Chapter 62
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Star Shadow (3)
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Long, long ago, in a time so distant it feels like a dream...
In a corner of the world where the wind and starlight lingered, there lay a high plateau called Cargai.
It was a kingdom ruled by the great King Rahir.
Under his wise governance, the people lived free from hunger and war.
But that wasn't solely due to Rahir's merit.
Always by his side was a sorceress named Namen.
She was a woman of breathtaking beauty and profound wisdom.
Namen wielded her powerful spells solely for the sake of the people.
Summoning rain clouds to nourish the crops, taming savage beasts with mystical incantations...
If Rahir was the wind that guarded the plateau, then Namen was the warm sunlight embracing the folk.
It was only natural that Rahir's heart would be drawn to such a woman.
He proposed to her, and Namen became queen, ruling the land at his side.
Cargai flourished even more.
With the finest king now paired with the finest queen, who could stand against them?
Namen loved the plateau, and the plateau loved her in return.
Of course, the one who loved her most was Rahir.
That's why he never noticed until the very end.
That Namen was preparing a ritual to rip the souls from every citizen's body.
"My beloved majesty."
As the ritual concluded, Namen's whisper reached the ears of the fallen Rahir.
"On the day the heavens are eclipsed, we shall meet again."
It was a night when the stars shone especially bright.
This is a tale that was never recorded.
"Rahir."
A reunion transcending time had come to pass.
Namen stood there dumbfounded, as if she'd been struck on the head with a hammer.
"...No, Your Majesty."
"Just call me by name. It's been ages since we last met—I'm delighted to see you. Even after hundreds of years swept by time's current, your beauty remains unchanged."
Rahir smiled.
Though half his face was concealed, his distinctive charm hadn't faded.
Namen looked exactly as she had in the days he loved her.
Unlike himself, reduced to just a lone head.
"How...?"
"I can only say I got lucky. That's how it happened."
"Do you even realize what you've done, Your Majesty?"
Namen glanced around the room, clenching her fists.
How Rahir had made it here was a secondary concern.
In the shattered room, not a single intact object remained.
"The past few decades... no, perhaps centuries of work may have been for nothing!"
Namen cried out.
"The value of the debris scattered here is beyond measure! What in the world possessed you to do this?!"
"That's what I want to ask you."
"What?"
"To you, was Cargai worth less than the contents of this room?"
His voice carried a tinge of sorrow.
"That's..."
"Tell me now, my queen. Why did you do it?"
The wolf had finished marking its territory and lowered its leg.
Rahir faced Namen directly.
"Did you covet the empire's splendor? Was your true dream not to race across the plateau on horseback with me, but to bask in luxury surrounded by gold?"
"No, that's not it."
"Then why? Why must every soul be offered to demons? Why burn even the spirits of newborn babes and curse this land?"
"It's not... like that."
Namen gripped her fists tighter.
Her nails dug into her flesh, blood trickling down.
"No matter how I rack my brain, I can't understand. My dull mind simply can't grasp it. Had you but asked, I would have granted anything you desired, no matter what it was."
"......"
"You know that too."
Rahir concluded.
Namen slowly raised her hand, pressing the deer's skull deeper onto her head.
"......My dream..."
A strained voice squeezed out from between her red lips.
"...is one Your Majesty could never fulfill."
"What?"
"Even if I explained, you wouldn't understand. So I won't bother."
Black Chaos Dance
Curse energy surges
Suddenly, black energy surged over her shoulders.
The wolf Baihir bristled at the curse infecting the plateau, akin to its composition.
"Grrrrr...!"
"Your Majesty belongs on the throne, not here. I'll escort you, so stay put."
"...You've grown incomparably stronger than before. Truly, you are the greatest sorceress."
Rahir marveled.
Her appearance was the same, but her power was on another level.
To the point where he couldn't fathom a way to defeat her.
"It was a pleasure seeing you again, Your Majesty."
Namen raised her arm, pointing her index finger at Rahir.
A sinister incantation was moments from being uttered.
Thwuck!
An arrow sliced through the air, piercing Namen's chest.
"What."
Namen's eyes widened.
The arrow had struck dead center where her heart should be.
