The eyes of the Devil narrowed at Musin. Musin did not stop speaking, staring firmly at the red eye that were floating around the figure of the Devil.
“Don’t avoid answering my question. I know this world will come to an end soon.”
[If you know that, then you know how meaningless your question is.]
“I asked if it was already set in stone.”
[There is always an end to everything. The same goes for this world.]
“How can I avoid that ending?”
[You have your part to play.]
The Devil murmured.
[Every being has its own role. Obviously the roles aren’t equal in terms of distribution and how impactful their individual role is. I won’t tell you that your role and fate are insignificant in terms of the whole, but it’s not that important either.]
“I’m the one who decides whether my fate is significant or not.”
[Sure, you’re one of the larger ants that are crawling on the ground.]
The Devil murmured as it chuckled to itself.
[You are about the size of an ant. Simply because you’re a somewhat larger ant, does not mean that ants can change their fates merely because they say they can.]
The words from the Devil hardened Musin’s expression considerably.
Currrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…!
The force from Musin’s body expanded out of his body and burst forth, as if to cover the sky.
“If you are one of the apostles who fulfill the ending, then I will destroy your existence right here and now. That should buy us some more time til the ending of this world.”
[You are wrong.]
The Devil replied to Musin with brief but powerful words that reverberated through the space and stunned Musin.
[I am not an apostle that has a role to fulfill the end. I’m only interfering to show you the way of how it all ends. And, as I have said, you have your role to play.]
“What is my role?”
[I can’t offer you a new role to change the flow of fate. That would be something I would like to do, but ultimately I can’t.]
The eyes of the Devil slowly closed.
[But let me tell you this. Your role doesn’t end here. This is the end of my favor for you. You may leave now.]
Musin’s eyebrows wriggled as his facial expression contorted for a moment. Then suddenly, Musin kicked the ground in a fury, jumping at the Devil.
Right at that moment, the Devil’s red eyed closed for a brief moment.
Swoosh!
The body of Musin suddenly disappeared mid-air, as if Musin was never there in the first place.
Wijihoyeon silently watched the whole thing. She heard everything the two had spoken about, but she did not get agitated like Musin had.
It felt profoundly mysterious. Wijihoyeon stared at the Devil with a sense of rapport as though she experienced some sort of silent feeling of harmony with it, or as if she had awakened something.
“What’s my role?”
Wijihoyeon asked a question to the Devil with indifferent eyes.
* * *
Even before he arrived back in Rubes, Lloyd was called to meet with the Elders of the Wizard Guild.
He was a little nervous and lowered the crystal ball that had transmitted the message to him. There was a lot to be reported based on the hectic events that had unfolded.
There were many details to report. The fact that the entire subjugation had failed. About Kim Jonghyun’s whereabouts and condition. The fact he could now fully interpret the Grimoire’s arcane language. Not only that, but the stance on the Murim Alliance and the Murong Family’s Patriarch attacking the Tower Masters and even openly antagonizing them.
It hadn’t been that long yet, but there was no way Lloyd was letting this go.
‘I can’t just let this go.’
Murong Dae’s actions should not be covered up as merely an outburst that was innocent due to circumstances.
Even if it was acted upon as a group, as long as Murong Dae was in charge of one of the 5 Great Families that backed the Murim Alliance, the Murim Alliance had to be held accountable for their actions.
‘It’s obvious what those old ones are going to say.’
Lloyd sighed as he put down the crystal ball. They would more than likely say they needed to hold their interest and relationships as something for the future, and brush by their actions.
The council of elders is said to be retired Wizards that were too old of age to remain on the frontlines, but they had a certain power that could not be ignored within the Wizard Guild.
Lloyd did not respect them. Those older Wizards only acted selfishly to protect their own interests, and paid no heed to the younger generation of Wizards.
All they did was order people around from behind the scenes, and did not know any shame about their actions, since they had the excuse of their contributions in the ‘old days’.
[Why don’t you take that nasty expression off your face?]
The moment Lloyd put magic into the crystal ball, he heard a low voice speak towards him in a condescending and irritated tone.
‘This voice is…….’
Lloyd’s eyebrows trembled. Just once. There was one time that he heard this voice in the past. It was when Lloyd had become the Tower Master of the Gold Tower. He was appointed to the position by the head of the Wizard Guild.
“……are you the Guild Leader?”
[It seems you didn’t forget, kid.]
The guild leader grinned and spoke. Lloyd immediately bowed his head.
The Leader of the Wizard Guild was the man who stood far above the council of elders and all Tower Masters. However, Lloyd also knew him as another type of man.
Lloyd’s teacher, Envirus, who taught him everything he knew about magic, was sworn brothers with the Guild Leader of the Wizard Guild.
“Why……are you…the Guild Master, himself responding to someone like me?”
