Became the Patron of Villains Novel MTL - Chapter 270

C270. Purity and Jealousy (3)

Yuman watched the scene unfolding before his eyes in astonishment. He was not the only one.

The paladins, who just moments ago had lowered their gazes as if everything were over.

The priests, who had been using their divine power until the very last instant to block the Seraphim of Jealousy and Envy.

Even the people who were sunk in despair, with faces full of helplessness.

Everyone was looking at the same thing, absorbed.

At the man who, with the setting sun at his back, exhibited a completely white radiance.

At the man who had created a bluish Milky Way in the sunset-stained sky.

At the man who stood right in the middle of the meteor shower falling from the firmament.

At Marquis Palatio.

From the sky dyed by the sunset, a rain of blue meteors descended.

Bright. Beautiful.

And—

KWAaaaaaaaa—!!

Devastating.

Hundreds, thousands of meteors fell from the sky, rushing directly toward the sin of Jealousy and Envy that had barely begun to awaken, ripping away everything that was his.

The wings that were supposed to serve as his food.

The enormous cocoon that was supposed to structure his body.

Just as the goddess Sironia, in the sacred texts, eliminated the imperfect from the earth.

“But what the hell is that…!”

Someone murmured.

No one answered. Not even the one who spoke expected an answer.

It was simply… admiration.

A pure and infinite devotion.

Everyone there shared the same feeling.

Among them, Yuman lowered his gaze toward Rosario.

Several meteors that had not hit the Seraphim were rushing toward the city.

Just for an instant, the atmosphere tensed.

“Eyadiya.”

Suddenly, several meteors exploded in the air.

To be exact…

They had been completely blocked by an invisible barrier of white light.

Yuman understood it immediately.

It was a siege defense device that utilized the divine power of Rosario.

But—

‘A defense device can only be activated if there are at least two Cardinals…’

As the doubt arose, he suddenly recalled a certain previous scene:

Alon Palatio talking to Yutia.

“Ah.”

Yuman let out a stifled laugh upon realizing that neither Yutia nor Sergius were there.

Which meant…

Alon already knew.

Since he arrived at this place, he knew exactly how everything would end.

That is why—

“So this is a Saint…”

Yuman observed Alon with a look that had already surpassed mere reverence.

“Huuk—”

When he finished making the meteors fall, Alon landed on the roof of the temple using the Divine Lightning Body.

He deactivated Reverse Heaven and breathed with difficulty.

“Ha—”

His heart beat uncontrollably, outside his dominion. His eyes lost and regained focus over and over again.

Did I last thirty seconds? Forty? Yes… without using divinity, this is my limit.

He wiped the warm blood dripping from his nose.

But this is enough. I survived even without using divinity.

Alon had not used divinity in the technique he had just employed.

That is, he had deactivated the safety measures and used the spell directly.

If something went wrong, his brain could have melted or his magic core could have exploded, killing him instantly.

But he did it anyway for a single reason:

He could no longer afford the luxury of using divinity without measure as before.

The amount of accumulated divinity now was not comparable to what he had on that occasion.

He knew that the battle against the Sins would not end with a single confrontation, so he was saving every gram of divinity.

…Although at least I achieved what I wanted.

He raised his gaze to the sky.

There, emitting a screeching and grotesque sound, hung the cocoon of the Sin of Jealousy, torn and turned into rags.

Its body had been struck before it could fully form; the meteor shower had destroyed it.

I did everything I could do.

And it was literal.

He had aimed for the exact instant the Seraphim mutated into a Sin, striking it before it was fully born, inflicting the maximum possible damage.

But even more important was something else:

He had snatched away the reverence that was supposed to feed the Sin of Jealousy.

And he had protected the faithful, who were supposed to have turned into white and pure beings.

Unlike other Sins, that of Jealousy strengthened according to the reverence and envy accumulated by the original Seraphim.

That is why Alon had used the Divine Lightning Body to show himself before everyone while executing the spell.

To take away all possible reverence.

…It would have been ideal to buy a little more time.

The thought crossed his mind, but he discarded it.

