Chapter 735 — ……Remain (3)
“!”
Clack!
Skal yanked hard on the reins, restraining Frostnax.
“What are you doing, Skal?”
If only now. While that bastard was completely absorbed in savoring Vassago. If only now—
“I could have avenged my brothers!”
Kroarrrr!
Frostnax struggled violently. But control had already passed into Skal’s hands. Besides, Skal had no intention of talking with Frostnax right now.
“Let’s talk once you’ve calmed down.”
“Calmed down? What a pity. There is nothing to discuss with a youngster who runs away while standing before the enemy who devoured my brothers. Right there, we could have—”
“I was merely fulfilling my duty as a [Dragon Knight].”
“?”
As he watched the fragments of the dimension being torn apart, Frostnax gradually came to his senses. He remembered the objective of the quest Skal had mentioned.
‘Protect the dragons.’
That was the mission of the youngster with the hidden class, [Dragon Knight].
He did not know why an adventurer who was not even an Arcana native was so obsessed with dragons, but he had already witnessed enough to know that Skal’s intentions were genuine.
‘I see.’
Frostnax’s pupils twitched.
‘Am I the only one left now?’
Even excluding himself, there had been dragons who had escaped the control of Evil.
However, they had wanted to remain beside their kin and protect them. It was obvious that Beyond, the Primordial Evil, would have slaughtered those who stood in his way before devouring the evil dragons controlled by Evil.
Frostnax imagined it.
‘Even if I had waited for an opening, could I really have severed his breath?’
No.
From the moment Beyond devoured his brothers, it was fair to call him a transcendent existence beyond transcendence itself.
Wasn’t that obvious from the fact that he had seen through them from beyond the dimension and spoken to them?
“I understand, Skal.”
“Frostnax-nim…”
“You did well to restrain me while I was rampaging.”
“No. It is all because I was lacking.”
Skal was genuinely angry with himself.
“If I had been able to freely wield the abilities of [Dragon Knight] a little better… I might have been able to save more dragons, more of your kin, Lord Frostnax.”
“Heheh. You are sentimental.”
“Sentimental?”
Perhaps because he was an Ice Dragon. Frostnax had already regained his composure. He continued calmly.
“I have no attachment to life, so my brothers must have felt the same. I was not enraged by their deaths. The moment that bastard devoured Vassago… I believed that moment was the only opportunity to sever his breath. I was angry at you for taking that opportunity away.”
“Is that really true?”
“Half of it was a lie.”
“…Pardon?”
Was he really making jokes at a time like this?
As Skal stared at him in bewilderment, Frostnax snorted.
‘It was a lie—that I was angry at you.’
As he had said, Frostnax had recognized the need for a Dragon Knight. Even the King of All Things needed a loyal subject who would not bow before him.
Hadn’t he decided only moments ago that he would keep Skal by his side?
There was no reason for him to suddenly change his mind.
“What do you mean by ‘half of it was a lie’?”
“You do not need to know.”
“So you really are angry at me?!”
Frostnax swallowed the truth inwardly.
‘…I was furious.’
He had been desperately trying to cool himself with the frigid cold…
But he was still furious.
The moment Beyond used Dragon Fear, Frostnax realized why the bastard had uttered those words while reaching toward Vassago.
—“Cry out until your voice reaches him.”
It had been a truly horrific scream.
The cries of his brothers writhing in agony, forgetting every last shred of dignity befitting the King of All Things.
‘I cannot even imagine it.’
Though they were his brothers, Frostnax himself was still a young dragon, closer to a hatchling.
Those dragons who had never been shaken by any storm that befell the Arcana Continent had screamed like that.
There was no way the shock could disappear easily.
And there was no choice but to become enraged.
‘Claudi.’
We had made a pact with you.
When you and your world were in danger, we helped you.
But Claudi, weren’t you watching?
Frostnax recalled the scene beyond the dimension.
Those silver eyes had been watching.
Beyond had also stared into those eyes, so surely he had witnessed everything.
‘Was this trial also part of your arrangement?’
He had believed it.
