Chapter 234
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 234
Chapter Title: The Star That Turned Its Back on the Light (2)
The capital of the Lucaonia Empire, holy Lucaon, had lost its light.
The candles burning in every window had gone out. The streetlamps that brightly illuminated the roads had been extinguished. The afterglow hanging on the horizon as dusk fell had faded away, and even the holy flame blazing atop the great cathedral's spire now only belched hazy smoke.
In the place where Decagram flags had proudly fluttered, black mourning banners now flew. The buildings that had gleamed white sagged darkly like rotten teeth. People clad in ash-dyed garments wandered the night streets. Their forms resembled ghosts restlessly searching for their own shadows.
A city of darkness that had turned its back on light and lost all vitality. A scene that had utterly forgotten the fervor of the day the Holy War was declared and the Holy War Army sent off to exalt Elga's glory.
A lone man gazed down at the street from a window.
His graying hair was dyed jet black by the night. Shadows pooled across a face scarred and wrinkled. He was unarmed and unarmored, yet the Decagram emblem on the back of his hand proved he was one known as Elga's "Star."
But unlike the other Stars battling on the front lines, he was different. Like the street below, he was a Star that had lost its light—a dark star no one took as a guide.
An old man entered the room of this forsaken Star without announcement.
"Truly a tragic affair, wouldn't you say."
"......"
"The Holy War hasn't even been going on long, yet three of Elga's Stars have fallen... If it were up to me, rather than just declaring a mourning period, I'd petition the Lord of Eternal Light to dim His everlasting radiance for a time."
The old man differed from the man shrouded in darkness. A pure white halo shone behind him. Even in the gloom, the unwavering holy glow clearly attested to his profound faith and exalted status.
"But no matter how heartbroken I am, it pales beside the grief you feel. After all, you were their teacher from when those 'fallen Stars' were mere specks of dust... their senior, their twin stars tracing the same orbit..."
"......"
"Isn't that right, Lord Hendark?"
"The Star that Pierces Truth," Hendark, stared vacantly at Archbishop Erensko.
The "Holy War" had thrust Elga's Stars onto the battlefield. And the Stars had achieved feats worthy of their renown. When "The Star that Proclaims the Gospel" captured Delutana and "The Star that Illuminates Slumber" conquered Untana, the war seemed poised to end in three days, just like the Decagram's past conquests.
The prediction missed the mark entirely. The two Stars perished in vain, and even the 7th Star, "The Star that Burns Away Life," exhausted its ten millennia of existence and scattered to ash. As if that weren't enough, the legendary "Golden Lord" proclaimed his return, rallying all allies under him—and now the war overwhelmingly favored the alliance.
Yet the true "Stars" had yet to emerge.
The people of the Empire firmly believed that if the upper ranks of the Decagram—from the 2nd to 5th seats, a league apart from the lower ones—stepped forward, the tide would turn once more.
In the meantime, Hendark, the 3rd seat, had been half-sidelined from the "Holy War." He was one of the few Knights of Elga not aligned with the Archbishop after his disciples were kidnapped. But with the situation dire, Hendark figured they had finally come to borrow his power.
Yet the Archbishop's business wasn't limited to that.
"By the way, don't you find it strange?"
"......Strange how?"
"'The Star that Burns Away Life' expended its vast lifespan and died, fine. Say 'The Star that Illuminates Slumber' got its identity exposed somehow and perished. But 'The Star that Proclaims the Gospel'? His death makes no sense at all. Lord Angelion, secluded in his chambers, summoned straight into the heart of Delutana and slain? It's almost as if..."
"......"
"......someone revealed the 'constraints' of the Stigmata and goaded them to kill the Stars."
Erensko gently curled the corner of his mouth. A smile that seemed utterly benevolent—but closer to one savoring prey entangled in a spider's web.
"Right after the Holy War began, you left the Holy City for over ten days."
"......"
"Whom did you meet? Where? And what did you do, Lord Hendark?"
Hendark sealed his lips once more.
