Chapter 669 – Adult

30%.

That was the reason I had sought out Hell in the first place. Before entering the [Understanding of Darkness] with its 30% of Grandfell, I wanted to completely wrap up this bothersome journey into Hell.

But…

‘…If that’s not it, then what am I supposed to become?’

I could understand what it was trying to say.
I’ve said it countless times, but without intuition, I’m as good as dead.
I chuckled inwardly.

‘The pitiful protagonist who lost their memories and wandered in the story, that wasn’t Grandfell. It was me, Lee Hoyeol.’

I didn’t want to admit it.
For now, I was frustrated.
You don’t know, do you?

How much anguish I went through before deciding to dig into Grandfell’s 30%. And even when it came to memory loss, I vividly remembered my damn dark past.

‘The memories of scribbling something in a notebook still feel like it happened just yesterday…’

But.

“Can’t you believe it?”

It whispered as though it could see straight through my thoughts.
And yet, this wasn’t the time to be lost in thoughts.

[Hexagram Brooch]

I knew the effect better than anyone. It had such an absurdly powerful effect with an unbelievable set bonus—one of those items that, even when seen, you couldn’t believe it was real.

Words filled my throat, but I suppressed them.

‘Yeah, I can’t believe it. Why do you have that…?!’

Thanks to my refined aesthetic sense, I could tell.
That Hexagram Brooch could not be a fake.
I had no idea how it came to be, but…

‘It definitely emits the same energy as mine.’

I recalled the information Kinver had given me.

‘If it’s a curse, not a simple rift, then it’s not impossible.’

Curses were incredibly complicated spaces where time and space intertwined randomly. After all, the first place I encountered Bael was a cursed area, and the [Understanding of Darkness] capable of interfering with Grandfell’s past, and the [Understanding of Darkness] itself, was also a curse.

‘If the Hexagram Brooch exists in a different timeline…’

I took a deep breath.

‘What happens here could affect reality.’

Damn it, if only I knew the name of the curse.

‘It would have helped somehow.’

At this point, I started resenting the broken system.
This wasn’t something that could be blindly guessed through intuition, was it?
At that moment, the battle began.

“If you don’t know, I’ll make you remember.”

The voice reached my eardrums.

What was that? It seemed like countless voices were merging into one. But strangely enough, those voices didn’t sound out of place.

‘…Feels like I’ve heard them before.’

Kwakakang!

The sound that stopped my wandering thoughts was magic striking me from the side.
I instinctively released my pure magic power and, reflexively, negated the magic.

Negating magic fully manifested through pure magic power?
From a magical perspective, it was highly inefficient. If the magic power’s quality isn’t overwhelmingly superior, the defending side consumes far more magic power.

That being said, with my magic power, which was on a different level, having devoured the Ten Thrones’ magic power and possessing the Twilight’s magic power, I should be able to negate the magic without any significant loss.

“…!”

But what the hell was this?

‘It’s at my level.’

Its magic power was on the same level as mine.

‘…This is not good.’

This was genuinely bad news. After all, the reason I had endured without Grandfell’s brilliant talent was solely due to my reliance on magic power.

‘They say even the rich families go bankrupt, but the third generation lasts.’

But forget the third generation.
Where did this monster even come from?!
I could only be frustrated, but it could be expected.

‘You see as much as you know.’

Actually, even Bael, from the first throne,

‘Would likely handle pure magic power better than I do.’

The real issue was how unconventional its attacks were.
How can it be so versatile?
I, Lee Hoyeol,

‘My specialty is never losing at grab techniques.’

There was no pattern or consistency in its attacks. If I had to compare, it felt like tens of boss monsters with countless patterns all merged into one.

‘There’s no helping it.’

For now, I needed to distance myself.

Blocking its barrage of attacks would cost me pure magic power. Since my magic power had noticeably decreased, I needed to secure a safe distance to recover.

Crack.

『Architectural Magic』

The ground beneath me shifted.
The ground I stood on rose, while the ground it stood on sank.

“Are you running away from the truth?”

Running away from the truth?
If you think that kind of provocation will work,
you’ve made a huge mistake.

‘Then I’ll have to run away, then.’

I, Lee Hoyeol.
My specialty is understanding the situation.
For the estimate, I need time.

‘This is just a psychological battle.’

You know, but we have a trump card, don’t we?

In the end, the real battle between me and it would be decided when the effect of the Hexagram Brooch activates. So, when the set effect activates and the restrictions of magic power disappear.

‘I’ll unleash the strongest strike.’

That one strike will decide the outcome.

‘Think, Hoyeol.’

I have to come up with a trick to overwhelm it…! Whether it was me or not, it continued relentlessly pushing me.

“Witness the truth.”
“……!!!”

Teleport.

I wasn’t surprised by its sudden position change.
What surprised me was the unique phenomenon it displayed.

『Exploration, Interference, Manifestation』

‘The process is completely the same as magic.’

Although I couldn’t see its exact form due to the sandstorm, I knew what it was doing, having learned from Grandfell over the shoulder. I could tell that it was either magic or the monster’s unique skill.

‘Unpredictable.’

My mind was already complicated enough.

