Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 214

214. The Player Who Became a Constellation

“Constellation?”

Illuminating the abyss with light and subduing angels with such overwhelming power could only be the work of one being.

The Lord and Ruler of the North.

“It’s the Constellation!”

“The Constellation has returned!”

The Punisher who would bring about the end and judge the fallen Constellations.

“The Constellation of the End has returned!”

The Constellation of the End, Loki.

He had returned!

The mutated angels around them shuddered.

The muttering of one mutated angel spread like ripples.

Following the shouts of the Norsemen, people began to emerge one by one from the buildings of the Ner region.

The mutated angels swallowed hard as they looked at them.

The look in their eyes was resolute.

They had seen believers intoxicated with faith when the fallen Constellations appointed their apostles, but this was the first time they had witnessed such fanatical devotion.

These were people who would surely explode and die with just a wave of hand.

The mutated angels began to feel fear at their ominous gazes.

As the mutated angels retreated in fear—.

Thud—.

Loki’s foot stomped on the ground.

The mutated angels looked at Loki.

He was capturing them.
The mutated angels knew very well what his purpose was.

‘Stop! Stop!’

‘Please stop! Just… kill me!’

They had been captured alive and subjected to all sorts of torture and experiments.

Every time their bodies were torn apart by the Constellation of Sin, Zeus, and grotesque worms were implanted in them, their magic power and divine power clashed, causing their bodies to explode, melt, and rot.

They didn’t want to experience that vivid and terrible hell again.

In the end, the mutated angels chose to flee.

「Everyone—.」

They were not inclined to form groups.

They were arrogant, had different values, and were a race that prioritized only themselves.

But now, they were united by only one thought.

Survival.

And escape was their only way out.

「Scatter!」

The mutated angels scattered in all directions and ran.

The Constellation before them aimed to capture them, not kill them.

If they scattered like this, they would have a better chance of survival.

‘I can get out of here.’

The mutated angels held onto hope.

The alleys of the harbor.

On the roofs of buildings.

Among the crowds on the streets.

They scattered in search of places to hide.

‘I can live!’

But—.

Thud!

A figure fell from above the alleyway.

A beast-man wearing gauntlets struck the back of a mutated angel.

Splat!

An arrow pierced the leg of a mutated angel running across the roof of a building, causing them to roll down.

Swoosh!

A mutated angel who had jumped into the crowd had their leg completely severed by a greatsword.

Karen, Celot, and Helga, who were searching the Ner region, subdued the mutated angels one by one and captured them alive.

“Catch them!”

“The Constellation is here! Don’t disappoint him!”

The Asgardian army chased after the scattering mutated angels.

As they shot their arrows, people with iron nets captured the mutated angels in every street.

***

As dawn broke, the harbor area of the Ner region began to be cleaned up.

Asgardian warships entered the pier, and the captured angels were transferred in iron cages.

“…Damn it! What the hell is going on all of a sudden!?”

It wasn’t just the residents of the Ner region who watched the scene.

The delegations from other countries who were staying in this region to go to Asgard were also watching.

Currently, a war was taking place between Asgard and the nations ruled by the fallen Constellations.

The kingdoms that had maintained neutrality were at a crossroads, and they had to gauge which side to choose to continue their kingdom’s existence.

Standing on the side of the fallen Constellations was difficult because they demanded ‘human sacrifices’.

Standing on the side of Asgard was risky because the Constellation had disappeared, and its power and influence were gradually decreasing.

But now.

A Constellation had appeared here.

Moreover, it had subdued the hideous angels with overwhelming power.

“Praise Loki!”

“May the glory of Asgard last forever!”

Above all, the shouts of the Norsemen here showed no signs of stopping even after half a day.

The cheers of the region’s residents.

Even the soldiers’ morale-boosting shouts.

They thought Asgard would perish as the Constellation disappeared.

But with the appearance of the Constellation, it was clear that Asgard would regain its influence.

“A letter to the homeland-!”

The delegations hurriedly wrote letters and sent them to their kingdoms via sea routes or trade routes.

The Constellation of the End had returned.

Now, the balance of power would be evenly distributed.

In the end, even the kingdoms that had maintained neutrality were faced with a dead-end choice.

