Chapter 46 - A Miracle Occurs

Slice away flesh bit by bit. Sever nerves strand by strand. Force the blood throughout the body to flow backward. Turn the organs inside out. Even after suffering pain worse than death, the victim would not actually die. That, Limon said languidly, was the art of torture the Seven Dragons Society had elevated beyond mere technique. Its psionics surpassed any other supernatural power when it came to exploring the human body and mind.

'Th-this man...' Park Hyeon-gun shuddered even as pain left him frothing at the mouth. It was not because False God's Renown, his unique skill specialized in lies, told him Limon was speaking the truth. He simply knew the moment he saw those languid golden eyes, gazing at him as though he were an insect thrashing on a pin.

The true nature of that languor was neither fatigue nor boredom. It was the weariness of someone who had killed and killed and killed, until killing had become not merely tiresome but a nuisance. And so Park realized, almost miraculously, what the Sword Master truly was beneath his reputation as a hero.

THUD!

"Grrrgh!?" "Who said you could let your mind wander?" A sudden kick to the anus struck Park like a bolt of lightning and drove every thought from his head. Limon spoke as he worked his sword through Park's spine.

"Remember this." It was advice more than a warning—a declaration meant to extinguish whatever hope Park might still have. "You don't have time to escape reality anymore." Regret, remorse, atonement, brooding, unconsciousness, madness—none of it would be allowed him. There was only one thing he would be able to feel. "For the next four days, all you'll be able to do is beg me to kill you."

Limon moved his sword as he spoke languidly. As the blade tore through his body, Park tried to think, to believe, to give up. This was all a dream. Reality would be waiting when he opened his eyes. He tried to let his mind slip away, to separate his consciousness from his body and escape the pain. But as Limon had declared, he did not even give Park the chance to go mad. With precise movements of his blade, he stimulated Park's pain nerves to keep him forcibly lucid while slicing through his body cell by cell.

In that agony, Park despaired. And he longed for someone—anyone—to save him... No, even a merciful death would do. If someone would only grant him that, he would pay any price, no matter who they were or what they wanted. At that very moment, a miracle occurred.

[The constellation contracted to you responds to your desperate plea.]

[The constellation contracted to you proposes a renewal of your contract. If you agree, you can gain the power to escape your current predicament.]

[Do you accept the contract renewal?]

'What is this...?' It was a truly strange system message. Park had seen plenty of system messages as a high-level player, but this was the first time a constellation had offered to renew his contract. He had never even heard a rumor of anything similar in all the information he'd gathered while running the Infinity Guild. Ordinarily, he would have been suspicious. He had deceived countless people on his way to the top; unexpected good fortune was not something he readily trusted.

But now he had lost everything and faced a horrific death. Pain, despair, and fear had already robbed him of his judgment. He had no room to doubt the message. Like a drowning man clutching at a straw, he blurted out his answer. "I-I accept! I'll renew the contract!"

THUMP.

The moment he shouted it, Park felt it clearly. A hole opened in the laws of the world, and a brilliantly shining star descended toward him. The closer it came, the more immense the power enveloping him became. Caught in a storm of power greater than anything he had felt even when he stole Lee Cheon-gi's abilities and used dozens of skills at once, he understood. Even a Monarch revered as an absolute being was ultimately only human, nothing beside a truly transcendent existence. And that great being was approaching him now, ready to lend him its power without reserve.

'The constellation didn't ignore all my hard work after all!' Park rejoiced. His prayer had been heard. With this overwhelming power, he could not only escape death but kill Lee Cheon-gi and Limon and take the Infinity Guild for himself. Above all, despite the bullshit that filthy old monster had spouted, his efforts had finally been rewarded. That belief sent his despairing heart pounding with joy.

Smiling in rapture, Park offered worship filled with the deepest respect and reverence. The moment he accepted the constellation's light—

CRUNCH.

CRACK. CRUNCH.

GUUUUULP.

The star swallowed him.

* * *

'What?' When Park suddenly shouted that he would renew his contract, Lee Cheon-gi thought he had finally gone mad. It was common enough for a cornered man to lose his mind. But now Lee had to admit he had been wrong.

THUD!

