Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 17

Episode 17

Even Aum, their ally, was astonished by the sight, causing a slight delay in issuing commands.

He shouted to the Nord warriors stationed at the ballistae [large, ancient crossbows].

“Fire!”

*Thung!*

With a heavy thud, massive bolts, like giant spears, shot out in the blink of an eye.

The high speed of the charging skeleton cavalry met the incoming ballista bolts head-on.

*Kwajeek!*

The skeletons’ armor cracked, and the bolt tips forced their way through the gaps.

The bolts didn’t completely penetrate the skeletons’ bodies, but they lodged there, which was enough.

Dozens of skeleton cavalrymen couldn’t withstand the impact and tumbled from their skeletal steeds.

“N-Now’s our chance! Encircle them!”

“Without their mobility, we have the advantage!”

“Overwhelm them with numbers!”

The Nord people, like a swarm, rushed in and mercilessly hacked at the fallen skeletons with swords and axes.

Dozens of strikes later, the skeletons were smashed to pieces and slowly dissipated.

After dozens of their comrades were destroyed in this way, the remaining skeleton cavalry seemed enraged and gnashed their teeth as they retreated to their main camp.

“Ballistae? Using siege weaponry…! Haha! Interesting!”

Loki’s eyes glowed red with interest.

Even though ballistae have slow reloading speeds and lower accuracy, they possess long range and great power.

It was only natural that the skeleton cavalry couldn’t withstand a direct hit from such ballistae.

Charging without forming a wedge formation would not only result in a loss of mobility but also lead to encirclement and pointless annihilation.

“A second wave of skeleton warriors… no, that would be too much.”

Skeleton warriors with greatswords had excellent attack power but were weak in defense.

If ballistae were fired at them, they would likely lose more than half of their forces before even getting close.

“Then… we’ll have to go all at once.”

Loki moved the rook, a piece shaped like a castle wall [in chess, representing strategic defense].

Then, the skeleton shieldbearers from the left and right flanks stepped forward, gripping their massive shields and forming a wall.

Behind them, the skeleton warrior squad lined up with their greatswords.

They began to advance.

“Aim!”

“Fire everything when they’re in range!”

The Nord people cheered, their morale boosted by repelling the skeleton cavalry.

The ballistae aimed at the approaching undead.

When they were within range, the ballistae fired with a *thung!*, the sound shaking the chariots.

The massive bolts flew towards the skeleton shieldbearers at the front, but they were all deflected by the shields, which shimmered with a faint dark light.

“……!”

The massive shields were only slightly pushed back by the impact of the bolts, not allowing even the slightest scratch.

“This is insane! How can siege weaponry be blocked by shields?!”

It was as if they had become steel walls; the colliding bolts were bent or shattered.

-*Kuaaaaaak!*

As the skeleton shieldbearers screamed, hundreds of long spears sprouted from the shields like thorns.

The spear blades extended out from the small gaps in the shields, covering their bodies.

Unbreakable shields, hundreds of spear blades resembling a hedgehog.

The advancing might of the simultaneously moving undead legion was beyond words.

Impregnable even in a head-on confrontation.

A moving fortress!

That’s how it appeared to the Nord people.

The Nord people stepped back, intimidated by the steadily approaching undead, despite their slow speed.

“…Don’t be afraid! They don’t have cavalry now! We’ll win in close combat!”

One of the chieftains shouted, drawing his sword.

“Charge! Crush them head-on!”

“Waaaaa!”

“W-Wait a minute! Everyone stop! There’s no way we can break through something that siege weaponry couldn’t!”

Aum urgently issued the order, but it was drowned out by the roar.

The Nord people, caught up in the madness of war, were not facing reality.

Especially since they were in high spirits, feeling confident after gaining the upper hand against the skeleton cavalry earlier.

As one person confidently charged forward, the remaining Nord people blindly followed.

Ignoring the desperate cries of the commander-in-chief behind them!

“Damn it! Listen to the orders! Ugh! I can’t control them! This is why the Nord people are called barbarians with muscles for brains! Damn it!”

The skeleton shieldbearers’ eyes glowed as they watched those charging towards them.

The skeletons pulled back their pike spears. And when the Nord people came within range, they thrust them forward with all their might.

*Poong!*

With a sound like the air exploding, blood splattered everywhere.

The skeletons quickly retrieved their spears, stabbing and retrieving them repeatedly in the blink of an eye.

Each time, blood droplets rained down in all directions.

“What?! What’s going on?”

The charging Nord people suddenly began to retreat.

Every time the skeletons thrust their spears, humans ‘exploded’ as if hit by a siege hammer.

“…M-Monstrous bastards!”

“Everyone fall back! Not head-on!”

Someone shouted, realizing that breaking through head-on was impossible.

“A-Aim for the flanks!”

The Nord people approached the left and right flanks, but even those areas began to be stained with blood.

*Seogeok!*

The bodies of the Nord people were split in two and scattered.

The skeleton warriors raised their greatswords, cutting down the Nord people.

The leading skeleton warrior extended his hand as if provoking the Nord people who had hesitated to charge.

He wiggled his fingers, encased in black gauntlets, and arrogantly raised his head.

It seemed like an invitation to come at him anytime.

“U-Uwaaaaaak!”

“Run away!”

The Nord people, terrified, began to flee without looking back.

Aum let out a bitter laugh at the sight.

“Damn it, how much blood have we shed because of this! I clearly emphasized following orders before the battle…!”

This was Aum’s first time commanding so many Nord people.

It seemed that controlling the Nord people, who were quick-tempered and acted before thinking, was quite challenging.

