◈ Episode 174. Who Do You Think We Are (2)
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Akshan’s Upkeep: Summoning Akshan the Demon Hunter from the Hellfire.
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Akshan.
Seriously, even on second thought, it’s ridiculous.
You can’t retire after you die.
What, all these classes, really?
But then it makes sense.
The gates of hell are wide open.
No wonder the demons couldn’t jump out of hell.
Clang.
The gates of hell were guarded by a natural enemy.
The hellfire gradually transformed into a human form.
The blazing flames made it impossible to make out specific facial features, but it was clear.
A sword and crossbow in each hand.
There are no clearer symbols of a demon hunter than that.
Soon, a message flashed before my eyes.
[Your relationship with Akshan and your influence apply to the effect].
[Requested by House Simuard] A reward that popped into my mind the moment I completed the quest.
Increased your relationship and influence with Akshan.
So it wasn’t a bug after all.
It was all useful.
At the time, I didn’t understand it, no matter how hard I tried.
Akshan had been destroyed, what were you talking about?
In fact, it made me angry.
‘Well, I don’t think Akshan is in hell…….’
If it wasn’t for AAU’s information, I wouldn’t have even thought of it.
[Akshan demon hunters answer your call].
My influence in Akshan, it’s obvious.
When Akshan existed on the continent of Arcana, I was a low level player.
Perhaps I should be grateful that even one answered.
And yet.
The Demon Hunters are out of control.
Because of whom, I know better than anyone.
[The Akshan Demon Hunters answer your call].
[The Akshan Demon Hunters answer your call].
[The Akshan Demon Hunters answer your call]…….
You’re so selfish, you guys.
The gates of hell are open.
The demon hunters of Hell must be watching the rift.
That is, the demon hunters I know.
regardless of relationship or influence.
would never leave a demon unattended.
Clack!
Clack!
Clack!
The sound of loading never ceases.
Soon, there were dozens of demon hunters standing beside me.
“!!!”
The snake was still arrogant.
And the momentum of the dogs and birds was quickly dampened.
No wonder.
You know better than anyone why natural enemies are natural enemies.
I opened my mouth.
“I recognize your efforts.”
Until the message hit me.
I guessed, but I wasn’t sure.
Shameless as ever, Grandfell.
But for once, I won’t be the one to hold my tongue.
Demon Hunter.
I do not know the story behind each one of them.
But I can guess.
that they endured that ridiculous Akshan training.
Each has a story, a background.
“As the sole survivor of his family, Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo, hereafter referred to as Grandfel;, became a demon hunter to get revenge on that demon.”
Just like Grandfell.
So it has to be serious.
Even if he became a demon while hunting demons.
Even if they died at the hands of their comrades and fell to hell.
The pride in their hearts was unbroken.
Like the nameless young man from the village of Dredsen.
“I know that loneliness myself.”
And that pride was passed on to me, the last survivor of Akshan. It’s never light to carry, but the pride I carry is so heavy.
To not sink.
I have been steadily struggling.
Thud.
Among the demon hunters of hell.
I, too, drew my sword and crossbow.
Why, I said it plainly with my mouth.
-“The Battle of the Demon King is only nourishment for us.”
I am well aware that your level is not high enough to play in the Holy War.
I know that without [Natural Enemy] or [Blessing of the First World Tree], I would be no better than them.
However, once you realize your limitations, you can move forward.
It’s not just about the Battle of the Demon King.
You can use everything in the Holy War as nourishment to improve.
No, we must progress.
-“We will be the shields of the adventurers.”
Arcana, to repay their sacrifice.
So from now on, I must focus.
It’s my first time witnessing a real Demon Hunter in combat.
I must not miss a thing.
‘How did they do so well in the Holy War?’
“Akshan, I must witness the secrets of the Demon Hunter.
Why, I’m confident of one thing: watching and imitating.
Indeed, it is well to be focused.
A demon hunter is a demon hunter for nothing.
He’s a demon hunter because he can’t stand the sight of demons.
Shush!
The crossbow bolt stretched out in an instant.
[Nine-headed Hellhound: Lv.900]
[Anaconda that Swallowed a Great Demon: Lv.920]
[Demonic Legendary Species, Screaming Bird: Lv.900]
“We’ll start with a ranged attack.
