FVN Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Most of the members of the Eclipse Order, led by Deus Macallian, supported Alon. However, they acted that way solely because Alon was considered Deus’s benefactor. In reality, their feelings toward Alon were close to indifference. To the knights of the Eclipse, Alon wasn’t particularly special, aside from being Deus’s benefactor.
Even if there were emotions involved, it was only due to the jealousy some young knights felt when they saw how Deus treated Alon. Other than that, there were hardly any feelings toward him at all. In short, the knights didn’t hold particularly positive sentiments toward Alon.
But at least for this moment—
“Vice Tower Master, may I ask you a favor?”
“Yes, yes... What kind of favor...?”
The knights could only stare blankly, mouths agape.
“Could you make a potion of Leviteon?”
“Remiteon’s... potion?”
“Yes. Can you do it?”
“Ah, yes, of course! Absolutely...!”
Not only the knights of Eclipse but even the Silver Knights, who were just recently berated by Penia, were shocked. This was because they knew that the vice tower master in front of them had a personality as eccentric as her genius magical abilities.
In fact, it wasn’t just them. Any knight who had ever gone on an expedition to the north would have heard stories of the ‘Hysteric Penia.’
Privacy Settings
When heading north, wizards from the Blue Tower, who were often summoned at the same time, would always complain about Penia’s unbearable personality, so it was impossible not to know.
Thus, the knights, aware of Penia’s notorious character, were even more astonished.
“Hmm, just to check, do you happen to have or know how to make the Elixir of Exceptionality?”
“Uh, uh... I don’t have it, but I think I could make it...”
“Could you also make that for me?”
“Uh, well, it takes a lot of time, and I have other things to do...”
“I really need it.”
“I-I’ll do it! I promise I will...!”
The knights couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Penia, the vice tower master of the Blue Tower and a 6th-ranked wizard, was obediently following the Count of Palatio’s orders.
No, more than obediently; she was contorting herself to avoid upsetting him in any way. The knights found it utterly unbelievable.
And of course—
“W-what... the hell...?”
The same went for the wizards who had been dispatched from the Blue Tower with Penia, enduring her constant scolding and shedding tears of blood from the torment.
“What... is this?”
“Am I seeing things?”
“Has the vice tower master completely lost it?”
The wizards, who looked on as if they were witnessing the end of the world, gasped in disbelief.
“She refused to make that last time because it was too difficult and spent weeks complaining... but now she’s willing to make it?”
“Am I seeing this wrong? Did someone cast an illusion spell as a joke?”
“Are you stupid? If someone had cast an illusion spell, they’d have to cast Silence on the vice tower master as well, and who has that kind of spare magic power?”
They were so shocked that they even subtly tried to dispel any lingering magic, thinking perhaps another wizard was playing a trick.
And then—
“Thank you.”
“No, it’s something I should do.”
“How much payment will you need?”@@@@
“Pa-payment, you mean?”
“It’s only natural to pay for the favor I’ve asked. Just tell me, and I’ll have it sent to the magic tower later.”
Privacy Settings
“Oh, well—”
“However, if it’s a bit expensive, the payment might be delayed. The finances haven’t been great lately.”
“Just... just give me 1 gold coin.”
“...1 gold coin? Isn’t that too cheap?”
“No, it’s fine...! Yes, it’s totally fine...!”
“...Well then, I won’t refuse such a generous offer.”
As they watched Penia, who was smiling and accepting just one gold coin for two potions that normally cost hundreds of gold coins to make, both the knights and the wizards wore blank expressions. They soon all turned their gazes toward Alon.
The knights’ faces were filled with amazement, while a look of reverence appeared on the wizards’ faces.
‘It seems like there’s some misunderstanding, but at least I got the potions easily,’ Alon thought, as he returned to Evan.
“...Wait, Count, when did you start speaking informally with the vice tower master?”
“Hm? I’m a noble, so I just spoke informally.”
No way...
