◈ Episode 502. I Wanted to Be the Light (1)
Humans are worse than demons.
‘Raymon Sean, Liu Zunqun, Supernova……. Well, there were many.’
Conflicting with Grandfell’s human hymn.
Such contradictory examples.
Sometimes I wondered if I should be merciful and believe them.
Why, I, Lee Hoyeol, had my own experiences.
‘……I don’t want to think about it too much.’
I try to shake off the memories of ‘those days’.
Yeah, the present is enough of an example, right?
Without looking at Grandfell, I give an example in reverse.
‘Honestly, Paimon is better than most humans, right?’
There are so many humans who forfeit their faces even when they’re wrong, so I think it’s safe to say that Paimon has more than just dignity, he has pride, as he said himself.
‘That’s probably why even the greatest Grandfell in the world didn’t respond.’
And Lox, on the other hand?
Well, I don’t know.
He seemed to have a purpose.
“Move over, Lee Hoyeol.”
Lox rampaged through the city with no regard for the aftermath.
He didn’t even realize his body had been altered by the [Corruption].
He turned to me, who stood between him and Paimon.
“Lox, please……!!!”
He turned a blind eye to the cries of his longtime ally, Camilla.
In that sense, I wasn’t sure.
Of what Grandfell would do to Paimon and Lox.
Mercilessness towards demons.
At the same time, generous toward those who knew pride.
It was at this point that Grandfell’s paths collided.
Because it was now.
And then.
‘…… I never thought of that.’
I never thought my eyes would sparkle at this point.
[Class Quest: Are We Still Demons?]
I ask you, Akshan. We who became demons to hunt demons, we who fell to hell to hunt demons, we who have hunted demons since falling to hell, are we still demons?
-Encounter the Demon Hunter in Hell. (in progress)
Yes, we are.
My path as a demon hunter has left its mark.
The footprints of our Akshan seniors.
The moment I realized what the quest was about.
I realized.
‘……No, I’m the only one who’s confused, Grandfell.’
I’m ashamed to say.
I was probably the only one who was confused by the contradiction.
The seniors in Hell were technically demons.
But Grandfell may have honored the Demon Hunters, who never forgot their Akshan roots even after falling to Hell, but he never considered them demons.
You’ve forgotten something, Hoyeol.
How stupid of you to forget that simple thing.
I laughed bitterly to myself.
‘……Maybe, I just haven’t gotten over it yet.’
Trusting someone is not an easy thing for me, Lee Hoyeol.
But not you, Grandfell.
With our shared dark history, what’s not to trust?
So I finished my sentence.
“You wanted to be the light, Lox.”
Activating the Exorcism Ritual.
Ritual participants.
Influenced by the seniors Akshan of Hell.
hwareureuk!
The heat of Hell seemed to envelop my entire body. It was no illusion. My vision was filled with nothing but green flames as I entered consciousness.
[※Warning: Your consciousness will be blurred].
As I’ve said many times, the Exorcism Ritual is a battle of the minds.
The scenery is unrelated to the gaze of a third party.
It means that it is unfolded to the participants in the exorcism ritual.
jeobeog.
But I wasn’t in a mental battle with Lox or Paimon. I’m in a tug-of-war for dominance with my fellow seniors in Hell.
hwareureuk!
The hellfire roared.
Then, the flames engulf me.
Hellfire engulfed my vision.
Hell.
I once asked Lorenzik, the Romantic Explorer, about it. I asked Lorenzik, the romantic explorer, about the Torch of Hell in the Explorers Federation, for that was the torch of hell he brought with him.
-“I’m ashamed to say, I actually gave up exploring at the Mouth of Hell because I was scared! If you’re interested in exploring Hell, ……. Yes, I’ll accompany you! With me, you have nothing to fear…….”
At the time, I thought, ‘Oh, so he’s afraid of exploring, too,’ and shrugged it off.
But now that I’ve been engulfed in the hellfire myself, I understand Lorenzik’s feelings.
‘This is no ordinary fire.’
A vision that flickers in the blazing flames.
It was a place that even demons feared, the flames of hell.
In such hell’s flames, terrible visions unfolded.
Like a mirror.
My reflection, burning in the unquenchable flames of hell, unfolded in the flames. But to be honest with you……. This one didn’t really hit me.
‘Wow, even though it’s awkward, it can’t be this awkward.’
Holy shit.
This is Grandfell.
Grandfell without blood or tears.
Writhing and screaming in pain……!
I know from experience how stubborn this body can be.
‘What’s with the hallucinations, they just feel like composited images?’
Literally, I’ve never forgotten this stubbornness, even on my deathbed, so the psychological blow of the flames of hell didn’t even touch me.
Even the flashing system messages are just a nice touch.
[※Warning: your consciousness will be blurred.]
Blurred consciousness is bullshit.
I squinted harder, staring into the flames of hell.
No, I didn’t just stare, I walked through the flames.
ttogag.
And then I saw it.
The images of our seniors who fell into hell.
By the way, the more I look at them, the more I realize they’re Akshan.
‘How could they be darker than the Shadow Mercenaries?’
My mouth drops open regardless.
“Excellent.”
Anyway, this guy’s taste.
“I can sense your determination from the way you dress.”
Don’t approve of such attire, Grandfell.
And no matter how you look at it, this is…….
