Chapter 205: Sloth and Thunder (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 205: Sloth and Thunder (7)
Everyone held their breath.
The knights, who had been drowning in despair.
Reinhardt, who had been racking his brain for a way out of this situation.
Sirkal, whose mouth hung open in shock.
Deus, who had been straining his threads to the limit to block the black mana.
[-!]
Even the Apostle of Sloth—who had been bringing its leg down to crush Alon—froze.
In that moment where time seemed to stop, Alon, radiating blue lightning so bright it illuminated the ashen world, silently reached out his hand and gave a small flick of his finger.
It was a tiny movement, a subtle twitch that would have been hard to notice without looking closely.
However.
The lightning birthed from that small gesture shot out in an instant.
It began to massacre the small spiders.
Cr-crack—!!!
Blue lines began to draw chaotic patterns across the ashen world.
Sometimes moving in straight lines.
Sometimes darting unpredictably.
The lightning ruthlessly pierced through the bodies of the spiders, and in just a few seconds, every single spider in the ruins had been eradicated.
The first to move in response to that sight was the Apostle of Sloth.
'I have to deal with him now!'
The Apostle of Sloth, now one with Kraksha, felt an instinctive threat from the being before him. He retracted his legs, which were crumbling into dust.
Without a moment's hesitation—
He immediately lunged forward, scattering black mana in an attempt to flatten Alon under his massive weight.
He felt it with every fiber of his being.
The only chance to deal with this entity was now.
No, even now was already too late.
[Dieeeeeee—!!!]
Letting out a monstrous shriek to drive away the suffocating fear closing in on him, the Apostle of Sloth threw his gargantuan body at Alon.
Yet, Alon’s gaze as he faced the Apostle’s desperate struggle was utterly...
“…….”
...calm.
As if the events unfolding before him were of no consequence.
He simply watched the massive body hurtling toward him with tranquility.
And just as it was about to reach him.
Marquis Palatio’s hand reached toward the sky.
At that same moment.
BOOM—!!!!
The sound of the world exploding echoed through the atmosphere, and what he caught in his hand was...
Zap, crackle—!!!!
...lightning itself.
As if he had torn it straight from the heavens.
The lightning flowed into Alon’s hand, drawing countless streaks of current between the earth and the sky.
The energy, looking as if it might burst at any second, twisted and coiled until it finally settled in his palm.
The moment the charging Apostle of Sloth raised his remaining leg.
A voice rang out.
"Heavenly Punishment."
It was a very soft voice.
Yet, it was incredibly clear.
And then,
The next thing the Apostle of Sloth saw was...
[Ah—]
...a pure white world blooming amidst the ash.
KWAAAAAAA───────!
Light.
It swept across the earth.
A sharp, mechanical screech that easily surpassed any threshold of hearing consumed everyone’s ears.
The brilliant white light blinded the knights.
Everything was swallowed up as a 'void' of sensation seized the world.
Eventually.
The moment all senses returned.
What appeared before the people’s eyes was—
The massive carcass of the giant spider, its head and torso pierced through, no longer showing even a twitch of movement.
And.
“…….”
Alon, standing there, quietly looking down at the corpse while wreathed in lightning.
“Ah...”
A low exclamation escaped the lips of one of the knights.
The vivid 'awe' dwelling in his eyes spread to everyone around him like a highly contagious fever.
It wasn't just the members of the knight order.
It was Reinhardt.
It was Deus.
And.
It was Sirkal.
“…….”
She stared blankly at the radiant man.
She had never once doubted the being before her.
But even so.
It wasn't as if she had been entirely without suspicion.
No matter how much faith she offered, a tiny seed of doubt had existed.
Because Sirkal had never actually seen the true form of Kalanon.
There were legends passed down.
There were deductions that felt like certainties.
There was the conviction of the previous Great Chieftain, who had never been wrong.
But there was no physical proof.
That one fact had allowed a small doubt to sprout in Sirkal’s heart.
That perhaps.
Just perhaps, she was mistaken.
That the conviction of the previous Great Chieftain might have been wrong for the first time.
A tiny, minuscule doubt.
But in this moment.
“Ah…….”
It was washed away completely.
Because she knew.
She knew what that blue lightning dwelling in Marquis Palatio’s body was.
She knew what the deer antlers growing from his head proved.
And so, Sirkal.
She simply bowed her head, filled with awe and faith.
To the Lightning Receiver, Kalanon.
To her great god.
* * *
“Whew.”
Alon felt his bristling hair slowly settle, and at the same time, the sensation of the antlers on his head gradually fading away.
He let out a small sigh and clutched his left hand.
Tremble, tremble—
His left hand shook against his will.
A sharp, stinging numbness filled it, as if the blood had stopped flowing. Alon was worried for a moment that his left hand might actually be broken.
However, he couldn't focus solely on his hand right now.
'I feel like my body is going to shatter...?'
Aside from his left hand, a pain that felt like he was literally breaking apart was ravaging his entire body.
'It hurts so much I want to scream if I move even an inch.'
