I Defeated the Guide Angel and I Became a Necromancer ~ I Feel Like I'm Playing a Different Game from Everyone Else, but I'm Doing Fine ~ - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: The Course of Sin and Punishment

◆ The Past of the Kingdom of Stellavelce ◆

“… That desert is a land forsaken by the goddess Meltis.”

Covered with golden sands as if the flora and fauna refuse to live there, the desert is a world of extremes: scorching hot during the day, burning everything to ashes, and freezing to the marrow of bones at night. That is all there is to the Stellavelce Desert. It is not a place for humans to approach, let alone consider living in. The Stellavelce Desert was once recognized as such.

The one who changed the Stellavelce Desert was a person long ago known as the Witch of the Summit. Her name was Echidna, the pinnacle and the strongest of all magicians in this world. Revered and feared for her abilities, it was believed that there was nothing she could not do.

“There is nothing impossible for me. I shall transform that desert into a land fit for humans.”

Echidna disliked being told,

“Even you, Echidna, cannot possibly do that.”

She saw beings higher than herself, realms unreachable, as walls to be overcome, and she would undertake any challenge to surpass them, having overcome every difficult task thus far. Yet, it was deemed impossible even for Echidna to make Stellavelce a habitable place for humans.

Naturally, Echidna challenged the Stellavelce Desert. She pondered how to make this land of extreme heat by day, severe cold by night, and barrenness, where not a single drop of water could be found, suitable for human habitation.

“I shall bring water to this desert. I will create a river.”

The first task Echidna tackled was water. The desert might see rain once or twice a year, if at all, and it easily absorbed any rainwater, which would never accumulate. People who heard of her plan to create a river laughed, thinking she had finally gone mad with an impossible challenge. However, it was no lie or deception, and indeed, against all expectations, a river was completed.

“If the sand is compressed, it becomes sandstone. With my power, it’s an easy task.”

Through Echidna’s magic, the desert sands began to be compressed, hardening gradually into sandstone. Day by day, as the desert transformed, a canal was drawn from the water-plagued, flood- and snow-afflicted northern lands toward the center of the Stellavelce Desert. Within less than a month, a huge and beautiful lake had formed at the center of the Stellavelce Desert, with a canal flowing straight from north to south.

“Centered around this lake, I shall build my kingdom.”

With the water resource issues of the Stellavelce Desert resolved and the northern lands’ problems of flood and snow damage indirectly solved, Echidna turned her attention to constructing habitable buildings. First, she solidified the ground deep beneath the eastern shore of the lake to ensure it wouldn’t sink or tilt. Above this foundation, she magically created residences one after another, and also built a palace for herself. Meanwhile, as she extended her magic deep into the earth, Echidna discovered something astonishing.

“Could it be that the Stellavelce Desert is merely a lid covering a treasure chest brimming with jewels and veins of gold and silver?”

Deep within the desert, Echidna discovered gold, silver, and gemstones imbued with magic. A river of primordial mana had formed underground, altering the geology to produce rare minerals. Curious, Echidna dug near this layer and was able to mine beautiful, large gemstones. She flaunted these jewels before nobles from various countries, taking great pride in her discoveries—after all, Echidna was not one to keep secrets.

“You wish to immigrate to my nation? Very well, very well. However, I care not for human laws; craft laws that can convince me.”

Blinded by the allure of Echidna’s treasures, people began flocking to Stellavelce. There was water, places to live, and the nearest city, Tarlash, was just a straight two-day walk to the east. Soon, Stellavelce became a booming immigrant city. Goods were transported through Tarlash, and the primary goal was to mine the gold, silver, and gemstones from the great pits that Echidna had created. This became the historic gold rush of Stellavelce.

“What? You wish to honor my achievements and crown me as queen? Very well. But if I am to be queen, I must be served by the most beautiful men and women. I have no interest in troublesome roles otherwise!”

The nobles from various countries united their efforts to formally establish Stellavelce as a nation. Echidna was to reign as its first queen, and from each country, beautiful men and women were gathered to her liking. Echidna bore many children with these people. Although she was feared for her immense and absolute power, she loved all her children equally and taught them magic herself. The birth and prosperity of Stellavelce, along with this blissful scene, was expected to continue forever—so everyone thought.

“A monster has emerged from the great pit?”

