Even Beasts Recognize Their Masters (3)
Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo.
That name, he had heard countless times through his grandfather.
Through his father.
“Grandfell—he bears the thickest blood of the Claudy family. To the point where he might even be seen as Claudy incarnate... You must never get involved with him. Should you ever cross paths in the future, do not dare lift your head.”
Ignite had sneered every time.
“The old fogeys have lost their minds.”
The greatest talent in Claudy family history?
He couldn't help but snort.
What was the Claudy family even supposed to be in the first place?
“There's a limit to cowering before ghosts of the past.”
Thanks to his cool-headed judgment, Ignite could objectively assess the Maxima family's position on the Arcana Continent.
That's why the warnings from his ancestors rang hollow to him.
“If the Claudys had such power, they wouldn't have hidden in the shadows from the start. As if a single family could shake the entire Arcana Continent? The old fools' delusions know no bounds.”
And even rumors reached his ears.
“The Claudys?”
The Shadow Mercenaries—stray dogs of the underworld—had taken a commission related to the Claudys, and in the process, word got around that the Claudys had been wiped out.
Ignite scoffed at that too.
“For that noble name to circulate in the gutters of the underworld! Regardless of truth, the mere fact such tales spread speaks to the family's fame. Are you watching, Father? You were dead wrong.”
And now.
“Ahh...”
Ignite stared vacantly at the helmet cradled in his hands.
The heirloom that should adorn its center, the Midas Gem, had vanished without a trace.
Soldiers had dismounted in haste, scouring the surroundings, but...
“Open your eyes wide and search!”
In truth, everyone knew.
The Midas Gem wasn't shattered into pieces or reduced to dust—it had evaporated into particles finer than that, scattered by the wind without a trace.
Ignite's massive frame trembled violently.
“M-my... the symbol of Maxima...”
Ever since his days as the heir apparent to the Maxima family.
Ignite had heard the tales drilled into his head.
All of Maxima's wealth stemmed from the Midas Gem.
Each time, Ignite had wondered.
How did Maxima come to possess such a precious heirloom?
But whenever he asked, his father would say:
“Don't pry, son.”
Now, Ignite finally understood.
Why his father had desperately evaded the question.
It was written on the parchment.
From this moment, all status and blessings of the Maxima family are revoked.
Family Head, Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo.
The Midas Gem was the blessing bestowed by Claudy himself.
Losing such a heirloom was a bitter blow.
But Ignite pulled himself together.
‘We can manage without it.’
The treasures amassed in Maxima's vaults were beyond counting, and at his side stood the loyal golden legion.
Besides.
“I don't believe it.”
Clank—
Ignite donned the helmet once more.
His eyes blazed fiercely.
It was confidence backed by evidence.
“We've confirmed it. Resurrection doesn't exist in this world.”
The adventurers who once shook the Arcana Continent.
Many on the continent had witnessed their resurrections firsthand.
Even among the golden soldiers, some had seen revived adventurers.
But just moments ago.
Swipe.
Ignite's finger traced the blood splatter on his cheek.
“I felt it on my own skin. Therefore.”
Ignite reached his conclusion.
Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo.
I refuse to believe in your resurrection.
“Until you show that smug face before me.”
Ignite bellowed to his soldiers.
“We waste no time on a mere heirloom! Advance!”
*
Letel Akmond.
The head of Akmond neatly folded the parchment.
Then, masking her expression behind her beauty, she addressed the adventurer who had sought her out.
“Sealer of Ericton. Indeed, a rare talent.”
Sealer.
Those who honed themselves through relentless training and asceticism.
Letel never forgot the maxim passed down from her ancestors.
She mulled it over inwardly.
—Under the name of Akmond, all humans are no different from tools.
Letel gazed at the man, Yong Seong Rak.
Had he been a mere sealer, she would have accepted him outright.
An adventurer who had survived this far on the barren Arcana Continent had already proven their worth.
But.
‘Adventurers are unpredictable.’
Letel knew little of adventurers.
The Akmond family hailed from the far east of the Arcana Continent.
Due to geography, they were more attuned to news from beyond the seas than Arcana itself.
‘Might stir up trouble.’
Moreover, Letel had no real commitment to this imperial campaign.
She saw no hope for the Arcana Continent, ravaged by demons.
Rebuilding the empire? Better to cross the sea and pioneer the paths opened by tectonic shifts—far more realistic.
‘I'm only joining half-heartedly because we're bound as the four families.’
Letel mulled over the parchment's words.
‘To revoke Akmond's name and blessing.’
Akmond's blessing, unlike Maxima's gem, wasn't outwardly visible.
Perhaps that was a silver lining.
It allowed Letel to view the situation rationally.
She asked Yong Seong Rak.
“Adventurer, do you know of Claudy?”
“Claudy, you say...”
Yong Seong Rak sifted through his hazy memories, clouded by Ryu Ojuncheon's brainwashing.
He vaguely recalled something.
News was blocked in his homeland, so he hadn't heard much, but at the Zero Mountains, for sure...
—“What? Lee Hoyeol was Claudy? The one the demons were howling about?”
Yong Seong Rak replied.
“I know of them. Claudy—surely an adventurer's epithet.”
Letel's calm demeanor faltered at his response.
“What did you say? Claudy is an adventurer's epithet?”
“Yes. Lee Hoyeol—Claudy was his other name. Rumors of it spread far and wide even in my homeland, a world entirely apart from the Arcana Continent.”
“Is that so?”
Letel kept her expression hidden, her mind racing.
‘Something's off with his words.’
The one and only on the Arcana Continent.
The great Claudy family.
