Chapter 26: A Night Without the Guilty (3)

“Ah... Agh.”

No longer having the strength to scream, Yoo-Jin just kept groaning weakly instead.

“Is that all you know?” asked Kwon Oh-Jin.

Yoo-Jin didn’t answer.

Kwon Oh-Jin looked down at the miserable Yoo-Jin and clicked his tongue.

Even if he does know more, there’s no way he can tell me anything in that condition.

Unlike his subordinate, who had confessed easily, Yoo-Jin refused to say a word until every part of him was covered in wounds.

No, it would be more accurate to say that regardless of his condition, he can’t reveal more.

“Maybe there’s some kind of seal on him.”

Every time Kwon Oh-Jin asked about key information regarding the Black Star Society, Yoo-Jin convulsed violently, foaming at the mouth as if he was having a seizure. In that state, there was no way Kwon Oh-Jin could get more information out of him no matter how hard he interrogated him.

I still got a few things out of him, though.

Kwon Oh-Jin learned that Yoo-Jin was a low-rank official serving someone called the Executor. He also managed to get the contact info of Ashad Khan, an officer who became an apostle of the Black Star on the same day as Yoo-Jin.

“This probably won’t be useful for now.”

He slipped the piece of paper with Ashad Khan’s contact into his pocket. Unless the Black Star Society started pursuing him like Yoo-Jin had, he found no need to get involved with them.

“Wait, hold on.”

Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes shone.

The Black Star Society was a shady organization with lunatics who raved about the Celestials of the Black Star ruling the world. They were a secret group growing in the shadows.

Kwon Oh-Jin smiled brightly.

I might be able to use this to my advantage. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Heavenly Demon, said to end the world in the future, emerged in such a suspicious group, right?

He laughed so hard that his shoulders shook. “

Hahaha!

”

If he wanted to keep his identity as the owner of the Black Heaven hidden, then all he had to do was frame someone as its owner and kill them.

“I’ve got a reason to get involved with the Black Star Society now.”

Their heinous organization would give birth to the Heavenly Demon. As a Regressor, Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t just sit back and let them be; he had to eliminate them to prevent the world from being destroyed.

“I’m not strong enough to do that yet, though.”

Kwon Oh-Jin smiled bitterly. If he hadn’t used Lee Woo-Hyuk, he wouldn’t even have stood a chance against Yoo-Jin.

“I figured they’d have a huge force, but this far exceeded my expectations.”

Even Yoo-Jin only seemed weak because he was up against Lee Woo-Hyuk. The average Awakener wouldn’t dare challenge someone of his caliber.

If a low-rank officer is already this strong...

He could hardly imagine how monstrous the mid-rank and high-rank officers were, not to mention the Executor.

Maybe...

Kwon Oh-Jin squinted.

He hadn’t seen them in person yet, so it was difficult to gauge their full strength, but the Executor and certain other Awakeners in their ranks could be on par with the Seven Stars, who were said to be the strongest in the world. If that were the case, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Black Star Society possessed enough power to flip the world upside down.

“

Tsk.

”

Kwon Oh-Jin looked down at Yoo-Jin, who was slowly losing consciousness. He wanted to extract more information, but with the seal in place, it didn’t seem possible.

“Time to wrap things up.”

He lifted the spear that he had laid on the ground. He had bought the cheap weapon from a shop near the association three days ago.

I have to upgrade my gear as soon as this is done.

He stabbed Yoo-Jin in the neck, causing him to cough up blood and shake violently.

“Kugh!”

Kwon Oh-Jin then electrified him to make sure he was dead.

Ptzzzzz!

“Let’s get started.”

Afterward, he checked if Yoo-Jin was carrying anything valuable. After some time, he let out a gasp of delight.

“Woah!”

Inside a black pouch, he found two high-grade Starstones, the same ones that he had received when trading the Astral Relic.

“Eureka!”

In a fit of excitement, he pulled at his own hair and leaped ten meters into the air.

The one I just sold was worth five billion won, so...

These two would be worth ten billion won. He had just made an insane fortune in an instant.

“

Heheh!

Nothing beats looting people.”

Kwon Oh-Jin packed the two Starstones, which had a soft blue glow, into his bag. He then took off Yoo-Jin’s underwear to see if he had anything else, but there was nothing left worth taking.

“Fuck. I scarred my eyes for no reason.”

He put Yoo-Jin’s underwear back on and looked away.

Time for the main course.

Reaching for the Stigma engraved on Yoo-Jin’s left chest, he noticed the six strokes marking it.

He was a six-star Awakaner, huh? No wonder he was so strong.

As Kwon Oh-Jin placed his hand over the Stigma and focused, a black cloud emerged from his fingertips.

Shhhh.

The cloud of the Black Heaven completely covered the Stigma and greedily devoured the power contained within it.

Ring!

[The Black Heaven is absorbing the Stigma of Owl Nebula.]

[All the conditions for the Black Heaven’s second enlightenment have been met!]

[The Black Heaven is undergoing its third enlightenment!]

His eyes widened as he read the blue system window.

The third enlightenment means—

“Argh!”

Rumble!

Black clouds swirled around and engulfed him entirely. Soon, he was hit with a painful headache.

