Saint Yuman trusted Marquis Palatio.
From the beginning, he was one of the few who had witnessed the miracles that Marquis Palatio had achieved with his own eyes.
However.
"Isn’t this basically a death march?"
"Shh, quiet."
"I mean, come on! To get rid of this black territory, we have to deal with the thing in the center, but do you really think that's possible? You saw it too! If you even set foot in there—"
Unfortunately, the soldiers did not trust Marquis Palatio.
Yuman looked at the soldiers.
Their emotions varied, but there was one thing in common.
It was their distrust of Marquis Palatio.
Of course, everyone here knew at least something about Marquis Palatio.
There wasn't a single person in the Allied Kingdoms who didn't know him.
Nevertheless, the reason the soldiers were skeptical wasn’t because of the marquis’s abilities, but because of the black territory.
"Hoo~"
Yuman turned his gaze to the black territory.
Even though only a day had passed, it was already much closer to the Kingdom of Ashtalon than it had been yesterday, striking fear into everyone present.
They had seen it with their own eyes.
How their comrades had ended up just from the simple act of "setting foot" into that black territory.
And Yuman, too, had clearly seen what happened to those who entered.
Blood tears flowed from their eyes, confessions burst from their mouths, and their bodies, as if possessed, stabbed swords into the hearts of their own comrades.
As he recalled those horrific memories, he slowly looked up at the sky.
A massive ship was floating so high up that it looked tiny.
And at that moment.
"Celaime."
"Parkline."
On the outer walls of Ashtalon.
The Red Tower Lord Parkline, who had arrived at dawn today, called out to Celaime.
"Are you all set?"
"Yeah, but what about you? What do you think?"
"What do you mean?"
"This plan. Do you really think it’ll work?"
At Parkline’s question, Celaime looked at the ship floating in the sky.
"Why are you asking that?"
"Even though we're moving according to plan, I still don’t get it."
Parkline recalled what he had heard from Alon during the final meeting this morning.
A mysterious expression appeared on his face.
Of course, he didn’t think Marquis Palatio’s plan was completely nonsensical.
His explanations seemed very convincing, and sometimes Parkline wondered, "How does the marquis know such minute details?"
"Hoo—"
Except for the very first part of the plan he suggested.
Apart from that, the marquis’s plan was solid.
That was an undeniable truth.
However, that plan only worked if the "Sin" at the center of the black territory came all the way here.
In other words, unless the Sin that created the black territory personally came to the location they wanted, the plan was essentially meaningless.
Of course, the marquis did mention a way to draw the Sin out of the black territory.
"Fire magic at a place you can’t even see with your own eyes," he said.
But that method—
To Parkline, it sounded utterly absurd.
That’s why he had thrown that skeptical question at Celaime.
"You think it’s impossible?"
At that reply, Parkline was at a loss for words.
"Rather, I should be asking you—why do you think it's possible?"
Of course, his magical accomplishments were a step below those of Celaime Mikardo, but he was still a mage with his own Origin and the tower lord of the Red Tower.
Because of that, he knew.
Just how ridiculous that sounded.
"It’s impossible. No matter how special the marquis is, creating magic that can cause meaningful damage at a distance where you can’t even see the target is impossible. You know that too, right?"
Even if the magic was somehow realized, that wasn’t the end.
Depending on how long it was maintained, it would consume mana, and the higher the magic’s level and lethality, the greater the mana consumption.
No matter how perfect the structure was, as soon as it became a long-range attack, the array and its nature could be distorted, causing the magic to dissipate.
On top of that, they would have to solve all unpredictable issues in advance for the marquis’s plan to have even a slim chance of success.
"Even if Marquis Palatio uses the divine power we’ve only heard rumors about—"
And so Parkline continued.
"You're right."
"What?"
At Celaime’s calm agreement, Parkline furrowed his brow.
Regardless, Celaime’s voice carried on unbothered.
"I said you’re right. Yes. Magic doesn’t just end at creation. If you don’t pay attention to the mana consumption, you can’t even launch it far in the first place. You also have to consider all the distortions that can occur in that short moment."
Magic isn’t just delicate, after all.
As he added this so casually, Parkline was momentarily dumbfounded.
"But that’s only if we’re talking about an ordinary mage."
"What are you saying?"
Faced with that continuation, he had no choice but to ask back.
"Exactly what I said. It’s something an ordinary mage would have no choice but to consider."
