"Kugh, kuk! H-How?"
The man’s eyes widened and he grasped the spear that pierced his abdominal region.
Blood gushed everywhere.
Intense pain spread throughout his body.
However, more than the pain from his pierced abdomen, he received a greater shock from the fact that Ohjin had come from ‘inside' the cave.
"I think you have a little misunderstanding."
Splat!—
Ohjin roughly twisted the spear pierced into the man’s abdomen.
"Kugh!!! Kuhak!!!"
"I'm the one asking the questions here."
With a fishy smile, the man lowered his head.
"Nonsense!!"
Hwoong!—
The man wildly swung his fists.
From the swinging fists, a creepy black aura bloomed.
However…
Before the fiercely swung fists even made contact—
Crack! Crackle!!!—
"Arugagaggagagak!!!!"
Blue lightning sparked from the spear's blade that pierced the figure’s abdomen.
Flop Flop—
His body flopped like a freshly caught fish, and he soon laid flat on the ground.
"Well, it's okay if I talk nonsense now, right?" Ohjin asked, pressing down on the man's chest with his knee.
"Tell me everything you know about the Black Star Organization."
"…Hah"
The man chuckled like he had heard something ridiculous.
He looked at Ohjin with arrogance in his eyes. "I have no reason to answ— KYAaaaaaaaak!!!"
Crunch—
Ohjin grabbed the man's left index finger and twisted it off.
"Really? Well, I guess I can't do anything about that."
He hadn’t expected the man to obediently open his mouth anyways.
"You don't want to talk?"
"Huff! Huff!"
"Then, from now on—"
In times like this, the quickest and most efficient method…
"—don't speak a word."
…was primitive violence.
Crunch, Cruuunch!!—
One by one.
He twisted them off.
"Kiyaaaaaaaak!!!"
One. Two. Three.
The pulled apart fingers rolled around on the floor.
And just like that, after every finger on his left hand had been removed—
"Urggh… uh."
—with white foam dripping down, he opened his mouth.
"I, I'll— talk."
"Huh?"
"I… said I'll t-talk."
"Dude—"
Gripping the fingers on the other side, Ohjin shook his head.
"—what are you talking about?"
"…what?"
"Didn't I tell you not to speak a word?"
Crunch!!—
Breaking a finger on the other side, he smiled brightly.
"Uugyayayayatak!!!"
"Didn't you say that you didn't want to talk? Then don't say a word."
"N-No. That's—"
Cruuunch!—
One by one.
Just like the other side, Ohjin started to twist off the fingers.
"Ahhhhhhhh!! I-I said I'll talk!!!"
"Hey, there's no need to."
"B-Black Star Organization!! I'll tell you everything about them!!"
"Didn't I say that there's no need?"
"P-Please!!! I'll answer to everything, so…"
"I said there's no need to talk, you fuuuuuuuuck!!!!"
Bang!!!—
Holding onto the man's head, he violently slammed him down onto the floor.
"Why…!"
Bang!!!—
"Do you…!"
Bang!!!!—
"Keep trying to talk when I said there's no need?!"
Exploding out a fanatical scream, Ohjin continuously slammed the man’s head down.
Although it was more than enough impact to instantly kill a normal person, the opponent wasn't a normal person but an Awakener.
Although his rank was unknown, as Awakeners received superhuman bodies together with their awakening, he wouldn't die from this amount of impact.
"Kkrhuk… ghuk… I-I'll t-talk. P-Please, I want… t-to talk."
The shivering man pathetically opened his mouth.
The man who had stared at him with an arrogant attitude cried pathetically like a three-year-old baby that had accidentally stepped on a lego in the living room.
‘Should I end things here?'
Ohjin looked down on the pathetically shivering man and smirked.
‘Indeed, this has the most direct effect.'
Unreasonable and irrational violence.
People met with fanatic violence outside the scope of common sense and reason were bound to be swept by fear close to that of trauma.
‘There isn't anything scarier than a psycho who refuses to communicate.'
The effects looked certain, judging by the fact that the man's pants were wet.
"You want to talk now?"
"Yes, yes! I-I want to talk!"
"Alright then, give it a shot. What is the Black Star Organization, and what the fuck are the black stars?"
The man slowly nodded his head.
"T-The Black Star Organization is… an organization created by Black Star's celestials.
"…Black Star's celestial?"
"Yes, yes!"
‘The hell is a Black Star's celestial?'
"I-In the past when all the stars were swallowed by darkness… t-the celestials born in that time are the Black Star's celestial."
"Fuck, how will I understand if you put it in that way?"
"Hiiiik!! I-I have simply only heard it that way from the Templar!!!"
The man curled up like a mole exposed to cold air.
"Anyways. Alright. So you're telling me that you're all Awakeners that follow the Black Star's celestial or whatever?"
