Chapter 185 – Be Grateful for the Procedure

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The air froze in an instant.

I have felt it both at the Mage Tower and in the AAU conference room, but it is certain that my mouth has a built-in air conditioning function.

How is it that the moment I open my mouth, the atmosphere turns icy?!

But having already said it.

Backing down does not look good either.

‘Above all, I have nothing to be ashamed of.’

Rule number one of the Sociality of Space-Time.

All hostile acts between parties are prohibited.

Of course, there is no guarantee that what happens in the social gathering ends within the social gathering.

I may have to pay the price for my loose lips outside the social gathering.

But even that has nothing to do with me.

Why?

Because I, unlike the other Transcendents.

Am in reality, not on the Arcana continent!

Even if I wanted to go, I cannot go to the Arcana continent.

‘There is no need to worry about the aftermath right now.’

So no matter how much you glare, it is not the least bit frightening, Shegwin.

“……”

Shegwin, summoned by me, gave no answer.

Being told out of nowhere whether he knew his sins.

In truth, he probably thought it was utter nonsense.

But having already committed to it, I will not back down on my end either.

I had made up my mind.

‘I will settle what happens here, here, definitively.’

Right, come what may.

The price for my loose lips must end here.

Even if Arcana and reality are disconnected, there is the variable called rifts.

Think about what would happen if Shegwin, still harboring resentment, appeared through a rift.

‘…I don’t even want to imagine it. Just thinking about it.’

For those complicated reasons, I continued speaking.

“I will permit you to sit across from me.”

“……!”

Please don’t speak in such an abbreviated manner, Granfel.

Just say it more kindly and plainly.

Something like, the social hall is so large and grand that a proper conversation would be difficult from such a distance.

So how about we sit face to face and talk.

You could say it nicely, really.

But it was already too late to lament.

Trudge

Because Shegwin had started walking toward me.

I felt it anew, but.

The aura exuded by someone of Transcendent caliber was no joke.

Not only Shegwin, but everyone visible in the social gathering was the same.

For one thing, their appearance was far from ordinary. Expressed in the words from when Arcana was nothing but a game, they were like named NPCs crafted with extraordinary care.

Of course, the same was true for their actions.

Thud

Shegwin placed his sword on the table.

At a time like this, Granfel’s eye for luxury, which identifies fine craftsmanship without fail.

Was infuriating.

‘No matter how you look at it, it has to be at least Unique rank or higher, right?’

From the pattern on the elaborate scabbard, it was proclaiming, ‘I am no ordinary sword.’

Well, I suppose it is only natural for the sword used by a Sword Saint and the continent’s sole Grand Sword Master to be remarkable.

Of course, I understood that placing the sword on the table was not intended as a boast.

It was an expression of displeasure. But the displeasure on my side was the same.

I looked at the sword and murmured.

“Is this the sword?”

“……?”

“The one that cleaved the Quernberg Mechanical Tower.”

Flinch!

Shegwin’s eyebrow twitched.

His expression suggested he wondered how I knew that.

For now, listen to the rest.

“Do you know this. The Quernberg Mechanical Tower that you destroyed had been hunting tens of thousands of demons up until just before. Also, that it would have kept hunting demons until its dignity was exhausted.”

That Mechanical Tower was the one you, Shegwin, smashed to pieces.

Thanks to that, tens of thousands of demons on the Arcana continent had their lives spared.

And I suffered a loss of no less than 5 levels.

Indeed.

Antonium was important too, but.

Before that, I had to hear about this matter.

[Quest: A Pointless Endeavor]

Shegwin considered demon hunting a pointless endeavor.

Converse with Shegwin,

and discern the truth behind his actions.

─Encounter Shegwin. (In Progress)

As I said.

Depending on the truth.

My, Granfel’s, disposition would inevitably differ.

I looked into Shegwin’s eyes and spoke.

“Why is it that you.”

“……?”

“Cut down the Mechanical Tower that I had set in motion?”

“!!!”

.

.

.

Thud

Shegwin placed on the table the sword that was like his very symbol.

It was to probe the man. A method he had often used to gauge an opponent’s strength in the social gathering where troublesome rules existed. It was also a method that had been used on him once.

‘Show your fangs.’

There is much information that can be learned by casting bait.

If hostility shows in the opponent’s expression.

That means they are ignorant of the rules of the social gathering.

But if they remain expressionless as they do now…

‘It seems they know the rules.’

He did not know how the newcomer on his first entry knew the rules of the social gathering.

But there was no need to be surprised.

He had not yet withdrawn the bait.

Soon, the man’s gaze directed at the sword.

