Who Do You Think We Are? (3)
The rift shattered brilliantly before them. To Marcelo, the chief mage of the Mage Tower, it was a long-craved sight. Rifts were anomalies unto themselves—subjects of endless study and the sole clue to returning to the Arcana Continent.
"……."
But research was far from Marcelo's mind. Only Hoyeol's plan occupied his thoughts.
Marcelo murmured softly.
"Are you truly saying it's possible, my lord?"
The manifestation of an upper demon king. Marcelo didn't know their full might, but he could gauge it by comparison. His benchmark: Karim Jeba, the demigod elder mage and devil worshipper.
What kind of breed were mages? As one himself, he knew all too well. Mages were arrogant by nature. No need for lengthy explanation—just look at the Mage Tower's history. They'd scorned every truth, no matter how unexpected.
In that regard, Karim Jeba was infamous. Before joining the Tower, he'd been called the Fire Dragon, entangled in every crime imaginable. Rumors swirled that he'd sought the Tower's shadow to evade the Empire and the world's pursuit.
Even that arrogant Karim Jeba had suppressed his nature to pursue summoning an upper demon king.
'Yet we had awe on our side.'
Karim Jeba and his two devil worshippers' scheme had faltered from the first step, thanks to Hoyeol. Still, Karim pressed on with the revival.
'He knew better than anyone.'
With the Tower as his enemy, even he couldn't survive.
Yet he'd proceeded, staking his life on summoning an upper demon king.
'A mage staking his life…….'
Perhaps because Marcelo was a mage like him. He understood. No—at least any Tower mage would guess it.
Yes. Karim Jeba believed an upper demon king embodied the truth he sought.
Marcelo continued, foolishly.
"You were wrong."
He and the Tower had realized scorning the world led to meaningless truths.
That's why they'd thrown themselves into the Holy War to atone.
But his concerns were separate.
'What did you see in them?'
With Hoyeol, he'd witnessed demons and demon kings. Even now, weren't they battling demons vying for a new throne?
Yet he'd seen no truth in them—nothing worth conversing over.
The Fire Dragon's temperament would've been even less tolerant. He'd surely witnessed something special in that upper demon king. Something beyond other demons.
So Marcelo could breathe easy.
"……It was all part of your plan, wasn't it, my lord."
Had he entered the rift with Hoyeol and beheld an upper demon king, he'd have been too busy scheming to fulfill his role.
'I'd tried so hard not to show my flaws.'
Hoyeol must've seen through his shortcomings.
Marcelo forced a smile amid his blurring vision.
"I'll be waiting in reality."
May you return safely.
……
The demon king of the fourth throne, Gamigin.
The moment I laid eyes on him, honest sorrow washed over me. My black history, the world—now even rifts were too harsh on me.
'Nothing's ever easy, damn it.'
The power of the upper demon king that drove elder mage Karim Jeba to betray the Tower. And among them, the fourth-ranked Gamigin, right before me.
'With time so fleeting.'
Cleared rifts split between reality and the Arcana Continent. Regardless of Gamigin's emergence, I—still in reality—would be ejected back outside.
That's why I'd been biding my timing.
Inviting Demon King, Gamigin, into the 'consciousness'.
The perfect moment for the Exorcism Ritual……!
It wasn't some grand skill that slowed or reversed time. But it could deceive time perception. The ritual's space was ruled by mental fortitude.
Shing— I raised my sword.
Haste bred sloppiness, forsaking decorum. My arm bent precisely, wrist flowing gracefully. Yet the scene remained frozen in that instant.
What's a reliable ally for, if not this!
The Exorcism Ritual. Only demon hunters and invited demons could exist within.
Had anyone been beside me, they'd have blinked and assumed it was over. No room for aid, they'd think.
But.
Click!
I wasn't alone now. Only demons or demon hunters in the ritual space.
Senior demon hunters of Akshan stood with me.
I faced Gamigin. No wonder he was an upper demon king. Invited into the ritual, he showed no agitation. I couldn't even read his emotions.
Vast—beyond huge. Each of his four legs rivaled the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower in scale. His head overlapped the crumbling rift, barely visible.
But above all.
"□□□."
For some reason, his words didn't register. A roar that could shatter eardrums, yet incomprehensible.
'What the hell.'
Players communicated effortlessly among themselves and with Arcana natives. Even reading magic tomes in the continent's tongue.
'Suddenly?'
I couldn't understand speech? No clue why.
But reasons didn't matter. No chit-chat with demons.
Whoosh—!
True to form, my seniors. No questions asked. Akshan's demon hunters unleashed crossbow bolts at Gamigin.
Seemingly meager, yet one-shots on near-900 named monsters.
'……!'
A colossal target. Dead-on hits.
Yet Gamigin unchanged.
Damn, beyond my Arcana common sense. What level was he? Dozens of those shots, and unscathed?
No grasp at all.
