Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 113

Player as a Constellation – 113

Episode 113

Bang!

A booming sound echoed.

To the ears of the Elves, who were accustomed to hearing the faintest sounds in the quiet forest, such a roar was incredibly jarring.

‘Focus!’

Among the Node soldiers and Ronia’s revolutionary army, a Dark Elf clad in leather armor and wielding a bow and arrows was present.

Sallet Harness.

She infiltrated the battlefield.

She watched as the massive rocks from the catapults crashed against the towering walls and shattered.

The magnificent and awe-inspiring sight made her feel daunted, but she didn’t back down.

She believed that this war might have started because of her.

Therefore, it was only right that she be there for its conclusion.

However, she hadn’t informed Loki about her participation.

He would surely try to keep her out of this war for her own sake.

But—.

‘Ash Ronia.’

The man who had demanded her surrender.

The puppet of the Holy Order.

She wanted to capture him with her own hands.

She took a step forward, heading towards Ronia’s royal capital, Lost.

***

“…Ugh.”

Loki sat askew on a makeshift throne, his head resting on the back of his hand as he stared at the outer gate.

“…It won’t open?”

The letter had stated that they would open the outer gate and requested support.

But judging from the lack of any response….

“Is it a lie?”

‘Halloom wouldn’t deceive me.’

“Well, no matter.”

Loki stared at the scrap of paper in his hand before burning it.

“Originally, I was planning to attack tomorrow morning… but since things have turned out this way, ending it quickly wouldn’t be bad either.”

It was as Loki spoke so casually.

The Asgard soldiers guarding Loki widened their eyes and stepped back.

“Catapult incoming!”

“Everyone, dodge…!”

The soldiers hurriedly looked at Loki.

Loki showed no sign of moving. With their lord sitting still, the soldiers guarding him couldn’t help but feel flustered.

They couldn’t forcibly drag him away.

But they couldn’t just dodge and leave him behind.

The Asgard soldiers, watching the catapult fly towards them, squeezed their eyes shut.

Their lord might be safe, but they would be turned into minced meat.

“…Could Kudan break through the outer gate?”

As Loki muttered to himself, the shadow of a beast rose from within him and shattered the massive boulder.

Though stone fragments flew everywhere, they were manageable enough to block with a shield.

The Asgard soldiers quickly formed a shield wall to deflect the rocks and sand, preventing them from hitting Loki, and hastily retreated.

The synchronized movement was a testament to their extreme training.

‘…My heart skipped a beat.’

The Asgard soldiers who had blocked the debris with their shields inwardly sighed in relief.

“Block the catapults! Magic corps…!”

At the knight’s command, the royal palace mages belonging to the Ronia army quickly stepped forward.

Robed and staff-wielding, they chanted spells towards the sky.

A barrier formed in the sky, blocking the fireballs launched by the catapults.

Loki narrowed his eyes at the sight.

“…Everyone, snipe the mages. The moment they block the catapults, snipe them simultaneously.”

The ballistae [large, powerful crossbows] mounted on the chariots simultaneously targeted the mages with their staves and robes.

As the mages raised their staves to block the catapults, Per shouted.

“Now!”

The chariots shook as bolts were fired.

The bolts that flew simultaneously pierced through the bodies of not only the mages but also the surrounding soldiers, sending them flying.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go-!”

The wheels of the siege towers rolled towards the outer walls.

The soldiers on the siege tower platforms, their blue eyes gleaming within their helmets, slammed their maces onto the floor.

They were intoxicated with the joy of battle, completely thrilled.

For them, there was no greater pleasure than proving themselves through hunting.

“Si, siege towers! Fire arrows!”

Ronia archers aimed fire arrows at the siege towers. But in the darkness of the night, there was no better target than the enemy holding flaming arrows.

Node archers took aim.

“Fire!”

The Ronia archers were simultaneously sniped. The surviving archers desperately fired fire arrows at the siege towers, but even those failed to ignite the towers.

“What…!”

As the Ronia army looked on in shock, Loki licked his lips.

“It’s lumber processed in Valhalla Palace. There’s no way a tower could fall to such flames.”

A material as hard as rock, resilient, and even fireproof.

A processed wood with a strength that couldn’t be found anywhere else on the continent.

“Ugh…!”

“Just a little further!”

Asgard soldiers on ropes connected to hooks reached the outer walls.

The soldiers’ attacks were divided to prevent them from reaching the walls, and the already difficult siege tower defense lost its strength.

Over a dozen siege towers reached the outer walls, opening their massive maws.

And the Asgard soldiers jumped down onto the visible outer walls.

“…Let me show you the power of Asgard.”

Heavy infantry units clad in full plate armor.

From head to toe, even the joints were covered in scale armor, and they wielded maces in both hands.

They were soldiers specialized in close combat.

Despite wearing heavy equipment that ordinary human soldiers wouldn’t be able to move in, they moved quickly and swung their maces.

With each swing, the bodies of Ronia soldiers were sent flying, and wooden shields were mercilessly shattered.

“What is this! These bastards…!”

“Hey, these barbarian bastards…! I heard they were stronger than Orcs, but I didn’t know they were this strong…!”

“Th, they’re heretics! Execute them!”

Ronia knights and soldiers swung their swords and thrust their spears, but they couldn’t penetrate their armor.

Instead, they were countered and sent flying off the outer walls.

“Ram it!”

A battering ram was dragged to strike the massive outer gate of Ronia.

The gate shook and splinters flew, but it seemed to take a lot of time to break or penetrate it.

Chaos began, and the noise grew louder.

For the rioters who had been watching it all in the midst of the chaos, it was the perfect opportunity.

“…Let’s go.”

“Let’s get out of here!”

“Waaaaaah-!”

