◈ Episode 374. There Was Light

The Wise Man of Tokyo.

Inazuma’s era.

Hisagi’s nickname.

‘…… is slander.’

Like a viper encircling its prey, it was a metaphor for Hisagi’s distant approach to life. But what unfolded was something even he hadn’t anticipated.

Drip.

Hoyeol’s side was bleeding. A trail of blood soaked the floor, stretching from over the horizon. Hisagi racked his brain for a name that wouldn’t go away. A name came to mind.

‘……Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo.’

A figure of the Claudi family. He had concluded that the Commander-in-Chief had left the Claudi territory after him. It was a sure sign that the Myth Quest had begun.

He bit his lip.

‘He made the commander look like that?’

In Hisagi’s memory, Hoyeol had never been broken.

Not even wounded.

It was rare for him to even get a speck of dirt on his uniform.

“…….”

But now was different.

His hair had grown long enough to reach the floor, and he couldn’t make out his words. But one thing was certain. Hoyeol wasn’t in one piece.

“What is it?”

[Berserker].

Either herself or her enemies, Leonie engaged in a bloody battle.

“……He’s not even a [Berserker].”

She muttered.

It was a joke, meant to break the tension, but it didn’t work.

They must have sensed their own insignificance.

Still, Hoyeol didn’t look back.

As usual, he didn’t say anything about it, didn’t say anything nonchalantly.

Drip.

Only the sound of dripping blood could be heard.

“Damn.”

The dwarven leader, Chainwalker, swallowed hard.

These dwarves had spent a lifetime in the mineralized heat. Their patience, tempered like steel, was beginning to crack, in the face of the unthinkable.

Finally, Wallswale, the Dwarves’ best blacksmith, spoke up.

“Commander-in-Chief, the smelting you requested is complete. It is the work of a lifetime, I assure you, for you have given me the legacy of the elder dragon, the dragon’s skin.”

It was disingenuous dwarven concern.

But still there was no answer, no sign of turning.

Hoyeol simply continued on his way.

Shwoosh.

Gunner’s urgent voice came from the scout plane above.

“What are you all doing? Are you going to leave him like this? It’s not safe anymore. If you keep going in that direction, you’re going to fall right back into those vile mouths……!”

“……!!!”

The words sunk in.

Lost in thought, they’d overlooked where they were.

It was the 『Hidden Piece, the Behemoth’s Maw』.

An unstable, permanent rift that connected the Arcana Continent to the Demon World.

No one could cross from the Demon World to the Arcana Continent, and vice versa.

A literal gaping maw that could crush any to death.

However, Hoyeol was headed for an even deeper maw, the Demon World.

Why on earth would he go to the Demon World……?

No matter how desperately they thought about it, they couldn’t come up with an answer.

But the gathered group did not hesitate.

They must do something to stop Hoyeol.

Chainwalker spoke up.

“If we can’t turn him back, consider stopping him.”

Thud.

The dwarves sharpened their weapons.

Hisagi and Leonie.

The elite of the Great Alliance.

Even Skal nodded.

They faced off against their commander, Ho-Yeol.

Normally, they wouldn’t have dared.

To oppose Hoyeol’s will, to stop him.

But this was not a normal time.

Most of all, Hoyeol’s condition was terrible.

Jeobeog.

Chainwalker led the way.

The entire army was moving toward Hoyeol.

Kwadeug.

“?!”

The sound of their footsteps changed.

The ground they stepped on had become too soft.

It was as if the gravitational force on their bodies had increased by dozens of times.

The pressure was unbearable.

“Ugh!”

Everyone’s bodies stiffened in unison.

It was like a crushing pressure from a great height.

There was no consideration or mercy.

It felt like an ant being crushed by an elephant.

Chainwalker instinctively shouted.

“Everybody get back!”

Try as they might, their legs wouldn’t budge.

Some of them even stumbled backwards.

They took a step back, and like an illusion, the pressure was gone.

Skal drew in a ragged breath.

