Chapter 653. The One Who Has Been Watching (2)
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The rain doesn’t stop.
“Tsk tsk. This year’s harvest is doomed.”
“It’s all because the emperor didn’t build up any merit.”
“You, be careful with what you say. Do you think it’s just us here?”
A tavern somewhere in the eastern part of the Empire.
I tipped my glass while gazing out the window at the pouring rain.
It was to confirm the truth behind the rumors.
Perhaps it was a reward for enduring the boredom with such desperation.
The opportunity soon arrived.
“Everyone, bow your heads! It’s the lord!”
At the shout of someone, the bustling street fell silent.
Impressive.
As soon as I saw the scene, those words slipped from my mouth.
“A presence that even makes crying children stop.”
Indeed, the children, who had been laughing and chatting just moments ago, were now trembling with their heads bowed. Why were those innocent little ones reacting like that?
The reason became clear soon enough.
“Ah, I told you not to occupy any space!”
Whoosh-thud.
A ball rolled into the path of the lord’s carriage, and immediately, one of the guards grabbed the collar of the little boy who had come to pick it up. Not long after, a merchant, seemingly the child’s father, prostrated himself on the muddy ground.
“I’m sorry, my lord! My child is still young…!!”
The lord didn’t say a word.
Silence doesn’t always mean agreement.
It simply meant that no meaningless commands would be issued.
“Ugh.”
Only groans mixed with the sound of rain could be heard.
The child, watching his father get beaten for his actions, felt emotions he had never known before.
Those emotions soon turned towards the lord.
Clink.
With a chain wrapped around his fist, he watched those emotions.
The exact name of that emotion was negative emotion.
The very source of the demons.
“May you fall into hell forever, bastard.”
That night, I performed the exorcism ritual.
Yet, the rain didn’t stop.
Of course, it wouldn’t.
This torrential rain wasn’t caused by a demon appearing in some small eastern city.
This was a catastrophe large enough to drown the entire Arcana continent.
My comrades,
I respect the opinions you’ve shared. Even though the world might underestimate you, I, Gabriel, know better than anyone that you are all great demon hunters, on par with me.
However, I cannot return to Akshan until I find concrete proof. The fact that you all accepted ‘him’ as part of Akshan must mean you share my thoughts.
Therefore.
“I’ve made quite a spectacle of myself.”
“I will never forget this kindness for the rest of my life!”
“May I dare ask for the name of my benefactor?”
I am raising my name and fame against my will.
“I am Gabriel of Akshan.”
That’s how I can reach the fame of ‘Claudi,’ whom we’ve all been questioning. Thanks to all the effort put in, I have finally grasped a clue after wandering through countless cities and towns.
“Do you know, demon hunter? The reason for this endless rain, which has continued for hundreds of days, is because of the tears shed by grieving dragons!”
It was a common legend.
I couldn’t ignore it.
The fact that the day the dragons began crying out of grief coincided with the day the Claudi family was destroyed.
From the information I had gathered while wandering the Arcana continent, I was able to deduce it.
In the process, I learned another truth from a demon I had interrogated.
The demon laughed.
“Aren’t you frustrated, Akshan’s hunter? You who can hunt us, shouldn’t be treated this way. Your treatment in the Arcana continent is worse than that of shepherds. Heh heh, everything is because the Arcana continent doesn’t fear demons.”
Perhaps, the answer to our greatest question was revealed.
“Yes! The reason we cannot run wild is because of that damn Claudi! All the sins and negative emotions of the Arcana continent are carried by those arrogant bastards! But now that Claudi is destroyed…!!”
Rustle.
The demon’s words were all lies.
So, I didn’t trust them.
But I had to confirm this with my own eyes.
And I finally reached a conclusion.
Akshan, you were right.
No doubt.
Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo is a demon.
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“Crazy.”
That was my reaction after sneaking a peek at Gabriel’s journal.
Wait, let me go back in time for a moment.
According to Gabriel’s words…
‘Akshan already knew.’
From the moment Grandfell came to find Akshan.
From the moment Grandfell was connected to demons.
From the very beginning, it was an unfolding I couldn’t understand.
Of course, it’s understandable. Who are the Akshan?
“Those senior hunters aren’t like that, are they?”
They were the humans who showed no mercy to demons.
Let’s not even go far—just think of the scenery of hell. To hunt demons, they were humans who would fall into hell by their own feet rather than let demons live.
Now, let me switch to my perspective, Lee Hoyeol.
‘If I had been in Akshan back then.’
Could I have believed Grandfell’s words?
At that time, Grandfell didn’t fully possess the power of the Seventh Sin, Pride. But the senior members of Akshan must have noticed even the traces of pride that Grandfell had been carrying.
I muttered carefully.
“…They must have thought it was just a common demon trick.”
But Akshan accepted Grandfell as a demon hunter. Of course, Gabriel had verified whether Grandfell was truly connected to demons or not.
‘In the end, Grandfell wasn’t hunted by Akshan.’
How do I know for sure?
If he had been hunted, there’s no way he could have come to find me and torment me, right?
That’s the part I couldn’t understand from my common sense.
So, another question came to mind.
