Chapter 631 – Even So, Leave It to Me (2)
[World Quest: Enemy of the World Tree]
The World Tree saw the light.
It saw itself.
It saw Arcana Continent.
And in the end, it saw the light that would devour everything.
─ Face the Avatar of the World Tree. (In Progress)
“!”
A message appeared in the field of vision of every player on the battlefield.
Anyone with a shred of awareness—
No, anyone with experience as a player—
“What the hell is this bastard talking about?”
Could immediately tell.
Who the “light” in the quest referred to.
Leonie grit her teeth.
“Are these bastards joking right now? They were just rampaging like mad dogs, and now they’re spouting this kind of bullshit? Do they really think anyone will believe it? Huh? Screw this, I’m done!”
Yes, the light was that man.
Hoyeol.
It was obviously referring to the Supreme Commander.
A fundamental principle for players:
Quests do not appear without reason. The moment Hoyeol defeated the monster blessed by the World Tree, this message popped up—
Meaning, the one the World Tree feared, the “light,” was none other than Hoyeol.
‘Well… that guy does kind of shine a lot…’
Wait, why am I thinking about stupid things right now?
……Shake shake.
Leonie quickly shook her head.
Then, she looked around.
Everyone must have seen the same message.
‘There might be some idiots getting the wrong idea.’
It’s not like Leonie had any particular love for humanity.
From the days when Arcana Continent Chronicle was just a game, as a well-known player, and now as a representative of the European Union, she had witnessed plenty of the worst in people.
And her distrust had only been confirmed further—
By how the world treated Hoyeol.
Just like us,
“They really should learn their place.”
……Clench.
“You ungrateful bastards.”
Leonie tightened her grip on the two swords she had been loosely holding.
It was inevitable.
If any of these idiots got any funny ideas and repeated the same damn mistakes…
Leonie twisted her lips into a smirk.
“Well, I’ve gotten warmed up, so if I have to, I’ll personally send them to an early retirement.”
And then—
A new tension began to spread across the battlefield, which had just calmed down.
Players started eyeing each other warily.
Until finally, three gazes locked onto each other.
“…What?”
“And what about you?”
“Oh dear, both of you seem quite fired up.”
Leonie, Taemin, Hisagi.
They didn’t want to admit it, but after all this time fighting side by side—
They could now read each other’s thoughts just by looking.
They realized they were thinking the exact same thing.
And it wasn’t just the three of them.
As others started processing the quest, chuckles of disbelief echoed across the battlefield.
“‘The light that will devour Arcana Continent?’”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“I mean, the World Tree has been hogging everything for itself. It ate up all the power and ran Arcana Continent into the ground. Maybe it’s time we flip the table on this whole system…”
Yes.
Even when faced with a World-Class Quest,
No one wavered.
“No matter what, we can’t just…”
Even if someone had second thoughts—
“What was that you just muttered?”
“H-Huh? N-Nothing at all!”
“Good. Let’s keep it that way.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
At least in this battlefield, questioning it was out of the question.
Because players knew how things worked.
The man who had hesitated looked at the quest again.
─ Face the Avatar of the World Tree. (In Progress)
‘…Well, it’s not like there’s actual proof that Hoyeol is the light.’
It was still just speculation.
Unless they actually confronted the Avatar of the World Tree.
Unless the next quest objective was revealed.
“And honestly, I’d rather trust him over some unknown World Tree…”
There was no guarantee that the World Tree was absolutely right, either.
Just as those doubts were starting to settle—
A voice echoed from above.
No, not a voice—a telepathic message.
“I declare to you all.”
“…?”
“I am the ‘light.’”
“?!!”
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[World Quest: To the One Feared by Arcana Continent]
O Light.
O Light that will devour Arcana Continent.
I declare to you.
Arcana Continent will stop at nothing to stand against you.
You, too, must be prepared to struggle desperately.
─Survive. (In Progress)
Looking back on Hoyeol’s journey as a player…
‘Damn, what a rollercoaster ride.’
Thinking about it, everything was messed up from the very beginning.
No need for a long explanation—
Just looking at the class [Demon Hunter] was enough to sum it up.
Everything that happened after Grandfell left me?
No need to go over all that.
The situation unfolding right now explained it well enough.
Just as the truthful system message stated—
‘Arcana Continent is literally trying to kill me.’
The quest objective was hilariously simple.
‘Just survive, huh?’
And I could sense it.
‘This might only be a prelude.’
Considering the sheer vastness of Arcana Continent,
even the [Blessed] boss monsters might just be a drop in the ocean.
It finally hit me—
‘So that’s what the previous quest meant by the “Will of the World Tree”?’
[World Quest: Will of the World Tree]
The World Tree, the very essence of Arcana Continent.
In the face of true continental extinction, the World Tree has begun to reveal its will.
Only the one who first received the blessing of the World Tree shall confront its will head-on.
That quest had disappeared with the emergence of the new World Quest,
but I still remembered its contents clearly.
I, Hoyeol, finally understood everything.
True continental extinction.
The Will of the World Tree.
And surviving against it.
‘So the one the World Tree actually feared wasn’t you, Grandfell—it was me.’
Honestly, I couldn’t help but laugh.
I mean, come on—what was so special about me?
So what?
