The Day the Star Fall 3
Christo, who was checking the battle situation at the entrance of the forest through his familiar, [Wood Woman], was calmly observing Eltharion, who was coughing up blood after receiving the pseudo-holy sword's ability.
He is, after all, a fellow member of the demon race.
Seeing his fellow compatriot struggling in pain, he thought that there must be some kind of change within him, but he did not feel anything different.
The villagers of the pioneer village were willing to risk their lives to protect their compatriots, but Christo was unable to do so.
He just had a cold, ruthless heart.
He thinks this is his current limit.
(Regardless of that, white particles appeared for a moment from the pseudo-holy sword and drew a mysterious pattern. In response to that, the [Blue Ash] scattered on the battlefield clung to Eltharion, causing him to bleed. Very interesting phenomenon)
Melvina told him that there are monsters in the world that coexist with carnivorous microorganisms. Those [Blue Ashes] seemed to be exactly like carnivorous microorganisms.
They attack their prey in groups, devouring flesh regardless of whether it is inside or outside their bodies.
No matter how strong they are, there is no way to resist when they are attacked by infinitesimally tiny creatures. Even if they waved their arms, their attacks would not hit the enemy.
Eltharion, skewered by Siegfried and the others' arrows from the [God Bow], was destroying the forest by flailing his arms frantically to escape the blue particles clinging to his body, scratching his back and head, and rolling around.
The moment his slender body hits the trunk of an oak tree, the trunk snaps off.
It's a powerful attack that deviates from its apparent mass.
A mere human being, even with his enhanced physical capabilities, would be ground meat if caught in that thing.
In fact, both Siegfried and Tiger were unable to get close due to Eltharion's monstrous strength and toxic blood.
"――Oraaaa! [God Bow]!"
Tiger's arrow flew in and finally blew off the upper half of Eltharion's head.
Siegfried exclaimed, [Did you do it!?].
But,
"Y, ou...!"
Eltharion's mouth moves as his brain regenerates at super speed.
It seems that he has more than one brain in his body.
Since Christo has five brains in his body (four of them were only used for paperwork, so it was a waste of treasure), it wouldn't be strange for Eltharion to have the same amount. So even if his head is blown off, he can still speak and his regeneration speed won't decrease.
"Three seconds later, I'll push him back to the center of the forest square with the [Rock Spear]."
Using rune magic, he sends a message to the bracelets worn by Siegfried and the others.
"Cut him down with the pseudo-holy sword as planned."
He has already told them the tactics.
He knew in advance that the effect of the [Holy Sword that Slays Fairies] was to cause the body fluids of the hostile elves to be released from their bodies.
It was also within the realm of possibility that he would be spewing his highly toxic blood all around him as he writhed about.
Christo activates the general-purpose magic [Rock Spear] at Eltharion's back, who is lying near an oak tree. He was going to go all out, no holds barred, because of the [Blue Ashes].
A huge three-meter pillar of rock rose up from around Eltharion's back and shot his thin body into the center of the forest square.
"Gaaahh!"
"Alright! Let's go! Tigeeeerr, chaaaaargeee! Holy sword thruuuust!"
The tiger-beastman rushes forward with the [Holy Sword that Slays Fairies] at the ready.
Eltharion tried to escape by rolling away, but was repelled by the [Rock Spear] that was activated again with perfect timing, exposing his body before Tiger's eyes.
Eltharion's eyes, which had mutated from their usual green to golden, turned to Tiger, covered in blood, with tremendous killing intent.
Don't underestimate me, human――
He felt his mouth move like that.
(The Authority is coming. This time, he will launch with all his might, so the [Blue Ashes] will not be enough to block it.)
Christo sounded a warning tone from the bracelets of each member in the battle.
Siegfried and the holy sword maiden braced themselves.
Tiger slowed his rushing body sharply and brought the edge of his pseudo-holy sword as close to his own body as he could.
"Laira, it's coming."
"Roger that"
Thud*―― a mysterious vibration propagates, as if the ground is pulsating.
Eltharion's golden eyes emitted a strong light.
"[World, sleep]"
"――――!" "……!?" "……" "Gah――――"
The bodies of the two holy sword maidens stood still.
