Chapter 397: Unchanged (2) |
His vacant expression lasted only a moment.
Alon looked at Evan with a face that clearly said he didn’t understand.
“So............... what exactly was the question again?”
Letting out a deep sigh, he clutched his head.
With a faint hope, he asked again.
Maybe he had misheard.
However.
“Were you perhaps a god in your previous life?”
.......
“Evan.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think, from your perspective, that I was a god in my previous life?”
He asked back.
Though his expression was blank and didn’t show it much, anyone could tell he was dumbfounded.
Evan scratched his head.
“Hmm.”
He couldn’t answer easily.
Just as Alon was about to speak again—
“Marquis, are you feeling a bit better?”
Penia stepped through the doorway.
Entering while stretching with a tired face, she suddenly sensed the strange atmosphere and tilted her head.
“What’s with this mood? Did something happen?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“We were just talking about the Marquis’s previous life.”
“Previous life?”
Penia asked back, bewildered, and Evan nodded.
“I was asking whether the Marquis might actually have been a god in his previous life.”
“The Marquis was a god in his previous life?”
“No, not that he was—just asking whether he might have been.”
“I don’t understand why you’d even ask such an obvious question.”
Alon shook his head again as if it were absurd.
However.
“Hm.”
Penia, instead of dismissing it, stared intently at Alon together with Evan.
“Honestly, it’s not an impossible idea, is it?”
“I don’t really want to agree with you, but............... I think it could be possible too.”
They exchanged opinions leaning toward affirmation.
“What part of me could possibly suggest that?”
Unable to understand, Alon asked for a reason.
But Evan and Penia seemed to feel the same way.
“Is there even a need to point out a specific part?”
“Then?”
“Just listing what you’ve done so far already puts you far outside the standards of an ordinary person, doesn’t it?”
“Is it really that much...?”
At Alon’s reaction, Evan stroked his chin this time.
“Marquis. It’s not news anymore, but in this kind of area, you really do seem like you’re missing a screw or two.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Normally, once people achieve even a little, they’re desperate to boast about it, but you don’t even properly recognize what you’ve done yourself. Of course, it’s not exactly an illness, but.......”
“It’s just kind of strange, I guess................”
At Evan’s muttering, Alon cleared his throat without realizing it.
“......Anyway, the point is that a divine-blood saved Caliban, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“And the reason it saved Caliban was because of me?”
“That’s right.”
“Where is that divine-blood now?”
“I heard it’s settled down in Caliban.”
Evan continued speaking.
“And actually, that’s not the only thing I need to report.”
“......There’s more?”
“It’s not exactly the same situation, but something similar happened in Raksas as well.”
“A divine-blood protected Raksas too?”
“Yes. Though in that case, it protected them and disappeared without a word............. and in the north, they say a gigantic tiger protected the barbarians from a divine-blood.”
“......The barbarians too?”
“Yes. According to the information guild, in the case of the tiger that appeared in the north, it helped the barbarians while mentioning the ‘Star Eater.’”
Alon let out a sigh.
The situation was clearly favorable.
Before coming to Colony, Alon had sent Historia and Ryanga of the Divine Land to places that were under attack by divine-bloods.
However, after properly facing divine-bloods this time, he realized it deeply.
Divine-bloods were not opponents that could be dealt with easily.
At a time like that, divine-bloods suddenly appearing on their side could only be reassuring,
but at the same time, it was impossible not to be filled with questions.
‘There’s more and more to think about.’
Ever since he had faced the power of divine-bloods head-on—perhaps even before that, Alon’s mind had never stopped working.
He had many things to do.
He had to continue his magic research, and he had to evolve his divinity to the next stage.
That wasn’t all.
‘I have to raise them.’
He had heard it from the Wanderer as well, but what he had realized even more keenly in this battle was—that divine-bloods could never be held back alone.
They were absolutely not easy opponents.
To stop them, Alon also needed companions.
People strong enough to face divine-bloods.
As he continued his thoughts for a while—
“Ah, come to think of it, Marquis.”
“What is it?”
“I suddenly interrupted earlier, so I forgot, but there was something I needed to tell you.”
“......Did Seolrang wake up?”
“That’s right.”
The moment he saw Penia nod, Alon immediately stood up from his seat.
“Let’s go right away.”
***
When they arrived in front of Seolrang’s lodging, Lime greeted them.
“Ah, Marquis.”
“Lime.”
“Are you feeling alright? Shouldn’t you still avoid overexerting yourself?”
“At this level, I’m fine. More importantly, Seolrang......?”
At Alon’s question, Lime let out a sigh of relief.
“Fortunately, there’s no major problem.”
“.....Is that so?”
“Yes. I was worried just in case, but she’s her usual self.”
Lime patted her chest as if relieved.