I was about to fire my crossbow after the Demon Hunters.
Thud!
I heard a sound.
Thud! Thud!
Three times.
Wait a minute……. What am I looking at?
“is it.”
What’s so casual about that, Grandfell.
Level 900 Demons of True Origin falling to a mere crossbow?
They weren’t just staggering.
They were actually going limp, like they were mortally wounded!
” ……I am so close to the throne.”
Then he closed his bright eyes and said his last words.
Wait.
The Demon Hunter’s Battle, where’s that again?
You’ll have to show me something to copy.
Those monsters were taken down with a few crossbow shots?
“Akshan’s pride hasn’t dulled a bit.”
I rolled my eyes, unconcerned by the nonchalant spouting.
With a few crossbow arrows, a Level 900 monster fell.
I recognized it because it had Grandfell’s eyes.
‘Simply pulled the trigger.’
He didn’t even use any skills or special techniques in the process.
It was just an ordinary shot.
A ‘normal hit’ in slang.
He had killed a level 900 Named Monster with a normal hit.
‘……I mean, he just hit it with his stats.’
That’s possible?
It doesn’t make sense…….
I thought to myself.
A word flashed through my mind.
Class Quest.
─Train your weakened body. (Repeat)
I thought that if I literally repeated the physical fitness quest infinitely, it might be possible. No, wait. Don’t get carried away, Lee Hoyeol……! Think about your daily routine.
‘I can’t handle the amount of training I’m doing right now!’
Over and over again.
As stats get higher and higher.
I could see the quest goals increasing.
Demon hunter, what a fucking idle job!
But my screams fell on deaf ears.
I opened my mouth.
“Indeed, you are still Akshan.”
…… I was hoping that absorbing Akshan’s energy would make things a little easier.
After all, I would still be the one to suffer.
Soon, a message popped into my vision.
[You have cleared the 20th Throne Rift].
Kugugung!!!
At the same time, the rift began to shake.
If it were like usual, I would have been relieved that it didn’t sink today.
But not today.
Because the plan isn’t finished yet.
In the collapsing rift.
I straightened up and braced myself.
This is the beginning.
.
.
.
[You have cleared the 45th Throne Rift].
[You have cleared the 57th Throne Rift].
[You have cleared the 24th Throne Rift]…….
A clearing message on the rise.
The players were in awe.
This is the full power of the Arcanians?
In awe, Harkon spoke up.
“You see, adventurers, believe it or not. We have kept our word.”
We will not suffer a single casualty.
To the demons who have devastated our home, the Arcana continent.
Nothing will be taken from us anymore.
The Arcanaians kept their word with pride.
Harkon spoke.
“So will you believe me, adventurers? You have infinite possibilities. You can be as strong as us, or stronger.”
Players, stats, skills.
These were concepts that still didn’t make sense to Harkon.
But these were not empty words to boost morale.
Why, hadn’t he been watching the adventurers before the Cataclysm?
Harkon smiled.
“Do not forget the past.”
“……?”
“That your presence in Arcana was a miracle, a miracle itself.”
“!!!”
Back when Arcana was just a game.
Players could be resurrected as a matter of course.
There was a death penalty, but the Arkanians didn’t understand the system. To them, players’ very existence was a miracle.
Harkon continued.
“Of course, I still believe in miracles.”
Crackle!
A cracking sound.
Harkon repeated to himself.
‘……No, I have no choice but to believe, even if it is unbelievable.’
He remembered the meeting in the Golden Palace.
-“Even if we don’t, millions of demons will flock to us.”
-“Have you thought about it?”
“What do you mean, Lord Hoyeol?”
-“Out of millions of demons, only a few dozen ascend to the throne. Those who do not ascend to the throne die in the process.”
Then Hoyeol asked a question he hadn’t thought of.
-“Then what happens to the corpses of millions of demons?”
-“…… corpses?”
-“Do you remember, Harkon? And the Great Alliance.”
The Great Alliance.
Nam Taemin, Leonie, and Hisagi.
The moment the three were mentioned.
It wasn’t hard for Hakon to recall.
Memories from Frost.
