Chapter 233
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 233
Chapter Title: The Star That Turned Its Back on the Light (1)
The news of the Golden Lord Remillion's return spread like wildfire throughout every corner of the alliance.
And the ripple effect was far beyond anything that could be dismissed as merely "enormous."
It was as if the entire alliance domain had transformed into the heart of the arena where a once-in-a-century champion had been born. Families and relatives, of course, but even aloof neighbors, bitter enemies who ground their teeth in hatred, creditors and debtors alike—all the alliance's people united as one, embracing in joyous festivals that raged day and night.
"Lord Remillion has returned!! The great Golden Lord has come back to our side!!"
"The dragons' friend will protect us!! The empire's armies and holy knights serving that vile evil god will crumble like stacks of straw before the Lord's roar!!"
"H-Hey! Put out that bonfire! Your house is on fire!!"
"Kwahahak, who gives a damn about that! Lord Remillion—the mighty Lord Remillion himself—has returned!!"
Insolently enough, not everyone believed in the Lord's return. Only Delutana's citizens had the chance to witness him directly, and even there, he hadn't shown himself publicly since the grand assembly.
"But... is it really true that Lord Remillion has returned?"
"Hmm, it is odd... How could he still be alive after more than two hundred years away from the alliance...?"
But those doubts were swiftly brushed aside.
"The Galentana Assembly, Chairman Dokles Barop and the 100 members, pledge absolute loyalty to the returned Golden Lord, staking the honor of the 'City of Knowledge.'"
"The Vestana Assembly, Chairman Konrad Bukaluti and the 100 members, affirm the same."
"I, the second seat elder of the Magic Tower, 'Endless Storm' Wendigo, stake my lifelong mysteries and all the tower's accumulated knowledge to guarantee that the great founder of the alliance has returned...!!"
Every assembly member and Magic Tower elder toured the cities, proclaiming the Lord's return. The 'Endless Storm' even recreated Remillion's declaration of return using wind illusions, somewhat soothing the alliance folk's desperate longing to lay eyes on him.
On top of that, word spread of the 'Free City Alliance Reconsolidation Treaty' binding the fractured cities together, and the confirmed deaths of three Decagrams—the empire's highest holy knights. The alliance plunged into a complete frenzy.
The effects were immediately visible. Volunteer enlistment for the assembly army surged nearly tenfold, wealthy city magnates competed to donate supplies and mercenaries, the Magic Tower's battle mages began preparing for the front lines... and above all, alliance members of every origin started treating each other like flesh and blood.
War is a current. And that current was unmistakably flowing toward the alliance. No matter how fervently the holy army bore the mission to exalt Elga's glory, they couldn't surpass the morale of an alliance army rallied around a divine being who had descended to the earth itself.
The Lucaonia Empire and Elga Church were thrown into panic, fire at their feet. The momentum that had pushed Untana and Delutana to the brink of capture reversed, and even holding the border regions grew increasingly burdensome.
Looking back through history, those who achieve great victories in war fall into two broad categories. The side with sky-high morale that fears not even one-against-a-hundred battles... or the side that shatters the enemy with overwhelming force surpassing one-against-a-hundred.
For the rotten empire clinging to hope, only the latter remained viable. If Elga's stars—the Decagrams—returned to the front lines, they could easily reverse the tide. Yet even that wasn't a choice to embrace lightly.
All because of the alliance's demon, the 'Demon Slayer,' who had felled their stars.
If they deployed their stars, the alliance would obviously counter with that demon. Should he invade imperial territory while the Decagrams were away... the war's flow might become truly irreversible. Thus, the church held back on committing a new 'star,' watching developments with utmost caution.
Ironically, the alliance was just as fixated on the 'Demon Slayer.'
He was a hero rivaling the Golden Lord, but the deeds he'd committed at the grand assembly had instilled profound fear. Should he defect or change sides... the alliance would suffer utter defeat without recourse. Numerous assembly members obsessively monitored his movements, desperately seeking ways to tie his feet.
And so, the 'Demon Slayer,' who had unwittingly drawn the focused attention of both empire and alliance amid this turbulent war, was...
...true to his name, hunting demons.
The 'Star Pulverizer' lived up to its name as a weapon forged to smash Elga's stars. But it was plenty effective at pulverizing other things too.
―――― Kwa-ang!!
- ...Kahak!
One blow reduced the head to mushy pulp. An eyeball attached to optic nerves tumbled out atop the steaming clump of gore. The only proof left that it was a demon: a fully grown horn and a small one etched with rings.
A mystery-type demon, mid-rank and in the midst of promotion to high-rank.
"Uhak, uhaaaaa..."
"Kyaaaaaaa!!!"
The survivors watching from afar fled in horrified panic. From the screams alone, it sounded less like rescue and more like intimidation. Kadim paid it no mind. He hadn't done it for thanks anyway.
He wiped the flesh scraps from the hammerhead and glanced downward casually.
Not everyone had been saved from the demons. One woman, enthralled by a demon before his arrival, hadn't escaped death. Soaked in demonic energy and cursed by dark sorcery, her cold corpse was now sprouting fingers like shelf fungi everywhere.
Hwarurururuk-!!
To prevent the monsters from devouring flesh and spawning more beasts, he promptly incinerated the body with his hellfire dagger. The demon's corpse, however, he left unburned for the moment, staring down at it in thought.