Whether to side with the fallen Constellations or with Asgard.

***

Sharin and Egil were blankly staring into space.

Even while cleaning up the Ner region’s pier and investigating the merchants who had hidden the mutated angels, they recalled Loki’s feats.

“H, he was amazing, wasn’t he? That person. A, as expected, Constellations are different.”

At Egil’s words, Sharin pressed her temples.

“Yes, he was beyond comparison to us.”

They thought they could make a contribution, but they couldn’t.

Of course, they had subdued the mutated angels who were fleeing, but it was inevitable that their presence was overshadowed by the actions of Loki and his companions.

“As expected… we’re lacking….”

Practical experience against angels.

Sharin had subdued the mutated angels with difficulty, but the result was not satisfactory.

Loki had said that he would raise the Einherjar [Norse heroes chosen to fight in the afterlife] into an army comparable to the Berserker warriors.

Their combat power was too far behind the Berserkers.

At this rate, it would be difficult to catch up even in a few years.

“Sigh….”

Sighing, she headed to the inn where Loki was staying.

Cough! Cough!

Sharin turned her gaze to the coughing sound coming from the side.

A region resident coughing was visible.

“…I’ve been seeing that a lot lately.”

“Huh?”

“People coughing.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Egil also turned his gaze.

“It seems like the flu is going around these days. It seems to be happening a lot, especially in the Asgardian capital? They say the strange greenish-yellow powder is the problem. Ah! Come to think of it, I haven’t been feeling well lately either.”

Egil put the back of his hand on his forehead.

He felt a slight fever.

His nose was stuffy, making it difficult to breathe.

“A priest with a cold. How pathetic. What’s the point of having divine power?”

“Divine power for a cold… that’s a bit… Besides, it’s been a month since I caught it. It should be getting better soon.”

“…Isn’t it strange? It seems like the cold is lasting too long….”

“Try training non-stop in this cold north. It’ll get worse rather than better, right?”

“That’s because you’re weak.”

“…….”

They didn’t take it seriously.

They thought it was just a common cold caused by the extreme temperature difference between day and night.

Sharin and Egil arrived at the inn where Loki was staying.

There was a carriage in front of it, and Loki was preparing to depart.

Sharin approached Loki and bowed her head to report.

It was a report on the number of mutated angels captured and the merchants who had hidden them.

Loki nodded after hearing the story.

“Good work. You guys get on too.”

“Yes? C, can we do that?”

Sharin was scheduled to return home with the army.

Of course, as a trainee, she was planning to march.

But if she could go in a comfortable carriage with Loki’s permission, she would be very welcome.

“T, then, excuse me.”

A smile did not leave Sharin’s face.

She spoke to Egil next to her to hide her expression.

“You should quickly express your gratitude too….”

Drip, drip—.

Egil’s face turned pale.

Red liquid flowed from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

His skin was stained purple in places.

“Huh?”

Egil’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed forward.

“W, wait a minute!”

Sharin quickly supported him.

“What?! What is it?! Egil! Are you okay?! Tell me. Egil!”

Loki stopped getting into the carriage and approached Egil.

He frowned as he looked at his face.

Loki took out a potion from his chest and poured it into his mouth.

As he drank the potion, Egil’s complexion returned.

At that moment—.

“H, honey!”

“What’s wrong!?”

The surrounding downtown area became noisy.

Sharin stopped in surprise and looked around, widening her eyes.

She saw region residents collapsing one by one, bleeding.

“What… Cough!”

Sharin, who was coughing, covered her mouth with her hand, and her pupils shook.

Her body began to be engulfed in fever.

Could it be… this isn’t just a simple cold….

“P, plague?”

Sharin recalled the capital of Asgard.

This kind of cold was also prevalent there.

That meant that an uncontrollable plague had spread by now.

***

“Caw!”

“Suddenly, people are collapsing!”

The capital of Asgard was in a state of emergency.

Cancun ran through the streets.

“Medics!”

At her shout, Norsemen who had learned medicine rushed to run.

“Healers, please help too!”

The clergy of the Holy Order who were staying in the capital took care of those who had fallen on the streets.

Cancun gripped the Holy Sword.

Divine power poured out from her body, restoring the physical condition of those around her.

