◈ Episode 290. Neither Huge nor Great (2)

‘You bastards……!’

Envy looked at the memorization that pierced his flesh. It was nothing more than a crude edge made by human hands. An evolved body shouldn’t even be scratched by attacks like this.

‘Thud!’

But I felt a pain that went beyond pain.

I tried to spread new wings and shake it off.

The wings also did not listen.

“……!”

It was as if it had never existed.

Only then did I realize that something was wrong.

Envy gnashed his teeth.

‘Am I seeing an illusion?’

And if so, since when?

So what is my new form?

Was this too an illusion?

“Ugh.”

Where did it go wrong?

My head is spinning with confusion.

But Envy did not subside.

I am a Great Evil.

Claudi carrying Akshan on his back, and Shadow Mercenaries, although he doesn’t know it.

I will not bend the knee to the attacks of insignificant humans.

A flash─

“I will kill you.”

Death glows in Envy’s eyes.

Tremble─

The tattered body begins to tremble as if trying to reach out again. Nine Shadow Mercenaries. Everyone has their memorization inserted into their bodies.

Envy rolled his eyes.

‘I need to get some time to recover.’

It was trivial, but annoying at the same time.

The Shadow Mercenaries specialized in killing people, after all. All those blades burrowing into his body, attacking his weaknesses one by one, meant that his life regeneration was being severely restricted.

Envy opened his mouth.

“If you don’t want to be killed, stay away, Raven.”

You’re still mistaken, Claudi.

What do you think you know about humans?

I have watched humans since the beginning of time.

They don’t change.

It’s a creature that, in the most extreme of circumstances, will break the bonds of a parent and child.

And yet you trust such a creature.

‘It’s pitiful. How ridiculous.’

Kwaduk─

However.

Kwadududuk─

“……cough?”

Envy could not spit out a laugh.

“What’s so funny, let’s have a laugh, asshole.”

Even though he radiate deadly force, the blades dig deeper and deeper into the body.

Envy rolled his eyes in disbelief.

Even looking at it again, it was unmistakably the Shadow Mercenaries.

Despicable, shallow, and brutal.

That’s why they were used.

But how could they…….

Their eyes should be the color of dead fish, with pupils that…….

‘What is that sparkle……?’

Did it mean they were glowing?

I was not convinced.

So he muttered to himself.

“Are you saying that humans can truly change?”

Envy gaze turned to Hoyeol.

At the same time.

Envy’s pupils fluttered wildly.

“……!”

There it is.

It was you they were looking at.

The light in their pupils was your light.

The realization shattered Envy illusion.

hudeudeudeug─

The black feathered wings are nowhere to be seen.

Instead, what caught their eye was the severed right arm.

A scarred body.

And.

Rattling─

He shudders in terror.

A terrible thought came to mind.

The unstoppable, invincible relationship that he thought he’d overcome.

The horror of being hunted.

Envy dropped to his knees.

“……Please, please don’t kill me!”

*

The Shadow Mercenaries.

The AAU’s information that they would be active until the very end of the Arcana Continent Biography Story was not an exaggeration, for their abilities seemed to multiply in this particular situation.

[You have gained command of the Shadow Mercenaries].

Of course, thanks to your complete obedience to me, the set effect of Dawn has been triggered.

The impact of the greatly increased morale will not be small.

Nevertheless, the shadow mercenaries were amazing.

“No, I’ve made a mistake. Claudi……!!!”

Didn’t we just decisively defeat a great evil?

You might suspect it was an act.

System messages don’t lie.

[‘Fear’ occurs to the Great Evil, the Seven Deadly Sins, Envy].

Envy is brought to his knees.

Perhaps it’s the fear.

Sussss─

Whenever the body trembles, it turns to dust and scatters into thin air.

It becomes more and more insignificant and insignificant.

It won’t be long before the Shadow Mercenaries’ deep-rooted enemies naturally fall out.

Wolfe sheathes his weapon.

“That’s enough.”

Tsk.

He inclines his head toward me.

He steps back with his companions.

I continue to stare at the shrinking Envy.

“I sincerely apologize……!!!”

There was no majesty as a great evil.

All that remained were just demon.

To save his own life.

A demon no different from an imp who is willing to even beg.

“If you spare my life, I will tell you everything I know! What do you want to know? No, there is something you must know. As for Pride, which, like me, is the Seven Deadly Sins……! Claudi, there is something I must tell you!”

Pride, the Seven Deadly Sins.

There is something I must tell you about this guy.

That’s a really tempting statement.

‘Why, because information is important.’

If it were me, Lee Hoyeol, I might have listened to that story as a will and sent him to hell. Of course, it is a meaningless assumption now that Grandfell’s eyes are wide open.

“Why should I?”

“……Yes?”

“The world is a big place, and there’s so much to keep in your head. But how can I. Should I remember the details of some insignificant demon, and keep them in my head?”

Seriously, that’s some crazy confidence…….

Isn’t it true that no one can imitate the Granfell style of speaking?

Of course, I’ll be the one who suffers for it later.

‘But not for a day or two.’

Because the pride of Granfell cannot negotiate with the demon.

“…….”

Is it because even the slightest expectation was denied?

Envy’s face began to twist.

He shouted in anger as if the last flame was burning.

“Yes, even you think my words sound funny. I feel resentful. At the last moment, I can’t see you, who were so upright, collapsing!!”

