As the head of the captured human woman fell to the ground, beheaded under the shocked gazes of the knights, Albert pointed at the village, raised his voice once more with determination, and shouted to his men.
"Let these beasts pay for the death of your comrades—of our comrades!"
"Uwaaaa!" The knights, carried away by Albert's words and actions, roared with energy and fervor, their eyes murderous. They seemed to have lost their reason and forgotten the true purpose of fighting the Minotaur in the first place—to save the villagers.
Thus, the knights one by one drew their swords and spears and mercilessly marched into the village.
Albert, who watched with a serious expression, suddenly revealed a cunning grin, as if he might burst out laughing at any moment. Yet he swallowed the mocking laughter and looked at the notifications that had appeared beside him.
["Demon Who Spreads Fear" is amused by your choice.]
["Demon Who Spreads Devastation" mocks the lesser mortals.]
["Hero of War" finds your intentions dishonorable.]
Several constellations seemed amused by Albert's actions—mostly demons—while others expressed their displeasure.
It was a sharp contrast to the adventurous, thrilling mood from before, now shifting into an ominous, dark atmosphere.
["Throne of Favored Justice" declares your actions impure.]
["Demon Who Promotes Decay" agrees with your speech.]
The question, however, was why Albert was doing this. Why would he want to slaughter these defenseless villagers? Was it truly because of anger over the death of his comrades—or was there perhaps something else…
Suddenly, a different notification appeared than those of the constellations:
[Your evil alignment points are increasing…]
[Alignment: Good: 5%. Neutral: 16%. Evil: 79%.]
Alignment. It was a special system function within the status window of an Awakened, determining a person's alignment based on their actions.
This meant: the higher the good alignment, the more virtuous deeds the person performed; the higher the evil alignment, the more malicious deeds they committed.
Constellations, for example, could use this alignment to decide whether it was worth watching that person. It helped them find suitable observation targets that matched their preferences.
It was similar to genres in movies and series.
Meanwhile, the squad of twenty-six knights massacred and butchered over one hundred villagers, leaving none alive. They showed no mercy—not to women, not to the elderly, not even to children, who also fell victim. In a short time, the village was drenched in blood.
After this nerve-wracking spectacle, which had taken place in the dead of night, the squad, led by Albert van Goldberg, returned to the Duchy of Goldberg. Before the astonished eyes of the townsfolk, they presented the fruit of their hunt—the Minotaur—leaving behind the previously stored corpses of the Dire Wolves in the face of such an overwhelming prize.
One evening, at the Goldberg family estate. In an underground dungeon, hidden and accessible only through a secret tunnel.
Albert van Goldberg stood before a large table upon which lay the corpse of the Minotaur.
"So this is it… but why should I even bring him here?"
He examined the massive corpse on the table with slight confusion, waiting to see if any notifications from the system would appear.
["Demon Who Promotes Decay" says you should extract the blood and eat the crystal.]
Albert furrowed his brow at the strange instruction, confused, yet he obeyed swiftly.
After cutting open the corpse and removing a fist-sized crystal from its heart, he let some of the Minotaur's blood flow into a vial.
And I'm supposed to swallow this? Albert stared at the crystal in his hand, his expression twisting slightly.
He could not understand why he had received the instruction to extract the blood—let alone to consume the strange crystal from the beast's heart. To him, the crystal looked like nothing more than a slightly larger, beautiful diamond.
"Well, whatever…!"
He overcame his disgust and swallowed the crystal in one gulp. It slid down surprisingly easily, as though it weren't as large as it appeared. Like something greased, the crystal slipped down his throat.
"Hm… that was surprisingly easy."
Albert scratched his cheek uncertainly, waiting for some change.
When nothing happened, he looked a little skeptical, but before he could loudly question the instruction, he suddenly felt a change within him.
Mana burst forth from Albert out of nowhere. It filled every part of his body, flowing like an unstoppable flood, strengthening him beyond measure. He immediately felt the tremendous surge in power.
W-what is this? My strength is rising like never before?!
He felt ecstatically the rising aura within him, clenching his hands into fists in sheer exhilaration. "Impressive! I never would have thought these crystals could have such an effect!"
What humans called crystals, harvested from the corpses of monsters, were in truth the monsters' cores, charged with their mana. These cores were the source of animals mutating into monsters. They formed in their hearts under the influence of the natural energies of the worlds.
Therefore, one's own mana would inevitably rise if one absorbed the core of a magical beast.
Of course, this did not apply to every core. One needed the core of a stronger magical beast that possessed more mana than average in order to absorb anything from it at all.
This was because one could never absorb all of the mana within a core; otherwise, there would be a discord between one's own mana and that of the magical beast. In this way, however, they obtained a portion of the monster's mana and could increase their own.
Albert opened his status window and enthusiastically observed the changes that had occurred from absorbing the core.
The status window was a special function granted to every intelligent, awakened being, part of the system itself. It wasn't truly a direct aid but rather intended to provide Awakened with necessary knowledge.
For example, it displayed a person's individual values—strength, endurance, dexterity, and mana—as well as skills and talents. It also displayed things such as the Awakened's sponsor or a general evaluation of their powers. These values were ranked from F to S.
The status window was, in a way, both a ticket into the system and an identification card marking its bearer as part of it.
In Albert's case, before consuming the core, his values had looked like this: [Strength: C-], [Endurance: D+], [Dexterity: C], [Constitution: C], and [Mana: C+].
