Ch.2323. The Sword Saint (3)

A girl walks through a charred village.

Walking through the remnants that were already too late to save, the girl found herself missing her family that day.

Mother…?

To her voice, suppressed to the limit of tears, the only response was the mocking caw-caw of crows.

After the heretics had swept through, no trace of life remained.

In the village square lay a pile of burning logs where the villagers had been gathered and burned like heaps of garbage.

Her childhood playmates, the old man who walked with a cane because his left leg hurt, her cousin who had been excited about leaving for the city next month.

Everyone, everyone was gathered together, charred black.

Ah, ah-

After facing that sight came nausea, vomiting, then rising again on trembling legs to continue searching for her family.

Fortunately, none of the faces she sought were among those she saw, so with a tattered corner of hope in her heart, she continued walking.

‘Don’t go.’

Someone tried to stop the girl in her nightmare, but there was no way she would listen.

Using legs that trembled like a newborn fawn’s, she somehow reached her destination, where she found…

The corpses of those who had been her family, horrifically displayed on the church’s symbol.

Distantly, more distantly.

It was the moment a person’s character collapsed.

…..!

She cried, wailed until the world seemed to tear apart, lost consciousness, and when breath returned and she regained awareness…

She cursed and resented the world again until she could barely breathe.

The collapse of a girl’s mind was such an easy thing.

What remained for the girl afterward:

The label of the village’s sole survivor, or the fortunate one.

A frail body, unceremoniously abandoned to a harsh world.

That day, the child who was destined to be the “Sword Saintess” died burning in that village due to the undead forces.

Instead, the “Child of the Lost Star”…

Rather than giving up on a fate whose fire had been extinguished, decided to place one more possibility on “Herien,” the village’s only survivor.

Offering half her lifespan and several human emotions as payment, “Herien,” who had originally been an ordinary human…

Using revenge for her village and a new faith as pretexts, became the somewhat unstable “Sword Saintess.”

Her ordinary brown hair was dyed sky-blue by the influence of divine power.

Her physical abilities became incomparably stronger than before.

“…Huh?”

And now, she had been defeated all too easily by the one she firmly believed to be an apostle of the Black Sun.

‘How?’

Her body was a complete mess, and so was her insides.

It was internal damage caused by the difference in divine power.

“….?”

Even Lisia, who had withstood Herien’s attack, seemed bewildered.

She hadn’t imagined the fight would be settled so easily.

Then the problem of the incident leads to a believer’s ignorance.

Not even recognizing the gap in power, charging in like a puppy before a tiger—what an unsightly display.

Herien’s ears burned bright red with shame as she lay sprawled on the ground.

“Are you… alright…?”

“I don’t want pity from an evil god’s apostle…!”

By this point, Lisia felt wronged too.

No. When the only one she wished to serve and love for her entire life was singular, how could anyone connect her with those filthy creatures?

So, with a deeply furrowed expression that had been stained with guilt, she opened her mouth.

“Why on earth do you associate me with such evil things?”

“Because you carry their divine power…!”

-Whoosh!!

At that moment, divine power surged…

And swept through Herien’s prostrate body.

“Ah.”

The throbbing pain subsided completely, and instead, vitality flowed through her.

“Do the Black Sun creatures use this kind of divine power?”

The benevolent divine power she had just received from her beloved deity.

It was difficult to think it could be similar to what those terrible beings possessed.

“Then, what exactly…”

“Do you sense the Black Sun’s energy from my deity?”

“…Yes.”

Herien had certainly felt it, and it was an ability that had already successfully identified many times before.

“There must be some meaning to it.”

Lisia believed without a doubt.

Because her deity was the light that illuminated the world, the embodiment of true justice.

That too must surely be a noble purpose that someone like herself could not even fathom.

“What could that possibly…”

Herien was rather taken aback by the believer’s infinite faith.

Normally, when given such cause for doubt, wouldn’t one hesitate at least once?

This was suspicion from none other than herself, who carried the constellation of the Hero on her back.

But Lisia, far from disbelieving, covered her with even stronger love and faith without the slightest wavering.

It was truly a moment when love felt heavy.