Because it didn’t seem like a situation to leisurely evaluate fashion.
‘……What the hell is going on, this?’
I knew from experience in the Spacetime Social Hall.
In the space of consciousness, the passage of time is arbitrary.
The same is true of exorcism consciousness.
‘While I was engulfed in the flames of hell.’
Seniors, what the hell did you do……?
I couldn’t help but panic, for it was a sight to behold: Paimon’s incarnation, and Lox, incapacitated and imprisoned in silver restraints.
For real.
‘I knew you were unusually strong, our seniors, but…….’
Of course, Paimon was borrowing the body of an incarnation, but as Paimon said, I was the one who understood the structure of an incarnation.
‘Incarnate bodies are not weak.’
An incarnate body is a kind of high-end medium, an alter ego.
In some ways, it’s no different from Paimon’s own body.
It’s capable of exerting power.
You were able to completely subdue such a Paimon’s incarnation.
Neutralized it.
I was dumbfounded but inwardly convinced.
‘I think it’s worth it.’
Considering how much these guys train…….
I thought my stats had risen quite a bit through my daily pushing myself to the limit. Shouldn’t the seniors in hell be much higher than me in terms of absolute training volume?
Not to mention their morale stats, [Tenacity].
And a familiar face among the black group.
I saw Shegwin.
Shegwin was a Sword Saint in his previous life.
He must be the youngest in Akshan.
‘Because even the max level new recruits were mobilized.’
Indeed, that could be true.
I suppressed my surprise and tried to make sense of what was happening. A hooded demon hunter with an impressive hood strode toward me.
Then he opened his mouth.
“Choose.”
The symbol of Akshan to me.
Sreung.
He handed me a silver dagger.
“Which is your prey.”
Which side is your prey?
I quickly realized the intent of the question.
The seniors were asking me.
Paimon and Lox.
Which one of them is Akshan’s prey?
No, it goes beyond that…….
“We will see what Akshan chooses.”
He was asking me, the last survivor of Akshan, the one who had rebuilt Akshan, the de facto leader of Akshan. Paimon and Lox, their plight as two beings.
Flashing Quest Objective.
-Meet with the Demon Hunter of Hell. (Ongoing)
●Convince the Akshan of Hell (Select).
●Reject the Akshan of Hell. (Select)
Before them, I was troubled.
Of course, I was.
I’m not agonizing over a choice.
I’ve already said enough about what I, Grandfell, would do, haven’t I?
What I was agonizing over was something else.
The appearance of the seniors of Hell.
Only in consciousness.
Then in the real world.
Paimon and Lox.
Now that they’re helplessly subdued.
How do I look……?
*
Time seemed to stop.
Suddenly.
A sword wielded without even a glance. Leonie’s voice was barely audible as she lost her cowardice and cut down the players who had invaded Shining’s guild house.
“……Crazy, what’s going on?”
It wasn’t because the battle was daunting.
It was because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
A message popped into my head.
An incomprehensible conversation took place.
No, it would be correct to say that I can’t understand it accurately.
“Chief Lee…….”
Jesse mumbles.
The cone hat says.
-We can’t understand this conversation, Jesse, because we’re not in the same class.
But Lox, who is nearby, seems to understand.
As if that weren’t enough, Lox spews insults at Hoyeol.
He swung his sword.
It was truly dizzying.
-Chief Lee I know would have slaughtered him as he was…….
“…….”
Tower Master kept quiet for Jesse’s sake.
He could guess that afterword even without continuing.
At this point, it was a miracle Lox was alive.
Lox, that man.
And another miracle.
The mercy in Hoyeol’s voice as he called for Lox.
Which made the current situation even more incomprehensible.
Leonie asked, puzzled.
“Hey, Jesse Heinness.”
“Yeah.”
“That wasn’t magic, was it?”
“I didn’t feel any magic.”
“Yes, somehow it seemed like that.”
Suddenly, both of them are kneeling in front of Hoyeol.
Leonie, who recognized Hoyeol as someone she knew.
He was not the kind of man who would force someone to kneel before him.
There was only one answer, then.
“So you’re saying that Lox and that asshole just surrendered all of a sudden?”
.
AAU Korea Branch.
Guild Master Lox of the Shining.
His arbitrary attacks.
It was the first incident in Seoul, the land of anomalies.
“No matter how you look at it, it seems right.”
The branch leader, Park Minjae, and all the members hadn’t stopped monitoring.
That meant they watched the whole process.
“The Chief Commander did it again, didn’t he, senior……?”
Sung asked cautiously.
Tak, tak, tak.
Yoon Soogyeom, tapping away at his keyboard, replied.
“No, I’m guessing, but I don’t think it’s over yet.”
“What? What do you mean, senior?!”
“That’s not an ordinary guy.”
Yoon Soogyeom.
He felt a sense of foreboding at the message that came to the players.
Yes, the messages that came to mind with Mosaic had something in common.
“It means that they are unfathomable.”
The beings represented by □.
At this moment, the other man on his knees was most likely a different kind of existence. Therefore, Yoon Soogyeom was on high alert.
……Look.
He pushed up his glasses.
He fixed his gaze on the unknown man.
But it was the wrong choice.
The screen flashed red.
puhwag.
“?!!!”
Sure enough, blood gushed from Lox.