[It’s simpler than you think. Is it more comfortable to speak with me, or rather the council of self-centered idiots?]
“…….”
Even if the Guild Leader of the Wizard Guild was speaking to him right now, Lloyd had never seen him in person. Even when he was appointed to the Tower Master position of the Gold Tower, Lloyd only heard his voice through a message.
Despite Lloyd being Envirus’ disciple, The Guild Leader also had never met Lloyd or talked to him outside of the business affairs of the Guild.
[Tell me what happened first. Why don’t you start by telling me what exactly happened during the subjugation?]
When asked by the Guild Leader about the contents of the subjugation, Lloyd hesitated and looked down at the documents on the table in front of him.
The documents had everything written in detail about what had happened during the subjugation. Lloyd shook his head, clearing away his hesitation, and started to read what was on the documents out loud.
[Kim Jonghyun… It seems that little boy tried to do something very interesting.]
The Guild Leader smirked and continued to speak.
[Do you know what Kim Jonghyun was trying to do?]]
“……I don’t.”
[He was attempting to become a titled Demon, a Devil, to be more exact.]
“What?”
Lloyd’s eyes opened wide at the guild leader’s words. Kim Jonghyun was attempting to become a titled Demon? Lloyd couldn’t possibly take the words at face value. It was because it should be impossible for a mere human wizard to suddenly acquire the power of a Demon Lord, or Devil.
[But it seems he failed. It was meant to be.]
“The fact that he failed… Are you saying that Kim Jonghyun is dead?”
[No, he’s not dead. The Weiss still has Kim Jonghyun’s name on it, inscribed as the owner of the Grimoire.]
The Guild Leader spoke as if it were insignificant, and Lloyd couldn’t understand the Guild Leader’s nonchalant attitude about the entire event. It was because Lloyd couldn’t understand how this kind of event, of a human attempting to become a Demon, could be anything close to insignificant.
[And you’re also saying that Murong Dae attacked the Wizards of the Wizard Guild?]
“Yes……the Green and White Tower Masters, including myself, agreed that this matter should not be disregarded at all.]
[Then let’s settle and finish our relationship with the Murim Alliance.]
The Guild Leader spoke bluntly. Lloyd was forced to drop his jaw at the fact the Guild Leader decided what to do and planned to take action so quickly. Not only that, but this sort of outcome would never have been possible for Lloyd or the other Tower Masters had they gone through the Council of Elders.
“…… Is it really… so easy to do?”
[I don’t intend to clean it up completely for you. But I’m going to give them a gesture that implies that I am quite offended.]
“How…… do you mean to do that?”
[I’ll think about it as we proceed with actions. There’s more going on than you think. These events were only the tip of the iceberg. There are other things that are going on, like Predator’s recent movements.]
As he finished speaking, The Guild Leader held his hand on his chin in a pensive manner, as if he were struggling about something, and then decided to ask Lloyd directly.
[Is the Red Tower Master in the Sama Order headquarters located in Hadras?]
“I’m afraid so.”
[Okay, don’t go back to the Gold Tower just yet. I’m going to the Gold Tower right now, so wait until I arrive.]
“What?”
Lloyd exclaimed in surprise at the Guild Leader’s words.
* * *
“For God’s sake.”
Boom! Boom!
“What the fucking hell.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Ah, shit!”
The area was hot enough to make the skin on one’s body burn if they weren’t careful.
Lee Sungmin, who was a Transcendent Martial Artist and had completed his hybrid body, did not feel the heat or the cold temperatures even when he was in Edor or Travia. But, the heat generated in this place caused even Lee Sungmin to feel some exhaustion from the intense heat.
Lee Sungmin tried to cover himself from the intense flames while looking at the Dwarven Chief’s back, who was hammering in front of the fire.
“What are you swearing at?”Lee Sungmin asked with a patient voice.
“Shutup you stupid kid!”
When Lee Sungmin asked the Dwarven Chief as to what he was swearing at, Mckendor, the Chief, turned his head and shouted at him with a contorted expression on his face.
Among the dwarven race, it was known that they were able to live longer than most humans, but Mckendor was the longest living Dwarf in history.
Sweating profusely under the furnace, Mckendor let out a deep sigh and wiped his forehead as he spoke.
“Stupid kid comes to me, showing me a letter from the Fairy Queen asking for a favor to process and hammer your materials for free….!”
“Weren’t you happy at first, that you could work with the materials of a Dragon’s body?”
“I never thought it would be this much bloody work!”
McKendor shouted at Lee Sungmin’s words once again.
“For God’s sake, I also thought it would only be a few pieces of scales and some bone fragments! How could you have brought over thousands of them? In mint condition as well!”
“… Weren’t you also happy at that fact as well?”
