◈ Episode 481. The Call (1)

Baek Seongryun, the former Five Stars of the Heavenly Unity.

The word “Five Stars” refers to the highest-ranking member of the Heavenly Unity Guild.

One of the top five in the super-giant guild, Heavenly Unity.

That’s quite an accomplishment.

However, Baek Seongryun’s eyes were filled with fear. Was it because he had experienced something so terrible that he was covered in blood? No. I tilted my teacup and looked at him, shaking my head.

“……How can this happen?”

Antonium, a tavern somewhere.

Baek Seongryun looks at me in disbelief.

He scanned his surroundings.

“Right here, in this place, Long Shenglac, he was beheaded in a single blow. Clearly brainwashed by Liu Zunqun……. by a man with black hair and eyes……!”

Beheaded.

It was a vision from nowhere.

I swallowed my saliva inwardly.

The black-haired man’s identity was clear.

‘Sunrise Warrior.’

Surely, I thought I had de-brainwashed him in the Spacetime Duel.

Oxidin while I was away.

No, it seems Liu Zunqun has been up to his tricks again.

seuseuseu.

Instead of asking back, I manifested magic.

Thanks to a different manifestation power.

The magic particles vividly reenacted what had happened here.

“I will take you at your word.”

To mourn his untimely death.

The body of Long Shenglac deserves a proper resting place.

One question remains: where has his body gone?

‘No one took it away. It evaporated.’

seuseuseu.

Long Shenglac’s magic particles scatter unnaturally.

What it meant was simple.

That his body no longer existed on the Arcana continent.

‘Then there is only one possibility.’

The Ninth Throne Demon King, the Noble Paimon.

The body of Long Shenglac belongs to him.

I echoed Baek Seongryun’s words.

-“The message came to me, but I couldn’t read a single word. But Paimon said to me: You are a witness. A witness who will prove my innocence…….”

The story about Paimon was difficult to understand even for me, Lee Hoyeol, who is very understanding. In fact, Baek’s words boiled down to a simple statement.

“It sounds like a crazy thing to say, but……. Paimon protected Antonium. As if nothing happened here. Leaving me, the only witness, behind…….”

Yes, if it wasn’t for Paimon.

Or, more accurately, if it weren’t for Paimon’s incarnation.

Antonium would be dead by now.

‘It may have fallen into Liu Zunqun’s hands.’

He infiltrated Antonium with great monsters to distract the Holy War Alliance and seize the Imperial throne. Oxidin, if I had known his true identity was Liu Zunqun.

I would have never let my guard down.

His obsession had me and Grandfell on guard.

dalkag.

I didn’t say another word until I’d drained the green tea.

During my silence, the snout was silent, too.

Indeed, as it should be.

‘A demon who is nothing more than prey to Grandfell.’

The High Ranking Demon Kings, who are a different kind of demon, are considered garbage that can’t even be recycled. And Paimon, one of those trash, was protecting Antonium.

I was dumbfounded.

The runaway power of the [Heavenly Infant Solitude].

The Paimon I unexpectedly encountered was uncharacteristically dignified for a demon. If it weren’t for the demon, I got the impression that he and Grandfell would have gotten along quite well.

That allowed me to guess.

‘Is this a continuation of what happened back in the demon world?’

What does Paimon want?

It was me, Lee Hoyeol, entering the Demon World.

I thought about the tester’s intentions and watched the situation.

‘One hundred percent.’

If Liu Zunqun can destroy Antonium

My entry into the Demon World will be delayed even further.

Paimon must have prevented that from happening.

How can I be so relieved?

‘What the hell are you doing to me, you?’

I’ve never had such a burdensome favor before.

It’s not just another demon, it’s a favor from a higher power, right?

This is an enemy I can’t be sure of defeating even as I am.

‘Demon world……. I don’t want to go any further.’

But who is Grandfell?

You must keep what you say.

A man of character who must give back what he has received.

My lips move again.

“It’s a rule not to speak to my prey.”

“……???”

His tone is cold, and for a moment, the barkeep’s gaze is focused on me.

It was a shame I couldn’t get used to.

I continue, seemingly unfazed.

“However, we will consider the special situation and reflect it in the disposition.”

Yes, well thought out, Grandfell.

‘To hit and fight as soon as we meet.’

Even with the favors he’s received from Paimon.

Even if I succeeded in hunting, I felt quite uncomfortable.

But the sense of a Demon Hunter cannot be overlooked.

That was beyond my, Lee Hoyeol’s, imagination.

The mindset of a natural enemy reminds me of something I had forgotten.

“For that, I would have taken Long Shenglac, his body.”

I did.

That I, Grandfell, would enter the Demon World to retrieve Long Shenglac’s body. Paimon, that guy knew.

At first glance, it seemed like a favor, but behind it was a thorough calculation.

I see.

‘It’s on a different level from just Demon Kings.’

To have to enter a Demon World filled with ten demons equal to or greater than such a Paimon. This is not the time for this. I don’t think I’ll be able to sit down from now on.

I stood up and turned to Baek Sungryun.

“Do you have a destination?”

The Heavenly Unity had been dissolved earlier. Liu Zunqun, once his lord, was exposed by none other than Paimon, and now he will never return as a ghost again.

Baek Sungryun replied.

“I’ve been in contact with Long Shenglac to talk to him about it.”

After all, they had something in common: they were both from the Heavenly Unity.

