◈ Episode 529. The Proxies (1)
Honestly, there was such a thing as being too blunt. ‘To say out of nowhere that he would fall into hell.’ Because he was a companion of hell.
“Pfft, pffft!”
He must have come to fully understand Granfell-style speech while writing those ridiculous scraps of scripture again. Only the Romantic Explorer, Lorenzk, who knew the truth, was holding back his laughter.
“H-Hell……?”
But aside from Lorenzk.
Everyone’s faces had turned deathly pale.
Well, in common sense, hell was the place one fell into after death.
I swallowed a sigh inwardly. ‘You just made a horrifying declaration, Granfell.’ Look, even those people who usually looked at us with displeasure during branch manager meetings are freaking out, aren’t they?
However, it wasn’t my loose mouth’s place to kindly explain what the [Lycoris That Grew in Hell] was, what effect it had, and where I had obtained it.
“Therefore, I will take questions regarding that at a later date.”
See, I told you to just speak honestly even here. ‘That you overworked your body to the point it can’t endure anymore!’ My vision had been flickering noisily for a while now.
[The blessing of the First World Tree rejects the status abnormality, ‘Mana Exhaustion’.]
[The blessing of the First World Tree rejects the status abnormality, ‘Fainting’.]
[The blessing of the First World Tree rejects the status abnormality, ‘Chronic Fatigue’.]
……
It was only natural. ‘Fatigue has accumulated to a level that can’t be offset.’ The Arcana Continent.
As if using mana like water to manifest reversal magic in Ogratium hadn’t been enough, the aftermath piled up in my body thanks to [Blackened] Granfell running wild. And as the finishing touch, hadn’t I been practically covering Jeju Island in reversal magic until just a moment ago? ‘Something close to infinite and actual infinity are clearly different.’ My mana had reached a different level after ascending to the Ten Thrones.
On top of that, with the blessing of the First World Tree, I could handle a vast amount of mana beyond any comparison.
And yet. ‘This really is the limit.’ Sway.
How bad must it have been for me to stagger, even for an instant, on the podium, despite Granfell’s impeccable formality? However, as though nothing had happened, I shamelessly looked over the assembly.
And continued speaking.
Everyone must be busy.
I was sorry for calling them all here like this, but.
“Right now, I need time alone.”
It meant I needed rest too……
*
The Great Alliance.
Seoul First Branch.
Gaon Building.
“Did you see it?”
Nam Taemin did not answer.
But Hisagi slowly nodded.
As he closed his eyes.
“Taemin, with the senses of a sharp beast far keener than mine with these narrow snake eyes, must have seen it even more clearly. The Commander-in-Chief, for an instant……. He definitely staggered.”
……
Nod.
Nam Taemin likewise nodded.
Hisagi continued.
“It was certainly too much for him.”
“What was.”
“The power that even the Commander-in-Chief cannot control.”
The Round Table Conference had been brief, but like a thunderbolt.
From the moment they left the Crystal Hall.
Hisagi spoke the thought that had not left his mind.
“Do you know the saying that every power comes with a price?”
“I do.”
“It was no exception in the Arcana Continent Chronicle.”
The two had never lost their places among the highest rankers even back when Arcana was nothing more than a game. That was why no detailed explanation was necessary. Hisagi spoke in a low voice.
“There must have been a price to the Commander-in-Chief’s power as well.”
“…….”
“In truth, it was something we could have realized with just a little thought. There’s no way such power could exist without a price.”
Hisagi continued with difficulty.
“And that price is.”
He did not want to say it, but he had no choice.
“……I suspect it is life. To be more precise, I don’t mean the player’s HP. I mean his lifespan as a human being.”
Wasn’t that too excessive a guess just because he had staggered on the platform? There was no way. Hadn’t the Commander-in-Chief clearly said it with his own mouth?
“I sincerely hope it isn’t true. But perhaps the Commander-in-Chief is living a terminal life, one with its end already decided. In that sense, his words that he would fall into hell before long must certainly……”
Nam Taemin cut him off.
“I know.”
That he had mentioned hell.
They didn’t know the exact timing.
But perhaps……
Grit. Nam Taemin clenched his teeth.
“……There really may not be much time left for him.”
Why had he failed to realize it?
Of course, even if there was no way to know for certain……
It was the Commander-in-Chief’s technique, one that carried the risk of changing not only his scent but even his very personality. They should have realized there would be a price of that magnitude……
Hisagi asked the self-reproaching Nam Taemin.
“We have to prepare ourselves, Taemin.”
