Chapter 333

Chapter 333. The One Called Sloth (6)

Calmly, Sloth, holding Radan’s trident, murmured. And everyone froze.

It was something strange.

Sloth’s condition was hard to consider good, not even out of courtesy. That thing’s body was wrecked by countless attacks.

Furthermore, there was no magical power in that thing’s murmur. Nor was there pressure. That thing just murmured as if simply stating a fact.

And that thing’s emotion was also just one: pity. Only that.

A doubt arose in Alon. What on earth was that emotion Sloth was showing? Where exactly did it come from?

Why was it making that kind of face?

But those questions didn’t last long.

“It’s a pity.”

Sloth’s words continued slowly. And then—

KWAaaaaaaaaANG!!! A blast that seemed to burst everyone’s eardrums resonated right after.

“Uegh…!”

Radan was seen spitting black blood while trembling all over his body. In front of him, at some point, Sloth was already standing serenely. Radan was collapsing, vomiting dark-reddish blood endlessly.

Upon everyone understanding what was happening, the first to move was Seolrang.

KWAANG!!!

At a speed that escaped perception, like before, Seolrang launched a kick like a whip directly toward Sloth.

KWAaaaaaaaaANG!!!

With another gigantic boom, Sloth’s body was dragged to the right, plowing the ground. However—

“!”

There was no change in Sloth. That thing just slowly lowered the right hand with which it had blocked Seolrang’s strike, indifferently.

Seolrang opened her eyes slightly, then frowned tightly and dashed forward.

Golden electricity sparks momentarily levitated everything around them. As if everything were in a perfect vacuum, objects floated… and in an instant exploded in a great wave, as Seolrang’s fist struck Sloth again.

Another insane boom shook the landscape, overturning everything.

But this time too, although pushed back, it didn’t seem to have received real damage. Sloth lowered its arm as if nothing had happened.

Seolrang, biting her lips hard, charged again.

Pajik–pajijijik!

Golden bolts jumped in all directions, aiming at Sloth’s entire body.

The head, the right side, the flanks, the legs, the back—

The bolts appeared and disappeared repeatedly.

The enemy’s body slid from one side to another for a moment.

And then, when Seolrang raised her leg to stamp it directly against Sloth’s head—

“Heyadiya”

An instant. A minimal moment.

She adopted a stance.

Barely.

She barely managed to block Sloth’s counterattack.

KWAGAGAGAGAGAGAK!!!

The level difference was abysmal.

Seolrang, dragged far enough to leave a huge line traced on the black meadow, clenched her teeth and her violently trembling arms.

Everyone present could clearly see what the result of the combat would be.

Sloth was still in a pitiful state.

And yet, precisely because of that, it plunged everyone into silence.

Because everyone watching had understood.

That they couldn’t defeat Sloth in that state.

Everyone remembered Sloth’s words. That it would make them understand that it was natural to die at its hands.

That murmur, neither loud nor quiet, was engraved in everyone’s minds.

“Ha…”

Someone let out an incredulous laugh.

Someone, paralyzed by terror, just watched. Another simply stopped in place, as if unable to comprehend the situation.

But there was something in common:

All of them—

Could not help but accept Sloth’s words.

That was an inevitable enemy.

That was an invincible enemy.

That was an enemy against whom one couldn’t even attempt anything.

The soldiers.

The knights.

The nobles.

The wizards.

…They understood.

They had no choice left.

Willpower left their eyes.

Their vigor and firmness vanished like an empty breeze.

The courage they had maintained even when lunging at disgusting masses of flesh was replaced by deep terror.

However—

Alon maintained the same calm and expressionless look.

‘The situation is the worst.’

He coldly analyzed the current state.

Sloth had a different personality than the one Alon knew.

And his plan had gone awry from the moment Sloth appeared.

Simply put, Alon had failed.

But even so, Alon did not despair.

It was fine.

Because he still hadn’t used his last card.

Alon looked around.

Sloth, who was engraving defeat and abandonment again and again in everyone present. After checking the scene, he looked up at the sky.

There, a crack still remained, formed “as planned,” and his Reverse Heaven had not deactivated.

It wasn’t a total defeat yet.

Alon reorganized his mind. Since he had already exposed all the elements of the original plan, he would now combine only what was necessary and form a new plan.

It was more improvised than the plan he had prepared for days, but undoubtedly effective.

Remembering it, Alon looked at the sky. There was the “crack,” part of the previous plan.

Only time remained.

Time to endure against that absurd and irrational being. Time for the crack to hold until his new plan was completed.

But among those present here, there was no one capable of buying time against “Sloth.”

Not Seolrang.

Not Radan.

Not Eliban, protagonist of Psychedelia.

No one could stop that sin in front of them.

Although everything was prepared to face a “manifestation of sin”—

The real thing, what was in front of them, was more irrational than Alon had ever known.

