Chapter 217

About a week had passed since they headed north.

“…Certainly, handling it that way might increase our power.”

“Right? The miracle bestowed by the Marquis is truly powerful. And if Lord Reinhardt can master lightning, he might even gain an advantage in a fight against my brother!”

“…Oh?”

“No, Sili—that’s a bit—”

“What do you think, Lord Reinhardt? Doesn’t it sound incredibly intriguing?”

“Hmm, well, it does, but… I’ve never believed in a god that way before—”

“Don’t worry. I’ll teach you how. Now, shall we give it a try? First, extend one hand, clench it into a fist, and extend your index and middle fingers.”

From the moment the northern expedition began until now.

Sili had persistently persuaded Reinhardt without rest, eventually converting him into a believer(?).

Alon inwardly clicked his tongue at her sheer persistence.

“…This is beyond my expectations.”

Evan, seemingly having similar thoughts, muttered blankly, and Alon nodded in agreement.

Soon, Reinhardt was imitating the unique prayer posture of the Kalannon faith.

Watching him, Alon wore a peculiar expression.

‘That’s not a prayer pose… He’s forming a seal.’

How did that posture end up being considered a prayer?

As Alon pondered for a moment, a sharp gust of cold wind brushed past his face.

“Cold.”

Naturally, he recalled what Kylrus had once said.

‘At the heart of the coldest place.’

It wasn’t an exact destination, merely a hint.

But even so, Alon had a rough idea.

‘It’s probably the horizon.’

The horizon of the snowy mountains.

Players simply called it “the horizon.”

A place one could reach after passing through the barbarians—a place considered both the coldest and sacred.

…That was the extent of Alon’s knowledge.

Even he had never been there.

More precisely, no player in Psychedelia had ever set foot on the snowy mountain’s horizon.

They only knew about it as “information.”

After all, the snowy mountain’s horizon was merely part of the game’s lore; there was no actual way to reach it in the game.

Despite this, Alon—and other players like him—were aware of its existence.

It was because of “the strong.”

Once the mid-game began and the Sins started to appear in full force…

A powerful being would emerge to aid the player, depending on their past choices and actions.

One such figure resided at the snowy mountain’s horizon.

‘It was Thousand-Year Ice, right?’

A name that didn’t quite fit among the barbarians—one with the power to freeze anything within his vicinity.

Whenever he was with the player, he would always mention the snowy mountain’s horizon.

Because of that, most players, despite never having been there, knew of its existence.

‘I think I heard it was unlocked in the DLC.’

Alon shook his head slightly, dismissing the thought.

Whether or not the horizon was included in the DLC wasn’t particularly important at this moment.

‘It’d be nice if we could enter easily, but that’s probably impossible.’

Alon subtly shifted his gaze toward Deus and the expedition force guarding the carriage.

Even if he had traveled alone without the expedition, avoiding battle with the barbarians would have been impossible.

The barbarians were hostile toward anyone who didn’t live in the north like they did.

Thus, if Alon wanted to reach the horizon, he would inevitably have to fight them.

‘…Hopefully, it won’t be too much trouble.’

Alon let out a quiet sigh.

As if to remind him that they had truly reached the north, his breath turned into a white mist and scattered.

Realizing this made him feel colder, so he tucked his hands into his coat pockets.

Then, he suddenly recalled what he had seen at the roots of the World Tree.

‘The technique is Reversal of Heaven.’

As he gazed at the sunset over the mountains, he mused—

‘What exactly will be there?’

His curiosity about what lay at the center of the horizon slowly began to rise.

As his thoughts continued to spiral—

…He suddenly craved sweet potatoes.

“Evan.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s have sweet potatoes today.”

“…? Uh… sure.”

“Why do you sound unsure?”

“Well… you just had them two days ago, so it’s a little surprising.”

The end of his thoughts was a well-roasted sweet potato.

***

Evening.

Caliban’s third-ranked sword master, also known as the Shadow Blade, Marc—

He watched the carriage in the distance with a strange expression.

It was the carriage of Marquis Palatio.

The first thing that caught his eye was—

Marquis Palatio and a cat licking a sweet potato at his feet.

Next, he saw the knight guarding him absentmindedly peeling a sweet potato.

And beside them…

Deus Macallian, the first sword of Caliban, was poking at a peculiar pet snake that had accompanied the Marquis.

There were others as well.

Sitting next to the harassed snake, chattering away, was Sili, now called the Saint of Kalannon.

And Reinhardt, making mysterious hand gestures.

At a glance, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary.

Except…

The snake occasionally flickered as if it were a spiritual projection.

The cat beside the Marquis subtly glanced at him, and then, out of nowhere, fangs emerged from its belly to devour the sweet potato.

‘…Well, it’s a bit unconventional.’

It was an odd combination, but not one that seemed particularly dangerous.

At the very least, it still fell within the bounds of an ordinary dinner scene.

After all, even around him, knights were gathered in small groups eating together—only without a carriage.

Yet, the reason why Marc found himself unable to look away from that gathering was—

‘…Why is everyone praying to Marquis Palatio?’

It was because of the knights surrounding the group.

The Solar Eclipse Knights, led by Deus Macallian.

They were sitting in a circle behind the Marquis’ party.

That alone wasn’t particularly strange.

But the way they sat…

Anyone could tell—they were praying to the Marquis.

No, it wasn’t just that it looked that way.

It was certain.

The Solar Eclipse Knights were offering prayers to Marquis Palatio.

And they were doing so with deep reverence.

As if they were truly praying to a god.

Their posture was slightly different from normal prayer, but still—

Seeing humans praying to another human was… extremely bizarre.