“…….”
“For the void the Commander-in-Chief will one day leave behind.”
He spoke meaningfully.
But even Hisagi,
who had blood as cold as a snake’s,
was not ready yet.
“Though preparing ourselves and enduring it are two different matters……”
“By the way, where did Leoni go?”
Hisagi did not answer immediately despite knowing. ‘Miss Leoni must need time to think as well.’ To think Leoni would not know the truth they had realized would be underestimating her. Moreover, the reason she had left her seat at this moment was none other than to meet Jesse Heinness.
“She should still be at the Magic Tower.”
“The Magic Tower? What’s that ignoramus doing at the Magic Tower?”
“I will be sure to tell her that nickname.”
“No, what do you mean tell her? It was a joke.”
“This is not the time to joke.”
“Ah, seriously……!!”
It was the moment the two, unable to abandon their habits, were bickering.
Bang.
The door to the Master Room opened.
There were not many people who could open the Master Room without notice.
“……Hyung?”
It was Nam Cheolmin.
But Nam Taemin flinched.
Because his older brother’s face was different from usual.
Where had he left his glasses?
Nam Cheolmin, his face deeply scowling, said,
“Did you all see the article?”
“Article? What article?”
“The shaking has begun.”
“……!”
Shaking. At those words, they could sense it instinctively.
It had leaked from somewhere.
The Commander-in-Chief’s actions on Jeju Island.
“I was in the skies above Jeju Island too. So I can say this with certainty. No matter what camera you brought, no matter what skill you activated, there was no way to observe the inside of Jeju Island from the outside.”
Jeju Island had been isolated by fitting mana.
But there had been players who entered inside.
Hisagi struck at the core.
“The information that the Crusade Alliance delivered to the AAU must have leaked.”
“What?! I swear, no matter where you go, there are always a few pieces of trash mixed in. The Commander-in-Chief, we, treat them with goodwill, and they always cross the line like this……”
“That’s right. But that’s not all.”
If that were all, he wouldn’t even have gotten angry. They had known for some time that a few loaches were mixed into the AAU. The problem was the testimony.
As Hisagi had said.
It was testimony from a player affiliated with the Crusade Alliance,
who had been inside Jeju Island.
“An anonymous ranker stated the following. Lee Hoyeol, Commander-in-Chief of the Crusade Alliance, was swaying dangerously. What concerned me most was that he could not distinguish between enemies and allies. That is precisely why Commander-in-Chief Lee Hoyeol declared that he had displayed disgraceful behavior……. Who the hell is this son of a bitch……?”
The later-arriving groups flashed through his mind.
Second Sun, Bohemian, Antithese, Myth, Warriors……
They had once been competitors, but after joining the Crusade Alliance, he had thought they had confirmed one another’s pride. To be honest, Nam Taemin felt the back of his head go numb. Nam Cheolmin responded.
“You can tell from the comments, but for now, the atmosphere is that no one believes it. Yeah, if it were any other time, I wouldn’t have cared in the slightest either. But……”
Several sentences had already lodged themselves in his mind.
『Lee Hoyeol, Commander-in-Chief of the Crusade Alliance.
Could not distinguish between enemies and allies.
The reason he declared that he had displayed disgraceful behavior.』
Nam Cheolmin let out a sigh and said,
“The tides may change from now on.”
“I agree.”
“What exactly is going to change?”
Hisagi slowly looked at the skyscrapers across from Gaon Building.
“It means cracks may begin to appear from within the Crusade Alliance itself. After all, great and small changes have begun with the Commander-in-Chief, who seemed as though he would never waver.”
Seoul, which had become a land of anomalies.
The Commander-in-Chief’s imperfection.
He did not weigh which of the two was a great change and which was a small one.
Because he could not wholly fail to understand the feelings of those making noise.
But as said before.
Understanding and acting were separate matters.
Nam Cheolmin asked,
“So what was discussed at the Round Table Conference? I wanted to attend too, but seeing articles like this go up, I just couldn’t sit still.”
“That’s why I can’t stand it, hyung.”
“……What do you mean?”
Because he had taken off his glasses, only after stepping closer could he properly see his younger brother’s face. His brother’s face was terribly distorted.
It was distorted with a level of rage he had never shown before, not in dangerous rifts, not before monsters, and not even before demons.
“Because I seriously want to kill that anonymous player bastard.”
“……!”
Even Hisagi,
who would normally have stopped his younger brother,
closed his eyes quietly.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Nam Cheolmin asked gravely,
“……Tell me. What was said at the Round Table Conference?”
