“About how much is left now?”

“If we keep going like this, it’ll be soon.”

It had been a week since Alon departed for Ashtalon.

“.......”

There were three reasons he hadn’t realized during that time that the incidents happening in Ashtalon were things that occurred as the Sin of Sloth was born.

The first was the monsters.

The story had already been going down a path that differed in many ways from the original work, but as far as Alon knew, the appearances of the Sins hadn’t changed much, and their purposes hadn’t changed either.

Which meant—

Even if the story got twisted into a complete mess because of the butterfly effect, their purpose was basically the same as what Alon knew.

As far as he knew, the Sin of Sloth doesn’t kill monsters.

A Sin’s targets are only other races including humans; it doesn’t kill individuals that the Allied Kingdoms have defined as monsters.

Decisively, it was also because of the black territory.

From the very moment the Sin of Sloth is born, the black territory begins to erode the ground.

In other words, the instant a rumor starts going around that the black territory has begun eroding the ground, you can be certain the Sin of Sloth has appeared—but if that isn’t the case, it also means it’s hard to predict easily.

Because the Sin of Sloth and the black territory are inseparable—an ability that is the alpha and omega of the Sin.

“Evan, what’s the situation right now?”

“I heard people have been gathering ever since Ashtalon requested reinforcements.”

“Faster than expected.”

“Normally, just like you predicted, My Lord, everyone would’ve dragged their feet, but it seems Stalian V put up a really good item as a reward.”

“A good item?”

“Yes. From what I heard—what was it again...... I don’t remember the name exactly, but they said it’s something like an Abyssal Core without side effects?”

“An Abyssal Core without side effects......?”

“Yes.”

“......Sounds suspicious just hearing it.”

“They said the effect is definitely real, so it looks like everyone’s moving. Well, as for the mage towers, that goes without saying.”

Evan shrugged, and Alon naturally turned his gaze.

There, among the group of mages heading to Ashtalon with Alon, Sharan and Selaim were in the middle of an impassioned speech.

“With this many, wouldn’t it be easier than before for a Sin too? No—maybe it’s already been handled.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because two other powerhouses joined up, and I heard two of Caliban’s Swords have already arrived in Ashtalon. They might’ve dealt with it first. They said a whole crowd went in.”

While Alon was watching the mages, Evan added more.

After staying silent for a while, Alon opened his mouth.

“......You can’t stop it by winning with numbers—”

“Well, I think that too. Three powerhouses got sent to their graves, so with just this much....... Still, there are soldiers.”

Evan, who was about to add, ‘No matter what, in battle, numbers—’ suddenly seemed to recall what had happened before, and quickly trailed off.

“......No. It might be hard.”

That was right. Even last time, if it hadn’t been for Rine, it would’ve been impossible to catch a Sin.

‘And this time—’

His worrying continued, and after some time passed—

“We’ve arrived.”

Alon’s group finally set foot in Ashtalon Kingdom.

And then—

“Ah—”

Not long after, Alon let out a quiet exclamation without realizing it.

It wasn’t only Alon.

Everyone standing on the cliff where you could see the full view of Ashtalon Kingdom did the same.

Naturally.

Because the scene of Ashtalon Kingdom they saw was—

“......It looks like this isn’t just ‘serious’ anymore.”

“Yeah.”

So horrific it made their faces twist.

“.......”

Alon stared blankly at the sight.

The black territory had come close enough that in just a few more days it could cover Ashtalon Kingdom.

And the forests and grasslands already swallowed by it were dyed red all over with bloodstains.

The stench of blood kept wafting without pause, and lumps of flesh that couldn’t even be called zombies were moving numbly, killing each other.

Just one group.

But calling it just one group—

The monotonous way they moved, and the scene reflected in their eyes, was telling them what had happened inside that black territory until now.

““.......””

For a long while, Alon and the others had no choice but to keep watching that sight blankly, unable to move at all.

In Ashtalon Kingdom, Alon met familiar faces.

“Ah, Mentor!”

“Big brother!”

First were Seollang and Radan.

“Brother—!”

“My Lord—”

“Saint, and Fillian.”

Next were Yuman and Fillian.

And the last one he met was—

“My Lord—!”

“Elivan, you were here too.”

“Given the situation, I had to be! It’s been a while—I'm happy to see you......!”

Elivan, wearing a bright face that didn’t fit the situation at all, and party members with serious expressions, unlike that sunny one.

‘So we’re in the mid-to-late part now.’

He thought that for a moment while looking at the party members’ armor, then Alon said to Elivan.

“When did you get here?”

“I arrived two days ago.”

“And the situation—”

How long had it been after he opened his mouth?

