Chapter 41 – Avalokiteśvara

“Who… am I?”

Thanks to <Zombification>, Hans, who had been resurrected as a zombie, had lost all his memories from his lifetime.

“King… must kill.”

All that remained was endless hatred and resentment towards the king who had executed his family. That emotion alone dominated his body.

It was sufficient Achievement for a new Skill to Bloom.

[Conditions met. General Skill <???> Blooms into <Killing Intent>.]

Fortunately, the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword had transformed into a spiritual state when Hans died, taking root in his corpse, so it was still in his hand.

However, due to the previous assassination attempt, the king’s security had been strengthened, making it extremely difficult to kill the king now.

In the original history, Hans was able to kill the king because he was merely a Serf, and his method of killing was also a Stealthy Curse.

If he tried to kill the king head-on while wielding the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword, failure was inevitable.

Lee Hanseong, who had been watching Hans’s situation with anxious eyes, suddenly felt a sense of incongruity.

‘No, something’s strange.’

Perhaps not on Earth, but in this Otherworld, a world where magic, mystery, and the Miracles of transcendent Constellations coexisted…

Shouldn’t the king of such a world naturally have countermeasures against Curses as well?

Keeping that fact in mind, when he observed the Connection Points between the king and the knights protecting him, he could clearly tell something was amiss.

‘This is…!’

Originally, for a relationship like that between a king and his knights, there should naturally be thickly connected Connection Points.

But more than half of the Royal knights already had Connection Points directed not towards the king, but elsewhere.

Their loyalty was not directed at the king.

‘Ha, so that’s how it was.’

From the beginning, because most of the escort knights desired the king’s death, Hans was able to kill the king with a Curse.

No, even now, the situation wasn’t much different.

Even if Hans attacked head-on with the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword, they wouldn’t move.

“We will go check the surroundings to see if the rebel has any accomplices.”

Moreover, right on cue, the knights loyal to the king even left their posts under the pretext of searching for Hans’s non-existent accomplices.

[You have discerned the conspiracy hidden behind the king’s death.]

[Conditions met. Rare Skill <Insight> Blooms.]

In this situation, it wasn’t impossible for Hans to kill the king either.

Lee Hanseong, who had been watching Hans’s story with fascinated eyes as if watching a movie, checked Hyu’s new Rare Skill, then briefly opened a Spatial Connection passage to the marketplace of the city Lanfel.

Using the Black shadow envoy, he stole small amounts of snacks like popcorn and chicken skewers from street stalls.

“Let’s eat while we watch.”

“Thank you. Yum.”

Mirinae’s Projection, who had formed a physical body using Black Shadow Manipulation Art just like before, now held popcorn in her arms and ate it using the Black shadow envoy.

Watching this, a fatherly smile formed at the corner of Lee Hanseong’s mouth.

“Aren’t you going to eat, Steward?”

“Ah, I should eat.”

Holding a skewer, he shared bites with Mirinae and focused again on Hans’s footage.

Just then, it was the moment zombie Hans encountered a Royal knight.

“You should be dead… Hmm. A Zombie?”

“King… kill.”

The knight, who had discerned Hans’s state through smell, glanced around, then promptly took a step to the side.

“Right. I won’t stop you. Please kill that tyrant.”

At the knight’s response of pretending not to see and letting him pass, Hans tilted his head in confusion, then disregarded the knight and entered the room where the king was staying.

The king was asleep.

Whoosh!

Upon seeing the king’s face, Hans’s Killing Intent intensified even more, and Heaven-Slaying Gang Qi, resembling pitch-black flames, bloomed upon the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword.

The king, reacting to the Killing Intent, opened his eyes wide.

“……?!”

“Gyaaah!”

Thud!

But by the time the king reacted, the Heaven-Slaying Gang Qi was already about to pierce his heart.

‘I must activate the protective barrier…!’

He hurriedly tried to activate his last resort, a protective barrier magic tool, but the magic tool had already been swapped for a fake by the hands of the betraying knight.

He couldn’t avoid the outcome of having his chest pierced by the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword.

“Kuh-hack…!”

Coughing up blood, his gaze gradually dimming, the king died in vain, wondering why the protective barrier hadn’t activated.

Normally, the moment the object of his resentment died, the will that had been moving Hans’s zombified body should have disappeared as well.

However.

Zzzt!

The moment he killed the king, Hans’s body, sensing an intense Killing Intent from behind, instinctively filled the void left by the vanished Killing Intent directed at the king with Heaven-Slaying Gang Qi.

Taat!

The energy at the peak of Killing Intent was precisely Heaven-Slaying Gang Qi.

As Heaven-Slaying Gang Qi flowed into his body, Hans evaded the spot at a speed far surpassing his previous limits.

