Became the Patron of Villains Novel MTL - Chapter 246

Chapter 246

[Now then, what is your assessment?]

The ruins of the World Tree collapsed onto the earth.

With a thunderous roar, the massive debris impacted the ground.

Drifting leaves adorned the grey, ashen landscape, while small splinters scattered across the world like falling sleet.

Hope was pulverized right before their eyes.

That desolate spectacle plunged the allied forces into a deep abyss of despair, leaving them feeling as though they were trapped on the edge of a precipice with no means of resistance.

Ideally, fear spread like a contagion.

However, that was merely the commencement.

[Ah, now that I recall, you had one other inquiry.]

The jagged maws across Baarma’s body curled into mocking sneers.

Baarma, standing beside the decimated World Tree as if finding the situation entertaining—

[You were wondering how I managed to manifest before the World Tree at this specific moment, correct? The answer is straightforward. A betrayer stands in your midst.]

—smirked, dropping another truth that no one wished to hear.

“A tra-traitor?”

“There is a traitor among us?”

At those words, the morale of the allied forces wavered once more.

Tens of thousands of pairs of eyes glanced at one another with suspicion, widening the already existing fissures in the alliance’s unity.

And soon, those fissures began to tear open rapidly.

It was as if someone had been waiting for precisely this instant.

This was due to the individual who abandoned the alliance and crossed over to Baarma’s side in the blink of an eye.

“It cannot be…”

“…Ha.”

“This is madness—”

Surang and Ashur let out bursts of incredulous laughter.

Groans of disbelief erupted from the ranks of the allied forces.

The figure emerging from Baarma’s faction was—

“Kalanda…!!”

It was none other than Kalanda, the King of the Elves.

“Why would you betray us?!”

A face that had always been mask-like in its solemnity and apparent goodwill.

Now, however, it was twisted with a malice that no one had ever witnessed before.

He resembled a devil, wearing a smirk identical to Baarma’s.

As the enraged Surang shouted,

“Betrayal? Betrayal? That is a peculiar choice of words.”

Kalanda chuckled, looking down at Surang—or rather, at the entire allied force.

“I was never a member of this alliance to begin with.”

“…Then do not tell me… The attack on the World Tree was timed to coincide with Lord Yongrin’s sacrifice—”

Kalanda offered no response to Surang’s deduction.

Instead, he jutted out his lips, turned his body, and bowed deeply in reverence toward Baarma.

“O magnificent Baarma! Have you been well!”

His booming voice resonated through the air.

The King’s treachery felt like a finishing blow.

The eyes of the elves filled with intense hostility, a sense of betrayal, and profound despair.

Yet, almost swelling with pride, Kalanda raised his voice even higher.

“I have faithfully executed the mission your servant entrusted to me, and I stand here now to receive your blessing!”

[Heh—]

Baarma, wearing a cryptic smile, approached Kalanda and gazed down at him.

[So, you have concluded all your tasks?]

“Indeed! I have consistently delivered the alliance’s intelligence to you and secured a secret pathway to the World Tree.”

Kalanda shamelessly enumerated the proofs of his treachery without a shred of guilt.

His words stirred a turbulent mix of emotions in everyone present.

Baarma’s followers grinned broadly,

While the alliance drowned in the depths of betrayal and hopelessness.

And among them, the one who reacted with the most intensity—

“A-Ahh—”

—was Magrina.

It was inevitable.

Her eyes, filled with despair, widened as if she could not accept what was unfolding.

Her lips trembled, unable to form words.

“Therefore—”

On one side, there was sheer ecstasy.

“Now that I have fulfilled all my missions for you, please bestow upon me what was promised, O great Baarma!”

On the other side, despair spiraled into the extreme.

And when everything had been said and done, Baarma, observing the scene, spoke—

[Heh, yes, that is correct. I did indeed promise you immortality in exchange for completing your assignment. I recall it.]

“Indeed!”

Kalanda shouted with joy at Baarma’s confirmation.

However—

[But, you have not completed all the tasks.]

“…Pardon?”

At those words,

Kalanda’s face went blank for a moment.

He looked as though he failed to comprehend.

But Baarma continued to sneer.

[That was not the only command I issued to you, was it?]

“…Th-that is…”

[Have you forgotten my final order? The task of preparing a vessel to host the birth of His black existence.]

“O-Oh, Baarma! As I stated, I intended to offer the body of a high elf—my own daughter’s body! I attempted to corrupt her spirit by any means necessary to render her worthy of the great ones, but that—”

Kalanda’s voice shook violently.

A low gasp rippled through the gathered elves.

“……”

Only then did Alon realize that all the scattered puzzle pieces were falling into place.

Why the elves harbored such irrational emotions toward Magrina.

Why she, despite being the daughter of the King, had been subjected to such horrors repeatedly.

Everything became clear.

[I am aware of your efforts. You even contacted the apostles and orchestrated your daughter’s capture by our tribe, did you not?]

“Y-Yes! There were some minor complications, but I did my utmost—”

Kalanda, his face contorted hideously, pleaded as if begging for recognition.

Baarma, peering down at him, wore an expression of unusual seriousness.

And then—

[Yes. I fully understand your struggles.]

“Thank you~!”

[But—]

CRUNCH-SQUELCH!!

Without a moment’s hesitation, he stomped down and crushed Kalanda’s body.

With a chilling sound, dark crimson blood saturated the ashen soil.

Beneath the blood-red foot of Baarma, who had been smirking just moments before,

[Ultimately, that was a failure.]

Kalanda was instantly pulverized and ceased to exist.

Alon sensed it instinctively. The situation had reached its nadir.

No, it was worse than the worst possible outcome.

He had already experienced this once while breaking through Baarma’s intense frontlines.

