On the way to slay the fallen star, a question occurred to Najin. What exactly did the word Constellation describe? He had heard it countless times, yet he did not really know what it meant.

What was a Constellation?

And what distinguished one from someone like him, who possessed a star?

Beside him was someone who could answer those questions. A Constellation among Constellations with no fewer than eleven stars, the self-proclaimed great Constellation Merlin began to speak.

-There isn't much difference between someone who simply has stars and a Constellation. At most, it's the number of stars. Rather than just raising stars into the sky, you connect them into a constellation. That's when you become a Constellation.

Connecting stars to form a constellation.

When Najin asked whether there was a minimum number required, Merlin shook her head.

-There's no fixed number. You can make a constellation with only three stars, but I've only ever seen one person do that... and that was a special case. Generally, people become Constellations once they've gathered four or five stars. Arthur and I became Constellations around then, too.

As she spoke, Merlin flicked a finger. Glittering stars at her fingertip connected to form a constellation.

-There are also concepts like ascension and authorities, but I can explain those later... What you're curious about right now is that, isn't it? What a fallen star is. What a forgotten star is.

Najin nodded, and Merlin swept her finger downward. A glittering star fell.

-Even Constellations aren't eternal. Sometimes they lose their stars. Every star they lose deals a terrible shock to their mind. What do you think happens when they suffer that over and over? They go mad. No one can endure it and stay sane.

She sounded as though she had experienced it herself. Shaking her head as if she did not even want to imagine it, Merlin continued.

-The more stars a Constellation has, the higher their standing, the greater the shock. After suffering those shocks one after another... if they lose every last star, they can no longer sustain who they are.

'What do you mean, they can't sustain who they are?'

-They become Lost.

A Constellation that had fallen and forgotten itself.

A fallen star, a forgotten star.

A star that had become Lost—that was how Merlin described it.

-And Constellations are beings who have transcended the human body in the first place. If beings like that become Lost, well... at the very least, they won't fit into your idea of what a 'human' is.

2.

Najin ventured deep into the Outer Lands with the Helmeted Knight. The farther they went, the more often the knight warned him, "Don't cross that boundary. Beyond it lies a Constellation's territory."

This was a place of countless stellar domains, where the territories of Constellations began appearing in earnest.

Continuing onward, the Helmeted Knight descended a slope. He climbed down sheer cliffs, going lower and lower. After following him for several days, Najin reached a vast wasteland.

Forests, grasslands, snowy mountains, fields... The Outer Lands were a jumble of these and countless other terrains. But there was no such mixture where Najin had now arrived. A single landscape stretched beyond the horizon.

An immense wasteland.

A desolate land without a single living thing in sight.

All it held were countless weapons thrust haphazardly into the earth and enormous embedded stones. The stones were not merely enormous. Starlight seeped from them, stretching all the way up into the sky.

Stones that had fallen with stars' tails caught in their grip.

The scene called to mind fallen stars.

Overwhelmed by the sight, Najin fell silent for a moment. The Helmeted Knight broke the silence, giving a derisive laugh as he gazed across the vast wasteland.

"I hear the outside world calls the Outer Lands the Battlefield of Stars. But," he continued, "the stars who live in the Outer Lands call it this."

Pointing to the vast wasteland, to the fallen stars, he said,

"The Graveyard of Stars."

"..."

"This is where stars fall. It's filled with stars that were once heroes, that once shone brightly, but fell in the end."

He shrugged and gave Najin a meaningful look.

"Do you know any heroes? Ones the continent says 'died honorably.'"

"Quite a few."

"Name a few. People from roughly three or four hundred years ago."

"The Guardian of the Sacred Tree, Arta Trigardian."

The war hero Arta Trigardian.

The Guardian of the Sacred Tree, who had created the swordsmanship used by the commander of the ducal House Arbenia's knight order. After considering that name for a few seconds, the Helmeted Knight answered.

"The Guardian of the Thorn Tree. Fell a hundred and seventy years ago. Became a forgotten star. Kirchhoff slew him."

"... What?"

"Didn't word reach the continent? I suppose that happens. Any other names?"

"Kinburga Alzen."

"Kinburga the Guardian. A star who fell two hundred years ago. Devils ate away at him. He'll be in their bellies by now."

"... Saphia."

"Saphia of the Hundred Flowers. The Emperor of Revelry brought her down. Fairly recent. About a hundred years ago."

"Rekdir."

"Rekdir the Conqueror? The Emperor of Revelry brought him down, too. He's her jester now. On display in her palace with both arms and legs cut off."

Every time Najin named a hero, the Helmeted Knight gave a similar answer. Only after more than ten names, then more than twenty, did he finally hear, "Ah, that one really did die honorably. On the continent, I believe."

"Well, that's how it is. On the continent, they probably dressed it up as an honorable death or martyrdom... But how could a death in the Outer Lands ever be honorable?"

