Chapter 203: Sloth and Thunder (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 203: Sloth and Thunder (5)
The Apostle of Sloth was taken aback by Alon’s sudden appearance, but only for a moment. He immediately moved to seize him, but then—
“!”
His eyes widened. The black mana, which should have moved according to his will, refused to obey.
That wasn't all.
The mana... it’s disappearing?
The black mana was scattering against the golden flash. He couldn't comprehend the sight before him. But soon, a realization struck him. He whipped his head around.
The crystal—!
There, it was already happening.
The black crystal—the source of power that connected and sustained all the eggs and thousands of black threads—was shattering under the strike of crackling lightning.
The Apostle of Sloth turned back to face Alon, his expression twisted with rage. Alon, staring back indifferently, let out a silent sigh of relief.
Did it work?
Alon glanced briefly behind him at Silli. Though she bore the clear, cruel marks of torture, she was still alive.
Thank god.
He meant it. If she had died, something truly uncontrollable would have surely unfolded.
Then, a voice reached him.
“You... how on earth did you...?”
Alon shifted his gaze back to the Apostle. The being was still staring at his dissipating black mana, his face a mask of bewilderment and shock.
It was impossible. Everywhere the black mana touched was under the Apostle’s influence. It was effectively his field of vision. Therefore, no matter what or who it was, the moment they stepped into the black mana, the Apostle of Sloth should have immediately ‘perceived’ them.
I definitely didn't sense him—
And yet, the man before him—the Marquis of Palatio, who had already dealt with the Apostle of Greed—had achieved the impossible and reached him undetected.
Furthermore...
...How did he find it?
The black crystal. The man had bypassed his perception and, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, destroyed the artifact that served as the foundation of the barrier.
And he did it in a single strike. It was as if he had experienced this situation many times before, acting without a shred of hesitation or error.
The Apostle’s face contorted further.
I’m glad things went as expected.
Alon let out a breath of relief at the reaction. Normally, he shouldn't have entered the black mana at all. His compatibility with it was the worst; he wouldn't have lasted ten minutes inside.
The reason he could ignore the black mana and appear before the Apostle undetected was simple: Alon knew the blind spot of this black mana—or more accurately, the flaw in the situation itself.
The black mana spread wide from this center, covering a vast area. However, it was bound strictly to the ground. Its influence did not reach the sky. In other words, if one could travel through the air, they would be completely unaffected by the black mana.
Even knowing this, few could actually exploit the flaw. Even in Psychedelia, people only talked about the loophole; they didn't actually use it to fight the 'Sins.' Since the black mana covered such a wide area on the ground, unless a human could fly indefinitely, they would eventually have to land within its range and be detected.
Fortunately, that wasn't a problem for Alon. He had the perfect conditions and the right talent to exploit that weakness.
He had the Monument Altar, a structure so massive that even the manifested Basiliora had to climb it, and Reinhardt, who possessed the ability to manipulate gravity.
To put it simply, Alon had climbed the Monument Altar, used Reinhardt’s ability to float as high as possible into the air, and then used his Thunder God Form to drop straight into the central district where the Apostle was located.
Of course, I used up all my mana in the process, and I think I broke my legs on the landing.
Alon subtly tried to move his legs. A sharp ache shot through his shins; they weren't broken, but the pain was enough to make him want to groan.
Moreover, while he had saved Silli, he was out of mana. Far from being able to fight, he was in a position to be captured. Although the black mana had temporarily dissipated because Alon broke the 'composition of the barrier,' he couldn't let his guard down.
He knew that even if the core was destroyed, the barrier would regenerate over time as long as the caster wasn't dealt with.
I’m not sure if the mana will recover this time, since it was implemented through an artifact rather than the power of the Sin of Sloth itself.
As Alon pondered this, the Apostle of Sloth let out a hollow, absurd laugh and glared at the sky.
“Impressive, Marquis Palatio. I never imagined you would use such a method.”
“…….”
“It’s also surprising how you identified the flaw in this barrier as if someone had whispered it in your ear. However...”
