Ch.2727. Debut Match

What hangs over the tense frontline.

The terrible scent of death.

Rotting flesh, hate-filled screams of evil spirits, and the one who commands it all.

The lord of death, ‘Eldritch’.

Everything was supposed to proceed smoothly.

Today, he and his army would sweep through the Regalium Kingdom and gain new subordinates.

Whether they were the kingdom’s brilliant knights or the forces of the once-great religious order called the ‘Absolute One’.

This opportunity felt like a dramatic moment when the stars themselves were pushing him forward.

-FWOOSH!!

“….Huh?”

Suddenly, from the sky above.

A massive beam of Divine Power shone down upon them.

“My Constellation, what is that…?”

Eldritch anxiously asked his Constellation.

-….

There was no answer.

“…My Constellation?”

The ‘Prophet of Fleshless Death’ who had been silent alongside him answered.

-There must be some trickery at work. Humans are skilled in illusion magic, surely they’ve done something to deceive your eyes.

“Of course.”

Now that he thought about it, it made sense.

The fact that he could sense both the Absolute One’s and the Holy Sword’s energy from that Divine Power…

It was simply impossible.

First, the Holy Sword.

His Constellation had personally blocked the flow of stars that could produce a Hero.

And hadn’t he personally wiped out the entire village of the so-called ‘Sword Saintess’ who was supposed to assist the Hero?

And next, the most impossible thing: the existence of the Absolute One.

-He cannot possibly be here. His existence was certainly erased from this world…

This was a fact confirmed not only by himself but by other Constellations as well.

Being erased meant that the absolute power constituting his body had disappeared.

Unless there was a force in this universe that could hold his existence together, the Absolute One could never return to this place.

He should never have been able to return.

Therefore.

-Don’t be fooled by their pathetic tricks. Begin expanding our forces immediately.

“…As you command.”

With renewed trust in his empty skull, Eldritch commanded his army of death.

“The invasion has begun!”

And at that moment.

“Look at them.”

Despite unleashing his Divine Power, seeing the red dots rushing toward him like moths to a flame.

Constellation ‘Ron’ looked at the Hero in his arms with growing interest.

“Wooow…”

“What do you think?”

“It’s sooo amazing…”

The young Hero, completely captivated by the sensation of floating in the sky, paid no attention to the urgent war situation below.

Ron smiled at that pure reaction and began to make his move in earnest.

“Believer ‘Lisia’ witnesses your existence.”

“Believer ‘Herien’ witnesses your existence.”

‘Yes, yes.’

While meeting his two believers was important, this moment belonged solely to the Hero, for the Hero.

The story of a Hero saving a kingdom in crisis.

‘How do I contain myself?’

“Are you ready?”

“Huh…?”

Innocent eyes looked up at Ron with doubt in response to his question.

Knowing the nature of that doubt, Ron smiled reassuringly at Elli.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

With such unwavering attitude, even the slightest anxiety disappeared as if washed away.

With pure light filling her heart, Elli smiled back and decided to follow his lead.

‘The proper blessings cost so much.’

Of course, high-level blessings.

“Celestial Armor (S)”

A protective barrier that shields the caster and surrounding targets from all physical and curse damage.

Furthermore.

“Celestial Aura (S)”

A top-tier faith skill that neutralizes all threats in the area, softly enveloping them.

He had also cast skills to prepare for any contingency, reducing the possibility of anything in this world being able to attack them to virtually zero.

‘She’s basically a human weapon.’

Though he had no such intention, if he were to throw Elion into the enemy lines right now.

Her mere presence would be hell for the undead army.

‘Like a tactical nuke.’

She already possessed enough progress to make it possible, so it couldn’t be helped.

-Grrrr…?

After glancing at the undead army stupidly looking up at them.

He searched for an appropriate landing spot.

A perfect debut.

For that, first impressions were more important than actual performance.

‘Over there.’

At the edge of the defensive line where Lisia and Herien were positioned.

A bit further ahead of them, he fixed the coordinates.

“Let’s go.”

At his words, Elli gripped his clothes tightly, preparing herself mentally.

Divine Manifestation had already been used from the sky.

Therefore.

“Ray of Judgment (S)”

Ron used a skill at the designated coordinates for dramatic effect.

-FWOOSH!!

Holy light shone down intensely from the sky.

The area that had been darkened by the undead’s influence was illuminated brightly once again.

“…!!”

The expressions of both forces witnessing the phenomenon were filled with real-time astonishment.

