Chapter 152: Raid (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 152: Raid (3)
Clearly, Alon was ignorant when it came to Apostles.
He had never encountered an Apostle while playing Psychedelia, and the game's lore had never mentioned anything regarding the Apostles of the Five Great Sins.
However, there was one thing Alon realized with absolute clarity about this 'Apostle' right now.
Boom—!
They were strong.
He looked at the scene before him.
Atop the wreckage of the Seolrang Guild building, which had been reduced to a miserable heap of debris, streaks of bright yellow and black lightning clashed at a speed his eyes could barely follow.
And.
"Kugh—!"
Seolrang was being pushed back.
Bang—!
Seolrang was sent flying with a massive roar, and the Apostle lunged forward, throwing a punch to deliver a finishing blow.
Alon moved immediately.
He caught Seolrang as she plummeted toward the ground and deployed a shield.
That wasn't all.
"Reinforcement. Fixation."
Through the magical reinforcement of his Phrases and the subsequent Multiple Manifestation, a total of three layers of shields were manifested precisely where the Apostle’s fist was aimed.
However.
Crr-crack—!
The shields shattered like glass.
As if such a defense was utterly meaningless and laughable.
But in that briefest of moments, Alon had fortunately managed to move out of Seolgak's range.
"Ho—a mage, are you?"
Seolgak stopped in his tracks, looking intrigued.
He didn't seem to have any intention of pursuing them further for now.
Alon looked down at Seolrang.
Her eyes were growing dim.
It wasn't the look of total confusion she had instinctively shown while fighting Seolgak earlier, but it was clear she was slowly withering away.
In that situation.
"You've grown quite strong, little sister. It's worth a compliment. To think the weakest member of our tribe could become this powerful."
Seolgak spoke to his sister with the same smile as before.
"……."
Seolrang did not answer.
She merely stared at Seolgak with trembling eyes.
Her expression was far worse than it had been moments ago.
"……."
Alon realized the situation was turning strange.
The Apostle's strength?
That was certainly a major problem, but the bigger issue was Seolrang herself.
Seolrang valued family above all else.
Perhaps to the point where she cared for her family more than her own well-being.
She felt a deep sense of belonging to the categories of kin and family.
In her mind, family was...
Something that took precedence over everything else, something sacred that had to be protected at all costs.
Yet, the only blood relative she had believed to be dead had suddenly appeared before her and personally destroyed the things she held dear.
Before she could even do anything.
Utterly and miserably.
Alon turned his gaze to survey the ruins.
All he could see were corpses.
The corpses of the Golden Mane Tribe—the new family Seolrang had tried to build.
This is bad.
Alon's gaze shifted back to Seolgak.
The Apostle of Pride, Seolrang's older brother, was watching the situation with leisure, except for the moment she had first lunged at him.
No.
He wasn't just watching.
He was waiting.
Waiting until Seolrang's mind was driven to its absolute limit.
Alon frowned deeply as he thought.
What should I do?
He had no idea how Seolrang's brother had ended up like this.
If there was one thing he knew for certain—
I have to stop this situation.
Despite this, there were two reasons Alon couldn't move rashly yet.
One was that he hadn't fully grasped Seolgak's abilities.
The other was that his preparations weren't finished.
The preparations he had been making since the moment Seolgak appeared.
However, Alon was running out of time.
He didn't know how far Seolgak would go to provoke Seolrang.
Conversely, he didn't know how much longer Seolrang could endure Seolgak's taunts.
...But in the end, Seolrang was what mattered most.
Alon's eyes quietly observed Seolrang's complexion.
Regardless of whether she turned into a Sin or not, her condition was continuously deteriorating.
Unable to delay any longer, Alon formed a seal to deploy his magic.
"Oh, I can't have that."
"!"
Bang—!
Regrettably, in that instant, black lightning appeared before him at a speed that transcended perception and kicked him away.
"Mentor!"
Seeing him crash into the ruins, Seolrang tried to throw a punch at Seolgak immediately.
"Urgh—!"
But her fist couldn't reach him.
"Guh... kgh...!"
Seolrang struggled desperately to break free from Seolgak's grasp.
However.
"Little sister, stop your futile efforts. No matter how hard you try, you cannot escape my hand. And don't worry, the mage isn't dead."
Seolgak's smile remained as he spoke, sounding slightly surprised.
"Still, this is quite interesting. If you were the sister I remember, you should be dripping tears by now. Hmm, I suppose you've grown a bit more mature with age."
Though, it's not exactly a good change, he added with a chuckle.
"……Did you side with those bastards?"
After a moment of silence, Seolrang asked her brother with a dark expression. Seolgak's smile widened.
"Side with? Who?"
"……The black things that turned our village into a wasteland... I'm asking if you joined them...!"
"What makes you think that?"
"Because the stench of that bastard... reeks off you...!"
Seolgak looked down at his body for a moment.
