1.

The declaration from Black Dragon Master that she intended to convert was no joke.

[You are recruiting a follower.]

[Black Dragon Master becomes your follower.]

[You can now bestow blessings and powers onto Black Dragon Master.]

Our contract was sealed merely with the exchange, “Will you really believe in me?” “Yes.” “Really?” “Yes, really, so just hurry up and make the contract.” That was the end of it. There were no other formalities.

Is it supposed to be this rushed normally?

“Woof. That can’t be right….”

[The Cat that Bit a Gold Coin] looked at us incredulously.

“It’s ridiculous to form a follower contract without even offering a skill card. You guys are strange.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Above all, a Constellation and a follower must trust each other. A follower needs to believe they won’t be stabbed in the back by the Constellation, and the Constellation needs to believe the follower won’t betray them. Moreover, a significant connection between them is required….”

I guess we belong to a unique case.

However, this felt normal to me. Not only Black Dragon Master but Crusader and Count had also easily agreed to become followers just like that.

“This isn’t normal at all. Meow. What kind of life have you been living?”

While the calico cat made a disgusted expression, the preparations were all finished.

The raid party assembled in the spacious garden of the communal dormitory. A total of 12 people. Kim Yul, Estelle, Uburka, Sylvia, and the Four Demon Lords were selected from among the vassals. The participants among my companions included Black Dragon Master, Heretic Questioner, Venomous Snake, and Crusader.

Including myself, there were 13 people.

That was the exact number to match 1:1 with the slaughter puppets of Constellation Killer.

“…We could pretty much end most worlds with just this lineup.”

Surveying the might of the raid party, Sylvia clicked her tongue.

Frankly speaking, Sylvia and the Four Demon Lords, including Crusader, weren’t skilled enough to confront Constellation Killer. However, they could certainly buy some time. While they held off, I would quickly eliminate the slaughter puppets and go to assist them.

“Constellation Killer is a foe capable of ravaging most world too. It can’t be helped. If they didn’t cowardly push with numbers, then I could have fought him fairly one-on-one.”

“Uhm, Family Head. If what I heard from Estelle, didn’t you also overpower the Devil King with numbers too?”

“Alright. Is everyone ready? Hey, Head Chamberlain Sylvia. Everyone else is ready to jump into battle, so why are you the only one slacking off? Hurry up and get ready.”

“Fuck. I’m really going to quit the Head Chamberlain position someday because it’s so dirty.”

Sylvia muttered as she stepped back.

I turned my gaze and looked down at the snake bracelet wrapped around my wrist.

“Hishmith Kritz.”

“Kieek.”

“Pinpoint the coordinates of Constellation Killer.”

The snake bracelet twitched its head and then slithered off my wrist. I felt its slimy touch wrap around the back of my hand as I walked over to Kim Yul.

Then I grabbed Kim Yul’s right hand.

[You temporarily transfer the ownership of ‘The Eye Living in the Labyrinth’ to Kim Yul.]

Slither.

The snake bracelet moved from my fingertips over to Kim Yul’s fingers.

“……Hmm.”

Kim Yul furrowed his brow slightly at the unfamiliar touch of snake scales.

“It feels odd. My chest feels a bit stuffy. Is this what it feels like to be surrounded by a Constellation?”

“Ah, yes. It’s like having the paper weight added to your breath.”

“That so. ……Has the Family Head always been carrying such burdens?”

“Once you get used to it, it’s surprisingly comfortable.”

Kim Yul just stared at me intensely without another word. Silence ensued. Only the snake bracelet on his wrist hissed quietly, repeatedly letting out low a soft sound.

[‘The Eye Living in the Labyrinth’ manifests its authority.]

[‘The Eye Living in the Labyrinth’ begins to search the sanctuary of Constellation Killer.]

[Searching in progress.]

I closed my lips. Could the snake bracelet really locate the sanctuary of Constellation Killer? It had assured us it was entirely possible, but I wondered if that was true.

The time it took for a single drop of candle wax to melt and drip had passed.

[Search complete.]

