I Became the Patron of Villains

61. It Was There. (2)

From ‘Somehow Became the Leader of the Dark Forces’ to ‘Just Breathed and Became the King of the Underworld,’ Alon clung to his dizzy mind and thought.

‘Did I give such an order…? When on earth?’

As he racked his brain in front of Duke Altia, who had bowed his head, Alon finally let out a low exclamation.

“Ah.”

– Let’s start by cleaning up the underworld.

Upon careful reflection, he realized that he had indeed said such a thing.

‘No, normally when you say clean up the underworld, isn’t it taken to mean just getting rid of the unnecessary ones? Isn’t that the normal way to think about it?’

But the reason he was truly shocked was not because Duke Altia had misunderstood his words, but because they had really cleaned up the entire underworld of the Arteria Kingdom.

‘Is this… even possible?’

Of course, he knew well that Duke Altia and Count Zenonia would become the dark forces of Asteria in the future.

But even so.

To completely dominate the underworld of Arteria like this… was practically impossible.

In the game, the underworld of Asteria is basically selected as the largest ‘dark force’ along with the Kingdom of Ashtalon in the United Kingdom.

Most of the organizations operating in the shadows of the United Kingdom were based in these two places.

So, in other words, there were really many underworld organizations in Asteria, and for them to have conquered it meant that they had to eliminate all those numerous organizations.

“…Did they really eliminate them all?”

So he asked, just in case.

[Yes.]

Seeing her nodding with such strong conviction, Alon unconsciously fell silent before barely opening his mouth.

“You must have had a hard time.”

[No, it was thanks to you, Count, for dealing with both the Royalists and the Nobles.]

“…The Royalists and the Nobles?”

[Yes. Thanks to you tying up the leaders of the two factions, the work became much easier.]

Alon wanted to say, ‘It wasn’t me who dealt with them, it was you guys.’ But that thought was fleeting.

[So, as you said, we have conquered the underworld. What should we do now?]

At Duke Altia’s words, Alon closed his mouth.

In fact, there was no plan in his mind at all.

The reason Alon initially suggested organizing the underworld was because it seemed the most plausible and could drag on for a long time.

‘I never imagined it would end so quickly-’

Thus, Alon, who was pondering what to say to Duke Altia.

[So, the next target is the king… I suppose?]

“…The king?”

[Yes, since our forces have grown, it’s time to make a move.]

After hearing those words.

“First, let’s maintain the current state.”

With that command, the communication device was deactivated.

“…Hmm.”

He soon fell silent and thought.

‘Indeed, at this point, it wouldn’t be surprising if the king himself made a move.’

The Kingdom of Asteria is fundamentally a country where the nobles do everything, but naturally, as a kingdom, there is a king.

Asteria’s 8th king, Crittenia Cyan.

She is the 8th king of Asteria, and despite the nobles running wild, she holds considerable power without particularly managing state affairs or participating in political games.

The reason is the power possessed by Crittenia Cyan, or more precisely, the power that only the royal bloodline of Asteria possesses, the ‘Golden Eye (金史眼).’

‘…Well, even though it’s called the Golden Eye, it’s not an ability related to the eyes.’

The Golden Eye that Alon knew was simply named after the bright golden eyes that the royalty were born with, but the inherited ability itself was quite simple.

The ability to pass on power through generations.

Like inheriting game data, this special power could be passed on to the next generation as it is. It was simple to explain but extremely powerful.

The more generations it passed through, the more it granted the power to maintain the royal authority without participating in political games.

Additionally, it had the effect of making the nobles naturally cautious and not overstep their bounds.

‘According to the setting, Crittenia Cyan doesn’t move purely out of laziness.’

Alon briefly recalled her indifferent, almost emotionless expression from the game illustrations and continued his thoughts.

‘…Considering the scale of the events, there might be some checks, but given the king’s personality, it might just be overlooked.’

He recalled the actions she took in the game.

‘…Unless one of the five great calamities descended, she was a complete bystander.’

When one of the five great calamities descended upon Asteria, she would temporarily join the player’s party and display immense power, but aside from that, she was mostly indifferent to the events in her kingdom.

She was so indifferent that there was a meme among players that she was more like a guardian dragon than a king.

Thus, Alon decided to put his mind at ease.

But the next day.

“Sss-“

While continuing his magical research and pondering over the question he couldn’t answer, ‘Who was the being that whispered to him when he fought the foreign god?’ he was eating a sweet potato.

“Count, are you eating sweet potatoes again?”

“Do you want one?”

“…If there’s any left, I’d appreciate it… No, that’s not it, an important letter has arrived.”

He was unexpectedly interrupted by Evan.

“An important letter?”

“Yes.”

From noble mtl dot com

Evan lightly brushed the snow off his head and handed Alon a letter.

…A letter sealed with the royal seal of Asteria.

“This is…”

“It seems that in a month… that is, in the new year, a ball will be held at the royal castle for the first time in five years. And-“

“Is there more?”

“…This is what the secretary who delivered the letter said. The king has requested that Count Palatio must attend.”

“…”

At Evan’s words, Alon let out a low sigh.

And exactly a month after receiving such a letter from the royal family.

When Alon, who had been perfectly cured of his magic addiction symptoms after five months, was once again pondering how to find a way to replace his minuscule magic power.

“Count.”

“Yes.”

Alon boarded the carriage heading to the royal castle to attend the ball.

‘I should visit the royal family first, then stop by the labyrinth in the desert before returning.’

