I Became the Patron of Villains

179. Those Who Realized. (5)

As Stallion V’s face turned to confusion, Kurak’s head slowly moved.

“Why is that?”

A calm question.

Stallion V, wondering if he had misheard something, asked again.

“……So, you just said Marquis Palatio, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“……”

His head started to spin.

Even while managing state affairs, had there ever been such a bewildering moment?

“What does that mean?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I am asking about what you said a moment ago.”

“It is as I said. I am going to verify if the Marquis of Palatio is truly his friend.”

A silence descended in an instant.

To be honest, an explanation was needed, but even so, Stalian V could not say anything.

He had no idea where to start or how to ask.

After organizing his complicated thoughts for a long time, Stalian V cautiously opened his mouth.

“…Can I ask one more thing?”

“Do as you wish.”

Kurak waved his hand lightly.

“…The one the Lizardmen serve, is he not the Sage God?”

“Yes. He is a great being.”

“…Then, does that mean his friend is also a Sage God?”

There were more than a few points he wanted to hear an explanation for.

But he knew that even if he asked, a kind explanation would not come.

The Lizardman in front of him had never liked explaining things.

So Stalian asked the most important conclusion first.

“You know well.”

At Kurak’s continued answer,

“…Crazy.”

He swore without realizing it.

For the first time since he narrowly avoided the prince’s sword that tried to kill him during the throne contest at the age of fifteen and swore.

And he,

‘…The Marquis of Palatio, a god…?’

Reached a strange truth in a different way from Carmaxes III.

####

Alon, who had come up to the upper floor of the tower, picked up the pendant and letter that had been left there.

The pendant had a red jewel embedded in it, and inside the jewel, there were cracks spreading in all directions as if expressing crackling lightning.

Then Alon unfolded the letter.

“Hmm-“

The length was just enough to fill the front side, neither too long nor too short.

With a light greeting, two necessary pieces of information were written.

First, it was mentioned that due to the effort spent crafting the jewel mentioned last time, they would not be able to show themselves outside for half a year.

The other piece of advice was that the jewel would start speaking on its own in about a month or two, so it was best to do well from then on.

Alon, who had quickly read through the letter, let out a small sigh of disappointment.

‘…There were a few things I wanted to ask,’

He had intended to ask the dragonkin about the mental world, but there was no helping it.

Putting his disappointment behind him, Alon gathered the pendant and the letter and headed outside.

“Huh? Marquis, you came out quite quickly this time?”

Alon shrugged lightly.

“Well, it just turned out that way.”

“Are we heading back right away then?”

“Yes. There’s nothing else to see anyway,”

As he moved, a thought suddenly came to mind.

‘…I was planning to go back to Kylas today anyway, so maybe I’ll ask then.’

How long had it been since he started walking out of the ruins, organizing his schedule in his head?

Before he knew it, he had returned to the outside of the ruins, where the hot sun was shining.

“Marquis, you looked really cool back then-!”

“Mm-hmm- I know that too-!”

Karseem and Seolang, who seemed to be in perfect sync, came into view, engaged in a heated discussion(?).

Like a comedy duo-

A somehow familiar two-shot.

Soon, as he lowered his gaze to Seolang’s busy hands,

[Squeak-]

He met eyes with Kkamang, who was being roughly petted by Seolang’s hand.

…It was a pitiful look filled with resentment.

####

By the time the sun was high in the sky,

The party safely returned to the colony under Karseem’s escort.

Alon immediately entered Seolang’s guild building and took out the running foot of the past.

‘Originally, I could have used it much earlier.’

By the time they entered the desert and began their traverse towards the caravan and colony, the necessary magic power was already fully charged.

However, they waited for the right moment to use it in a fixed location.

According to Evan’s testimony, the moment Alon used the Footsteps of the Past, his entire body disappeared and reappeared somewhere else.

It would be fine if he was sucked into it, but if he used it while moving and ended up stranded in the middle of the desert, it would be a disaster.

“Then, I’ll be off.”

“Yes, I’ll stand guard just in case.”

“Me too!”

[Kyuu-!]

As Alon lifted the Footsteps of the Past, Seolang and Evan nodded vigorously.

Even Kkamang, who was usually more relaxed, wagged his tail energetically, perhaps because he had escaped Seolang’s grasp.

Watching them, Alon infused his magic power.

As his vision turned brilliantly white,

“……”

He entered the place he had seen before.

Where everything was in ruins.

According to Kailas, it seemed to be Alon’s mental world.

And then,

“You’ve come, rookie.”

Kailas was there.

####

“……Are you asking if the mental world can manifest in a different way?”

“Yes.”

As soon as he saw him, Alon asked about the mental world.

“Impossible.”

“Is that so?”

“Rookie. If you walk the path of magic, understand this immediately when I tell you.”

Kailas lightly scolded him, and Alon clicked his tongue.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand, but he asked anyway.

‘In any case, it seems difficult to get answers about this mental world from Kailas.’

Having reached that conclusion, Alon spoke again.

“……May I ask you something that I was curious about last time?”

“Go ahead, if I hadn’t intended to listen, I wouldn’t have come. But keep your questions concise.”

Kailas lightly gestured with his chin and sat on a stone tomb.

Alon organized the questions he couldn’t ask last time in his mind.

“I want to ask about the ritual.”

“……Ritual?”

“Yes.”

When Alon nodded, Kailas’s expression turned strange.

“……Kid, are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“……A half-baked mage like you doesn’t know about the ritual?”

“Is it wrong not to know?”

“…….”

A confident attitude.

Kailas’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.

But soon, as if deciding to brush off the annoyance, he lightly shook his head.

“A ritual is literally a formula.”

He began to explain.

