Chapter 201 - Sloth and Thunder (3)

King Pamilono's awkward smile. Jenira's picture-perfect smile. Seeing the two together, Alon could guess the situation in the principality of Luxible.

In truth, there was nothing to guess. Anyone could see that Jenira had the king firmly under her thumb.

'How did this happen?'

Alon wondered what on earth had led to this balance of power, but soon dismissed the thought.

It was certainly intriguing, but the Thunder Serpent tribe, which owed him a favor, had taken control of Luxible. That was as favorable a situation as he could ask for... especially now that the tribe mistook him for Kalanon, the Receiver of Lightning.

"I am Marquis Pallatio."

"I've heard a great deal about you, my good—my lord."

King Pamilono hastily glanced at Jenira mid-sentence and changed his form of address.

A quick look around revealed that the soldiers showed no reaction whatsoever, evidently quite accustomed to this.

Alon returned the formal greeting and concluded the audience. Or, more precisely, he tried to pay his respects with a little ceremony, but...

"Ahem. That will do. I believe you may take your leave now, Marquis Pallatio."

"... Is that so?"

The king's expression was plainly pleading, Please, just get out of here quickly, leaving Alon no choice but to head outside.

"Thank you so much for visiting, just as you promised."

The moment he left the audience chamber, Sircal the Swift bowed her head deeply. Alon shook his head, feeling awkward.

"No need. I came because I had business here in the first place."

"Please tell me what it is."

"... Where is the Receiver of Light—no, my symbolic object?"

Sircal briefly tilted her head at his question, then let out a quiet "Ah," as though she understood.

"It's at the place we visited last time."

"By that, do you mean the ruins?"

"Yes. But—"

She trailed off, then added with a deeply apologetic expression, "I think it will probably be very difficult to reach that place right now."

"Why?"

"Have you perhaps heard the news from the Ronovelli jungle?"

The rumors Evan had relayed.

"You mean the black mana?"

"Yes, that's right. Because of that mana, you would probably face all sorts of serious difficulties going there right now."

"Hmm."

Alon sighed inwardly. Deep down, he had vaguely expected things to turn out this way.

Even so, he couldn't simply sit here waiting at his leisure. If he failed to reach the place within a week, Kalanon would cease to exist.

Besides feeling some responsibility for taking her divine stature, however unintentionally, he had found Kalanon's offer to teach him how to wield it enticing. He could identify the properties of divine stature and cloak himself in it, but he still didn't know the principles or methods behind actually using it.

Moreover, if the being spreading black mana was the Apostle of Sloth, he would have to deal with it anyway. Ultimately, there was only one conclusion.

"Are you certain the symbolic object is inside those ruins?"

"Yes. May I ask—are you planning to go in?"

"It seems I probably will."

Sircal bowed again.

"... Then we will accompany you."

Alon shook his head slightly.

"That won't be necessary."

"No. We cannot remain here as servants while the one we serve enters a dangerous place. Please, we would be grateful if you allowed us to accompany you."

Sircal showed no sign of backing down.

"..."

Normally, Alon would have taken not only her but as many people as possible. Unless the gap in strength between them and their opponent was overwhelming, greater numbers naturally made a meaningful difference.

Yet he hesitated because of the nature of the being scattering this black mana.

'If it really is the Sin of Sloth, as I suspect, more people would only hurt us. The more people gather, the greater its power becomes.'

Considering how to avert the worst, Alon offered a compromise.

"Then I'd like you to guide us only as far as the edge of the black mana's range."

"But inside the black mana is precisely where the danger lies."

Sircal still couldn't dispel her worry and concern. ... Ordinary persuasion didn't seem likely to work at all.

Faced with her stubbornness, Alon wrestled with himself briefly, steadied his breathing, and declared firmly, "Don't worry. Who do you think I am?"

Of course, the moment the words left his mouth, he thought: 'Ah, this is kind of embarrassing.'

If he were unquestionably powerful, there would be nothing to be embarrassed about. But he didn't consider himself so, making this nothing more or less than bluster.

