Among the four major factions in Psychedelia, one of them is the Hundred Ghosts (百鬼).
Alon knew quite a lot about them.
Unlike the Apostles.
The four major factions are groups that inevitably reveal themselves in the mid-ga of Psychedelia.
For high-level players, they introduce a new source of tension beyond just Sin.
In fact, Alon knew quite a lot about the Hundred Ghosts, even among the four major factions.
No, actually, it wasn’t just Alon—any Psychedelia player had no choice but to be the most familiar with the Hundred Ghosts.
By default, the alignnt of the four factions—whether they beco allies or enemies—depends on the player’s choices and the route they take.
Even if they are categorized as enemies.
By selecting the right dialogue options or completing certain essential quests, players can sotis avoid fighting them altogether.
But the Hundred Ghosts was different.
No matter which choices or routes were taken, they always appeared as enemies.
Unlike the other four factions, there was no way to avoid combat with dialogue or quests.
In other words, encountering the Hundred Ghosts always ant a fight.
And since they were one of the four major factions, even their lowest-ranking mbers were incredibly powerful and difficult to deal with.
On top of that, Queen of Hundred Ghosts was so strong that if the player and their party weren’t near max level in the final stages of the ga, the best option was simply to reload the save rather than attempt to fight.
Even setting aside their overwhelming power.
The reason the Hundred Ghosts remained most vividly in every player’s mory was—
“Wow, this is seriously pathetic. Is that all you can do? How boring.”
“I’ll kill them all. From here to there, from there to here—every single one, without exception!”
“You fought Sin? And so what? What does your fight against Sin have to do with my boredom?”
“It’s a festival, a festival—! Kill them all!”
It was because of their utterly destructive personality.
The Hundred Ghosts, and especially their Queen.
They were the embodint of arrogance and recklessness, a “complete lunatic” in the eyes of every player.
They attacked players at any ti, destroyed villages without hesitation, and, depending on the route, even annihilated Ashtalon or Caliban.
Even their reason for destroying an entire Kingdom?
“It just seed like it would be fun.”
—An absolutely absurd justification for entertainnt.
Since they constantly road around committing all kinds of atrocities.
When the Hundred Ghosts first appeared, Alon was extrely on edge.
If the ones standing before him were the the Hundred Ghosts he knew, then there was absolutely no way he would leave this place alive.
However.
“It’s been a while~!”
At the sight of her greeting him with a bright smile.
Alon couldn’t help but fill his mind with countless question marks.
Because this was completely unexpected.
“What…?”
Alon looked at the Queen of Hundred Ghosts, bewildered.
With a radiant smile and vigorously waving her hand as if genuinely happy to see him.
It was an expression that, to anyone watching, looked no different from soone excitedly reuniting with an old friend.
Alon glanced around.
Every single person was staring at him.
Even those who had been indifferently following behind the Queen of Hundred Ghosts just monts ago.
They all had wide eyes, as if they had just witnessed sothing unbelievably bizarre.
“What the—”
Out of habit, he started to say sothing but stopped.
Because he realized that this situation could be an opportunity.
‘Queen of Hundred Ghosts is mistaken.’
Alon was certain—she had the wrong person.
Whether it was a mistake regarding Kalannon, the lightning receiver, or sothing else.
Right now, she was mistaking him for soone else.
Alon had never once encountered the Queen of Hundred Ghosts before.
In fact, it wasn’t even possible for him to have t her.
‘I need to use this.’
Alon swallowed back the words he was about to say.
Honestly, he wanted nothing more than to respond to her greeting with a confused question.
But if he did, and she realized her mistake.
That would an instant death.
No, there was no doubt he would be killed imdiately.
So, after swallowing hard, he spoke.
“It has been a long ti…”
Matching her energy (?), he greeted her back.
Apparently, the Queen of Hundred Ghosts was delighted that Alon responded.
Her face lit up instantly—the change was so dramatic it was almost audible.
The Queen of Hundred Ghosts, who in the ga always looked either bored or irritated, displaying only negative emotions.
Now, she smiled with childlike innocence, as if she didn’t have a single care in the world.
Alon found himself montarily stunned before sothing caught his attention.
‘Her hair is black?’
That was it—Queen’s hair was black.
According to what Alon knew, it was supposed to be white, which raised so questions.
‘Is this a different person?’
He shook his head imdiately.
