Became the Patron of Villains Novel MTL - Chapter 138

Chapter 138
Both Kiriana and Alon had expected the journey to their goal to last three days.

In the game, it had only taken two.

Of course, traveling with a large force naturally required more time.

Yet, a small uncertainty had taken root in Alon’s mind during the trek, prompted by the real geography.

Whether he consulted the map of Psychedelia or the one Kiriana unrolled, the distance to the swamp was not especially great.

A single day of determined travel should have been sufficient.

It was baffling, then, that the journey was estimated to take 2 to 3 days, but by the first day of the march…

“Incredible.”

Alon understood just how flawed his assumptions had been.

He stared down, stunned.

Below them stretched an enormous canyon.

And that wasn’t all.

Past the canyon ran a line of rugged mountains, and beyond those, another canyon appeared to begin.

Even the farthest canyon he could see was fractured into dozens of smaller branches.

“The terrain is the reason.”

The realization was dizzying.

Perhaps Kiriana had allotted three days not to be harsh on the expedition, but because it was the realistic minimum.

He was pondering this as they made their descent.

[This chasm, it was made by sentient hands.]

Basiliora’s voice spoke up abruptly.

“What?”

[I speak the truth. This canyon did not form naturally.]

Basiliora, whom Alon had summoned the previous day from his coat pocket out of sheer boredom, was now looking around with a serious air, a first since his defeat.

[It certainly appears so.]

“What makes you say that?”

[Look, the canyon splits into an oval shape, does it not?]

“Hmm.”

Alon studied the canyon.

He hadn’t seen it before, but as Basiliora pointed out, the canyon did indeed divide into a broad oval.

[Natural canyons do not fracture in this manner.]

“…So it’s artificial based on that alone?”

[No, there is an echo here.]

“An echo?”

[Yes, it is ancient, but unmistakable. It feels like the remnant of a battle, given how two distinct echoes are intertwined.]

“…It’s hard to fathom.”

He shook his head involuntarily.

The scale of the majestic canyon seemed too vast to be merely a scar from a fight.

Moving on, a peculiar unease growing within him, Alon soon reached a smaller, winding part of the canyon.

“There are several routes here.”

“In this situation, the left path appears most favorable.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes, let’s proceed that way. It is wider than the others, so even if it adds a little time, it seems the wiser choice.”

“I see… Everyone, take the far-left path!”

Yutia and Kiriana were discussing the way forward.

Watching them converse, Alon suddenly remembered what Basiliora had said.

“Basiliora.”

[What is it?]

“Was this canyon also created by a battle?”

[Well— yes, but… perhaps.]

“…? It’s a simple question. Is it yes or no?”

[It is, but—]

Perched on Alon’s shoulder, Basiliora was observing the canyon with an uncharacteristically reserved demeanor.

Or rather.

‘Is he looking at Yutia?’

It seemed Basiliora’s gaze was fixed on Yutia, who was speaking with Kiriana some distance away.

‘Unclear why he’s being so cautious, but.’

Alon had a general idea of the cause.

It was because of the previous day’s events.

Yesterday evening.

Alon, tired of merely observing his surroundings, had summoned Basiliora to be a playmate for the chittering Blackie.

[Let me out more! It’s stifling in there! I can see out, but I want to explore!!]

The moment he appeared, Basiliora flew into a rage, berating Alon.

‘Oh, what an adorable little snake.’

[I am the great god Basiliora!]

‘Little snake, may I borrow you for a moment?’

[I am not an adorable snake! Noooooo!!!]

‘If you’ll allow me, I’d like to keep you company for a bit.’

Yutia, divine power shimmering in her hand, had then led the spirit-form Basiliora away somewhere.

The small snake that returned a short time later had since been carefully watching Yutia’s every move.

Alon, curious about what Yutia had said, had asked repeatedly, but Basiliora refused to answer.

Even when he asked Yutia directly,

‘Huh? We simply played together, My Lord.’

Was all she would say.

It only deepened the mystery.

The state Basiliora had returned in made it hard to believe they had just ‘played’.

But the memory was brief.

“My Lord, let us go.”

Following Yutia, who offered a gentle smile, Alon continued his advance into the canyon.

…Even after that, Basiliora’s eyes held a nervous tremor whenever they fell upon Yutia.

After two more days had passed.

“…Is this the place?”
“We have arrived.”

The expedition reached the swampy domain of the forest abyss’s Rikrakamur.

As the force trekked through the woods, they found it.

Not a bare hill, but Rikrakamur itself, rising from the swamp’s center.

Its immense size was not completely hidden by the water, and the soldiers looked pallid, their spirits seeming to break at its mere presence.

The knights, too, wore grave expressions.

Their faces were not as white as the soldiers’, but their eyes held clear and undisguised fear.

It was understandable.

Rikrakamur, presumed to be slumbering in the swamp, was simply too colossal for mere humans to slay.

“I knew of it from tales, but… it’s larger than I imagined. Can we truly kill it?”

Even Kiriana’s voice was laced with doubt.

To this, Yutia responded with a quiet smile.

And Alon.

“…I will now explain the plan.”

He began his explanation without a trace of hesitation.

