episode_0037

The Grand Duke of the Heavenly Star and the Celestial Killing Star.

The strongest knight in the kingdom, having received the power of stars that govern ill fortune and death, aimed his Holy Spear.

What resided at the tip of Roland’s eerily gleaming spear blade was, without a doubt, the ‘fate of death.’

A deadly resolve to strike me down by any means.

And the fatal prophecy illuminated by the ‘Star of Death,’ blessing that very resolve.

“…”

When I realized, a star was shining in the sky above.

A night sky that shouldn’t be visible or exist within the , and a lone, pale star shining above its veil.

─It was the Death Omen Star.

A sign of ill fortune and disaster, said to be seen by those fated to die soon.

I knew the explanation and effects of that ability. Yet, an overwhelming pressure descended upon me, incomparable to seeing it as mere in-game text. It was a feeling I experienced for the first time.

“You can see the star.”

“…”

The Star Knight said in a cold voice.

I said nothing. The conversation ended there.

The distance closed. In front of the surging Roland, I once again stretched the distance between us as if pulling a rubber band.

Like Achilles and the tortoise. The man, whose fame rivaled that of the true Achilles, continuously closed the widening distance to catch me.

To reach the end of the Infinite Corridor, which is, literally, forever unreachable.

I knew. This was not a battle that would end by running away.

“ .”

A black mist that combined negative effects, such as curses continuously accumulating within the area and restricting movement.

A golden knight surged forth from within that very mist.

*Whoosh!*

The tip of the spear blade gleamed sharply right before my eyes. A blade barrier deflected the spear tip, and the wind that swept past my hair was tinged with the scent of ill fortune and death.

Each time Roland’s spear traced a trajectory, imbued with deadly resolve and guided by fatal prophecy, a wind pressure emanated from within its path.

At first, I thought it was just wind pressure from swinging the spear. But the wind didn’t stop there; it became a new current, swallowing the air in the entire area.

As if the entire world desired my death, it became an irresistible current of fate─.

It was proof of how foolish it was to gauge this world with mere in-game knowledge.

A bleeding truth that could not be understood through a few lines of text and information seen beyond a monitor.

Furthermore, that truth taught me another fact.

This was the world that ‘Rain Grey,’ whom I did not know, had lived his entire life in.

He had survived even when facing monstrously strong individuals like Lord Roland, who could even use the power of the stars to wish for an enemy’s death, making all of them his enemies.

Without hesitating to be called the world’s enemy.

─Now, I was Rain Grey.

Whether it was his wish, or something even he couldn’t have foreseen, either way was fine.

The place I stood was in the middle of the path he had walked, a path that had already defied the world and fate since he began walking it.

Casually, I realized that the black coat I was wearing was also the 《Black Serpent’s Uniform》.

My mind became strangely calm. Even the death prophecy whispered by the stars in my ears, and the powerful Celestial Lord shining like a divine spirit in the sky above, felt strangely unsurprising.

Because I had already lived my entire life like that.

‘My entire life?’

Before I could even tilt my head in that brief moment of discomfort, the Holy Spear once again shot through the black mist, its edge gleaming. The blades of the blocked the Holy Spear as it pressed close to my face, switching from autonomous offense to defensive posture and focusing on protecting me.

Roland’s Holy Spear and the curtain of blades clashed, and I was no different.

Along with , Rain Grey’s body was by no means that of an ordinary mage. The movements of that body were more than sufficient to contend with Lord Roland within the curtain of blades.

In that state, I extended my arm. From my fingertips, a purple ray of light traced a straight trajectory without even a momentary preparatory motion.

A killing magic that activated instantly and shot forth at the speed of light.

.

It wouldn’t hit. Even with what emanated from my fingertips, a skilled knight like Roland would have more than enough time to evade it.

But what I wanted was something else.

“ .”

I murmured again. With that name, magic surged beside me, mimicking my form, and the mimicry didn’t stop at just the form.

From the mimic’s fingertips, a purple ray of light shot forth. And this time, it was different.

I opened a spatial rift, which could be freely manipulated in the , and inserted the straight-shooting ray of light into it.

Then, when the appeared from Roland’s blind spot as if a portal opened, it was impossible for even Roland to evade the death ray shooting forth at the speed of light.