“Everyone, come back! Reform the ranks! Charging in meaninglessly will only make you prey!”

Aum shouted until his throat was sore.

The Nord people who heard Aum’s words barely managed to return to the ranks.

But those who didn’t hear him were trapped in endless fear and deserted the ranks.

They had deserted.

Aum, feeling increasingly overwhelmed by the control of the Nord people, gritted his teeth and glared at the approaching undead legion.

“Still, their mobility is low. If we keep our distance, they won’t be able to approach. There’s a way to attack them if it’s not close combat! But….”

Aum looked at Loki’s formation in the distance.

For some reason, the skeleton archers and assassins were simply maintaining their formation, only carrying Loki’s palanquin [a covered litter or seat carried by poles].

Aum would have been greatly flustered if Loki had moved even a few of the skeleton shieldbearers and archers, but he was bothered by the fact that Loki was deliberately sending his soldiers one by one.

‘What’s his plan…?’

Currently, Aum had about 100 skeleton shieldbearers in front of him, with 50 skeleton warriors behind them.

Even though the skeleton cavalry had returned to the main camp to regroup, if he could successfully attack the undead forces attacking now, the remaining archers and assassins would not be able to face the 5,000 Nord people.

The outcome depended on how he commanded these forces now.

‘What is he thinking? Does he have a hidden card?’

If someone else were deliberately dispersing their forces like this, he would laugh at them as a foolish commander.

But Aum had faced him directly and couldn’t help but feel uneasy about his absurd strategies, as if he was doing it to stir things up.

‘…Is he testing me? How I’ll react? Or… is he testing something else?’

It was as if a great god was looking down on struggling humans and enjoying the show.

Yes, maybe he was simply enjoying a ‘game.’

“He’s overflowing with confidence? How laughable!”

Aum looked at Kudan.

‘Kudan could… break through that formation… but I can’t risk losing Kudan here! Kudan must be used to kill the demon!’

Aum gritted his teeth and reached out his hand.

“Perr! Lead the chariots and aim for the flanks and rear! No matter how strong they are, they’ll be useless without shields!”

Perr nodded and climbed onto a chariot, pulling the reins of the horses.

The chariot unit circled around with excellent mobility and quickly penetrated the flanks of the skeletons.

The movement of the wheels scattered the snow on the ice, creating a fog that obscured vision.

But only for a moment. As the fog made of snow gradually subsided, Perr spoke to the Nord warrior aiming the small ballista.

“Everyone, aim properly! Make sure you don’t accidentally hit our allies on the other side… huh?”

Perr tilted his head, looking at the gradually clearer undead formation.

The undead were staring directly at the chariot unit, their red eyes glowing.

At that moment… something flew and pierced the body of the warrior operating the ballista.

“…A spear?”

Perr was so shocked that he turned his head to look in the direction the spear had been thrown.

In the cleared fog… the skeleton warriors, who should have been holding swords, were holding spears, and on their backs were huge containers filled with spears.

“…They’re not just swordsmen?!”

As Perr’s horrified cry echoed, the skeleton warriors simultaneously pulled out the javelins they were carrying on their backs.

The handles of the spears they held crackled and slightly broke.

And they threw the spears with all their might.

They were all crude spears made by sharpening trees, but as skeleton warriors wielding 2-meter-long greatswords, the power of the javelins was tremendous.

The chariots were overturned by the spears they threw, and other chariots following behind were swept away as well.

It was a bonus that the Nord people were hit by the spears and knocked away.

“D-Dangerous! We shoot too! Don’t give the enemy a chance to throw spears!”

The ballistae were aimed at the skeleton warrior squad.

And the barrage began!

The ballistae fired bolts, and the skeleton warriors threw javelins.

As time passed, the number of chariots greatly decreased.

The skeleton warriors were also mostly destroyed or dissipated, but they did not forget their mission until the very end.

Even with their heads shattered, limbs crushed, and bolts embedded in their bodies, the undead threw javelins until they were on the verge of ‘disappearing.’

“…What’s going on?”

Aum couldn’t see the situation inside properly because of the dust from the chariots and the huge shield wall created by the skeleton shieldbearers. But he couldn’t help but grit his teeth at the overturned chariots that he occasionally saw in the distance.

To think they would use javelins for ranged attacks…!

“Then… we’ll strike the king!”

Under Aum’s command, the chariot unit ignored Loki’s vanguard and headed straight for the main camp.

As they aimed the ballistae at Loki, who was sitting on the palanquin, the skeleton archers came forward.

In front were crossbows, and behind them were longbowmen.

They drew their bowstrings as they watched the approaching chariot unit.

“…What? Those guys! Surely not at this distance…?”

At the same time as someone’s panicked voice, countless arrows rained down.

The skeleton archer’s skill, [Penetration].

A skill that greatly increased the user’s range, accuracy, and ignored 10% of the opponent’s defense!

The running chariots were riddled with arrows and overturned.

“Damn it-! Do you think I’ll back down after coming this far! I’ll give you at least one hit!”

The chariot led by Perr cut through the flying arrows. And he aimed the ballista at Loki and fired, but…!

*Kkang-!*

With the sound of striking hard steel, the ballista bolt was blocked by a dark, transparent wall.

Loki, who was riding on the palanquin, raised his crude staff, creating a circular, transparent wall around him.

“Defense magic?! Such a cheat…!”

As Perr cursed, the chariot he was riding was hit by an arrow and overturned, and Perr rolled onto the ice.

A cracking sound echoed, and Perr slumped on the icy road.