Chapter 626: Chapter 616

A covenant, not just a promise?

“Don’t get all dramatic and call it a covenant, seriously.”

Saying it like that makes it sound like I absolutely have to fulfill it, doesn’t it?

“I mean, who could have possibly imagined that the green tea fields in Jeju would burn to the ground? Sure, I know you never take a single word lightly and are obsessively committed to keeping your promises, but still… that was a natural disaster!”

A covenant is on a completely different level.

Having spent so much time with Grandfell, I understood that better than anyone. After all, I’d benefited from covenants myself, starting with the ones between Claudi and the Four Houses.

But now that I was on the side that had to fulfill one, maybe that’s why I couldn’t stop talking.

All to wriggle my way out of this covenant.

“And it’s not like I didn’t buy you the best green tea! I just… delayed keeping my promise a little, that’s all! I mean, who can keep every promise perfectly? If there’s anyone like that in this world, I’d like to meet them, and—”

But I trailed off mid-sentence.

Because that kind of person was standing right in front of me.

So I resorted to excuses.

“…Fine, I get it. I’ll grant it. But not now.”

I, Lee Hoyeol, might not be the most honorable person, but even I had learned the truth about Grandfell.

And because of that, I could guess what was coming.

I spoke as casually as I could.

“I already know what wish you’re going to make!”

You’re planning to use this covenant as an excuse to leave, aren’t you?

“So what I’m saying is…! It’s not that I won’t grant it, but let’s talk this through and come to an agreement. We’ve been through so much together; can’t you make that small concession for me?”

Appeal to his emotions, Hoyeol.

With that in mind, I tried to look as pitiful and forlorn as possible while staring at Grandfell.

Above all, you know this too, right?

There’s no way I can handle the chaos in Arcana and the real world alone.

“Without you, I’m nothing.”

Clank!

Whoa, what was that?

Did my desperate plea disgust him or something?

The sound of the teacup being placed down was sharper than usual.

Grandfell opened his mouth, his expression as stoic as ever.

“That statement is repulsive to hear.”

Repulsive? Ouch, that stung.

I, Lee Hoyeol, suddenly found myself sympathizing with the adept mages who used to leave Topaz Hall in tears after enduring Grandfell’s sharp tongue.

Grandfell continued speaking.

“You are magnificent as you are.”

“…What?”

“Have I not always said this?”

Grandfell uttered words that shook me.

“You defy underestimation with proof. And when overestimated, you bring it to reality.”

Why was he saying this now, of all times?

Was it because I underestimated myself?

Or was it because I overestimated myself?

‘Wait, isn’t that your backstory?’

Shaking my head vigorously, I denied it.

“Look, I’ll admit I wrote that stuff in my notebook, but it was all about you! None of it was about Lee Hoyeol, okay? Seriously, what have I even done? If anything, it’s all because of your brilliant talent—”

Grandfell remained unshaken by my denial.

“I was never desperate.”

“It was always you who struggled relentlessly.”

One by one, he countered my words.

“I never sought to reverse anything.”

“…Hey, you.”

“You were the one who never gave up until the very end.”

Reflecting on the paths we had walked together.

“I never wanted to protect them.”

“…Grandfell, you’re seriously—”

“You were the one who nurtured the Holy War Alliance.”

And made me look back.

“I had no desire to protect anything.”

“Stop right there—”

“You were the one who safeguarded these two worlds.”

Cold, calculating, harsh, and proud beyond belief—Grandfell, who always claimed the credit for everything, now looked straight at me and said:

“Ultimately, it was all you.”

I forced myself to reply.

“You can shower me with praise, but it’s not going to change my mind, you know? Even if you flatter me, I’m not going to just let you go.”

Grandfell hadn’t explicitly stated what his wish was, but I pressed on regardless.

Because I thought that if I kept pushing, maybe I could soften that unyielding stubbornness of his.

“Believe it or not, I’m the only demon hunter out there. There’s no one more knowledgeable about possession than I am. You know that, right?”

I didn’t need to spell out my plan. If it was him, he’d already know.

“Baek Yiseol, for example.”

Baek Yiseol.

During her second possession, she never lost her mind completely.

Later, when we talked about it, she revealed that she had actually trapped the demon inside her inner world when it tried to escape.

I declared to Grandfell.

“Even if possession is up to you, leaving isn’t.”

Didn’t I tell you?

Even if failing to fulfill this covenant makes me lose all pride in your eyes, even if it earns me hatred for dredging up the Claudi family’s history, I don’t care.

As long as you stay, I’ll find a way to make things right.

Mimicking you, I bluffed.

“Grandfell, like you said—”

“?”

“I deserve a chance to ‘turn things around,’ don’t I?”

Grandfell murmured quietly.

“Once again, you remain true to yourself.”

Damn it, is this more of that Grandfell-style rhetoric?

Is he calling me stubborn again?

Or—

Krrrrk!

“…?”

As I tried to decipher his words, my surroundings began to shake.

I could feel it.

The space where Grandfell and I existed—my inner world—was trembling.

“This… is it Bael?”

“It is.”

“Hey, Grandfell. Shouldn’t we be doing something instead of just sitting here?”

The First Throne’s Demon King, Bael.

