Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 157

157

Loki began to walk on the sea, his speed increasing as he sprinted.

He hurled the golden spear, Gungnir.

Kwaang-!

The air around them cracked and boomed.

The spear, flying with a force that seemed to warp space and time, pierced Caribdis’s torso.

Pook-!!

With a wet, popping sound, a large, spiral-shaped hole appeared.

Caribdis roared, a sound that shook the very water.

Writhing in pain, the massive creature thrashed.

Loki didn’t stop there.

Dark beasts erupted from his armor.

“Let’s see how long you last,” Loki muttered, a cruel smile playing on his lips.

As if extensions of Loki’s own hands, the beasts used their powerful jaws to seize debris floating in the surrounding sea.

From the palace’s huge stone fragments to the sharply broken masts of ships, they gathered anything they could find.

Then, they hurled them at Caribdis.

A huge boulder slammed into Caribdis’s torso.

Caribdis’s body staggered from the immense impact.

A shattered sail, propelled like a spear, pierced and lodged itself in Caribdis’s belly.

Blood gushed out, staining the water crimson.

“Haha! It’s spewing red blood!” Loki crowed.

In his otherwise boring existence, he had finally found a worthy opponent.

“M-My god!”

The Krattanian territory residents aboard the warship watched the spectacle unfold, their faces etched with awe and terror.

They crowded onto the deck, staring at Loki.

The jet-black armor he wore, the beasts that sprang from his body and changed size at will, and the sacred golden spear – all contributed to a terrifying yet magnificent display.

Compared to Caribdis, he was the size of dust, yet he fearlessly confronted the giant monster.

The Krattanian territory residents were captivated by the majestic sight, a scene ripped straight from the pages of myth.

“M-Monster!”

The lizardmen and sirens in the sea stared at Loki with wide, astonished eyes.

They searched for an opening to intervene, but there was none to be found.

They couldn’t comprehend that this small being was overwhelming the constellation of the sea.

Was he a hero of humans?

Or… a god?

Confusion reigned among the onlookers.

Loki sprinted across the water and leaped high into the air.

The head of a beast summoned from his armor clamped down on Caribdis’s torso.

The bitten area erupted in jet-black flames.

Quoaaaaaaah!

“Stop, stop-!” A scream that threatened to shatter eardrums echoed from Caribdis’s head.

“You’ve only gotten bigger, not stronger. You’re not as good as the giants,” Loki sneered.

Using Jormungandr and Fenrir as makeshift climbing axes, he tore at Caribdis’s flesh as he ascended.

Caribdis struggled to shake Loki off, thrashing wildly.

Numerous tentacles tipped with razor-sharp blades lashed out at Loki, but he deflected them with his spear.

“…What are you doing? Move the bow!” Kudan barked, shaking off the wet crow mask and handing it to Thorsen.

Thorsen flinched as he received the mask.

“The Constellation is fighting! Are you just going to watch? This is a battlefield with the Constellation. Don’t look so dazed!”

“Ah, yes!”

Thorsen’s hand tightened around the mask.

As a sea person, he had grown up hearing legends of sea monster hunts.

And now, he had the chance to hunt Caribdis alongside a Constellation!

‘As a Nord warrior, the time to shine has finally come!’ he thought, his heart pounding with excitement.

“Beat the drums! Sing!” Thorsen roared at the top of his lungs.

The drums of war thundered to life.

A Nord warrior on the mast received Thorsen’s signal and blew the horn.

Boo-ooo-ooo-oong-!

The sound of the horn resonated across the water, answered by the horns of other warships.

The sound of horns echoed from all directions, stirring the blood.

The Nord warriors gripped their weapons, their faces a mixture of tension and excitement.

“Haha! A mythical monster hunt!?”

“Alright! I can brag to my son when I get back. That guy will be jealous of me, right?”

The Nord warriors laughed heartily.

“Y-You idiots!” The sirens trapped in the cage scolded the Nord warriors.

“Do you think you can beat Caribdis?! It’s impossible! Run away! It’s not too late now! I want to live!”

“Shut up! You carp have too much to say!” One of the Nord warriors kicked the cage.

The Nord warriors were inwardly apprehensive, but they refused to show fear.

Who were they, after all?

They were Asgard, the warriors who had stopped hundreds of thousands of Wight legions and giant legions and emerged victorious from the war against the Holy Order!

“Everyone, put some spirit into it!”

“Good! A good prey!”

For them, participating in the battle alongside Loki was a great honor, a chance to prove their worth.

