◈ Episode 319. The Difference (1)
●Follow the bloodstains to track down the half-breed demon. (Ongoing)
The quest objective flashes.
You were the culprit behind the flow of monsters in the Zero Mountains.
An extraordinary ability for a creature that appeared so late in the class quest.
But I have a question.
‘Natural Enemy.’
For a Demon Hunter, [Natural Enemy] is a vital skill. It’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s the beginning and the end, and it’s inevitable that you’ll become increasingly proficient in its use.
‘But it didn’t activate.’
If it was a demon of the caliber of a half-breed, I would have felt its presence from the moment I set foot in the Zero Mountains. No, [Natural Enemy] would have triggered quickly.
But even when the quest objective flashed, [Natural Enemy] didn’t trigger, so there’s only one thing I can think of. The half-breed demons are clearly different from the ones I’ve encountered so far.
I opened my mouth to speak.
“A lowly trick.”
A snide remark directed at the demon.
It was nothing out of the ordinary.
The problem was, there were listening ears around.
The players, stunned, bowed their heads first.
“Tha, thank you for saving me!”
“We apologize if we disturbed you.”
“All four of us have reached level 400, so we thought we’d be able to hunt without much trouble, so we set foot in the Zero Mountains……. Call us trivial, we have nothing to say about it, we’ll be on topic in the future!”
Nope.
What the hell kind of image do I have.
Is this how players are supposed to be?
Like I said, it’s all the demons’ fault!
I replied generously.
“I don’t blame you.”
Our noble Grandfell’s pride is complicated. We despise the demon, but we can’t turn a blind eye to it, and we can’t allow it to bend our procedures.
Literally.
‘It’s a tough sensibility, really.
In the past, I would have desperately turned away.
No matter how favorably others viewed it.
I wouldn’t have been able to handle the self-doubt that would ensue.
But now it’s different.
I have the ability to realize this ridiculous, foreign pride, and I don’t know if it’s because of the setting of Grandfell or my own struggle to realize my words.
I continued.
“And now it’s your time.”
“You mean ……?”
“I mean ‘you’, not ‘you’re’.”
“……, huh?”
The players look at each other at my words. They exchange confused looks, as if they didn’t understand what I meant. Again, it’s not their fault.
‘It’s the way he speaks.’
I add a word.
“Look behind you.”
“……?”
And it’s all on them.
This moment.
Even though I couldn’t leave the half-blood demon holding my ankle. At the same time, this is the answer that Grandfell and I come up with as we cannot allow the procedure to go wrong just because of the demon.
It was simple and clear.
“……behind?”
The players turn their heads at my words.
“!!!”
They then exclaim in disbelief.
“That, that outfit is……!”
“Do you recognize that? Because I’m a relative newbie…….”
“Oh, it’s Akshan, the demon hunter you’ve been hearing about in the news!”
[The legend, “Akshan, Hero of the New Era” becomes a reality].
When Arcana was just a game.
Demon Hunters captivated players for one reason only.
Foam raw foam yarn.
The awesomeness that oozed from its appearance.
Why, it still blows my mind.
An ink-colored battle suit that clings just right.
A fluttering black cloak.
A black mask that covers more than half the face in flames.
Times have changed since then.
Back in the days when Arcana was just a game, Demon Hunter was a bright piece of shit. After the arrival of demon-type monsters, the treatment was unimaginably better.
‘It’s just that I’m the only one who can’t see it.’
There were exactly seven demon hunters embodied in the Akshan legend.
They stood at a respectable distance from each other and stood in the background.
The players, who had been mesmerized by their appearance, came to their senses.
“It’s……. Hoyeol-nim is…….”
Yes, as you guessed, my class is Demon Hunter.
I’ve said it over and over again.
I had no intention of hiding my class?
‘Though I have felt the need for secrets lately.’
Why, I’ve realized that the more hands I keep in reserve, the better.
But, to be honest, I have a tired personality…….
On the plus side, I have a sense of pride in my heart.
