Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 240

240. The Player Who Became a Constellation

“Th-This is impossible!”

The cultists captured in the plaza shouted.

They had seen it clearly with their own eyes.

Saint Palase had… betrayed them.

Why?

Could he have been brainwashed through torture?

“Ugh! Let go of me! I said, let go!”

The cultists, pinned to the ground, yelled at the Einherjar [warriors serving Odin in Valhalla] behind them.

The Einherjar forcibly stood them up.

Those gathered in the plaza murmured.

With so many people, bloodshed could lead to even greater chaos.

That must be why Loki ordered ‘suppression’.

“Please step aside!”

Soldiers from the Arond territory pushed through the crowd and seized the cultists.

Loki, watching from the special seating on the platform, turned his gaze to the crowd.

“Oh, dear.”

“……?”

Cancun tilted her head, looking at Loki.

“Some of them slipped through.”

“Pardon?”

Cancun followed Loki’s gaze.

There, cultists were taking vials from their pockets.

Opening the lids, they swallowed the Worm Pest [a substance that turns people into undead creatures].

“Long live Saint Palase!”

“I will become an undead and save Saint Palase!”

Their skin began to melt, and they transformed into wights [undead creatures] with wriggling worms.

The crowd in the plaza screamed at the sight.

“Ah…! I-I’m sorry! I thought we had monitored everyone…!”

Cancun was flustered.

“No, I noticed it late too. I didn’t expect them to be so cautious even after entering this territory. Well, with hundreds of thousands of people gathered, it’s easy to miss a bug or two.”

Wights attacked the people.

As they bit people in the plaza, those people also began to turn into wights.

“Well, if I hadn’t prepared anything, I wouldn’t have gathered people in such a plaza.”

Loki summoned Calib’s Gauntlets [magical gauntlets] and the Purification Stone [an artifact that produces holy water] that produced Holy Water from his inventory.

He put on the gauntlets and gripped the Purification Stone.

Instantly, water gushed out from under the gauntlets and scattered across the plaza.

The salty seawater became Holy Water through the Purification Stone.

As the Holy Water soaked the ground, the crowd in the plaza widened their eyes.

Just dipping their feet in the water, they felt a sacred energy spreading throughout their bodies.

Their bodies felt lighter, and chronic ailments they had suffered from disappeared.

Loki looked at the wights.

The Worm Pests that touched the Holy Water melted away, but those who had already become wights seemed unaffected.

This was because, despite having divine power, it paradoxically had no effect on killing the undead.

That was probably why it was so valuable to the spirits of the underworld.

Loki clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“Well, I knew something like this might happen, so I left you here.”

“…….”

“Go clean up the mess.”

“Yes.”

At Loki’s words, Cancun jumped off the platform.

She drew the Holy Sword Brutgang [a powerful, divinely blessed sword] with her right hand and gripped Mercury’s Shield [a magical shield] in her left.

Wings of light burst from her back.

Her figure vanished in an instant, and a flash of light swept past the wights attacking the crowd.

Thwack-!

The wights fell apart, their bodies in pieces.

“Sa-Save me!”

The wights attacked other people.

Cancun slammed the Holy Sword into the ground.

The divine power emanating from the sword spread rapidly through the Holy Water.

Soon, the Holy Water evaporated, and particles of light soared high into the sky.

When the light particles touched them, the wights that even the Holy Water couldn’t kill turned to ashes and vanished.

“Oh, she knows how to use various skills.”

Loki wore a satisfied expression.

“Constellation of the End!”

Loki turned his head and looked up at the platform.

“Now, release me!”

At those words, the cultists paused.

They stared at Palase, shocked.

What on earth was he saying?

“Didn’t you make a deal!? If I sacrifice them, all the believers, you would save me!”

“……!”

The shockwave of those words spread throughout Arond territory.

Not only the people who had gathered to watch the Saint’s demise, but also the cultists who were in the plaza to save him.

And those who were trying to seize the outer gate and checkpoint, and even the Black Arbiters [elite cultist warriors] who were confronting the paladins on the walls of Arond territory.

They all stared at the video crystal ball with wide eyes.

Loki blinked.

“…Hmm.”

Loki stroked his chin. Then, he glanced at Sharin, who was holding a torch in front of the pyre.