The cursing continues.

Envy looks down at his body and bites his lip.

He continued speaking, not paying attention to the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

“Even if I am so small and insignificant. I am a great evil. I am a being born of original sin! How dare you look down on me because I’ve lost my power……!!!”

Envy.

As the name suggests, it seems to be screaming out of envy and evil.

But make no mistake.

I told you, right?

“You are neither huge nor great.”

What is great evil, what is the devil?

The Seven Deadly Sins of Pride?

No matter what kind of demon you’ve become.

In Grandfell’s eyes, I was no better than a nameless, lowly imp.

I continued speaking towards envy.

“From the beginning, you were nothing more than a little imp to me.”

Well, even if you scratch your head before falling into hell, isn’t it too hard to scrape it off? This is why you shouldn’t turn Grandfell into an enemy. You will die twice from a vase.

It was a moment of thought.

Why?

I heard a hollow laugh.

“Haha…….”

Envy was laughing.

“I see.”

Gulp.

Beyond the disappearance of the shell, even the original, slender body was burning in the fire of hell. The moment I thought he had lost the strength to hold on, I heard a voice of Envy.

“The shell surrounded by envy was meaningless to you.”

A testament?

No, it means something else.

By any chance, are you also an owner of Grandfell style of speaking?

I mutter to myself in disbelief.

Suddenly, Envy is fully engulfed by the fires of hell.

With only one word left behind as if scattered.

“……I can’t help but be envy of you, too.”

At the same time, my eyes flashed.

[Leveled up] [Leveled up] [Leveled up] [Leveled up] [Leveled up] [Leveled up]

[Leveled up]…….

[Your relationship with Akshan has increased].

[Your influence in Akshan has increased significantly]…….

[Recognized for high kill contribution against the Great Evil, Seven Deadly Sins Envy].

[Loot is automatically claimed for high kill contributions]…….

The messages are dizzying.

Unlike the resurrected Greed, it flashed nonstop.

I realize that I’ve actually killed a real great evil.

The gazes of the Akshan seniors fall on me.

As expected.

I don’t see any sign of praise in their eyes.

Just a nod.

No words, just actions.

I knew that was Akshan’s way of communicating.

It wouldn’t do to be sorry now.

I looked around.

A great evil that fell into hell.

Thanks to this, the Zero Mountains are completely regaining their shine.

Now that the battle is over, I wonder if the morale-boosting effect is over as well. The Shadow Mercenaries who had fought to the death, desperately charging at Envy, sit down or collapse on the ground.

And then.

In the midst of it all.

I was the same as always.

Uprightness that never wavered.

Yes, the goal was to achieve the overwhelming victory.

And that was me.

Thudododododo─

Dozens of helicopters.

Hundreds of drones were filming.

More precisely, the world was watching.

‘……Huuu─’

Really. It’s a terrible situation for poor me, Lee Hoyeol.

Aside from the embarrassment of the self-luminous outfit.

I’m sure it would have been obvious to the world.

Akshan, too.

The Demon Hunter.

Even Claudi……!

The thief must be saying his feet are numb.

I, the one who knows the whole truth.

Rat hole again.

I felt like hiding in [the small champion’s sanctuary under the mountains].

However.

“Let this be your warning.”

The current Granfell has crushed the great evil.

I was in a state full of pride.

There was no way his snout could stand still.

‘……Yes, let’s hold on for now, Hoyeol.’

Akshan.

Demon hunter too.

Claudi too.

‘It’s still a stage where no one can be sure.’

Especially since none of them knew Grandfell’s damned full name yet. Soon, I was able to compose myself. I pulled myself together and spoke.

My icy voice was directed, unsurprisingly, at the person who had caused this.

The one who caused the current situation.

“Heavenly Unity.”

Yes.

The Monarch of Adventurers.

Liu Zunqun, it is you.

*

Any guild big enough to set up a base camp in the Zero Mountains is a corporation. That means each guild has dozens of drones for analysis.

“Master, the AAU is requesting your cooperation!”

“The station is also requesting video footage……!”

“Master. The government, that’s a very high person……!”

The guild, the AAU, the government, the media.

Intertwined interests.

Guild players were flooded with requests for cooperation.

Now that Raymond has stopped posting updates.

The only thing they could rely on was the real-time situation in the Zero Mountains as relayed by the players, but even they had no concrete information.

“What will we see if we watch?”

“I don’t know anything other than the appearance message.”

“All we know is that he’s big enough to change the field…….”

But it was just a whim.

A view of the rising mountain range through the drone.

“!!!”

There was no need for a complicated explanation.

There was no need for expert predictions.

Yes, it was a simple hunt.

“What the hell is that?”

There was no question about the hunt.

The Holy War, itself.

Besides, didn’t it make everything clear?

“That skimpy outfit must be a Demon Hunter……!”

“And that wolf is the Akshan wolf?!”

“Just now……. Didn’t you say Claudi?”

Akshan’s resurrection.

And the word that threw the world into chaos.

Even the meaning of ‘Claudi’.

-“Let this be a warning.”

Standing tall in the eye of the storm.

Hoyeol finally spoke.

The sudden appearance of the Great Evil.

He identified its cause.

-“Heavenly Unity.”

At the same time, the entire world shook.

-Liu Zunqun, is it you again?!!

-Heavenly Unity these bastards hahahahahaha

-Let’s get justice!!!!!