Became the Patron of Villains Chapter 549: Black Flesh (7)

Black Flesh Al-Akulakka had failed to ascend.

The innards hanging in the sky to devour all life in the world stopped pulsing and began collapsing the moment its core was destroyed.

And the cocoon that had been preparing for ascension ultimately shattered while spewing out nothing but residue.

And that residue—

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■-!!!!

—was roaring.

Alon looked down at the ground.

What he saw now was the residue that had emerged halfway from the cocoon, screaming madly.

Black Flesh Al-Akulakka, its festering eyes filled with indescribable fury while its shattered right hand regenerated in real time.

‘As expected... dealing with it alone would’ve been difficult.’

Watching it, Alon assessed the situation calmly.

Al-Akulakka was currently disintegrating.

The body that had failed to ascend had entered the world without ever being fully completed, and with the destruction of its core, both its flesh and Divine power were collapsing in real time.

But the problem was the sheer amount of power Al-Akulakka had accumulated until now.

How much faith had it absorbed?

How much power had it devoured?

Even while continuously losing strength after failing ascension, the Divine power radiating from it remained absurdly immense.

Perhaps enough to destroy this world one final time before disappearing.

Or perhaps enough to discover a way to avoid disintegration altogether.

In other words—

Even if Alon had been in perfect condition, victory against that residue-state Al-Akulakka could not have been guaranteed.

No—

‘......I would’ve lost for certain.’

Yes.

If Alon had faced that residue alone.

[Hah-]

At the faint sound of laughter, Alon turned his gaze to the side.

And there he saw the Karma of War staring at the regenerating hand with disbelief—

While simultaneously sneering at it as though looking at something filthy.

[So all this time... it chased after something this ugly?]

Then came a quiet murmur.

Hearing it, Alon felt a slight sense of confusion.

It was not that he failed to understand the meaning.

Fundamentally, the goal of Divine blood and the Karma alike was ascension.

What puzzled him instead was the Karma of War’s attitude.

What it was currently looking at was merely residue that had failed to ascend because of Alon’s interference.

Surely the Karma of War understood that as well.

Then why was it lamenting while looking at that residue?

As though it had witnessed some truth Alon himself had failed to see.

But only briefly.

Alon’s thoughts did not continue for long.

■-!!

Because the festering eyes recognized Alon and the Karma of War floating in the air.

■■■■■■■■■■-!!!

A horrifying scream rang out.

A grotesque scream no ordinary lifeform could ever produce, as though even its mouth structure itself was collapsing.

And then—

KWA-AAAAAAH-!

From the black skin melting off its body, hundreds—

No, thousands—

Of hand-like tentacles burst forth.

Every single one shot toward the Karma of War and Alon.

And with that—

“Hoo—”

The battle began once more.

####

The flesh masses no longer moved.

As though the living tissue controlling them had been severed, the countless flesh masses that had been writhing and charging forward all froze in place.

And there was only one thing that could mean.

Alon’s group, whom the final death squad had escorted here, had completed their mission.

Yet naturally, the death squad did not rejoice.

More precisely—

It was not yet a situation where they could celebrate.

Because the moment the flesh masses stopped moving, what they saw was—

■■■■■■■■■■■-!!!!

—Al-Akulakka emerging from the cocoon while releasing a scream that did not belong to this world.

And immediately afterward, despair overtook them when they saw Al-Akulakka’s hand descending toward the ground.

At the same time, they felt awe once more when that very hand was torn apart by Alon.

And the death squad, caught between despair and reverence—

“Withdraw from here! Everyone prepare to retreat!”

—immediately began preparing to evacuate the moment they heard that shout from somewhere nearby.

Because instinctively, they realized it.

Now—

While all flesh masses had temporarily ceased attacking.

Now—

While Al-Akulakka’s attention was entirely focused on that black dragonkin and Alon.

This was the easiest opportunity they would ever get to escape this situation.

Yet despite realizing that, the death squad eventually stopped moving.

Not because the flesh masses had begun moving again.

No.

The flesh masses still remained frozen.

Not because someone had ordered them to stop.

No.

No one was saying anything.

The reason the death squad stopped—

Was simply because of the battle unfolding above them.

Everyone stared blankly at the sky.

What they saw were black hands numbering in the thousands—

Perhaps tens of thousands.

And simultaneously—

Jjeeeong-!

They saw light and darkness.

Violet radiance streaking through the sky incinerated every one of those countless hands.

Meanwhile, dark radiance moved through the crimson heavens so fast that the eye could not even follow it, shredding apart tens of thousands of hands—

■■■-!!!!!

—and severing Al-Akulakka’s upper body.

Watching a battle between man and god that seemed fit only for mythology itself, the death squad forgot even to flee as they stared blankly upward.

And at that moment—

‘......I expected this, but it’s dragging on.’

Alon pressed a hand against his pounding head while knocking away the endless hands pouring toward him and staring at the regenerating residue in the distance.

He had already landed more than five fatal blows.

Yet the residue regenerated each time as though those attacks meant nothing.

A sight that should have been despair-inducing.

