Chapter 293: The Sin of Greed (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 293: The Sin of Greed (4)
Magrina looked at Elivan.
Elivan looked back at Magrina.
However, no words passed between them.
There was only silence.
How long did that state persist?
"…To be honest, I didn't think you'd recognize me," Elivan was the first to speak into the silence.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. A fair amount of time has passed for you, even if it hasn't for me."
"I believe the same could be said for both of us."
"Well… I am human, after all."
At the hint of amusement in Elivan’s voice, Magrina responded with a subtle smile.
"Isn't it a bit strange to call yourself human after living for such a long time?"
"Living for a long time, eh? Well, let's just say that's half right and half wrong."
The smile vanished from Magrina’s face at his answer.
In contrast, Elivan continued to speak with a calm smile still playing on his lips.
"May I ask a favor?"
"What kind of favor?"
The man, who had been composed throughout, took a moment to catch his breath.
"Please keep this matter a secret from the Marquis."
Magrina began to deliberate.
"…."
Her contemplation stretched on.
However, Elivan waited for her calmly, without any sign of rushing her.
"Very well."
Soon, an acceptance came, one that felt light compared to the length of her silence.
"…That’s unexpected. I didn't think the Queen would agree so easily," Elivan said, sounding genuinely surprised.
"Did you not?"
"No. To be honest, I thought we’d have to talk much longer. I also thought we’d both have to reveal a bit more of what we’re hiding."
"What we’re hiding?"
"Oh, come now—I admitted it readily enough. Are you planning to keep denying it?"
Elivan let out a short laugh at Magrina’s reaction, and then—
"You devoured him, didn't you? Baarma."
As soon as those words left his mouth, the smile on Magrina’s face froze instantly.
"…You are a deeper person than I thought. No one else has noticed until now."
"I happen to know quite a lot. For instance—that you’ve gone beyond simply controlling Baarma’s power and have completely mastered it?"
"…You truly do know a great deal."
"But don't worry. Just as you won't speak of my identity, I have no intention of revealing yours to the Marquis. So, let’s keep this as our mutual secret."
Elivan held up his pinky finger.
Magrina stared at it for a moment before slowly parting her lips.
"…Then, since we’re at it, let me tell you one more thing, Elivan."
"What would that be, Your Majesty?"
"If you ever do anything to my brother—"
In that instant.
The world, which had been bathed only in blue moonlight, shifted.
The surrounding vision was dyed in shades of red and purple.
Those lights mixed chaotically, creating a bizarre world that looked as if it had been painted over with a thick brush.
As the moon in the night sky turned to a purple glow—
Skreeeeee—
Strange things surged across the night sky where the Milky Way had once been.
It was a sight that was beyond grotesque; it was sinister.
And in the center of it all.
Magrina, radiating a spine-chilling magic, spoke.
"—You had better think carefully about what will happen to you."
She whispered low, her red eyes flashing through her green pupils as she glared at Elivan.
Elivan remained silent for a moment in the face of her warning.
"…Don't worry. Nothing like me harming the Marquis will ever happen. After all, isn't that why you decided to keep my secret? Because you judged me to be no threat to him?"
He countered without backing down.
It was as he said.
The reason Magrina was not revealing Elivan’s secret was precisely because she had judged that he would never harm Alon.
The power Elivan possessed was extraordinary.
If he put his mind to it, he could have harmed Alon at any moment.
But he hadn't.
Furthermore, though his motives were unclear, he had even brought Alon’s ring to her.
Nevertheless.
She had brandished her power just in case, but Elivan didn't waver in the slightest.
No—
Instead, a vivid smile spread across his lips.
"I'll say it again: don't worry. I received the same thing as you, Your Majesty."
"…The same thing?"
"What did you receive from the Marquis?"
"…."
There were many things Magrina had received from Alon.
He had saved her life multiple times.
He had protected her time and again.
And in the end, he had even solved her deepest problems.
That wasn't all.
She had received so much from Alon that she couldn't list it all right then and there.
He gave her the strength to live among her loathsome kin.
He made it possible for her to become the Queen of those kin.
He gave her───
He──
He─
He.
…Alon.
He had given Magrina far too much.
So much that she could never see the end of it.
Therefore, Magrina thought of a single word that could encompass everything Alon had done for her.
That word was.
'Hope.'
The way he had reached out and handed her the thing she needed most while she was in the bottomless abyss.
"It's the same for me."
Magrina, who had been blankly recalling those memories, looked forward at the sudden voice.
Elivan was still standing there.
His blue eyes shone with a light that seemed as if it would never go out.
With a gentle smile, he spoke.
"I, too—received hope."
Elivan spoke clearly.
"A hope that was like salvation."
* * *
In the eastern part of Greinif.
Ramu, a member of the Black Leaf who once guarded the roots of the World Tree but now followed the Queen's orders after the roots were purified, was—
Kieeeek!
Watching a horde of Goblins and Orcs rushing toward her.
There were at least dozens of them.