To Sircal, however, who was mistaken about his identity, it proved an extraordinarily effective means of persuasion.

"I humbly—apologize."

"Lead the way."

Alon decided to push ahead despite his embarrassment.

####

"Ahem."

Alon climbed into the carriage, clearing his throat needlessly out of embarrassment.

Thunder Serpent tribespeople and soldiers surrounded it. After surveying them outside, Alon turned to Evan, who sat opposite him.

"Aren't you going to ask this time?"

"Pardon? Ask what?"

Instead of answering, Alon pointed out the window. Evan always asked questions whenever something baffling happened. Since he was oddly quiet this time, Alon had asked first, but...

"Oh."

Evan shrugged lightly.

"Well, I've more or less figured it out."

"... Figured what out?"

"That you're Kalanon, the Receiver of Lightning, my lord."

"..."

"I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"I'm always traveling with you, my lord. Wouldn't it be a little strange to keep asking, 'Is this really true?' every single time?"

'No, I think I'd still be curious,' Alon thought. But Evan leaned comfortably back in his seat with an air of resignation.

"So I've decided to accept whatever comes."

"... Have you?"

"Yes. At this point, even if you said, 'I'm actually Shironia!!' I'd believe you."

"Isn't Shironia a goddess?"

"I'd believe you if you said you were a woman, too."

Evan radiated a detached serenity, as though he had passed beyond some distant limit.

[SQUEAK]

As if in agreement, Blackie peeked out of the pocket and looked up at Alon.

"I see."

"Well, there you have it."

Silence settled over the carriage once more.

A little later, a voice announced their arrival.

"Here we are."

A jungle—no, a domain—awash in rippling black mana came into Alon's view.

"... Is the entire domain like this?"

"No, not all of it. But about half has already been consumed, so everyone has evacuated for now."

As if to prove Sircal's words, Caslot, once bustling with people, stood completely empty.

"Utterly desolate."

After briefly surveying the hollow scene, Alon noticed tents pitched along the boundary where the black mana rippled.

"... What's that?"

"The knights of Callivan."

"Why are Callivan's knights here?"

"From what I've heard, they came to find someone."

"... To find someone?"

Just as the unexpected answer puzzled him, familiar faces emerged from a tent.

"... Huh?"

"Hmm?"

"... Reinhardt? And—"

It was Reinhardt, one of the Swords of Callivan, with whom he had briefly traveled through the jungle before, and...

"Deus?"

"... My lord."

Deus looked visibly gaunt, yet his eyes blazed with anger.

Soon, Alon learned why Deus was in such a state.

"Deus, what brings you here?"

At his question, Deus clenched both fists and bit his lip, barely managing to force the words out.

"... My sister—has been kidnapped."

Alon could say nothing in response.

####

Once inside the tent, Alon heard a detailed explanation from Deus.

"So, to sum it up, the person who kidnapped Silli summoned you here?"

"That's right. But—"

"You can't do anything because of this black mana?"

"He... that son of a bitch—"

Deus ground his teeth and lowered his head.

"He showed me the thread around Silli's neck tightening the farther in I went."

His hands trembled slightly on his knees.

"... Any other demands?"

"As long as I don't enter the black mana, it won't tighten around her neck."

"In other words, he's trying to get someone other than you to rescue Silli?"

"Yes. But everyone else becomes a puppet the moment they enter."

Reinhardt chimed in beside him, his face twisted in a deep scowl at the unpleasant experience.

"Unless you keep cutting the threads that constantly form, you immediately lose control of your body."

After hearing their explanations, Alon understood what was happening.

'He's deliberately drawing people other than Deus into rescuing Silli. Is he trying to wear down Deus's mind through other people's deaths?'

It wasn't difficult to discern the apostle's goal, either: not to kill Deus, but to break his mind. He would use Silli's life to force the other knights to act, eating away at Deus's psyche, then likely finish by disposing of Silli in some shocking fashion to shatter him.

'... No, perhaps Silli is already—'

Looking into Deus's eyes, blazing with rage, Alon couldn't bring himself to ask whether he had actually seen Silli alive.

