Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 65

65.

Burned.

The flames, like shimmering heat haze, engulfed the assassin from head to torso.

“Ugh, Uaaaaaaagh!”

The assassin thrashed.

His head was burning. His skin melted in the flames.

Seeing this, the other assassins stared at Loki and the burning assassin with horrified eyes.

They couldn’t believe the reality before them.

Even as the skin all over his body turned into a thick liquid, bubbling up like foam, bursting, and melting away, even as his flesh evaporated and dark red smoke rose, the assassin thrashed, still alive.

“Uaaagh! Kill me! Just k…ill-!”

The assassin screamed, rubbing his head against the floor.

The flames burned the assassin’s body but did not ignite his clothes or any other objects nearby.

It seemed to exist only to devour ‘life,’ sucking away the assassin’s vitality.

The strong spirit, trained to endure torture, instead brought eternal pain.

“…Didn’t you say you hated torture?”

At Aum’s question, Loki shook his head as if it were nothing.

“Yes, I hate it. I just killed that guy.”

*Killed him? When he’s begging for death like that?*

That was the thought in everyone’s mind in the banquet hall.

They swallowed hard, staring at the assassin.

The assassin, who had been screaming, eventually stopped thrashing. The rough breathing also disappeared. At the same time, the black flames slowly diminished.

The skin remained melted. The face was also melted, making it difficult to recognize, but the expression was a mixture of frustration and despair.

“See? He’s dead.”

Loki shrugged.

“I hate wasting time.”

The assassins lifted their hardened faces and looked up at Loki.

“But I have no intention of letting those who targeted my life go easily.”

Loki looked down at the assassins.

His crow mask gradually transformed into feathers, scattering in all directions.

Instead, black flames enveloped his body, and his appearance changed.

“……?!”

The skull of a goat, the appearance of a demon clad in jet-black armor and a fur cloak.

The moment he, whose whole body was burning with black flames, took a step, the flames disappeared as if they were a lie.

Only red eyes, filled with madness, glared at the assassins.

In an instant, the air grew heavy, and the atmosphere changed to the point where it was difficult to breathe.

The Constellation of Sin.

At Loki’s appearance, the Berserker warriors were startled, knelt down, and bowed their heads in unison.

“We behold the Constellation of Sin, Lord Loki!”

The assassins’ minds were paralyzed by the simultaneous shouts.

The Berserker warriors were trembling.

As assassins, they could read emotions to some extent just by looking at the other person’s movements. As such, they could tell that the Berserker warriors were trembling with ‘fear.’

*They’re colleagues… but they’re afraid?*

Sensing that, the assassins felt an unknown fear creeping in.

What was this demon that suddenly appeared before them, and why were they so afraid?

Besides, the Constellation of Sin!

What does it mean to be called a ‘Constellation’…? What is that…!

“I’m capricious.”

Just as the assassins were becoming anxious, they heard a chilling voice that sent shivers down their spines.

It was a thick, cracked voice.

“I have no intention of letting those who dared to target my life live, but I am willing to listen if you open your mouths. And…”

Loki looked down at each of the assassins with a haughty gaze.

“If it’s really good information, I might even let you go with all your limbs intact.”

“…….”

“Open your mouths. Then I will let you go safely.”

Loki leaned his face towards one of the assassins and said.

As if a demon was whispering sweetly, he met his gaze.

The skull of a goat, the dark red eyes, and the red smoke flowing from his mouth.

It was the very image of a demon from the Bible.

He even felt the illusion that his soul was leaving every time the demon inhaled.

The assassin who felt Loki’s breath trembled even more.

It was the first time in his life that he had been so afraid.

He didn’t care about his life, and he wasn’t even afraid of pain.

But… death from the person in front of him was strangely terrifying.

He couldn’t understand why.

The assassin slowly opened his mouth.

“…T, talk? We are the best assassins… We are not afraid of death….”

Loki’s eyes narrowed.

“Really? I see. You’re not afraid of death?”

His hand, like a hook, grabbed the assassin’s head.

“Then die.”

The assassin burst into flames.

Like the first assassin who burned to death, he writhed in pain and screamed.

The room echoed with wails, and the sound was clearly heard in the ears of the remaining assassins.

“I’ll say it again. I’m capricious! I like to talk. I will spare those who give me information.”

“…….”

Loki pointed to the assassin writhing in flames.

“Or you will suffer the same fate as this one.”

Loki looked around at the assassins.

“Three people.”

“…….”

“First come, first served. That’s the number of people I can show mercy to. If you add up all of you who have been caught, there are 116. Two of them are dead now. So…”

Loki looked at the assassins and said as if tempting them.

“Who will be the three who can survive unscathed?”

***

“Hmm….”

Loki made a meaningful sound and stroked his chin.

In his head, the words that the three assassins desperately shouted echoed.

-Duke! Duke Halloom ordered us to do it! ‘Eliminate the leader! Then the troops will be ours!’.

-Prince Ash gave us the authority!

-The nobles responded. They said it would be better to take advantage of it!

As soon as one person opened his mouth, everyone else opened their mouths without hesitation.

The assassins, unable to withstand the psychological pressure, spewed out even useless words.

*Prince Ash also agreed to this?*

How stupid is that guy?

Even though he witnessed the power of the Berserkers firsthand, he committed such a foolish act.

“What are you going to do?”

Aum asked Loki, who had returned to Hoon’s appearance.

Around Loki, there were gruesome corpses scattered.

The banquet hall was already filled with the stench of burning flesh, and Aum forcibly suppressed the urge to cover his nose.

