Dawn of the Great Evil
Beings that entered the domain of the bizarre. Among them, dragons. The ice dragon had altered the field to generate pieces. Envy was no different.
The plants of the mountain range withering at a rapid pace. The earth losing its vitality. Dark clouds gathering over the mountains.
Truly living up to the name of Great Evil.
But who was Grandfell?
“How noisy.”
Not only did he show no intimidation before the Great Evil. He was the owner of a pride that deemed even the Great Evil insignificant. Would such a Grandfell stand idly by in the face of this?
“Fear not. The lighter it is, the more clamor it makes.”
Speaking earnestly to plants? Compared to the prideful actions he'd taken so far, it was nothing.
I drew up my mana.
‘It won't match High El's blessing, but...’
Despite appearances, I was the owner of the piece, [Garden of Dignity].
There's a saying that even a temple dog recites the Thousand Character Classic after three years. Did I just sit back and watch as Grandfell's talent grew like weeds?
Hummm─
The mana I emitted seeped into the mountains. At the same moment, the mountain landscape regained its colors.
Yes, this too was pride—not yielding even a single thing to demons.
“Do not lose your beauty to fear.”
An aesthetic sense unyielding in any situation. Thanks to it, I was the one suffering. But right now, it was fine.
I didn't know how it had updated to reality, but. Thanks to the demon—the Great Evil I'd once let slip away rolling right back in—Natural Enemy had activated properly for the first time in a while.
There was no reason to complain about this level of mana consumption.
And that wasn't all. A message rose.
Those Waiting for Dawn 5/5
Dawn Set item effect applies.
Currently applied set effect: 5/5
Self-luminous. Like wearing a glittery outfit. I'd endured the shame and equipped the full Dawn Set……!
I looked up at the sun in the sky.
They say there can't be two suns in the sky…… What a glib tongue.
“Did you hide in fear of the Great Evil, oh sun?”
Now at the level of addressing even the sun.
“With me here, there is no need for you to force yourself out.”
Truly, facing the Great Evil yet remaining steadfast—that was me.
I swallowed a reluctant sigh for a moment.
The demon hunter's senses, sharpened to the utmost, twitched.
The Zero Mountains were vast enough to be called a new continent. Naturally.
‘Even with a skill like Clairvoyance.’
Finding a specific target in the Zero Mountains was impossible.
But Natural Enemy harbored something beyond common sense. I'd felt it all this time, so I knew.
‘From before I even hit level 100.’
That's how I'd hunted demons hundreds of levels above me and endured to reach this point—through irrational means.
Thanks to that? A voice pierced the hearing honed by the Natural Enemy effect.
“There it is.”
The voice of the guy who'd screamed bloody murder when I severed his right arm.
But the voices weren't just one.
-“What was the content of that request...?”
-“Do you not know about it?”
-“Yeah... I've only been captain for a few days.”
I'd suspected, but the word “request” confirmed it.
That was Wolf's voice, wasn't it?
‘Why is Wolf in the Zero Mountains...?’
I could guess the reason, actually. He must have moved to find Kichi.
But the Zero Mountains. Had he somehow acquired a way to get a connector there?
I racked my brain briefly, then focused my ears.
‘The Great Evil's request.’
I'd been inwardly curious anyway. Who would've thought the Great Evil commissioned the Shadow Mercenaries? And what was that request that made Kichi take responsibility and vanish?
However.
I wasn't even given the leisure to listen quietly.
Envy's voice followed.
-“Clau... ”
What the—?! Claudy?! Why was that name coming up there too?! No, I could guess up to that point. Just please, don't blab about the Claudy family.
Manifesting a portal would be too late. I had to shut that guy's mouth faster...!!
“Tempest.”
Akkshan's Guardian
“Awooooooo—!”
Bite that demon! The one trying to unearth my dark history—no, the Claudy family's tragedy!
*
Even with fatal wounds, the sensation of flesh didn't fade.
The beast's howling. Its origin was unimaginably distant.
‘...How did it echo all the way here?’
The cry was crystal clear. Wolf stared at the Great Evil, Envy of the Seven Deadly Sins, clutching his side. He'd thought it a hallucination.
‘Not an illusion.’
However, it had clearly reached Envy's ears too. And the reaction was astonishing.
The Great Evil, who hadn't wavered once, trembled violently.
“...It's him.”
Him? Suddenly muttering to itself.
Wolf wondered if “him” meant it knew the howl's owner.
Doubt arose simultaneously. The opponent was the Great Evil. In demon hierarchy...
‘Strong enough that comparing to demon kings is laughable.’
Wolf and the Shadow Mercenaries had faced demon kings while conquering the Demon King's Castle rift. It wasn't exaggeration—the Great Evil was overwhelmingly superior.
‘A being that makes even the Great Evil tremble in fear?’
The only one he could think of was the Grand Commander. Hoyeol.
Yet Wolf muttered unwittingly.
“Grand Commander doing awooooo...?”
Ack— Even the battered body spat blood in disbelief.
But the doubt didn't last. The howler wasn't an ordinary wolf.
Tempest.
A being worthy of its grandiose name.
Pop!
“Woo!”
Suddenly, a wolf burst from the underbrush, charging at Envy. It cornered it like a raging storm.
Wolf doubted his eyes.
“...!”
Shadow Mercenaries. Arcana Continent. Underworld powerhouse. They took any job for the right price. Information on the Arcana continent? It rolled in without effort.
-“You may not know, but in the southern empire's Hesiya, resentment against the lord has peaked. Perfect pretext for stirring trouble!”
From imperial politics they ignored.
-“What I want is the treasure that arrogant baron holds. The antique he claims to have fished from the southern seas. Forget its value—I want to see that bastard despair!”