Siegfried, who landed with his wings retracted just before it was activated, fell face down to the ground.
And Tiger's huge body falls on its back.
The proximity team's sensory time stops.
However, the area of effect did not extend to where Laira and the [Wood Woman] were, perhaps because of the [Blue Ashes].
"[Northern Flame Wall]"
Laira's black eyes open wide.
The invisible barrier was deployed around Tiger and the others with perfect timing, and Eltharion reached out his hand without noticing it.
"Wha――――"
His arm is shifted from the direction of Tiger's heart to the ground in an unexpected direction.
In addition to massive bleeding, it was probably due to the destruction of major organs many times.
Eltharion's torso shook greatly, as if he had no strength left to stand up again.
Flames erupted vigorously from his arm wrapped in a white robe, and the eyes of the handsome young man with blond hair distorted due to severe pain.
"Tiger-san, now."
He supports Tiger's back, which is lying on its back, with the [Rock Spear].
The light returned to the tiger-beastman's eyes, as if the power that control his speed had loosened.
He suddenly appeared in front of him and caught sight of Eltharion, who burst into flames and collapsed.
Then, without thinking about anything else, he simply took in the situation.
He simply saw what he needed to do: slay the elf in front of him.
"Tiger Slash"
The oddly shaped holy sword, with its blade rippling, swung sideways.
It is a sharp blow aimed at Elsarion's neck.
However, Eltharion also sacrificed his left arm in the nick of time to protect his neck.
"――――"
The Holy Sword that Slays Fairies cuts Eltharion's wrist.
The holy sword only slashed through the surface of his skin and was repelled by hard bone.
But Tiger doesn't give up.
The sword bounced, but he deliberately removed his right hand from the hilt, spun around on the spot, and grabbed it with his left hand.
Spinning further.
With momentum, he thrust the holy sword deeply into the inside of Eltharion's right shoulder.
"Guh...!"
Blood spurts out.
Tiger leaps backward while deploying the [God Shield].
The tiger-beastman leaped back in a continuous zigzag, then returned to Siegfried and the others to form up again.
"Guh... damn you, savage humans..."
Eltharion, who has finally calmed his bleeding, pulls out the pseudo-holy sword stuck in his shoulder and strikes it down on the ground. As soon as the sword fell to the ground, it disintegrated like a phantom and returned to the belly of the holy sword maiden as pale particles.
"If you want to die so badly, then I'll kill you for real. Next time, don't think you can escape with that mysterious protection around your body."
""[Pseudo-holy sword].""
Siegfried and Tiger take the holy sword out from the bellies of the maidens.
The intention is to chip away at Eltharion's strength with the long-range technique Christo mentioned earlier.
However, after just a few seconds of fighting, Eltharion had come up with a way to deal with the ability of the pseudo-holy sword, which could be said to be his first death.
"Forest, ground...!"
Eltharion's hair stood on end.
A number of purple electricity scattered in the space around him, his delicate body became hazy, and the figure of a gigantic demon god swayed behind him.
Blue particles rushed up from the ground again like flies finding their prey, but before the particles could cling to him, Eltharion spread his arms and blast them away.
The black soil of the forest exploded around the elf, and green ivy plants flourished to block the blue particles. The [Blue Ashes] were obliterated. Siegfried and the others look up with distorted eyes at Eltharion, who is causing turbulence......
"[World, sleep]"
The voice that whispered this was wild and huge enough to shake the pit of one's stomach.
In the black whirlwind that engulfed the black ground, only Eltharion's golden eyes sparkled.
His elegant mouth parted to his ear, and a number of sharp teeth, horrifying to behold, extended.
His blood-soaked robe is torn, his brown skin bulging into the sky.
Four legs.
Hard, muscular horse legs.
The right arm is a sword from the wrist to the tip.
The left arm is a bow-shaped like a shining sun.
The two horns extend above the branches and leaves of an oak tree.
His upper body was clearly visible from the forest entrance where Christo was waiting.
Frightened screams rose like ripples from the surrounding Netzel soldiers.
"Demon God"
Laira muttered beside the [Wood Woman].
She continued in a strong tone toward the [Wood Woman].
"Christopher, move the vanguard out! Right now!"
