In conclusion, flying through the sky with the combined effort of Basiliora and Blackie was, in many ways, better than Alon had expected.

First of all, it drastically reduced travel time.

Part of it was because he normally moved at a leisurely pace, but still—what usually took an entire day to reach had been covered in less than two hours.

The speed was incredible, but thanks to Blackie carefully supporting his body, both safety and stability were guaranteed.

At first, he had been worried he might fall.

There were a few minor inconveniences as well, but they hardly felt like drawbacks compared to the advantages.

However—

there was one thing that hit Alon far too strongly.

And that was—

[Hm hm— let’s descend now.]

“Just get down already......!”

—cold so intense it made even Alon, who rarely swore, let a curse slip from his mouth...!

As he felt himself gradually nearing the ground, Alon let out a sigh of relief.

His whole body was trembling.

‘At the beginning, it was manageable.’

At the very start, it really had been tolerable.

The wind had been cold, but his coat was enough to deal with it.

But after about thirty minutes, it reached a level his coat couldn’t handle, so he immediately used a shield.

He had judged that a shield would be enough to block the wind.

And naturally, the shield did block the wind.

The problem, however, was Alon’s mana hole.

By now, the duration of Reverse Heavens had increased significantly, so he hadn’t been consciously aware of it, but his innately small mana hole couldn’t sustain a shield for more than an hour.

Using Reverse Heavens here wasn’t ideal either, since he had nowhere meaningful to spend the rest of his mana afterward.

So in the end, he had come all this way like this.

Thud—!

While Alon was still shivering, Basiliora’s body touched the ground.

At the same time, the black armor rapidly disappeared from its body.

And as if its time had run out, Basiliora began to shrink, emitting a white glow.

[Hm hm— ah, my apologies. I got too excited. I’ll drive more safely next time.]

Now fully returned to its smaller form, it first wore an extremely pleased expression—

then cautiously glanced at Alon.

As if thinking, What if I’m not allowed to fly again...?

[Qyu—]

Blackie shook its head at Basiliora as if finding it ridiculous.

‘...How am I supposed to get back now?’

“Lord Alon?!”

Just as Alon began to feel dread at the thought of having to return the same way, Sili came running toward him.

“!”

At that sight, Alon suddenly reached a profound realization.

He quickly stepped toward her and called her name.

“Sili.”

Caught off guard by the sudden, serious tone, Sili hesitated for a moment.

“......Yes.”

But then she nodded firmly, her expression turning serious.

However—

“You’re a mage, correct?”

“...Excuse me?”

“You’re a mage, right?”

“Uh... yes, I am, but right now I’m a Saintess—”

“What tier are you?”

“I’m third tier, but—”

At the rapid-fire questions, confusion crept into her face.

Meanwhile, despite his expression remaining neutral, the atmosphere around Alon shifted sharply.

“Sili. Don’t you want to fly?”

“......What?”

“No— you have to fly.”

He said it decisively.

“??”

To Sili, it was nothing but a sudden and baffling statement.

A few hours later—

“Hmm— I feel like he should be arriving soon.”

“Yeah. As long as he didn’t crash somewhere, he should be back by now.”

Just as Penia and Evan were scanning the sky—

Crackle—! Boom—!

From far away, red lightning burst, followed by the sound of thunder.

The two realized it at once.

“Ah,”

“He’s back.”

That Alon had returned.

Before long, beyond the mountain ridge, Basiliora’s body came into view, drifting through black clouds as it °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° approached Palantia.

“We saw it when he left, but still—”

“...It really does look kind of villainous.”

“Right?”

For once, Evan and Penia were in complete agreement about Basiliora’s overwhelming “presence.”

Soon after, Basiliora descended to the ground.

And—

“You’re back. Hmm, but Sili?”

“Mm?”

Sili stood there, her usual bright smile gone, her expression oddly complicated.

In contrast—

“Finally made it back.”

Alon stepped onto the ground with a thoroughly satisfied expression.

“?”

Questions rose on Evan and Penia’s faces.

####

Right after arriving in Palantia with Sili—

the first thing Alon did was report the test run to Reinysius.

“Hmm— I see. So that was the issue.”

“At this rate, I’d freeze to death riding it.”

“I see.”

Reinysius nodded as if it made perfect sense.

“I’ll make something that can maintain a shield for a longer duration. It won’t take long.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

This time, Reinysius looked at Sili standing beside him.

“And this is—”

“Sili.”

“Hello.”

At Alon’s introduction, Sili gave a small bow.

Seeing Reinysius’s puzzled expression, Alon added,

“Do you remember what we discussed last time?”

“Hmm?”

“The part about automation.”

“Ah.”

As if recalling it, Reinysius let out a short exclamation.

“You said you wanted to examine that ability in detail, didn’t you?”

