Became the Patron of Villains Chapter 367 : On Sin (5)
Previously on Became the Patron of Villains...
The sequence started with the broad swing of One Who Bears It’s greatsword.
Sweeping from left to right.
Nothing but a straightforward swing.
Nevertheless—
Kwa—!!!
One mere slash.
Hard to fathom the sheer destruction from that lone action.
A terrifying cut that seemed to slice a line right through the world.
The ensuing shockwave blasted apart everything in its path, reducing it to scattered dust.
Still—
Kwachik—!
Yutia’s barrier, thinned to a perilous edge, barely withstood the strike.
That instant granted them a precious moment.
“Hardening.”
With Alon chanting those words amid channeling Reverse Heaven, the sins sprang into motion simultaneously.
“Decision.”
And right then—
One Who Bears It, greatsword reclaimed, descended gradually from the sky.
Despite the worsening crisis, he approached with steady poise, drawing Alon’s sharp focus.
He sensed it deep down.
Once those hovering feet hit the ground, there’d be no chance to seize him.
Thus—
“The Flower of Eternity—”
Prior to that foot landing, Alon voiced the concluding incantation.
In that precise second—
Zzeojeok—!
A dome-like barrier enclosed One Who Bears It.
Aware of the trap, One Who Bears It lashed out with his sword once more.
Yet—
Kwa-ga-ga-gak—!
His strike couldn’t breach the hemispherical shield.
“Phew—”
Alon breathed out heavily, eyes fixed on the invoked magic.
This was his adapted version of the second-tier Shield spell, freshly obtained from Heinkel.
It fully isolated the interior from the exterior.
Anyone inside couldn’t project magic outward.
Anyone outside couldn’t impact the contents.
Put simply, from the trap’s activation around One Who Bears It—
No effects from him could reach beyond the barrier.
That said—
The incantation wouldn’t last forever.
Sweat formed on Alon’s brow as he grimaced.
Gazing skyward, he noted the endless-forming stars now dwindling gradually.
Alon’s apparently boundless magic, ever abundant no matter the spell, started fracturing bit by bit.
Though mana regenerated without end, it cycled through surges and drains, depleting with each motion from One Who Bears It.
Such relentless shifts caused miscalculations that battered Alon’s thoughts.
The barrier wouldn’t hold out much longer.
Nor could another spell be cast.
Even sealing One Who Bears It for others to hit meant nothing without a striker.
Even so—
One factor let Alon trap him without doubt.
“Sili.”
[Yes! I’ve been ready since the signal, sir~!]
Someone else would deliver the assault.
Blue lightning crackled through the shadowy void at Sili’s cheerful reply.
[All set and ready!]
A towering pillar loomed behind Sili, akin to a lightning rod primed to unleash azure fury.
This was the artifact Sili crafted during the temple’s construction near Caliban.
Pazizizik!!!
It had advanced into a sacred armament, feeding on the shrine’s faithful devotion—
Divine Punishment.
Like a deluge, it swept the abyss, devouring the starry flow.
Pwa—!!!
Energy amassed at the rod’s peak with an eerie roar.
“Now—!”
Alon called out.
Sili triggered Divine Punishment without a word.
—!!!
Dazzling white light swallowed the cosmic depths of the abyss.
Ears stopped ringing.
As the all-consuming glow receded, Alon reflected—
And it had.
All unfolded precisely as plotted.
They ambushed the overconfident One Who Bears It, confined him, and unleashed the prepared divine weapon.
Flawless execution.
Had One Who Bears It not deflected it—
“Ha.”
A bitter chuckle escaped Alon as he eyed him.
Ironically—
The strike, channeling every external divine force, inflicted no lethal harm.
Instead—
Tuduk—tuduk~!
Freshly spawned sins had intercepted in his stead.
At Divine Punishment’s descent, they lunged forward instantly to protect him.
Their post-blast state was horrific.
If they personified sin truly, that explosion ought to have obliterated them.
Yet—
Tuduk—tudu-duk~!
Alas, the sins regenerated from near-total destruction, completely unfazed.
As though the event never occurred.
Thus, combat reignited unchanged.
***
The clash persisted.
Essentially, a pointless endurance battle dragged on.
Sins and foes traded ceaseless strikes.
Alon and Yutia hammered One Who Bears It repeatedly—five assaults thus far.
Sadly, none inflicted real damage.
Alon even questioned if wounding him was feasible.
Kwachik—!
“My Lord!”
“...!”
Deflecting a heart-bound strike, Alon clutched his throbbing skull.
He compelled his reeling mind to assess the field.
And the field—
Optimistically dire.
Pessimistically doomed.
Deus and allies resisted the sins valiantly.
Yutia scarcely parried One Who Bears It’s barrage.
Thus, the frontline endured for now.
No—it appeared ongoing.
Alon darted his gaze across the chaos.
Sin-fighters looked drained to exhaustion.
Sins displayed zero weariness or harm.
Hence, time would worsen the outlook relentlessly.
Unlike the tireless foes, their side fatigued swiftly.
Defeat inevitable.
No—total wipeout.
“Hah—”
Alon gasped harshly, urging his thoughts onward.
He wasn’t at full strength either.
Post-five Reverse Heavens, his head scorched internally.
The Blackie-triggered awakening had surpassed safe bounds long ago.
Regardless, he readied another blow.
But no perfect plan emerged.
Five tries had exhausted every tactic.
No assault ever sealed the deal.
Critical hits on One Who Bears It always met sin-shields.
Simply, without slaying sins first, he remained untouchable.
Yet his sins refused death.
A deadlock sans solution.
