Chapter 310 : What Is This... (1)

In the northern part of the Kingdom of Ashtalon.

Perhaps due to the influence of the northern weather, the place remained cold despite the presence of distinct seasons.

Zukurak was staring at the strange gate—

No, more precisely, he was looking at something that had come from within the gate.

It was a rusted spear.

So corroded that no one would think it usable as a weapon.

But what caught his attention wasn’t the spear’s practicality, but its shape itself.

‘Another kind I’ve never seen before.’

Zukurak rotated the spear in his hands.

Its appearance was too weathered to be clearly discernible.

Still, there was one thing he could say for certain.

This spear was of a kind that didn’t exist in this world.

“Hmm~”

Of course, it wasn’t necessary for him to figure that out.

After all, the mission he had received from Hazad wasn’t to investigate the gate’s nature, but merely to identify the source of its power and retrieve the “origin stone.”

And yet, he had grown curious about these things.

It was because of the ever-changing, foreign landscapes he saw whenever he entered the gate.

‘Scenery that looks like it’s drawn from another world. So maybe these are objects from another world—or perhaps from the distant past.’

Zukurak became lost in thought.

But then—

“Do you want to know?”

A voice interrupted him, making Zukurak snap his eyes wide open and turn his gaze.

There stood a man behind him.

A man dressed in black ceremonial robes, adorned head to toe with all kinds of chains.

“...!”

A cold sweat started running down Zukurak’s back.

It wasn’t because of the man’s appearance.

‘I didn’t sense him at all…!’

Before or after receiving power from Hazad, he had never experienced anything like this.

No being had ever been able to evade the perception of his hyper-evolved senses, honed through repeated transcendence.

Even Hazad himself, the one who had granted him that power, couldn’t hide from those senses.

Yet—

This man had completely eluded Zukurak’s perception.

So perfectly that even now, standing right before him—

Even as Zukurak looked straight at him, he still couldn’t sense a thing.

That’s why, by instinct, he drew his weapon.

Boom—

With a motion of his hand, a giant hammer appeared.

A hammer even larger than Zukurak himself, who stood well over two meters tall—so massive it was hard to imagine how it could be wielded at all.

But Zukurak effortlessly lifted the massive hammer with one hand and stared at the man in black with a highly tense expression.

“Hm~ I didn’t think I made an aggressive first impression. But I see your return greeting is rather hostile.”

The man in the black robe chuckled casually.

Then—tap—

In an instant, he closed the distance to Zukurak and lightly tapped Zukurak’s hand, which had begun to move reflexively.

It was a very soft touch.

And yet, just that—

“What~!"

Zukurak, who had tried to swing the massive hammer with speed, found his body frozen solid.

As if he had never been able to move in the first place.

“Rrghhh~!”

With bloodshot eyes, Zukurak’s body began unleashing explosive amounts of magic power.

His muscles swelled to terrifying size, showcasing strength that seemed capable of obliterating the man before him.

But—

“There’s no need to try so hard. You won’t be able to move anyway.”

“What is this—”

Even as Zukurak struggled, the man in black remained composed, slowly pulling something from within his robes.

He placed it atop Zukurak’s arm—

And then—

“!!”

Zukurak’s body began turning black.

As the transformation began, the man picked up the spear Zukurak had been holding.

“I gave you a fine body that pleased you, so I figure I should give you a gift in return.”

Swinging the spear lightly, he looked at Zukurak, who was writhing in an attempt to escape the binding force while slowly turning black.

“The gate is a fragment.”

He spoke the words.

But Zukurak didn’t hear him.

Couldn’t hear him.

“Rrgh~!”

He was too busy flailing desperately to escape.

Blood vessels burst in his eyes.

His overpowered muscles tore apart from within.

“It’s a fragment of another world.”

The man continued speaking casually.

And then—

The moment the black substance flowing along Zukurak’s arm engulfed his mind—

What reached him was—

“The Eyes’—”

A dry voice, and—

“Fragment.”

A flash of yellow irises—dozens of concentric circles overlapping grotesquely.

***

About a week later—

“Well then, see you next time.”

“Understood, Brother.”

Alon arrived back on land and parted ways with Radan after exchanging goodbyes.

“You seemed a bit somber. Did you notice something?”

Evan’s voice came from behind as he watched the distant ship.

Alon nodded.

“I know.”

“Shouldn’t you have said something to him?”

Evan’s point was fair.

Alon had clearly seen the worry on Radan’s face but had chosen not to ask.

Still, Alon shook his head.

“If he didn’t want to talk about it, there’s no reason to force it.”

He recalled the look on Radan’s face.

Radan had smiled in a way that was awkward enough to be noticeable.

Anyone could tell he didn’t want to talk about what was troubling him.

However, if Alon had asked, Radan would have surely answered, and it would have ended up forcing him to share his burden.

