Episode 21
Kudan’s swollen, muscular body, a face savagely contorted, and eyes bloodshot like an enraged bull.
It was an appearance befitting the strongest warrior of the Nodo Tribe.
Kankun’s body stiffened.
The self that had mustered courage and charged forward just moments ago was nowhere to be seen; only a coward trembling in fear remained.
As she stepped back, someone’s voice reached her.
“Are you thinking of running away again?”
She flinched!
“Where did the one who was so confident just a moment ago go?”
A tone laced with ridicule and mockery.
Roki sat peacefully on the icy ground with both legs folded.
At that sight, Kankun’s trembling stopped like a lie.
Kankun took a deep breath.
With a resounding *thud!*, a warhammer appeared right before her nose.
Startled, Kankun reflexively turned her head.
The warhammer passed by, almost grazing the tip of her nose, and the fierce wind pressure struck her face.
Kankun nearly fell but quickly regained her center of gravity.
And she swung Brutgang toward Kudan’s neck, but….
*Thwack—!*
All Kankun felt was pain in her face.
Kudan’s foot had kicked her face.
Kankun was sent flying and slid all the way to Roki’s side.
She spat out blood and clenched her teeth.
“Shall I help?”
Roki asked in an annoyingly playful tone.
“I’m fine!”
“Really, then I suppose you don’t need a potion either.”
“…W-will you give me one?”
“Weren’t you fighting fair and square?”
“…What’s fair and square in war?”
Roki burst into laughter.
No doubt, Kankun was only thinking of stopping Kudan and being acknowledged by him.
Roki held out a potion, and Kankun drank a bottle and drew a breath.
Then Kudan charged in.
What he saw was Roki holding Kankun in his arms.
Kankun clenched her teeth and blocked the warhammer flying toward Roki with her sword, deflecting it.
“You blocked it? Have you grown stronger than before?”
Only then did Kudan’s gaze turn and fix upon Kankun.
She dug into his guard and swung her sword.
Kudan was gradually pushed back and began to switch to defense rather than offense.
Seeing that, Roki burst into laughter.
“…Your attacks are getting faster. It’s not my imagination. Are you growing in the middle of a fight?”
Kankun used her small frame to dig as deep as possible into Kudan’s range.
The more she did so, the more Kudan was unable to attack Kankun because of his own large frame.
Brutgang was swung. And scratches began to appear on Kudan’s body little by little.
*Fast?!*
It had been several months since he last saw her, but even so, this level of growth was abnormal.
*What has that demon done to her?*
In an instant, the blade passed by precariously close to the side of Kudan’s neck.
Small blood spurted from his nape, and Kudan’s eyes went wide.
“This isn’t the time to get distracted!”
Kankun’s Brutgang reached right in front of Kudan’s face. Horror filled his eyes.
Block? Too late! Dodge? That, too, was already…!
“Damn…!”
*Too… late…!*
“I’ve… won!”
Kankun smiled faintly.
Brutgang struck Kudan’s face directly.
Kankun’s face, which had thrust the sword, stiffened.
*Crunch!*
“……!”
He caught the sword with his teeth?!
Kudan’s teeth were biting down on Kankun’s blade.
Perhaps from enduring with all his might, veins bulged around his jaw, and blood pooled in his gums. Even as his teeth were being crushed, he barely held onto the sword.
Kudan pulled his fist back.
At that sight, Kankun felt her heart sink. She urgently tried to pull the sword out, but it showed no intention of escaping Kudan’s mouth.
Kudan’s fist struck Kankun’s body directly.
*Bam—!*
But golden light burst from Kankun’s body and deflected Kudan’s fist.
“……!”
Kankun’s eyes went wide at the sight. And as her vision turned to Roki, she recalled what he had said.
“The abilities of that sword are three.”
One of them.
“It can form a protective barrier of guardianship.”
The light of guardianship that protected Kankun!
The protective barrier wrapped around her like armor, protecting her.
“The abilities of healing and purification….”
The armor of light that guarded Kankun seeped into her body.
All her wounds began to heal.
Guardianship and healing of light.
All of this was the blessing bestowed upon her by the holy sword.
*Yes, Lord Roki is protecting me!*
Roki had given her the sword. This wasn’t a fight for herself alone.
The Constellation was protecting her!
And Kankun recalled.