It was a staggering level of pain, even worse than when he had been bleeding from his entire body after the encounter with Uultultus.
But Alon didn't let that pain show.
He couldn't.
Because everyone looking at him...
...every single one of them had expressions filled with absolute awe.
No, it was more than just awe.
They were looking up at him with wide eyes and slack jaws, as if they had witnessed a truly great being—a manifested god.
'...The pressure from their gaze is too much.'
Alon wasn't usually the type to care about what others thought.
But that was only up to a certain point.
Being the sole recipient of such blatant, reverent stares...
'I just... have to endure it.'
He didn't want to roll around on the ground screaming in pain for no reason.
...Because even for him.
Having those looks of 'awe' suddenly turn into looks of 'contempt' would be a bit too burdensome and embarrassing.
But that thought was short-lived.
[I'm glad the first time went well.]
“!”
Kalanon’s voice echoed in his mind.
Before Alon could even be surprised, the voice continued.
[There's no need to answer. Even if you talk to me right now, I can't hear you anyway. I'm just sending this one-way, so just listen.]
Kalanon got straight to the point without any fluff.
[I'll tell you three things. First, even though I helped, it's impressive that you successfully manifested. It's not usually something that succeeds so easily.]
[Second, your body probably hurts terribly because it can't handle the strain. If you plan on using divinity in the future, don't bother treating it; just leave it be. I'll tell you why next time.]
[Lastly, please take care of my things. It's the deer antlers in the ruins. They're probably buried in the ground by now, but you MUST get them! If you don't have those, we won't be able to talk anymore, and I won't be able to teach you about divinity.]
"Got it? You must! I'm counting on you! Please!" Kalanon emphasized several times before shouting one last "I'm counting on you!" and disappearing.
“……Well, it seems the job is done for now.”
The moment Alon let out a small sigh, having committed the girl's words to memory.
Thump—!
A massive vibration echoed from the distance.
He turned his gaze toward the sound, which had come despite the Apostle of Sloth and the abomination Kraksha being dealt with.
“……What?”
His jaw dropped involuntarily.
It hadn't even been a few dozen seconds since he had sighed in relief.
A massive swarm of monsters—large enough to be clearly visible even through this dense forest—had entered his field of vision.
“Wait, what is that?”
“They're mutant species from the Silvanus Zone! It seems they lost their territory because of the black mana, and now they're returning the moment that power vanished!”
“Why can't anything ever just end simply?!”
The urgent voices of Reinhardt and Sirkal, who had grasped the situation, reached his ears.
Thump, thump, thump—!
Even in that brief moment, the mutants had already reached the immediate vicinity, closing in on Alon’s group.
Reinhardt quickly drew his sword, but his face was full of dismay.
It was only natural.
If it were just one or two, Reinhardt wouldn't be this tense.
Unfortunately, there were at least eight or more of those creatures swarming toward them.
In other words, it was a situation Reinhardt couldn't handle alone.
However, Deus looked exhausted beyond his limit.
And Alon, who had just shown an unbelievable divine power, also seemed to be in a state that wasn't exactly great, despite appearing fine on the outside.
“I guess I have no choice...!”
Reinhardt sensed that he had to step forward.
Just as he was about to grip his sword and charge—
■■■■—
The head of the mutant species leading the charge and letting out a monstrous shriek...
Splat—!
...exploded.
“?”
It happened so suddenly and unexpectedly.
Doubt flickered in everyone's eyes.
Thud! Thud-thud-thud!
As if to prove that the sight before them was reality, the head of the charging mutant rolled across the ground, spraying reddish-green blood as it tumbled through the shattered ruins.
That wasn't all.
Next, the head of a following snake was sliced in half vertically, spraying blood.
The head of a wolf-like mutant was crushed mercilessly, brain matter splattering in all directions.
The torso of a grotesque creature with dozens of tentacles exploded, staining the green forest red.
A massacre had occurred in an instant, before the massive mutants could even pose a threat.
Just as everyone stood dazed by the incomprehensible situation.
“Man—wow, it feels good to stretch my legs after such a long time.”
In the distance, a girl came trudging through the slaughtered mutants.
At her appearance, everyone gasped.
Was it because the girl led a strange pack?
No.
Was it because the girl was beautiful?
No.
The reason they all held their breath at once.
It was because of the...
“Well—I'm a bit late, though.”
...overpowering, domineering aura radiating from her.
An aura that triggered a primal fear—the feeling that if they moved even a single inch right now, they might be killed instantly.
It went beyond making the knights freeze; it...
“Ugh—”
“Gah—”
...made them faint.
One by one, they began to collapse, unable to withstand that domineering pressure.
But the girl—no, the King of the Hundred Ghosts—turned her gaze as if she had no interest in such knights.
“Anyway—long time no see!”
With an incredibly energetic gesture and voice, she greeted Alon.
““??””
The gazes of those who barely managed to remain conscious all gathered on Alon.
“……????”
But Alon was just as bewildered as they were.