Ch.168Battlefield of Stars (2)

As Najin raised his sword, he thought.

That he could neither hear nor see well.

Relying on Merlin’s whispers and the direction she pointed, Najin took his stance. His half-closed eyes were looking not at reality but within himself.

Najin immersed himself in his own being.

The imagery forming on his sword scattered light. A golden flash burst over the pure white sword energy. The blade energy of white and gold wrapped around the longsword’s edge.

Throb.

Najin frowned.

Even the act of raising his sword was arduous. He could easily predict what would happen after he swung it. He would probably cough up blood and collapse. Wasn’t it already miraculous that he was standing at all?

Najin hoped that miracle would last just a few seconds longer.

His hand holding the sword trembled violently.

Grip.

Merlin covered Najin’s hand with both of her own. Though her touch had no physical form, her emotions were palpable. Worry, anxiety, and encouragement slightly stronger than both. Najin couldn’t help but smile.

‘Merlin.’

-Yes.

‘Thank you.’

-Just words?

“If you know, do better,” Merlin sighed.

Najin steadied his breathing. The trembling in his hand had subsided. The moment the shaking stopped, Najin swung his sword.

First Horn (第一角), Triumph (凱旋).

Najin struck downward like Alderan.

2.

A battlefield where countless constellations had descended.

Looking up at the sky, over 100 stars shone with their own colors. This was a battlefield where even transcendents were reduced to mere supporting roles.

Naturally, in such a battlefield, there was no place for Najin who hadn’t even reached transcendence.

Everyone thought so. No one paid attention to the boy sitting back there. There was no need to look at someone who couldn’t even step onto the stage. However, Najin didn’t let them ignore him that way.

Najin’s star shone.

The light his star created was incomparably weak compared to the starlight of the constellations. It could be called insignificant, a young star that couldn’t even form a proper constellation.

Yet, despite that, Najin’s star shone.

A star shining pure white.

The constellations were drawn to that pure light. A momentary silence fell over the chaotic battlefield. Whether swinging swords, thrusting spears, or drawing bowstrings, they all stopped and turned around.

The boy raised his sword, trailing starlight.

A boy who hadn’t reached transcendence imitated transcendence.

The moment Najin brought down the sword he had raised high, blade energy burst from its tip. White light raced across the battlefield, followed by golden radiance. It swept through the jesters, surging toward the Empress of Bliss.

The constellations who witnessed that strike widened their eyes.

That was clearly a strike approaching transcendence.

Of course, any constellation gathered here could unleash a more powerful strike than that. None of the constellations gathered here were inferior to Najin. But they instinctively felt it.

That was different. They couldn’t explain what was different, but their instincts told them. That strike made of pure starlight deserved a leading role on this battlefield.

“Open.”

Someone muttered.

“Open the way.”

That muttering represented everyone’s thoughts. The constellations roared and pushed back the jesters. Actors reduced to supporting roles leaped at the jesters, clearing the path so the boy’s blade energy wouldn’t slow down.

The supporting cast deflected all the magic and techniques the jesters scattered to block the boy’s blade energy. The constellations, who treasured starlight so dearly, seemed bewitched as they consumed their own starlight to pave the way.

They opened, cleared, and paved the way.

Najin’s blade energy raced along the path they created.

“How dare you!”

Quixote moved to block that strike, but Juel and Kirhov stood in his way. Just moments ago, they had been the protagonists of this battlefield, but at this moment, they yielded the leading role to Najin.

They pushed away the final obstacle.

The path to the Empress of Bliss opened.

Borrowing Merlin’s eyes and ears, receiving help from the stars, Najin’s sword finally crossed the battlefield and reached the Empress of Bliss.

Crack.

The Empress of Bliss’s mask shattered under the blade energy.

A few strands of her severed hair floated in the air. It wasn’t significant damage, far from a fatal wound. But what Najin cut wasn’t just the Empress of Bliss.

Alderan’s helm.

Najin cut through the helm the Empress of Bliss had placed on Alderan. The helm, split in half, fell. Najin’s blade energy, made of pure starlight, momentarily removed the threads the Empress of Bliss had draped over Alderan’s head.

