Chapter 330

C330. The Name Called Sloth (3)

Saint Yuman trusted Marquis Palatio.

After all, he was one of the few who had witnessed with his own eyes the miracles Marquis Palatio had achieved until now.

However—

“……Isn’t this basically a stupid death?”

“Shh— shut up.”

“No, but tell me if it’s not true. To eliminate this black territory, we have to take care of the guy in the center, but do you think that’s possible? You saw it too! If one even sets foot in there—!”

Unfortunately, the soldiers did not trust Marquis Palatio.

Yuman observed them one by one.

Their emotions varied, but they all shared one thing:

Distrust towards Marquis Palatio.

Of course, even these soldiers should have some idea of who he was.

In the United Allied Kingdom, there was no one who didn’t know the Marquis.

Even so, the reason for their skepticism was not the Marquis’s ability, but the black territory.

“Phew—”

Yuman averted his gaze toward the black territory.

Only a day had passed, and yet it was much closer to the Kingdom of Ashtalon than yesterday.

It instilled fear in everyone present.

Everyone had seen it with their own eyes.

How their comrades, just for making the simple choice to “set foot” inside that black territory, ended up turned into something indescribable.

And Yuman had also seen it clearly.

Eyes shedding tears of blood.

Forced confessions spilling from their mouths.

And bodies that, as if their will had been ripped out, drove their swords into the hearts of their own allies.

While recalling that gruesome scene, he raised his head to the sky.

A gigantic ship floated so high that it looked small from down there.

And at that moment—

“…Selaim.”

“Parkline.”

On the outer wall of Ashtalon Castle.

Parkline, the Master of the Red Tower, who had arrived at dawn, called out to Selaim.

“Is everything ready?”

“Yes. But tell me, what do you think?”

“About what?”

“About this plan. Do you really think it will work?”

At Parkline’s question, Selaim looked at the ship floating in the sky.

“Why do you ask?”

“We are following the plan, yes… but I still don’t understand.”

Parkline recalled what Alon had told him at the last meeting this morning.

His expression became complicated.

It wasn’t that Marquis Palatio’s plan was ridiculous.

It was credible. In fact, he sometimes wondered: “How can Marquis Palatio know such specific details?”

……That is, of course, excepting the first plan he had presented.

“Hu—”

The current plan was solid.

That was absolutely certain.

But everything depended on the ‘Sin’ in the center of the black territory coming closer to this point.

In other words, if the Sin—the entity that had created this black territory—did not deign to move where they wanted, the plan would have no meaning.

Of course, the Marquis also mentioned a method to draw the Sin out of the black territory.

“…Firing magic toward a place that can’t even be seen, to attack it.”

But that method…

To Parkline, it just sounded absurd.

That’s why he asked Selaim with doubt.

“Do you think it’s impossible?”

Selaim’s answer left him speechless.

“Rather, I want to ask you: why do you think it would be possible?”

Although his magical achievement was inferior to Selaim Mikardo, Parkline was also a mage with his own Origin and Master of the Red Tower.

So he knew too.

How absurd that idea was.

“It makes no sense. No matter how special the Marquis is… it is impossible to create magic capable of causing real damage to a target at an invisible distance. You know that.”

Even if the magic was successfully manifested, that wasn’t all.

Maintaining magic consumed mana, and the consumption varied according to the Circle and destructive power of the spell.

The more lethal the magic, the more mana it would demand.

No matter how perfect the design was, upon becoming a long-range cast, the spell could distort and dissipate.

And furthermore, one had to foresee and solve all possible problems beforehand for the plan to have, at least, a minimal chance of success.

“Even if Marquis Palatio used that ‘divine power’ rumors speak of—”

Parkline continued, but—

“It is just as you say.”

“What?”

He was bewildered to hear Selaim’s calm approval.

Selaim continued speaking serenely.

“It is just as you say. Correct. It is not enough to manifest magic; if you don’t control the mana, you cannot make it reach far. And you have to consider all the distortions that will occur in that brief instant~”

It was something extremely delicate.

