Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 228: Star, the Star Auction (3)

According to Mercury’s explanation, the Star AuctionHouse here on the <Star Grave> was off-limits to anyone without a ticket approved by both <Maleakhe> and <L’Infernal>.

“Do you know what kind of place the <Star Grave> is?” Mercury asked.

Chang-Sun nodded. “I know it’s one of the <Seven Wonders>.”

“That makes things easier to explain.” Mercury beamed. “<Star Grave> was created after stars were buried there so long ago that we don’t even know which stars got buried. The place itself is an energy site—no, a divine energy site, so going there makes Celestials feel fulfilled and refreshed. However, if a person’s Class isn’t high enough, their Class could crumble down due to the energy flow of the place.”

Chang-Sun nodded again. Just because it was an energy site—a place where many kinds of energies had accumulated over the years—it didn’t mean it was always good. When it came to places like that, biting off more than one could chew was worse than not eating at all. In Chang-Sun’s current state, his Class, which he had built with difficulty, could destabilize if he didn’t prepare enough.

The <Maleakhe> and <L’Infernal> prohibited mortals from entering the place for a reason. The one silver lining he had right now was that his Class wouldn’t crumble down easily thanks to his status as a <Muspelheim> king, but there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t experience any aftereffects. Hence, he had to be accompanied by Celestials to enter the <Star Grave>.

“Since someone has to regularly cleanse the place’s energy off of you, I’m going to stay by your side while we’re there,” Mercury said.

“Thank you,” Chang-Sun answered.

“If you’re really grateful, then you should do your job right, shouldn’t you?” Mercury joked and continued, “The auction you’re going to enter is going to be at the center of the <Star Grave>. Keep in mind that everyone here wears a mask to remain anonymous.”

Relics and treasures were presented as lots every day in the Star AuctionHouse, but the Celestials that participated in the <Star Auctions> were reluctant to reveal their identity.

“Most of them don’t want others to find out about what kind of treasures they bought,” Mercury explained.

A relic equaled power for Celestials, so they normally kept the kind of relics they had a secret. If they didn’t, they could be exposing their strengths and weaknesses to their enemies or future enemies. That was also the reason why the ‘Divine Twilight’ hadn’t disclosed what kind of weapons were inside the [Omni-Weapon Chest], his trademark.

“So most participants of the auction wear masks that are enchanted with a perception distortion spell. If they think the spell is unreliable, some participants even send their representatives—no, it’s actually what most Celestials do,” Mercury explained, then caught his breath.

For some reason, Chang-Sun felt as if the carefree Mercury turned a bit serious. It seemed he was getting to the main point that he wished to tell Chang-Sun.

“However, most of them, including the highly renowned Celestials, will participate in the auction themselves instead of sending their representative.”

Minerva, who had also been listening to Mercury’s explanation, tilted her head in confusion. “Is there a reason?”

“Yes, actually. Celestials have been paying a lot of attention to this auction due to the two items that will be presented today.”

Two items? Chang-Sun and Minerva looked at each other, not having the slightest clue of what the items could be. They then turned toward Mercury. Looking at the two, Mercury enigmatically smiled. “The host made an announcement that one of Ou Yezi’s divine swords will be put on the upcoming auction…”

“…!”

“…!”

“...along with the high-ranking priests of the ‘Goddess of Massacre and Destruction,’” Mercury continued.

Although Kali had fallen due to the trap made by the <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials, she was still notorious throughout the entire <Heaven>. As a Celestial, she led a plane to destruction, then used that very same plane to revive and regenerate. Few Celestials could do both.

For that reason, the priests whom Kali had taught were bound to be valuable and covered by many Celestials. Just like relics, Celestials had a hard time not only finding someone of talent that they liked from head to toe but also turning that person into their subordinate. It was also very rare for talented people to also be skilled fighters, and those who were highly likely already had a Guardian.

However, the same couldn’t be said for Kali’s high-ranking priests. They had already been ‘completed,’ and they had lost their Guardian. Hence, all the other Celestials had to do was add the missing parts. They would never have a chance to recruit someone as talented as Kali’s high-ranking priests again.

Chang-Sun had already seen this coming the moment he heard from the Emperor’s Seat the news of Kali’s priests ending up in the <Star Grave>.

“My plan for extracting them was to have the selected people auction off the priests once they’re presented as the auction items,” The Emperor’s Seat said.

“The selected people?”

“I’ve made a group outside the <Purple Star Astrology> that the other Enclosures and Richardus don’t know about.”

“And you were planning on using them to bring back Kali’s priests to one place without raising anyone’s alarm?”

“Including your other friends, if possible.”

The Emperor’s Seat wouldn’t have gotten suspected if he auctioned off Kali’s priests in a public auction hosted by other <Societies>, so that was probably why the Emperor’s Seat had come up with the plan. The problem was that he had crossed paths with Chang-Sun and gotten sealed before he could make it happen.

“What were you going to do afterward?” Chang-Sun asked.

“I don’t know.” The Emperor’s Seat shook his head.

“You… don’t know? What do you mean?” Chang-Sun frowned slightly.

“I really don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. I was just going to keep them together on a planet on the outskirts of the universe, somewhere <Heaven> wouldn’t care about... After that… they should be the ones to decide what to do.”

The Emperor’s Seat’s remarks still unsettled Chang-Sun’s mind…

‘Anyway, the group that the Emperor’s Seat had made in secrecy would surely participate in this upcoming auction,’ Chang-Sun thought.

