Chapter 601 – Special Week (7)

Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo the demon?

If we look back rationally.

It might sound ridiculous.

‘The demon hunting demons.’

But in the Curse.

From the past.

It was visible in the faces of the fallen dragons.

Claudi’s power had risen to a level of arrogance that could only be described as ‘Arrogant’, one that even the King of All Things, Dragons feared and the Seven Deadly Sins obeyed. Frostnax made the dragon’s eyes glow.

“An unbelievable sight, but.”

It was a relatively young Frostnax of the Hatchlings.

At this moment.

He was struggling to wrap his mind around the truth about Claudi.

“I can tell because we are brothers by blood.”

The kin fell with a heavy crash, their wings broken by no magical or physical attack. Skal witnesses the anomaly through [Dragon Eye].

[A status abnormality, ‘fear’, occurs in the target.]
[A status abnormality, ‘fear’, occurs in the target.]
[A status abnormality, ‘fear’, occurs in the target.]

Fear

This is the status abnormality belonging to demons.

The king of all things, the dragon, falls in fear.

Skal’s illusions about the dragon were about to be shattered.

Skal was not disappointed.

‘Of course.’

No, rather, he understood.

“It’s a system of Arcana Continent Chronicle called the Curse.”

No matter how vivid it was, it was only a way to experience the past. They know that unlike their ability to intervene in the past, they cannot cause direct harm to themselves.

And yet.

‘My body won’t stop shaking.’

Skal looked at her trembling hands and bit her lip.

“This is the true power of the Seven Deadly Sects?”

Compared to the Demon Kings of the Demon World, the Seven Deadly Sins were not given much attention among players. It was no wonder. Compared to the Ten Thrones, the Seven Deadly Sins didn’t show much strength.

Someday, the Commander-in-Chief.

I remember the words you spoke at the general meeting of the Holy War Alliance.

Think about those words.

“Demons gain strength from negative emotions.”

That’s why demonic monsters are trickier than those of the same level. Because demons generate status abnormalities [Fear], and they grow from that [Fear].

“The Arcana Continent is not small.”

The proof?

I, Skal, who hasn’t lost a top tier rank since the entirety of Arcana was just a game, could vouch for that. No, even if you don’t believe me, the proof is right in front of you.

The number of dragons.

Skal assumed.

The world of adventurers. Could the planet handle this many dragons? Considering the chaos that the update from the Zero Mountains alone had caused, the conclusion came quickly.

‘The only reason this many dragons can roam is because the Arcana continent is so vast.’

Which brings us back to the question.

The Seven Deadly Sins

They were feeding off the negative emotions of the vast Arcana continent before the cataclysmic flooding of the Demon World.

Their power?

Considering there are only seven of them.

Considering what the commander in chief said.

Their individual strength had to be at least comparable to the Ten Thrones.

“Why?”

But no such power existed in the Seven Deadly Sins.

Skal thought through the message in his mind.

He could vaguely guess the reason.

[Pledge allegiance to Claudi.]

What if Claudi carried the power of the Seven Deadly Sins?

Then, it is understandable why only six messages came to mind despite being called the Seven Deadly Sins. Frostnax, equally judgmental, speaks up.

“I see. Claudi was suppressing the evil of the Arcana Continent, the Seven Deadly Sins, as the Seven Deadly Sins Arrogance. It was because of him that the Arcana Continent was able to maintain peace before the Demon World flooded in.”

“……!”

His vision flashes as if he has the right answer.

[Class Quests: World Tree, Primordial Evil, Dragon, and Claudi].

Dragon.

A dragon knight who is with that primordial being.

It is time to witness the taboo of the Arcana continent.

-Explore the ancient ruins of House Claudi. (Success)

-Enter the curse that binds Claudi and the Dragon. (Success)

-Confront the Seven Deadly Sins. (Ongoing)

World Tree

Primordial Evil.

Dragon.

And Claudi.

