Chapter 221 – That is a Dark History

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The Claudi family.

It was a continuous series of unbelievable stories.

However, if he admitted it to be the truth…

‘It makes sense.’

It could explain all the incidents currently unfolding on the Arcana Continent.

He didn’t even have to look far. Hadn’t he witnessed it himself? The flock of dragons, existences from legends, gliding through the sky for all to see.

The samurai of dawn opened his mouth.

“…It must unmistakably be the truth, right?”

Then a cold answer returned.

“What an insult. Do I look like the type of person who would add lies while mentioning that name? There’s a limit to how much I can understand your ignorance, samurai of the east.”

“That was not my intention. It was merely…”

Silence lingered in the Sociality.

‘Is it the calm before the storm.’

The samurai looked around.

It was his first time seeing the Sociality this completely empty.

Even just himself.

He had stayed in the Sociality for quite a long time to resolve his doubts regarding Claudi. Before barely encountering the Transcender before his eyes.

‘It makes sense.’

If all the past history surrounding Claudi was the truth.

It was understandable why the Transcenders were moving busily.

However, a doubt arose at the same time.

“…May I ask one last thing?”

“You possess more curiosity than you look. Fine, I shall listen.”

“Why did such a great family disappear?”

The Transcender muttered quietly.

“Truly, a question that can only be asked because you are incomparably ignorant.”

Then he continued with a serious voice.

“No matter who I am, I cannot answer that question. Because I possess neither the qualification nor the courage to mention that day. However, I shall give you one piece of advice.”

Advice out of nowhere.

“Forget the doubt you just harbored in this place.”

“…Forget it, why is that?”

“Because that curiosity might shorten your lifeline.”

To shorten one’s lifeline just from harboring a doubt.

Isn’t this a curse disguised as advice?

The samurai momentarily felt unpleasant.

However soon, chilling words were heard.

“You must have definitely thought it was a curse, right?”

“…!”

As expected of a Transcender.

To see through one’s inner thoughts.

As expected, he couldn’t let his guard down for a single moment.

However, the samurai of dawn was mistaken.

Because the Transcender genuinely felt pity for the samurai’s ignorance.

So he added.

“If the concept of a curse exists in the east as well, I won’t particularly explain it. Because if you are wary enough of a curse, it means you also know its danger. That is exactly why I’m telling you to turn off your interest even more.”

The samurai swallowed dryly.

How could he not know about curses?

Curses, or Black Magic.

That was a boundlessly heterogeneous power.

‘It was a terrible experience.’

Because the samurai of dawn himself had memories of being hit by a curse and robbed of his voice for a few days. Thanks to that, there was no difficulty in understanding the Transcender’s subsequent words.

“It is an incalculable debt owed to Claudi.”

“…?”

“An incomparably dark history that no one in Arcana would wish to uncover. To the point where merely peeking into it would make one suffer from a curse they would not be able to bear.”

That was right.

That was the very reason all the powerhouses of the Arcana Continent began running wild.

Because such Claudi had returned to Arcana.

In the event Claudi uncovered that dark history themselves…

“Because absolutely no one would dare lift their heads before them.”

“…!!!”

*

The Seven Deadly Sins, Gluttony.

It had been a long time since the name Seven Deadly Sins lost its meaning.

Because there were only five of the Seven Deadly Sins left now, including himself. Putting aside Greed who was shoved into Hell, Envy’s whereabouts were boundlessly uncertain.

As if wandering around with one arm cut off wasn’t enough.

To completely vanish from the continent now.

Gluttony ground his teeth tightly.

“That moronic bastard who’s no help at all.”

“…?”

The entire tavern’s gazes focused on his bloodthirsty soliloquy.

The Arcana Continent had been reduced to ruins.

If it was a tavern operating in such a continent, its standard was fairly obvious without having to be spoken of.

Rattle-

Creak-

Rattle-

From the terrible smell laid upon the crude tables to the cheap liquor.

Only tough food that one would believe even if told they merely added seasoning to leather.

The customers were the same as well.

“Bullshit ruining the taste of my drink.”

“What, did your comrade drop dead somewhere? Uhaha.”

