Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 19

The player who became a constellation – Episode 19 (19/250)

Episode 19

The solid lake opened its black mouth. The water that had filled it began to surge upwards.

The cracks that had formed around Koodan spread at a terrifying speed, and soon the ground collapsed.

The skeletons that had attacked Koodan fell into the collapsing lake.

Even the skeletons that tried to escape the lake eventually lost their balance and were sucked into the water as the ice crumbled rapidly.

They reached out to grab the remnants of the ice, but the heavy armor, the slippery ice, and the friction of the water caused them to slip and fall.

Some of the undead managed to climb onto the broken pieces of ice, but there were only about 20 of them.

Even then, the ice was too small to allow for any real combat.

The majority of the undead army was annihilated.

“D-Did we get rid of them?”

“Did we… win?”

“W-We survived! We’re alive… huh?”

The Nordics rejoiced at the sight, but the ice continued to crack and spread rapidly right before their eyes.

It was because they had hammered in too many stakes.

“Uh oh!? We’re in danger too!”

“Everyone! Tear down the barricade-!”

The Nordics looked at Aum.

Aum tapped the barricade.

“Why do you think I had you build these useless things? I actually made them so we could use them as rafts, so tear them down quickly! Or do you want to swim with the dead!”

Only then did the Nordics realize why the barricade had been built so poorly.

They all threw ropes, hung onto the barricade, and quickly tore it down.

At the same time, the cracks around them spread rapidly, and the floor collapsed. The Nordics hurriedly climbed onto the barricade.

Those who couldn’t get on used the ropes to climb up, trying their best to survive.

Aum also barely managed to climb onto the barricade, which had now become a raft. As he did, he widened his eyes as he watched Koodan running across the cracked pieces of ice.

In the meantime, Koodan had lost his composure and was running towards Loki’s main camp.

“That idiot…! No matter how monstrous his strength is, there’s no way he can dodge the Skeleton Longbowmen’s arrows…!”

Aum shouted urgently, but Koodan reached Loki’s formation so quickly that his cries were drowned out.

The Skeleton Longbowmen set up their lines and fired their arrows all at once, but Koodan deflected them with his warhammer.

Thwack!

But not all of them. Shoulders, arms, legs, body—they were pierced.

Even with the huge, spear-like arrows stuck in his body, Koodan gritted his teeth and didn’t stop charging.

Rather than slowing down, he smashed the oncoming undead one by one with his warhammer, sending them flying into the air.

Loki, who saw the sight from afar, widened his eyes.

“…I knew he was a monster, but I didn’t know he was this reckless…. Haha! This is fun! It’s nothing like the boredom I felt in the palace!”

Good heavens…! How can a person rampage like that with spears stuck in their body?

A normal person would be pierced and killed instantly by a single arrow from a Skeleton Longbowman, but Koodan continued to advance with only the tips of the arrows stuck in his skin.

Aum was just as dumbfounded by the sight.

“Was I trying to tame that monster? But… we can win! If we keep going like this…!”

Loki narrowed his eyes.

“…He’ll break through.”

The Skeleton Assassins, clad in rags, rushed at Koodan with daggers, but they were either deflected or shattered and disappeared.

Koodan charged forward relentlessly.

Since even the skeletons specialized in close combat had been defeated, there was no way the Skeleton Assassins and Longbowmen, who specialized in ambushes and ranged attacks, could win even if they charged head-on.

“Don’t let trash block my way-!”

Koodan unleashed his divine power.

His divine power was [Super Strength].

A power that amplified all his muscle strength by dozens, even hundreds of times.

With a single swing in the air, the skeletons were blown away by the wind pressure.

“You demon!”

With Koodan’s cry, he jumped high into the air.

“I’ll save Cancoon-!”

He pulled the warhammer back as far as possible, ready to strike at any moment.

The same situation as when he first met him.

But-.

‘I’ve grown stronger than before!’

His muscles bulged abnormally, and his veins throbbed.

Hundreds of times the muscle strength increased to thousands of times.

“I’ll save her!”

The monstrous strength, enough to bend the handle of the warhammer he was holding… struck Loki as it was.

Loki, who was on the platform, raised his hand.

A magical barrier was created, but it was easily shattered.