The Apostle smirked.
“It seems you know one thing but are ignorant of the second.”
The moment the Apostle of Sloth sneered, black mana began to coalesce in the empty air—where nothing had been moments ago—as if time were rewinding. Along with it, the artifact that composed the black mana began to regenerate.
Watching this, Silli let out a low, despairing cry.
“Ah...”
As if responding to her, the Apostle’s smile grew more predatory.
“No matter how many times you destroy the sphere, it will continue to regenerate. As long as I am alive.”
“…….”
“What a pity. If you had aimed for me in one strike, things might have been different.”
Well, even if you had targeted me, I wouldn't have died in one hit, the Apostle added mockingly.
However.
“I know.”
Alon didn't waver in the slightest.
“What?”
“I said, I know.”
He spoke calmly.
“I knew you wouldn't die in one strike, and I knew the sphere I destroyed would regenerate before long.”
He spoke as if he felt no regret about the situation.
“Ha—then are you saying you walked in here just to die?”
The Apostle’s face went blank for a moment before he burst into another hollow laugh.
“No. My job is done.”
Alon shrugged lightly and looked at Silli.
“What does that—”
The Apostle of Sloth, frowning as he started to ask, suddenly realized something.
“……?”
The black crystal organizing the barrier had already regenerated properly. It should have been working. And yet, the black mana was not spreading.
Sensing something was wrong, the Apostle whipped around.
“!”
He saw it.
Purple threads were wound tightly around the entire artifact that leaked the black mana. Furthermore, purple lines were etched across the world as if slicing through reality itself.
And from ahead...
Step. Step.
A man was walking toward them.
In one hand, he held a sword. In the other, he gripped the hundreds, thousands of threads that had partitioned the world.
His eyes burned with smoldering rage and hatred. He was exhaling a chilling mana, as if intent on staining the entire world in a shade of violet.
“I’m going to kill you.”
Deus Macallian had arrived.
* * *
Skreeeeee!
The sound, like wires being stretched to their limit, rang clearly in everyone’s ears.
Snap!
The black and purple threads clashed and recoiled, signaling the start of the battle.
The exchange was so fast Alon could barely perceive it. With just one collision, the surrounding trees exploded, and the atmosphere vibrated, scattering the remnants of destructive mana.
K-K-K-K-BOOM!!!!
Hundreds and thousands of threads, slashing through the world, repeatedly snapped and reappeared. The severed threads clawed at the air and the ground, leaving behind jagged scars.
It was a battle that could never be called human. It was a spectacle that inspired nothing but pure awe.
“Holy shit—”
Reinhardt, who had entered with the knights once the black mana vanished, cursed involuntarily at the inhuman combat unfolding before him. The many knights following him also felt a sense of reverence for a level of power their eyes could barely follow.
However...
Deus is being pushed back.
Alon assessed the situation coldly. Though he couldn't see the fine details of the fight, he could clearly perceive who held the upper hand through the mana visible to his eyes.
The current flow of the battle was expected. Even if their abilities seemed similar, unlike Deus, the Apostle was wielding the 'Power of Sin.'
And above all...
He’s too agitated.
BOOM!!
Alon watched as Deus was flung back through the complex web of black threads. Only a few minutes had passed since the fight began, but his body was already a wreck. The ink-black armor he wore was shattered, with pieces missing, and his body was covered in lacerations from the threads.
In contrast...
The Apostle of Sloth, unlike his earlier flustered state, wore a relaxed smile as he wove dozens of trees into his black threads, suspending them in mid-air.
The contrast was stark. For Deus to seize victory, he needed more than just to calm down—he needed to take one more step.
Therefore...
“Deus,” Alon called out to him.
* * *
Thump-thump-thump-thump—!
His heart hammered wildly. Feeling that pulse, Deus stared at the entity before him with bloodshot eyes.
The Apostle stood there with an air of leisure, suspending the shattered debris of the surroundings in his black threads.
Grit!
Deus gripped his sword tight once more, bracing himself to charge. He knew well how foolish it was to show rage in battle. Nevertheless, he couldn't suppress the fury boiling within him.