[‘The Eye Living in the Labyrinth’ has pinpointed the sanctuary of Constellation Killer.]

‘Good.’

I exhaled the breath I had been holding. Yet, it was too early to relax. The army aiming to siege the fortress had only just discovered its location.

“Don’t worry, Kim Gong-ja.”

Kim Yul broke the silence.

“The enemy does not anticipate our surprise attack. This operation will definitely succeed.”

“…Yes. But Constellation Killer is a hunter prepared for all eventualities. Even if unexpected, there likely is a manual for when his sanctuary is invaded.”

“There probably is. However, he would never have prepared for [an invasion by himself].”

Kim Yul took something out of his pocket.

A hair tie. Not the yellow rubber band handed him in mockery by the villains, but the hair tie I had gifted him when I accepted him as my vassal.

“Constellation Killer will undoubtedly hesitate for a moment. All we need is that moment of hesitation. If you need one second, I will buy you that second.”

Kim Yul tied his hair with the tie. Tens of thousands of strands of hair gathered into a single bundle. Seemingly resolved, Kim Yul muttered softly.

“Teleport.”

Flash!

A white light enveloped Kim Yul’s entire body. He disappeared into the light shortly after, and I began counting in my mind.

My lips twitched.

‘1 second.’

By now, Kim Yul would have arrived at the sanctuary of Constellation Killer.

‘2 seconds.’

Constellation Killer would have detected the intruder and immediately initiated interception.

A normal Constellation or hunter would be first shocked by the fact that their never-before-breached sanctuary was invaded. However, Constellation Killer wouldn’t. He would simply act according to the pre-set manual.

‘3 seconds.’

But the identity of the intruder was someone no manual could account for. Because it was himself.

Here, Constellation Killer would momentarily halt the interception to verify whether the intruder was indeed his exact double.

Therefore.

‘4 seconds.’

Kim Yul could keep the promise he made to me.

[Your Apostle earnestly calls for you.]

A voice echoed in my head.

I maximized my aura to stretch out my sense of time. Regardless of how my time flowed, the voice coming from the isolated underground 1st floor from all stages sounded solemnly.

[Your Apostle asks that you be with him at his location.]

[Will you descend?]

Faced with this new message, I did not hesitate. To inform the raid party waiting around that I was deploying, I deliberately shouted.

“Yes!”

A black shadow covered the top of my foot.

Under normal circumstances, I would have simply perceived it as ‘being enveloped in black light’. But in this severely extended moment, I could examine the details of the ‘black light’.

It resembled human hands.

Arms rose from the shadow. Fingers caught on the tip of my foot. Palms grasped my ankles. Arms painted in pitch black like noise crawled up innumerably.

‘…….’

There were countless hands, but for some reason, I could distinguish each anonymous arm. They were differentiated. They were the hands, the arms, of the people I had killed—- whose traumas I had glimpsed.

Among them was Kim Yul’s hand.

I reached out and grabbed his plea.

[You respond to the call of your Apostle.]

Countless palms crawled up and enveloped my entire body.

[Descending.]

And thus, I was transferred, buried in the black hands.

‘6 seconds.’

The next moment greeted me with a scene familiar, yet not.

It was a junkyard.

Outdated scraps of metal and emptied plastics were merely waiting for someone to pick them up. No one did, so the garbage piled up into mounds, all the way to the horizon.

Summoned from the sky, I plummeted down looking over the junkyard that stretched to the ends of the world.

[You have entered the sanctuary of Constellation Killer.]

The sunset was dazzling.

The glow of the setting sun struck past me and illuminated the junkyard on the ground.

‘7 seconds.’

Like the ancient ruins left in an old ruin’s city, the garbage was heaped into mounds. At the very top of those massive graves. Like an orange half-peeled and discarded, plastic bottles dangled loosely from their labels.

The labels, once blue, had faded to gray. The scrap metals were stripped of their coating, exposing the inner parts.

In that place where all colors faded and all metal degenerated, there were those who brandished silver iron swords, their silver hair fluttering about.

They all looked identical.

‘8 seconds.’

But they were not the same at all.

