C394. Heartbeat/Birth/Gestation (9)
One of the Babayaga, Akaron, felt that—when the Shadow Tree split the sky above the royal palace—a hope that hadn't existed before was born inside him.
The Shadow Tree he had seen near the palace...
Just the fact that the one who created it was an ally was enough to give him peace of mind.
However, just a few moments ago...
Akaron fell back into despair.
The first reason was the Special Creatures, also known as particulate creatures or strange creatures, that appeared endlessly.
The second: the enormous "that" which emerged right in the middle of the Colony.
Just seeing it made it hard to breathe.
His mind went numb.
The gigantic spider shape delivered pure despair to Akaron.
"That" did nothing.
It only observed the ground from high above, with a solemn air.
But even without moving...
Those looking at it from below couldn't even think of fighting; they simply felt an absolute void.
It was natural.
No, it was inevitable.
Because everyone there understood by instinct
how absurd and suicidal the idea of fighting against that would be.
Whether it was a powerless old man...
Or one of the strongest in the Colony, like the Babayaga...
No one could go against that instinct.
Thus, everyone silently watched the gigantic house beginning to unfold in the sky while sinking into a hollow sensation of hopelessness.
Chiiiiiiii—!!
"R-run!"
"W-waaaaaaaaah!"
The poison that began to fall from the sky threw everyone into a panic.
Kwaaaaaaa—!!
And then, the anomaly occurred.
"That is..."
Where a moment before poison capable of dissolving the earth was falling, snow-white ice appeared, freezing everything.
The falling poison.
The enormous house in the sky.
Everything.
As if wanting to stop time itself, everything froze in an instant.
"Ah..."
Above that frozen world, a galaxy appeared...
And behind it...
The protective deity descended to the earth.
-------___-!!!!!
A sound so terrifying it almost imprisoned everyone's minds resonated when the guardian appeared, and black armor formed over his body.
And with that, the battle began.
The gigantic protective deity...
and "that" which had plunged everyone into despair.
"Damn it..."
Akaron let those words escape without realizing it.
The scene was like a battle between gods taken from mythology.
The citizens, who minutes before were plunged in fear, now looked blankly towards the void.
And seeing, between those deities, the endless lightning bolts launched by Marquis Palatio, Akaron unintentionally recalled his nickname.
"The Lightning Receive Kalanon..."
Akaron understood.
He understood the truth behind all the rumors about Marquis Palatio.
Nothing was an exaggeration.
Akaron had heard many rumors about him.
And he could affirm it without doubt:
The rumors, which everyone labeled as absurd and exaggerated,
were actually minimized.
Akaron averted his gaze toward his companion, Kazan, who used to say that stories about Palatio were too embellished.
Kazan was also observing the sky with his mind blank.
"...Ridiculous."
A sincere murmur escaped his lips.
But Akaron knew that Kazan felt the same as he did...
In his eyes, there was something new: reverence.
"H-hey!"
At that moment, the voice of a combatant caught their attention.
Akaron and Kazan turned their gaze.
The combatant who was stunned looking at the sky was frowning, observing something to the side.
There...
The Special Creatures were beginning to cross the walls of the Colony.
They were too many, so many that even Seolrang could not stop them all.
But seeing that...
The two, who a moment ago were plunged in doubt, looked at each other naturally.
"...We have to stop them."
"So it will be. They say the mage is preparing something; we'll have to trust."
A simple exchange of words.
But sufficient.
Because in those words they understood that inside both of them, a spark of hope had been rekindled.
"Hu..."
Alon had already cast countless spells; he exhaled a deep sigh and kept moving using the form of the Lightning God.
Akaron, Kazan, and the combatants inside were beginning to regain hope...
But Alon was not so optimistic.
With the heat in his head intensifying, he observed his surroundings.
In front, The Poison Eater and Basiliora were fighting, trying to deal fatal blows to each other.
The entire surrounding area was covered in ice.
No...
rather it seemed to be covered.
"The cost of maintaining it is too high."
Alon frowned slightly behind his impassive face.
It seemed that everything was frozen,
but it was an effect sustained by his continuous magic.
The Poison Eater's poison was not something Alon could stop easily.
And the Special Creatures that appeared endlessly also forced him to use the form of the Lightning God.
"I have limits, of course..."
Alon looked toward Seolrang, who was shining like a crazed lightning bolt on the ground.
She was fulfilling her duty.
Where she passed, no special monster remained.
But no matter how hard she tried...
the amount that kept emerging was absurd.
How had they gathered so many creatures in so little time?
In short:
Alon was maintaining two great spells at the same time.
If I hadn't prepared even an incomplete version of this spell,
I would have already had to sacrifice something...
He sighed internally.
Without the capacity to cast magic quickly,
this wouldn't have even been possible.
This was nothing more than "maintaining" the situation, not solving it.
But even so, Alon had a reason not to despair: Basiliora.
All the abilities The Poison Eater had shown until now...
were sealed by Alon.
And Basiliora, fused with Blackie, not only had the advantage...
but—
[Kruuugh!]
—had completely taken the initiative.
"It's now."
Seeing that Basiliora was completely wrapping around the monster's body,
Alon gathered mana.
Around him, six Seals moved according to his will.
And then—
"Shadow Tree."