…Normally.

Alderan Basaglia shouldn’t have become a forgotten one. He burst his own heart, and his heart was cut by Najin. With his heart cut by pure starlight, he should have met a complete death. Normally, that’s what should have happened.

But the Empress of Bliss revived Alderan.

The Empress of Bliss used her authority to stitch together Alderan’s torn heart, making him move as a forgotten one. To make him a jester, she first had to revive him. That was the Empress of Bliss’s plan—to make the revived Alderan her jester.

A variable appeared in that plan.

Najin had removed the Empress of Bliss’s threads. What remained where the threads were removed was a forgotten one not yet turned into a jester.

Twitch.

The forgotten one’s hand moved.

A forgotten one (忘者) refers to someone who repeats their actions from life while forgetting themselves and craving starlight. And what Alderan had done in life was… utterly simple.

Whoosh.

The moment his helm was removed, Alderan’s body moved.

Grab.

In the blink of an eye, his outstretched hand seized the Empress of Bliss’s neck. Holding her neck, Alderan Basaglia straightened his bent knees. Alderan lifted the Empress of Bliss into the air, gripping her neck.

Alderan Basaglia is a knight.

Alderan Basaglia is the Empire’s First Horn.

Knights never compromise with demons, and the Empire’s hero never surrenders to the Empire’s enemies. Even as a forgotten one, he didn’t forget his mission.

Knights kill demons.

The Empire’s hero kills the Empire’s enemies.

As Alderan strangled her, the Empress of Bliss showed an emotion other than laughter for the first time.

Shock. Fear. And, ecstasy and excitement.

Conflicting emotions colored her face in halves. Soon, numerous jesters rushed at Alderan to save their master. They pressed down on his body, pulled at his arms, and attached threads to his body.

Thud thud thud thud!

Shaking off all those hands, Alderan rampaged among the jesters. Like a beast, he gripped the Empress of Bliss’s neck with his powerful hand and wouldn’t let go. Smashing the rushing jesters, Alderan Basaglia roared.

Even dozens of jesters couldn’t stop Alderan. Without even holding a sword, he tore the jesters apart with his bare hands while gripping the Empress of Bliss’s neck and slamming her to the ground. The ground cracked with a loud boom.

He repeated this over and over.

Even as the jesters’ hands tore at his arms and ripped his skin, he didn’t stop.

Grab, boom, thud!

Even with Quixote joining in, they finally managed to subdue Alderan and free the Empress of Bliss from his hand… but this created a huge gap. Everyone gathered here was a transcendent before being a constellation. This meant they had reached the realm of transcendence through countless battles.

They didn’t miss the gap.

“Now.”

“Now.”

The tide began to turn.

And the Empress of Bliss.

Freed from Alderan’s hand, she touched her neck where his handprint remained. With her mask cut off by Najin, her bare face was revealed, and she was no longer smiling. She raised her head and looked at someone.

“……”

Her gaze wasn’t directed at the constellations rushing toward her. She wasn’t looking at Alderan, who was howling like a beast while restrained by Quixote. Beyond them, far away, the Empress of Bliss glared at Najin standing there.

The boy who cut her threads.

A being outside the stage, whom she hadn’t even paid attention to, had created a variable on the battlefield. The Empress of Bliss slowly ran her finger across her cheek. There was blood on her fingertip.

Najin’s strike had cut through her mask and wounded her face.

It made her bleed, if only a little.

Blood shed after 150 years.

It had been a full 150 years since her true body behind the mask had been wounded. The Empress of Bliss felt all kinds of emotions toward this being who appeared after Alderan Basaglia and might become her natural enemy.

Najin and the Empress of Bliss’s gazes crossed.

“Quixote.”

The Empress of Bliss stretched out her hand, pointing at Najin.

“Kill him.”

3.

After swinging his sword, Najin collapsed without seeing the result. A pool of blood formed where he fell. The price for imitating transcendence without having reached it was steep.

-Wake… up…!

Merlin’s voice seemed distant. His eyelids kept trying to close. He tried to force his eyes open, but drowsiness washed over him, and Najin closed his eyes.