"Are you saying Marquis Palatio is special?"
At that question, Celaime, who had been looking at the sky, turned his head and met Parkline’s eyes, then pointed at the sky with his finger.
"Rather than hearing about it, it’s better to see it for yourself."
He spoke plainly.
At that, Parkline looked up at the sky as if entranced. There, he saw the clear sky and the ship floating in its center.
But, different from what he had always seen—
"...?"
Something strange began to appear.
The sky was slowly twisting.
It was strange.
No, it wasn’t the sky that was strange.
What was twisting—
"Mana phenomenon?"
When mana is released at high output, the surrounding area temporarily distorts.
By itself, this wasn’t something to be particularly surprised about.
If he released mana here, he too could easily create such a phenomenon.
However, the scale of that mana phenomenon—
“Holy—”
It was enormous, as if it could swallow the entire ship floating above the sky.
Parkline involuntarily cursed.
"Truly not ordinary."
Celaime’s slightly amused voice drifted into Parkline’s ears.
At that moment, even the soldiers who had been glaring at the black territory with distrust turned their gaze to the sky.
Their eyes went wide.
There was no longer any room for other emotions.
Only the purest form of shock filled their eyes.
And then—
Alongside countless stars rising into the blue sky, they saw a form that had grown so massive that even the caster could no longer fully control it—so large that it could no longer be called a "needle."
Alon spoke a phrase.
"Bullet of Unfulfilled Wish."
The shape, which had swelled infinitely, began to transform into a spiral.
And then—
with a quiet murmur,
"Memory’s—"
-sniper shot.
Light was fired.
The soldiers’ eyes followed the light that was released.
It fell with an enormous roar so powerful it could swallow even the highest clouds.
That light disappeared beyond the horizon, a place they could not see.
In a fleeting instant— but the soldiers stood blankly, staring beyond the horizon.
Soon after—the light vanished.
As if it had never existed from the start.
In an instant, the world that had shone blindingly bright returned to its original color.
At the moment when subtle questions started to form among the soldiers—
--!
They heard it.
A faint sound.
A heavy but small noise, as if a shell had been fired from far away.
At the same time, they saw it.
The dust rising far beyond the horizon.
And then—
-!!!
A tremendous roar crashed over the soldiers.
Soon, a huge cloud of dust covered the entire horizon, and above that, a towering pillar of dust rose into the sky.
Wriggle~!
While everyone stood frozen in disbelief at this unbelievable sight—
"Th-that’s—!"
"!"
At a soldier’s shout, all the faces around him stiffened in unison.
The black territory that had stained the ground started to writhe all at once.
No, to be exact— it wasn’t the black territory itself that was moving.
The flesh that had lain still under the black territory began gathering as if it had gained intelligence.
Then, threads burst out from a certain point on the black ground.
They started bundling the moving masses of flesh together.
Bundling—
bundling—
and bundling again.
Human flesh and monster flesh— indiscriminately tangled together to form a giant mountain.
Soon, it began to take shape.
Crunch—crack-crack!
Twisted bones pierced out of the flesh and then retreated repeatedly, while the blood of monsters and humans mixed grotesquely to create dark crimson stains.
“Holy—!”
The soldiers panicked, but the mountain of gathered corpses only continued to grow.
At first, it was as tall as the castle walls.
Then as tall as the inner fortress.
And next—
Crack-crack-crack~!!!
It grew even taller, surpassing even the royal castle.
At that overwhelming size, terror and fear once again filled the soldiers’ eyes.
That abominable existence, dripping with dark red and green blood, looked down on the soldiers with an air of contempt—something that should never exist in this world.
"..."
“It’s... even bigger than I imagined.”
“How can such a monstrous thing even exist—!”
Parkline and Yuman each let out voices filled with horror.
And as if responding to the humans’ reactions, it slowly began to lift its massive hand.
A hand covered in grotesquely twisted bones and flesh blocked out the sky.
“R-ru—run—”
At the moment when a panicked soldier instinctively opened his mouth—
From the sky,
It fell.
A massive roar swallowed the hearing of everyone present.
The twisted hand was cleanly severed, and the sun once again shone down on the soldiers.
And then— what the now-deafened soldiers saw— was a giant, ink-colored serpent.
With its jaws locked onto the arm of the monstrous being that had terrified the soldiers, it proudly flaunted its existence—this ink-colored serpent—
—the Receiver, Basiliora.
Had manifested.

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