Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 195

195. Player Who Became a Constellation – Episode 195

Acheron.

The heart of the Underworld, and its largest city.

Countless spirits flocked here, a place where diverse nations, races, and values converged.

It was also a place where those renowned in the mortal realm were commonly seen.

However—.

“O, Open the gates!”

“Don’t block the way!”

“Control all spirits passing through the outer gate!”

The soldiers guarding the massive walls surrounding Acheron were tense.

It was highly unusual for spirits to show such bewilderment.

Thump! Bang-! Thump-! Bang-!

The sound of drums echoed.

Zombie slaves beat the drums, followed by skeleton soldiers raising their long spears high.

The flags attached to the spears bore skull designs.

The spirits gathered to witness the enormous procession.

“T, The nobles of the Underworld, Aratada!”

“It’s the nobles of Arata!”

“Kashar has come to Acheron!”

At the forefront, zombie slaves carried a massive palanquin [a covered litter or seat carried on poles], upon which sat a conspicuous figure.

“Is that… a human?”

It was said to be human, but its immense size and bizarre appearance exuded an aura of intimidation, making one question its true race.

The charisma emanating from it forced the spirits to lower their gaze, avoiding eye contact.

This resulted in them involuntarily bowing in greeting.

“Have you seen? This is the Emperor!”

Kashar burst into laughter.

On either side of Kashar stood two figures, seemingly assisting him.

They were cloaked in robes.

It was Loki and Sallot.

With Kashar’s help, they were to enter Acheron, and further, the Necropolis at its center, without a hitch.

Behind their palanquin, Turam and a number of revolutionaries, disguised as Kashar’s servants, followed.

“Quite the influence.”

Loki raised his head, passing through the massive outer gate, which resembled a towering cliff.

Spirits stood guard on the walls surrounding the city, their discipline unwavering.

The walls appeared so formidable that Loki questioned whether the revolutionaries could ever breach them.

“Um… excuse me.”

Sallot tugged at Loki’s sleeve and pointed somewhere.

Loki saw monstrous beings slumbering beside the massive outer gate.

Three ogre zombies, each reaching 5 meters in height, gripped iron chains.

Behind these ogres, there was a massive prison forged from darkstone, and within it, a beast lay dormant.

Even in slumber, its size exceeded 10 meters.

It had three massive dog heads.

The mane around its heads was composed of numerous small and large snake heads.

Its body resembled that of a ferocious beast, and its tail was also a snake’s head.

‘…Like a Chimera [a mythical creature with parts taken from different animals].’

It was utterly terrifying.

With its mane made of snakes, anyone attempting to attack its head would be bitten by hundreds, if not thousands, of snakes.

Attacking from behind would be futile.

The massive snake head serving as its tail would detect any assault from any direction.

‘Indeed, it’s worthy of being a guardian of Acheron.’

Loki doubted whether Kashar and Turam alone could defeat such a monster.

“Haha! This is going to be exciting!”

However, Turam, closely guarding the palanquin from behind, burned with fighting spirit as he glared at Cerberus [the multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld in Greek and Roman mythology].

His whole body was itching for the upcoming battle.

“By the way, do you know the layout of the Necropolis?”

Kashar whispered, looking straight ahead, making sure only Loki could hear.

Kashar’s shoulders involuntarily rose.

The constellation who had granted him death was now disguised as his servant, making it difficult to suppress his pride.

“Don’t you know it well?”

However… if he was going to disguise himself, he should at least match his attitude.

Kashar clicked his tongue in disappointment and said.

“I don’t know the layout there. Do you even know how large the Necropolis is? It’s a place that can easily accommodate hundreds of thousands of spirits.”

As spirits, they didn’t need food.

Although there were maintenance costs, it was manageable for Natos, who possessed gold.

Therefore, the Necropolis could be considered a medium-sized territory.

Rescuing Kanus, searching for the head of the Demon King Kaliber, and destroying the source of the Necropolis’s barrier within that vast space would be challenging in many ways.

“I must finish everything today, before I stay in the Necropolis and the army is taken from me by Natos.”

The time before Kashar’s slave soldiers were handed over to Natos was only half a day.

If the slave soldiers fell into Natos’s hands, this revolution would be over.

It would take decades to prepare for the next opportunity.

“Can you find it within half a day?”

“I’ll try.”

“Damn it. I’ve risked everything too…!”

Kashar frowned and shook his head.

At that moment, the entrance to what appeared to be the Necropolis came into view.

Sallot stared at the entrance, blinked, and tugged at Loki’s sleeve.

“Excuse me.”

“……?”

“Maybe it’s not that difficult.”

Sallot pointed to the entrance of the Necropolis with another finger.

A lich was seen emerging from it.

“Hehehe, to obtain the Water of the Holy Sea, as expected, I must use the constellation of the sea….”

Sallot narrowed her eyes as she looked at the lich.

“That’s the lich who deceived me. That guy just came out of that palace.”

“…….”

Loki narrowed his eyes as he looked at the ferryman lich. He recalled the first time he met the ferryman liches.

They all had skull faces.

Could she… identify him?

“…You knew.”

“His voice is different. And….”

Sallot’s face turned cold, and the corners of her mouth twitched.