He betrayed no agitation. Behind his grim visage, he tightly concealed the fact that he had divulged every detail of the "Stigmata." But ironically, his own Stigma's constraint prevented outright lies. From his words, the Archbishop already seemed to know everything anyway...
So he shifted the topic to something else that had been nagging at him.
"......What did you bring from behind you, Archbishop?"
"Ah, this?"
Erensko extended with one hand whatever he had concealed behind him.
It was a small box, luxurious in appearance like a reliquary for holy relics. The Archbishop innocently set it on the desk.
"A gift for you. I hope this offers some small comfort for the grief of losing your fellow Stars."
"......"
Hendark's eyes narrowed, trembling faintly. His Stigma, "The Star that Pierces Truth," instantly discerned the lie. Even without it, the falsehood would have been obvious.
A foul stench of blood emanated from that box.
"Why don't you open it yourself? I'm sure it'll suit your tastes."
Instinct screamed a warning. He couldn't keep letting this snake of an Archbishop toy with him. Yet a gnawing unease urged him to confirm first. Horrible as the thought was, if what lay inside was some... remnant of one of his kidnapped disciples...
In the end, Hendark could only stand frozen in wary vigilance. Erensko swallowed a hollow breath and let out a soundless chuckle.
"Well, if you won't look, I'll open it for you."
Click. The pristine white box opened. Inside lay...
...fingers. Sticky blood oozed from ragged crimson cross-sections, with joints and cartilage mangled and clinging.
"From someone you know well. Freshly severed—perfect condition."
"......!!"
Divine light erupted from the window like a bolt of lightning.
Kwa-ang!!
Yet Hendark could not reach the Archbishop enshrouded in light.
―――――― Guwoong, Teo-heong!!
Suddenly, darkness coalesced into the shape of black skeletal hands, hurling him back with impossible force. Pitch-black talons then surged from the walls, binding his limbs.
Kung, Kuheung—! Kuheung, Kung—!
The authority of the Decagram's 2nd seat: "The Star that Devours Darkness."
Hendark thrashed, eyes bloodshot. But shrugging off the Church's mightiest restraint barehanded proved impossible. A mocking gaze fixed on the struggling Knight of Elga.
"Good. Your reaction suggests you like it very much."
"You bastard... I'll tear you apart without leaving a single scrap of flesh... You and that 'Star that Devours Darkness' you conspire with..."
"Ah, a death threat from one who cannot lie. As terrifying as Elga's divine judgment. But rest easy—I said it's from 'someone you know well,' not your 'cherished disciples.'"
"......"
Erensko scooped the fingers from the box with one hand. He then grafted them onto his opposite hand, fingers missing like a leper's.
Woo-woong—!!
"These are my fingers. Just a light prank—don't be too wroth."
"......"
"Well, should you refuse my command... who knows what gift I'll bring next."
Hendark fell speechless, petrified.
Partly from the Archbishop's madness in mutilating his own hand to deceive him, the instant regeneration via light spell, the utterly sincere threat... but not only that.
"To the point: Deploy to the border at once and personally slay the 'Demon' you failed to kill last time. Do so, and I won't hold you accountable for betraying the Church. Your cherished disciples' safety will be assured."
The Archbishop spoke no lie. Yet an acrid incongruity lingered. Pinpointing the source, Hendark glanced back into the box—and realized.
"Why... is one finger still in the box?"
"......"
Erensko's lips curved in a warm smile.
"I never said I brought only my fingers."
"......!!!"
"Young Yorbens was a truly valiant child of Elga. Not a single tear despite pain adults could scarcely endure... In respect for his courage, I promised to reattach it the moment you depart."
"......You bastard, you baaaaastard—!!!"
―――― Guuuwoong—!!
As Hendark roared and lunged, darkness devoured his sight and consciousness.
Fruit knives are called paring knives, bread knives slice loaves, cleavers carve meat.
By the same token, this battle axe more than earned the name "Knight of Elga Axe."
Boo—Woong ―――――― Kwagagak—!!
"......Kuhuk!"
The massive axe blade smashed into the Knight of Elga. His sturdy plate armor bore only faint scratches; the life that had shone with Elga's glory left naught but a bloody smear on the axe head as it was brutally pulverized.