Faster than she could point out, Christo violently threw the bodies of the four people whose sensory time had been stopped with his [Rock Spear].
He forced them out of the forest square and rolled them onto the forest path, which was well covered with [Blue Ashes].
Siegfried and the others regained consciousness.
"Please run away."
"Ah? Oh!"
"...We have reached our objective."
Siegfried looks up at a brown demon wielding a giant sword beyond the trees.
"We're retreating!"
The ground explodes.
A sword with a blade more than ten meters long destroyed the path through the forest.
Siegfried and the others had already started sprinting, but a tremendous shockwave hit them in the back. Christo deployed his [Rock Spear] and [Northern Flame Wall] at maximum power to protect Siegfried and the others.
As soon as he saw that the attack failed, Eltharion, who had turned into a demon god, now held up his left, which mutated into a bow.
(Bone Spear will come)
However, the scale of the spear is different from the one Eltharion unleashed when he was in human form.
A brown spear on Eltharion's giant arm―― too big to be called a spear is generated in Eltharion's huge arm, and is loaded into the bow on its own. Furthermore, the bowstring was pulled out by itself.
That is no longer a weapon for killing humans.
It is obviously used when killing a demon god of the same rank.
(This can't be prevented.)
It is not enough to deflect the direction of the physical impact with the [Northern Flame Wall].
The [Rock Spear] is also deployed, but its output is limited on the forest path where the [Blue Ash] is sprinkled, so it cannot dampen the momentum of the enemy's attack.
Siegfried and the others are deploying [God Shield] in addition to strengthening their physical abilities, but they will probably be cut into pieces of meat on top of their defense.
(Siegfried and the others are dead. Well, I was planning to kill the two holy sword maidens at a later date. It might hurt my position, but... I'll consider it a good thing that I didn't have to kill them).
However, he would not neglect his efforts to keep Siegfried and the others alive until the end.
In spite of the eyes of the knights around him, Christo had promised to protect Siegfried and the others at all costs during this operation. The devil may tell lies, but it always keeps its promises.
"Die...!"
The vindictive voice echoed loudly.
Even though Christo gave up in his mind, he used the maximum power to create a number of [Rock Spears] and built a wall behind Siegfried and the others.
However, the fate of Siegfried and the others was easily reversed.
The moment the demon god shot out the spear of bone, a large spear of shining green light flew out of nowhere and accurately pierced the giant arm that had mutated into a large bow.
"Guh……!?"
The spear goes off.
Eltharion's feet explode and his mighty quadrupedal lower body shakes.
(Gungnir? From where? Laira?)
However, Laira was on the run to the entrance of the forest with the [Wood Woman].
He can't figure out who released the [Gungnir], which can be said to be the secret of rune magic.
Out of Christo's detection range.
Probably outside Eltharion's detection range.
Someone provided cover fire.
(In terms of direction, the magic was fired from behind Eltharion. In other words, to the north. In the direction of the swamp.)
The strategy was told to everyone in the square in front of the castle building.
Everyone knew that the forest was a dead zone.
The plan was to wait in the shallow layer of the forest as per the strategy.
He doesn't think anyone would be stupid enough to go deeper into the forest just because they were worried about Siegfried and the others.
(Did the god of the swamp help us?)
"Damn it, don't run away...!"
Eltharion, protecting his left arm that had been pierced by the spear, shouted in a shrill voice.
The air shook with the tremendous sound pressure.
"Don't run away, you coward! Come back here! I'll tear you to pieces――"
The angry voice breaks off.
The demon god pressed his right shoulder and spewed out bodily fluids like the mud of the swamp from his mouth.
There was also a laceration on the wrist that held his right shoulder, and poisonous fluid was leaking from it.
The giant body of the demon god vanished in a haze.
All the birds in the forest took to the sky at once, leaving nothing but blue sky and silent forests in their wake.
Eltharion's intimidating presence disappears.
He is not dead, but he seems to have retreated.
They couldn't kill him.
However, his left wrist and right shoulder were gouged out with a holy sword.
In addition, when he pulled the holy sword from his right shoulder, it cut his left palm.
If a wound by the holy sword is inflicted, even a king-class individual will weaken and die without recovering.
However, he doesn't know what will happen to the demon god class, which is higher in rank than the king class.