From that gaze, Shegwin sensed bewilderment.

‘…he did not recognize me through the sword.’

The Swift Sword, Atlas.

A sword like Shegwin’s alter ego.

That was exactly why he had put forth the Atlas.

When presented with the Atlas, the other party should have reacted like this.

-“…who are you?”

-“Shegwin would do this to someone so young…?”

-“I have not heard that Shegwin had a child?”

Returning to youth.

Shegwin.

Those who knew that he had regained his youth included only a very small number, even among Transcendents. That was precisely why he had laid the sword down and faced him directly.

As one could not think this youthful person was Shegwin.

But what was this. This person?

“Is this the sword. The one that cleaved the Quernberg Mechanical Tower.”

…how did he know even that.

Was he present in the vicinity at that time.

That thought arose, but he shook it off.

‘No, there is no way I would not have sensed it.’

Having regained the body of his prime.

His senses were sharper than ever before.

Moreover, the strong know the strong.

There is no way I would not have recognized a Transcendent of this caliber…

‘…wait.’

Shegwin, who was reviewing his memories, stopped abruptly.

He thought of the Superior Demon King.

An existence of a different caliber, one that defies comprehension.

This was the man who had cast such a Superior Demon King into hell.

If one considered that he had power of the same caliber as a Superior Demon King.

‘Could it be that his power is of a degree I cannot even measure?’

The continuing words of Ho-yeol.

But Shegwin could not properly hear those words.

Because another possibility had surfaced in his mind.

‘There is only one place from which to observe that.’

The towering capital city, Antonium.

This man observed everything from Antonium…!

In that instant, Shegwin made a judgment.

‘It was an error in judgment.’

The reason Antonium had not fallen even under the offensive of demons and Demon Kings was nothing other than this.

It was because this man was here. Because the one with a caliber even he could not fathom was here…!

As if acknowledging that fact.

The man asked calmly.

“Why is it that you cut down the Mechanical Tower that I had set in motion?”

“……?!”

The Quernberg Mechanical Tower currently in operation on the Arcana continent.

Its existence was a mystery even among Transcendents.

The ones who built the Quernberg Mechanical Tower were the dwarves.

For someone to operate such a Mechanical Tower, it would only be possible for the dwarves or those who had built an intimate relationship with them.

But were these not the very dwarves who, despising humans, had hidden themselves from the Arcana continent?

The answer to the chain of questions was right before his eyes.

‘At last, everything makes sense.’

‘He has been pulling the strings of the continent.’

‘Heh. You picked the wrong target to mess with, Sword Saint old man.’

Shegwin swallowed dryly.

If he answered that it was because the noise annoyed him as he had.

-“Depending on your answer, I will decide your disposition.”

He could not predict what the seated man across from him would do.

But one thing was certain.

The man was already enduring as much as he could.

The very fact that he had not shown himself at the siege of Antonium was proof of that.

‘I do not know the reason, but it is something to welcome on my part.’

Shegwin had already made a decision.

To withdraw from Antonium.

The trust of the many lords?

Without doubt, making an enemy of them was less dangerous.

Than making an enemy of this man.

So Shegwin gritted his teeth.

‘As he exercised restraint, so must I exercise patience.’

Shegwin finally opened his mouth.

“I did not know. I will acknowledge my misjudgment.”

When was the last time he had spoken such words?

Even Shegwin himself felt it was unimaginably long ago.

He had staked much in this Antonium siege. In particular, losing out on the magic tool sleeping in the imperial palace’s vault, the ‘Milky Way Whetstone,’ would be an exceptionally painful blow.

However.

“Furthermore, I will withdraw from Antonium.”

One cannot stake their life to obtain a magic tool.

Above all, he did not want to push this body to its limits.

Shegwin thought to himself.

‘I acknowledge it. At this moment, you are stronger.’

But I have regained my youth.

Even if it is a youth obtained through ugly means.

In the end, time is on my side.

Slip

The moment Shegwin reached for his sword to leave his seat.

A voice was heard.

“Was your goal not the imperial throne?”

Hmph, Shegwin snorted.

A Transcendent at that.

Even a Transcendent of a different caliber was asking such a question.

He was probably telling him to state his honest purpose.

There was no reason not to say it now that his plans had gone up in smoke.

“Who wears that crown matters nothing to me. I only lent my strength to the feudal lords in order to obtain the magic tool, the Milky Way Whetstone.”

Milky Way Whetstone.

Having laid out even his specific purpose, the man spoke.

“I will believe your words.”

“Appreciated.”

“Then, the next question.”

“……?”

But at the words that followed, Shegwin clenched his fist.

