Chapter 152 - Assault (3)

Alon was undeniably ignorant of apostles. He had never encountered one while playing Psychedelia, and the game's lore had said nothing about the apostles of the Five Great Sins.

But there was one thing he now understood clearly about this apostle.

BOOOOM!

He was strong.

Alon surveyed the scene before him. Above the wreckage of Seollang's once-towering guild building, vivid yellow lightning and black lightning traded blows at speeds his eyes could not possibly follow.

And...

"Gah!"

Seollang was losing ground.

BANG!

Seollang was hurled back with a tremendous crash, and the apostle thrust out a fist to strike her again.

Alon moved immediately. Catching her as she plunged toward the ground, he cast a shield. And that was not all.

"Enhancement, Fixation."

The phrases strengthened the spell, and Multiple Manifestation followed, creating three layers of shields confined precisely to the path of the apostle's outstretched fist.

But...

CRAAACK!

The shields shattered like glass, as though such defenses were utterly meaningless, laughable things.

Fortunately, that brief instant had already allowed Alon to escape Seolgak's reach.

"Oh? A mage?"

Seolgak stopped where he stood, looking intrigued, as though he had no intention of pursuing them further.

Alon looked down at Seollang. Her eyes were growing dull. This was not the confusion she had displayed while fighting Seolgak on instinct, but he could plainly see the light slowly dying in them.

Then Seolgak addressed his sister with the same smile as before.

"Still, you've grown quite strong, little sister. You deserve praise. To think the weakest member of our tribe has become this strong."

"..."

Seollang did not answer. She merely stared at Seolgak with wavering eyes, her expression far worse than before.

"..."

Alon realized that something was going wrong.

The apostle's strength? That was certainly a serious problem, but Seollang was an even greater concern.

Seollang valued family above all else—perhaps even more than her own safety. Her sense of belonging to her blood kin, to the very idea of family, ran that deep.

To her, family came before everything. They were sacred, people she absolutely had to protect.

Yet her only blood relative, whom she had been certain was dead, had suddenly appeared before her and personally destroyed those she cherished. Before she could do anything. Mercilessly.

Alon turned to survey the ruins around them. All he could see were corpses—the corpses of the Golden Mane Tribe, the people Seollang had brought together in hopes of making a family once again.

'This is bad.'

This time, Alon's gaze shifted to Seolgak. Apart from the moment Seollang first lunged at him, the apostle of Pride who claimed to be her brother had been watching the situation unfold at his leisure.

'No.'

He was not merely watching. He was waiting—for Seollang's mind to be driven to its limit.

Alon furrowed his brow openly as he thought.

'What should I do?'

He had no idea why Seollang's brother had become like this. If there was one thing he knew for certain—

'I have to stop this.'

Even so, two things kept Alon from acting rashly. He had yet to determine the exact nature of Seolgak's abilities, and his preparations were not complete—the preparations he had been making ever since Seolgak appeared.

But Alon had no time to spare. He did not know how far Seolgak would go to provoke Seollang, nor how much more of that provocation she could endure.

... But ultimately, Seollang was what mattered.

Alon quietly studied her face. Regardless of whether she became a Sin, her condition was steadily deteriorating.

Unable to delay any longer, he formed a seal to cast a spell.

"Oh dear. We can't have that."

"!"

BANG!

Unfortunately, black lightning appeared before him at a speed far beyond his perception, and he was kicked away in an instant.

"Mentor!"

Seeing him driven into the shattered ruins, Seollang immediately tried to punch Seolgak.

"Gah!"

Her fist never reached him.

"Ghh!"

Seollang thrashed, desperate to escape his grip. But...

"Little sister, stop struggling in vain. No amount of effort will free you from my grasp. And don't worry. The mage isn't dead."

Still smiling, Seolgak spoke with a hint of surprise.

"Still, this is rather curious. The sister I remember would be blubbering by now. Hmm. Have you become more composed with age?"

"Not a particularly welcome change, though," he added with a snicker.

"... Did you join up with those things?"

After a brief silence, Seollang questioned her brother with a dark expression. Seolgak's smile deepened.

"Join up? With whom?"

"... I'm asking whether you joined up with the black things that laid waste to our village...!"

"What makes you think that?"

"Because you reek—so badly—of that bastard, Big Brother!"

Seolgak glanced down at himself.

"Hmm? Oh. Ahh."

He exclaimed, his puzzled expression clearing as though he finally understood. Nodding several times, he said,

"Is that so? Come to think of it, I still haven't lifted the restriction I placed on you back then, have I?"

