Chapter 334 : In the name of Sloth (7)

The pale-white beings let out eerie screams as they began to massacre the black figures charging toward the soldiers.

Their ivory spears crushed dozens of dark forms as they advanced.

However, the black figures created by Sloth continued to regenerate somewhere within the territory.

They lunged at the ivory beings swinging their spears and fought back.

Like prey hunted by predators, the white beings were torn to pieces and disappeared in an instant.

Yet even though the black figures kept pouring in without end—

The white beings, the “Apostles,” did not falter.

No, on the contrary, as time passed, their numbers only grew.

“……”

A soldier stared blankly at the scene.

He saw a black figure pierced by a swung white spear shatter and then be reborn as yet another pale being.

The death delivered by the Apostles summoned new ivory beings.

An irrational cycle of reincarnation.

Celaime and Parkline let out a sigh of relief even as they marveled at the sight.

Because such beings were not their enemies.

And soon, their—

No, everyone's gaze gathered on Sloth and Radan.

Unlike before, when there had been no visible change, Radan now appeared quite different.

The dark armor exuded a foreboding aura at just a glance, and his blood-red eyes held an overwhelming power.

Above all else, even as he merely stood there, a faint but ominous energy flowed from him—a mana closely resembling Sloth’s own wickedness.

Even though it was clear that Radan was not their enemy, he was terrifying enough to make them tense up.

“....”

Sloth, who had widened his eyes when Radan awakened through sin, had now returned to his usual emotionless expression.

He silently stared at Radan.

But Alon realized that Sloth wasn’t simply indifferent.

Because in his eyes, he could now see agony and contemplation that had never been there before.

“Are you… going to continue to ‘exist’ here from now on?”

Sloth finally spoke.

A rather out-of-the-blue question.

But Radan smiled faintly as if he’d expected it.

“No.”

“Then?”

“Maybe twenty minutes, then I’ll disappear.”

Radan stated the truth with complete nonchalance.

“I see.”

Sloth nodded shortly.

Just one word.

But in that murmur, so much was implied that Alon was about to ask a question when—

“In that case, I’ll simply fulfill my duty.”

Threads of violet began to spill from Sloth’s body.

Immediately, the movements of the black creatures accelerated unnaturally.

Crackkk!

And not just that—those powerful beings who had previously collapsed now began to rise again, vividly radiating a clear violet glow.

The terrifying violet mana, unable to be contained by their bodies, burst forth outwardly and visibly.

And in that moment—

-!

Sloth vanished.

No, he moved.

Because no one had perceived it, it merely appeared as if he had disappeared.

When Sloth reappeared, it was behind Radan.

Taking advantage of a moment no one witnessed, Sloth aimed a punch at the back of Radan’s head—

Heh—

Sloth saw it.

The instant his fist extended, Radan turned toward him with a twisted grin, as if he had been waiting for it.

Boom—!

***

The battle had begun.

The ivory beings and dark figures clashed in a tangled melee.

Basiliora eliminated the reanimated lumps of flesh.

The revived warriors were blocked by Eliban and Seolrang.

But without a doubt, the one place where all eyes were drawn— was the fight between Sloth and Radan.

BOOOOM!

However, among them, there were very few who could actually comprehend the battle between Sloth and Radan.

Even without being able to see it, they felt the overwhelming pressure from the fight alone.

BOOOOOM—!

For just a moment, when their divine forms collided, a shockwave exploded and tore up the ground.

Even the mere act of movement cracked the earth.

The soldiers couldn’t help but watch the scene, reminiscent of a battle between gods from myth.

And in the final moment—

BOOOOOM—!

After a deafening explosion that echoed clearly in everyone's ears—

They were finally able to see Radan and Sloth with their own eyes.

And it wasn’t hard to determine the outcome.

Sloth’s condition was clearly terrible.

It seemed the attacks he had endured earlier from Alon’s group had taken a heavy toll.

His body was damaged to the point where it was barely functioning.

Meanwhile, Radan looked no different than he did at the beginning.

Aside from a bit of dirt, there was hardly any visible change.

It looked like a decisive victory for Radan.

Spurt!

Until crimson blood began to burst from the cracks in Radan’s dark armor.

“W-What—?”

As someone let out a gasp of disbelief—

Blood began spurting from all over Radan’s body, almost as if it had been waiting for this moment.

The soldiers were thrown into confusion.

Even Alon frowned in disbelief.

He, too, hadn’t seen the actual battle unfold with his own eyes.

All he could do was roughly estimate what had happened by tracing the remnants of magic in the air.

And as far as Alon could tell, Radan had clearly dominated the fight.

Which meant—

...The damage must have come from the inside, not the outside.

