Became the Patron of Villains Novel MTL - Chapter 282

C282. Treatment (1)

 

The lightning that tore through the blue rift flashed out against the monsters that even covered the sky.

With earth-shattering shrieks, a sea of blood spread.

Alon Palatio watched that scene in a daze.

Not just him.

Evan, who just a moment ago was making a fuss.

And Penia, who was seriously preparing a magic chant.

They all stood speechless, watching only the sea of blood unfold before their eyes.

And then—

Before the subsequent, soul-rending screams, Alon‘s party had no choice but to turn their gaze in unison.

And they saw it.

A bloody monster advancing towards Jaebo in the midst of the crimson sea.

Its appearance was similar to the Sea King God that Radan or Basiliora had captured, but its state was so miserable that it could not possibly be said to be fine.

Hundreds of weapons were already lodged in its scales, which looked tough.

Its flank, which was rising and falling on the surface of the sea of blood, was in such a critical state that it was a miracle its body was not completely torn apart.

Even so, it continued to charge towards Jaebo.

But—

Pachik—! Pajijijik—!!

Just at the instant the monster got close to Jaebo, Alon saw it.

A gigantic monolith tearing through the blue rift.

No—

“…A sword?”

—A gigantic colossal Great Sword.

As soon as that intimidating sword that could even split the sky in two appeared in the world, it shot forward.

Kuguguguguguk—!!

Simply by being thrown, it generated a wind so powerful that—

It split the enormous monster in half and killed it.

With that, the monsters charging towards Jaebo completely disappeared.

Sunk forever in the red sea.

Evan, frozen until then, exclaimed in admiration.

“Are you alright, brother?”

Alon, who was still watching everything that had happened in astonishment, turned his gaze towards the one who called him.

There was Radan, who no longer showed the seriousness from before and was shrugging proudly.

“I’m fine. But… impressive.”

“Eeeh, it’s not that big of a deal, brother.”

Alon looked around.

The sea previously overflowing with monsters was gone.

Overwhelming power.

And Radan, who, despite having displayed such power, showed not the slightest sign of fatigue.

Alon marveled for a few moments.

‘With this… will we have to postpone the journey to the East?’

If monsters of this level appeared frequently during the journey, it was clear that they would not be able to endure.

At that moment, Radan offered him a very simple solution.

“How about we just go like this?”

“Yes. We just have to cut the bodies of the ones we sank and hang them around with hoops.”

“Will that work?”

“Sea Beings are generally aggressive, but they have a habit of not attacking those they consider stronger than themselves. That is, if we hang enough bodies of those we just defeated—”

“They will consider us strong enough and not approach?”

“As long as there are no creatures stronger than the ones we faced, yes. So don’t worry so much.”

“You saved me.”

Alon smiled contentedly, watching Radan beat his chest as if to say that he could rely on him alone.

“Brother, rest first. I have things to do, I’ll be back.”

“Are you going to collect the body fragments?”

“Yes. And I also have to retrieve it.”

Alon tilted his head, and Radan replied as if it were obvious:

“The artifacts.”

Alon remembered the artifacts he had thrown at the monsters.

“…Did they need to be recovered?”

“Right!?”

“…Can they be recovered?”

“It’s not hard. I already marked them all so that I recognize them as distinct artifacts, so I know exactly where they are. Anyway, I’ll be right back, brother.”

Radan waved his hand cheerfully and plunged into the water.

Alon made a strange face as he watched him.

Radan‘s words made sense, but…

…something… something wasn’t right.

While thinking that, he heard Penia‘s voice next to him.

“Aaaah, my research materials! Just thrown away like that…! What if they get lost…!? It will be incredibly difficult to recover them…!”

Penia was genuinely worried, jumping up and down.

But more than Radan, she seemed worried about the artifacts.

And Alon, observing that scene, thought:

‘…Why is she so worried?’

They belong to Radan…

The doubt continued to accumulate.

A few hours passed.

“I took a while!”

When the blue sky began to be tinged with red by the sunset, Radan climbed aboard the ship.

And immediately set Jaebo in motion.

“Th-this, if it’s not a bother… can I see some artifacts?”

