I Became the Patron of Villains

205. Sloth and Thunder (7)

Everyone holds their breath.

Even the knights who had fallen into despair.

Reinhardt, who was racking his brain to escape the current situation.

Sirkal, whose mouth hung open in shock.

Deus, who was maintaining the thread to somehow block the black magic.

[-!]

Even the Apostle of Sloth, who was about to strike down Alon.

In that moment when everyone held their breath.

Alon, who was emitting blue lightning bright enough to illuminate the ashen world, silently extended his hand and made a small flick.

A very small flick, so subtle that it was hard to notice unless you looked closely.

However.

The lightning created by that small movement shot out in an instant.

It began to massacre the small spiders.

Crackle-!!!

Blue lines began to be drawn chaotically in the ashen world.

Sometimes in straight lines.

Sometimes, it moved irregularly.

The lightning that mercilessly pierced through the bodies of the spiders eradicated all the spider entities in the ruins within just a few seconds.

The first to move at the sight was the Apostle of Sloth.

‘It must be dealt with now!’

The Apostle of Sloth, who had become one with Kraksha.

He felt an instinctive threat from the presence before him and retrieved his legs that were disappearing like dust.

Without a moment’s hesitation-

He immediately thrust his body forward, scattering black magic to crush Alon.

He keenly sensed it.

The opportunity to deal with the presence before him was only now.

No, it was already too late.

[Dieeeee-!!!]

Screaming to drive away the fear that was suffocating him.

The Apostle of Sloth hurled his massive body at Alon.

However, Alon’s gaze, facing the Apostle’s desperate struggle, was extremely.

“…….”

Calm.

As if nothing happening before his eyes mattered.

Just calmly.

He watched the massive body rushing towards him.

And just as it was about to reach him.

The hand of Marquis Palatio reached towards the sky.

At the same time.

KABoooM-!!!!

In an instant, the sound of the whole world exploding echoed through the air, and what was caught in his hand was.

CRACKLE-!!!!

Lightning.

As if torn from the sky.

The lightning, drawing countless streams of current between the ground and the sky, entered Alon’s hand.

It twisted and contorted as if it would explode at any moment, but eventually settled in his hand.

At the moment when the Apostle of Sloth, who had been rushing in, lifted one leg.

A voice echoed.

Heaven’s Punishment (天伐).

A very small.

But so very clear voice.

And,

What the Apostle of Sloth saw immediately after was.

[Ah-]

A pure white world blooming amidst the ashen gray.

Kwaaa───────!

Light.

Swept across the earth.

A sharp mechanical sound, easily surpassing the threshold, devoured everyone’s hearing.

The pure white light blinded the knights’ vision.

Everything was swallowed up, and the ‘void’ of sensation dominated the world.

Eventually.

When all senses returned.

What appeared before people’s eyes was. Exactly-

The corpse of a giant spider, pierced from head to body, no longer moving.

“…….”

It was Alon, quietly looking down at the corpse, surrounded by lightning.

“Ah-”

A low exclamation escaped from the mouth of one of the knights who saw that scene.

The ‘awe’ that was so vividly embedded in his eyes.

Spread to everyone around with strong infectiousness.

Not only to the knights.

But also to Reinhardt.

To Deus,

And.

To Circal as well.

“…….”

She stared blankly at the dazzling figure of the man.

Not once had she ever doubted the existence before her eyes.

But even so.

It wasn’t without suspicion.

No matter how much she devoted her faith, a tiny doubt existed.

Sircal had never actually seen Kalanon’s form.

There were stories passed down.

There were guesses close to certainty.

There was the unwavering conviction of the previous chieftain, who had never been wrong.

But there was no physical form.

That one fact sprouted a small seed of doubt in Sircal’s heart.

Perhaps.

Really, perhaps she was mistaken.

Perhaps the unwavering conviction of the previous chieftain, who had never been wrong, was wrong.

A tiny doubt.

But at this moment.

“Ah……”

It vanished, as if washed away.

Because she knew.

What the blue lightning residing in the body of Marquis Palatio was.

What the antlers growing on his head proved.

Therefore, Sircal.

Simply bowed her head in reverence and faith.

To Kalanon, the one who receives the lightning.

To her great god.

####

“Hoo-”

Alon felt the hair that had been standing up slowly settle down, and at the same time, the antlers that had grown on his head gradually disappeared.

He let out a small sigh and grasped his left hand.

Rattle, rattle, rattle-

A left hand trembling against its will.

As a sharp sensation surged up as if blood wasn’t flowing, Alon couldn’t help but worry that his left hand might be damaged.

But even so, he couldn’t focus solely on his left hand.

‘It feels like my body is going to shatter…’

Aside from his left hand, a pain that felt like his body was literally going to break was striking him all over.

‘Even the slightest movement makes me want to scream.’

A pain more intense than when he was bleeding all over after being attacked by Ultultus last time, a pain so severe it made his eyes widen.