Koodan swung his warhammer with the monstrous strength that tore his muscles, thinking of the humiliation he had suffered in the past and the future of Cancoon.

“Die-!”

Now, there was no way to stop Koodan.

More than half of the skeletons had already been annihilated.

All that remained of the army were the Skeleton Longbowmen and Assassins, who specialized only in ranged attacks and ambushes.

It was not enough to stop Koodan.

Loki laughed as he watched the sight, then closed his eyes.

“…Interesting. The humans here are strong.”

Koodan’s warhammer struck Loki’s face directly.

Bang-!!!

The ram’s helmet shattered, and fragments scattered in all directions.

At the same time, Koodan’s eyes widened, and Loki opened his mouth.

“But…”

Koodan stared at the being in front of him in confusion.

The shattered ram’s bone helmet disappeared, and a face popped out from inside.

It was a simple skeleton.

The skeleton’s head was shattering and gradually disappearing.

“…What is this?”

***

“Haha, this is thrilling!”

Loki, wearing a crow mask, sat cross-legged on the icy road, watching the distant ‘battlefield.’

He was enjoying the ‘game’ and his eyes sparkled at the more interesting than expected ‘play.’

“If that was the real me, I would have stopped it easily. But that wouldn’t be fun.”

***

“Un…dead?”

As Koodan murmured blankly, those who watched the scene from afar cheered.

“H-He won…?”

“Victory!”

“Koodan defeated the Necromancer!”

“Great job! Koodan! You really are a monster!”

Aum also watched the scene from afar and rejoiced, but Koodan could only freeze.

He knew.

When he first confronted the demon in the holy war, he felt the energy of life from him.

But now, there was only a simple skeleton inside.

That meant….

“…F…ake?”

***

“…As expected, everyone is moved! Except for Koodan himself.”

Loki overturned the chessboard.

“But collapsing the ice and charging to capture the king… it’s really a ‘뻔한’ [ppunhan – obvious or predictable] story. Actually, I was going to use it too, but that would be too boring…. Anyway, great job. He sank an immortal legion in one go while being human!”

Loki, or rather ‘Hoon’ wearing a crow mask, looked at the formation where Koodan was from a distance so far that ordinary humans could not see.

“Now that the connection with the skeleton sorcerer, who was the stand-in, is broken…. Should I go myself now? Still, the stand-in was quite useful.”

Hoon recalled what had happened a few days ago.

‘It’s very simple for you. Make what I asked for out of cheap scrap metal.’

What he asked the dwarf Ruran to make. It was a story about asking him to make one piece of equipment. That was…

‘Make armor that looks like me. A ram’s helmet, jet-black armor….’

It was to create a ‘fake’ to use Loki as a stand-in.

Thanks to this, he was able to know how powerful the army in this world was to some extent.

“It was a fun game.”

“…What are you muttering about? Lord Loki.”

Loki turned his head.

A girl with blue hair, Cancoon, standing next to Hoon, tilted her head. She had been next to Loki for hours wearing the armor Loki had given her, so she was a little tired.

“You’ve been sitting here for hours… and didn’t you hear some kind of noise from over there?”

“Now it’s your turn to step up, Cancoon.”

“Yes?”

“Well, the situation over there probably looks too far away for you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about since a while ago.”

“It’s just… let’s start the game in earnest.”

Loki got up from his seat.

“Now, it’s time for the real main force to move.”

Black currents and armor appeared on Loki’s body and covered him.

Behind him, hundreds of eyes glowed.

200 undead. They were the undead who had not participated in the ‘war game’ until just now.

15 undead liches wearing jet-black robes decorated with bones and long gems of unknown metal, and circlets like crowns on their heads.

35 Death Knights, clad in full plate armor and helmets, with kite shields in their left hands and huge greatswords in their right hands that were hard to think of as being used for cutting.

Even with just these two beings, the undead legion that had been annihilated a little while ago was nothing.

Loki let out a sinister laugh and walked slowly.

“Now, let’s start the counterattack in earnest!”

Accordingly, Cancoon watched him and followed him, and behind them, the undead legion walked with murderous eyes.

***

“What’s going on…?”

Koodan was frozen as he stared at the fake stand-in that had disappeared.

