Raising Villains The Right Way
[First]
[The technique is Reversal of Heaven (逆天).]
“Wait—”
The entity in the mirror spoke without warning.
Alon attempted to converse with him.
[Second.]
The man wearing a tattered coat, looking distinctly different from Alon but strangely familiar, did not stop speaking.
[Contemplate the Outer God.]
“Wait.”
Alon tried speaking again.
However.
[Third.]
The entity in the mirror continued to unilaterally list information.
As if he had no intention of engaging in a normal conversation from the start.
[Perceive.]
By that point, Alon resigned himself.
Instead, he began to focus on what the entity before him was saying.
He didn’t know what kind of object this mirror was.
Nor who the figure reflected inside it was.
But he instinctively realized one thing.
That man’s words were undoubtedly an important key.
What the entity in the mirror was saying was, without a doubt, significant.
[Fourth.]
[Observe directly.]
[Fifth.]
[Do not run away.]
Even though Alon didn’t respond, the entity in the mirror continued explaining.
As if imparting a revelation.
And then.
[If you do so, you will reach it.]
With those final words,
The entity in the mirror slowly began to fade away.
Starting from the bottom, up to the head.
Gradually.
At that moment.
[What are you doing?]
A voice came from behind—Basiliora.
“……What do you mean?”
[No, I mean, you were talking about watching the mirror and waiting.]
Basiliora’s deep voice made Alon frown in confusion.
“Me?”
[Then who else here would it be?]
“……No, I’m sure there was someone else inside the mirror besides me.”
[What nonsense is that? From the moment I saw it, there was nothing but your dull reflection.]
“……Really?”
[Are you doubting me?]
Alon absentmindedly turned back to the mirror.
The figure had disappeared without a trace, leaving only his own reflection.
Thus.
‘What in the world—’
Alon frowned slightly, unable to comprehend.
Thud!
A bizarre sound echoed as he suddenly felt the ground give way beneath him.
In an instant—
[What the—!]
[Meow!?]
Basiliora’s alarmed voice and Blackie’s startled cry echoed as they grew distant.
Only then did Alon realize.
He was falling, along with the mirror, into a space that had suddenly opened beneath him.
“…”
Reacting instantly, Alon reached out and grabbed onto a root.
Snap!
But the root couldn’t hold his weight and snapped.
Instead, it dragged him further down into the abyss below.
[Damn it!]
Basiliora moved urgently.
Yet, the root, as if possessing a will of its own, sealed the opening the moment Alon fell through.
Trapped in darkness, Alon felt himself floating.
“?”
Then suddenly,
His feet touched solid ground.
‘Wasn’t I just falling?’
He brushed his foot against the ground, confirming its presence.
Yet, all of his senses were overwhelmed with confusion.
Alon observed the strange space around him.
An endless abyss, immeasurable in size, resembling the cosmos itself—
And yet, he could still feel the ground beneath his feet.
In the pitch-black void, the only thing visible was his own body.
‘What is this…………..?’
An eerie and incomprehensible situation.
As if his perception itself was being distorted, Alon repeatedly glanced between the abyss and his own body.
But he had no time to stand idly.
Regardless of the potential threats, staying still was not an option.
So, he began to walk.
He had no destination.
He didn’t know how long he had been walking.
“?”
At the end of the abyss, where there had been nothing before, he saw letters.
They seemed to be engraved somewhere—
Yet also appeared to be floating in the air.
He stepped closer to the letters.
‘Roughly carved.’
The words were crudely etched, as if someone had simply hacked at the wall with a blade.
Despite their rugged appearance, they were still readable.
As he silently scanned the message, Alon’s eyes widened.
The words inscribed read—
‘How to use Arrow.’
***
[To those who seek to awaken Arrow, observe.]
[If you do so and perceive it directly,]
[You will be able to escape this place.]
Alon reread the crude writing in silence.
A faint expression of displeasure crossed his face.
The words did indeed explain how to use Arrow—
But they were written like a cryptic riddle.
‘It would’ve been nice if they just explained it clearly.’
He knew there was no one here to complain to.
So, he sighed lightly.
He briefly wondered who had written it.
“Haah—”
But for now, he sat down.
The priority was finding a way out of this place.
Alon slowly closed his eyes.
Following the words on the inscription, he maintained a calm state.
At the same time, he felt his mana stir.
Though he had already expended a great deal of power dealing with the Mother of Greed—
A thin thread of mana still flowed within him.
That, in itself, surprised him.
‘Entering such a deep state of observation this easily…?’
Observing the mana flowing through his body was not difficult for Alon.
A mage who cannot observe mana cannot truly be called a mage.
However, what surprised Alon was the ‘depth’ of his observation.
Alon was observing mana at a far deeper level than usual.
Normally, he could only perceive where his mana was flowing and how much of it remained.
