Chapter 229

Clam, a ten-year veteran mercenary of the Lumber Mercenary Corps, could not comprehend what was unfolding before his eyes.

“S-Save me~!!”

Crunch~!

Just moments ago, his companion, who had been laughing and joking with him, was now floating midair, spilling his entrails.

It was strange.

Strange and beyond strange.

He could see nothing.

Nothing but the floating body of his companion.

And yet.

Even though that was all.

“Aaaaah-!! No, no, no!”

Snap-!

From the empty air, his companion’s head disappeared.

As if something had taken a bite out of it.

Splat-!

Blood poured down from the torn and missing torso, soaking Clam’s head.

The thick warmth of the blood, dripping down his hair, forced Clam to grasp reality.

“Ah.”

Soon, an indescribable fear began to fill Clam’s eyes.

Ten years.

Ten years as a mercenary had trained him to remain calm and composed in any situation.

But right now, those years meant nothing.

Cool-headedness and composure came from experience, from the ability to predict situations based on past encounters.

Thud-

The scene before him was an unknown terror he had never experienced before.

“Uwaaah—”

A voice, drenched in fear, escaped Clam’s mouth. He looked down with trembling eyes.

His companion, who had just been laughing and joking with him, was now nothing but a lump of flesh, crushed onto the ground.

And then.

Splash!

On the crimson blood pool formed from his fallen comrade, strange footprints began to appear—neither human nor belonging to a monster.

Step by step, they moved toward Clam.

Sensing his impending death, Clam squeezed his eyes shut.

Crack-!

What he heard was—

“?”

..?

It was supposed to be his final sound.

Yet, Clam reached up and felt his head, still intact.

He had clearly heard something bursting, yet he was unharmed.

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

And what he saw was—

“……!”

A golden crown.

Illuminated by the sun above the desert, shining brighter than anything else.

It hovered right above his head.

And that was not all.

“What…?”

Clam blankly looked around.

The space, once filled with gruesome slaughter, had frozen still.

The humans who had been writhing on the ground, screaming, were now dazed by the sudden halt.

Those who had been suspended midair, consumed by the unseen, crashed to the ground.

And at that moment, Clam witnessed it.

Dozens of golden crowns slicing through the air.

Saaaa—

As they intertwined, they formed a massive golden structure.

A mechanical hum sounded from beyond it, prompting Clam to cautiously turn his head.

There stood a girl with blue hair.

Penia Crysinne, the Vice Tower Master of the Blue Magic Tower.

Holding a staff embedded with a blue gemstone, she whispered something under her breath.

Then, she struck the staff downward.

With a crisp clang, a clear sound rang through the air.

And the world began to change.

The scorching sunlit world turned to ash-gray.

The golden sands lost their luster.

The brilliant golden crowns dimmed, losing their radiance.

And then, they appeared.

Those impaled by the golden crowns.

“Urgh~!”

Clam gagged involuntarily.

Despite his ten years as a mercenary, having witnessed all manner of filth and brutality—

The sight before him was enough to churn his stomach.

He could not even find the words to describe them.

Too insect-like to be human.

Too beast-like to be insects.

Too monstrous to be mere animals.

No, too much like slabs of flesh to be mere monsters.

Some had their intestines spilling out.

Some had gnawed through their own bodies with their teeth.

Some had limbs grotesquely twisted.

They were—

|-!!

|-!!!!

■■-!!!

Things one would expect to see only in the hell described by priests.

They shrieked bizarrely as they were skewered by the golden crowns.

And at the end of that grotesque sight—

“Hah. Interesting.”

A man stood.

A man with a human face embedded in his chest like a heart.

Gripping the golden crowns that had impaled the others.

####

“M-M-Marquis? W-We did as you asked. S-So what now? Th-This doesn’t seem so simple…!!!”

Penia’s voice trembled in panic.

Alon let out a deep sigh.

Even he couldn’t quite grasp why Agu, one of the Four Great Powers, had suddenly appeared in the desert.

If it was going to move, it should have emerged near the border where the Jujor was.

“Marquis, should we run? Should we flee? Let’s run! Running sounds good right now!”

Alon glanced at her.

At a single look, he could tell Penia was in no normal state—but he fully understood her reaction.

In the story, whenever the Four Great Powers appeared, their mere presence was overwhelming.

Allies would faint.

Characters following the protagonist would struggle under their oppressive presence.

Some players had even criticized the game for making the descriptions of the Four Great Powers too repetitive.

…but now he understood.

Now, in this very moment, Alon realized why those descriptions had been so consistent.

Alon had only just barely stepped into the Fifth Rank of magic.

Yet, even for him, the Agu before him was suffocating, sending shivers down his spine just by looking at it.

Which meant that Penia, whose magic rank was higher than his, was feeling even more crushed by despair.

And to make matters worse—

“Huff… Huff~”

Even Rine, who had impaled the Agu with golden crowns, was breathing heavily under the pressure.

‘Revealing the hidden Agu through Penia had been a good move, but…’

Just as Alon was beginning to worry about the worsening situation—

Something started to crawl out from Agu’s shadow.

A grotesque creature, shifting its gaze across the people.

Then, its eyes landed on Alon.

And it grinned.

“Let’s make a deal.”

“…What?”

“Hand over the girl. Then I’ll withdraw.”

Before Alon could even process the situation, those words were spoken.

####

“Hand over the girl. Then I’ll withdraw.”

A sentence that pierced through the ears.

