Chapter 633. The Lion (1) #PART1
Harkon Kingsguard.
The Imperial Knight Commander stood face to face with Hiel, the World Tree’s Avatar and simultaneously Hoyeol own alter ego.
She began unraveling the truth behind the incident.
It all started with—
“Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo.”
A name that might have been mistaken for a part of your very existence—
The name of a demon.
“Do you all remember the Great Sage’s prophecy?”
The Great Sage Rise.
Harkon was well aware of the Great Sage, who could foresee the future. The rise and fall of empires had been predicted multiple times by his prophecies, and records of them were preserved in the Imperial Archives.
Hiel had spoken.
“The Arcana Continent.”
“The Demon World.”
“The Celestial World.”
“The Adventurers’ World.”
“Every world you know will perish.”
The prophecy foretold your name—
“By the Infinitely Deep Darkness.”
In the past, Harkon had not understood.
You shone brilliantly like light itself.
So why was such an alias associated with you?
But after fighting by your side in battle, witnessing you from the same battlefield—
Your presence was, quite literally, like an Infinitely Deep Darkness.
Not merely as a metaphor for boundless power.
That so-called ‘suitable magic power’? The darkness that formed the foundation of black magic?
Harkon had seen it unfurl, as if it would devour all things, time and time again.
Yet, Harkon responded.
“Lord Hoyeol has succeeded in controlling even that Infinitely Deep Darkness, has he not? Lady Hiel, you know this as well. My Lord is not one to succumb to such power or be swayed by it…!”
“You are mistaken, Harkon.”
“…What?”
At Harkon’s faltering words, Hiel spoke clearly.
“The Infinitely Deep Darkness is not my Lord’s alias.”
“…?”
“It refers solely to Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo.”
“…!!!”
Harkon wasn’t the only one shaken by these words.
Even Bellier and Elsidor, who had been silently listening, flinched.
Despite the shock that swept through the group, Hiel’s gaze held not the slightest hint of hesitation.
After a brief moment of thought, Bellier was the first to voice her question.
“Wait a moment. Something doesn’t add up. The World Tree’s voice clearly spoke to me. It said that the Light would consume itself, the Arcana Continent, and ultimately everything. If that’s true… then isn’t this prophecy saying the exact opposite?”
The reason for Bellier’s confusion was simple.
Light and Darkness.
The two terms were referring to different entities.
“You just stated, did you not? That Grandfell Claudi… that he is the demon who has possessed the Supreme Commander and is the Infinitely Deep Darkness. If that’s the case, then doesn’t that mean the Supreme Commander is different from the darkness? Then why is the Supreme Commander, who is supposedly the Light, being treated the same way as the infinitely deep darkness?”
The “treatment” in question referred to how the world saw him—as an entity that would destroy it.
Harkon and Elsidor—
Both men shared the same question.
Fortunately, the answer did not take long to arrive.
“Because the Infinitely Deep Darkness has left my Lord.”
“…Left?”
“Because my Lord longs to reunite with the Infinitely Deep Darkness.”
“Longs to reunite…?”
“Indeed.”
A {natural} glimmer flickered in Hiel’s pupils.
At this point, she could no longer be confined to the category of a mere spirit.
She exuded an overwhelming presence.
Even Elsidor, who carried the blood of the World Tree, could sense it more acutely than anyone.
‘…Has she truly become indistinguishable from the Mother?’
This overwhelming force—
It was something he had only ever felt from Hoyeol, who had monopolized the Mother’s blessing.
If he had to compare, the weight of her current presence was far greater.
“Abandoned by the Infinitely Deep Darkness, my Lord has now taken upon himself its original sin. That is why I have led you all to this place.”
“…?”
“Please, I beg of you—turn my Lord’s heart back.”
“!!!”
As she spoke these final words—
At that moment, Hiel was no longer the overwhelming entity known as the World Tree’s Avatar.
She was simply the Hiel they had all known, the one who had followed Hoyeol with unwavering sincerity.
‘Damn it.’
Bellier clenched her eyes shut.
‘Don’t let yourself be swayed, Bellier.’
Hiel’s argument seemed logical.
But don’t overlook it, Bellier.
Right now, I might not be thinking clearly.
The oppressive presence of the World Tree could be clouding my judgment.
And ultimately—
‘…Possession?’
For her claims to be valid, it had to be true that the Supreme Commander was possessed by a demon.
That was why Bellier found herself more conflicted than anyone else.
As a senior mage of the School of Healing, he understood possession all too well.
Possession meant a complete loss of both physical and mental autonomy to a demon.
If a possessed human appeared no different from usual, it was nothing but a deception by the demon.
‘Then what about the Supreme Commander I’ve seen all this time…?’
It didn’t make sense.
Hoyeol had shown small but distinct changes since being “freed” from Grandfell.
Yet fundamentally, he had remained the same.
‘Are you telling me that everything about him was just the demon’s deception?’
Bellier refused to believe it.
Of course he couldn’t.
He gritted his teeth.
“What kind of demon would risk its own life to…”
To save Marcelo?
……His fingers trembled slightly.
For a brief moment, Bellier made her decision.
Fine, let’s assume.
Assume everything Hiel said is true.
Even then, my resolve will not waver.
A vision surfaced before Bellier’s eyes.
The sight of Hoyeol leading the Tower as the Chief Mage.
Yes.
Not just Marcelo.
Vangrit, Senios, the former Tower Master and Yugweed—
All of them.
The way Chief Lee—
No, the way Grandfell treated them—
Was I supposed to believe he was just like all the demons I’ve encountered?
‘Absolutely not. At least, I refuse to see him that way.’
At that very moment, Bellier opened her eyes.
“…!”
And what she saw—
The astonishment flickering in Argentres’s pupils.
The sight of Harkon, kneeling before the World Tree’s Avatar.
The lion-like voice of Harkon, growling with unshakable resolve—
“Harkon Kingsguard shall carry out your command.”
*
tl/n: the title is 사자 (saja) has meaning Envoy or Lion
I currently have a headache, I will continue this tomorrow
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