◈ Episode 340. The World Line Without You (3)
Black pupils flicker.
The man mumbles in disbelief.
“……How can you talk like that?”
You think I’m just babbling?
Don’t ignore [natural enemy].
As I said many times.
It’s a big deal to get a significant increase in combat power in Arcana!
It literally means that all of your combat-related stats will increase. Life regeneration is included, of course. In addition, the Blessing of the First World Tree has begun to apply to battered flesh.
The scarred Grandfell of ‘that day’ in the past was being revitalized.
If I were to sum it all up in one word.
In the end.
Grandfell was not drowning in heavy pride.
I stared at the man before me.
The black pupils fluttered more wildly.
Because we are natural enemies.
And as a natural enemy.
I could tell because I had hunted it countless times.
The man is terrified.
As if to prove my suspicions, a message pops up.
[□□□ Claudi is experiencing ‘fear’].
[NB: understanding is too low].
Does this mean that we still lack understanding of the past?
I don’t know exactly what the man’s name was.
But it doesn’t matter.
He wasn’t Claudi, flesh and blood, anymore.
It was the shackles of Grandfell’s terrible affection for flesh and blood broken.
At this point, I was certain.
This hunt will not fail.
At the same time, I had a question.
If I succeeded in hunting him down.
How would the present change?
They don’t call it the butterfly effect for nothing.
I’ve seen the butterfly effect firsthand, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the smallest mistake, a single snout centimeter, become the stuff of legend.
‘I don’t know.’
So when the past is flipped 180 degrees.
It’s impossible to predict how reality will change.
But one thing remains constant.
The butterfly effect of pride is trivialized.
I walked away, leaving Claudi and the demon in fear.
He passed away a little while ago.
Toward the loyal retainer who cared about the safety of the family head until the very end.
“I knew your pride.”
I said, closing his eyes.
“I will carry on that noble pride.”
The sword he still gripped tightly in his final moments.
And the crossbow that had fallen to the floor.
This is a time in the past, so there is no Gwicheol on his belt.
It’s best to use weapons that pale in comparison.
But it’s enough.
“……No way.”
Not enough to hunt down a terrified prey.
Ttogak─
Ttogak─
Ttogak─
This time, I approach my prey.
Unlike the cornered prey, the hunter’s mouth does not speak lightly. Moreover, our venerable Grandfell does not waste a single action. It was not worth wasting precious time, like an afternoon tea, on a mere prey.
That’s why I was confident the hunt would be a success.
But.
Really.
Damn it.
Ever since I entered the curse.
A system message flashed incessantly.
It was the message that made me think.
[Caution: understanding is too low].
[Past is unstable].
[Past is unstable].
[Past is unstable]…….
Damn.
The feeling of the past trying to push me away is getting stronger.
The noise in my vision grows until it threatens to engulf me completely.
As if it won’t allow any more interference.
Eventually, a message emerges.
[The curse, ‘Dark Understanding’, is lifted].
Then an unfamiliar sensation overtook me.
.
.
.
Magic Tower’s office.
I come back to my senses.
I’ve done something insane, I realize.
‘It wasn’t the right level.’
The curse.
This is even more dangerous than I thought.
I swallow a belated sigh of relief.
If only the sword that Bael wielded had touched me…….
‘Just as I interfered in Grandfell’s past.’
That means Bael could have interfered with the real me and erased my very existence…..? I felt like I wanted to make a fuss about saving my life.
There’s no way his steady snout could have done that.
“Both of you are equally adept at tricks.”
Two of them?
Bael, of course, and the demons of the Claudi family that the curse missed. If I ever cross paths with either of them in the future, I’ll be sure to tell them……. I’m afraid it’s going to be a real mess.
Especially.
‘You, Claudi the Unnamed.’
Although I bounced back from the curse.
I guess I’m still in the clear.
Why, there’s a lot about Grandfell’s past I don’t know.