While Alon formed his own hypothesis, Radan glanced down at the blood seeping from his armor and grimaced slightly.

“Guess I pushed it too far without any relics? I figured it’d be fine since I didn’t even use my ‘power.’”

Radan scratched his head.

But even then, his face didn’t show much sense of urgency.

As if this entire situation wasn’t that big of a deal.

And then—

Before anyone could react—

Above Sloth’s battered head, a massive skull in the shape of a ram appeared.

Then—

-!!!!!

Violet threads extended from the ram’s head and began constructing a body like blood vessels.

They layered and knotted together repeatedly, forming a massive woven image out of threads.

Alon quickly realized what was happening.

Sloth was entering the monstrous phase.

At that moment—

“Brother.”

Suddenly, a voice called out.

Alon instinctively turned his gaze toward it.

There stood Radan.

But he was clearly different from the Radan Alon had known.

His hair was dyed black.

His eyes glowed red.

Yet that familiar smirk was exactly the same as the Radan Alon remembered.

“All set?”

Even his cheerful tone hadn’t changed.

Radan spoke to him so naturally.

And Alon instinctively realized—

This Radan had come from the future.

Not from a timeline where he failed to save the villain—

But one where the villain had been saved.

It raised so many questions.

But there was no time to waste pondering them.

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you, Brother. Looks like I couldn’t bring the relics with me. Even though I can keep the treasury open…”

As Radan added that line like he already knew Alon’s entire plan, Alon steadied his breath and slowly turned his gaze forward.

Sloth was releasing violet threads, using the black territory as his new body and undergoing monstrosification.

“....”

Once Sloth’s transformation was complete, the tide of battle would shift again.

Unlike Radan from the future, who for whatever reason couldn’t use his full power—

Sloth, having completed his monstrous form, would be even stronger than before.

But Alon had been waiting for this moment.

More precisely, the moment when Sloth would be immobilized during the transformation process.

A single moment when his prepared strike could not possibly miss.

“Hoo—”

Alon took a deep breath and looked at Radan.

“Radan.”

“Yes, Brother?”

“I think it’s time we show them.”

Radan smiled knowingly at those words.

Snap—

He casually snapped his fingers.

A simple act.

But at the same time, the glowing blue rift widened—

And something began to emerge from within.

Then—

“W-What is that—?”

“A... ship?”

Just as a mage blurted it out, what emerged from the blue rift was a ship.

The very treasury ship Alon had boarded.

“……”

Ever since Alon disembarked from the ship, he hadn’t taken any action.

Even when Sloth suddenly appeared and allowed them a minute to strike.

Even when that minute passed and Sloth started attacking the warriors.

Even when Radan arrived.

Alon had remained silent.

Because he knew.

That sin could never be defeated by ordinary attacks.

That’s why, even when he first planned to fight Sloth, this was already part of his strategy.

A plan created solely to kill Sin.

Prepared in a place so secret that Sloth wouldn’t even sense the threat.

To make Sloth see him as non-threatening, he had even gone below deck.

FWOOOOOSH—!!!!!

The ship emerged fully from the blue rift.

From it, a dazzling white light unfurled like a long ribbon, spreading brightness across the world.

And what it created— was a massive luminous form, like a nebula.

“...That’s—”

“—?”

Alon brought his index and middle fingers together and aimed them at the transforming Sloth.

Then he looked up to the sky.

There, above, was a ship radiating a brilliant light as intense as the sun, consuming the blue sky.

…Originally, it should have been impossible to cast a spell in a different location like this.

But—

[Meow-!]

Without Blackie, it couldn’t have happened.

Atop the ship’s enormous bow, Blackie tilted its head curiously in view.

…The truth was, it was impossible for Blackie to cast magic.

It couldn’t handle complex magical formulas—even basic calculations were a stretch.

But the spell they’d decoded this time was different.

Magic Bolt did not rely on intricate magical formulas.

The essence of Magic Bolt was purely— endlessly converting mana into physical force with no constraints.

Cough—

Meaning that as long as mana could be supplied infinitely—

There was no problem having Blackie cast the spell.

Alon turned his gaze forward again.

Sloth’s transformation was nearing completion.

The violet threads that would steal control of anyone they touched swirled all around.

His body, made from black territory, was larger than a mountain.

And the ram-shaped head that held Sloth’s presence used its eerie mana to move the violet light—

Forming a gigantic orb in the sky, like a meteor.

But it was fine.

Because Alon was certain.

That this single strike—

“Sniper of Oblivion.”

Would reach Sin.

As Alon, filled with unwavering determination, muttered those words—

-!!!!!

The nebula fell.