“But, I…”

However, Herien was the Sword Saintess.

She had to fulfill her duty.

Moreover, if the subject posed a threat to the Hero, she had to eliminate that risk factor somehow.

-Whoosh!!

“…Still.”

Lisia looked at Herien with a disgusted expression.

“I cannot let you go from here, carrying that constellation’s energy.”

After recovering with Lisia’s help, the shameless Herien charged at her again.

Or rather, she tried to.

“….?”

Until she faced a strange change suddenly welling up from deep inside.

「The Sword Saintess, ‘Herien’ has joined your church!」

#

Suddenly being asked to take care of both the Hero and the believer beside him.

“No. What is this, a clearance sale?”

An unexpected dumping of believers.

-I sense the flow of a great star from you.

“What flow?”

Following that, the Child of the Lost Star now openly made ominous prophecies.

-I don’t know well either.

“….”

-It’s beyond what someone like me can oversee. I can only face what is to come.

Still a series of incomprehensible words.

This was how constellations conversed.

Acting as if they were so lofty, they truly had something wrong with their heads.

Catching clouds in the air, or rhetoric like putting hands in flowing water was their default setting.

‘Where do they learn this?’

Or perhaps it was a remnant of the game company that took its concept seriously.

Anyway, interpretation was solely my responsibility.

“Explain clearly.”

-To maintain your sanity within that great flow—

“Skip.”

-…Save my believer.

“You built all this up just to say that.”

So this was all a kind of show.

Sprinkle some stardust, show a shooting star. Ta-da, this is a shining sword, isn’t it cool?

“So you’re just saying you don’t want to die.”

Believers are the lifeline of constellations.

Without those who worship and call upon them, constellations lose all power and vanish from the world.

-…..

With already few believers, and those few in bad shape…

He wants to attach some to me to somehow guarantee his safety.

“….Hmm.”

I pondered for a moment.

‘A change in perspective.’

From my standpoint, gaining believers, especially new collections, is a welcome situation.

It means new possibilities open up in this world, and I can pursue new entertainment.

The increasing progress is just a bonus.

-The world is now quite chaotic due to your absence.

“I know that.”

That was the explanation the system gave at the very beginning.

Though I didn’t disappear voluntarily, anyway, some opportunists rose up during my absence.

-My believer and the holy sword will surely help in preventing such threats.

‘They would be helpful, I suppose.’

Holy sword, Hero, Sword Saintess.

Items and classes that would make anyone drool even individually, bundled together as a set.

‘So it wasn’t a challenge after all.’

If the signals he’d been sending me were flirting behaviors to enter into such a cooperative relationship…

I could welcome him with open arms.

Any other player would have dived in headfirst without looking back.

‘But still.’

I’m different.

Playing to gain extreme benefits from extreme situations. That was my play style.

“One more thing.”

-….?

“Accept my friend request.”

「You have sent a friend request to the constellation, ‘Child of the Lost Star’.」

「Black Sun: Hiiik…!」

The constellation tilted its head in confusion while the one who already knew everything let out a fearful groan.

But there’s no advice our Black Sun can give to that constellation.

-What is this?

“A communication channel between constellations. There’s one more besides you, anyway it’s a good thing.”

-A good thing?

I folded my arms with a clear conscience and gauged the reaction.

From his perspective, a message window would have suddenly popped up from empty space.

“Interesting, right?”

-….Fascinating.

As expected, he shows curiosity about the system window and tries to touch it with his finger.

“If you want to, press the accept button there.”

「Black Sun: N-No…!」

‘You shut up.’

-If I accept, does that mean you’ll listen to my proposal?

Comparing the risk of the holy sword with constellation connections, the latter is obviously more beneficial.

“Of course.”

-I understand.

「’Child of the Lost Star’ has accepted your friend request!」

Finally, a positive message window appears.

And above the name of Black Sun who had been chattering until now, a new name appeared: ‘Child of the Lost Star’.

‘Great.’

Already two constellation friends.

