Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 212: Star, the Illuminati (8)

Wolves were agile and slyly intelligent, making them a great match for the [Goddess Crown], which significantly strengthened one’s mind. Using these two, the Elfin Root fought against Kaplan Berisha, the fastest Player among the key Players that made up the siege.

Swoosh―! Swish, swish!

“Keugh…!” Kaplan was busy deflecting the Elfin’s attacks, which were tenaciously aimed at human vital points like his face, solar plexus, temples, and armpits.

Just like his Guardian, he mainly used sound waves from afar to attack, so he was especially vulnerable to the Elfin, who was a great hand-to-hand fighter.

‘I wouldn’t have come here if I knew things would turn out this way!’ Kaplan thought.

The only reason Kaplan had come to this place was to get the trophies that the Tyrant Lee Chang-Sun would have. The ‘Wuthering Stone Desert’ had been uncleared for dozens of years, so Chang-Sun had likely gotten a myriad of rewards after clearing it.

Fighting Chang-Sun one-on-one posed big risks, so Kaplan joined forces with Nadine Azram instead and hid among the Players who made up the siege. Who would have thought that the siege would be destroyed this easily?

The Elfin Root, who showed up before Kaplan, was such a skilled fighter that Kaplan had trouble keeping up with it despite being a renowned demonic being. Kaplan deflected its attack outward, but it immediately changed its attack’s course like a river, now aiming for his lower body. By distancing himself, Kaplan tried to activate [Sonic Wave], but the Elfin just calmly dodged his attack and launched a counterattack from his blindspot.

The Elfin moved more like a dancer than a martial artist. The Elfin’s attacks flowed naturally and peacefully, yet they remained sharp and accurate. Kaplan shivered in fear. He had seen this kind of movement before.

‘Wait, are they related to the Tyrant in some way…?’ Kaplan wondered.

If so, then he could never take the Elfin lightly. From what he had heard, Lee Chang-Sun would head straight to the U.S. after his business in Germany. If he was formulating a plan in secret… then an unexpected incident could take place.

[The Celestial ‘Iron-Pipe-Playing Sage’ yells at his apostle furiously, asking why he cannot beat a Celestial’s subordinate who has lost its <Starlight>!]

However, Kaplan couldn’t keep analyzing the situation with his Guardian yelling at him to put his heart into the fight. Kaplan honestly found it unfair.

‘I’m not losing because I want to…! Shit!’

Kaplan also didn’t want to lose to a mere summon, but what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t get rid of the Elfin to the side no matter how hard he tried to. Whenever the Elfin saw a chance, it made vines spring out from the ground to tie his feet, restricting his movements. Such a technique reminded Kaplan of ‘them,’ whom he had run into in the past.

“How can you keep using similar skills as those weird Elf bastards…!” Kaplan gritted his teeth.

The Elfin’s eyes turned cold, the word ‘similar skill’ ringing around its ears.

「Elf?」it asked.

“Yeah! Those ghost-like bastards with pretty faces and big ears…! They also used trees like you do! Do you know those Elves?”

「Where are they?」

“How should I know!” Kaplan forced himself to reply, making the Elfin more anxious since it could find out what happened to its colleagues.

「Then…」

However, the Elfin knew it shouldn’t lose its composure, so it just pushed Kaplan away and distanced itself as it tried to calm itself down. Inhaling and exhaling, the Elfin fixed its grip on its wooden staff and straightened its posture. It had regained its composure completely, and its eyes were sharper than ever.

「... You would have seen this too.」

[Your Subordinate ‘Elfin Root’ has activated the Skill ‘Dancing Leaf Blades’!]

Boom! Paah―!

The Elfin slammed the end of its wooden staff against the ground, causing winds to blow leaves off the ground. Imbued with the Elfin’s mana, each leaf stiffened like a sharp-edged sword.

Only those blessed by both the great nature and goddess could use materials in nature as weapons. Likewise, only Kali’s high-ranking priests could use the [Dancing Leaf Blades].

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh―!

The hardened leaves danced in the wind and clawed at Kaplan. The attacks were initially bearable, but over time, the blades began to seem like a storm, making it difficult for him to hold out any further. The blades and dust made it hard to see up ahead, and the strong wind prevented him from even standing straight.

Woosh, woosh, woosh…!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Elfin sprang forward again, its wooden staff emitting explosive sounds with each thrust. Kaplan felt as if he was taking on ten Elfins at once as he dealt with its wooden staff attacks and leaf blades, which were coming at him from every direction.

[A whirlwind is restricting the Player ‘Kaplan Berisha’!]

Kaplan had experienced similar attacks before in the Rocky Mountains, which was located in the southwest region of the U.S. The region was mostly made up of barren deserts, but it still had mountains standing tall. On top of those mountains was a guerilla resistance army, the leader of which used similar skills as the Elfin. Grasses, trees, vines… They even had the same attributes.