Alon likewise felt relieved.
“Please, go in.”
Lime naturally stepped aside.
As he entered, Seolrang immediately came into view.
She was lying on the bed, blankly gazing out the window, but when she heard the door, she turned her head.
“Ah! Master!”
The moment she spotted Alon, her face lit up with a wide smile, and she sprang up and rushed toward him.
Her eyes were filled with joy, her lips were brimming with a smile, and her gently swaying tail directly expressed her excitement.
Without hesitation, Seolrang hugged Alon.
Bung bung—
Her tail wagged even more vigorously.
“Are you okay, Master?”
Clinging closely to Alon’s waist, Seolrang asked naturally.
As usual, he patted her head and replied.
“Yes, I’m fine. And you—are you alright?”
“Yeah! I’m fine!”
Alon stared at Seolrang, who looked proud and full of spirit.
Her eyes were still clearly filled with joy, her lips drew a gentle curve, and her tail was swaying busily.
There was nothing different from usual.
On the surface.
“? Master?”
“......Sorry. I was just thinking for a moment.”
“That’s okay!”
Perhaps puzzled by his stare, Seolrang tilted her head, and Alon carefully brought up the main point.
“Could you tell me if anything happened to you?”
“Okay!”
At Alon’s request, Seolrang began recounting everything that had happened the day before without hesitation.
And then.
Alon couldn’t help but be surprised.
First, because of the word “Abominable Blood” that came out of Seolrang’s mouth, and second—
“...・That’s how it turned out!”
“Huh? Master?”
Alon, who had been staring intently at Seolrang, soon shook his head.
“No. Certainly. That’s astonishing.”
“Yeah. I don’t really know about Abominable Blood, but—anyway, now I can control all lightning!”
“All lightning, you say...”
“And that’s not all. I gained more techniques too!”
“......Techniques as well?”
“Yeah! By accepting the essence, I gained all the techniques of the people who used that essence. Which means! There’s nothing lacking when it comes to protecting you, Master.”
With a face that seemed to say Hehehe—I’m a super genius!, Seolrang made a V sign.
At that sight, Alon smiled back unconsciously and patted her.
"_"
She flinched slightly, then hummed cheerfully as if enjoying the sensation of his hand.
As Alon quietly watched her, he called out to her.
“Seolrang.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“If anything happens, tell me.”
At his words, Seolrang looked up at him quietly.
Alon also met her gaze in silence.
Her calm, golden eyes.
“What do you mean? I’m totally fine.”
But only for a moment—she soon tilted her head and asked.
“Is that so?”
“Yeah! My body feels a little creaky, but this is fine! If I rest a bit, it’ll probably get better.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Um—well, even after my body recovers, I think I’ll stay like this for a while as I struggle to control that power, but—”
Groaning softly as she pondered something, Seolrang then—
“Still, don’t worry too much! I’ll adapt quickly and protect you, Master.”
She smiled brightly and thumped her chest confidently.
As Alon let out a hollow laugh and began patting her again—
Bang—!
“Ma-Marquis! This is bad! Th-the Poison Swallower, it-it’s alive again!!”
“What!?”
Evan burst the door open and shouted,
“Th-there—!”
and urgently pointed toward the window.
Following his finger, Alon saw it.
Just as Evan had said.
The one that had been lying casually in the red sea of blood until yesterday—
“Seriously...?”
—the Poison Swallower that Seolrang had definitely killed—was alive again, maintaining its form.
Crackle—!
Alon’s brow twisted.
Seolrang’s condition was not normal.
And Alon himself was nearly incapable of defeating the Poison Swallower if he were to fight right now.
Even so, he couldn’t just leave that thing alone.
He immediately smashed through the window and used his Thunder God form to head toward where the Poison Swallower was—and soon came face to face with it.
He saw warriors and citizens who had just been working on the city’s reconstruction, all staring at the Poison Swallower in terror.
“And yet—”
“Without a single wound, perfectly revived—”
“Huh?”
—the Poison Swallower....?
“....?”
“?”
Alon’s serious expression relaxed.
What stood before him was clearly the Poison Swallower.
Even the threads it was scattering for reasons unknown were the same ones Alon remembered seeing.
And yet, the reason Alon was engulfed in doubt was—because the Poison Swallower’s appearance was excessively dark.
As if a shadow itself had taken shape.
And the moment he realized that—
[Meow?]
“......?”
A voice was heard.
From the Poison Swallower.
A voice he knew far too well, a familiar one.
As he stood bewildered by the incomprehensible situation,
Alon witnessed it.
The Poison Swallower’s head, which had clearly been covered in dozens of eyeballs—
[Meow?]
—changing into the enormous head of Blackie.
“????”
Question marks filled Alon’s head once more.