Will Eltharion, who has lost a large amount of blood, be able to completely heal without losing to the effects of the holy sword?
In any case, the enemy's strength has been whittled away.
All that remains is to hunt the monsters in the swamp, whose numbers have dwindled.
From the adventurers' point of view, it's time to earn money.
(We'll wait and see for two or three days. If Eltharion completely recovers during that time, this operation will be a disaster...)
Christo recalls the [Blue Ashes] that attacked Eltharion like ants swarming around a sugar candy.
The devil's intuition tells him―― that it is a bad one.
Perhaps Eltharion will not survive.
The wound from the holy sword denies it and erodes his organs from the inside.
(I felt the same way with the old man, but the pseudo-holy sword is still a threat. It was a good thing I had eliminated the original [Holy Sword that Slays Devils]. At least the number of devil-slaying pseudo-holy swords will not increase any more. They will decrease with each death of the holy sword maiden.)
Considering the lifespan of a human being, the devil-slaying holy sword maidens will have died out in a few decades.
In other words, after that, he can do as he pleases, like Duke Leopoldo Salvatori in the [Night Empire].
"――Yes, I'm back. Yahho, Handsome-kun. Good work."
When Christo climbed down from the commander's simple post, a slightly sweaty Laira was just coming out of the forest.
Siegfried and the others followed behind, pumping their fists in the air in triumph.
The people waiting at the entrance to the forest cheered and applauded loudly.
"We did it! We beat that monster!"
"We won! We won!"
"You guys, the real work begins now! We're gonna hunt down every last one of them!"
"Yeah!"
"Christopher-dono!"
Siegfried came up to him, breathing heavily with his shoulders moving up and down.
Tiger also came in a good mood.
Behind them, the holy sword maidens followed.
"Thank you all for your hard work. You have successfully struck a blow with the holy sword."
"Two blows! I wish I could have shown you my brilliant swordsmanship!"
"Thank you for your hard work, Christopher-sama. It's thanks to you that Sieg and Tiger were safe."
Siegfried's holy sword maiden grabbed Christo's hand with an exalted face.
A feeling of physiological disgust ran through him, and he unintentionally wanted to blow her stomach away―― but he didn't show that, with a refreshing young man's face, he said, [No, no, I have to be able to at least protect you, the main characters. Anyway, I'm glad you're safe].
"Thank you. When he turned into a huge monster, I thought it was all over. You did the last great spear, didn't you?"
Tiger's holy sword maiden also holds his hand and smiles.
"No. The last rune magic wasn't me. It was fired from the direction of the swamp, so it must have been cast by someone other than the combatants here."
"Eh"
"Hoh……?"
"Oh? What is it, then? Are you saying there was someone in the forest who helped us?"
"You mean..."
Christo shook his head.
"The direction in which the spear was fired makes it natural to assume that Eltharion was shot in the back by one of his own allies."
"A friendly fire. The dragons used to do that sometimes, too."
Siegfried said sternly while stroking his chin.
"Do the dragons fight each other?"
"They do. All of them have a lot of pride. Basically, I feel like they obey the strong, but if the strong becomes weak for some reason, they will fight among themselves."
"Does that mean that they're going to kill each other?"
"Yeah"
"Do you want to celebrate?"
Siegfried asked.
After thinking for a moment, Christo opened his mouth.
"From now on, it's good to hunt down the remnants without letting the enemy rest. Look, the adventurers are happily entering the forest. Me and the soldiers borrowed from Netzel-sama will continue the suppression operation. However, the Great Hawk has dealt a fatal blow to the Mighty Star, and you may have a drink after reporting to Netzel-sama at the castle."
"Yes, Christopher-dono, can't we at least have a drink!?"
Netzel's soldiers who were listening behind let out a voice of despair.
"Idiot, you haven't worked yet."
"No, we worked! We scattered a lot of [Blue Ash] and set fire to the forest! I want to drink!"
"Then those who want to drink can go to the castle with Commander Siegfried and the others. I will continue to command the entire army in the forest."
"Eh, is it alright?"
Christo nodded at the soldier who had a dumbfounded look on his face.