“My ears are a bit muffled.”

Saint Palase’s expression gradually darkened.

“You’ve wasted time. Execute the burning at the stake.”

Saint Palase blinked.

What… what did he say…?

The Saint’s face gradually hardened. Then, he turned his gaze.

Sharin was giggling.

“Loki-nim, you see…”

“…….”

“…loves to joke.”

“Wh-What are you talking about?!”

“It’s like this.”

Sharin held up the torch and threw it onto the pyre.

“Ah, No-.”

Whoosh-!

The flames spread throughout the pyre.

Rising slowly from below.

“Th-That’s a lie…! It can’t be!?”

The flames touched his feet. His feet began to burn.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

The wriggling Worm Pest regenerated his burning legs, but the flames gradually rose and burned his body again.

The flames of the pyre intensified.

Saint Palase, hanging on the pyre under the moonlight.

He became a living firewood, his whole body on fire.

“Kkeuaaaaaaaagh!”

He couldn’t die.

Burning and regenerating, repeating the cycle.

Endless pain began.

During the siege, the video recording surfaced.

Saint Palase shouted.

“Save me!”

…That was a shocking scene for the Black Arbiters, who thought Saint Palase had ascended to the rank of Constellation [a being of immense power and influence].

Some even thought that he had truly become a Constellation through all the brainwashing.

They all said the same thing.

Saint Palase-nim could open a new era with a new Divine Order.

He would open an era of immortal eternity.

But the scene before their eyes was completely different from their ideals.

Look.

It was just ordinary fire.

His body was melting in the flames of that pyre.

He was screaming and suffering so bitterly, unlike a being who had risen to the rank of Constellation.

He… was not a human who had risen to the rank of Constellation.

He was just a weak old man infested with worms.

“Wait, no! That’s not what we agreed on?! You said you’d save me…! You said you’d save me…!”

“Hmm, Sharin. Did I say that?”

Loki spoke slowly, pausing between words.

Sharin nodded and presented the contract from her pocket.

The contract with Saint Palase’s handwriting was shown through the crystal ball.

It stated that the Black Arbiters were cultists, and by handing them over, he would survive and gain freedom.

The fact that he had sacrificed his own believers to save himself became known to everyone in the territory.

Loki looked at the contract with his fingers interlaced.

And then-.

“Ah, that’s right.”

He smiled.

“Sharin, release him.”

Accordingly, the Einherjar sprayed water.

The flames of the pyre gradually subsided.

Saint Palase, charred, moved his lips.

“Huh, should have expressed yourself properly? I couldn’t understand you because you were mumbling, could I?”

Saint Palase glared at Loki.

“What… are you… doing…”

“What promises did I make? To let you survive, and to give you freedom? Ah, then I haven’t broken my promise. You’re alive anyway. Hmm, then the remaining promise is freedom?”

Loki looked at Cancun.

Cancun flew up and grabbed Saint Palase.

“Wh-What are you doing-!”

“I will give you freedom.”

Cancun flew up. The place she headed to was the very center of the battlefield, which was in full swing.

When she arrived there, everyone glared at him.

The paladins of the Divine Order, and the Black Arbiters.

Everyone glared at Palase with eyes full of hostility.

Palase froze.

No way-!?

“Now, I will fulfill my promise. Enjoy your freedom!”

Cancun dropped Palase in the middle of the battlefield.

Palase, who fell from the sky, collided with the ground as it was, and Cancun flinched.

“…That must hurt.”

***

Loki stood up from his seat.

The video crystal ball showed Loki’s figure.

Loki spread his hands.

“Even Saint Palase denied the Black Arbiters. They are just monsters in human skin.”

Loki’s figure was shown throughout the city.

“From now on, begin the monster hunt!”

***

Saint Palase’s betrayal.

The repercussions were enormous.

Palase, who had fallen in the middle of the battlefield, wriggled and got up.

‘I-I’m alive.’

He smiled faintly as he regenerated.

He was alive.

Ye-Yes, even though the Constellation of the End had struck a blow against him, he kept his promise.

Now, all he had to do was survive and escape-!

At that moment, Palase heard footsteps in front of him.

When Palase raised his head, he saw the Black Arbiters of each cult.