“Hey there, shut up you bastard. Don’t ruin the mood.”

Swords and armor soaked in blood.

Haggard eyes speak of what kind of lives they had lived.

That was what surviving on the abandoned Arcana Continent meant.

Of course, Gluttony couldn’t hear any of it.

‘…It absolutely cannot be.’

It was an event from a whopping several decades ago.

If he could have returned, he would have returned long ago.

It must have been words spat out after mistakenly knowing something.

Gluttony endlessly racked his brain.

Then he let out a scoff without realizing it himself.

“You’re telling me to believe such bullshit?”

Evil born from evil, itself.

Naturally, he didn’t trust the words of others.

Even so, the reason he cared so much was simple.

Similarly.

It was because he considered a rumor as bullshit and got stabbed in the back.

The resurrection of Akshan.

The rumor he dismissed as bullshit.

However, when Gluttony heard the news that the last survivor of Akshan.

Had shoved Gamigin into Hell, he realized it.

That there was no such thing as ‘absolutely’ in the world.

Gluttony muttered.

“…If he returned, who returned?”

It was then.

Crash!

A table was flipped over with the sound.

“You crazy bastard, can’t you hear my voice?!”

“?”

“Get lost right now, you bastard! The taste of my drink vanished the moment your bitch-ass walked in. Muttering this and that since earlier. Are you possessed by a demon or what? Huh?”

A broken bowl.

Gluttony looked at the food scattered on the floor.

It was awful food, but it was undeniably his meal.

He shifted his gaze and looked at the man.

“What if I’m not possessed?”

“The hell are you saying, crazy bastard.”

“I am asking what you would do if I am a demon.”

“…!!!”

Clang-

There is something called intuition.

“As expected, it was a demon bastard!”

Regardless of what lives they had lived, they were men who had crossed the crossroads of life and death countlessly. It meant they immediately noticed Gluttony’s words were not a joke.

A man growled with his dagger aimed at Gluttony’s neck.

“There was a reason the taste of my drink vanished. You damned bastard.”

Soon, a group surrounding Gluttony.

They seemed to easily exceed twenty.

However, Gluttony didn’t even budge.

He merely muttered.

“I don’t want to fill my stomach with stuff like this.”

And everything ended.

Crunch-

Crack-

Splinter-

The sounds of crushing, breaking, and chewing.

“Uuu…”

The tavern owner shrank his body and trembled in fear.

A sight that took place in an instant without even the time to stop the fight.

The men were sucked into Gluttony’s palm.

Crunch-

And only a terrible noise filled the tavern.

The customer’s call was heard.

It was Gluttony.

“Owner.”

“…!”

“I am sorry but a glass of water, please.”

He didn’t have the strength to resist anyway.

The man suppressed his fear and handed over a glass filled with water.

Gluttony spoke as if it was no big deal.

“My, I’m sorry for causing a disturbance.”

“…It is fine.”

“My mind was already restless, he should have picked a fight in moderation.”

“I am sorry. I will keep quiet.”

“Ah, would you? Thank you.”

Fights in taverns like this are not a big deal.

If it were ordinary times, he would have casually cleaned up the messy tavern and collected repair fees, but the man couldn’t even budge.

Because there was a demon before his eyes.

A demon who swallowed twenty burly men whole.

“Whether the rumor is real or fake, I need to find a valid solution.”

Gluttony didn’t care in the slightest that the man was trembling in fear.

Even now after swallowed twenty humans.

Because his mind was still exclusively full of thoughts regarding Claudi.

The quieted tavern.

The only thing that could be heard was the owner’s heartbeat pounding with fear.

Was it thanks to that, a pretty good method came to mind.

“It was a matter I could just step forward and confirm.”

Good.

I shall throw the bait.

A bait Claudi would have absolutely no choice but to bite if it’s him.

There were guys perfectly suited for the role of that bait.

Yes, those demons who do not know their place.

Demon Kings.

Despite being mongrels born in the Demon Realm.

Those laughable guys styling themselves as Kings of Evil.

Excluding the Demon Kings of the Ten Seats who had originally existed like Gamigin, they were all like bugs.

