Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Star Feast (6)
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The war that burned the Empire raged on for ten years.
And a decade was more than enough time to make even the most rigid individuals exercise a bit of leniency when it came to irregularities and loopholes.
Of course, for that leniency to be exercised, a certain condition had to be met.
A justification.
The knights of that era had a great cause.
The shared justification that the war consuming the entire Empire had to end even a day sooner.
And the sense of duty to save those groaning under the long war.
Irregularities and loopholes were seen as expressions of that duty.
Of course, they didn't use loopholes openly.
Even when using a loophole, one needed an excuse.
For example, in a situation like this one, it would go something like this.
‘I missed a step and fell, and just my luck, the arrows spilled out. And as luck would have it, there was poison right where the arrows spilled. The arrowheads got coated in poison, but it’s not like I prepared the poison myself. Anyway, that’s what happened.’
It was, of course, a bald-faced lie.
“Whoops. Oof!”
It was, until I actually rolled on the ground.
“Sigh. Can’t be helped.”
I muttered as if troubled, then gathered the spilled arrows and put them back in the quiver.
Of course, in the process of picking them up, the arrowheads just so happened to dip perfectly into a pool of blood, but that was absolutely not my intention.
Anyway, it wasn't.
*What are you doing now?*
The witch asked, bewildered.
I paid her no mind, picked up my arrows, and headed back toward the battlefield.
*BOOM! BOOM!*
The explosions grew closer.
*FWOOSH!*
*ROOOAR!*
The aura, deliberately stirred by powerful beings, grew even stronger.
Grita’s aura, in particular, was the problem.
“Vicious. To think it can affect me from this far away.”
It wasn't an exaggeration; the poisonous aura made my head spin.
Every time I breathed in and out, a stabbing pain shot through my chest.
*Isn't it because of the potent poison on your arrows?*
The words of the witch, who knew nothing of the struggles on the ground while watching from her high perch, didn't even register.
Right now, protecting my body from the overwhelming presence was the priority.
It was a good thing.
If I hadn't experienced the Great War in my past life, if I hadn't watched Roman and the high-ranking knights fight countless times, I would never have even dared to approach the battlefield.
Of course, even with that experience, my situation was far from comfortable.
The presence of the mighty didn't just overwhelm the mind; the constant pressure was crushing my body.
*Thud. Thud.*
Pressing down hard on the ground with each step, I continued forward.
I kept my back straight so this small body wouldn't collapse under the pressure.
After advancing like that for some time.
*BOOM!*
I was finally able to reach the battlefield.
“Master…!”
The first person I saw was Gunther.
Clad in a silver-white aura, he looked utterly precarious.
Blood streamed endlessly from his nose and mouth, his whole body already a wreck.
From under his nose to the beard below his chin, he was stained red as if he had vomited blood, looking like he could collapse at any moment.
Grita, standing beside him, didn't look much better.
Her neatly styled hair was completely disheveled, and her already pale face was even more ashen.
Her once-immaculate green coat was torn and shredded, revealing bare skin in several places.
In contrast, the sorceress was unscathed, completely unharmed.
“As expected of someone from a collateral branch.”
Her face, as she drawled slowly, even looked languid.
It was an unbelievable situation.
Judging from my past life experience, Grita’s presence was at least that of a 5-star knight.
Considering her power was a potent poison that could melt flesh with a mere touch, its trickiness likely made it even more formidable.
And with her was Gunther, a holy knight, even if he couldn't use his original power.
Of course, it was unlikely that two people who valued the principle of one-on-one combat as much as life itself would have ganged up on the sorceress.
At best, they would have held their positions and blocked her attacks.
Even taking that into account, the overwhelming gap in power between the two of them and the sorceress remained unchanged.
It was staggering.
But what was more staggering than anything else was…
“Ingna, the Star-Eater…!”
…the opponent's identity.
「The Star-Eating Sorceress」
A predator who had devoured countless oaths and vows.
