Chapter 290: The Sin of Greed (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 290: The Sin of Greed (1)
In the eastern reaches of the United Kingdoms.
Deep within a lush forest, perhaps closer to the elven land of Greinif than the United Kingdoms themselves.
"Ugh—"
A woman crawled out from beneath the earth, breaking through the soil.
Her face was contorted in a grimace as she dry-heaved repeatedly.
Emil, the Apostle of Greed, frowned deeply as she gathered her thoughts.
Who the hell is that bastard?
Memories inherited from her previous life flickered through her mind.
The moment she had encountered that bizarre entity with blue eyes, and the man dressed in a black Holy Shroud she saw immediately after waking up in her next body.
Furthermore, she struggled to identify the being who had stripped her of her power so effortlessly, though she had no idea how he had accomplished it. Emil eventually forced herself to stand.
Even with the 'Library'—which remained only in a limited capacity since she had handed most of it over to her avatar—she could find no information regarding that entity's identity.
This is the last one.
Anxious, Emil bit her lip.
She had no more spare bodies prepared.
In other words, if she were killed this time.
She would not be able to revive again; she would face a permanent, absolute death right then and there.
I can't let that happen. Never.
Emil began to force her body to move, though it was not yet properly synchronized.
In truth, she hadn't expected to be pushed to using this body. It was a backup she had prepared as a last resort, and it was riddled with issues. It wasn't calibrated, and more importantly, the location where she had buried it was extremely dangerous.
She attempted to move quickly to escape the area, but...
"Hmm—you've come back to life."
Regrettably, her movements froze the instant she heard that voice.
Emil's eyes trembled violently.
She knew this voice all too well.
After all, the owner of this voice was—
"You—"
—the man who had usurped a portion of her authority, a man whose identity even she could not fathom.
"—!"
In a split second, black roots erupted from beneath Emil's feet, lashing out toward the man in the black Holy Shroud.
She knew that without her 'Book' and with such a poor vessel, she was risking severe physical backlash, but she had to push herself to avoid death.
However.
"Didn't you try that last time?"
Unfortunately, her attack was thwarted by the man in black with pathetic ease.
No, to be precise, it wasn't even blocked.
The roots lunged toward him, only to crumble into dust before they could even touch him.
"It's utterly meaningless."
"…!"
As Emil's eyes filled with terror at the bizarre sight, the man in the black Holy Shroud approached her nonchalantly.
Tap.
He lightly flicked her forehead with his finger.
And then.
"Rejoice. I am giving you a special gift."
Emil, confused by his words, suddenly—
"!"
—gasped as she realized her body was hardening into a chalky white.
She knew exactly what this phenomenon meant.
"A gift most fitting for an Apostle."
"St-Stop! Stop it!"
Emil's eyes were completely consumed by horror.
But regardless of her emotions, her body continued to calcify, turning white as it prepared to be recreated.
Prepared to be reborn as a Sin.
"Stop! I said stop! Please…!"
Emil no longer cared about the question of how this man could perform an act that only an Apostle should be capable of.
Instead, she simply begged.
Yet, despite her desperate pleas, the man merely looked down at her.
"Shouldn't you be happy? You are offering your entire body to become an inevitability of the world."
"Shut up—! Shut up! Save me! Please save me! I—this isn't what I wanted—!"
Emil screamed, her face twisted in rage and fear at his words.
He fell silent for a moment, watching her.
"You… are an entity that cannot even be called an Apostle."
"Wh-what?"
He spoke coldly.
"You know nothing. You are merely drunk on power, ignorant of why these things exist, oblivious to their noble purpose, and unaware of your own reason for being—"
Just another fool.
The man muttered quietly, but no further words came from Emil.
Her body had already hardened into a white shell, completing its preparation to be forged into a new existence.
The man looked down at the husk for a moment before shifting his gaze to the Milky Way stretching across the night sky.
Soon, his form vanished.
All that remained was...
Crack—
A white cocoon.
A pure, stark white cocoon, currently undergoing a metamorphosis into something else.
* * *
It had been about two weeks since Alon left the Eastern Country.
"Phew—"
Alon, who was returning to the United Kingdoms aboard Ladan's ship, the Treasure Vault, was continuing his training with Kailas with Penia's assistance.
[Kyu—]
"Oh, he's staying out longer now."
As Alon stroked the head of Blackie, who had crawled out onto his chest and was wagging his tail, Penia remarked.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Before, he would go back in quickly, but now his stay time seems to be gradually increasing."
"He is certainly improving, albeit slowly."
At first, Alon had been concerned because his endurance hadn't increased as much as he'd hoped. Unlike then, he was now able to withstand the training with Kailas for a considerable amount of time.
And the technique I've been practicing lately is quite decent… though I'm still lacking in proficiency.
As he briefly thought of the magic Kailas had recently passed down to him.
"Well—shall we call it a day then?"
"Let's. I need to research magic and look into the Divinities further."
Alon sighed lightly as he spoke.
He had been quite busy lately despite being on a journey, and the reason was, of course, what he had heard from Noise.
The appearance of the Sins is an inevitability.
In other words, even if Alon had dealt with the Apostles, the manifestation of the Sins was a foregone conclusion. He needed to be prepared to stop them.
Of course, there were others in Psychedelia capable of stopping the Sins besides Alon.