He realized he didn’t even need to ask Elivan.

“We’re leaving.”

“How can you say that right now?!”

“What did you say? What exactly are you saying doesn’t make sense?”

“As the Allied Kingdoms, we requested reinforcements!”

He had just witnessed the countermeasure meeting already turning into a complete mess.

“A reinforcement request! Of course I know! I, Count Mimanmar of the Colony Kingdom, came here with soldiers and Babayaga in accordance with that request!”

“Then why are you saying that?!”

“Reinforcements have no meaning at all!”

Count Mimanmar glared at Duke Bamanta of Ashtalon Kingdom, who was arguing with him, then immediately pointed outside the window at the black territory.

“Look at that! It’s already come near the kingdom! How in the world are you supposed to deal with that—!”

“Like I said, based on what we investigated, to stop that black territory, we have to deal with the source beyond it—”

“It’s not like we haven’t tried! Don’t you see that?”

The count slammed the table with a bang! like he was about to break it, then pointed to one side.

Over there, lumps of flesh were tearing each other apart mechanically.

“That horrible freak...... those are our warriors! They tried, like you said, to at least confirm what’s in the center, and that’s what happened! They went in because of what you said—that if they wore anti-demon artifacts, they could endure it—and then!! That happened, I’m telling you—!”

“I didn’t speak falsehoods!”

“Hah! Sure! You also didn’t say that the anti-demon artifacts wouldn’t even last ten minutes!”

“That’s because the investigation hadn’t been completed up to that point—!”

“Anyway, I’m leaving this place! It’s obviously a pointless dog’s death! I can’t leave my soldiers to die a dog’s death!”

“......That goes for me too.”

“Sir Kerma! You too—!”

At Duke Bamanta’s shout, brow furrowed, Kerma, Caliban’s Fourth Sword, shook the head.

“Count Mimanmar’s words are the plain truth. There’s nothing we can do. If the kingdom had some way to handle the black territory, that’d be one thing, but—”

Otherwise, it all seems like it has no meaning at all.

As Kerma added that in a mutter, Duke Bamanta’s brow twisted even more.

This much—

The situation wasn’t good.

Those who had already finished investigating the black territory to a certain degree were trying to withdraw their reinforcements.

“.......”

In the middle of that, Yuman was lost in thought.

A face darker than anything.

Alon looked at the Saint, then turned his gaze to the black territory.

‘......The situation really isn’t good.’

It was true even compared to the original work, the game, that he knew.

‘The black territory has already swollen way too much.’

The bigger the black territory is, the stronger the Sin of Sloth becomes.

Even in the story, the longer the player prepared, the stronger the Sin of Sloth got in the meantime, to the point that plenty of players would go straight into battle without preparing.

But the current situation, if you compared it to the game, wasn’t the early game or the mid game—it was the late game.

And not just late game—

the late game where the Sin couldn’t help but be at its strongest.

Which meant: the Sin Alon had to face at this point—had a high probability of being similar to, or stronger than, the Sin of Sloth he originally had in mind.

That was why—

“May I speak for a moment?”

If an internal split happened now, their odds of winning would become endlessly slim, so he raised his voice and slightly moved his mana.

With the atmosphere already harsh, he expected that saying one word wouldn’t easily change the air, so he was going to pop the sound a little with mana.

But—

“Ahem—if Marquis Palatio is speaking—”

Before he even popped mana—

“We’ll listen.”

“Ahem—”

Everyone gathered there immediately lowered their voices and cleared their throats.

“......?”

Alon was flustered for a moment, but soon, with an awkward expression, he shut off his mana.

“Um—”

In the meeting room that had gone quiet in an instant, he wondered what he should say first.

“First, to begin with, I do have a method.”

He opened like that, and his mind began spinning busily.

Of course, from their standpoint, it would be hard to easily believe Alon’s words.

The people who had been arguing here had already arrived in the kingdom days ago, and had fully realized how irrational that black territory was.

So it was natural that there would be resistance, or unhappy looks, at Alon’s statement.

So Alon was in a position where he had to persuade them, but in truth he didn’t feel that burdened.

Even if he didn’t know a way to erase the black territory right away, he knew the thread that would solve this situation.

Just as Alon was organizing his words to persuade them in his own way—

“If Marquis Palatio has a method, it’s worth hearing.”

Count Mimanmar, who had been shouting heatedly just a moment ago, stepped forward.

“......?”

Alon was flustered again.

But—

“Right—if it’s Marquis Palatio, he’s trustworthy.”

“??”

“I was already thinking he’d have a way, but sure enough, that’s how it is.”

“???”

Once again, a compliant reaction followed.

