Chapter 362

C362. What Must Be Done (5)

That night, the day Alon spoke for more than three whole hours at the meeting.

“Hu—”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes.”

At Evan’s concern, Alon nodded.

Although his eyes were soaked with exhaustion.

“Did what you wanted to do end well?”

“Well… more or less.”

“Hmm… well, it’s not like there are reasons not to listen to what the Marquis says anyway.”

“……Really?”

The one who responded to Alon’s reaction was not Evan, but Basiliora, who emerged from the ring.

[Hmph. If it was evident just by looking at them that they were lost and didn’t know what to do, how could they not heed your words?]

“For being like that, they seemed to be calculating a lot of things.”

[Humans are greedy creatures; they never want to lose out on anything, so it is normal. Except for that queen friend of yours… all the others were idiots.]

With a mocking click of her tongue, Basiliora ranted about the kings.

Alon would agree, although he partly understood them.

The world could be destroyed, yes, and this matter was truly crucial… but they were kings leading nations.

Thinking about the future was logical.

“Well, if in the end everything is destroyed, it’s of no use…”

While Alon was thinking, Evan picked up the thread.

“But, Marquis… just out of curiosity, do you really need the help of the kings?”

“What do you mean?”

“Most of the main forces of each Kingdom come anyway if they are called, right?”

“The soldiers aren’t coming.”

“…Ahem, are soldiers necessary?”

He had seen them out of the corner of his eye a while ago, and honestly, the soldiers seemed like the type that would be torn to pieces in a single blow…

…Evan added skeptically.

Alon also nodded.

Indeed, he wasn’t wrong.

In reality, to face a Sin, what was needed was…

Overwhelming individual power.

Normal soldiers not only don’t help: they get in the way.

Even so.

Alon insisted on attending the meeting and gathering them.

Why?

Because this time they were facing the Sin of Wrath.

“Yes, they are necessary.”

“……Seriously?”

“Yes. Especially this time.”

Thinking about the characteristics of the Sin of Wrath, Alon added:

“Ah, and did you pass on the message?”

“To the others? Yes, I informed the entire Information Guild. Just in case, I asked Magrina to notify Historia and Ryanga.”

At the report that the guild would have already contacted everyone,

Alon nodded and murmured:

“…I hope everyone arrives on time.”

What Alon tasked Evan with was gathering all possible main forces.

To win this battle against the Sin, they needed as many forces as possible.

Alon remembered the scene he had seen in the meeting room.

Ashtalon turned into a veritable hell.

Even for him, that landscape was ghastly.

But there was something fortunate:

“I hope he stays still like that.”

According to what he knew…

The Sin of Wrath, once fully awakened, begins to scour the kingdoms killing humans relentlessly, creating mountains of corpses.

And those mountains increase his power.

The more corpses, the stronger the Sin of Wrath becomes.

That was why Alon sighed in relief when he saw that the destruction of Ashtalon had been the only thing he did. And yet, it was also strange.

He knew that the movements of a Sin could vary.

But unlike Sloth, Wrath gained advantages by moving as much as possible and accumulating corpses.

His mountains were power.

That was why Alon had let out a bitter laugh when he was informed of the fall of Ashtalon.

If the Sin acted at that absurd speed from now on, for him to block it would be almost impossible.

But after destroying Ashtalon on the same day he manifested his body…

He didn’t move again.

As if that were enough.

As if that was all he needed.

To Alon, that was unsettling.

The other Sins had also been like that: they didn’t act as he expected.

But…

The Sin of Wrath was the most incomprehensible of all.

Unlike other Sins, who, once prepared, moved to cause limitless destruction…

He was in silence.

Alon thought for a long time, until he cleared his head by shaking it.

For now…

He couldn’t understand why he was acting like this.

…He also couldn’t understand why Eliban had become a Sin.

Alon remembered him.

Eliban’s smiling and energetic face still appeared in his mind.

But the image he had seen in the magic sphere…

Even knowing that,

He still wanted to deny it.

Maybe it was a mistake, he thought.

Because the one affected was Eliban.

But when he saw the image reflected in the sphere…

He had no choice but to accept it.

He wanted to deny it.

But Eliban really was a Sin.

“…Why?”

Alon hadn’t spent that many years with him. He had barely seen him a few times.

Even so, he cared.

Because he was the protagonist of Psychedelia? No.

Because he would be the worst enemy? No.

