Chapter 605 – Revealed (1)

A strange malice spreading across the continent.

“!”

“What? You stop talking. It’s because you’re at a disadvantage, right?”

“No. I want you to shut your mouth right now, Garmond.”

Bitterness.

“…?”

Red-eyed Dune Clan leader Shahin Dune and Diamond Merchant Lord Garmond Phil stop arguing.

They hadn’t witnessed the system message.

But Shahin Dune, who had already seen his home swallowed up once before, could recognize it.

“It’s him.”

Garmond’s response was immediate.

“If it is him, are you referring to the First Throne Demon King?”

“The merchant managed to find out.”

“How could I not recognize it, you’ve been telling me about it every day.”

Thud,

Shahin Dune straightened and strapped his weapon to his waist.

“It appears that Bael, or a being of equal status to him has appeared.”

Not wanting to lose, Gamond also hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Are you out there, assistant?”

“I am listening. Supreme Lord Garmond.”

“Perhaps it is time to unlock our treasure.”

The world of merchants, ruled by riches alone, is cold. For whatever reason, the Oak Auction, their biggest competitor, has recently been forced to falter in Ulrich’s absence.

“You have to give, so you have room to build again, haha.”

Garmond of the Diamond Merchant had reached out across the Arcana continent, into the Underworld and beyond, to take advantage of the void left by the Oak Auction, and had accomplished a remarkable feat.

Garmond flashed an easy smile.

“Well, let’s make you feel a little indebted.”

jeobeogjeobeog.

Shahin Dune and the red-eyed warriors were led by Garmond to the treasury at the Diamond Merchant. A Hidden Piece, a place that can only be accessed by using the magic tools of the Merchant.

cheog.

Garmond held out his ornately decorated sword to Shahin Dune.

Shahin’s eyebrows twitched.

He could tell it was no ordinary weapon, even in his rough grip.

“A true warrior would be willing to give this much.”

“You’re growing up fast, aren’t you?”

“It’s difficult for people to think of me as a greedy businessman..”

Gamond lightly shrugs his shoulders.

“A savage like you. No, I don’t know of a more instinctive human being, but ……. there’s something called flow that’s pretty important in building this fortune and running the Merchant.”

I was surprised at his stoic demeanor.

“I’m not saying that I, Garmond Phil, am not saying that it is not possible for me to get my hands on all the wealth and fame that exists on the Arcana Continent! Sometimes, if I give it appropriately, the Arcana Continent can become more fertile and create more wealth in the future……!”

As usual, I’m at a loss for words.

“Done. Let’s go.”

Shahin Dune and the Red-Eyed Clan.

Before they could shake their heads at Garmond’s speech, each of them grabbed their weapons and left the report. Only after they had all left did the assistant open his mouth.

“Why did you lie, Lord Garmond?”

“Huhu. You can’t fool an assistant’s eyes.”

“Not really, if you had eyes, everyone would have known.”

The equipment and magic tools taken by the Red Eyes Clan a little while ago were so [Legendary] that it would be a loss even if they were each exchanged for one territory.

The assistant didn’t understand.

She scribbled on the parchment for a while.

Finally, she couldn’t help herself and spoke up.

“Isn’t that what you’ve always told me? That it’s one thing to give a favor, but quite another to give a fortune. Pure favor is always right, but wealth actually ruins the recipient……!”

Garmond once said that in the presence of beggars. At that time, I felt sorry for myself for serving such a bloodless and tearless person as my lord.

That same afternoon, the sun was setting.

The assistant who had been led by Garmond to the streets was a hindsight. He saw beggars lying on the street, using the money they’d begged for to buy cheap drugs.

Garmond shook his head.

“You’re right, assistant. Not even the most accomplished Red Eyes would dare to stay sane. They are all magic tools that contain great power. So, it is a place that has been a top secret since the ancestors, which is why they have been kept in a highly secret place, 『Diamond Cabinet』, since ancient times.”

“But then, why……!”

“Of course.”

Garmond raised his eyebrows bitterly.

“Because what’s going to happen from here on out can’t be faced without going insane. We’ll probably end up envying those red eyes that will close on the battlefield, assistant.”

“What, what do you mean, you’re joking?”

“A joke. I wish I were.”

The power of the Daimond Supreme Lord over the Arcana continent.

Flash.

At this moment, Garmond’s eyes saw a stream of gold. It meant that he could see through the Arcana Continent, which places and objects had the highest value.

Slurp.

A huge golden flow, its direction clear. As fast as lightning strikes. It is approaching the last bastion of the Arcana continent, the imperial capital of Antonium.

One might ask.

When the riches roll in.

Shouldn’t a merchant like you welcome it with open arms?

Of course not.

Garmond opened his mouth bitterly.

“Actually, I do see it, my assistant.”

“What on earth are you seeing that would lead you to make such a judgment……!”

“The most noble living gold on the Arcana Continent.”

His pupils widened with an uncommon gleam.

“Dragons, they are approaching Antonium.”

“……!”

The elves were the first to notice.

North of Antonium.

Agentress, tending to the World Tree, spoke up.

“Something is wrong with my brothers.”