That’s why Alon didn’t ask.

If Radan didn’t choose to speak, then he must have had a clear reason.

So, after quietly watching Radan’s ship for a while—

“Let’s head out.”

Alon turned and walked toward the carriage that had been waiting.

Just as he was about to climb aboard—

“Hm?”

“What is it?”

“It’s just... the carriage looks strangely clean.”

“Is that a problem?”

“It’s just, we left it sitting here for about a month, didn’t we?”

“That’s right.”

“And usually, after that long, it should have at least gathered a little dust.”

Alon nodded absentmindedly at Evan’s observation.

He hadn’t paid much attention to cleanliness, but it made sense.

Wuuuuum~!

Feeling uneasy, Alon used a bit of magic to inspect the carriage.

But aside from it being unusually clean, nothing else seemed wrong.

“Let’s just go for now.”

“Yes, well...”

With that, the two got into the carriage and began to move.

Then, for some reason, Blackie and Basiliora were playing a board game that resembled chess in front of them, seemingly having learned it somewhere.

[Kuhahaha!!]

[Meow.]

Watching Basiliora’s dim-witted moves and Blackie’s cute little paws calmly push the pieces, Alon began to quietly reflect on what needed to be done.

‘First, I need to find those three items.’

The Mask of the One Who Walks Ahead.

The Crying Blessing.

The Jewel of the Closed-Eyed One.

Fortunately, Alon already knew the locations of two of the three items he needed.

And even the process to obtain them wasn’t especially difficult.

However, the Jewel of the Closed-Eyed One hadn’t even appeared in Psychedelia, so he had no idea where to begin looking.

‘I’ll have to rely on Nangwon for that.’

If anyone could help, it would be Nangwon, who ran the intelligence guild.

[I win, you stupid beast! That proves your intelligence is lower than—gaaahh!]

[Meow-]

While he was lost in thought—

Blackie had pinned Basiliora’s head to the board with his paw, completely taking over the game.

Even as Basiliora flicked his tail in protest, Blackie pressed down on his tiny snake head without budging an inch.

Seeing that, Alon suddenly wondered—

‘...When is Blackie going to grow up?’

Of course, it was physically impossible for Blackie to mature just after a year or two.

But since he grew faster the more he absorbed, the question didn’t linger long.

“Marquis. There’s something I forgot to mention earlier that just came to mind.”

“Is it important?”

“No, not really. It’s just... because of you, the bandits are pretty much extinct now.”

“?”

“?”

“What do you mean?”

Alon tilted his head, not understanding the situation.

“To be honest, I don’t fully understand it myself—”

Evan made a vague expression and began explaining in earnest.

A little time passed.

......

“So let me get this straight. If someone defeats some bandits and presents proof, they’re allowed to enter the Divine Land of the Palatio Marquisate?”

“?????”

Dozens of question marks popped into Alon’s mind.

“Who spread that kind of rumor?”

“Not sure...”

“Just to be clear, we didn’t actually put out an announcement like that, did we?”

“Of course not. The notice we posted was vague, just like you instructed.”

“Then how did it turn into some bandit-hunting recruitment— No, wait.”

He rubbed the side of his head, starting to feel dizzy.

“More importantly, why are people trying to enter the Divine Land in the first place?”

“Seems like a rumor started circulating.”

“A rumor?”

“Yes, don’t know where it came from, but apparently if you train in the Divine Land, you can use Kalannon’s power. Something like that.”

“...I have to ask, just to be sure. We didn’t start that rumor, right?”

“Of course not.”

Evan answered firmly, and Alon fell silent.

Still, no matter how much he thought about it—

He couldn’t understand how a vague call for “righteous individuals” had transformed into “bring proof of slain bandits and gain access to Shinto, where you can train with Kalannon’s power!”

‘...What in the world is going on?’

He was left with a strange, uneasy feeling.

***

It had been a few months since Sin had destroyed Fildagreen.

Thanks to help from human mages, the city had been mostly restored and now resembled its old self again.

Inside one of the royal chambers—

Sat Rine.

With a serene expression, she sipped her black tea.

Creeaak—

When the door opened naturally, she looked up and showed a faintly surprised face.

Someone was standing there who shouldn’t have been.

“Oh my.”

That person was—

“Yutia, what brings you here?”

It was Yutia Bludia.

With the blue moonlight at her back and her signature crimson eyes glowing, Yutia appeared before Rine.

“Don’t look so surprised, Rine. You must’ve heard from Hidan.”

“I didn’t expect it to be now, that’s all.”

“If it’s you, you must’ve sensed I was coming.”

She smiled as she spoke.

“Oh, you noticed?”

“Yup.”

After that lighthearted exchange—

A cold silence enveloped the room.

A heavy, chilling silence.