Suddenly, the great pit collapsed, and from within it, a snake-like giant monster appeared. This report sent shivers through everyone living in Stellavelce. Those who had been working in the pit were wiped out, and the survivors blamed Echidna for creating the pit. While it was a selfish accusation, Echidna acknowledged her responsibility for not investigating the presence of such monsters and stood up to slay the monster herself.

As a result, Echidna managed to defeat the giant serpent monster. However, she was covered in the snake’s venom, and suffered from its incurable poison. Despite her plight, the people expressed no words of gratitude towards Echidna.

“Echidna has received the punishment of the desert’s guardian deity.”

“She has provoked the wrath of the desert.”

“She trespassed on a land forsaken by the goddess and reaped the consequences.”

“Don’t pretend to be a hero now.”

“There’s no way Echidna can’t detoxify a poison. It must be a sham.”

Originally, the people of Stellavelce were immigrants, unfaithful, a mob. Dazzled by gold and jewels, resembling thieves more than settlers… Although Echidna had opened the great hole which benefited them, the disdain towards the imposing and absolute Echidna outweighed the gratitude. There were certainly some who were concerned for Echidna, but with the collapse of the great hole leading to many deaths and making life difficult, the anger of the people turned towards Echidna. Eventually, it led to the suggestion:

“Isn’t it Echidna who brought out the great serpent from the hole?”

The suggestion emerged that perhaps these incidents were all orchestrated by Echidna. Of course, hearing this, Echidna was outraged, but her body was too ravaged by the serpent’s poison to even move… Realizing her life would not last much longer, Echidna was aware of a certain plan that had been secretly prepared.

Regretting to let her magical power cease with her, Echidna secretly passed her magical powers to her youngest daughter, who had loved and mourned her to the end—That night, Echidna was taken to the grand hall by her children, nailed to a cross, and burned alive, ending her life.

“Echidna was a great witch, but seduced by demons, she unleashed calamities upon the world. It seems she regained her sanity just in time to stop the disaster she caused with her own hands, but Echidna is no longer the great witch we loved. Here, the witch who brought about the calamity has been judged and punished, executed. Henceforth, I shall lead Stellavelce as the new king.”

Thus, the great witch Echidna, who had created the Kingdom of Stellavelce, was executed as the witch of calamity by her own children. Her remains were not enshrined, and Echidna herself was sealed away deeper than the royal palace’s treasure vault in Stellavelce, in a sealed chamber.

◆ Demon Temple – 3rd Floor ◆

“What?! Echidna-sama is here in this Demon Temple right now?!”

“Ding-dong♡ If you’re looking for Echidna-chan, she’s currently a magic instructor! Lia-chan has been so curious about her, but she’s too proud and awkward to approach her, so why don’t you take her there?”

So, that magic instructor Echidna is really Lia-chan’s ancestor, isn’t she?! Lia-chan has been too nervous to speak to her and just keeps walking by, so I need to take responsibility and introduce them… Wait? But hold on, there’s something bothering me!

“Wasn’t she… sealed?”

“That necklace. It originally belonged to Echidna, you know? It was sealed with her, so why has it been taken out?”

“Someone broke… the seal…”

“Right? Who could open the door to that treasury, I wonder♡”

So, that’s it…! The fact that Lia-chan had it when she died means… There’s definitely some deception involved. Lia-chan is basically a very cute, good girl, almost like a little mascot, but… there are those expressions she sometimes shows. There’s something she’s hiding. Something she thought of and decided to keep secret until she could reclaim her physical form from a skeleton.

“If I take Lia-chan to Stellavelce, it’s definitely going to be interesting!”

“Amazing♡ How do you come to such wild conclusions, you crazy girl♡”

“Rena-chan does that too, but, Acchan, you sometimes jump in conversations, don’t you!?”

Because it’s a surprise event Lia-chan is planning in secret for me?! It can’t be boring!! Right?!

“Oh…?”

“Hmm, what’s wrong, Pers-chan?”

“A message… Oh, oh dear!! It seems Rena-chan’s house has had a power outage!”

“Oh my!? Is she okay!?”

Oh…?! I was planning to dash to Stellavelce with senior Rena-chan when she got back, but there’s a power outage?! And it’s still raining heavily… I wonder if everything’s okay…

“This is serious… The flooding of the Kamo River seems to be getting quite serious. We did say to contact us in case of emergencies, but now we need to check on the welfare of our group companies.”