Even if I don’t say it out loud.
I can’t lie to hide it.
Anyway, I was prepared.
In fact, I cringe every time I see my class guessed in the news.
From Black Mage, to Abyssal Darkness, to the suggestion that the Dark Dragon is actually a Hidden Class. I mean, there were more than a few times when I almost blushed in the midst of my bizarre quest.
But reality always surpasses expectations.
“You’re the leader of the Akshans!!!”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
……The leader of Akshan?
Me?
Why?
How?!
‘Not again?’
Of course, the players don’t know about the [Legendary] system, so they’re mistaking the Akshan demon hunters materialized by Legendary effects for the real thing.
To put it another way…….
‘It’ll look like they just responded to my command.’
I was, after all, Akshan’s youngest child.
And yet I am the leader of the Akshan.
There’s no such thing as a lowly prize.
But it didn’t end there.
The players began to bow down.
Their imaginations run wild.
“That certainly makes sense.”
“If it’s Hoyeol’s reputation…….”
“Then Akshan’s disappearance from the continent must be part of the big picture……!”
Anyway, Akshan’s deformed structure is the problem. If only demons can be hunted, this is a situation brought on by our seniors who do not even listen to their own evaluations of the world.
‘At least you guys can talk, right?’
Silence is an affirmation, whether you realize it or not.
The Demon Hunters walked in silence, clearly hearing what the players were saying. I wasn’t one of those great minds who could elaborate.
In the end, I was left with only one option.
‘I don’t know anymore.’
Resignation.
That’s right.
The realization of pride requires choice and focus. Leaving the half-breed demons to Akshan’s seniors, I turn to Jesse and Mary to observe protocol.
“Akshan made a move…….”
“You mean it’s the work of demons!”
“It’s big news, this is……!!!”
I’m not sure how many other bubbles will be inflated along the way…….
Let’s stay positive.
Isn’t it true that the more a legend swells, the stronger it becomes?
I muttered.
“Is this the beginning of a legend?”
Anyway, this snout never stops talking.
He’s spouting bullshit with a stern expression.
The players’ eyes widen.
“The beginning of a legend!”
The players look like they’ve just witnessed something incredible.
I swallowed a sigh.
I am so sinful, aren’t I……?
*
A half-breed demon.
The ecstasy of flesh flowing with strange blood.
The power.
“Hehe.”
Gremory reveled in the experience of power.
Lust, I will rip that bastard to shreds one day.
To the point where the resolutions I had become meaningless.
It was a world of adventurers, a world she’d thought unfamiliar.
But the people she encountered favored her. They didn’t question her blood-soaked appearance, and they were willing to give her everything.
“It’s an honor to serve you.”
They even gave her directions to her destination, the Zero Mountains.
Gremory smiled.
‘Lust, you will regret leaving me behind.’
‘This power is for me!’
Gremory was certain.
In this moment, she was using her powers more skillfully than Lust himself. It was confidence. A look of superiority that no demon, human, or even elf could match. A confidence that came with the added bonus of power.
If you don’t believe me, look at the evidence.
“……wah.”
Are not the eyes of the foolish humans upon me?
Gremory looked at the Zero Mountains.
It was as vast as it had been on the Arcana continent.
‘He won’t be able to find me here.’
Even for a natural enemy, the Zero Mountains are vast.
Especially if one hides in a hundred thousand caves.
He could search for decades on his own and never find me.
‘That’s enough time.’
She would call upon her newfound power.
Gremory swallowed a smile.
She imagined her nemesis, the demon hunter, being devoured.
‘The sight of that arrogant bastard on his knees, begging for mercy…….’
It made her feel better for having been taunted by Lust.
But Gremory overlooked it. The power of great evil is not something that can be easily dealt with. And when it’s mixed with her own blood, it’s even more insane.
Soon, side effects that even Lust hadn’t anticipated overwhelmed Gremory.
“……What is it?”
The group of adventurers, who had been moving ahead like a limb and opened a path stopped in place.