“He doesn’t want to be approached.”

No, it wasn’t just unwanted, it was grounds for a warning.

Hisagi shook his head.

“……No, I wouldn’t call it a warning, since he’s not even looking at us right now. If we stand in his way, we’ll just be trampled on.”

It wasn’t even a warning.

Just plain disinterest.

Needless to say, this was not comforting.

Everyone was in a state of shock.

Nam Taemin, who had been silent, spoke up.

“…… smells different.”

[Barbarian].

A [Barbarian] warrior’s senses were closer to animals than humans.

Sight, hearing, and smell were no exception.

Nam Taemin’s brow narrowed.

Both hands went to the greatsword on his back.

“I’m sure, that’s not him.”

“……What do you mean?”

Leonie asked, leaping forward.

Shhh.

Nam Taemin lowered his head for a long moment and locked eyes with Leonie. He looked for evidence. But there was no evidence. This was the realm of pure feeling.

Nevertheless, Taemin was convinced.

“This is not the Hoyeol I know.”

The Frost Recapture.

The One Who Must Not Be Awakened.

A London Miracle…….

Even if his every move seemed cold, in retrospect, everything Hoyeol did was warm.

A gleam among shadows, a ray of light in an infinitely deep darkness.

But now, Hoyeol’s appearance was like a darkness that had lost its light.

Except for his hair, his appearance was unchanged.

However, here was no warmth or light from within.

Nam Taemin raised the corner of his mouth bitterly.

“If you were going to trample on us, you should have trampled on us a long time ago. How many times have we bothered you?”

It was then.

[Behemoth’s stomach twists].

“!”

The message flashed before the players’ eyes in unison. The [Behemoth’s Maw], a variable that couldn’t be overlooked even in desperate situations, had begun to twitch.

Creeping.

The Behemoth’s stomach was churning.

A writhing form could be seen through the shredded flesh.

A shadow crawling up from the Demon World.

Its flesh bounced in all directions.

Still, it refused to give up.

Finally, a sinister voice spoke.

“I have waited only for this day, Buer……! The time has come to usurp your throne. Plague armies. Endure the pain. If your flesh has been torn away, become bone and move!”

[Discus, the Lich of the Demon World, appears.]

The [Behemoth’s Maw] was an unusual place as its recommended level must’ve been high. Not only would players who entered the maw would be greeted with an appearance message,

“Great, great army!”

It was no exaggeration to say that it was a plague of armies. The bursts of flesh and Discus’ summoned creatures fogged the air. A thick toxicity spread unchecked.

[Status abnormality, ‘poisoning’ occurs.]

Hisagi shouted to the dwarves who couldn’t see the message.

“Lich, a demon on par with the High Ranking Demon King has emerged. It seems to have taken some damage from the [Behemoth’s Maw], but we’re no match for it.”

Cheolkeog.

Dwarven armor chould offset any damage. Chainwalker pressed down on his helm, unperturbed. Yes, Hoyeol was more of a concern than the appearance of demons.

“I guess I should support the Commander-in-Chief.”

Drip.

The bleeding still continued.

The last of the Akshan demon hunters.

He couldn’t imagine Hoyeol being killed by a demon, but…….

Didn’t that adventurer, Nam Taemin, say something?

That man might not be the Hoyeol he knew.

So.

“If you hold on to him and ask him, maybe the dwarven shackles will come off.”

If only to ask him for his identity.

Chainwalker thought about lunging for the [Behemoth’s Maw].

He was going to fight the lich.

It was the same for Nam Taemin.

“As if I didn’t already have enough on my mind, interrupter, you’re damn right.”

[Frenzy] activated.

Whoosh.

Nam Taemin’s breathing became ragged and he fixed his greatsword with one hand.

With his free arm, he pawed at the ground and crouched low.

Hisagi, Leonie, and Skal.

The elite of the Great Alliance followed suit, ready for battle.

The appearance of the Lich, Discus, was a good thing.

