Chapter 733 – …Remain (1)
The Holy War Alliance’s forward base in the Demon Realm.
“R-Really?”
“What, have you been getting fooled your whole life?”
“No, it’s just been so long!”
Lee Hoyeol.
Supreme Commander of the Holy War Alliance.
Our Supreme Commander was finally on his way here—to the Demon Realm.
A dry cough suddenly rang out.
“Ahem. You’re all so delighted that those of us who worked hard to fill the empty spot might start feeling hurt.”
“Ah, Lord Wallswail?”
“Surprised? Khahaha. I’m joking, just joking.”
Even Wallswail, who was usually serious whenever he wasn’t drinking beer, was cracking jokes.
It was understandable.
One of the Senior Mages who had joined the Holy War Alliance—
Senior Healer Bellier folded a finger as she counted.
“Hasn’t it already been well over a month?”
“‘A month’ doesn’t really do it justice, considering everything that’s happened during that time…”
“True.”
Hoyeol’s absence.
The period during which Hoyeol had stepped down from every one of his positions.
Everyone had realized…
Just how heavy a burden he had been carrying.
Wasn’t it obvious just from how quiet even the Adventurers’ World had become? The same place that never stopped making noise. Bellier hadn’t witnessed it herself, having joined the campaign in the Demon Realm, but…
“It seems Agares’s appearance in Seoul taught everyone quite a lesson. Even those who used to assign whatever meaning they pleased to every act of kindness Chief Mage Lee showed—and then tear him apart over it—have gone quiet.”
Senior Mage of Frost Magic, Kotein Revel, snorted.
“Tch. What pitiful people. No wonder demons prefer the Adventurers’ World over their own Demon Realm. Remember the rumors that spread when I collapsed on Jeju Island?”
When Paimon appeared on Jeju Island—
-Shock! Senior Mage Seriously Injured?
-What Was Lee Hoyeol Doing on Jeju Island?
-Magic Tower Mage Says: ‘Questioning Whether He’s Qualified to Be Chief Mage…’
The media had somehow gotten wind of the senior mages’ injuries and made a huge fuss.
They had claimed it was Hoyeol’s responsibility for failing to protect such valuable combat assets.
Kotein smiled as coldly as his frost magic.
“They kept yapping without realizing how much Chief Lee had protected them all this time. Now that they’ve personally experienced what it’s feels like to have death breathing down their necks, they’ve finally come to their senses. They’ve realized he isn’t someone they can casually criticize or provoke.”
And perhaps there was also a sense of pride…
Pride in serving someone like him.
Even the usually icy senior frost mage couldn’t hide his excitement.
There was no need to describe how everyone else felt.
Standing beside Nam Taemin, the Head of the Dune Clan, Shahin Dune, shrugged.
“So it’s finally beginning in earnest.”
“Come on. Welcoming him comes first.”
“Young Barbarian, you still know far too little about that man.”
“Huh? Too little? That kinda hurts my pride.”
“Then shall we make a wager?”
‘I know him better. No, I’ve spent more time by his side.’
Watching the childish exchange, Leonie muttered,
“The muscle-pig alliance has developed a crack.”
His return really was having quite the impact.
She hadn’t wanted to hear the details of their bet…
But both men were as loud as they were large.
“Don’t you know he’s a man of action rather than words, Barbarian?”
“I don’t know about that. He’s not nearly as cold-hearted as you make him sound.”
“Oh, I know that much. But everything depends on the circumstances. Surely even you understand just how unstable the Demon Realm is right now?”
The moment he returned, the Demon Realm expedition would begin immediately.
That was Shahin’s prediction.
Nam Taemin disagreed.
“I know. I’ve experienced firsthand how Cursed Flesh corpses have been turning up everywhere, and how the aftermath has caused attacks on us. But Supreme Commander isn’t the same Supreme Commander he used to be.”
‘Hoyeol wouldn’t just pretend nothing happened.’
If someone asked whether he truly believed that…
He couldn’t honestly nod without hesitation.
‘…It’s just that I want to believe it.’