"…Yes, that's correct.
"Alright, then, tell me the scale and where you guys are hiding."
"M-Mt. Baekunsan! Mt. Baekunsan located in Cheorwon-gun is where our branch is located."
"Is the entire mountain yours, you dumbass? You need to tell me the precise location, you dumbfuck."
"Aahhhh!! I apologize!!!"
Screaming from the threatening voice, the man pulled out his hair while shivering.
"There is a run-down observatory at the peak of Mt. Baekunsan! I-It's in the basement of that place!!"
"The scale?"
"A-Around fifty."
‘Shit.'
‘That's quite a lot.'
"That's the branch, right? Then where's the headquarters?"
"I-I don't know."
"You don't fucking know? "
‘Let's go for the toes this time.'
"I-I-I really don't know!! Only the Templar knows of the headquarters location!! I'm telling you, an underling like me won't even be told the locations of the other branches!!"
"Hm…"
It didn't seem like he was lying.
‘Well, there's no way they would reveal all that information to this small fry.'
‘Bastards that babbled about making celestials pay for their sins would definitely operate with thorough security.'
"Is that Yujin bastard a Templar?"
"T-That's correct!"
The man quickly nodded his head like a broken metronome.
"But I seriously don't understand."
"Which part…?"
"Why are you following those suspicious bastards in the first place?"
He couldn't come up with a reason why they would plead loyalty to an organization that looked no different from a pseudo-religion.
"……"
The man shut his mouth tight for a while and soon said out in a low voice.
"…he gave it to us."
"What?"
"Sir Yujin has… granted us stigmas."
"Ah."
A short exclamation flowed out of Ohjin's mouth.
He recalled the image of people gathering and desperately praying to the celestials in front of the Sanctum.
‘So they were using stigmas as bait.'
Although he didn't know what methods they used to grant stigmas, he could definitely understand why people were following such a suspicious group.
‘The world is probably packed with people that will willingly kill either their parents or children in order to become Awakeners.'
It was that kind of world.
‘Well, I don't think there's any more information left to gain.'
It was time to finish things up.
Shove—
* * *
Yanking out the spear in the man's abdomen, Ohjin aimed at his head.
"W-Wait!! Wait a minute!!!"
The man urgently screamed out.
"I-I have… a single daughter with me!! Please… please spare my life…!"
Drip Drip—
The man dropped his head while pouring out tears.
"You have a daughter?"
"…Yes, that's right. The truth is… the reason I joined the Black Star Organization was all for that child."
Biting his lips, he tightly closed his eyes.
"If… if I disappear all of a sudden, that child…"
There was no way a parentless child would be able to live well in this hell-like world.
That was something Ohjin himself knew better than anyone else.
Bang!—
The man roughly ground his forehead into the hard stone floor.
"I beg of you!! At least for the child, please spare my life…!"
"Hm."
"Or in the least… let me have time to say my last farewells to my daughter!!! Please!! I'm begging you earnestly!!" he cried out with a wretched expression.
Ohjin narrowed his eyes and looked down at the prostrating man.
"Name."
"Yes?"
"What's your daughter's name?"
"…Yerin. It's Choi Yerin."
"Age?"
"S-She's nine! It's still too young of an age to live alone in this world…"
"When's her birthday?"
"Yes?"
He urged the man that had an expression that seemed to ask why he was asking such questions.
"Quick. Answer the questions I ask. When's her birthday."
"It's on December… 14th"
"Favorite food?"
"…Why are you asking that?"
"You won't answer?"
"Pizza… n-no it's chicken!"
"Height and weight?"
"Uh… 131cm and… 2-28!! She's 28kg!!"
"Is that right?"
Ohjin nodded his head as if he had understood.
Choi Yerin, aged nine, birthday on December 14th, favorite food is chicken, 131cm, 27kg.
"Well, then."
Smirk—
He grasped his spear as the edge of his lips tilted up.
"Answer the questions I have asked so far in reverse."
A silence settled down like time had frozen.
"—what?"
The man's mouth and two eyes opened wide.
His legs shook like leaves in the wind.
"Weight and height, favorite food, birthday, age, name. Answer it."
"T-That's, uhh. 28kg… and. W-Wait… wait a minute!"
"Why? Don't remember?"
Well.
It was understandable that he couldn't remember, because…
"Lying backwards is hard by nature."
‘Although I can.'
Thrust—
Blood poured down the spear's blade that had slightly penetrated the man’s flesh.
"A-Agh. P-Please spare me! I don't want to dieeeeeee!!!"
The man fell into panic as soon as he felt the touch of the spear's blade on his skull.
"One last question. Where was your branch located again?"
"C-Cheorwon. The peak of Mt. Baekunsan…"
"Alright."
‘So that wasn't a lie.'
Psshk!!!—
"Kugh, kuk!"
