I Became the Patron of Villains

135. Border Area (3)

Alon knew nothing about the golden dragon, Lainisius.

It was strange to know in the first place.

In Psychedelia, the existence of dragons was a species that disappeared in the forgotten age of gods.

So, for a moment, he stared blankly at the giant figure, then calmly sighed.

“…The Duke of Komalon came by introduction.”

[Duke of Komalon?]

The giant reptilian eyes were filled with curiosity for a moment, then he let out a low exclamation.

[Ah- Ah, I see. That half-wizard from last time? Yes, I know. I remember.]

Lainisius nodded several times and opened his mouth.

[So, is he doing well?]

“……”

Alon pondered how to answer that question, but the other seemed to have already found the answer.

[Well- Seeing that he couldn’t come here, it seems he eventually met his end without achieving his ambition.]

“Did you know what he was thinking?”

[Since I was included in that plan. It was a foolish thought, but if you blindly pursue preventing them from rising, it’s quite an efficient and smart idea.]

“…Included?”

At Alon’s question, Lainisius leisurely lowered his head to the ground.

A huge thud echoed.

[Yes, he planned to leave only a few humans and use my dragon heart to create a barrier so that the surviving few could prosper again.]

Using the dragon heart.

Alon closed his mouth for a moment, then continued speaking.

“……Doesn’t that mean the Duke of Komalon has essentially declared he will kill you?”

[Well, you could see it that way.]

“And you’re okay with hearing that?”

How can he be so calm?

Alon asked, seemingly unable to understand.

[Indeed?]

Lynisius replied with a relaxed gaze, as if it were no big deal.

[Why wouldn’t I be? Ever since I was sealed here, my life has been as good as dead. In fact, it’s thanks to the dragon heart that I’m still alive.]

“Is it because of that spear?”

Alon gestured towards the massive spear embedded in the dragon’s torso, something that seemed like it belonged in myths, used by giants.

Lynisius nodded.

[It’s the Spear of Annihilation, which my dear friend personally drove into me to save my life.]

“……Were you betrayed?”

[No, not at all. It might sound strange to you, but it’s exactly as I said. This Spear of Annihilation was driven into me by my closest friend to save me. To hide me.]

“……Is this a tale from the forgotten age of gods?”

[Yes.]

“May I hear the story?”

[It’s not difficult.] 

Lynisius fell silent, as if organizing his thoughts.

Soon, his voice carried the past.

[It’s not a long story. We went with the sorcerers to kill them, and we failed.]

“……”

[Most of the dragons met their end there. The sorcerers too, they managed to push them back under the roots, but they couldn’t kill them. Most of the sorcerers perished as a result.]

A half-success achieved through countless sacrifices.

[Normally, I should have died there too. If my friend hadn’t driven the spear into me before I died.]

“……”

[This spear, driven by my friend, twisted the laws in the abyss where teleportation magic couldn’t be used, and moved me to this dark place. In other words, he chose to seal me as a way to save me from the abyss.]

The sorcerer’s magic could twist the laws even in the abyss.

Lynisius looked at the spear embedded in his torso with a somewhat nostalgic expression, then muttered with a lazy look.

[Well, thanks to that, I survived, but I lost everything. This Spear of Annihilation seals all the abilities of the one it is driven into.]

“……That means.”

[Even my eyes that can see through this world, and my language that can twist the laws as words……. Everything, including those, has been sealed. In a state that can never be undone. The artifact that summoned you was something I created before I was sealed.]

All that’s left is just this massive body. murmured Lainisius.

Only then did Alon understand.

That leisurely demeanor.

The calm acceptance of his own death without any particular anger.

Even the lack of curiosity about everything.

‘……Had he given up?’

At first, Alon thought Lainisius was just relaxed, but that wasn’t it.

Alon looked at his body.

The golden eyes were certainly there, but they had lost their vivid color.

Likewise, the golden scales did not reveal their presence clearly in the darkness and were submerged in the shadows.