Quests that seemed unrelated began to reveal connections. Soon, Skal and Frostnax could hear nothing but the roar of the dragons.

As they watched the scene in silence, Frostnax asked.

“Are you afraid, Skal?”

He wasn’t asking if he was afraid of this situation.

The truth about Claudi.

That Claudi was the Seven Deadly Sins itself.

He was asking if he was afraid.

Skal replied

“……Surely it is a great taboo? I mean, it seems like I’m the only human on the Arcana continent and in the real world who knows the truth.”

Ignorance was bliss.

It was a shocking truth.

But Skal smiled, albeit a small one.

“But I’m not afraid, Frostnax-nim.”

His reason for saying so was simple.

“Because Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo is different.”

Because he’s been around for a while.

Grandfell.

Even if he was a demon who possessed Sir Hoyeol, he never once showed his demonic side. One might ask. What was that look he showed on Jeju Island?

Skal could answer.

“If he were truly a demon, we wouldn’t be alive in the first place.”

“Are you sure of that, Skal?”

“What are you talking about?”

Frostnax asked seriously.

“That we can be sure that it is Claudi’s will.”

If the mercy shown on the island was not Grandfell’s will.

If it was due to Hoyeol’s desperate intervention……?

Skal thought hard.

“Maybe we should just be more grateful?”

“What?”

“After all, we’re alive because of Sir Hoyeol.”

“Ha.”

Frostnax snorted.

Not because the brat’s answer was really funny.

It was because the tension that had been coursing through his body was gone.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Claudi Curse. What made them ‘arrogant’ enough to rule over the Seven Deadly Sins was still unknown, but one thing was clear.

“It was my brothers who were truly arrogant.”

Claudi had not wielded that great power.

Rather, Claudi had suppressed the power of the Seven Deadly Sins, the power that could shake the Arcana continent to its core, and had retreated into seclusion in the high mountains where their influence could not be felt.

That was the proof.

“If they had wanted to, the Arcana continent would have been destroyed long ago.”

That was the conclusion.

Skal, the greatest player of all time.

From when the entirety of Arcana was just a game to after the Cataclysm. A player of players, who ruled alone at the top, demonstrating more than anyone else what a player should be.

It’s a judgment that makes sense for a player of his caliber.

“The Dragon Knight’s mission speaks to me, Frostnax-nim.”

A flashing message.

At the end of it, surely, the sole survivor of House Claudi.

Claudi’s lord.

“Hunt down Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo.”

But Skal shook his head.

Suddenly, a message floated into his vision.

A message that may decide fate.

[Do you wish to abandon the class quest?]

[※Caution: You can never perform class quests again.]

Dragon Knight.

It seemed like I had finally reached my dream.

To reach the end of that dream, Hoyeol.

No, I have to go beyond Grandfell.

Skal gave a small laugh.

“My God, how could I do that?”

Then Skal’s vision flashed.

[You have abandoned the class quest].

[You have failed a quest].

[Curse, you are out of ‘Claudi’s Discipline’].

Frostnax still snorted.

“So, in the end, you’ve thrown away the title of Dragon Knight, brat. I knew it, of course you would. How dare you think that a human could call a dragon, the king of all things, a horse, at least not for hundreds of millions of years.”

Of course, it was visible in Skal’s eyes.

[Intimacy with Frostnax increases significantly.]

Huh?

The rapidly evolving relationship between the two of them, as opposed to the icy cold words of the Ice Dragon. As if unaware that Skal could see through him, Frostnax murmured.

“Still, you have chosen well, Skal.”

It was unmistakably sincere.

“For if you had chosen to go against Claudi, I might have buried you in the unmeltable ice cap first.”

The curses then dispersed.

“That’s a pretty chilling thing to say…”

Skal mused, his voice trailing off.

‘I guess it’s because it’s not a proper route, right?’

Why was he able to reach the Dragon Knight class value so early on?

It was all because of Hoyeol.

Parachuted in, as they say.

Riding on the back of Frostnax.

