Rules Written in Blood (1)
The Outer Land has always been a bleak place for people to live.
What kind of land is the Outer Land, the world beyond the edge?
It is the homeland of demons, a paradise for magic beasts, and a living hell swarming with the undead who hunt for hearts. On top of that, transcendent beings who can obliterate entire cities with a single gesture roam free… Need anyone say more about the danger?
There is a reason Sword Seeker-class warriors grit their teeth and cling to the Continent until the age of one hundred and fifty. Anyone who knows anything already understands: the Outer Land is simply another word for hell or the underworld—differing only in pronunciation.
One moment you are chased by the undead; the next, someone who seemed kind turns out to be a hunter after your heart. You become prey for giants, or you take a wrong turn into a Constellation’s domain and are pulverized out of existence. Cases like that are all too common.
A place truly swarming with every manner of death.
But what is a human, after all? An animal of adaptation. No matter how hellish the place, they will find a way to survive. The book in Najin’s hands right now was one such example.
Surviving the Outer Land.
A book written by a legendary adventurer who had survived some one hundred and eighteen years in the Outer Land. It listed safety rules meant to help one survive there.
“Wait—something like this existed?”
Two years into thrashing about in the Outer Land.
Though if you counted the sanctuaries and the Tomb of Stars, it was closer to ten years for Najin—yet even he had no idea such a book existed.
“Something like this existed?”
For the record, Merlin didn’t know either.
As Najin looked at her with half-lidded eyes, Merlin grumbled, “Back in my day we didn’t have anything like this.”
“Ah, this is the book Francis wrote. I haven’t read it myself, but it was popular among the Inquisitors for a while. Of course, it was never made public.”
Yuel cut in, pointing to the last page of the book.
“Because it was written by a demon contractor. Some of the safety rules might be useful, but since the information itself could be contaminated, the Holy Blood Church banned sharing it.”
Aha. Najin nodded.
“Well, that explains why it turned up here.”
Nodding, he looked around. Corpses of black mages lay strewn about in rows. The place where Najin and Yuel now stood was none other than a black mage’s workshop.
They hadn’t particularly planned to subjugate black mages.
It simply happened to lie on the path to subjugating the Constellation of Omniscience, so they cleaned it up while they were at it. From the black mages’ perspective it was rather unfair. They were mages of some skill in their own right, but what black mage in the world prepares for two Sword Masters?
“Hwaaaaaaargh!”
The black mages’ dreams of summoning an ancient demon were crushed by a few sword strokes from Najin and Yuel. Even if they had succeeded in the resurrection, it would have meant nothing more than one additional stroke of the blade.
Be that as it may.
Najin opened the book in his hands. The title Surviving the Outer Land had piqued his interest.
On the road to subjugating the Constellation of Omniscience.
The place suspected to be her Star Domain lay deep in the Outer Land, so Yuel and Najin had a long distance to cover.
In the past they would have been on high alert, watching their surroundings carefully as they moved… but now?
Najin strolled along, reading the book at his leisure. Yuel had called it a demon contractor’s book, yet from Najin’s perspective it did not seem to have been written after contracting with a demon from the start. The early sections held some fairly plausible content.
Never trust anyone in the Outer Land.
Everyone who wanders here is your enemy. The mindless undead will aim for your heart, and so will those with intelligence. Therefore it is right to be wary and suspicious of everything.
A presence from somewhere.
Najin raised his head. There gathered the hunters who preyed on newcomers just entering the Outer Land—the very ones he had encountered when he first set foot here.
The so-called Crows.
They displayed the classic traits of Crows: dilated pupils and blood around their mouths. In their hands they held hearts that looked freshly extracted.
The Crows, interrupted during mealtime, lifted their heads and glared at Najin. Who the hell are you? Wanna end up like this guy? That was the gist of their gazes.
Especially beware of those called Crows.
When they are having their so-called “meal,” they do not track new prey. Just don’t glare at them rudely.