Despite the overwhelming numbers, Ramu showed no sense of crisis and simply gripped her spear.
After a short while.
"…."
The only things surrounding her were the corpses of the Green-skins.
Everywhere lay bodies whose lives had been cut short, their vital points pierced with precision.
However, the expression on Ramu’s face, despite having dispatched the Green-skins so easily, did not look particularly relieved.
The reason was the phenomenon visible on the Green-skins' corpses.
The Green-skins she had dealt with were different from ordinary ones.
They were more ferocious, and there was a clear difference in their strength.
But above all else, what caught Ramu’s eye was—
"…That is."
The ashen skin visible in patches all over the Green-skins' bodies.
And it wasn't just any gray.
"Ash powder… why is it here?"
It was the same kind of skin as the ash powder that had been beneath the roots.
Ramu watched the ash powder begin to scatter among the corpses and started walking toward the direction they had come from.
When she ventured deep into the forest.
"!"
She saw them.
■■■…….
The forms of the 'Ash Scatterers' that the Primordial Elf had dealt with back then.
And there wasn't just one.
'…Four?!'
There were as many as four of them.
Her shock lasted only a moment.
Ramu immediately turned around to head back to Greinif.
She had to report this fact as quickly as possible.
However.
Unfortunately, Ramu had to stop before she could get far.
The reason was.
Kerek!
A number of Green-skins so vast it was almost laughable had surrounded her before she knew it, as if they had been waiting.
"…!"
Ramu silently grit her teeth.
* * *
"…Your control is still unstable, but this should be at least somewhat helpful to your formula."
"…Is that so?"
"But don't maintain it for too long. Unless you want your brain to fry and die without even knowing it. If it feels like it's overloading, turn it off immediately."
Alon, facing Kailas, was listening to his explanation.
"Understood."
Alon nodded.
However, Kailas looked at Alon strangely and added.
"I'm saying this just in case, but never 'complete' it. Your current self won't be able to withstand it."
He spoke as if to confirm it once more.
"…You worry too much. I don't want to die either."
"I've never seen someone who doesn't want to die throw their body around so recklessly, though."
Alon fell silent at Kailas’s follow-up remark and quickly changed the subject.
"Then is this the end of the training?"
"You could say that. You need more practice, but from now on, it's something you must do yourself without my help."
[Gyu—]
While Alon was lost in thought, stroking Blackie as it made a soft purring sound on his shoulder.
"Come to think of it, there was something else I needed to tell you."
"What?"
"You asked me, didn't you? That you wanted to unify your powers."
Alon let out a low exclamation.
After it became certain that the Sins would keep emerging, he had asked Kailas the same question.
"It's not so much about unifying them as it is that they feel too scattered and disorganized until now."
Kailas, who had been watching Alon for a moment, began to speak.
"First, to be clear, I don't know a way to unify your powers. I am a Magus, not a god."
"I see—"
"However, I can at least tell you a way to become stronger."
"…Are you talking about the Spirit Dragon?"
"No. I'm already teaching you that."
"Then?"
At Alon’s question, Kailas tapped his own head.
"You are different from me. Even though you haven't inherited a Heart Image, you can use the magic of other Magi as if it were nothing."
He continued his explanation.
Then, suddenly.
"…Tsk."
He clicked his tongue and fell silent.
"What's wrong?"
Alon expressed his confusion.
But Kailas—
"…It seems this isn't a situation where I can teach you anything right now."
He muttered, then added.
"We'll talk next time. It seems an urgent situation has arisen outside."
He thrust something black toward Alon.
"?"
In the next moment.
Alon realized he had been 'killed' there and ejected from the Feet Running Through the Past.
While he stood there dazed, unable to understand what had happened.
"Marquis!"
Penia’s urgent cry reached him.
The moment he saw her, Alon’s eyes widened slightly as well.
Before he had gone in to meet Kailas, Penia had been happily devouring books in the library.
"What is it?"
"Something terrible has happened—!"
She grabbed Alon with a face more serious than ever before.
Sensing that something was wrong, Alon immediately stood up.
Standing before the capital walls of Phildegrin, where he had followed her.
"…That is—"
He was left speechless.
It was only natural, for what appeared before Alon’s eyes were the 'Ash Scatterers' he had dealt with once before.
And there wasn't just one like there had been at the roots—
"Ash Scatterers…?"
There were four of them.
They were scattering magma, turning the entire green forest into a sea of fire as they approached Phildegrin.
Alon froze involuntarily at the sight.
It wasn't because of the power of the Ash Scatterers.
If Alon and the others currently in Phildegrin worked together, they could easily stop something like an Ash Scatterer.
The reason Alon froze was the very fact that the Ash Scatterers existed.
As far as Alon knew, they only appeared when the 'Sin of Greed' emerged.
And if four Ash Scatterers were gathered in one place, it meant only one thing.
'Don't tell me the Sin of Greed—'
Alon had no choice but to accept it.
The fact that right here, right now,
The Sin of Greed had been born.