And yet, there was no room to give up.

Because if he gave up now, everything would end.

Alon manipulated the figurine in his pocket.

It was the artifact “Beast of Possibility,” obtained in the Labyrinth of Whispers, embedded in the Rosary, used before when they faced half of the Awakened of Purity.

An artifact of single-use, which summoned the “user” at their strongest point for a time.

Of course, this wouldn’t be enough to easily stop the sin in front of them.

But it was fine.

Alon just needed time.

That’s why—

“Radan.”

Alon threw the Beast of Possibility to the nearest Radan. Radan, although bewildered for an instant, caught the figurine.

“Infuse it with magical power.”

Following Alon’s order without hesitation, Radan infused magical power. Then, the figurine shone intensely and devoured Radan.

A violent wave of magical power burst out.

Everyone directed their attention there.

Even Sloth’s apathetic gaze turned toward Radan, who was emitting an intense blue glow. The light emanated an increasingly fierce magical power.

But Sloth just remained motionless. It seemed like a situation where something could change, but it didn’t move a finger.

Furthermore, a slight expectation seemed to arise in its apathetic eyes.

And finally, when the magical power exploded as if about to burst and the light slowly faded, there appeared—

“……What?”

A confused Radan.

Radan, with the same blue armor as always.

An emotion quickly crossed Sloth’s eyes.

Clear disappointment.

All gazes turned to Radan.

Seolrang, Eliban, the wizards, soldiers, knights—everyone.

And in their eyes, there was only doubt and disappointment.

It was natural.

Radan had received something from Alon and had released a magical power so great it shook the earth. Everyone had started to feel a faint hope.

Perhaps there was a way to overcome this despair?

But what had emerged from that explosion of enormous power was just—

A cleaner Radan than before.

Differences?

To the knights, soldiers, and wizards: none.

To Seolrang’s eyes: “Ah, a little taller, and maybe a little stronger.”

And for Alon, who knew the Beast of Possibility:

A similar feeling.

‘…What happened?’

The artifact was supposed to summon the “user” at their strongest point.

That is, Alon expected to see a Radan from 10 or 20 years in the future.

Radan, who gained strength by collecting artifacts, would only get stronger with time.

But the Radan in front of him didn’t seem to have greater maturity.

“…I suppose it’s not worth waiting anymore.”

Sloth murmured, revealing a strange disappointment amidst its apathy.

Fwoooosh!

Then that thing expanded its magical power.

“Urk!”

The soldiers outside the black territory vomited all at once and fainted.

The purple magical power spread everywhere.

Crack—! Crrrkk—!

The inert piles of flesh began to move, tied as if by threads, and one by one came to life.

Once again, the atmosphere was filled with desperate silence—

“Ah.”

Radan, looking around to understand the situation, let out a small sigh, as if he had understood something.

“It’s the past, right? Even my older brother is still here.”

Immediately after, he searched with his gaze and found Alon. He nodded as if he had already understood everything.

“Then my task is to stop that guy, right?”

He pointed at Sloth as if it weren’t a big deal.

With calm.

A strange sense of unreality.

“You can stop me?”

Sloth replied with absolute apathy.

As if it weren’t worth considering.

Radan, after hearing that, looked at him with an absent expression—

[Ah.]

And then, as if finally understanding, he let out a slight laugh.

[And rise, my Apostles.]

And he recited.

KWAJIK!!!

The piles of flesh that were rising threateningly exploded instantly.

Or more accurately, they shattered.

It was a metamorphosis.

Like a cocoon tearing for the butterfly to emerge. A true transformation.

And finally, what came out from within—

[——-__–-!!!]

Was a white giant.

A being several times larger than a human, but with a humanoid shape,

With a body so thin it bordered on sickly.

A being of absolute whiteness.

“…”

Seeing it, Alon understood one thing.

‘I’ve been thinking wrong.’

Or rather: he hadn’t thought enough. He believed Radan had become strong thanks to artifacts.

Because the Radan he knew was like that.

But that was just the current Radan, the one Alon had saved.

The original Radan was someone inevitably linked to the sins, for whatever reason, as a vessel for their manifestation.

That is, in countless timelines, the strongest Radan was not the one who reached the peak by mastering artifacts.

Not just a master of a special force. Nor someone dominated by Jealousy.

The strongest Radan of all worlds was—

The white beings began to fill the land.

And simultaneously, Radan’s body began to change.

Devouring even the manifested sin—

His blue armor turned blood-red.

“If I can stop you?”

His blue hair turned black. His eyes, formerly blue, acquired a monstrous red.

“Well of course I can—”

And for the first time, Sloth opened its eyes wide, incredulous.

“Because I already—”

Radan—

“Have eaten something like you before.”

He smiled, twisting his lips as if they were going to tear.

“Something like you all.”

It was Radan, who had become a Sin by his own will.