Became the Patron of Villains Chapter 608: Hol (3)

At what point had Deus struck the black-eroded world again and again?

Five times?

Too few.

Ten times?

No.

At least dozens of times.

Because of that—

Crunch—crackcrackcrackcrack—!

The Karma seat of Salvation’s world was, in truth, in a state just short of breaking apart.

Grit—!

The Karma seat of Salvation clenched his teeth as he looked at the world, now completely covered in cracks.

He had attacked until now to stop Deus, but unfortunately, he had failed to stop him.

No matter what method he used, Deus did not give the Karma seat of Salvation even a glance.

He was only charging toward one place, wholly focused on breaking this world.

And against someone who charged in so blindly, as if he did not even feel pain, there was nothing the Karma seat of Salvation could do.

Because from the beginning, the only thing he could do was “salvation.”

[Ha.]

The Karma seat of Salvation let out an absurd hollow laugh and looked up at the sky.

The world reflected in his eyes was no longer perfect.

A world cracked here and there, soon to break.

Looking at that sight, the Karma seat watched Deus prepare to charge into the air once again, then—

[What the hell is the difference—]

He murmured quietly.

That was not a question directed at Deus.

It was a question directed at someone who was not here.

Seeing Deus’s hand rise in the same way again, the Karma seat of Salvation had an intuition.

Once that attack ended, this world would collapse.

And in the world that collapsed like that, he would meet his death.

That fact should have felt incredibly unreasonable to the Karma seat of Salvation.

Among the Karma seats, there had been someone who had punched a hole in his world and escaped.

The Star Eater himself had escaped that way immediately.

But he had never thought the world itself would be eroded and shattered like this.

That someone would create a striking point by eroding a world that could not be attacked, then break it.

And not by a Karma seat of the same level, either. He had never imagined it would be done by a being of this world.

Likewise, he had never thought he would be defeated.

And yet, even while clearly recognizing that, the Karma seat of Salvation no longer thought of stopping Deus.

He felt no hostility toward Deus at all.

Instead, what he felt was envy.

He—

[What the hell is the difference that makes us this different?]

Felt envy toward the Star Eater.

The moment Deus’s arm fully rose, the Karma seat of Salvation suddenly recalled the past.

Long ago.

The memories of the time when he had still been human.

Called a saint from the moment he was born.

Praised by everyone upon dry and barren land.

Yet, despite being called a saint, possessing no ability whatsoever.

Even so, trying somehow to save those who worshiped him.

The memories of that time.

[......What the hell—]

Past scenes began to pass one by one through his gaze as he looked at Deus.

He saw people dying because there was nothing to eat.

He saw the scene of someone who had spoken hopefully about somehow living to see tomorrow eating the child in their arms the very next day.

A believer who, because there was nothing to eat, eventually abandoned an old mother.

People who, far from saving a child who had nothing, watched to see when the child would starve to death while quietly smacking their lips.

They passed by.

Parents who worshiped a child born without any causality as a saint passed by.

People bewitched by those parents’ words, bowing their bodies before a mere brat, passed by.

People hoping for salvation from him passed by.

Though he had no ability whatsoever, he had no choice but to smile in order to reassure them.

......His own self passed by.

Tsk—

Deus’s figure vanished.

Before anyone knew it, he was in the sky where sunset light was pouring down.

[.......]

He had made many efforts.

Though he had no power.

Though he was an ordinary human.

He had struggled to give them hope, and he had reached a conclusion.

[What was I supposed to do—?]

The people’s gazes rose in his mind.

People smiling.

Yet shedding tears passed through the Karma seat’s mind.

He did the best he could.

He carried out salvation.

[Why—]

He saved those who smacked their lips while looking at a starved child.

He saved the one who abandoned an old mother with sorrowful eyes.

He saved the child left all alone.

He saved the hero who endured until the very, very end.

He saved the people.

He saved his parents.

......He did the best he could.

[Are you saying you could do that?]

He listened to what they wanted.

He smiled as they wanted.

He carried out salvation as they wanted.

Even though they placed the burden on him,

he did not resent them.

He simply lived.

He simply saved.

That should have been true.

He had certainly struggled.

So why?

[Why are you and I— this different—?]

Craaack—!!!

Along with Deus’s attack, the world shattered apart.

In the Karma seat’s sight, fragments of the broken world fell down.

Between those fragments, scenes flashed past.

People shedding tears of blood.

People sending him resentful looks.

Screaming.

Spitting out evil.

Spewing malice at him.

People who did not recognize his best efforts.

People who despised him.

At the same time, they flashed past.

People smiling as they shed tears of blood.

People smiling as they sent him resentful looks.

Smiling as they screamed.

Smiling as they spat out evil.

People who did not stop smiling even as they spewed malice at him.

People who sent him looks of terror.

People who smiled.

......People wearing the artificial smiles he had created.

Thud—!

The Karma seat of Salvation looked at the arm that had pierced through his heart, and at Deus standing before him.

He looked at him through the world falling like shards of glass.

[.......]