Who would have thought I’d ever feel grateful to him?

Thanks to him, it felt like I could finally catch a break from Grandfell’s unrelenting demands.

“….”

I spoke seriously.

“You know as well as I do—Bael is different. I’m not just saying this to get out of this situation. As a demon hunter, I’m telling you: there’s something about him I can’t even begin to grasp.”

Between us, there was no point in lying—it would be discovered instantly. Even the Natural Enemy relationship between demon hunter and demon didn’t seem to apply to Bael.

“Maybe he’s transcended even that Natural Enemy…”

“You are wrong.”

“…What?”

Clank.

Grandfell set down his teacup and stood up.

I glanced inside his teacup. At some point, he’d emptied it completely.

That was so typical of Grandfell that it reassured me, if only for a moment.

But then—

“Your Natural Enemy relationship has no limits.”

Here we go again. Enough with the over-the-top flattery!

But this was Grandfell.

The man who could spew the most outrageous claims with an absolutely straight face.

With perfect composure, he added:

“Even if your opponent is the ‘Source of All Evil.’”

Looking directly at me, he said:

“You are capable of hunting them down.”

Good grief.

I wanted to argue back right away, but I couldn’t.

Because at that moment, the inner world where we had been talking completely collapsed.

“…!”

My vision returned.

As it always did.

I, Lee Hoyeol, could now see with my own eyes.

‘Is that mass supposed to be Bael?’

Bael’s “complete form”—

No, could that even be called a complete form?

It wasn’t like anything I’d seen before.

Then again, the only thing I’d seen of Bael before was a single arm.

‘But this doesn’t even resemble an arm.’

It was massive, sure, but that’s all it was—just massive.

No limbs, no face, no features at all.

If anything, it was like a lump of clay smashed together.

“Wait a second.”

Maybe because I had regained my focus, a memory surfaced from when Arcana was still just a game.

A quest to disrupt a summoning ritual by demon worshipers.

‘At first, I was so excited.’

I remember how thrilled I was when I first encountered that quest.

Finally, I thought, no more boring grind. I could live the life of a real demon hunter.

But of course, in Akhsan, things were never that simple.

‘The demon worshipers failed to complete their summoning ritual.’

In the end, it was just a clean-up mission—clearing away the altar they had set up.

And that memory suddenly became relevant.

That thing—it’s huge, but it looks just like the lump of flesh on the altar.

‘So it’s another failed manifestation?’

Were the sacrifices insufficient?

But Bael offered no small number of sacrifices.

Could a being like Bael really miscalculate his vessel and fail his descent?

‘Something must have interfered with Bael’s manifestation.’

Was it the Iron Castle Ship?

I shifted my gaze to the Iron Castle Ship.

The Iron Castle was struggling.

I could clearly see their struggle.

Thanks to my knowledge of all minerals, I could tell that the Iron Castle Ship was precariously flying across the battlefield, illuminated by the glow of obsidian and the heat of hellanium.

But that was all.

Even though the Holy War Alliance had grown significantly stronger compared to the past, they couldn’t even get close to Bael. It wasn’t their fault. The fault lay in Bael himself, a being capable of destroying an entire world with just a single arm.

Then who?

Who was it that interfered with Bael’s manifestation?

The answer was close by.

It was within me.

Yes, it was Grandfell.

“You tremble in fear, Bael.”

Grandfell spoke to the mass of flesh.

His tone wasn’t the same as when he sat across from me, sipping tea. Somehow, the sound of Grandfell’s voice at that moment made my chest feel heavy.

‘…!’

At the same time, I became aware of something.

“How am I even able to see this?”

From my perspective, Bael’s enormous size and the Iron Castle Ship, known as the Sky Fortress, were as clear as if I were peering into the palm of my hand. An incomprehensibly vast and elevated view.

‘It feels like I’m looking down on everything… arrogantly.’

As Grandfell’s voice rang out, Bael twitched more violently.

Even without a message appearing, I could tell.

As I said, I’m a demon hunter.

Bael was trembling in fear.

He was thrashing about.

Trying to flee—trying to escape from me, from Grandfell.

Crunch.

The writhing mass of flesh finally found an escape route.

Because of my knowledge, I recognized it immediately.

That was the “Demon World.”

‘He’s trying to flee straight to the Demon World, isn’t he?’

Damn it. My recently regained clarity felt meaningless in this moment.

None of this made sense.

After all, wasn’t this Bael far too different from the one I’d seen before?

‘Why would he suddenly cower in fear after charging in like he wanted to kill us?’

Yet at the same time, my instincts as a demon hunter jolted me awake.

Perhaps this moment—

Perhaps this was the perfect chance to hunt Bael.

‘No.’

But I was also fully aware.

I couldn’t follow Bael into the Demon World.

If I entered the Demon World—

“My consciousness and Grandfell’s would be separated.”

That was why I could never recklessly step into the Demon World.

“!”

At that moment, I felt an unsettling realization.

I understood why Grandfell hadn’t responded at all to my declaration that I would never, under any circumstances, let him go.

You knew all along, didn’t you, Grandfell?

You knew Bael would open the gate to the Demon World.

Could it be—

You plan to use the Demon World for that purpose?

As if answering my question, a sound echoed.

ttogak.