For Hans, who had transformed into an Undead using Killing Intent as power, Heaven-Slaying Gang Qi was no different from a panacea.

Crunch!

Belatedly, the knight’s sword fell where he had been standing.

A strange light appeared in the eyes of the knight who had missed his target.

He dodged that?

“As expected, it’s the power of that sword.”

The knight had already taken note of the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword’s special nature, so he wasn’t greatly flustered by Hans’s evasion and immediately continued his chain of attacks.

Clang, clang!

Hans’s speed, amplified by accepting Heaven-Slaying Gang Qi, was threatening, but the knight’s Swordsmanship was originally meant for dealing with Monsters stronger than himself.

The knight, with an experienced stance and momentum, steadily tried to restrict Hans’s movements.

“Grrrr.”

But Hans wasn’t easily baited by the knight’s momentum.

Because explosive changes due to the Heaven-Slaying Gang Qi were underway within his body.

Sssss—

The penetrating wound in his chest that had made him a corpse was healing.

A regenerative power not seen in ordinary Zombies.

What that meant was clear.

“He mutated into a mutant?”

Hans’s corpse, strengthened from a 1-Star Zombie level to a 2-Star Zombie Mutant level.

Sensing danger from this change, the knight no longer held back.

Slash! Schwaak!

A blade shot forth on a trajectory to behead Hans.

His intention was to quickly settle things, even if it meant taking risks.

Zzzeeong!

But the knight’s blade was blocked by the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword.

Thanks to Hans’s changes finally reaching the final stage.

Bulge, bulge.

The flesh inside Hans’s forehead twisted, forming a strange crown shape.

Perhaps because of the crown, the light of reason had returned to Hans’s eyes.

“Why are you trying to kill me? You also asked me to kill the king.”

“……”

Whether the memories from when he had lost his reason remained was questionable from his expression, but the knight didn’t respond.

Instead, thinking he must definitely eliminate Hans who knew of his betrayal, he only spurred on his attacks more fiercely.

Clang! Clang!

But even under the knight’s offensive, Hans didn’t die easily.

He still didn’t know Swordsmanship, but having accepted Heaven-Slaying Gang Qi, the connection between his body and the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword had grown even more solid.

The ultimate Sword Qi engraved upon the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword was gradually melting into Hans’s body as well.

Grind.

The knight gritted his teeth as he watched Hans, whose Swordsmanship level rapidly increased with each clash of their swords.

A growth speed closer to recalling something forgotten rather than learning something new.

If this continued, the one who would die was him.

“You’re not answering. Then, you die too.”

Swish, kagak! Thud!

Heaven-Slaying Gang Qi, wrapping around and deflecting the knight’s sword whose Concentration had wavered momentarily due to jealousy and a sense of crisis.

The Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword thrusting into the knight’s exposed neck.

The knight’s eyes widened.

“……!”

Hans indifferently looked down at the knight, whose resentful eyes seemed unable to accept death, and pulled out his sword.

Schwaak. Thud.

Blood splattered as the knight’s body collapsed to the floor.

But the king’s knight wasn’t the only one.

Zzzt, zzzt!

Sensing the Killing Intent swarming towards the king’s bedroom, Hans chose to flee.

He jumped out the window and hid his body in the night.

For now, he intended to leave the village.

Hans’s history came to a temporary end there.

[Feat, ‘Knight Kill’ achieved.]

[The Heavenly Slaughter Constellation records Hans’s Feat and Altered history.]

[Second Awakening Skill 《Sword Unification》 Blooms.]

[Hans’s Two-star promotion is completed.]

Pat.

The next moment, Hans’s Light point faded, and the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword he had been holding returned to Lee Hanseong’s hand, having taken root in Hyu’s body.

[Rare Skill <???> reacts.]

At that moment, a certain Skill showed signs of Blooming.

The process of the Heaven-Slaying Demon Sword entering Hans’s hand and returning again was awakening one of the Great thief’s Skills.

“Probably, once I receive all the other Legendary Equipment, the Skill will Bloom.”

“Mmm!”

Mirinae, her mouth full of snacks, couldn’t speak properly and mumbled while nodding her head.

Seeing this, Lee Hanseong smiled faintly and checked the footage of another Light point.

Unlike Hans, the other Spirits had no particularly perilous parts, so he could watch with peace of mind.

* * *

In the case of the Herbalist Blundell Violet, the Starting Point of his Historical Alteration was already the moment the villagers ingested the poisonous herbs he had gifted.

Having already reached 2-Star and gaining access to his Awakening Skill, which was the Deadly Poison Zone meant for slaughter, there was no way to save the villagers.

Before him in such a situation, the Dark Heart appeared.

“This is…?”

The moment he held the Dark Heart, Resonance occurred, and he learned what he could do with the heart.

A sliver of hope rose.

