Chapter 121 – Star Fall (4)

Someone once said that you can find light even within the deepest despair.

As Professor looked at the mutes literally ‘bulldozing’ through the area they had been in just a day ago from a hilltop far away from Pelas, he was in deep distress. That is, until he saw a crowd of people on horses galloping towards them.

Just a day and a half after they retreated after confirming the Chamber Maid’s existence, the priest that Professor was dearly waiting for had arrived.

“Hey, hey! Borka! That… That’s a priest, right? I’m not just seeing things, right?”

“From what I can smell upwind, they have a slight herbal scent unique to the church. I think they are a priest. The ones next to them… I’m not certain, but they look like they’re from Rodrick’s official army.

“Yessssssss!!”

After hearing Borka’s confirmation, Professor jumped up from his seat and punched his fists through the air.

“That’s damn right! Yeah! It doesn’t make sense that it would be this unbalanced! I thought we would need to wait at least several more days, but they’re already here!”

They confirmed the Chamber Maid’s location after traveling about 5 days from the village where they defeated the dark mage, then retreated all day, so they were currently about 4 days away from the village.

The mages that parted ways at the village traveled back about a day’s worth of distance, so even if the mages skipped the procedures and sent the priest right away, it should have taken them at least five days, but the priest’s group arrived in just a day and a half.

‘That would have been an impossible speed if they were dispatched after hearing from the mages, but it’s a different story if they were sent in advance! The battle on the western frontlines ended early! They have enough troops to send reinforcements!’

Honestly, I was only preparing for the worst because of what I’ve experienced in this game up to this point. A sudden surge of resources out of nowhere? That isn’t realistically possible. Above anything else, the Gedroits Game has a pervertedly strict cause-and-effect system, so ‘miracles’ like that are impossible.

‘I excluded this option because I thought it would be too ideal… but it would make sense that those troops are coming if the mutes retreated from the western frontlines. Yeah! They’re not just any knights, but the official army plus the High Knights from Rodrick, who’s called the [Kingdom of Knights]! Not to mention, Rodrick has the Castle Knights, the capital defense knights that are one of the crazy bastards called the Three Pains. Thinking about it, they aren’t just a bunch of lackeys that a small group of mute special units can beat!’

Once one thing started to make sense, he put together all of the other puzzle pieces. After playing all sorts of sneaky tricks, the Queen initiated a power game she thought she could win but lost miserably! Realizing that even with several named mutes, the traditional method wouldn’t work, she decided to begin the swarm tactic before it was too late! Which was why the Chamber Maid was there, and those weren’t newly created mutes, but the main force that retreated from the west holed up in Pelas in order to protect their last hope!

Ahhh. I can see it! Charlotte and the High Knights returning triumphantly! The mutes fleeing! The Queen eating dried-up roots and mud and creating low-rank mutes as her last struggle!

‘Ahh, right. This is how a game is supposed to be. Sometimes things don’t work out as planned, but sometimes they turn out even better than planned. The priests that are coming right now are here to announce our victory. The army that’ll clean up the rest of the mutes might already be on its way. I’m still a warrior who killed a demon, so maybe they’ll give me some troops to command? If I can just get some troops, then I can do what I did back in Turan and get a title, beat up some more mutes while I’m at it, then go look for dragons or elves to separate Hyde from me, or maybe the spells they use in the eastern deserts could do something, so I’ll go look into their ancient gods too, and go meet Rakshasha… Ahh, adventure. Not a brain-racking fight for survival, but a genuinely enjoyable game with heart-racing adventures is waiting for me…!’

“Heh… Heheheheh…”

“Captain. You’re drooling.”

“Hm? Ahh, mhm.”

Schlurp!

I tried to regain my composure as I wiped away the drool from my mouth, but it wasn’t easy. Of course, there is a great quote that says to always prepare for the worst and prepare to your best ability. But the worst that I imagined—an overwhelming number of named mutes and resources—is the worst of the worst cases that will leave them at rock bottom. Even if my luck is that s—*y, things can’t be that bad. I went through a lot outside. There’s supposed to be a rise after a fall. Don’t think negatively, and enjoy the fortune that’s about to come!

After fixing up his dumb expression and rubbing away the drool coming down to his chin and brushing off the dust on his clothes, Professor looked around to see if he had a nice weapon, but then realized that he fought bare handedly, so instead he hung the relic back on his neck so it was in plain view.

