Ch.1150Troublemaker in Need of Intensive Care

Knut.

A Crusader of Volberg who transferred his hatred for Ka’har and Orhan onto his daughter Haschal Median Aishan-Gioro, attempting to kill her as the first step in his revenge.

The deity known as Volberg was actually one of Alfodhr’s many aliases, making Knut essentially the first assassin sent by Alfodhr to kill the “champion.”

Of course, whether Alfodhr himself intended this or if it was merely coincidence was something even the ascended gods couldn’t determine.

Anyway, after constantly being wary of Knut who showed hostility at every turn, Haschal finally decided to deal with him, and they clashed head-on in the middle of the night—both having reached the same decision.

However, Knut was far stronger than she had anticipated.

Whether he was receiving Volberg’s full favor or not, he was a capable Crusader who had been granted three divine powers—when even high-ranking Paladins struggled to receive just one.

Haschal, who had not yet awakened to the power of Karma, struggled against these powers, accumulating wounds and anger throughout the battle.

As her passion continued to intensify and her rational judgment became clouded, she unconsciously succumbed to the temptation of Frosting.

Well, it was an unavoidable choice. Without using it, she would have died at the hands of the rage-blinded Crusader.

“KYAAAAAAAK!”

…The problem was that this wouldn’t change the outcome of death.

Haschal, equipped with Frosting, instinctively drew upon the power of Murder Karma she wasn’t even aware of, using it to crush Knut.

“KIIHAAAAAK…!”

But as the gods had predicted, she couldn’t withstand the curse of madness dwelling in Frosting. Overwhelmed by the violent instincts of the celestial killing star, she completely lost her mind.

“…Isn’t this a disaster?! She’s going to die!”

Dismay and disappointment appeared on the faces of the watching gods.

“She really can’t control it after all…!”

“This is terrible. It’s an item she couldn’t handle even in perfect condition, let alone with serious injuries…!”

Her accumulated injuries from the battle already required urgent treatment, but now the netherworld’s cold energy was seeping in, along with excessive energy consumption.

Though she was currently rampaging as if in her element, if left unchecked, she might collapse and die within minutes.

“Lady Elpinel, do something! You said you could suppress it!”

“I’m working on it, don’t rush me!”

Fortunately, Elpinel intervened in time and successfully calmed Haschal’s madness.

Using Durandal, forged with her divine power, as a medium and pathway to interfere with the mortal realm, she cast a blessing of tranquility on Haschal’s mind.

“…It seems she’s regained her senses. That’s a relief.”

“As expected of Lady Elpinel! I knew we could count on you!”

“……”

Looking down at Haschal, who survived thanks to Lena’s healing, the six gods sighed in relief that the situation they had worried about was resolved safely.

Should this be called a blessing in disguise?

Though it had caused them great anxiety, looking at the results, it was actually a beneficial battle.

The Crusader of “Volberg” was neutralized, Haschal became more accustomed to fierce combat, and in the process, she was even recognized as the owner of Durandal.

Of course, there was also a problem—having tasted freedom, her Murder Karma became much more aggressive, causing her to have nightmares much more frequently…

“Menes, you still have quite a bit of divine power left, right? I was hoping you could do something about that condition.”

But even that wasn’t such a serious problem.

Menes, the god of the moon and dreams, could still interfere with her dreams using his powers, even though the otherworldly soul had descended to the mortal realm.

Once a mental connection is established, it doesn’t easily close.

Menes’ power—the Dream Corridor—which had injected information about this world into the otherworldly soul in the form of dreams, still provided a pathway for Menes to interfere with her mind even after she had descended to the mortal realm.

“No, even I don’t have that much—”

“Then should we just leave her like that?”

“Fine, fine. I’ll handle it. You just want to get rid of the nightmares, right?”

Menes intervened in Haschal’s dreams using that mental pathway, suppressing the nightmares caused by Murder Karma by completely replacing them with entirely different dreams.

“No, even in dreams, what kind of weird nonsense is this…”

Of course, from Haschal’s perspective, it was just a different kind of nightmare.

But still, wouldn’t it be better to see Orhan performing a ballet dance of courtship than to have nightmares where those she had killed appeared as vengeful spirits spewing hatred and resentment?

At least that’s what Menes thought.

Shocking and bewildering memories tend to be etched in one’s mind like an imprint and don’t easily disappear.

The more absurd the dream content, the longer it would linger in her mind, helping to alleviate the negative emotions caused by Murder Karma nightmares.

‘Hmm, this is quite fun… What should I do for the next dream?’

…In truth, watching Haschal recoil in horror at such bizarre dreams was quite entertaining for him.

Menes, god of the moon and dreams, was famous for his capriciousness and mischief.

