Chapter 479

C479. Omen of Great Upheaval (1)

The Divine Bloods began to kneel one after another.

Watching that scene, Alon understood.

Another misunderstanding had been born.

At that moment, just as Blackie entered the carriage where Seolrang was, he stealthily escaped outside.

And he headed to the battlefield where a fierce fight had taken place moments before.

[Jyuu—]

Blackie began to absorb the corpses of the Divine Bloods that the Spirit Invoker hadn’t managed to absorb.

Due to the restriction that he could only absorb bodies whose ability he had witnessed, quite a few corpses remained in the place.

Blackie absorbed them calmly and without haste.

Then, suddenly, a harsh sound was heard in the distance.

[Khaaa—!]

Turning his gaze, Blackie found the Spirit Invoker, whose body was split in half.

The state of the being was terrible.

In the area where the fragments were still stuck, red blood flowed, and the only thing remaining of his body was a right arm, the shoulder, and the upper part of the torso on that same side.

He had lost more than 80% of his body: a completely miserable appearance.

[Ugh… ughhhh!]

The Spirit Invoker emitted a sound so painful that even hearing it cut one’s breath, moving with difficulty across the ground.

As if he had to reach some place, without fail.

Blackie naturally followed the direction he was crawling toward.

There…

[Kyuu?]

Was a corpse of a Divine Blood.

A corpse whose ability he had seen, but which he hadn’t managed to absorb before.

And the moment he saw that…

Blackie simply walked over there with absolute normality, and as if he wanted the Spirit Invoker to see him, he planted himself in front of it.

[What!?]

And he started to absorb the corpse.

“What are you doing!? I am asking you what the hell you are doing!!”

The Spirit Invoker screamed desperately.

But Blackie didn’t pay him the slightest attention.

After completely absorbing the body, Blackie turned his head toward the Spirit Invoker.

Tilts head.

A slight gesture, without any hidden intention.

But the Spirit Invoker, seeing Blackie’s gaze, felt as if something had been ripped away from him and spoke with urgency.

“Stop! Stop right now!!”

Blackie ignored him; after tilting his head again several times, he began to approach the Spirit Invoker slowly.

Light steps, almost playful.

“Stop! I told you to stop!!”

“If you don’t kill me, I will tell you what is going to happen next!”

The closer Blackie got, the more desperate the Spirit Invoker became.

“Do you know? This world is already broken! The particles have already damaged the harmonization and the Divine Bloods will begin to descend without control!”

“I know what the future will be like! I will tell you everything!”

He shouted it as if he were sure that Blackie could understand him.

Blackie kept approaching with his calm expression until he stood in front of him.

The Spirit Invoker looked at him, stunned.

And then…

He saw a flash of dark hostility hidden within those round and clear eyes that seemed incapable of harboring malice.

“Ah.”

That was the last thing he said.

“My clones still remain. If you kill me, my clones will attack your master—”

The threat was not finished.

His voice would never sound again.

CRUNCH—!

In the next instant, his vision was completely destroyed by the enormous hand that Blackie had raised over him.

Afterward, as if nothing had happened, Blackie absorbed the remains of the Spirit Invoker.

And, upon finishing, without the slightest attachment, he headed back to the carriage where Alon was.

The small and adorable Blackie was left behind, and the battlefield was left truly empty.

The sudden proposal from the Divine Bloods had been annoying for a few moments.

Alon decided to speak with them later, once they left the battlefield.

The sky was already darkening.

And as he left the field, Alon understood why the Divine Bloods had looked at him as if he were almost a figure of authority instead of an enemy.

[Kyuuu—]

Not knowing when he had returned, Blackie jumped onto Alon’s knees just as he tried to move the carriage.

Alon petted him and checked the concealment barrier several times.

At that moment…

“Umm… Alon-nim.”

“What is it?”

“…How did it end up like this?”

Penia, checking Seolrang‘s condition, asked timidly.

“I would also like to know how the hell we arrived at this situation…”

Even Alon was bewildered.

Only with what he heard from the Divine Bloods could he form a rough idea of the situation, but even so, the reality was absurd.

“At what moment did the rumor start running that I can grant powers to the Divine Bloods?”

It made no sense.

He had never given power to a Divine Blood, had never mentioned it, and didn’t even know if such a thing was possible.

It wasn’t even that he didn’t know the method. It’s that he never knew if something like that could be done.

“I thought it was a twisted rumor that Silly had spread in Divine Land, but thinking about it well, she only spread three concrete rumors…”

“That is true.”

Penia frowned with infinite doubts. Then she forced an awkward smile.

“Well… even so, this has advantages, right?”

“Well… yes.”