“Every mage utters an incantation to draw out their image. But as you know, a mage’s incantation is long and slow.”

“…….”

“In battle, speed is a matter of life and death. Not only in battle but in all areas where magic is used, speed is crucial. That’s why mages created formulas. To manifest magic without uttering incantations.”

“So, a ritual is a formula created to quickly implement magic?”

“You can’t define it that simply. In conclusion, a ritual eventually functions as a mage’s unique characteristic. Well-”

‘Though it’s not something you, who haven’t even properly acquired a ritual, would know-’ Kailas added.

“……How do you acquire a ritual?”

“It’s not difficult. If you understand your image properly, you can weave it into your body.”

“Weave it into my body, you mean-”

“Literally. Like the image you have- No, wait.”

Kailas stopped explaining and looked around the ‘ruined world’ surrounding them with a peculiar expression.

“……Come to think of it, kid, didn’t you have an image? Why is your image world like this?”

“Ah.”

Alon could easily understand the meaning of the question.

‘Indeed, I had dealt with Kailas before using the Ice Crystal Extreme.’

Recalling the memory, Alon hesitated for a moment before telling him that even without an image, he could use phrases and sentences.

“That’s ridiculous…”

Kailas’s expression twisted even more.

For a moment, he sighed lightly.

“In conclusion, you mean to say that you can use sentences without understanding the image.”

“That’s right.”

“Ha, that’s absurd.”

Kailas let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.

“In this case, there’s no need for me to talk about techniques or anything, since you wouldn’t understand my explanation without an image in the first place.”

“…By any chance, was there anyone among the mages like that?”

“Of course not. There’s no way there would be such a person among the mages-“

Kailas, who was about to deny it immediately, suddenly stopped talking.

“…No, come to think of it, there might have been one.”

“Who is it?”

“I only heard it as a story, but one of the elf mages supposedly used magic in that way.”

“…Do you know who it is?”

“I don’t know, since I never had a chance to meet them. But-“

He dredged up a distant memory.

“Yes. The First Elf… I think that’s what they were called.”

“The First Elf?”

“Yes. I don’t know anything else.”

“……”

Another reason to visit the village of the elves had just increased.

‘The First Elf also used magic without an image…’

Perhaps, going there might unravel the tangled threads that had not been resolved.

Having organized his thoughts, Alon decided to ask Kailas one more question – no, a favor.

“As far as I know, you dealt with the Spirit Dragon, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then can you tell me how to use the Spirit Dragon?”

“How to use the Spirit Dragon?”

Kailas’s lips curled up at an angle.

“Do you even know what you’re talking about? You can only use the Spirit Dragon if you make a contract.”

A look as if he were staring at a fool.

Instead of explaining, Alon simply said,

“I have one.”

He pulled out a small black creature from his bosom.

Kailas, who confirmed the black furball in Alon’s hand, –

[Kyuu?]

At the sudden appearance of the Shadow Dragon,

“What the hell-“

He blurted out harsh words with an astonished expression.

####

Kailas, who had been exuding coolness until now, was utterly flustered the moment he saw the black creature.

He looked back and forth between the black creature and Alon several times, as if he couldn’t understand.

“How did you do it?”

“…What do you mean?”

“I’m asking how you made a contract with a Shadow Dragon, not a Spirit Dragon, and not with a fragment but with the main body…!”

From noble mtl dot com

Kailas, who was snorting as if he was dumbfounded, received a calm answer from Alon.

“It just happened.”

“…Are you trying to brush it off with a simple ‘it just happened’? After doing something so ridiculous?”

Kailas, who had been getting worked up alone, checked behind Alon and sighed.

“Well, I guess that could happen.”

With his reaction slightly subdued, Alon brought up what he had been curious about.

“I know there’s a difference between a Spirit Dragon and a Shadow Dragon, but is it that significant?”

“There are really many differences,”

“…Is it that much?”

“Yes, it’s that much. To begin with, I didn’t even know it was possible to make a direct contract with a Shadow Dragon until today.”

At Kylus’s fuss, Alon looked at Kamang, who was baking bread in his arms.

[Kyuu?]

Kamang tilted his head cutely.

He also knew that Kamang was strong.

However, he had only read about it in documents and had never actually seen it, so he was honestly puzzled.

Is it really that much? He wondered, and stroked Kamang’s back anew.

“……You don’t seem to fully understand how lucky you are.”

Kylus, who had been staring at him, let out a hollow laugh.

“Well, fine. Since it’s possible here anyway, I’ll show you.”

He raised both hands.

“……What are you going to show me?”

“Watch carefully, and see what kind of luck you’ve obtained.”

Without any further explanation, he immediately formed a seal.

With his left hand stretched forward and his right hand moved behind his left, Kylus took a strange posture,

“Gongsimja (公心座).”

As he quietly murmured,

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gak-!!!

From his shadow, something black began to rise.

Soon, as if it had been waiting-

“Hexiangdao (虛像道).”

The shadow began to devour the ruined world.

The ashen sky.

The cracked ground.

The rotten trees.

The twisted grass.

It devours everything.

As if stuffing everything that exists into the abyss.

“Yeonryong (聯龍).”

As soon as Kylus’s words fell,

The shadow that had devoured everything finally began to take shape.

As if creating something from nothing.

Life is breathed into the black shadow.

And so, the last thing created was.

“The Sinful Messenger (罪惡差使) Shim Heo Ryong (心許龍).”

It was a dragon.

A gigantic dragon that engulfed the ruined world alone.

And then.

“This is the final stage of your Shadow Dragon.”

“……”

At the following sentence, Alon could only gape in astonishment.

In a world where everything seemed to have stopped in the presence of an overwhelming existence-

[Kyuu?]

Only the cute cry of Kkamangi echoed emptily.