The red eyes, contrasting with the blue moonlight, settled in the small cat’s body.

The cat’s tail grew longer and slid along the Marquis’s right hand.

Like a snake coiling, the tail wrapped around the hand and quickly reached the ground, then seeped into the shadow created by the blue moon.

Soon,

At the moment the monsters arrived in front of the Marquis,

Crack-!

The black branches that burst out from the Marquis’s shadow pierced through them.

The body of the goblin holding a rusty dagger.

The head of the orc charging with a glaive.

The torso of the gnoll charging with a long spear.

And many other monsters that rushed toward the Marquis were instantly pierced by the black branches, their bodies limp and lifeless.

It was an instantaneous magical manifestation, so quick it was almost impossible to attribute it to a wizard’s magic.

The branches, which had pierced and swept through the monsters in an instant.

“…….”

Once again, when Marquis Palatio muttered something, he immediately attacked the surrounding monsters with all his might.

It was a scene of complete chaos.

Amid the ground-shaking turmoil, soldiers who had been swinging their weapons in fear froze in place, and knights fending off the approaching monsters stared blankly at the air.

■■■■■■-!!

Just as the monsters that had surrounded them started to flee, screaming in terror, and turning away from the castle walls, the knights and soldiers witnessed it.

The huge shadow tree that had grown by absorbing the lives of numerous monsters and the blue moonlight,

And Marquis Palatio beneath that tree.

“……”

As soon as all the monsters fled, the shadow tree vanished.

The monsters impaled by the branches fell to the ground, creating a mountain of corpses,

‘Is this… the wizard who dealt with the Outer Gods…?’

Kiriana, gazing at Marquis Palatio, who was now gently petting the now-cute cat, couldn’t help but feel a distant awe.

At that moment, the wizard who had cast the spell, Alon, said,

“…You suddenly disappeared and came back after hours, how did you manage to cast such a spell?”

“That’s how it happened.”

With a light shrug of his shoulders, he then looked at the cat.

“Blackie… “

[Meow]

“Next time, it would be nice if you consider my mana while casting the spell.”

[Meow-]

The cat, Blackie, who looked somewhat disheartened.

“Still, well done.”

[Meow!]

However, the praise seemed to lift Blackie’s spirits, and he nodded vigorously.

“…I almost died. It was another close call.”

***

The reason Alon was able to use the Unity of Shadows was that he had eventually learned how to use it from Lainisius.

As expected, in order to use the Shadow Dragon, it wasn’t just about memorizing the incantations; a special process had to be followed.

That process was connecting the Shadow Dragon with mana.

Only then could he use the Shadow Dragon’s technique, ‘Tree of Shadows’.

What Alon showed earlier, the Tree of Shadows, wasn’t solely created by the power of the Shadow Dragon; it was a collaboration with his ability to trigger multiple manifestations.

Though the Shadow Dragon used the technique, Alon, who had linked his mana, was the one who manifested the spell, which is why his multiple manifestations also activated normally.

The result was the massive shadow tree he had shown earlier.

Alon glanced down at the Shadow Dragon, now rubbing against his chest.

‘…This is still just the first stage.’

The stages of the Shadow Dragon, as he had heard from Lainisius, were divided into five levels, and the dragon would grow as Alon’s rank increased or by consuming ‘Shadow Stones’.

Alon also grows alongside Blackie, that’s what it means.

Moreover, the Shadow Dragon becomes stronger with each stage, far surpassing the previous one.

Eventually, it is said that, in the later stages, the Shadow Dragon can freely use its powers without needing the strength of its master.

‘…Should I go look for some Shadow Stones?’

Instead of raising his rank through a somewhat ambiguous method, Alon was thinking of feeding Blackie with Shadow Stones to help it grow.

‘If it grows well and removes that spear,’

Alon recalled the proposal Lainisius had made.

[As I said before, the ‘Unity of Shadows’ you asked me about is a spell used by my sealed friend. In other words, this seal was caused by the Shadow Dragon that my close friend dealt with.]

[The seal created by the Shadow Dragon can only be undone by the Shadow Dragon itself. That’s why I gave up on it. The seal was forgotten after my close friend died, and the Shadow Dragon disappeared.]

[But if you, who can now use the spell, are able to, it’s possible.]

[So, let’s make a deal, wizard. If you help the Shadow Dragon grow and free me, I will gladly become your subordinate.]

[I, Gold Dragon Lainisius, am saying this.]

For Alon, there was no real reason to refuse; it was a very good offer.

Therefore,

‘…If I could command the Gold Dragon as a subordinate, wouldn’t my retirement be secured?’

Even at this point, if the Five Great Sins hadn’t appeared, there would have been no problem…

Anyway, Blackie might also become the key to securing his future.

[By the way, it’s a shame. From what I know, Kylrus would have been much better at raising or handling the Shadow Dragon in various ways. But he’s probably no longer in this world.]

‘Kylrus…’

Alon knew that name well.

In fact, he couldn’t not know it.

He had seen it many times when he first encountered Psychedelia as a game. After entering this world, he also met Kylrus in the labyrinth of Lartania.

‘…That goblin was the wizard who created the Unity of Shadows.’

Honestly, there were many parts that didn’t make sense.