“Let’s sing!”

Above all, the battle with a monster only spoken of in myths would be enough to etch their names into legend!

“Let’s go~! Let’s go~!”

The Asgardian warships surged forward.

They rowed with all their might, unfurling their sails to catch the wind.

The warships emerged from the fog, a formidable sight.

“Prepare the ballistae!”

The ballistae deployed on the decks of the warships were aimed like cannons, ready to unleash their deadly payload.

The monster’s size was immense.

At this range, they couldn’t miss!

The warship turned its side, bringing the target within range.

“Fire!”

Dozens, hundreds of bolts spewed forth, arcing through the air.

The fiercely rushing bolts pierced and penetrated Caribdis’s hard shell.

Quoaaaaaaah!

The Nord warriors fired crossbows and hurled harpoons, adding to the barrage.

Caribdis writhed and thrashed in pain.

A tsunami rose, and waves tens of meters high crashed over the warships.

“Ram it!”

The ram of the warship slammed into the oncoming wave, cutting through it.

The sound of cracking wood echoed through the air.

“Ooooh! D-Dangerous!”

“Don’t stop!”

The warship pressed forward, relentlessly pouring out attacks.

“Get closer.”

At that moment, Kudan stepped onto the deck of the warship, his eyes blazing with determination.

He retrieved the warhammer that had been stored inside the warship.

A short handle, but a thick and heavy iron head.

He had brought out Mjolnir [Thor’s hammer].

The Nord warriors roared at the sight.

“Connect the chains to the harpoons!”

They removed the bolts from the ballistae and replaced them with harpoons.

“Drive them into the monster’s body!”

The ballistae launched the harpoons, sending them flying.

The harpoons pierced and embedded themselves in Caribdis’s flesh.

Kudan ran out, stepping onto the chains connected to the harpoons, using them as a precarious bridge.

“Ooooh!”

His mana surged, empowering him.

Mjolnir was swung towards Caribdis’s body, the iron head connecting with a devastating impact.

Kwakwang-!

The giant body staggered.

Electricity crackled from Mjolnir, arcing across Caribdis’s body.

As if electrocuted, Caribdis’s scales burst, and thick blood gushed out in all directions.

「Kkiaaaaaaaak!」

Caribdis shook his head violently from side to side, trying to dislodge the attacker.

“L-Look over there!” A resident of the submerged Krattanian territory pointed towards the sea, his voice trembling.

They could see tiny beings hunting a giant monster, a sight that defied belief.

What in the world… what are those beings, and how are they so strong?! they wondered.

The Krattanian territory residents were witnessing the impossible: mortals confronting a force of nature.

***

Driven to desperation, Caribdis raised his body with all his might and slammed it back down into the sea.

He hoped to create a shockwave that would dislodge the leeches clinging to his body.

At that moment, Loki reached Caribdis’s head.

He raised his hand and slammed it down, a blow that resonated with power.

Kwajik-!

The scales shattered, and blood gushed out from the wound.

Loki gathered his magic power, focusing it with intense concentration.

Flame erupted from his grasp, compressed into a searing ball.

The compressed flame spun in a spiral, drawing in more flame, compressing it further, and repeating the cycle, creating a vortex of destruction.

Caribdis, struggling to control his massive body, flinched, sensing the immense power gathering at his head.

「J-Just what are you trying to do-?」

“Explode,” Loki said simply.

The compressed flame was unleashed, tearing free from its restraints.

Kwakwang-!

The flame instantly burned through Caribdis’s body, a searing inferno.

The jet-black fire spread through Caribdis’s blood, consuming him from the inside out.

Soon, the flames churned throughout Caribdis’s entire body, erupting from various points in place of blood.

Quoaaaaaaah!

In an instant, Caribdis’s head split open, revealing the horrifying truth.

Calib, the core of the monster, was encased in a crustacean-like shell, submerged in a viscous, bubbling liquid.

She thrashed and screamed like a fish thrown into boiling water.

“You’ve shown yourself,” Loki said, his voice devoid of emotion.

He propped his arm against the monster’s split head, widening the opening.

He placed his foot inside and stepped into the grotesque cavity.

With each step, the body fluids boiled more fiercely, spewing out scalding steam.

「Kkiaaaaak!」

Calib screamed, her voice filled with unimaginable pain and terror.

Loki reached out with both hands, grabbed her head, and exerted his immense strength.

「Stop, stop! I am the constellation of the sea! If I die, this sea will be filled with only chaos!」

“That’s none of my business,” Loki replied, his grip tightening.

