Raising Villains the Right Way Novel - Chapter 297

C297. The Sin of Greed (8)

In an infinitely solemn silence.

Everyone faced the visible god within the rift.

The elves did not even perceive its existence.

The Shadow Blade members barely sensed that there was something inside the rift.

Alon Palatio did not know exactly what it was that he saw within it.

The only certain thing was:

The green light emanating from inside that immense, shiver-inducing, colossal rift.

[How… is this possible? That, not even in the Library—]

While Alon Palatio stared in astonishment, he heard the murmur of the Sin of Greed.

Greed seemed unable to comprehend the situation, as if she could not even finish her own words.

And then.

The thing that, until a few moments ago, was only observing motionlessly from the other side of the rift… began to move.

Just raising an arm was enough to make the whole earth tremble violently.

And upon the enormous hand it extended…

A small orb.

A tiny orb appeared.

But only for an instant.

The orb grew abruptly, as if devouring everything that existed around it, and in a blink, it became large enough to swallow the entire kingdom.

Realizing this, Greed formed a seal.

Soon, magic circles unfolded before her.

One.

Two.

Four.

Eight.

Alon Palatio could not even count them: countless magic circles began to block Greed’s front.

What they formed was a fortress of iron and blood.

The instant the impenetrable magical structure, which seemed incapable of being destroyed by any spell, protected Greed’s body—

“Judgment.”

Upon hearing Rine’s murmur—

The immense beam of light accumulating inside the rift was fired.

And just before the world turned white—

Alon Palatio could see it.

Greed’s fortress, dissolving helplessly before the green light that consumed it.

And then.

After the instant the white light devoured everyone’s sight and hearing—

The first thing that appeared was a cloud of dust.

Then, the dense heat and the smell of burning on the skin.

And finally—

When the dust finally dissipated…

A gigantic hole appeared.

A hole so enormous that even pushing all of western Fildegrin into it would not fill it.

And at the end of that hole…

[…]

Greed was there.

She seemed to have returned to her human form she showed in phase 1; perhaps her distortion had disappeared.

She did not look to be in good condition.

The lower half of her body had vanished as if it had never existed, and the countless sheets of paper hanging from her shoulder blades were gone. For the Sin of Greed, that meant only one thing.

Death.

Greed’s remaining body slowly turned into dust, fading away.

Her two eyes, still intact, moved gently.

And Alon Palatio met her gaze.

[I see… ‘I left it to you’.]

Greed looked at Alon Palatio as if accepting something.

No.

It was not like that.

Greed was not looking at Alon Palatio.

‘…Behind?’

What Greed was looking at was above Alon Palatio’s head.

Alon Palatio noticed it and quickly turned, but there was nothing.

While he was surprised—

[The remnant we excluded.]

Greed, who was starting to disappear, called out to Alon Palatio.

Alon Palatio looked back at her.

His expression had returned to being blank.

[I will observe if your choice is the correct one.]

And with those words, before Alon Palatio could ask her anything, she disappeared.

Alon Palatio watched it in silence.

“…Is it over?”

He involuntarily murmured those words.

He looked around.

Nothing had changed, except that Greed had disappeared.

The sky was still dark.

The ground was still opened by that gigantic hole, and Fildegrin was more destroyed than during the Rosario incident.

But just knowing that they had defeated Greed, Alon Palatio let out a sigh of relief.

‘First, I must save Radan, Seolrang, and Historia… No, I also have to tell Rine what I couldn’t tell her before—’

As he organized his thoughts—

Splat.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, his field of vision dropped sharply.

And immediately, he felt something warm sliding down his face.

He raised a hand to touch himself, but—

Before he could, his body was already leaning forward.

“Good job, Godfather. Now, rest a little.”

With Rine’s soft voice as the last sound… Alon Palatio closed his eyes.

---

“Marquis, have you regained consciousness?”

Alon Palatio heard Penia’s voice as soon as he woke up.

His mind was clouded.

While staring into the void, the memories preceding his fainting began to return one by one.

“……How many days have passed?”

“Five days, since then.”

Alon Palatio rubbed his head, which throbbed with pain.

“What exactly happened to me?”

He slowly sat up.

“Do you not remember precisely?”

“…I remember defeating Greed and turning around, but.”

“Then you remember almost everything, right?”

“Yes, but what I’m asking is why I fainted.”

Alon Palatio looked down to examine his body.

He was intact. Not a single wound.

“I am completely healed.”

While he murmured doubtfully, Penia explained:

“I think it was due to overload.”

“……Overload?”

“Your head hurts, right?”

“To say it hurts is an understatement. It’s like someone broke my skull with a hammer.”

“Then that was surely the cause.”

Penia continued:

“Your divinity could regenerate it, but…”

“It seems that even regenerated, the brain is not immune to overload… Didn’t the one named Kylus tell you that too?”