What the hell is going on?

Just as Marc harbored such thoughts—

“…Why are they acting like that?”

“No idea. I heard something about Marquis Palatio being called a god or something.”

“A god?”

“You haven’t heard the rumors? They say he manifested as a god in Lonovellia.”

“Oh, that?”

“Yeah, that.”

Marc unintentionally eavesdropped on the murmuring knights.

“But isn’t that rumor just exaggerated nonsense?”

“Probably. From what I heard, the Grand Duchy of Luxibl worships Kalannon, the lightning receiver, and since the Marquis kind of resembles their statue, the rumors just spread.”

“…Well, considering how Sili, the so-called Saint of Kalannon, treats him, it might actually be true.”

“But for a mere rumor, the Solar Eclipse Knights seem a little too devoted.”

“…Yeah, I have to admit, it’s kind of creepy.”

Then, one of the knights whispered, “Maybe they’ve all lost their minds together?” while twirling a finger near his temple.

Immediately, his companion grabbed his hand and yanked it down.

“You idiot! Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“What? What did I do?”

“If someone hears that, you’re done for. Don’t you remember what happened? A knight from the Fifth Blade made a joke about Marquis Palatio and got beaten to a pulp by a Solar Eclipse knight.”

“…I thought that was just because he was being reckless?”

“No. It wasn’t.”

“…That’s terrifying.”

“So just shut up and eat.”

The knights, now whispering more cautiously, averted their gazes and returned to their meals.

Marc, too, turned his attention back to the Solar Eclipse Knights.

They were so devout in their prayer that they seemed more like holy knights.

And—

Facing away from them, unconcernedly eating a sweet potato, was the Marquis himself.

‘…This is straight-up heresy, isn’t it?’

That thought slipped out before he could stop it.

But if that were the case, why wasn’t the Rosario faction reacting more strongly?

His gaze shifted toward the Holy Knights accompanying Cardinal Yutia.

Of course, Rosario didn’t outright condemn other religions.

Even when the Grand Duchy of Luxibl changed its state religion, Rosario had not interfered.

Still, that didn’t mean they were entirely indifferent.

As Marc pondered this, he suddenly realized—

‘Now that I think about it, Cardinal Yutia is always around… but today, I don’t see her.’

Recalling how even Yutia had never made much of a fuss about the situation, Marc decided to drop the matter and return to his meal.

After all, it had nothing to do with him.

Or at least, it shouldn’t have.

“Hello.”

“…!”

Marc nearly choked on his food.

‘When did she get here?’

The woman who had been talking to Reinhardt just a moment ago was now standing right in front of him.

Still dazed, Marc heard Sili speak.

“You’ve been staring this way for a while.”

Only then did he realize his mistake.

He had been watching them too blatantly.

“…My mistake.”

“Oh, I’m not here for an apology.”

“Then—”

“I was just wondering… are you interested in lightning?”

Sili beamed at him.

Marc awkwardly scratched his head.

Truthfully, he had no interest in Kalannon.

Or rather, he wasn’t particularly interested in any god.

But since he had already been caught staring, he figured he should at least be polite.

“…Well, I suppose I am a little curious.”

“Oh! Really?”

Sili’s eyes sparkled as she eagerly launched into an explanation.

The next day.

And the evening after that.

“Kalannon’s lightning is pure and bright—like the blue sky of this world itself. In other words, his lightning is no different from the heavens themselves—”

‘…Please, someone save me.’

Marc realized.

He had made a grave mistake.

***

Several weeks later.

Aside from occasionally locking eyes with Marc, who still looked at him with an odd expression, nothing significant happened before Alon finally arrived in the north.

And at the base camp—

He encountered an unexpected face.

“Marquis—!”

“…Eliban?”

It was none other than Eliban, the protagonist of the original story.

Rumors had spread that he was successfully handling Scribes and Warped Beasts in the Grand Duchy of Stalian.

Yet, for some reason—

“Hello!”

—he was here in the north.

***

The capital of Caliban.

“…This is unexpected.”

Hidan had come to Caliban at the usual time to deliver intelligence on the Blue Moon to Deus.

Scratching his head at the news of Deus’s expedition, he thought,

‘There wasn’t supposed to be an expedition last time. Well, it can’t be helped.’

After a brief hesitation, he took out a piece of paper and began writing a letter imbued with magic.

Normally, he would have waited here.

But with orders from Red Moon, time was tight.

So, Hidan decided to leave the letter at Deus’s mansion and depart.

However—

“…?”

He noticed something strange.

A peculiar statue.

It had massive antler-like horns atop its head, and an overly long coat flowing around it.

Of course, Hidan had seen plenty of odd statues before—he had built up an immunity to them.

So in and of itself, the statue wasn’t particularly strange.

But what made it stand out to him was—

He knew this statue.

It was a monument to the Great Moon.

‘…Was it always like this?’

Hidan immediately shook his head.

Even if he wasn’t particularly observant about his surroundings, he would have noticed a drastic change like this.

The last time he had seen it, the statue had no horns.

The coat wasn’t that long.

And most importantly—

‘…Why is it so handsome?’

It wasn’t this handsome before.

The face had been sculpted into the ideal form of a strikingly beautiful man.

If this statue were alive, its eyes would probably be radiating celestial sparkles from sheer elegance.

It was so meticulously crafted, almost to the point of being overdone.

Hidan stared blankly at the upgraded version of the Great Moon’s statue.

‘…Isn’t this a bit too much?’

That was his final thought on the matter.

Alon, on the other hand, had been so embarrassed by the statue that he hadn’t even dared to look at it properly.