But by the time Long Shenglac died.

Baek Sungryun’s whereabouts became mysterious again.

‘I’m not the kind of person who can say warm words.’

So I spoke in a Grandfell style.

“Then enjoy the present, freed from its shackles.”

“……!”

“Your freedom, wherever you go.”

“My freedom…….”

That was all I could say.

Leaving the crowd to ponder my words.

I walked out of the tavern.

Let’s see, I didn’t exactly check the time.

Grandfell’s formal clock, more accurate than a navel watch, chimed the alarm. It was almost time for the Imperial Council, the gathering of the Holy War Alliance, to begin.

Ttogak.

I thought as I stepped toward Antonium itself.

Hiel, who should be dutifully carrying out my orders by now.

Rather than worry, I wonder if she’s doing a good job.

‘Well, she’s not Diend.’

She’s my alter ego number one.

If nothing else…….

Our Hiel won’t go anywhere and be discouraged.

*

Spirit Kings.

Rulers of the {Natural World}.

They were Spirit Kings who rarely appeared on the continent.

Naturally, there wasn’t much interaction between them.

No, beyond that level.

“There’s been a strange rumor going around the Arcana continent lately, Zeus, about a boy who looks just like you, a boy who can control lightning, who’s been wandering around the Arcana continent.”

It was a sensitive topic.

Zeus, Lightning Spirit King.

Phazik.

His discomfort is expressed through lightning, and despite his momentum, she continues to speak. It was Oried, the Earth Spirit King, who had a relative advantage over the Lightning attribute.

She smoothed her hair and continued speaking.

“Let’s see, his name is also ‘Child of Lightning’? Who wouldn’t think of you, Zeus, when they hear that? Not surprising, Considering your level of experience, it’s not surprising, but…….”

“Leave it at that.”

“Even so, isn’t it unbecoming of a spirit king to cross the boundaries of the natural world and lay hands on a human? I say this with genuine concern.”

“I wouldn’t say it a third time, Oried.”

Sparks flew.

Zeus’ body flickered in the form of a brainwave.

Oried shrugged and let the words fall away.

“I’ll do that.”

Of course, her chatter did not end there.

“Oh, have you heard the news? The Great Monsters have begun to move in unison. It’s making my children cry because they’re getting trampled everywhere they go…….”

However, no one listened carefully. In the face of the stark exterior, she turned to look for someone to nod in agreement with her words.

Her eyes fell on Dryad, the Forest Spirit King, who was arrogant, self-righteous, and, in short, one of the gentlest of all the spirit kings.

Oried spoke with a hateful glint in her dry eyes.

“Dryad, you must feel the same grief as I do, for the vast, green forests and the spirits that inhabit them have lost their home.”

Nod.

Dryad shook her head once, and Oried began to cut to the chase, for yes, there was a purpose to her appearance here today.

“And so, as King of the Earth, I can no longer remain silent, no longer turn a blind eye, especially true now that the central point we must trust and follow has disappeared.”

“……!”

The gazes of the Elemental Kings focused on Oried’s words.

The absence of a center.

The central point is the mother of all things.

It was the name of the World Tree.

“Of course, the new World Tree has taken root. As the King of the Earth, I am well aware of that. But can we really call that young tree our mother?”

Oried’s eyes widened.

“This is a fact that only I and the Forest Spirit King, Dryad, know, but the World Tree that currently exists on the Arcana continent is not one.”

The Wind Spirit King, Aerial, added.

“I know that, too.”

“Really, Aerial, you knew that too?”

Oried smirked, pointedly.

“But why were you acting like you didn’t know?”

“……Yes?”

“You knew it all along. That we shouldn’t be silent anymore. Two World Trees……. Or is it possible that more World Trees will sprout in the future?”

Oried reverses her voice and speaks again.

“Will you be able to look to all those World Trees as mothers? Do you really think those young World Trees are capable of protecting our Natural World? Let me be the first to tell you, I don’t think so.”

The Natural World of the spirits can only be witnessed by those who have not lost their innocence.

That was because the spirits were the ones who hadn’t lost their innocence.

So Oried was speaking.

She spread her arms.

“The time has come for us to leave our innocence behind.”

Again, there was no answer.

However, Oried looked very satisfied. It’s the same silence, but the meaning is different. Since she threw the stone, there will definitely be a stir at the next meeting.

‘And even if it doesn’t, how long can we hold out?’

It was no lie that the spirits were groaning in pain.

Those who have become Kings of the spirits must pray for a solution.

Oried was certain.

“There is only one answer, my friends.”

The only answer is the Spirit King.

A solution that only they can bring to the Arcana continent.

At this point, Oried was about to rise from her seat.

Suddenly.

“Not yet, Oried.”

The Forest Spirit King called out to her.

Dryad, so careful with her words, had stopped her.

She wondered if there was some urgency.

But Oried’s doubts were short-lived.

Because it is the alter ego and mirror of ‘someone’.

One who is never late for an appointment.

Now that she was finally here.

Dryad spoke slowly.

“You’re here.”

“……?”

Oried was dumbfounded.

A being at the pinnacle of the Spirit Realm hierarchy.

A Spirit King using honorifics?

It was unthinkable.

But beyond that, Dryad rose to her feet.

In front of the slowly closing figure.

Bowed down his headd.

“Wa, what are you doing now……?”

A sound reached Oried’s ears as she was astonished.

dogag.

A subtly different shoe sound.