Even in the midst of a serious and important task where the achievement of revenge was at stake, he never abandoned his nature of seeking amusement.

—-

“So… what’s supposed to happen next?”

“According to Regin’s prediction, it’s an attack by the Were Kingdom’s spies—those called the Militchiya…”

After the Knut incident was resolved more or less safely, the next challenge facing Haschal was the Werebeasts’ academy raid.

An incident where Baryachrus’s secret operations unit “Militchiya” attempted to ambush and massacre new students who had ventured outside the academy to weaken future enemies.

According to Regin’s predictions, they would lose momentum due to resistance from new students led by Demian, and would be surrounded and annihilated by the Imperial Knights who arrived a beat late…

“…I wonder if things will really proceed according to that prediction.”

“Well, the first button was already completely misaligned. That Crusader Knut wasn’t even mentioned in Regin’s predictions, was he?”

Since Regin’s calculations had already seriously deviated from their premise, there was no guarantee that the future would unfold according to those predictions.

“Menes, couldn’t you track the movements of those Militchiya in advance?”

“How could I? I’m not their god. Those traitors’ descendants wouldn’t worship me.”

“…Indeed, then we can’t watch them.”

The ascended gods could look down upon beings in the mortal realm even from the heavens, but this view was limited only to those connected to them.

They might be able to observe those blessed by gods or those who pray in their names, but it was impossible to watch mortals with whom they had no relationship whatsoever.

Of course, Saulite already knew this much.

She just asked because she thought there might be a connection between Menes and the Militchiya, given their common identity as Werebeasts.

Of course, such a superficial commonality meant nothing.

Menes had despised the entire Werebeast race since being betrayed two thousand years ago, and the Werebeasts had long forgotten that Menes was even one of their kind.

Therefore, the six ascended gods couldn’t detect the Militchiya’s actions that had greatly deviated from Regin’s calculations.

Just like Haschal.

“We will not become slaves—!”

“Kill all the humans! The time for revenge has come!”

“Burn everything, everything!”

The Militchiya, having changed their objective due to the empire’s chaos and Haschal’s handling, secretly contacted Werebeast slaves within the imperial capital and incited them to start a riot when the time came to burn down the capital.

Thus began the massive Werebeast uprising.

The great riot, later called the “Great Capital Fire,” burned down a third of the imperial capital, with countless residents killed and eaten, leaving blood and flesh scattered throughout the streets.

“You bastards!!!”

Haschal, who hadn’t anticipated such a massacre, literally went berserk with rage.

“Th-that woman again…!”

“Didn’t we definitely calm her mind?!”

To the watching ascended gods, it seemed like she had fallen into the madness of Murder Karma again.

“It’s not just because of Murder Karma. A blow severe enough to crack her skull, excessive fever, and inhaling a lot of smoke—her mind is half gone!”

In fact, this frenzy wasn’t just due to the Murder Karma she possessed, but also injuries and environmental factors that would drive anyone insane.

…Anyway, even in her frenzy, Haschal precisely distinguished between humans and Werebeasts, focusing on slaughtering only the latter.

Thanks to this, the number of Werebeasts reveling in madness and ecstasy decreased surprisingly quickly.

While the ascended gods were deeply concerned that she might collapse from exhaustion, they were also secretly proud of how the once-young girl had become quite the warrior.

“At least thanks to her, the Werebeasts can be handled smoothly… Huh? Wait, what is that woman doing now? She’s suddenly putting her mouth… Huh?!”

“Chomp, chomp.”

“……”

“……”

That pride was short-lived as they witnessed the reason why she would later be called the “Were Eater,” leaving them all speechless with their mouths agape.

“Why the hell is she eating that…!”

“…Menes, Lady Elpinel is watching too. Mind your language.”

“Gold nugget, you can say that after seeing THAT? She’s chewing on the enemy’s face, their face!”

“Why are you surprised? It’s common among Werebeasts.”

“She’s not a Werebeast!”

Replenishing her strength by filling her stomach with the flesh of Werebeasts she had bitten off, moistening her throat and cooling her body temperature with the blood she was covered in, she continued her frenzied battle until all enemies were gone.

The ascended gods, including Menes, were shocked by this display and could barely suppress their bewilderment, continuously expressing sentiments close to lamentations.

“Uh, uhh…? Isn’t she going to die like that?!”

“No, no. She’s getting up again… And… hmm, that power is…”

“Ausrine’s Karma…! Has she finally awakened to it? Now she’s starting to look decent!”

When Haschal finally regained her senses and entered the realm of mastery by realizing the Karma she had accumulated, they expressed genuine admiration, saying that now she was finally worth watching.