Chapter 329

Chapter 329. The Name Called Sloth (2)

“How much longer?”

“If we keep going like this, we’re almost there.”

A week had passed since Alon Palatio departed for Ashtalon.

There were three reasons why he hadn’t realized that the events occurring in Ashtalon were due to the birth of the Sin of Sloth.

The first: the monsters.

Although many things were already going differently from the original, the appearances of the sins Alon knew hadn’t changed much, nor had their objectives.

In other words:

Even if the butterfly effect twisted history chaotically, their fundamental goals remained the same as Alon knew them.

And as far as he knew, the Sin of Sloth does not kill monsters.

The targets of the sins are always humans or mixed races; they do not kill creatures categorized as monsters by the Allied United Kingdom.

The decisive point was the Dark Territory.

From the moment the Sin of Sloth is born, the Dark Territory begins to invade the surface.

That is to say: if rumors started circulating that the Dark Territory was invading the ground, one could be sure that the Sin of Sloth had appeared; if not, it was very difficult to guess.

The Sin of Sloth and the Dark Territory are inseparable, the alpha and the omega of the sin.

“Yuman, how is the situation?”

“Since Ashtalon asked for official help, people are gathering.”

“Faster than expected.”

“Under normal circumstances, everyone would have hesitated, as you predicted, but it seems Stallian V put up a very valuable item as a reward.”

“A valuable item?”

“Yes. I heard… well, I don’t remember the name, but they say it’s like an Abyssal Core without side effects.”

“An Abyssal Core without side effects…?”

“Yes.”

“…Just hearing that sounds suspicious.”

“They say its effect is guaranteed, so everyone is moving. Well, not to mention the Magic Tower.”

Yuman shrugged, and Alon looked away.

There went the mages heading toward Ashtalon with him, along with Sharan and Selaim energetically expounding theories amongst themselves.

“With so many people, this time it should be easier, don’t you think? It might even be resolved already.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Because two more powerful figures have joined, and two of the Swords of Caliburn have already arrived in Ashtalon. Maybe they wiped it out. It is said they went in mass.”

While Alon watched the mages, Yuman added his report.

After a while, Alon spoke:

“…They won’t be able to stop it by simple numbers.”

“Well, I think so too. Three greats died, so with this, it won’t… Although there are soldiers.”

Yuman, who was about to add something like “in combat, quantity…”, remembered previous experiences and left the sentence hanging.

“…No, it might be difficult.”

True. Last time, without Rine, it would have been impossible to defeat the sin.

“Besides, now…”

As he thought, some time passed.

“We have arrived.”

Finally, Alon’s group stepped onto the Kingdom of Ashtalon.

And then:

“Ah.”

Shortly after, Alon let out an involuntary sigh.

It wasn’t just him.

Everyone standing on the cliff gazing at the Kingdom of Ashtalon reacted the same way.

It was natural.

What they saw of the kingdom…

“…It’s not that the situation is grave. It’s worse.”

“Yes.”

It was so terrible it made one frown.

Alon watched with a blank mind.

The Dark Territory was already so close that in a few days it would completely cover Ashtalon.

The forests and meadows sunken into that territory were dyed red with blood.

The metallic smell of bloodshed didn’t stop, and masses of flesh, which couldn’t even be called zombies, moved without emotion, killing one another.

It was just one group.

But calling it “just one group”…

That monotony, that landscape…

They clearly revealed what had happened inside the Dark Territory until now.

For a moment, Alon and the others could only stare, motionless, unable to move.

Upon entering the kingdom, Alon found familiar faces.

“Ah, Master!”

“Brother!”

First Seolrang and Radan.

“Big Brother—!”

“Marquis—!”

“Saint, and you too, Filian.”

Then Yuman and Filian.

And in the end…

“Marquis—!”

“Eliban, you are here too.”

“The situation requires it. I am glad to see you after so long…!”

Eliban was smiling too brightly for the situation.

The rest of the group, however, had serious faces.

“So they are already in the mid-to-late part…”

Alon thought this upon seeing their equipment, but only for an instant.

“When did you arrive?”

“Before them.”

“Then, the situation—”

He didn’t need to finish the sentence.

“We are leaving.”

“How can you say that now!?”

“What? In what sense does it make no sense?”

“The Allied United Kingdom asked for help!”

He had already witnessed the disastrous strategy meeting.

“Help! Of course, I know that! I, Minanmar, Count of the Colony Kingdom, have come with soldiers and Baba Yaga because of that request.”

“Then why do you say that!”

“The help is useless!”

Count Minanmar glared at Duke Bamantha of Ashtalon, with whom he was arguing, and pointed at the Dark Territory.

“Look at that! It has already reached the vicinity of the kingdom! How are we going to defeat something like that—?”

“As I said, according to the investigations, to stop it we must go to the source on the other side—”

“We already tried! Don’t you see?”

The count slammed the table hard and pointed.

There, masses of flesh were tearing each other apart.

“Those horrors… were our soldiers! They tried to go to the center as you said, using the anti-magic artifact you recommended. And they ended up like that!”

“I didn’t lie!”

“Ha! But you didn’t say the artifact wouldn’t last even ten minutes either!”

“That is because that point in the investigation is still—”

“Anyway, I’m leaving! This is certain death! I am not going to send my soldiers to die!”

“…I believe so too.”

“Sir Kerma! You too—?”