Aside from the hair color.
Her face was exactly that of the Queen of Hundred Ghosts he had seen in Psychedelia.
‘What’s going on? Why is her hair color different…?’
“Whoa, what’s with the boss smiling? If soone saw this, they’d think—”
BOOOOOM—!!!
…….
Right.
She was definitely the Queen of Hundred Ghosts.
As the blue-skinned man smugly ran his mouth, the Queen of Hundred Ghosts sent him flying with a single punch, shattering the forest as he crashed.
Alon quietly nodded.
Judging by that ruthless brutality, she was exactly the entity he knew.
Just as all his lingering doubts vanished.
“Hmmm~”
In an instant, the Queen of Hundred Ghosts had appeared right in front of Alon.
She had moved so quickly that he hadn’t even noticed.
With a face full of curiosity, as if observing sothing, she stared intently at him.
“Black one.”
She suddenly muttered.
Alon had no idea what she ant, but he could tell it was a question with aning.
His instincts scread that she was testing sothing.
But he couldn’t answer easily.
Because a single wrong answer could an life or death.
Yet, delaying his response for too long would also get him killed, so Alon tried to force himself to speak.
“Uh—”
But he stopped.
Because the expression on her face had changed.
As if she had realized sothing.
The radiant smile from earlier had vanished, replaced by a peculiar look.
Alon felt a sudden sense of danger in his gut.
“So… not yet.”
“?”
Queen murmured to herself so quietly that even Alon, standing right in front of her, couldn’t hear it properly.
Then, she turned her body.
And.
“Let’s go~”
Unlike before, she lazily stretched out her words and began leading her subordinates back into the forest.
“Wait, what? She ca all this way just to leave—?”
At that mont, the blue-skinned man, who had been launched into the forest earlier, rejoined the group, covered in dust.
Even after taking such a devastating blow, he casually scratched his head as if nothing had happened.
Seeing his nonchalant attitude, everyone present started considering him an extraordinary individual.
BOOOM—!!!
Yet, the mont he rejoined the group, Queen punched him again, sending him flying through the air once more.
This ti, he crashed into the forest and destroyed the surroundings.
“See you next ti~”
As if nothing had happened, Hyakki shrugged her shoulders and disappeared into the forest.
And Alon’s party.
“???”
They stood amidst the corpses of the mutated creatures.
Staring blankly at the place where Hyakki had vanished.
***
Right after the Hundred Ghosts disappeared.
Alon began preparing to return to Luxibl Principality, gathering the horn that Kalannon had requested and the black-threaded artifact that Krakscha had carried.
“So this was why you thought it was safe even in the Hundred Ghosts’s territory.”
Reinhardt asked, but Alon remained silent.
The real reason he had assud it would be fine to enter the Hundred Ghosts’s domain.
Was not because of Reinhardt’s speculation.
But rather because of the Hundred Ghosts’s nature.
By default, those creatures rarely moved during the day.
Even if they did, they would only act deep within their own territory.
They wouldn’t bother chasing soone just for briefly stepping near the border.
Yet, despite all that, she showed up and left without doing anything.
Alon hadn’t expected this outco at all.
‘……What the hell is going on?’
Once again, Alon thought about the Queen of Hundred Ghosts.
There were too many strange things.
‘I could’ve sworn she noticed the mistake.’
Her final expression.
It was clear that she had realized sothing.
And yet.
She left without saying anything to Alon.
Not only that, but she even said—
—See you next ti.
‘……What the hell is going on?’
From the mont he got into the carriage, Alon kept thinking about it.
But no matter how much he pondered.
He couldn’t co up with a solid theory.
There just wasn’t enough information to properly grasp the situation.
As his thoughts continued.
The preparations for departure were completed, and Alon boarded the carriage.
“Marquis.”
“What is it…?”
“You look like you’re in pain.”
“……Well, I suppose I am.”
“But you’re a god. Shouldn’t a god be immune to pain?”
Evan’s casual remark made Alon pause.
“……A god?”
“Yeah. The rumors outside are insane. Even the knights of Caliban keep calling you Kalannon.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Otherwise, how else would I know, when I wasn’t even with you?”
“That’s true.”
“So, is it actually true this ti?”
Evan asked as if it were just small talk.
Alon hesitated for a mont.
Then shrugged.
“……About halfway?”