Do not meet their eyes. You’ll be looked down on.
If the Crows have formed a pack, flee at once.
Najin stared at them silently and intently.
After one second, the pupils of the one who seemed to be the leader of the Crows dilated further. Already large, they grew a little more. He nudged the one beside him and muttered, “Hey, is that maybe…”
Two seconds: unrest spread.
Three seconds: they leapt to their feet in shock.
Then the Crows spun around and bolted. More than ten hunters fled without looking back. Cold sweat ran down their spines as they realized the one they had glared at so rudely was a Constellation.
They had not even imagined they would encounter a Constellation at the entrance to the Outer Land, and they fled screaming.
It was not a particularly meaningful escape.
Yuel casually swung her sword, and the forest split with a craaack. The Crows ended up looking much like the trees cut cleanly in half.
Najin turned the next page.
The magic beasts of the Outer Land have narrow fields of vision and react to starlight. Suppress your starlight and you can slip from their sight. Do not carelessly use sword aura, and hide your presence.
Especially do not stir up the habitats of magic beasts.
“Najin?”
“Ah, yes, you called?”
“From here on is the forest. I sense quite a few presences inside. It seems to be a magic beast habitat.”
What will you do?
Najin silently took a step forward. Then he abruptly drew Excalibur. The moment brilliant light illuminated the forest, magic beasts drawn by the starlight poured out from within.
Twirl, thrust.
Najin planted Excalibur like a spear and gathered power.
“Ramming.”
Kwagagagagagagak!
The magic beasts were swept away in one go. Trees lining their habitat were uprooted, carving a straight path through.
“Let’s go.”
“The path is clean.”
Najin turned the next page.
Beware places where the shadows grow thick.
They are where demons dwell.
One of the beings you must especially watch for in the Outer Land is the demon. Ancient demons who have lived for hundreds of years also exist here. The demon-hunting methods used on the Continent do not work in this place.
Holy water evaporates. Silver swords corrode. Sacred magic is eaten away by the shadows.
They are beings you cannot kill anyway. Run.
“It’s a demon.”
“A demon, huh.”
“A demon.”
Yuel, Najin, and Merlin said in turn.
They stared at the demon trembling before them. It was a demon that had guarded this place for a very long time—some four hundred years.
Darkis, Demon of Shadows.
Darkis was a high-ranking demon and possessed several stars as well. It had long hunted humans while dwelling in this forest, steadily growing its bulk.
Not a demon to be underestimated wherever it went, but strength is always relative.
Before the Grand Warrior of the Church that hunted demons, a Constellation wielding the sword of the Demon-Slayer, and the mage who had killed the most demons of all, Darkis was a bit lacking in rank to present its name card.
“How shall we hunt it? My Lord recommends starting by searing it with fire.”
“Well, for me, stabbing it with this will kill it, but…”
“Shall we dunk it in water first?”
Merlin grabbed Darkis by the hair and beamed. Darkis fainted from terror, but when Merlin dunked it in water it woke screaming.
About fifteen minutes passed.
Dunked in water, frozen solid, thawed and burned, dismantled into a hundred pieces with Deconstruction, then reassembled…
“Ghk, grrk, ghk……”
The tattered Darkis was finally pierced through by Excalibur and annihilated. The ruler who had dominated the Shadow Forest for four hundred years met its death that way.
Next page.
What you must be most careful of are Constellations.
They are far from the noble, sacred beings written of in fairy tales. Rather, they are neurotic beings who react extremely sensitively to any intrusion into their domains.
The methods for distinguishing Star Domains are as follows. Based on these rules, identify Star Domains and never set foot in one. No matter how mild-tempered a Constellation may be, they will not deal kindly with those who invade their territory.
“It says that, Merlin.”
“Oh?”
Merlin tilted her head, as if she had no idea what that was about.
“They never acted that way with me.”
“They didn’t with me either.”
