Chapter 335: Bewilderment (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 335: Bewilderment (1)
The nebula fell, and after the pure white light swallowed everything...
As the world returned to its senses, the soldiers stared.
“...Whoa.”
“This is...”
They were looking at a massive crater.
No, rather than a crater, it felt more like a giant lake that had suddenly been parched bone-dry.
The sight before them was that unrealistic.
“What on earth is this—?”
“Is this even possible?”
The mages’ reactions were hardly any different.
“...You’re saying this is magic implemented by a human?”
“Ha...”
“This is the archetype of Primitive Magic...”
Selaim, Parkline, and even Sharan—who had been preparing a backup plan atop the castle wall—muttered blankly, their eyes filled with awe.
While everyone else was gasping in admiration, Alon was...
“...Are you alright, Brother?”
“I’m fine.”
He let out a dry sigh, stroking his chest in relief.
I didn't expect it to be this powerful.
He had anticipated it would be strong, considering he had poured every ounce of his Magic of Defying Heaven into it, but he hadn't expected it to possess enough destructive power to nearly sweep him away as well.
...It would have been dangerous if Ladan hadn't been here.
The moment the magic manifested and plummeted, Ladan had moved as if he’d been waiting for that exact second to shield him. Alon offered his thanks.
“Thanks. That could have been bad.”
“Hey, don't mention it, Brother. It was nothing.”
Ladan gave a cheerful smile.
“Do you happen to know what happened to the others?”
“Ah, you mean Seolrang and the Hero? Seolrang already pulled out quickly, so she’ll be fine. As for the ‘Hero’—well, you don't really need to worry about him.”
“In the first place, that guy is already at this point—” Ladan muttered, stroking his chin. Leaving him behind, Alon turned his gaze toward the thick mana he felt nearby.
“...”
There, he saw Sloth, collapsed and leaning against the half-broken Sheep’s Skull.
Sloth was not in good shape.
Perhaps because the Grotesque Transformation had failed, the lower half of his body had vanished, and the Sheep’s Skull—the medium for his transformation—was almost entirely shattered.
In short, he had sustained enough damage to be rendered incapable of further combat.
“...So it ends like this.”
Sloth’s murmur drifted through the air.
His eyes had returned to how they were at the very beginning. Those weary, listless eyes he had shown when he first appeared, basking in everyone’s terror.
Even now, facing death, they remained the same.
Alon watched this Sin, who was different from the others—or rather, different from the Sins in his memories—and suddenly spoke.
“May I ask you one question?”
“...”
Sloth did not answer. He simply stared.
Nevertheless, Alon asked.
“What did you mean when you said you wanted to protect something?”
Sloth had definitely mentioned it when he first appeared. That he wanted to protect something.
That statement had been weighing on Alon’s mind.
The Sins he knew—and the Sins he had actually seen so far—were exactly as he remembered.
They appeared by feeding on human despair.
They moved to bring about human extinction.
They were beings that existed to cause harm rather than to protect anything.
And yet, such a being—a Sin that had been destroying the world in cycles he didn't even fully understand—claimed there was something he wanted to protect. Alon was curious as to what that could be.
“...”
Sloth stared silently at Alon for a moment before answering.
“You all.”
Suddenly, that was his response.
“...What?”
For a moment, Alon’s expressionless mask cracked.
He couldn't understand.
Alon asked again, his features contorted in confusion, but Sloth had already begun to crumble into ash.
“What I wanted to protect was—”
With those final words...
“—Humans.”
...he vanished completely.
“...”
Alon stared at the spot where even the ash had disappeared.
“...What?”
His brow furrowed even deeper.
However, he couldn't remain trapped in his own questions for long.
“Brother.”
“...Ah, Ladan?”
“Yeah. Sorry to interrupt your thinking, but I think it’s about time I said goodbye.”
“Ah—”
Alon snapped out of it at Ladan’s words.
Once a little more time passed, the Beast of Possibility would be deactivated. Alon realized that the Ladan standing before him would then return to his original self.
“!”
He opened his mouth to ask one last question, but...
“No can do, Brother.”
“...”