Parkline wanted to retort, but—

“…That is, if he were a common mage.”

“……What do you mean?”

He could only ask.

“Exactly what I’m saying. A common mage would have to worry about that.”

Is he saying Marquis Palatio isn’t common?

Faced with that doubt, Selaim, who was observing the sky, turned his head and looked him directly in the eyes.

And pointing upwards—

“It is better to see it directly than to explain it.”

He said calmly.

Parkline looked up almost without realizing it.

There was the clear sky and the ship floating in the center.

But this time, unlike before—

Something strange began to occur.

The sky was distorting.

No— it wasn’t the sky.

It was—

“A mana phenomenon?”

A phenomenon that occurs when a huge amount of mana is released at once, distorting the surroundings.

But that, in itself… was not strange.

He could also produce such a phenomenon if he released mana here and now.

But the size of that phenomenon—

“Wow—”

It was so large that it seemed capable of completely devouring the ship in the sky.

Parkline let out a curse unintentionally.

“It’s not normal, is it?”

Selaim’s voice sounded amused beside him.

At that moment, the soldiers—who until a moment ago were looking at the black territory with despair—looked up.

Their eyes opened wide.

There was no longer doubt, nor fear, nor skepticism.

Only the purest form of awe remained.

And then—

With countless stars shining in the blue sky—

As the form Alon had created grew so much that not even the sorcerer himself seemed able to withstand it—

Alon pronounced:

“Vow Bullet.”

The gigantic mass took on a spiral shape.

And then—

In a whisper that was barely heard:

“Memory—”

—Fire.

The light was fired.

The soldiers directed their gaze to the light that was released.

A light so immense that it swallowed even the highest clouds, unleashing a monstrous roar as it descended.

And it disappeared beyond the horizon, where they could not see it.

In an instant.

The soldiers could only stare into the distance.

And then the light faded.

As if it had never existed.

The world, blindingly white seconds before, regained its original colors.

A slight uncertainty was beginning to be born among the soldiers when—

—!

They heard it.

A small sound.

Like the distant echo of a cannon shot.

And at the same time, they saw it.

A cloud of dust rising in the distance, covering the horizon.

Then came—

A colossal rumble that shook everyone present.

The earth trembled.

The dust grew like a gigantic wave.

And an immense cloud rose into the sky.

Squirm~!

While everyone remained paralyzed before the impossible—

“I-is- that—!”

“!”

A soldier’s scream made everyone fall silent.

The black territory covering the land had begun to squirm.

No, more accurately—

The remains of flesh crushed beneath the black territory, which should no longer move, began to gather as if they had a will of their own.

And from a point in the center of the black ground, threads emerged, wrapping and binding the pieces of flesh that were starting to move.

They gathered—

And gathered—

And kept gathering.

Human flesh.

Monster flesh.

All mixed without distinction, forming a gigantic mountain, taking on an impossible shape.

Crunch— crack!

Twisted bones emerged from the pieces of flesh, jutting out and digging in, mixing human blood and monster blood into a dark red horror.

“This is— madness!”

The soldiers panicked, but the mountain of corpses kept growing.

First it reached the height of the outer wall.

Then that of the inner castle.

And then—

CRACK—!!!

It surpassed even the royal citadel.

The soldiers’ eyes filled with fear once again.

It was a being that should never exist in the world.

An abomination stained with dark red and green blood, looking down at them from above.

“It’s… even bigger than I expected—”

“How can something so atrocious exist—!”

Parkline and Yuman exclaimed in horror.

The monstrosity slowly raised an immense hand.

A hand made of deformed bones and flesh, blocking the sunlight.

“R-run—”

A soldier, in total panic, tried to scream.

But from the sky—

Something descended.

A titanic explosion devoured everyone’s ears.

The grotesque hand was torn off cleanly.

The light illuminated the soldiers once again.

And then—

What appeared before their stunned eyes was—

A gigantic snake, of deep black color.

A being that, with divine arrogance, displayed its presence after tearing off the arm of the abomination that terrified them.

The black snake—

—The Receive Basiliora.

Had manifested its form.