Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 184

The Cyclopes stared at the fluttering black figure.

“…He killed one of our own.”

“M-Monster…”

The Cyclopes cowered.

They never imagined anyone could possess the strength to kill one of their own.

Were those heads hanging on the giant tree also hunted by him?

“He’s… just one.”

One of the Cyclopes stammered.

“If we kill him… it’s over.”

“Strong. Strong ones taste good.”

The Cyclopes widened their single eyes, glaring at Loki.

They believed they could paralyze and subdue the black beast with their magic eye.

However-

“Next—yes. You’re next.”

Loki bent his knees and leaped.

Bang!

The Cyclops’s head exploded, his crown pierced.

Loki’s figure vanished, and in an instant, the greatsword pierced the eye of the Cyclops in the center.

“……?”

The Cyclopes turned their heads to look at the center of their group.

“Kuh… Keheck-!”

The black beast, with the greatsword piercing its eye.

It curled its lips and swung the greatsword once more.

Thwack-!

The tough hide split cleanly and smoothly, like butter.

The greatsword left afterimages as it swept past the Cyclops’s neck, and its massive head floated into the air.

“Huh…? Uh, uh, uh, uh?!”

The Cyclopes momentarily panicked.

They believed they were the strongest race in this land.

They were confident that no one could even scratch them.

But the beast before them shattered that common sense far too easily.

“Kwoaaaaaaack!?”

And that shock triggered fear.

“Kill him!”

The Cyclopes swung their maces.

Loki bent down and leaped, and the body of the Cyclops whose head had been cut off was crushed and burst apart by the maces swung from all directions.

“W-Where did he go?!”

The Cyclopes had wide vision.

They could even spot the agile elves running through the forest without missing them.

But this black beast was hard to find.

“Find that raven monster!”

“I can’t see him!”

A black afterimage swept past another Cyclops’s neck.

Thwack-!

The Cyclops’s head rises into the sky.

“What?!”

“Paral is down!”

The Cyclopes who shouted their comrade’s name stepped back.

At that moment, arrows rained down.

The Cyclopes looked at the arrows.

The dark elves were shooting arrows from the village.

“The elves are attacking!”

“Idiot. Elven arrows can’t hurt us. Find that black beast first!”

It was when the Cyclopes were ignoring the elves.

“…You, die.”

Among the arrows, a jet-black arrow imbued with magic pierced through the air and struck a Cyclops’s eye.

Crack-!

Boom-!

The eye exploded in a spiral, splattering blood everywhere.

“…I still couldn’t kill it in one shot. But next…”

Cellut took out another arrow.

The Cyclopes’ eyes widened.

The elven arrows had wounded their bodies.

“Uwaaaagh!”

The Cyclops, shot in the eye, screamed. But only for a moment, as an arrow flew in and pierced its closed eyelid.

The Cyclops’s massive body floated into the air with a single arrow and slammed to the ground.

Thud!

“…W-What is it?”

“There’s someone among the elves who can hurt us!”

“A-Attack the elven village!”

The Cyclopes began to rush towards the village.

Their massive bodies advanced, knocking down the giant trees that blocked their path.

At that moment, another figure flew in and struck the temple of a charging Cyclops.

Bang!

The hide was crushed, the skull seemed to shatter, and the side of the face caved in.

“Kahaha!”

The Myo race burst into laughter.

Karen stretched out her hands, wearing gauntlets, and grabbed the Cyclops’s head.

She applied force and turned it clockwise.

“W-Wait, hold on… It hurts. Stop!”

Crack-.

With the sound of bones breaking, the Cyclops’s head turned.

Thud-!

Another Cyclops falls.

“Another, another beast is hunting us!”

“Catch it!”

Karen jumped up and clung to another Cyclops.

A mace was swung, trying to hit Karen, but she had already bounced away and moved elsewhere.

“Chase her! She’s slower than the black beast!”

The Cyclopes were in chaos.

The Cyclops leader, Clope, frowned deeply.

The single eyes in his two heads turned, chasing after the black beast.

‘F-Fast. Even I can’t easily follow it with my eyes!’

Could such a creature exist in this world?!

Clope stepped back.

‘Should I retreat for now? I have to escape.’

He had long forgotten about avenging his child.

His own survival was the top priority.

‘S-Still, it can’t kill me. My hide is far superior to that of other Cyclopes.’

He was a mutant.

From birth, he possessed tens of times the strength of his kin, and his hide was so tough that even when his kin struck him with maces, it wouldn’t even leave a scratch.

Even if the skin of his kin was easily torn, his own skin wouldn’t be easily torn-

Thwack-!

Clope instinctively tilted his head back.

At the same time, he felt something sharp graze his Adam’s apple.

The skin tears. Blood gushes out.

A burning pain washed over him.

It was the first time in centuries that Clope had felt ‘pain’.

“Kuaaaaack!”

Loki landed lightly on a giant tree.

He looked at the greatsword in his hand.

The blade of the greatsword was damaged.

He turned his head to look at the two-headed Cyclops.

“…Hmm?”

He had been using the greatsword for a long time, and he had forgotten to ask Ruran to sharpen the blade, but to think he couldn’t cut down that mutant Cyclops in one blow.

‘He has outstanding instincts, but still.’

That means that hide is tough.

“Huh, should I say it’s fitting for a gatekeeper of the underworld?”

No, is he not even a gatekeeper, just a resident?

Indeed, he is on a different level from any other monster on the continent.

“Y-You! How dare you wound me!”

Clope glared at Loki.

“Turn to stone!”

Clope emitted magic from his eyes.

He should have been stiffened and unable to move, but instead, it was Clope who stiffened when his eyes met Loki’s.

“Huh?”

It was just a red eye under the raven mask.

