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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Awakening the Legion
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Loki learned much from the girl named Kankun.
This was a small island in the north.
A frozen wasteland.
It was home to the Nod Tribe, a people who survived through raiding to make ends meet, as the land was cold year-round.
But he couldn't learn much about his own situation.
-Then what am I?
-...Pardon?
-This isn't the game world I designed and set up. Is this some other world?
-...G-Game? Another world?
-...
It was a fruitless conversation.
In the end, he couldn't figure out what was going on with him.
Loki rested his chin on his hand as he gazed at Kankun.
A strange world. But a truly brutal one.
'What a fateful child she is.'
A rebellion had broken out in her tribe, the Ragna Tribe.
Her uncle had killed her father, and she had fled to this temple as her last hope.
As Loki fell silent, Kankun, who had been watching him nervously, stepped forward cautiously and spoke.
"Um..."
"...?"
"What should we do now?"
Not 'I', but 'we'.
She was probably asking on behalf of the villagers.
What am I supposed to do if she asks me?
The words rose to the tip of his tongue, but Loki simply remained silent.
There was just too much to think about.
He tried to sort through the situation.
Five minutes... ten minutes passed.
Still, Loki found no answers.
Above all, Kankun's gaze—filled with fear and expectation as she watched him—was too burdensome.
'...Why is this girl still here?'
"How long do you plan to stay here?"
"Pardon?"
"Aren't you going home?"
"I... um... Are you just sending me away?"
"...?"
Loki tilted his head.
"...?"
Kankun mirrored him, tilting her head in the same direction.
"...What do you want?"
At Loki's question, Kankun looked troubled.
What should she want from the demon standing before her?
She had made a wish, and he had awakened just as she desired.
By all rights, he should take her soul... yet he was simply trying to send her away.
"C-Can I just... go?"
"Do you think I'd demand something from you?"
"Pardon?"
"What could you even give me?"
"Um... my soul or something...?"
Kankun's expression was awkward, her words phrased as a question.
Loki shook his head.
"I don't need it."
Kankun looked shocked.
"So leave. I have much to think about."
Kankun's face crumpled in dismay.
She had steeled herself for this, but being shooed away like a bug felt so unfair.
Loki glanced at the sword she clutched to her chest and added one more thing.
"Later."
Kankun turned back.
"I'll call you when I need you."
"...Yes!"
As Kankun left the audience chamber, she turned to look at the massive temple.
'I... survived, right...?'
Her relief was short-lived; a strange feeling lingered.
The shock of everything that had happened still echoed in her mind. And to be dismissed as unnecessary by a demon?
Was this good fortune or bad...?
Still...
-I'll call you when I need you later.
He said he'd call her later.
'Huh...?'
Why was she happy about that?
As Kankun tilted her head in confusion...
"Ah!"
Kankun looked down at the sword in her arms.
A faint golden light emanated from it.
'I... I took it without realizing!? B-But it's brand new now?'
The rusted, chipped sword had become a gleaming golden longsword.
The warmth rising from her hand had made her grip it tightly... and she'd forgotten to give it to the demon.
'Wh-What do I do? I should return it...'
Kankun panicked, glancing between the temple and her village.
"Kankun! Kankun—!"
"Kankun... are you okay!?"
Just then, villagers emerged from the bushes.
"Th-Thank goodness! You're safe!"
They all surrounded Kankun.
"Huh?"
"For some reason, the rebels have all retreated!"
"Kankun, the village needs you. Let's hurry back!"
"W-Wait... I need to return this sword...!"
Caught in the villagers' grasp, Kankun was pulled toward the village.
Loki watched Kankun depart through a magical mirror.
And right beside him stood an old man frozen like a statue, not daring to move.
The Nod Tribe's priest, Shaman.
"How long do you plan to stay here?"
"H-How should I put this..."
Shaman trembled as he placed a hand on his chest, slowly knelt, and bowed his head in submission.
"I am Shaman. I come to pay respects to the Constellation of Sin, whom my ancestors have served for generations."
His voice was filled with fear and awe.
"D-Demon—no, L-Lord of All Sins! As the priest tasked with protecting the Nod Tribe, I have a duty to serve you and guard this temple. My mission is to let you rest in peace. So..."
"Get out."
Shaman looked up at Loki in shock.
"I-I wish to serve you and find bliss in living here. So please believe in my loyalty and faith—"
From within Loki's helmet, red light gleamed from the eye sockets.
"I don't know about that crap."
"..."
Shaman's face fell as he backed away.
"Later."
He turned to look back at Loki.
"We'll talk once I've sorted my thoughts."
Shaman's face brightened.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Kankun was busy moving about.
She was helping clean up the ruined village and tend to the bodies.
She turned her head.
The villagers moved about in ragged states.
Some treated the wounded, while others stared blankly, unable to accept reality.
"Kankun."
Then, an old man in tattered rags, his face lined with wrinkles, approached her.
He was one of the Ragna Tribe's elders.
He seemed extremely anxious as he gauged her reaction.
"What do you think we should do now?"
"Huh?"
"You're the niece of the traitor Kudan Ragnar, but before that, you're the daughter of Karan Ragnar, who once ruled this village. As the chieftain's bloodline, the decision falls to you."
Kankun froze. She could feel countless eyes turning toward her.
Over a hundred survivors amid the ruins.
They all looked to Kankun.
The weight of responsibility for protecting them crushed her.
Kankun couldn't help but shrink back.