The giant swiftly stowed his battle axe. Felling a High Paladin who had rampaged like it was his own backyard stirred no particular feeling. The Knights of Elga and soldiers he had hacked down with this one axe already numbered well into the hundreds.
His foes, by contrast, showed far richer emotion.
"Uwaaaah... Lord Relius, Lord Relius felled in one strike..."
"'The Border Butcher' defeated Lord Relius!!"
"Retreat!! Everyone, stay clear of 'The Border Butcher' and fall back!!"
Holy War Army soldiers screamed the enemy's moniker in terror. Their collective gasps resembled panicked wraiths leaking from the ether.
"The Border Butcher." The dread new title of the warrior once a legendary arena champion, now supreme commander of the alliance army. He himself valued it more than "Agon’s Furious Horn"—a name won in true strife.
Devoid of a rallying point, the Holy War Army scattered like rabble. Goltaran promptly ordered pursuit.
"Hunt them down!! Tonight, Knights of Elga hearts for the feast, their lackeys' gallbladders for chasers!! For the Great Father of the Wilderness and Golden Lord Remillion!!"
No—he charged ahead like a raging bull, compelling his men to follow. Blood-hungry Atala warriors and regular soldiers steeped in half-barbaric zeal chased their lord with fervor.
"Atalaaaaa—!!!"
"Heft your axes!! The Father of the Wilderness demands their deaths!!"
"Lord Remillion shields us!! Slaughter the Empire's mangy curs!!"
Yet the alliance could not breach enemy lines.
――――――― Kwa—Ang!!!
"Hiaaaak!!"
"Uhek—!!"
An abrupt flash exploded, shattering the advance.
No lives lost, but enough to halt the charge. As the blaze dimmed, the culprit emerged: a spear buried deep in the crater's heart. A man clad head to toe in pristine white armor approached and claimed it.
"......Enough. We've both spilled ample blood today. I advise you withdraw."
"......"
Goltaran glowered at the old man with sullen eyes.
Such interruptions weren't one-off occurrences. Just as momentum built to strike the enemy core, this man would block the path. When allies faltered on the brink, he ordered retreat, delaying resolution. The front remained locked in stalemate.
Hitherto, overwhelming firepower had forced withdrawal... but not tonight.
"......'The Star that Pierces Truth' Hendark, was it?"
"......"
"Never thought Elga's vaunted top Knight of Elga, hailed a 'Star,' would prove such a coward."
"......"
"You know it too. This fight ends only when one of us falls. Dragging it out breeds pointless deaths. If a drop of warrior's blood courses through you... don't slink away tonight. Face me—clash steel on steel."
The man, Hendark, silently regarded the savage warrior brandishing his axe.
No fury at the taunt, no vow to crush the foe. Only hollow futility, deeming all meaningless. He sighed like belching chimney smoke, then doffed his gauntlet to bare the "Stigma" on his hand.
"Circumstances bind me—I cannot lie..."
"......"
"......If I fight at full strength, you die."
Goltaran's eyes bulged wide.
Wuuuuung—!!
Tattoos across his body flared golden. Power surging, Goltaran thundered forward, axe swinging. Alliance troops' eyes gleamed with hope their lord would topple the foe.
Yet "The Star that Pierces Truth" proved his claim no empty words.
Chee—Eong ―――――――― Kwaaaang—!!!
Spear tip pierced the cleaving strike, birthing cataclysmic blast that shattered the axe head. The "Knight of Elga Axe," butcher of countless Knights of Elga, scattered as worthless scrap.
Goltaran froze in absurd disbelief. Hendark calmly reclaimed his spear and turned away, as if nothing amiss. Eerie chill wind howled longer than their duel.
Warriors and soldiers alike reeled in shock. His adjutant, shaking off the blast's aftershock, rushed to Goltaran.
"G-General! Are you hurt?!"
"......"
No bodily harm, but his warrior's pride lay in shards like the ruined axe. Eyes ablaze with defeat's bitter fire, Goltaran spat through gritted teeth.
"Summon every Wilderness Shaman... We will find a way to fell that man."