Chapter 317 – Nevertheless, It Is Laughable (1)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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You say I move too carelessly?

Rather, that’s the question I want to return to you.

A soliloquy echoing coldly in the desolate Mage Tower.

“It is a clear challenge.”

To play tricks in the Mage Tower of all places. It was an action that could not be explained unless one’s liver was sticking out of one’s belly (one was extremely bold). Moreover, the Infinite (無間).

‘There were really all sorts of ways to hasten one’s death.’

However, soon, I felt a sense of incongruity.

‘……Wait a minute.’

The Infinite was a space where nothing existed.

It was basic that the five senses could not function properly. Furthermore, one could not even manifest magic. How did I notice the presence flowing out from such an Infinite?

To dismiss it as just my senses becoming sharper…… I was a Demon Hunter. It meant my five senses expanded like a natural enemy when chasing demons, but in other cases, I was terrible at it.

Additionally, only the top executives of the Mage Tower could enter the Infinite. Opening authority was only granted to those at the level of Chief or higher, meaning even seniors could not enter.

Clack.

Eventually, I reached a conclusion at the entrance to the Infinite.

‘A change occurred inside.’

It wasn’t that someone entered.

The two elder mages imprisoned in the Infinite.

No, the demon worshippers experienced a change.

“As the Chief, I command. Open the door to the Infinite.”

Rumble.

Although I caught a suspicious sign, I spoke even more without hesitation. Whatever happened, this was the Mage Tower. If anything happened, there were overflowing mages who would come running.

‘It was even the Infinite, wasn’t it?’

An environment where an unwavering constant mind shone particularly bright.

I was the one who drank green tea and even read a book in the Infinite, where others couldn’t even endure for a few minutes. It was a situation to welcome rather than worry about.

So I took a step. It was only momentary that the Infinite swallowed even the clicking sound of my shoes. I could immediately grasp the reason for the impure presence.

“I see.”

Mages fundamentally possessed strong mental power. Still, they endured a long time in the Infinite as befitting elder mages, but they eventually reached their limits.

If they had breathed their last quietly.

It might be different for Granfel, who has no mercy for demons.

But I, Lee Ho-yeol, could have wished them to rest in peace.

Even hate was a kind of affection, so couldn’t I at least wish peace for the dead?

But it was a useless thought that they were full of malice until the end.

The black wall of the Infinite.

There was a writing written using a finger as a brush and blood as ink.

No, to call it writing……

‘I can’t recognize it.’

Since someone who even forgot how to speak in the Infinite couldn’t possibly write properly, it was something neither writing nor drawing. However, I could immediately grasp the meaning contained in that will that wasn’t a will.

It wasn’t because I was quick-witted.

It was the intuition of a Demon Hunter.

[You have discovered the curse, ‘Irreversible Flow’.]

It was a message I hadn’t seen in a while.

Why, it was a message I only saw back when Arcana was just a game.

Because one of Akshan’s regular quests was exactly.

Destroying a demon’s curse.

‘Saying destruction makes it sound grand.’

The reality was no different from a chore quest.

At that time, a demon’s curse was nothing but the level of graffiti. So it was treated no differently than a chore quest to erase graffiti drawn on the outer walls of villages or cities.

‘I told you it wasn’t for nothing that Akshan was shunned by players.’

However.

I evaluated it coldly.

“That intention is extremely impure.”

The demons of that time and then were on a different level.

The curse must have been the same. Even more, this was a curse left by a big shot who was once an elder mage as he died. If a curse had weight, it was definitely going to be enormously heavy.

‘It looks like that from the outside too.’

The blood writing completely filling the black wall.

It is terrible enough to make anyone frown as soon as they see it unless they have a quite strong heart. However, who am I, who is Granfel? Beyond having a strong heart, to the extent of wondering if his heart even beats.

The natural enemy himself, who didn’t even show a hint of agitation in front of a demon.

I gave a dry impression.

“However, you have no talent for creation.”