Like a jackal finding prey, Penia approached, drooling with excitement.

Radan, confused, looked at Alon.

“Could you show them?”

“Well… if you ask me, brother… it’s not difficult.”

Radan stuck the spear in as before, created a small rift, and pulled out some artifacts.

“Waaaah…”

Penia examined them like a happy child, but suddenly—

“?”

She made a confused face, as if something was odd.

Alon asked:

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just… they are artifacts, yes, but… I feel like… they have been manipulated?”

“It’s normal for a human touch to be on them, isn’t it?”

“Noo… yes, but not like this.”

Unable to explain it, Penia tilted her head several times, then took one of the artifacts and showed it to Alon.

Alon took the sword and immediately realized something.

“It’s symmetrical.”

“Right?”

It would not be strange for a sword to be symmetrical.

But this artifact had a guard that was not originally perfectly symmetrical, so it seemed strange.

Alon looked at Radan, understanding something.

“Ah, I fixed that.”

“You fixed it?”

“Yes, it made me uncomfortable.”

Penia let out a ‘haaah!’ full of shock.

Alon instantly understood why he had done it.

‘Because of his obsession with perfectionism.’

Knowing Radan‘s compulsions, Alon nodded.

“But I only removed the visible part, it doesn’t affect the performance, brother.”

Radan added the explanation.

Meanwhile, Penia got excited again and was happily playing with the artifacts.

Alon watched her and thought of something that had always made him curious.

“Penia.”

“Yes? What’s wrong?”

Stroking the artifacts as if they were a treasure, Penia replied.

“Why do you like researching artifacts and relicaries so much?”

That was Alon‘s mystery.

He knew that mages often had an interest in artifacts.

But Penia was… extreme.

“Mmm… why do I like them?”

“Yes.”

“Seriously… you don’t know?”

“What?”

“The Blue Tower was always a specialist in artifacts and relics…”

“…Really?”

Penia nodded quickly.

“Yes, although mages generally handle them… most of those interested in artifacts come to us. Many of our magics are based on artifact activation principles.”

“Ah—! Just a moment!”

She immediately disappeared, as if she couldn’t wait.

Alon watched her go, but felt a gaze and turned his head.

It was Radan, staring intently at the red brooch pinned to Alon‘s chest.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah… brother.”

When Alon spoke, Radan finally reacted and pointed to the brooch.

“That… was it a gift?”

He asked cautiously.

“Yutia gave it to me.”

Hearing him, Radan let out a small sigh and looked away.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s not that there’s a problem.”

“Yes?”

“In any case, rest, brother. If a monster appears, the ship will sound the alarm.”

Alon wanted to rest now.

Being on the ship made him feel more tired than normal.

“Then I will rest.”

“Yes.”

Alon retired to his room with Evan.

A little while later.

The interior of the ship fell silent.

Radan was left alone, scratching his head with an uncomfortable expression.

All because of the red brooch on Alon‘s chest.

More precisely—

Because he immediately understood what role it fulfilled.

Just when he was about to explain it to Alon—

[Shh—]

Yutia Bloodia appeared, staring at him with red eyes, placing a finger on her lips.

“She said she trusted him, that it was fine for us to escort him like this…”

Radan murmured in a low voice:

“…but in reality, she’s the most overprotective one, isn’t she?”

He imagined the brooch again.

An artifact that allows for shared vision anywhere where mana exists.

But Radan, who had recovered tens of thousands of artifacts and used them directly and indirectly, perceived it instantly.

That artifact had something more.

‘…Where did Yutia get something like that?’

Radan thought for a while, but dismissed it.

He knew that Yutia would never explain anything she didn’t want to explain.

Instead—

‘Although… isn’t this technically a crime…?’

Radan, very seriously, pondered whether Yutia‘s conduct was a crime or not.

…Even if it were, he didn’t have the strength to stop her.

It was late at night, when even the stars were sleeping.

Two weeks passed.

Just as Radan said, monsters barely appeared after that, and there was never a fight.

Thanks to this, Alon was able to reach the East without problems.

And then—

“…What is this now?”

Stallian V received another letter.

This time—

A blue letter coming from the temple of Kalanon.