If Akshan didn’t hunt Grandfell simply because they weren’t sure, how would Akshan have acted once they were certain? Would they have tried to hunt Grandfell as I had imagined?
Even if not, wouldn’t they have at least performed an exorcism?
“…Would you have quietly watched it?”
It wasn’t like Grandfell was usually predictable, but when it came to matters related to Claudi, Grandfell’s behavior was something I couldn’t predict at all. Suddenly, a possibility popped into my mind.
The emerging Grandfell’s eye in the Arcana continent.
A possibility that would never have occurred to me if I hadn’t faced the source of all evil.
“What if you were involved in Akshan’s downfall…”
I looked at the newly updated quest objective.
─Track down Akshan’s true intentions. (In progress)
It was a serious situation, but I shrugged it off lightly.
“No, there’s no need to overthink it yet.”
In the end, the answer will be at the end of the quest.
Once I learn the truth about Akshan’s true intentions,
I’ll naturally find out the real reason Akshan’s downfall.
Swipe.
I wrote down the information I had gathered about the [Hexagram Brooch] in Gabriel’s journal and placed it neatly in the inner pocket of my dawn jacket.
“When your mind is in chaos, you have to move your body.”
And just like that, I started physical training like someone else would.
In this world, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
As my stats increased, the amount of training required naturally increased too. Which meant, if I didn’t use the spare time to meet the required training amounts, Akshan’s training would reach a point where I couldn’t keep up.
‘The situation is different from when I was just training with nothing to do.’
I desperately tried to organize my complicated thoughts.
Akshan had already known that Grandfell was related to demons from the very beginning. Gabriel found evidence through him, and then Akshan was destroyed. And now, as the last survivor who had devoted myself to Akshan, I was supposed to understand its true meaning.
‘I really have no choice.’
It wasn’t just about the quest rewards.
I needed certainty too.
Grandfell.
The certainty that you are at least not involved in Akshan’s downfall.
Thinking about it, it felt strange.
Even if the demons in the Demon World started a cataclysmic upheaval,
Akshan couldn’t be destroyed by demons.
Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t do it.
A Natural Enemy Relationship is something that cannot be reversed.
Even if demons had incited non-demon beings, there was something I learned the deeper I got to know Akshan. Our senior members were second to none in terms of the basics.
‘I have stats raised through training, and a unique stat [Tenacity] that amplifies those stats.’
It almost felt regrettable that there was so little I could apply those stats to. The more I thought about it, the more Grandfell’s cold gaze came to mind.
A gaze that seemed to look down on everything except himself.
That gaze of yours.
“…But still.”
I muttered to myself.
“Pushing things forward without evidence is just plain disrespectful.”
So, I was determined to pursue it. Not only the quest objective of discovering Akshan’s true intentions but also the evidence that Grandfell wasn’t the type of person to do such things.
To put it simply.
“I will definitely retrieve Harkon.”
Harkon.
To be more precise, I meant I would track down the demon who had taken Harkon’s body.
‘I trust you, Tempest.’
No matter how much they tried to hide their presence, there would still be limits.
Tempest wouldn’t miss even a second.
In the end, once again…
“Huu.”
I muttered while doing push-ups.
“You just need to do well, Hoyeol.”
…By the way, how many have I done?
As my worries prolonged, I seemed to have done quite a number of push-ups without realizing it, but for some reason, the quest window was quiet. Just as my chest muscles were about to scream, I stopped and checked the system window.
No.
“Huh?”
I was about to check.
[■■: ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■]
[■■: ■■■ ■■■, ■■, ■■■, ■■■, ■■■, ■■■ ■■, ■■■ ■■■, ■■■ ■■■, ■]
[■■■: ■■ ■■■]…
“What is this…?”
I didn’t need to look any further.
The same went for the lower part.
The status window was completely broken as if it had been damaged.
‘This is different from □.’
It was clearly different from the mosaic messages I couldn’t read. This was not just blurry, it was completely shattered.
I, Lee Hoyeol.
The cold sweat running down my back started cooling down rapidly.
Now, cold sweat started flowing down my spine.
“No, no, wait!”
Where did all my basic skills, the stats I could proudly show off, go? Could it be that all the hellish training I’ve done has gone to waste?!
No, more importantly, why in the world!!
“!”
There was only one change that was different from before.
“…Hexagram Brooch.”
The only thing that had activated was the set effect. In that sense, I couldn’t help but recall what Grandfell said to me when he disdainfully looked at my stat window.
I whispered those words after him.
“…Numbers are just numbers.”
Does that mean that destroying my status window was your arrangement too?
This is ridiculous!
I let out a hollow laugh and found the only intact system window.
[Class Quest: Successor of Akshan]
O the last demon hunter.
You have already grasped the qualifications.
Please inherit Akshan’s will.
─Dedicate yourself to Akshan. (Completed)
─Track Akshan’s true intention. (In Progress)
Yes.
It really was you, wasn’t it?
I, Lee Hoyeol.
“Just wait.”
Wiping the sweat off, I declared to Grandfell.
“Whether it’s the past, present, or future, it doesn’t matter.”
Even if it’s unjust, I’ll definitely find you…!
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