12 slaughter puppets charged towards a single human. They were in the middle of charging. They simultaneously sensed my presence and all at once, lifted their heads. My descent from the high skies met with 12 pairs of eyes.

I drew my holy sword.

‘9 seconds.’

And I muttered under my breath.

[‘The Sky That Gathers Screams’ calls its apostles and followers.]

[Several apostles respond to your call.]

[Several followers respond to your call.]

Pitch-black shadows formed around me, still descending from the sky.

[An apostle of ‘The Sky That Gathers Screams’ manifests.]

[A follower of ‘The Sky That Gathers Screams’ is summoned.]

There were eleven shadows.

Like fragments of a shattered meteor, we plummeted fiercely. The fierce wind grazed my cheeks.

Initially enveloped in pitch-black shadows, my allies, as they faced the wind, shed their blackness revealing their faces. Some blinked in wonder, some furrowed their brows against the strong headwind, and others grasped the hilts of their swords, looking down at the ground.

“—-Transfer!”

And Black Dragon Master used her ability without hesitation.

Black Dragon Master activated the Instant Transfer skill, collecting the scattered, falling allies one by one. She was a hunter with a keen sense of aura herself. Black Dragon Master wasted no seconds, linking the eleven members of the raid party from hand to hand.

“Kim Gong-ja!”

Black Dragon Master reached out to me last.

“Grab on!”

What was there to hesitate about?

I grabbed Black Dragon Master’s bare hand.

‘15 seconds.’

The next moment, we were on the ground.

Constellation Killer was taking a defensive stance due to our emergence.

But the time he was allowed was merely 6 seconds.

Initially, he deployed a net to attack Kim Yul alone, then changed its formation to intercept me, and finally had to adjust again to respond to the 13 invaders.

‘16 seconds.’

Three times, unanticipated situations successively hit him.

Three times, Constellation Killer was denied the time to adjust by us.

‘17 seconds.’

And we were not weak enough to fail to hunt a prey that had shown vulnerabilities three times.

Swishhhh!

My sword was the first to slice through a slaughter puppet. It was the one closest to Kim Yul. With one strike, two strikes, three strikes, I sent sword paths in three directions, dismembering the limbs of the slaughter puppet.

“Urghhhhhh!”

Following me, the next to swing weapon was Uburka. Uburka swung his axe, severing both legs of another slaughter puppet in one swoop.

Under normal circumstances, Constellation Killer would have engaged Uburka in an evenly matched battle. However, Black Dragon Master’s transfer was a surprise attack. Constellation Killer fell without being able to assume a proper stance.

The fight that started as 13:13 quickly changed to 13:11. (ED: If you are confused by the earlier mention of “12 against 1” and now its “13 against one,” note that the Main Constellation Killer is not included in the earlier group of 12 and is likely commanding those 12 puppets.)

“I see.”

One of the Constellation Killers among the slaughter puppets muttered.

“Screaming Sky. Are you a prophet?”

The balance of the fight rapidly tipped.

The remaining 11 slaughter puppets were forced to scatter and fight us individually. Uburka and Kim Yul joined forces to slay another puppet.

13:10.

“Did you foresee my plan to seal you and attacked this place first?”

“No. I am not a prophet. I am a regressor.”

Kim Yul, Uburka, and Sylvia teamed up and charged at a new puppet. By this point, the slaughter puppets had barely managed to regain their composure. Clashes began to erupt everywhere. The sharp cries of Black Dragon Master and the spirited shouts of Crusader tore through the sunset.

“A regressor? Impossible. I anticipated that you might be a time manipulator and prepared almost perfect countermeasures.”

“If I had been alone, it would have been perfect.”

I charged at Constellation Killer.

Seeing me rapidly approaching, Constellation Killer bit his lip momentarily.

What calculations were being made in his head right now? How quickly was he reviewing the numbers?

I had no way of knowing what was in his mind.

But I clearly heard the voice that Constellation Killer uttered as he opened his lips.

“I discard the memories of the past 29 days.”

*****

ED: Phew! Finally done! Enjoy! ???? P.S. Only 24 chapters left until completion.

*****