◈ Episode 460. Dawn, the Darkest Hour (4)

Me, Lee Hoyeol. I was honestly not confident.

I concluded that in order to reverse the situation beyond the spillover, I would definitely need the abilities of Grandfell in his prime.

I threw myself into the curse, [Understanding Darkness], in order to increase my proficiency in [Heavenly Infant Solitude].

However, who would have thought it would be like this……!

Grandfell’s past, which should have unfolded like a movie before my eyes, was cut off.

Because it wasn’t enough that it was full of noise.

Trying to see something?

It was slowing down and speeding up as if it was buffering.

I was frustrated for a while.

‘……When I thought about it.’

I thought there was a good reason for this.

Yes, there is.

This time period I did not experience through Arcana Continent biography.

However, this was not the time to write down specific settings.

‘It’s because I don’t have any information.’

This is because the fortunes of the family have grown rapidly.

Whether I like it or not, I overcame my secondary school illness.

Arcana continent biography was also folded.

Therefore…….

As for the time period after Grandfell began his full-fledged activities as a demon hunter in Akshan, I couldn’t deduce anything even if I searched through my dark history.

However.

‘I can guess.’

A landscape of disconnected curses.

How could I make a guess from that?

It wasn’t just because I was quick.

Yes, it’s that damned Akshan again!

Those days.

What’s a day in the life of a demon hunter?

‘Even now that Akshan has fallen, it remains the same.’

Training to the limits of physical fitness every fictional day.

The menial labor quests.

The occasional ritualistic quest.

‘Suddenly, I’m so relaxed.’

Why, I had made serious preparations before entering the [Understanding Darkness], but I never expected to witness Grandfell’s steaming past like this.

‘……Wait, this will ruin my plans.’

I entered Understanding Darkness from the spacetime social hall.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry too much about the time difference.

The problem isn’t the time difference.

The problem is that the possibility of making an effort in vain has increased.

I need to learn something from the past to understand Grandfell.

I’ll also be able to gain the skills of the Heavenly Infant Solitude.

‘Is this how I can take care of it?’

Even though we had time to spare, there was an absolute lack of time. To put it bluntly, if we don’t get results from this Understanding Darkness…….

‘I must be prepared.’

I deliberately activated [Blackening].

I may have to rely on Grandfell to get me through this.

It was at this moment that I seriously considered Plan B.

Suddenly, Grandfell’s vision was blurry.

I saw something that stopped me in my tracks.

The symbol of the Claudi House.

The silver hair.

Of course, it wasn’t Grandfell’s hair.

‘Then the answer is obvious.’

The moment of Claudi’s demise.

Except for Grandfell, there was only one other person with silver hair.

No, there was only one guy.

“Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo, my brother.”

Claudi’s traitorous, Seven Deadly Sins Pride.

I guess it’s because he’s someone I know well.

The noise slowly cleared.

The choppy landscape became smooth in these parts.

I looked around me.

The antique decorations.

The interior bustling with servants.

‘Is this the mansion of someone high?’

In such a place, Grandfell wore the sloppy demon hunter’s robes.

And he’s armed with an Akshan silver weapon.

The implication was simple.

‘He’s on a quest for the Exorcism Ritual.’

Grandfell had run into him on his mission.

Or more accurately, he was waiting for Grandfell.

If so, this is his trap.

This mansion is no ordinary mansion.

‘Damn.’

I know this even with Lee Hoyeol’s brain.

With a brain that surpasses even the goddesses, there’s no way Grandfell doesn’t know, but our Grandfell doesn’t blush in the face of demons.

Especially not in front of the demon who is the enemy of the family……!

Sreung.

Grandfell is rushing towards him.

“You’re being impatient, Grandfell.”

Indeed, my suspicions were correct: it was Pride who had come to Grandfell of his own accord, knowing that Grandfell held a grudge against him, knowing that he was in Akshan.

Goooo.

Indeed, the entire mansion is a trap.

You didn’t betray my suspicions.

Immediately, the magic circle carved into the mansion activates.

“Don’t move too hastily, poor creatures.”

Poor creatures.

“Eu, euaaaagghh!”

The mansion’s servants.

The pupils of the servants’ eyes turned black with agony.

That’s when I realized.

-Save the servants from the demons of the cursed mansion.

If it were a quest, that goal would be renewed.

That it had been his plan all along.

But the Demon Hunter’s attacks only hurt demons.

You know Grandfell can’t be stopped, right?

Well, he has a plan for that, too.

“Akshans can tell the difference between humans and demons, right?”

kwang.

As Pride spoke, the door to the mansion burst open and soldiers poured out. No, they were too casually dressed to be the private soldiers of a noble family.

“Catch and kill!”

“Hehe. Gold nuggets!”

“Get out of the way, his head is mine!”

Mercenaries.

A mix of demon-possessed servants and mercenaries simply blinded by money rushed at me. That’s it, I thought. If this was the Grandfell I knew, how would he wield his sword in a situation like this?

‘I honestly don’t know.’

Grandfell is merciful.

Grandfell is not merciful.

Contradictory thoughts clash in my head.

But I am not troubled.

What did I tell you, Grandfell?

No need to overthink things.

‘Just make it happen.’

My senses were on high alert.

[Tenacity converts to strength.]

[Tenacity converts to agility.]

Skill, [Natural Enemy] already activated.

He used his senses alone to separate the humans and demons that were charging at him.

And he swung his sword without hesitation.

It certainly wouldn’t have been easy in the old days.

‘Because simple sword strikes are less effective.’

It’s hard to control the power.

However, there were advanced hand-to-hand combat skills that he had acquired while fighting the Shadow God’s apostle. He dodged the attacks from the square and returned them.