A relentless hunter who, in her years of pursuing that mighty soul, had made even the great Roman sick of her.
She was right before my eyes, looking exactly as she had in my past life.
“If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have even considered the Tower Master's request.”
At the blatant disregard, I shot a startled look at Grita.
“You are quite the whiner.”
Despite a provocation that would have made any ordinary knight lose their temper and charge, Grita merely responded coldly.
Such was the patience of a leader of a great family.
Her spirit was also remarkable.
“A dog should do as its master commands if it wants to get another piece of bone. You don't even know the basics. That's why you're a dog.”
To treat the Star-Eating Sorceress as a mere guard dog.
*No. Stop. Halt.*
I screamed at Grita in my mind.
Ingna wasn't some guard dog serving the Tower Master.
If you had to compare her to a dog, she was a rabid dog, a mad dog.
And not just any mad dog, but a mad dog of the century who had even devoured the head of one of the Eight Families.
“If you're a dog, then bark like one. Trying to imitate a human. How pathetic.”
Watching Grita continuously provoke such an individual was enough to make my head spin.
*Those are symptoms of poisoning. Even now, the arrows in the quiver…*
I inadvertently glanced at Ingna's expression.
She was smiling.
The moment I met her beautifully curved eyes, my heart sank.
A thought naturally crossed my mind.
It seemed being a Starseeker was out of the question.
A family on the verge of collapse couldn't possibly oversee my Starseeking ritual.
I had to run away, right now.
I really did. I should have. But I couldn't.
*Nod.*
Gunther, having finally noticed me, gave a nod.
“…?”
What on earth did that nod mean?
And why did he look so grim?
And why did he just toss aside his perfectly fine scabbard?
*Shing.*
Raising his sword, Gunther took a step forward.
“Wicked sorceress. I, Gunther, will not retreat a single step from this spot.”
A sudden declaration of no retreat.
*Wince.*
My face contorted on its own.
Inwardly, I unleashed a torrent of curses.
*You clueless fool.*
Did he even know what kind of place this was?
He didn't even know how terrifying the sorceress before him was.
I cursed and cursed Gunther’s recklessness for so rashly declaring he wouldn't retreat.
But I already knew.
The declaration itself didn't matter.
As if a holy knight would ever consider retreating.
“A pity, but I'll have to fill my stomach with these low-quality things. I suppose I have to get my money's worth for the trouble of coming here.”
Ingna grumbled, dissatisfied.
A blue radiance began to drip from her eyes.
Simultaneously, an ominous mist surged out from her.
A power of Ingna's I had seen several times in my past life.
The Vow-Eating Mist.
The Power of Gluttony.
*FWOOSH!*
The mist spread in an instant, swallowing Gunther and Grita.
Roman had dispersed that monstrous power with a single sword.
But that damn Roman wasn't here now.
*Shudder.*
My body trembled.
The sorceress’s rank and presence pressed down on my chest.
The pressure, like being crushed under a giant rock, made it hard to even breathe.
Before a presence that even knights struggled to face, I was less than an ant.
*So what are you doing now?*
“Don't ask.”
Because I didn't know what I was doing either.
I took out the Knight Slayer.
I grumbled quietly to myself.
*Ah, I wish chivalry would just disappear from this world.*
I drew the string of the Knight Slayer.
I nocked an arrow and aimed at Ingna.
The series of movements was faster than ever before.
I glanced back and forth between the blood-red arrowhead and the sorceress.
Would it work?
I didn't know.
I wasn't expecting much in the first place.
To create even a momentary opening for Gunther and Grita.
That was the best I could do right now.
“Hoo.”
I took a breath.
The chance for a surprise attack would only come once.
There would be no second time.
*Chivalry…?*
The witch chattered in my head.
In this critical situation where we were all on the brink of death.
I focused my mind.
I narrowed my eyes and watched for an opening.
