◈ Episode 376. The Picture I Drew (2)

It was said to have been a severe injury.

“Are you really, really okay?”

I was bleeding profusely from my side and was walking around in a daze……. While thinking about it, I recalled the effect of the Blessing of the First World Tree.

‘No matter how great the injury.’

At the end of the battle, it wouldn’t take long for me to recover.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane.

Let’s think back to the past when I took two elixirs at the same time.

‘It was really…….’

Fainting in excruciating pain.

Dropping the teacup.

My body must have been halfway to the nether.

‘It didn’t take me long to come to my senses.’

I didn’t have to go far to realize that. It hadn’t been more than a few hours since I’d returned to the Iron Castle, and my injuries had healed nicely.

So the question was.

Why was I walking around bleeding?

‘The Blessing of the First World Tree hadn’t been triggered.’

Otherwise, there would be no reason for me to be bleeding.

As a Commander-in-Chief, I really needed to confirm it. I didn’t know if it was the [Celestial Infant Solitude] or the [Blackening] that was the problem, but I needed to know exactly so I could prevent it from happening.

I hid my thoughts and replied.

“As you can see, it’s the same as always.”

Shhh.

My gaze flickered to the Dawn set’s blood-soaked jacket.

‘ …… Even in this situation, I have regrets about how I dress.’

Anyway, thank goodness.

The Iron Castle was in full swing.

I could tell because I’m perceptive.

I could tell, because I could see his gaze shift from concern to relief in real time.

I muttered to myself.

‘I’m still freaking out.’

Once again, it was Nam Taemin’s voice that woke me up.

Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo……!

Before he could recite the full name, I hurriedly gathered myself, threw my jacket over my shoulder, and headed out the door. Of course, I didn’t bother with specifics.

“Can I hear the mission report?”

I probably looked passed out anyway.

My memory was fuzzy on what happened.

All I have to do is say I don’t remember…….

‘Looking at that dishonest muzzle, it looks like he’s completely recovered.’

The ego was still there.

Good thing the Holy War Alliance was familiar with Grandfell’s style of speech.

Hisagi was the first to speak.

“I remembered the World Message. A ray of light in the infinitely deep darkness. It led us to believe that something was wrong with the Commander-in-Chief. We immediately set out to find you.”

……Start from the beginning.

‘It’s not enough to add the full name, now what?’

Now you’re going to put my nickname in a world message?!

Raymond Sean, you’ve got me furious for a second.

He continued with the specifics.

“As you know, the Arcana Continent had been engulfed in darkness, Commander-in-Chief. The [Behemoth’s Maw], a permanent rift into the Demon World, was no exception.”

Wallswale stroked his beard and drooled. His hands, which should be more precious than gold, were bandaged. He must have been wounded in the place called the [Behemoth’s Maw].

‘How come, I can’t remember anything about it.’

I think it was because I fainted and then triggered [Celestial Infant Solitude].

That triggered the status abnormality, [Blackening]. That was why my memory is cut off from the battle with the Seven Deadly Sins’ Wrath.

As if I had fallen into a deep sleep.

I needed to retrace my steps to see what Grandfell had done during the moments when I, Lee Hoyeol’s consciousness, was submerged in darkness. Keeping a straight face, I spoke.

“I want to hear your honest impressions.”

And I was stunned.

‘……I really did that?’

I could tell it was a Seven Deadly Sins’ Wrath hunt.

It was the [Behemoth’s Maw] that brought me back to my senses, for it is unlikely that the great Grandfell would have wandered away from his prey.

But then.

“It was a Lich, Discus, an undead monster from the Demon World.”

I had hunted a boss-level monster that had jumped out of the Demon World.

The next words were even more shocking.

Discus, that wasn’t a normal boss monster.

Chainwalker adjusted his gear.

“Indeed, the King of Corpses was a worthy opponent, even this adamantium armor is damaged. If we had fought him properly, we could not have won on our own, Commander.”

Dwarven Armor.

Its performance was renowned on the Arcana continent. It wasn’t uncommon to find [Unique] and [Epic] gear items with a base of [Unique] when the Dwarves put their hands to work.

