Chapter 331 : In the Name of Sloth (4)

-!!!

A monstrous scream that transformed fear into reverence echoed out, and the massive lumps of flesh as big as a mountain were crushed.

--!!!

It raised its remaining hand in an attempt to attack Basiliora no matter what.

Twisted bones sprouted from the giant hand, forming grotesque spikes, and slammed down toward Basiliora’s back.

Crash—!

That hand was effortlessly blocked by the black thorn protruding from Basiliora’s back.

Crackkkkk!

Soon after, it was completely crushed.

-!!

-!!

It screamed, a cry that was both a threat to all and yet a roar that brought hope.

That creature collapsed onto the black territory.

Black threads that sprouted from the ground kept pulling up the flesh, trying to restore its body.

Squish—crackkk~!

And so, once again, a mountain of flesh began to form.

‘Has it started?’

Alon checked what was happening on the ground and let out a soft sigh, realizing his attack had worked against the Sin of Sloth.

In the original work, the Sin of Sloth could be divided into four phases.

Phase 1 involved endlessly expanding the black territory without receiving any attacks, forcing those inside to kill each other.

If this phase wasn't quickly contained, it became impossible to stop the Sin of Sloth.

Based on the world map of Psychedelia, if the black territory spread over 30 tiles, it was an automatic game over regardless of anything else.

This was because, in the game, there was no magic with a range longer than 31 tiles.

In fact, there was no magic beyond 20 tiles.

There was essentially no way to stop the Sin of Sloth.

Despite all this, the game-over standard was set at 31 tiles because of divine power.

The calculation was complicated, but if covered by Sironia’s divine power, you could ignore the effects of the black territory.

Of course, that only worked for up to 20 of those 31 tiles.

Beyond that, you would begin to receive debuffs one by one and eventually become like everyone else.

Normally, that would have been the case.

‘……. I really should thank Heinkel.’

Without her, he wouldn’t have even thought about stopping the sin properly, and the world would have faced destruction.

But it was still too early to relax.

They had only just passed the first page.

“....”

Alon lowered his gaze.

There were lumps of flesh forming around Basiliora.

‘Six—no, seven?’

The number of flesh lumps increased based on the territory tiles.

At 30 tiles, four were summoned.

‘As expected, this territory is far larger than what could be experienced in the game.’

Seeing the number of flesh lumps, he thought that, but still did not feel a strong sense of crisis.

Seven massive lumps charged at Basiliora from the ground all at once.

They were so enormous that their size could be felt even from the sky, surrounding Basiliora in an instant.

“This is insane—”

“Shouldn’t we do something, Celaime?! This isn’t what we discussed in the plan! There are seven of them!”

Swearing mixed with panic escaped the soldiers’ mouths.

A desperate shout burst from Parkline’s mouth.

It was understandable.

Each lump was massive enough to crush Basiliora on its own.

“....”

So Celaime swallowed hard and gathered mana as if he had no choice but to cast a spell.

“...!"

As the black lumps fully encased Basiliora and the grotesque, bony hands all rose high into the air, ready to slam down—

Alon calmly formed a hand sign as if he had been waiting for this moment.

And then.

“Spirit Tree (Wood).”

The soldiers—

And Celaime and Parkline saw it.

Sprouting from Basiliora’s entire body—

Dark-colored trees.

The trees tore apart the lumps encasing Basiliora without making a single sound.

The trees, covered in blackish-red blood and green stains, engulfed the black territory and the sky.

They even hoisted the black lumps like massive fruit and shot upward toward the sky.

“Drago...?”

A soldier murmured as he watched the black trees spread like wings.

Everyone, speechless, stared blankly at Basiliora’s figure.

It was overwhelming.

The countless trees attached to its giant body made Basiliora look even more immense.

A natural fear, or perhaps awe, soaked into everyone’s hearts.

-!!!!

Finally, with Basiliora’s monstrous roar, the disintegrated lumps of flesh fell toward the ground.

Unlike when they devoured everyone’s fear as they formed, they now fell pathetically and shattered.

Limbs were torn off, and the grotesquely protruding bones snapped helplessly.

And then.

‘This ends Phase 2.’

After confirming the situation on the ground, Alon turned to the upcoming Phase 3—

‘No, it’s already begun.’

—He looked at the rapidly starting Phase 3.