“Using the <Dark Hole> that absorbs Starlight to absorb the poison that entered the villagers’ bodies…! Impossible.”

Dark Hole’s attractive force was sufficient to extract the poison they had ingested before they died.

If only that poison were poison mixed with Starlight.

“Then, if I spread the Deadly Poison Zone to intoxicate them with both ordinary poison and Starlight poison, and then deploy Dark Hole…?”

He wasn’t certain.

But believing in the possibility, Blundell tested his hypothesis.

《Deadly Poison Zone》

Sssssssss!

Deadly poison mist spread out centered on Blundell.

However, unlike when it was his Vocation Awakening Skill, now that it was a General Awakening Skill, he could control the deadly poison mist, allowing him to distinguish friend from foe.

Sssss.

He poured the deadly poison mist into the bodies of the intoxicated villagers and wrapped the poison from the poisonous herbs gnawing at them with the deadly poison mist.

To mix the deadly poison mist and the herb’s poison into one while ensuring the deadly poison attacked the villagers as little as possible.

“Please…!”

The villagers’ complexions had already turned pale blue, so there was almost no time left.

He immediately activated Dark Hole and drew in the deadly poison mist.

Shoowaaaak!

The deadly poison mist and the herb’s poison rushed into the interior of the Dark Heart.

Confirming the villagers’ complexions easing, Blundell smiled.

He did so even knowing that if he made a single mistake with the poison he had gathered, his own life could be in danger.

“Ugh. What on earth…? We clearly shared and ate the herbs Blundell gave…”

“Blundell, you bastard…! After all we did for you!”

But the gazes of the villagers who regained their senses as the intoxication lifted were cold.

Because they thought Blundell had tried to poison them.

“Kuh-hack.”

He tried to explain, but coughing up blood from the stabbing pain of the poison in his chest, Blundell collapsed.

Whether fortunate or unfortunate, Blundell, who lost consciousness without even having time to explain, did not die.

Waking up in the village warehouse used as a prison, Blundell realized the poison he had absorbed with the Dark Heart was mixed with his blood and circulating within his body.

It was the Rare Skill <Poison Blood>.

A Skill that took up the capacity of two General Skills.

Thanks to it, he didn’t die, but his heart was not at peace.

“That’s not what I intended! I was mistaken too!”

“Funny. A Herbalist mistaking poisonous herbs for medicinal herbs? If what you say is true, it’s even more problematic. It means your mistake almost killed all the villagers.”

“Besides, look at you. That monstrous appearance! You’ve clearly received a demon’s Curse.”

He wanted to clear up the misunderstanding with the villagers, but they didn’t believe him.

Rather, they regarded him as a Monster and criticized him because his skin had turned purple due to the influence of Poison Blood.

It was then that true hatred sprouted in his heart.

“I said… it wasn’t me!”

In fact, if he had wanted to escape the prison where the villagers had confined him, he could have left anytime.

Before the power he had attained at 2-Star, the warehouse’s lock would easily break.

But he had endured and waited because he wanted to clear up the misunderstanding.

Kwaang!

Blundell, who broke down the locked door and escaped, looked around at the villagers with reverse-pupil eyes whose whites had turned pitch-black due to the Dark Heart’s influence.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Run away!”

“He’s going to kill us all!”

Seeing them fleeing in terror and screaming, he realized the misunderstanding wouldn’t be cleared. With a sigh full of disappointment, he left the village.

He had come to hate them, but since he had also received kindness from them before, he had no intention of killing them.

Trudge, trudge.

It was the moment the ties between Blundell, leaving the village with lonely footsteps, and the nameless mountain village were severed.

[The Darkness Constellation smiles at the Spirit’s despair.]

[Feat, ‘Solitude within Illusion’ achieved.]

[Second Awakening Skill 《Barrier of Solitude》 Blooms.]

[Blundell Violet’s 2-Star promotion is completed.]

As if satisfied with Blundell’s situation of being alone, the Darkness Constellation bestows a Blessing, completing his 2-Star promotion.

A Second Awakening Skill was also born—a barrier that rejects interaction with others, imprisoning either the opponent or oneself.

A technique somewhat connected to the ‘Grand Thief’s Ultimate Art’ shown by Hyu’s teacher.

But completely rejecting everything and selective application are clearly different, so it’s best to just take note.

Sensing that the Dark Heart had returned to his body, Lee Hanseong briefly shared his impressions.

“The Darkness Constellation really has a bad personality.”

“He does like bleak stories. But don’t be too wary of him. His Blessing is also a comfort for those in despair.”

“…Right, then let’s watch the other Spirit’s footage.”

He was curious that Mirinae seemed to know the Darkness Constellation well, but delving too deeply into a Constellation is disrespectful, so he pretended not to notice and touched another Light point.

It was Henrietta’s Light point.