“...Excuse me? But, as far as I know, the vice tower master is treated as a quasi-noble, and it’s standard etiquette to speak formally to each other...”
“Icicle.”
Crack—! Crash-crash-crash!
Her magic was nothing short of extraordinary. Hundreds of undead advancing toward the soldiers were instantly frozen and shattered into pieces, a truly magnificent spectacle.
However, even more than Penia, the figures that filled the soldiers with hope were the two Master Knights present: Fiola and Deus. Of the two, Deus’s presence was especially overwhelming.
Sssht!
Dozens of undead surrounded him. Some were soldiers with large wounds on their heads, others were knights with gaping holes in their chests. But—
In an instant, the hundreds of undead around Deus suddenly halted, as if time itself had stopped.
And then—
Swish—
With a single light horizontal sweep of Deus’s sword, all the frozen undead were precisely cut in half.
One strike. Hundreds of bodies.
An overwhelming display of superhuman strength that brought hope to the eyes of the soldiers and knights. But just then—
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, the Outer God descended in the middle of the battlefield.
Privacy Settings
For a moment, the movements of the undead halted, and the eyes of the soldiers shifted toward the new arrival. The sheer overwhelming presence of the Outer God filled the battlefield, and even Deus and Fiola couldn’t hide the tension that appeared in their eyes.
As the ashen dust cleared, revealing the figure of a man, everyone held their breath.
Though he wore the clothing of the barbarians, his form had transcended anything that could still be called human. His massive physique and blue skin indicated that this being had long left the bounds of humanity.
And then—
[Barbarian, do not defile the sins of those who do not know honor.]
With that, the voice of Ulthultus echoed, and the undead began to rise again. The bodies that had been shattered into pieces by Penia started to mend, fusing together like slime and regenerating their physical forms. The corpses that had been severed by Deus’s sword also began to reform.
In that moment—
Sssht!
Fiola, who had been silent until just moments before, suddenly appeared right in front of the Outer God. His sharp instinct led him to realize that the tide of the battle had shifted the moment the undead resurrected, and they could no longer secure victory.
As one of the fastest Master Knights of Caliban, possessing the power of ‘divine speed’, he struck before Ulthultus could even react.
Thunk!
Fiola’s sudden strike pierced Ulthultus’s heart.
But—
Only the tip of his sword had managed to penetrate.
[Uhh.]
Ulthultus’s gaze shifted toward Fiola, filled with contempt.
[Barbarians know no honor. Those who do not uphold honor abandon their very existence. Furthermore—]
Crack!
[They also forsake the nobility of the soul.]
Thud.
Fiola’s body, which had just been gripping the sword, collapsed to the ground. His head was no longer attached to his body.
However—
[There is no honorable death for those who disregard all value.]
With these words, Fiola’s headless body began to twitch and rise, convulsing as it stood up once again. Seeing this horrifying spectacle, everyone present understood the grim reality: this battle was lost.
Fear spread across the soldiers’ faces, and despair began to take hold on the faces of the knights and wizards alike.
Even Penia and Deus, who had far surpassed the limits of ordinary humans, were not immune to this despair. In fact, they had felt it even earlier than the others.
Privacy Settings
With their heightened awareness, they knew that the being before them possessed far greater power than they had anticipated.
As cries of agony and despair echoed from the undead, they were consumed by hopelessness—except for one man.
“O mighty god of duels, Ulthultus.”
While everyone else was sinking into despair, a single man began walking toward the giant, passing between the living and the undead.
Step step.
Neither slow nor fast.
“In accordance with the great oath of Kalgunius.”
The face of the man walking toward the giant remained calm, even amidst this hellish scene of despair. As if he had been through such an experience countless times.
And that man—
“I, Alon Palatio, in the name of the great oath—”
The Count of Palatio—
“—demand a duel of Babylonia.”
With a swirl of his wrist, Alon raised his arm, and a bracelet glowing with a deep gray light shone as he stood face-to-face with the giant.