"If you want to drink alcohol and force you to take you with me, you won't be able to work. Drink quickly, sleep quickly, and make up for not working tomorrow morning. ――I will give a special reward to those who participate in the mission with me. The nature of the reward is a secret. If I tell you, you might force yourself to participate."
"And a special reward. What is it...?"
"I mean, if I go back to drink, Frontier Count-sama will get angry..."
"What should I do?"
"There's no need to worry about it. Given the possibility of violating military discipline, I'm not stupid to return to the castle."
"Ah, I see."
"I'm going with you Handsome-kun."
Laira said indifferently.
"I'm not at all satisfied yet. Eltharion was slashed multiple times with the holy sword, so he probably won't be able to come out again. The forest is a bargain-sale shopping mall for adventurers now that he is gone."
I also want to collect rare medicinal herbs and lichens that can be used in alchemy—— she concludes.
"Patricia. I'm sorry, but you are forced to participate."
Christo said to the beautiful red-haired girl who was waiting next to him.
Patricia nodded, [Of course].
"I'm sorry. I'm no good without you."
"Eh, what? You have this thing called Melvina, and you're even making moves on this child?"
"Don't be silly, Laira."
"Since I couldn't do anything in the [Mighty Star] subjugation operation, I will work hard for that. I'm at your service, Christo."
"Yeah. I'm counting on you."
Christo looks Patricia in the eye and says. Then he looked around and raised his voice.
"Then, those who want to make money in the forest will go with me, and those who want to share the fruits of the war will go to the castle with Siegfried-san. ――I will leave the reporting to you, Siegfried-san."
"Leave it to me. Please take care of yourself as well. The king-class individual will not be able to move properly after receiving the holy sword, but it may still be lurking in the vicinity. Please be careful not to be taken by surprise."
"Yes, thank you for your advice."
"To make things simple, let’s raise a toast here as well. Christopher-dono, although there were many things, you are a holy tree warrior worthy of respect. Thank you for the good fight."
"You conducted the operation beautifully. The operation to flush out the enemy went very smoothly! You set the stage for us to fight. Without you, we would not have succeeded."
"You were also very good."
A member of the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation] brought three horn cups.
The cups were made of hollowed-out dragon horns.
It is quite a luxury item.
"To the Warrior of the Holy Tree, Christopher Soderholm-dono."
"Gahahahaha! To the [Hero of the North] and our group!"
"To Siegfried-san and Tiger-san, the two maidens, for their bravery."
The three intertwined their arms and stirred their horned cups.
One of the young soldiers watching around them said, [Oh, that's cool. I want to try it too].
(Another page has been added to my [Hero of the North] legend.)
Christo returned the cup to the soldier of the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation].
Patricia takes out a handkerchief and wipes his mouth.
"Let's go. We will hunt the remnants in the depths of the forest. Of course, there is a possibility that the magic user from earlier and the [Mighty Star] is lurking around. Everyone, let's proceed carefully."
× × ×
"...Guh... haa... haa..."
Wandering through the forest.
His vision is shaky.
His legs are numb and he can't move.
A severe pain ran through his left hand, as if it was being eaten away from the inside.
The right hand―― from the right shoulder onwards, does not move.
"Ugh"
A tree root caught his leg, and the blond elf―― Eltharion collapsed on the spot.
It was a blunder that he had never experienced in his life, such as a demon god tripping over a tree root.
He reflexively tried to put his hand on his face and fell to the ground without moving his arm.
"Oeee, cough*, cough*, cough*, ugh."
Blood is dripping from his mouth.
However, instead of the familiar red blood that dripped onto the dead leaves, it was a strange mixture of black, nauseating blue particles that looked like dead tissue.
"The wound… it won’t close...... pseudo-holy sword. He called it a pseudo-holy sword. That's the pseudo holy sword...... buha, oee."
He, who was supposed to be at the top of the food chain, was crawling around on the ground spewing vomit. That fact had shredded Eltharion's mind.
(Recovery in the swamp. [Wood Woman]... Maybe if they get rid of the particles in my body.)
Since Christopher has destroyed most of the [Wood Woman], there are no more [Wood Woman] in the northern woods. If he goes back to the swamp, some new ones are created, and if these women can remove them, his physical ailments should be cured.
