU branch heads.
I felt like I could understand why they were so startled at my appearance.
This was……
‘……The pressure is no joke, is it?’
In a fleeting moment, I gathered information.
‘That must be my shadow.’
A shadow of mine, like the honored guests.
The reason I guessed so was simple.
Where had my shadow gone, when it was not reflected in the mirror?
If I considered that thing moving on its own inside the mirror.
To be my shadow, the situation fit perfectly.
If so.
[Recommended Level: Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo]
I could understand that bizarre recommended level calculation as well.
I, Lee Hoyeol.
Honestly had no choice but to hesitate.
Because lately, my worries had been growing deeper.
Grandfell was merciful, or Grandfell was not merciful.
Between the Grandfell I had imagined and the actual course Grandfell had taken.
I had been feeling a sense of dissonance.
That was why I had no choice but to become even more tense.
Suddenly, Gabriel’s words passed through my mind.
-“I am nothing more than the shadow of a body that has already become white bone. Honored guest, that means all shadows, myself included, do not move by reason, but by their innate nature.”
When I heard that, I had thought that not forgetting his duty even after death meant he was certainly the Akshan demon hunter I knew. I had been so overly certain that I ended up getting hit in the back of the head, but……
‘Of course, that is not what matters now.’
Yes, whatever the process had been.
I had entered the Hidden Piece, “Mirror That Does Not Reflect Shadows.”
I was now able to face my own shadow.
Thanks to that, perhaps.
‘I might be able to confirm it.’
Grandfell’s innate nature.
His true intentions.
Of course, befitting Grandfell, whose actions preceded his words.
It did not take long to confirm what lay within him.
Thud.
When Grandfell beyond the mirror raised his hand, the scenery changed.
Gooooo.
Countless magic circles rose into the air.
‘!’
The moment I witnessed them, I could tell by instinct.
‘As expected, you have no mercy for me either, Grandfell?!’
Rather than feeling hurt, my worry over whether I could block that came first.
It could not be helped.
I had not activated [Heaven Above and Under Heaven, I Alone Am Supreme].
Nor had I fallen into the status abnormality, [Blackening].
With purely what I, Lee Hoyeol, had built up.
I had to face the merciless Grandfell.
By the way, you will not even give me time to think……?
Swooooo.
Elements, pure mana, destruction, enchantment, twilight mana……
Countless schools of magic manifested.
And poured down toward me.
The sight was truly magnificent.
A force so overwhelming that it made me, as a human being, feel insignificant.
‘Construction Magic…… No, even if I raise a wall, can it block something like that?’
Construction Magic ultimately required main materials.
But this Hidden Piece was surrounded on all sides by mirrors.
With a flimsy wall manifested using mirrors as material.
Could I block such a mass of magic?
As the founder of Construction Magic, I could assert it.
‘Absolutely impossible.’
Then, as expected, there was only Reversal Magic.
I grasped the structure of the magic pouring down.
Of course, Reversal Magic was not omnipotent either.
Interfering with another person’s magic required an enormous consumption of mental strength. Meaning that even reversing a single spell was originally overwhelming. But no matter what……
‘We’re not completely strangers, are we?’
I accelerated my thoughts more quickly.
With an upright posture, I contemplated the magic and analyzed its structure.
Damn it, it felt as though my brain cells were burning.
But in the end, I succeeded in manifesting it in reverse order.
Papapapat.
They were truly arrogant, ultra-high-level spells.
Sssssss.
The baptism of magic became pure mana particles one by one and scattered into the air. And through those drifting mana particles, Grandfell beyond the mirror rushed forward.
Click.
Because I had manifested Reversal Magic, my vision.
My head.
And my body were suffering from tremendous fatigue.
You really have no mercy, Grandfell in the mirror. If I had known the sound of dress-shoe heels could be this chilling, I would have changed into quieter shoes long ago……!
Crack-crack-crack.
My body was flung backward by the pressure of the Heavenly Demon Reign Step alone.
‘……Damn it.’
Perhaps this was no longer the time to be stubborn. Perhaps the situation had come where I had to prepare for [Rampage] and use [Heaven Above and Under Heaven, I Alone Am Supreme].
Just as I barely regained my balance and swallowed a labored breath.
My loose tongue.
No, Grandfell’s loose tongue opened its mouth.
“It is pitiful, watching you strain yourself to imitate me.”
At those words, I suddenly realized.
……Wait.
Why had I been so certain that the being in the mirror was Grandfell?
Simply because Grandfell’s full name was written in the recommended level?
‘……No.’
That was right.
What was reflected in the mirror was none other than me, Lee Hoyeol.
My hair had grown long, so I might have mistaken it for a moment.
But it was still Lee Hoyeol.
Of course it was.
Because right now, I was neither in Rampage nor Blackening.
The moment I realized that fact.
The figure beyond the mirror began to look different.
Because I knew better than anyone what emotions were hidden behind that icy expression. Meaning that even if he did not show it behind that brazen face, I could see right through him.
‘No, is that all?’
That he had manifested mana like glue to fasten the Dawn Jacket hanging over his shoulders, and that green tea bags were carefully stored in the inner pocket of that splendid jacket—I knew it all.
As if my mouth refused to lose, it added a remark.
“In the end, you are nothing more than an illusion.”
Yes, well said, Grandfell.
Knowing my place was my specialty.
Thanks to that, there was no arrogance in me.
What gilding, embellishment, and misunderstanding had been added to the achievements I had built.
I knew better than anyone!
‘If. If it had been the real Grandfell and not me, then.’
I might have been truly afraid, but……!
If that was me, Lee Hoyeol, then rather than fear, I felt pity instead. My unfortunate fate. How utterly pitiful that even inside a mirror, I was being tormented by dark history.
Slide.
Around then, I naturally stretched out my hand.
I took gloves out of my inventory.
The moment I perfectly saw through the truth of the Hidden Piece.
I had no more time to be held back in a place like this.
Left hand, then right hand.
[Commander’s Gloves
- Wisdom of the Old Dragon]
[Rank: Mythic]
[Restriction: Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo]
[Effect: The great Elder Dragon to be recorded in myth, Yunaxus, proclaimed: “Through my legacy, Claudi shall be able to understand and utter the Dragon Tongue!”]
At last, as the king of all things, I uttered the Dragon Tongue.
【Shatter, illusion.】
It was a dragon’s Dragon Tongue that could tear through dimensions.
A barrier whose structure had been grasped.
As you can see.
Crash!
Could be collapsed in an instant.
As the mirrors on all sides shattered, the me inside the mirror collapsed with them.
At the same time, my shadow returned, and my vision flickered.
[You have cleared the Hidden Piece, “Mirror That Does Not Reflect Shadows.”]
It went without saying, but I was not pleased in the slightest.
‘You pushed me into a place like this, Gabriel.’
Gooooo.
I immediately interfered with the scattering mana and manifested a portal.
The target coordinates were, of course, Gabriel.
Do not ask how I could set coordinates to a target.
‘Because with mana of a different class, you can do quite a lot.’
Why, just like now.
“……!!!”
Crack-crack-crack.
After emerging from the portal, I smashed apart every chain wrapped around Gabriel. Then I faced him. The Shadow God—or perhaps, the creature that might be Raymon Sean.
Before the hunt.
I reverently adjusted my attire.
To be more precise.
Flutter.
I slipped both arms into the Dawn Jacket that had been hanging over my shoulders.
Then, from the collapsed Gabriel to the Shadow God.
I shifted my gaze.
“Your attitude toward an honored guest is abysmal.”
With lingering resentment, I declared.
“I will reflect that hypocrisy in your punishment as well.”