Until moments ago, Park could only writhe like an insect, impaled on the sword and unable to control his own body after overheating. Then he sprang up and kicked Limon. But that was not why Lee changed his mind. Nor was it because Park's waist, nearly split in half by the strain of moving while impaled, healed in the blink of an eye. Nor was it the sudden explosion of power that made Lee's whole body tingle just from sharing the same space with him. It was the atmosphere around him. He was unmistakably Park Hyeon-gun, yet looking at him felt like seeing something else wearing the same face. A dreadful sense of wrongness, as though Lee were gazing into an abyss he should never have seen; a sickening revulsion, as though merely facing Park were scraping away his soul. It twisted the face of a man who had remained composed even when False God's Renown stole his abilities.

'What in the world...?' Perhaps Park sensed his gaze. He abruptly turned his head ninety degrees to look at Lee. Their eyes met, and Lee stepped back before he knew it. What he felt then was a fear unlike anything he had known even when facing death. It had nothing to do with how strong or dangerous Park was. A visceral terror gripped his heart, as though something made of insects, filth, and entrails were licking his cheek.

SPLIT.

Park looked at Lee and smiled. His lips stretched so wide that the corners of his mouth tore, letting drops of blood escape. He slid out his tongue, licked them away, and sneered. The revolting smile made Lee's mind reel. He wanted to look away at once, erase that hideous smile from his memory, flee this place and pretend none of it had ever happened. But it was no use. Whether he shut his eyes or ran, he could never forget the sight already burned into his retinas.

Then came a realization. Ah. Yes, of course. If the image was burned into his eyes, he could pluck them out. If his brain remembered, he could dig it out. If his organs turned inside out, he could pull them out. That was the perfect answer. To put the only way to escape this horrible feeling into practice, Lee Cheon-gi...

"Wave Cannon."

BOOM!

He fired an invisible wave. Perhaps because the abilities stolen by False God's Renown had not yet returned, the skill was pitifully weak compared with its usual power. But Park seemed not to have anticipated the attack. Caught off guard, he took the wave full-on and was hurled backward. Perhaps sending Park flying had helped. The intrusive thoughts eating into Lee's mind faded, and he could finally think clearly again. Yet an unpleasant sensation lingered, as though his brain had been dipped in pig fat. Lee gritted his teeth.

"What did you do?" It was no mental skill. The horrible sensation of falling into chaos merely by facing Park—an encroachment as inexorable as gravity pulling something to the ground—made Lee certain. "No. What have you become?" Park merely looked human. He had already become something else.

But the thing that had once been Park Hyeon-gun gave no answer. It merely stared at Lee with gleaming eyes, seemingly displeased that a mere human had defied it, and extended a hand. "Wave. Can. Non."

BOOOOM!

"...!" Lee's eyes widened. It was not because his own skill had been turned back on him at greater than its original power. When he saw Park extend his hand, he had reflexively activated Spatial Transfer. But the moment their eyes met, the skill failed. Instead of crossing space, Lee found himself frozen in place, as though invisible snakes had bound his entire body. Unable to dodge in time, he was about to be engulfed by an invisible wave powerful enough to crush a human body with ease.

SLASH.

A flash of sword light cut through the air. The invisible wave split apart, and the bonds holding Lee fell away. Yet despite escaping danger, Lee could not relax. If anything, he looked more unnerved. It was not simply because Limon, who had stepped back after parrying the transformed Park's surprise attack, had somehow appeared in front of him. Nor was it the overwhelming pressure, like a blade held to his throat, that Lee had never felt even in his desperate fight against Limon.

Limon wore a smile as bright as though he had received a surprise gift—or won the lottery. But his eyes were frozen cold, without a trace of warmth, a black gleam flickering in them. The contrast sent chills down Lee's spine.

"Well, I'll be... Live a good life and luck like this comes your way." Lee could not understand it. No one could. The blood debt Limon had long awaited would now have to wait, yet he was delighted. "I was already wondering if I should settle the blood debt like this."

At any other time, Limon would have been furious—especially since a constellation had clearly interfered with Park despite his warning not to meddle in his revenge. But there was one reason he was delighted instead. He had seen it: the unmistakable form of the constellation that fell from the sky and swallowed Park the moment he accepted the contract.

"Thanks so fucking much for showing up right in front of me, you snake bastard." The constellation that had contracted with Yu Na-gyeong. The being that, when she died, had mocked her death and tried to steal something like an orb of light from her corpse. The very thing that had first made Limon wary of constellations. Looking at the Serpent That Connects the Ends, Limon smiled coldly.