◈ Episode 346. Some Things Never Change (2)
Eunaxus.
What was oppressing the fallen evil dragon was a heavy burden that it had been carrying for eons.
The leader of all dragons. At the same time, a responsibility to fulfill the will of the Mother of All, the World Tree. He had suppressed his malicious intentions and dragon instincts.
However.
-“From now on, you may rampage like the King of All, Eunaxus, for you will go down in the history books as more powerful than any demon, demon king, or great evil I have ever faced.”
From the moment the voice was heard.
Why?
It really did feel like it was okay to let go.
And so Eunaxus did.
It was an amazing thing, even for him.
An old dragon, waiting to die, could be rejuvenated and burn again simply by laying down its burdens. Eunaxus’ reaction was pure.
‘Pleasure.’
It wagged its tail and breathed out flames, expressing its delight.
In his frenzied rampage, he must have looked like a hatchetling.
However, Eunaxus did not care and burned the last flame more brilliantly than anyone else.
He revealed his majesty worthy of the king of all things.
Psssssshhhh─…….
The scorching heat slowly began to subside.
‘…… This is it.’
Vision began to return.
What he saw was not the devastation, nor was it his own body, burning red and black, but a silver-haired man, Claudi, staring back at him.
“I knew it would be you.”
The balance of good and evil within him was shattered.
Reason did not exist for Eunaxus, who had become an evil dragon.
There was no one who could speak to him.
So what is the situation now?
Claudie gave the answer to that question.
“This is an exorcism, Eunaxus.”
Exorcism ritual.
The hunter and the hunted.
A ritualized conversation that can only be had in the mind.
It’s not spoken.
No one can hear their voices.
The meaning of the words is simple.
King of all?
No, with the pretense of a king dropped.
It means you can be honest about your feelings.
“I was afraid, Claudi.”
Fear.
A dragon.
The weak word comes from the Elder Dragon, the leader of the dragons. Tears pooled in Eunaxus’s eyes, tears he hadn’t shed since he was a newborn Hatchetling.
“I knew this day would come when I swallowed the evil fruit. I didn’t want to do this to you, and I didn’t want to be hunted by you as an evil dragon, so maybe that’s why I ran away from you.”
Claudi replied.
“I know how you feel.”
Eunaxus cried.
It was no fierce cry.
For Eunaxus also knew.
The weight of the burden the man before him, Claudi, the Dark Dragon, bore.
His own burden, harsh as it was.
He could not identify with Claudi’s burden.
But in a similar predicament, Eunaxus could ask with all his heart.
“……How can you bear it?”
He was comforted by Claudi, who had a burden heavier than his own.
But there was no one in the world who could comfort him.
Because he is so great that no one can fathom…….
Claudi was beyond anyone’s understanding or comfort.
He replied.
“I don’t need it.”
The same answer as always.
But perhaps it was because he realized that there was no more left for him.
Eunaxus dared to smile.
An unholy thought.
Claudi.
You’re just like yourself.
I wonder if you’re just desperately enduring…….
But Eunaxus didn’t voice the thought.
“Is that so……?”
Because, as I said, I have carried the burden.
I can imagine what it’s like to be a desperate perseverer.
So Eunaxus asked no more.
“I am not worthy before you.”
The dying embers of the polar flame.
Flesh charred white.
In his blurred vision, he reflected on an eternity of life.
There were no regrets left.
Nothing like a flashlight passed by.
Instead, I realized it too late.
“I have been a nuisance to you to the end, Claudi. Rather than die a peaceful death, I waited for your comfort. I threw down my burden and went on a rampage like a hatchetling…….”
The real world, not the Arcana continent.
It was a world of adventurers who would not tolerate his rampage.
Considering the damage I might have done before Claudi stopped me……. I didn’t think I could relax and close my eyes. But then a voice spoke.
“You have nothing to fear.”
“……?”
“Your wounds were not left by me, Eunaxus.”
“……!”
Wounds……?
Eunaxus looked back at his body. Claudi hadn’t struck him with hi sword or his magic, no, he’d let himself be completely taken in by my rant.