The ones that were coming right now had a priest from the Light’s Order. Our group’s reputation was already low because of our impression as a suicide squad, so he couldn’t look dumb in front of them. He needed to look as credible as possible in order to receive even a little more authority as a commander. He should look like a brave warrior who was opening up the way towards the enemy at the frontmost lines!

D-du-duk, d-du-duk, d-du-duk, d-du-duk!

And so, while Professor was trying to drag his head from happy land back down to reality, the priests that had been galloping their way here, looking almost desperate, arrived in front of Professor’s group.

Skiiiid—!

“Hah, hah! Priest Dimanus, hah, a servant… of the Light’s Order! Are you—”

“Latura Ro Haram. May the light always lead your way, brother. Yes. I am Warrior Professor, currently lighting the path towards the enemy’s heart with the relic ‘Light of Nelphia’ under Ro Haram’s command.”

It was hard to believe that this serious man was the one who had been drooling with a dumb smile on his face just a moment ago. The church’s greeting of raising one hand to the chest and the way he picked up the relic as he lowered it back all looked incredibly natural.

‘Dang, that was smooth! This is why a person should be optimistic! Everything works out when you’re happy!’

As he pretended to be a ‘faithful knight’ in front of the priest, Professor was impressed by his own acting skills, which were improving by the day. His seemingly trustworthy image must have worked on not only the priest but the soldiers behind him as well, because a soldier with slightly more decorated armor than the others walked forward with watery eyes.

“Ooh, Warrior, sir… Schnrf, wuahh!”

Thud!

Hm, it might have worked a little too well. Are they that touched?

Professor stretched his arms out to the kneeling soldier in front of him with a graceful smile and wrapped his arms around them.

“Hahah, raise your head, sir. I’m not a person important enough to kneel in front…”

“Sirrrrrrrr!! Please save Rodrick!!!!!”

“…Pardon?”

And froze on the spot.

That’s weird. I’m getting a really bad feeling about this. These aren’t tears of joy, no matter how you look at it. The way his eyes are bloodshot, it looks like he’s about to cry out blood.

As Professor’s mind that’s been frolicking in a field of flowers slowly started to come back down to reality, the information his Sensitive Observation was pointing out started to be acknowledged one by one.

‘No. No way! Hah, hahahahahah, there’s no way that could happen. Don’t they know just how many people are there? They should far outnumber the mutes!’

While Professor’s mind was struggling to deny the truth that was slowly starting to reveal itself, the soldier continued talking while starting to bang his head against the ground.

“The western frontline, the western frontlineeeeeee!!!”

‘No, don’t say it. Please!’

“They’ve fallen!!! The enemy is heading towards Kingsland, sirrrrr!!!!”

.

.

.

.

.

Thud.

Through the deep silence, only the sound of Professor collapsing on the ground rang out.

They lost. Those f—ing useless idiots dragged together all of the troops across Rodrick and managed to lose!

‘Hyde… Can we just live together forever? Just go somewhere quiet, don’t get hurt, and wait until the Dome comes up with some cure that fixes my body…’

“Hah…hahahahah…”

“W-Warrior, sir?”

“Warrior? Warrior???”

Snap!

Phling!

“Uh, uhhhhhh!”

“W-Warrior, sir! The relic!”

What are they calling a relic? The Light’s Order’s main church is in Kingsland, and why does a warrior matter when the entire organization’s about to be wiped out?!

The relic that Professor threw down bounced back up into the sky with a large shockwave.

“I quit. To hell with this warrior roleplay! What am I supposed to do when you useless idiots screw up things that bad? You f—ing Darwin Award nominee wannabe motherf—erssssss!!!!”

On top of a quiet hill near Pelas, the cries of an unfortunate gamer who’d lost all hope rang out into the world.

Someone once said that you can find light even within the deepest despair.

But someone else also said that when you think you’ve hit rock bottom, there’s always a basement.

His mind, which crashed down from the heavens, drilled through the ground of reality and started to fall into the dark depths of despair.

Clatter.

“…Found it.”

“Mmmmm… How dare you treat a precious relic imbued with Ro Haram’s blessing with such…? How disrespectful…”

Seeing the priest wipe the Light of Nelphia with a clean handkerchief and some holy water with a displeased expression, all Professor could do was hang his head.

