This Isn't a Request—It's an Order (1)
Acquiring Aesthetics or Tenacity. Or like when the Title system unlocked. Knowledge about Legend burrowed into my mind.
You have acquired the legend, 'Black Dark Dragon Lee Hoyeol'.
But explaining this in words feels a bit off...? Unlike the previous stats I mentioned, the effect wasn't clear-cut. Why, it's like the value of a legend's name. Just as common legends we hear are all vague and nebulous. The effect of Legend couldn't be easily put into words either.
Still, to sum it up simply.
This was definitely a growth-type system.
'The more widely known it becomes, the greater the effect multiplies...'
Any ordinary player would have been thrilled at this point, right? Gaining a new ability. And not just a one-off, but a growth-type one at that. Especially with such a grandiose name like Legend.
But at this moment, I couldn't feel even a shred of joy.
The legend's name is Black Dark Dragon Lee Hoyeol...?!
To enhance the ability. I'd have to spread that horrific legend even wider...!
Deep down, I just wanted to collapse right here and do nothing.
'...I can't even show my face anymore.'
Flashes of my real-world ordeals crossed my mind. I am the Black Dark Dragon. How much anxiety did I endure just to hide that fact?
Yet all that suffering was for naught. In the Arcana Continent. It had already spread into a full-blown legend.
'Who the hell started this?!'
I called for High El.
High El, who had been attuned to Arcana Continent news even back in their low-grade spirit days. If it was news about me famous enough to become a legend, they could surely pinpoint the source.
Soon, High El materialized in the air and bowed their head as always.
"High El greets the lord, the Black Dark Dragon."
...High El, even you too?!
"Lord" alone is humiliating enough. Please spare me the cumbersome epithet, I beg you.
But there was a valid reason for the title.
'Yunak Seus, the dwarves, and the emperor...?'
The legend of Black Dark Dragon Lee Hoyeol. It was a collaborative legend forged by dragons, spirits, dwarves, and humans!
The moment High El finished speaking, I calmed my mind for now.
'...I can't blame anyone anyway.'
There were so many involved. No one to hold accountable. Plus, the intent. That intent perfectly satisfied Grandfell's standards.
"A wise judgment indeed."
Using the Black Dark Dragon legend to suppress the demons' morale. They weren't seasoned for nothing, all of them. In a way I never imagined. They had reversed the Arcana Continent's momentum.
'So even this was meant in goodwill.'
Wasn't Grandfell the type to generously overlook even the Tower Master's cat antics? Since it stemmed from goodwill. No matter my feelings as Lee Hoyeol. I couldn't show displeasure.
But it still didn't make sense. Fine, Yunak Seus, Chainwalker, and High El. Those three were on my side. Heck, they were so besotted they overhyped me—understandable. But the emperor, why did you join in...?
'Why participate in the idolization campaign?'
According to High El. The emperor had formally declared it before Antonium's citizens. That the adventurer Lee Hoyeol was none other than the Black Dark Dragon.
'...Thank goodness I wasn't there.'
With the emperor's proclamation. Considering Arcana Continent time flow... It was no wonder my exploits had become legend.
More importantly.
"Thanks to that, they all seem nicely prostrated."
The legend's buff was no joke. Not talking about the effect of the newly unlocked Legend system. As a demon hunter, I could sense the demons' presence. Compared to just before, when I last set foot on the Arcana Continent. Their presence had clearly softened.
'Can't complain about this, damn it...'
What could I do? This was my fate too. But now. On top of reality, I'd have to be desperate even on the Arcana Continent. Why? Because this damn legend floating around there. I'd have to block it from flooding into reality as much as possible!
'To do that, first things first.'
Best to shut Kichi up. Naturally, I had no idea where on the Arcana Continent Kichi had landed.
'She'll handle herself.'
But Kichi wasn't some fragile type I'd worry over. We'd set a meeting spot and deadline too. Instead of fretting over Kichi, worry about my own future, Hoyeol.
I asked High El.
"Any news on the elves, High El?"
"Regrettably, I have heard nothing."
"No need to apologize. That's their ability too."
High El gathers info through nature. Reading memories on wind-swept leaves. Or listening to whispers in scattering pollen. But the elves had similar powers—that was the problem.
'They've sealed lips tight.'
How shady were their deeds? Sealing even nature's mouth. Might as well check while I'm at it. In that sense, pinpointing Agentress and her elves' location was priority.
And how to do that? I'd boldly show my inventory.
The Demon Eye Telescope viewed from the Arcana Continent. Why, doesn't it look even more vivid than from reality?
*
Krunch—!
Agentress crushed a pile of rubble. Not your average rolling stone. It was a chunk of city wall no siege weapon could crumble.
"Please, just spare my life!"
Thud— An demon slammed its head to the ground. Not a low-rank imp or true-named demon. He was a king among demon kings—a demon king.
Ranked 30th. Demon King Shalkirawi's mind was in chaos.
Drip! He'd smashed his head so hard. Blood from his forehead drenched his vision. Yet through the blur, it was crystal clear.
