I Became the Patron of Villains

136. Border Area (4)

Red pupils, contrasting with the blue moonlight, settled on the small cat’s body.

The cat’s tail lengthened and flowed along the marquis’s right hand.

Like a snake coiling, the tail wrapped around the hand and quickly reached the ground, blending into the shadow created by the blue moon.

Soon.

The moment the monsters arrived in front of the marquis.

Crash-!

A black branch shot out from the marquis’s shadow, piercing them.

The body of a goblin holding a rusty dagger.

The head of an orc charging with a glaive.

The torso of a gnoll rushing with a long spear.

And many other monsters that charged at the marquis were instantly impaled by the black branch, their bodies hanging limp.

An almost instantaneous magic manifestation, hard to believe it was the work of a wizard.

The branch that pierced and swept away the monsters in one go.

“───”

As soon as Marquis Palatio murmured something again, it immediately attacked the surrounding monsters.

A truly chaotic situation.

In the uproar that shook the earth, a soldier who had been swinging his weapon in fear stopped moving.

A knight who had been frowning and dealing with the approaching monsters also stared blankly into the air.

■■■■■■■-!!!

By the time the monsters that had been swarming in began to flee, screaming in terror, from the attacking fortress walls.

The knights and soldiers witnessed it.

The enormous shadow tree, which grew by absorbing the lives of countless monsters and the blue moonlight,

and beneath that tree, the Marquis Palatio.

“……”

As soon as all the monsters fled, the shadow tree vanished.

The monsters that had been impaled on its branches fell to the ground, creating a mountain of corpses.

‘This is the mage who dealt with the foreign gods…’

Kiryana couldn’t help but feel a distant reverence as she watched the Marquis Palatio, who was now petting Kkamangi, who had returned to the form of a cute cat.

At that moment, Alon, who had cast the spell, said,

“……You disappeared suddenly and came out after a few hours. How did you manage to use such a spell?”

“It just happened.”

He shrugged lightly and then looked at Kkamangi.

“Kkamangi……”

[Kyuu?]

“Next time, consider my mana when deploying the spell.”

[Kyuu-]

Kkamangi showed a dejected expression.

“But you did well.”

[Kyuu!]

However, the following praise made Kkamangi nod enthusiastically, seemingly pleased.

‘……I almost died.’

It was a moment when he narrowly escaped death once again.

####

The reason Alon was able to use the Union of Shadows was that he eventually learned how to use it from Rainisius.

As expected, to use the Shadow Dragon, it wasn’t enough to just memorize the incantation; a special process had to precede it.

That was linking his mana with the Shadow Dragon.

Only then could he use the Shadow Dragon’s technique, ‘Shadow Tree.’

The Shadow Tree that Alon had just demonstrated.

It was not solely created by the power of the Shadow Dragon, but rather a collaboration with his newly acquired multiple manifestations.

Although it was the Shadow Dragon that used the Shadow Tree, the one who implemented the spell was Alon, who had linked his mana, and thus his multiple manifestations were also activated normally.

The result was the enormous shadow tree that had just been shown.

Alon looked down at the Shadow Dragon, which was now rubbing its body against his chest.

‘…This is still just the first stage.’

The stages of the Shadow Dragon, as heard from Rainisius.

The Shadow Dragon grows through a total of five stages, and it was said that it gradually grows as Alon’s rank increases or by feeding it ‘Spirit Stones’.

It meant that Kkamang would grow alongside Alon.

Moreover, the Shadow Dragon was said to become incomparably stronger with each stage, to the point where it could freely use its abilities without its master’s power.

‘…Should I look for some Spirit Stones?’

First, Alon thought of raising Kkamang by feeding it Spirit Stones instead of the somewhat ambiguous method of raising his own rank.

‘If it grows well and just pulls out that spear-’

Alon recalled the proposal made by Rainisius.

[As I said, the ‘Union of Shadows’ you asked me about is the phrase used by my friend who sealed me. In other words, this seal was also inflicted by the Shadow Dragon that my friend handled.]

[Only a Shadow Dragon can undo a seal made by a Shadow Dragon. That’s why I had given up until now. The phrase was forgotten and the Shadow Dragon disappeared after my friend died.]

[However, if you can use the phrase now, it might be possible.]

[So let’s make a deal, sorcerer. If you grow the Shadow Dragon and save me, I will gladly become your servant.]

[I, the Golden Dragon Rainisius, say this.]

For Alon, it was a very good proposal with no particular reason to refuse.

Therefore.

‘…If I can have a Golden Dragon as my servant, my old age is practically secured, isn’t it?’

Even at this point, if the Five Great Sins hadn’t appeared, there would have been no problem…

Anyway, Kkamang could also be the key to securing his old age.

[By the way, it’s a pity. From what I know, Kailus would be much better at raising or handling the Shadow Dragon in various ways. But he’s no longer in this world.]

‘Kailus…’

Kailus, Alon knew that name well.

No, it was impossible not to know it.

He had seen it often when he encountered Psychedelia as a game.

Even after entering this world, he had encountered it in the labyrinth of Lartania.

‘…That goblin was the sorcerer who created the Union of Shadows.’

To be honest, there were many parts that he didn’t understand.

The Kailus that Alon knew had indeed chanted phrases, but they were related to wind magic, not the Union of Shadows.