‘Are they seriously saying I’m more dangerous than Bael?’
This wasn’t humility, just self-awareness.
If it were Grandfell, sure.
But Hoyeol? There was no way I had the power to single-handedly devastate an entire world.
‘Didn’t they see me nearly pass out from mana exhaustion just now?’
Sure, I barely managed to keep a straight face…
‘But Hiel, you knew all along, didn’t you?’
Hiel, who had essentially become a second World Tree.
If she knew, then the World Tree itself and Arcana Continent must have known too—
That I was just a pathetic little human.
‘And yet, they still consider me a threat?’
Then there must be a reason.
‘A reason even I don’t know.’
And perhaps,
Arcana Continent would soon reveal that reason to the entire world.
And when that happened,
there might be no turning back.
‘The World Tree is neither a demon nor one of the gods who abandoned Arcana’s people.’
Just as the quest clearly stated—
In order to survive,
I might have to struggle to prove my innocence.
If it were Grandfell, how would he have handled this god-awful situation?
‘That’s obvious.’
He would have handled it all alone.
And then acted as if nothing had ever happened.
Unfortunately, Hoyeol had no such ability.
But—
‘I do have one thing.’
Something I learned from real life.
If someone hates you for no reason—
Give them a reason to hate you.
“I declare to you all.”
With that in mind,
I had no intention of hiding it.
“I am the Light.”
If the World Tree’s intentions were bound to be exposed eventually—
If, in that process, my true self would inevitably be revealed—
‘Might as well get ahead of it.’
Better to take control of the narrative myself…!
As I spoke, the Holy War Alliance wavered.
Watching their reactions, a million thoughts ran through my mind.
‘…Was this a bit too sudden?’
I mean, I wasn’t exactly some savior or holy figure.
If it weren’t for the halo effect Grandfell left behind,
this kind of statement would have gotten me labeled a lunatic.
‘Then again, it’s not a complete lie, is it?’
Even if it was just a faint glimmer,
I was still light in some way.
‘Besides…’
I couldn’t exactly just mention Grandfell outright, could I?
So my declaration as ‘Light’ was really just my way of saying—
‘I am not the Infinitely Deep Darkness.’
But then—
‘Why’s the atmosphere so weird?’
Why did everyone’s faces look so… intense?
I couldn’t figure out why. Nevertheless, I continued speaking. Once you start struggling, my motto is to keep going until you sink.
“I am the reason the World Tree has gone berserk.”
Like I said, if the truth was going to come out anyway, it was better to take the initiative.
That way, I could attach the right reasoning to it.
I, Hoyeol, intended to persuade them.
‘Time to put this silver tongue to work, Hoyeol.’
I couldn’t afford to let the Holy War Alliance
be swayed by the World Tree’s overwhelming presence…!!
If Grandfell were watching this scene, he’d probably think I was pathetic.
‘You would’ve handled this alone, without involving the Holy War Alliance.’
But what choice did I have?
Like I had said many times before—
I, Hoyeol, cannot do this alone.
Grandfell, I need to replace your absence with the Holy War Alliance.
‘This is my struggle.’
To be honest, I wasn’t confident.
“I have only one goal.”
After all, my justification was pathetically weak.
I had no idea why I was considered a threat to Arcana Continent’s very existence.
Meanwhile, the World Tree had the righteous cause of protecting the continent.
‘But as long as my reasoning is somewhat convincing…’
Still, when it came to moving the Holy War Alliance,
I didn’t need some grand, noble reason.
At this moment, my every action boiled down to one thing.
-“□□□□ Me.”
Grandfell.
It was all for you.
That was the truth I would not hide.
I merely did what “someone” else would do—
strategically omit and reframe the truth.
“Salvation.”
If I was going to do this,
I might as well own it.
Thanks to Grandfell, I was already used to this kind of thing.
But surprisingly, I didn’t even need to read the room.
Just as I was used to this,
so too were the Holy War Alliance used to Grandfell’s style of speech.
I could see it in their faces.
“So, to put it simply…”
“You need us for this salvation, don’t you?”
“Damn, I never thought the day would come when we could actually help the Supreme Commander!!”
For some reason,
the Holy War Alliance looked genuinely moved.
And suddenly, I recalled what Hyunmin once told me.
-“You were… my only light…”
For a fleeting moment, I lowered my gaze.
‘…Light, huh.’
Even if I didn’t see myself that way,
I now had a reason to become the light.
Even if it was just a single flickering ray,
there were people drawn to it.
And so, I resolved to play the part to the fullest.
‘Grandfell, you might be disappointed in me for this…’
But you alone are not enough anymore.
From this moment forward,
I will become someone even more shameless and grand than you.
I will become— Lee Hoyeol.
“World Tree.”
Lifting my gaze once more,
I spoke without a shred of hesitation.
“Do not let yourself be blinded by my Light.”
…Okay, even for me, that line was a bit much.
.
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Meanwhile, Agentress fixed his gaze on the silhouette beyond the horizon.
“What are you thinking?”
It was none other than the Blood Elf radiating a chilling bloodlust.
“Elsidor.”
Elsidor finally spoke.
“Agentress. And my brothers. I ask you this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our Mother… and the Light.”
“……?”
“Between the two, whom shall you follow?”
“……!!!”