Chapter 17 – Toward the Ruins

===================

Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

Once upon a time, the sun had brightly shined upon the whole world.

This remained the same even after it had become the Black Sun.

Any place where people could live was under the influence of the Black Sun.

The sun still looked down on every corner of the world, and was drowning the survivors by sinking them into the Dark Light. It was also the reason why only hundreds survived in a city where thousands and tens of thousands used to live.

Drinking water, food, and then lighting and safety.

The aforementioned problems were not resolved quickly and easily. It was a truly tough world for a person to live in. In such a situation, attempting contact with the Lion Shield Legion was a natural course of action.

“It was said there are firecrackers up near the mill’s attic to send a signal.”

Madam Hwen, who had continuously planned an escape from the city in preparation for unforeseen circumstances, clearly remembered the passing rumors.

Madam Hwen ignited her passion, wading through the piles of dust in the attic one by one herself.

Fortunately, as if there had been no visitors other than us, the firecrackers were placed in an easy-to-see spot.

In a form manufactured to let you shoot up sparks if you pull the fuse.

“These firecrackers… It really is the Lion Shield Legion. It is an item they used to convey that it is an urgent situation to nearby allies when ambushed or surrounded and unable to even send a messenger.”

It seemed she recalled the memories of fighting alongside them as a dismounted knight.

However, we had already experienced attacks several times over. As for me, I could not hang all my expectations on these firecrackers.

“It has been a long while since the people of the mill escaped. Since then, the attacks grew fiercer day by day, so no one could advance to the outskirts. If the Lion Shield Legion had sent a reconnaissance party, they would have retreated after seeing the city’s condition.”

“Your words are correct. But if they went as far as leaving their home base and coming all the way here, they must be equipped with a system to some extent.”

“Tell me what you are anticipating.”

“I think there is a possibility they are currently observing out of interest after seeing the starlight You create.”

Certainly befitting a person who had served in the military, she laid out a plausible opinion.

As Hwen said, staying here and resuming contact was also a reasonable method.

However, what worried me was just how meticulous the Black Sun and its allies were.

This ruined city was one of the areas the Holy Mother of Stillborns was focusing on.

The proof was that while the other demons were silently staying still, only the Holy Mother of Stillborns persistently tried to kill me. The Holy Mother of Stillborns must have been feeling that her share of souls was stolen by me.

There was no way she, who would be grinding her teeth, would leave the Lion Shield Legion that traded with her alone in order to kill me.

The Black Sun, who tried to kill all living survivors, went without saying.

In this situation, blindly waiting posed too great of a risk.

“We cannot wait for long.”

However, I decided to respect Hwen’s opinion.

Since wandering around looking for a home base located who knows where was worse than betting on even a very faint possibility.

Of course, I had no intention of relying on just one single measure either.

“However, it might be a situation where they cannot approach first. Hwen, gather those who are knowledgeable about geography or the surroundings separately. We must prepare for when the Lion Shield Legion’s response is absent or late.”

“I shall comply as You will, O Star Creation.”

Without any complaints, Hwen placed her hand on her chest and bowed her head.

At that moment, I tasted an astringent and salty taste that made my tongue tingle.

Earnestness mixed with concern.

I was not the only one wishing for the Lion Shield Legion to be the exact same as they were before.

“Kyahahaha!”

“Keo-heo-eo-eok… Heo-keok, kek, keok. Ahem. Smack… Keo-heo-eok!”

Children playing around stepping on the water drop cushions in the yard and a man snoring while leaning against a water drop.

It was a rare break taken by people steeped in fatigue from always living on guard.

Unfortunately, not everyone could rest peacefully like that.

Pop-pop-pop-pop!!

The moment the sparks exploded in the sky.

“Kek!? Wh, what? Did the sun rise already!?”

The man who had been snoring until just a moment ago stood up from his spot in shock.

Only the nuisance children threw both their arms wide open and cheered looking at the fireworks drawn in the sky.

“They say it is not the Black Sun but pretty Mr. Flower~.”

“Are you surprised? You were surprised! Hehe!”

“…Geez, seriously.”

Just when the man, unable to bear it, shuddered, blocked his ears with both hands, and lay back down.

“Ahem. This will do. Ah, no. This will do.”

Hwen came down from the roof and showed the fuse and firecracker that had served their purpose.

At that sight, someone let out a sigh of relief, while someone spat out a question mixed with concern.

“If it really is the Lion Shield Legion, that is.”

“Being so naive, really. Let us say those folks are normal, and let us say there are soldiers. But looking at those flames, wouldn’t the monsters swarm in before the soldiers?”

32 people.

It was the number gathered under the pretext of being a merchant, or immigrating from another city, or originally possessing a status with frequent interactions. Intermixed among them were also Bartol and Ad’s family members.

Naturally, as one would expect, they were not certain if the Lion Shield Legion was truly a proper army. They might not have been in the past, but wouldn’t they have turned into looters by now.

Because they had to judge only based on circumstances without clear clues, even Hwen could not easily stop their argument.

Even though she was a leader who was by no means easy.

Eventually, the raised voices died down only after I, who was floating adrift in the sky, went to their side.

“Whether they are looters or not, it is clear that they are gathering people and supplies.”

“O, O Star Creation.”

I had been consistently using polite speech to approach them somewhat amicably, but it had all been in vain.

It seemed people remembered the overwhelming armed force I showed against enemies more than my small kindnesses.

Since it was a time requiring a firm tone right now, it was probably for the better.

