I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 136 - Border Zone (4)
Chapter 136 – Border Zone (4)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Kiryana had found the monster waves that had continued for several months to be troublesome, but she had not truly felt any sense of crisis.
That was only natural.
No matter how many monsters gathered, Kiryana was still one of Caliburn’s Five Swords.
In other words, she was a Sword Master.
To someone like her, monsters were merely annoying, not threatening, no matter how many there were.
At least, that had been true until just a moment ago.
“Hey, block that side, you bastard!”
“That section is collapsing!”
“Support them. Give them support, damn it. Get a hold of yourselves.”
Kiryana frowned as she looked at the border wall.
The wall, layered over with so many spells that no monster should have been able to shatter it by crashing into it, had now collapsed in a ruinous state.
In other words, something beyond all expectation had happened.
Slash.
Each time her sword swept through the air, the heads of numerous monsters flew upward.
Even so, the number of monsters did not decrease.
No, the longer time passed, the more it seemed that even more of them were arriving.
As if they had been waiting for this exact moment.
Why did the wall suddenly…?
She could not understand it.
A wall that had been perfectly intact had suddenly broken.
Normally, breaking a wall fortified by magic like this should have been impossible.
But the situation was far too urgent for her to indulge that question.
“Aaaah.”
Kiryana saved a soldier who had fallen pathetically and nearly offered his neck to an orc, then barked at him with a frown.
“Get a hold of yourself.”
“S, sorry.”
The soldier hurriedly lifted his weapon.
Kiryana let out a breath.
The horde of monsters itself was still not a major threat to her.
Her abilities were specialized more for individuals than crowds, so if she killed every monster here, she would likely be bedridden for several days, but that was all.
If she truly could not handle it, she even had the option of retreating.
There was no chance the monsters could catch her if she ran.
And yet Kiryana’s expression remained grim because of the soldiers.
Even at this moment she could do nothing but watch some of the men she had failed to reach being torn apart miserably by monsters.
Why had she come here even after retiring from the Five Swords?
Because in the north, before the Outer God Ultultus, she had watched the knights she raised be torn to pieces.
That terrible thing…
She never wanted to experience it again.
“Ugh.”
At the feeling of something from deep inside twisting its way upward, Kiryana covered her mouth without meaning to.
Her breathing quickened as the memory of the north resurfaced.
She was still fully capable of handling the situation.
But the trauma driven into her during the northern incident blocked her, and at that moment…
“…!”
A man entered Kiryana’s field of view.
Marquis Palladio.
The moment she saw him, Kiryana felt relief without thinking.
The spell hierarchy she had personally seen from the marquis did not seem all that high.
Even so, she had already heard many rumors about him.
And she knew that rumors did not form from nothing.
A third would be enough. No, even a quarter. If he can just reduce the monsters first, I can pull the soldiers back and handle the rest alone…
Just as Kiryana calmed her rising breath while thinking that, the marquis raised one hand and formed a seal.
And then…
What she saw together with the marquis, who lifted only the index finger and thumb of his left hand up toward the bridge of his nose, was…
…a cat?
A kitten, black as the marquis’s cloak, had climbed onto his shoulder at some point and tilted its head.
With its red eyes, it looked at the monsters that had now begun rushing even toward the marquis himself.
Danger.
At a point when the magic had not even manifested yet, Kiryana instinctively tried to move as the monsters rushed him.
But her whole body froze.
She inhaled sharply.
At the moment something small was murmured from the marquis’s lips…
A chill ran over her whole body.
Because the tiny cat’s entire body suddenly sprouted a horrifying number of red eyes.
And then…
The thing covered in red eyes smiled with a deeply chilling smile.
####
Red eyes stood out against the blue moonlight in the small cat’s body.
Kkamangi’s tail lengthened and ran down along the marquis’s right hand.
Like a snake coiling itself, that tail wound around his hand, reached the ground in an instant, and sank into the shadow cast by the blue moonlight.
And then…
The moment the monsters reached the marquis…
Crunch.
Black branches burst from his shadow and pierced them.
They ran through the body of a goblin holding a rusted dagger.
Through the head of an orc charging in with a glaive.
Through the torso of a gnoll rushing in with a long halberd.
And not only those.
The many monsters that had charged at the marquis were pierced by the black branches in an instant and dropped limp.
It happened so suddenly that it was impossible to see it as an ordinary mage’s spell.
It was magic so close to instant manifestation that it hardly looked like the work of a mage at all.
The branches that had impaled and swept away the monsters in a single stroke responded again when Marquis Palladio murmured something else.
At once, they began attacking every surrounding monster they could reach.
The battlefield became utter chaos.
