◈ Episode 502. I Wanted to Become Light (1)
A human more wicked than a demon.
‘Raymond Sean, Liuojunchun, Supernova…… Well, there were plenty.’
Examples that clashed with Grandfell’s hymn to humanity.
They were contradictions in and of themselves.
Sometimes, even as I showed mercy, I wondered if I was really supposed to believe in such things.
After all, I, Lee Hoyeol, had my own share of experiences.
‘……
Not that I particularly want to think about them.’
I forced myself to shake off the memories of “those days” as they flashed through my mind.
Right, the examples before me now were more than enough, weren’t they?
Without worrying about Grandfell’s reaction, I tried giving the opposite example.
‘Honestly, Paimon alone is better than most humans, isn’t he?’
There were so many humans who brazenly denied their own wrongdoings. Compared to them, Paimon had gone beyond maintaining proper decorum; just as he had said of himself, wouldn’t it be fair to say he possessed something called pride?
‘That must be why even Grandfell of all people didn’t answer back.’
In contrast, what about Rox?
Well, I couldn’t say for certain.
But it was clear he had some kind of goal.
“Move, Lee Hoyeol.”
Rox ran wild without considering the aftermath it would bring upon the city center.
Without even realizing that his body had changed under the influence of [Corruption].
He burned with hostility toward me, standing between him and Paimon.
“Rox, please……!!”
Even ignoring the desperate cry of his longtime comrade, Camilla.
In that sense, I could not be certain.
What judgment Grandfell would pass on Paimon and Rox.
His mercilessness toward demons.
At the same time, his tolerance toward those who knew pride.
The path Grandfell had walked had reached the very point where those two things collided.
And that point was now.
But.
‘……
I didn’t expect this.’
To think my vision would flash at this moment.
[Class Quest: Are We Still Demons?]
Akshan, I ask you. We became demons to hunt demons and fell into Hell. Even after falling into Hell, we continued hunting demons. Are we still demons?
-Encounter the Demon Hunters of Hell. (In Progress)
That was right.
The path I walked as a demon hunter had footprints upon it.
In other words, there were footprints left behind by our Akshan seniors.
The moment I confirmed the contents of the quest.
Only then did I realize.
‘……
No. I was the only one making this complicated, Grandfell.’
It was embarrassing, but.
Perhaps the one who had truly fallen into contradiction was only me, Lee Hoyeol.
Strictly speaking, the seniors in Hell were demons.
However, Grandfell had paid respect to those demon hunters who had not forgotten Akshan’s duty even after falling into Hell. He had never once regarded them as demons.
There were plenty of other things to forget, Hoyeol.
Why had you forgotten something so simple like an idiot?
I laughed bitterly to myself.
‘……
Maybe I still haven’t overcome it.’
Because for me, Lee Hoyeol, trusting someone was not an easy thing.
But you alone are the exception, Grandfell.
Between us, who even share my dark history, what is there that I cannot trust?
And so, I finished speaking.
“You wished to become light, Rox.”
Exorcism Ritual, activate.
The participants in the ritual.
It must have been the influence of our Akshan seniors from Hell.
Whoosh.
It felt as though the heat of Hell had wrapped around my entire body. It was not an illusion. The moment the Exorcism Ritual began and I entered the ritual, my vision was filled with nothing but green flames.
[※Warning: Your consciousness is fading.]
As I had said many times before, the Exorcism Ritual was a battle of mental strength.
It meant that a scene unrelated to the perspective of a third party.
Unfolded before the participants inside the Exorcism Ritual.
Step.
However, right now I was not engaged in a battle of mental strength against Rox or Paimon. I was in a tug-of-war over control with our seniors from Hell, who had participated in my Exorcism Ritual.
Whoosh.
The flames of Hell surged up.
Before long, the flames wrapped around me.
The hellfire completely covered my vision.
Hell.
I had once asked the romantic explorer, Lorenzik, about it. The [Torch of Hell] in the Explorers’ League was the fire of Hell that Lorenzik had brought back.
-“It shames me to say this, but in truth, I gave up my exploration at the mouth of Hell! I was frightened! If you happen to have any interest in Hell……. Yes, I shall accompany you! With you by my side, I would have nothing to fear…….”
At the time, I had simply thought, So there are exploration sites even this man is afraid of, and let it pass without much thought.
But now that I was personally engulfed in the flames of Hell, I fully understood how Lorenzik had felt.
‘This is no ordinary fire.’
Visions wavered within the burning flames.
The place even demons feared was Hell, and these were the flames of Hell.
Within such flames of Hell, dreadful hallucinations unfolded.
Like a mirror.
The sight of myself burning in the inextinguishable flames of Hell appeared within the fire. But to be honest……. This did not really affect me.
‘Whoa, damn. Could this be any more awkward?’
Good heavens.
Grandfell of all people.
The bloodless, tearless Grandfell.
Was writhing in pain and screaming……!
I knew from experience just how stubborn this body was.
‘What hallucination? It just feels like some edited video.’
I mean it literally. Even at the moment of death, this body had never once forgotten its upright bearing. Therefore, the supposed mental damage brought by the flames of Hell did not move me in the slightest.
Even the flickering system message only looked awkward.
[※Warning: Your consciousness is fading.]
Fading, my ass.
I opened my eyes even wider and stared straight into the flames of Hell.
No, I went beyond staring and advanced through the flames of Hell.
Click.
Then I saw them.
The figures of our seniors who had fallen into Hell.
By the way, the more I looked, the more startled I became by Akshan’s unique attire.
‘How are they even darker than the Shadow Mercenary Corps?’
Regardless of that thought, my mouth opened.
“Magnificent.”
Honestly, this damn taste of his.
“I can feel your resolve in the set of your garments.”
Do not assess outfits like that with satisfaction, Grandfell.