'……Karim Jeba.'
His words resurfaced.
—"Release me, and I'll tell all. About the Holy War, true truth! As a demon hunter, you'll grasp my intent. I swear on Fire Dragon Karim Jeba!!"
Karim sought to revive an upper demon king for true truth…….
Ah, starting to click. In a word: dimensional gap.
The 'true truth' elder mage Karim Jeba, called demigod, pursued. Only reachable via 'upper demon king'.
Or…….
'Upper demon kings are near-godlike.'
Another deafening roar in my ears.
"□□□ □, □□□ □□□□."
That explained the incomprehension. A gap in stature too vast for words.
Damn, my resolve nearly cracking. I'd surmounted the giant evil, only for it to be a newborn demon. Thought I'd topped demon kings, but they were the weakest.
Yet after struggling over mountains, now reach for gods?
Real doubt hit. Could I, mere player, attain divinity?
Clop— Each hoofstep vibrated the rift. Heaven quaked, earth trembled—felt it in my bones.
Truly, my head, Lee Hoyeol's, couldn't endure via willpower alone.
Yet.
『No demon's temptation, deceit, or trial can scar Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo's lofty pride.』
Grandfell stood unbowed. As always.
Struggle as I might, ritual control was mine.
That instant, a sound.
Shing—
Of course, I hadn't forgotten. Like hiding my and Grandfell's pasts, I couldn't know theirs fully.
But Akshan's demon hunters shared one trait.
"A pride not even death could break."
Clop— Amid shaking earth, I straightened.
"No mere demon."
I raised my sword.
"Can grasp and shake."
My declaration was the signal. Hellfire-wreathed demon hunters charged Gamigin.
'Fast.'
Beyond human limits. To keep up, even elven grace was needed.
Simple, really. No trump cards—just straightforward resolve.
Yet no mockery. Sometimes, unyielding straightness was unbreakable.
Yes, Akshan's hunters didn't break. Beyond that, no holds barred.
Using their own hellfire as weapons?
One hunter clung to Gamigin.
"□□□."
Clop— Godlike upper demon king or not, a demon's a demon. Couldn't endure hellfire.
Like me. No—Akshan's seniors knew demons better.
They sensed it without words.
Shing— Crossbows swapped for blades. Daggers in both hands. Bolts gripped like swords.
'Truly, no means off-limits.'
Transferring hellfire to Gamigin.
Couldn't just watch. Don't dream of severing legs and fleeing, Gamigin.
Krunch! Levitating rocks. I manifested stairs on crumbling ground via exploration, interference, expression.
Stairs to the heavens. Maybe tens of thousands short.
Ordinary mage? Mana exhaustion. Not me.
'This is my specialty.'
Mineral knowledge skipping exploration. Plus potion doping. Natural Enemy and First World Tree's Blessing active.
Krunch!
Tens of thousands of stairs? Mana unscathed.
Thud! Demon hunters united, no words or glances needed.
Thud-thud! Hell's hunters stormed the stairs.
Then, Gamigin's body surged with power. Earth quaked.
"□□□ □□ □□□."
Splitting ground fused anew. Instinct screamed: Gamigin, goal met, closing the [Hell's Gate].
'If Hell's Gate shuts……'
────── Arcanshan's Legacy: Summons Akshan demon hunters from hellfire. ──────
Hellfire fades. Hunters return to hell.
Wish I could magic the gate. But unseen, untargetable.
"Truly demonic."
Revived, no need to face natural enemies. Cowardly fleeing to Arcana?
I looked up at Gamigin.
"Foolish demon king."
I empathized with Grandfell unwittingly.
"Is your life so precious?"
After trampling countless lives on Arcana. Now fretting your own.
Even in death, hating demons, falling to hell—Akshan hunted unbowed.
"Fleeing from us?"
Don't ignore their desperate pride.
"If you claim kingship, face us squarely."
As I intoned.
Clop! Gamigin's hooves retreated.
Truly fleeing. Fearing Akshan? Their tenacity?
I didn't know. But one certainty.
"I won't allow it."
Let Gamigin escape? He'd rampage on battered Arcana.
And hadn't I said their duty done, pride passed on?
To honor my words.
I can't let you go.
Channeling mana. Vast mana.
My mana couldn't scratch him, magic or not.
Irrelevant. I'm not burning you.
Literally.
Just at Hell's Gate's closing. Shove you into 'hell'.
'Your mistake.'
Endure hellfire or not, you should've pretended strength.
Why natural enemy? Never release weakness.
Exploration. I crushed Gamigin's massive form.
Massive mana escaped briefly. But I persisted.
『Magic』 insufficient?
Add [Gravity] to interference.
This is 『anomaly』.
Thud—! Gamigin's body slammed down.
"□□……!!"
Crack. Legs crumbling. One, two, three.
And.
"Prostration suits you best."
Four.
Rumble—!