Chapter 261
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 261
Chapter Title: The Moon Priestess Who Leads the Land Beasts
The Moon Priestess who leads the land beasts.
She, the one who could cure the black plague, was marching here at the head of a great army.
The Valhelonia guardians sprang into frenzied action upon hearing the news.
"They're moving the siege engines."
"What the hell is going on?!"
"Isn't this some kind of mistake? There's no reason for them to attack Valhelonia specifically."
"Then why would the mages be prepping large-scale spells?!"
The Moon Priestess's army had made their clear intent to attack Valhelonia known.
The guardians were thrown into chaos.
Even among land beasts, territories existed between groups.
As such, wars between land beast tribes weren't uncommon.
But those were always small-scale tribal skirmishes.
This was a world where prophets roamed freely.
If major cities went to war, a prophet would inevitably intervene.
And when that happened, self-destruction was the only outcome.
Unless they intended to annihilate themselves, war between them was strictly taboo.
Yet the Moon Priestess's army was breaking that unwritten rule to wage war.
The guardians couldn't comprehend it at all.
What gain could they possibly hope for that would make war worth it?
"Why can't we reach the captain?"
"Where the hell is that guy off to now?"
Amid the confusion, contact with Captain Geldrikson was the biggest issue.
No matter how many times they tried reaching him, Geldrikson didn't respond.
Something had clearly happened to him.
"Must be the work of that Moon Priestess."
In the midst of the turmoil, Leyzon finished photosynthesizing and rose to his feet.
"Thought it was Carmen, but looks like we snagged the wrong fish."
A sigh escaped Leyzon's lips.
Land beasts each pursued their own varied goals.
Whatever this Moon Priestess was after, it was obvious she planned to exploit the black plague.
A chill ran through the air—
The guardians froze in unison.
Killing intent poured palpably from Leyzon.
It was the closest to raw death he'd ever unleashed.
As such, the guardians were rooted to the spot, unable to move.
"What are you doing?"
Leyzon snapped at them in a low voice.
"This is war. Get ready to fight."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
The guardians hurriedly replied and scattered to their posts.
Chaos erupted among Valhelonia's land beasts.
No one had imagined the city would face actual war.
Some, knowing the enemy lacked a prophet, prepared to stand and fight.
Others bolted for escape in droves.
Amid the widespread pandemonium,
Leyzon ascended to the surface.
"Lord Leyzon!"
Nugail hurried after him.
"What do you plan to do?"
As Leyzon summoned a Bone Broom, Nugail asked cautiously.
"Nugail, right after Geldrikson headed to the Moon Priestess's legion, they started marching this way. What do you think that means?"
"...Is the Moon Priestess's legion targeting you, Lord Leyzon?"
"Yeah, high chance of it."
Geldrikson had visited the Moon Priestess to seek a cure for the black plague.
Leyzon's name must have inevitably come up in conversation.
After that, contact with Geldrikson had gone silent.
Which meant he'd been captured by her legion.
And now, that Moon Priestess was leading her army to invade Valhelonia.
Her target was obvious.
"I'm the type who doesn't pick fights unless they come to me first."
Leyzon was a man who strictly separated business from personal matters.
Show him goodwill, and he'd return it in kind.
But the moment hostility reared its head, even once—
He never forgave those who bared their fangs.
"I've been toiling all day and I'm pretty damn tired."
Leyzon was normally a positive soul who smiled brightly no matter the hour.
But today, he was thoroughly pissed.
He'd just wanted some peaceful photosynthesis time, and they'd ruined it.
Deliberately, with clear malice.
"So I'm going to go a bit overboard."
Leyzon drew the Staff of Abundance.
Mana surged violently, making Nugail's body tingle all over.
"If I'm called a saint by allies, I ought to show enemies what they name me too."
The pinnacle of necromancers.
Abyss, Leyzon.
He resolved to punish the Moon Priestess for daring to challenge him.
The Moon Priestess's legion.
They filled the space before the ruined tower, advancing steadily.
Among land beast hordes, theirs was one of the largest.
At their center rode a palanquin borne by the legion itself.
Inside the palanquin.
A woman in luxurious attire exuding exotic fragrances lounged there.
She hid her mouth behind a large fan, her heavily made-up eyes curving in a smile.
"Oh ho ho, fortune rolls right to my feet. Merrill's luck is truly something."
Malice overflowed from behind the fan.
Her epithet was the Moon Priestess.
Her true name: Merrill Oxibia.
In ancient times, when land beasts prospered,
She was of the bloodline that founded the Oxibia Kingdom.
Of course, the Oxibia Kingdom had long vanished without a trace.