Alon nodded.

In reality, in that situation, nothing bad was happening to him.

The Divine Bloods were completely wrong.

They believed that Alon had granted power to Seolrang to defeat the Spirit Invoker.

‘…Technically, it is not entirely false.’

It wasn’t totally a lie.

But there was also a critical detail:

Alon didn’t give her Divine Blood power:

he only transmitted the strength of a restriction based on Laws.

“The problem is that… although it has advantages, now I am more afraid of what might come next.”

At Penia’s observation, Alon remained silent.

Because that was the true problem.

They had agreed to speak with the Divine Bloods after leaving there… but…

‘What the hell am I going to do?’

Alon thought, his head already aching.

His personality prevented him from letting the misunderstanding continue. He didn’t like manipulating people with something he couldn’t even do.

Besides, even if he told the truth, they could escape in time if the Divine Bloods became enraged.

He just needed to recover his ability and buy time.

But the real obstacle was another:

Those who were deliriously enthusiastic about that misunderstanding…

were Divine Bloods.

If the misunderstanding was broken and then they showed irrational anger and arrived at the Allied United Kingdoms…

That would be a nightmare.

With those thoughts, Alon decided:

“…I suppose there is no other option.”

He had to do it.

They had already left the battlefield.

Alon got off the carriage.

[…]

And the panorama of gathered Divine Bloods appeared before him.

They held their breath, waiting for his words.

Alon sighed discreetly and shifted his gaze toward two figures:

Darkness-Eating Sword and Burning Tree.

Both were full of wounds, different from when he saw them for the first time.

But Alon respected them:

they had been on the front line against the Spirit Invoker… and they had survived.

As soon as Alon looked at them, both approached immediately, as if they had agreed upon it.

Alon looked at them for a moment in silence.

“I leave these newcomers in your care. Judge them well.”

He ordered.

“Yes, Sir!”

“We will abide by your mandate.”

Both Divine Bloods bowed their heads deeply, without questioning anything.

It was uncomfortable to watch, but Alon continued:

“I know why you have gathered here.”

All the Divine Bloods raised their gazes toward him.

Alon spoke with a completely neutral face.

“But, unfortunately… you are still lacking.”

“If you want to receive power, strengthen your essence first, do not depend on tools.”

And finally:

“Good. Dismissed.”

He ordered them to withdraw.

Silence fell.

Alon thought automatically:

‘Ah… maybe I was too dry.’

While he was speaking he had feared sounding ridiculous.

Shortly after, a murmur arose among the Divine Bloods.

Alon, worried about whether he should change his improvised speech, was ready to correct it when—

“Understood!”

“We will obey!”

Darkness-Eating Sword and Burning Tree were the first to respond.

The other Divine Bloods immediately followed them.

‘……What?’

The atmosphere ordered itself.

Alon, confused, simply accepted the bows.

‘…Well, at least it went well.’

Thinking that, he retired to the carriage.

Following his order, the Divine Bloods dispersed.

In fact, when the extermination expedition began, the morale of Star Group (the organization) was on the floor.

It was logical:

many of them had been recruited by force, without their own will.

The later they joined, the more rejection they felt toward Star Group, and the number of these was quite large.

But that was before the subjugation of the Spirit Invoker.

The Divine Bloods who survived…

“Did you see that? That simple beast became so strong that she crushed a level 2 Divine Blood as soon as she received the power of the Star Eater.”

“I still don’t believe it…”

“Just remembering it, I’m still trembling…”

Now they were grateful to belong to Star Group.

It was thanks to the rumor that the power of the Star Eater was real.

Even more so—

“We too will be able to receive that power if we strive…! It is like a dream!”

“I think so too.”

“Finally we have a real opportunity to become strong…”

The words that Alon had said with nervousness… had sunk in too well.

That which he said only to buy time was interpreted as something deeply reasonable…

To an absurd level.

“It is true: that beast barely using that power already had a distorted body…”

“Sure, but she is just a beast. If we received that power—”

“Don’t say nonsense. That beast was not normal. If she could use that power to the point of defeating the Spirit Invoker with only slight bodily damage… it means she had a prepared body. You probably would have died.”

“…True.”

“So that is why he said not to use tools… it is the body that is important!”

“Ha! So that is why the Star Eater doesn’t use humans either!”

A new misunderstanding was born.

“Train… Train… We must train!”

While the Divine Bloods retreated under that delirious enthusiasm,

Alon, relieved to have overcome the critical moment, was resting in front of a campfire.

The crackling of the fire was the only thing heard.

At that moment—

“…Master.”

“Seolrang…?”

Seolrang, now awake, slowly approached Alon.