At the uproar that shook the ground, one terrified soldier stopped swinging his weapon.
A knight who had been cutting down the incoming monsters with a grim face also stared blankly into the air.
Soon the monsters that had been swarming over the wall began fleeing the other way, screaming in terror.
At that moment, the knights and soldiers saw it clearly.
A gigantic tree of shadow, one that had grown by taking the lives of countless monsters and absorbing the blue moonlight.
And beneath that tree…
Marquis Palladio.
The instant every monster fled, the shadow tree vanished.
The monsters that had been skewered on its branches fell to the earth and formed hills of corpses.
So this is the mage who dealt with an Outer God.
Kiryana could only feel an overwhelming reverence as she looked at Marquis Palladio, who was calmly petting Kkamangi, now back in the shape of a cute cat.
At that same time, the Alon who had actually cast the magic was thinking something else.
“…You disappeared all of a sudden and came back only hours later, and now you can use magic like that?”
“It just turned out that way.”
He gave a light shrug and looked at Kkamangi.
“Kkamangi…”
[Squeak?]
“Next time, I would appreciate it if you considered my mana before deploying magic.”
[Squeee.]
Kkamangi drooped.
“Still, you did well.”
[Squeak.]
At the praise that followed, it brightened immediately and nodded enthusiastically.
I nearly died.
It had been another moment in which Alon stepped over the edge of death.
####
The reason Alon was able to use Unity of Shade was that he had ultimately learned the method from Rainisius.
As expected, in order to use the Death Shadow Dragon, it was not enough merely to recite the sentence.
A special process had to come first.
He had to establish a mana link with the Death Shadow Dragon.
Only then could he use the Death Shadow Dragon’s technique, Shadow Tree.
The Shadow Tree Alon had shown just now was not something created purely by the Death Shadow Dragon’s strength alone.
It was a collaboration with the Multi-Manifestation Alon could now use.
The one using Shadow Tree had been the Death Shadow Dragon, but since Alon, who was linked to it by mana, was the one actually manifesting the magic, his Multi-Manifestation had also activated normally.
That was the result that had just appeared on the field as the enormous tree of shadow.
Alon looked down at the Death Shadow Dragon, which had already begun rubbing itself against his chest.
And this is still only stage one.
Those were the growth stages Rainisius had explained to him.
A Death Shadow Dragon grew through a total of five stages.
It gradually matured either as Alon’s own rank increased or by being fed spirit stones.
In other words, Kkamangi would grow together with Alon.
And the farther a dragon advanced through its stages, the stronger it became to a degree incomparable with the previous stage.
Eventually it would even be able to use its power freely without the aid of its master.
Maybe I should look for spirit stones.
For the moment, Alon intended to raise Kkamangi by feeding it spirit stones rather than depending on the rather vague method of raising his own rank.
If it grows well enough to pull out those spears…
He recalled Rainisius’s offer.
As I told you, the Unity of Shade you asked me about is the sentence used by the friend who sealed me. In other words, the seal on me is one imposed by the Death Shadow Dragon my friend handled.
A seal made by a dragon can only be undone by a dragon.
That is why I had given up until now. My friend died, the sentence was forgotten, and the Death Shadow Dragon disappeared.
But if you can use that sentence now, then it should be possible.
So let us make a bargain, mage. If you raise the Death Shadow Dragon and save me, then I will gladly become your servant.
I, the Golden Dragon Rainisius, say this.
For Alon, it was an excellent proposal and not one he had any reason to reject.
If I can keep a gold dragon as a loyal retainer, then my retirement is practically secured.
Even now, if only the Five Great Sins did not appear, there would be no real problem.
In any case, Kkamangi might also become a key to his later security.
What a pity, though. As far as I know, Kailus would have been much better at raising a Death Shadow Dragon or handling it in various ways. But he is no longer in this world.
Kailus…
Alon knew that name very well.
No, it was impossible not to know it.
He had seen it often while experiencing Psychedelia as a game.
And after coming into this world, he had also encountered him in the labyrinth of Lartania.
So that goblin was the mage who created Unity of Shade.
To be honest, there were several parts of that he could not reconcile.
The Kailus Alon knew had certainly recited phrases, but they had not been Unity of Shade.
They had been wind-related magic.
More than anything, the appearance was different.
His appearance had clearly been that of a goblin rather than a human.
On top of that, Alon had known Kailus not as a human or mage but as an Outer God, and just as expected, he had appeared as an incarnation.
Alon had asked Rainisius about that part as well.
I do not know whether the goblin you speak of was my friend or not. Since I was sealed, I know nothing of what happened after that.
Even the Golden Dragon could not be certain.
Even so, the matter continued to bother Alon.
