The 101st Constellation

"······."

"······."

Silence hung over the room.

Raiga, Captain of the Knights, and I sat side by side, quietly staring each other down.

Why did he come looking for me?

Raiga had been the one to seek me out in a rush, saying he wanted a brief word. But once we were seated, he had nothing to say. Asking him outright why he'd come felt somehow wrong, too.

It's clearly about last night.

It had to be connected to our clash at the Eight Houses training grounds. But I had no memory of what happened after Primal Despair activated. What I did know for certain was that we were both still alive — and that neither of us showed any major wounds on the surface.

…On the surface, at least.

The reality was entirely different. My entire body was screaming. I couldn't feel so much as a thread of mana. My right arm, broken yesterday, still had no sensation. And Raiga was almost certainly in the same condition. We were both just pretending to be fine.

Primal Despair stopped the fight. Raiga retreated, and now he's come to ask me about whatever happened. That's the rational conclusion.

If so, his silence made sense too. He was testing whether I remembered yesterday's events or not. Honestly, I was dying of curiosity myself — but I couldn't afford to let on that I had no memory of it.

I propped my chin on my hand, keeping my composure as best I could.

"Here to settle yesterday's score?"

······There was no way a decisive outcome had been reached. If it had, one of us would be dead. We'd fought like we meant to kill each other — sitting here perfectly intact the next day was an impossibility in itself.

As if confirming my guess, Raiga's brow furrowed slightly.

"…You look more intact than I expected."

"Mm. Getting worn out by something that minor would be the stranger outcome."

Honestly, I felt like I was dying. Without natural regeneration exceeding 4,500%, my arm would still be hanging in shreds.

At the same time, a strange light flickered in Raiga's eyes.

He's fine after taking that kind of damage?

······He couldn't believe it. He'd retreated, yes — but the blows he'd landed on Goat before that would have killed an ordinary person several times over. His own body was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wreck because of it. He'd forced his broken bones back into place. He'd layered on long clothes to hide the bruises that still hadn't healed. Every time he opened his mouth, he could feel blood boiling in his throat.

Given his own condition, Goat claimed something like that wasn't enough to tire him out?

Is he bluffing?

Normally, Raiga would have dismissed it as empty bravado and laughed in his face. But he couldn't laugh. The sight he'd witnessed yesterday was burned too deep to forget.

"Is there something you want from me?"

As if he already knew exactly why Raiga had come, Goat asked the question with his legs crossed.

Something he wanted? Raiga was a man who could take everything he desired with his own hands. There was no way he'd want anything from the likes of Goat······.

Damn it.

Raiga drew a deep breath, his heart heavy with bitterness.

······There was. Something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he desperately wanted.

He forced his reluctant mouth open.

"·········Just what kind of curse did you put on me?"

Something he couldn't accept. Something he couldn't understand. He was a man armored in hundreds of blessings and divine protections. Even a Demon King wouldn't be able to place a curse on him.

And yet — one had been placed. An immensely powerful curse that wouldn't break, that he couldn't break.

A curse?

······Hearing that, I couldn't help tilting my head inwardly. A curse, out of nowhere?

Strange.

It was genuinely puzzling. If a curse had been placed, Star's Blessing would have detected it. That same Star's Blessing had even identified the curse Ruin had laid on the Mad Dragon Ainharthar — missing a curse of despair made no sense.

And yet Star's Blessing showed no curse at all. Which meant:

Raiga is mistaken. He thinks he's been cursed.

Not cursed — just under the delusion that he was. Of course, that was strange in its own right. A powerhouse of Raiga's caliber mistaking a curse?

He looks like a man who's never known fear before.

······Raiga was clearly shaken. The Raiga from yesterday and the one sitting in front of me now were worlds apart. He was trying not to show it, but his heart was racing wildly. That heart, which had maintained such remarkable composure, had been pumping nonstop from the moment he faced me — that was the proof.

Ah.

Only then did I understand the "curse" Raiga was talking about. And why he'd come looking for me in such a panic.

I spoke with deliberate leisure.

"Is the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Lord not working?"

"······!!!"

Raiga's entire body shuddered violently.

Just as I thought. There was no way Raiga's only Hidden Trait was Mutation. A powerhouse of his caliber would possess multiple Hidden Traits. Having the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Lord was nothing unusual.

But facing Primal Despair, Raiga had known fear. He couldn't maintain his usual composure. He'd mistaken that first experience of terror for a curse and come running to me — that much was clear.

Hidden Traits aren't omnipotent.

It wasn't hard to understand. Captain Raiga was simply too strong. Born with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠extraordinary talent, he'd monopolized every reward from the start. Never defeated, never afraid — of course he'd place absolute faith in the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Lord.

In that case.

"Want the curse lifted?"

I smiled. I couldn't let this opportunity slip. Captain Raiga, hunter of Ruin's Fragments — there was so much I wanted to know about him.

"Captain Raiga······went looking for Goat?"

The Golden Mask's voice was thick with displeasure. A shadow on the opposite side nodded.

"Yes. He seemed extremely urgent."

"Why would he seek out Goat? Do you have any idea?"

"I do not. An aura barrier blocked all sound."

Blocked by an aura barrier? Meaning they'd wanted their conversation kept secret. Hardly something the usual Raiga would do.

I was planning to cut Goat out going forward.