It hit.

It wasn’t the end. As a man beloved by the stars, the stars’ protection and blessings guarding him could not be pierced so easily.

Yet, that was enough.

Because it had worked.

What remained was to relentlessly target the same weakness.

“─.”

He revealed an attack that even he could not avoid. At that point, Lord Roland readjusted his spear blade and intensified his assault. He couldn’t allow himself to be dealt with in the same way.

The blade barrier protecting me clashed with Roland’s Holy Spear.

With each clash, they interlocked several times, and then the Holy Spear glowed and emitted a wave.

For the golden flash, emitted in a fan shape, to engulf anything blocking its path.

However, by manipulating the ‘phase information’ at the level of a few centimeters precisely beneath my feet, it never reached me.

In the same manner, I manipulated the phase information to erase the Death Omen Star in the night sky above. Because it was an eyesore.

This was within the barrier I had erected, and it was my domain.

“You…”

Only then did Lord Roland finally compose himself and open his mouth towards me.

“Are you really human?”

“…”

I asked back.

“Why do you think that?”

Roland spoke as if dumbfounded.

“…Because you’re not like a human.”

It was a profoundly significant remark in many ways. I didn’t bother to answer.

Amidst the silence, there was one strangely unsettling incongruity.

The more I fought Roland, the faster I grew accustomed and proficient in combat as a mage.

No, it was closer to ‘naturalness’ that couldn’t be explained by saying my learning speed was fast.

As if my body remembered.

So I silently concentrated my awareness. To read the memories etched into my body, as if tracing Braille.

And─.

“ .”

While reading the Braille at my fingertips, I unconsciously uttered it aloud.

Original Sin’s, Garden.

With the pronunciation─ another domain spread over the already established barrier, overlaying the entire area.

“─.”

Simultaneously, my internal mana began to deplete at a speed incomparable to any magic I’d used before, as if a dam had burst.

Only then did I realize that what I had uttered was ‘some kind of magic name.’

Just as I had cast spells by speaking and uttering the magic I remembered until now.

Yet, I had never heard the name of that magic before. Furthermore, judging by the amount of mana consumed, it was certainly no ordinary magic.

*Snap.*

That was the moment. Within the that spread outwards from beneath my feet, everything before my eyes turned pitch black, as if a light had been extinguished.

I couldn’t see anything. Therefore, I tried hard to hide my bewilderment and focused my awareness.

To observe the movements of an opponent I hadn’t yet defeated.

But there was no need.

My vision, which had turned impossibly dark, returned once again. As if a switch had been flipped, turning a light back on.

When it returned, I silently gasped at the sight before my eyes.

Before me─ Lord Roland was dead.

Instant death.

“…”

I couldn’t say anything.

He had died in the blink of an eye, literally. Without a trace of resistance, unable to scream or struggle. When I realized, he was already dead.

The strongest man in the kingdom, once called the Divine Spear.

The opponent who had been alive, conversing, and fighting just moments ago was dead, without a word or scream, simply by my opening and closing my eyes.

Truly, in the mere blink of an eye.

I wasn’t even allowed to know what had happened or what events had transpired in that brief interim.

As if mocking me, who had believed I had understood ‘Rain Grey’ even a little, and grown accustomed to his fighting style.

In an unknown world where I could discern nothing, the opponent with whom I had fought a fierce battle with my utmost resolve and determination was, upon realization, dead. Without even a squeak.

In a mere instant that could not even be called a fight.

As if proclaiming, ‘This is the true strength of Rain Grey, the leader of the 《Black Serpent》─’.

“…”

The night sky that shouldn’t have been visible was gone. The Death Omen Star, shining alone in the night sky, was also gone.

As if, from the very beginning, the one whose fate the ‘Star of Death’ foretold had been someone else.

In that state, I silently gazed at my hands. When I tried to move them, my five fingers moved freely as I willed.

My two legs were the same.

This was my body.

So I moved my legs. Towards him, who had been conversing and fighting fiercely just moments ago, only to die instantly in the blink of an eye.

Silently, I took the ‘Holy Spear’ from his hand.

A map and a key leading to the heroes’ tombs.

With this, I had achieved my objective.

Having finished what I had to do, I deactivated the barrier.

To step out into the scene that would now be waiting for me.