Chapter 235: Escape (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 235: Escape (2)
One of the leaders of the Four Major Factions.
The head of the hexers.
The Curse King, the Heavenly Curse.
“Thank you. Truly, thank you so much.”
As Nangwon bowed repeatedly, expressing his infinite gratitude for their current situation, Alon wondered why he was even here, but a stray thought crossed his mind.
‘...He looked quite decent when he was young.’
The appearance of Nangwon that Alon had seen in Psychedelia was different from now.
The bizarre tattoos on his face and his inverted eyes.
The long surgical scar that started from his cheek and ran down to his right collarbone—his very trademark.
If it weren't for those features, the difference was so stark that Alon would never have imagined this boy was the Heavenly Curse.
How could anyone connect the bald, scar-faced Curse King to the pretty boy standing before him?
If he hadn't heard that the boy’s sister had been the trigger for him becoming the Curse King, he might not have believed it at all.
“Lord Alon, do you intend to take that thing with us as well?”
The moment of surprise was brief.
From beside him, Rangban’s voice rang out, dripping with hostility.
Nangwon, who had been clutching his sister just a moment ago, cried out urgently.
“P-please! Please don't abandon us. We are different from the demons of the North.”
“Demons are all the same. What ‘different’ demons could there possibly be?”
At the cold reply, Nangwon’s expression was dyed with despair.
Alon searched his memory for Nangwon’s race.
‘Was it Half-demon?’
Half-demons.
A race known only to have gone extinct hundreds of years before the start of the original Psychedelia story.
He couldn't recall any information beyond that.
No matter how much he had played the game, he hadn't delved into it like an abyss to the point of remembering every minute detail, especially settings from the distant past.
However, he could infer the general situation from the exchange between Rangban and Nangwon.
After a moment of deliberation, Alon looked at the despairing Nangwon.
“We’re taking them.”
“...Are you saying you will take a Half-demon with us?”
Rangban asked back, his face filled with disbelief.
Alon nodded.
“Yes.”
“Forgive my bluntness, Lord Alon, but he is a Half-demon. They are a devious race; you never know when they might stab you in the back.”
“I-I am not like that!”
Nangwon denied it with his whole body.
Yet, despite his desperate gestures, the scowl on Rangban’s face did not soften.
“Half-demons are dangerous. Furthermore, putting my personal opinion aside, it will not be good for the morale of the escapees if a Half-demon joins the ranks. Especially in a precarious situation like this, where there isn't a shred of hope—”
His words certainly held merit.
If the public perception of Half-demons was similar to or worse than Rangban’s, then bringing Nangwon into the group was a poor choice in many ways.
Even excluding personal hatred, there was plenty of justification to oppose it.
However, even taking those points into account, Alon had already made up his mind to save Nangwon.
After a brief silence filled the space.
“Even so, we are taking them,” Alon said calmly.
“...Are you certain?”
Rangban asked once more.
Alon understood his feelings, but he nodded firmly.
“Everyone here is in the same boat. No one wanted to be dragged here, and everyone has tasted terrible agony after being captured.”
They must have witnessed and suffered through wretched sights beyond imagination.
“I have no desire to discriminate in my help based on something as trivial as race.”
To decide whether to save someone or not based on their race?
That would be no different from creating a greater hell within this one.
“We’re taking them.”
If my brain worked a bit better, I could have prepared a more plausible speech, Alon thought briefly.
“...Understood,” Rangban finally nodded.
“However—the boy aside, I believe we must give up on that girl.”
“N-no...!”
Nangwon looked even more horrified than before.
The boy, his eyes turning red, gripped his sister’s body tightly as if he would never let go.
Alon asked Rangban on his behalf.
“The reason?”
Rangban’s gaze shifted to the side.
“...Those Baarma bastards have already toyed with her. Look at her leg.”
When Alon lowered his gaze, he saw a massive, pulsating egg burrowed deep into the girl’s flesh.
“That is—”
“It is one of Baarma’s authorities. Once an ‘egg’ is implanted in the body in any form, the host has no choice but to supply it with nutrients until the parasite is born.”
“...What happens when the parasite is born?”
“The host dies. Moreover, if we travel with the host, our location will be exposed to the Baarma believers.”
“You mean they can track us?”
“Ordinary believers might not be able to, but those at the Bishop level will.”
“L-lies—”
At Rangban’s explanation, Nangwon’s face, which had held a glimmer of hope just moments ago, twisted in agony.
“It is not a lie. If I intended to lie, I would have spoken even more virulently about Half-demons.”
But Rangban’s grim expression confirmed his words were true.
“Cough! Cough-cough!”
Nangwon’s sister, who had been wheezing as if her breath might stop at any moment, began to cough violently.
“Sister! Sister!”
Thick tears began to fall from Nangwon’s eyes.
The girl, slowly stroking her brother’s wet cheek, looked at Alon.
“Thank you... truly.”
“...”
“I know I have no right to ask, but... please look after my brother... Thank you, truly.”
She was asking to be left behind.
But she begged him to save her brother at all costs.
Tears flowed endlessly from the eyes of the girl, who had squeezed out the last of her strength.
Her young brother couldn't even bring himself to cry out loud, only hugging his sister tighter.
Watching the siblings, Alon unconsciously let out a heavy sigh and looked up.
The sky was still ash-gray.
And beneath that grayness, far too many tragedies were being born.
Just as his heart was being dyed gray by the suffocating atmosphere.
“Godfather.”
“...What is it?”
“Do you want to save that girl?”
Line asked quietly.
Alon turned toward her.
