I Became the Patron of Villains

Chapter 171

171. The Sorcerer Kylas (3)

Within the massive altar, akin to a pyramid, that had existed since ancient times.

The shaman of the great tribe Kalmak, who had subdued hundreds of tribes by force and brought them under his command, ‘Marikula,’ looked up with an astonished expression.

The stairs were so high that it took several minutes to ascend.

At the top was the god his tribe had worshipped for generations.

The being who had transformed Kalmak, once just a small tribe, into the great tribe that ruled all of Karambel, Hazard.

Marikula could not see Hazard’s form clearly.

All he could see was a black shape, presumed to be the great god.

It was not unusual.

No matter how great a shaman of Kalmak he was, he was not permitted to see the form of the great god.

Only those who had been imprinted by him, the ‘Engraved Ones,’ could see Hazard’s form.

Nevertheless, Marikula could tell.

‘He is pleased.’

He could hear the great god’s voice clearly.

It was filled with unmistakable anticipation and excitement.

‘What on earth is written in that letter?’

Marikula was curious about the contents of the letter Hazard had received.

He knew he was merely a messenger and servant of Hazard.

He knew he should not be curious about the contents of the letter.

However, since serving Hazard, he had never heard his voice so filled with anticipation and excitement.

Marikula hurriedly covered his mouth to stop the question from escaping.

And then, a moment later.

[Interesting, interesting.]

Hazard, who had been muttering in a neutral voice, soon naturally let go of the letter he was holding.

The letter began to fall down the stairs.

The letter, which had been casually dropped, somehow naturally descended the stairs and landed neatly folded in front of Marikula.

[Paper, deliver this to the one who bears my mark. And bring back a reply as quickly as possible.]

“……May I ask if this should be prioritized over the previous command?”

[Yes, before that.]

“!”

Markula was startled.

To set aside the task he was about to do and handle this one first, even if it meant sending out the engraved one.

He asked just in case, but he never expected such an answer.

“Understood.”

He was momentarily flustered, but soon he obeyed and stood up.

Watching his servant leave, Hazard muttered with a raised corner of his mouth.

[If you are truly alive – it would be truly delightful -]

[-My one and only friend.]

Quietly.

####

The next day.

Alon was ready to depart for the place Rine had found, as planned.

But Rine, who usually had a good expression, didn’t look so good.

“…Rine, did something happen?”

“No, no. It’s nothing, godfather.”

“For nothing, you don’t look so good.”

A voice that sounded calm but was clearly filled with concern.

Rine slightly smiled as if something had lifted her spirits.

“Don’t worry too much. It’s because of a dream I had last night.”

“…A nightmare?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of dream was it?”

“Well-”

Rine hesitated to answer.

Alon lightly raised his hand.

“If it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to.”

“…I’m sorry, godfather, it’s just – it’s not a very good memory.”

“That could be. But if you ever have any worries, feel free to talk to me. I’ll listen as much as I can.”

Honestly, I wanted to ask right away.

It was the first time Rine, who usually didn’t show much emotional change, was acting like this.

But since she was reluctant to reveal it, I couldn’t force her to talk, so when Alon turned around.

“…Excuse me, godfather.”

“What’s the matter?”

Rine grabbed him.

When he looked back at her again.

Rine hesitated for a moment, then withdrew her outstretched hand with an awkward smile.

“It’s nothing. I just had something to ask, but I realized it’s been resolved.”

“Really?”

It was obvious she was changing the subject.

“Yes, let’s go quickly.”

“Let’s do that.”

Alon didn’t press further and turned around again.

####

After moving east of Lartania with Rine for about an hour, Alon soon reached a cave below a nearby canyon.

“This is the place I found, is it correct?”

Alon looked around and nodded.

“It seems so. Let’s go in.”

“Yes.”

Evan, who was following Alon, scanned the surroundings of the cave and suddenly asked.

“Marquis.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Do you know what’s inside this cave?”

“…Roughly?”

Evan’s expression became a bit peculiar at Alon’s answer.

“I thought you would know the exact location…”

It seemed he recalled Alon’s history of using information that others didn’t know well.

But Alon’s information was always a bit lacking.

“In the game, they don’t usually tell you such detailed locations.”

Most of his knowledge came from games, and even this time, he knew what was inside the cave but didn’t know the exact location.

Just that it was somewhere in the canyon.

“Well, that’s it.”

“That?”

“I didn’t know the exact location.”

“…That’s a strange answer.”

“Is it?”

[Kyuu.]

Even Kkamangi joined in, making the atmosphere ambiguous for a moment.

“…It’s blocked?”

Evan, who had reached the end of the cave, reported with a puzzled expression.

Alon also moved forward, touching the blocked wall and recalling his memory.

‘A stone at the bottom right of the center of the cave.’

Lowering his gaze, Alon confirmed the presence of a common stone and lightly kicked it.

At that moment.

Thud-thud-thud-!!!

With a loud noise, the dead-end wall began to vibrate.

As if bricks were being stacked, a line appeared on the wall, and soon, stairs leading underground emerged.

“…Wow. I never imagined this.”

Ethan’s exclamation echoed along the cave walls.

Descending the stairs, Alon’s party soon discovered a large waterway and a boat tied up, which, despite clearly being abandoned for a long time, showed no signs of decay or wear.

“Let’s go.”

They boarded the boat.

Using the faintly glowing luminescent stones as a guide, they began to move forward along the straight waterway.

After quite some time had passed.

“…Marquis.”

“Why?”

“I know you won’t answer even if I ask… but how do you know about places like this?”

Instead of answering, Alon looked ahead.

At the end of the waterway, a massive passageway came into view.

Not just any passageway, but a vast hall that, despite the marks of time, was fairly well-maintained.

The floor, though worn, was paved with marble, and the pillars were likewise dusty gray marble.

Alon, taking in the scene, said,

“Let’s go.”

From noble mtl dot com

As he disembarked from the boat, he recalled the contents of the game.

‘The palace of a forgotten era… was it?’

Even in the game, there wasn’t much detail about this place, and among players, it was simply referred to as the past palace.

The reason players came here was to meet foreign spirits and enhance their abilities using the power of the ‘Feet Running Through the Past.’

‘When you think about it, in the game, it was just expressed as meeting a foreign spirit and gaining abilities when using the Feet Running Through the Past! But how does it actually work?’

As he walked, a distant altar began to come into view.

Alon set aside his curiosity for the moment.

‘I’ll find out today.’

The party arrived near the altar.

“Wait here for a moment.”

“Understood, godfather.”

Leaving Line and Evan behind, Alon stood alone before the altar.

The altar, also made of marble, was covered in dust.

Ignoring it, Alon took the ‘Feet Running Through the Past’ from his bosom and placed it on the altar.

Wooong-!

Immediately, with a strange mechanical sound, candles made of magical flames lit up.

Seeing this, Alon rummaged through his bosom again and took out a piece of cloth.

It was a piece of clothing left behind by Kyler when he dealt with him earlier.

Placing it on the altar as well, Alon recalled the actions he had seen in the game and placed his left hand in front of the Feet Running Through the Past.

Wooong-!

As a strange resonance began to echo in Alon’s ears,

his vision was engulfed in a blinding light.

Soon,

what filled Alon’s vision was…

“……!”

It was a world in ruin.

There was nothing to describe it.

Just, a world in ruin.

That one phrase was enough to describe the scene unfolding before his eyes.

The earth was dry and cracked.

The only small sapling growing on the dead land just stood there, pitifully shaking its decayed branches as its life came to an end.