Silli. My sister.
When he had arrived here, the sight of that child... was too similar to that time.
“Huu...”
Deus’s vision momentarily turned gray. What he saw was a memory of the past he never wanted to recall.
Under a night sky where silence had fallen. A man screaming as he struck a woman’s head over and over. A woman, her head half-crushed, plunging a knife into the man’s stomach.
And behind that mother and father, wearing a sickening smile—
[The Black Goat has chosen you.]
The Apostle of Sloth.
Voom!
The aura radiating from Deus’s body grew more intense. His bloodshot eyes poured his rage onto the Apostle, and the purple mana exploding from his body transformed into threads that partitioned the world once more.
Just as he was about to lung forward...
“Deus.”
A voice reached his ears. A voice that was incredibly cold, unlike the rage boiling inside him. A voice he knew well.
And then.
“For the sake of your revenge, stay calm.”
At the sentence that seemed to see right through his heart, Deus felt his head cool as if he had been doused with cold water. The sound of his frantic heartbeat gradually receded, and only then did the things he hadn't seen before begin to enter his vision.
Then.
“Remember.”
“It isn't only the things you can see that can be bound.”
“……!”
As Deus’s eyes slowly widened at Alon’s following words...
This situation isn't so bad after all.
The Apostle of Sloth maintained a casual smile. Unlike his initial panic, the situation wasn't actually that bad.
I’ll neutralize Deus first, then kill them one by one. First the knights, then the Marquis of Palatio, then the sister—no.
He chuckled.
Killing the Marquis first might be better. It’ll be a nice touch to break his spirit a bit before finishing with the sister. First—
He formulated, revised, and finalized the plan in his head. All for the purpose of inflicting even greater despair upon them.
Right after I show them the overwhelming difference in power.
Having finished his thoughts, the Apostle of Sloth moved, pulling on his black threads.
THUD! K-K-K-K-K-K!
Simultaneously, the trees and boulders that had been bound by the black threads moments ago began to crush and grind together above his head, forming a massive sphere.
The sphere grew in size in an instant, eventually becoming large enough to blot out the vast sky.
“What the—that’s impossible—”
He had created a meteor. The knights on the ground stared blankly up at the heavens, at the sky dominated by a massive sphere wrapped in black silk.
And then.
“You’ve grown stronger, but in the end, you’re no different from when you were a child. Deus Macallian.”
“…….”
The Apostle of Sloth, mocking the panting Deus who still gripped his sword, looked at the few remaining purple threads. The tide of battle had already turned.
Or so he thought.
Heh.
With a relaxed sneer, he flicked his hand.
“You still can’t protect anything.”
The moment he moved...
“……?”
The Apostle of Sloth felt a strange sense of incongruity. It was something inexplicable—a dissonance that came from the disappearance of something that should have been there, yet couldn't be properly perceived.
Stunned for a moment, the Apostle finally realized the nature of that dissonance.
“What...?”
The mana—why?
It was the very mana the Apostle controlled. The black mana wasn't moving at all. It was as if it had been shackled by something.
And then.
This—could it be—!
The moment the Apostle of Sloth’s eyes flew open in shock, he saw it.
“It is but a fleeting moment.”
As if he had been waiting, Deus scattered his purple mana.
Skreeeeee!
The purple threads began to ruthlessly sever the black threads. Dozens, hundreds... no, they mercilessly cut through over a thousand threads.
Simultaneously, the massive meteor began to crumble as if on cue.
However...
The purple threads instead wrapped tightly around the massive meteor and—
K-K-K-K-K!
Began to carve it. Debris fell, ravaging the forest and the ruins.
What was created was...
“!”
A massive, cone-shaped spear of violet light.
“But for now...”
The purple spear, radiating a sublime sense of pressure, spoke.
“This should be enough.”
K-K-K-K-K!
With the harsh sound of threads tearing, it plummeted toward the earth.
And then.
Macallian First Style
: Purple Nebula (紫色星雲)
A purple star fell toward the ground.