The Helmeted Knight pointed to the wasteland.

"They're all buried here, in the Graveyard of Stars. Or they've become forgotten stars and are still wandering about. Or they're the Emperor of Revelry's jesters. And if not that, they've been eaten by devils or beasts that hunger for stars."

The Graveyard of Stars.

"The land heroes journey to, the Battlefield of Stars, the birthplace of new stars... No matter how grandly you dress it up, peel back a single layer and there's nowhere more horrific. This is the afterlife awaiting those who transcended humanity to escape death."

An afterlife and a hell prepared for stars.

"Now, shall we hunt the Lost wandering that afterlife?"

The Helmeted Knight took the lead. Following him in silence for a while, Najin finally forced himself to speak.

"You said his name was Krünbel, the Knight of Silence?"

"Yes. That's the fellow we're going to kill."

"I've never heard that name before."

"You wouldn't have."

The Helmeted Knight spoke matter-of-factly.

"He took the mist of Oblivion head-on. There's nothing in this land as fucked up as the authority of Oblivion. Whether others forget you or you forget yourself, either way, you erode at a terrifying rate."

"Was it the work of the Constellation that erased Londinel?"

"That's the one. The Constellation of erasure and Oblivion."

He seemed unwilling to say more about that Constellation, so Najin changed the subject. There was something he needed to confirm anyway.

"Did you say that knight, Krünbel, had six stars?"

"Yes. Six. Why, nervous?"

It would be a lie to say he wasn't.

Six stars.

The Sword Saint Karon and the executioner Yuel Razian, whom Najin had met on the continent, both had six stars. Thinking of their level, he doubted he could stand against someone like that as he was now.

"I can guess what you're thinking, but he won't be that strong. Losing stars means growing weaker. It also means being stripped of transcendence."

"Aren't stars unrelated to transcendence? Transcendent beings do have a lot of stars, but..."

"Well, there's no direct connection. But what's the fundamental prerequisite for transcendence? Having confidence in yourself. Losing your stars means losing yourself. Once you can no longer be certain of yourself, you're stripped of transcendence."

The Helmeted Knight pointed to himself.

"So Krünbel will probably be about on my level."

"Then I should have a chance."

The Helmeted Knight flinched, his pride stung. He stopped and turned to Najin.

"You don't actually think I went all out when I fought you, do you?"

"Neither did I."

"Listen. The spear isn't my main weapon. The sword is. You lost to me without my even using a sword, and now... Tch."

"This isn't my main weapon, either."

"What, have you got some weapon stashed away somewhere? A knight shouldn't rely on his weapon, you know."

Amid this odd exchange of barbs, the Helmeted Knight clicked his tongue.

"You wouldn't say that if you saw me use a sword."

"Then why don't you use it?"

Najin pointed to the sword tied at the Helmeted Knight's waist. Chains were wrapped tightly around it, scabbard and all.

"Because I mustn't."

"Yes, but why?"

"I have my reasons. Using this would mean that I... Never mind. Anyway, there's a reason I can't use it."

How long had they walked while talking?

"Stop."

The Helmeted Knight extended a hand to halt Najin, then pointed ahead with his chin. Najin looked where he indicated.

Countless spear shafts stood planted in the ground. No, were those even spears? They were closer to skewers. Some looked like carelessly whittled branches. Blunt poles had also been thrust into the earth, as if anything that could impale something would do.

Different shapes. Different weapons.

Yet they all had one thing in common: a person was impaled on the end. Regardless of what kind of weapon stood planted in the ground, each had a person skewered on it.

A banner spear that had lost its flag had a human corpse in its place. A long spear missing its blade had a human hand instead. A hammer missing its head had replaced it with a human head.

The corpses numbered in the dozens, the hundreds, and beyond.

A land adorned with corpses impaled on skewers.

This seemed to be the stellar domain of the Constellation they were about to face.

But Najin could not see its master. Wherever he looked, there were only corpses.

"So where is this Knight of Silence?"

"Where else? Right there."

Najin blinked at the spot the Helmeted Knight pointed to. What was he pointing at? There were only corpses there. The knight was indicating a corpse standing among the spear shafts. While every other corpse was skewered, that one alone stood with its feet on the ground.

'It is a little strange for a corpse to be standing.'

But Najin did not know what else to call a person with nothing above the neck. As he blinked at it...

CLANK.

The corpse moved. Najin almost stepped back involuntarily. Why was that thing moving? Had he seen wrong?

CLANK.

He hadn't seen wrong. He had seen perfectly clearly. A corpse with nothing above its neck—in other words, a headless corpse—was moving. Its armor rattled with every movement.

It looked toward Najin and the Helmeted Knight.

Despite its lack of a head, Najin felt their eyes meet. It was instinct, and his instincts were usually right. This moment was no exception.

R-R-R-RATTLE.

