Became the Patron of Villains Chapter 296 : Sin of Greed (7)

A colossal hand plummeted from the heavens, swallowing even the soot-colored clouds in its wake.

Alon watched, paralyzed by shock, as the limb obliterated everything in its path. It was he who had liberated Rine from her long imprisonment, and he had done so for two primary reasons.

First, her assistance was vital in confronting the Sin of Greed. During his earlier clashes with the entity, Alon realized that although this incarnation looked different, it commanded the same "knowledge" based authority as the Sin he encountered in Psychedelia. Since Rine’s own intellect rivaled that of the Sin, Alon was certain her insights would allow them to predict and neutralize any abilities that fell outside his own expertise.

The second reason was Alon’s belief in Rine’s newfound power. He knew that her prison was the same place where the Mother of Greed—the "Ash Seeder" that only manifests during a Sin’s inception—had nested. Knowing she was trapped with such a creature, Alon could easily guess the desperate measures Rine must have taken to survive.

The presence of the Mother of Greed suggested that Rine had likely accessed the forbidden lore hidden within the Eternal Library. This suspicion was confirmed when Alon saw the inscriptions at her sealing site; the writing was of a nature no Sin could ever produce. Trusting this judgment, he had sought her out to topple the Sin, and his intuition proved flawless.

Rine had emerged from the depths of forbidden knowledge untainted and significantly more powerful, just as he had anticipated. However, he had made one major miscalculation.

He never imagined she would become a force of nature. Her strength had eclipsed his wildest expectations. Staring blankly at the sky, Alon looked up at the massive fist that had descended like a falling mountain.

“Rine……”

As the giant hand retreated, a figure came into view, causing Alon to whisper her name. She appeared unchanged; her hair, the color of wild grass, remained vibrant even against the dismal gray sky, and her emerald eyes shone with intensity.

A flood of emotions hit him. He wanted to express his gratitude, yet he also wanted to reprimand her. Most of all, he felt a deep sense of guilt. Alon had never endured the weight of centuries. He couldn't comprehend the burden of living through hundreds of years. Even a decade was enough to transform the world and bury all but the most precious memories in the void of the past.

Because he couldn't grasp the magnitude of her silent endurance, the words "Thank you" or "You've worked hard" felt inadequate. He remained silent, but Rine stepped toward him, a soft smile playing on her lips.

“Yes, godfather.”

“......”

“It is your Rine.”

She spoke with a gentle warmth. Alon tried to respond, but she interrupted him.

“However, I believe our proper reunion must be delayed, godfather.”

Her words snapped Alon back to the present. He turned his attention toward their enemy.

[……What… are you?]

The Sin of Greed stood before them. Its mangled form was knitting itself back together, yet it stared at Rine with utter confusion. As it finished regenerating, the scrap of paper that had been stuck to its shoulder lost its luster and drifted away.

[What on earth are you—]

The Sin struggled to speak, then suddenly its eyes widened in a moment of shocking clarity as it peered at Rine.

[It cannot be… you are the one from that time…]

For the first time, the Sin’s voice lost its cold, robotic edge, replaced by genuine disbelief. Rine’s smile didn't waver.

“It’s a relief. You’ve found a new vessel instead of Aghui’s.”

[……I believed I had purged all mortal attachments and feelings.]

The Sin hissed—

[But it appears I was mistaken.]

Then, in an instant—

[……Allow me to settle the score from our past.]

The entity’s body began to bloat violently. In the world of Psychedelia, the Sin of Greed possessed two distinct stages of combat. The first was the humanoid form Alon had been fighting, which utilized a barrage of unique debuffs and spells derived from forbidden knowledge—magic that existed nowhere else. In the game, this first phase was manageable because Alon was supported by Eliban, two other party members, and several legendary allies, along with thousands of soldiers and multiple knight orders.

Back then, the strategy for Phase 1 was simply to survive the instant-death spells and debuffs. But once the Sin’s wing-blades were whittled down to their final five pages, it would enter its second form: the Monstrosity Phase. That was exactly what was happening now.

“…Tsk.”