With Alon's murmur, sharp thorns emerged from the dark armor Basiliora wore.
The Poison Eater began to scream and thrash wildly.
Its red blood, incompatible with its form, burst out everywhere.
Alon sighed in relief...
but then—
Dluk—!
The Poison Eater turned its eyes toward Alon.
[So there is no other option.]
It emitted a strange voice.
It wasn't a scream of fury,
but as if it were repeating a memorized sound.
And then—
[I admit it, insignificant creature. Now I see why they put a price on you up there.]
A cold acceptance.
[I'm glad we spoke beforehand.]
Alon saw it.
"..."
The royal palace that could be seen in the distance...
Was beginning to sink completely.
Kwaaaaaagagagaga—!!!!
A tearing sound resonated while the palace and its surroundings
were dragged underground.
No.
It wasn't that they fell to the ground.
[To the One Who Devours.]
There was... a mouth.
Underground there was an enormous mouth.
Big enough to swallow the entire palace.
And then—
The "To the One Who Devours" that devoured the palace began to move making a colossal thunderous noise.
Alon understood without difficulty where it was heading.
No, it was impossible not to understand.
The monster was heading towards—
"!"
Towards here. The Colony.
In the instant he understood it, Alon's mind raced as if it were going to explode.
Could he stop it?
Or even delay it?
Those were the questions that arose in his mind.
But unfortunately, Alon had no spell capable of stopping that devouring creature.
All he could do was:
Watch the Colony being absorbed by the creature's mouth.
It can't be.
Alon gritted his teeth and froze the entire Colony in a huge glacier.
So large that not even the devouring mouth could drag it.
But while he was doing it...
He felt something strange.
The devouring creature, which was launching itself fiercely towards the Colony a moment ago,
suddenly stopped doing so.
Instead—
"!"
As if it had been waiting for this precise moment...
It opened its jaws right under Alon's feet.
In that instant—
Invisible threads began to gather, wrapping around him.
Crunch—!
In a moment, he was bound.
[I knew you would choose that, lesser creature.]
And then—
[Die.]
The creature's mouth began to close with an indescribable crash.
It sounded like machinery being crushed.
Anyone could see it was a critical moment.
Think.
Alon analyzed the situation coldly.
In fact, this was slightly better than the possibility he had foreseen.
If the creature ignored Alon and ate the Colony...
He could do absolutely nothing.
But now both The Poison Eater and the devourer were targeting him.
Paradoxically, that reduced the variables.
The problem was that, regardless of the option, there would be sacrifices.
To prevent the poison threads from cutting his body,
Alon wrapped his body in a mana barrier.
But maintaining it required calculations at the limit.
And now he had only two options:
Abandon the protection of the sky and escape from the devourer's mouth...
Or use the barrier to break the threads.
Finally, he made his decision.
I will break the threads with the barrier.
He knew they wouldn't break easily,
but he had a little time before the jaws closed.
In that moment—
Wuuuuuum—!!
A shattering magical resonance made Alon turn his gaze.
And then he saw it.
The red blood gushing from The Poison Eater began to rise to the sky, defying gravity.
At the same time, the threads emitted by its body intertwined forming a structure that shot upwards.
And then...
Above the monster, a red rose without blooming began to form.
A beautiful appearance,
totally incompatible with the creature.
But Alon...
"Eya di ya..."
Opened his eyes wide.
Because, seeing mana, he could clearly capture the resonance around that rose.
The mana... is being annihilated.
Literally annihilated.
The faint mana flowing from the rose—
No, from the poison—
"Eya di ya..."
Upon understanding that, he also understood its structure.
The rose was just a beautiful exterior. In reality, it was a spell created to disperse a deadly poison.
A poison so powerful that, even in minimal quantities, it could destroy the mana of the environment.
A poison capable of killing a common person just by inhaling a microscopic fraction.
And if the rose bloomed...
The affected area would be the entire Colony...
No, even more than that...!
[You are quick to understand.]
As if it had read his thoughts, The Poison Eater spoke.
[Yes, I didn't want to use this because puppets don't generate enough faith...
but there is no alternative.]
Alon frowned.
He could not allow it to bloom.
That poison was deadly to everyone.
To the citizens.
To the combatants.
To Evan and Penia.
After it bloomed it would be impossible,
but now...
Alon, Basiliora, and Seolrang could still stop it if they chained their attacks.
But the problem was time.
There wasn't enough.
Not even to escape the area.
In Alon's eyes, a glint of anguish appeared.
"Master!"
Seolrang shouted while exterminating Special Creatures without rest.
She saw Alon being captured by the threads and To the One Who Devours opening its mouth,
and turned immediately to save him.
But Seolrang could do nothing.
The threads were not cut even with her Golden Lightning.
And the gigantic mouth closing didn't react to her attacks either.
On the contrary—
"Kugh!?"
Her right arm fractured when she attacked.
The situation was worsening at an absurd speed.
As Seolrang stopped, the number of Special Creatures became unmanageable and began to invade the Colony.
Basiliora, without Alon's support, began to lose against the monster.
Just a few seconds.
In a matter of seconds...
Everything collapsed.
And yet, despite all this...
Seolrang could do nothing.
"Ah..."
A dry sigh escaped her lips.
