Chapter 282 : Treatment (1)
Blinding flashes shot through the blue fissures and rushed toward the monsters that even covered the sky.
Screeches so chilling they raised goosebumps rang out, and a sea of blood unfolded.
Alon stood dazed, staring at the scene.
And he wasn't the only one.
Even Evan, who had been making a fuss just moments ago.
Even Penia, who had been preparing to chant her magic seriously.
All of them lost their words, simply staring at the sea of blood before their eyes.
And then—
-!!!
Along with the next ear-piercing scream—
Alon and his companions instinctively turned their gazes.
And they saw it.
A monster charging straight toward Zaebo through the blood-soaked sea.
The giant creature, similar in appearance to the Sea God Radan had once captured or to Basiliora, looked far from intact.
Its tough-looking scales were already pierced with hundreds of weapons.
The side of its body that rose and sank above the bloody sea was in such a horrible state it was a miracle it hadn't been torn into chunks.
Even in that state, it charged toward Zaebo.
But then—
Crack—! Bzzzzzt~!!
Just as the monster reached Zaebo, Alon saw it.
A massive boulder tearing through the blue rift—
No.
"A sword?"
An overwhelmingly massive greatsword.
A greatsword so imposing it looked like it could split the blue sky itself appeared and was immediately unleashed.
Rumbleeeee~!!
The greatsword, which unleashed a powerful shockwave simply by moving—
-!!!
—split the massive monster clean in half and killed it.
With that, the monsters that had been charging at Zaebo disappeared completely.
Gone forever into the red sea of blood.
"Whoa..."
Evan, still frozen, let out a breath of awe.
"You okay, Brother?"
Alon, who had also been blankly watching the entire sequence of events, turned his head at the sound of someone calling him.
Standing there was Radan, who no longer wore a serious expression, but now grinned proudly, shrugging his shoulders.
"I'm fine. Still... that was incredible."
"Aw, it's not that big a deal, brother."
Alon looked around.
The sea that had once been filled with monsters was now completely still.
Overwhelming force.
And even after displaying such power, Radan didn't show the slightest sign of exhaustion.
Alon admired it—just for a moment.
'But still… if it's like this, should we postpone the journey east?'
Such thoughts crossed his mind.
If monsters like those showed up frequently during their journey east, there was no way they could make it through.
At that moment, Radan casually offered a solution.
"Just go as is?"
"Yes. We can cut up the corpses of the ones we just sank, hang the parts on hooks, and carry them around."
"That actually works?"
"Sea creatures are naturally aggressive, but they tend to avoid creatures stronger than themselves. So basically, if we gather enough of the corpses we just dealt with—"
"Then we'll be seen as strong enough that nothing will mess with us?"
"Unless we run into something stronger than the ones we fought, yeah. So don't worry too much."
"You really saved us."
Alon felt a sense of pride swell in his chest as he watched Radan confidently pat his own chest like he wanted to be trusted completely.
"Brother, go ahead and take a break. I've got something I need to do."
"You're going to retrieve the pieces of the corpses?"
"Yep. And I have to collect something, too."
When Alon tilted his head curiously, Radan responded like it was the most obvious thing.
"The artifacts."
Alon recalled the artifacts they had launched at the monster.
"…We need to retrieve those?"
"Right???"
"Is that even possible?"
"Getting them back isn't that hard. I've already set them to be identified as separate artifacts, so I know exactly where each one is. Anyway~ I'll be back soon, Brother!"
Radan gave a cheerful wave before diving into the water.
Alon watched him with a peculiar expression.
Radan's logic did make sense.
But still... something felt off.
While he was thinking that, Penia's voice came from beside him.
"Ahhhh—my research materials are all just... floating around like that! What if we lose them…!? They'll be nearly impossible to find again…"
Penia stomped her feet in genuine panic.
Though really, she was more worried about the artifacts than she was about Radan.
Seeing that, Alon thought—
"Wait, why is she even worried?"
Those are Radan's… right?
The questions just kept piling up.
A few hours later.
"Sorry I'm a bit late!"
As the blue sky turned orange with sunset, Radan climbed back aboard the ship.
He immediately set Zaebo on course.
"Uh, if it's not too much trouble, could I take a look at some of those artifacts?"
Penia approached Radan, drooling like a hyena that had found prey.
Radan blinked, a bit confused—
But then turned to Alon's request.
"Would it be possible?"
"Well—if it's you asking, Brother… It's really not that big a deal."
Radan inserted a spear just like before, opening a small rift from which he pulled out several artifacts.
"Wooooow—!"
