After making sure all the traps were in place,
I glanced down at the smart bracelet on my wrist.
Issued by the Academy.
For safety.
And for tracking kill scores during the test.
The digital timer blinked.
5 minutes left.
Maybe 6.
That's how long until the Obsidian Howler shows up.
Right here.
I sat on the boulder.
The same weathered thing that used to be a shrine.
And I waited.
My heart was calm.
Strangely so.
I didn't let my emotions get in the way.
But even now, just thinking about the tragedy—
The screams. The blood. The sound of Elena's final breath—
It plays in my mind like a 4K video.
So fucking vivid. So fucking immersive.
Like I'm reliving it.
Frame by frame.
Controlling my mind isn't easy.
But I'm grateful for those weeks I spent in India and Nepal.
For the spiritual practice.
The breath control.
The inner silence.
Without it?
I'd be breaking apart again.
I sat there, letting my breathing steady.
Letting my thoughts run through each piece of the plan.
Every trap.
Every placement.
Every circuit.
Crystal clear.
I can't afford a single mistake.
[[ Constellation "The Fallen Prince of the Lunar Throne" is watching you. ]]
[[ Constellation "The Fallen Prince of the Lunar Throne" wants to know why you're setting a trap. ]]
[[ Constellation "The Fallen Prince of the Lunar Throne" says: Tell me your thoughts. ]]
Tch.
This stalker bastard.
Seeing that even he doesn't remember anything about the time reversal…
That alone is a relief.
As for telling him?
No.
Why should I explain anything?
I'm not here to impress anyone.
I stared at the empty field ahead—
At the traps hidden beneath the tall grass.
Then I muttered under my breath:
"You'll see. Just wait and watch."
I let the words drift into the trees—
Knowing full well the bastard constellation heard every syllable.
Then, without moving a muscle, I brought up my Status Window.
Not out loud. Not with a gesture.
Just thought it.
And it opened like a blade slipping free from a sheath.
[[ STATUS WINDOW ]]
Title: ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ of ▓▓▓ — The Extra Who Shouldn't Exist
Name: Lucifer Blackthrone
Age: 18
Race: Human (?)
Rank: B-
Supporting Constellation: None
Stigma: None
[ Attributes ]
Personal Attribute: ▓▓▓▓▓'s ▓▓▓▓▓ (?), Eye of Tsukuyomi, The Angel of Ruin (Form)
Exclusive Attribute: Perfect Recall, Mark of Ruin
[ Statistics ]
Strength: 50 Stamina: 20 Speed: 50
Perception: 50 Health: 50 Mana: Null
Perseverance: 58 Luck: 45 Charm: 91
[ Story Points: None ]
[ Free Stat Points: 10 ]
[ Remarks: How many times must you break to save what's already lost? ]
---
Seeing this made me smile.
Because I'm not powerless anymore.
Not like before.
My rank had jumped—
A sudden leap from E-rank to B-rank, thanks to the Attribute adjustment.
A miracle?
No.
An abnormality.
And that's the problem.
Rank progression in this world is notoriously difficult.
Painstaking. Slow.
No one rises that fast unless they're cheating fate.
If the Academy finds out…
There'll be questions I can't answer.
I'll have to hide it.
Deal with it later.
For now—
I have something else to focus on.
I checked my Angel of Ruin form.
And immediately frowned.
The price it demanded?
Too high.
Even one use would cost me dearly.
Not until I reach Divinity.
Because using divinity inside a mortal vessel?
That's suicide.
Save it for the last resort.
Suddenly—
The world fell silent.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Something was coming.
Even before I turned, my body reacted.
Seated on the boulder, my spine went rigid.
Muscles taut.
Senses screaming.
My pulse spiked.
Adrenaline flooded every cell.
And then—my mind shifted.
Emotion drained.
Logic clicked into place.
It felt like a mask sliding over my soul.
If someone had seen me right then…
They might've thought I was bleeding black smoke.
The aftershocks of my evolution—
Awakening.
For the first time, I would use this evolved body.
My blue eyes deepened—
Icy. Detached. Piercing.