Two strands of gray-white hair were tied to it.
Just as she began to react...
Pop-pop-pop-pop!
Dozens of thorns erupted from the arrow.
Thorns as sharp and large as daggers tore through her body and face.
The incantation halted.
It was already fatal, but that wasn't the end.
Whoosh!
A red cloud burst from the second strand of hair, engulfing Namen.
"A direct hit."
Rahir gave a wry smile.
It was a deadly poison gas that could kill a human in one breath.
Arjan, wearing the deer mask flipped backward, emerged from behind a toppled bookshelf.
"Rahir. You alright?"
Arjan had concealed his presence from the start, hiding there.
Rahir nodded.
"Yes. But Namen seems fine too."
"What?"
Arjan's eyes narrowed.
Suddenly, a woman's voice echoed from within the poison cloud.
"Thorn Bear and Highland Viper abilities, I see. You tied His Majesty's hair to the arrows?"
"......!"
The red cloud dispersed.
Arjan flinched.
Namen stood unharmed, without a single scratch.
"I didn't think you'd pull this off alone, Your Majesty. I was just about to search for your accomplice, and here you reveal yourself."
"How...!"
"I have questions. Don't dream of leaving."
Namen's tone shifted.
The arrow and thorns that had pierced her skin melted away like liquid.
As the flustered Arjan nocked his next arrow...
Whoosh!
Two red serpents erupted at Arjan's feet.
Blood droplets scattered.
The serpents, thick as street trees, were composed of blood and curses.
Slither!
They lunged like whirlwinds, coiling around Arjan and the wolf respectively.
"Kuh...!"
There was no time to react.
Arjan swiftly escaped, but wolf Baihir did not.
The wolf was bound in an instant, blood spurting from its maw.
"Grraaah!"
"Urk!"
The pressure was immense.
Rahir's head tumbled from the thrashing wolf's back.
Namen bowed her head toward the rolling, stopping head.
"My apologies, Your Majesty. Please wait just a moment."
"Sorceress! Release him now!"
Arjan raged.
He strained to cut the serpent with his dagger, but it wouldn't yield.
Incredible tensile strength, like steel cables, unbelievable for a spell conjured in moments.
"If you didn't want to lose him, you shouldn't have done this."
A chill smile curled Namen's lips.
Crunch.
As she clenched her fist, the wolf vomited blood again.
"Grah!"
"Sorceress!"
Arjan fired three arrows in fury, to no avail.
The remaining serpent coiled protectively around Namen like armor.
Sizzle...
The arrows embedded in the serpent melted away.
"Dance, threads of blood."
Namen flicked her fingers, summoning another serpent.
Boom!
The serpent, roaring with jaws agape, pursued Arjan.
"My queen, stop this!"
"No."
Rahir shouted, but Namen didn't budge.
As she leisurely prepared her next spell...
"Hold on."
The incantation stopped abruptly.
Fixing her gaze on Arjan, she lowered her voice.
"You. Where did you get that outfit?"
"Outfit?"
"The clothes you're wearing. Do you know what they signify?"
"Hoo, this was handed down from my father."
Arjan spat blood from his mouth.
Breathing grew harder from the curses emanating from the three serpents.
Were it not for Rahir's spirit harmony, he'd have fainted on the spot.
Namen spoke.
"Take it off. It's not for the likes of you."
"What?"
"Your father must've been a lowly thief. That's Cargai royalty's hunting garb. Only His Majesty and I wore it."
Upon closer inspection, her own attire was strikingly similar to Arjan's.
Even the flipped deer mask.
She, who commanded the serpents, continued in a slightly softened tone.
"So take it off. Surrender it willingly, and I'll grant you a painless death—as recompense for bringing me what I've sought."
"No."
"What?"
"And... huff, my father wasn't some thief! Take that back!"
With those words, Arjan leaped and loosed an arrow.
Thwuck!
The arrow traced an eerie arc, slipping between the serpents and lodging in Namen's throat.
"......Good."
But nothing changed.
Namen yanked out the half-melted arrow, growling.
"If you won't remove it, I'll skin you alive."
Killing Intent surges
Killing intent blazed up like wildfire, filling the room.
The deer skull on her head began to stain red.