Ah, now that Gamigin had fallen to Hell. Were there only nine true Demon Kings left now.

“My, if done well, this might become a suitable dinner show in many ways?”

Good, I shouldn’t hesitate.

Dragons, elves, and even Transcenders.

Hadn’t everyone in that place heard the news about Claudi?

There was a need to move first before they moved in any way.

“I will pay the bill.”

“…It is fine.”

“Are you sure it is really fine?”

“I really will not accept it.”

“Is that so?”

As if digging through pockets.

Gluttony rummaged through the palm of his opened jaw.

Even if it were gold and silver treasures, he could not accept something that came out of such a place.

Soon, Gluttony got up from his seat and turned his body.

‘…Oh Goddess.’

From an unknown demon.

Thank you for looking after me.

It was when the man was seeking a god he didn’t even believe in.

Suddenly, Gluttony approached the man.

“By the way.”

“?!”

“I don’t know about liquor, but it would be best if you quit the food business.”

He smiled broadly looking at the food scattered on the floor.

“You should be thankful to the men in my stomach. Because I think I would have swallowed you first if I put food like that in my mouth. For the crime of serving food that tastes worse than humans, you see.”

An evil smile.

Tremble tremble-

The man’s legs shook.

“Haha, it’s a joke. A joke. Keep up the hard work, owner.”

Only after Gluttony completely left the tavern did he realize.

It wasn’t something like the Goddess’s care.

That he survived simply because of a demon’s whim.

*

Anyway, there isn’t a single day I can rest.

As soon as I finished the Round Table Conference, I returned to the office.

There wasn’t particularly anything I had to do at the Round Table Conference.

Before the Round Table Conference.

The Tower Master had stepped forward and expressed his apologies regarding the nuisance he caused.

‘…Apart from that, it’s weirdly annoying.’

As you know, the Round Table Conference had changed.

Although it was a conference unconstrained by ranks.

The more it was so, the more the head of the Mage Tower, the Tower Master, couldn’t be absent.

However, to think he would attend in the form of a cat!

‘He’s very shameless, even more than Granfel.’

Adept and Skilled Mages couldn’t see through the Tower Master’s transformation.

But Tower Master, you’re the person concerned, aren’t you?

And what’s with calmly acting like a cat while being a human?

He stayed still even when his belly was rubbed, and later he even purred?

‘My, you have a comfortable life.’

Somebody came after repeatedly hunting and agonizing in the Zero Mountain Range just until recently.

To be so carefree.

Even if he was recuperating.

I couldn’t help my disposition twisting.

Still, if I were to find comfort…

‘Was the regular academic conference next week?’

I resolved myself.

That I would properly put the Tower Master to work at this academic conference!

The justification is sufficient.

It doesn’t go against Granfel’s pride either.

Why, there is something called noblesse oblige.

The responsibility required of the seat.

If you are in a high position, you must take that responsibility, our Tower Master.

Click-

Of course, I too am suffering from that sense of responsibility.

The Tower Exit Applications piled up heavily on the desk as always.

Let’s see, putting down the teacup.

By scribbling ‘fail’ on Banshee’s Tower Exit Application.

Before starting the daily routine…

My gaze naturally shifted to a parchment following instinct.

An unfamiliar handwriting I had never seen before emerged.

This meddlesomeness of mine that likes to step forward.

Thanks to that, I had thoroughly reviewed the Tower Exit Applications of the entire Mage Tower.

Even so, if it was an unfamiliar handwriting, it meant it was a letter from that person.

‘Tower Master.’

A large stamped seal confirms the owner of the handwriting.

‘What is this.’

A cat paw print seal.

That’s right.

It was definitely a letter sent from the Tower Master.

‘Why a stamp?’

If he wrote words, couldn’t he also sign it.

What’s with the out of nowhere paw print stamp.

I considered it no big deal but.

After reading it, it was certainly a matter that required a stamp.

However…

──────
As the current Tower Master, I shall nominate you, Chief Lee Ho-yeol, as the next Tower Master.
──────

Whaaaaaat?

Me, Tower Master?

No, what kind of bullshit is this trying to run away somewhere!!