"Ugh... fuu, haa... aah."
Eltharion rested his back against the base of the oak tree and tore off his bloodstained robe to see the wound on his shoulder.
A large amount of tiny blue and white particles are buried in the wound.
Eltharion tried to gouge it out with his left hand, but his left hand was dead still.
He invoked magic and gouged the wound with a tree root.
A gush of black blood and a rotten smell hit his nose.
It gouged to the bone and bled.
But the blue particles seemed to be eating away at Eltharion's body down to the marrow of his bones.
It had probably already reached his heart and brain.
Even the high elves would have been in critical condition on the verge of death.
(Maybe the reason I'm still alive is because my body belongs to a demon god class that is overwhelmingly superior to high elves. I need to get rid of this disgusting blue garbage quickly.)
"――――Who is it?"
With greasy sweat all over his face, Eltharion turned his exhausted eyes to the darkness of the forest.
It was almost midnight.
The area was pitch black.
But Eltharion can see through the darkness of the forest perfectly.
"A giant spider huh?"
The giant spider is not an insect. But to Eltharion, it was a lower life form, no different from an insect.
But now.
"We, you kill" "Eltharion, kill, ally."
Countless red eyes glowed in the darkness.
White spider threads flew out and attached themselves to Eltharion's legs.
"Go away. Do you want me to kill you?"
Eltharion shook off the threads.
His left arm was unusually heavy.
"Kill, you are."
Three spiders emerge from the darkness.
They are monstrous spiders as tall as Eltharion.
(Authority... Damn it, no good. What am I supposed to do? If I take those shears, can I regenerate?)
Looking at the wound on his shoulder.
It may not work.
There's a good chance he won't be able to revive if he was shredded, dissolved into mush by the venom, and sucked into their stomach.
"Don't come any closer. If you come any closer, I'll kill you."
Eltharion muttered this as if he was floating in a fever and closed his eyes.
"Eltharion!"
"Eh……"
"Eltharion! It's Ulrika! Where are you!?"
"Ulrika?"
“―――― Eltharion! ......! You stupid spider! Get away from him!"
A freckled woman suddenly appears, grabs a stone, and throws it at the spider.
The fist-sized stone bounced off the spider's shell.
"Go away! Get away from there!"
(Ulrika, this is deep in the woods. How did you get here? No, she was lost in the swamp before... Hallucination, not an auditory hallucination.)
"Ulrika, stop it."
Eltharion turns his bloodshot eyes.
"Forget about me. Run away!"
"No! Damn it! Stupid spider! Come after me! I'm the one you're after!"
Eltharion vomited black blood as he tried to shout, [You idiot!].
It is useless.
She would be killed.
She will be stabbed with needles, poured digestive juices, and slurped up by spiders with its soggy, melted contents...
But before Ulrika's screams could echo, the shadow of a large werewolf descended from overhead.
The growling of the wolves is heard after a delay.
The werewolf was a friend of Eltharion.
"Wolo..."
"Spider, meat, delicious."
As usual, the werewolf uttered greedy lines and crushed the giant spider with its fists.
The area soon became quiet――, and Ulrika cried and hugged him, and it soon became noisy.
"Eltharion! Eltharion!"
"Ulrika..."
"Is it bad? Does it hurt?"
"Wolo. I'm sorry. Thank you."
"It's a terrible wound. First, wash it with water and disinfect it."
Ulrika takes out a water bottle filled with fresh water from the basket and drops it on the wound on his shoulder.
Blue particles swirled around, and Eltharion rolled his eyes and vomited blood.
"Eltharion! ……Your blood, it's black……"
"Ulrika, listen to me."
"Uh, yeah. What is it? What should I do?"
"Take me to the swamp"
He looks up at Wolo.
"[Wood Woman]. Get rid of the particles."
"I-I understand. Wolo! Spider meat is for later!"
"What?"
"Bring Eltharion to the swamp! Get help from the [Wood Woman]!"
"Yeah, I understand."
"Sorry, you two. The wolves, too......"
Eltharion's slender body is picked up by the werewolf.
On either side of him, the wolves and Ulrika, who was worried, stood firm.
In the dark forest, Eltharion closed his eyes and tried to maintain his strength with what little hope he had.
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