Among them, Ron’s gaze was naturally drawn to the mastermind behind all this and the leader of the army.

‘It’s Eldritch.’

Among liches, only those with rare qualifications evolve into the more powerful Eldritch.

Ron had encountered such beings several times before, but this one seemed stronger than average.

‘He must have put in some effort.’

Ron imagined the ‘Prophet of Fleshless Death’ who must be observing this situation from afar.

By now, he must be feeling that things had gone terribly wrong.

But it was already too late to withdraw his troops, so Ron’s plan, which had targeted precisely this moment, had worked perfectly.

Next, his eyes naturally fell on his believer, Lisia.

Though this was their first meeting while using ‘Divine Manifestation,’ the intense connection between Constellation and believer quickly led to understanding.

‘As expected of my dutiful daughter.’

Perhaps because he had notified her of his return in advance, there were no misunderstandings like with his other believer, Belladis.

The deep trust and ecstasy filling her eyes made even Ron happy to see.

Enough with the emotional fan meeting with his believer.

Ron began to announce the official debut.

“Ugh…!”

In the fierce wind accompanying the intense Divine Power, Elli instinctively burrowed into Ron’s embrace.

At that childlike reaction, Ron smiled gently, wanting to encourage her.

“Elli, which side do you want to stand with?”

At the gentle question, Elli’s sky-blue gaze turned toward the crowd.

On one side were knights heavily armored in the kingdom’s plate mail.

On the other side were terrifying undead obsessed with blood and flesh.

The answer was obviously predetermined.

“I… the nice men.”

Feeling satisfied with Elli naturally choosing the human faction, Ron led her to the next step.

“Then, will you help those men?”

“Me…?”

Ron’s gaze shifted to the back of Elli’s hand as she nestled in his arms.

The mark indicating she was the owner of the Holy Sword.

Heroes use that mark to activate and deactivate the Holy Sword for storage.

“Umm…”

Though she had followed him without question, now that the situation was upon her, anxiety seemed to overwhelm her again.

Dark clouds gathered on the delicate face that had been full of trust.

But Ron had no intention of letting the girl back out.

“Using ‘Soul Echo (A)’ on believer ‘Elion’!”

According to the skill description, it removes mental abnormalities from allies and grants additional stat buffs.

However, the skill’s actual effect in reality—

“….!”

It instilled in young Elli’s heart a faith stronger than any religious devotion.

‘It’s not a lie anyway.’

Since it was clear that the strongest religious order in this world was his, there was basis for the endless confidence he gave to Elli.

“Handsome brother, I… I…!”

“Yes.”

She looked like she wanted to rush out and sweep away the undead army right away.

The buff seemed to have worked well.

‘That should be enough motivation.’

Ron used additional Divine Power to manifest brilliant wings of light behind his back.

“Wow…!”

Elli marveled at the beautiful sight from within his embrace.

With her reacting to his every move, his motivation to work surged.

With the sudden appearance and overwhelming display of Divine Power.

Both forces were still hesitating, unable to make proper judgments.

This was the most optimal moment.

‘Let’s go in.’

Deeply satisfied with the ripened situation, Ron now wanted to announce to everyone the birth of a new Hero.

#

Everything should have gone smoothly.

“M-My Constellation.”

Eldritch, no longer able to ignore reality, pitifully called out to his Constellation.

But again, there was no answer.

Instead of reassurance, what came was.

-FWOOOOSH!!

Divine Power so intense that merely looking at it seemed to blind his eyes and chip away at his life force.

Eldritch had never seen such concentrated Divine Power before.

-Keeek…?

A ghoul that had been licking its lips in anticipation of slaughter turned to look at Eldritch.

‘Boss, is this right?’

Eldritch could do nothing but share the same sentiment reflected in those eyes.

‘There’s no turning back now.’

The trigger had already been pulled.

If they turned back now, they would be lucky to face mere destruction; the predetermined outcome would be total annihilation.

“Slaughter all these detestable humans.”

Therefore, with his Constellation silent.

Eldritch made his decision.

To clash with all his might in an all-or-nothing mindset.

-GROOOAR!!

-KIEEEE!!

Responding to their lord’s decision, the undead army charged toward the enemy lines with murderous momentum.

“Heeyah…!”

And following that underwhelming battle cry.

-KWAAAAA!!

A Holy Sword blast no less powerful than a dragon’s breath turned a third of the army to ash.