After he let out a long chain of curses, he was told that they needed the relic in order to contact the church, in which case he and Borka ran all the way to the boulder far away over there and retrieved the relic, but it was too late to take back what he said. The eyes of the priest as they looked at Professor were already ice cold.

“…Light always leads you on a straight path, dear brother. Even if you are facing difficulties, how dare you say such disrespectful things in front of Ro Haram’s blessing…?”

“Light bends, too, in water—”

“Ahem!”

“Yep, sorry.”

Damn it. The gap between happy land and reality was pretty darn shockingly big because the stress that’s been building up since the events outside blew up and made me completely lose it. Look at that glare in his eye. Not even writing ‘Heretic’ on my forehead would make him look at me like that.

He could already see the priest going back to the church and ranting on for hours about ‘Warrior Professor’s disrespectful actions’.

But that was a problem to think about if the church still existed. Although the atmosphere already felt like they were about to hold their own funeral, now that they could communicate with the church, he could learn what was happening.

Once the priest finished cleaning the Light of Nelphia into its previous shiny, clean glory, he carefully placed it in his hands and started to imbue it with holy power.

“As the great Ro Haram says, shall thou watch over us from the highest place, and when thus arrives at his side, shall thou see the world from the same height.”

Slightly different from a magic spell, the holy magic used what seemed like part of a prayer. With the priest’s chant, the lights that had been floating nearby floated into the Light of Nelphia and made it glow even brighter.

Vwoom—

In the middle of that light appeared a familiar woman in robes.

“…Latura, Ro Haram. It is a relief to see that you’re doing well, dear warrior.”

“Latura, Ro Haram. I don’t know… if you include my mental health, I wouldn’t say I’m in tippy-top condition, so can’t really agree with you there, Bishop Senadis.”

Senadis, who appeared from the lights as a sort of hologram, responded to Professor’s answer with a bitter smile.

“Yes, we have met a little earlier than expected. Have you heard the news?”

“News, you say…”

Tch.

‘A cigarette would have been nice.’

Feeling another wave of fury rise up in him as he listened to Senadis, Professor habitually scratched his palm with his left finger to suppress the emotion. He needed to turn his attention away from the irritation somehow.

“I’ve heard you lost. At the western front, where all of Rodrick’s troops were. What exactly happened? And you guys aren’t just a bunch of weak ding-dongs, but a massive army, including elite knights and mages, so don’t say that it was a surprise attack. That is literally impossible.”

“There was no surprise attack. The Holy Knights from our church and Mercy’s church, skilled knights from all over Rodrick, and the capital’s Castle Knights, royal army, and the High Knights. Both sides poured everything they had into this battle.”

“That… makes even less sense. There should be at least several times the difference between the sizes of the armies…”

“It was at least eight times the size. The number of mutes, compared to our allied side.”

Thunk!

What’s this sound? Ah, it’s the sound of my heart dropping. Ahaha, if it keeps on falling like this, I’ll really consider nailing it in with a stake and just off myself!!!

Eight times the size. That was just the minimum estimate they counted in the midst of the chaotic battlefield. Even if it was sudden, it was eight times the size of the army of an entire nation called Rodrick. That meant that not only did they recover from their lack of resources, but they were overflowing with them to the point that they had leftovers.

Senadis opened her mouth as if about to say something that displayed her understanding for Professor’s shock, but closed it back and patiently waited for Professor.

“Wait, t-then there’s no hope, is there? I don’t know how they managed to do that, but—”

“The Priestess of Mercy. Do you remember her? The reason why this battle began.”

“Uh… yes. Edeorna invaded the Hebrahim Church and stole the Priestess of Mercy. But… How is that related at all to this situation? They can’t steal spirituality after all.”

Of course, losing the Priestess of Mercy, Irene Agricola, was a critical loss for humanity’s side. But her biggest ability was her spirituality towards the Goddess of Mercy, ‘Erinyes,’ and her blessing. Her holy magic was just a result. Even if the Mute Queen can steal the opponent’s traits through their body fluids or body parts, it can’t steal their spirituality. Since spirituality isn’t something that can be physically taken or given.

