It had been two weeks since Alon left the Divine Land and headed toward Raksas.
Compared to before, Alon was now training at a more relaxed pace.
The reason for that was simple: Penia wasn’t with him on this journey.
Back when she was around, he would spar with Kylrus multiple times using “Footsteps of the Past.”
But now, he couldn’t do that.
Of course, if he repeatedly activated and deactivated Reverse Heaven, he could charge “Footsteps of the Past” as needed, but doing so put too much strain on his body.
No matter how briefly Alon used Reverse Heaven, it always damaged his body.
So, due to those circumstances, Alon hadn’t entered “Footsteps of the Past” lately.
Instead, he had been spending his time planning spells and training Blackie's awakening on his own.
“Good job.”
“Kyuu,” came the cute cry from Blackie, who now naturally snuggled into Alon’s chest.
“Have you finished?”
As Alon petted the creature’s head, Evan approached and asked.
“Yeah.”
“You’re really consistent.”
“Because I really need this right now.”
“Hm~ Didn’t you say last time that once you reach that form, controlling mana becomes easier?”
“That’s right.”
At Alon’s confirmation, Evan nodded thoughtfully and pointed to the side.
“Please have dinner. I made something.”
“‘Made’ is a stretch. Didn’t you just roast them?”
Looking at the sweet potatoes by the fire, Alon gave his opinion.
“Well, it’s still ‘making’ something, right?”
Evan shrugged casually and pointed to Basiliora, who was already eating sweet potatoes.
“Snakehead, try not to stuff your face like a barbarian.”
[Hmph. And why shouldn’t I eat first? I am nothing like a mere human like you.]
“This damn lizard’s at it again.”
Just another ordinary day.
Over the past two weeks heading to Raksas, Alon had begun to clearly feel how much the Allied Kingdom had changed.
“Evan.”
“God, I wanna choke— Yes, Marquis.”
Evan quickly turned away from his bickering with Basiliora to answer.
“How long until we reach the next village?”
“Hm— Normally we would arrive by tomorrow, but as I mentioned at the last village, the original one was attacked, So it’ll probably take four days.”
“Four days…”
Normally, when traveling inside the Allied Kingdom, Alon’s camping interval was every other day.
In other words, there’d be a village every one or two nights.
But in the past two weeks, Alon had only passed through four villages.
The rest had been destroyed by bandits or rioters.
Alon had long been aware that ever since Abyssal Core began circulating, the Allied Kingdom had been plagued by outlaws and violence.
But simply knowing and actually seeing the destroyed villages were two different things.
“It’s worse than I thought.”
Evan nodded in agreement at Alon’s quiet remark.
“Yeah. Still no clue where this Abyssal Core is coming from...”
“Have you learned anything about it?”
“Well, I asked the Information Guild to look into it, but nothing concrete yet… Ah, I wouldn’t call this exactly good news, but it’s not bad either.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve heard that mercenaries and knights have started hunting bandits on their own.”
“Did someone put out a bounty?”
“Nope, from what I heard, they’re doing it without any payment.”
“How odd.”
While it made some sense for knights to act out of honor and duty, mercenaries doing it voluntarily was strange.
After all, mercenaries in this world rarely cared about anything outside of Lartania’s borders.
“Yeah, I thought it was strange too. Anyway, those are the rumors.”
Nodding along to Evan’s words, Alon took a bite of the sweet potato and suddenly spoke.
“Come to think of it—why haven’t we run into any bandits?”
“Didn’t you say that last time too?”
“Yeah, I did.”
Alon tilted his head.
Logically, if villages were being pillaged this frequently, it would make sense for them to have encountered at least one group of bandits.
But not even a shadow of them had appeared.
“Also, if they were attacked, there should be corpses… but there aren’t any.”
Alon pondered with a strange unease.
But only briefly.
“Well, not running into bandits is a good thing, isn’t it?”
That was true.
No matter what, not running into bandits was definitely a good thing.
So Alon stuffed the rest of the sweet potato into his mouth and moved on to his next concern.
It was about what happened when he declared the Divine Land.
“The Star Eater…”
At that moment, the being who placed a restriction on Alon referred to him as such.
They said they sincerely welcomed the return of the Star Eater.
“They were definitely talking about me.”
Alon had been called by that title by others before.
Once when he encountered an Outsider in the Deep Sea near Raksas, and once more in the East when he met a being whose identity he could never fully grasp.