“I heard it, yes, but I didn’t think divine regeneration would be so useless in this case.”

Penia opened her eyes, impressed.

“……Doesn’t one usually stop doing what they are told is dangerous?”

“I had no alternative.”

“Well, I understand that… but still.”

Penia sighed.

Alon Palatio, frowning from the pain, looked around.

“……Are the others okay?”

“Everyone—”

Penia was about to answer, but—

“I will explain it.”

Evan entered abruptly, interrupting her.

Penia looked at him with disgust.

But Evan ignored her reaction and approached Alon Palatio.

“Are you alright, Marquis?”

“As you can see, yes. Except for the head.”

“I’m glad to hear it. And the other three are fine. Seolrang and Radan suffered some injuries, but they are in good condition. Historia too.”

“…What a relief.”

Alon Palatio sighed in relief.

“And Rine?”

“Rine is also fine. But…”

“But…?”

“She says she will not come to see you.”

Alon Palatio was momentarily speechless.

“……What does that mean?”

Evan thought for an instant and replied:

“She says she will wait for you every night, at midnight, at the top of the tower.”

“…The top of the tower?”

“Yes. She wants your first meeting to be there.”

“That’s why she won’t come here,” Evan added.

Alon Palatio immediately asked:

“What time is it now?”

“In about two hours, it will be midnight.”

Alon Palatio looked out the window.

The galaxy was already shining in the night sky.

“…I will go now.”

“Huh? Now?”

“Yes.”

“But it’s not even midnight. And you don’t need to go today. She said she waits every night. You should rest first—”

Ignoring Evan’s objection, Alon Palatio got up and held his throbbing head.

“I want to get some fresh air.”

He said that and left.

“Then I will accompan—”

“Oh, please, have some tact.”

“Huh? What? I just want to help, he looks bad.”

“God… your lack of tact.”

“?”

“Ugh… Forget it.”

Leaving Penia and Evan arguing behind, Alon Palatio climbed the tower.

When he reached the top—

The cool wind was blowing softly, and the moon and the Milky Way stretched across a perfect sky.

And there…

Perhaps because of the proximity to the sky, or the height…

The stars shone even more than before, and under that radiance, she shone even more calmly than the moon.

“…Rine.”

Alon Palatio softly pronounced her name.

She diverted her gaze from the sky and looked at him. A gentle smile appeared on her face.

“You arrived, Godfather.”

Her voice was calm.

Alon Palatio nodded and approached her, lost in thought.

What should he say?

What emotion should he express first?

What conversation should he initiate?

Thousands of thoughts crossed his mind.

Things that never bothered him when talking to others now crowded his head.

And so, he arrived in front of Rine without having decided what to say.

Just as he opened his mouth—

“I’m sorry.”

She was the one who spoke first.

It was a word that did not fit the situation at all.

“Why are you apologizing?”

Rine looked at him, then smiled with a hint of bitter self-criticism.

“The truth is… I could have come out ten months ago.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.”

“Then… why didn’t you?”

Alon Palatio couldn’t understand.

Rine lowered her gaze slightly.

“For me, it was hundreds of years… but for you, only a few months had passed.”

When Alon Palatio was about to ask what that meant—

“Ah.”

He understood.

For Rine—sealed in the past—centuries had passed until she met him again.

But Alon Palatio, who returned to the present immediately…

It only took a few months for him to see her again.

“…I wanted… you to think of me a little more.”

“Was I selfish?”

The calm question echoed under the night sky.

“No.”

Alon Palatio answered without hesitation.

“It was not selfishness.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“But, even if you hadn’t done that… I—”

Alon Palatio started to speak.

But he couldn’t finish.

Because.

Rine placed a finger on his lips.

“You don’t need to say it. Not yet—”

‘We don’t need to define anything yet,’ she murmured to herself, and then she gently slid her finger across Alon Palatio’s face.

First, the corner of his lips. Then his cheek. And finally his slightly furrowed brow.

“For now… this is enough.”

Seeing the emotions reflected on Alon Palatio’s face, Rine smiled with the soft glow of the full moon.

Then she looked at the red brooch on his chest and spoke.

“Godfather. Since we have met again… may I ask you for something?”

“A request?”

“Yes. I wanted to know if you could… gently embrace me.”

“That’s not difficult.”

Alon Palatio nodded.

Rine removed the brooch from Alon Palatio’s chest and put it in his inner pocket.

“?”

“If you hug me like that, that brooch will hit my head.”

She replied naturally and, without further hesitation, gently embraced him.

“Take care of me from now on, Godfather.”

Tightening the hug a little more, Rine whispered.

“Of course. I will take care of you.”

Alon Palatio said, unaware of the smile that formed on his lips.

The galaxy illuminated both of them.

Flash—

…The brooch saved in the pocket also illuminated them.