Neither Giant Nor Great (2)
‘Those vermin……!’
Envy glared at the daggers burrowing into its flesh. They were nothing more than crude blades forged by human hands. A fully evolved body shouldn’t even suffer a scratch from such pitiful attacks.
‘Kuh!’
But pain beyond mere agony surged through it. Even as it tried to shake them off by spreading its new wings, they refused to obey.
‘……!’
As if they had never existed in the first place.
Only then did it sense something was gravely wrong. Envy ground its teeth.
‘Have I been seeing illusions?’
If so, since when? Then this new form of mine… was even this an illusion?
‘Ughhh.’
Where had it all gone wrong? Its mind was a whirlwind of chaos.
Yet Envy did not crumble. I am the Giant Evil. Claudy backed by Akshan, even if that fool doesn’t know it—the Shadow Mercenary. It wouldn’t kneel to the attacks of worthless humans.
Flicker—
“I shall kill you.”
Killing intent gleamed in Envy’s eyes. Twitch—its ragged flesh began to writhe, as if reaching out once more with its grasp.
The nine Shadow Mercenaries, each with their daggers plunged into their own bodies.
Envy racked its brain. I need time to recover.
Pathetic, yet annoyingly persistent. The Shadow Mercenary were specialists in killing, after all. The blades piercing its flesh had cunningly targeted weak points, suppressing life force regeneration to the extreme.
Envy opened its mouth.
“If you don’t want to die, begone, crow.”
Still deluded, Claudy. What do you know of humans? I have watched them since the dawn of time. Humans never change. In desperate straits, they abandon even parent-child bonds—they are beasts.
Yet you trust such beasts.
How pitiable. How laughable.
Crunch—
Crunch, craunch—
“……Cough?!”
Envy couldn’t unleash its mad laughter.
“What’s so funny? Let’s laugh together, you bastard.”
Despite the killing intent it exuded, the blades dug even deeper into its flesh. Envy’s pupils spun in disbelief.
Looking again, it was unmistakably the Shadow Mercenary. Vile, materialistic, unspeakably cruel—that’s why they had been useful.
Yet how could they… their eyes, dead-fish blank until now…
What is that sparkle…?
Shining brilliantly? It made no sense. Unthinkingly, it muttered.
“Can the likes of humans truly change?”
Then Envy’s gaze turned to Hoyeol. And with it…
Envy’s pupils shook violently.
“……!”
So that’s it. What they’re seeing is you. The light in their eyes is your light.
The moment of realization shattered Envy’s illusions. Whoosh—its black-feathered wings vanished without a trace.
In their place: a severed right arm, flesh riddled with wounds. And…
Shiver—itself, trembling in terror.
The Giant Evil remembered at last. The insurmountable predator-prey relationship it thought it had overcome. The fear of being hunted.
Envy knelt.
“……P-Please, spare me!”
You have acquired command over the Shadow Mercenary.
The Shadow Mercenary. AAU’s intel that they’d play a role in the Arcana Continent main story, right up to the finale, wasn’t exaggeration. In a situation like this, their abilities seemed doubled.
Dawn Set effect triggered.
Of course, thanks to their full allegiance to me, the Dawn Set effect activated. The morale boost wasn’t negligible.
Still, the Shadow Mercenary were impressive.
“N-No, forgive me, Lord Claudy……!!”
Decisively, they’d forced the Giant Evil to submit. One might suspect it was cheap acting, but.
System messages don’t lie.
The Giant Evil, Sin of Envy, is afflicted with Fear.
Envy knelt. Was it trembling in fear? Whoosh—its flesh crumbled to powder with each shiver, scattering into the air. It grew ever more insignificant, ever more pathetic. Soon, the Shadow Mercenary’s daggers slipped free naturally.
Wolf sheathed his weapon.
“That’s enough.”
He bowed to me. Then stepped back a pace with his comrades.
I watched Envy continue to shrink.
“I sincerely apologize……!!”
No trace of the Giant Evil’s majesty remained. Just a demon.
An Imp no different from those who’d beg to survive.
“Spare me, and I’ll tell you everything I know! What do you wish to know? No—there’s something you must know. About Pride, another Sin like me…! Claudy, there’s something I must tell you!”
Sin of Pride. Something it must tell me about him. Tempting words indeed.
Why? Information matters.
If I were plain old Lee Hoyeol, I might’ve heard it as a dying confession before sending it to hell.
But with Grandfell’s eyes blazing now, such hypotheticals were meaningless.
“Why must I?”
“……Pardon?”
“The world is vast, and much must fill this mind. Why then should Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo commit to memory the plight of a worthless demon?”
Truly, such maddening confidence… Grandfell’s rhetoric is inimitable, isn’t it?
