At Evan’s words, Alon was left dazed for quite a while.

He recalled Cretinia Siyan, the Queen of Asteria.

A Queen far too young for a nation’s ruler, and the inheritor of the Golden Eye of History, an ability passed down only through the Asterian royal family.

Thinking that far, Alon tilted his head.

‘Was the Golden Eye of History really that powerful?’

As far as Alon knew, the Golden Eye of History was indeed an absurdly overpowered ability.

It allowed one to inherit, intact, all the abilities accumulated by previous generations.

That was why Cretinia Siyan excelled despite never learning magic or swordsmanship, and why, despite never studying kingship, she handled all matters adeptly as a ‘Queen.’

Even so, it was hard to immediately accept that Siyan had dealt with a divine-blood.

‘Isn’t that impossible……………?’

Whenever Siyan appeared in Psychedelia, she was certainly very strong.

However, she was merely among the upper echelon of humans, not someone comparable to a divine-blood.

‘My reasons to go to Teria have increased.’

Just as Alon was thinking that.

Evan, who had remained silent to give him space, spoke up once more.

“There’s something else I should tell you.”

“What is it?”

“This isn’t something that directly affects us much, but the Empire is in complete chaos as well.”

“Didn’t you mention that before?”

“I did…… but apparently it’s on an entirely different level now.”

“…How bad is it?”

Evan thought for a moment, then answered.

“Marquis. Just in case, you do know that the Empire was split into four parts a few years ago, right?”

“I know.”

Since Alon already knew the Empire had been devastated, he nodded, and Evan continued.

“The Western Empire has fallen.”

“Completely?”

“Yes. It was utterly torn apart by the divine-bloods and completely destroyed.”

“That’s…… a bit unexpected.”

“Is it?”

Unlike Evan’s reaction, Alon found it somewhat surprising.

‘…I thought it would hold out, at least to some extent.’

He had not personally played Calypsophobia, where the Empire was the main stage, but he still knew a fair amount of information.

‘The Empire is stronger than the Allied Kingdom Alliance.’

Not only that.

The Empire’s territory was incomparably larger than even all the Allied Kingdoms combined, and as vast as that territory was, so too was the number of powerful individuals within it.

If Sin destroyed more than two Allied Kingdoms, there was a reason bad endings related to the Empire would trigger.

‘I remember people in the community saying the power balance between Psychedelia and Calypsophobia made no sense at all. And on top of that, there’s even a protagonist.’

Alon recalled the protagonist who appeared in Calypsophobia.

The being that the community had dubbed an ultra-alpha Imperial murder weapon.

“Hm.”

In any case, considering all the established settings.

No matter how strong the divine-bloods were, he had expected the Empire to endure to some degree, which made this surprising.

“I thought it would last a bit longer.”

“Well, that’s not exactly wrong.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Even though the Western Empire ended up like that, the rest are holding out fairly well.”

Evan nodded.

“Among them, the Eastern Empire and the Northern Empire are said to be fending off the divine-bloods effectively.”

“…Without any damage?”

“Yes. The East has an overwhelming number of strong individuals, and the Northern Empire apparently has a ‘dragon.’”

“A dragon?”

“Yes. What was it again…? The Laughing Dragon? ……Ah, no, the ‘Crying Dragon.’ They call it the Crying Dragon.”

“…And what is that supposed to be?”

When Alon asked, Evan shrugged.

“Honestly, I don’t know the details either. I just heard it’s known by the epithet ‘Crying Dragon.’”

“The Crying Dragon, huh……”

“Anyway, I thought you should know since the Empire is in complete turmoil.”

“I see.”

Alon nodded and recalled a memory he had pushed aside to the corner of his mind.

—Come to the eastern end, my friend. Then I’ll give you something precious.

The small voice he had heard when the divine-blood descended.

‘Something precious…………… something precious, huh……………?’

Alon stared blankly out the window, lost in thought for quite some time.

***

A month passed after Alon’s group departed from the Colony for Caliban, and though he had heard various pieces of news through Evan, there was nothing regarding divine-bloods.

In other words, there had been no divine-blood attacks for three weeks.

Of course, it was not something they could let their guard down over, but it was fortunate.

“There were no attacks yesterday either, it seems.”

“Yes.”

Alon thought.

‘So it’s probably true that most of the divine-bloods fell toward the Empire.’

According to the information Evan had brought last week, the Empire had been extremely turbulent.

At that moment.

“Marquis, could you take a look at this for a moment?”

“Sure.”

Penia handed Alon a sheet of paper.

The paper she showed him was filled with complex formulas that looked difficult at a glance.

“This is…….”

“I tried creating a magic formula based on what you said, Marquis. What do you think?”

A discussion between Penia and Alon followed.

It had become their routine as they headed toward Caliban.

During the day while the carriage moved, he conducted research separately with Penia, occasionally watching Basiliora, Blackie, and even Evan join in and fool around, and at night, spending time like this in magical debate with Penia.

“Oh, by the way, Marquis. What about that?”

In the middle of their conversation, Penia asked.

It was an abstract question, but Alon easily understood what she meant.

“You mean divinity? There hasn’t been much change yet.”

“As expected.”

Nodding, Alon naturally closed his eyes and contemplated his inner self.

Not long after entering his inner world, he discovered a small orb floating within what had once been nothing but dull darkness.

A very tiny orb.

He had noticed that this orb had appeared in place of the five divinities that once resided within him, as if they had never existed, shortly after leaving the Colony.

‘It probably appeared after killing the divine-blood.’

