Became the Patron of Villains Novel MTL - Chapter 257

Chapter 257

A shadowy temple lay buried deep beneath the roots.

Two figures sat within that darkness.

One was the Apostle of Wrath, shrouded in a black robe.

The other was—

“Mm—”

A man with silver hair who seemed ill-suited to the gloom of the underground.

He hummed with evident satisfaction—or rather, spoke his thoughts aloud.

“This is quite pleasant.”

The Apostle of Purity nodded, clearly delighted by the current state of affairs.

“……You find this pleasant?”

Looking like a bottomless abyss, nothing could be discerned within the hood.

The question came from the Apostle of Wrath, who was cloaked in pitch-black garments.

The voice was grotesque—distinguishable as neither old nor young, male nor female—carrying a chill so eerie it caused a frown simply by listening to it.

“Yes, I like it.”

The Apostle of Purity maintained his smile.

“Look, the numbers are perfect now. Just the two of us.”

He spoke with a bright tone.

“Hoo—You see, others might not care, but it really bothered me. That makes this situation very satisfying. Oh, don’t misunderstand, it’s not that I wanted the Apostles to die, alright? Even if just one had died, that would have sufficed for me.”

Because then there would be four, correct? Two on each side—a perfect balance—

He chuckled to himself as he mumbled these thoughts.

The Apostle of Wrath, who had been observing him silently, finally spoke up.

“So, what is your plan?”

“What do you mean?”

“You are aware of the failure of the previous Apostles. You know what I am referring to.”

At those words, Purity tilted his head before letting out a soft ‘ah—’.

“You mean the fact that the seed we planted was ruined? Yes, that is a pity. We invested a great deal of effort, and now it is going to waste without ever being utilized properly. However—”

Grin.

“I am not overly concerned. We did tweak it slightly to serve as a vessel for that One, but it is not strictly necessary to use that specific one.”

“……Then?”

“There is no need to be obsessed with him. I will kill him to retrieve it, certainly, but I do not need to dirty my own hands to do so.”

Purity smiled as he withdrew a dark-colored cube from his robe.

“Do you know what this is?”

“That is—”

“It is something created by a rather mediocre individual, but it turned out to be quite useful. So, I mass-produced it. I even added a touch of that One’s authority to it.”

“……Do you intend to use that to create a vessel?”

In response to the question, Purity placed the cube before Wrath.

“Of course not. This is merely preparatory work for the others. Even if they are not Apostles, they will need to emerge eventually, won’t they?”

“In that case—”

“I have already selected the perfect vessel to receive my great one. I found a truly fine candidate, as well.”

He walked over to the opposite side of the table.

“Well, I believe we are finished here. I shall take my leave now. Let us meet again sometime.”

Waving his hand with a grin, the Apostle of Purity began to fade away.

“Oh.”

Just as his form was dissolving, he let out a short exclamation, as if a thought had just occurred to him.

“Just to be safe, I will handle him as well. Marquis Palatio? It seems most of the failures were his fault, anyway.”

And with one final wave—

“You do not show it, but unlike me, you are mourning the deaths of the Apostles, aren’t you?”

—he vanished completely.

Silence descended upon the temple once more.

Left entirely alone, the Apostle of Wrath.

Stared wordlessly at the abyssal object that Purity had left behind.

A hand emerged from the unseen depths of the robe.

The hand grasped the abyssal cube.

Bringing it close to where their face would be, the Apostle of Wrath muttered—

“……Marquess Palatio.”

They gazed blankly at the abyssal object for some time.

For a long, long while.

Before making his return to the marquessate, Alon paid one final visit to Greynifra—and there, he received an unexpected item from Magrina.

“This is……”

“It is your ring, isn’t it, brother?”

It was the ring Alon had lost in the past.

He inspected the ring Magrina had handed him.

It bore faded patches, unable to fully withstand the passage of ages.

Yet, it was undeniably the ring he used to wear.

“……Where did you obtain this?”

When Alon asked, Magrina closed her eyes briefly, as if trying to summon an old memory.

“Someone gave it to me.”

“……Someone?”

“Yes, a person with blue eyes.”

[That must be the individual I saw,] said Basiliora, curling his body around the ring.

“Do you know who he was?”

Alon asked, but Magrina shook her head.

“No, I do not. I also wondered why he possessed your ring, so I attempted to investigate, but I found nothing.”

“Just in case—do you recall his appearance?”

“Mm—no, his entire body was wrapped in a black robe. I could only see his eyes.”

[Exactly as I remember.]

As Basiliora voiced his agreement, Magrina tilted her head.

“I thought you might know his identity, but I suppose not.”

“Right.”

Alon nodded, but then he realized something strange.

“Magrina, when did you receive this ring?”