The moment he met that red eye, his spine tingled, and he faced a fear of death he had never felt before.

Clope lowered his eyes without realizing it.

It was an act to avoid fear, but it was a foolish choice.

“If I put a little more force, it will cut.”

Loki gripped the handle of the greatsword.

A twisting noise was heard from the alloy handle.

Clope instinctively felt the threat and raised both arms to cover his head.

Loki leaps.

The greatsword was swung, and both arms covering Clope’s head and one head floated into the air.

“Ah….”

The remaining head turned to look at its own head flying away.

Before it could recover from the shock-.

Thud-!

Loki landed on the severed neck.

Raven feathers flutter.

Clope’s single eye widened, filled with fear.

“Wait… hey. Black beast. Let’s talk….”

“Since it’s a request.”

Loki plunged the greatsword into Clope’s single eye.

“I’ll handle it cleanly.”

And he twisted it, piercing even the crown, and swung the greatsword around, cutting down Clope’s torso as well.

***

The dark elves were speechless.

In particular, Ral was so shocked that he couldn’t figure out what had happened.

They had tried so hard to inflict even a scratch, but they couldn’t even leave a mark on the Cyclopes.

Yet, those before them were slaughtering them far too easily.

“The request is complete.”

When Loki approached and spoke, Ral bowed his head to him.

“T-Thank you….”

He lowered himself without realizing it.

In a way, it was natural.

He was the benefactor who saved his clan from dying.

It wouldn’t be enough to kneel and bow.

Loki stared at Ral for a while and then opened his mouth.

“I haven’t eliminated all the Cyclopes.”

“…I know.”

Ral spoke respectfully.

He realized that the person in front of him was extraordinary.

Surely, he wasn’t human either.

If he were human, he couldn’t have easily subdued the Cyclopes.

For centuries, those who called themselves heroes had failed to face the Cyclopes and had simply hidden themselves, quietly going to the underworld.

“If the dark elves have nowhere to go-.”

Ral looked at Loki.

“Go to Asgard in the north. They will accept you there.”

“…….”

Ral couldn’t speak.

Normally, he would have just ignored it.

But these were the words of someone who had overwhelmed the Cyclopes.

Surely, there must be something in the north for him to speak so confidently.

“Now, guide me to the underworld.”

Ral nodded.

***

A red moon rose in the night sky.

The red mist thickened, and the darkness of night arrived.

It was the time when all life in the forest of death fell asleep due to the jet-black darkness.

However, it was different around Loki.

Because the head of Mercury, the constellation of light, shone in his hand, driving away the darkness.

Ral couldn’t help but be surprised once again.

The only one who illuminates the light in the darkness of the world was before his eyes.

“…What on earth are you?”

To Ral’s question, Loki replied lightly.

“A traveler.”

“…….”

When they reached the end of the forest, the sound of water was heard.

A river was flowing.

But the river was decaying and rotting.

“A long time ago, this river was said to be very clean.”

Ral smiled bitterly as he looked at the river.

“It was said to cleanse the soul and find rest in the underworld.”

Listening to those words, Loki recalled what Pope Jaus had said.

「The underworld was a vessel for souls. The souls there wash away everything from their past lives until they are reborn as new lives. And what ruled that underworld was Natos, the constellation of death.」

「He was the constellation that maintained the order of the underworld, but Natos enjoyed torturing souls. He ignored whether the souls in the underworld were good or evil and punished them all. Therefore, the constellation Azellan took away some of his authority of death, ‘so that he could not kill others,’ and imprisoned him in the underworld.」

Cellut said in a meaningful tone.

“Is there really… a way to the underworld here?”

“If the Pope isn’t a liar, then yes.”

As they went deeper along the river, the red mist thickened even more.

It was now difficult to distinguish what was in front of them.

At that moment, Loki narrowed his eyes.

Ding-!

A bell rang.

Along with the sound of water, the smell of incense wafted.

A red lantern was visible, and a small boat made of human bones and skin appeared.

Not just one or two.

Dozens of small boats.

Karen and Cellut were on guard.

Ding-!

A figure who appeared to be a ferryman, wearing a long robe, shook a bell in his hand.

‘Undead?’

Cellut tensed up.

It wasn’t just any undead.

The highest-ranking undead, those called the pinnacle of necromancers.

Liches [powerful undead spellcasters].

Moreover, there was one on each of the dozens of boats.

However, the liches did not show hostility when they saw Loki, Cellut, and Karen.

The lich on the boat closest to Loki’s group stood up.

He planted an oar made of human bones and skin in the river and stopped the boat.

「You are….」

A cracked voice echoed.

A skull revealed from within the robe.

A blue light, as if a soul was burning in its eye sockets, smiled.

「Living beings.」

The lich chuckled.

Cellut hid behind Loki, and Karen’s eyes sparkled.

Loki was intrigued.

Because the lich spoke to the living without hostility.

The liches on the other boats watched Loki’s group with interest.

「It’s been 100 years since I’ve seen a living being here.」

“…….”

「Coming all the way here means there’s someone you want to meet, right?」

“Yes, can you take me to the underworld?”

「If a living being goes to the underworld, they can’t come back. Keep that in mind.」

Loki nodded.

He had heard about that from Jaus.

But he already knew how to return.

「When you return, make a boat with the bones of a wraith and head in the direction of the red thread.」

Since he knew how to return, there was no need to worry.

The lich reached out his hand.

A white, skeletal palm was visible.

「Then give me gold.」

“Gold?”

「I am a ferryman who guides the way to the underworld. I don’t take living beings to the underworld for free.」

He hadn’t heard this from Jaus.

The ferryman lich smiled, his light twisting.

「I will help you find the one you are looking for.」