Chapter 723 – Then What? (2)
The Demon Realm–Holy War Alliance’s encampment.
“U—uwoaagh?!”
Wide pupils. Flushed cheeks. Leonie screamed.
“W-what’s wrong with that human all of a sudden?!”
It wasn’t simply because Hoyeol had appeared.
It was because of the words pouring endlessly from his lips—
no, at this point, it felt more appropriate to call it a snout.
“How can he say something that cringeworthy so casually…!!”
Nam Taemin and Hisagi.
The two of them had unknowingly picked up some of Hoyeol’s manner of speaking, but they could never match the original. Otherwise, why would the members of the Great Alliance Guild nearby be chiming in one after another?
“W-well, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Hearing him talk like that.”
“…I’ve reached the point where I just accept it.”
“Then why do you have goosebumps all over your arms?”
Glances flickered toward Leonie.
“Your expression is really bizarre, sis.”
Are you smiling? Screaming? What is that?
Of course, whispers Leonie herself couldn’t hear.
Leonie grabbed Hisagi beside her and demanded an explanation. No matter how she thought about it, something was off about that guy.
“Hey, hey—don’t you think it’s weird? Is now really the time to be saying stuff like that? I swear, it’s like he ate something bad. Otherwise, why would he be that self-absorbed—”
“It is strange.”
“Right?! So it’s not just me?!”
“He is the Supreme Commander, but… something’s different.”
“Huh?”
Different? What is?
Leonie was famous for having terrible instincts. For even her to sense something off—
What about the others in the alliance?
“Hm.”
Crimson eyes turned toward Hoyeol floating in midair—
more precisely, toward his body.
“This isn’t a change that happens in a short time.”
Eyes of the Dune clan, capable of glimpsing moments beyond the present, caught the change.
The degree of muscular development.
Shahin stroked his chin.
‘The balance is different.’
It wasn’t about muscle mass.
It was about traces that normally don’t change.
You can tell how someone lived by their body—
like the thick calluses on a blacksmith’s hands.
In other words—
‘It’s different enough to say he lived an entirely different life.’
Shahin wasn’t the only one who felt the dissonance.
‘I can’t feel his distinctive mana.’
A descendant of Twilight.
Mary’s innate sensitivity as a magical race detected the difference. Her brow twitched.
‘The Twilight Pulse too.’
The Twilight Pulse—
like a heartbeat felt only by users of Twilight mana.
The fact that it wasn’t beating meant only one thing.
The Hoyeol before her was not a user of Twilight mana.
Which meant—
Mary swallowed dryly.
‘He might not be the person I know.’
In truth, it might not have been that shocking.
Two different names—Claudi and Lee Hoyeol.
Mary had already prepared herself to accept the shocking hypothesis that they might not be mere aliases, but truly separate beings.
But the real shock began now.
Suddenly, behind them—a flicker of glowing mana.
A player leapt out of a radiant portal.
“Breaking news! Supreme Commander Lee Hoyeol has returned to the Magic Tower—huh?!”
The player stared at the portal he had just passed through in confusion.
Hoyeol was definitely at the Magic Tower—so how could he also be beyond the portal, in the Demon Realm?
“Insane.”
“W-what? He’s here too?!”
“How many of him are there now…?”
As more players who had encountered Hoyeol in different locations entered the Demon Realm, the confusion only deepened.
But thankfully, the chaos didn’t last long.
Because instead of noise, silent shock settled in.
Hoyeol—
to be precise, the Hoyeol who appeared in the Demon Realm—spoke to the Curse Flesh.
“Long time no see, everyone.”
His tone was gentle, as if addressing old friends.
Leonie, tense, whispered to Hisagi.
“Hey. That thing that popped out of the curse.”
“You mean the Curse Flesh?”
“Yeah. Nam Taemin said it felt weirdly familiar, right?”
Hisagi recalled Taemin’s words.
—“I don’t know… it smells familiar.”
That Taemin had said that to him meant he was almost certain.
Then the conclusion wasn’t hard to reach.
‘The boy we saw inside the curse was the Supreme Commander.’
Lee Hoyeol, back when he had black hair.
‘If there’s one Supreme Commander per manifested curse…’
It wasn’t an exaggerated assumption.
Even the Curse Flesh—each born from different curses—
had the same scent, according to Taemin.
Hisagi looked at Hoyeol.
‘A Supreme Commander born from a curse…’
Then he shook his head.
“No. That can’t be.”
“Can’t be? What were you thinking by yourself?”
“No—nothing. It’s nothing.”
Leonie was clearly curious, but Hisagi held his tongue.
It sounded plausible, but the circumstances didn’t match.
There were no curses in the Magic Tower, reality, or the Arcana Continent.
‘But wait.’
Another possibility surfaced.
‘The curse we saw was an event that never existed.’
If the curse had truly happened in the past, they would never have met Eunaxus in the first place.
But what if—
‘The curse existed in a completely different worldline?’
A so-called parallel world.
Hisagi’s narrowed eyes flashed.