It was an evaluation of the demon worshipper who was once an elder mage.

A demon’s curse and the like.

To Granfel, it would just be an ugly graffiti he didn’t want to see.

‘But I’m not.’

A believer in superstitions who feels needlessly uncomfortable if his name is written in red, allocates points so that the number 4 doesn’t appear in the [Luck] stat lest he catch bad luck, and avoids stepping on thresholds if possible.

That was me, Lee Ho-yeol.

‘Let’s get rid of it.’

In my heart.

I wanted to pour hot water with magic and wipe it clean.

But manifesting magic was impossible in the Infinite.

‘……Do I have to rub it off with my hands to erase it. Like those days?’

The attire I painstakingly adjusted since early dawn would become useless.

A Demon Hunter was a Demon Hunter until the end.

It was the moment I was swallowing a sigh.

My vision flickered.

[Do you want to enter the curse, ‘Irreversible Flow’?]

Aha, so that’s how it is?

[To enter the curse, ‘Natural Enemy’ is required.]

[To enter the curse, ‘Exorcism Ritual’ is required.]

[The proficiency of the skill, ‘Natural Enemy’, is sufficient.]

[The proficiency of the skill, ‘Exorcism Ritual’, is sufficient.]

I immediately switched my stance.

“It is utterly laughable.”

Yes, the prey, the demon, had also grown.

Shouldn’t the natural enemy, the Demon Hunter, also develop to balance it?

At this point, I had such a thought.

‘……Was it really because it’s a late-bloomer character?’

A character that was nothing special in the early stages but boasted outstanding performance in the latter half was often called a late-bloomer character or a late-bloomer class, comparing it to the return of the king.

In fact, most late-bloomer classes could be recognized from the start.

For example……

Nearby, there is the Dragon Knight, Skal.

‘He’s that strong even without being able to ride a dragon.’

What kind of abilities Skal would boast if he got on a dragon’s back and became a true Dragon Knight was something the whole world could guess and expected. In that sense, if a Demon Hunter were a late-bloomer character, everyone would laugh.

However, as the only Demon Hunter, I could feel it.

What was seen was not everything.

‘Skills are the same.’

Even if they didn’t appear as numbers, the skills [Natural Enemy] and [Exorcism Ritual] had clearly grown during that time. Above all, noticing the presence of a demon emanating from the Infinite was the proof, wasn’t it?

‘I can even look straight at the curse thanks to growing.’

The moment I realized.

I took a step closer to the curse left by the demon worshipper.

In addition to not wanting to leave the uncomfortable curse behind, I became purely curious. What purpose could the curse meaningfully left behind at the moment of death by a mere demon worshipper contain?

“Irreversible flow.”

I wanted to confirm the reason he attached such a grand name to it.

Of course, to Granfel’s temper.

The will of a demon and such.

“If so, I will oppose it.”

Until the very end.

Denying it was a matter of course.

There was no hesitation this time either.

[You enter the curse, ‘Irreversible Flow’.]

.

.

.

Vast vision.

I could intuit it.

‘Is there no combat like in a Rift or a dungeon?’

I expected that monsters might appear inside the curse.

As can be seen from the fact that an appropriate level did not exist.

It didn’t seem to be the case.

Just.

“Someone help!!”

“Wh-What the hell are those monsters!”

“The gate to the Demon Realm has opened!”

“Retreat!! Everyone run awaaaaaay!!”

The scenery visible below my feet was clearly a gruesome battlefield.

No, could that even be called a battlefield?

It was closer to a one-sided massacre.

Demons trampling the city.

At first, I wondered if it was a city on the Arcana Continent.

It was unfamiliar to be called the Arcana Continent. The statues and building styles glimpsed, and even the appearance of the residents were forms I had never seen anywhere on the Arcana Continent.

Then a message answering my question flashed.

[You have entered the ‘Seorn Continent’ heading toward ruin.]

Seorn Continent……

I thought it was unfamiliar.