Alon recalled what the Blue Eyes had said.

That he would naturally ascend to the next stage.

‘So that’s what it meant.’

He had never considered that killing a divine-blood could elevate him to the next stage, so at first he had been somewhat taken aback.

But now, it made his goal clearer.

However, there was also a point of dissatisfaction.

‘How am I supposed to use this, exactly?’

He had no idea how to use divine power.

It had been a month since Alon confirmed the existence of this divine power, yet he still could not properly use it.

The most he could do at present was simply draw the divine power outward.

‘Of course, it’s such a tiny amount that it’s practically unusable.’

Still, knowing was better than not knowing.

After trying various other approaches besides simply drawing it out, Alon eventually had no choice but to open his eyes.

“Did it fail again……?”

“It’s not easy.”

Alon shook his head and took a bite of a sweet potato.

Penia spoke regretfully.

“If you could use divine power, it feels like we could expand the variations quite a bit.”

“Well, we’ll have to find a way.”

He quietly pushed another bite of sweet potato into his mouth.

Then Penia stared intently at Alon.

“……What is it?”

“I’m just curious, but…………… Marquis, does sweet potato still taste good to you?”

“If it didn’t taste good, would there be a reason to eat it?”

“I mean, that’s true, but…………… it’s already been three weeks.”

“Why ask something like that~ What’s so strange about the Marquis eating sweet potatoes. He once ate nothing but sweet potatoes for three whole months, you know?”

“……That’s my first time hearing that.”

Surprised by Evan’s words, Penia tilted her head several times before asking.

“Um, could I have a bite of the sweet potato?”

Alon silently handed it over, and Penia carefully accepted it.

“Ahem—”

“……Why are you clearing your throat all of a sudden?”

“Mm~ It’s nothing.”

She glanced over at him with half-lidded eyes, and when Alon asked, she brushed it off lightly and bit into the sweet potato he had been eating.

“Hm—”

After chewing for a while, Penia said.

“It’s just…… a sweet potato……………?”

“Well, did you think it would be something different?”

“No…… since you’ve been eating it almost nonstop for a month, I wondered if it was a bit different from the sweet potatoes I knew.”

She awkwardly cleared her throat.

After wiping her mouth, Penia said.

“I’m a bit thirsty. I’ll go get some water.”

“Go ahead.”

Saying that, she headed toward the carriage.

After stuffing the remaining sweet potato she left behind into his mouth in one bite, Alon.

“?”

Noticed the surroundings had gone quiet.

When he turned around.

Evan, Blackie, and Basiliora had stopped chatting and were all staring at Alon.

“What is it?”

Alon asked.

But.

“No…… it’s nothing, really.”

“?”

[Meow-]

[Tsk tsk—]

Since everyone’s reactions were oddly ambiguous, Alon could only tilt his head in confusion.

***

The next day.

Caliban came into view in the distance outside the window, and Alon began searching for the rumored giant.

Only for a moment.

“?”

He noticed something strange.

……No, that needed correction.

It was not just strange, but very strange.

“Evan.”

“Yes…….”

“Is that the rumored giant divine-blood?”

“Marquis. Are you asking because you don’t want to believe it, or because you genuinely can’t see it?”

“So, what I’m seeing is correct.”

“…Yes…… regrettably.”

At Evan’s decisive confirmation, Alon instinctively covered his face with his hand.

For what Alon was seeing in the capital of Caliban was.

Brilliantly visible even above the city walls.

“But why is that there?”

“I truly wish I knew myself…….”

—Alon’s statue was standing there.

And somehow, it even seemed to be bathed in extra light.

A statue of Alon striking the pose of the North Korean leader, which should have been in his own territory.

“Why…… why on earth is that there……………”

Alon muttered hollowly.

Evan, who had been staring blankly at the statue with him, suddenly exclaimed softly.

“Ah.”

As if he had thought of something.

“Marquis.”

“…What is it?”

“That statue…… it seems to be Sili’s gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yes, um…… you told her to send a gift before proclaiming the kingdom, remember?”

“Don’t tell me she sent that as the gift?”

“……Probably……?”

Alon tightly shut his eyes.

“I’ll have to apologize.”

Fundamentally, a gift sent when proclaiming a kingdom.

Put simply, it was like sharing rice cakes after moving houses.

It meant, ‘We’re forming a kingdom now, so let’s not fight and get along.’

But sending a statue as that gift?

And not even a statue of Caliban’s king, but Alon’s statue?

That could easily be seen as a provocation.

Alon closed his eyes.

A short while later.

“Marquis.”

“Deus, have you been well?”

“Yes. Are you alright, Marquis?”

“…Yes, but before that, let us first request an audience with the king.”

After exchanging brief greetings with Deus, who was waiting at the gate, Alon headed straight for Caliban’s royal palace.

Passing by the enormous statue striking the North Korean leader’s pose.

And the moment he entered the audience chamber where Caliban’s king, Palmarion, was.

Grab.

“Thank you, truly thank you, Marquis……!”

“Pardon?”

Throwing decorum aside, Palmarion immediately rose from his seat and clasped Alon’s hands.

“Th-that is…… which part are you referring to?”

Somewhat flustered, Alon asked to understand the reason.

At that, Palmarion’s face lit up.

“Why, the gift you sent, of course.”

“The gift…… are you referring to the statue…………?”

“Yes, that very one! Thank you so much for sending me such a statue……!”

“…No………… that is…….”

As the responses only deepened his confusion, Alon began to feel genuine anguish.