Torches flared up here and there, and the rioters ran forward simultaneously, heading towards the outer gate.

“Wh, what…!”

“Sp, spies?”

“Were enemies already infiltrated…!”

The Ronia army didn’t realize that they were residents of the Lost territory.

As far as the Ronia army was concerned, they had to stop anyone trying to open the outer gate.

“W, wait… the outer walls too…!”

The outer walls were seized by the Asgard army who had climbed up with siege towers and ladders.

The Ronia soldiers, who had been blocking the rioters, became incoherent and eventually lost their morale, abandoning their weapons and fleeing.

“Seize the outer gate and the outer walls!”

“Enter!”

The rioters lifted the supports blocking the outer gate with their shoulders with all their might.

Their shoulders felt like they were about to break from the heavy weight, but they gritted their teeth and endured.

It was for survival. A mere shoulder injury like this was nothing more than a minor scratch.

“Just a little more strength!”

“We can be free if we get out of here!”

The massive supports were lifted, and dozens of rioters connected the two doors with chains and pulled. At that moment, the battering ram pushed them open with a bang.

The outer gate twisted, lost its balance, and shattered.

“Let’s go.”

Kudan, leading the Berserker warriors [fierce Norse warriors who fought in a trance-like fury], entered through the only open gate.

“We can’t let them advance to the royal palace like this!”

“Knights, follow me!”

The Ronia noble in charge of the command personally led the knights, charging towards the Asgard soldiers entering the city.

“Spearmen-!”

“Phalanx-!”

The Asgard soldiers simultaneously raised their shields and aimed their spears.

The charging cavalry hesitated at the long spear tips and turned their reins, and the Asgard archers positioned behind them simultaneously fired arrows at the mounted knights.

The knights hesitated at the pouring arrows and changed direction again.

“The outer gate has been breached! Head to the inner castle!”

“Retreat!”

The Ronia army decided to retreat.

“It’s our time to step up!”

“Overthrow King Ash!”

The voices of the revolutionary army echoed.

As the outer gate was completely seized, the revolutionary army entered Lost like an incoming tide.

“Close the inner gate!”

“Defend it at all costs!”

The knights and Ronia soldiers leaned against the inner wall’s gate. On the other side, the revolutionary army hammered at the gate with a siege mallet.

The sound of thumping echoed from the gate, and the sound of arrows cutting through the air was rampant above the inner walls.

The city crumbled and burned due to the catapults.

“Ho, hold on…!”

“It, it’s collapsing…!”

“Sh, shit…!”

The inner castle also collapsed.

The enemies, revealing their hostility, ran towards the royal palace.

“Ah… ah… aaaaaah…!”

Ash watched all of this from the balcony of the royal palace.

Lost was collapsing in vain.

Numerous enemies targeting him were approaching.

The drums and trumpets of the battlefield seemed to burst his eardrums, and the smell of burning caused nausea.

The Ronia army was doing its best to block and hold on, but it was not enough to stop those barbarians and rebels.

“Is it still not ready?!”

Ash urgently shouted at the royal guards.

He had been looking for an opportunity to escape while the Asgard army was setting up camp.

There was an escape route in the royal palace, but he couldn’t use the secret passage as long as Eron existed.

That’s why he had been digging a tunnel for the past few months to create a secret passage.

“N, not yet complete! It would have been completed if we had a few more days…!”

“Ar, are there any other ways to escape…? We must find a way to escape…!”

Ash shouted to the royal guards protecting him.

“H, but then….”

The royal guards looked at each other with bewildered expressions.

“…Are you saying you would abandon the people?”

What Ash had just said was the same as abandoning everyone in Lost who had gathered here for the sake of the king and running away alone.

“They can live! They can surrender or run away on their own! But not me!”

Ash shook his head from side to side, hitting his chest.

His face was filled with despair.

“Not… not me! I’ll be beheaded by barbarians, my body will be impaled on skewers and burned to death! My head will be stuffed and hung in the city, becoming a laughingstock for countless people! Do you think this great king would die so miserably!”

“……”

“Qu, quickly prepare the clothes! You guys change too!”

Ash changed into the servant’s clothes that the royal guards had brought.

The royal guards also changed into servant’s clothes and hid easy-to-carry daggers inside their clothes instead of longswords.

“What about the other nobles….”

“Don’t tell them! It’s a headache! If we escape as a group, we’ll get caught for sure!”

Having said that, Ash pointed to one of the knights.

“And you.”

Ash pulled out a dagger and stabbed it into the knight’s chest.

“……!”

The other royal guards who saw the scene were all horrified, and Ash looked at the stabbed knight and said with a bitter smile.

“…You pretend to be me.”

“Wh, what…!”

“Know it as an honor. To meet death on the throne! It’s a luxurious death for you!”

As he pulled out the dagger, the knight’s body collapsed.

“Dress him…! And seat him on the throne. It will buy us some time, even if only for a moment!”

The king’s clothes were put on the dead knight, and a crown was placed on his head.

He was seated on the throne so that his face could not be seen well.

The royal guards gritted their teeth as they looked at their dead comrade sitting on the throne.

They had a mission to follow the king.

But this….

‘This isn’t right…?’

That’s what they thought, but there was nothing they could do.

It was the duty of the royal guards to be loyal and follow even the most tyrannical ruler.

“Now, let’s go…!”

They left their seats.

A little later….

Bang-!

The door to the grand hall burst open.

Soldiers rushed in.

At the forefront was Baron Halloom.

Halloom stared at the slumped corpse on the throne.

‘…He’s… dead? Did he commit suicide? No, it’s a fake!’

Halloom reached out and shouted.

“King Ash has escaped!”

“……!”

“Catch him!”

“Catch him!”

“Our lives depend on it! Don’t let him get away!”