“Ah… So, should we log out?”

“I’m sorry! Oh, that’s right, I’ll lend this to you! Rena-san had written that you should unilaterally appraise those unappraised parts and books from that time, and if they seem expensive or rare, to consult about them!”

“Perseus has lent you an [Unlimited Magnifying Glass – 10 Days Remaining] (loan – 12 hours remaining)”

“Awawa, got it… I’m worried, but there’s nothing I can really do, right…”

“The best we can do is pray for everyone’s safety and hope the rain stops soon! It would be terrible if you went out and got hurt, Acchan! It looks like the heavy rain will affect us here too, so could you make sure the doors are locked?”

“Mm, understood…! I’ll pray for everyone’s safety… to Babylon-chan.”

“Eh♡ There’s nothing I can do about your world? But hopefully, everything will be okay~. It does worry me~”

“I’m glad you’re concerned! Then, until next time, be well! Babylon-sama, until our next encounter, farewell!”

“Ah, bye-bye… Take care, Pers-chan”

“Take care, flashy girl♡ Bye-bye♡”

“Perseus has logged out.”

Hmm… I’m worried, but there’s nothing I can do if I go there, and it can’t be helped… It would be worse if I started asking if everything’s okay and ended up making them feel pressured by my worry… Ugh… As Pers-chan said, let’s just pray for their safety!!!

“That’s right, I’ll revive your servitors for you♡ Of course, for free~! There you go♡”

“Eh, ah! Thank you!”

“Donta has been revived.”

“Aurelia has been revived.”

“Princess Chiyo has been revived.”

“Tornado has been revived.”

“Lorelei has been revived.”

“(´・ω・`)”

“You should revive yourself.”

“Frioniel has activated [Full Armor Repair] , fully recovering from [Armor Destruction] !”

Oh, big brother did it by himself… Well, that makes sense. He wasn’t dead after all… Yeah, yeah…

“Wow… (It was strong, I couldn’t do anything, I’m hungry…)”

“It must have been because I lost control of the magic and got it rebounded. I need to reflect on this…”

“To think it could be stopped with one hand… I must retrain…”

“I didn’t even understand why I died! All I felt was my body being blown to bits.”

“So scary… I’m traumatized for a while now…”

Good, everyone is properly revived. Their levels haven’t dropped, and well, mine hasn’t increased either… But if I had leveled up by defeating a fake Babylon, I could ask Babylon to let me defeat fakes for leveling up. It’s the worst method, but it seems doable. Can’t help it!

“So, you losers have to play a penalty game!!!♡”

“Eh?! What?!”

“Woah!?”

“I didn’t hear about this!!”

“Punishment game…!?”

“((((；゜Д゜))))”

“I didn’t hear about that either!?”

“I really don’t want to do a punishment game…”

“Ta-da! Spin this roulette and whoever’s name it lands on has to do the punishment game♡ I just decided it now♡”

“Woah!?”

“Now!?”

“That’s so unreasonable…”

“Ugh… No choice, I guess. Losers have to follow the winners!”

“Please not me, please not me…”

Punishment game, punishment game…! That roulette sneakily includes Pers-chan’s name too!? If it stops on Pers-chan, does the punishment game start the moment she logs in next!? And we don’t even know why we’re being punished!?

“Here we go, start♡”

Uh oh, it started!! Who will it be, who will it end up being, and we don’t even know what the punishment game is yet! Who will end up having to accept a suddenly decided punishment game!?

“Kyuuun…! (I don’t want to skip meals!!)”

“Please, no more embarrassing clothes to wear…!!”

“I also do not wish to skip meals!”

“Eh? Skipping meals? If it’s me, no alcohol!?”

“For me…!? No yakitori…!?”

The spinner is slowing down, Donta, Lia-chan, Chiyo-chan, Tornado-san, Laura-san… Donta…? Lia-chan!?

“Ah, ah…!”

No, it’s still sliding! It’s still moving!!! This is…!?

“Ta-da~~~!!! Princess Chiyo, you’ve been chosen for the punishment game♡♡♡”

“This one’s mea—”

“Princess Chiyo has been transported to another dimension.”

Aaaaaah!!! Chiyo-chan got sucked into the floor! Chiyo-chan was sent straight to the punishment game realm…! Rest in peace… Chiyo-chan…