But now, he could no longer be certain.
Frostnax’s mind was unbearably complicated.
‘Beyond said that, throughout the repetition of time, he had been waiting for this very moment. If so, then Claudi could not have anticipated a situation like this either. Even before that, can the words spoken by the Primordial Evil really be trusted? But…’
What awakened Frostnax from his troubled thoughts was—
…Tight.
Skal gripping the reins a little harder.
Perhaps he realized it belatedly, because Skal hurriedly relaxed his grip.
“Ah! I’m sorry. I got nervous…!”
“There is no need to apologize. More importantly, you are nervous?”
“Well, how could I not be nervous?”
At Skal’s following words, Frostnax finally realized.
Wasn’t this the same Skal who had actually put reins on him?
He might speak obediently, but Skal was by no means someone to be taken lightly.
No.
In a certain sense, he was most certainly—
“We’re going to the Demon Realm just like this.”
“…The Demon Realm? Why all of a sudden?”
“I… I can’t take it anymore.”
He’s crazy.
“I need to hear it directly from Lee Hoyeol… No, from Claudi. What exactly this ‘arrangement’ is, whether it really exists at all, and whether it is truly a plan that we can accept!”
*
*
*
Everyone worked hard while I was gone, huh?
“Did they make this themselves? They really went through a lot of trouble.”
As I looked around the camp of the Demon Realm–Holy War Alliance, admiration naturally escaped me.
Sure, I could build something like this in an instant with construction magic.
But the others couldn’t, could they?
“This craftsmanship… As expected, it’s Wallswail.”
My personal barracks had clearly received an unusual amount of attention.
Perhaps because the hands of Wallswail, the greatest dwarven blacksmith, had touched it, the place was extremely dwarven in style.
To Lee Hoyeol, it merely looked magnificent.
But this wasn’t really Grandfell’s taste.
“It’s a little crude.”
Still, I smiled.
“But there’s no need to touch it, right?”
I thought the sincerity behind it alone would have satisfied you, Grandfell.
After returning to my position as Supreme Commander, I finally understood why my absence hadn’t been apparent.
It was because everyone had struggled at their respective posts.
Once again, I found myself blaming myself.
“…I was arrogant, Lee Hoyeol.”
To think I was the only one they looked toward.
More precisely, I blamed the Lee Hoyeol of the previous round.
Of course, I knew better than anyone that regretting the past would not change anything.
‘Maybe having suffered through my dark history is actually useful at times like this?’
I immediately sat down and began working as Supreme Commander.
To remain faithful to every moment of this round, to the present.
I wouldn’t let even the smallest matter slip by.
“Well, something like this is easy with construction magic.”
“Ah, there probably aren’t any related materials.”
“I suppose I’ll have to write a book about it.”
From constructing fortifications to preparing materials for the analysts, even passing on knowledge about the anomalies—I was able to resolve the Holy War Alliance’ stalled tasks without much difficulty after my return.
Of course, the Supreme Commander’s duties didn’t end there.
The Demon Realm, the Arcana Continent, and Reality were currently connected by portals.
I couldn’t afford to neglect the boundaries of any one of those worlds.
“It should be about time they arrived.”
Sure enough, it was my alter ego.
“My lord, Hiel has arrived.”
Although she had lost the First World Tree’s blessing, Hiel’s manner of speaking had changed along with her innate dignity, and it was quite striking.
If she used to remind me of Grandfell, now she seemed to remind me of myself—Lee Hoyeol.
I asked casually.
“Your acting has improved considerably, Hiel?”
“A-Acting?!”
“But you can’t fool my eyes. I’m your senior in acting, after all.”
Realizing that I was joking, Hiel quickly erased the look of panic from her face.
The news Hiel brought was simple.
Malice had been detected on the Arcana Continent.
“Hiel, if it’s Malice strong enough for you to sense it…”
Then whoever it is must be no ordinary existence, right?
Hiel was my alter ego, a demon hunter.
She couldn’t detect Malice as sensitively as I could, or as Tempest, the guardian spirit of Akrashan, could.
