◈ Episode 505. What Remains After the Past (1)

Unwavering.

『The first thing Grandfell learned as the next head of the family was not to be distracted by trivial matters.

The position of head of the Claudi family was one in which even the slightest agitation was unacceptable.”』

This is Grandfell in the setting.

I wonder how he would have reacted in this situation.

I, Lee Hoyeol, don’t know anything else, but I know one thing.

At this moment, Grandfell was clearly different than usual.

Swoosh.

Through the black magic.

He was expressing his emotions without restraint.

That emotion was unmistakably anger.

Even thinking about it again, sends chills down my spine.

‘……I want to rip you to pieces.’

I’ve never heard anything so radical come out of Grandfell’s mouth in my life. I really didn’t expect it. I realize that I’m the one who’s the most freaked out by Grandfell’s emotion.

‘…… What?’

Aha, you must be shocked too, right?

Paimon, who had already moved into his incarnation, had tears in his eyes.

Honestly and genuinely.

I wondered what was going on.

‘What’s going on, Grandfell……?’

I wondered if this was something to be upset about……!

Of course, you can be offended.

After all, this was the same Paimon who’d just possessed Lox and stabbed him in the back, and by Grandfell’s strict standards, that would have been a failure.

But where are there not a few demons like that?

‘Besides, he had his reasons.’

The first thing that broke the peaceful atmosphere.

It was our Akshan seniors from Hell.

Normally, the Grandfell I know.

Even if it was aimed at himself.

He would have practiced the virtue of give and take.

‘At what point were you so offended?’

It’s strange.

Did something happen to deserve your anger…….

I racked my brain and couldn’t come up with an answer.

And what are you, Paimon?

Paimon.

Tears, now in earnest, rolled down his cheeks from the corners of his eyes.

His voice is damp, too.

“I had no choice, my dear. It was the best I could do for you, and yet, why can’t you see that I feel the least bit sorry for you?”

The best you could do for me?

‘Stab me in the back?’

What a bunch of obvious lies.

If this is the usual Grandfell, then fuck the excitement.

I wouldn’t even listen to it.

But the vision is blinking.

[※Warning: Black Magic Power concentration is the limit].

No, this is going to cause [Blackening], isn’t it?

It’s really endless, Grandfell. I think we’ve shared everything from our black history, but at times like this, I can’t even imagine what else you’re angry about.

‘But I understand.’

No one else, Grandfell.

There must be a good reason you’re so angry.

But for now, I’d like you to take a look around.

Call it the land of the anomaly.

This is real life.

This is Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

‘Even if you don’t like it, at least look at me.’

Moreover, Paimon had said.

The Ten Thrones, being a different class of beings, cause ripples that cannot be hidden whenever they move their bodies. Therefore, as the new Ten Thrones, I, too, need to learn about the ‘Incarnate Body’.

That’s bad enough, but Grandfell, you’ve been unrestricted by [Blackening].

If you go on a rampage…….

Seoul might suffer insurmountable damage.

‘Never this time.’

It’s not because I don’t want my little sister to find out about my Blackening state.

I mean it.

I wonder if my vague desperation was even conveyed.

A voice slips between my lips.

“We’ll talk about this later.”

……Great!!!

You’ve calmed down, my Grandfell.

Even in the most turbulent of times.

A little emotional control is in order, yes.

‘I’m glad.’

It was a moment when I, Lee Hoyeol, shook my head inwardly.

Just a moment ago, it seemed like I was in uncontrollable sadness.

Paimon’s momentum changed.

“!”

In an instant, he revealed his blatant murderous attitude towards me.

“Even if I get torn to pieces!”

But the madness was never fully expressed.

“So shut up now.”

Flickering Vision.

[The incarnation of the Ninth Throne Demon King, the Noble Paimon, is experiencing a status abnormality, ‘Silence’].

“……?”

Then Paimon fell silent. Silencing the Ten Thrones with a single word? It may seem like a huge disparity in levels, but there’s a reason for it.

I could sense it with my Demon Hunter senses.

Unlike when he first appeared.

Paimon was rapidly weakening.

‘Perhaps it’s Lox’s influence.’

Lox had tried to take his own life.

Paimon, who had escaped from Lox’s body back into his incarnation, was breathing heavily. I spoke to Paimon, who was clutching his neck in pain.

“Wait for me in the Demon World.”

“……?”

“There.”

Anyway, the back end is still like this.

“I’ll either hear your excuses or tear you to pieces.”

“……!”

The grisly threat had worked, as Paimon’s aura vanished completely from Seoul. At the same time, the body of the incarnation, the body of Long Shenglac, closed its eyes.

Paimon, by the way.

Even under these circumstances, you kept your promise.

As promised, he had left Long Shenglac’s body back in his home reality.

‘……Even if I really knew, I still don’t know.’

What mood swings?

No, it’s worse than my sister, that one.

How am I to accept that whim, which is worse than a double personality?

When they are kind to me and when they are hostile to me.

Are there any special rules?

‘Anyway, I’m going to have to wrap my head around it.’

Of course, I shouldn’t be thinking about it now.

seug.

Lox and Paimon.

After I’d gotten everything straightened out, I looked around.

It was only then that I realized how many people had gathered and were watching. It was all just a bunch of arrogance, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it.

It was.

The land of anomaly, tinted with the colors of Arcana.

A message had been sent to Seoul.

[You have saved Seoul from destruction.]

[Increase your influence in Seoul.]

[Greatly increases your connections in Seoul.]

……And there it is my heavy burden.