Kerma, the fourth Sword of Caliburn, shook his head.

“Count Minanmar speaks the truth. There is nothing we can do. Unless the kingdom can do something about the Dark Territory…”

If not, none of this makes sense.

Hearing that, Duke Bamantha’s face distorted even more.

The situation was dismal.

Those who had already studied the Dark Territory were withdrawing their support.

Yuman was worried.

A darkened face.

Alon looked at the Saint, then at the Dark Territory.

“…The situation really isn’t good.”

Even compared to the original, the game.

“The Dark Territory has already grown too much.”

The Sin of Sloth becomes stronger the larger the Dark Territory is.

In the game, the more the player prepared, the stronger the sin became. Many players entered without preparation to avoid that.

But this situation was neither the initial phase nor the middle: it was the final one.

And the final phase was where the sin is strongest.

Therefore, the sin Alon had to face now…

Was equal to or stronger than the one he knew from the game.

That is why:

“I can speak.”

If an internal division arose now, their chances would plummet, so he spoke, slightly moving his mana.

He wanted to break the hostile atmosphere by emitting a small magical burst.

But…

“If Marquis Palatio wishes to speak—”

Before releasing the magic…

“We will listen.”

“Ahem—”

Those gathered lowered their voices immediately.

Alon was surprised, extinguished the mana, and felt somewhat uncomfortable.

“Well…”

In the silent room, he thought about what to say first.

“First of all, I do have a method.”

He opened with that.

It was natural for them to doubt him.

They arrived days ago and knew perfectly well the absurdity of the Dark Territory.

So there would be resistance.

Alon would have to convince them, but it wasn’t a great burden.

Although he didn’t know how to eliminate the Dark Territory, he did know the key to solving it.

As he was organizing his words…

“If Marquis Palatio has a method, it is worth listening to.”

Count Minanmar spoke, surprisingly calm.

Alon stood disconcerted for a moment.

But…

“If it is Marquis Palatio, he can be trusted.”

“Of course.”

“I already thought he would have a method.”

More docile reactions.

Alon observed them.

Faces full of trust.

And:

“Master, I knew you would have a way.”

“Brother, of course!”

“As expected, Big Brother!”

“The Marquis truly is amazing…!”

“That is right.”

Everyone looked at him with absolute confidence, without any doubt.

As if saying:

“Obviously we trusted you.”

Thanks to that, without saying almost anything, Alon gained control of the meeting.

But…

“This… what…?”

The confidence was so excessive it even made his stomach ache.

“…He still doesn’t understand his position.”

Only Yuman understood that feeling.

The next day—

“Is that the famous Pirate King’s ship?”

Outside the walls of Ashtalon.

Count Minanmar was looking at the enormous ship floating in the sky.

Not just him.

“That…”

“Incredible.”

“What principle does it use?”

“With current magic, it is impossible…”

Soldiers and mages, gathered by Alon’s order, looked at the ship in surprise.

The mages marveled, but the soldiers didn’t seem as animated.

They knew very well how terrifying the Dark Territory was, already almost upon them, and that ship wasn’t enough to dispel their fear.

The impression of the Dark Territory was etched too deeply in their minds.

That is why:

“…Will it really work?”

Count Minanmar also looked at the sky with a complex expression, remembering the plan Alon had proposed.

At that moment—

“…Brother, this is the limit for going up with the treasure. Should we go higher?”

“No, this is fine.”

“Understood.”

With Radan, Alon advanced toward the prow of the ship, taking a deep breath.

Upon arrival, the wind hit like frozen needles.

Everything below looked like miniatures.

As he silently contemplated the reduced world, Alon spoke:

“Basiliora.”

[Speak.]

“Ready?”

[Whenever you want.]

“Blackie?”

[Kyuu~!]

Listening to Basiliora and Blackie, Alon looked at the Dark Territory.

“Yes, the situation is not good.”

It was worse than he remembered from the game.

Unlike the aerial apostle of the past, now the power of the Sin of Sloth was too great: even entering by air could be problematic.

If it were a game, “Game Over” would have appeared.

Yes, if it were a game.

But this world is not a game.

Therefore, there was a method.

A way to pull the Sin of Sloth out from where no one could reach it.

Alon formed a seal with his hands. His left hand extended the index and middle finger.

He remembered Heinkel’s words.

“This is not the same as Light magic. The structure is different. Most phrases of Light exist to complete that spell.”

“Transformation.”

He pronounced the first phrase.

“The essence of Light is to feed light endlessly, deform molecular structures, and absorb heat to create a sun. But this is different. This, strictly speaking, is not magic.”

The form of the magical energy took the shape of a rod and sharpened like a needle.

“Condensation.”

“This converts mana into physical force.”

The needle became so small it could barely be seen.

“Rotation.”

“It is to fire all magic converted into physical force.”

The needle spun in place.

The magic was not yet complete.

Two phrases were missing.

Now was the time to infuse mana.

Alon observed his own spell.

Weak, fragile, almost disappearing with the wind. Even with mana, it wouldn’t change much.

It was inevitable.

His mana was ridiculously small compared to other mages.

This spell, which devoured mana brutally, was not “compatible” with him.

And yet, Alon smiled.

The Magic Bolt was a spell that the “original Alon” would have never used.

But, paradoxically, this spell…

“Reverse Heaven.”

Suited him perfectly.

QUAAAAGAGAGAGAG—!!!

The sky began to twist.