“Kaa!”

“What, what’s so fast?”

“This is a demon hunter……? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“It’s my legs. My leg!”

“Sa, save me……!”

The demons that possessed the servants were left untouched, while the mercenaries who were simply after the money stopped short of cutting their muscles so that they could no longer move.

It was then.

“Excellent work, brother.”

Pride bellowed at me.

I couldn’t help but get angry.

I’d been really annoyed with him calling me “brother” all this time.

Isn’t it obvious?

Me, Lee Hoyeol.

I’m the youngest member of the Lee family with three older sisters.

I had no desire to have a new brother.

‘I feel the same way.’

I’ve already said a few words…….

I don’t talk to my prey.

This wasn’t the time for small talk.

Besides.

‘Maybe this is an opportunity.’

I knew from experience.

A complicated and tangled timeline.

That if I changed the past, I changed reality.

If I could hunt down the Seven Deadly Sins, Pride, from the past?

I would have one less burden in reality.

So I accelerated even more.

Gooooo.

Magic circles all over the mansion.

He must have put a lot of thought into his traps.

Such magic can’t even touch the hem of my skimpy clothes.

『Reversal Magic』.

Grandfell’s brilliant talent.

By simply witnessing the interference process of the magic circle, he understands it perfectly. He reverses it by manifesting it in reverse order. Beyond suppressing the manifestation, he tracks the magic power of the manifestor who imprinted the magic circle.

“……Eu, euaaaagh!”

Manifests Mana Burn so that they can’t perform other moves.

The magical power was evaporated as is.

In other words…….

Now it’s me and Pride.

There was nothing that could stand in my way.

I straightened my sword.

cheog.

I didn’t want to deal with him lightly.

I’ve never had a personal grudge against any of the demons or demon kings I’ve faced, but you’re a different story.

‘You will be hunted by my hand.’

Was it Claudi’s setting I’d scribbled down first, or was it a twist of fate beyond coincidence that the brutality of Claudi’s family had come to me as a secondary middle school sickness?

‘I don’t know.’

Was the Arcana continent first?

Or the Arcana continent biography first.

The world’s greatest minds couldn’t answer that question.

‘How am I supposed to know?’

Only one thing is certain.

I owe you a debt that must be repaid, Pride.

‘Even Grandfell’s share.’

So I didn’t hesitate.

Tadak.

I struck the ground with all my might, neither defenseless nor excited. I unleashed my sword aura in the same breath as always. I planned to decapitate him.

“You don’t remember anything after all, Grandfell.”

That’s right.

“Have you truly forgotten 『Claudi Original Sin』?”

Until he said that.

Demons are sneaky.

How much more so are the words of a bastard who sold his family to the demon? Of course, I let Pride’s words go in one ear and out the other.

And if I knew Grandfell, I would not have listened to him at all. There’s no way he’d listen to the chatter of a demon no bigger than a worm.

But…….

Perhaps I really do understand you only 40%, Grandfell. Claudi Original Sin. Grandfell’s feet froze as the words left his mouth.

The sword was inches from his throat.

“I can’t believe you really forgot.”

The hand did not move.

I thought it was an status abnormality, but it wasn’t.

Grandfell had stopped moving of his own accord.

Pride sneered at Grandfell.

“What could have caused you to forget?”

A very unkind look.

“What has made you, the high and great Grandfell, so forgetful?”

Soon, those shiny eyes turned to ‘me’.

“Was it the ‘ray of light’ that shone on you that day?”

If it was that day…….

It was the day Claudi was destroyed. I had saved Grandfell that day through [Understanding Darkness]. Perhaps Pride had realized something that day, too.

For a moment, I felt a sense of danger.

‘This might be dangerous.’

Because in that moment, I felt like my senses were going out.

My vision blurred, past and present.

The distinction began to blur.

Damn, at a time like this……?

[Curses, ‘Understanding Darkness’ understanding greatly increases].

[Skill, ‘Heavenly Infant Solitude’ proficiency greatly increases].

Grandfell’s past was pushing me away!

The noise intensifies again.

The creature’s movements begin to stutter.

‘What the hell is Claudi’s Original Sin?’

I can’t tell right now if just hearing those words sent my understanding and proficiency skyrocketing to unprecedented levels, but……. I gritted my teeth.

‘Don’t expect everything to go according to your plan.’

Because Grandfell is not alone.

In the past, the intact Akshan.

In the present, the Holy War Alliance.

And in the past, present, and future.

In all time, there is me.

Me, Lee Hoyeol.

You’re going to keep your eyes open.

I forced my mouth to open.

“Bite, Tempest.”

“Awuuuuu─”

A howl from outside the mansion.

The Akshan wolf answered with a howl of his own.

“……I see.”

Then Pride, confidence appeared in his eyes.

He dispersed like smoke and said.

“Now that I know, let’s leave for today.”

Really?

Then it’s a good match.

I knew for sure.

I know what kind of person you are.

‘So the next time we see each other, we’ll see the end of it.’

In my brightening vision, I saw a message.

[Side effects of greatly increased proficiency.]

[Skill, ‘Heavenly Infant Solitude’ is running wild.]

[Skill, ‘Heavenly Infant Solitude’ is deactivated.]

……Wait a minute.

Running wild?

I was on a rampage?

.

.

.

……I came back to reality.

I grasped the brightening vision.

Yes.

Whatever it is, it’s all good, Grandfell.

What did you do while I was struggling in the Understanding Darkness?

The Demon King of the Ninth Throne before me.

Is there Paimon?

And what the hell did you say?

Paimon.

What is that look on his face?!