…It was a long-awaited outing, heralding a long journey.

####

In a dark cave near Caliban, three men and women stood.

One was a man wrapped in bandages covered with unknown patterns.

Another was a woman with a grotesque circuit tattoo on half of her face.

And lastly, a man standing with two kama on his back.

“Salgui, is the preparation for the spirit summoning complete?”

The two men and women were speaking.

“Is there anything to prepare for? We’re going with just the three of us anyway. That’s the end of it, isn’t it?”

The woman, Jureong, shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly at the man’s words.

“I feel the same. Is preparation really necessary?”

The man, known as Salgui, also responded in a relaxed tone.

“Still, you never know, so be prepared.”

“Wow – you can say such weak things, Captain? Considering you’ve killed royalty several times and more than two Sword Masters, isn’t that a bit too cautious?”

Jureong chuckled.

“Well, I heard Deus Macallian is a bit unusual. They say he defeated Reinhardt.”

“Even so. The three of us together can handle Reinhardt.”

The man sighed lightly as he listened to their conversation.

If someone else had said such things, he would have laughed, but knowing their track record, he didn’t think they were arrogant.

Everyone here had already killed at least one Master Knight on their own.

However, even so, they had to be wary of a careless mindset.

“Don’t be too complacent. Winning against Reinhardt means he’s stronger.”

He said, and Salgui and Jureong, who had been smiling playfully until a moment ago, erased their smiles.

“Well – alright. If you say so.”

“Let’s finish this as quickly as possible.”

“It’s not a direct confrontation anyway, it’s an ambush. If we handle it as discreetly as possible, we can deal with it without a fight.”

The man listened to the serious conversation between Jureong and Salgui as he quietly infiltrated the capital of Caliban, Kirdam, heading towards the central district where Deus was.

Not long after, the three agents were able to enter Deus’s mansion.

And then.

“Who is it?”

““!””

As soon as they infiltrated the mansion, they saw Deus Macallian standing with his back to the blue moon.

The agents frowned at the sight of Deus Macallian, who had appeared without any of them noticing.

Not noticing his presence meant they could have been ambushed.

However, the fact that he appeared openly instead of ambushing them meant that Deus, as a Master Knight, was underestimating them.

“Is it okay to reveal yourself so easily? It might have been your last chance to live.”

Juryong asked with a slight frown.

“An assassin?”

But Deus, as if he had no interest at all, asked back.

“So what if I am?”

“Is that so-“

Juryong, who had been tense all along, opened her mouth with a fierce smile, but Deus remained calm even in the face of her demeanor.

“Then I’ll just kill you.”

He simply declared, swinging his sword with an expressionless face.

And then.

Exactly five minutes later.

‘This is insane-‘

The three agents were all staring at Deus with astonished expressions.

Contrary to their expectations of capturing at least one Master Knight without any damage.

Despite being outnumbered three to one, Deus was barely holding his own.

No, rather, he was gradually pushing them back.

‘What kind of monstrous b*stard is this…!’

The man looked at Deus with an expression that showed he couldn’t believe the situation.

As far as he knew, Deus Macallian had become a Master Knight about two or three years ago, and his rank wasn’t that high.

So when rumors spread that he had recently defeated Reinhardt, he thought luck had played a part.

But at this moment, the man realized.

It was his own foolish misconception.

Therefore.

“…Let’s negotiate.”

The man proposed.

“Negotiate?”

“Yes, from the beginning, our target was not you but Count Palatio.”

Of course, he already knew that Count Palatio and Deus had a rather close relationship.

But even so, he revealed the fact without hesitation because of the current situation.

‘No matter how monstrous he is, he must be aware that if the three of us go all out, he will have to be prepared for death.’

The man glanced over Deus’s body.

There were no major wounds, but small cuts were visible here and there.

In other words, Deus was not in a state to be complacent in this battle either.

‘No matter how much of a benefactor he is, if his life is at stake, he will change.’

“If you hand over the information we asked for about Count Palatio, we will withdraw. We will also not come to you again. But if you refuse-“

The man added in an endlessly low voice.

“-our comrades will target you, day or night.”

It was an overly blatant threat, but the man said no more.

He knew well that no further explanation was needed for someone who had reached the level of seeing the opponent’s strength with their own eyes.

And then.

He realized ‘it’ next.

“?

The man stared blankly ahead.

The scenery he faced was still not much different.

But one thing.

‘…Thread?’

Under the blue moon, the vividly shining purple threads were now visible in his sight.

Like a spider’s web, the threads filled his entire field of vision, wrapping around the bodies of Seolgwi and Jureong, including himself.

At that moment.

“Wha, what-!”

“What is this-!!”

Everyone present began to move.

Seolgwi with the axe he was holding.

Jureong with the kama in his right hand.

The man with the sword in his left hand.

They began to aim at their own necks.

“Damn it!!”

“Stop- stop it-!”

“Arghhh-!”

The intruders, with horrified expressions, struggled desperately to move their uncontrollable bodies.

But already wrapped in the purple threads, they were like puppets moved by a puppeteer, pushing the weapons aimed at their own necks regardless of their will.

“No, no! No!!!”

“Please- Pleaaase!!!”

The intruders, who were screaming in terror.

Thud-!

Soon, they took their own lives.

A purple line of blood flows.

And.

The man who also stabbed his own neck, the last thing he could see at the end of his life was.

“Don’t you dare utter such words in front of me.”

The chillingly glowing, purple eyes.