Chapter 294 : Sin of Greed (5)
The Sin of Greed was born.
At the moment he realized this fact, what came to Alon's mind was not the despair of the Sin of Greed's emergence.
"Magrina."
"Yes, brother...."
"Don't tell me—"
Alon couldn't finish what he was going to say.
Not because he didn't know what to say.
He definitely had the words in his head.
But lacking the courage to ask, he let his sentence trail off.
"Don't worry, brother. The seal is perfectly intact."
Hearing Magrina's response, Alon let out a deep sigh before he even realized it.
The churning inside him gradually calmed.
More important than the fact that a Sin had appeared was that Rine had not become the Sin of Greed.
It was truly a relief.
A slightly unfamiliar side of Alon—unlike the old him who prioritized stopping the emergence of the Sins above all else.
However, Alon himself was unaware of this change and began thinking calmly, unlike a moment ago.
'If there are four Ash Seeders, it means the Sin of Greed has already been born.'
Unlike the Sin of Envy he had seen before, this one wasn't incomplete.
The Sin of Greed Alon would face now was the full-fledged one—like the one he encountered in Psychedelia.
A monster capable of destroying a kingdom just by appearing.
Devouring hundreds of thousands of lives.
Driving everything into ruin until death, leading the entire continent to collapse.
Alon stared at the Ash Seeder approaching Fildagreen.
Magma was oozing relentlessly from its body.
Green trees shattered without mercy as it moved.
The Ash Seeder—or rather, the "Mother of Greed"—was devouring everything in its path, just as its name implied.
And at the center of those Mothers of Greed—
It was there.
The first thing that caught the eye was the impossibly pale, inhuman skin.
Next were the many wing joints grotesquely bent and embedded into its back.
Smooth, featherless skeletal structures.
Yet dozens, maybe hundreds of pages of paper were stuck into those bones, fluttering like wings, their content unreadable.
Finally, there were the inverted pupils.
Black sclera with green, emotionless light, gazing forward with eerie intelligence.
Alon let out a short sigh as he took it in.
Sins, by nature, required time to reach completion.
That's why when players confronted a Sin, they were usually given an advantage—facing the Sin in an incomplete form, perhaps with weakened power or a sealed skill.
But unfortunately—
The Sin in front of Alon now appeared nearly fully adapted.
There was no time to hesitate.
"What the hell are we supposed to do about that~"
The muttering of an elf watching the scene reached his ears.
The situation was far from good.
Some were paralyzed by fear.
Some clenched their teeth to resist being consumed by terror, yet their anxious eyes betrayed their inner struggle.
Others stared ahead with blank expressions.
As the Mother of Greed devoured everything on its way toward Fildagreen—
Even words like courage and hope were greedily stripped away from the soldiers.
A desperate situation.
All the more reason to stay composed.
As he calmed his mind and continued thinking clearly, Alon—
"Master."
Turned his gaze toward Seolrang, who had called out.
"Should I just wipe them all out?"
Hearing Seolrang's words, Alon coolly assessed their strength.
His thoughts didn't take long.
"Seolrang, Radan, Ria. I need your help."
"My Queen, you must evacuate! Immediately~!"
From the top of the wall, Ramu, who had also been analyzing the situation alongside Alon, watched with a tense expression.
The Mother of Greed was still heading straight toward Fildagreen.
As if it were about to consume the entire city at any moment.
"My Queen! Please!"
Ramu cried out again, more desperate than before.
But Magrina, staring straight ahead with an unreadable expression, finally spoke.
"Ramu, please don't worry too much."
Her voice was completely calm.
"This isn't simple concern—it's a truly dangerous situation...!"
Ramu clutched at her chest in frustration.
As a former member of the Shadow Leaves, Ramu knew all too well the power those things held.
'There's no way we can win against that...!'
Of course, Ramu also knew that things were different now.
The Queen could use magic.
And the Primordial Elf who had previously taken care of the Ash Seeder was also here.
Even so, Ramu's fear remained unchanged.
Because she knew.
This wasn't the end.
And then—
"What, what the hell is that now—?"
A voice filled with horror rang out.
Ramu immediately looked down below.
And exhaled a breath full of despair.
Down there—
Greenskins with ashen gray skin were pouring out from the red magma, charging toward the city walls.
The elves who had been struggling to hold onto courage now had their faces completely overtaken by despair.
Even Ramu had to shut her eyes at the overwhelming sight.
There were far too many Ashlings to count.
So many that their ashen gray forms blotted out the elves' field of vision.
