◈ Episode 397. All of it

pursued tenaciously.

Claudi’s youngest patriarch and Claudi himself.

Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo.

There was a huge bounty on his head.

As long as the compensation is sufficient.

Scavengers who take on all the dirty work on the continent.

As they hurry along, they chat.

“This is the target the Shadow Mercenaries were after?”

“Those bastards leave their targets alive?”

“I can’t believe it.”

The reputation of the Shadow Mercenaries was legendary in the underworld, especially in the underworld. Failure would be unthinkable for them, and the sweet reward was to turn a blind eye to the rising tide of irritation.

“All things considered, isn’t this a good thing for us?”

“Yeah! Imagine if he had a whole bunch of Shadow Mercenaries chasing him. We’re not going to drop a single bean, are we?”

“You even said he was seriously wounded?”

“Hehe. He who catches him first is king!”

That day

Less than a day had passed since the incident.

I would have said he was seriously wounded, his side ripped off.

Even if he hadn’t stopped walking, he wouldn’t have got far.

The scavengers released the swarm of rats.

Squeak!

Explain the target’s description to the rats.

A man searching his pockets.

He takes out a silver coin and shows it in his palm.

“Look. This is the man with the shiny hair like this.”

Squeak!

A swarm of rats spreads out in all directions, searching for their target.

As expected.

It wasn’t long before some of the rats returned with news.

“That’s worth the price of cheese, good job!”

The man hugged a chubby mouse. It felt strange in his hand. It was scratchy. Its fur had been scorched and curled by the fire.

“Huh? That’s Sitidel’s side.”

“Maybe they kicked the rat out for being dirty.”

“You’re an idiot. You’re saying it’s not just pouring water, it’s burning it with fire?”

Throwing embers to scare away a rat?

It was ridiculous.

The Scavengers were dumbfounded, but they continued on toward the village.

Zalgrak.

Their rusted weapons clattered.

Blades pickled in the dirty, sticky underbelly of the continent.

I can only guess that it is fatal..

Even the scavengers don’t know what kind of status abnormality it has.

“I can’t even wield it.”

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have drawn his weapon. The vast majority of his assignments were predicated on capture, and as he’d said earlier, his dismemberment assignments ended at the Shadow Mercenaries.

“But this is a different story. Rumor has it that the Empire has decided to keep quiet about this extermination, although I’m not sure what high crimes Claudi has committed.”

“Is that why we weren’t tracked?”

“I felt like my steps were light!”

No interruptions.

There is no need to worry about losing the reward

The Scavengers swallowed hard as they reached the mouth of the Citadel.

Whoosh!

An unbearable heat washed over them.

“What, what!”

“It’s a fire!”

“Holy shit. Some madman.”

It’s big enough to be called a village.

Too small to be a city, Sitidel is burning.

Is that why his fur was so tanned?

The man reached into his pocket to check on the mouse.

He shakes it around.

” …… is missing.”

“What? What’s suddenly missing?”

“The mouse ran away.”

“……!!!”

Someone might ask, what’s the point of a rat being a rat and running away with its tail between its legs? But the scavengers down below knew.

Floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions…….

Rats’ ability to sense crisis is exceptional.

The Scavengers stirred.

“Fuck, that’s a different story, isn’t it?!”

The rats had fallen from Sitidel without warning?

A burning Sitidel, a great fire.

That meant there was more to this disaster.

As the Scavengers surrounded Sitidel, opinions were divided.

“I’m out of here.”

“Out? Good, it’s good to have fewer heads.”

“I’ll……. help from the rear.”

“What do you say, we hide and find the bodies, or we wait for the whole thing to burn. We just need to keep an eye on who’s getting out, right?”

That was it.

In the flames.

A silver hair made its presence known.

“!!!”

Horror flashed across the Scavengers’ faces.

” ……The target was a mage?”

“There was no mention of the Mado family, was there?”

“Anyway, bastards, yeah, the jackpot doesn’t just roll in!”

Mages.

Their numbers are few, even across the continent.

But their individual power is beyond most knights.

Moreover, their contempt for the weak is at a level that no one can match.

To the lower life, the Scavengers, mages are a terror.

However.

“I’ve been sneaking in a little something for you.”

“What’s that, a gem?”

“A rare obsidian, Obsidian. It’s supposed to be embedded in the body to suppress a mage’s magic. Hmph, good thing you didn’t sell it on the black market.”

There was a part of the Scavengers that believed.

“So you’re saying this fire could be the work of that bastard?”

“Absolutely! Look at him being the only one alive in that fire!”

“He’s out of his mind, he should have run away.”

The Scavengers, who had seen all manner of filthy humanity.

“Ugh.”

But even they frowned at the sight of Sitidel as they approached. They had never seen or believed in the existence of hell, but if there was one, this is what it would look like.

They pulled themselves together and tried to think rationally.

“Why, there are ways to stall for time! Sitidel is the land of the Empire. Would the Empire stand for this? It won’t be long before the Knights of the Lionheart are on their way to Sitidel!”

……Anyway, it’s good.

I don’t know why, but thanks to the nobleman’s stupidity, the Scavengers had no reason to hesitate. Soon, the Scavengers were inside the burning Sitidel.

But something was off.

“Don’t you think it’s a little too crowded?”

“What the hell are you talking about? Can’t you hear the screams?”

“No, listen closely!”

“……?”

The Scavengers’ faces paled as they listened to the seriousness in his voice.

It was strange.

The screams didn’t feel human.

Though it was speaking human words.

It was bizarrely cracked.

If they listen closely, the voice sounds like a mix of animal and human…….