“Is there a way?”
“That thing... we might be able to remove it if we do it now.”
Line spoke flatly, watching the girl’s leg without showing any emotion.
“I think so too.”
Penia nodded as if in agreement.
Line took another step toward the girl.
“That parasite is currently sucking the host’s life force, converting it into a certain type of power, and pushing it back in. The reason is likely—it’s trying to become an essential organ for the host’s survival.”
“...To make it impossible to remove?”
“Exactly. However, it hasn't progressed that far yet, so removal is definitely possible. But—”
“But?”
“To ensure complete removal, we have to take out the roots, but the parasite has already burrowed its roots deep into the girl’s leg. In other words, to save her life, we’ll have to cut off the leg.”
Given the circumstances, delicate surgery was impossible.
In the end, the only way was to excise the entire area that had become the parasite’s nest.
Just as a half-measure of hope emerged.
“No, perhaps we can save the leg.”
Penia, who had been lost in thought, spoke up.
“Ah— Ahhh—”
Soon, hope began to fill Nangwon’s eyes.
* * *
Exactly two weeks had passed since they took Nangwon in.
In conclusion, Nangwon’s sister was successfully saved without having her leg amputated.
It was possible because of Kalanon’s Divinity.
‘That parasite seems to be made of a faint divinity. Since mana and divinity naturally repel each other, trying to pull it out with mana would put her life at risk. But with Kalanon’s Divinity, we should be able to extract it safely.’
Following Penia’s advice, Alon used Kalanon’s Divinity and was able to save the sister without much difficulty.
And as a result.
“...Big brother—I’ve brought your meal.”
“You don't have to do this.”
“No. I want to be of help to you, even in small things like this.”
Thanks to that, Alon had gained another younger brother(?).
The treatment was truly devoted.
Alon realized for the first time that inverted eyes could actually look sparkling as he took the sweet potato Nangwon handed him.
“Thanks.”
“It’s nothing. I will serve you for the rest of my life.”
“...”
The words ‘You don't have to go that far’ almost slipped out, but he couldn't say them to Nangwon, who was nodding firmly with eyes full of resolve.
Alon ended up nodding back awkwardly.
At that moment.
“Ah!”
Ryanga, who was also bringing a sweet potato presumably for Alon, scowled.
“Hey! It’s my turn!”
“What do you mean, ‘your turn’? You were slow, and since Big Brother was hungry, I brought it to him first.”
With that as a signal, Ryanga and Nangwon began to bicker.
Considering their future presence and status, Alon felt a sense of grandeur watching these two—who could probably wipe out a country or two as if the Five Great Sins had descended if they ever truly fought—snapping and arguing with each other. But the feeling was fleeting.
“...Lord Alon, here you are.”
Alon walked toward Rangban, who had come to find him.
“What’s the situation?”
“Good. Especially this time, there are many survivors, and the ratio of soldiers captured from the Alliance is higher than that of civilians.”
It was good news.
Over the past two weeks, Alon had raided more than five ritual sites, excluding the one where he saved Nangwon, and rescued people.
Thanks to that, there were now many more people in this hideout.
“Furthermore, thanks to you, Lord Alon, morale is quite high.”
“Thanks to me?”
“Yes. A god, by their very existence, serves as a pillar of support for people.”
At Rangban’s words, Alon recalled when they first started calling him a ‘God.’
‘I believe the first time was when I saved Nangwon.’
Since then, Alon had treated people similar to Nangwon’s sister at the ritual sites several times.
First, it was a Dragonkin.
Then, a race covered in horns that Alon had never seen before.
And finally, an Elf.
Thanks to those miraculous sights, Alon was being revered as a god by them.
Alon didn't bother to deny it.
Simply by not denying it, there was much to be gained immediately.
Since a separate divinity hadn't been formed yet, it didn't seem like he was accumulating divinity, but just by calling Alon a god and relying on him, the atmosphere of the hideout, which had been shrouded in anxiety, had improved significantly.
In their eyes, which had held only anxiety and despair, a very faint glimmer of hope had begun to dwell.
“However—it’s not all good news.”
“...Is that so?”
“Yes. It seems Baarma’s side will likely start moving soon.”
“We’ve been running wild for two weeks, so it’s about time they made a move.”
“Actually, since there are dozens of ritual sites besides this one, they could afford to be more relaxed, but...”
“You’re saying we should be prepared.”
“Exactly. That’s why—I believe we should move as quickly as possible to gather the ritual sites and head upward.”
“How many are left?”
“There are about three in this vicinity. Once we rescue everyone there, we can gather more people as we move up. And—”
Rangban hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“About Dharma.”
“Did you hear something about Ryanga’s hometown?”
He fell silent for a moment, then spoke cautiously with a somewhat grim expression.
“I have something to tell you regarding that.”
“...?”
* * *
“What?”
Hidan, who had just returned from the North on the Red Moon’s orders, heard truly bizarre news.
No, it wasn't just bizarre.
At least to Hidan’s ears, it was incredibly unpleasant, harsh, and potentially catastrophic.
Therefore, he asked Yuna once more with a serious expression.
But the answer that came back—
“...The Great Moon has passed away.”
“That’s... impossible—”
It didn't change.
No matter how many times he asked seriously, it remained the same.
So very, desperately so.
And.
“...Have the other Moons been notified?”
“No. But—the information started leaking five hours ago, so in a day or two...”
At Yuna’s following words, Hidan fell silent.
He realized instinctively what would happen when that rumor spread.
“...”
Hidan’s eyes began to tremble uncontrollably.