Demons grew by feeding on pain and despair. Human suffering and hopelessness on a massive scale was an utter banquet for them. Higher demons could even command lesser ones as minions, siphoning off portions of the despair they gathered.
In other words, 'war' was a breeding ground accelerating all demons' growth—a prelude to birthing great demons.
He had forgotten. That this second playthrough world was overrun by demons like wild beasts. Sure enough, the war's aftermath was spawning demons sprouting horns and promoting one after another.
Truth be told, the surest way to end this festival was something else entirely: invade imperial territory outright, smash the Elga Church, and conclude the war.
But that was something he couldn't do. If he left to invade the empire, Elga's stars would swarm the alliance lands in kind. Under mutually assured destruction, countless would die, birthing pain and despair that might hasten a great demon's descent instead.
Moreover, if the World Tree diviner's prophetic dreams never missed the mark, ending the war that way wouldn't stop the great demon anyway...
Even so, he couldn't just sit idle. In place of Elga's lounging stars, Kadim set out to slay the rampaging demons. Of course, catching these small fry wouldn't halt a great demon's arrival, but he had another reason for focusing on demon hunting.
To prepare the heart flame realm's divine art second form, 'Blood Cataclysm Flame,' which ignited massive blood combustion.
Jjeogeogeok-!
For now, that was Kadim's most powerful weapon. He mechanically scraped the remnants from the neck stump and collected the mystery-type demon's blood in his canteen. The blood he'd stockpiled in his inventory over days sloshed with every movement.
Then, in an instant, Kadim's eyes flared crimson.
As if from experience, he reacted immediately. He squeezed his eyes shut, clenched his fists, and suppressed the impulse. But the blood scent burrowing into his rear nerves grew ever more intense, stoking the desire.
The 'craving' for demon blood had reawakened days ago, after a brief reprieve— fiercer now, as if demanding backlogged payment.
It hadn't exploded into full 'berserk' yet, but with the craving returned, it was only a matter of time. Suppressing it relentlessly in his current body until berserk detonated could spell disaster. He was just about to take a single sip, slaking the craving while alone.
Suddenly, a sob pierced his ears.
'...I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Lord Kadim... If only my sorcery had been a little better...'
Kadim whipped his head around.
No one nearby. Only the winter wind innocently sweeping dust. Yet the hallucination's afterecho lingered stubbornly. His lost gaze wandered blankly over the ground.
Eventually, Kadim recalled another prophetic dream Remillion had relayed.
'...You meet a white-haired shaman with bandages over both eyes. Time and place unknown. But the searing heat and chill—like flesh burning and freezing at once—suggest it was no place for ordinary humans...'
"......"
It was too soon to read deep meaning into the prophecy.
This was a world rife with ways to forge fake humans. She could be a dark arts clone he'd crafted, or a demon that stole her form. Nor was she the only shaman in the world with bandages over her eyes—could be an uncanny lookalike, or an admirer imitating the great shaman.
But... the stirring in his heart was inevitable.
The faint possibility that his old comrade—left behind three hundred years ago without a farewell, who had wandered the continent blind until her soles wore raw, ultimately sacrificing her soul and powers to craft a fetish for him—might still live. Just confirming that possibility whipped a parched storm through the great warrior's heart.
If only the prophetic dreams never erred, then that one would surely come true as well.
After hesitating, Kadim stowed the blood-filled canteen. Instead, he pulled out one with strong liquor and chugged it down.
Until he confirmed the 'great demon's' descent and the truth about 'Cyril,' he needed to stay sane as long as possible... which meant restraining from demon blood at all costs.
Barring incidents, Kadim planned to keep hunting demons and stockpiling blood. But before he could take a step, an incident struck.
Duncan came racing from the distant field. Faster than any courier horse in the world.
"Milord, milord!! Huff, huff... Big trouble, big trouble!"
"......"
This was about thirty kilometers from Delutana. He hadn't come for trivial news.
His hunch proved right. Word from the border front lines, where General Goltaran held command: Decagrams had appeared. Two of them, no less.
But was that really 'big trouble'? Hadn't he already crushed two at once in Delutana? As usual, Kadim nearly dismissed Duncan for fussing over nothing... but no.
"I-It’s like this, milord! One of the Decagrams at the front lines..."
The continent's heartland, the border between empire and alliance.
Amid a battlefield strewn with corpses, a hulking brute faced off against an elderly man.
The distance was just over a kilometer. Not short by any means, yet neither could miss the other's gaze. Their piercing stares and overwhelming presences stabbed like daggers from point-blank range.
The two shared few common traits.
One had a lean build, the other a muscular, imposing frame. One wielded a brilliantly shining spear, the other a bloodstained axe. One was clad head to toe in white plate armor, the other in rough leather. One served the god of light and order as a holy knight, the other the god of wilderness and struggle as a barbarian warrior.
Their sole commonality: both were regarded as ultimate weapons of human killing in their respective camps.
Thus, it was obvious—the outcome of their clash would decide the battlefield's victor.
But today, no clash came. The elderly holy knight silently withdrew his gaze and retreated. The holy knights and soldiers on the field followed him to the rear.
Alliance army supreme commander General Goltaran bitterly furrowed his brow.
"...What was that man's epithet and name again?"
His adjutant hesitated a moment before reporting.
"It was definitely... 'The Star that Pierces Truth' Hendark, General."