4.

The fight with the Blood Demon was truly a scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

5.

I blinked my eyes.

“Huh…?”

What just happened?

It felt as though an eternity had passed, yet it also seemed like only a moment had gone by.

If humans have a sense of measuring time, it felt as though it was momentarily paralyzed. To give a rough example, it was exactly the feeling of having received anesthesia for treatment from an alchemist.

“Death King. Death King! Please come to your senses, Death King!”

Before I knew it, I was lying down. It was hard to know since when, why, or where I was lying.

I can’t, remember well.

What’s clear is the face of the person sobbing in front of me. A boy, a very familiar boy, is clinging to my hands, as if he’s about to burst into tears any moment.

“Are you okay? Please, come to your senses?”

“Here…”

“During the fight with the Blood Demon, you were injured. Cowardly, while fighting one-on-one, the elites of the Blood Demon Religion joined in….”

The boy wiped his tears with my sleeve. It seemed like his tear ducts were broken, exaggerating a bit.

His tears were flowing incessantly, making me worried as I watched.

“Fight… Injuries….”

“Ah, you shouldn’t move recklessly…!!”

The boy urgently stopped me as I tried to get up.

“Your internal injuries are severe, Death King! You must rest now! Your body is a complete mess… your bones are shattered, and your insides are tattered… just a moment ago, I was scared you might never open your eyes again!”

That moment.

“—Ugh?!”

Just as the boy said, a severe pain surged throughout my body. I tried to circulate my aura to check the condition of my body, but crunch! My meridian twisted. Crunch! It was the pain of a thorny club poking inside my blood vessels.

“Ugh, Khh…! Uh….”

“Ah. What should I do? How, how should I handle this? What to do?”

It hurts. I feel like dying. My eyes are getting dry. My cheeks feel cold. Sensation evaporates from my fingertips. Pain. Only pain remains. It felt as if someone was peeling off my skin, layer by layer, like peeling an orange.

There must be no human who can endure this pain.

Only because I have died enough to die.

“Ah.”

For a moment.

From beyond consciousness, a breathy voice fluttered.

“Really, what should I do…?”

Fade to black.

“…….”

I opened my eyes.

Again, it felt as though a long time had passed, yet it seemed like I had only sighed.

The difference from before I lost consciousness was that my mind felt somewhat clearer. And the boy, wearing an apron, was on his way with a tray of porridge.

“Ah, please have some. Gong-ja.”

“Ah.”

The Constellation fed me with an invisible spoon in an empty bowl.

The boy scooped up the porridge with a wooden spoon and fed me.

“…….”

Huh?

“How does it taste?”

The Constellation looked at me expressionlessly.

The girl smiled affectionately.

“I’ve made your favorite porridge on this rare occasion.”

The Constellation whispered softly.

The boy hesitated.

“Does it taste okay?”

“…….”

The scent of anchovies filled my mouth.

When I was sick as a child, the director would grate apples for me. Then, he would cook white rice porridge with small anchovies added. The grated apple tasted different from the usual apples, and the porridge tasted different from the usual as well. The bloated anchovies were tasteless, but if you kept chewing, they would crunch and sometimes taste subtly nutty.

“Yes. It’s delicious.”

“Haah, that’s a relief.”

The Constellation smiled, lifting the corners of his mouth.

The girl sighed in relief.

“It was a real crisis. I merely wished for an enemy to block Gong-ja’s path to appear, but suddenly a formidable enemy emerged. It seems Gong-ja believes that [if they are not that strong, they cannot block him] from the depths of his unconscious.”

“Yes?”

“Huh?”

The Constellation spoke casually.

The boy slightly tilted his head in confusion.

“I didn’t say anything just now, Gong-ja?”

“…….”

“Right. More importantly, why were you so angry at the Blood Demon? Even when attacked, you were composed, but suddenly became agitated at the mention of the Blood Demon Religion. Honestly, it surprised me a bit.”

“Oh.”

My mind was foggy.

“Because I am the Young Master of a place called the Demonic Cult…”

“Aha.”

“I place significance on the two words, Demonic Cult. I think it’s a name that should not be casually called. The thought of riffraff casually mentioning a group similar to the Demonic Cult makes my blood boil.”

“I see. I see.”

The Constellation rested his chin on his hand and gazed at me intently.

The girl nodded with attentive eyes.

“So to speak, that’s Gong-ja’s sore spot…?”

Hmm.

“I’m curious about this Demonic Cult. If it holds such a great meaning to you, there must have been someone precious. Would you tell me your story?”

…….

“Aha. You had a master. Named Seo Baek-hyang. Lonely, but clear, it seems like a fragrance that lingers at the tip of your nose.”

…….

“You’re in love with a person named Raviel Ivansia. Heh, is she that beautiful? Ah, I see. So, that’s why no matter how hard I tried, you never fell for any beauty tricks. How troublesome. Being in love with someone is the easiest and most powerful way. If someone is deeply engraved in your heart to this extent, twisting it will only have the opposite effect. How scary. How frightening. I must be careful.”

Huh.

“……Did I say something just now?”

“Yes? No.”

The Constellation gently caressed my cheek.

The boy gave a faint smile.

“Gong-ja, you haven’t said anything, have you?”

Is that so.

Indeed.

“But the existence of the Sword Emperor is a bit of a hindrance. Bae Hu-ryeong, huh. Having such a thing attached, it must have taken a long time to be captivated by my power. What to do…? Removing it will distance me too much from the current Gong-ja. No choice then. Yes. It’s a bit tiring, but I will take care of both of you.”

Whoosh!

An arrow flew before my eyes.

-Hey, Kim Zombie! What are you doing!

Bae Hu-ryeong shouted incredulously.