I drew both daggers.
And that's when I noticed it.
My palms were bleeding.
Sticky. Wet.
Not from injury—
But from pressure.
My body had healed the wounds instantly.
But the skin still remembered the pain.
My blindfold was soaked—
Dripping with red.
Tears of blood from eyes that saw too much.
I removed it.
Even the feel of the cloth between my fingers—
It dragged the memories back.
The timeline I failed to save.
Then I saw it.
The monster.
And I smiled.
A slow, cruel smile.
It stopped—
Just three meters short of the first trap.
Forty-seven meters away from me.
But I could feel it.
Fear.
Radiating from it.
That primal instinct screaming at the beast to turn and run.
But too bad.
Even if every god from every mythology crawled down from the stars to save it—
I'd bury them all.
Alongside this thing.
I stood. Bloodied. Balanced. Unblinking.
And whispered:
"You won't die easy.
Not for the sins you've committed."
[[ Constellation "The Fallen Prince of the Lunar Throne" recoils, stunned by your cold declaration. ]]
---
I ignored the constellation.
Didn't even spare it a thought.
All I saw now was the monster.
The Obsidian Howler—twelve feet of muscle, claws, and rage.
Its eyes bled mist. A dark, crimson fog leaking like it wept carnage.
I stood barely half its size.
But right now?
Size didn't matter.
I didn't feel fear.
Not a flicker.
Just one primal urge:
Tear it apart.
But not yet.
I needed to follow the plan—
The one I built on memory and trauma.
Every step I took toward it was calculated,
Measured from the scars of the timeline I rewrote.
I moved.
Barely a step.
The Howler flinched.
It sensed it—the danger I had become.
Snarling, it veered left.
Right into the third trap.
CLANK—SSSHHHHTTT—
"HAWL—HAWL!!!"
The bear trap exploded as soon as its paw touched it—
Not from fire, but from the pressure-heat magic circuit hidden inside.
Steel fangs sank deep into its limb.
A hiss.
The poison raced through its blood like a wildfire.
"HAWL—HAWL!! HAWL!!"
Its screams were feral.
The sound of agony ripping through the forest.
And I—
I smiled.
And walked.
40 meters. 30. 20.
It staggered—
Limping, dragging the cursed paw.
Its balance was gone.
I stopped one meter in front of it.
Looked it in the eye.
And placed my right palm on its massive skull.
Then—
"THAAMMMM!"
My strength exploded.
Its head was slammed into the second trap.
BOOOOM!
A fire circuit flared—roaring flame wrapped its snout,
Scorching fur and splitting skin.
It howled again.
Wilder this time.
Still not enough.
I grabbed its face again.
Dragged it back.
SLAMMED it into the first trap like a butcher working meat.
BOOM!
BOOM!!
Flames again.
Flesh blistered.
The air filled with the stink of burned fur and poisoned blood.
But it kept moving.
It was recovering. Already.
30 seconds.
That's all the poison bought me.
And it was almost gone.
It snarled, rising—
I didn't give it a chance.
I plunged my dagger into its eye.
"RAAAAGHH!!"
Again.
And again.
CHKTK! CHKTK! CHKTK!
Steel pierced into the softest part of the skull—
Eye jelly burst, spraying against my face like hot acid.
Then—
I sprinted to the nearby boulder, dragging its shrieking body.
SLAM!
The dagger sank deeper—fully embedded into its head.
The monster screamed—
High-pitched, unnatural.
Its massive form jerked once—
Then recovered.
Faster than I could react.
"HAWL!!!"
It grabbed me and flung me like trash.
CRACK!
One tree.
CRASH!
Two.
BOOM!
Three.
I hit the ground hard—ribs screaming, mouth full of blood.
"Gghk—!"
Blood dripped from my lips like wine from a shattered glass.
And yet—
I smiled.
One of its eyes was ruined.
My dagger still buried inside its skull.
It was bleeding.
And finally—
It looked scared.
---
[ Author's Note:
The blood has only just started to spill. If you want to see how deep this rabbit hole goes… stay with me. And maybe leave a power stone before the Constellations notice. ]