For someone to claim that illustrious name as their epithet—and an adventurer at that?
Utterly absurd.
Letel reached her conclusion.
‘A fake Claudy with ulterior motives.’
She couldn't fathom how a mere outsider adventurer learned of Claudy and the four families' ties.
But the fake's aim was obvious.
Letel murmured lowly.
“Desperate to protect the empire, even by fraud?”
Out of curiosity for the face of this impostor claiming to be Claudy—of all people, Grandfell.
She had to head to the empire's capital, Antonium.
‘But first...’
Letel spoke generously to Yong Seong Rak.
“Very well. I grant you the right to serve Akmond.”
“Thank you, Letel Akmond.”
“May Akmond's achievements be with you.”
“An honor.”
Gently.
Letel extended the back of her hand.
Yong Seong Rak knelt and kissed it, pledging his loyalty.
And that was that.
Neither Letel nor Yong Seong Rak knew each other well enough to notice the change.
Just like the Midas Gem.
Akmond's influence had vanished without a trace.
Of course, by the time they realized, regret would come too late.
“As expected—utterly insignificant.”
With the Tremor of Akmond as the finale.
The four families had fully encircled the empire's capital, Antonium.
*
The empire's capital, Antonium.
A war to determine the true master of the throne looms.
What hidden truth lies beneath this conflict?
All rests on your judgment.
Seize victory's rewards by your merits.
📍 Choose a faction.
● Pledge loyalty to Maxima. (Failed)
● Pledge loyalty to Yugric. (Failed)
● Pledge loyalty to Kansel. (Failed)
● Pledge loyalty to Akmond. (Success)
📍 Capture Antonium.(In Progress)
● Current merits: 0p
Yong Seong Rak gripped the reins tightly.
‘For now, one worry down.’
The newly updated quest objective after success.
Choosing Akmond had been the right call.
Jang Anrim crossed his mind briefly, but Yong Seong Rak brushed it off.
‘Our ties ended long ago.’
For Yong Seong Rak, the real threats were fellow players.
Especially those from Cheonha Tongil.
He had risen by stepping on guildmates there, after all.
Jang Anrim was surely no different.
‘I won't hand my back to someone like me.’
His mind felt lighter.
Topple the empire's capital, Antonium, and the quest would end in triumph.
A laugh escaped him involuntarily.
‘No way we lose.’
Akmond's forces were awe-inspiring.
In Arcana terms, the perfect balance of dealers, healers, and tanks.
Not just numbers, but individual skill levels too.
As a former Cheonha Tongil member—a massive guild—Yong Seong Rak was all the more shocked.
Large forces inevitably attract mediocrity.
‘Where did they gather such troops?’
Akmond's influence turned novice knights into veterans, apprentices into masters.
But ignorant of that, Yong Seong Rak could only marvel.
Soon, he shook his head.
‘Focus, me.’
He didn't know the other three families' strengths, but as long as Akmond wasn't hindered, capturing Antonium was inevitable.
‘The empire won't last a day.’
The prospects were so bright he coveted merit points, but he knew not to overreach on the first try.
Yong Seong Rak reined in his ambition.
‘Besides, I know nothing yet.’
How Akmond built such power, what would unfold among the four families after Antonium's gates fell and the emperor's head rolled—he had no clue.
‘Watch from afar.’
He vowed not to overstep.
Yet something nagged despite his resolve.
Letel's reaction to Claudy—Lee Hoyeol.
Yong Seong Rak glanced sideways at her.
‘She hid it, but she was shocked.’
Claudy...
He'd thought it just one of Lee Hoyeol's many epithets—like endless darkness or a ray of light, akin to the Black Dark Dragon.
Her reaction hinted at deeper entanglements.
But that didn't matter.
‘Still advancing means they have confidence too.’
The emperor's right hand, the Lion Heart Knights.
Lee Hoyeol was closely tied to them.
Naturally, he'd side with the empire.
Yet even the great Lee Hoyeol couldn't withstand the four families' might.
‘And I need to get used to it.’
He couldn't return to reality on his own.
He might clash with Lee Hoyeol repeatedly on the Arcana Continent.
Yong Seong Rak harbored a fitting tension.
‘Perfect chance to gauge his level.’
Lee Hoyeol rarely fought players directly.
He'd beaten Sword Saint Shegwin in a duel, but Shegwin wasn't a player.
As a player facing him as an enemy, Yong Seong Rak might be the first.
‘I can catch up to you.’
Impossible in reality.
But here.
On the Arcana Continent, with its buffs, he could.
As Yong Seong Rak steeled himself, Antonium came into view from afar.
The other three families, no less formidable than Akmond.
And.
“...?”
In the plain's center, encircled by the four families.
The heart of the battlefield, the eye of the storm.
A lone man stood on the earth.
A jacket fluttering in the chill wind over his shoulders.
Silver hair gleaming in the sunlight.
A posture straight as a ruler.
Unmistakable.
Lee Hoyeol.
In that instant.
As if to prove it.
The battlefield's sole player besides Lee Hoyeol.
A message appeared before Yong Seong Rak.
Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo appears.
“?!”
Only then did Yong Seong Rak realize.
Why Cheonha Tongil had expanded so smoothly.
Because of Ryu Ojuncheon, that heartless bastard?
Because of his exceptional guild management despite lacking heart?
No, all wrong.
‘H-how?’
It was purely because Lee Hoyeol had shown mercy.
Facing him as an ‘enemy,’ Yong Seong Rak finally felt Lee Hoyeol's weight.
‘Me, backed by the four families. And yet, this...!!’
[Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo appears.]
The appearance message heralding the finale.