Penia beamed like a child as she inspected the artifacts.
But then—
"?"
She suddenly frowned in confusion.
Seeing her reaction change so suddenly, Alon asked:
"What's wrong?"
"Well… they're definitely artifacts. But something about them... feels like they've been touched by human hands?"
…
"Isn't it normal for artifacts to be handled by people?"
"I mean… yeah, technically…"
Unable to properly explain, Penia tilted her head several times, then picked up one artifact and showed it to Alon.
Alon took the sword from her, and after a moment of inspection, let out a soft "ah."
"It's perfectly symmetrical."
"Right?"
Normally, there would be nothing odd about a symmetrical sword.
But this artifact's guard wasn't supposed to be perfectly symmetrical, which made it feel strange.
Then, as if catching on to something, Alon looked over at Radan.
"Oh, I modified that one myself."
"You modified it?"
"Yes, it was a bit uncomfortable."
...
Penia gasped in shock at Radan's response.
Alon immediately understood why Radan had altered the artifact.
'Because of his obsessive cleanliness.'
Obsessive cleanliness.
Knowing Radan's compulsive tendencies, Alon simply nodded.
"Well, I only removed the visible parts, so there's no impact on performance, Brother."
Radan added a brief explanation.
Meanwhile, Penia's eyes were sparkling again as she happily fiddled with the artifacts all on her own.
Watching her, Alon suddenly had a question come to mind.
"Penia."
"Yes? What is it?"
Penia responded with the artifacts Radan had given her clutched lovingly to her chest.
"Why do you like researching artifacts and relics so much?"
This was what Alon had been curious about.
He knew that most mages showed some degree of interest in artifacts and relics.
But Penia's obsession was… extreme.
"Uh… why do I like it?"
"Yes."
"Wait—are you telling me you don't know?"
"What?"
"The Blue Tower has always specialized in artifacts and relics."
"…Seriously?"
Penia nodded quickly.
"Wait, the Blue Tower specializes in artifacts and relics?"
"Yep. All mages dabble in them, but… the ones really interested in artifacts usually come to our side. Most of the spells in our tower are modeled after the activation principles of artifacts. Then excuse me for a moment!"
Apparently unable to sit still, she immediately ran off.
As Alon silently watched her disappear, he suddenly felt someone's gaze and turned his head.
...
Radan was silently staring at the red brooch pinned to Alon's chest—more precisely, to the pocket.
"What's up?"
"Oh, Brother."
Startled when Alon called out to him, Radan pointed at the brooch with his finger.
"Is that… a gift?"
"I got it from Yutia."
At Alon's reply, Radan let out a soft sigh and looked away.
"Is something wrong with it?"
"No, not at all. It's nothing."
"Really?"
"In any case, you should rest for now, Brother. If a monster shows up, the ship will automatically sound an alarm anyway."
Alon had been planning to rest anyway.
Being on the ship, he did feel more sluggish than usual.
"Alright, I'll get some rest then."
"Yup."
Alon moved toward one of the rooms on the ship with Evan.
Not long after that—
The cabin had gone quiet with everyone inside their rooms.
Left alone, Radan scratched his head with a sheepish expression.
The reason was the red brooch pinned to Alon's chest.
...To be exact—
It was because he had instantly figured out what the brooch actually did.
Just as he was about to mention it to Alon—
[Shh—]
He saw Yutia Bloodia with crimson eyes, silently watching him, holding her index finger up to her lips.
"She said she trusted him, said we didn't need to guard him that much…"
But now it looked like she was the one overprotecting him the most.
Muttering that to himself, Radan once again recalled the brooch.
An artifact that could share vision from any magically active space—anytime, anywhere.
But Radan, who had recovered tens of thousands of artifacts and used many of them himself, could tell instinctively.
That artifact definitely had something more to it.
'Where in the world did Yutia get something like that?'
Radan pondered for a moment.
But then he realized thinking any further was pointless and shook his head.
He knew very well that if Yutia didn't want to reveal something, no matter how curious someone was, she'd never say a word.
Instead—
'More importantly… isn't this borderline illegal…?'
Radan, quite seriously—
Spent time considering whether Yutia's behavior might actually be a crime.
…Of course, even if it was, he didn't have the power to stop her.
It was late at night, under the starlit sky.
***
Two weeks later.
Just as Radan had said, while monsters continued to appear from time to time, no further battles occurred.
Thanks to that, Alon was able to reach the East peacefully.
And at that moment—
"What is it this time…"
King Stalian V received another letter.
This time—
A blue envelope from the temple of Kalannon.