It was because Alon firmly believed that Eliban was an absolute good.

Unlike everyone else.

In the game and in this world… he was a hero drawn by divinity.

…If from the beginning Alon hadn’t intervened, would everything have followed the original story?

…Then…

Now…

The current Eliban, would he be… something he himself had created…?

“…Marquis?”

Evan’s voice broke his chain of thoughts.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s just that… you seemed upset about something.”

“Yes?”

“It’s just that you were frowning deeply…”

Alon touched his face without realizing it.

Yes, his expression had changed without him noticing.

“Ah, really?”

“Yes, it’s the first time I’ve seen that face on you…”

The worry in Evan’s voice.

Alon felt a slight headache and sighed.

It was time to stop thinking.

He stood up.

“Where are you going?”

Evan asked, his face marked by fatigue.

He had driven the carriage almost without sleeping to arrive at the meeting on time.

Alon noticed his state and started to walk alone.

“I’m going to see Heinkel. Rest.”

He needed to discuss the newly drawn plan.

---

Rine entered the forbidden books area of the Great Library of Eternal Scholars again. And upon reviewing the information, she frowned as if she couldn’t understand it.

Until now, she had searched there for all knowledge regarding the Sins.

There were still many unknowns, yes, but she had learned a lot.

However, the content of the book she had just found… with just two lines completely contradicted what she had learned.

“According to this, the origin of the Sin was ‘The One with Closed Eyes’.”

But Rine barely had information about him.

She only knew that he had been a Mage. She didn’t even know in what era he had lived.

Even so…

That line…

It was more than enough to contradict previous knowledge.

“Could there be lies in this library?”

She shook her head immediately.

Everything written here was truth.

Nothing false could be registered in this library.

It was impossible.

That meant that both pieces of information were true.

Rine was plunged into confusion. After calming her mind, she read again.

“…Ah.”

She let out a soft sigh, as if she had finally understood.

The book didn’t have much information, but it was enough to resolve the contradiction.

In summary:

“The Ilaneph Empire created the Sins, but never used them.”

That was it.

The Empire created the Sins… but didn’t use them. And later, those Sins ended up in the hands of The One with Closed Eyes, who made them awaken.

Rine reviewed the book, now almost finished.

And she obtained more knowledge.

About the strength of the Sins.

As expected of the empire that had created Pluton, the description of the ideal Sin perfectly fused with its manifested body was…

Much stronger than she imagined.

She thought for a moment if Pluton could deal with one like that, but shook her head.

She neither controlled Pluton well nor had she seen a fully manifested Sin.

It was impossible to calculate.

Although she suspected something:

Perhaps, somehow, Pluton could not stop a fully manifested Sin.

After all, the Ilaneph Empire…

Was destroyed by the Sins.

“Pluton lost against a Sin…”

She murmured without realizing it.

She still knew very little about Pluton. She could barely summon him and didn’t know how to use him well. Her knowledge was fragmented.

But even so…

The idea of Pluton losing was hard to accept.

She knew how great Pluton’s power was.

…Of course, if the Empire could use him at 100%.

And if the Sin achieved the “Perfect Unification” mentioned in the book, it would also be difficult for Pluton.

As she thought, Rine felt a strange discomfort.

As if she had forgotten something important.

A tiny thorn pricking her throat.

She tried to remember it, but nothing came up.

Shrugging her shoulders, she continued reading.

Finally, she reached the end.

But there wasn’t much else.

Although the book explained the origin of the Sins, it didn’t say why they were created.

There was only a mysterious line that could be considered knowledge:

“The Sins were created to delay.”

And the only additional thing was the final sentence:

“The Sins were not used until the end of the Ilaneph Empire…”

As she chewed on those words, Rine felt the uncomfortable sensation intensify.

An unpleasant premonition.

And then, upon re-reading the sentence…

She understood what she was forgetting.

“The Sins were not used until the end of the Ilaneph Empire.”

Then that means—

The Ilaneph Empire was not destroyed by the Sins.

Rine’s eyes opened completely.

Pure confusion.

She knew the empire was destroyed by an “enemy”. That was absolute truth recorded in the library.

But she never questioned it. She had always assumed that enemy was a Sin.

But the Sins were not used during the fall of the empire.

Then…

The Empire that created Pluton…

The Empire that created the Sins…

Who the hell destroyed them?

Rine was left plunged into absolute silence.