Blink, he closed and opened his eyes.

-Hey!

Merlin’s voice sounded loud. Najin realized he had momentarily lost consciousness. Through his hazy mind, Najin saw someone standing in front of him.

“Are you feeling better?”

Noticing Najin had woken up, that someone spoke. The voice was familiar. A voice without inflection. Juel Lazian’s voice. She turned to look at Najin.

Najin couldn’t understand why she, who should be deep in the battlefield, was standing in front of him.

Though he didn’t ask, she seemed to understand his intention. Juel stared at Najin and spoke.

“The battlefield has changed.”

She said.

“The Empress of Bliss’s movements changed after retrieving that forgotten one and trying to escape. All the jesters are now targeting you. It seems that demon wants to kill you.”

She pointed ahead.

Numerous jesters with glowing eyes were rushing toward them. Constellations, along with Kirhov and Juel, were blocking them.

“That demon, who is usually busy protecting herself and minimizing losses in any situation… is trying to kill you even at the cost of taking losses. How strange.”

Juel swung her sword impassively.

“My god tells me to protect you. There’s no need to give such an order, but he’s still a troublesome person. Well, whatever.”

Every time she swung her sword, screams echoed across the battlefield. In a clear voice that didn’t match those echoes at all, Juel said:

“You were magnificent. The one who brought change to this battlefield wasn’t the transcendents, but you who hasn’t yet reached transcendence. You should be proud.”

Saying this, Juel turned to look at Najin.

“Najin.”

Najin opened his mouth but couldn’t speak. His voice wouldn’t come out. But as if she hadn’t expected an answer, Juel smiled at Najin. It was the first bright smile she had ever shown.

A smile of irrepressible joy.

“You always entertain me.”

If the Empress of Bliss fears variables and despises beings that create them, the woman before him stands at the exact opposite end.

A murderer who enjoys variables and loves beings that create them.

The Order’s executioner smiled. She laughed out loud as if immensely pleased. With a smile on her lips, Juel said lightly:

“Rest.”

She lowered her sword.

“I have much to talk about, but I’ll postpone it.”

With her back to the boy who had jumped onto the stage and fulfilled more than his given role, Juel swung her sword. Najin had accomplished more than expected. He had done what none of the many stars gathered here could do.

The world calls those who change the tide of battle heroes. If so, Najin was a hero.

And as usual, the world is excited by the existence of heroes. The constellations gathered here are no different. Though they are now called crows, hunters, opportunists… they too were once heroes.

On a battlefield where a hero is born, stars shine.

To imitate the hero.

The transcendents were now imitating Najin, who had imitated transcendence. Stars shining in all colors from the sky risked their lives to achieve greatness.

The blade energy Najin shot didn’t bring victory to the war like Alderan’s did, but it created a turning point toward victory.

However clumsily, Najin had lit the beacon of triumph (凱旋).

Countless stars were drawn to that beacon.

They grabbed Quixote’s feet and clung to him, rushed at his warhorse to unseat him, and bit at Quixote regardless of being pierced. Thus they began to approach the Empress of Bliss.

It was almost like madness.

The flame created by one boy had spread. The flame was consuming the battlefield.

“……”

Watching that scene, Najin slowly closed his eyes. His mind was hazy. Though he wanted to join their ranks, Najin had no strength left.

With a final effort, Najin glared at the far side of the battlefield. By chance, Najin met the Empress of Bliss’s gaze.

No, it wasn’t chance. The Empress of Bliss had been staring at Najin all along. When Najin looked at her, their gazes meeting was inevitable.

Their gazes crossed.

Cloudy eyes stained with all colors and platinum-colored shining eyes reflected each other.

The ruler of the Outer Continent with ten stars and the boy with four stars who had just set foot on the Outer Continent glared at each other. And they instinctively sensed it.

That they could never coexist.

They suddenly realized they were natural enemies who couldn’t bear each other’s existence without killing the other.

‘Without fail.’

Najin and the Empress of Bliss thought the same thing simultaneously. Though they had completely different backgrounds and beliefs, their conclusion was exactly the same.

‘Without fail, I will kill you.’