Mckendor truly had been happy with the request a few hours back. The Dwarven Chief had been locked away in boredom, rarely being seen by any of the other dwarves. When Lee Sungmin had arrived with such astonishing materials and a request to forge a weapon with them, Mckendor had shown complete excitement and glee for the first time in decades.
But a short three hours later, that enthusiasm disappeared under the grueling heat of the Furnace of the Sun.
“I’m getting too old for this shit.”
McKendor grabbed the hammer again and murmured.
“When I was 30 years younger, my body was completely fine, even if I decided to continuously hammer something for decades. But not anymore……I’m an old man. Why did you come now of all times? Couldn’t you just have come 30 years earlier?”
“I wasn’t even born 30 years ago.”
“Bloody bastard!”
At Lee Sungmin’s answer, McKendor cursed again and continued to strike with his hammer.
“Beer…… I need a beer. A very cold and refreshing beer……”
“I don’t believe you’ll be able to hammer as well as normal if you get drunk though…”
“Every Dwarf needs a drink in order for them to ignite his or her artistic spirit.”
“What I’m asking you to do is not a piece of art or what not, but a hard and sturdy body armor and a flawless spear.”
“You bastard, do you know anything about art?”
McKendor was incredibly angry, but he didn’t stop hammering.
Lee Sungmin wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
After leaving the Sama Order, it took two whole months for him to reach the Village of the Dwarves.
After a light greeting with Selgerus, who had been living in the village, Lee Sungmin immediately came to the Furnace of the Sun in order to show McKendor the letter from Oslo, and asked Msckendor to make a new spear and armor for him.
“Are you going to keep watching like a hawk for the entire time? It’s already looking like it’ll take at least a month to make!”
“I don’t think you’ll do it right if I don’t watch it.”
“Who do you think I am? I will always do my best if I receive a letter from the Queen of the Fairies herself, so don’t worry about it to worry about.”
McKendor took out the Dragon’s bones from the furnace.
“God damn it! Why are a Dragon’s materials so hard to smelt? Even adamantium and orchichalcum are nothing in front of the Furnace of the Sun!”
“Is it able to be processed or not?”
“If it was impossible, I wouldn’t have said yes in the first place. Why don’t you get out of my way already?”
“Well, I have to make sure.”
Lee Sungmin felt a little sorry for leaving McKendor to work so hard and all by himself in the sweltering heat, so he stayed. He never thought it would be this hot. Even McKendor didn’t think he would have to increase the heat to such a degree.
“You’re really not going away?”
“Well, what am I supposed to do?”
“It’s boring to hammer by myself.”
[You’re an old fool.]
Mckendor mumbled to himself and Heoju found the old dwarf quite brazen.
[I heard he’s been stuck and locked up in this furnace for decades. Maybe that’s why he’s lost his mind.]
‘I think so, too.’
Lee Sungmin also felt the same as Heoju.
“……I heard you were originally a member of Erebrisa. Why did you return your membership?”
“It was incredibly annoying when countless bastards came and asked me to make something. I eventually wanted to retire and get some rest. Sometimes I just want to make what I want to make.”
“That’s why you’ve been isolated inside this furnace for so long?”
“It’s the Furnace of the Sun you fool. For someone like me, I intend to die here. I plan on working here until I create my final work and then I’ll burn myself away in the fire.”
“It’s quite a disturbing death don’t you think?”
“I think it’s pretty awesome.”
McKendor spoke childishly about his death without hesitation. Of course, Lee Sungmin didn’t agree at all.
“….I’ll need an assistant.”
McKendor, who had been hammering repeatedly, breathed out and spoke aloud.
“I’m seriously too old to do this myself. Have you ever tried blacksmithing by yourself?”
“I know how to give simple repairs to some weapons.”
“Bah! That’s a skill every idiot in this world knows!”
“Do you think idiots really know how to smith properly?”
“Don’t you know how to take a joke?”
“Well I’m joking, too.”
“You bastard.”
McKendor’s shoulders trembled in anger.
“Yes, the spear and armor you’ve been using. You said the person who made it lived in this town, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Bring them over and tell them to help me.”
“Are you really all right with that?”
“What’s not going to be okay?”
“It’s the Dark Elf.”
“As long as that blacksmith is good at hammering, what does race have to do with it?”
When McKendor replied in an irritated voice, Lee Sungmin smirked. Lee Sungmin was well aware that Selgerus had the title of a Master Blacksmith, but was not treated properly because she was a Dark Elf.
So far, Selgerus had repeatedly helped Lee Sungmin with his weapons.
The spears and armor made by Selgerus had been used in earnest since they were incredible weapons in their own right, and Selgerus even made them while only requesting pennies to Lee Sungmin.
Although it was also due to Selgerus’ self-satisfaction, Lee Sungmin was indebted to her.
“Yes, sir.”
Lee Sungmin, who turned around happily because he thought he could finally give some help to Selgerus, who constantly showed him favor, went out of the furnace.