I Became the Patron of Villains

152. Assault (3)

Clearly, Alon was ignorant about the Apostle.

He had never encountered an Apostle while playing Psychedelia, and there was no mention of the Apostles of the Five Great Sins in the game’s settings.

However, one thing Alon now clearly understood about the ‘Apostle’ was.

BOOM-!

Strength.

He gazed at the scene before him.

On the ruins of the once towering guild building of Seollang, yellow lightning and black lightning clashed at a speed his eyes could not follow.

And then.

“Keuk-!”

Seollang was being pushed back.

BANG-!

With a tremendous roar, Seollang was flung back, and the Apostle extended his fist to deliver a blow.

Alon moved immediately.

He caught Seollang as he plummeted to the ground and deployed a shield.

But that wasn’t all.

“Enhance, Fix,”

With the reinforcement of magic through the incantation and the subsequent multi-layered manifestation, a total of three shields were precisely implemented where the Apostle’s fist was extended.

However.

Crack-!

The shields shattered like glass.

As if shields were utterly meaningless and laughable.

But in that brief moment, fortunately, Alon had already managed to escape Seolgak’s range.

“Ho- a magician?”

Seolgak stopped in his tracks, seemingly intrigued.

As if he had no intention of pursuing further.

Alon lowered his gaze to look at Seollang.

Seollang’s eyes were growing increasingly dim.

It wasn’t the confused gaze he had instinctively shown while fighting Seolgak, but it was clear that he was slowly dying.

In such a situation.

“You’ve become quite strong, little brother. It’s commendable, for the weakest in our tribe to have grown this strong.”

Seolgak spoke to his brother with the same smile as before.

“……”

Seollang did not respond.

He just stared at Seolgak with trembling eyes.

With a much worse expression than before.

“…….”

Alon realized that the situation was turning strange.

The strength of the Apostle?

That was certainly a big problem, but even more problematic was Seolang.

Seolang valued family above all else.

Perhaps even more than her own safety.

She had a deep sense of belonging to the category of blood relatives and family.

In her mind, family was.

Something to be prioritized, sanctified, and absolutely protected.

But, suddenly appearing before Seolang, the only blood relative she thought was dead, had personally destroyed the being she cherished.

Without giving her a chance to react.

Brutally.

Alon turned his gaze to the ruined surroundings.

All he could see were corpses.

The corpses of the Golden Mane Tribe, whom Seolang had once again tried to create a family with.

‘This is not good.’

Alon’s gaze now turned to Seolgak.

The Apostle of Pride, who was Seolang’s brother, had been leisurely watching the situation since she first attacked him.

‘No.’

He wasn’t just watching.

He was waiting.

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Waiting for Seolang’s mind to be pushed to the extreme.

Alon frowned openly as he thought.

‘What should I do?’

He had no idea why Seolang’s brother had become like this.

If there was one thing he knew for sure-

‘This situation must be stopped.’

Yet, there were two reasons why Alon still couldn’t move hastily.

Because they had not yet fully grasped Seolgak’s abilities.

The other reason was that the preparations were not yet complete.

The preparations that had been made since the appearance of Seolgak.

However, Alon did not have time right now.

They didn’t know how far Seolgak would go to provoke Seolang.

Conversely, they also didn’t know how long Seolang could endure Seolgak’s provocations.

…But in the end, what matters is Seolang.

Alon’s eyes quietly observed Seolang’s complexion.

Leaving aside the issue of turning into sin, Seolang’s condition was continuously deteriorating.

Unable to delay, Alon formed a seal to deploy magic.

“Well, that won’t do.”

“!”

Bang-!

Unfortunately, in an instant, a black lightning appeared in front of him at a speed far beyond perception and kicked him away.

“Master!”

Seeing him smashed into the ruins, Seolang tried to throw a punch at Seolgak.

“Ugh-!”

But her fist did not reach the opponent.

“Ugh-!”

Seolang struggled to break free from Seolgak.

However.

“Brother, stop your futile efforts. No matter how hard you try, you can’t escape my grasp. And don’t worry, the magician is not dead.”

Seolgak, still smiling, seemed a bit surprised.

“Still, it’s quite amazing. If you were the brother I remember, you would be crying by now. Hmm, but I guess you’ve grown up a bit.”

Well, it’s not a particularly good change, though. He added with a chuckle.

“…Did you side with those guys?”

After a moment of silence, Seolang asked his sibling with a dark expression, and Seolgak’s smile deepened.

“Side with? With whom?”

“…I’m asking if you sided with the black ones who turned the village into ruins…!”

“Why do you think that?”

“From you, I can smell that b*stard’s scent, so strongly-!”

Seolgak briefly looked down at his own body.

“Hmm? Ah, ah-“

He let out a sigh of realization, as if he finally understood, and his puzzled face cleared up.

