Chapter 732 – Those Who Believe (3)
Baek Yiseol was confused.
“Why?”
Hoyeol and the Silver Evil Eye.
They were the ones who had shared countless emotions through possession.
Hoyeol had declared he would hunt the Silver Evil Eye, but she had assumed that declaration wasn’t sincere.
Baek Yiseol bit her lip hard.
“If this keeps going, there’s really no choice but to hunt it.”
Justification mattered.
The reason no one had seriously treated the Silver Evil Eye as an enemy—whether in reality, Arcana Continent, or the Demon Realm—was because it had shown no hostility.
But things were changing.
If the Demon Realm was only the first step—
What if the Silver Evil Eye began to go run amok in Arcana Continent or even in Seoul?
Nam Cheolmin nodded.
“Yeah. If we don’t hunt it, we’ll die.”
“What if all of this is part of a plan?”
“A plan? Whose plan are you talking about, Yiseol?”
“….”
Run amok itself being part of a design?
“No, that can’t be.”
From everything Baek Yiseol had seen, Hoyeol valued formality above all.
Run amok meant going beyond control.
There was no way he would deliberately plan something like that.
Then—
“What if… he’s pretending to be run amok?”
“I can say it for certain.”
Nam Cheolmin answered firmly.
“That’s not possible.”
“Then I guess what you want to say is obvious.”
“You’re thinking the same thing I am.”
Without even saying it, they reached the same conclusion.
Hoyeol would hunt the Silver Evil Eye.
They had both experienced possession before.
Baek Yiseol gave a bitter smile.
“Cheolmin, if you could hunt the demon that possessed you with your own hands, what would you do? Me? I’d tear those bitches apart.”
Because of the succubi, her name still occasionally popped up in entertainment news. Photos from that time kept resurfacing no matter how many times she erased them.
To Baek Yiseol, demons were nothing more than a “black history” and a bitter grudge.
Nam Cheolmin nodded.
“Same here. That imp made me reveal embarrassing thoughts to Hoyeol. The more I got to know him, the more I resented that imp.”
From their experiences, both of them understood each other.
That was why—
“I really don’t understand.”
Why couldn’t they distinguish between the Supreme Commander before and after possession?
What was Hoyeol, and what was the demon?
Unlike them, there was no hostility between the two.
And yet—
“Why… did everything go wrong?”
Silence fell between them.
But they both sensed it.
It was about to begin.
The final holy war.
To hunt the source of all evil.
*
*
*
If I think ahead…
‘Space Time Quests must be cleared continuously.’
Once started, all quest scrolls in the Temporal Sanctuary had to be erased.
To transfer Grandfell’s past-cycle memories into my mind.
And during that process, Grandfell would likely appear to be going more and more “run amok,” as Cheolmin put it.
But in truth, he would simply be keeping his promise—to destroy the world he had been restraining all this time.
Then what should I do?
Simple. I already announced it on Today Arcana.
“I will hunt the source of all evil.”
That was our pride.
As Supreme Commander of the Holy War Alliance, that day was coming.
Of course, I never intended to actually kill Grandfell.
My plan was only to perform an exorcism on him.
The skill name had been changed to “Exorcist,” but whatever.
To preserve memories into the next cycle, I had to store them in a space of consciousness.
Just like Bael once retained memories of previous cycles.
‘A consciousness space created through exorcism.’
I would engrave everything there.
I trust myself.
Like every previous cycle, the next me would probably end up choosing demon hunter again—caught in that chuunibyou spiral.
How could I be so sure?
Simple.
Because I had seen the first cycle.
If we switched roles…
I would discover the truth much earlier than before.
And if that happened, I could take everything under control.
‘I won’t push you to the edge of a cliff, Grandfell.’
Then someone might ask:
Is this cycle just a disposable one?
I would shake my head.
‘Maybe if I knew nothing.’
But I knew too much now.
My time-reversal magic could never be perfect.
Not even gods could achieve a perfect reversal.
And as seen in the Demon Realm, imperfect reversal always leaves traces.
The Cursed Flesh Grandfell had pulled out—they were victims of that imperfect time reversal.
Then—
‘Everyone in this cycle I face…’
That meant they would eventually become Cursed Flesh.
So I couldn’t treat this cycle lightly.
My pride wouldn’t allow it.
When did this start?
This was something I had never cared about before.
Because I had only ever looked at Grandfell—only at you.
But with this new choice, I realized something.
This world was never just about “you and me”.
So I wanted to cherish even the seemingly meaningless connections of this cycle.
I guess I’m becoming a priest… or a philosopher.
Maybe it’s because people keep calling me “Homen”.
Still… thinking about it, it’s not strange.
I’ve lived long enough.
I walked forward while thinking pointless thoughts.
In my hand was a flower grown in the Garden of Elegance.