For Nam Taemin, this wager was almost a way to force himself to keep believing in Hoyeol.
But neither side would ever get the chance to claim victory.
Because…
“He really has returned.”
“But… why are those two doing that?”
“No idea. They’ve been like that ever since he arrived.”
The moment Hoyeol finally appeared in the Demon Realm…
What he did was so shocking…
That everyone forgot Nam Taemin and Shahin had even made a bet.
“H-Huh…?”
*
*
*
They say everything is hardest the first time, and that you get used to it soon enough.
‘Where exactly did I go wrong?’
From my perspective, this was nothing more than basic workplace etiquette.
I’d withdrawn my resignation and returned to my position. Naturally, I should thank the people who had filled my absence.
But…
‘Habits really are terrifying.’
The problem was that I had been dyed too deeply in Grandfell’s colors.
‘It feels like I’m saying something I’m not supposed to.’
Though, objectively speaking, there was nothing wrong with saying it.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
“I’m glad everyone returned safely.”
“Because of all of you, the Holy War Alliance remained safe.”
Those were words any Supreme Commander returning to duty could say.
The problem was the speaker.
The tone was so warm and approachable that it was unimaginable as Grandfell’s usual manner of speaking.
‘Even I feel like my tongue’s growing thorns just saying it.’
The listeners weren’t any different.
Nam Taemin and Shahin, who had greeted me first, stood completely frozen.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have shaken their hands.’
They simply stared blankly…
…at the hands that had just shaken mine.
Well, I’d have to get used to reactions like this too.
I’d already resolved not to leave behind a single regret.
“So those are the Cursed Flesh.”
After roughly returning everyone’s welcome, I shifted my gaze.
The moment I looked at the Cursed Flesh, the vow I’d just made—to leave no regrets—grew even firmer.
‘The beings from the previous cycle who were caught in an imperfect reversal because of my mistake.’
If…
…I were to cast Time Reversal Magic again during this cycle…
I turned my gaze once more.
I looked at everyone gathered here.
‘They, too, would become Cursed Flesh.’
Perhaps Grandfell had unleashed the collapse of the curse upon the Demon Realm precisely because he wanted me to face the truth I’d been avoiding.
After all, I knew you—the one who set this question—better than anyone.
I could even guess your intentions.
‘You want me to end this without repeating my mistakes.’
Our reversal carried an irreversible sin.
So, you were telling me to give up.
But…
I had no intention of abandoning this new path.
‘In the end, all I can do is my best.’
I didn’t believe perfect Time Reversal was possible.
Changing nothing more than Grandfell’s way of speaking wouldn’t suddenly allow me to understand everyone.
But even if it were only a handful of people…
If the price was enduring the thorns growing on my tongue…
If I could save even a few people from becoming Cursed Flesh…
‘Wouldn’t that be enough?’
That was the pride Lee Hoyeol had chosen.
With that in mind, I spoke.
To everyone present.
Including the Cursed Flesh.
Forgive me for presumptuously saying “we.”
“We ask for your forgiveness.”
Then I looked up at the sky of the Demon Realm.
The Silver Evil Eye.
Grandfell…
Your true feelings probably aren’t all that different from mine.
*
*
*
“Skal.”
Frostnax called for his knight.
Thinking back to the days when he’d been called a mere whelp, it was something that should have been impossible.
A dragon treating a human as an equal?
Anyone would have been astonished.
Yet…
“There’s no trace here either.”
…anyone meeting the current Skal might not be surprised at all.
He had set out in search of the dragons who had swallowed the Evil Fruit and stood on the brink of falling into becoming Evil Dragons.
[Class Quest: A Knight’s Oath]
It had been a long time since the system malfunctioned and he could no longer see its messages.
By now, even the quest’s name had become hazy in his memory.
But Skal hadn’t forgotten his objective.
So much so that Frostnax worried about him.
Whoosh—
Frostnax.
The Frost Dragon’s enormous wings tore through dimensions.
The scenery of the Arcana Continent flashed past like an arrow.