The headless knight's body shook.

Najin suddenly looked at the armor draped over him. Though he had lost his head, the knight was clothed in helmets. Ordinarily, one wouldn't describe helmets as clothing, but here, the expression fit.

Unable to put a helmet on his missing head, the knight had hung several from his armor and shoulders. He looked as though he was dressed in them.

RATTLE...

The knight's trembling body suddenly stopped. Then, with a click, every visor on the helmets he wore opened at once, like beasts opening their mouths.

They gaped wide.

Black filth dribbled like saliva from the open helmets. The helmets began vibrating. The horns wedged between them vibrated as well.

BWOOOOOOOO!

The sound of horns echoed. In place of his own missing head, the knight blew the horns through the heads of corpses. Their majestic tones reverberated across the wasteland.

"Oh dear," the Helmeted Knight groaned. "Our friend seems to be in a bad mood today."

Then he abruptly seized Najin by the scruff of his neck and hurled him skyward. Almost at the same moment, the horn blast that seemed as though it would sound forever suddenly stopped.

What replaced it was—

AAAAAAAAAAH!

The howl of one of the Lost.

Najin grimaced at the beastly howl, impossible to describe in words. Blood seeped from his ears. Hanging in the air, he looked at the roaring knight. Black light poured from the knight's body, gathering where his head should have been.

Black light flashed in place of a head, shaped much like a star in the night sky.

-A forgotten star. A star turned black after forgetting itself.

The mark of a Constellation that had become Lost.

Najin soon learned why the Helmeted Knight had thrown him into the air. Roaring, the Knight of Silence pulled up one of the spear shafts planted around him. A person was impaled on its end. As though intending to add another, he hurled it at the Helmeted Knight.

WHOOOOSH!

The spear tore through the wind. The earth was gouged away along its trajectory. The instant the Helmeted Knight deflected it, he too was sent flying into the air. With a splitting crack, the ground fractured around the point of impact. The corpse attached to the shaft could not withstand the shock and burst apart.

"This is maddening."

Flying into the distance, the Helmeted Knight waved to Najin. His hand flopped rather excessively.

"This won't do. I'll need a moment to sort myself out. I blocked that spear wrong. I think my wrist bent out of place."

"What?"

"Meet me back there. I saw a good rock to hide behind."

"Wait."

"I'll go on ahead."

The Helmeted Knight rolled across the ground, sprang up, and began running with rapid footfalls. Just as when they had raided the giants' larder, his running form was nothing short of perfect.

'Oh, fuck.'

The instant Najin landed, he ran after him. Behind him, the Knight of Silence shrieked and hurled spear after spear, but thankfully, he did not leave his stellar domain. With that vigorous send-off, Najin fled.

No, knights did not flee.

It was a strategic retreat.

3.

"Didn't you say he was a little weaker than you? In what way was that weaker?"

"Well, I am rather strong."

"You ran away."

"A strategic retreat."

The Helmeted Knight sighed as he realigned his dangling wrist.

"Our friend really does seem to be in a foul mood today. Tch. In the old days, he'd at least return a greeting."

"That thing returned greetings?"

"In the old days."

Najin struggled to picture it. More than anything, he was still somewhat shocked. What he had seen defied common sense.

'How can he move like that with his head cut off?'

Moving without a head was astonishing enough, but the posture the Knight of Silence had assumed when throwing his spear was beyond any movement a human could make. It exceeded the range of motion of his joints by an enormous margin. Even after seeing it, Najin could not have imitated it.

"Anyway, he's as reckless as ever. Doesn't even recognize his own superior."

The Helmeted Knight clicked his tongue.

Najin, who had only been half listening, tilted his head.

"What did you say?"

"What? That he's reckless?"

"No. After that. His superior?"

"Ah. Didn't I tell you?"

With a crunch, the Helmeted Knight reset his wrist and spoke with breezy nonchalance.

"He used to be my subordinate."

"Whaaat...?"

"He was the deputy commander of the Order of the Golden Horn. The strongest man in the order after me."

The Star of the Horn.

Krünbel, the Knight of Silence.

And deputy commander of the Order of the Golden Horn.

"Remember that technique I used before? When I explained it, remember how I said, 'There was someone else who was best at it'?"

"... I remember."

"That's him."

The Helmeted Knight pointed to the Knight of Silence wandering in the distance. The spear shaft in his hand gleamed menacingly.

"He's damned good with a spear. He reached the rank of Master with nothing else. And..."

The Helmeted Knight pointed to the cross-shaped star spear planted beside him.

"He's also the owner of this spear I carry."

"Don't tell me you stole it."

"Now, now. Stole it? I took it when he became Lost. More precisely, he entrusted it to me."

"Sounds like you stole it."

"I'm telling you, I didn't."

The Helmeted Knight subtly averted his gaze.

It certainly seemed he had stolen it.