But we know quite a bit now, don’t we?
Especially about the day before.
By the way…….
[Dark Understanding (Curse): Greatly increases your affinity to the suitable magic. However, you must confront your past, which is the source of this magic. – Current Suitable Magic Affinity: 10%]
I can’t believe it’s only 10%……!
Really, no matter how hard I criticize it, there is no end to it.
You’re like an onion, Grandfell.
Now that I know the dangers of curses. I don’t think I’ll be happy to hear that I’m going to have to go back into the curse, into Grandfell’s past, but his snout doesn’t care how I feel.
“If you thought you had completely escaped, you were mistaken.”
I can re-enter.
To be able to hunt again.
It seems like you’re ready to jump right into the curse.
‘What can I do? This is all my business.’
In that sense…….
I’m unexpectedly grateful for my procedural nature.
Not being able to watch the demon live.
Just because of the demon.
The contradiction of not allowing procedures and schedules to go awry.
But thanks to that contradiction.
I was able to breathe and live like a human being.
Just like now.
Thud.
A reflexive reminder of my schedule amidst the chaos.
I grabbed the papers on my desk and headed out of the office. I headed for the Topaz Hall of the Magic Tower, where the interview for the selection team would be held.
Ttogak─
As I climbed the stairs of the Magic Tower, I saw…….
“……?”
Suddenly, I hear a voice in the hallway.
“Chief……?”
My position in the tower is chief.
Chief Lee Hoyeol, Chief Lee-nim, Chief Lee, and even Sir.
There were four titles for me.
‘Calling me Chief means you’re an outsider.’
I didn’t have to turn my stiff head to know who it was.
They were the only outsiders in the tower at the moment.
“You’re looking better, Wolf.”
The shadow mercenary was recovering in the Healing School’s spare room.
Oh, by the way.
Even if his condition has improved, it seems like it’s too much?
‘No, don’t you think you’re pushing yourself too hard beyond the point of recovery……?’
Suddenly, a full body armor?!
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who had questions.
Then, from behind Wolfe, came another wave of support.
“No, I mean……!”
“Hmmm. Can’t you explain it a little simply?”
“Anyway, it was quiet when I was down…….”
“Well, old man, don’t overdo it, just stay behind me?!”
While making small talk with each other.
The members of the Shadow Mercenaries were surprised to recognize me.
Among them, Rockid is looking particularly frightened.
I soon realize why.
Wolfe asked politely.
“Are you fully back in action now, Commander?”
……Fully back?
I’d gotten a little carried away when I entered the curse, but it wasn’t like I’d run out of the tower like a runaway. Suddenly, I wondered what he was talking about.
I noticed a strange feeling.
‘……Now that I think about it?’
The Magic tower was too quiet.
I thought back to the time when I was running up the stairs of the tower. The only thing I saw was the Shadow Mercenaries. The tower, which should have been bustling with interviews for selection, was empty.
I checked my phone in disbelief.
……What the hell, it’s been six days already!!!
*
『The lesson of the Dragon Magic War, which left untold damage, was clear. Even a Magic Tower is no match for an immortal dragon…….』
Life is so shallow.
Elder Mage.
Yugweed let out a bitter laugh.
“It seems like it was only yesterday that the evil of the Dragon Magic War entered the Crystal Hall. Even though he couldn’t predict the future even an inch in advance, he fluttered that he would pursue the truth that was far away. Once again, I realize how arrogant the Magic Tower was, Tower Master.”
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Yugweed, the gentle giant.
sswaaaa─
The Gaia Golem she manifested paddled across the Pacific Ocean on two legs. Upon her shoulders, Tower Master, a cat, balances on her shoulders.
When Tower Master didn’t answer, Yugweed asked again.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Tower Master?”
Yugweed knew.
The Tower Master is never lazy.
He would never forget his duties and leave them to someone else. Yes, there was a reason why he was yawning excessively at the moment and collapsing uncontrollably to sleep.