“Do not lose heart. You need only look at me. Dragons are the kings of all creation. My kin also know that the Primordial Evil is the one who betrayed Mother. They will never submit to the Evil Fruit.”
“Even so, Lord Frostnax…”
“Hah. Have you forgotten? I was merely a hatchling.”
A Frost Dragon.
Cold enough to live up to the name.
For even Frostnax to bring up his comparatively young age…
Skal swallowed a bitter smile.
‘That just shows how bleak the situation really is.’
They had searched every corner of the Arcana Continent but found no trace of the dragons.
It wasn’t strange.
Dragons were beings capable of tearing through dimensions.
Frostnax spoke calmly.
“At the very least, my kin will not bring harm upon the world.”
Unless they died lonely deaths…
…alone within isolated dimensions.
Skal and Frostnax had reached a conclusion.
Perhaps the dragons who still retained their sanity before fully falling into Evil Dragons had hidden themselves deep within the cracks between dimensions.
“A bottomless abyss from which one cannot escape without reason.”
It could be said that they had imprisoned themselves within dimensional prisons…
…to prevent their future Evil Dragon selves from rampaging.
Skal’s goal was to save those dragons who had resigned themselves to death.
Though…
…he didn’t know how much the dragons themselves already knew.
“If they’re mistaken, then we have to tell them the truth, don’t we?”
The Claudi they had feared…
…and the Lee Hoyeol they had met…
…were completely different.
If they witnessed the Silver Evil Eye hanging over the Arcana Continent, they would instinctively understand.
Frostnax nodded.
“My elder brethren, who have lived far longer than I, could never fail to understand that truth. How they interpret it is up to them, but surely they will arrive at the same conclusion we did.”
The curse left behind in the former land of Claudi.
The two of them had witnessed the truth through it.
The truth had been so shocking that…
…they had struggled greatly over whether to speak of it.
But in the end…
Skal and Frostnax came to understand.
“They bear burdens beyond anything we can comprehend.”
“How many people do you think know that?”
“One is certain—the old explorer.”
He meant Lorenzik.
The two had seen Lorenzik countless times as he crossed the Arcana Continent at all hours.
They hadn’t approached him, fearing they might interfere.
But they had observed his movements.
Especially whenever he stepped onto Mother’s land, Sisley.
Skal concealed his presence, while Frostnax polymorphed into a hatchling and secretly listened to Lorenzik’s sighs.
Skal muttered,
“Who could’ve imagined the world had been repeating itself?”
A Hidden Class—Dragon Knight.
True to the name, Skal had remained in the shadows, quietly maintaining the balance of the Arcana Continent.
No one knew of his efforts.
Then again, since when had Skal ever sought recognition?
The greatest proof was how he had held onto Rank One while rarely ever showing himself.
Still…
There was one acknowledgment he treasured above all others.
Frostnax’s.
‘You’re becoming more qualified by the day, whelp.’
It was just as Frostnax let out a scoffing laugh.
“…!”
The two guardians of the Arcana Continent sensed something unusual.
An evil presence.
Strong enough to matter…
…yet weak enough to seem insignificant.
Demons still infested the Arcana Continent.
They had merely hidden in the shadows out of fear of the Silver Eye.
Yet here was a demon…
…that showed no fear of the Silver Evil Eye’s overwhelming presence.
Frostnax spoke.
“Regardless of its strength, we must investigate.”
The Frost Dragon tore through dimensions once more.
At last…
…what came into view…
…was far too pitiful to be called a demon unafraid of the Silver Evil Eye.
It was merely a shabby old man.
Then the old man opened his mouth.
“Hold fast to your pride.”
Pride?
Coming out of nowhere?
No…
A demon speaking of pride?
As the speechless pair stared at him…
The Third Throne Demon King, Vassago, continued.
“The natural enemy of demons is the Demon Hunter. But do you know who hates and despises demons more than anyone else?”
“It is demons themselves.”
The prophecy within Vassago’s avatar stirred.
“I, Vassago, have come to reveal the whereabouts of the Primordial Evil.”
“…?!”