Rine, drenched in cold sweat, relentlessly analyzed the current situation.

This was her first time facing Agu directly.

However, with the knowledge in her mind, she could easily discern its identity and origin.

More importantly, she knew without a doubt—there was no way they could win against it right now.

“……”

Rine lifted her eyes to the sky.

The golden crowns that had impaled numerous Agu, twisting in the air.

They were supposed to be forming Pluto’s summoning gate.

But they weren’t.

The reason was clear—the dozens of Agu impaled between the crowns were defying the death they should have met.

Instead, their flesh swelled grotesquely, disrupting the circuit formation of the golden crowns.

Which meant—her available combat power was practically sealed.

Had that been the only problem, Rine might have still seen a chance for victory.

No matter how dire the situation, she had prepared a final move after the last attack from Greed.

But now, even that was meaningless.

‘How… How does he have Greed’s power…?’

The man who so boldly demanded her surrender—

Incomprehensibly, he possessed Greed’s abilities.

She couldn’t guess how he had acquired them, but she could clearly understand his goal.

‘He wants to devour me and claim the Library.’

Rine bit her lip, calculating every possible scenario.

But in just a few seconds, her sharp mind reached one unavoidable conclusion.

There was—

Nothing she could do.

Which meant only one option remained.

The safest way to ensure the Great Moon’s escape from this place—

Was to put her own life on the bargaining table.

She had no regrets.

She had already been saved twice.

Her life should have ended long ago without the Great Moon.

She would have perished under Greed’s control.

So, this was the right decision.

Rine manipulated the golden crown, aiming it at her own head.

She laced it with magic, setting it so that if her consciousness wavered, it would pierce through her skull.

Agu’s expression stiffened as it observed her actions.

And then—

Just as Rine was about to speak—

“I refuse.”

—She was cut off.

Agu shifted its gaze to the Great Moon.

Rine also turned to look at Alon.

With one hand forming a seal, his expression remained blank.

“Heh, if you’re worried I won’t keep my word, don’t be. Believe it or not, I tend to honor my promises.”

Agu spoke with playful ease.

But—

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

Alon—

“I refuse.”

He repeated, this time with a slightly hardened expression.

At that—

“Hah. I extended my generosity because I thought things would get complicated if I pushed too hard.”

Agu’s brows furrowed in mild irritation.

And then—

“In that case, die.”

In an instant, Agu appeared right before Alon.

So fast that no one could react.

Without hesitation, Agu drove its fist toward Alon’s heart.

“Ah—!”

A scream burst from Rine’s lips before she could finish her words.

At that moment—

A small black figure landed on Alon’s shoulder.

And—

Alon’s chest was pierced through.

BOOOOM—!!!

Everything exploded.

Faded sand erupted in all directions, stirring up clouds of dust.

Carriages behind them were obliterated.

Corpses were sent flying.

And within the thick dust—

“A—”

Rine, who had been reaching out toward Alon, stared blankly ahead.

The gray dust turned into pure white snowfall.

Her outstretched hand became small, like a child’s.

The scent of blood lingered in her nose.

And what finally filled her vision—

Was corpses.

Her—

Parents—

Her sister—

The consequence of her own powerlessness—

Her—

…Sin.

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump~!!!

Her heart pounded wildly.

Her mind, remembering everything, pulled the past to the surface.

The torn lips.

The guilt of that day.

The crime of that day.

The shattered memories of her family, scattered like shards of glass.

[It’s because you didn’t embrace Greed.]

A voice echoed in Rine’s head.

[Accept me.]

A voice so disturbingly vile—

As if it were scraping at the core of her being—

Yet, so irresistibly alluring.

[A power that will let you lose nothing.]

As if entranced, Rine reached out her hand—

“-”

A sudden voice cut through the moment.

It was Agu’s, but unlike before, it carried an undeniable tone of surprise.

Rine’s vision shifted once more.

The black figure that had reached for her vanished from sight.

The fragmented images of her family disappeared.

And—

Finally, she saw—

“….”

Alon—his heart impaled by Agu’s fist.

Yet, something was strange.

CRACKLE—!!

“Kh…!”

Agu, the one who had pierced Alon’s heart, grimaced in pain.

BAM—!

With a sharp twist, Agu swung its arm and struck Alon’s head.

For a moment, Alon’s head scattered like smoke.

But—

“….”

Almost instantly, it regenerated as if nothing had happened.

Agu’s pupils widened in shock.

“Huu~”

The black figure on Alon’s shoulder, radiating a bright light, seemed to merge into him.

Two horns began to sprout from his head.

And—

Alon, controlling the transformation occurring within his body, spoke the final word.

“Fusion.”

At first, it had been an accident.

During his research with Penia on divinity, they had stumbled upon an unexpected discovery.

That Blackie’s body could freely absorb not just magic, but divine power itself.

And beyond that—

During his battle with Kylrus, Alon had developed a technique to temporarily absorb Shadow Dragon’s power into his body.

That was the foundation of this fusion—

The synergy between magic and divinity.

By layering divine power onto Blackie, fusing with it, and donning the divinity of Kalannon—

While utilizing Thunder God’s Form to convert his magic-based body—

CRACKLE—!!!!!

Everything was transformed into divine energy, eliminating the burden of excessive magic consumption.

And—

Reconstructing his entire being using divinity itself.

Metamorphosis.

Divine Thunder.

Thus—

CRACKLE!!!

Amidst the ashen world—

A pair of crackling blue eyes gazed down upon Agu.