To tales of gold and jewels.
-“Have you heard of Akkshan's wolf?”
And occasional unbelievable rumors.
Akkshan's wolf. A capture request that came to the Shadow Mercenaries. Wolf remembered the rumors.
-“Wolf, so why not assign it to Wolf, heh?”
Thanks to then-vice-captain Kichi's lame joke.
He remembered without trying.
Why invest fortunes and defy Akkshan just to capture a wolf? Even hearsay made it clear.
-“It's too beautiful to call a wolf. Like a statue. But its ferocity is unquestionable. A shame, a great shame for Akkshan beggars.”
Regardless of reason, they never refused jobs. But the Akkshan wolf capture ended anticlimactically. They'd learned mid-mission.
‘It's not an animal.’
A guardian existence. Like the Shadow Mercenaries' shadow crow guarded their hideout, Akkshan's wolf guarded Akkshan.
‘In other words, Akkshan itself.’
So at this moment, Wolf couldn't help flinching.
Yes, Akkshan no longer existed on the continent. It vanished without trace during the holy war.
“Awoooo—”
But the wolf consistently overwhelming the Seven Deadly Sins' Envy—what else could it be but Akkshan's wolf?
And watching its storm-like movements, the Akkshan wolf info overlapped perfectly.
Wolf was certain. That was definitely Akkshan's wolf.
“...Has Akkshan revived?”
The moment Wolf muttered.
“Uwaaaaaah!!”
Envy, its flesh torn by the Akkshan wolf, began screaming. Clutching its right forearm that wouldn't regenerate despite the severance.
“How, how are you here...!!”
It screamed at the empty air, as if interrogating something.
“I heard it clearly...! You couldn't leave the cave for a while. I heard it loud and clear...? Damn it, don't tell me...!!”
Then its face twisted hideously.
“Ryu Ojuncheon. So you were in league with that damned bastard after all! Daring to deceive this Great Evil. The Seven Deadly Sins' Envy... to hunt me...!!”
Wolf swallowed hard.
“Fine. I'll play properly.”
Crunch— Crackle—
Envy, helpless until moments ago, changed its form. Mocking the wounds it and the Akkshan wolf had inflicted, it completed a perfect transformation.
“I admit it. I can't help but envy you.”
Whoosh—!
Vast demonic wings unfurled from its shoulder blades.
In shock, Alkari's strained voice came.
“...Phase 2.”
“Phase? What're you talking about, old man?”
“Kekeke.”
Alkari's trembling hands opened a potion vial and wet his throat. Elixir. An ultra-refined potion from precious herbs, worth a fortune.
Alkari rolled another elixir-filled vial toward Wolf.
Roll—
“Kichi left it for you lot.”
“...The captain?”
“Kekeke. No worries, I won't eat your share over something like this.”
The elixir's effect was tremendous. It nullified fatal status ailments. Alkari staggered but checked the fallen members.
Rackid's state...
“Tch.”
He couldn't help clicking his tongue.
“Everyone except Rackid and Henderson will survive.”
The two men who faced the Great Evil alone. Their injuries made even heavenly elixirs pale.
Alkari eyed Envy.
“Acting Captain Wolf, allow me to ask politely.”
“Go ahead.”
“The Great Evil has entered the next pattern, as adventurers say.”
Alkari was open-minded beyond his years. Long fallen into the adventurers' world, he'd grasped their lingo.
“Who knows how many more such molts it'll repeat.”
Thus he felt the gap keenly. Nearly wiped in the first pattern. No chance against the second.
Knowing that, Alkari still asked Wolf.
“Will you fight to the end regardless?”
Wolf drained the elixir and checked his body. Life force rose rapidly, but flesh and bone wouldn't regrow instantly on the torn side.
The cool commander's mind said no chance. Best choice: abandon hopeless Rackid and Henderson, flee.
Yes, the past self who'd abandoned allies in defeat and become a traitor screamed it.
Wolf chuckled softly.
“Deciding this now is kinda funny, huh, old man.”
Too much brooding? Adventurers trusting Ryu Ojuncheon and dying. Members fallen trusting him. They overlapped.
So Wolf picked up his crossbow.
“Trash has grades too, right?”
Click—
Reloading, Wolf thought.
‘Is this what they call pride?’
Who knew if he qualified for such words. But one thing was sure. This resolve wasn't meaningless.
‘Winning isn't the goal.’
Buy time until the Grand Commander—Hoyeol—arrived.
With Akkshan's wolf joined, they might hold out awhile.
Alkari sighed deeply.
“In the end, you're turning like Kichi.”
But that's what made them Shadow Mercenaries. If not crooked, they wouldn't be comrades.
Alkari smirked, rummaging his inner pocket.
“Let's see, what poison works in this situation.”
The moment he sifted memories.
...Twitch!
Veins bulged on Henderson's head. A groan escaped sealed-shut Rackid's lips.
Wolf and Alkari doubted their eyes.
‘...What?’
Even for those muscle-headed brutes, those wounds weren't naturally healable. Regaining consciousness alone? Impossible.
But doubt faded quickly. Changes came to the conscious ones too.
Clack—
“I'll hear the situation later.”
Its mere appearance.
“So until the hunt ends, everyone—rise.”
Drove back the darkness over the mountains.
“The Shadow Mercenaries I hired aren't so feeble as to fall to a mere demon.”
It was Dawn.
Those Waiting for Dawn 5/5
Dawn Set item effect applies.
Currently applied set effect: 5/5
1. When acting as commander, allies' morale reaches maximum.
In the Arcana system, “maximum” held great weight. For example...
It meant something like resurrecting the dead.