He nodded several times and said,

“Is that so? Now that I think about it, the restriction I placed back then hasn’t been lifted yet?”

“Re-striction?”

“Yes, I had forgotten about it, but thank you for reminding me, little sister. Thanks to you, I don’t have to bother moving.”

“What, did you say?”

He gave Seolang, who was full of questions in her eyes, the most mischievous, yet malicious smile.

At that moment, Seolgak flicked a black lightning bolt towards Seolang’s head.

“Ugh!?”

She frowned at the ensuing sharp pain.

“Little sister, let me tell you a very interesting fact.”

Looking into Seolang’s eyes.

“It wasn’t him who killed our village people-“

He smirked!

At the moment she faced that sneer, Seolgak’s voice became distant.

In front of Seolang’s eyes, the remnants of the past she didn’t want to recall began to replay.

In a world that seemed to be reflected in black and white with noise, the first scene she encountered was ashen.

Next was the enormous fire demon that seemed to devour all that ash.

The last thing she saw was corpses.

The cold bodies of her kin, whom she cherished.

No matter where she looked.

No matter where she turned.

There were only corpses.

Corpses split in half.

Corpses burned to death.

Corpses with their heads missing.

The corpse with its upper body missing.

A corpse.

A corpse.

A corpse.

……Countless corpses.

They fill Seollang’s vision.

And, the hateful ‘black dragon’ gripping her neck.

It is the ashen landscape she always saw when she had nightmares.

Hee-juk-!

The black dragon twists its mouth into a mocking smile.

“!”

Then, the world before Seollang begins to change once more.

The ashen world, as if it were reality, bestows upon her the senses she had lost.

The suffocating pain tightening around her.

The thick scent of blood from her kin.

The sensation of blood trickling down her fingertips.

The salty taste on her parched tongue, soaked in tears countless times-

……The face of her brother, holding their mother’s head in one hand, with a twisted smile.

He revealed to her the truth she had hidden.

The truth she had endlessly wished to forget.

And then.

“How is it, sister? The one who annihilated our clan-”

The moment Seolgak, overlaid with the monster of the past, opens his lips.

KWAANG-!!!

Seollang saw it.

Seolgak, who had been gripping her neck, flew and crashed into the ruins of a building.

What she felt next were.

Two hands gently closing her ears.

“Don’t listen.”

It was a familiar voice.

“Don’t listen, Seolang.”

…A very familiar voice.

“……”

Seolang’s gaze turned upwards.

There, he was.

It wasn’t the indifferent face she always saw.

It was Alon, with an expression that seemed to worry about her.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

####

Alon, who had blown away Seolgak, frowned slightly.

At the moment of his attack, he once again used shield and wind magic together as a counteraction to minimize the damage.

Then, he was secretly implementing magic without Seolgak noticing.

Originally, it would have been impossible, but thanks to one of the seals Alon obtained from his recent research, it was possible.

A seal that, instead of reducing the power of magic, had the effect of shielding the magic itself from others.

Thus, Alon succeeded in secretly implementing magic to blow away Seolgak.

“Wow, that’s amazing. I didn’t feel any magic at all. How did you prepare it?”

But he failed to injure him.

“But, what can you do, even if you’re blocking your ears so hard? He must have already ‘remembered’ everything.”

At the man’s continued words, he sighed softly.

While secretly implementing magic from behind, Alon could easily grasp what Seolgak was trying to reveal.

If the truth Seolgak prepared was conveyed to Seolang, he could also foresee the immense mental damage she would suffer.

There was only one thing he wanted to say to Seolang.

“How about it, do you remember, sister? That it was this brother who killed the villagers and our family…!”

A smirk without a trace of guilt.

The expected statement, word for word.

Squeeze-

Alon pressed Seolang’s ear again.

Seolang would already know.

No matter how much Alon blocked her ears, the truth would have reached her.

Just before implementing the magic, he saw Seolgak shoot black lightning at Seolang, releasing the seal that even Alon hadn’t properly felt.

Nevertheless, Alon did not remove his hand from Seolang’s ear.

It was a meaningless act.

However, even knowing it was meaningless, his hand did not easily move.

…Alon also knew how important the meaning of ‘family’ was to her.

“Let me tell you something interesting, Seolang. Killing one’s own kind is quite enjoyable. When you see those who have lived in peace, hiding their true strength, begging for their lives, you feel a thrill.”

“Do you remember Paun from next door? That mischievous boy you used to play with often, he begged for his life with tears streaming down his face. I tore him apart by his head and legs.”

“You also remember Yuseon from the blacksmith’s, right? That boy who was your close friend and cherished his parents. I personally killed his parents in front of him and gouged out his eyes before killing him too.”

From Seolgak’s mouth, blades poured out incessantly.