······The Golden Mask bit down hard on his lip. Fully aware that he was being watched, Raiga had still gone to find Goat. Why? Was he trying to recruit him? But was Goat worth Raiga moving ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠personally?

It's not that he has no value at all.

The heir of House Rahon who had completely subdued Baal. Guardian of the Twelfth Orthodox, and an officer of the Death God Religion. But that alone wouldn't be enough to move Raiga. Moving that arrogant bastard who recognized no one under heaven but himself — with just that much — was impossible.

…There's something I don't know.

Which meant Goat possessed something the Golden Mask was unaware of. Something that made Raiga salivate and scramble to find him in a hurry.

After a long stretch of deliberation, the Golden Mask nodded.

I don't know what it is, but I can't let the Eight Houses take it.

Raiga and the Golden Mask were longstanding rivals. He couldn't simply hand over whatever Raiga wanted. It seemed he'd have to pay Goat a visit himself.

The moment he rose from his seat with that thought—

"······Lord Golden Mask. We have a serious problem."

A shadow rushed in. The Golden Mask tilted his head and asked again.

"What sort of serious problem?"

"Goat has left the Imperial Palace together with the Eight Houses Knights."

"·········What?"

What kind of nonsense was this? Goat left with the Eight Houses Knights? That wasn't mere recruitment. It was practically Raiga's declaration that Goat belonged to him.

The problem was that Goat was an officer of the Death God Religion. And still, Raiga had completely shut out the Death God Religion — shut out the Golden Mask himself. Just as Raiga had excluded Goat from the council meeting.

Raiga. Have you finally lost your mind?

They might be hostile toward each other, but this was no different from openly picking a fight. It was a reckless move. A stupid one. But Raiga was no fool.

Rather······it meant Goat held value worth risking that much danger for.

I had plenty of questions. But I couldn't just ask everything outright. So I chose the path of not asking.

No need to ask at all.

I could just watch.

If I see how he finds and hunts the Fragments, I'll figure it out.

How Raiga hunted the Fragments of Ruin. How he endured the bugs caused by those Fragments. Nothing would be more certain than seeing it with my own eyes.

So I decided to exploit Raiga's misconception. I just needed to approach it in a way that kept me in the superior position without revealing my true intent.

"The condition for lifting the curse is simple. Maintain a friendly relationship with me. That's all."

"Are you saying we need to form an alliance?"

"No. I'm saying I have no intention of forming a friendly relationship with someone who panics over a curse of this level."

"······?"

"You can't even break a curse like this, and you claim you can hunt owners of Ruin's Fragments? Those walking masses of curses?"

"······What did you just say?"

"If not, prove it. Prove you're someone of that caliber."

Raiga's expression at that moment defied description. The look of a man wondering what kind of lunatic he was dealing with.

"Fine. I'll show you."

But the provocation worked. As a result, I ended up accompanying the Eight Houses Knights. We left the Imperial Palace at once, crossing through several warps.

"Goat. Most Fragment owners are inside this Abyss. You're not getting cold feet now, are you?"

······And so I found myself standing before the sunken Abyss.

A place swarming with countless transcendent monsters. A place where you couldn't see an inch ahead, where you had no idea what might come leaping out!

But that was fine.

Actually, this is perfect.

I was going to have to come here eventually anyway.

The Hall of One Hundred Constellations.

The palace of stars where one hundred Constellations resided.

"The Most Brilliant Hero's Constellation······."

"Why did he open Randolph's story?"

"Wasn't he monopolizing it?"

The Constellations were curious. The Most Brilliant Hero's Constellation had suddenly opened Randolph's Story to everyone.

The Starlight required to view Randolph's story was so immense that almost no Constellation could even dream of affording it. Only the Most Brilliant Hero's Constellation had been able to subscribe — and now, for the first time, he had made the story he'd monopolized available to all.

"How could I keep a story this good all to myself?"

"······Fair enough."

"Hmm."

The tale of a pioneer carving out a new path. Randolph's unyielding advance was more than enough to stir the hearts of the Constellations. When his sword mastery surpassed Level 31 and reached Level 32, every Constellation had clenched their fists without realizing it.

"I want to see more."

"…This is killing me with anticipation."

But that was where the story ended. They had no way of knowing which direction it would take from there. They'd seen him gain power — but how he would use that power was the most critical part, wasn't it?

"If you're curious about what comes next, watch it yourselves."

Pay the Starlight and see it with your own eyes. But the Constellations capable of spending that much Starlight could be counted on one hand. Countless Constellations looked on at the Most Brilliant Hero's Constellation with envy.

"Hm?"

"This Starlight is…?"

That was when it happened.

At the place called the Stairway of Starlight — where Constellations were born.

Hwaaaaaaaaaaah!

A 101st Constellation that should not exist appeared, scattering Starlight in every direction.

"A 101st Constellation? That's impossible······!"

"Who is that? Who dares break the Rules to appear here?"

A great uproar erupted. Nothing like this had ever happened before. The Hall of One Hundred Constellations — true to its name — was a place where only one hundred Constellations could reside. An absolute, inviolable law that had never once been broken since the Hall's existence!

Naturally, every eye fixed on the being who had shattered that law.

And the Most Brilliant Hero's Constellation, upon confirming the identity of the 101st, could only widen his eyes in sheer shock.

"You— you're······!"