“What the hell is a Star Eater?”
Since hearing that name, Alon had been pondering its meaning, but he hadn’t gotten anywhere.
Star Eater.
He had never seen that name written anywhere in Psychedelia.
After a while of pondering, Alon gave up.
He’d thought about it many times on this journey to Raksas, but it always led to the same conclusion.
“I’ll probably get answers from the Observer.”
He absentmindedly toyed with the magatama in his pocket.
A few days later, Alon arrived near a harbor town and was soon greeted by a familiar figure waving at him.
“Brother—!”
“Radan, how have you been?”
"I’ve been well."
To reach the maritime town of Raksas, traveling by ship is absolutely necessary.
Naturally, Radan came to mind first.
Since Alon was easily able to get Radan’s help, he headed straight for the Syphra Archipelago.
After all, the reason Alon wanted to go to Raksas in the first place was to get to Syphra, where he could meet the Observer.
How long had it been since they set off for Syphra?
As they casually exchanged updates, Alon suddenly looked at Radan and spoke.
“Radan, is something bothering you?”
“Me, brother?”
“Yes. Your expression doesn’t seem very good.”
On the surface, Radan’s face showed a soft, unmistakable smile.
But something about him seemed a little clouded, which prompted Alon to ask.
“Ah— I've just had a lot on my mind lately.”
“On your mind?”
“Yeah, yeah. A few things I’ve been wrestling with.”
Radan laughed awkwardly and added, “Haha, kind of embarrassing to admit.”
Alon briefly considered asking what was troubling him, but then closed his mouth.
It was clear Radan didn’t want to talk about it.
So instead—
“If you ever need help, just say the word. I’ll help however I can.”
With that, Alon ended the topic and decided not to press any further.
“Thank you, brother.”
Radan gave a sincere smile and bowed his head quietly in gratitude.
A few more days passed.
“We’ve arrived, brother.”
Alon arrived once again at the Syphra Archipelago, the same place he had met the Observer before.
“Phew—”
Just like last time, he grasped the pendant that Yongrin had once handed to him and walked toward the eastern shore of Syphra.
The Temple of Kalanon, the lightning receiver, now had far more followers than before.
It hadn’t always been this big.
When Sili first built the temple, the only people around were a few lightning mages and those who had been persuaded by her relentless proselytizing.
But ever since Reinhardt, one of Caliban’s knights, began to openly wield Kalanon’s power, the number of followers had surged.
Now, the number of believers in Kalanon, the lightning receiver—
“Ahhh—”
Was enough to fill the entire massive temple during prayer hours.
It was truly explosive growth.
And leading this rapidly expanding congregation was Saintess Sili.
“Brother, is that really true?”
[It is.]
She was hearing a story from Deus.
“You’re saying the Marquis— no, the God— intends to become king?”
[It’s the undeniable truth.]
Deus nodded without a moment’s hesitation when she asked again.
Sili silently looked at her brother’s face.
Of course, there was not a trace of joking in his expression.
Which meant—
What he said was true.
Though briefly shaken,
“I see.”
Sili quickly regained her composure and clasped her hands tightly.
“But, I believe that’s the right path.”
[I think so too. The Marquis is certainly worthy of—]
Deus nodded in agreement.
However—
“No, brother. You’re wrong.”
[…What part of it is wrong?]
“He’s not just worthy of it.”
Sili looked at him with even firmer resolve than Deus himself.
“It’s only natural.”
[Only natural?]
“Yes. It doesn’t make sense for a great god to be beneath mere humans, right?”
Words that would make any noble pale with shock—
Words she said with complete ease, words that would make Alon gasp.
[Uh? R-right…]
Even Deus, stunned by her bold declaration, was momentarily at a loss before replying.
But—
“Besides, being a king isn’t enough.”
That wasn’t the end.
[…Not enough?]
“The place suited for him isn’t the throne of a king—”
“It’s the seat of an emperor.”
Sili emphasized every word as she rose from her seat.
“I’ll be joining soon as well.”
Ending the transmission with those final words, Sili then said:
“If God intends to ascend to the heavens, it is only natural to offer Him my help.”
She turned her gaze toward the temple.
“If He wishes to rise to that place,”
A temple packed with countless believers—
“—Then no matter what it takes, I will do everything I can to clear the way.”
Her eyes glowed as she looked upon the crowd.
Something had begun.
And Alon had no idea.

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