Became the Patron of Villains Novel MTL - Chapter 235

Chapter 235

 

The head of the Jujeosa, one of the Four Great Powers, was the King of Curses, Cheonju (天呪).

“Truly, I am grateful.”

Nangwon bowed repeatedly, expressing his profound appreciation for the present circumstances, which made Alon wonder why he was there.

…He was surprisingly ordinary-looking in his youth.

The Nangwon that Alon remembered from Psychedelia was different from the boy now.

Gone were the strange facial tattoos and his two different-colored eyes.

Absent was the long, surgical scar that ran from his cheek to his right collarbone, which was practically his defining feature.

Without those distinguishing marks, it would have been almost impossible to connect him with Cheonju.

Who could have linked the scarred, bald Cheonju with the handsome youth standing before him?

If Alon hadn’t learned that his sister was the reason he became the King of Curses, he might never have accepted it.

---

“Sir Alon, do you intend to take him along too?”

The moment of surprise quickly passed.

A voice thick with hostility came from nearby—it was Rangban.

Just a few moments prior, Nangwon had been clutching his sister.

Now, he urgently pleaded.

“Pl-please—don’t abandon us! We are not like the Northern Demons!”

“All demons are alike. What different kind of demon could you possibly be?”

At the frigid response, Nangwon’s face fell into utter desperation.

Alon struggled to recall Nangwon’s lineage.

‘Was he a half-demon?’

A half-demon.

A species rumored to have been completely eradicated centuries before the main story of Psychedelia began.

He couldn’t recall anything more specific.

No matter how extensively he had played the game, he hadn’t immersed himself so deeply in its backstory as to memorize every ancient detail like an oracle.

From the exchange between Rangban and Nangwon, he could roughly determine the situation.

After a brief reflection, Alon looked at the distraught Nangwon.

“I’ll take him.”

“…Are you saying you’ll shelter a half-demon?”

Rangban questioned again, sounding incredulous.

Alon affirmed with a nod.

“Yes.”

“Pardon my bluntness, Sir Alon, but he is a half-demon. Half-demons are an untrustworthy species—you can never predict when they might betray you.”

“I-I am not like that!”

Nangwon denied the accusation with fervent gestures.

But his frantic movements did nothing to soften Rangban’s harsh expression.

“Half-demons pose a threat. And, disregarding my personal feelings, including one in the escape party will not be advantageous. Especially in a dire predicament like this, where hope is scarce.”

Indeed, his reasoning was sound.

If the general public’s opinion of half-demons was as poor as—or worse than—Rangban’s, accepting Nangwon would be a poor tactical choice.

Even setting aside personal bias, there was ample justification for objection.

However, despite these valid points, Alon had already resolved to rescue Nangwon.

A brief silence settled over them.

“Even so, I will take him.”

Alon stated calmly.

“…Are you being serious?”

Rangban inquired one last time.

Alon acknowledged his concerns but nodded nonetheless.

“Everyone here is in the same plight. None of them chose to be brought here, and all have suffered unimaginable torment.”

They had witnessed atrocities and endured agony beyond comprehension.

“And yet, simply because of a difference in origin, you would refuse to help someone?”

To use race as the sole factor in determining who lives or dies?

That would be equivalent to fabricating an even deeper misery within this current hellscape.

“I am taking him.”

If his mind had been functioning more quickly, he might have formulated a more compelling argument.

—Or so Alon thought fleetingly.

“…Understood.”

Rangban eventually relented.

“However, while you may take the boy, I believe you will have to give up on the girl.”

“N-no…!”

Nangwon became even more distraught than before.

His eyes, now red-rimmed with tears, showed his desperate refusal to relinquish his sister.

Alon turned his attention back to Rangban.

“Why?”

Rangban’s gaze drifted to one side.

“…The Baarma wretches have already acted. Look at her leg.”

When Alon looked down, he saw a massive, throbbing egg lodged in the girl’s flesh.

“That is—”

“It is one of Baarma’s authorities. The instant an ‘egg’ is inserted into a body, the host is compelled to provide it with nutrients until the parasite hatches.”

“…What occurs when the parasite emerges?”

“The host perishes. And if we bring her with us, the Baarma cultists will trace our location.”

“You’re saying they can follow us?”

“While ordinary cultists may lack the ability, bishops likely possess it.”

“Th-that’s a falsehood—”

Rangban’s explanation crushed the faint glimmer of hope Nangwon had clung to, twisting his face in utter despair.

“It is not a lie. If I wished to deceive you, I would have made half-demons sound even more despicable.”

But Rangban’s solemn demeanor was confirmation enough that his words were true.

“Ugh—cough, cough!”

Nangwon’s sister, who had been barely breathing, suddenly erupted in a violent coughing fit.

“Sister, sister—!”

Tears welled in Nangwon’s eyes and began to stream down his cheeks.

His sister, gently touching his tear-soaked face, looked at Alon.

“Truly, thank you.”

“…”

“Please… look after my little brother… no matter the cost…”

A request to be left behind.

But to ensure her brother’s survival above all else.

Tears streamed endlessly from her eyes as she forced out her final plea.

Her little brother, unable to cry out loud, held onto her even tighter.

Alon, watching the siblings, let out an unconscious deep sigh and raised his gaze.

The sky remained gray and lifeless.

And beneath that bleak expanse, too many tragedies were unfolding.

It was suffocating, unbearably so, to the point where even his emotions felt muted and gray.

At that very moment—

“Godfather.”

“…What is it?”

“Do you desire to save that sister?”