[Your succession rank is now ‘1st place’.]

*

The ripples were great.

-So it was the demon after all, huh?

-Those bastards are the only ones who mess around haha.

-Well, at least it’s good, lol.

Among the top rankers.

Lox’s image wasn’t bad.

The shock when demon wings sprouted on such a Lox?

“Senior, can you believe my heart is still pounding?!”

Now I can confidently say that I have gone through all the hardships.

Even the AAU was in awe.

Yoon Soogyeom smirked at Sung Hyunjoon’s stern look.

“Are you okay now?”

“What?”

“It’s not over, it’s just begun.”

Seoul, the land of anomalies.

The appearance of a different kind of being, represented by the □ in the message.

And a change in Lox, though we’re not sure if it’s an effect.

A series of events that would have shaken the world by itself.

And even that may be just the beginning.

Yoon Soogyeom folded his fingers.

“The remaining high-ranking demon kings cannot be counted on one hand. There’s no way that only demon-type monsters will appear. Just as a Great Monster ran rampant on the Arcana Continent not long ago.”

“……Se, senior.”

“Could it be that the monsters in the 100,000 caves of the Zero Mountain Range will regurgitate as a group? It’s literally a second cataclysm.”

The Arcana Continent and reality are now connected.

It was an unprecedented event.

The weight of the word ‘second cataclysm’ was not wasted.

Sung smirked.

“When you put it like that, I don’t know what to say.”

“I didn’t say you should be discouraged.”

“Yes, I know, I know.”

Tadadak.

Sung sobbed and tapped away at his keyboard as if he had just gotten excited. Meanwhile, articles were pouring in, so how could he keep this amazing news to himself?

Revived vitality.

“More than that, senior, have you checked this? Oh my god, Lox has left the Shining as it is, and he’s revealed that he’s switching to a new class and starting a new class quest!”

That was news that made Yoon Soogyeom wince.

“Was that also a class quest?”

Lox snapped.

It was beyond the scope of what could be expected.

But if you think of it all as the process of a class quest.

Lox’s behavior makes sense…….

But Yoon Soogyeom shook his head.

“No, there’s a point to it. It’s not like there’s a storyline. If it’s an Arcana quest, there’s got to be a storyline. What kind of class would throw out a plot like that?”

“Yeah, that’s the thing.”

Status Abnormality, [Corruption].

“It doesn’t make sense to start with [Corruption].”

As soon as its existence was known, the AAU analyzed the Corruption.

Thanks to them, we knew exactly that Lox was [Corrupted].

Yoon nodded.

“Yes, at least in the Arcana we know of, quests with such unreasonable conditions don’t exist. Then……. I guess there’s only one answer.”

Sung swallowed hard.

“You mean the General Manager of Yusra, right?”

Yoon Soogyeom nodded.

“That’s right, this time.”

Hoyeol, Lox, □□□.

The three of them were recorded from start to finish. Unintelligible words were exchanged between Hoyeol and the mysterious man, but the rest of the situation was enough for anyone to guess.

“He subdued the rampaging Lox, he subdued a mysterious being of a different caliber, he saved Lox from taking his own life, and finally, he led Lox to a new class quest…….”

This time, it was real, and everyone was watching.

From every angle, from every perspective, from every option.

Hoyeol had intervened.

As the one-time Game Master of the entire Arcana continent.

A pure question arises.

Is that truly the kind of influence a single player can have?

Yoon Soogyeom muttered.

“……It’s impossible.”

“What do you mean, impossible, senior?”

“Nothing. No, nothing.”

In a way, I was relieved.

But on the other side of that feeling, a small concern grew.

The power of a player named Lee Hoyeol.

It was because of his vast influence.

I really don’t even want to think about it…….

‘If the General Manager wasn’t there.’

What would Lox and □□□ have done to Seoul?

When I thought about it, it started to make sense.

Yoon Soogyeom’s eyebrows twitched.

“……Wow, you actually thought that far ahead, General Manager.”

If only you were mindful of your own gaps.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t just Lox. Nam Taemin, Leonie and Hisagi……. The players at the top of their game always attributed their rapid rise to Hoyeol, the leader of the Holy War Alliance.

Indeed, everyone’s thoughts were similar.

Sung Hyunjoon spoke up.

“Senior, do you know what the community is calling him right now? Do they really only study this stuff for a living? How can they give him such a fancy title?!”

*

Exactly one day passed.

Over the course of the day, I realized a lot of things.

Let’s review them one by one.

Fortunately for my sisters, who have been wasting every day lately. The passage of time in Seoul was not as fast as in the Arcana continent.

‘And the most important thing…….’

This was the moment I reviewed them one by one.

……beolkeog!

The door to my Magic Tower office opened.

Of course, who would open the door to my office unannounced? There is no such person in the Magic Tower. Of course, this is obvious, but I don’t want you to misunderstand.

‘No matter what, I don’t get angry over things like this.’

I’ll point out that it’s not polite.

I mean, it’s not like Grandfell is so small that he’s going to punish someone for something like this. But it was I, Lee Hoyeol, not Grandfell, who was truly horrified.

The door to the Chief’s office was flung open.

It was because the fearless man had mentioned it.

His feather quill moved even as his mouth teased.

“This romantic explorer who sings legends, Lorenzik.”

……for real.

“Seeking the Lantern of Humanity!”

Who came up with that and spread it, that burdensome title?!

.

.

.

[The legend of ‘The Lantern of Humanity,’ echoes through Seoul, the land of Anomaly.]