The Queen's Obsessed Servant (3)
The Mother of Ominous Birds, Karne, specialized in covert operations. She had not originally awakened this talent. Karne had always been a background figure in the world, her only purpose in life to watch her children flourish. The skill of erasing her presence was merely a natural talent born from that process.
4★ Ashen Knight Morgen casts 「Burning Premonition」.
Meanwhile, the 4★ disaster Ashen Knight Morgen wandered the streets, surveying his surroundings with those ominous eyes. The knight raised his sword and mercilessly crushed any residents who had failed to reach the shelters. Countless Awakened rushed in to stop the slaughter, but their disasters could only hold the knight’s ankles for a brief moment. The gap between a 4★ named disaster and anything 3★ or below was simply that vast.
‘He seems to have lost his mind.’
Karne instinctively understood that the knight before her was not in his right mind. The Ashen Knight Morgen she had encountered in Actor’s Territory had never been such a violent disaster. On the contrary, he had been like a child who respected and admired her.
‘How strange.’
While feeling suspicious, Karne slipped closer. None of the Awakened surrounding the Ashen Knight noticed her approach. And it was not only the Awakened—Morgen himself failed to detect her. His detection skill could not pierce Karne’s stealth.
5★ Mother of Ominous Birds Karne cancels concentration on 「Void Afterimage」.
Karne leaped above the Ashen Knight Morgen’s head and released her stealth skill. A brilliant flash. The veil covering her body spread thinly, momentarily blocking the surrounding view. For Karne, that brief window was more than enough.
5★ Mother of Ominous Birds Karne casts 「Shadow Harvest」.
In an instant, a jet-black winged scythe materialized in Karne’s hand. Ashen Knight Morgen twisted his body at the last moment, sensing the ambush, but Karne never missed her target. Thud. With a sickening sound of flesh tearing, the winged scythe plunged deep into his shoulder and ripped through his lungs. Morgen stared wide-eyed at his attacker, realizing the face belonged to the gentle mother.
“Morgen, you foolish child. Why would you turn against Actor and this mother of yours?”
Karne’s quiet murmur. At the same time, the Void Afterimage that had covered the area dissolved into the air. Before the Awakened could comprehend the situation, the black wings at Karne’s waist fluttered once.
5★ Mother of Ominous Birds Karne casts 「Ghostly Moon Walk」.
“What the—! Where did that thing go?!” one Awakened shouted. But their cries no longer reached her. This was a unique space separated from the world. It was closer to an authority Karne possessed.
“Now, let us check your condition. Correcting a foolish child’s deviation is also this mother’s duty.”
Karne twisted the winged scythe with a gentle tone. The sound of bones snapping echoed. Morgen’s health steadily drained, yet he could no longer resist. In this space, only Karne could move and harvest life. She managed to extract a small fragment that had existed inside the Ashen Knight Morgen’s body.
“Asteria. So it was you.”
Karne’s expression hardened as she examined the fragment.
5★ Queen Who Swallowed the Stars Asteria is watching 5★ Mother of Ominous Birds Karne.
What Karne held was none other than a fragment of the broken crown. Beyond its cleanly severed, transparent cross-section, Asteria’s pink eyes stared back clearly. Their gazes met for an instant. The Mother of Ominous Birds, Karne, had once possessed divinity as a mythical beast, yet she was no match for the cosmic existence before her. Karne averted her eyes. Yet in that brief encounter, she could read the mad obsession swirling in Asteria’s gaze. Having once worn the same look herself, she understood it better than anyone.
“You remain a bothersome woman.”
Karne sighed deeply and tucked the fragment away. She harvested the Ashen Knight Morgen’s life while once again activating Ghostly Moon Walk. When the Awakened finally gathered, all they found was an empty lot.
“Damn it! What the hell just happened?!” an Awakened cried out in frustration. No one could explain the phenomenon they had witnessed.
4★ Ashen Knight Morgen has been defeated!
Reward: 150 Exp / 4★ Ashen Knight Morgen
I smiled in satisfaction at the message that appeared before me. The Mother of Ominous Birds Karne had perfectly carried out the assassination of the Ashen Knight. As if in response, a flustered voice came through the radio.
From the radio chatter, it seemed Karne had completed the assassination without being noticed by anyone. I cheered inwardly, but soon another status message appeared before my eyes.
4☆ Fragment of the Broken Crown
“…Huh.”