‘…this humiliation is not enough for you?’

For a moment, anger surged.

But Shegwin did not show it.

Right now, the top priority was to not provoke the man’s displeasure and withdraw safely from Antonium.

Shegwin nodded, and the next question followed immediately.

“Shegwin, why is it that from you……”

That was a completely unexpected question.

“There is the stench of a wretched demon?”

“?!”

.

.

.

Aside from anything else.

When it comes to the scent of demons, my nose is uncannily sharp.

─Encounter Shegwin. (Success)

─Find the connection between Shegwin and demons. (In Progress)

I am certain.

From Shegwin, the scent of a demon was emanating.

I fixed a steady gaze on Shegwin.

Indeed, his expression was quite a sight to behold.

The Sword Saint and the continent’s sole Grand Sword Master.

Shegwin glares at me and answers.

“I do not understand what you are referring to.”

Acting innocent like that will not work on a Demon Hunter.

Above all, I know. That time flows faster on the Arcana continent than anything else.

Harkon had shared his impressions of Shegwin.

-“For the Sword Saint, the word ‘prime’ held no meaning.”

A question arose there.

The Shegwin I saw was a fresh-faced young man.

So why was he speaking of him as if his prime had already passed.

I wondered if I had been mistaken, but.

Having faced him directly.

I could finally realize it.

I opened my mouth.

“What did you barter that youth for?”

Demon worshippers find it shameful to associate with demons, in their own way.

Karimzeva was the same from the start.

He said that his purpose was the ‘True Truth.’

He was blathering that he had merely used demons.

If I had lacked the experience.

The connection between Shegwin and demons.

I might not have caught on so easily.

But I know through experience.

On the Arcana continent, eternal life.

Is the prerogative that only one who has received the [First World Tree’s Blessing] can seize.

The elves proved that fact on my behalf, did they not? The proof is that they came straight out to the continent, which they had never shown their faces in, simply to reclaim the blessing from me.

“…it was no barter. An elixir. The effect of an elixir.”

That elixir is the best he could come up with, it seems.

Regrettably.

Such an elixir does not exist on the Arcana continent.

Tap

I rose from my seat.

What Shegwin bartered that youth for.

I do not know.

But it does not matter.

“Every human lives a day and dies a day.”

Quest objectives flickering.

─Encounter Shegwin. (Success)

─Find the connection between Shegwin and demons. (Success)

Whether he himself is aware of it, I do not know.

─Hunt the True Name Demon, Shegwin. (In Progress)

Shegwin, you are no longer human.

As if to prove that fact, a message appeared before my eyes.

[Skill, ‘Natural Enemy’ activates.]

“You would do well to be grateful to the procedures of the social gathering.”

This is no bluster.

Having liberated the transcendent realm, the Circle.

With the effect of [Natural Enemy], opposing Shegwin is not impossible. No, beyond possibility, Granfel’s dignity soared even higher in the face of a powerful demon.

I said coldly.

“Because right now, I am enduring in desperation.”

“!!!”

“Sword Saint. No, swordsman more wretched than a demon.”

.

.

.

Antonium.

An unending siege.

Exhausted soldiers looked up at the night sky.

The wretched Demon Eye was looking down at them.

“…even so, there was hope visible.”

How.

In a situation like this.

In a crisis threatening the annihilation of the continent.

Could one plunge a blade into the backs of allies?

In the end, a soldier unable to hold back his pent-up fury cried out over the castle walls.

“You bastards worse than demons!!!”

What a madman!

A volley of arrows would come raining down immediately.

The moment the soldiers hastily raised their shields.

“……”

Contrary to their resolve, nothing happened at all.

The soldiers peeked their heads out from between the shields.

Clop-clop

Why was this.

Clop-clop…

The sound of hooves was growing farther away.

Soon, an unbelievable sound was heard.

From the deranged man who had cried out that they were worse than demons.

“Th, they are retreating!!”

“……?!”

“The troops are retreating!!!!”

That unbelievable news also reached the Emperor, who was on top of the castle walls.

The Emperor looked out over the battlefield.

The enemies really were withdrawing.

From Antonium, which had been on the verge of falling.

They were retreating as if fleeing with their tails between their legs.

Was it a strategic retreat?

Or a cunning stratagem?

The Emperor considered every move.

But the words that emerged from his lips were…

“…am I dreaming right now?”

He could not help it.

For looking up at the sky on a whim.

He could see a lion.

To be precise.

“Your Majesty! That crest is…!!”

The symbol of the Lionheart Knights.

A banner bearing a lion’s crest.

Because there was a spirit descending while waving that banner.