'Wiped out.'
Scattered corpses. Roughly ten thousand elite demon king troops and thirty demon legion commanders. Excluding himself, the entire army annihilated in half a day.
'By a mere hundred...!'
Just as a wall existed between demon king and common demon. A wall existed between elves and him. And its thickness...
'Thicker than between me and a low-rank demon.'
There was a word for such a wall. Yes, it was a difference in realm.
Shalkirawi felt it keenly.
'I can't overcome it as I am.'
So he'd cast aside a demon king's pride and begged. Pleading for life from a being of higher realm.
Agentress gazed indifferently at such a Shalkirawi.
"King of demons."
"King? Such undeserved words, elder!"
"Never thought I'd hear 'elder' from a demon king."
Agentress scoffed.
"Unlike the others, you at least have the attitude for conversation."
Demons, a race as base as humans. The reason Agentress spoke with him was simple.
Agentress continued coldly.
"Tell me the whereabouts of the great evil, Gluttony."
Time was eroding life's essence. The demon king's castle crumbling in half a day was proof. If Mother's blessing had been intact, it would have fallen in an instant.
'Rapid aging is progressing.'
Herself and her kin, all of them. But most urgently, herself. As a primordial elf, she'd lived far longer than her kin.
Thus, Agentress had decided. To accept Gluttony's offer first. But regrettably, things had gone awry.
"Where have you hidden that great evil?"
Since that day, Gluttony's trail had vanished.
Agentress pursued the blessing's whereabouts—and Gluttony too. Then she encountered him. Demon King Shalkirawi, who might know Gluttony's location.
"I know nothing of it, elder...!!"
But the answer fell short of expectations. No, she'd never expected much from such base creatures. As anticipated.
Step.
The moment she turned without a word.
Shalkirawi sensed it. The instant Agentress fully turned. He'd become a pincushion, life snuffed out.
Shalkirawi urgently spoke.
"But dare I say, elder!"
Agentress paused, half-turned.
His next words decided his fate.
Shalkirawi continued.
"Even if you scour me and the other demon kings, you'll never find the great evil's trail. Not that we're protecting them. You know it too, elder? That demons are base creatures who think only of themselves!!"
Agentress asked.
"Why?"
"Because the great evil and we differ at the root."
"Differ at the root?"
"Yes."
The great evils. They were evils that existed on the Arcana Continent before it connected to the Demon Realm.
Shalkirawi, still prostrated, continued.
"We lowly demon kings and the great evils aren't allies. We're rivals, ever ready to tear at each other's throats and forces!"
Gulp— Extreme tension? His throat burned after speaking. Shalkirawi quenched it with flowing blood. Then he thought.
'...I can sell out the great evils to survive.'
Even if elves saw through him. He wasn't lying.
Shalkirawi spoke with utmost sincerity.
"I'm wronged, elder! It's unjust to die to you because of that great evil. But know this. My grievance is toward the great evil, Gluttony—not you!!"
Shalkirawi knew himself well. He was one of the few demons who grasped his place. That awareness had elevated the unremarkable Shalkirawi to 30th-ranked demon king.
However.
Whoosh—
Underestimating the opponent was the mistake.
Agentress turned fully.
What nonsense, she thought.
"I have no interest in the tales of base creatures."
In the end, no answer to her question?
The instant Agentress turned completely.
Twang! Bowstring released.
Thwip! Arrow shot forth.
Thuck! Piercing Shalkirawi straight through.
Instant death. Far too pathetic for a 30th-ranked demon king's end.
"Truly a realm apart in conversation."
Agentress gestured.
Time was short; they had to hurry. The elves aligned and prepared to move.
But their feet never lifted.
"...!"
Senses superior to all races save dragons. Intuition based on them warned.
A cluster of rippling mana light in the distance. The slowly emerging presence. Utterly dangerous.
Yet none raised a bow. Precisely, none could move.
...Body unresponsive?
Whole body petrified like stone, feet rooted. Fingers immobile. Even eyes couldn't shift. Barely opening mouths was all.
"Lady Agentress...?"
She'd surely identify and resolve it.
The elves held infinite trust in Agentress.
Thus, even toward the fully revealed man. They could glare with hostility.
So they didn't know. At this moment.
'...Unbelievable.'
The expression on their trusted Agentress. Beyond shock—horror. Beyond frown—distortion.
But no matter how they glared, it didn't change.
Radiant silver. Unmistakably Claudy's. The sensed presence. Unmistakably Mother's blessing.
Agentress murmured unwittingly.
"...Impossible!"
.
I have no intention of praising you for toppling the demon king's castle. Your impure motives. I've confirmed them all through the Demon Eye Telescope.
So don't think of leaving the scene. You're all caught red-handed.
With the First World Tree's Blessing in existence. My relation to you elves. Is a predator-prey beyond demon hunter and demon.
So no need to worry about accountability for my upcoming words. No matter how arrogant Grandfell's declaration.
"Dare not speak of realm before me."
For I differ in realm from you.
Blessing Hierarchy occurs on the elf, Agentress, and the elves.