Even the magical power that should have been felt was excessively faint.

“……Is there no way to break the seal?”

[There isn’t. Unless a dead friend returns, it’s impossible to destroy this spear.]

Lainisius’s assertion.

In the moment of silence that followed,

[You are a kind person.]

“……What?”

[Aren’t you feeling pity for me? But there’s no need for that. I have accepted this situation. So now, let’s get to the main point. Tell me why you came here.]

Lainisius’s gaze met Alon’s directly.

####

After a brief silence.

Alon asked the first question he needed to ask Lainisius.

“The Duke of Comalon said that ‘it’ will rise again soon. Is that true?”

[It’s true. As I said before, it’s just sealed.]

Alon sighed deeply.

He had thought it might be possible since fighting the Duke of Comalon, but receiving confirmation made him feel completely blocked.

However, there was one more fact he needed to confirm, so he continued without hesitation.

“……As far as I know, for them to come to this world, they need a body to possess.”

[That is also correct.]

“Is the body that has been possessed by a god already determined by fate?”

Rainisius answered firmly.

[Not at all. The bodies they possess are created by the apostles in the first place.]

“……Apostles?”

[Yes, they often mentally break those with high talent to make it easier for the gods to descend.]

Alon quietly frowned.

The existence of apostles had never appeared in the game.

‘……Was it mentioned?’

While searching his faint memories, Alon sighed softly again.

According to Rainisius, it was true that the five great sins would descend, but the children he had raised so far would not become the five great sins.

Just that made Alon feel at ease.

Ten years ago, Alon had started helping them with the intention of light reformation, but before he knew it, his relationship with them had deepened.

‘……Anyway, if the five great sins are going to rise, then what I have to do is clear.’

Thinking about the object in the north of the border, Alon suddenly threw a question at Rainisius again.

More precisely, to clear up a doubt about a fact he already knew.

“Actually, before I met you, I encountered a dragonkin at the ruins.”

[Dragonkin?]

“Although they only looked similar in appearance, I couldn’t tell if they were really dragonkin or not. Anyway – he seemed to not know when those things would rise.”

The dragonkin he had met at the ruins of the previous colony.

Rainisius pondered for a moment before answering.

[I don’t know who you met, but I think it’s possible they didn’t know.]

“Why?”

[When the mages and dragons went to fight the final battle, most of the gods were either annihilated or sealed, having their power or names taken away.]

“……So, if they were annihilated or sealed early on, they might not know?”

[No, they wouldn’t know at all. The mages and dragons who knew that fact all died as a result of their seals. The only ones who definitely know are me and Duke Komalon, who survived back then.]

“I see.”

Nodding, Alon soon finished organizing his thoughts.

“……Duke Komalon said that if I go to you, I could get help with magic.”

[Help? Well – it would have been possible in the past when I wasn’t sealed, but now, I can only give advice.]

“Do you happen to know anything about the Union of Shadows?”

[What?]

As soon as those words were spoken, the atmosphere of the other party changed drastically.

Alon was momentarily taken aback.

[How do you know about that?]

“…What are you talking about?”

[I’m talking about the Union of Shadows.]

“Is that important?”

[Of course. It’s the emblem of my dearest friend, Kailas.]

“…What?”

A familiar name came out of the dragon’s mouth.

Alon could only ask back with a blank face.

At that moment.

[Kyuu?]

The little black creature that had been sleeping in Alon’s coat pocket until just a moment ago made a strange sound and jumped out.

[Young dragon? No… Shadow dragon!?]

Lynisius exclaimed in great surprise.

After a while.

Having heard the whole story about how Alon could use multiple emblems and how he obtained the egg of the young dragon, Lynisius finally spoke after much contemplation.

[So, in the end, you want to know how to use the Union of Shadows?]

“That’s right.”

[I’ll tell you.]

“Really?”

[But in return, I have one condition.]

“…Condition?”

[Yes, it’s not a bad condition for you either. If you can truly grow strong enough to achieve it.]