Alon scowled as the Sin’s white body mutated, expanding into a grotesque, skeletal titan. It was skipping straight to its final, desperate state despite having multiple lives remaining, which made the situation far more perilous. In this form, it would sprout dozens of limbs to cast all its forbidden spells simultaneously.

Just as Alon’s worry deepened—

“!!.”

Another massive mechanical hand dropped from the clouds like a collapsing skyscraper, aiming to crush the Sin into the earth.

|-!!!

The air screamed as the giant limb slammed down, tearing through the Sin’s wings and obliterating countless "lives" in a single strike. For a moment, Alon allowed himself to hope that the battle might end right there.

But that hope was short-lived.

As the hand prepared for another strike, a hum vibrated through the air.

Woooooooong~!

A colossal magic circle manifested in the sky, halting the hand’s descent. Though the barrier began to crack under the pressure, the Sin used the opening. Dozens of arms regenerated like those of a multi-armed god, their fingers weaving complex signs.

Wooooooong~!!!!

A layer of magic circles stacked above the Sin. As two of the hands finished a seal, Alon’s instincts screamed. He grabbed Rine and activated Thunder God's Form to warp away.

KWAHHHHH!!!

A blinding green light erased everything in its path. When the light faded, Alon saw that the western territory of Fildagreen had been reduced to a scorched void. A shiver crawled down his spine. Even though most of the Sin's power was focused on blocking the falling mechanical hand—Pluto—just two of its many hands had unleashed that level of devastation.

“Godfather.”

Rine’s voice broke his focus. He looked down into her eyes.

“May I ask for a small favor? Just for a moment.”

Alon understood immediately and nodded. A massive magic circle ignited beneath her feet, and a golden eye, previously hidden, began to glow with a divine brilliance. Seeing the Sin preparing more seals, Alon moved to shield her.

“Blackie.”

[Meow-]

The cat hopped onto his shoulder. Alon began his incantation.

“Awakening of the Shadow.”

Pupils manifested across Alon’s body, and a massive eye opened within his halo.

“Reverse Heavens.”

As he spoke, a swirling galaxy replaced the gray sky. Alon felt the strain immediately. He had used divinity to heal his physical wounds, but the internal clock on his limit had not reset. Every second was a gamble.

“Hoo—”

He didn't hesitate, manipulating the celestial bodies above. Red cracks tore through the sky. The Sin no longer had the luxury of time to hijack his magic.

CRACKCRACKCRACK—!!!

The fissures seized control of the floating magic orbs. With a sharp gesture, Alon fired them—not at the Sin’s core, but at the hands weaving the spells.

KWAHHHH!!

The orbs streaked like lightning, intercepting the Sin’s hands. Simultaneously, the barrier holding back the giant mechanical hand began to shatter. The Sin tried to redirect its magic toward Rine, but Alon pushed himself further.

“Ugh!”

His mind screamed in agony. He was reaching the point of no return. If he held this form any longer, the damage to his soul would be permanent. The Sin’s magic circle began to stabilize as Alon faltered, and a burst of green light erupted toward them.

He couldn't block it directly, so he used his remaining strength to steer his magic orbs into the path of the beam.

KWAHHHHH~!!!

The resulting explosion deafened him and blinded his vision. Alon realized two things: he had successfully neutralized the attack, but he could no longer maintain Reverse Heavens. He spat out dark blood as his vision blurred.

The Sin, however, was undeterred. It simply prepared its next strike as if Alon’s desperate defense meant nothing.

“Hah—”

Alon let out a strained, dry laugh at the sheer hopelessness. He gritted his teeth, trying to force one last spell.

Suddenly—

Click—!

The world froze. The mechanical hand, the magic barriers, and the Sin’s pending spell all came to a dead halt. The elves, Penia, and Magrina—everyone stood like statues, their eyes drawn to a single point in the sky.

A massive rift had torn open the gray firmament, a dark abyss that seemed ready to swallow the world. And from that void, a terrifying presence emerged.

“A manufactured god.”

The voice echoed as the entity revealed itself.

“Pluto.”

“Full Deployment.”