Swoooosh.

‘Crazy.’

Is it even emitting sword energy now? I’ve heard of sword and body becoming one, but never of a sword energy surrounding the entire body.

Ssssh.

I immediately raised Gwicheol.

‘Pure magic power cannot negate sword energy.’

It was a sword energy that ignored the opponent’s defense.
Moreover, this sword energy was stronger than anything I had ever seen.

‘Stronger than Harkon’s sword energy.’

Could I block it with my sword?

‘If not, I’m counting on you, Gwicheol.’

The shape-shifting Gwicheol had saved me countless times.
Gwicheol, who is a manifestation of someone’s alter ego.
You wouldn’t be scared here, right?

‘Even if you’re not as good as Grandfell.’

I would squeeze out a fitting name, no matter what.

-…

But for some reason.

Gwicheol stayed silent. I didn’t hear his voice. I wondered if, without me knowing, he had transformed into a “Demonic Sword,” but that wasn’t the case. Could it be that after Hiel, now it’s your rebellious phase…?

‘Whatever it is, this is seriously troublesome.’

Rustle—

“!”

I raised Gwicheol to unleash the sword energy, but as expected, my sword energy and its sword energy were on vastly different levels.
I desperately ignored the throbbing pain in my shoulder.

‘…Don’t waver, Lee Hoyeol.’

I probably lost 20% of my health with this strike.

‘And I’m sure there’s excessive blood loss as well.’

With continuous loss of health, the set effect of the Hexagram Brooch would likely activate within the next few seconds. I straightened my back, staring beyond the sandstorm.

‘It’s time to prepare.’

The strongest strike I can unleash with infinite magic power.

“Still relying on it.”

Well, it’s been hitting the mark since earlier.

‘Whoever it is, they must know me very well.’

Yeah, I was still relying on it.

The fragments of Grandfell’s talent left behind, the experiences I built with him.
Not to mention, just moments ago, I tried to leave everything to Gwicheol.

Someone might ask.
Aren’t you ashamed?
I would proudly answer.

From the start, the greatness was Grandfell, not Lee Hoyeol.

‘This is my final struggle, what do you want from me…?’

The dark energy started oozing from behind it. To put it succinctly, it was a suitable magic power, and to be clear, it represented its past and background.

‘…Certainly, not ordinary.’

It made sense. After all, I had met it in Hell, full of grudges.
Having that level of suitable magic power was no surprise.
But still, this is too much?!

‘Perhaps as strong as or even stronger than Grandfell.’

Of course, my comparison couldn’t truly be accurate.

If Grandfell had released that level of suitable magic power, it would have meant I fell into a [Blackening] state. But even setting aside the comparison with Grandfell.

‘This is a level of suitable magic power I can’t handle.’

After Grandfell left,
I was able to somewhat imitate him.
But one thing I couldn’t manifest was black magic.

The reason was simple.
My suitable magic power came from Grandfell.
As I gazed at the suitable magic power in my mind, the magical knowledge whispered to me.

‘With that kind of density, even if only the Black Crown manifests, I won’t escape.’

In the end, was I the one who had to pull the trigger first?

‘If it’s infinite magic power.’

I can escape the crisis.

I gripped Gwicheol more firmly.
Since I had pierced my own heart before.
There was no hesitation in taking actions that cut away my own health.

The suitable magic power rippled, mocking me.

“That, too, is nothing but dependence.”

There was no room to refute it.

‘Well, I thought about it like that…’

Without activating the effect of the Hexagram Brooch, I couldn’t escape this crisis.
But, as I’ve said many times, I wasn’t ashamed.
In the first place, to be ashamed,
something must be left for me to fall to the bottom.

“It’s time to end this.”

I don’t know what it’s been saying all this time.

‘I’m not stopping this struggle.’

If I can survive, I’ll survive.
I’ll pour everything I have, no matter what.
What I, Lee Hoyeol, can do…!

“Turn away, it ends here.”

I said earlier, didn’t I? No, what do you mean?

Frustration welled up, and as I was about to utter it aloud, it happened.

“This is the ‘end’.”
“……!”

Soon, I was covered in overwhelming suitable magic power.

Though I’m the Chief of the Magic Tower,
With that magical knowledge in mind,
I should have gone half-crazy when I was engulfed by suitable magic power.

If I thought about how those who were engulfed by Grandfell’s suitable magic power turned out… I should have been incapacitated at the very least. But I didn’t.

There, standing firm on my two legs, still fully feeling the suitable magic power. As expected, my magical knowledge said: only…

‘The owner of suitable magic power can endure this.’

That’s right.
It wasn’t someone else’s suitable magic power.
This dense, dark past and background… was

Mine, Lee Hoyeol’s. The memories that could have made me lose consciousness burrowed into my mind. The voice of the creature echoed in my ears.

“You are now beyond forgiveness.”

That’s when I finally realized.
Middle School Syndrome.
Lee Hoyeol’s childish fantasies had come to an end.

“I… What have I done?”

I had become an ‘adult’ who could no longer turn away from the truth.

.
.
.

[The Great Sinner, ‘Lee Hoyeol’, unleashes his abilities.]