"Restric...tion?"

"Yes. I'd forgotten. Thank you for reminding me, little sister. You've saved me the trouble of taking any further action."

"What... did you say?"

He gave Seollang, whose eyes were full of questions, a supremely playful smile brimming with malice.

Then he flicked a bolt of black lightning at her head.

"Ghk!?"

She grimaced at the stinging pain. Looking into her eyes, he said,

"Little sister, let me tell you something very amusing. The one who killed the people of our village wasn't Him—"

The corners of his mouth curled into a broad grin.

The moment she saw that sneer, Seolgak's voice receded into the distance, and remnants of a past she did not want to remember began replaying before her eyes.

The first sight she encountered in that grainy, black-and-white world was ash gray. Next came an enormous blaze, raging as though it would devour even that grayness.

The last thing she saw was corpses—the cold bodies of the kin she had cherished.

Whether she looked here or there, there were only corpses.

Bodies split in half.

Bodies burned to death.

Bodies with no heads.

Bodies with their upper halves missing.

Corpses.

Corpses.

Corpses.

... Countless corpses filled Seollang's vision.

And there was the hateful Black Dragon, gripping her by the throat. It was the same gray-white scene she always saw in her nightmares.

The Black Dragon twisted its mouth into a mocking grin.

"!"

Then the world before Seollang began to change once more. As though it had become reality, that gray-white world restored the five senses she had lost.

The constricting pain that threatened to choke her.

The heavy scent of her kin's blood.

The sensation in her fingertips, streaming with blood.

The salty taste on her parched tongue, which had caught her tears again and again—

... The face of her brother, wearing a twisted smile as he held their mother's head in his other hand.

They revealed the truth concealed from her. The truth she had so desperately wanted to forget.

And...

"Well, little sister? The one who wiped out our clan—"

Just as the present-day Seolgak, superimposed over the monster of the past, opened his mouth...

BOOOOM!!!

Seollang saw Seolgak, who had been gripping her throat, hurled away and driven into a ruined building.

What she felt next were two hands calmly covering her ears, and a familiar voice.

"Don't listen."

"Don't listen, Seollang."

... A very familiar voice.

"..."

Seollang looked up. He was there.

It was not the impassive face she had always seen. Alon wore an expression that seemed concerned only for her.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

####

Having sent Seolgak flying, Alon frowned slightly.

When the attack struck him, he had once again combined shield and wind magic to counteract the force and minimize the damage. Then he had begun manifesting a spell without Seolgak noticing.

Normally, that would have been impossible, but one of the seals his recent research had yielded made it possible. In exchange for reducing the power of his mana, it concealed the mana itself from others.

Thus, Alon had successfully cast a spell in secret and sent Seolgak flying. However...

"Well, isn't that interesting? I didn't sense any mana at all. How did you prepare that?"

He had failed to injure him.

"But what good is covering her ears so diligently? She's already 'remembered' everything by now."

Alon let out a small sigh at the man's next words.

While secretly casting his spell from behind, Alon had easily pieced together what Seolgak meant to reveal—and how devastating that truth would be to Seollang's mind if she learned it.

There was only one thing he intended to tell her.

"Well? Do you remember, little sister? That the one who killed the villagers, our family—was your own brother...!"

His mouth stretched in a grin devoid of any guilt.

At those words, which matched his prediction exactly, Alon once again pressed his hands firmly over Seollang's ears.

She would already know. No matter how firmly he covered her ears, the truth would have reached her. Just before casting his spell, he had seen Seolgak fire black lightning at her and lift a restriction that even Alon had barely been able to sense.

Even so, Alon did not remove his hands from her ears.

It was meaningless. Yet despite knowing that, he could not easily bring himself to move his hands.

... He, too, knew how much the word 'family' meant to her.

"Let me tell you something amusing, Seollang. Killing your own kind is quite enjoyable. Watching those fools, hiding their strength and wallowing in peace, scream for their lives can be positively exhilarating."

"Do you remember Paun from next door? That little rascal who used to play with you so often blubbered and begged for his life. I grabbed his head and legs and tore him apart."

"You must remember Yuseon from the smithy, too. Your best friend, the one who adored those parents. I personally killed them right before that child's eyes, then gouged those eyes out and killed the child as well."

Blades poured ceaselessly from Seolgak's mouth—cruel, inescapable truths meant to drive Seollang's mind to its limit.