"Ha—"
A soldier gave a hollow laugh at the overwhelming spectacle.
But no one scolded him.
Anyone would laugh like that if they saw this.
That's how overwhelming the Ashlings were.
"My Queen~!"
Ramu shouted once again toward Magrina.
But Magrina, still expressionless, silently gazed ahead.
Just as Ramu opened her mouth to speak again—
"Up we go—"
A small voice rang out.
Ramu instinctively turned his gaze.
There stood Seolrang, at the edge of the wall, rotating her waist and stretching her body.
Ramu let out a dry laugh.
She too had felt it intuitively.
That beastkin was strong.
But the fact that she was preparing to charge in without hesitation even after seeing that number—
It was incomprehensible.
No matter how strong she was, she couldn't believe she could drive away that absurd number.
"Stop doing reckless things~"
Just as she was about to stop her—
Crackle!
Lightning began to leak from Seolrang's body.
Crackle—Zzzzzap~!
The lightning started from her golden gauntlets and quickly spread across her entire body.
And then—
Zzzzzap~!
The moment Seolrang, shrouded in golden lightning, became a thunder god.
"Rang-Chang-Rang-Chang (Spear-Wolf-Spear)"
A calm incantation flowed from her lips.
A chant that, in some ways, could even sound a bit cute.
But right after—
"!"
Ramu saw it.
Just moments ago, Seolrang had definitely been standing before him—but now, she vanished as if she had never been there.
And then—
Flash.
Zap—
A brilliant yellow flash burst forth.
The Ash Seeder at the front let out a horrific scream.
A thunder god cloaked in golden lightning descended from the sky.
The Ash Seeder in her grasp was ruthlessly obliterated.
-!!!!
"This is insane."
An unbelievable sight.
However—
Tap-!
As if that were only the beginning, Historia leapt from the wall and dove headfirst into the center of the Ashlings.
Even though the Ash Seeder had been killed, the Ashlings surged forward with weapons raised to attack the incoming threat.
And just moments before Historia's body touched the ground—
Click~!
Her stance shifted.
With one hand gripping the sword at her left hip, she lowered her body.
At the very moment her body was about to touch the earth—
Phase Two.
The Ashlings charging toward Historia suddenly froze.
As if time itself had stopped—motionless.
Then Historia gently landed.
Click—
And in the moment she sheathed a blade that no one had seen her swing—
White Moon.
A giant crescent moon of foliage rose into the ash-gray landscape.
And right after Historia wiped out the swarm of Ashlings—
"Gasp!"
Radan, who had been calmly controlling his breathing, was the last to vault over the wall.
Jumping even higher than Seolrang and Historia, Radan pulled something from the air.
Crackle—Zzzzzap~!
A bizarre sound, like the air itself splitting, as a weapon was drawn into Radan's hand.
It was the colossal greatsword from his treasure hoard—not long ago used to slay a beast many times the size of a ship.
A sword so massive it could cleave the blue sky in half broke through the rift and was summoned.
"What the hell is that—!"
The soldiers who had sunk into despair looked up in shock at Radan.
In that moment, the greatsword began to fall toward the ground.
Radan did nothing more.
He had simply summoned the enormous sword—no other action was taken.
Because without an ocean, Radan could not launch relics.
But even so, the massive sword that could split the sky—
Was more than enough on its own.
BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
-!!!!
The greatsword fell upon the earth, crushing another Ash Seeder like divine judgment.
A plume of dust burst into the air.
"..."
The elves, who had been in despair just moments before, now looked on in awe.
And Ramu, who had also been watching in a daze, trembled with reverence.
"Hu—"
The last one to move was Alon.
The full state of the battle before him was still unclear.
But one fact stood certain—
Alon had to deal with the remaining Ash Seeders and the Sin.
—The control is still unstable, but this should help your technique to some degree. But don't maintain it for too long. Unless you want your brain to fry without realizing it. Shut it down if you feel it overloading.
Kylrus's words echoed vividly in Alon's mind.
—And above all—do not complete it. You won't be able to withstand it as you are now.
A bit curt, but every word full of concern for Alon's well-being.
Kylrus had warned him multiple times just how dangerous what he was about to use truly was.
But even so, Alon had made up his mind.
Because without it, he would not be able to deal with the Sin.
"Blackie."
[Meow-!]
At Alon's call, Blackie climbed from his chest to his shoulder.
Finally, Alon turned his back to the elves and formed the hand seals.
"Of the Shadows,"
He chanted,
"-Awaken (覺醒)."
Without hesitation.