It was not yet time, but he already knew a way to meet the already vanished Kailus again.
If he really is the one who created the sentence…
Then naturally Alon could learn magic from him, and perhaps also discover additional ways of strengthening the Death Shadow Dragon.
While he was lost in his thoughts…
“Thank you very much, my lord. I owe you another debt.”
Kiryana approached.
She bowed politely.
Alon naturally waved his hand.
“I only did what I had to do.”
…In truth, had the monsters not fled in fear because of the Death Shadow Dragon’s rank, things might have grown dangerous for him as well.
But there was no need to reveal that.
As they spoke for a little while…
“…The wall?”
“Yes. It was definitely under constant magical protection.”
Alon followed Kiryana’s gaze and looked toward the wall.
It was a terrible sight.
The wall, which in the story had never once broken, now lay shattered.
While looking at it, Alon noticed black slime dripping from it.
“…!”
His eyes widened without thinking and he moved closer.
But the black slime slowly vanished as if it were vaporizing.
“…”
Soon it disappeared completely.
Only then did Alon understand why the wall, which should never have been destroyed, had been destroyed.
No, he had no choice but to understand.
He knew the being that produced that black slime.
Why is it here?
There was something unsettling about that, but in another sense it was convenient.
Now that Alon knew for certain the Five Great Sins would descend, this was one of the beings he needed to deal with before leaving the border.
“…What is it?”
Kiryana had followed him when he moved suddenly.
Alon slowly looked over the wall and answered.
“I believe I know who caused this.”
And the next day…
After Yuman and Yutia completed the repairs to the gate and returned, Alon gathered them and Kiryana together.
Then he said,
“We need to kill Rikrakkamur.”
He spoke the name of the monstrosity that had settled north of the border and held one of the cast-off relics of the Five Great Sins.
####
Gillan Merkillan was curious about Deus Macalian and Filian Merkillan.
More exactly, he wanted to know what the two of them had been talking about.
His secretary Kulan had reported it.
Those two had happily talked for a full six hours in front of the statue of Marquis Palladio.
They had been so absorbed in it that Kulan had not even called them in to the evening banquet.
Curiosity was inevitable.
On top of that, had not Deus and his older brother Filian been on poor terms ever since the allied summit?
Gillan invited the two men to the banquet belatedly, and soon his question was answered.
“It brings that time back to mind. The marquis was truly majestic then. He created light in an ash-gray sky and cast down the god of a tribe that had been making human sacrifices in the jungle. Even now, remembering that sight makes me tremble.”
“Oh… Is that so? It truly pains me that I did not get to witness it myself…”
“No, but you saw something I did not.”
“That is true… Even now my body still tingles when I remember it. When those grotesque Outer Gods rushed in to destroy the territory, the marquis’s appearance was truly…”
The moment they sat down after exchanging only the briefest greeting, they began praising Marquis Palladio as if the two of them had planned it in advance.
Gillan was stunned only briefly, then chose to watch them with a smile.
There was nothing to be gained by having a bad relationship with Deus Macalian, the First Sword of Caliburn.
So Gillan enjoyed the meal while occasionally joining their conversation.
Then, at some point, he realized something.
He had made a serious mistake.
“…I really wish I had seen it as well. It is such a shame.”
“Indeed. What he looked like then… It was enough to make one want to show him to the entire world.”
Dinner had ended long ago.
And yet they were still continuing to praise Marquis Palladio.
They had been doing so for more than three hours.
How long are they going to keep going?
Gillan watched Filian and Deus with an exhausted face.
The two of them showed no sign whatsoever of intending to stop.
No, they did not even seem interested in Gillan’s expression.
Of course, Gillan too felt gratitude toward Marquis Palladio.
If not for him, House Merkillan would have disappeared from history as it was, and Gillan would also have lost his precious older brother.
But even so…
Is this not a little excessive?
That careful thought crossed Gillan’s mind.
“…In any case, I think I will rise now.”
In the end, he gave up enduring it and stood.
It was improper to rise before invited guests left, so he had held back out of courtesy, but he could not stand it any longer.
His head was spinning.
After listening for hours to stories that had been embellished over and over inside the minds of Deus and Filian, he had reached the point where he felt he might start mistaking Marquis Palladio for a demi-god.
So Gillan chose to flee.
And after collapsing into sleep the night before…
Yes. The night before.
He was certain of that.
And yet…
“…What did you just say?”
“The two of them are still talking even now.”
The next morning, immediately after hearing Kulan’s report, Gillan began to feel actual fear toward the two of them.
Are they insane?
A perfectly reasonable suspicion crossed his mind.
…It had been exactly seventeen hours since Deus met Filian.