The guerilla army soldiers fought back hard, but the <Purple Star Astrology> kept giving quests to Players, regularly sending punitive expeditions against the guerilla resistance army. The soldiers were beautiful and had sharp ears like Elves in myth, so the Players that had participated in these expeditions called them that. The Players sold any soldiers they had captured alive.

「You’ve definitely seen this skill.」

Elfin didn’t miss how shaken up Kaplan was. Thinking it could finally find out what happened to its colleagues, the Elfin attacked Kaplan with much more ferocity than before.

[The whirlwind has changed to a storm!]

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!

Kaplan’s armor was torn, and blood dripped from his wounds. When the leaf blades stopped attacking Kaplan, he clenched his jaw. Fortunately, his wounds weren’t serious, so he could counterattack. However, before he could, he was forced to stop moving. For some reason, he felt as if the world was spinning.

[The Player ‘Kaplan Berisha’ has entered the ‘Poisoned’ state!]

The Leaf blades were poisoned! The Elfin and the Elves in the Rocky Mountains seemed to have one definitive difference. Kaplan frantically tried to circulate his mana when he realized that, but it was already too late.

Splash―!

Kaplan coughed blood like a fountain. As the world around him seemed to be crumbling down, the last thing Kaplan saw was the Elfin, who was pointing its wooden staff at him emotionlessly.

「Start talking if you don’t want to die.」

“…!”

[The Player ‘Kaplan Berisha’ has been subdued!]

* * *

[The ‘World Net’ is getting destroyed very quickly. 81%... 82%… 95%…]

[91% of the ‘World Net’ has been destroyed.]

“N-no…!”

“Please don’t kill—!”

After several hours, the siege had been destroyed.

[The Celestial ‘Fire Rat in Broad Daylight’ shouts in fury!]

[The Celestial ‘Screeching Woman’ looks at her commander, asking for his help to save her dying apostle.]

[The Celestial ‘Iron-Pipe-Playing Sage’ stops playing his pipe.]

[The Celestial ‘Mysterious Silk-Wrapped Man’ stares at a certain Celestial.]

[The Celestial ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ frowns!]

‘I’m… as good as dead,’ Nadine instinctively realized when he saw his Guardian’s response.

There was no way Nadine would walk out of this alive. The Players lost so devastatingly that Nadine felt empty. He ended up in this mess even before he and the other Players could put Chang-Sun in danger at least once. Sikario, whom Nadine had believed to be useful, had been killed, and all the other apostles had either been subdued or critically wounded.

Many Celestials were yelling at Nadine to save their apostles.

The only way that gave Nadine a small chance of surviving was to wait for Chang-Sun’s mana to be depleted. Nadine wasn’t sure if Chang-Sun was just a really good bluffer, but the problem was that Chang-Sun showed no signs of his mana even dwindling.

‘How can he be a King-Class Player and have such powerful summons at the same time? What in the world is his class?’ Nadine wondered.

He was also a veteran Player, so he was quite familiar with how the Player system worked. However, he couldn’t begin to fathom what Chang-Sun’s class or his skill tree was like. He had no Guardian, so how could Chang-Sun become strong that quickly? Was having a Guardian made one weaker? All kinds of questions kept popping up in his head because of his desire to escape from reality, but he soon had to focus on it instead.

[97% of the ‘World Net’ has been destroyed.]

[A considerable number of the ‘World Net’ members have fled or been rendered incapacitated.]

[The Player ‘Nadine Azram’ has failed the quest.]

[Applying quest failure penalties.]

…

「It’s too boring. They don’t even have the will to fight. We won’t use these small fries even as storage guards in <Muspelheim>.」

Sinmara, the over-five-meter giant wearing the [Lizard Demon Face], showed up at the center of the siege and threw something before Nadine.

Thump―!

It was a human that had been turned into a bloody pulp, preventing him from even identifying the human.

[The Celestial ‘Silk-Wrapped Mysterious Man’ cries out in despair, looking at his apostle who has become a wreck!]

Nasser Rica was also a renowned demonic being, but even he didn’t last long in a fight against Sinmara. Her abilities had been downgraded after becoming Chang-Sun’s subordinate, but she was still the queen and the best warrior of <Muspelheim>.

The only thing Nadine could do was open and close his mouth. His mind had blanked out, rendering him speechless. The <Purple Star Astrology> had been defeated by one mortal, not a Celestial.

Tap―!

Nadine shook like an aspen leaf. Meanwhile, Baek Gyeo-Ul, who was wearing shadow armor, stood in front of Nadine and pointed the Black Dragon Fang at his neck. Gyeo-Ul didn’t ask Nadine out loud whether or not he would surrender, however, since the spear pointed at his neck should be enough to deliver that message.