But—.

There was no end to the patients.

‘What on earth is going on…!?’

She thought it was just a common cold.

At most, there was a fever, a stuffy nose, and coughing.

The idea that it was a mild allergic reaction caused by pollen flying in the sky was openly circulating.

The symptoms were milder than a typical flu and did not interfere with daily life.

However, since the symptoms lasted quite a long time, Cancun started an investigation, thinking it was strange.

No matter how hard the clergy, healers, and pharmacists tried, they could not figure out what this disease was.

She was relieved by the experts’ words that it was ‘not threatening’.

And after some time had passed.

Suddenly, patients began to collapse, vomiting blood.

It was simultaneous.

The response to the patients pouring out all at once was gradually becoming tangled.

They hurriedly released the potions stored in Valhalla Palace [Hall of slain warriors in Norse mythology] to treat the patients, but….

As time passed, only chaos came.

“C, Cancun-nim!”

A cavalryman holding a flag rushed along the paved road.

It was a messenger.

He hurriedly got off his horse, knelt down, and bowed his head.

“A letter has arrived from the Kaprik Territory.”

“The Kaprik Territory?”

“An unidentified plague has broken out in the current Kaprik Territory.”

“……!”

The Kaprik Territory was a northwestern border fortress guarding Ronia.

Also, it was where Kudan had been dispatched not long ago.

A plague had broken out there too?

Even to the point of sending a messenger…?

Cancun was seized by an uneasy premonition.

“The Kaprik Fortress has been captured by the army led by the fallen Constellations.”

“……!”

“And….”

The messenger said, sweating profusely.

“…Kudan Ragnal, the leader of the Berserkers [Fierce Norse warriors who fought in a frenzy] in charge of guarding the place, has gone missing.”

***

Loki looked at Sharin and Egil.

He had stayed in the Ner region for several days, and Loki distributed potions he had made himself, treating the patients.

Trade was active, and the Ner region was the main place to stop before entering Asgard.

Since the clergy of the Holy Order also frequented the area, there was no problem in improving the condition of the patients.

However—.

“You got it again?”

Sharin and Egil, who had been cured of the plague.

Not long after being treated with the potion, they both showed symptoms of fever and coughing again.

“Yes….”

“I, I’m sorry.”

Sharin and Egil bowed their heads.

The two could not bring themselves to look up.

Instead of being helpful, they were constantly causing trouble.

Helga and Celot checked Sharin and Egil’s condition.

“…It’s not a curse.”

“…I’ve never seen a disease like this before….”

Helga was an expert in black magic. If she said it wasn’t a curse, then it wasn’t.

Also, Celot was an expert who knew a lot about herbs.

Of course, she had a lot of knowledge about diseases, but she also said that she had never seen a disease like this before.

The two shook their heads.

Loki turned his head.

“Cough! Cough! …Ugh.”

Karen was coughing and sniffling.

“…….”

If even Karen, who would avoid any disease, was infected, then the disease was no ordinary one.

Loki looked down at the inn window.

There were quite a few people coughing on the streets.

Among them, there were also those who could not overcome the disease and died, being carried away on stretchers.

The damage was enormous.

“…This is troublesome.”

He could treat them with potions, but the problem was that they could get the plague again even after being treated.

The disease did not build immunity.

‘Can something like that exist in the world?’

Even so, the fact that it only spread to Asgard meant that it was by no means a natural disease.

‘Is it the work of the Constellations?’

It wouldn’t be strange if there was a Constellation that spread diseases.

‘Even if I mass-produce potions, there’s a limit.’

Only Loki could make potions.

Asgard had created and distributed potion-making skill books, but they were not at the level of complete recovery that Loki directly made, so this kind of plague would not be very effective.

However, no matter how much Loki tried, it would be impossible to make potions for thousands or tens of thousands of patients.

‘If I could manufacture a medicine that was effective against the plague, I could create and distribute the medicine-making method, but.’

That was also blocked at the point where Celot couldn’t do it.

It was when Loki was worried.

Ding—!

A sacred bell rang out.

A procession of clergy in white robes marched.

“Constellation.”

A Norse warrior approached the inn entrance, knelt down, and bowed his head.

“Pope Zeus has arrived.”