*
The Magic Tower.
They said the higher one’s rank was, the higher floors one could access.
As if her mind weren’t already chaotic enough to kill her……
“Why are there so damn many of them, seriously.”
It wasn’t as if they were discriminating against people just because they didn’t know magic. Leoni looked at the mages coming and going. However, she did not spit out the curses rising to her lips.
“I’m sorry. The authority to invite outsiders to the upper floors of the Magic Tower is only granted starting from senior mages! But next time, I’ll definitely become a senior mage and treat you properly. Because that is formality.”
“……What?”
Leoni flinched at Jesse’s upright words.
Senior mages were incredibly amazing people, weren’t they?
And she was saying she would become a senior mage
just to treat me properly?
“……Ahem.”
Leoni interpreted it however she pleased and cleared her throat.
“Ahem, so what is it you wanted to say?”
“About Chief Lee’s terminal condition.”
“Hey, shit, how can you say that in a place like this?!”
Jesse flicked her finger.
“I hid the conversation between us with magic! I manifested it with twilight mana, so the only people who could probably dispel it are Chief Lee and Lady Mary. And it isn’t something that needs to be hidden from those two anyway.”
“R-Right……?”
As expected, mages were cheats, weren’t they? They were on a whole different level from berserkers, who gained another scar on their bodies every time they fought. Leoni grumbled briefly, then continued.
“So you noticed too, right?”
“I think anyone familiar with Chief Lee’s way of speaking would have understood.”
“Well, that person does talk however he wants……”
After a silence that lasted for a while, Leoni asked,
“……Do you know anything?”
She did not want to ask, but she had no choice.
They were both mages, both from the same Magic Tower, maybe both hidden classes, and at any rate, Jesse Heinness had no choice but to know more about that man than she did.
But Jesse instead asked back,
“……That was what I wanted to ask you, Miss Leoni.”
She had been with him since the Great Alliance was founded, had cleared rifts with him, had attended Crusade Alliance meetings with him, and at any rate, Jesse had secretly thought Leoni might know more than she did.
“Huh.”
“Ah.”
The two laughed at the same time.
“So both of us knew nothing.”
“It seems so. Because that is the kind of person he is.”
“……Damn it.”
Leoni clenched her teeth at the complex and subtle emotions.
Though she did not express it, Jesse was the same.
That was why she had taken off her cone hat, not wanting her master to see what was inside her heart.
If neither of them knew anything, then there was nothing to discuss.
“Then I should get going……”
It was the moment Leoni was about to rise first.
When Jesse released the manifested magic, the surrounding noise finally reached them.
Leoni asked Jesse,
“By the way, is it always this noisy here?”
“No.”
Jesse shook her head.
Maintaining silence was a basic rule of the Magic Tower.
After Chief Lee rose to the position of chief, it had become even stricter.
In that sense.
“It seems something has happened.”
Jesse immediately moved.
She caught an apprentice mage whose robe was dragging along the floor and asked.
The apprentice mage flinched.
“A-Archmage Jesse Heinness?! You are Jesse Heinness, right? I’m from the Arcana Continent, but I respect Archmage Jesse Heinness the most……! It’s an honor to meet you like this……”
“Is that so? Thank you. But more importantly.”
“Ah, yes!”
The apprentice mage, coming to their senses, soon explained the reason.
“They say Senior Mage Matisse Dean Karl has answered the flood of requests for proof! So that proof will begin in the Crystal Hall from now on……!”
What proof all of a sudden at a time like this?
At those words, Leoni paused.
More importantly, who was Matisse Dean Karl again……?
Her question lasted only a moment before Jesse added an explanation.
“Senior mage of black magic, Matisse Dean Karl.”
“Don’t tell me……. That completely black person?”
“Yes. And if Lord Matisse is going to prove something……”
Jesse’s face hardened.
“It’s probably to examine the justification for the black magic that Chief Lee manifested on Jeju Island.”
“……What?”
That was right.
Whether Chief Lee’s black magic had truly been manifested to harm the lives of his allies, or not. The only one who could determine that would be Senior Mage Matisse, the founder of black magic. ‘But the Magic Tower could have simply ignored such requests.’ Jesse answered with an expression that showed her mind was made up.
“Let’s go together, Miss Leoni.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Of course.”
“Hah.”
Hey.
No matter what.
I’m not confident I can sit through something like a magical proof without dozing off?!
*
“I swear before the eternal, undying truth.”
I, Matisse Dean Karl.
“That in this place, I shall declare only the truth.”