Ch.6363. Visitor (1)

Killing a constellation is truly not an easy task.

Of course not—they’re beings who’ve ascended to the position of gods. How could they die so easily?

Not without imparting something beyond trials to the players.

The developers never permitted their deaths.

Among them, the ‘Visitor’ was particularly vicious.

A sudden event that forcibly opens when progress reaches its peak.

To check the player’s constellation, the constellations rooted in this land joined forces and invited an outer god.

How foolish this act was would be painfully realized later, along with the hellscape that followed.

Back to the present.

-Whoosh! Whoom!

After watching the vigorously swaying ash-gray tail, I turn my attention back to Fenrion.

The wolf beastkin squints her eyes and grins, seemingly enjoying my touch.

Pure affection without any killing intent or the uneasiness of someone plotting schemes.

‘Has she been corrupted without realizing it?’

When a believer becomes mentally corrupted, they receive stat debuffs and become hostile toward the constellation of their church.

In other words, if left alone, Fenrion would likely become hostile toward me.

“Have there been any strange occurrences lately?”

“Strange occurrences…? There haven’t been any!”

A lie?

I considered the possibility she might lie even to me, her main god, but briefly dismissed my suspicion based on her character.

“Hmm, I see. Have you talked with Vera?”

“Yes! She’s still gloomy and sharp as ever. But don’t you think I suit you better, Main God?”

Honesty was one of the beastkin’s virtues.

They express their emotions without reservation and become utterly devoted to those they like, willing to give even their lives.

“Still, you should get along well with her.”

“If that’s what you wish, Main God, I’ll get along with her!”

“Fenrion is a good beastkin.”

Responding to her honest reaction with sincere praise—

“Hehe.”

Fenrion melted with happiness and pressed her head against my palm.

“I firmly believed you would return, Main God. Even when Lisia and Belladis left the church, I kept guarding the Sanctuary!”

This followed the constellation placement I had set up in “Ragnarok” before being possessed.

I would go on temple or dungeon explorations with believers I was closer to, like “Lisia” or “Belladis.”

Fenrion was assigned to protect the Sanctuary.

‘This makes me feel bad.’

「Incarnation of the Black Sun: Why?」

‘She’s been waiting here the whole time while I was gone.’

Though she wasn’t constrained like a country dog tied to a leash for life, she must have felt a responsibility several times heavier.

“Thank you.”

“That’s the meaning of my life.”

A wave of emotion washes over me.

The endless love of a believer often gave me new inspiration.

「Incarnation of the Black Sun: But earlier.」

‘That’s a separate issue.’

Black Sun sharply picks up on the mental corruption issue.

That’s certainly a problem that needs to be addressed.

Now that I understand she still loves me, I need to carefully analyze what’s making us uncomfortable.

That bastard.

The name called the Visitor, triggering PTSD from long ago.

He was a constellation from the Otherworld, with power incomparably stronger than the constellations rooted in the current world.

With just one of his believers, he displayed the might to destroy an entire church.

「Child of the Lost Star: According to rumors, the Visitor is thoroughly sealed by your church.」

‘Sealed is just a word.’

It’s practically half-dead.

I used so many methods that it could never escape.

“Hmm.”

But it seems some gap appeared during that hateful ‘blank period.’

After all, it was my divine power that maintained his seal.

「Child of the Lost Star: Even blaming the blank period, this Visitor constellation is quite formidable.」

That was the assessment from Star Child, who lived detached from the world.

‘Right. He’s fucking strong.’

Though I fearlessly waged holy wars and fought with the world’s existence at stake in the game…

I don’t want to antagonize the Visitor here in reality.

I’m not confident in facing that bastard while watching my surroundings this time.

「Child of the Lost Star: Oh? Even the Absolute One says that?」

「Incarnation of the Black Sun: …Hey. Don’t you get it yet? If he were truly the Absolute One, he would have enjoyed it back then too.」

‘Wow. How did you know?’

It would be a lie to say the battle with the Visitor wasn’t fun.

Clearly, I was so immersed in the game back then that I stayed up all night focusing on strategies against the Visitor.

Leaving the oddly perceptive Black Sun behind, I withdrew my hand from Fenrion.

“Hehe, Main God.”