Thud!
They suddenly takes out a weapon and declares with a solemn expression.
“My queen. We will defend you with our lives.”
……What the hell was that?
Gremory didn’t want to attract attention.
Powerful or not, this was his home, the last of the demon hunters. From what Lust had told her, he’d been high as a kite to hunt her.
And then.
‘These scum.’
Trying to make a scrape, aren’t they?
Gremory stepped forward.
She’d heard since she’d been in the Demon World that the Zero Mountains were a dangerous place, especially with the rumors of dragons up there.
‘Mad lizards.’
They might not be as powerful as the high ranking demon kings, but dragons were capable of traveling in and out of a completely different world. Gremory had seen firsthand the ferocity of such dragons in the Demon World.
“……No way.”
Her head was spinning, and the last thing she needed was to draw the attention of a dragon, even if it was a demon hunter. Gremory pushed past the player who had surrounded her and stepped forward.
“It’s dangerous, my queen!”
“Stand back.”
“But……!”
“I said get lost.”
I had no intention of playing king when my life was on the line.
From now on, she would move as quietly as possible, find a suitable cave, hide in it, and use her powers to call upon the power of her people. It was at this moment that Gremory stepped forward, alone with her purpose.
“……!”
Ouch!
Countless chills ran down her spine.
She could feel it in her gut.
They were the movements of many, attracted by power.
But there was another reason for the goosebumps.
“……What is it?”
Being fascinated by power means becoming an insignificant limb.
Because no owner gets goosebumps in front of her limbs.
It was like that.
What made Gremory startle was the pressure that was slowly tightening around her neck.
“!”
East-west-south-north.
No, it was more of a shredded orientation.
Is it because of the two bloods floating around in the body?
Gremory grasped a more precise number.
‘……Seven directions!’
The presence was strangling her from exactly seven directions.
Gremory thought calmly.
There is only one being who can put this much pressure on himself, the Demon King.
‘Demon Hunter.’
However, he was the ‘last’ demon hunter.
Which meant that the one could not be split into seven.
Gremory gritted her teeth.
‘Whatever this thing is, it’s not a demon hunter, is it?’
……A dragon, perhaps?
Still, better than that guy.
It was worth a shot.
‘If I escape, it’s all over anyway.’
Gremory had no intention of backing down. She was going to meet the crisis head on. Of course, it didn’t take long for Gremory to regret her decision.
Swoosh!
Suddenly.
Arrows flying out of the corner of her eye.
But all of them missed by an absurd margin and stuck in the dirt.
“I see.”
Gremory sneered.
“So drunk with my power that you can’t even aim properly.”
“…….”
“Whoops. You can’t even answer me?”
“…….”
But it was obviously an illusion.
A thud─
The noise from an arrow stuck in the ground.
“?”
Swoosh─!
“……!”
The arrow sparkles.
Or, more accurately, the slender thread attached to it reflects the light.
Then it accelerates faster than Gremory’s eyes can follow.
Chirp!
They tangle together, tightening Gremory’s radius of action.
Goosebumps rise again on Gremory’s skin.
‘……what?’
It’s silver thread.
A thread made of silver……!
It was only later that she realized the shiny thread’s identity.
Gremory opens her mouth in disbelief.
“……You?”
“…….”
But this time, there was silence.
So, ‘someone’ hasn’t been talking too much?
One does not engage in unnecessary conversation with one’s prey.
“Yeah, I don’t know how you guys……!!”
That’s the first rule of Akshan.
Shhh.
The seven demon hunters pull the silver thread taut.
Swoosh!
Using the silver thread as a rope, they glide towards Gremory.
‘……No!’
Natural enemy.
“I can’t see it, it’s too fast. Where are you coming from?’
The hunter’s acceleration that cannot be traced by the prey’s eyes.
‘Not at this rate……!’
The tightening circle.
“Protect me, protect me……!!!”
The prey lunges.
A silver dagger gleams coldly.
And then.
……dengeng─!