‘It would have been ruin if I had developed a truly useless greed.’

Giving up on class quests.

It had become the best option, at least for him.

Skal wiped the sweat from his spine.

A flicker.

His vision flickered once more.

What the message was.

What weight it carried, he could tell by the aura.

Dragon of the Dragon Knight.

Just as Skal shared the dragon’s eye.

Frostnax shared his senses.

Even if he couldn’t witness it until the system message.

“Skal.”

It could recognize his emotions from the system messages. Skal’s emotions were fluctuating more violently than when he had entered the curse earlier.

“What the hell.”

It was inevitable.

[Class Quest: Arrogance]

Because I gave up.

The class quest I thought I’d never be able to do again.

Because it said at the end.

-Hunt the awakened ‘Seven Deadly Sins Arrogance’. (in progress)

“Awaken, awakened. Does that mean someone has awakened……?”

*

Memories flash by.

-“That’s great, Grandfell.”

-“You are Claudi’s true lord.”

-“Claudi’s lord must be able to look down on everything. Even if it is the father, mother, and your own flesh and blood.”

It was a damned memory.

“No matter how many times I look back, I don’t regret it one bit.”

Pride was ‘that day’.

The day he’d killed Claudi with his own hands.

Raised that day.

“My only regret is that I didn’t make it more painful.”

Pride had seen it.

How his own damned family had treated and abused Grandfell.

What they’d done to the little boy.

What horrible things they’d tried to do to him.

That’s why he smashed his own hands together.

However.

-”hoho”

That day.

His father said so.

Even as he was dying.

With a passing breath, he mocked.

-“What Grandfell will think of you, I wonder that.”

I thought I knew why he laughed like that.

I was for you.

You were actually hating me.

“It’s a truly unwelcome feeling.”

To be hated by you, who is everything to me.

“Still, I understand, Grandfell.”

“You’re doing something pointless, Pride.”

Because that was the older brother’s attitude toward his younger brother.

That’s right.

The attitude you’re so obsessed with.

I’ll be watching, Grandfell.

Pride’s body began to transform.

“Claudi’s traitor commands. I have sacrificed the last piece of the Sixth Sight Brooch, fulfill the contract. Give Claudi’s legacy to the true Claudi.”

Claudi’s Decree

The essence of the contract engraved on the roots shines.

To a traitor who attempts to usurp the seat of Lord, he asks.

-Traitor, you are not the true Claudi.

It’s still that sound.

On that day, I was convinced and backed down.

Not anymore.

“Do you truly think so?”

Pride opened his mouth.

“Claudi Lord, Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo is not alone. Isn’t he, who is in the infinitely deep darkness, led by only a ray of light and unable to protect the integrity of the lord. Do you really think that Grandfell is Claudi’s lord…….”

For my one and only brother.

“Can you call it the Arrogance of the Seven Deadly Sins?”

Claudi’s deadly sin was taken over.

I stared at the flashing message.

[Class Quest: The Last of the Seven Deadly Sins, Arrogance]

Bael alone would drive me insane.

I mean, really, it’s a slap in the face.

In a situation like this, even Pride would be in an uproar.

‘Do something about your brother, Grandfell……!’

Grandfell replied with his usual lament.

“Brother.”

That is.

“My condolences.”

Condolences to that bastard Pride?

That was an emotional line I couldn’t follow.

I guess the 30% that I don’t know about is being refluxed.

ppadeug.

I gritted my teeth.

I grit my teeth, because I’m starting to anticipate the end of this special week.

I mean.

‘Whew, are you saying you want to come out like that?’

I took a deep breath.

‘Hold on to your sanity, Lee Hoyeol.’

Because only then

You’ll be able to catch Grandfell going on a puberty rampage!

–

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tl/n: Pride is the name of Grandfell brother and here Seven Deadly Sins is called Arrogance, not Pride… 프라이드(Peulaideu): Pride , 오만(Oman): Arrogance

Pride is Itachi