And no matter how I looked at it, the current situation was…….
Not one where we could leisurely appraise fashion.
‘……
What exactly happened here?’
I knew from my experience in the Social Hall of Time and Space.
That the flow of time in the space of consciousness was arbitrary.
The Exorcism Ritual must have been the same.
‘While I was engulfed in the flames of Hell.’
Seniors, just what did you do……?
I had no choice but to be flustered. After all, it was a scene that could only bewilder me. Paimon’s incarnation and Rox had been restrained by silver shackles and rendered powerless.
Seriously.
‘I knew our seniors were abnormally strong, but…….’
To think they subdued Paimon, never mind Rox! Of course, Paimon was borrowing the body of an incarnation. However, as Paimon had said, I understood the structure of an incarnation.
‘Being an incarnation doesn’t mean it’s weak.’
An incarnation was a kind of highest-grade medium and clone.
Depending on the conditions.
It could exert Authority no different from Paimon’s main body.
The seniors had perfectly subdued that incarnation of Paimon.
They had rendered it powerless.
Even while flinching, I accepted it inwardly.
‘Well, I suppose that makes sense.’
Considering the amount of training these people must have done…….
I had thought that my stats had risen quite a bit through training where I hit my limits every day. But the seniors in Hell must have an absolute amount of training far greater than mine, no?
‘Not to mention the cheat stat, [Tenacity].’
Besides, among the black-clad crowd was a familiar face.
I saw Shegwin.
Shegwin, who had been the Sword Star (劍星) in life.
Even he was likely the youngest in Akshan.
‘Even the max-level rookie has joined in.’
Indeed, I suppose this could happen.
I was trying to suppress my astonishment and somehow understand the situation unfolding before me when one demon hunter, impressive with his hood pulled down low, approached me.
Then he opened his mouth.
“Choose.”
Akshan’s symbol.
Shing.
He handed me a silver dagger.
“Which one is your prey?”
Which one was my prey?
I soon grasped the intent behind the question.
In other words, the seniors were asking.
Paimon and Rox.
Which of the two was Akshan’s prey?
No, beyond that…….
“We shall watch Akshan’s choice.”
They were asking me, who had gone from the last survivor of Akshan to the one who rebuilt Akshan, and who could now practically be considered Akshan’s leader. They were asking about their own position, no different from those two beings, Paimon and Rox.
The quest objectives flickered.
-Encounter the Demon Hunters of Hell. (In Progress)
●Accept Hell’s Akshan. (Select)
●Reject Hell’s Akshan. (Select)
Before them, I pondered.
It went without saying, but.
I was not pondering over the choices.
I had already said more than enough about what answer I, what answer Grandfell, would give, hadn’t I?
So what I was pondering was another problem entirely.
The seniors from Hell had revealed themselves.
Only within the ritual.
Then in reality.
With Paimon and Rox.
Both of them now helplessly subdued.
Just how exactly did I look……?
*
It was as though time had stopped.
Slash.
A sword swung without so much as a glance. Leoni cut down the players who had lost all fear and invaded Shining’s guild house, then barely managed to spit out her words.
“……
What the hell is going on?”
It was not because the battle was overwhelming.
It was because the scene unfolding before her was unbelievable.
An incomprehensible message had appeared.
Then an inexplicable conversation had passed back and forth.
No, to be precise, it was more accurate to say they could not understand it.
“Chief Lee…….”
Jesse trailed off.
The Tower Master inside the cone hat spoke.
-Because they are of a different class, it is a conversation we cannot understand, Jesse.
However, Rox, who had been close by, seemed to have understood.
Not only did Rox spit insulting words at Hoyeol.
He swung his sword.
It was truly terrifying.
-If it were the Chief Lee I know, he would have slaughtered him on the spot……
“…….”
The Tower Master held back his words for Jesse’s sake.
But even without hearing the rest, she could guess.
At this moment, it was a miracle that he was alive.
That man, Rox.
And there was another miracle.
That mercy could be felt in Hoyeol’s voice as he called Rox.
That was why the current situation made even less sense.
Leoni asked in bewilderment.
“Hey, Jesse Heinness.”
“Yes.”
“That isn’t something like magic, is it?”
“I didn’t feel any mana.”
“Yeah, somehow I thought so.”
Two people had suddenly knelt before Hoyeol.
The Hoyeol that Leoni knew.
Was not a petty man who forced someone to kneel.
Then there was only one answer.
“Then Rox and that bastard suddenly surrendered, didn’t they?”
AAU, Republic of Korea Branch.
Shining’s guild master, Rox.
His unilateral attack.
It was the first incident of its kind to occur in the Land of Anomalies, Seoul.
“No matter how I look at it, I think that’s right?”
Because of that, every member of the branch, including Branch Director Park Minjae, had not stopped monitoring for even a moment.
Which meant they had watched the entire process.
“The Commander-in-Chief did it again this time too, right, sunbae……?”
Seong Hyeonjun’s cautious question.
Clack, clack.
Yun Sugyeom answered as he struck the keyboard.
“No. It’s just a guess, but I don’t think it’s over yet.”
“What? What do you mean by that, sunbae?!”
“That thing is no ordinary guy.”
Yun Sugyeom.
He felt a sense of déjà vu from the message that had appeared before the players.
Yes, because the messages where the mosaics appeared had something in common.
“It means an existence we dare not fathom.”
The beings represented by □.
Setting Rox aside, the other man kneeling at this moment was highly likely to be an existence of a different class. Therefore, Yun Sugyeom did not let down his guard.
……
Slide.
He pushed up his glasses.
And fixed his gaze on the unidentified man.
But that was the wrong choice.
Before long, the screen was dyed red.
Spurt.
“?!!!”
Because the blood, in fact, had gushed up from Rox.