「…W-What’s the reason for this!?」

“You touched us,” Loki said, his voice like ice.

He twisted Calib’s head with brutal force.

“It’s just the price for that.”

And with a final, sickening crack, he tore it off.

Calib’s severed mouth gaped open, and a terrible scream echoed in all directions, a sound of utter despair.

The sea surged, and spray filled the air, a testament to the cataclysmic event that had just transpired.

The Nord warriors aboard the warship, the lizardmen and sirens in the sea – all witnessed the impossible.

The constellation of the sea, Caribdis….

Her giant body was crushed and collapsing, her reign of terror finally over.

It was the end of the sea’s ruler, the constellation with the power to command the tides.

***

“…What in the world is happening on this continent?”

The day the Holy Order collapsed, faith seemed to vanish with it.

Was the chaos that followed a divine judgment?

Great unrest swept across the continent.

Kingdoms clashed, consumed by suspicion, envy, and endless conflict.

And the more chaotic a country became, the more ‘angels’ seemed to appear, leading to the rise of cults that worshipped them.

The Kron Empire was no exception.

The only difference was the emergence of a self-proclaimed constellation and the overwhelming power it wielded.

But even such a being was no match for Asgard.

They had triumphed against a being with the power to manipulate nature itself.

“…How in the world did they catch it?”

The slaves and imperial soldiers aboard the Kron Empire’s warship stared in disbelief at the scene before them.

A giant monster, hundreds of meters in size, lay dead in the water.

Even the portion of its body visible above the surface was enormous, and the true depth of the submerged portion was impossible to fathom.

Was it the monster’s influence that had caused the chaos?

The sky was choked with dark clouds, rain lashed down, and the waves crashed with relentless fury.

Small and large whirlpools churned in the sea, and waterspouts spiraled into the sky, a chaotic dance of destruction.

The sailors clung to the ropes, struggling to avoid being swept away by the waves, whirlpools, and waterspouts.

Even so, they couldn’t tear their eyes away from the monster’s corpse.

“Asgard caught this?”

Bolts and harpoons were embedded all over the monster’s charred body, grim evidence of the fierce battle that had taken place.

The imperial army felt, once again, the full weight of Asgard’s power.

They felt a surge of pride in their alliance with such a formidable force, and they admired Emperor Karma’s foresight in forging the bond.

“Amazing! Your Majesty the Emperor! I couldn’t even grasp the extent of Asgard’s power, but to think they possessed this much!”

“Thanks to His Majesty the Emperor’s wise choice, our Kron Empire will be able to show the treacherous rebel forces, as well as the kingdoms of the continent, just how much influence we wield. What will become of those who dare to oppose Kron and Asgard!”

When a crisis struck the Kron Empire, it was Asgard who answered the call.

Rumors had spread that Asgard’s mainland had been struck by a tidal wave, but when the Kron Empire’s inspection team arrived, the port city was untouched.

Therefore, Asgard’s intervention must have been solely for the sake of the Kron Empire’s crisis.

At Emperor Karma’s request, the ruler of the north had personally intervened to suppress the rebels and save the empire by slaying the constellation of the sea… That was the narrative the imperial nobles embraced.

It was an opportunity to reinforce the image of Asgard standing firmly behind Emperor Karma.

“What a wise choice this was!”

The nobles, who had previously looked down on him, now showered Emperor Karma with praise.

In truth, the nobles had been harboring anxieties and ambitions regarding the cracks appearing in the empire’s foundation.

They had hoped that the emperor’s influence would wane amidst the chaos of the rebellion, but Asgard’s intervention had only strengthened his position.

Emperor Karma puffed out his chest at their flattering words, basking in the adulation.

“My friend has granted my request. I must convey the reward accordingly.”

‘…What the hell,’ he thought, his smile strained.

Karma spoke with forced confidence, but in reality, he was gripped by fear.

As in the war against the giants, it was difficult to truly gauge the extent of Asgard’s power.

Not only did they possess a moving giant fortress, but they had also succeeded in hunting a colossal monster capable of summoning tidal waves.

Moreover, the fact that the monster was the sea goddess Caribdis, a figure known only to sailors, sent a chill down Karma’s spine.

If Caribdis was truly a goddess, a constellation of the sea, then it meant that Loki had hunted and killed a divine being.

‘…Was she really the constellation of the sea?’

Doubt lingered in his mind.

Karma sat on the throne on the deck and gazed at the chaotic spectacle unfolding before him.

A sea consumed by turmoil.