But her radar wasn’t inaccurate enough to give a false alarm, either.
Besides, Hiel’s expression was unusually serious.
Serious enough that I couldn’t tease her about acting.
I retraced my thoughts.
‘Vassago surrendered to me.’
Even if he had recovered the authority from his avatar, as long as he maintained that avatar, Vassago wasn’t a threat.
Simply put, he was a tiger without teeth.
‘There’s no reason for Vassago to cause trouble on the Arcana Continent.’
Vassago knew about reality—the adventurers’ world.
He knew exactly why the demons had crossed over into reality while leaving the relatively peaceful Arcana Continent behind.
‘Because reality is still overflowing with negative energy.’
The world where people lived might be the same everywhere.
But given that the adventurers’ world was constantly overflowing with negative energy that spread across the entire world whenever something happened, there was no reason for Vassago to betray me on the Arcana Continent.
‘If it isn’t Vassago, then who?’
The Arcana Continent, where Grandfell’s eyes were still wide open.
Malice strong enough for Hiel to sense.
There was only one demon left who fit the conditions.
“The Primordial Evil?”
“I think so too, my lord.”
“Oh~ Sharp thinking, Hiel?”
“…Please don’t tease me.”
“Come on, you should experience that cringe-inducing feeling too.”
My petty revenge on Hiel lasted only a moment.
I recalled my memories of the Primordial Evil from the previous round.
Come to think of it, he had been a demon with very little presence, hadn’t he?
‘For the original sin of the Arcana Continent…’
Compared to the Ten Thrones, his exploits had been extremely limited.
One might ask whether that was simply because the Demon Realm and the Ten Thrones had devoured hundreds of worlds, not merely the Arcana Continent, making their scales fundamentally different.
But—
‘If that were the case, my senior Akhsans would always have warned me.’
They had said that the Seven Deadly Sins, the Great Evils, were our greatest enemies.
‘Thinking about it, there’s no way they wouldn’t be our greatest enemies.’
Even the Demon Realm and the Ten Thrones were reluctant to confront the [Demon Hunter].
Yet the Great Evil and the Primordial Evil had somehow continued to live and breathe on the Arcana Continent while that Demon Hunter remained active.
I lightly shrugged my shoulders.
“It’s not like I’m the only thing that’s changed.”
After all, I had chosen an entirely new option myself.
There was no telling what kind of butterfly effect would come crashing down.
It wouldn’t be strange if the Primordial Evil, which had remained quiet until now, finally bared its fangs.
“Thank you, Hiel.”
“I merely did what I had to do.”
“Really? Then I suppose you don’t need a reward?”
“…A reward?”
She was desperately trying not to show it, but Hiel…
Had she momentarily forgotten that the long, flowing wings she had grown from the World Tree’s blessing had become adorably tiny?
Flutter, flutter.
“I don’t want a reward for carrying out an order…”
Like a puppy wagging its tail.
Watching Hiel’s fairy wings flutter excitedly, I suddenly wanted to tease her a little more.
“Hmm, is that so?”
“But if you really insist on giving me a reward…”
“Then perhaps I should reconsider as well?”
“!”
She quietly closed her eyes and crossed her arms.
Without letting Hiel notice, I entered the Space-Time Social Hall.
Of course, I had no intention of proceeding with the Space-Time Quest in front of Hiel.
Even if I tried to deceive her, she could see straight through me now. I couldn’t fool her anymore.
‘Just a quick check.’
I headed straight for the highest floor.
I didn’t know whether Grandfell would have the mental capacity for it, but I wanted to check whether the memories of the Grandfell from the previous round remained intact within the Space-Time Quest.
However—
Tap.
When I reached the highest floor, I couldn’t help but doubt my own eyes.
Because Grandfell was there.
As I desperately tried to make sense of what had caused my mind to freeze, Grandfell spoke.
Wait.
That was—
“…Who are you?”
Isn’t that exactly what I wanted to ask?
“That silver hair… Are you perhaps an elder of the Claudi family?”
Grandfell… how did you end up as a little kid…?!