A battle with the creature.

But what worried them even more is the High Ranking Demon King it was chasing, Buer.

Even at this moment, he was advancing towards the Demon World.

It was an unstoppable march.

That’s right.

It was about to charge the entire army.

Discus had given up half his flesh to the [Behemoth’s Maw].

Its gaping maw gaped open.

“I smell burnt, green sulfur. And…….”

He glanced around the darkened continent of Arcana.

“Mixed in with that is the stench of your own foul odor, Buer.”

There was a pause.

“What?”

Chainwalker’s muscles tensed.

What it meant was simple.

The High Ranking Demon King that Discus the Lich had been chasing.

That Buer was burning in green flames, hellfire.

The Holy War Alliance.

And Discus’s gaze fell to the same place.

Discus’ army, paralyzed by Hoyeol, turned to face him.

“You……!! What trick did you pull!!!”

The Lich grunted.

Lich, the ruler of death, the flesh of Behemoth’s gaping maw became his army. The undead army poured forth. Hisagi’s snake eyes quickly assessed the situation.

“The battlefield is far too favorable to the Lich.”

Discus knew that.

Discus had chosen the [Behemoth’s Maw] as the place to seize the throne of the High Ranking Demon King, Buer. Gunner’s voice came from above, surveying the scene.

“There are too many of them. Thousands, no, hundreds of thousands!”

Chainwalker made a decision.

“It is impossible to face the creature now that Lord Hoyeol is not intact. Our first priority is to leave this [Behemoth’s Maw] with Lord Hoyeol!”

They nodded.

No more words were needed.

The forces of the Holy War Alliance and Discus.

Each rushing toward Hoyeol for different reasons.

“……?”

But there was no collision.

Discus looked at his forces.

Clearly, the order was to tear him apart.

However.

With a hollow crackle, everyone stopped.

Millions of troops, as if interrupted by an invisible curtain.

None moved from their places.

“……!”

The same was true for Discus, as he stood still and watched the Behemoth’s Maw. Or more precisely, the man heading for the Demon World.

Fazik.

Undead who had survived in the demon world without being destroyed by demons.

The foresight of their leader Discus flashed.

An image flashed through their mind.

A vision of the Demon World being destroyed by a mere human.

……Dangerous.

Discus desperately tried to stop the man.

But he couldn’t.

His suppressed flesh was stifling.

Finally, as he lowered his head, he saw it.

The back of his head.

His own flesh, already shattering and scattering into the void. With each step, each step the man took toward the Demon World, the force was disappearing.

More precisely, he was being engulfed in an infinitely deep darkness.

Discus understood.

“……Buer, you were not tricked.”

This man was more than even the Ten Thrones could handle.

At the last moment, Discus remembered Bael.

He hoped that Bael’s whims would not betray Demon World.

“……No way.”

Gunner looked up at the spectacle.

Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of troops scattered and disappeared in those few steps.

Gunner muttered to himself.

“He’s a disaster…….”

Then he shouted.

“No one should approach!”

The information from the reconnaissance shouldn’t be taken at face value.

There was only one thing Gunner could be sure of.

The crumbling ground told the story.

The calamity would not discriminate between friend and foe.

Tadadak.

But it was too late.

A figure was approaching Hoyeol from the side of the Holy War Alliance.

More precisely, he was running like an animal.

Nam Taemin.

Kwaduk.

The wild nature amplified by [Frenzy] allowed him to use any and all means. It even allowed him to forget the pain inflicted on his muscles and bones for a moment. So Nam Taemin could barely open his mouth.

“You…….”

Kwadeudeudeug.

Even as his body was being crushed, he managed to ask a question.

“Who are you? You…….”

What happened next was also unexpected.

An infinitely deep darkness.

Something that brought a ray of light back into that darkness.

The reason it was not a grand action or ritual, but just a question.

Only a question.

“As expected, Grandfell Claudi Arpheus …….”

Because it was a reason, no, history, that only the person concerned could know.