“Brothers? You mean the other elves……?”

Kichi questioned, unable to make sense of it all at once.

Of course, she wasn’t questioning Agentress.

Even one under the Holy War Alliance wasn’t close enough to ask such a question, and she knew from Elsidor that the elf’s temper wasn’t good enough to answer such a question.

However, the pointed ears were not decorative.

“No, I mean dragons.”

“……!!!”

Agentress’s answer startled the entire Shadow Mercenaries.

Once for the generic answer that came back.

Twice that it was a dragon.

Agentress continued.

“Now then, Mercenaries, I have heard how you have pledged your allegiance to him, and I sincerely honor your sacrifice, so I will give you a chance.”

Kichi was stunned.

‘The commander-in-chief.’

The truth about Hoyeol and the Shadow Mercenaries.

…

We were the only ones who knew it.

That means.

Does that mean he delivered the message to us personally?

A being more like a perfect superhuman than a human.

Since He is so high, it is natural for Him to look down on everything.

It was true that I felt distant from him.

But.

“…”

Such a man has chosen me.

For the Shadow Mercenaries.

I never thought you took the trouble to tell the story.

“I must have been firmly mistaken about something.”

“Mistaken, of what?”

Kichi smiled brightly at Agentress’s question.

“I thought you were a bit more cool-headed, but apparently not.”

Whether that was directed at Agentress.

Whether it was directed at Hoyeol, only Kichi knew.

Of course, Agentress didn’t have time to ask back.

The elves quickly fingered their bows.

“Prepare, everyone. The King of All is coming.”

Snap.

At his signal, the Shadow Mercenaries raised their bows, spellbooks, and weapons. Agentress’s gaze flickered to the void.

‘Eunaxus.’

Have you lived like this for eons?

He bit his lip automatically.

It’s only been a short time since I realized the error of my ways.

I never thought I’d turn my weapon against my brothers under the World Tree.

The young World Tree is crumbling.

Dragons tearing through dimensions.

Maybe everything.

‘Everything is my fault.’

Maybe it came from me.

‘If only I had taken care of my mother a little earlier.’

I could have recognized the ‘Primordial Evil’ that was brewing within her.

At this moment, Elsidore realized that an uncontrollable feeling of guilt was coursing through him.

“This must be the effect of some strange malice.”

Exclusive property of the player.

Even in the absence of [system].

The high elf’s mind was quick to recognize the source of what was affecting him.

It was then.

‘Wait.’

Argentress’s mind became clear.

jjeojeojeog.

That was the moment when the evil dragons were about to fully emerge from the dimension, completely corrupted in body and mind by the evil fruit. Agentress’s gaze turned to the elves.

“Even I am plagued by this much guilt.”

What about my brothers who have a weaker mentality than me?

deoldeoldeol.

If only it were a past Agentress who saw only himself.

The images of the elves frozen with guilt that they could not have witnessed.

Agentress’s fears had become a reality.

“This is not enough.”

The Shadow Mercenaries are remarkably skilled for humans. He had heard that they possessed a special ability to defy death.

‘But we must protect them.’

Agentress glanced back. Behind the ground he stood upon lay the Imperial capital of Antonium, the last resting place of the humans of the Arcana continent.

He looks ahead again.

‘If we fail to stop the rampaging dragon.’

Antonium may suffer damage beyond description.

Call it a towering castle.

It will crumble like a sand castle before the wings of the Dragon, the King of All Things.

Parr.

But Agentress could not speak easily.

Even though he knew this was the effect of a strange malice.

The guilt that coursed through his veins was not entirely gone.

‘Maybe.’

Agentress’s gaze turned to the parched World Tree.

‘Is this the ending you wish for you, Mother?’

Kichi cried out, sensing something untoward.

“Agentress-nim!”

But no one’s cry reached Agentress’s ears. Even at the moment when the dimensional gap is torn apart, even at the moment when three evil dragons thrust their heads through the gap without even knowing who would be the first.

Krrrrraaaa!!!

And with that, the dragon’s Dragon Fear struck Antonium.

But Antonium’s walls didn’t fall.

Because the frame moved.

Pusyusyug.

The elves’ arrows stretched into the sky in a noble parabola.

Shots imbued with the ancient magic of defense.

To offset the Dragon Fear.

Even with all the magic they possess, it may not be enough.

Paaasss.

But it wasn’t enough.

The elves’ ancient magic circle was a perfect defense against the murderous Dragon Fear.

No, it wasn’t enough.

pusyusyug.

The elves soon attempted a counterattack against the dragon.

Argentress looked at the situation that had changed in an instant.

It didn’t take him long to realize why.

Goooooo.

It was back.

“Agentress-nim, Mother’s blessing.”

The mother I longed for so much.

The blessing of the World Tree.

But Argentress could not be happy.

He wondered why the blessing of the World Tree had come to them.

Unlike the other elves.

Agentress could see it coming.

Agentress knelt down in his seat.

‘What’s wrong’

Yes.

It was a gift.

A gift from ‘Him’ to us.

‘Where do you think you’re going, Claudi?’

The last gift.

“…!!”

“…?”