The combat prowess of dwarves in their own gear? While blacksmiths may not be considered a combat class, they were at least just below the senior mages of the Magic Tower, given their fangs.

‘With the power of the Iron Castle, I’d say they were at the level of a Magic Tower.’

Even so, I wasn’t confident of victory.

I, Lee Hoyeol, am a specialist at reading between the lines.

Of course, even with me on board, I wouldn’t have been able to defeat Discus so easily.

‘He wasn’t even a demon, was he?’

Why were Demon Hunters treated like a trash class?

It was because [Natural Enemy] had very limited targets.

Demons and undead.

They look the same, but you couldn’t trigger Natural Enemy in front of undead. Gunner, a Dwarf who had seen everything as a Dwarf pilot, spoke up cautiously.

“It might sound rude to the Commander-in-Chief, but……. Having witnessed the scene, I thought you were a disaster, Commander. However, I could not help it, for I could not believe that you would bury that demonic Lich in darkness without lifting a finger!”

I had apparently handled such discourse without difficulty.

Even with so many witnesses…….

It didn’t feel real, so I checked my status.

Raymond might be out to get me.

Systems didn’t lie.

I checked the level first.

‘Let’s see, then…….’

Shouldn’t the increase be somewhere around 100?

I had hunted the Seven Deadly Sins and a Demon Lich called Discus.

There was a cap of 50 levels for leveling up in Arcana, which meant that no matter how much experience I gained, I would only be able to reach level 100 at 50 levels each.

[Level: 826].

This was the level I was at when I escorted the fallen Eunaxus to Hell.

If I gained 100 levels from there, I should have been level 926. …….

[Name: Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo]

[Level: 976]

[Points: 150]

I was stunned to see the number of points I had.

I had gained a whopping 50 more levels than I expected.

There was an invisible wall between levels in Arcana. It existed every 100 levels, and each time you crossed it, the experience requirement to level up increased dramatically.

Level 900

This means that unless it was a boss raid, you wouldn’t be able to easily gain experience through normal hunting.

Then the story became simple.

Wrath of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Meanwhile, the Lich, Discus, was plunged into darkness.

I’ve taken down ‘something’ that was no match for either of them.

What was that something?

It wasn’t too hard to guess. They must have heard something, Chainwalker added, nodding at Gunner’s words.

“But I don’t think it’s time to rest on our laurels just yet, for the King of the Dead was apparently after a Demon King. Yes, I’m talking about Buer, a Demon King of the Ten Thrones.”

Buer?

-Welcome. You’ve stepped into the Celestial Realm.

If it was the High Ranking Demon King, Buer, then of course it was like a Seven Deadly Sins Great Evil. It would’ve dropped more experience than Discus, the Lich of the Demon World, however…….

‘I defeated it?’

I just couldn’t believe it.

The top Demon Kings, they were acknowledged as the true kings and celestial beings.

It was only a short time ago.

‘……Even if it’s Grandfell.’

I couldn’t believe that he’d slain the Seven Deadly Sins’ Wrath, defeated the High Ranking Demon King Buer, and buried Discus, who was powerful enough to challenge Buer, in darkness.

‘I need proof, proof.’

So I naturally opened my inventory.

And there it was.

The loot of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Set Item [Neutral Parasitic Creature] Set.

After Envy and Lust.

[Neutral Parasitic Creature Wrath 3/7].

An item that appears to have been dropped by Wrath.

We’ll have to wait and see if it works…….

Next, I looked at the loot.

As expected, there was one item I didn’t recognize.

[Bible of the Demon World: True Necronomicon]

An unidentified leather cover.

Blood-red gems adorned its exterior.

And a band around it like a chain.

It looks like something a Lich would carry. I’m guessing it was a spoil of war, perhaps a skill book. I was curious, but I saved the effects for another time.

I looked away.

‘…… doesn’t exist.’

That was the end of the loot.

Buer was a Demon.

A High-Ranked Demon King.

It must have dropped demon loot.

I scoured my inventory, but the loot was nowhere to be found.

I looked back at my guess.