‘That explains everything.’
If the Supreme Commander appearing simultaneously in countless places
were each from entirely different parallel worlds—
Then every question was answered.
Shahin and Mary, having reached the same conclusion, moved at the same time.
Their expressions were unexpectedly bright.
“It finally feels like we understand at least one layer.”
How could he have known everything?
“I feel the same.”
How could he have noticed even the forgotten ones?
“Hah! So that’s why he accumulated such wealth. It wasn’t that my ability was lacking compared to the Claudi family—!”
Watching the multiple Hoyeols appear simultaneously, some finally found answers to their doubts.
More than that—
they felt gratitude.
Because the Supreme Commander had hidden nothing,
and revealed even his other selves.
Nam Taemin and Nam Cheolmin exchanged glances.
“…Does this mean we’ve finally been properly acknowledged?”
*
*
…
This is the last time.
Even if it isn’t, I have to struggle as if it is.
‘I have to try everything I can, right?’
I don’t remember every past cycle, but I must’ve tried every little trick imaginable.
That’s the kind of person Lee Hoyeol is.
‘And if all of that was still wrong—’
Then this time, I’ll do something I’d never do as myself.
That was the confession through clone summoning.
Action over words.
A confession delivered in Lee Hoyeol’s way.
I don’t know how much of it reached them.
‘It’s fine. This is just the beginning.’
So get used to it.
‘This level of embarrassment, at least.’
I’m an adult now—someone who can dismiss youthful recklessness as childish.
I walked toward Vassago.
As I said, I couldn’t give him the answer he wanted.
‘You asked the wrong person.’
And would Grandfell answer even if asked?
‘With his personality, I’d be lucky if he even spoke.’
That was the end of my respect for Vassago.
I activated [Exorcist], inviting Vassago into my mental space.
Vassago offered no resistance.
“So you won’t answer, after all.”
He merely wore a bitter expression.
Honestly, my character’s been a mess lately.
Just what kind of state do I look like for this to happen?
‘Have I fallen so far that even demons pity me?’
Ever since parting ways with you, Grandfell,
it feels like I’ve been causing worry for others.
Well—maybe not in reality,
but in the mindscape, that’s how it must look.
‘Either way, I won’t let my guard down.’
Consciousness.
A battlefield ruled entirely by mental strength.
I know Vassago’s true nature well.
Since I’d changed the flow compared to previous cycles, Vassago might also react differently.
Chrrk.
Just in case, I equipped Gabriel’s relic: [Chains of the Repentant Lucifer].
Vassago, who had been silently watching me, nodded.
“So this is the mental space that dragged everyone into hell. As expected of one called a natural enemy. Just moments ago, you seemed merely pitiful—yet now you look like a monster that devours fear.”
Vassago’s body trembled violently.
But—
“There is something I must say.”
He continued firmly.
My exorcism—no, Exorcist, evolved from exorcism—grants demons no mercy.
Most demons can’t even breathe properly inside my mind.
‘And yet he still opens his mouth.’
No matter how unusual he was, a demon was still a demon.
Even if Vassago of previous cycles wasn’t like this, I couldn’t be sure about this one.
…However.
I didn’t hunt Vassago immediately.
They say you grant the wishes of the dead—
so hearing a dying demon’s last words seemed acceptable.
And I was curious.
What final words would Vassago—
who had floundered in loneliness enough to abandon even malice—leave behind?
What followed was beyond my expectations.
“Heh. Isn’t ‘consciousness’ truly fascinating?”
What—did he suddenly feel like discussing philosophy?
“The moment I stepped into your mind, something like an afterimage brushed past my thoughts. I wondered if it was a life-flashback—but it wasn’t. In that afterimage, I saw my death.”
Ah. That’s what he meant.
‘Well, traces of previous cycles remaining in consciousness isn’t strange.’
Bael remembered previous cycles thanks to exorcism too.
But why was Vassago the only demon who recognized those traces?
“Who knew discarding malice would be such a boon.”
Because he wasn’t gripped by fear.
By accepting death, he noticed the remnants etched into consciousness—
though faint, like lingering shadows.
‘About the same level I felt when I first reclaimed the arrangement.’
I came back to myself.
So that’s it? That was your last word?
No—there had to be more.
Vassago still stared at me quietly.
Then—
“If it helps you, that is enough.”
He closed his eyes.
…What?
Helps me?
How did you help me?
I retraced his words.
‘Aside from pity… consciousness…’
Wait.
‘Consciousness…?’
Words surfaced in my mind.
Previous cycles.
Arrangement.
Consciousness.
Because time itself is distorted within the mental space,
I couldn’t tell how long passed.
But after deep thought—
‘Maybe.’
I spoke.
“Vassago.”
“…?”
“You are qualified.”
“…Qualified?”
Before I changed my mind.
Before the seniors noticed.
Before Grandfell said anything to me.
“You are qualified to live tomorrow—by my mercy.”
“!!!”
Now disappear from my sight, demon.