*Gobble, gobble.*
The ominous, glowing mist advanced, voraciously devouring its surroundings.
The two knights before it swung their swords, one wreathed in silver light, the other in green.
*Swoosh.*
The two knights were buried in the mist.
*Churn, churn.*
The mist writhed.
*Groooaaan.*
A grating, monstrous sound.
*Rip.*
Immediately after, the mist tore apart, and Gunther appeared.
The aura that had armored him was already gone.
The bare skin revealed through his melted clothes was covered in hideous blisters.
*Stagger.*
As if he had used all his energy just to scatter the mist, Gunther stumbled and collapsed.
*Thud.*
From behind the fallen Gunther, a green figure soared into the air.
It was Grita.
Instantly closing the distance to the sorceress, she thrust her green-tinged longsword.
*Swish, swish.*
A sound like a snake flicking its tongue echoed repeatedly.
Countless flashes of green light shot toward the sorceress.
*Flick.*
The sorceress casually waved her hand.
With that simple gesture, Grita's aura scattered as if it were a lie.
“As I thought, you don't suit my palate.”
“You fiend!”
Grita roared and swung her sword again.
“Pathetic.”
The sorceress reached out her hand.
An aura, closely resembling the ominous mist, enveloped her hand.
*Clang.*
The sorceress audaciously caught Grita's sword with her bare hand.
*Slither.*
Grita’s sword slid out of the sorceress’s grasp like a snake.
The attacks continued.
But not a single one reached the sorceress.
Every attack a 5-star knight unleashed with all her might was futilely dispersed.
Meanwhile, Gunther, having recovered some energy, was pushed back and battling the mist from a distance.
*Clang.*
His longsword, wrapped in a faint aura, slashed at the mist countless times.
It looked less like the two knights were teaming up on the sorceress by choice, and more like the sorceress was holding onto both of them, refusing to let go.
After toying with them for a while, the sorceress suddenly waved her hand.
A mist bloomed forth, enveloping her.
The fluid energy instantly hardened.
Like armor.
*BANG!*
Grita's strike, which landed just then, was sent flying.
“So it's like this. Not very useful.”
The sorceress said dismissively, looking at the misty armor covering her body.
“How…?”
Gunther cried out in shock.
His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the blue armor that looked like a perfect replica of his own power.
But the real shock came next.
“Cough.”
Gunther suddenly vomited blood.
It was a black blood, clearly distinguishable even from a distance.
A classic symptom of poisoning.
“…So you weren't a dog, but a stray cat.”
Grita ground her teeth.
She seemed to have realized what had poisoned Gunther.
「Gluttony」
Ingna’s unique ability to devour a knight’s vow and make its power her own.
Ingna's enemies always met their end in despair, as if facing a mirror.
To lose one's life to one's own stolen power.
Could there be a more terrible end for a knight?
That was why knights were reluctant to clash with Ingna.
Even the famed knights of the Eight Families were no exception.
*BOOM.*
The battle began anew.
I kept my hand on the trigger, waiting.
Ready to fire the poison-laced arrow at any moment.
But the blue armor surrounding Ingna gave me no such opening.
The number of wounds on Gunther’s body increased.
Grita, too, was soon breathing heavily, her shoulders heaving.
Ingna remained as composed as ever.
At this rate, it would be a massacre.
Still, no opportunity to pull the trigger came.
As the shadow of defeat loomed ever larger.
*Flash.*
Suddenly, the crown of my head grew intensely hot.
As if it had caught fire.
For a moment, I thought the clueless witch was interfering again.
The Faceless Witch glared into the air, grinding her teeth.
It wasn't her.
It was the moment I had been waiting for.
*Murmur, murmur.*
It was the sign that the Star Feast was beginning.
The E□egant □eft-Han□er turned its head.
The Empe□or who aban□oned the na□ion entered, arrogantly lifting its chin.
The □□□□□ who □□□□ □□ stared intently.
The honored guests made their entrance.
*Rumble.*