“Oh, you’ve come to save me! Quickly, protect me-.”

Thwack-!

A sword was stabbed into Saint Palase’s shoulder.

Palase screamed, looking at his pierced shoulder.

“You… betrayed us.”

“…You are no longer the Saint we serve.”

The Black Arbiters gathered and began to hack him to pieces.

The sight of Palase’s body being hacked to pieces was broadcast live through the crystal ball.

“The fallen, Saint Palase, is dead!”

“The judgment of Azellan has been passed down!”

Citizens shouted throughout the city.

“The Saint! He was indeed an evil being!”

“The Constellation of the End has ordered the extermination of evil monsters!”

The Arond soldiers at the outer gate and checkpoint cut down the cultists with high morale and shouts.

“Hiiiiek!?”

The cultists hesitated, stepped back, and ran away.

“Kill!”

There was no way they would let these people escape.

The soldiers chased after them and brought down their swords.

“The Constellation of the End has ordered!”

The Black Arbiter, who was facing the paladin’s sword, paused.

“Exterminate the cultists!”

The paladin’s faith seemed to have deepened, and the divine power emanating from his sword became even stronger.

The Black Arbiter began to be pushed back.

“This… is impossible!”

“Are you still denying reality!!”

“……!”

“The Constellation of the End has passed down the judgment of Azellan. Even so, can you truly say that your faith is the will of Azellan!”

The Black Arbiters, who had not even achieved their original goal, lost their morale.

Was that all?

The betrayal of the Saint shook the faith they had held until now.

Why had they served the Saint, that weak old man!?

“You killed the Saint you serve with your own hands.”

And they themselves had shattered that faith.

The Black Arbiters had killed the Saint they had served so much.

“You are just a pseudo-religious group.”

At those words, the Black Arbiter’s hand lost strength, and the paladin’s sword beheaded the Black Arbiter.

***

“D-Damn it-!”

The cult leaders who were commanding the Black Arbiters stepped back.

They never expected the situation to change this much!

Yes, even if they had no choice but to kill the Saint, the Saint’s remarks were quite dangerous.

It was enough to instill distrust in their believers.

They had gathered here to save an old man, let alone a Constellation, and were now being hunted down like this.

If things continued like this, their future would be bleak.

They would suffer damage to the point where revival was almost impossible, or they would fall into a state where it was difficult to even maintain the cult.

‘Was it a trap?!’

The cult leaders stepped back.

Now, they had no choice but to run away.

“L-Leader!”

The cultists came to the cult leaders.

“U-Unidentified troops in the rear…!”

“What?”

“We saw flags with snakes and wolves! Probably…”

The cultists’ faces turned pale.

“…It looks like the Asgard army.”

***

“Ooooooh! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

Kwarrrrrrrrr-!

Hundreds of chariots raced across the vast prairie.

“Hahaha! To be able to race like this at night!”

Per looked around from the chariot.

Hundred chariots raced side by side.

The chariots were carrying armed Nord warriors and priests.

Behind the chariots, the Berserker warrior squad led by Kudan Ragnal was racing with warhorses, and behind them, hundreds of cavalrymen were following.

“In accordance with the call of the Constellation of the End, I, Per Linia! Will participate in the war!”

Per roared, holding a spear.

The Nord warriors who followed him also shouted.

“Now, let’s go!”

The rear unit of the cult could be seen in front of them as they raced.

“Ooooh! I see them! I see them!”

The Nord warriors roared as if they were excited.

「Kkiaaaaaaak!」

Wights saw the chariot unit at the front and ran towards them, screaming strangely.

The priests chanted prayers at the sight.

Light was emitted from the chariot along with a sacred shield.

Per burst out laughing at the sight.

“Come on. You bastards! I’ll show you how strong my brother’s chariot, Astoria Island’s warhorses, and the priest combination are!”

The warhorses made rough snorts.

As the wights approached, the warhorses raised their front hooves and slammed them down.

Thwack-!

The heavy body rammed into the wights and bounced them off.

The wights on the left and right that avoided the warhorses were torn to pieces by the chariot’s sharp bladed wheels.

The wights that survived the chariot’s charge were….

“Ha, are we the cleanup crew?”

…were crushed by the cavalry led by Kudan.