With his vision enhanced by mana, he observed a group scattering dangerous magical power approaching the Ashtalon royal castle.

Alon quickly identified them.

‘Three of the seven strongest. Dragon Lance, Millennium Ice, and Hidden Swordsman, huh.’

Phase 3 of the Sin of Sloth.

It controlled those who died inside the black territory but had a certain level of power.

More precisely, it was closer to "manipulating" rather than "controlling," which led to a lot of discussion among players during this part.

The individuals controlled were chosen randomly.

If that random encounter included those in a "strong" position, like master knights, things became very complicated.

Those being controlled became anywhere from 50% to even 100% stronger than before.

And as if to prove that.

The three strong figures approaching from afar were so powerful that their dark energy felt visible.

Millennium Ice froze everything nearby while wielding a massive weapon.

Next to him, Dragon Lance held a spear that radiated a dangerously fierce aura, befitting his name.

And finally, Hidden Swordsman—

Crack— Craaackkkk!

He was casually slicing through the surrounding terrain as he slowly advanced.

A completely meaningless action.

Yet, he exuded such overwhelming mana that he could afford to act so carelessly.

Alon only had a moment to confirm this scene.

“They’re coming, as expected.”

Alon also noticed the things beginning to swarm around the three strong ones.

Beings so far gone they could hardly be called the dead, following behind the three.

Soldiers, knights, monsters.

Those who had once lived, or at least still retained some form.

They were now approaching Alon, who was preparing to cast another spell toward the Sin of Sloth.

Then, at some point.

Dragon Lance raised his giant spear high above his head.

Kwooooom—!!!

Mana exploded out violently.

As if he didn’t care what happened to his own body, Dragon Lance took a throwing stance, gathering suffocatingly dense mana in his hand.

The obvious target was Alon.

But he wasn’t the only one.

Hidden Swordsman and Millennium Ice, who had simply been walking forward while releasing mana, also started moving toward Alon’s treasure ship, freezing the air to create steps.

The strong ones, strengthened by the power of sin.

Those whose forms were even slightly intact.

They were all charging at Alon at once to eliminate him.

With a sound like twisted steel.

Dragon Lance, contorted to his very limits, entered Alon’s vision.

Even without enhancing his vision, Alon could clearly see the spear devouring and swirling with black mana.

For that spear, distance meant nothing.

The moment it left his hand, it was certain to reach the treasure ship in an instant—it didn’t even require a second thought.

Yet Alon remained calm.

He had predicted all of this.

-!!!!!

The spear in Dragon Lance’s hand made a chilling noise as it tore through the air.

Cutting through air and sound, the spear surged forward as if it would pierce a god in the heavens.

Everyone’s gaze locked onto the spear as it kept accelerating, breaking through the steep air barrier again and again.

Boom—!

Just as the spear shot toward the treasure ship, a golden lightning bolt surged up.

From that place.

There was Seolrang, cloaked in golden light.

She grinned—!

With a chilling smile, she took the spear flying toward the treasure ship and shot it straight back at Dragon Lance.

Fwaaaaaaa~!!!!

The spear slammed into Dragon Lance, and the ground exploded as if struck by a missile.

Then, from within the dust, Millennium Ice, who had just been creating steps in the air, flew up and rushed at Seolrang.

Craaaack~!

Millennium Ice’s weapon also failed to reach Seolrang.

“It’s been a while.”

With a refreshing smile, Eliban easily blocked Millennium Ice’s attack.

Millennium Ice, expression unreadable, immediately tried to swing a kick at the obstacle in front of him.

Boom—!

As if he had foreseen it, Eliban swung his sword downward, forcing Millennium Ice to crash rapidly back to the ground.

At that moment.

Hidden Swordsman, who had been poised to draw his sword within the dust, finally tried to—

[-]

He couldn’t draw it.

The hidden swordsman stared at the massive sword now embedded where he had been standing just moments ago, then looked up at the sky again.

In that once-clear blue sky that had held nothing but a single ship, along the long circuit-like mana—

Crack—! Craaackkk!

Cracks began to spread.

So many cracks they seemed to devour the entire sky.

Soon, weapons emerged en masse from those cracks, and then—

“Foolish—”

A voice fell down.

“You worthless shells,”

With countless weapons behind him, standing within the cracks,

“Don’t even think you can reach Brother.”

Radan’s voice looked down upon the ground with cold dignity.