At this point, any question about Silli was certain to shake Deus's mind severely. So Alon quietly turned his gaze toward the forest visible outside the tent.

"Where has he set himself up?"

"Here."

Deus immediately pointed to a spot on the map. Despite the exhaustion on his face, his movements were swift.

Then Sircal interjected.

"... This place..."

"Do you know it?"

She nodded at Alon's question.

"It's where the symbolic object is."

"Then this is—"

"Yes, the ruins where our tribe used to live."

Alon considered her answer briefly, then asked Deus and Reinhardt, "So what were you planning to do next?"

"Originally, I tried going in to rescue her, but it was beyond me. Even I barely escaped."

"Did the knights go in with you?"

"Yes. Once we got fairly deep inside, he attacked immediately."

"The knights..."

Before Alon could finish his question, Reinhardt's expression filled with bitterness.

"They're all... dead."

"All of them?"

"Yes. When I first realized they were being controlled, I intended to knock them all unconscious and bring them back. But the moment their bodies went limp, their necks snapped, killing them on the spot."

"..."

"Still, I did learn one thing."

"What?"

"It seems the black threads can't control more than three people."

"They can't control more than three?"

Reinhardt nodded at Alon's question.

"Yes. I went with fifteen knights, and only about three were ever controlled at a time."

"... Never more than that?"

"That's right."

Reinhardt continued his explanation.

"Anyway, I've been working on a plan based on that. If it's only about three at a time, dividing them into teams should be enough to counter it."

"... You intend to send everyone in at once and reach his location?"

"Yes. If we divide the order into teams of six, with three at a time taking turns activating their mana to conserve it as we advance, it won't be difficult."

After hearing him out, Alon fell silent for a moment. As far as he knew, there was no limit at all to how many people a Sin could control.

'Is there a limit because he's an apostle?'

Pondering this new information, Alon soon reached a conclusion and involuntarily let out a low, incredulous laugh. If he was right...

"You'd better abandon that plan."

"Why?"

"Because it's a trap."

"... A trap?"

It was unquestionably a trap.

"The one who kidnapped Silli isn't limited to controlling just three people at a time."

"... Not three? Then why on earth did he—"

An exceptionally vicious, cunning trap.

"He's trying to lure you in. Once you've gone deep enough that you can no longer escape, he intends to wipe you all out at once."

"Then—"

"He deliberately dangled bait."

Reinhardt started to protest, then shut his mouth as if something had occurred to him. Deus clenched his teeth even harder—so hard that blood seeped past his lips.

As though giving form to his uncontrollable rage, Deus emitted a faint glow of purple mana and stared at the black forest, his eyes filled with anxiety and anger.

"What... should I—"

In response to his quiet muttering, Alon said, "Don't worry."

"... My lord?"

Alon spoke in a firm voice.

"I have a plan."

####

Meanwhile...

"Boss."

"Whaaat?"

Deep in the Ronovelli jungle, a girl sat atop a pile of stone carved out of a cliff, looking thoroughly annoyed. At the voice calling to her, she turned to look down at a blue-skinned man.

"Why are you calling meee?"

"You know that black fellow you told me to watch, Boss?"

"Yeah. Did he do something?"

"No, that's not it."

"Did he cross the boundary?"

"Not that, either."

"Then what?"

The girl's response had a slight edge. Since the boss was generally short-tempered unless it was nighttime, the blue-skinned man scratched his head as he spoke.

"Well, um... what was it again?"

"If it's nothing important, I'll kill you."

"Oh, come on. Threatening me only makes it harder to remember."

"Just hurry up and tell me."

"Ah, oh! You know that human you called your legitimacy or something?"

"Yeah."

He delivered his news.

"That legitimacy fellow or whatever seems to be heading toward the black one. I've got a feeling he'll end up in pretty bad shape, too."

"... What? Wait, Bo—no, why is he here? No, before that—"

The girl who had been grumbling so irritably—no, the ruler of the Hundred Demons, one of the Four Great Factions—went utterly stony-faced.

"You're saying that bastard might lay a hand on my legitimacy?"