Cruel and unavoidable truths meant to push Seolang’s mind to the extreme.

“How do you feel, little sister? Seeing the truth you didn’t know until now?”

When Seolgak, who had finished all his stories, asked.

Seolang, who had been hanging her head low until now.

Slowly lifted her head.

And then.

Both Alon and Seolgak’s faces went blank simultaneously.

As if time had stopped.

Facing the two of them, Seolang.

Her face was-

“So what?”

It was so calm.

####

‘What… is this?’

Seolgak could not understand the situation.

No, he could not comprehend it.

Seolang’s reaction was far from what he had expected.

He looked at her, who had risen from her seat, brushing off the hand of Marquis Palatio, with an incredulous expression.

According to the plan, she should not have had such an expression.

Originally, Seolang should have been going mad, spewing all sorts of malicious emotions at him.

In the end, she was supposed to kill the wizard, who seemed precious to her, and awaken to the ‘sin of pride.’

Keeping her alive was solely for his arrangement.

It was the same with placing the prohibition of memory on her.

Thus, Seolgak, who had paused as if unable to understand, said,

“……There’s no need to force yourself to endure it. Just a moment ago, you couldn’t hide your emotions, so do you think it means anything to hide them now, little sister?”

He deliberately provoked Seollang.

She tilted her head as if it was strange.

“What are you talking about? I’ve never hidden my emotions, not even once.”

“……What, are you saying?”

“Why should I hide my emotions?”

Seollang asked, as if she genuinely didn’t understand.

“……Just a moment ago, your eyes were…….”

They were very confused.

He answered to provoke her a little, but Seollang seemed completely indifferent.

“Isn’t that obvious? Because I was in a situation where I couldn’t protect Eun-sa.”

“……What?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“Brother, you’re strong, aren’t you? I realized it after facing you once, so I was scared. Because I wasn’t in a situation where I could protect Eun-sa.”

“Is that, all?”

“No-“

Seollang asked back.

“What else should I be shaken by?”

“What-?”

“Did you expect me to be swayed by your ridiculous game, brother?”

At her indifferent question, Seolgak frowned.

“……You’ve become cynical, little sister.”

“There’s no way, brother. I still love my family. Paun and Yuseon, whom you talked about, and all the family members are still a part of my precious memories. But if I get swayed by such trivial emotions-“

Swoosh-!

“I can’t protect the few precious people I have left.”

“…….”

“And you know, brother. I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

Instead of a light smile, Seollang said.

“I am already angry.”

Her gaze cooled down.

“Because you tried to kill my precious person, my mentor.”

“……”

A silence fell between the two.

“Ha, hahaha-!”

Soon, Seolgak burst into laughter as if it was absurd-

“Yes! You’ve become quite smart over the past ten years! I admit it, little sister! I underestimated you! I never thought that brat could think this far! But still-“

Crackle-!

“-you are still no match for me.”

-Black lightning shot towards Seolang.

Crash-!

His fist extended straight out.

This time, Seolang’s hand moved.

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However, as if she had adapted to Seolgak’s movements, her speed was much faster than before.

At the same time, a faint golden lightning began to form in her hand.

It was a phenomenon Seolgak had never seen before, different and more threatening than before.

Nevertheless, Seolgak did not erase his smile.

He was surprised by the change in her hand, but it seemed that Seolang could not properly handle that power.

Seolgak thought.

After knocking down Seolang in front of him, he would twist the neck of that wizard right in front of her eyes.

Hehe-!

At the same time, a future was drawn before his eyes.

His broken sister, as he intended.

And the birth of ‘His Eminence’, who would possess everything, based on her body.

However.

Thud-!

Seolgak’s future shattered.

“!”

He looked ahead at the incomprehensible situation.

The transparent wall standing before him was being shattered by a fist.

The transparent wall, which had formed like a mirror distorting its surroundings, was twisting the world into dozens, hundreds of polyhedrons.

It was the work of a wizard.

The moment Seolgak realized this fact.

“Seolang, stay calm. And remember. You’ve already reached the next stage. So-“

A low voice.

“Just, be certain.”

Flowed from the wizard.

“And also remember.”

“Embrace the lightning.”

The next moment.

“Ah-“

Seolgak saw.

“Yes-!”

Seolang, answering with a bright smile as if she had realized something.

And her body, being dyed with golden magic and golden eyes.

“Brother. I forgot to mention, I no longer need to be afraid of you.”

Simultaneously, he realized.

That.

“Thanks to you, I was able to obtain it.”

Among those who possessed the essence, only those who reached the 6th stage, surpassing the 5th stage of bloodline succession allowed only to royalty, could inherit and manifest it, a power that no longer existed in this world-

“The power to protect the grace.”

-which was called Raijin Transformation (雷神化).

“Die.”

Seolang’s fist struck down with white lightning.