Fenrion was expressing her affection toward me, just like the believer I knew well.

‘What’s the problem?’

In a normal state of mental corruption, one wouldn’t appear this docile.

Frenzy, seizures, depression, and more.

Numerous mental debuff effects would appear, potentially progressing to the point of denying existence and blaspheming divinity—a truly nasty status ailment.

「Would you like to cast ‘Superior Blessing’ on the target?」

As I was about to remove the status ailment affecting Fenrion, I stopped at a thought.

「Incarnation of the Black Sun: Shouldn’t we remove it right away?」

‘That’s questionable.’

If Fenrion were in a typical state of mental abnormality, such negative energy would have spread to other believers as well.

Yet the Sanctuary is too peaceful now.

It’s as if a carefully kept secret is rotting from the bottom up.

I pondered for a moment.

Then I withdrew the divine power from my touch.

‘I’ll leave it for now.’

「Incarnation of the Black Sun: …Will that be okay?」

‘That would be more reassuring.’

I need to monitor Fenrion more closely from now on.

If there’s ‘something’ rooted in the Sanctuary with her at the forefront, I must make a judgment immediately.

“Get along well with our Bella, okay?”

“If that’s what you wish, Main God, I’ll get along with her!”

“Good, good.”

I looked at my believer with a smile.

The trust of someone who knows only me and would jump into a fire pit if I ordered it.

‘Though I don’t think she’ll die.’

The believer’s destructive stats fueled that belief, but I didn’t throw any sparks from my side.

“You may go now.”

“Oh…”

Seeing her tail droop when I said she could leave, even I couldn’t help feeling confused.

#

Fenrion is a beastkin abandoned by her own kind.

Ash-gray hair and tail color signifying a curse.

In a tradition-valuing race, such phenomena led to the deplorable act of abandoning a young child.

‘It’s okay.’

Beastkin grow quickly.

However, that didn’t translate to mental maturity.

In short, a period of her past was quite rough.

She became violent and merciless to avoid being taken advantage of.

Rumors circulated in the back alleys to beware of the “ash-gray dog bitch.”

But speaking of back alleys, there was a notable talent—

Fenrion, struggling to survive in nameless back alleys, one day encountered a believer.

-Would you also serve the Father God?

‘Are you another damn prayer warrior?’

-…Divine punishment.

That day, Fenrion felt an unprecedented sense of defeat.

The memory of her trusted strength being easily destroyed.

The protagonist of that phenomenon was a red-haired believer who always spoke of the ‘Father God.’

From that point on, Fenrion became a priest of the Father God.

Free room and board.

The price was making room in her heart for the Father God.

Liking this rule, Fenrion quickly became one of them and achieved mental maturity there.

“Mmm…”

And now.

Fenrion, having spent another devout day, lets out a heavy sigh on her bed.

Her mind was sinking into deep sleep.

Darkness where nothing could be seen.

-Clink.

Within it, one of many chains stirred.

Though Fenrion couldn’t see or feel it, she strongly sensed that the being beyond that darkness hated and resented everything in the world to the point of not allowing her existence.

‘Who’s there?’

She asked loudly in fear, but no answer came.

However.

“….!”

Its eyes, closed until now, fixed on Fenrion.

Not human eyes.

One, two, three, four… continuing.

Countless eyes looked at Fenrion, shaking the foundation of her insignificant existence.

A transcendent being.

For such beings, infiltrating someone’s mind and making them act unconsciously was nothing.

-Bring the Absolute One.

The Visitor whispered to Fenrion.

An unreasonable being who had descended to the current world using numerous constellations as sacrifices, once threatening the world’s existence.

The Visitor issued a command, longing for a reunion.

A command delivered from a world that might be nothing more than an illusion, leaving no memory.

Yet Fenrion wakes from her dream without even realizing she had such an experience.

“…”

Clutching her throbbing head, Fenrion rises from bed.

“What was that?”

Having forgotten all memories from her dream, she leaves her room to begin today’s routine.

#

「Warning! ‘Visitor’ recognizes your existence.」

「【Visitor】

▶Progress Stage: Extremely Dangerous!」

「Warning! The target’s seal is weakened.」

「’Visitor’s’ divine power approaches your believer, ‘Fenrion’.」

「You have unread rewards.」