As if he already knew what Alon was going to ask, Ladan grinned.
“You know about the Butterfly Effect, right?”
“...Right.”
“I think it’s best if I leave after giving just this much help.”
Ah—if only I could have used the Relics, I could have bragged a bit more.
Watching Ladan mutter to himself, Alon said, “...I think I can at least ask this much.”
“What is it? You have to be careful, Brother.”
“Are you from the future?”
“The future, huh? Well—”
Ladan thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Strictly speaking, yes.”
“And you and I know each other... I suppose there’s no point in asking that.”
“Of course. Oh—”
Nodding, Ladan seemed to remember something and handed Alon an object.
“Brother. Once I go back to normal, could you give this to me?”
“...This is?”
“Hmm—if you give it to that guy, he’ll know.”
What he received from Ladan was a blue gem.
“...Didn't you say you couldn't speak because of the Butterfly Effect?”
“Ah, what I’m giving you now is a bit different from that.”
“...”
As Alon wondered what was different, Ladan pressed the gem firmly into his hand.
“I’m counting on you. I’m pretty incompetent at this point in time, you see.”
Adding that, he raised his hand slightly in a farewell gesture.
“Well then, I’ll say my goodbyes here. I have a few things to say to Seolrang and the Hero, too.”
“...The Hero?”
“Yeah, the Hero... Ah, is it Elivan in this era?”
“Weren't you worried about the Butterfly Effect? Aren't you letting too much slip?”
“Aha—well, this much should be fine, right?”
Ladan shrugged and started to turn away, but then he paused.
“Oh, and there was something else I wanted to say.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah.”
He approached Alon once more.
Thump.
He placed a hand on Alon’s shoulder.
“Brother, trust your own choices. Your choices have never been wrong. Not even once.”
He spoke with absolute conviction.
“What does that—”
Alon tried to ask as the atmosphere suddenly turned serious.
“Anyway, that’s really it! I’m almost out of time! I’m off, Brother!”
But Ladan gave another cheerful laugh and vanished.
“...”
For a long while, Alon could only stare blankly at the empty air where Ladan had been.
* * *
In conclusion, Alon emerged victorious in the battle against the Sin of Sloth.
Furthermore, as the Sin of Sloth was defeated, the Black Territory vanished as if it had never existed, bringing the related incidents to a close.
However, even though Sloth had been dealt with, the situation in the Ashtalon Kingdom was far from good.
More than half of the kingdom had disappeared due to the Black Territory spread by Sloth.
Of course, the castles and territories remained, but that was meaningless. A territory is nothing without its people.
And the crisis of the Ashtalon territory felt very real to Alon as well.
The reason was the ‘Empire.’
Originally, Psychedelia, which dealt with the story of the ‘United Kingdoms,’ and Calypsophobia, which contained the story of the ‘Empire,’ were not connected within the game.
Except for one specific situation.
That was when the continued existence of the United Kingdoms was threatened.
In that scenario, the system dictated that the Empire would inevitably invade the United Kingdoms. And fundamentally, the moment the Empire began its invasion, the United Kingdoms would collapse in an instant.
Alon was slightly worried about that part.
It never actually reached the point of total destruction, so I probably don't need to worry that much, but—
It wasn't easy to simply ignore the original settings or background he knew.
Still, there’s something more important right now.
Alon shifted his thoughts back to what the Sin had said earlier.
...He tried to protect humans... huh.
He had continued to think about it even after the situation had settled down, but Alon still couldn't understand Sloth’s words.
It was only natural. The Sins’ goal was to kill humans, and Sloth himself had been trying to destroy this world.
So why did Sloth say such a thing?
Of course, if it wasn't the common opinion of the other Sins, but Sloth’s own thought... No, even thinking that way is strange.
Alon clicked his tongue. How long had he been lost in thought?
“Marquis.”
“Evan.”
“So this is where you were? I’ve been looking for you.”
Evan approached Alon, who had been watching people lightly toast to the successful resolution of the crisis from one side of the ballroom.
“Was someone looking for me?”
“There were many such people, but that’s not why I’m here. I was just worried because you suddenly disappeared when you’re not in the best physical condition.”