「You have acquired the ‘Holy Sword’!」

「The Sword Saintess, ‘Herien’ has joined your church!」

「Incredible achievement unlocked!」

「You receive a reward for meeting the conditions.」

「Reward – Skill: Constellation Dominance Aura (EX)」

「Constellation Dominance Aura (EX): Now when using ‘Divine Manifestation’ while in the human realm, you grant buffs to surrounding believers.」

‘Oh.’

I’ve acquired quite a sweet skill.

I’ll look into the details later.

‘There’s one slot empty?’

The name of the Hero, the owner of the holy sword, is missing.

Like a Hero party without a Hero.

While I was looking at the status window in confusion, I discovered an item glowing softly in a corner of my inventory, trying to draw attention to itself.

“Ah.”

「Elite Believer Recruitment Ticket x1」

A recruitment ticket I had received as a reward sometime ago and had been saving for later.

Upon seeing it, anxiety washed over me.

‘No way.’

「Due to meeting conditions, your ‘Elite Believer Recruitment Ticket’ has been upgraded to a higher-tier ‘Hero Summon Ticket’!」

While feeling depressed about losing my gacha dopamine, I’m tempted again by the words ‘higher-tier’.

‘Right. A Hero.’

Has any player ever achieved the feat of recruiting a Hero as a believer?

‘I’m the first.’

No one has. This is the greatest achievement that only I, and I alone, could accomplish.

「Do you want to use the ‘Hero Summon Ticket’?」

And so…

I returned to the human realm with rewards even more generous than I had anticipated.

「You have used the ‘Hero Summon Ticket’!」

#

-Clatter. Clatter.

The sound of something hollow and hard colliding.

The source of the sound was a moving corpse.

Its two eyes were empty holes containing only deep darkness, and the magic emanating from it was abominable and grotesque, belonging to death.

『Eldritch』

Into his empty skull, an otherworldly being whispered.

-The Absolute One has disappeared.

“Then, then, then.”

-Now is our chance, when the Absolute One cannot interfere.

The Absolute One.

Once the enemy of all constellations, who commanded the most powerful believers.

-But even among us, a traitor with different intentions has appeared.

The constellation reminded him of “Black Sun,” who had now hidden his existence, to instill vigilance.

The moment they stopped at this opportune ‘now,’ they would lose their position to other constellations watching for an opportunity.

Eldritch moved his stiff skull and continued speaking.

“Even so, my deity. They still have remnants of the Absolute One’s power.”

-They’re just empty shells that can’t use divine power. Even if they oppose us now, they’ll only become new forces for us.

Undead.

For them, defeat and death only contribute to producing more forces.

-We’ve blocked the flow of stars.

The flow of stars means the manifestation of the holy sword and the birth of the Hero.

Beings that can inflict meaningful damage to constellations.

That abominable power of constellations can return even death’s power that defies providence to nothing.

Since there were many constellations who always viewed their existence as thorns in their sides, they formed temporary alliances with constellations who had been waiting for times like this.

They were able to check not only the holy sword and Hero but also the existence of the ‘Sword Saintess.’

-Didn’t you personally take care of the Sword Saintess?

“Yes…”

Moreover, one of them was definitively ended by Eldritch himself, who upheld the constellation’s will, by wiping out an entire village.

If interfering with a believer who has become a Hero is problematic, why not deal with them before they become Heroes?

The ability to read fate is not exclusive to constellations that handle Heroes.

‘Now is.’

It’s the best timing to cause an incident and revitalize their forces.

Eldritch could finally understand the constellation’s grand intention.

‘Has our era come again?’

Immortality.

A power that defies principles, which anyone in the world might dream of at least once.

He and his constellation’s power could grant it.

Even if it was said to be a very ugly form that corrupted the source of existence, in the end, everyone would worship his church.

“What should I do?”

-Attack the largest human force. Raise your army and gather them as members of your force as well.

Humans were the best sacrifices and resources.

If some flesh remains, they become ghouls.

If only bones remain, skeletons.

If their lingering attachment is strong, they can be born as higher undead.

“Then the destination is.”

-The Regalium Kingdom.

Eldritch rose from his bone throne.

By now, magic to open a portal was prepared in his hand.

“I shall obey.”

Two fools, with firm beliefs and an undead army, planned to invade the kingdom.