Pzzzz―!

The Undead Army soldiers, who had finished taking care of all the remnants, soon approached from every direction, looking like the victors in this fight. Their ghost energies agglomerated on top of their heads and fluttered like a flag.

Tap―! Tap―!

Chang-Sun quietly appeared and looked at Nadine—no, the ‘Tian Shi Yuan,’ who would be behind him.

[The Celestial ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ frowns upon seeing an arrogant mortal holding up his head!]

‘You’re still the same.’ Chang-Sun smirked, reading the message.

Yes, that was more like the ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ he knew, but on the other hand, Chang-Sun thought this was good. If the ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ behaved differently than before, Chang-Sun would have become very disappointed.

[The Celestial ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ thinks you’re being rude.]

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ holds his breath, glancing back and forth between you and the Celestial ‘Tian Shi Yuan.’]

Heoju was the only one who was very tense.

[The Celestial ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ is descending!]

Nadine suddenly froze up like a sculpture. After trembling profusely, the air around Nadine grew heavy.

Paah―!

At the same time, sacred light shone on Nadine’s back, an indication of a Celestial descending on the Saha World using their follower’s body. Celestials couldn’t easily do such a feat due to the law of causality.

『You’re one arrogant mortal,』Nadine said slowly, but the voice wasn’t his. It was resonant and had the power to make anyone nearby instinctively bow. Only the beings who had been watching all creations for eternity could have such a voice.

The ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ concluded that Chang-Sun was arrogant since he was still holding his head up high instead of bowing even after realizing that the ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ was watching him. A human shouldn’t do that.

『But I think you’re worth it, so I’ll let this slide,』The ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ continued pretentiously, pretending to be a generous Celestial even though he didn’t actually mean it.

『Now I understand why the ‘Gemini,’ ‘Taurus,’ ‘Primordial Evil Dragon,’ and… the Pale Star are paying attention to you.』

‘He’s scared of Mephistopheles,’ Chang-Sun assumed.

Considering the personality of the ‘Tian Shi Yuan,’ he would want to have his revenge against Chang-Sun for humiliating him, but he couldn’t bring himself to attack Chang-Sun out of fear of going through the same thing as the ‘Gemini.’

[The Celestial ‘Abyss-Chasing Great Devil’ watches the situation in silence.]

‘He failed to test me and also couldn’t figure out why Xue Yong suddenly disappeared, but it wouldn’t look good if he took matters into his own hands… However, the Celestials like Yue He and Ma Lin[1]keep pestering him to do something. He probably has a lot on his mind.’

Chang-Sun was almost certain that the ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ was still pondering if he should somehow restore the barricade named World Net or something and capture Chang-Sun or if he should stand down. This could be a good opportunity for Chang-Sun.

[Many of the <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials are glaring at you!]

Chang-Sun’s eyes turned cold.

“After you finished the sealing process, the King of the Underworld noticed that the <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials are acting suspicious.”

Yool’s warning from last night flashed across Chang-Sun’s mind.

“Keep in mind that you’re the special-rank reaper and the emissary of the <Underworld>, so your safety equals the safety of the <Underworld> and the King of the Underworld, your friend, and my master.”

Using Yool as the messenger, Thanatos told Chang-Sun to not use [Execution Sword] recklessly.

“I know. I’m not stupid. I won’t just pull it out without thinking it through.”

Chang-Sun reassured Yool, who was concerned, but Chang-Sun didn’t mean he would never use the [Execution Sword]. The ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ was right in front of Chang-Sun, and Bai Sheng, Yue He, Ma Lin, and Yan Shun[2]was nearby, which meant five <Purple Star Astrology> members were in this area. To top it all off, one of them was the <Purple Star Astrology> leader.

Many Celestials were certainly watching Chang-Sun right now, but he couldn’t miss this golden opportunity.

‘If people watching me is a problem, then I can just become inconspicuous.’ Reaching a decision, Chang-Sun infused his energy into the iron mask. ‘Simon.’

「Haha, it’s finally my turn to work. What is your order?」Simon Magus asked as he chuckled.

Chang-Sun asked, ‘Do you know how to open a warp gate?’

「Teleportation? Yeah, where do you want to go?」

Simon laughed confidently. Wearing the iron mask, Chang-Sun crookedly smiled.

‘The Owl’s Nest.’

「… Wait, what?」

Simon was rendered speechless upon realizing what Chang-Sun’s plan was. There was only one divine ground named ‘Owl’s Nest,’ and it belonged to the Illuminati’s Guardian.

‘The owl and some people have recently gotten on bad terms. Don’t you think those Celestials would be a good match for them?’

1. Another character from Water Margin. ☜

2. Another character from the novel Water Margin. ☜