-Kuaaaak!

The remaining skeletons moved.

The Skeleton Assassins fixed the chains to the ends of the arrows held by the Skeleton Longbowmen.

And the Skeleton Longbowmen shot the arrows with the chains attached towards the collapsed ‘lake.’

The Nordics were flustered by the undead’s movements.

“W-What?! The commander, the Necromancer, is dead! But why are they moving!”

“Besides, they’re shooting arrows at the lake? Are they crazy and running wild?!”

At that time, the chains attached to the arrows that had entered the lake became taut.

And the undead began to pull it.

The Nordics were puzzled, but Aum froze as he watched the sight.

“…No! Koodan! Stop them!”

Koodan was puzzled and observed the undead’s actions rather than listening to Aum’s words.

After a few seconds of doing so. In an instant, he realized what they were doing and turned his gaze towards the lake.

Kwareureureuk-!

The chains are pulled up. And as a bonus, the skeletons that grabbed it crawl out of the lake.

“…Are they saving the ones who fell in?!”

Koodan hurriedly grabbed his warhammer and annihilated the skeletons, but the agile Skeleton Assassins and Longbowmen deliberately kept their distance from Koodan and focused on pulling up the sunken undead.

The more they did so, the more the skeletons that had fallen into the lake and were rescued glowed and rushed at Koodan.

The undead crawling out of the lake were like the dead coming out of hell itself.

Aum gritted his teeth and shouted.

“Everyone, help Koodan!”

For now, the number of opponents is small. Besides, now was the best chance, as there were few skeleton warriors and spearmen specialized in close combat, and the formation was not formed.

The Nordics rowed and landed on the ice, rushing at the undead as they were.

But as time passed, the number of undead increased.

Aum also took up his sword and ran towards Koodan.

“Koodan! What the hell is going on! You killed that demon…!”

“It’s not.”

“…What?”

Aum made a blank expression, and Koodan gritted his teeth.

“It was… fake. It’s a trick!”

“A trick?! That’s ridiculous…!”

At that time, the Nordics’ screams echoed across the land.

“What is that again-!”

Some of the Nordics rolled their eyes and took a step back in fear.

“…An undead army?!”

“What? That number…? The undead that fell into the lake earlier aren’t all of them?!”

They froze as they watched the ‘approaching death.’

200 undead, but they closed their mouths as they watched the 35 death knights leading the way and the 15 undead liches following behind.

Koodan also couldn’t help but stiffen as he watched the sight.

On the other hand, Aum laughed as if he had lost his mind as he watched the sight.

“Ha, haha! Hahahahahaha! What is that? Huh? Haha! What… the hell… is that!”

Now, he shouted as if he was angry at Koodan and looked at the being at the head of them.

Aum, who looked at Loki wearing a ram’s helmet, was shocked as if his head was breaking.

“You fraud! How dare you deceive us?!”

Aum’s cry echoed loudly enough to drown out the Nordics’ screams. Loki, who heard it, let out a twisted laugh.

“Haha! Isn’t deceiving and being deceived a strategy in war? More than anything-.”

Loki mocked the weak humans.

“The most demoralizing thing is when hope collapses and you face despair. It’s also the most fun victory.”

To defeat the opponent by mocking them.

It was the most fun way to win the game.

For him, this was just a ‘game.’

Loki’s words were heard strangely well by Aum, who was far away. It was like a sensation that pierced his head.

“You’re so mean…! Can you even be called a constellation if you do that!”

“I never said I was a constellation. It’s just that you Nordics called me a ‘constellation’ or a ‘demon.’ Besides, the god Loki is originally a being who likes to use tricks, deceive, and play pranks rather than wisdom.”

Aum understood Loki’s words and knew how the situation would turn out.

“…We… lost.”

Aum gritted his teeth.

At this rate, there is no chance of winning. Not only has morale dropped, but they barely managed to stop 300 undead.

But what if 200 more are added here, and even undead of ridiculous classes are added among them?

In front of them are ‘undead like grim reapers,’ and in the lake behind them, the dead are gradually crawling out.

There was nowhere to escape.

“Now, let’s end this. Aum Linia!”

At his cry, the undead behind him rushed out all at once.