Najin entered the Star Domain. The Constellation who owned the domain felt displeasure at the intruders daring to enter its territory, but it did not take long for that displeasure to melt away like snow.
A mythic Constellation with eleven stars.
A Constellation with nine stars who had dropped three-digit numbers of stars.
A Constellation with six stars, famous as a madman.
They were more than enough to inject humility into an arrogant Constellation. Through the shortcut the prostrating Constellation provided, Najin exited the Star Domain. Far from dangerous, it was quick and safe.
“Hmm.”
Yuel, who had been reading the book over Najin’s shoulder, nodded.
“Seems it’s nothing but useless content.”
An evaluation that would have brought tears to the author’s eyes.
This Outer Land journey was extremely peaceful, as the use of the word “journey” itself suggested. They ran into demons or undead now and then, but it never became a major problem.
Which was only natural, if you thought about it.
With the death of the Revelry Emperor, former ruler of the Outer Land, the Outer Land had fallen into a lull. The demons and evil-aligned Constellations who had lost their focal point were keeping their heads down.
“Even if they’re plotting something in secret, at least they won’t show themselves in front of you.”
Najin nodded at Merlin’s words.
Even Constellations had to read the room.
No Constellation wanted to mess with Najin, who had dropped a Constellation with eleven stars, and with no one checking him, this Outer Land trip had no particular trials to speak of.
Crack, crackle.
The three of them sat around the campfire they had lit. They were gradually entering the depths of the Outer Land, and in another day or two they would arrive at the Star Domain of the Star of Omniscience.
So now was the right time.
“Merlin.”
“Yeah.”
Merlin nodded and snapped her fingers. A bluish barrier spread out centered on the three of them—a kind of ward that severed connections with the outside.
“I said we were going to subjugate the Constellation of Omniscience, but more precisely, this is closer to a preparatory stage for the subjugation of the Star of Oblivion.”
To the blinking Yuel, Najin began to explain.
The true purpose of this subjugation.
And because there was information Yuel needed to know for that purpose.
“The Star of Oblivion, name unknown. To face the Constellation that has Lancelot of the Round Table under its command, we need several preparatory steps. And what must be included in those preparations is……”
Tap tap. Najin tapped his temple with his index finger.
“Resistance to oblivion.”
Even Najin could not afford to be careless. It was a Constellation with the authority to erase an entire nation from history. To face such a Constellation, of course they needed countermeasures.
So what were those countermeasures?
Najin looked at Merlin. From here on, it was the operation Merlin had proposed. Merlin nodded and spoke.
“There’s such a thing as compatibility even among the authorities of Constellations—the concepts their stars hold. The Revelry Emperor is a convenient example. That demon’s authority was terrifyingly powerful, but it didn’t work well on you, right? Why do you think that is?”
Because of compatibility.
The Revelry Emperor’s authority was focused on acting, deception, theater, and mockery, and the stars Najin possessed were optimized for shattering those things.
“Right, because of compatibility. In a fight against a Constellation, the most important thing is compatibility. It can overturn gaps in power. And……”
Merlin said.
“As you’d expect, the Star of Oblivion has a compatibility too. There’s a Constellation that stands at the exact opposite pole.”
There was no need to ask who that Constellation was.
Yuel, who had been listening, answered.
“The Star of Omniscience, Hermann.”
“Yeah. Until Hermann went into hiding, she clashed with the Star of Oblivion whenever she got the chance, so this should be accurate.”
In fact, the first one to come running in Yuel’s past had been none other than the Star of Oblivion.
“The very existence of a star with the concept of omniscience—knowing all things—must have been an eyesore to the Star of Oblivion. Because Hermann would know even its own past.”
A star with the concept of omniscience.
A star that acted as a reverse scale for the Constellation of Oblivion.
“And.”
Merlin raised her hand.
“From now on, we’re going to take that.”
Her outstretched finger.
What it pointed to was Yuel.
“Using the position you hold, that is.”