Tower Master replied.
“Still, it was worth it, Yugweed.”
There was no regret in life.
I just wanted to see it.
Jesse, I wanted to see you grow up to be a mage.
So I got greedy.
Unintentionally, Chief Lee Hoyeol and Chief Marcelo brat.
Yugweed, even at the expense of you.
“Wouldn’t previous Tower Master be jealous?”
But Tower Master realized.
He realized that he was not meant to watch Jesse grow up. His life would have to be dedicated to the service of the Magic Tower.
Tower Master’s tail twitched.
“It’s a cremation with dragon breath, so there can’t be a grander funeral than this.”
Human life is not eternal.
Regardless of physical injuries.
The day will come when I will close my eyes at the end of my allotted life.
Shhh.
Yugweed raised her hand and patted Tower Master on the back.
“That’s very solemn, Yugweed.”
“You’ve been through a lot.”
“Come on, Yugweed. You don’t expect anything from me, In other words, the current Magic Tower is facing a dragon that even the Magic Tower of the past couldn’t withstand. I don’t even know if I have the strength to stop it.”
Tower Master looked out over the Zero Mountains.
Apprentice and Adept mages mingled among the adventurers, staring upward. His gaze shifts to Chief Marcelo and the senior mages floating at the golem’s side.
Kiko Armin, a senior in the School of Enchantment, speaks.
“Glowing dragon wings……. Those are the white wings. I’m pretty sure that’s the same white wing that only Chief Lee Hoyeol used freely in the Magic Tower!”
Vangrit and Bensch murmur.
“……Why is the magic tool borrowed by Senior Lee Hoyeol in the possession of a dragon, Senior Vangrit, do you have any idea?”
“Senior Lee is the Chief of the Magic Tower and is revered by the dragons as Dark Dragon, so there must be something going on that we don’t know about.”
“This.”
Everyone leaves the Magic Tower.
Every mage in the tower was present, except for Chief Lee Hoyeol. How could there be such a large void for one man. Even as the Tower Master pondered this, Kiko continued.
“As some of you may know, the power of the White Wing clearly depends on the wielder. If you have the ability to unleash its full power, you can unleash a hundred magic at once……!”
Kiko’s concern was just that.
“I don’t dare to imagine. According to the Dragon Magic Great War, it was a dragon that devoured hundreds of magic with a single Breath…….. What if it were to release a hundred Breaths in a single breath with its white wings……!”
Tower Master asked himself a question.
Would he be able to block that attack?
He didn’t dare to answer the question himself.
Elder Dragon, Eunaxus.
It all depended on the difficulty level of that dragon.
And then.
Eunaxus stopped flying.
It roared at the Magic Tower, at the Holy War Alliance, at the world.
As if proclaiming himself king of all.
He raised his Dragon Cry.
“……!!!”
All realized.
[The King of All roared].
[Incalculable status abnormalities occur].
[Life and magic regeneration is drastically reduced]]
[Combat power is greatly reduced.]…….
The day a dozen dragons called out for the Dark Dragon.
The fact that what they were spitting out wasn’t Dragon Cry.
That day, humanity survived.
only one man.
Lee Hoyeol, and it was because of him.
“……How can we do something like that?”
The reality without him.
Running towards destruction.
The Arcana continent was no different.
Then, Eunaxus’s white outer wings glowed.
Crimson flames blazed from its wings.
Dragon Breath poured down upon the world.
A despairing message flashed before the players’ eyes.
[Warning: If you come in contact with the Breath, you will die instantly].
“EVERYONE, AVOID!!!”
Then it happened.
Poof!
A cat soared into the sky.
The cat uses its tiny body to catch the Breath.
That was the prelude to the Second Great Dragon Magic War.
At the same time.
Afterward.
“Oh, so you’re the one with the raggedy body. Dragon~?”
This was the beginning of the legend that would become known as the Dragon Tiger Fighting.
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