“What kind of answer is that? Either it is or it isn’t!”
“There are… circumstances.”
“And I bet you won’t tell even if I ask, huh?”
“I’ll explain once everything is over.”
“Whoa…….”
Suddenly, Evan’s face was full of admiration.
“……What’s with that expression?”
“I just… I never thought you’d actually tell anything before you died, but now you say you’ll explain later… I’m kind of touched.”
Feeling uncomfortable by the reaction, Alon imdiately changed his mind.
“Forget it. I’m not telling you anything.”
“Hey—why?! I even brought you a gift!”
“A Gift?”
At that, Evan pulled a deer’s antler from his coat and handed it to Alon.
“It’s the antler you ntioned earlier, Marquis.”
“I appreciate it.”
“No need to thank . It’s not like I dug it up myself—I just carried it here.”
The mont Alon received the antler.
“Ah.”
[Oh, good. That’s a relief.]
Alon found himself once again face-to-face with Kalannon, the lightning receiver.
However.
[Don’t ask questions yet, just listen carefully, okay? I don’t have much ti left.]
“…What? All of a sudden?”
[It’s not sudden. I’ve exhausted all my divine power, so I won’t be able to contact you for a while.]
With urgency, she stretched out her small fingers, counting sothing intently, before continuing.
[First of all, I need to tell you this—I used up every bit of divine power I had in that last battle.]
“All of it?”
[Yes, all of it. You probably won’t be able to use any divine power for a while.]
“But I thought divine power accumulates through faith?”
[That’s right. It’s probably regenerating even now. But the numbers aren’t exactly overwhelming, you know? It’ll take so ti to recover. Also… I had to make it a little flashy.]
“…Flashy?”
[Right? I needed a bit of impact if I wanted to stay alive. But honestly, I didn’t use that much. I just made an antler. Well, and maybe a little bit of lightning crackling here and there.]
“…Wait, so that antler was just for decoration?”
[Not just decoration—it’s my lifeline. …Kind of like a desperate struggle to avoid being forgotten…]
Hearing the slightly emotional tone in her voice, Alon asked.
“Is that enough to sustain you?”
[As long as the antler exists as a symbol, I won’t disappear. I made sure it left an impression. Ahem. Anyway, that’s not the main issue.]
Kalannon fixed her gaze on Alon and continued.
[Gather faith again as soon as possible. The sooner you do, the sooner I can properly teach you how to wield divine power.]
“…I’ll try.”
[But! Don’t go stirring up trouble just to gather faith!]
“Why not?”
[There are a few reasons, but we don’t have ti for that now. Instead, I have one more favor to ask.]
“What is it?”
[You know those statues? The ones that are being built in honor of your faith?]
“Hmm.”
Alon nodded, signaling her to go on.
Kalannon hesitated for a mont before speaking cautiously.
[If it’s not too much trouble… Could you add antlers to them?]
“You want to add antlers?”
[I need to survive sohow…]
RUMBLE—
The mont Kalannon sighed, the world around her began to collapse.
[Oh no! Ti’s up! Anyway, please, I’m begging you! This is more important than you think! Please!]
With those rapid-fire pleas, Kalannon vanished completely.
***
“Marquis.”
“…Huh?”
“Why do you suddenly look so dazed?”
Alon blinked, realizing he was back in reality, with Evan looking at him in confusion.
“Add antlers…?”
Staring at the antler in his hands, Alon contemplated sothing.
“That’s… not going to be easy.”
Letting out a quiet sigh, he fell deep into thought.
***
The Next Day.
Without getting a single proper answer from Kalannon, Alon dragged his aching body out of bed at dawn.
The mont he woke up, he headed straight to the audience chamber to et King Pamilono.
Because of Kalannon’s request from the previous day.
Even if it wasn’t an easy task, he couldn’t just ignore it.
“…Still, this won’t be easy.”
Attaching antlers to already completed statues.
It was a difficult request even for Alon, and likely an even bigger burden for those who would have to carry it out.
In essence, it was no different from remaking the statues from scratch.
So, feeling slightly uneasy, Alon finally arrived at the audience chamber.
And there, he saw—
“We greet the Great One, Lord Kalannon.”
The King had stepped down from his throne—
“Ah, please, have a seat.”
And was now bowing deeply, politely offering Alon the throne.
At that mont.
Alon’s head started feeling slightly dizzy again.
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