“It was perhaps a month or two after you disappeared, I believe.”

At that response, Alon frowned.

If what Magrina said was true, a bizarre contradiction arose.

‘Wouldn’t that imply there should be two of these rings?’

Magrina had received the ring from the mysterious blue-eyed man.

And now, 700 years later, she had given it to Alon.

This meant that for those 700 years, the ring Alon had lost had been in her possession.

At first glance, this seemed acceptable—but one undeniable contradiction remained.

If, as Alon knew, this ring was one-of-a-kind—

Then it made no sense for him to have obtained it in the labyrinth a few years ago.

……Because the ring he had lost should have still been with Magrina.

‘The same logic applies to the glove.’

Alon looked down at his hand.

The glove—said to have once been used by the Primordial Elf as a staff—was another mystery.

When he traveled back in time, he hadn’t sealed it away or done anything specific with it.

He contemplated the matter for a while.

“Well, I understand for now. Thank you for keeping the ring safe.”

“It was nothing, brother.”

Alon rose from his seat.

[What are you thinking about so deeply?]

About a week had passed since they departed from Greynifra.

As Alon stared silently out the window, Basiliora asked.

“……There are too many things that do not add up.”

[Do not add up? Oh, are you speaking of the ring and the glove?]

“Yes. And also that man with blue eyes.”

“Ah—now that you mention it, it does sound a little strange.”

Evan, who was listening nearby, nodded and then shrugged his shoulders.

“But, well… in the end, didn’t it all work out?”

“There were no actual problems.”

Alon rubbed his chin.

Evan was correct.

No actual issues had arisen.

Even so, something continued to bother him.

throughout all of Alon’s experiences in Psychedelia—there had been deviations from the original story and setting before.

But never had a unique setting changed like this.

‘It feels as though something is off.’

A sensation like a splinter stuck in the back of his mind.

At that moment—

“Oh, Marquess. Speaking of which, there is something I recalled while we were talking.”

“What is it?”

Evan leaned in closer.

“Do you remember the Abyssal Core?”

“The Abyssal Core?”

“Yes, the one from the Duke Komalon case.”

“……Don’t tell me it is still being circulated. Is that what you are saying?”

“Mm~ not exactly. I told you last time that a few pieces were still moving around, remember?”

Alon nodded.

Even after Duke Komalon was brought down, Evan had continued to provide updates.

“Then what is happening?”

“Well, this is merely a rumor, but apparently a special kind of Abyssal Core is being mass-distributed right now.”

“……Mass-distributed?”

“Yes, it seems someone has begun producing them again. That has stirred things up quite a bit in the underworld.”

“That does not sound like good news.”

“It likely isn’t.”

“So what makes this Abyssal Core so special?”

When Alon pressed for the main point, Evan hesitated for a moment before answering.

“I heard it significantly enhances the user’s abilities—far more than the usual ones.”

“……Enhances them more?”

“Yes.”

[Hmph, it is probably just a powered-up version of those flawed failures we fought before. Nothing to worry about.]

Basiliora scoffed and laughed arrogantly.

“Didn’t you struggle against one of those flawed ones last time?”

[What nonsense? I shredded five of those guys on my own!]

“Did you?”

Evan responded to Basiliora like an automated machine, picking a fight.

The interior of the carriage grew noisy once again.

[Meow-]

Blackie, who had been sleeping on Alon’s chest, rubbed his eyes and looked at the two with an expression full of pity…

Their peaceful journey continued for several more weeks.

“Master!!”

As soon as they arrived at Colony, Alon was greeted with a dramatic welcome.

Seolrang clung tightly to him as if she had been waiting an eternity.

“Have you been well?”

“Yes! I’ve been great!”

Alon patted Seolrang’s head as she smiled brightly.

…?

But he noticed something odd about the awkward smile on her secretary, Lime’s, face.

“Marquess, since you arrived early this morning, why not head straight there now?”

“Let’s do that.”

Following Evan’s suggestion, they headed directly to the ruins.

As always, Alon entered through the entrance of the ruins and walked down the long tunnel.

In the distance, the view of the ruins began to emerge.

Alon stared at the scene—

…?

And unconsciously made a puzzled expression.

The reason was—

Though it had been a long time since he last saw the ruins, they felt incredibly familiar.

A strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen this place somewhere before.

“……? Master? What is wrong?”

Seolrang, walking beside him, tilted her head.

But Alon simply stared blankly ahead.

“Ah.”

With a soft murmur, he realized two things.

Where he had seen this scenery before.

And—

Why the capital of the Allied Races had felt so familiar when he visited it in the past.

“This was the place.”

Alon finally understood.

This was the capital of the Allied Races he had seen 700 years ago.