Was it a completely different worldview from the Arcana Continent?

What’s always important is the examiner’s intention.

I thought from the perspective of the demon worshipper.

What did he want to leave behind as a curse at the moment of death.

The answer came out without difficulty.

“I see.”

I recalled again.

The purpose of the three demon worshippers, including the elder mage, Karimzeba.

They had tried to manifest a “High-ranking Demon King” in reality.

Flash─

As if announcing the correct answer.

Demon Eyes (魔眼) aligned all at once in the sky.

The aligning shape was familiar.

It was similar to Decarabia’s summoning circle witnessed in Frost.

However, when looking at the scale of drawing a magic circle in the vast sky.

I could guess what they were trying to summon.

As expected, it would be a High-ranking Demon King.

Karimzeba had tried to summon the High-ranking Demon King, Gamigin, by drawing a magic circle with Rifts all over the world. But this scale was bigger than then, wasn’t it? Since those Demon Eyes were existences floating in the universe beyond the continent and the planet.

Thanks to that, I could specify its identity even among High-ranking Demon Kings.

“Baal.”

The 1st ranked Demon King, Baal.

Yes, I finally somewhat understood the purpose of the curse left by the demon worshipper at the end. He said it was an irreversible flow…… He must have wanted to say that no matter how much I struggle, it is a meaningless act in front of the absolute power of a High-ranking Demon King.

I thought objectively.

That it was understandable.

The sky went dark.

Pop.

Pop……

Pop……

With a dull noise.

It was because the Demon Eyes that were the only things lighting the sky were bursting one by one. Because I was a Demon Hunter, I could recognize it. To catch and eat such things as sacrifices.

Just how atrocious of a guy is he, anyway……?

But let’s think positively. Thanks to this curse, I would be able to grasp the power of the High-ranking Demon King. At least I would be able to see Baal’s face.

‘……What?’

But that was my delusion.

When all the Demon Eyes in the sky burst, the sky literally split. From within the split sky, something so massive that it could cover the Seorn Continent revealed itself.

It was merely a single forearm.

Clang─

To be exact, it was a hand gripping a sword.

At that moment.

I flinched.

……Dozens of Demon Eyes were offered as sacrifices.

Don’t tell me, even with those massive sacrifices.

It stopped at summoning just one of Baal’s forearms?

And my flinching soon turned into astonishment. Because when that hand lightly swung the sword, the Seorn Continent was pulverized as it was and began to sink into a deep bottomless pit.

Because I was also a Demon Hunter, I could recognize it.

He did not use the abilities of a demon or the authority of a Demon King.

Baal destroyed the Seorn Continent, a single world, with pure physical martial power alone.

I, Lee Ho-yeol.

Because I was a player this time, I could notice.

That he was an enemy whose estimate couldn’t even be calculated.

Thanks to the experience of confronting Gamigin, I had guessed how great High-ranking Demon Kings were.

The Akshan Demon Hunters of Hell.

Even though they, who would be stronger than anyone else in front of demons, clung to him with all their might. If it weren’t for the hellfire, they wouldn’t have been able to drag Gamigin down to hell.

Baal was an existence that far surpassed such a Gamigin.

‘Is this why it’s called a curse?’

I didn’t want to admit it, but it felt like my spirit was about to break.

Baal, he seemed like an existence I could neither reach nor fathom no matter how much I struggled.

However, irrespective of my despair.

There was not a slight change in my expression.

My heartbeat was calm, and my head was cold.

“The pride of Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo, paradoxically, becomes highest in front of a demon.”

Was it thanks to that.

“How dare you try to admonish someone?”

I muttered casually.

“I know everything even if you do not show me.”

That was not a bluff.

“Even how to hunt you, Baal.”

It was then.

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

Baal sharpened the blade of his sword.

He began to move.

Exactly toward me.

“I did not expect understanding from an inferior race.”

I continued as if I had been waiting.

“Consider it an honor. I shall personally enlighten you.”