Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 185: Star, Execution Sword (1)

[The new king of the extinct <Muspelheim> has ascended the throne!]

As that message suddenly popped up, the Fire Giants who had been waiting for Chang-Sun to finish his trial outside quickly raised their heads.

『He did it. I knew he would. That human defeated me, so it wouldn’t have made sense if he failed to become king.』

Gustaf clenched his fists.

『We can finally be free from the curse that has kept us shackled for so long. Gosh, it has truly been difficult.』

Hoterus faintly smiled.

The thirty-six gatekeepers nodded as if they had seen this result coming. After all, they had acknowledged Chang-Sun.

『Finally.』

The Giant soldiers and their leader outside the strongholds also marveled when they read the message. Although their leader’s aura had been very intimidating and had pressured Chang-Sun and the other visitors of the ‘Rhaegaren’ so much, he was now in a rapture of happiness that couldn’t be hidden even with his knight helmet.

『The time has finally come…!』

They rejoiced. They were becoming tired. Such a long time had passed since their plane completely collapsed. Hence, the moment the message popped up, they couldn’t help feeling elated.

Badump―!

Thud!

Badump―!

Thud!

Like Surtr’s heartbeat, which was loud enough to make the ‘Rhaegaren’ shake, the Giant soldiers powerfully stomped on the ground in unison.

「Now it begins.」

Having read the message that popped up high in the air, Sinmara shut her eyes tightly. She was the best warrior of <Muspelheim> and the wife of Surtr, the last Giant King, so her emotions differed from the other Giants. However, she was also grateful for the fact that her husband could finally rest in peace after suffering for a long time.

A tear ran down Sinmara’s dry cheek.

* * *

[The Dungeon Quests have been completed.]

[The Dungeon is closing.]

[10.]

Since all the Dungeon Quests had been cleared, the ‘Rhaegaren’—no, the Dungeon ‘Rhaegaren’ began to close. It would soon disappear into nothingness.

‘It can’t close yet.’ Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes. He still had work to do.

『Jin, send me one of your useful subordinates.』

Chang-Sun sent a telepathic message to Jin Prezia.

『What are you going to do? You did mention we needed a wizard. Is that the reason? You have a Dragon, though. I doubt he’ll be of much help,』Jin skeptically answered.

『I’ll explain later.』

Jin wondered what Chang-Sun was trying to do this time, but he believed Chang-Sun had a good reason.

『Well, alright.』

Hence, Jin sent the Spring Hare Dog, whom he had been paying close attention to. He then continued to stay on alert because of Mireille—no, Czestochowa, who had been coldly smiling at him since she killed Henri Bosque. She was clearly up to something, so Jin pulled out the [Frost King’s Greatsword] and infused his energy into it. His eyes turned cold.

Meanwhile, Chang-Sun put the iron mask on the Spring Hare Dog, which had teleported to him. The iron mask was practically Simon Magus’ real body, so although he had died, his energy and memory were still inside it.

Click.

The iron mask perfectly fitted the Spring Hare Dog. Its eyes darkened so much that its pupils could no longer be seen.

[Will you give your new subordinate a ‘Name’?]

“Simon Magus,” Chang-Sun said.

[The subordinate selection has been completed!]

[Your Subordinate has been named ‘Simon Magus’. It will become your ‘armor’ and stay by your side from now on.]

Woosh, woosh, woosh!

Strong demonic energy blew all over the place like a storm. A part of it spread and embraced the scrawny Spring Hare Dog like a cape, making its dark eyes gradually light up. The ‘First Samaritan Mage’ Simon Magus, the demon king of Gnosticism who once fought equally with Peter the Apostle, was resurrecting.

「You are going to make me, the lord of the great Samaria, your subordinate? No way in hell…!」

Simon belligerently growled as soon as he pulled himself together, realizing that Chang-Sun was going to do to him what he had done with Sinmara. He seemed prepared to immediately attack Chang-Sun if he had to.

“Get angry later. Look up.” Chang-Sun faintly smiled and gestured at the ceiling with his chin.

Wondering what was happening, Simon looked up, and his face soon turned pale.

[6.]

[5.]

The Dungeon was closing!

「Ah, shit! You—!」

“I don’t think you have enough time to curse around. Don’t you need to look for something right now?” Chang-Sun sarcastically asked.