Kudan bowed silently, looking at what used to be ‘people,’ and Cancoon closed his eyes tightly.

The Berserker warriors had been kneeling and bowing their heads to Loki since earlier, but sweat was dripping down their backs.

*…What? What’s going on? Why is Healer-nim [Mr. Healer, a respectful title] the Constellation of Sin…!*

*How would I know?! I don’t know what’s going on either! But the others seem to know?*

The Berserker warriors exchanged meaningful glances with each other.

Their unspoken conversation ended with Loki’s words.

“That’s enough.”

“Yes, shall we overturn it?”

At Loki’s words, Aum asked him what he was thinking.

They tried to assassinate them after he saved them?

They gave him enough justification.

Loki nodded and said one word.

“Overturn it.”

“I understand-.”

“But we don’t have to overturn it.”

“……?”

“…A small ‘example’ must be shown, mustn’t it?”

“…….”

“Aum, I want to eat your food for the first time in a while. I want to eat lavishly for the first time in a while.”

“Lavi…shly?”

Loki threw the assassin’s corpse in front of the Berserker warriors.

“You guys have to join in on my extravagance too.”

The Berserker warriors looked at each other and bowed their heads to Loki.

***

A luxurious bed.

Next to it were expensive spices worth as much as their weight in gold, and black curtains were drawn everywhere in the room to block the sunlight. A magic stone with red lighting was attached to the ceiling to illuminate the darkness.

On the bed, a pot-bellied middle-aged man was sprawled out, eating messily.

It was said that the castle was short of military rations, but he was an exception.

“Damn it, it doesn’t taste good. I miss the food I used to eat.”

At that moment, the sound of violent knocking on the door was heard.

Not just a simple knock.

It was a knock with all his might, as if he was in a hurry.

Duke Halloom’s face crumpled. He was angry that someone had disturbed his entertainment.

“What is it? Who is it!”

“Duke Halloom! Duke Halloom!”

A familiar voice.

Surely… it was the soldier guarding the door?

He didn’t remember the name, but he remembered the face and voice.

“You son of a bitch! Didn’t I tell you not to disturb me! Do I have to break your arms and legs for you to come to your senses!”

The soldier outside the door flinched at Duke Halloom’s roar. But he knocked on the door violently again and shouted.

“It’s urgent!”

“Urgent?”

Duke Halloom threw the door open with both hands.

“What’s going on?”

Duke Halloom glared at the soldier with a dissatisfied expression.

It was as if he would make him pay the price if it wasn’t urgent.

“Th, that is…!”

The soldier couldn’t continue speaking.

Duke Halloom, realizing that something unusual had happened, asked again.

“Could it be… that Western Ronia attacked?!”

“N, no. It’s not that….”

“Then what is it!”

At the roaring voice, the soldier swallowed hard and opened his mouth.

“Th, the foreigners who visited here yesterday…!”

“…Ah, I see.”

Duke Halloom shook his head as if he had been worried for nothing.

“What you’re trying to say is about that banquet hall, right? Didn’t I tell you yesterday? Don’t worry if you hear screams or someone running away from there.”

“Y, yes, of course. So I did as you said, but… that’s… this morning, in the front yard of that banquet hall…!”

“……?”

The soldier opened his mouth with a terrified expression.

“A large number of corpses….”

Duke Halloom’s eyes widened at the soldier’s words.

***

The central nobles in the palace moved quickly.

Behind them were 500 soldiers and about 30 knights.

“What’s all the commotion?”

“I heard there was a disturbance at the banquet hall last night…?”

“What happened? Duke Halloom?”

The central nobles asked Duke Halloom, and Duke Halloom, who received the question, shook his head while sweating.

In fact, he didn’t know how the current situation was going.

He was just gathering troops and going to the banquet hall after hearing the soldier’s words.

*Surely the assassination failed. Then there must be enormous damage to that side’s forces as well, so we must suppress them as quickly as possible. It will be troublesome if they join the Western forces!*

Duke Halloom imagined the worst possible conditions for what could happen.

If the Node people joined the West in a situation where they were already being pushed back… Eastern Ronia would have no future.

*We can’t afford to increase the number of enemies now! We must suppress them when we can!*

That’s why he was scraping together the available troops.

Even if the opponent was a warrior tribe called the strongest humans on the continent, they were drunk.

He heard that they came to the Roden territory after fighting, so they must be tired.

If they fought the assassins in such a terrible state, at least half of their forces would be incapacitated.

*But… corpses in the yard? What does that mean?*

He tried to recall what the soldier had stammered, but he couldn’t understand what it meant.

Corpses in the yard? Besides, they were assassinated, but they didn’t leave this territory?

Everything was full of questions.

“Duke Halloom!!”

Duke Halloom, the central nobles, and the troops behind them, who were walking quickly, stopped.

*Prince Ash?*

It was Prince Ash.

But… his face was full of anger, unlike before.

His face was distorted, and he was approaching Duke Halloom with eyes full of hostility.

The soldiers tried to block him, but Ash pushed the soldiers away with his hand and grabbed Duke Halloom by the collar.

“……?!”

Not only the central nobles but also the soldiers were all frozen.

The most surprised was Duke Halloom.

*What!*

Prince Ash, whom Duke Halloom had seen so far, was an incompetent, observant idiot, a veritable prodigal prince [a wasteful or recklessly extravagant person].

Such a person was now grabbing the collar of Duke Halloom, the pillar of Eastern Ronia, who was his only lifeline.

“Duke, what on earth have you done-!!”