But as Claudi had said.
There were clear wounds on my flesh.
Eunaxus recognized them.
Scorch marks across his chest, across his flesh.
“…… This magic scar is from mage of magic tower. Oops, I’ve unintentionally recreated the Dragon Magic War. Hehe, I’m glad that shameful past won’t be repeated.”
The wounds on the back of his body could not be overlooked either.
What remained of his scales and hide.
A clear sword force wound.
Eunaxus smiled in satisfaction.
“I am also pleased, though I do not know whose sword it was. Whoever it was, however aged, left a scar on my flesh. Perhaps in the future, it may become a sword Claudie can trust. and…….”
Mercifully.
You have relieved me of my last burden.
Even the last of my guilt is gone.
“I suppose this is the end of my story.”
Eunaxus felt his heart slowly die.
He felt the dragon heart.
The beating heart could no longer pump hot blood.
And yet, why?
His flesh felt warm.
Eunaxus realized why.
“……!”
The World Tree.
It was Claudi, holding his mother’s blessing.
It was clear that he was embracing himself with its warmth.
“Eunaxus, you will not be remembered as a weak old dragon, nor as a vicious evil dragon. You will be remembered more splendidly than anyone else as a beacon of extreme flame that opens a new era.”
Until the end…….
I wanted to express my literally infinite gratitude.
There was no room left.
‘Then I am glad…….’
Eunaxus swallowed his words and slowly closed his eyes.
Sussss─
Hellfire.
Green flames enveloped the evil dragon.
Without Eunaxus realizing it.
The hellfire begins to consume Eunaxus, consuming him.
As he watches, Claudi speaks.
“You have suffered for eons, Eunaxus.”
*
The tower was now completely open.
As if the news were not a lie.
A group of black-robed figures made their way to the tower.
Dozens of meters from the entrance.
The anchor announced the news on camera.
-“As you can see, the procession of mourners to the Tower Master continues without interruption. The sacrificial spirit shown by the Tower Master, the people of the Arcana Continent, is a great warning to our society…….”
The legend of the Dragon Tiger Battle was being revised and echoed. This was because the rumor that the mysterious cat that had blocked Eunaxus was the pet of the Dark Dragon had been refuted by the Dark Dragon himself.
jeobeogjeobeog─
The Shining.
Dressed in black suits and dresses like everyone else, Lox, Dmitri, and Camilla ascended the stairs of the tower. In the solemn atmosphere, Dmitri whispered.
“Did everyone know? Did you all know that the Tower Master is a cat?”
“No, we didn’t.”
“But why aren’t there any signs of surprise?!”
Dmitri was still in disbelief.
“No, it’s a shape-shifting magic. Suppose you can use it freely when you’re the Tower Master. But the mage I know, the master of the Magic Tower, would make such a sacrifice for someone?”
Zero Mountains.
It was even more unbelievable now that I had seen the cat tower master with my own eyes. If it wasn’t unbelievable, Dmitri would have been more inclined to believe the rumor that the mighty cat was Lee Hoyeol’s pet.
Dmitri swallowed hard and said.
” ……Damn it, then what happens to me who was chewing on the magic tower from behind? It’s a dog’s paradise, what is it? I feel uncomfortable. It’s a shame. I’d rather have put it in the condolence money as a sign of remorse.”
“You’ve got a big liver, chewing on a Magic Tower?”
Lox shrugged lightly, then looked at Camilla. There’s someone looking for the thing that was poking around earlier. He doesn’t have to tell her who he’s looking for.
“Did you find Jesse?”
“Lox, what does that mean?”
“Purely curiosity, for now.”
Camilla replied without looking in Lox’s direction.
” …… I don’t see it. She’s here first.”
Camilla didn’t know the details of Jesse and Tower Master relationship, but her wide field of vision allowed her to see Jesse hold Tower Master in his arms. Jesse’s eyes looked like he’d hastily wiped away a tear.
The memorial space was just around the corner.
“What?”
