Raising Villains the Right Way

The events that happened today to the ‘Gazing Void’ had been a succession of situations that were rather difficult to understand.

But ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍without a doubt, the most confusing moment was right now.

To be precise, from the moment the human before his eyes—

No, ‘that thing’—had appeared before Void.

[....Why?]

A hollow question slipped from the mouth of Gazing Void.

He had never once assumed this situation.

No, it would be more accurate to say he hadn’t even considered it.

After all, ‘that thing’ had never revealed itself, at least not before his death.

In the first place, he had never once seen it move.

But there was something else that truly shocked him.

Even so, he thought it was possible for that thing to move.

After all, he himself had also attempted a different strategy this time based on his past failure.

In other words, while the fact that ‘that thing’ had appeared now could be surprising, it wasn’t something to panic over.

Yet despite that, the reason Void lost his words was—

“Why are you so surprised? Is it because I exist right now? Or is it—”

—because he,

“Because I’m human?”

had appeared before Void as a ‘human.’

Fundamentally, divine-blood changes its form slightly at each stage.

At stage one, it takes a form close to its essence.

From stage two to stage four, it transforms into a human form.

In that sense, the being before him should have been infinitely close to a human form.

Because he was the only divine-blood who had reached a high level of Heavenly Law Creation and approached omnipotence.

At this point, even more than the four great factions that wielded the strongest influence.

And yet, the one before him—was not the ‘divine-blood closest to omnipotence’ that Void knew.

Nor was he a divine-blood stronger than the four great factions.

What stood before him was merely a human.

A mere human that divine-bloods regarded as nothing more than tools to gather faith.

And because he couldn’t understand that at all—

[-]

Void let out a hollow laugh, but he—no, Nataman—spoke with a smile.

“Looks like that’s the case.”

[...............Have you finally gone mad? You abandoned all your power and returned to being a mere human? You threw away that power?]

“Does it look strange?”

[Look at yourself now. Even if it’s an inferior version, the omnipotent power that twisted laws is nowhere to be found, and you’ve become nothing more than a mere human.]

Void sneered as if it were absurd.

But Nataman, without wiping the smile from his lips, said,

“Yeah, that’s right. You could say I lost everything, just like you said. But it couldn’t be helped. I—”

Swish—

“In the end, I was captivated by possibility.”

—he uttered incomprehensible words.

[What?]

Nataman suddenly asked a question.

“Do you know the difference between divine-blood and humans?”

[······]

“Divine-bloods are perfect beings. They are beings close to perfection, possessing privileges incomparable to humans, able to reach omnipotence by wielding laws permitted by the ‘truth’ of this world and using this continent.”

[······.]

“In contrast, humans have nothing. They live barely about a hundred years and are merely tools used by divine-bloods, nothing more and nothing less.”

[You know that well.]

“Right. I used to think the same way. Until I saw Star Eater—no, Alon.”

At the name Nataman mentioned, Void unconsciously frowned.

Back then and now, it was a name he didn’t want to hear.

But as if Void’s feelings didn’t matter at all, Nataman laughed cheerfully.

“Did you know? He has always been an ordinary human. Just an ordinary human who is nothing more than a tool for divine-blood. But what about the path that human has walked?”

As if the more he thought about it, the more enjoyable it became, the smile on Nataman’s lips deepened.

“He achieved victory against an Outer God with the body of a mere human. After that, against another Outer God, then against a True Mage, and then against an apostle.”

And after that, against divine-bloods.

“Every single one of those was an absurd battle. The ones Alon faced were always stronger than him, and every opponent he sought to defeat was an unreasonable existence.”

[............What are you trying to say?]

“It means he grew and overcame adversity. Unlike us, who have already reached perfection and can no longer grow.”

Back then, and even now.

Void let out a scoff.

Because he realized what Nataman was trying to say.

[So you’re saying you went mad over that pathetic possibility shown by Star Eater and threw everything away.]

Beyond a hollow laugh, Void now even mocked him.

However.

“No, no. You’ve got the order wrong.”

[What….?]

“I didn’t throw everything away because I went mad over some trivial possibility.”

Nataman’s deep, abyss-like black eyes gleamed.

“I gained possibility again only after throwing everything away. You don’t know it yet, but—”

With a deep smile,

“‘Possibility’ is far more important than you can imagine.”

That was what he said.

Void frowned.

He didn’t like the way that man, who had become nothing more than a mere human, spoke as if he knew everything.

……No, strictly speaking, it was what he said that he didn’t like.

As if he were giving hints that the path he himself was walking was wrong.

As if those words—spoken by someone who had already arrived ahead—might be the truth, denying him.

[....Fine. That may be so. As you said, possibility itself might be important.]

Grin—

[But what a pity.]

“Why?”

[Because that possibility won’t be able to unfold.]

Gazing Void decided to kill him.

He didn’t know why he was here, but killing a mere human was an extremely easy task for Void.