Even if he had maintained Reverse Heaven longer, he would not have been able to completely eliminate the Sin.

Once a Sin began to be born, no attack could erase it totally.

To kill a Sin, one had to witness its birth.

He confirmed it as he made the meteors fall:

From a certain point, the cocoon stopped receiving damage.

It was ridiculous, as if receiving protection from an item in a game.

The fact itself was absurd, but Alon took a deep breath.

There was no turning back now.

It was something that had to be done.

He observed the torn cocoon, which was starting to move again.

Night was already arriving.

At that moment—

“This is truly unpleasant.”

The Apostle of Purity—

No, the Apostle of Jealousy and Envy—frowned while observing the sky.

There, where the sun had already completely hidden behind the mountain, and darkness reigned, was the shattered cocoon.

“…Marquis Palatio.”

The apostle pronounced the name as if chewing on it, striking the tree he was leaning on with force.

If not for him, everything would have proceeded according to plan.

The Seraphim of Jealousy, after devouring the priests, knights, and cardinals of Rosario, would have blossomed perfectly.

And, after eliminating the human forces, it would have received a wave of reverence and fear, awakening as a Sin.

By the time His Holiness descended, his army would have already covered all of Rosario.

But that entire perfect plan came crumbling down.

Because of a single man.

“No… saying ‘single’ would be underestimating him too much.”

He observed Alon on the temple roof. Without a doubt, his capabilities exceeded what he had calculated.

No, given the previous scene, it seemed more like he had evaluated him terribly wrong.

It was a spectacle so overwhelming that even he, an Apostle, had opened his eyes wide.

I suppose I must admit it.

He accepted reality willingly. He had gravely underestimated Marquis Palatio. He was much more dangerous than he had imagined.

And yet, he smiled with relief.

Because even this scenario was foreseen.

He snapped his fingers.

And then—

KWAdeudeudeudeuk—!

From the ground, white beings began to emerge, identical to those created by the Seraphim of Jealousy.

And not just there.

All over Rosario.

White beings began to climb up from the earth.

“W-what is that?”

“Aaaahhh!”

The apostle heard the screams coming from the capital of Rosario, humming happily.

The white beings created by his power could not compare to those created by the true Seraphim destined to become a Sin.

But that didn’t matter.

Because their numbers were overwhelming.

He had spent centuries preparing for this single moment, and finally, everything was bearing fruit.

“Ahh—”

Heartbreaking screams.

Voices mixed in chaos.

The more they accumulated, the more the apostle’s face contorted with pleasure.

Those white beings would return reverence to His Excellency.

The apostle extended his hand toward Alon, on the temple roof.

He was careful by nature, and normally would not do something so impulsive, but he knew that this instant was an opportunity.

Alon was exhausted.

So exhausted that he wouldn’t even notice a small spell.

If I eliminate him now, no one will be able to interfere with the birth of His Excellency.

With that thought, he gathered power in his finger.

Uwoong!

The black magic concentrated in an instant, vibrating with an eerie force.

But at that moment—

KUUNG—! KUUUUUNG—!!

A heavy sound exploded in the distance.

So far away that not even his vision reached clearly.

And then he saw it.

Two lights advancing along the east and west walls of Rosario, heading toward him.

A golden light that blinded just by looking at it.

And a blackness so deep it seemed to devour the soul.

The apostle, sensing that something out of the ordinary was occurring, stopped charging power and immediately launched his magic toward Alon.

But in that instant, he understood.

His attack did not cross the walls of Rosario.

It was grazed by something golden… and disappeared.

KWAduk—!

Thousands of black hands extended toward Alon and took his own arm, twisting it grotesquely—

KIKIKIKIK—!

Forcing him to aim at himself.

And then—

“What…!”

A tearing pain ran through his body, as if his limbs were being ripped off.

His eyes opened wide.

In front of him, two figures had already arrived.

“How dare you, bastard, lay a hand on my Big Brother…”

The King of Curses, with thousands of black hands snaking around him, looked at him with icy eyes.

“And what are you?”

And next to him, wrapped in golden lightning—

The Lightning God.