‘Maybe it wasn’t Buer I was hunting.’

It’s just that the Arcana continent is vast, and the Demon World is equally vast.

I had slain one more unknown demon to match it.

Just as I was thinking about it.

“……!”

I saw it in the status window.

It was me, and no one else.

Proof that I had slain Buer.

But the evidence was disturbing.

[Title: Master of the 10th Throne].

Wait, if I’m the Master of the 10th Throne…….

That means king, right?

You can’t be serious, I’ve taken Buer’s throne!!!

*

There were bound to be subtle nervous wars between the branches. It was human nature, after all. It was inevitable that there would be a conflict of interest with the motherland.

AAU General Conference.

“I didn’t know ties were this stuffy, old man.”

A flurry of activity.

Sung Hyunjoon fiddled with his tie and whispered to Yoon Soogyeom next to him.

He was trying to relax.

Unfortunately, Yoon didn’t hear him.

“…… My stomach is rumbling.”

The indescribable player, Lee Hoyeol.

With his performance in the Eunaxus Raid, Nam Taemin rose to the top of the official Arcana rankings.

Both players are from the same country, South Korea.

The influence of the AAU Korea branch was bound to rise. For the first time in its history, the AAU General Conference was held in Seoul.

Yoon calmed his nerves and put it into perspective.

“It’s so different from what I saw on the monitor. I never thought it would be this grand.”

The view from the Magic Tower, Crystal Hall.

The general meeting is attended by all members of AAU from all branches.

In that sense, the Magic Tower couldn’t be more appropriate. Not only was it vast, but the portal offset the geographical issues, which no one could have imagined.

No one dared to think of using it as a General Conference Hall.

“Senior, look!”

“……?”

“It’s Mr. Park!”

Chuck.

Where Sung’s finger pointed, there was Park Minjae.

To be exact, to whom Park Minjae bowed to. Marcelo, the new Tower Master of the Magic Tower.

Yoon Soogyeom made an honest assessment.

“The new Tower Master seems to be under a lot of pressure.”

It went without saying, but Marcelo was not as stoic as a certain ‘someone’.

He didn’t mind a little flattery.

Sung Hyunjoon was dumbfounded by his boss’s new look.

“Mr. Park, it’s not flattery, it’s sincerity, and I think you’re genuinely happy to see me. I can’t believe we’re hosting the AAU General Conference at the Magic Tower. Didn’t you see earlier, how much weight was on your shoulders among the branch leaders……!”

The timing was right.

Marcelo had just been elected as the new Tower Master and had begun to open up more aggressively.

This was largely due to the influence of Hoyeol, who emphasized the importance of 『Anomaly』. The regular meetings of the Magic Tower and the General Conference of the AAU. There were enough possibilities to reach a new result.

Sung Hyunjoon checked his watch and whispered.

“It’s about to start.”

Why Thursday?

The reason was simple.

Every conference needed an agenda.

Thursday’s regular update was a good place to test the new 『Anomaly』’s performance. That was why Yoon was nervous.

“I’ve definitely got the materials…….”

At the very least, he didn’t want the Magic Tower to be disappointed.

He had to give a convincing performance.

He knew that.

But alas.

“……!”

Thud.

Yoon’s fingers froze on the regularly scheduled update. No, it wasn’t just him. The entire AAU was the same. Even Tower Master Marcelo’s faces stiffened. Park Minjae gritted his teeth.

──────

A new event is coming your way.

──────

“Raymond Sean, is this guy real…….”

──────

[A new large-scale event, ‘Battle for the Demon King: Proof of the Ten Thrones’ begins.]

[Top demon kings and new challengers appear.]

[From now on, ‘Behemoth’s Maw’ will no longer attack demons.]…….

──────

*

I stared at the floating message.

[Would you like to take on the challenge?]

[Can you prove it?]

[The choice is entirely up to you, the king.]

…….Looks like I was completely mistaken about something.

What are you thinking?

You’ve gotten me involved in a battle between demons, haven’t you?

I summarized the situation in one word.

“Checkmate.”

“Che, checkmate……?”

Holy shit, I overlooked the listening ear……!