“I remembered his voice so I could pay him back later for deceiving me.”

As expected of an elf… she even remembered the unique voice of the lich.

“It would be good to catch him.”

Judging by his appearance, he seemed to frequent the Necropolis like his own home.

Ferrymen in this world were treated as nobles.

Because they were the only ones besides nobles who could acquire gold.

The ferryman lich who deceived Sallot seemed to have deceived many others to obtain the Water of the Holy Sea.

In that case, he knew the internal situation and layout of the Necropolis better than Loki and Sallot.

Above all, he was a corrupt guy who would sell his conscience for gold.

He was worth using.

“Kashar. I’ll be right back after taking care of something.”

“What? Hey. If you stop the procession here and stay still, you might be misunderstood.”

It was Kashar’s procession of tens of thousands of slave soldiers.

What if it suddenly stopped in the middle of the city, in front of the Necropolis?

The Constellation of Death might sense something strange and suppress Kashar.

“It’ll be quick.”

“Haa….”

Kashar shook his head.

“Five minutes. I’ll wait that long.”

Loki and Sallot got off the palanquin and followed the ferryman lich.

“Hehehe, I need to get another ferry. I should get a new one made with some fancy bones. Yes, even though it’s expensive, basilisk [a legendary reptile whose gaze or breath was fatal] bones are said to be good. Then—.”

It was when the ferryman lich’s eyes gleamed with greed.

The ferryman looked at an alleyway where there were no people.

A small girl wearing a robe was blocking the way.

“…Huh? What is it?”

Could it be a robber?

Judging by the looks of it, she seemed to be a newly dead spirit.

Daring to block the path of a ferryman?

“Hello.”

The lich tilted his head.

Somehow, the voice sounded familiar.

Could it be one of the spirits he had deceived?

He had gained profits by scamming, so there were quite a few spirits who held grudges.

“Foolish.”

He was working as a ferryman, but he was a lich.

The highest existence of the undead.

There was no way he could lose to a girl in front of him.

At that moment, Sallot briefly lifted the robe she was wearing on her head to reveal her face.

The ferryman lich flinched and cowered.

“Y, You….”

A dark elf who had fought on par with the Constellation of the Sea for a while.

Then he couldn’t guarantee his victory.

…Crazy! To think he would meet a bad relationship here!

He quickly turned his head back.

Loki was blocking the way behind him.

The lich’s eyes widened.

“Why are you guys here…!”

Sallot drew her bow.

“Stay still.”

“I, I can’t give you the gold! I’ve already used it all!”

“That’s the gold you got by deceiving me. So… serve as much as that gold is worth.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You dark elf!”

The lich jumped up from his spot.

A magic circle was drawn in the air, and the lich’s body bounced off.

He was trying to escape into the sky.

Sallot stepped on the wall and jumped up.

Thump! Thump-!

The lich scattered magic power and bounced his feet in the air.

“Damn it! I didn’t want to use magic…!”

At that moment, the lich turned his head back at a strange sensation.

A jet-black arrow flew, scattering magic power.

The lich was terrified.

“What… a living person has such terrifying magic power…!”

The lich swung his fist in the air.

A magic circle was drawn, and a transparent barrier was summoned in front of him.

The arrows were blocked by the barrier and bounced off.

“Haha! You’re just a dark elf…! You can’t beat me, a lich-!”

An arrow pierced the lich’s crown.

‘Head… above?’

…When did he shoot it?

The magic was released, and the lich, who had fallen from the sky, fell on the tent in the alley.

“Da…mn it. Just a dark elf…!”

The lich struggled and fell under the tent. He pulled out the arrow stuck in his crown and shook his head.

When he turned his body, there was someone kicking him in the back.

“Where are you going?”

It was Sallot.

She swung her bow at his neck.

Crack!

The lich’s skull rolled on the floor as his neck broke.

“You damn dark elf!”

“Hmph, a lich is nothing special.”

Sallot shook her neck.

Loki approached such a lich and Sallot.

“Did you catch him?”

“Yes, I caught him.”

Sallot grabbed the lich’s head and held it out to Loki with both hands.

“What do we do now?”

“We have to ask him.”

“Damn it, let go! Can’t you let go!? I was going to go home and purify my body with the Water of the Holy Sea today…!”

“Hey, ferryman.”

The lich looked at Loki.

“Shall we make a deal?”

“What?”

“I’ll give you gold. Tell us the layout of the Necropolis.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Do you think I’ll be swayed by the small amount of money you have? If I know that a living person has entered the Necropolis, I’ll be finished that day!”

Loki summoned a gold pouch from his inventory and shook it.

“I’ll pay you properly.”

“…With just that gold….”

Loki dropped the gold pouch on the floor and summoned another gold pouch.

The lich’s eyes turned to the gold pouch Loki was holding.

In a moment of silence, the lich sneered.

“Hmph! If something goes wrong, I’ll be caught by the Constellation of Death and severely punished….”

Another gold pouch was summoned and dropped.

“…I’m a ferryman. Are you daring to mock me!?”

“Isn’t this enough? I can’t help it. I’ll have to find another ferryman.”

“…It is my duty to guide those in the Underworld. I, I will guide you to the palace. Know it as an honor!”