‘If they kidnapped a great mage, then they could have been able to steal traits like [Magic Affinity (Advanced)], but the most a priestess would have are useless traits like [Pure] or [Loved by All] at most. Just kidnapping them wouldn’t be enough to completely turn the tables like this.’

“That… is also what we thought, but it seems the mutes were a much more genetically evolved being than we expected.”

“Don’t tell me… the mutes managed to obtain Erinyes’s holy power…?”

With a deep sigh, Senadis shook her head.

“It’s a much worse situation than that. Through the priestess they kidnapped, it looks like they succeeded in learning the relationship between a god and their followers. Two days ago, all religions in the world received an oracle from their gods simultaneously. The contents were that an evil god was born into the world, and we must stop it. It was the clearest oracle that’s ever been received in history, so there was no room for misinterpretation.”

His mind went blank. What did I just hear? Did I hear that right? What was born? A god? An evil god?

Above anything else, Professor took pride in his ability to predict and prepare for any situation that could ever come his way.

And right now, that pride is breaking down like a wet cookie.

The worst scenario he thought of when he heard the western frontline was defeated. But the situation was even worse than that scenario. He thought of dozens, no, hundreds, of absurd situations of what could have happened, but what just came out of Senadis’ mouth was something that he wasn’t able to imagine for even a moment.

‘They learned… the mechanism of spirituality? Instead of eating the person to make a mute with a hybrid of traits?’

He felt a shiver run down his spine. That reminded him that the mutes in this seed made a pseudo-religion called the Savior’s Order to plant spies among the people. It meant that they knew the concept of religion. And in order to learn more, they captured a priestess and learned in detail how ‘religiousness’ exactly affected power.

“They used their worship of their mother… to create a religion.”

“Yes. Since all mutes have an instinctual affection for their Queen. It wasn’t hard to change that into worship.”

“That’s unbelievable… Then, doesn’t that mean that every new mute will count as a worshiper? Then the Queen’s holy power will increase as much as that number, and she can create more mutes as a result of that power! And become more powerful!”

To create matter.

It was just a figure of speech he used because he thought the unbelievable had happened, but it actually happened. The only way to cause a miracle in GG was through an entity’s belief and the portion of control that they have made out of their will.

In response to Professor’s realization, Senadis’s illusion made a grim expression.

“Yes, that’s correct. Time is no longer on our side now. If you do not remove the Queen as soon as possible, her power will expand beyond our control and swallow the whole world. We are currently creating an army of warriors from churches and kingdoms all over the world. Warrior Professor, in the name of the church, we summon you. Come to Kingsland. Before the situation worsens, we will combine the power of the entirety of humanity and remove the evil god, the Mutation Blood Queen. May the light lead your way.”

Ending with Senadis’s quiet prayer, the relic’s light disappeared and the connection was cut off.

Once the light disappeared, a silence even louder than when they heard the news of defeat enveloped them.

Looking at how the soldiers’ expressions were all drawn with shock aside from the priest, it looked like most of the Rodrick soldiers were also unaware of the appearance of an evil god.

Among them, Professor, who had been sighing a crater into the ground, got up from his seat.

“Let’s go.”

“…”

“Hurry up already! I said let’s go! They’re saying that an evil god’s army is coming, and you all want to sit here and have a picnic?”

Watching the stunned soldiers get up one by one, Professor gritted his teeth.

‘Alright, f— it. Let’s see where this goes! I’m giving up on controlling the game board now! You won, you megamind-mute bastard! Ditch the tactics! I’ll shove my fist down your throats!’

Even his last hopes were crushed mercilessly, but thanks to the opponent’s strong hand, a new path opened up.

‘After the King of Undead, World 2’s main scenario, was killed, there wasn’t a being in this world that could be called an evil god. I don’t know for the other cases, but if they’re fighting under the name of a god, then humanity is going to throw religion, kingdom, politics, and everything else aside to fight together! God? F— off! We have at least eight guys who’ve been calling themselves gods and playing Monopoly with the world! We’ll beat you up 8 to 1!’

After giving up on the plan to play this game with peace and joy, there was malice brewing in Professor’s eyes. Unlike on the outside, here, Professor was pretty useful as not only a chess player but also as a chess piece.

He completely lost the battle of wits. But right now, Professor is plenty useful as a chess piece as well. Since he lost the first fight outside of the board, he was going to play round 2 on it.