「Fuck!」

Although Simon knew Chang-Sun was toying with him, he had no choice but to act quickly because [Bestla’s Poem] was around here somewhere. Once the ‘Rhaegaren’ had closed, the poem would disappear along with it. Simon couldn’t let that happen.

[4.]

Simon hurriedly ran in the other direction, having no time to yell at Chang-Sun. Creating a magic circle in the air, Simon scanned the area to find the thirty-seventh stronghold, where [Bestla’s Poem] was stored. Fortunately, Chang-Sun was deep in the main palace, which was close to the secret stronghold. Simon soon saw the black light coming from near the brazier, which was in the corner of the building, and he concluded that that was where the secret stronghold was.

[3.]

Running wouldn’t get him there on time, so Simon repeatedly used Blink. After teleporting over and over again, he finally reached the brazier. The stronghold didn’t exactly have a door or a specific way to enter, so he condensed as much of his demonic energy as he could in his hand, then made it burst.

Boom!

With the brazier destroyed, the space inside was revealed.

[2.]

Not caring about the fragments that scratched him, Simon shoved himself inside the space and saw a room, which seemed to be Surtr’s personal room before he had died. It had a sofa, a bookshelf, and a desk with documents scattered on it.

There was also a giant drawing of a female warrior walking alone on a battlefield filled with black smoke. The flag in her hand was so huge that it took up one-third of the drawing even though the drawing was as big as the entire wall.

[1.]

Simon instinctively realized that the drawing was what he had been looking for. Since it was probably made to pay tribute to Bestla, who started the golden age of Giants, she had to be the great female warrior. If so, then [Bestla’s Poem], which Simon had desperately been looking for, should be inside the drawing.

‘With that…!’ Simon thought hopefully.

If he could extract [Bestla’s Poem] from the drawing, he would be able to engrave it inside his mask and gain the power of the Giant Deity King, which meant nothing in this world would be able to stop him. The other Celestials wouldn’t even be able to call him a halfwit anymore because he would have transcended and put Earth—no, this worldline itself under his feet.

「Come out!」

Fortunately, Simon knew quite well how to extract [Bestla’s Poem] from the drawing. He just had to find its link to the poem he had and pull it out. He was using an expedient, so it was a piece of cake for Simon, who had been a mage for a long time.

[You have found a Hidden Piece!]

[The fragment of ‘Bestla’s Poem’ is reacting, wishing to be completed by merging with other pieces.]

The surface of the drawing soon began to shine in opaque light, which then created Rune letters. The old Divine Script, which the great Bestla had created—and the power of which Odin revealed when he learned it—was about to appear!

“So that’s how you do it.” Chang-Sun nodded.

「…!」

Simon, who was enraptured, froze up when he suddenly heard Chang-Sun from behind. Simon had been looking for [Bestla’s Poem] for the past thousands of years, so finally achieving his goal made him too happy and made him forget about Chang-Sun. When Simon hurriedly turned his head toward Chang-Sun, he saw Chang-Sun smiling coldly as he crossed his arms.

“Thank you for the gift,” Chang-Sun said.

Although Simon wanted to yell no, the Dungeon was on the verge of closing already. darkness spread from above, but before it could cover Chang-Sun’s face completely, his crooked smile became even clearer in Simon’s eyes.

[0.]

[The Dungeon is now completely closed.]

[Great work, everyone.]

Paah!

The ‘Rhaegaren’ collapsed, and a new world appeared around Chang-Sun and Simon. The world was empty except for a red heart wall.

[You are inside the ‘Deceased Giant King’s Heart’ of the ‘Wuthering Stone Desert.’]

With the [Laevateinn] now combined with Chang-Sun’s heart, Surtr’s heart no longer beat. After all, Surtr had finished the last of his duties. The only ones inside the heart were Chang-Sun, his subordinates, and the screaming Simon.

「Give it back to me!!!」Simon screamed at the top of his lungs as he pounced at Chang-Sun, feeling furious for having lost the last hope he had tried so hard and given everything up to obtain. As a mage, he should maintain rational judgment, but it was long gone, his mind having been filled with the resolve to get the poem back using any means necessary.

Chang-Sun just coldly smiled at Simon and said, “Deactivate the summoning.”

The Soul Link between Chang-Sun and Simon was forcefully deactivated.