Rine asked composedly.

Alon turned to face her.

“Is there a method?”

“That thing—if we act immediately, we might be able to remove it.”

Without displaying any emotion, she simply scrutinized the girl’s leg and spoke plainly.

“I believe so too.”

As if in agreement, Penia also nodded.

Rine moved another step closer to the girl.

“That parasite is currently absorbing the host’s vitality and converting it into a form of energy before returning it. It appears to be attempting to fuse itself into a crucial organ of the host.”

“…To prevent its extraction?”

“Precisely. But since it hasn’t integrated too deeply yet, I think we can still remove it. However—”

“However?”

“To take it out completely, we need to extract it from its origin, but it looks like the parasite has already embedded itself deep into her leg. That means, to preserve her life, we might have to amputate her leg.”

Given their current situation, a precise procedure was impossible.

The only viable choice was to remove the entire infected section.

It was a fragile, incomplete hope, but just as a possible solution emerged—

“No, perhaps… we can save her leg.”

Penia, lost in thought, suddenly offered.

“A-Ah—”

Hope began to flicker in Nangwon’s eyes.

---

It had been precisely two weeks since Alon had taken in Nangwon.

In the end, Nangwon’s sister was saved without needing to lose her leg.

The possibility arose thanks to Kalannon’s divine power.

“That parasite seems to be composed of a weak form of divinity. Typically, magic and divine power repel each other, so attempting to extract it with magic would endanger her life. But with Kalannon’s divine power, we can safely remove it.”

Following Penia’s suggestion, Alon employed Kalannon’s divine power and successfully saved the sister with relative ease.

And—

“Brother, I brought you some food.”

“You didn’t need to.”

“No, even for something small like this, I want to be of service to you.”

Thanks to this, Alon now had another younger brother (?).

A truly devoted one.

As he accepted the roasted sweet potato Nangwon offered him, he absently observed that two-colored eyes could indeed shine so brightly.

“Thank you.”

“No, I will serve you for the rest of my life.”

He almost responded with ‘You don’t have to go to such lengths,’ but—

Seeing Nangwon’s firm determination as he nodded resolutely, Alon couldn’t bring himself to object.

Alon ended up nodding back without thinking.

At that moment—

“Ah!”

Ryanga, who was also carrying a sweet potato, frowned as she approached Alon.

“Hey! It was my turn!”

“What do you mean ‘your turn’? You were too slow, and I brought it to Brother before he got hungry.”

That exchange ignited a small dispute between Ryanga and Nangwon.

Considering their future importance and strength, the thought that these two, who could obliterate entire nations when they clashed, were now merely squabbling over food momentarily filled Alon with a strange, awe-filled sensation.

“…Sir Alon, so you were here.”

Alon turned to Rangban, who had come looking for him.

“How’s the situation?”

“It is favorable. Especially this time, we have a high number of rescued individuals, and most of them are soldiers captured from the Union rather than common civilians.”

That was excellent news.

Over the past two weeks, Alon had assaulted more than five different temples, rescuing people in addition to Nangwon.

As a result, even more people were now gathered in the hideout.

“Also, thanks to you, morale is quite good.”

“Because of me—?”

“Yes. A god’s mere presence is enough to inspire strength in people.”

Rangban’s words reminded Alon of when people first started referring to him as a ‘god.’

‘If I recall correctly, it began when I saved Nangwon.’

Since then, Alon had miraculously healed several others at the temples, similar to Nangwon’s sister.

First, it was a member of the Dragonkin.

Then, a race covered in horns that even Alon had never encountered before.

Finally, an elf.

Because of these acts of healing, Alon had come to be revered as a god by those around him.

He did not explicitly deny it.

For the time being, simply not refuting the title carried many advantages.

It didn’t seem like he had genuinely developed a divine presence yet, but simply being called a god and giving people something to believe in significantly improved the atmosphere in the hideout.

Where there had been only terror and despondency, a faint but perceptible sense of hope had begun to take root in their eyes.

“However, not all the news is positive.”

“…Oh?”

“Yes, it appears the Baarma cult will be making a move soon.”

“That stands to reason. We’ve been causing havoc for two weeks—they were bound to react eventually.”

“Technically, there are still dozens of temples remaining, so we could take more time if we wanted, but—”

“You’re suggesting we prepare.”

“Exactly. We need to gather the rest and move north as quickly as possible.”

“How many are left in this immediate area?”

“About three. Once we rescue everyone there, we can continue moving upward while collecting more people.”

And then—

After a slight pause, Rangban spoke.

“It concerns Dalma.”

“Have you received any information about Ryanga’s homeland?”

Rangban fell silent for a moment, then cautiously began to speak.

“I have something I must tell you about that.”

“…?”

His expression was somewhat grave.

---

“What exactly did you say?”

Hidan, who had just returned from the North under Red Moon’s orders, had been given truly unbelievable information.

No—unbelievable wasn’t the right word.

At least from Hidan’s perspective, it was something far worse—infuriating, ominous, something that could usher in a catastrophe.

So, with a serious expression, he asked Yuna again.

But the answer he received—

“…Great Moon has perished.”

“That’s impossible.”

—did not change.

No matter how many times he questioned her, the reply remained the same.

So absolutely, ruinously the same.

And then—

“…Have the other Moons been notified?”

“No. But since the information began circulating five hours ago, within a day or two—”

As Yuna continued speaking,

Hidan became silent.

Because he knew instinctively.

What would happen once this news spread.

His eyes began to tremble uncontrollably.