"Hmm? Ah, ahh—"
He let out an exclamation, his puzzled face clearing as if he finally understood.
He nodded several times.
"Is that so? Come to think of it, I haven't released the seal I placed back then."
"The... seal?"
"Yes, I'd forgotten about it. Thank you for reminding me, sister. Thanks to you, I don't have to go through the trouble of moving around."
"What... are you...?"
Seolgak flashed a smile that was more playful than anyone else's, yet filled with pure malice, toward the questioning Seolrang.
In that moment, Seolgak flicked a spark of black lightning toward Seolrang's head.
"Ngh!?"
She winced at the stinging pain.
"Sister, let me tell you a very interesting fact."
He looked into Seolrang's eyes.
"The one who killed our villagers wasn't that person—"
Grin—!
The corners of his mouth curled up.
The moment she faced that sneer, Seolgak's voice grew distant.
Before Seolrang's eyes, the remnants of a past she never wanted to remember began to play.
The first sight she encountered in a world rendered in black and white, as if filled with static, was gray.
Next was a massive inferno, as if it would swallow even that grayness.
And finally, what she saw were corpses.
The cold bodies of her kin, whom she had cherished.
No matter where she looked.
Everywhere she looked.
There were only corpses.
Corpses split in half.
Corpses burned to death.
Corpses with missing heads.
Corpses with missing upper bodies.
Corpses.
Corpses.
Corpses.
……Countless corpses.
They filled Seolrang's vision.
And the hateful 'Black Dragon' holding her by the throat.
It was the same ashen landscape she always saw in her nightmares.
Grin—!
The Black Dragon twisted its mouth into a mocking sneer.
"!"
Then, the world before Seolrang began to shift once more.
The ashen world granted her the five senses she had lost, as if it had become reality.
The suffocating pain.
The thick scent of her kin's blood.
The sensation of blood dripping from her fingertips.
The salty taste on her tongue, withered from crying so many times—
……And the face of her brother, holding their mother's head in his other hand, wearing a twisted smile.
It told her the hidden truth.
The truth she had wanted to forget forever.
And.
"How is it, sister? The one who actually annihilated the tribe was—"
The moment the present Seolgak, superimposed over the monster of the past, opened his lips.
BOOM—!!!
Seolrang saw it.
Seolgak, who had been clutching her throat, was sent flying exactly as he was, crashing into the ruined building.
What she felt next.
Were two hands calmly covering her ears.
"Don't listen."
It was a familiar voice.
"Don't listen, Seolrang."
……A very familiar voice.
"……."
Seolrang's gaze drifted upward.
He was there.
It wasn't the emotionless face she always saw.
It was Alon, with an expression that seemed to be purely worried about her.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
* * *
Alon, who had blasted Seolgak away, frowned slightly.
The moment he was hit by Seolgak's attack earlier, he had used a combination of a shield and wind magic as a counter-reaction to minimize the damage.
Then, he had been manifesting magic without Seolgak noticing.
Normally, this would have been impossible, but it was made possible by one of the seals Alon had obtained as a result of his recent research.
A seal that had the effect of masking the mana itself from others, at the cost of reducing its power.
Thus, Alon had succeeded in secretly manifesting magic to blow Seolgak away, but...
"Wow, that's impressive. I didn't feel any mana at all. How did you prepare that?"
He had failed to wound him.
"But what are you going to do, covering her ears so diligently? She's already 'remembered' everything."
At the man's following words, Alon let out a small sigh.
While secretly manifesting magic in the background, Alon had easily grasped the context of what Seolgak was trying to reveal.
He even understood how much psychological damage Seolrang would suffer if the truth Seolgak prepared reached her.
Because there was only one thing he could be trying to tell her.
"How is it? Do you remember, sister? That the one who killed the villagers, the one who killed our family—was this very brother of yours...!"
A grinning mouth without a trace of guilt.
The statement was exactly as he had predicted, down to the last syllable.
Grip—
Alon pressed his hands more firmly against Seolrang's ears.
Seolrang likely already knew.
No matter how much Alon covered her ears, the truth would have reached her.
Just before manifesting his magic, he had seen Seolgak fire black lightning at Seolrang to release the seal that even Alon hadn't fully sensed.
Even so, Alon did not remove his hands from Seolrang's ears.
It was a meaningless gesture.
But even though he knew it was meaningless, he couldn't bring himself to move his hands.
……Because Alon also knew how much 'family' meant to her.
"Let me tell you something fun, Seolrang. Killing one's own kind is quite enjoyable. Seeing those who lived in peace while hiding their true strength cry out for their lives... it brings a sense of euphoria."
"Do you remember Paun from next door? That brat who used to play with you often... he begged for his life with tears streaming down his face. I grabbed his head and legs and ripped him apart right then and there."
"You must remember Yuseon from the forge as well. Your best friend, who cared so much for his parents. I personally killed his parents before his eyes, then gouged out both his eyes before killing him too."