At just fifteen, newly come of age, she was far too young to bear all this.
"Th-That is..."
"Kyaaah!"
A sudden scream pierced the air.
Villagers fled from the forest.
And behind them, bursting through the underbrush, came massive horses ridden by warriors.
A cavalry unit wielding long spears charged from the woods.
"Wh-What's that?!"
"We're under attack!"
"Is it Kudan again?!"
Screams echoed everywhere. And Kankun saw them.
Cavalry clad head to toe in golden-scaled armor and barding.
Among the Nod Tribe's raiders, only one tribe possessed such fine equipment.
"Golden Lions... the Partas Tribe?!"
The Nod Tribe were raiders.
Their typical slave hunt had begun.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The Partas Tribe was utterly ruthless.
"What? Did someone else already sweep through?!"
"Capture them all as slaves! Kill the old ones if you want!"
Mad laughter filled the air.
Where the cavalry swept through, countless bodies littered the ground, and heavily armored infantry in golden plate slowly marched in their wake.
Kankun's face drained of color at the sight.
"Wh-What are you doing!? Run, quickly!"
She shouted to the Ragna tribesfolk, but they only looked at her in despair.
"Wh-Where to?!"
"Kankun, it's hopeless. There's nowhere for us to go!"
The village had already suffered greatly from Kudan Ragnar's rebellion.
Only a few could fight, and they stood no chance against the Partas Tribe.
She despaired.
Her glimmer of survival had been fleeting; now another calamity struck...!
"Uwaaak!"
Men who resisted screamed as spears pierced them.
"N-No! Not that child...!"
A woman had her hair grabbed, her child ripped away and dragged off somewhere.
Kankun's mind went blank at the horror before her. Without thinking, one figure came to mind.
"The temple..."
The demon who ruled it—the constellation.
He had only harmed those who showed him hostility, sparing her and Shaman.
Perhaps... he wasn't so dangerous to those who didn't oppose him.
Kankun shouted at the top of her lungs to her tribesfolk.
"To the temple—!!"
The Ragna tribesfolk looked at her.
"Go to the temple! It's safe there!"
"...!"
The tribesfolk ran frantically.
Was her voice too loud?
The Partas Tribe warriors began eyeing Kankun.
Cold sweat dripped as she backed away hurriedly...
"Catch that girl—!"
Kankun turned and bolted.
She had to escape.
As fast as possible...
To the temple of the Constellation of Sin—!
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Loki gazed at the skeletons before him.
Skeletons clad entirely in jet-black armor.
From those wielding massive greatswords, to shieldbearers, spearmen, archers and daggermen, even a military band with instruments.
A variety of unit types stood ready.
These were the monsters he had placed to guard Valhalla Palace back when he was a game designer.
'Hm...'
Loki crooked a finger to the right, and the skeletons aligned to the right.
To the left, and they shifted left.
Perfectly disciplined movements.
'...Interesting. They follow my commands?'
Loki snapped his fingers. The air split, forming a glassy pane that mirrored him like a looking glass.
A horned goat-shaped iron helm—the symbol of a demon. Crimson eyes blazed from the sockets like fire.
Heavy black iron plate, a fur cloak, and black smoke rising from the armor joints, occasionally forming serpents and wolves.
'As expected... this is the character I created.'
The lord of the armies of death and giants, who brought the world's end—Ragnarok.
Loki.
He had become the game character he had conceived and designed.
'But...'
If Kankun was right, this world wasn't the game's lore.
It was an entirely different otherworld.
'Still, since the settings are in place, they obey my orders.'
Loki looked at the skeletons again.
And those behind them.
Beings radiating stronger auras, composed of black bone as if embodying 'death' itself.
Fifty undead comprising Death Knights and Liches—an immortal legion.
'They seem to follow me too.'
Loki's gaze dropped.
Beneath Valhalla Palace.
Entities still in development.
'What about the giants' king?'
He hadn't finished their settings before coming here, so their reaction was unknown.
As Loki narrowed his glowing eyes...
"U-Um... D-Demon—no, C-Constellation of Sin!"
Loki looked up.
The Nod Tribe's priest, Shaman, stood rigid.
Sweat beaded on his brow as he spoke.
"Un-uninvited guests have arrived."
"Uninvited guests?"
"Ragna Tribe villagers. Shall I drive them off?"
Ragna Tribe villagers?
-I... am Ka... Kankun Ragnar... I am your shrine maiden.
Loki recalled the girl he had just sent away.
She bore the surname Ragnar. Were they connected to her?
"Why have they come?"
"...It seems their tribe is under attack."
Loki thought back to his first meeting with the girl.
Come to think of it, she had been assaulted by mysterious men then too.
'That girl.'
She held the holy sword, Burtgang.
Loki traced a finger through the air.
Space parted, summoning a magical mirror.
The mirror displayed an image.
A map view around Valhalla Palace.
There, the girl clutching Burtgang fled, pursued by men in golden armor.
"...Not using the sword?"
'Or maybe she doesn't know how.'
Loki drummed his fingers on the armrest.
'Burtgang recognizes its wielder as master early on.'
A mythic item blessed by the gods.
If gripped by one not god or master, it blazed with intense light, burning them alive.
'But if the master dies, that's another story.'
If the girl died, those pursuers would claim the mythic item.
He rose from his seat.
They sought Burtgang. And he had many questions about this world to ask them.
Loki began to walk, and the skeletons knelt before him rose to follow.