But after consuming it, they now looked like this: [Strength: C+], [Endurance: C], [Dexterity: C+], [Constitution: C+], and [Mana: B].
With such values, he could almost already be considered a C+-rank Awakened, having undergone remarkable growth in all his stats.
There was, however, another interesting thing that appeared on his status window. It was the bar showing the sponsor. There, the title appeared: "Demon Who Promotes Decay."
That would explain why Albert had been conversing solely with that constellation and so eagerly followed its instructions.
He could imagine that a demon was an evil being, and that making a deal with one might bring consequences—but what it offered him had simply been too tempting.
About a year earlier.
After an intense sword training session at his family's estate, Albert left the training grounds, washed himself, and then went to his room.
But suddenly, a translucent blue window with writing appeared before his eyes.
["Demon Who Promotes Decay" greets you.]
W-what is this?! I've never seen a message like this before! Albert stared at the blue window in astonishment, stepping back slightly.
It was the first time Albert had received a message from a constellation, and it was addressed directly to him.
At that time, he had just reached C-rank and was already being curiously observed by several constellations. But this was the first time one revealed itself to him secretly.
Not long after, more and more constellations began to show themselves as his observers.
But back to the very first time.
When Albert first learned of this system function, and that there were transcendent, godlike beings watching him just like that, he had naturally been shocked. But what could he do? So, he lived his life as before, now aware of the gazes on him, watched at every step.
That was until one night, while going through documents in his study, he received a very special message from the same constellation that had first contacted him.
["Demon Who Promotes Decay" invites you to a private meeting. Do you accept?]
Albert frowned at this request. Yet he quickly realized what opportunity was being offered to him: the chance to interact directly with a highest being, even if only in conversation. He had been given the chance to personally meet one of those transcendent entities that always watched him—and gain more knowledge about the vast world.
The prospect of new knowledge and perhaps even the possibility of exploring a new sphere of strength eventually gripped him, and he accepted the meeting without hesitation.
What he had not expected, however, was to be transported directly to another place.
As soon as Albert accepted the meeting, the power of the world seized him and transported him to another realm, outside his own world.
He appeared in the middle of an abandoned castle at night. The place he arrived in seemed to be a throne room, difficult to discern in the darkness. The only light in that place came from a bright red sun, whose glow shone through a great mirrored wall directly behind a throne, veiling the figure sitting upon it.
As Albert beheld this massive throne, his eyes widened.
Shock and disbelief were written across his face.
The throne itself was of an enormous size—over five meters high. But what was terrifying was the figure cloaked in red light and shadow sitting upon it, even greater still, and certainly not human.
W-what… what is that?! Albert began to tremble and sweat all over. An overwhelming fear gripped him as he saw the wide grin on the face of the figure, barely visible through the shadows. His whole being screamed at him to flee. It was a primal terror rising within him at the sight of this entity.
Albert struggled not to collapse and hardly dared to breathe.
"I greet you…" a dreadfully deep voice echoed in his head.
["Demon Who Promotes Decay" welcomes you to his domain.]
The message came at the same time as the voice, making him flinch like a startled chicken.
Thus, Albert met a constellation for the first time and struck a deal with it. The "Demon Who Promotes Decay," also known among demons as the Demon Duke of Decay, Orias, thus became the sponsor of Albert van Goldberg.
But just because Albert became the incarnation of Orias, that did not mean he sympathized with him or joined his cause.
There were different kinds of relationships a constellation and its incarnation could have. There could be one of master and disciple, or master and servant, but it could also simply be a relationship of mutual benefit—as was the case here.
Back in the present.
Albert, standing before the Minotaur's corpse and feeling his newfound power, burst into hysterical laughter.
"Hahaha! So I really can increase my power this easily!" His resounding laughter echoed for a long time through the hidden underground chamber.
With that, he resolved what he would do from then on, certain that the information provided by his sponsor was indeed true. With it, he could faithfully pursue the plans his sponsor had laid out for him.
Albert then began, over the next months, to organize several expeditions with the knowledge he received from his sponsor. Their purpose was to hunt monsters of equal or similar strength to that of the Minotaur, slay them, and devour their cores to become stronger.
It did not take too long. After a little over half a year, he finally achieved his goal.
After multiple expeditions, long journeys, and fierce battles, Albert at last succeeded in his aim: within half a year, he had slain six powerful monsters of B-rank.
He had dismembered the corpses of those overwhelming beasts, extracted their cores, absorbed the mana within, and stored their blood—just as he had done with the Minotaur's—into small vials for later.
Among the high-ranking magical beasts he had slain were a Manticore, a Griffin, a Cyclops, and other terrifying monsters known from myths.
By slaying such mighty creatures, Albert had even been able to write a fable. He composed the historical fable: "Monster Hunter." Through his expeditions, he finally reached B-rank and even awakened a new ability.
By now, the stats shown in his status window had risen considerably within just half a year, and they now read: [Strength: B+], [Endurance: B-], [Dexterity: B], [Constitution: C+], [Mana: B+].
On each of his expeditions to hunt one of these chosen magical beasts, however, several of the knights under Albert's command unfortunately perished, leaving behind grieving families, though they were celebrated as heroes by their realm.
After his accomplishments, Albert was revered by his people as never before—praised as a noble master and heroic warrior. Many even hoped he would become the next emperor of the empire, which, given his bloodline and achievements, did not seem impossible.