But now, he could discern even the most intricate strands of mana.
His senses had become incredibly sharp.
For a moment, it felt as though he were looking at microscopic organisms through a magnifying glass.
“?”
Then, suddenly, Alon felt a bizarre sensation—his consciousness expanding.
His head spun, and a wave of nausea hit him.
Despite this, Alon maintained his composure and continued his observation.
At that moment.
He felt an eerie sensation, as if something was pulling him in.
“?”
“……?”
Before him, four orbs appeared, floating in the air.
Each orb was a different color.
‘Blue, green, red, white…?’
As Alon examined them one by one, starting from the left,
he instinctively realized something.
These were not mana.
They were divinities.
He found it strange.
‘……Four divinities?’
Alon was already somewhat aware that he had gained faith through the dragonkin.
But he had never imagined that he possessed four different types of divinity.
It was deeply perplexing.
‘If my guess is correct, one of them must belong to Karannon, the Lightning Receiver… but what are the other three?’
Divinities with unknown origins and identities.
As he pondered deeply—
“?”
Alon suddenly became aware.
There was another orb floating beside him.
It was difficult to distinguish in the dark space.
A dark orb, so deep in color that it seemed to blend into the abyss, silently hovered behind him.
‘This is…?’
It was the same size as the other four orbs.
But unlike the others, this black orb positioned behind him—
radiated an ominous energy, like a black hole lurking within the abyss.
Then.
Vwooom—
A resonant sound echoed through the air, drawing Alon’s attention forward.
Among the four colored orbs, the green one emitted a strange hum.
As if it were calling to him, urging him to choose it, the orb vibrated ever so slightly.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Alon reached out and touched the green orb.
In that instant.
Whoooosh—!!!!
A dazzling white light engulfed Alon.
“!?”
Startled, Alon opened his eyes, only to realize— his entire body was now glowing with an interwoven mix of green and gold light.
He immediately stood up.
And then.
From the crudely carved letters, something began to emit a faint green glow.
Alon reached out toward it.
Tap—
The moment his fingertip touched the letters.
Whoooosh—!
From that spot—
A sprout began to grow.
Not just one.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Tens of thousands—No.
“!!!”
An uncountable number of sprouts began to emerge.
A fresh, vibrant scent filled the air.
A brilliant green spread before his eyes.
The sight was mesmerizing, as the sprouts overtook the abyss.
Like an infection spreading, the sprouts consumed the darkness.
And slowly, the ‘true form’ of this space began to reveal itself.
Eventually.
“Ah.”
It was fully unveiled.
A massive garden stretched across Alon’s entire field of vision.
A grand tree stood at its center, surrounded by lush, overflowing greenery.
Dazzled by the radiant sight, Alon couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.
At that moment.
The towering tree at the heart of the garden swayed gently, as if beckoning him forward.
It did not speak.
Nor did it send a voice into his mind.
Yet, Alon instinctively understood.
The tree was calling to him.
As if entranced, he stepped closer.
Tap—
Recognizing his presence.
The moment Alon stood beneath it, something fell from its branches and landed in his palm.
It was a fruit.
A golden fruit, about the size of an apple.
‘Thank you.’
As he gazed at the fruit, the tree swayed softly, and once again, a sense of ‘communication’ imprinted itself into him.
Alon lifted his gaze toward the tree.
And behind it—
He noticed a spiral staircase leading upward.
Without hesitation, he walked toward it.
***
[Meow!]
[Are you all right!?]
Alon ascended the spiral staircase.
As if they had been waiting for him, Basiliora and Blackie rushed to him.
[Wait, what is that?]
“?”
[Why are you leaking so much divinity?]
Basiliora, now shrunken back into his spirit form after 15 minutes had passed, reacted with intense bewilderment.
Alon looked down at himself.
His body was still wrapped in an unextinguished green light.
Realizing this, he quickly glanced around.
The once desolate underground space was now covered in sprouts and flowers.
“……By the way, why did this place change so suddenly?”
[Shortly after you went down, it started transforming like this.]
Everything Alon had experienced below had manifested here as well.
He suddenly noticed the elves standing in the distance.
Beyond the four members of Paggade who had accompanied them, there were now more than twenty figures.
They had followed after him, entering at different times after he had ventured deep inside.
Unaware of this, Alon assumed—
‘Did reinforcements arrive that quickly?’
With that thought, he approached them.
His task was done.
Turning toward Rim, who was staring at him in a daze,
“Let’s head up—”
He had begun to say.
Thud—!
But suddenly, Rim dropped to her knees.
“?”
What is she—
Thud—!
Thud—!
One by one, as if following an unspoken command, the elves all kneeled before Alon.
And then.
““We, the humble children of the forest, greet the great one.””
“…???”
As if they had rehearsed it beforehand.
In perfect unison, they bowed their heads to the ground.

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