The blade precisely pierced through the middle of the man’s forehead and crushed his brain.
"Fuu."
Snap—
Once the moment of tension was undone, a drowsy sensation enveloped Ohjin.
‘Black Star Organization…'
Sweeping back his hair, he furrowed his brows.
"What a pain in the ass."
He ended up standing out to the suspicious group.
No, it wouldn't matter that much if it finished on the note of simply standing out, but—
‘I thought they'd be great pushovers to take advantage of, but I ended up provoking a beehive.'
—he ended up scamming a group filled with dangerous beings.
"Ugh."
Feeling light-headed, Ohjin placed his hand on his forehead.
‘There's no way they'll let this be, right?'
Revenge, blackmail…
Whatever the reason, they would appear before him once again.
‘But it's not like I can face them alone either.'
Fifty was too many.
"…I'll need to prepare countermeasures."
There wasn't anything he could do right now.
"Well… you could also call this a good opportunity."
Ohjin removed the dead man’s robe.
On his left chest was a stigma with a shape he had never seen before.
‘So this is a Black Star's stigma.'
Spreading out his hands, he placed it on top of the stigma.
Rumble—
The black cloud that flowed from his palm enveloped the stigma.
Mana flowed into his body with an unpleasant feeling, similar to that of the star relic he had absorbed.
-Ring!
[The Black Heaven is absorbing the stigma of the Owl Nebula!]
[The amount of the stigma of the Owl Nebula is too insignificant to activate.]
Stigma of the Owl Nebula…
"What kind of abilities will a Black Star's stigma have?"
Smirk—
Ohjin stuck out his tongue and greedily licked his lips.
* * *
The radiant Milky Way that split up the night sky.
Looking up at the uncountable amount of stars shining in the night sky, a white-haired elder narrowed his eyes.
Flutter!—
Then, a black owl landed on the elder's shoulder.
"Hmhm. So he has arrived?"
The elder nodded as if sharing a conversation with the owl, then slowly turned his body to face a black-robed youth respectfully kneeling with one knee on the ground.
"Holholhol,” the man’s peculiar owl-like laughter emerged. “Have you come, Yujin?"
"Yes, Executor."
Gulp—
Kneeling in front of the white-haired elder, Yujin swallowed nervously.
Even though he had worked under the elder for a couple of years, he felt a pressure that stiffened his body every time they met.
‘…it's only natural.'
The elder standing in front of his eyes was the Black Star Organization's 6th ranked Executor—
—King of Owls, Cheon Doyoon.
‘However…'
Today, he possessed a card that would relieve him from some of the intense pressure.
"Alright— so did you bring the object?"
"Of course."
Yujin took out the star relic from his robe and carefully placed it down.
A black drinking glass slightly larger than the size of a fist.
Inside of it dwelled the ‘Black Star's power'.
"Holholhol!!"
Letting out a peculiar laugh, the elder smiled brightly.
"Well done, Yujin."
"Fufu. It wasn't anything too difficult."
Shrugging proudly, Yujin shook his head.
"Owls."
The elder slightly raised his hand up.
Flutter—
Together with the sound of flapping wings, dozens of beings wearing black robes appeared from the dark.
The elder sent a hand signal towards Yujin.
Nodding his head, Yujin carried the black drinking glass towards the complicated and bizarre magic circle engraved on the ground.
"At last, after the long wait, this day has come."
Yujin placed the black drinking glass in the middle of the magic circle and spread his two arms with a proud expression.
"Do you see this! That detestable sky!"
Flap—
The robe Yujin was wearing fluttered from the strong wind.
"That radiant night sky will be covered with black stars!!!!"
"……"
"……"
Powerful gazes shone under the deeply worn hood.
Although there were no words…
Dozens of Black Star Organization members observed the ritual with their breaths gradually growing more rapid.
"Now!!", Yujin shouted, pouring mana into the engraved magic circle.
"Look here!! The appearance of the Black Stars blessing our path!!!!!"
Owoong!!!—
As the magic circle engraved onto the ground shone with black light—
"This is nothing but the beginning!!!"
—nothing happened.
"Soon, more objects engrained with the blessing with appe—huh?
Yujin looked down at the magic circle which had stopped giving off a black light with a confused expression.
"…What?"
Knock Knock—
No matter how much he looked around and touched it, it showed no reaction.
"Why's it like this?"
The gaze of dozens pierced him.
He could see the expression of the elder distorting.
"Uh, uhhh? W-Wait!!"
—He was fucked.
"……"
"T-This can't be!! There's no way!!!!"
Yujin's half-shut eyes opened to their limit.
T/n: C-Can y-you stop s-stuttering?
Templar and Executor are like the protoss roles in Starcraft. Executors being a higher rank than Templars.
Some nebulae are made from dead stars.