In a situation that was completely different from what he’d expected, Alon examined the nobles’ expressions.

Expressions filled with trust.

And—

“Yeah, if it’s Mentor, I thought you’d obviously have one.”

“If it’s big brother, of course—”

“As expected, Brother!”

“My Lord really is amazing......!”

“As expected—”

Everyone participating in the meeting sent him strangely solid trust instead of doubt.

Like—

as if they were wearing expressions that said, ‘Hey, we believed in you, didn’t we?’

“.......”

Thanks to that, even without saying much, Alon was able to quickly take control of the meeting room.

But—

‘Something...... no, what is this......?’

With the atmosphere so firm, it made his stomach feel heavier, instead.

‘You still haven’t grasped your own position, I see.’

......Of course, the only one who noticed Alon’s mood was Evan.

The next day.

“So that’s the famous pirate king’s ship—”

Outside Ashtalon’s walls.

Count Mimanmar looked up at the enormous ship floating in the sky overhead, and marveled.

And it wasn’t only him.

“That—”

“How fascinating.”

“What principle is that?”

“With magic at the current level, it’s impossible—”

The soldiers and mages who had come outside Ashtalon’s walls at Alon’s request were also marveling at the ship floating in the sky.

But even if the mages did, the soldiers’ expressions weren’t very good.

The countless soldiers gathered here already knew well how horrible the black territory was, now that it had come almost right up to them.

And just that ship floating in midair wasn’t enough to shake off their fear of the black territory.

That was how deeply the horror and fear of the black territory had been driven into the soldiers’ minds.

That was why—

‘......Can that really work—’

Count Mimanmar also recalled the plan Marquis Palatio had mentioned yesterday, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ and looked up at the sky with a somewhat subtle expression.

And at that moment—

“......Big brother, this is the limit for coming up as a treasure. Do we need to go higher?”

“No, this is enough.”

“Understood.”

Alon, riding the ship with Radan, took a deep breath and headed for the prow.

“......Whew—”

As he moved to the prow, a wind blew so hard it made his spine chill.

He looked down on a world where everything had become like miniatures.

Silently staring at that scene where every existence looked small—something you’d only see in his previous world—Alon slowly opened his mouth.

“Basiliora.”

[Speak.]

“Are you ready?”

[As much as you like.]

“And Blackie?”

[Kyuu—!]

Hearing Basiliora’s confident answer and Blackie’s voice, Alon looked at the black territory.

‘The situation still isn’t good.’

Alon admitted it coldly.

The situation had surpassed the level he’d experienced in advance in the game.

And unlike the time he infiltrated from the air during the Apostle last time, with Sloth’s power having become this strong, even if he entered the territory from the air riding the treasure, a problem could arise.

If this were the game, a Game Over screen would’ve popped up on the screen long ago.

Yeah, if it were the game.

But the world Alon was looking at wasn’t a game.

So there was a method, too.

A method to draw out the Sin of Sloth, which would normally be in the safest place in the world now, where no one’s attack could reach.

Alon formed hand seals.

His left hand extended with the index and middle fingers spread.

And, recalling the conversation he’d had with Heinkel—

‘This is definitely different from Light magic, starting from the unfolding structure. Light’s essence—meaning, most of the spell phrases and sentences we found in that magic were made to complete the magic called Light.’

“Transformation.”

He recited the spell phrase.

‘The element itself keeps feeding light, transforming the molecular structure, constantly absorbing even heat and expanding, creating a sun, right? But this is different. This is, strictly speaking, more than magic—’

A mana construct in the form of a rod was honed thin like a needle.

“Condensation.”

‘It’s a method of converting mana into physical force.’

That honed needle condensed so small it was barely visible to Alon’s eyes.

“Rotation.”

‘So that everything magic the caster can slam in can all be converted into physical force and fired.’

It began spinning in place.

“.......”

The magic still wasn’t complete.

He still hadn’t spoken two sentences.

Which meant this was the moment he could breathe mana into this realized magic.

“.......”

Alon looked at the magic he’d realized.

So endlessly feeble and weak—like it would scatter in the fierce wind at any moment.

Even taking into account that no mana had been poured in yet, his magic wouldn’t change much.

It couldn’t be helped.

Alon’s mana hole was absurdly small even compared to other mages.

In other words, this magic, which had to guzzle mana brutally, wasn’t very compatible with Alon.

Even so, Alon smiled faintly.

Magic Bolt is a magic that doesn’t fit the ‘original’ Alon at all.

That’s true.

But paradoxically, this magic— to Alon—

“Defying Heaven.”

fit him better than anything.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gak—!!!!

The sky began to twist.