Soon, a grotesque shout echoed through the Sitidel.

“You’re insane! If I die, this weak human body will die too. Do you really want to see that, you foolish human!”

‘Something’ that is not human.

It was screaming for human life.

Sitidel’s view finally came into focus.

No, he was not engulfed in flames.

“I smell blood. It’s like the rotting corpse of a long-dead man……!”

Before the fire.

The village had already fallen to the demons.

The Scavengers stamped their feet in horror.

“Mages and demons? Crazy……! This is so crappy!”

“Shadow Mercenaries, I should have known when they said it was out of their hands……! I’m out of it, and I don’t want to be burned to death or possessed by a demon!”

“Then why is he in this demon den?”

Now it was purely a question.

The silver-haired man.

He should be busy running away.

Had he set foot in the demon-infested Sitidel?

Had he started the fire?

It didn’t take long to find out why.

Swoosh!

“Fuck!!”

The Scavengers were pinned down by more flames.

There was a figure closing in on them.

There was a man.

The man, Grandfell, spoke.

“I’ll burn them all.”

*

I recognised the condition of his side.

This was not long after ‘that day’. Yes, the traitor to the Claudi family. It was a time in the past when he was wandering around the continent after shaking off that demon.

That explained the current situation.

Yes, I couldn’t let it pass.

Grandfell had lost everything, the Claudi family, to the demon.

This was the height of hostility towards the demon. So it’s understandable that he would want to burn Sitidel whole.

‘Even if the whole world doesn’t know, I should know, right?’

I, Lee Hoyeol, have been watching.

Grandfell’s stubbornness has never been broken by any demon.

But because I was swayed beyond watching.

I can’t help but feel sorry for you, Grandfell.

Why did Sitidel fall into the demon’s swamp?

Sitidel was a village in the neighbourhood of the Claudi territory. It is likely that demons were summoned here, using the inhabitants of Sitidel as sacrifices, in order to overrun Claudi with demons.

No, I was sure of it.

‘There are no Behemoths Maw at this point.’

It was only after the Cataclysm that the demons of the Demon World began to invade the Arcana continent in earnest. It would have taken an enormous sacrifice to summon even a mid-level demon that suffered from fire magic.

But.

“Help, help me……!!!”

Between the demonic voices.

It sounded like a real person.

How did I know?

Well, I am experienced in this.

Even worse than the demon that devoured Sitidel.

Even when Frost was haunted by Demon King Decarabia.

Human life was not completely extinguished.

Surely, there must be some survivors in the burning Sitidel.

And then.

“Hiiiig!!”

I wonder if there’s a bounty on Grandfell’s head.

It seemed like a bunch of people with impure intentions had stepped in.

Yes, if this was Grandfell I knew, he would never turn them away. We had to save the survivors, as we did in Frost, and deal with the scoundrels as we always did.

But.

‘Shit.’

I wasn’t sure now.

This was the past.

I only understood a fraction of Grandell of the past.

Then the words came out of my mouth.

“I’ll burn them all.”

For fuck’s sake.

I can’t imagine.

the magnitude of the grief you are experiencing.

I don’t understand you, Grandfell, not even a fraction of a fraction.

But I have no choice but to correct it.

The past you may not know, but the real you.

The one I know.

Because this kind of mistake cannot be tolerated.

And I, Lee Hoyeol, can’t tolerate it either.

Swoosh

But despite my resolve, the flames grew stronger.

As if he would burn Sitidel and the demons without a trace.

It has turned into a fear that no one can touch.

But it’s okay.

I told you.

Even if the whole world can’t understand you.

I can understand you.

‘Cause we all have those times.’

Chunibyou.

Just as I have a dark history.

Grandfell, you too have a dark history.

This might be a turbulent time for you, don’t you think?

So don’t worry about it.

‘You said it yourself, not anyone else, didn’t you?’

There is a give and take to everything.

Shortly after awakening as a player.

Grandfell, you saved my life.

Now it’s my turn to save you.

So.

Gooooo.

I draw upon my magic.

It’s called frightening because it’s uncontrollable.

But I’ve been able to mitigate that fear.

More precisely, I was able to 『Reverse』 it.

Goooooooooo!

Massive Reversal Magic.

It’s not just a simple fire extinguishing. In addition to the manifestation power that had been greatly enhanced by the circle, I was now able to handle magic with a different level of power.

That’s how I became the creator of the “C Reversal Magic”.

“……What, what is this?”

kwadeudeudeug.

A collapsed building is rebuilt. A fountain that had gone dry springs to life once again. The trampled fruit in the shops and the wares in the stalls are back to normal.

“Ouch, the wounds!”

The severe wounds and burns of the Sitidel survivors fade away.

They look like they were before Sitidel burned.

No, it is back to the way it was before it fell to the demons.

Shaking.

But Grandfell could feel his vision wavering.

Between his lips.

A hateful voice I’ve never heard before.

“We must kill them all.”

And yet I understand.

There was still a demon in front of me.

It sneered at Grandfell in his possessed human form.

“Foolish. You were so deceived by this body’s acting!”

They are a people who never seem to get the point.

I can only guess with my limited comprehension.

Perhaps Grandfell is confused.

All demons must be killed.

Killing demons means killing innocent humans.

He’s angry at an unreasonable situation.

But.

‘Don’t worry. I’m a man of my word.’

And I know the right way to channel that anger.

So be smart and remember that.

Grandfell of the past, no, a furious Grandfell.

I did not hesitate.

And I activated it.

To imprint the memory of Grandfell.

[Skill, Exorcism Ritual, is activated].

The presence of Akshan.