Instead of Jesse, Shining was confronted by an unexpected competitor. Great Alliance that had come to be known as the Triad, along with themselves and the Heavenly Unity.
” ……, get out of the way.”
A few players realized what was happening and moved out of the way.
Thanks to this, the Great Alliance and the Heavenly Unity came face to face.
But not as you might expect.
The Great Alliance and Shining were part of the same Holy War Alliance.
Dmitri was the first to speak in a friendly manner.
“Hey. You don’t look right, Nam Taemin.”
“You have a face like no other, Dmitri.”
” …… I was worried about you, but now that I see you have an intact snout.”
Taemin and Dmitri.
The two muscular men burst out laughing.
Taemin pointed to the bandages and whispered.
“The magic tower healing magic service must be very effective. Actually, these can be unwrapped right away……. But don’t you think we should at least show that we went through some trouble?”
“What, Nam Taemin uses his brains to manage his image……? Isn’t that your brother’s idea? You and I can’t think that far ahead?”
“How did you know? You look like me.”
Hisagi and Lox shook hands with each other.
“How are your injuries, Hisagi?”
“Neither good nor bad.”
“Well, I suppose so. You were attacked by a dragon.”
The two men exchanged gentle greetings, but the look in each other’s eyes spoke of many things. Most of all, neither of them had ever been able to fully trust others.
“Hey, hey.”
“Leonie, have you seen Jesse?”
“…… Why are you asking me about her? Just let her go faster than that.”
Ugh, embarrassing.
Still focused on finding Jesse, Camilla roughly hugged Leonie. Barely out of Camilla’s arms due to their height difference, Leonie asks.
“She probably got here first. No matter what, it’s the Magic Tower’s business.”
“I suppose?”
“Your princess is so hard to look at.”
“That’s her charm.”
“She’s just a little bit of a clumsy.”
It was a chance encounter, but there was no reason not to walk together. Dmitri was excited, because he had a million questions he wanted to ask the Great Alliance.
“So, what are your impressions?”
“Impressions? What impressions?”
“You do realize that pretending not to know here isn’t humility, it’s deception, right?”
Phase 1, level 2,500.
Eunaxus was nearly level 3,500 in Phase 2.
Just for participating in a raid on Eunaxus.
Players who had gained a level or two.
Three people in a great alliance who fed a blow to such a Eunaxus.
The same beanstalk.
There was a difference in the heft of the beans.
And it was clearly visible through Arcana’s ranking system.
Dmitri poked Nam Taemin in the side and whispered.
“How does that feel? Helping to defeat the greatest boss monster in Arcana history. Officially ranked first, second, and sixth!”
A whopping 50 levels.
These were the Guild Masters of the Great Alliance, who were ranked first, second, and sixth in the official player rankings respectively. Puck— Nam Taemin responded by returning the hit to his side.
“I would burst to death if I have a guildmate like you.”
“What do you mean, suddenly?”
“Isn’t that right, Lox?”
Nam Taemin, due to Hisagi’s move upwards.
Liu Zunqun in third place.
Lox, who had fallen to fifth place behind fourth-place Skal, shrugged.
“Well, sometimes.”
Further back, Leonie thought she was far behind.
She was right under his nose.
Dmitri swallowed a sigh of disappointment.
“I’m bad at math……! I’m sorry, Lox.”
“Not for a day or two.”
“But I’ll make sure you get the information.”
Even after hurting Lox’s feelings, Dmitri’s curiosity was not quenched. Yes, it was. The congratulations in the first place were really just a paving stone for the real story……!
Dmitri asks softly.
“Still, it’s obvious that Commander Lee Hoyeol the one with the most contributions, That’s why I’m asking……. what kind of loot Commander Lee Hoyeol acquired? Why, it’s not just any loot, it’s dragon loot……!”
But Dmitri could not finish his sentence.
Ttogak─
The familiar sound of shoes ringing in his ears.
“Do you truly want to know that?”
A bland voice.
……How?
Dmitri turned his head, shivering.
“What I have acquired.”
“Eh, ehhhhh……!”
“Are you curious?”
Hoyeol said.