Therefore—

[I’ll kill you, gather power, and kill Star Eater as well as that monstrous bitch.]

Twisting his lips, Void stepped forward and activated his law to crush the human before him. Even if he had fallen to being just a human, he knew who that being was, so he had to be cautious.

And the law he activated—instantly dyed his body in abyss-like darkness.

His law was not flashy.

Nor was it specialized for attack.

Yet the reason he had reached stage four was because his law was absurd.

His law, which dyed his entire body in black abyss, was simple and clear.

‘To possess resistance sufficient to nullify any attack.’

In other words, from the moment he used his law, until it was released, he could ignore any attack.

Thus, he stepped forward to tear his opponent apart—and soon noticed it.

Nataman, who had been standing still, was creating a single magic sphere above his hand.

At a glance, it looked feeble.

Its small size seemed only enough to kill something like an orc, and although its crackling force seemed somewhat strong, that was all.

What Nataman had created was nothing more than an ordinary mana sphere.

Yet, with a satisfied smile,

tap—

Nataman lightly fired that mana sphere.

And Void, casually raising his hand to deflect it, felt a sense of dissonance.

It was strange.

Void had clearly raised his hand to knock away that pitiful mana sphere.

But oddly, the mana sphere disappeared.

The very moment he raised his hand.

The instant he felt that something was wrong—

[Ku, luhk?]

Void saw red blood flowing from his mouth.

Blood flowing down along the black abyss.

And only then did he realize.

The mana sphere had not disappeared.

It had pierced through his body.

[Ka-hak—!]

With his heart pierced, Void collapsed.

His eyes were still filled with confusion, unable to understand.

At that moment—

“You don’t need to worry too much about that part.”

Nataman spoke.

His abyss-like black eyes gleaming,

“Because I’m already growing.”

He waved his hand toward the fallen abyss.

And with that, in the night sky where only the Blue Moon had existed, stars began to appear.

From one to two.

“Did you know? Among the laws I created for my believers, there’s one called ‘Breath of the Socks-Wearer.’”

From two to four.

“The effect is simple: ‘It applies the opponent’s defense that touches the magic equally to me.’”

From four to eight.

“Just looking at it like this, it’s not much of an ability in this situation. The incomplete law I created consumes an absurd amount of mana unlike the laws granted by ‘truth,’ and unfortunately, I can’t handle that mana.”

From eight to eighteen.

“But I told you, didn’t I? I’m growing.”

From eighteen to thirty-six.

“What if I became able to ‘reverse’ that law itself?”

[······!!]

From thirty-six, to countless stars filling the sky.

Void looked at Nataman.

He was still smiling.

Still smiling as he said—

“All of this became possible because I became human. Rebuilding magic, learning laws, and even going to the next stage—this all became possible thanks to Alon.”

He spoke with faint heat.

And at that sight, Void felt a strangely bizarre obsession.

Unable to understand, he opened his mouth—

[...............What exactly do you want from Star Eater—]

—but unfortunately, Void could not hear the answer.

—!!!

At that moment, the falling stars poured down from the sky, completely erasing his body from this world. As if he had never existed.

Yet despite that, Nataman, who had been quietly lost in thought, said—

“There’s only one thing I want. That he keeps growing and growing and growing,”

as if even thinking about it brought him joy,

“and at the final moment, fights the grown me. That’s what I want. So—”

Filling his abyss-like black eyes with a smile,

“Alon must not die. He has to die by my hands. As a trial for me. Because he must gift me omnipotence.”

He whispered so.

“So Alon, at the very least, absolutely cannot—Even if this world is destroyed. Alon, at the very least, absolutely.”

Soon, the ‘black eyes’ moved his body.

And with that—no one remained in the territory.

***

From the next day, Alon set out from the west of the Empire to return once more to the Allied Kingdom Alliance.

In truth, he still had many things left to do in the east.

As the Seeker had said, aside from obtaining laws from the Father of Maggots and the eastern temple, he also remembered what the wanderer had said before.

‘He told me to meet the one who peers in.’

Moreover, he remembered that when the divine-bloods fell, he had been told to come to the far east.

Originally, he thought it might be better to check everything before returning, but soon gave up that thought.

It was because he had left Palantio for far too long.

Of course, if asked whether it made sense to care about that now, he had nothing to say.

From the beginning, he had never stayed in his territory much, past or present.

Moreover, there were many in the territory whom Alon could trust with work.

Even so, it was true that he had been away for too long right after becoming king, so Alon decided to return to the Allied Kingdom Alliance immediately.

Thus, after setting out, Alon took a month to cross the west and reached the eastern border, and as he approached, wondering whether he would be able to enter peacefully—

“Oh, you’ve arrived.”

“Your Highness?”

—for some reason, he encountered Serdea Polantisia, who had been waiting for him.

“I came to hear your answer to my proposal.”

With those words.

“…….”

Alon began to feel a chill run down his back.