It had crumbled utterly, lost to the annals of history.
But one thing endured.
The Oxibia bloodline had quietly persisted.
The Oxibia Kingdom had once received the blessing of a transcendent being.
As a result, that blessing lingered in the bloodline.
Thus, even when the black plague ravaged all land beasts,
Oxibia's descendants resisted it unscathed.
That was the bloodline's sole advantage.
A long-fallen kingdom offered little else.
But Merrill was a remarkably clever woman.
Land beasts suffered excruciatingly from the black plague.
They'd do anything for a cure.
Merrill exploited that desperation.
She whispered sweet temptations into their ears.
Join her, and she'd cure the plague.
Afflicted land beasts couldn't refuse.
Merrill dubbed her path the Lunar Pilgrimage.
Complete it, and the black plague would be overcome.
Thus, she came to be revered as the Moon Priestess.
She led her myriad Moon Faithful onward in pilgrimage.
But lies can't last forever.
Eventually, her followers would question her.
She needed a real solution before then.
Then, a rumor reached her ears.
A land beast gathering those who could cure the black plague.
At first, she thought it a distortion of her own legend.
But no—this stemmed from somewhere else entirely.
Her Lunar Pilgrimage had no true end anyway.
Merrill led her Moon Faithful to pursue the rumor.
And today, wonder of wonders.
A cure appeared: Valhel's guardian captain, Geldrikson.
Merrill secretly met him before her followers could.
And learned a staggering truth.
Valhelonia held the key to curing the black plague.
She entertained Geldrikson lavishly, then slipped him a sleeping poison.
Once he slumbered, she bound him securely and redirected the pilgrimage.
Destination: Valhelonia.
The black plague healer there.
In this world, only she could wield that power.
Only the Moon Priestess could cure the black plague.
For her fabricated falsehoods, she drew her sword without hesitation.
She'd keep the healer beneath her heel forever.
And make all land beasts bow before her.
She parted the palanquin's curtains and stood tall.
"Hear me, all!"
The Moon Faithful roared with fervor.
"Today, we claim victory under the moon's blessing and purge the black plague clean!"
Her cry ignited them further.
"This is our holy war! For our salvation, topple the tower that veils the moon!"
BOOOOOM!
And a tenth of the Moon Faithful legion vanished in an instant.
Thick smoke filled the air.
Beneath the billowing dust, not even corpse fragments remained.
"......"
Silence blanketed the legion.
"A-Ahh... Aaaaahhh!"
Screams soon echoed.
At the explosion's edge, the barely surviving were mostly mangled.
And that was just the start.
Their skin rapidly turned violet.
They writhed briefly before dying.
Pop—
Then, bizarre mushrooms sprouted from their bodies.
The fungi swelled instantly, scattering spores around.
The spores rode the wind toward the dense legion ranks.
"P-Poison! It's poison!"
"Don't breathe it! Run!"
The Moon Faithful flailed away from the toxic spores.
Mages hastily summoned winds to blow the poison back.
But they didn't know.
These weren't fungal spores—they were tiny insects.
Blown by wind, the bugs simply crawled back.
Invisible venomous insects swarmed the Moon Faithful once more.
Some screamed, some wailed in agony.
Others perished silently.
All this unfolded mere moments after the explosion—in under a minute.
"Wh-What..."
The Moon Priestess Merrill's eyes shook wildly.
She couldn't grasp the situation.
Just instants ago, her followers had been chanting holy war.
Now, pandemonium turned them into a disorganized mob.
A force she believed could defy even prophets,
Overturned by a single blast.
"Th-The Moon Knights!"
In panic, she called for her knights.
They appeared before her in unison.
An elite order, handpicked from mighty ancient-tree level warriors.
Their captain stood on the cusp of thousand-tree realm.
"Seize whoever caused that explosion—now!"
"Yes."
These were knights who would die at her command.
They moved to act in perfect sync—
Until a black sun appeared in the sky.
A sun eclipsing the sun.
Like a total solar eclipse, darkness fell over the heavens.
The knights stared dumbly upward.
That was all they could do.
The Moon Knights were strong.
That's why they knew exactly what power dwelled in that black sun.
Something far beyond human limits.
And they knew who in this world wielded such might.
A transcendent being—or equivalent.
Beasts could only gaze skyward.
Helplessly awaiting death.
"What are you fools doing?!"
But Merrill, aside from her self-proclaimed divine power, had nothing.
She alone didn't grasp the black sun's meaning.
Fwoosh!
Purple flames then ignited upon the black sun.
With that, it devoured all light around it.
――――――――!
The plain before the ruined tower.
That day, it vanished from the map.