According to the original story, there was Elivan and his companions, as well as numerous other powerhouses whose presence depended on the path Elivan took.
However, the reason he was training this hard was...
Because he had repeatedly experienced that the current world was somehow different from the world of Psychedelia he knew.
Therefore.
I will prepare to the utmost.
Regardless of Elivan, Alon intended to make his own preparations to stop the Sins.
His first task was to draw out his own abilities to their maximum potential.
He had already accomplished several things. He had organized his hand seals and Phrases to some extent, leaving only further research. He could now properly utilize two Divinities, even if he couldn't reach three yet.
But Alon knew.
This wasn't enough to face the Sins.
He still hadn't mastered the Art of Defying Heaven.
While researching magic, he was also considering gathering individuals to help deal with the Sins.
After all, a Sin was not an entity one could face alone.
First, I'll return and rescue Line, then I should start making contact with the other powerhouses.
He also had to go meet the Observer, just as Noise had said.
As Alon was calmly organizing his future tasks.
"Ah, by the way, Marquis. Once we disembark and head to Greinif, how long will we be staying there?"
Penia asked.
"That is the plan, but why do you ask?"
"Well, I think I might have to stop by the Blue Magic Tower for a bit."
"The Magic Tower? Is something wrong?"
"No, it's because of the Magic Society. Remember? I told you I published a thesis a while back."
"I remember."
"Publishing it was the main thing, but I still need to give a lecture once. So, I was wondering when we'd be heading back."
"Are you planning to go ahead?"
"No? Of course not. Isn't the whole reason we're going to Greinif because of Line Grof?"
When Alon nodded, Penia spoke as if it were obvious.
"No matter how much I crave fame—no, how much ambition I have—I'm not such a terrible person that I wouldn't go to welcome back someone who sacrificed themselves for us."
She added that if it weren't for Line, they would have all fallen into the void of space-time and been torn apart. It was all thanks to her that they weren't floating around as dust.
"…Is that so?"
"Right?"
"I'm surprised."
"Excuse me?"
"No, I just thought you'd head to the Society first."
"…I've been thinking this for a while, but don't you think you treat me a bit too harshly?"
"It's a joke."
"You know it doesn't sound like a joke at all when you say it with that face."
Alon averted his gaze from the pouting Penia and began his magic research as if nothing had happened.
It was a peaceful afternoon.
* * *
Time passed, and soon only about a month remained until Line's seal was set to break.
Upon arriving on the continent, Alon immediately decided on their destination.
"Now then, let us move to Greinif."
"Let's go right away."
"Understood."
Evan and Penia nodded at Alon's words.
Alon looked at the two of them, then turned to Historia.
"Ria, what do you plan to do?"
To which Historia replied.
"I'm following you."
She answered immediately, as if the question didn't even require thought.
"Is there nowhere else you need to stop by?"
"Nope."
"Then let's head out immediately… Ah, and Ladan, what about you?"
He asked Ladan this time.
"I will follow as well. I want to make sure Line is safe anyway."
At Ladan's immediate response, Alon spoke to the group.
"Alright, let's head out at once."
He then made his way toward the carriage.
Swish—
Historia naturally moved to Alon's side, wrapping her tail around his waist.
It had been a bit strange at first, but after a month, it had become quite a familiar sensation.
Alon walked toward the carriage as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"If we move straight from here, I think we'll arrive in about three weeks."
"That's good. It's better to have plenty of time."
The moment he opened the carriage door while discussing the schedule with Penia.
""??""
His eyes widened.
Not only his, but everyone present wore a look of utter bewilderment.
It was only natural.
Inside the carriage Alon had arrived in—
"Zzz…"
Seolrang, who definitely shouldn't have been there, was fast asleep, looking as comfortable as could be.
"…Seolrang?"
At Alon's low call.
"Eek-?!"
Seolrang woke up with a start.
"…Gasp."
Realizing the situation a moment too late, her eyes darted around frantically.
Everyone stood in stunned silence for a long time, watching Seolrang's ocular gymnastics.
* * *
Meanwhile.
In the Holy Kingdom of Rosario.
"Now then, we shall conclude this meeting here."
"Understood."
"Good work, everyone."
"As you all know, we must discuss the vacancy of the Pope next time, so please ensure your attendance."
The meeting attended by the Cardinals and Yuman had just ended.
After all the Cardinals had filed out.
"Phew."
Yuman let out a deep sigh.
It was the fourth long meeting in a single week.
As Yuman rubbed his temples to soothe a throbbing headache, an object on the conference table suddenly caught his eye.
"…?"
It was a piece of scrap metal.
A piece of metal that had been crushed beyond recognition.
Naturally, Yuman approached it and tilted his head in confusion.
Scrap metal could be found anywhere, but for it to be in the conference room...
It felt strange.
After wondering about it for a while, Yuman suddenly remembered that the seat belonged to Cardinal Yutia.
At that moment.
"…Huh?"
He realized something.
The silver cup that sat at every other Cardinal's seat was missing from the spot where Cardinal Yutia had been sitting.
"…."
Yuman looked at the scrap metal again.
And then he saw something he hadn't noticed before.
On the surface of the metal—or rather, what used to be a smooth silver cup—the engraved crest of the kingdom was ruthlessly mangled.
"…??"
He stood speechless for a long time, staring at the state of the cup, which seemed impossible to have been achieved by human strength alone.