Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 233

233. A Player Who Became a Constellation

Jauss ran a gaunt, bony hand over his face.

“I apologize. I lost my reason for a moment. So… what will you do?”

“Take him. There are too many attempts to save him these days, so I need to burn that hope along with him.”

After that, he planned to invade the Elysion Sanctuary.

“His mind is quite broken. Sometimes he’s crazy and spouts nonsense. But….”

Jauss looked at Loki and chuckled.

“I can force him to perform certain actions.”

“…….”

It was as if he was showing off a well-functioning toy.

“I could remove the Worm Pest, but I left it as is. The same goes for his recovery ability.”

At those words, Loki looked surprised.

“You can remove the Worm Pest?”

“Of course. However, a removal without side effects is impossible. A part of his body will be crippled. Ah, if you catch the Black Judge and bring him, I will make him human again with the alchemists of Kron. How about I remove the Worm Pest now?”

“No, it’s fine. Rather, he should suffer and die for a long time with the Worm Pest.”

Palace trembled and covered his head.

He must be feeling the fear of death.

Even though he had been tortured to madness, he still seemed to cling to life.

Well, he succeeded in developing the Worm Pest while dreaming of immortality, so it was only natural.

“Take this.”

Jauss held out a crystal ball.

“It’s a video orb. If you record the cremation of the Holy Emperor Palace and announce it to the continent, the cultists will be divided by his miserable death.”

He was truly thorough.

He must have had a lot of pent-up feelings towards Palace.

“I will.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Loki nodded.

While looking for Schurt, it was time to deal with the remnants of the Black Judge.

Loki approached Palace.

“Heeik!?”

As Loki approached, Palace retreated as if sticking his back to the iron bars.

“C, cremation is not allowed!”

“Isn’t your life already forfeit?”

“I, if I die, I will die in the Holy Order, which is like my hometown! So….”

“You.”

Loki smiled slyly.

“You have an ulterior motive.”

“……!”

Palace’s eyes were dead, but he had not given up on his attachment to life.

He must be looking for an opportunity to escape from the Holy Order.

He knew that if his execution was known, his followers would flock to him.

The hope that they would save him.

It was truly futile.

“Your fate is sealed.”

“……”

Palace’s pupils trembled.

“It’s cremation.”

“……!”

“So, with all your might-.”

Loki smiled slyly.

“Struggle. Holy Emperor.”

***

Cancun was waiting in front of the carriage.

After a while, Loki and the Norse warriors behind him were seen pulling a cart containing the Holy Emperor Palace.

Cancun’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Lord Loki! Who… is that old man?”

“Have you already forgotten?”

“Yes?”

Cancun looked at the old man and tilted his head.

He looked familiar. But no matter how hard he tried to remember, he couldn’t.

“It’s the Holy Emperor Palace.”

“…I, is that so?!”

Palace, who was subdued a long time ago.

He had become a completely different person compared to then.

Surely he should have the Worm Pest planted in him, but the bugs seemed to be too exhausted to recover.

“Why is the Holy Emperor Palace…?”

“He will be cremated in the territory of the Holy Order.”

“I, is that so?”

So the ruler who once dominated the world was going like this….

It was when Cancun was looking at Palace.

“Cancun.”

“Yes?”

Loki summoned Mercury’s Shield from his inventory.

And he held it out to Cancun.

“……?”

“This artifact, you use it.”

“Yes?!”

Cancun looked at the shield in surprise and asked.

“Are you giving it to me?”

“I’m lending it to you.”

At those words, Cancun made an awkward expression.

He said he was lending it, but it would be practically the same as giving it.

He had said he would lend the Holy Sword Brutgang as well, but he had never taken it back even once.

“Use it well.”

“…Then I’ll borrow it for a while.”

Cancun accepted Mercury’s Shield.

***

A blizzard begins to fall.

Was it because of the weather?

A chilly feeling and even a thick fog.

The Arond territory of the Holy Order.