***

A blue moon climbed high into the late night sky.

Kiriana gazed at it quietly before turning her head and speaking.

“Begin.”

“Yes, understood.”

At her command, a knight gave a slight nod in a specific direction.

Acknowledging the signal,

“Turn~!”

The soldiers began rotating a massive pulley.

*Creak-creaaaaaak!*

As dozens of men moved as one, a grating, rusty sound filled the air as the pulley slowly started to turn.

At the same time.

“The northern pulley has begun turning!”
“The eastern pulley is activated!”
“Signals are up from the west and south as well!”

Reports came in from the knights.

Kiriana gave a light nod, recalling the instructions Marquis Palatio had given earlier.

“The coalition’s role is straightforward.”

“There are four pulleys in this swamp, positioned at the cardinal points. When I give the signal, you need only turn all four at once.”

“Once the pulleys are turned, monsters will pour forth. The coalition’s sole task is to hold them back.”

A plan that was simple and direct.

Watching the soldiers strain at the pulleys, Kiriana revisited a question that lingered in her thoughts.

‘How does Marquis Palatio know these pulleys are here?’

To Kiriana’s knowledge, very few were aware of Rikrakamur’s existence.

Originally, no one outside the coalition forces could cross the border, and the creature’s very presence would only be known from ancient records unless one was part of the coalition.

Yet, strangely, Marquis Palatio seemed exceptionally well-informed, not just about Rikrakamur, but about this very swamp.

As if he had been here before.

‘…What?’

Just as a strange suspicion began to form in Kiriana’s mind.

*Thump! Thuuuum!*

A tremendous sound, indicating the pulleys had been fully rotated, halted her thoughts and made her look around.

“The swamp water is receding!”
“…The water?”

It was true.

With a deafening roar, the water in the swamp began to vanish into unseen depths below.

As Kiriana watched the water level plummet rapidly.

“…Madness.”

At a knight’s low curse, her face instinctively tightened and she looked ahead.

There lay Rikrakamur, just as it had been when they first saw it that afternoon.

A horrified gasp escaped her.

The creature’s full bulk was being unveiled as the water fell away.

“Is that… a living being?”

At the knight’s awed whisper, Kiriana could only press her lips together.

She understood the feeling completely.

‘Can we actually kill that?’

Doubt ran rampant through her mind.

It was as massive as a great fortress, and as it emerged further from the receding water, a single breath from it was enough to send local birds scattering noisily into the sky.

Even Kiriana, who prided herself on having reached a superhuman level, had to humbly acknowledge the limits of humanity.

Overwhelmed by its sheer scale, she felt an involuntary awe.

…

She then looked toward Marquis Palatio.

He was walking forward.

Toward Rikrakamur, a single tooth of which was larger than five grown men.

Finally.

Sighing deeply, the Duke looked ahead.

Rikrakamur, still not fully roused, its mere breathing causing the ground to vibrate, exerted a pressure on Alon that was beyond imagination.

Even for someone of Alon’s capability, there was no spell that could effectively harm a monster of such magnitude.

Nor could he spontaneously invent new magic with greater destructive power.

He was not that caliber of prodigy.

Yet, the fact remained that they had to confront this monstrous being.

There was only one path open to him.

That was the application of magic.

Alon, summoning a biting cold from his armor, quickly recited an incantation.

Slower than Duke Komalon, but decidedly faster than the Alon of old.

“Frost Barrier Extreme.”

As he spoke the final word, the magic, which froze everything within its conjured space, erupted.

*Crrrrrack!*

It unfolded above Rikrakamur’s head.

The spell, constrained in both space and duration to conserve mana, lasted a mere two seconds.

In that fleeting moment, a massive crystal formed above its head.

While certainly powerful enough to obliterate dozens of ordinary monsters, the initial crystal was too small to inflict meaningful injury on Rikrakamur’s vast form.

However,

Multiple Manifestation.

Alon’s magic, having already woven a spiral structure of magical energy, deployed Frost Barrier Extreme once more,

*Crrrack!*

And then again on top of that.

*Crrrrack!*

The final result was a giant crystal, now large enough to truly impact the massive body of Rikrakamur.

Observing the hovering crystal, Alon sealed an incantation and twisted the laws governing it.

“Spiral.”

Following the chant, the law embedded within the incantation infused the crystal.

The arrangement of icy magic warped into a spiral.

Its sharpest point splayed across a wide area like floating shards, releasing a sound akin to splintering wood, scattering the remnants in every direction like spring snow.

Only then, too late, did Rikrakamur, awakened by the snowflakes assailing its body, open its eyes.

“Rotation”

But Alon, undaunted, twisted another permitted law.

The crystal, upon Alon’s chant, began to rotate clockwise. Obeying gravity, it plummeted earthward, gaining the penetrating force to pierce the monster’s tough hide, aided by the spiral incantation.

With a thunderous crash, it speared through Rikrakamur’s body.

Simultaneously, the final word Alon invoked was,

“Shatter”

Violently breaking the arrangement of the rotating magical energy.

With that, the crystal that had impaled Rikrakamur exploded like a bomb and dispersed.

Under the blue moon, a flower of ice bloomed.