But Alon didn’t express that pain.

He couldn’t.

Because everyone was looking at him.

All with expressions full of awe.

No, it wasn’t just awe.

Their eyes were wide open and their jaws dropped as if they were witnessing a truly great being, a manifested god.

‘…Their gazes are too intense.’

Alon wasn’t usually one to care about others’ gazes.

But that was only at a basic level.

In a situation where he was receiving such blatant, awe-filled stares.

‘…I have to endure it.’

He didn’t want to roll around in pain for no reason.

…No matter what.

The gaze of ‘awe’ turning into a gaze of ‘contempt’ in an instant.

That was a bit burdensome and embarrassing for Alon too.

But only for a moment.

[Still, it’s a relief that the first one went well.]

“!”

Soon, Kalannon’s voice was heard in his head.

Before Alon could even be surprised, the voice continued.

[You don’t need to answer. Even if you talk at this point, I can’t hear you anyway. Just listen, because I’m just delivering this unilaterally.]

Kalannon went straight to the point without any unnecessary words.

[I’ll tell you three things. First, even though I helped you, it’s amazing that you successfully manifested. It’s not something that can be easily achieved.]

[Second, your body probably won’t be able to handle it and you’ll be in terrible pain, but if you plan to continue using divine power, don’t bother treating it. I’ll explain why next time.]

[Lastly, please take care of my belongings. It’s a deer’s antler in the ruins, and it might be buried by now, but please! Make sure to get it. Without it, we won’t be able to communicate anymore, and I won’t be able to tell you about the divine power.]

Got it? It’s a must-! Please, I’m begging you-! emphasized Kalanon several times.

Even at the end, he shouted ‘Please!’ one more time before disappearing.

“……It seems the task is done for now.”

At the moment Alon, who had imprinted the girl’s words in his mind, let out a small sigh.

Boom-!

A massive sound echoed from afar.

Even though he had dealt with the Apostle of Sloth and the abomination Kraksar, he turned his gaze to the sound.

“……What?”

His mouth involuntarily dropped open.

Barely a few seconds after he had let out a sigh of relief.

A horde of gigantic monsters, visible even from within this forest-

Entered his sight.

“Wait, what is that?”

“They’re the mutants from the Selvanus region! It seems they were driven out by the black magic and are returning as soon as that power disappeared!”

“Why is there never an end to this?!”

The urgent voices of Reinhardt and Sirkal, who had grasped the situation, echoed in his ears.

Boom boom boom-!

But even in that brief moment,

The mutants had already reached close proximity to Alon’s party.

Reinhardt quickly drew his sword, but his face was filled with dismay.

It was natural.

If it were just one or two, Reinhardt wouldn’t have been so tense.

Unfortunately, the creatures approaching from the front numbered at least eight.

In other words, it was practically impossible for Reinhardt to handle them alone.

However, Deus already seemed exhausted, having surpassed his limits.

And Alon, who had shown an unbelievable display of divine power just moments ago, also appeared to be in poor condition despite looking fine on the surface.

“Is there no other choice……!”

Reinhardt instinctively knew he had to take the lead.

The moment he grabbed his sword and was about to charge forward.

■■■■-

The head of the mutant at the forefront, screaming wildly,

Puff-!

Exploded.

“?”

An event that happened so suddenly and unconsciously.

Everyone’s eyes were filled with questions.

Thud-! Thudududuk!

As if to prove that the scene before their eyes was real.

The head of the mutant that had been charging forward rolled on the ground, spewing dark red blood, and rolled around the shattered ruins.

And that wasn’t all.

Soon, the head of the following snake was split in half, spraying blood.

The head of the wolf-shaped mutant was crushed helplessly, brain matter splattering everywhere.

The body of the grotesque creature with dozens of tentacles burst apart, painting the green forest red.

A massacre that happened in an instant, before the giant mutants could pose any threat.

Everyone was stunned by the incomprehensible situation.

“Wow- This feels good, getting some exercise after a long time.”

From afar, a girl appeared, trudging through the slaughtered mutants.

At her appearance, everyone held their breath.

Was it because she led a bizarre group?

No.

Was it because she was beautiful?

No.

The reason they all held their breath.

It was because of the aura emanating from the girl-

“Well- A bit late, but.”

It was because of her overwhelming presence.

The moment anyone moved even an inch.

A primal fear that might provoke the immediate threat of being killed.

It went beyond just stopping the knights,

“Ugh-“

“Gah──”

It made them faint.

One by one, they began to collapse, unable to withstand that overwhelming force.

But she, or rather the King of the Hundred Ghosts, turned her gaze as if she had no interest in such knights.

“Anyway- it’s been a while!”

With an incredibly lively gesture and voice, she greeted Alon.

““??””

The gazes of those barely standing turned to Alon all at once.

“……????”

Alon was just as puzzled.