The gate on the barrier there slowly closes.

Soldiers stood tall on the barrier.

Dark shadows were heavily cast around their eyes.

They looked exhausted.

Even while nodding off from lack of sleep, they struggled to keep their eyes open.

“Everyone, hold your positions!”

The Paladin’s cry echoed.

Accordingly, the soldiers who came to their senses gripped their spears nervously and maintained a still posture.

The Arond territory is located on a hill, with a river flowing around it.

Since rows of chevaux-de-frise [a defensive obstacle made of spiked beams] made by cutting logs were installed around the barrier, it did not seem easy to attack this territory.

It was one of the top ten territories of the Holy Order in terms of defense.

“O, they’re coming….”

Black shadows can be seen beyond the eerie fog.

Those wearing black masks and helmets and wearing black robes.

“Th, they’re the Black Judges.”

Heretics who betrayed the Order!

They were coming up from below the hill.

Behind them, staggering shadows can be seen.

Chains held by the Black Judges, and at the end of them, humanoid monsters with shackles were approaching on all fours.

“W, wights!”

A plague that once plunged the continent into fear.

Wights were born from those who died from the plague.

“Everyone, don’t be afraid. They’re just fallen heretics!”

At the Paladin’s words, the soldiers swallowed hard.

As it was the territory ruled by the Holy Emperor Palace, there were quite a few cultists who followed him.

The Black Judges who followed him used the Worm Pest planted in their bodies to spread the plague, mass-producing wights and indiscriminately attacking surrounding villages.

After a long time, many ways to counter the wights were devised.

Still, it was not easy to deal with them, who surpassed human power.

Above all, since they mainly smelled human blood and hunted, hiding was meaningless.

「Kkyaaaaaak!」

Dusk began in the evening.

Perhaps because of the eerie fog, darkness seemed to come even faster.

Did they know that?

The Black Judges held torches.

They smiled through their masks. And they raised the chains in their hands.

「Kkeuak! Kkiak! Kkiaaaak!」

Wights, like hungry beasts, struggled violently to break free from the chains and devour human blood and flesh, trying to head towards the Arond territory.

To further stimulate their ferocity, the Black Judges pulled on the chains.

They were waiting for the time.

Right when darkness would come.

The Black Judges looked at the sky.

The sun was leaving only faint streaks of light.

Soon, night would come.

“Good. Go.”

The Black Judges released the chains in their hands.

「Kkiaaaak!」

The wights began to sprint.

“They’re coming!”

The soldiers shouted.

“Aim!”

The crossbowmen hung their crossbows on the barrier railing and aimed.

The archers pulled their bowstrings all at once from behind and raised them high into the sky.

When they entered the firing range, the Paladin shouted.

“Fire!”

Bolts surged, and arrows fell in an arc.

Some of the wights hit by the arrows pouring down like rain collapsed.

「Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!」

But even with their heads pierced, they moved.

Worms wriggled all over their bodies, making their flesh move.

As if stimulating their ferocity even more, their roars echoed.

The earth seemed to shake with their unstoppable sprint.

Feeling the vibrations, the residents of Arond all hid in their homes, closing and locking their doors.

They sat down, hugged their heads, and screamed.

The sprinting wights.

They collided with the chevaux-de-frise installed around the barrier.

Kwajik-!

Kwang-!

The chevaux-de-frise made of logs were smashed.

Even though it must have been a tremendous impact, very few wights were incapacitated.

As monsters that were difficult to even scratch with solid weapons, the chevaux-de-frise could not tie their feet.

“Azelan! Please, please save us!”

The Paladins shouted, and the clerics chanted prayers.

When the holy light touched the wights, they retreated from the light containing divine power.

“The constellation’s blessing will protect us!”

The clerics’ blessing.

Their prayers were effective.

The Black Judges turned their gaze to the sky.

The last ray of light that remained faintly.

The sun completely disappeared from the mountain range.

The Black Judges smiled.