In front of the quieted people, I began a simple presentation using golden dust.

“Ordinarily it would be right to reorganize in this city a few more times, but due to the last attack, the entire city was swept by water. No matter what it is, it will quickly rot due to being wet with moisture. Regrettably, my authority cannot prevent that.”

Even if I drew out the moisture completely, I could not revert items that had already spoiled.

The places that remained intact by being far from the river were mostly either robbed long ago or possessed shades cast too deeply. Since there was no cart either, I would have had to transport things one by one, yet handling all the ambushing Corpse Demons while at it was too much.

During the previous attack, we swept away nearly half of them… but the number that fled was also large enough to not be ignored.

There was more than one bastard crouching in the piles of debris scattered all over this city waiting for prey to come.

“It is a fact that my power is growing stronger. I know you believe in me as well. But as much as I am getting stronger, the attention of the enemies is also being drawn.”

Originally, the Holy Mother of Stillborns did not use irregular methods much.

Even if she did, it would be at the level of a special zombie; cases of her creating bizarre heteromorphic entities like the kneading fin Omotl were extremely rare.

Particularly considering she was the mother of Corpse Demons, leaving aside Kelper, a subspecies that moves underwater, and using a heteromorphic entity made no sense.

Omotl mentioned a lord… but that probably did not mean the Holy Mother of Stillborns.

“Godfather of Stars, are You saying another demon intervened in the last attack?”

Out of these people, it was fortunate that Bartol, who was deeply knowledgeable in lore, had survived.

Most of all, because he personally faced both the Corpse Demons and the river monsters alternately, he must have noticed.

The fact that they were a bit different from Corpse Demons.

“It was a demon of the heteromorphic lineage.”

“Heteromorph…?”

Hwen twisted her eyebrows, but Bartol kept his mouth firmly shut and made no further sound.

The people also could not pay any more attention to the unusual atmosphere.

Instead, they unmistakably felt a sense of crisis at the words that another demon had even intervened.

“Th, then we must meet the Lion Shield Legion.”

It was pitiful watching them tremble in fear, but it was all to keep everyone alive.

It was still better than being completely off guard.

“That is why I called you all.”

Phew…

I exhaled a breath containing star dust.

This time it was not to rouse their emotions or heal wounds.

It was a dust-bearing breath purely to obtain markings.

The golden dust slowly swirled following the breath and gently settled down onto the table laid in front. Just like sand softly piling up on a white sand beach.

I pointed at this dust to the bewildered people and said.

“Try marking the geography of the surroundings on top of this. The only thing that can illuminate the places my eyes cannot reach is your memories.”

For a while, no one moved.

Then, the one who moved was the little girl, Debra, who was holding her mother’s hand loosely.

In the midst of the eye-reading silence, Debra struggled up onto the table and began scribbling with her finger.

“Our family came from Santiom.”

“Santiom?”

“It is the hinterland city of the fortress city Ranium.”

The one who answered my question was the drunkard Ad.

What was drawn on the dust I breathed out was not simply just a rough map.

Every time people voluntarily drew their memories on the golden dust, I was also able to possess their memories.

How the ruined city was like in the past, too.

People haggling over appropriate discounts, the cozy and savory smell of bread, the sound of children’s laughter running along the babbling river…

The original name of this place, the ruined city, was Catabria.

A city that thrived through transit trade via water transport, using the large river crossing the city as its vein.

Because of this, countless refugees gathered to utilize the convenient transportation… and as a result, it drew too much attention from the Black Sun.

Conversely, thanks to this convenient transportation, the Lion Shield Legion’s approach would have been fast as well.

Fortunately amidst the misfortune, the majority of the cities were clustered around the large river.

Why was it fortunate.

Last Comet was a fantasy game set in a medieval background where one figured out locations by looking at constellations, let alone having a compass.

Now that the stars had all disappeared, it was a world where getting lost was a given, and even grasping how much time had passed was difficult.

To make matters worse, as a roguelike game valuing randomness, the geographical features changed with every playthrough. In this random god-tier game, as long as you followed the river, you at least did not have to worry about getting lost.

“Everyone hurry up and pack! Stop sleeping!”

“Geez. So, did He say there is a place to go?”

“He said we are going to meet the Lion Shield Legion.”

“Lion Shield? Is that, still around?”

“I don’t know. We’ll only know once we go.”

I saw people hurriedly packing their bags while coaxing the grumbling folks.

Whether to head upstream or downstream was already decided.

We decided to keep going straight downstream.

I was already floating in the sky, exploring the surroundings.

No human presence was felt.

Ultimately, the Lion Shield Legion never came looking.

The people who understood how great of a danger cruising down the river from here would bring were… still only me and Bartol for now.

Knowing that I could hear him, Bartol opened his mouth from down below.

“O Star Creation.”

I knew what he was trying to say.

“When You killed Omotl and took care of those souls, I realized where they had lived. I did not know where that place was, or what it was called, but now I can tell.”

By cruising down the river from Catabria, there was more than one city that appeared.

One of them was Santiom.

As the hinterland city of the fortress city Ranium, the city that produced food and timber played a large role in sustaining Ranium by supplying goods via water transport.

And the people who lived in Santiom became not Corpse Demons, but monsters called heteromorphs, and appeared all the way here.

“Below the river is the domain of Blood-Soaked Mud. On our way, the Holy Mother of Stillborns will undoubtedly attack. Even if it means revealing her true body.”

Also, demons did not like humans from their domain crossing over to other places.