Chapter 221. Holy Relic (2)
“Stay sharp!”
Looking over the countless soldiers deployed west of the Maginot Line, the demon general Sargatanas raised his voice.
“Our enemies are not the Contractors we’ve fought until now! They are transcendent beings called Constellations... heroes from myth!”
Sargatanas was one of Astaroth’s generals, a huge demon nearly four meters tall.
He was not one of the Seventy-Two Demons, but his strength was close enough that many demons looked up to him.
“But in the end, they were still human once! They are inferior to us demons!”
At Sargatanas’s booming voice, many demons nodded.
The legions defending the Maginot Line had never experienced defeat.
Contractor armies had attacked several times before, and every one of them had been driven back.
So even with this new assault...
they felt no fear.
“Take pride! Have confidence! We will win!”
“Oooooh!”
“Long live Pandemonium!”
“Long live Astaroth! Long live Sargatanas!”
Watching the soldiers raise their fists and cheer, Sargatanas felt satisfied.
Their morale was high enough.
Even if the enemy consisted of Constellations, he was confident they could hold them off.
Then...
music began drifting in from somewhere.
“A harp?”
“What is that? Where’s it coming from?”
Everyone looked around in confusion.
There was no military band stationed here.
“But somehow...”
“Hmm... it’s pretty good.”
Everyone began listening.
Some demons even closed their eyes and focused entirely on the music.
“This performance...?”
As a high-ranking demon, Sargatanas had a decent appreciation for the arts.
But this was unlike anything he had ever heard.
The level of the performance was astonishingly high.
“That’s not a harp.”
“This is... a lyre?”
Sargatanas completely forgot about the invading Constellations and began immersing himself in the music.
Then...
something strange started happening.
“Mm...”
“Haa...”
The demons who had closed their eyes to listen...
began collapsing one by one.
“W-What’s wrong with everyone?”
Startled, Sargatanas grabbed the nearest soldier and tried to lift him.
It didn’t seem like he had been attacked.
Looking closer...
the demon was simply asleep.
“Why is everyone... falling asleep...?”
As he muttered, Sargatanas felt his own eyelids growing heavier.
“No... I have to defend this place.”
“If I fall asleep here...”
He forced his body to move, trying to shake off the drowsiness.
It was useless.
Nothing worked.
Before he knew it, Sargatanas was kneeling on the ground.
“Ah... but this music... it’s pulling me... into a deep abyss...”
That was the end.
Unable to speak any further, Sargatanas fell asleep alongside his subordinates.
“That should do it, Nameless King.”
The blond man smiled as he removed his hands from the lyre.
“The high-ranking demons might resist, but the small fry below them won’t be waking up for a while.”
“Thank you.”
I bowed toward the one who had performed so magnificently.
“This makes the operation much easier, Orpheus.”
Orpheus.
The S-rank Constellation ‘Singing Hero.’
A Greek hero who had achieved countless feats not through martial strength, but through music.
He could practically be called the original bard character who supported battles through song.
One of Orpheus’s most famous feats involved confronting the Sirens, monsters that lured sailors with their beautiful singing and then devoured them.
Even Odysseus had no choice but to bind himself tightly to his ship when passing through Siren-infested waters.
But when Orpheus encountered the Sirens...
he simply played music of his own and challenged them directly.
In the end, the Sirens admitted defeat and fled.
And the ship Orpheus had been riding during that incident...
was the Argo.
“It was a great stroke of fortune that Jason introduced me to you.”
“Haha. Jason’s requests are hard to refuse.”
Orpheus was one of the heroes who had joined the Argonaut expedition at Jason’s invitation.
The reason I had been able to recruit him this time was also thanks to Jason’s connections.
“Just so we’re clear, I didn’t join because Jason asked me.”
A voice came from beside us.
A slim girl was frowning at us.
“I’m only saying this in case you misunderstand, so remember it.”
“Understood, Atalanta.”
Atalanta.
The B-rank Constellation ‘Hunter Favored by the Moon Goddess.’
Like Orpheus, she had taken part in the Argonaut expedition.
She was one of the rare female heroes of Greek mythology, a hunter whose combat ability surpassed many men.
She had even defeated Achilles’s father in wrestling.
She was also famous for her incredible running speed.
“Atalanta is a fan of Kang Yujin, after all. Even if Jason hadn’t asked, she probably would’ve wanted to cooperate with the Nameless King anyway.”
“Orpheus! Stop saying unnecessary things!”
Atalanta’s face turned red as she raised a fist toward him.
“I-I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a fan, but... I do like him quite a bit.”
“So naturally, I already had a good impression of you too, Nameless King.”
“That’s why I agreed to help.”
In fact, Atalanta had been one of the Constellations who supported Kang Yujin from very early on.
Whenever I watched his activities through the Observer, messages from the ‘Hunter Favored by the Moon Goddess’ appeared often.
“So... how should I put this?”
Atalanta scratched her head, cheeks still flushed.
“L-Later, give me a chance to meet Kang Yujin in person.”
“I just want to shake his hand or something.”
“If the opportunity comes up, I’ll definitely arrange it.”
“You’d better! Definitely!”