“…Glory to the Sun God and the Holy Emperor Palace.”

As the sun set, the darkness of the abyss descended on the Arond territory.

The prayers uttered by the clerics were submerged in the darkness, and the light they emitted disappeared.

Pitch-black darkness.

The soldiers stopped in surprise and screamed.

The hope of light disappeared, and the fear of darkness took over.

As the light disappeared, the wights sprinted.

And they crashed into the ramparts.

Kwang kwang kwang-!

They crashed endlessly.

“Wh, what do we do?! I can’t see!”

“Damn it, where are the torches?!”

“Damn it… I can’t hear because of the noise!”

The wights’ roars.

And the soldiers, whose sight and hearing were paralyzed by the noise caused by ramming into the ramparts, wandered around in confusion.

The wights gradually piled up.

They formed a hill, trampling on their comrades and gradually jumping higher.

The fingernails scraped the ramparts, creating a space where they could put their hands.

Although they could not see, the wights reacted to the smell of human blood and the voices they uttered.

They could feel that they could hunt prey if they went just a little further.

“We can inflict extreme damage before the next sun rises.”

“We can occupy it if we attack about two or three more times.”

“Now, it’s our time.”

The night when the constellation of light died and the light disappeared was enough to cause fear in humans.

If the wights just crossed that rampart, the plague would spread in an instant.

And it would cause great damage.

We may not be able to get this land in this attack, but we will be able to capture it when we come next time.

Clatter, clatter, clatter…

“Huh?”

At that time, the Black Judges, who had sensitive hearing, heard a strange noise.

It was not from the Arond side.

The sound was coming from behind them.

‘Carriage sound?’

The Black Judges turned around.

‘…What crazy human is driving a carriage in the middle of this night?’

It was darkness where they could not see an inch ahead.

No matter how well they knew the way, it would not be easy to find their way in this darkness.

In particular, as there were many cultists and wights here, this kind of behavior was suicidal.

‘Or is it our colleague?’

Perhaps it was reinforcements that came to occupy the territory.

The Black Judge looked in the direction of the sound.

He could only see pitch black.

It was when the Black Judge was tilting his head.

Whirr-!

The Black Judges stopped in surprise and turned their heads to the side.

The torches they were holding were emitting a bright light.

“What?”

This was the light that the torch had emitted before Mercury, the constellation of light, died.

‘Light is visible at night?’

The Black Judge was surprised and turned his gaze.

Clatter… clatter…

“……!”

A carriage guarded by knights in silver-white armor was passing by.

They were holding lanterns that emitted a pure white light from divine power, illuminating the surroundings.

The Black Judges froze at the unfamiliar scenery that had become as bright as dawn.

The flag with the snake and wolf drawn on the carriage.

“Asgard?”

The Black Judge was momentarily filled with fear.

When they were about to retreat and run away, there was something that caught their eyes.

Clatter… clatter…

Behind the marching carriage was a cart making a loud noise.

A mobile prison cart made of iron bars.

The old man there.

“Sa, save me…. Please!”

The Black Judges knew who the old man was.

“H, Holy Emperor!”

Holy Emperor Palace!

He was in prison.

It was when the Black Judges were startled and all drew their weapons.

Swish-!

The Einherjar [elite warriors in Norse mythology] flew in and beheaded them.

***

The sound of weapons fighting can be heard.

The roar and noise, even screams.

And from afar, there was a buzzing sound as if they were in confusion.

「Kkiaaaaaak!」

A grotesque roar as well.

Loki, who was riding in the carriage, opened the carriage window and said.

“It’s noisy outside. What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing. It’s just that noisy wild animals are running wild, so don’t worry about it.”

Cancun said with a smile, and Loki nodded and turned his attention away.

“Uwaaaaak!”

As Cancun said, they were really noisy wild animals.

“Cancun.”

“Yes?”

“The shield I gave you. Test it out.”

Cancun’s eyes widened.