Drip—drip—

Blood flowed from the corner of the Karma seat’s mouth.

It was bright red blood.

But the Karma seat still did not move.

Rather, he looked at Deus.

He mulled over what Deus had said.

The Karma seat was no longer looking at him.

His gaze was looking at Deus.

But he was looking at someone else.

[I only did my best, too.......]

......At the Star Eater.

Rustle—

The body of the Karma seat of Salvation began to crumble like powder.

His legs.

His arms.

In an instant, they turned into powder and disappeared.

And as Deus looked at that sight—

“That is unfortunate.”

To the Karma seat.

No.

......To the human who had simply done his best.

After leaving behind those words as the end,

the Karma seat of Salvation vanished completely.

####

The moment the distortion field closed, what Penia could see was an imaginary space with nothing in it.

A place where nothing existed.

Where she could not even distinguish

which way was up

or which way was down.

“......Phew.”

Penia erased the smile she had been wearing until just a moment ago and became expressionless.

No.

Perhaps it would be more correct to say that she returned her expression to normal.

And the very first thing Penia did after returning her expression like that was delete the spatial coordinates inside her own mind.

For an ordinary human, consciously deleting memories from one’s own mind would be impossible.

But Penia could do it.

Because she was no longer an ordinary human, but a cultivator.

Small sparks of magic burst above her head.

And with that as the end, Penia erased the coordinates of reality that she had never once lost.

Even if she could go elsewhere, there was now no longer any way for her to return to reality.

All she could do was spend time inside this imaginary space.

Until her long lifespan as a cultivator ran out and she died.

Until her long lifespan as a cultivator ran out and she died.

But Penia was not sad.

Nor did she regret it.

Because she knew it was something that ought to be done.

Because now, she would no longer be herself.

“......Hgh.......”

Penia began to feel a strange sense of wrongness starting to cover her own body.

The immortal energy she had been suppressing began to circulate through her body.

And along with it, she felt it.

That the emotions she had felt as a human were gradually drying up.

At the same time, irritation surged up in her head.

Red eyes looked at the imaginary space.

Penia jerked her head around irritably, as if searching for something, anything, on which to vent her anger. And even amid that irritation, she felt a small sense of relief.

“As expected, yes.”

Penia wore a faint smile even amid her irritation.

She had known this would happen.

Because when she entered the cultivator’s lotus and devoured her own personality, and further, when she devoured her own memories, she knew she would change just as the Karma seat of Immortal Cultivation had foreseen.

Even so, the reason she had not changed was simply because she had not “digested” them.

So that her own memories and personality would not be converted into power.

So that she would not become a cultivator in front of him.

“......This is damn.......”

Penia’s words were growing more and more slurred.

Her memories were slowly beginning to be digested.

The colorful emotions were becoming more and more primal.

......She was becoming a cultivator.

And yet, even so, Penia’s mind was still filled with relief.

Soon, she would no longer be herself.

Once that happened, she would rush back out into reality again.

She would rush out into reality.

And kill humans.

To become stronger.

For cultivation.

She would struggle to climb upward by inheriting the power left behind by the woman who, with a ruined mind, had failed to continue cultivation.

And in doing so, she would hurt them.

The people who knew her.

Alon.

Those who would have to stop the her who was not her.

Those who would have to kill the her who was not her.

Rather than that, this was better.

“.......”

......No, to be honest.

She did not want to show him this side of her.

Not to Alon.

“......This is why...... liking someone first...... means you loseee.......”

Her words were gradually growing slurred.

Her common sense was changing.

The things she liked.

The things she disliked.

Happy memories.

Sad memories.

They were disappearing.

‘......Lord Alon will be angry, won’t he.......’

Amid that disappearing personality and those disappearing memories, Penia thought that without realizing it.

‘Mm, he probably will be angry.......’

Penia looked into Alon’s eyes at the final moment.

At Alon’s face, showing emotion with sorrowful eyes.

“......Still, I’m satisfieed—”

Penia let out a faint smile.

In the memories vanishing away, Alon’s face was desperately drawn.

His sad face was formed.

The face he had made for her.

It was connected by layering the disappearing memories again and again.

The expression he had only made

for other people.

Only for them.

It remained in Penia’s memory and continued.

With that.

She was satisfied.

Though it was only that much.

She was satisfied.

“.......”

Suddenly, she felt a small regret.

Because the thought that if she had known it would be like this, she should have at least confessed came into her mind.

But she soon erased that thought.

If that would make him suffer more, then she did not want to.

“—”

Her memories disappeared.

Penia desperately groped through her memories.

As if looking for a photograph.

Within the disappearing photographs, she layered another photograph over them.

“Uu—”

Tears welled in her eyes.

Lord Alon.

Lord Alon.

Lord Alon.

Alon—

.....

...

..

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“.......”

Before long, Penia—

No, it wiped away the tears.

“......What is this?”

It shook off the tears.

As if they were nothing.

And.

[.......]

In the abyss of the imaginary space, two round eyes that had come with her stared fixedly at it.