Of course, I’d suffer for it later.
But it’s not like this is new.
Grandfell’s pride forbids bargaining with demons.
“……”
Even that sliver of hope denied? Envy’s face twisted. Like a final blaze, it roared in fury.
“Yes, even you find my words laughable! How vexing. That I cannot see you—the ever-unyielding one—crumble at the end!!”
The curses continued. Envy glanced at its body, bit its lip. Blood trickled from its mouth, but it pressed on.
“Though shrunken and pathetic now, I am the Giant Evil! Born of original sin!! To be scorned for lost power…!!”
Envy. True to its name, seething with jealousy.
But don’t delude yourself.
I told you, didn’t I?
“Thou art neither giant nor great.”
What Giant Evil? What demon king? Sin of Pride? No matter the demon.
In Grandfell’s eyes, it’s just another nameless Imp.
I continued to Envy.
“From the start, thou wert no different from the tiniest Imp.”
Before hell claims it, it’ll claw its head raw. That’s why you never make Grandfell an enemy. Die twice from rage.
As I thought that.
A hollow laugh echoed.
“Haha……”
Envy was laughing.
“Is that so.”
Whoosh. Beyond shedding its shell, its frail original flesh now burned in hellfire.
Had it lost even the strength to endure? Then its voice came.
“The shell of envy meant nothing to thee.”
Dying words? What did it mean? Was it a Grandfell-style speaker too?
Absurd, I muttered inwardly.
Soon, Envy was fully engulfed in hellfire. Leaving one final phrase as it scattered.
“……Indeed, I can only envy thee.”
With that, my vision flickered.
Your relationship with Akshan has improved.
Your influence in Akshan has greatly increased.
◈ Loot automatically acquired.
Messages flooded in chaotically. The nonstop flickering made it feel real—unlike the revived Gluttony, we’d truly slain the Giant Evil.
Akshan seniors’ gazes poured onto me. As expected, no praise in those eyes.
A nod.
Actions over words—that’s Akshan communication. No point feeling slighted now.
I surveyed the surroundings.
With the Giant Evil cast into hell, the Zero Mountains regained their full luster.
Battle over, morale boost ended? The Shadow Mercenary, who’d charged desperately with death in their eyes, collapsed or slumped to the ground.
And amid that scene.
I remained steadfast, as always. Unbent even for a moment.
Yes, we’d seized the overwhelming victory we aimed for.
And that image of me.
Thud-thud-thud—dozens of helicopters. Hundreds of drones recording it.
The whole world watching.
……Hoo—
Truly, a nightmare for pitiful me, Lee Hoyeol.
Beyond the self-luminous outfit’s shame, everything was exposed.
Akshan. Demon hunters. Even Claudy…!
The thief’s foot throbs, huh. Knowing all truths, I yearned for a rat hole again.
[Sanctuary of the Small Champion Beneath the Mountains].
But.
“Has this served as warning?”
Grandfell now, having crushed the Giant Evil, brimmed with pride.
This blabbermouth wouldn’t stay silent.
……Endure it for now, Hoyeol.
Akshan. Demon hunters. Claudy.
No one’s certain yet.
Especially Grandfell’s damned full name—still unknown to all.
I steadied my mind. Gripped my sanity and spoke.
My cold voice aimed, naturally, at the culprit.
“Cheonha Tongil.”
Yes. Monarch of adventurers. Ryu Ojuncheon, you.
* A guild setting up a base camp in the Zero Mountains is basically a corporation. Deploying dozens of analysis drones each is standard.
“Master, AAU requests cooperation!”
“Broadcasters want footage too……!”
“L-Leader. The government—even high-ups……!!”
Guilds, AAU, government, media. Tangled interests.
Cooperation requests flooded guild players.
With Raymon Sean halting updates, only players’ real-time Zero Mountains feeds remained.
But players lacked specifics.
“What’ll we see just watching?”
“No messages beyond the appearance alert.”
“All we know is it’s big enough to alter the field……”
Mere worries.
The mountain panorama via drones.
“!!!”
No need for complex explanations. Expert predictions irrelevant.
Yes, simple hunt.
“W-What the hell is that?”
No disagreement on the hunt. Pure domination.
And it showed everything clearly.
“That flowing outfit—demon hunter for sure……!”
“Then that wolf’s the Akshan wolf?!”
“Didn’t it just say… Claudy?”
Akshan’s revival. The word plunging the world into chaos.
Even ‘Claudy’s’ meaning.
-“Has this served as warning.”
Standing tall at the storm’s eye.
Hoyeol finally spoke.
Sudden Giant Evil emergence. Pinpointed the culprit.
-“Cheonha Tongil.”
The world erupted.