The day the Frost rose in the world of adventurers, it was filled with the bodies and blood of its people. Bodies and blood were the sacrifices for the demon’s resurrection.
-“……Lord Hoyeol, you don’t mean that?”
Later, when he realized the other side of the Battle of the Demon King, Hoyeol said.
-“The Battle of the Demon King will not end with the election of a new Demon King. Once they sit on their thrones, they’ll have to impose the discipline of hierarchy on their arrogant new kings.”
Yes, and to do that.
-“High Ranking Demon King, they’ll have no choice but to show themselves.”
The High Ranking Demon King.
So immense in power.
So powerful that their mere appearance requires a massive sacrifice.
But in the Battle of the Demon Kings, the offerings were sufficient.
As Hisagi confirmed.
-“In Frost, when the demon summoning ritual was interrupted, Decarabia was resurrected by the sacrifice of his own servants. The sacrifices didn’t have to be human, which means…….”
Hoyeol concluded.
-“Even if we hunt down all the demons and prevent the new king from ascending to power. it doesn’t change the fact that a higher power will emerge.”
He continued as usual.
-“However, it would not change the purpose of hunting demons.”
We will hunt the High Ranking Demon King, even if it appears later.
But despite the grand goals, the plan was simple and clear.
Hoyeol’s words spoke for themselves.
-“That’s right. I will hunt the High Ranking Demon King.”
That’s why he entered the rift alone.
“……How can you hunt a demon in a crumbling rift, let alone a high ranking demon king? My lord, I still don’t understand.”
But he could only believe.
Lee Hoyeol, the adventurer.
May he achieve miracles as always.
The moment Harkon hoped for.
In the crumbling skies of the Rift.
A giant shadow fell.
The players shouted.
“……What the hell is that?”
Dag-dag!
The sound of eerily massive hooves rang out.
A message appeared in the players’ field of vision.
[Demon King, □□□, is appearing].
……Wait, an appearance message?
.
.
.
When the rift is cleared, the player returns to reality.
It is a system of Arcana that cannot be defied.
But you’re not immediately thrown back into reality.
Why, until the rift has completely collapsed, as it is now.
You are given a small window of time.
Which means you can watch, as you are now.
Countless demon corpses floating through the air.
As the rifts collapsed, so did the distance between them.
Bodies begin to gather from all directions.
There are a lot of them, by the way.
‘Well, it’s not unusual.
They were sacrifices to the high ranking demon king, if nothing else.
Soon, a huge shadow fell across the rift.
But the shape of the shadow was oddly familiar.
A horse.
The [Broken Dimensional Rift] that Karimzeva had summoned.
The shape of the horse was identical to the layout of the rift.
“It’s persistent, if that’s what it is.”
You haven’t given up since then, have you?
“Does being a beast make you less capable of learning?”
As if to answer my words.
Dag-dag!
The sound of horses’ hooves echoes.
A message appears before my eyes.
[The Demon King, Gamigin, appears].
I have the brain of Grandfell, who memorizes magic books by heart.
How could he not memorize the sequence of seventy demons?
Kamigin, I can remember the name of that one clearly.
4th place in the ranking of demon kings.
Gamigin is the highest ranking demon.
I’m not kidding, under normal circumstances, I would have jumped right into reality.
‘If the message appears from a 1,000 rift at the appropriate level… … .’
How strong is it?
I had no idea.
But.
Thanks to your misunderstanding.
For arrogantly opening the gates of hell.
I was not alone.
Just like Grandfell.
Far from being intimidated in front of a high-ranking demon king.
Goooooo─
Rather, I had the proud Demon Hunters of Hell by my side, The demon hunters who made Greed commit suicide in that unfavorable holy war, and sent ten demon kings to Hell.
So all is according to my plan.
I pulled a demonic item from my inventory.
The rift collapsed.
Thanks to that, the time I was allowed was only fleeting.
The passage of time in ‘consciousness’ is under my authority.
[The ‘Baton of the Tainted One’ was chosen as the sacrifice].
[Skill, ‘Exorcism Ritual’ is activated].
[Demon, Gamigin is invited to the ‘Ritual’].
“Let him tremble in fear.”
So come, Gamigin.
The Demon King of the 4th Throne.
I chanted, as confidently as ever.
“Akshan has returned.”