"Well, little sister? How does it feel to see the truth you never knew?"

When Seolgak finally finished his account and asked that question, Seollang, who had kept her head bowed until then, slowly raised it.

And both Alon and Seolgak went blank, as though time itself had stopped.

Facing the two of them, Seollang's expression was—

"So? What do you want me to do about it?"

Utterly calm.

####

'What... is this?'

Seolgak did not understand the situation. No, he could not understand it. Seollang's reaction was unimaginably far from what he had expected.

In disbelief, he watched her move Marquis Pallatio's hands aside and stand up.

According to his plan, she should not have been wearing that expression. She should have been going mad by now, pouring every kind of malicious emotion toward him.

Then, finally, he would kill the mage she apparently cherished, and she would awaken as the Sin of Pride.

That was the sole reason he had left her alive. The restriction he had placed on her memories served the same purpose.

After pausing in incomprehension, Seolgak deliberately provoked her.

"... There's no need to force yourself to hold it in. You couldn't hide your feelings a moment ago. Do you really think there's any point in hiding them now, little sister?"

But she tilted her head, puzzled.

"What are you talking about? I haven't hidden my feelings even once."

"... What do you mean?"

"Why would I bother hiding them?"

Seollang sounded genuinely bewildered.

"... Until just now, your eyes were..."

So full of confusion.

He answered in an attempt to provoke her, even slightly, but Seollang treated it as nothing of consequence.

"Wasn't that obvious? I was in a situation where I couldn't protect Mentor."

"... What?"

She shrugged.

"You're strong, Big Brother, aren't you? I could tell after fighting you. That's why I was afraid. Because I couldn't protect Mentor."

"That... was all?"

"No—" Seollang countered. "What else should shake me?"

"What—?"

"Were you hoping your pathetic little game would upset me, Big Brother?"

Seolgak frowned at her indifferent question.

"... You've become cynical, little sister."

"Not at all, Big Brother. I still love my family. Paun, Yuseon, everyone you mentioned—they're all part of my precious memories. But if I let mere emotions like that shake me—"

She moved lightly.

"I won't be able to protect the precious person I still have left."

"..."

"And another thing, Big Brother. I think you've misunderstood something."

Instead of giving him a faint smile, Seollang let her gaze turn cold.

"I'm already angry. Because you tried to kill the person precious to me. My mentor."

"..."

Silence fell between them.

"Ha, hahaha!"

Then Seolgak laughed loudly in disbelief.

"Yes! Ten years have passed, after all. You've grown quite clever in that time! I'll admit it, little sister! I underestimated you! I never imagined that little brat would learn to think this far ahead! Still—"

CRACKLE!

"—you're still no match for me."

He fired black lightning at Seollang.

CRUNCH!

His fist shot forward.

Once again, Seollang's hand moved. This time, however, it was far faster than before, as though she had adapted to his movements. At the same time, a soft golden current began taking shape around her hand.

It was a phenomenon Seolgak had never seen before, far more threatening than her earlier attacks. Even so, he did not stop smiling. Though the change in her hand surprised him, Seollang herself did not seem able to wield that power properly.

Seolgak decided that he need only beat Seollang down, then twist the mage's neck off before her eyes.

He grinned. A future unfolded before him: his sister broken just as he intended, and the birth of Him who possessed all things, descending into the world through her body.

But...

TAP!

Seolgak's future shattered.

"!"

He stared ahead at the incomprehensible sight. A transparent wall erected before him was breaking beneath his fist. The wall, which had appeared amid mirrorlike distortions of his surroundings, split into dozens, hundreds of polyhedrons, twisting the world around him.

The mage's doing.

The moment Seolgak realized that...

"Seollang, stay calm. And remember. You've already reached the next stage. So—just be certain."

The mage's voice rang out softly.

"And keep this in mind. Embrace the lightning."

The next moment...

"Ah—"

Seolgak saw Seollang answer with a radiant smile, as though she had realized something.

"Okay!"

He saw golden mana suffuse her body and her eyes turn gold, their colors inverted.

"Big Brother. I forgot to tell you, but I don't really need to be afraid of you anymore."

At the same time, he realized what it was.

"Thanks to you, I was able to obtain it."

An ability that no longer existed in this world. Even among those who possessed an Essence, it could only be inherited and manifested by surpassing the fifth stage of bloodline succession, reserved for royalty, and reaching the sixth.

"The power to protect Mentor."

Thunder God Transformation.

"Die."

Seollang's fist drove down a bolt of pure white lightning.