[Through the Black Heaven, Kwon Oh-Jin is reading the record contained within the Stigma of Lyra.]

[The Black Heaven’s enlightenment is too low. The records Kwon Oh-Jin can read are limited.]

Kwon Oh-Jin once again witnessed fragments of memories that wasn’t his. This time, he found himself in a desolate land filled with burning smoke.

“Damn it!”

Lee Woo-Hyuk’s face contorted with rage as he looked at the hundreds of thousands of rampaging monsters.

In the distance, Seoul Station was now nothing more than a mangled ruin, trampled beyond recognition by the monsters.

“W-Why is this happening?”

Trembling faintly, Lee Woo-Hyuk clenched his fists.

“Woo-Hyuk,”

Lee Shin-Hyuk called as he placed his hand on Lee Woo-Hyuk’s shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“I’ll buy us some time. Go to Seon-Young.”

Lee Woo-Hyuk glared at his brother.

“What are you talking about? Why would you stay here?”

“Haha. I’ve gotten stronger, you know? I can hold them off for a while.”

“That’s not the point...”

“You like her, don’t you?”

“What?”

“You like Seon-Young.”

Lee Woo-Hyuk’s expression hardened.

Lee Shin-Hyuk lightly tapped him on the shoulder before raising his spear.

“Just go, you idiot. If things get bad, I’ll retreat too.”

“But...”

Lee Shin-Hyuk smiled faintly and started walking toward the swarm of monsters in Seoul Station.

"Go already."

The Stigma of Pyxis burned brightly on Lee Shin-Hyuk’s chest.

Lee Woo-Hyuk clenched his eyes shut. Steeling his resolve, he turned away and ran.

“Now then...”

Lee Shin-Hyuk took a deep breath, raising his spear toward the horde of monsters charging at him.

At that moment, a roar powerful enough to shake the very earth erupted.

Karaaaaa!

Boom!

An enormous monster, made entirely of grotesque masses of flesh, emerged from the debris of the collapsed Seoul Station. Standing at over twenty meters tall, it looked like the perfect embodiment of catastrophe. It broke everything around it with its eight arms, the basketball-sized black Starstone embedded in its forehead shining brightly with each movement.

“Damn it.”

Lee Shin-Hyuk nervously swallowed, his hand trembling slightly.

“If I’d known that something like this was sealed under the Seoul Station, I might’ve been able to stop it,”

Lee Shin-Hyuk said with regret.

The memories stopped playing right after.

“Ugh!”

Gasping for breath, Kwon Oh-Jin clutched his chest. As he tried to organize the memories that had flooded into his mind, another chime echoed in his ears.

Ring!

“What now?”

He looked at the blue system window that appeared before him.

[Some of Lee Shin-Hyuk’s records have been inherited.]

[Pyxis Spearmanship Lv5 has risen to Pyxis Spearmanship Lv6.]

[The Black Heaven has been promoted to three stars.]

[The Black Heaven has acquired the Eternal Convergence trait!]

“Eternal Convergence?”

Cocking his head in confusion, Kwon Oh-jin pressed on the part that said Eternal Convergence. A new window with the description of the trait popped up.

[Eternal Convergence: Kwon Oh-Jin’s proficiency in his main Stigma will affect his proficiency in other Stigmas as well.]

“Wow.”

Although the description was short, the effect of this trait left him in awe.

Does that mean increasing my proficiency in the Stigma of Lyra will increase my proficiency in other Stigmas too?

To confirm, he immediately used his newly earned Stigma of Owl Nebula.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

“This is nice.”

Even though it was his first time using the Stigma, he could freely create and shoot out a dozen or so black feathers.

I’m not as familiar with it as the Stigma of Lyra, though.

Given that he could obtain many more Stigmas in the future, having the ability to increase his proficiency in them without any additional effort was incredibly convenient.

“I can just focus on the Stigma of Lyra now.”

He could simply save the other Stigmas for the right situations.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

After taking one last look at Yoo-Jin’s corpse, Kwon Oh-Jin stood up.

The time had come to bring the play to an end.

“Haa.”

He took a short, nervous breath and created black feathers using the Stigma of Owl Nebula.

I don’t really want to do this, but oh well.

To receive the sweetest reward possible, he had to make it look as though he had suffered a considerable amount. For money, this was the least he could do.

Swoosh, swoosh!

“Argh!”

The black feathers flew toward and pierced into him. Some even came dangerously close to hitting vital areas. As Blood gushed out, excruciating pain surged through him.

“

Aaaargh!

Fucking shit!” he cursed out loud as he fell to the ground.

Soon after, he pulled out the radio that the association had issued him before they besieged the mountain.

—Oh-Jin, where are you? Oh-Jin?

Team Leader Han Jun-Man’s voice carried a sense of urgency.

—We just got word from the Valhalla Guild! One of the culprits has escaped!

“I caught him.”

—What?

Kwon Oh-Jin’s voice trembled. “I caught... the culprit...

Cough

!”

—O-Oh-Jin, are you alright?

“Agh...”

—Oh-Jin!

In sheer panic, Han Jun-Man began to shout through the radio.

“Jun-Man...”

—W-Where the hell are you?! Damn it! Hurry up and contact the Valhalla Guild!

“I... don’t feel so good...”

The radio cut off.