The strike learned through countless hours of training.
“You can unleash a slash of light.”
The slash of light that Roki had taught her!
Kankun opened her mouth. Letting out a shout, she raised her sword high.
A golden radiance swirled from her sword.
A sacred aura settled over it, dyeing the surroundings in brilliant light.
Kudan glared with widened eyes at the sight.
Resplendent light!
The aura enveloping the sword spread far and wide.
The wounded Nodin were healed by the wave of that light.
“G-goodness! My body…?!”
“It’s being healed!”
And the spread wave of light gathered again. Swirling like a storm, it seeped into the blade.
“What—!”
As far as Kudan knew, Kankun did not possess this kind of power.
Even if she had trained harboring hatred, she couldn’t have grown this much in just half a year.
*Then…!*
Did the demon who beguiled her grant her that power?!
But what was this noble and beautiful light?!
She was protected by sacred armor and healed by a wondrous light.
If an evil being had granted her power, such phenomena could never have occurred.
*Yes, he is….*
Roki was not a demon. He was the ‘Constellation’ called a demon.
And the shrine maiden he chose, Kankun Ragna.
“Now.”
Kudan’s eyes bulged.
Their eyes met.
“Let’s finish this. Uncle.”
Smiling softly, she brought the sword down.
The sword left a trail, and the spot where it slashed explosively spewed forth light.
The slash of light surged as if to devour everything around it and flew toward Kudan.
Kudan raised his warhammer and swelled his muscles.
Amplifying his strength thousands of times, he swung with all his might to oppose the incoming slash.
*KABOOM—!!!!*
The warhammer vibrated against the surging slash of light.
The cluster of light swirled and began to pulverize the warhammer piece by piece, down to the particle level.
The veins on Kudan’s arms burst, and gushing blood poured out.
Beyond the warhammer, even his hand disappeared.
He couldn’t block it.
This strike would consume him!
Kudan was certain of it.
*I see.*
Kudan recalled the things he had committed until now.
Even if it was to protect Kankun, he had killed his own older brother, Kankun’s father.
He had incited a rebellion and dragged not only the elders but also innocent tribespeople into it.
He had committed a ‘sin’ for which he must pay.
The Constellation of Sin governed sin.
And the fact that he had chosen Kankun was surely to pass judgment upon him.
His vision turned white.
In an instant, everything became quiet.
No sound reached him. It was silent.
All the painful agony disappeared.
Rather than pain, a comfortable feeling washed over him, and strength drained from his entire body.
His eyelids grew heavy, and his mind became dazed.
The light had consumed Kudan.
*Ha… haha… is this… death?*
Slowly, the cluster of light disappeared.
He fell to his knees.
His vision gradually blurred.
*Sleep is coming.*
It was surprisingly comfortable. At that, Kudan smiled bitterly.
*Am I going to die like this? Me?*
Kudan looked at the demon and reached out with his vanished hand.
That demon did not answer him. He merely watched his end until the very last.
Like a god watching a glorious warrior meet his final moments.
Then, a girl caught his gaze.
She ran to Kudan, embraced him, and was crying.
Though he couldn’t hear the sound, she must have been crying at the top of her lungs.
Kudan turned his eyes and looked at the demon.
He moved his mouth, opening and closing it as he spoke.
—Splendid. Kudan Ragna.
He possessed no ability to read minds or understand meaning from the shapes of people’s mouths alone.
But the demon’s words seemed to be etched directly into his mind.
And Kudan realized.
That he was not a demon who had bewitched Kankun, but a Constellation.
*Ha, haha….*
Kankun approached and supported him.
“Kankun… you’ve grown… so… much….”
His blood poured onto her face, and his body went limp.
His one and only beloved niece, a man who had thought of such a niece as his daughter.
By Kankun’s blow… the brave warrior named Kudan Ragna fell.
***
“It’s over.”
Roki stood up from his spot. And looking at Kudan who had fallen right before him, his eyes curved.
It was a satisfied smile.
“Quite a good character.”
Roki took out a potion from his bosom.
“There is something I want to hear from you. Besides, you’re a talent too precious to throw away like this.”
Roki poured the potion directly onto Kudan’s body.
The potion seeped into Kudan’s body, and his wounds began to close.
Beside them, Kankun was fidgeting and flustered, but Roki deliberately ignored her and looked at Aum Rinia, who sat blankly in a daze.