My mind snapped into focus. It appeared the Ashen Knight Morgen had been carrying a fragment of Asteria’s crown. That meant my initial guess had been correct. Asteria was manipulating the rift and had sent down the Ashen Knight Morgen and the Thorn Tree Terakas. In other words, the massive disaster currently before me—the Thorn Tree Terakas—likely also possessed a crown fragment.
“Nam Juyeon, sir! Help! Heeeelp!”
Incidentally, Association President Yu Junseo was busy dodging the Thorn Tree’s branches all day, making his proud declaration look rather pathetic. His disaster, the Hellfire Guardian, was a fire-attribute disaster and thus the Thorn Tree’s natural counter. Normally, a direct confrontation would have ended in the Hellfire Guardian’s victory, but Terakas, as a named disaster, was intelligent. Instead of facing the extreme disadvantage head-on, it chose to avoid the fight as much as possible and target the disaster’s owner. The Hellfire Guardian was slow, while Terakas was relatively fast. Though the Hellfire Guardian kept spitting flames, Terakas shook them all off and charged toward Yu Junseo, who had hidden inside a building.
“Aah! The Association President!”
Seo Ye-rin shouted in panic and ordered her subordinates, but it was impossible to stop that mass weapon with mere 3★ disasters. In the end, it only produced meaningless casualties.
“Heeeelp!”
Yu Junseo’s screams could be heard clearly even outside the building without needing the radio. I sighed and operated the status window.
“Well, that guy probably has a crown fragment too.”
Anyway, it needed to be dealt with to farm the crown fragments. Of course, I was not without a sense of decency. I had been the one to lure Yu Junseo in with my words, so I intended to take some responsibility.
“I’ll at least give up the last hit.”
I exchanged glances with Selene, who was watching from the rooftop in her hoodie. I summoned the Earth Crusher through the status window and gestured to Selene. Understanding my intent, she landed on the Earth Crusher’s shoulder, cloaked in her ash-gray veil. At the same time, the Earth Crusher swung its massive fist, and Selene drove the Wedge Sword of Hellfire into Terakas’s core. Whether it was because its health had already been greatly depleted by the Hellfire Guardian’s damage-over-time or simply because Selene’s damage as its elemental counter was overwhelming, Terakas collapsed helplessly.
Crash!
“Ah! It fell!” Seo Ye-rin shouted, and the Awakened lit up with excitement as they concentrated their firepower. Their thoughts were all the same: if they could land the finishing blow, perhaps they too could be treated as S-class Awakened. Of course, none of them were quicker to assess the situation than Yu Junseo. From the moment Terakas began to fall, Yu Junseo had already ordered the Hellfire Guardian to unleash its strongest attack.
4★ Hellfire Guardian casts 「Iron Maiden」.
A massive suit of armor enveloped Terakas’s entire body before exploding in an instant.
“Whoa.”
No matter how many times I saw it, that self-destruct skill was chilling. Already low on health and struck by a near-suicidal ultimate, Terakas vanished on the spot. Yu Junseo cheered at the status window that appeared before him.
“Kiyahoooo!”
Perhaps the reason Yu Junseo could keep his sanity even as the world turned to hell was because he perceived all of this as a game. Assuming that state counted as being in his right mind, that is.
“Nam Juyeon, sir, did you see?! Did you see?! I got the last hit! From now on it’s not Dragon Lord and Flame Lord, it’s Flame Lord and Dragon Lord!”
“Think whatever you want.”
“No, wait—is it not Flame Lord? Should I call it Wood Lord instead?”
While Yu Junseo pondered the title, the radio continued to blare requests for support. Seo Ye-rin and the other Awakened had no time to celebrate their victory before moving to another sector. This Rift Eruption was truly unprecedented in scale. Even in Disaster Order, this many disasters had never poured out at once. Just then, a telepathic message arrived from Mirien, the Storm of the North Sea.
Actor, be careful. This isn’t the end.
It seemed Mirien had already used her tracking skill and was looking up at the sky.
More disasters are coming down. Not as many as before, but still a lot.
The first wave of a rift was always the fiercest, with subsequent waves tapering off. But this eruption showed no such pattern. Looking up at the sky, the next wave from the rift was pouring down. Their numbers appeared to be at least three times that of the previous eruption.
“…This fucking—”
If the Queen Who Swallowed the Stars, Asteria, had been here, I would have had a word with her. You should have just become the ruler of the rift.