A healing herb shaped like a white chrysanthemum—the “Tear Orchid”.
Before the long journey ahead, I wanted to ask forgiveness from those who had already left.
Elsidor, walking ahead of me, stopped.
We had arrived at Kinver’s grave.
I placed the flower down and spoke.
“I suppose I can’t promise I’ll see you in hell.”
Because in the distant future…
I would likely be the only one who falls into hell.
*
*
*
Squelch. Squelch.
Explorer Federation President Fabian’s judgment had been accurate.
The man he had his eye on as the next Federation President—Park Hwigang.
Even in the most extreme situations, Hwigang did not forget his duty.
His explorer’s log began to fill rapidly.
──────
Do not be deceived by the Silver Evil Eye. One must not forget: it is a demon.As Homen once said, demons are beings who endlessly deceive us…!
──────
An explorer’s senses are extremely sharp.
To compare, he was only slightly below Nam Cheolmin, the chief barbarian.
And that was why he heard it clearly.
—“…Please… save everyone from him…”
The dying Cursed Flesh’s words.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Even as Hwigang muttered to himself, the booming sounds did not stop.
This was not hunting.
It was closer to massacre.
Hwigang looked at the Silver Evil Eye and moved his trembling hand.
──────
The prevailing theory was that the Eye was merely a telescope of the Ten Thrones—something that only watched and could not directly harm us.But the Silver Evil Eye is different.
Is this the difference in “rank”?
A gap so vast it surpasses even the Ten Thrones…?
──────
Hwigang’s hand stopped.
“…Can we even win against that?”
The sky of the Demon Realm.
The coldly glowing Silver Eye.
Stone monuments falling everywhere.
Overwhelming terror.
A true cosmic horror.
Even if he recorded everything he saw and turned it into information—
Could the Holy War Alliance even oppose the true master of the Silver Evil Eye?
Shake shake.
But Hwigang did not forget.
They had Hoyeol.
That belief was firm.
Even in this overwhelming fear, he could not imagine Hoyeol losing.
“…But still…”
Yet he allowed himself a thought he should not have.
If Hoyeol were to become trapped in the [Exorcism] with the Silver Evil Eye—
He had a feeling he would never return safely.
“Get a grip, Park Hwigang.”
Where did that faith go?!
Hwigang gripped his pencil again.
Everything he saw in this moment—
It would help Hoyeol and the Holy War Alliance achieve victory.
Step. Step. Step-step. Tatatak.
“Further and more.”
Hwigang began running through the Demon Realm.
To identify the Silver Evil Eye’s targets of slaughter.
Worst case—
It might not only be Cursed Flesh being killed.
Meaning stones could also be turned against them.
He had already spotted a place to verify this.
A dungeon he passed while observing the Cursed Flesh.
More precisely, it was likely a fortress once occupied by a Ten Thrones or a Demon King.
An explorer’s instincts never change.
Just as a cat cannot ignore a fish market,
Hwigang had naturally approached the fortress.
But—
‘There was an upper-rank demon guarding it.’
A giant horned demon, Honetail, blocked the gate.
The [Veiled Mask] was not omnipotent.
To enter a guarded fortress required a siege battle.
Because its effect would not apply once combat was triggered.
So he had passed it earlier.
Now he ran up a hill overlooking the fortress.
And then—
His mouth fell open.
The fortress was gone.
“…No…”
All that remained were traces of building magic that had crushed it.
But Hwigang could not even process shock.
‘It, it’s alive?!’
Honetail—the upper-rank demon—was still alive.
Breathing heavily.
“Huuuh…”
And then—
Hwigang’s vision flickered.
[■■ : ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■.]
The corrupted message was unreadable, but instinct told him.
‘No way.’
An attacked fortress.
A siege battle would already be underway.
That meant the nearby hill was also inside the combat zone.
‘I’ve been pulled into the battle.’
As if confirming his thought—
Honetail’s gaze locked onto him.
An overwhelming pressure crushed down.
“Found you!”
His body wouldn’t move.
He should have removed the [Veiled Mask] and used another artifact Fabian had given him.
But he was too shocked by everything he had seen in such a short time.
Hwigang thought:
‘Am I… going to die like this?’
No.
Not here.
At least not before delivering the explorer’s log to Hoyeol—
Thud.
“…Huh? W-what?”
To summarize—
He did not die.
What appeared before him was the trace of a single strike of construction magic that had instantly killed Honetail.
“….”
Without realizing it, Hwigang removed the [Veiled Mask].
To avoid being noticed by the Silver Evil Eye.
He had worked so hard not to let it slip off—
But wasn’t that meaningless?
As if a mere artifact could deceive the Eye.
“I see… you spared me.”
It was because of that “faith”.
“…It’s not the same—but it’s not different either…”
In Hwigang’s eyes, the Silver Eye looked different now.
“Different… yet the same!”
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