“Are you broken?”
“…I’m still alive, you swindler!”
Though his words were barbed, his voice was filled with fear.
“Good. Your spirit is alive. You can move, right? Follow me.”
“F-follow you?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not going to kill me?”
“My goal is Kudan. I have something to ask him. Also, you said something not long ago.”
“……?”
“You asked if I had no intention of interaction.”
“……!”
“It’s because I’ve been deeply immersed in city-building games lately.”
Roki referred to the act of bringing prosperity to Balhal as simply a game.
“To grow a city, much interaction is needed. For that, exchange with other tribes is necessary as well. I would like you to come to me.”
“…What if… I run away?”
“If there’s a curse planted in you, you wouldn’t even be able to think of that.”
“…….”
“If you feel responsibility for this matter, follow me. If so, I’ll treat all those guys on the verge of death right now.”
As Roki turned his back, undead began examining the dying Nodin and treating them with potions.
Kankun also followed behind Roki.
In the silent stillness, Aum too stood up.
He was the loser.
He had to take responsibility for this matter.
He staggered and followed Roki.
***
How many days had passed?
Kudan blankly stared at the unfamiliar ceiling for a while.
“Where… is this…?”
“They say it’s an empty hut in Balhal.”
Kudan flinched in surprise and looked around.
The owner of a familiar voice.
The one who had collapsed after his chariot overturned.
“Pereu!!”
Aum’s younger brother, Pereu, shrugged his shoulders.
“And the niece you were so desperately looking for is over there….”
Kudan looked in the direction Pereu pointed.
In the corner of the room, Kankun could be seen asleep under a blanket.
“…She’s alive. Kankun.”
“She’s also the one who killed you.”
“Killed… me? Come to think of it, how are you alive? Me as well… did you not die when your chariot overturned?”
“I thought so too… but I was alive with my neck broken.”
Kudan looked at Pereu as if he were looking at a monster.
“…Alive with a broken neck? Are you human?”
“In my case it was my body, but you had both arms and your chest torn open and your heart burst. To hear that from a guy who was up and moving around alive even after that….”
Pereu shook his head.
Anyway, the vitality of the two men was more tenacious than that of cockroaches.
“I don’t know the details either, but I heard it’s thanks to a potion close to a ‘miracle’ that can save you as long as you aren’t dead. They say it’s practically the blood of a god… I don’t know the exact details.”
“…Are you saying the demon saved us?”
At those words, Kudan thought of the demon.
Why had that demon saved him? Was he so relaxed that he would save an opponent he had so hated and tried to kill? Or….
Kudan turned his gaze to Kankun.
Perhaps because Pereu and Kudan’s conversation was noisy, Kankun stirred and slowly opened her eyes.
And when her eyes met Kudan’s, she opened them wide in surprise.
“Kank…un!”
“Huh?!”
At Kudan’s words, Kankun hurriedly grabbed the sword beside her and pointed it at him.
A vigilant gaze, yet she wore a somewhat bewildered expression.
“Hey, little miss. The fight is already settled, isn’t it? What am I supposed to do when the girl who was nursing me just moments ago is now standing here with a sword ready to kill?”
At Pereu’s words, Kankun pressed her lips tight and lowered her sword.
Avoiding Kudan’s gaze, she spoke carefully.
“…You’ve finally woken up. It’s been three days.”
“Three days?”
“You seem to have been sleeping for about that long. In my case, about two days?”
Pereu shrugged his shoulders.
“And when I woke up, that young girl was always beside you.”
“…Is that true?”
“…Please have your breakfast on your own. You must be hungry since you slept for three whole days.”
Kankun said so and opened the door.
“…And Lord Roki is calling for you. Go see him later. And… I’m sorry for misunderstanding you. Uncle.”
Leaving those words behind, Kankun closed the door and left.
“It seems she has forgiven you.”
“What?”
Pereu smiled and pointed at Kudan.
“Kankun has forgiven you.”
“That can’t be….”
“If she hadn’t forgiven you, she wouldn’t have said sorry or called you uncle.”
“Even so… my sins do not disappear.”
“But you can atone for them.”
“……”
“And let’s get going soon.”
“Where to…?”
“To where my older brother is. And to that demon—no, the Constellation—who saved us.”