Lynisius smiled broadly.

[You will earn the right to be called my master.]

He told Alon.

[So, what do you say? Sorcerer, do you accept my proposal?]

In his once lifeless eyes, a new hope was now burning.

From noble mtl dot com

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Kiryana had found the monster wave that had been coming for several months quite bothersome, but she didn’t feel any particular sense of crisis.

It was natural.

No matter how many monsters swarmed, Kiryana was one of Caliburn’s five swords.

In other words, she was a sword master, and to her, monsters were merely a nuisance, no matter how many there were.

At least, that was the case until just a moment ago.

“Hey, hey! Block it there, you b*stard!”

“It’s collapsing there!”

“Support! Support, you b*stard!!! Get your head straight!!”

Kiryana frowned as she looked at the border wall.

The wall, which had been fortified with numerous spells and had never been shattered no matter how many monsters crashed into it, was now in ruins.

In other words, an unforeseen situation had occurred.

Swish-!

Every time her sword swung, countless monster heads flew into the sky.

Yet, despite that, the number of monsters did not decrease.

No, it seemed as if more and more were swarming as time passed.

As if they had been waiting for this moment.

‘Why did the wall suddenly…!’

She couldn’t understand it at all.

The wall, which had been intact, suddenly crumbled.

It was originally impossible to break this magically fortified wall.

But the current situation was too urgent to solve such a mystery.

“Argh-!”

Kiryana frowned as she saved a soldier who had fallen clumsily and was about to have his neck handed to an orc.

“Get your head straight!!?”

“S-sorry!”

The soldier hurriedly lifted his weapon.

Kiryana sighed.

The monster horde itself still wasn’t much of a threat to Kiryana.

Given her ability, which is specialized in dealing with individuals rather than groups, if she were to kill all the monsters here, she would be bedridden for days, but that would be the extent of it.

If she couldn’t handle them, there was always the option to flee.

The monsters would never be able to catch up with Kiriana if she ran away.

However, the reason Kiriana wore a serious expression was because of the soldiers.

Even at this moment, she had to helplessly watch the soldiers she couldn’t save being brutally torn apart by the monsters.

Why did she come here, even retiring from the Five Swords?

Because in the north, she had witnessed the knights she had trained being mercilessly torn apart by the foreign entity, Ultultus.

That horrific event—

She never wanted to experience it again.

“Ugh—”

Kiriana instinctively covered her mouth as she felt something rising from within.

The memories of that time in the north resurfaced, causing her breath to quicken.

Although she was fully capable of navigating the current situation, the trauma that had been ingrained in her mind since the north blocked her, and at that moment—

“……!”

A man entered Kiriana’s field of vision.

‘Marquis Palatio—!’

The moment she saw him, Kiriana unconsciously felt relieved.

Of course, the magical rank of the marquis she saw with her own eyes wasn’t very high, but Kiriana had already heard many rumors about him.

And she knew that rumors didn’t just arise out of nowhere.

‘……Even if it’s just a third? No, even a quarter would be fine. If we can reduce the monsters first, then pull the soldiers back, I can handle the rest alone—’

As Kiriana thought this and calmed her hyperventilation,

The marquis raised one hand and formed a seal.

And,

With only his left index finger and thumb extended, the marquis raised his hand to his nose, and what appeared was—

‘……a cat?’

Indeed, it was a cat.

A kitten with black fur, like the marquis’s cloak, had somehow climbed onto his shoulder, tilting its head and looking at the monsters that had started to pour towards the marquis with its red eyes.

‘Danger—!’

At the moment when the monsters began to charge at him, before the magic was even implemented, Kiriana instinctively tried to move her body, but—

Her entire body froze.

She took a breath.

“────.”

The moment something was softly murmured from the marquis’s lips.

“!”

Chills-!

Because countless red pupils appeared all over the small cat’s body, enough to give one goosebumps.

And then.

The thing with red pupils all over its body gave a chilling smile.