Blades poured incessantly from Seolgak's mouth.
Cruel and unavoidable truths designed to drive Seolrang's mind to the brink.
"How is it, sister? How does it feel to see the truth you've been ignorant of until now?"
When Seolgak finally finished his story and asked.
Seolrang, who had been hanging her head low until now...
Slowly lifted her head.
And.
The faces of Alon and Seolgak went blank at the same time.
As if time had stopped.
Seolrang faced the two of them.
Her face—
"So, what about it?"
Was incredibly serene.
* * *
What... is this?
Seolgak could not understand the situation.
No, he couldn't understand it.
Seolrang's reaction right now was completely outside his expectations.
With an absurd expression, he watched her stand up, brushing off the hands of the Marquis of Palatio.
According to the plan, she shouldn't have that kind of expression.
Normally, Seolrang should be going insane right now, radiating all sorts of malicious emotions toward him.
And eventually, she was supposed to kill the mage, who seemed to be someone she cherished, and awaken through the 'Sin of Pride.'
Leaving her alive had been a deliberate arrangement solely for that purpose.
Placing the memory seal on her had been for the same reason.
Seolgak, who had paused in confusion, spoke.
"……There's no need to force yourself to endure. You couldn't hide your emotions just a moment ago. Do you think there's any point in trying to hide them now, sister?"
He deliberately provoked her.
But she tilted her head as if he were being strange.
"What are you talking about? I've never once hidden my emotions."
"……What do you mean?"
"Why would I bother hiding my emotions?"
Seolrang asked as if she truly didn't know.
"……Until just a moment ago, your eyes were……."
They were filled with such chaos.
He replied, trying to provoke her even a little, but Seolrang acted as if it were nothing.
"Well, isn't that obvious? I was in a situation where I couldn't protect my Mentor."
"……What?"
She shrugged.
"Brother, you're strong, aren't you? I realized that after clashing with you once. That's why I was scared. Because I wasn't in a position to protect my Mentor."
"That's... all?"
"No—"
Seolrang asked back.
"What else am I supposed to be shaken by?"
"What—?"
"Did you... expect me to be swayed by your pathetic little game?"
Seolgak frowned at her indifferent question.
"……You've become cynical, sister."
"Not at all, brother. I still love my family. Paun and Yuseon, whom you mentioned, and all my family members are precious parts of my memories. But if I get swayed by such trivial emotions—"
Sway—!
"I won't be able to protect the precious person I have left."
"……."
"And another thing. Brother, I think you're misunderstanding something."
Instead of a light smile, Seolrang's gaze turned cold.
"I am already angry."
Her eyes sank into a chilling depth.
"Because you, brother... tried to kill my precious person, my Mentor."
"……."
Silence fell between the two.
"Ha, hahaha—!"
Soon, Seolgak let out a loud, incredulous laugh.
"Fine! I suppose you've become quite clever over the past ten years! I'll admit it, sister! I underestimated you! I didn't think that brat could think this far! But still—"
Crackle—!
"—You're still no match for me."
He fired black lightning at Seolrang.
Crunch—!
His fist lunged forward.
Seolrang's hand moved again.
But this time, as if she had adapted to Seolgak's movements, she was much faster than before.
At the same time, a faint golden electricity began to take shape in her hand.
It was a threatening phenomenon Seolgak had never seen before.
Even so, Seolgak's smile didn't fade.
He was surprised by the change in her hand, but Seolrang didn't seem to be able to handle that power properly.
Seolgak thought.
He would beat Seolrang down, then twist that mage's neck right before her eyes.
Grin—!
At the same time, a future was painted before his eyes.
His sister, broken according to his intentions.
And the 'Birth of the Great One' who would possess everything, descending using her body as a vessel.
However.
Clack—!
Seolgak's future shattered.
"!"
He looked ahead, unable to comprehend the situation.
A transparent wall erected in front of him was being shattered by his fist.
The surroundings distorted like a mirror, and the transparent wall became dozens, hundreds of polyhedrons, twisting the world.
It was the mage's doing.
The moment Seolgak realized that fact.
"Seolrang, stay calm. And remember. You have already reached the next stage. So—"
A low voice.
"Just be certain."
It flowed from the mage.
"Also, keep this in mind."
"Embrace the lightning."
In the next moment.
"Ah—"
Seolgak saw it.
"Yes—!"
Seolrang replied with a bright smile, as if she had realized something.
And her body began to be dyed with golden mana and golden inverted eyes.
"Brother. I forgot to mention, I don't really need to be afraid of you anymore."
At the same time, he realized.
That was...
"Thanks to you, brother, I was able to obtain it."
A power that no longer existed in this world, something that could only be inherited and manifested by reaching the 6th Stage, beyond the 5th Stage of Bloodline Inheritance reserved only for royalty among those with the Essence—
"The power to protect my Mentor."
—Thunder God Transformation.
"Die."
Seolrang's fist brought down a bolt of pure white lightning.