The Kylrus Alon knew had spoken some incantations, but those were related to wind magic, not Unity of Shadows.

Most importantly, his appearance was different.

His appearance was clearly not human, but goblin.

Moreover, Alon had always thought of Kylrus as an Outer God, neither a human nor a wizard, and as expected, he appeared as an avatar.

Alon had asked Lainisius about this too, but,

[…I don’t know if that goblin you’re talking about is my close friend or not. I don’t know anything about what happened after he was sealed.]

The Gold Dragon wasn’t sure about that part either.

Still, Alon couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

Though it wasn’t yet the right time, he already knew how to meet Kylrus again, who had vanished by now.

‘If he really is the one who created the spell,’

He would certainly be able to learn from him, not only about magic but also perhaps any methods to enhance the Shadow Dragon.

While Alon was deep in thought,

“Thank you so much, Marquis. I owe you once again.”

Kiriana had come to find him.

She bowed respectfully.

Alon naturally waved his hand.

“I just did what I had to do.”

“……”

Actually, if the monsters hadn’t fled due to the Shadow Dragon’s rank, things could have gotten a little dangerous.

However, he didn’t mention that and, after a brief conversation,

“…The castle walls, you say?”

“Yes, they had been protected by magic all this time.”

Following Kiriana’s gaze, Alon looked at the castle walls.

The walls, which had never been broken before, were now in ruins.

Alon stared at the sight for a while and then noticed something—black mucus dripping from the ruins.

“…!”

He widened his eyes and approached, but the black mucus started to vanish, as if evaporating.

“…”

Soon, the mucus completely disappeared.

Alon finally realized why the castle walls, which were thought to be indestructible, had been destroyed.

No, he couldn’t help but realize it.

He knew the creature that had expelled the black mucus.

“Why… is it here?”

There was something suspicious about it, but it worked out in the end.

Alon, having realized that the Five Great Sins were descending, knew that this was a matter that needed to be dealt with before leaving the border.

“…What’s going on?”

Kiriana, who had followed Alon after his sudden movement, asked.

Alon slowly scanned the castle walls and replied.

“I think I know who caused this.”

The next day, after the repairs on the castle gates were completed, Alon gathered Yuman, Utia, and Kiriana.

“We must deal with Rikrakamur.”

He brought up the name of the abomination that had settled in the north of the border and held one of the Five Great Sins’ artifacts.

***

Gilan Merkiliane was curious about Deus Maccalian and Filian Merkiliane.

More specifically, he was curious about what they were talking about.

His assistant, Kulan, had informed him.

The two had spent six hours chatting joyfully in front of the Marquis’s statue.

In fact, they had been so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn’t even been invited to the evening banquet.

How could his curiosity not be piqued?

Moreover, Deus and his brother Filian had never had a particularly good relationship, not since the Allied Kingdom’s conference.

Late, Gilan invited both of them to the banquet, and soon, he was able to satisfy his curiosity.

“It brings back memories. Marquis was truly majestic back then. He made light in the gray sky and then defeated the tribal god who had been offering human sacrifices in the jungle. Thinking about that moment still gives me chills.”

“Oh~! I wish I had seen it myself… it’s such a regret…”

“No, didn’t you see something I didn’t?”

“That’s true… but even so, I still get chills when I think about it. The appearance of Marquis when those grotesque Outer Gods attacked our territory was truly…”

It seemed as though they were intentionally praising the Marquis as soon as they sat down after a brief greeting.

For a moment, Gilan was bewildered but then smiled as he watched the two of them speaking so familiarly.

Deus Maccalian, the first sword of Caliban, was not someone Gilan was particularly fond of, so he had no desire to get involved with him.

Thus, he occasionally joined in their conversation while enjoying the meal.

But at some point, Gilan realized something.

He realized that he had made a serious mistake.

“…I really wish I could have seen it too. What a shame.”

“Indeed, the sight was… something I would want to show the entire world.”

The dinner had long since ended, yet they were still going on about Marquis Palatio.

For over three hours.

‘How long are they going to keep this up?’

Gilan looked at Filian and Deus with an exhausted expression, but neither seemed to have any intention of stopping.

In fact, it seemed they didn’t care about Gilan’s expression at all.

“……”

Of course, Gilan did feel grateful to Marquis Palatio.

If it hadn’t been for him, the Merkiliane family would have disappeared from history, and he would have lost his precious brother as well.

But even so,

‘Isn’t this a bit much?’

Thinking carefully, Gilan said,

“…I think I’ll get up now.”

In the end, he couldn’t endure it and stood up from his seat.

It wasn’t polite to leave before the invited guests, but he had endured as much as he could.

His head was spinning.

After hearing the same story retold in different ways for hours from Deus and Filian, he was on the verge of believing that Marquis Palatio might be mistaken for a god.

Thus,

Gilan chose to escape and, collapsing, tried to sleep, which was yesterday.

Yes, yesterday.

In other words, just the night before.

It should have been.

“…What?”

“Both of them are still talking.”

The next morning, upon waking up and hearing Kulan’s report, Gilan began to feel a growing fear toward the two men.

‘Are they insane?’

A rational doubt flashed through his mind.

It had been exactly 17 hours since Deus had met Filian.