“I just had some things to think about.”
“Can't you do your thinking while lying in bed?”
“I suppose so.”
Alon replied with a murmur and looked down at the floor below.
“Ooh—this divine beast is the one who dealt with those lumps of flesh just now—”
[Ahem!!]
“Ooh!”
Surrounded by mages, Basiliora seemed to be in a great mood from being worshipped for the first time in a long while. He held his head high with an air of majesty.
[Kyu...]
And on another table, Blackie lay munching on food, looking at the scene with disdain.
...Though Blackie himself was also acting quite smug while surrounded by mages.
Finally, Alon checked that the nobles were gathered in a large crowd around Elivan and spoke.
“They’re having a good time.”
“I honestly couldn't stand the sight of Basiliora. He’s been like that for almost two hours. Just how starved for attention was he?”
Evan clicked his tongue.
“Well, he was originally a god.”
“Do all gods crave attention like that...?”
“Well—”
Probably not all of them, Alon was about to answer, but then he suddenly thought of Kalanon. He thought of her playing around in Divine Land as a white cat, trying to recover her divinity by any means necessary.
“—It’s a matter of survival for them.”
“...But that guy isn't a god anymore; he’s just a pet, so he doesn't need it, does he?”
“That’s true.”
At Alon’s nod, Evan let out a long sigh.
Watching him, Alon asked as if he had just remembered.
“Evan. Have you heard any news regarding the Gem of the Blind One?”
“Uh—not yet.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. However, they said they found a clue, so they asked us to wait just a little longer.”
After confirming the progress...
“Let’s head down.”
Leaving his unresolved questions behind for now, they walked toward their quarters.
“Are you Marquis Palatio?”
“...I am, but who are you?”
They met a mage on the stairs. A mage in a red robe who looked much older than Alon.
He suddenly bowed his head deeply.
Then...
“I am Gunan Kroats, a professor at the Red Magic Tower.”
“Ah, yes—”
“It’s nothing else, but I happen to be quite good at basic calculations, and I participated extensively in the section regarding ‘Atia’s Intermediate Paradox,’ one of the Red Magic Tower’s research papers.”
“I see.”
“Also, I have a separate magic called ‘Atius Mage’ that I created using simple calculation formulas, and this—”
He began to give a fervent briefing about himself.
“...?”
Alon looked at Evan, bewildered.
However...
“??”
Evan also tilted his head, looking equally clueless.
“Ahem—I’ve talked too long. Anyway, that’s how it is.”
After rattling off his piece, the Red Magic Tower professor vanished.
...What was that?
Confused and burdened with a new question, Alon reached the bottom of the stairs and was heading toward his assigned room when...
“Ah, Marquis Palatio! Here you are!”
“...And you are?”
“Ah, my apologies for the late introduction. I am Uyarn Palbin, a senior professor at the Blue Magic Tower.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Ahem—first, to introduce myself, would you happen to be familiar with the papers ‘Kreutz’s Reverse Calculation’ and ‘Jalman Intermediate Calculation’ in the field of basic arithmetic?”
“...???”
Once again, he was subjected to a mage’s natural briefing.
“Hello! Marquis, I am from the Purple Magic Tower—”
“I am from the Blue Magic Tower—!”
“...”
During his walk, he heard two more boasts about ‘basic calculations’ from different mages.
Utterly baffled by the inexplicable situation, Alon barely made it back to his room.
The next day.
“Good morning, Marquis. I am from the Red Magic Tower—”
“I am from the Green Magic Tower—”
“...???”
Mages naturally began flocking to his room as soon as Alon woke up.
He began to feel the strangeness of this parade of self-introductions that had continued from the previous day.
About two hours later...
“Good morning, Marquis! Interview number 19! I am Torin, a mage belonging to the Green Magic Tower! I am very confident in my basic calculations! If you choose me—!”
At some point, surrounded by mages who were passionately appealing to him as if it were the most natural thing in the world—even shouting interview numbers that Alon himself knew nothing about...
“...???”
...Alon sat with his fingers interlaced, his mind blooming with nothing but questions.