And yet Alon calmly evaluated it instead.

‘Still, this is fine. It wasn’t wasted time.’

He no longer knew how much time had passed since the battle had properly resumed.

But one thing Alon could tell—

His Reverse Heavens was nearing its limit.

An undeniable crisis.

Yet despite that, Alon had already finished assessing the situation to some extent.

‘Al-Akulakka can no longer use Creation. All that remains is Divine power and the regeneration obtained through it. Fragments of Creation still remain, but they are only fragments. It can’t even properly control its own Divine power anymore.’

Alon organized the information in his mind.

Not too much.

Not too little.

But the exact information he needed most right now.

‘To kill that thing... time is necessary.’

Alon reached a conclusion.

Yet at the same time, he felt uncertainty.

Even now, countless hands continued pouring toward him from every direction.

And not only that—

Al-Akulakka, whose body had already been split apart multiple times by both Alon and the Karma of War, continuously evolved further.

Two hands became four.

One torso became three.

Its attacks grew increasingly violent without pause.

Meaning—

This was not an easy environment for preparing magic.

“!”

The moment Alon tried to use magic to evade the hands shooting toward him—

KWAJIJIJIJIK-!

The Karma of War instantly appeared before him and violently shattered every incoming tentacle before turning its gaze toward Alon.

A very brief exchange of looks.

Yet the Karma of War grinned as though that alone was enough—

Then immediately launched itself toward the tentacles surging at them.

Tsu-!

And vanished.

The next thing reflected in Alon’s eyes was—

KWAJIJIJIJIK-!

The savage destruction of the tentacles.

Attacks so fast they could not even be tracked properly.

Watching the Karma of War slaughter every tentacle Alon had struggled to evade without being pushed back even once—

Alon immediately understood its intention.

And at once, he began preparing.

“Reverse Heavens—”

The moment Alon murmured those words, stars appeared in the collapsing sky.

As though offering the final farewell to this crimson world before its end.

One became two.

Two became four.

Four became eight.

Eight became sixteen—

And eventually, countless stars covered the black heavens.

Below, the final death squad defending against the flesh masses stared blankly upward.

At the same time, Alon’s thoughts accelerated rapidly.

‘The magic I’ve used until now won’t work.’

He reached his conclusion.

None of the magic he had used so far could kill that thing.

Even if he could still use laws, it would be the same.

What Alon needed now—

Was magic that would affect only Al-Akulakka.

And fortunately—

One method came to mind.

Wooooong-!

A single magic sphere appeared above Alon’s hand.

A simple sphere that any mage might be capable of creating.

Yet soon, that ordinary sphere began compressing itself.

At first, it was as large as a head.

Then it shrank to palm-size.

Then to the size of a finger joint.

The sphere, which seemed to do nothing but compress endlessly, eventually became small enough to rest atop a single finger joint.

Tap-

Alon lightly flicked the sphere away.

And the sphere drifted toward Al-Akulakka.

For an instant, confusion appeared on the Karma of War’s face while it blocked countless black hands.

The Karma of War was no mage.

Yet even so, it could tell.

That tiny sphere unquestionably contained fatal destructive power.

Enough that even the Karma of War itself would have its body pierced clean through if struck directly.

But even then, that only applied to the Karma of War.

Against that residue, it seemed far too weak.

And just as the Karma of War instinctively turned toward Alon—

[!]

The Karma of War saw it.

The sphere flying toward Al-Akulakka—

Had grown larger.

At first, only slightly.

Enough to make one wonder if it was merely an illusion.

......Yet steadily, unmistakably, the sphere continued growing.

And while staring blankly at it, the Karma of War—

[Hah-!]

—finally realized the truth and smiled in disbelief.

Seeing that expression, Alon unconsciously smiled as well.

Just as the Karma of War had initially judged, the sphere Alon threw possessed enough destructive force to critically wound the Karma of War—

But it was not particularly fatal to Al-Akulakka.

Yet the reason the Karma of War smiled upon seeing it—

Was because it understood.

What kind of “law” that sphere possessed.

Craaaack-!

A sphere that even the black hands could block continued growing larger.

Back to the size of a finger.

Then to the size of a head.

Then to the size of a human—

It expanded endlessly.

Not by devouring mana—

But by devouring the Divine power Al-Akulakka continuously spilled while failing to contain it.

Only then did Al-Akulakka notice the abnormality.

Countless black hands rushed toward the sphere to stop it.

Thousands of small hands swarmed over it like leeches.

Even the two gigantic hands moved to crush the sphere.

Yet despite that, the sphere did not stop.

It swallowed countless black hands in light.

It pierced holes through the giant hands.

And paradoxically—

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■-!!!!

—it continued growing by feeding on the Divine power pouring from the very being that wished to stop it more than anyone else.

And finally—

“......Let there be light.”

As Alon quietly recited the words—

The sphere, now larger than the residue itself—

Incomplete Original.

—God-Devouring Void.

■■■■■■■■■■!!!

Swallowed Al-Akulakka.

And then—

Light descended upon the world.