[Your Subordinate ‘Simon Magus’ has been thrown into the ‘Changgwi Cave’ after you deactivated the Soul Link.]

Clang―!

Like a candle that had gone out, Simon disappeared, and his iron mask dropped powerlessly, creating a loud clanging sound. Chang-Sun picked it up with his right hand and opened his left hand.

[The ‘King’s Treasury―Rhaegaren’ has slightly opened!]

The [King’s Treasury], which had merged with the ‘Rhaegaren,’ opened a little in Chang-Sun’s left hand. One by one, the runes on the drawing then twirled out of it. They were [Bestla’s Poem], which Simon had activated before the Dungeon closed. The densely engraved runes inside the mask also shone.

『No! No! Not that! Just leave that alone… I’ll do anything! I swear I’ll do anything you order me as my master, please!』

Watching the whole situation through Chang-Sun’s eyes, Simon hurriedly sent a telepathic message. However, since Simon already had a history of breaking [Mana Pledges], Chang-Sun didn’t believe him. Besides, the poem that had shown up was very important to Chang-Sun as well.

‘Surtr said that the <Muspelheim> throne has been passed down since the time of Bestla.’ Chang-Sun recalled.

Considering Bestla used to be the king of <Muspelheim>, and the Fire Giants were her direct heirs…

‘Then Bestla’s epic is going to be helpful to me in many ways… This is good,’ Chang-Sun thought, contented.

It would allow him to keep increasing his power as a Giant, so he felt as if he had received an unexpected gift.

Paah!

The runes that Simon had pulled out and the ones from the iron mask merged and arranged in a row in the air, making them look like an opened scroll on a desk.

[The broken fragments have been sloppily combined, faintly holding Divinity.]

[Quite a number of the poem’s fragments have been lost or damaged. Restore the damaged fragments and recreate the missing fragments to complete the poem.]

[‘Bestla’s Poem’ has been completed!]

[Bestla’s Poem.]

A poem about the forgotten Giant Deity King. 60% of its runes have been damaged, making it difficult to read it, let alone interpret it. It has to be restored to its original state.

· Type: Relic. Poem.

· Effect: Summon <Myth>. (Other Effects unknown.)

Chang-Sun bit his left index finger until it bled. He then made a drop of his blood fall inside the iron mask.

[You have activated the Skill ‘Blood Toxin,’ manifesting the Skill ‘Greater Rune Creation’!]

With his left index finger, Chang-Sun wrote a letter inside the mask using his blood as ink.

[A ‘Transcription Rune’ has been created!]

[Transcription has begun.]

[Engraving ‘Bestla’s Poem’ on the ‘Samaritan Iron Mask.’]

Pzzz―!

Chang-Sun’s Transcription Rune, which was made out of blood, shattered and spread across the entire mask, making the specks of dust transform into different letters like wriggling worms. At the same time, [Bestla’s Poem] swayed down from the air all the way inside the iron mask. The letters created by the Transcription Rune combined with the runes from the poem, seemingly knowing where they belonged.

[The Skill ‘Greater Rune Engraving’ has been activated!]

[Skill level has increased.]

[Skill level has increased.]

…

[The Skill ‘Greater Rune Engraving’ has reached its maximum level. A higher-level skill has been created.]

[The Skill ‘Expert Rune Engraving’ has been created!]

…

The iron mask trembled as it merged with [Bestla’s Poem]. The rust on it fell little by little, eventually revealing its brilliantly shining copper color.

[Creating the ‘Bestla’s Mask’.]

Just as a new relic was about to be created, Chang-Sun looked at the ceiling, the mask in his hand.

Woosh, woosh, woosh…!

When he did, he found a fierce battle already underway.

[Your Subordinate ‘Jin Prezia’ is fighting the Player ‘Czestochowa’!]

Inside the scarlet heart, the walls of which were imbued with fire, Chang-Sun could see Jin and the Killer Overlord clashing. Ice dust flew all over, seemingly out of place in this environment.

[The Celestial ‘Big Sick Bug’ is watching you!]

Looking at them, Chang-Sun put on the iron mask—no, he put on [Bestla’s Mask] when he felt Xue Yong’s eyes on him.

Click!

The sound it made ominously echoed. The time to start the sealing process had come.