A pattern signaling the start of true battle.
As she raised both arms to invoke a grand sorcery...
"Bran! Now!"
Suddenly, Arjan shouted something incomprehensible.
Namen dismissed it as a desperate ploy to distract her.
Even if she'd paid it mind, it wouldn't have mattered.
Slash!
With a crisp sound of flesh parting, both of Namen's arms flew off.
"...Huh?"
Namen's eyes widened.
The grand sorcery halted.
Her two arms, spraying blood as they spun, thudded to the floor.
Whirling desperately, she caught sight of a boy wielding a longsword and short spear.
"Nice, you did great!"
Bran shouted.
Like Arjan, he'd hidden his presence amid the debris on the opposite side.
Waiting for this exact moment.
Namen was invincible now, but regeneration weakened just before unleashing grand sorcery.
"When did you...!"
Namen frowned, retreating.
The blood serpent guarding her lunged at Bran.
"Hiss!"
"Gaaaaah!"
Kael, charging from behind Bran, screamed.
The serpent had tripled in size.
Its gaping maw could swallow both boys whole.
"I didn't hide just to get blocked by some snake!"
But Bran didn't retreat.
He bit down on the short spear, gripping the longsword's hilt with both hands.
Infusing mana made the blade heavier as Heavy Strike's energy welled up.
As Bran lowered his stance and swung upward...
Boom!
Like a cannon blast, the serpent's head exploded.
The collapsing body writhed madly.
Rahir gasped.
"My, my word!"
It was extraordinary, but he hadn't expected this degree.
Namen's face hardened. Nothing protected her now.
Bran shifted the spear from his mouth to his left hand.
Thrust!
Charging through the blood spray, he plunged the spear into Namen's chest.
"Guh!"
Dark red blood burst from Namen's lips.
Bran drove forward, pinning her to the wall with the spear.
Boom!
The room shook with the impact, Namen fixed to the wall.
"Cough, urk... How dare you..."
"Kael! Your turn!"
Before Namen, coughing blood, could speak...
Kael leaped out from behind Bran.
"Uwaaa! Sorry!"
"Ah...?"
He hugged the immobilized Namen tightly.
As he buried his face in her bosom...
Kael's light is driving out the darkness shrouding Namen's mind.
Divine powers clash! Victory in this conflict will greatly enhance Kael's divine power!
Notifications flashed in sequence.
Namen's eyes rolled back.
The two remaining serpents melted away entirely.
Her body, enveloped in light, began to convulse.
"Gack. Gurgle. Khk."
"Uwaaaah!"
Kael screamed but hugged her tighter.
Letting go meant the end of everything.
Golden hair slowly floated upward.
The greatest outpouring of divine power Kael had ever unleashed.
"Please hold on, Peanut."
Bran brushed back his blood-matted bangs.
The battle with Namen had been a success.
Trashing the room, the conversation with Rahir, Arjan's clothes.
All had shaken her mentally, hastening the grand sorcery pattern.
'Record-breaking speed.'
But it was too early to celebrate—the finale remained.
Merely restoring Namen's sanity wouldn't yield a perfect happy ending.
She bore some guilt, but the true enemy lurked elsewhere.
The monster that exploited the queen's boundless love to plunge this land into hell.
【Namen. What is the meaning of this...!】
The final boss of this journey was that monster's vanguard.
Rumble rumble rumble...
The king's tent quaked with a thunderous voice.
"Kieek!"
"Kyaaaak!"
"O, ooooh...!"
Hundreds of translucent ghosts poured through the walls simultaneously.
Like rats fleeing an earthquake.
Heading opposite the voice's origin.
Rahir, remounted on the wolf's back, asked Bran.
"...This looks brutal. Think we can win?"
"That's why we're here."
"Heh. I like that answer."
Rahir laughed.
He muttered something about his judgment being spot-on, but Bran didn't catch it.
The spreading pressure intensified.
Warning! Otherworldly presence crushes down on you!
Cursed King's Tent hidden boss, Star Shadow, casts [Voice of the Wilderness]!
And then, as the red warning appeared...
Boom!
One wall of Namen's room exploded, a massive beast's claw bursting forth.