That was another reason Alon had brought Sili.

He wanted Reinysius’s help with automating the distribution of blessings.

...Originally, he had planned to bring her along anyway.

“I see—”

Curiosity clearly piqued, Reinysius observed Sili intently.

“Interesting.”

“Do you understand anything?”

“Can you give me some time? Looking at your divine power and hers, I think I have something worth considering.”

After finishing his conversation with Reinysius, Alon returned to the office.

[Kuhahahahaha—! They all looked up to me!]

[Qyu—]

“Looked more like they were afraid.”

[What nonsense!! That was admiration! What would you know, having never been admired in your life! I may look like this now, but I was once a god!]

The scene that greeted him—

was Basiliora boasting loudly,

Blackie looking at it like it was ridiculous,

Evan responding half-heartedly with no real interest,

and Penia writing documents as if none of it concerned her at all.

A somewhat chaotic atmosphere.

But only for a moment.

“Lord Alon.”

“Sili.”

At Sili’s call, Alon finally felt a bit awkward.

“My apologies. You must have had things to do, yet I brought you here so abruptly.”

“No! There’s no need to apologize! I’m actually really glad I could help!”

Unlike earlier, Sili answered energetically.

“I appreciate you saying that. For now, stay here tonight. I’ll take you back first thing tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

Nodding vigorously, Sili soon spoke again.

“By the way, Lord Alon... may I ask you one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Um— that thing from earlier... are you planning to keep using it from now on?”

For some reason, her eyes were faintly shining.

Alon tilted his head slightly, then nodded. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

“Most likely. Why do you ask?”

Sili cleared her throat lightly.

“It just seems like good timing.”

“Timing?”

“Yes!”

“......For what?”

Alon couldn’t follow.

“Are you going to Divine Land tomorrow?”

“That’s the plan, but—”

“Then I’ll show you tomorrow!”

Unlike him, Sili wore a confident smile.

The next day.

With Reinysius’s help, Alon obtained an artifact that could maintain its charge for over three hours.

This time, he brought Penia and Evan along as well and departed for Divine Land.

“...Yeah, if we couldn’t block the wind, we really would’ve frozen to death.”

“Seriously—”

Both of them gave similar impressions.

Before long, they arrived at Divine Land.

For some reason, the faith directed at him felt even deeper than before as Alon stepped into the tent at the center.

And—

“?”

He discovered something that hadn’t been there last time.

A staircase leading underground.

“......What is this?”

Alon asked, clearly puzzled.

Sili smiled and answered,

“We used to keep working above ground, but now there are just too many people.”

Normally, when there are more people, wouldn’t the territory just expand outward...? the thought crossed his mind—

but for now, Alon simply followed Sili underground.

Soon, a massive cavern revealed itself.

“This... in just half a year?”

“Wow......”

“......No, when did something like this even get built?”

Evan and Penia were impressed.

Alon himself stood there, stunned.

Seeing their reactions, Sili let out a small laugh.

“It was made using the blessing you granted, Lord Alon. Though I wasn’t the one who used it.”

“My blessing?”

“Yes!”

If someone succeeded in gaining faith on their own and acquired abilities from it, then it was certainly possible.

Accepting that, Alon looked around with interest.

Then—

as his gaze lowered—

he froze.

Because—

“Sili, what is that?”

“It’s a statue of you, Lord Alon!”

“......”

A statue stood at the center of the vast cavern.

Of course, statues themselves were nothing new to him anymore.

But even so—

the reason Alon fell silent was—

“Uh......”

“It’s... really big, isn’t it?”

The statue before him was so enormous it could be called a colossus.

Silence fell over the cavern.

“......Sili.”

“Yes.”

“What does that statue have to do with me riding Basiliora?”

Recalling what she had said yesterday, Alon asked.

Sili clapped her hands together.

“That’s exactly why I brought you here, Lord Alon!”

“An explanation?”

“Yes! I think it’ll be easier to understand if you see it rather than hear about it!”

“The statue?”

“No. The ability I received from you this time.”

“Ah.”

At her words, Alon let out a small exclamation.

Come to think of it, he had only heard that her ability had awakened—he hadn’t seen it himself.

As Alon gathered his thoughts—

Sili had already gone down and was standing in front of the statue.

“Hoo—”

She let out a deep breath and began to focus.

Woooooong—!!!

At the same time, a familiar divine power burst from her body.

How long had Alon, Evan, and Penia watched in silence?

The immense amount of power pouring out of Sili was suddenly drawn into the colossal statue.

And then—

they saw it.

Rumble—!!!

The massive statue—

which had clearly been nothing more than stone—

began to move with a thunderous sound,

slowly spreading both arms to the sides in a gesture of boundless benevolence.

And witnessing that overwhelming sight—

“......What is that?”

Alon felt a fear he couldn’t quite understand.