Of all things, his appearance was different.

His appearance was clearly that of a goblin, not a human.

Moreover, Alon knew Kyler as an outsider, not a human or a mage, and as expected, he appeared as an incarnation.

He had asked Linisius about that part as well.

[…I don’t know if the goblin you’re talking about is my friend or not, since I don’t know anything about what happened after the sealing.]

Even the golden dragon was not sure about that part.

Nevertheless, Alon kept being bothered by that fact.

Although the time had not yet come, he already knew how to meet Kyler, who had perished at this point.

‘If he is truly the one who created the sigil.’

Naturally, he would be able to learn not only magic from him but also any additional methods to strengthen the Shadow Dragon.

While he was lost in his own thoughts.

“Thank you very much, Marquis, for your help once again.”

Kyrieana had come to him.

She bowed her head politely.

Alon naturally waved his hand.

“I just did what I had to do.”

…In fact, if the monsters hadn’t been scared off by the Shadow Dragon’s presence, he might have been in a bit of danger himself.

But he didn’t bother to reveal that fact and continued the conversation for a moment.

“…The wall, you say?”

“Yes, it was definitely being protected by magic all this time.”

Following Kyrieana’s gaze, Alon looked at the wall.

The sight of the wall, which had never been broken in the story, now lying in ruins.

As Alon stared at it for a while, he noticed black slime dripping from it.

“…!”

He approached it with wide eyes, but the black slime began to slowly evaporate as if it were vaporizing.

“…”

Soon, the slime completely disappeared.

Only then did Alon realize why the wall, which was supposed to be indestructible, had been destroyed.

No, he had no choice but to realize it.

Because he knew the being that had exhaled that black slime.

‘Why on earth am I here?’

Though there are some unclear parts, it turned out well.

Alon, who had confirmed the descent of the Five Great Sins, had to deal with this existence before leaving this border.

“……What is the matter?”

Kariana, who had followed Alon who suddenly moved.

Alon slowly scanned the fortress wall and replied.

“I think I know who did this.”

And the next day.

Alon, who had gathered Yuman, Yutia, and Kiriana, who had returned after repairing the castle gate.

“We must eliminate Rikrak Kamur.”

He mentioned the name of the abomination, which had settled in the north of the border, possessing the relics of the Five Great Sins.

####

Gilan Merkilian was curious about Deus Makalian and Filian Merkilian.

More precisely, he was curious about what they were talking about.

Secretary Kulan had conveyed it.

That the two had enjoyed a long conversation in front of the Marquis’s statue for a full six hours.

Moreover, they were so engrossed that they couldn’t even be called for the evening banquet, so it was impossible not to be curious.

Besides, Deus and his brother Filian hadn’t been on good terms since the United Kingdom conference.

Gilan belatedly invited the two to the banquet and soon, his curiosity was resolved.

“I remember that time. The Marquis was truly magnificent then, creating light in the ashen sky, and then he brought down the god of the tribe that was receiving human sacrifices in the jungle. Hoo- I still get chills thinking about that time.”

“Oh-! Indeed. It’s a real regret that I couldn’t see it myself……”

“No, didn’t you see something I couldn’t see?”

“That’s true……. Hoo- I still get chills thinking about that time. When the grotesque foreign gods rushed in to destroy the territory, the appearance of the Marquis was truly-“

As if they had planned it, as soon as they exchanged simple greetings and sat down, they began to praise the Marquis of Palatio.

For a moment, Gilan watched the two having an intimate conversation with a smile.

There was nothing to gain from being on bad terms with Deus Makalian, the first sword of Caliban.

So, Gilan, who occasionally joined their conversation while enjoying dinner.

At some point, he realized one thing.

That he had made a serious mistake.

“……Hoo- I really wish I had seen it. It’s such a shame.”

“Is that so? The sight back then… It was something I wanted to show the whole world.”

Dinner had long since ended.

They were still praising the Marquis of Palatio.

For over three hours, no less.

‘…How long are they going to keep this up?’

Gilan looked at Philian and Deus with a weary expression, but the two showed no signs of ending their conversation.

No, they didn’t seem to care about Gilan’s expression in the slightest.

From noble mtl dot com

“……”

Of course, he too felt grateful to the Marquis of Palatio.

If it weren’t for him, the Duke of Merkilian would have vanished from the annals of history, and he would have lost his precious brother.

But even so.

‘Isn’t this a bit too much?’

Gilan thought cautiously.

“…Well, I think I’ll get up now.”

In the end, he couldn’t endure it any longer and stood up.

It wasn’t proper etiquette to leave before the invited guests, but he couldn’t bear it any longer.

His head was spinning.

Listening to the stories that had been embellished several times over in the minds of Deus and Philian for hours on end.

It had reached the point where he could almost believe the Marquis of Palatio was half a god.

Therefore.

Gilan ultimately chose to escape, collapsing into sleep as if he had fallen.

Yes, it was yesterday.

Yesterday.

In other words, it was the night before.

Surely it was.

“…What did you say?”

“The two of them are still talking.”

The next morning.

Upon hearing Kulan’s report as soon as he woke up, Gilan began to feel a creeping fear towards the two.

‘…Are they insane?’

A rational doubt flashed through his mind.

…It was exactly 17 hours since Deus had met Philean.