Still—sans solution, thought persisted.
Alon refused death.
Alon refused losses.
Amid frenzied pondering and motion—
“!!.”
Alon spotted it.
Or believed so.
Uncertain if correct, but undeniable.
“Yutia—”
“Yes, My Lord.”
No alternatives remained.
“Can you hold that thing off for as long as possible?”
“Understood.”
With Yutia’s affirming nod, Alon stomped the earth—
“Formation of Thunder.”
Raijin Form activated.
Pazik—!
Blue lightning propelled Alon skyward instantly.
For that split second, he overlooked the fray below.
First sight—
Troops ensnared in the black void, escape impossible amid spike-like terrain.
Fear etched every face, contagion-like.
All sensed intuitively: this spelled the end.
Observing them, Alon murmured,
“Manifest—Faith.”
He summoned Kalannon’s divinity.
Pazizizizik—!!!
Lightning erupted with a chilling buzz, bathing the abyss in searing brilliance.
Hand lifted to the skies.
Then—
Pazizizizik—!
Blue bolts bridged earth and heaven, coalescing in his left palm.
One Who Bears It glanced up, poised to act, but—
Uuuung—!
Yutia’s layered barriers halted him.
However—
Kwajijijik!
Alas, each barrier crumbled instantly under his greatsword’s arc.
He shattered faster than she reformed.
Last barrier gone, he vaulted ahead—
“Not so fast~!”
A figure barred his aerial leap.
Ryanga, grinning savagely.
Kwaaaaaang—!!
Midair, Ryanga’s kick crashed into One Who Bears It’s shoulder.
Earth below erupted.
“Makalian Eclipse—!”
Violet threads bound the debris, ensnaring One Who Bears It in a net.
Black limbs sprouted from the orb, stacking protectively.
Sins charged to free him.
But—
“Rang-chang, rang-chang—”
“Formula—!”
Golden sword arcs and unseen edges repelled the sins, persisting despite dissolving forms.
Kwa-duduk-duk—!
Dozens of golden coffins then surged in unison.
As the oppressive assault chain concluded—
Kwaaaang—!
Mocking their toil, One Who Bears It burst all bonds instantly.
He rocketed skyward—
“!”
Materializing beneath Alon in a flash.
Astounding speed.
“No!”
“Master!!”
Ryanga and Seolrang’s eyes bulged, cries piercing upward.
Ground troops, briefly hopeful under blue lightning, sank into despair anew.
Simultaneously, like a coup de grâce—
“Block—!”
“Brother—!!”
One Who Bears It hoisted his greatsword, scorning the below cries, targeting Alon’s heart—
Kwaduk—!
Yet failed to penetrate.
The Eternal Flower’s tiny bloom near Alon’s heart intervened.
In that instant—
Alon’s dulled stare locked with One Who Bears It’s emptiness.
Gazes entwined.
Then—
Lightning descended.
—!!!!
Blue surges exploded outward, hammering One Who Bears It.
A blue sun ignited in the abyss’s dark cosmos.
All gazes fixed on lightning-clad Alon and spear-impaled One Who Bears It.
Despair shifted to uncertainty.
Pazik—!
Uncertainty to conviction.
Pajijik!
Conviction to acclaim.
—!!!
Acclaim to hope.
But—
Amid collective awe, Alon knew innately.
He peered down at One Who Bears It.
Direct hit notwithstanding, the greatsword pressed on.
It pierced where the Eternal Flower faded—
Straight for Alon’s core.
Even sans sword reach—
This blow alone wouldn’t fell One Who Bears It.
Action required.
Immediately.
A game-ending strike needed.
In that instant—
Myriad ideas flashed in Alon’s head.
But options exhausted.
Every divine drop fueled this hit.
Reverse Heaven again—yes, that’d end One Who Bears It—
But it’d claim him too.
Body long past endurance.
Still, mind grappled for paths—
‘Do you know what’s most important when one becomes a god?’
‘...What?’
‘Shall I tell you?’
‘What is it?’
‘It’s Imprint.’
“......Imprint?”
‘It’s about how you are perceived as a being.’
Eliban’s recalled voice clarified everything suddenly.
As if foreseen, those prior words unveiled Alon’s sole route.
No pause.
No wait.
“Reverse...Heaven—”
Alon’s head ignited anew.
Crimson tears flowed from eyes, nostrils, lips.
Thoughts stuttered erratically.
Vision flickered dark to light chaotically.
Alon grasped—
One more step crossed an irreversible threshold.
Yet aware—
Teeth gritted.
He advanced.
Alon’s starlight flooded the dark galaxy.
Mana erupted wildly from him, warped by errors.
Then, Penia’s words reignited faintly.
‘Mmm~ if it works like this, then we’ve finally perfected the technology we first set out to create. But—once again, you must not use it.’
‘...Because the mana cost is too high?’
‘Yes. I’m serious—this spell consumes so much mana that even Reverse Heaven won’t be able to keep up. If the Marquis can’t perfectly control the flow of power beyond a certain point, he’ll die the moment he casts it.’
‘That bad?’
‘Of course. After all, this spell combines multiple decoded spells into a single executable sequence.’
Black mist seeped from Alon’s gauntlet.
‘By the way, why did you choose that as the activation phrase?’
Stars morphed en masse from stability.
‘Because it fits the first page.’
‘That’s the reason?’
‘Yes. It sounds cool, doesn’t it? So let’s go with that.’
Alon’s right hand sealed—
“Let there be light.”
In the abyssal galaxy—
A sun emerged.
Hundreds of suns.
And therewith—
Awe bloomed.