-Are you slacking off during a fight, thinking you’re some high-and-mighty expert who can afford to be careless!?

Ah.

Right.

Currently, we were raiding the stronghold of the Blood Demon Religion, during the midst of eradicating the enemy.

Because… somehow, I ended up attacking this place.

“Gong-ja!”

I turned my head towards the direction of the voice.

“Over here!”

The girl.

I had encountered her by chance in the forest fifteen days ago, and though she was once a Constellation, she had now lost all her powers, along with the Demonic Cults including the Thirteen Evils, residing on the 60th floor. In this stage, not only the Blood Demon Religion but also the God Demon Cult, White Demon Cult, and Mad Demon Cult, collectively referred to as the Four Demons, existed.

And.

They were all trying to kidnap this boy for their nefarious purposes.

Like the Magic Tower.

I had been bedridden a few days ago and was unable to prevent the girl from being kidnapped.

That was something I absolutely could not tolerate.

“Please help…!”

My eyes snapped open at the boy’s scream. Yes. What is there to hesitate about? Deep within this fortress, the girl is tied to a pillar with iron chains.

Whether she has lived for thousands of years or was a Constellation, the child is fragile now. A fragile being. Someone must protect her. That someone has become me.

“Yes. You awaken in such a manner.”

In the back of my mind. No, at the bottom of my consciousness. Perhaps from the highest skies, a distant voice echoed.

“What will you do now?”

“I will save the boy.”

I answered firmly. Answered? No, countless arrows flew at me from the fortress-like stronghold, and I struggled to fend them off one by one. Because, uh, because….

“You still haven’t fully recovered from the internal injuries you sustained in the fight with the Blood Demon. And yet, do you really intend to save the boy?”

“Yes.”

“Then the Blood Demon comes out and asks, [To think you plan to oppose us with a body no better than a rag, it’s beyond ridiculous. Are you seeking death?] It seems the Blood Demon was also injured in the last fierce battle, but look… around him, there are hundreds of trustworthy subordinates lined up….”

“…….”

“Ah. This can’t be happening. Eventually, one arrow flies and embeds itself in your thigh.”

Throbbing.

Pain surged from my thigh. It hurt. I almost fell to my knees.

“What will you do? Swing your sword again?”

The Constellation slowly stroked my thigh.

The boy sobbed, shouting my voice.

“…Yes.”

“Really? At this rate, you might really die, you know?”

The Constellation chuckled.

The boy burst into tears.

“Arrows continue to cover the sky, plunging down towards you.”

“I dodge them.”

“Yes, you are strong. Your aura is capable of covering the sky, blocking the rain of arrows. But at that moment, the internal injuries you had suffered flare up with excruciating pain.”

Crunch!

The pain of bones being torn apart surged through my body.

“Kugh.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Guh. Ugh! Damn, damn…!”

“I’ll ask again. Does it hurt?”

“Damn… these, bastards. Being so insolent. Shooting arrows.”

“One last question. Death King. Where, how, and how much does it hurt? Please answer. I would be pleased if you could.”

It’s tormenting.

“My body.”

As if, no.

Actually burning.

Now, when I should be resting and recuperating, my meridians and energy pathways are overused, pulling up aura beyond their limits, causing my body to burn from my own aura. Normally, the aura should first protect the bones, blood vessels, muscles, and nerves before being utilized. But in this situation, I have no capacity to protect myself.

“Ugh….”

My veins burst with fury, burning all my muscles as if lava was flowing out. The aura accumulated in the blood vessels, melting the bones into a mushy state.

“Oh, my.”

The Constellation reveled in my pain.

The girl cried out at the sight of my agony.

“How could this be…”

The breath was venomous.

“How can you imagine [pain] so vividly?”

“Ugh, hnn. Kugh…, ugh.”

“I merely mentioned getting hit by an arrow, Gong-ja. I simply presented the situation you would face if you came to save me after I was kidnapped. But how… how can you imagine it so vividly, to this extent?”

It seemed as though someone murmured, “Incredible.”

“Amazing. It’s as if, as if you’ve really experienced a [painful death]…? But that’s impossible. It can’t be. How can you imagine it? Have your bones melted before? Have your veins completely burned away? How do you know such pain, to reproduce it under my power like this…?”

I advanced, bearing the pain.

Arrows flew and embedded themselves in my shoulder and forearm. But I ignored them. Pulling up aura to its limits, I stepped forward and cut through the group from the Blood Demon Religion that had tied the child to the pillar.

“It’s certain…”

The Constellation reached out with both hands and grasped my cheeks.

The boy was sobbing, tightly bound to the pillar.

“You are indeed the person I’ve been waiting for thousands of years.”

Just a little more.

“For someone you’ve known for only a few days, you throw your life away, face pain worse than death, and not just in words or out of ignorance, but knowing what death and pain are, yet you still advance to the end…”

Just a little more.

“With you, I believe you could imagine any quest I set. If I say you are in danger of dying in the middle of the sea, you would actually be in the sea. You would drown. It’s completely different from those mediocre hunters who flatter—You would truly imagine every crisis, every pain, every death, as it is. I’ve been waiting only for someone like you to come.”

Finally.

My blade struck the Blood Demon.

Blood splattered.

“You are my third follower.”

[■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■.]

“I will create quests for you. I will continue the campaign. I will create a world where you can feel achievement and joy. I will become a god just for you. I only wish for one thing. That you, Gong-ja, believe in me.”

A bright smile illuminated beyond the blood.

“Will you believe in me?”

[■■■■ ■■ ■■■ invites you to faith.]

[Will you accept ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ as your Constellation?]

Darkness engulfed my vision.

****

Hi, The boy girl switch is intentional by author.

****