But undoubtedly, the current predicament was exponentially more dire than back then.

The enemy possessed too many advantages that they lacked.

The morale of the alliance had hit rock bottom.

He could even hear the clatter of weapons being dropped here and there.

Alon posed a question to himself.

Could he alter the tide of battle with the power he had demonstrated last time?

Internally, he shook his head.

The past and the present might have appeared similar on the surface, but there were far too many fundamental differences.

No matter how much they attempted to rally morale, there seemed to be no method to counter the overwhelming number of cultists.

Even if they somehow managed to deal with the horde, Baarma still remained.

Just witnessing that entity up close caused Alon’s entire body to shudder.

Baarma exuded a terrifying presence.

In other words, at this juncture, there was virtually no way to turn the situation around.

Yes, at this rate—

“Hoo—”

Alon exhaled a sigh and scanned his surroundings.

Penia, with a frown, was organizing her mana so she could cast magic at a moment’s notice,

While Rine, her face taut with tension as she stared at Baarma, was preparing to summon Pluton to the battlefield without alerting the enemy.

However, their efforts alone were insufficient to shift the flow of battle.

Something far greater was required to overturn everything.

“……”

Alon once again fingered the item in his pocket.

When Baarma shattered the World Tree right before the alliance’s eyes—

A small realization sparked through his mind.

It was not so much a realization as it was a connecting thread.

The thread that linked the advice he had received through Dowon, and the information and interpretation Penia had inadvertently revealed while reading.

Alon realized it the moment he saw the World Tree being destroyed.

But he could not be certain if it was truly the correct choice.

It could merely be a ridiculous delusion.

It could be a foolish waste of effort.

Still—

Squeeze—

Even so, he had to attempt it.

“……”

Alon took a step forward.

He walked past refugees who stared ahead with eyes full of despondency.

Past soldiers who had dropped their weapons out of sheer helplessness.

Past commanders who glared forward, struggling not to be overwhelmed by fear, even as their limbs trembled.

Past kings filled with betrayal and despair.

Past everyone—

And stepped to the front.

Thus, standing before the entire allied army, he expended most of the mana remaining in his mana core and spoke, “Do not be afraid.”

It was not a shout. Nor a scream.

Not a battle cry.

Just a calm voice devoid of emotion, carried by mana and disseminated across the allied forces.

All eyes turned toward him.

Just that single utterance consumed nearly a third of his mana.

But it did not matter.

Because it was worth that much.

Alon took out the object he had been fingering since earlier and looked at it.

It was a seed, small and round like a fruit.

When he had headed toward the root of the World Tree—after dealing with the Ash Seeder, deep within the World Tree, he had received it.

A seed of the World Tree.

“Simply have faith.”

Again—

Using another third of his mana, Alon conveyed his words to the allied forces.

Then, beneath the shattered remains of the World Tree, he dropped the seed and shrouded himself in divinity.

However, this divinity—was not the divine form of Kalannon he had utilized until now—

Whoooosh—!!!

But the divine power of the “Primordial Elf,” which he had accessed for the first time when he ventured beneath the World Tree.

Then, Alon’s surroundings began to transform completely.

On the ashen ground, vibrant green sprouts emerged.

Life began to bloom.

[Fourth, the divinity of green, is regeneration.]

Simultaneously, Dowon’s advice surfaced in his mind.

“Then it will bring you victory.”

Alon’s final mana radiated outward.

His intent and the divine power infused into the seed—

Pop—

Caused the World Tree to sprout.

The World Tree rapidly advanced through the germination process in an instant.

From seed to sprout.

From sprout to branch.

From branch to tree.

From tree to a giant tree.

From giant tree—

[!!]

To the World Tree.

It absorbed all of the green divinity Alon held and grew at an overwhelming pace, surpassing even Baarma’s height.

As a result, the divine power of the “Primordial Elf” that Alon possessed—unlike Kalannon’s divinity, vanished entirely as if it had never existed.

The green planet that had existed within his body lost its light and disappeared.

But even though he felt this clearly, Alon did not care.

He covered the gray sky with green leaves,

And offered hope to the alliance forces who had only known despair.

That reverence—

Once again gathered around one man.

[!]

Baarma, witnessing it, instinctively reached out his hand to halt the growth of the World Tree.

However—

“Pluton, limited release.”

Unfortunately, Baarma’s movement was arrested for a moment by a massive mechanical hand that descended from the sky.

He attempted to deflect the giant fist rushing toward him, but things did not proceed as he intended.

And the reason was—

[-!]

A girl who had appeared out of nowhere.

A girl with long, snowy white hair flowing down to her waist stood before Baarma.

CRUNCH-BOOOM—!!!!

With brilliant, furious purple mana darker than her burning eyes, she completely shattered the ground beneath her feet and charged toward Baarma.

Then, as the small girl’s kick pierced toward Baarma’s heart—inside Alon’s body, where the green planet had disappeared, a snowy white planet took its place.

The planet settled in without him realizing it and began to grow.

Alon, without hesitation, seized it—

[You who have glimpsed the fragment—I grant you a law.]

A voice whispered in his ear.

He could not identify who it belonged to, but it was strangely familiar.

But rather than pay attention to that voice now, Alon opened his mouth without hesitation.

The law he had been contemplating from the moment he received that advice until now.

A law meant solely for him.

And—

[I grant it.]

At the moment he heard those final words, Alon opened his eyes.

The scene before him looked the same, but clearly, something had changed.

The World Tree had bloomed completely.

A vivid hope was etched into the soldiers’ eyes.

Yet the number of enemies that needed to be defeated remained the same.

But—

Alon smiled.

A deep smile formed on the face that had been expressionless for so long.

And—

“Reverse Heaven (天).”

A star ascended in the gray sky.