He either had to find the members of that group and work with them or fight them to take Kali’s priests. Of course, unless a variable showed up, Chang-Sun planned to choose the latter. He had no idea what the group even was, so he didn’t know how to find its members. Even if he found them somehow, the group would be made up of the children of the Emperor's Seat, which meant they had bad blood with him.

‘The auction is already high profile because of Kali’s priests, but now one of Ou Yezi’s divine swords is also going to be in the auction… This is troubling.’ Chang-Sun grunted.

This had to be why Mercury had smiled enigmatically at Chang-Sun and Minerva. He knew that the [Yuchang Sword] was in Chang-Sun’s possession and the [Zhan Lu Sword] in Minerva’s, so it was only logical for Mercury to assume that the two would want to get their hands on another one of Ou Yezi’s divine swords.

‘Can I get both with my money?’ Chang-Sun wondered, deciding to go through the list of [King’s Treasury] later.

With the Yetis’ treasures, which the Winter King had given Chang-Sun, and <Muspelheim> money, Chang-Sun could get more coins than most <Heaven> Celestials.

However, there was no telling if it would be enough to get everything that Chang-Sun wanted. He could win one item somehow, but that would make the other Celestials spiteful and tenacious when bidding on the other items. Some Celestials could even work together or bring someone from the <Societies> they were in.

‘I’ll have to think more about this part later.’ Chang-Sun had a feeling that it wouldn’t be easy to devise a plan. ‘If I can’t come up with a plan to get both… I’ll have to take Kali’s priests first and delay acquiring Ou Yezi’s divine swords.’

Acquiring Ou Yezi’s divine swords was important, but it wasn’t as important as his old colleague’s priests. As Chang-Sun set priorities in his mind, Mercury smiled enigmatically once more and gave him another piece of information. “Oh, yeah. One more thing…”

“…?”

“There is a rumor about Taotie the Devil Blacksmith participating in this upcoming auction.”

“…!”

“Many other popular Celestials are also going to show up, so you better be as careful as possible.”

Chang-Sun wasn’t sure if Mercury was advising or warning him.

* * *

Oooong, oooong―!

Mars frowned as he looked at [Balmung], which kept incessantly howling while Mercury was giving them an explanation.

“Gosh,” Mars groaned.

[Balmung] was whining because it didn’t get to taste blood. It wasn’t the sword’s first time whining, so Mars rolled his eyes as he held [Balmung] in a reverse grip. He then stabbed his left hand with the dagger.

Splash!

The sharp [Balmung] instantly pierced Mars’ hand, causing his blood to splatter like a fountain. Despite the clearly severe wound, Mars didn’t even flinch. It was as if he was already used to it. The sight made even Chang-Sun uncomfortable.

Gulp, gulp.

[Balmung] absorbed—no, drank every bit of Mars’ blood. Whenever the dagger swayed from side to side, gulping sounds echoed. It was as if someone was drinking water. A Celestial’s blood was profused with divine power, so no better food could satiate the hungry [Balmung]. When the dagger finally settled down, Mars pulled it out.

“Here.” Mercury handed Mars a pill made out of refined [Nektar], which Chang-Sun had also consumed before.

The moment Mars gulped it down, his wound quickly healed, making it seem as if it never existed in the first place. He then sheathed [Balmung], which didn’t have a drop of blood on itself, and hung it on the back of his belt.

Click!

“This dagger is truly insane.” Mars cursed.

Mercury grinned. “Why? I think it’s cute.”

“Cute? This bastard is willing and likes to drink its owner’s blood.”

“That is why I’m saying it’s cute.”

“What?”

“The dagger is similar to you.”

“… If one more nonsense comes out of your mouth, I’m going to feed this dagger your blood next time.”

“Haha! No thanks. I hate getting hurt more than anything else in the world.” Mercury leaned backward, noticing that Mars was serious.

Crossing his arms, Mar snorted. He knew better than anyone that Mercury wasn’t the feebleminded person he pretended to be. Although Mercury looked amicable, he was as cold as a viper.

However, Mars’ attention wasn’t on his two-faced brother. Chang-Sun turned his head, having just finished talking with Minerva, and met Mars’ eyes.

“Do you want to borrow this?” Mars smirked and swayed the sheathed [Balmung] from side to side. He noticed Chang-Sun flinch when he drew [Balmung] during their sparring match.

‘He’s really interested in swords,’ Mars thought.

Chang-Sun’s weapons that Mars had gotten to see during their sparring were all exceptional enough to tempt him, but something was different about the way Chang-Sun looked at [Balmung]. It was filled with desperation, which Mars thought of as an indication of Chang-Sun becoming fond of [Balmung]. In cases like Chang-Sun’s, he would likely even dream of the weapon during his sleep because of how much he coveted it, so he was bound to be tempted.

“How does this sound? I’ll lend you this, but in return, become my apostle. I’ll even give you an Authority that you want. My fighting techniques, money, treasures… tell me what you want, and I’ll give them to you.” Mars offered.

He was Jupiter and Juno’s only son and legitimate child in <Olympus>, and he was also wealthier than most <Olympus> Celestials, being second only to Pluto. Hence, he was confident he could give whatever Chang-Sun wanted in exchange for becoming his apostle.

Stab!

Without answering Mars, Chang-Sun pulled out [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] and pierced the ground with it. Now that it had been sealed again, [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] had become smaller, making it look like a kukri.

“…?” Mars tilted his head in confusion, not understanding what Chang-Sun was trying to do.

“Do you know what this is?” Chang-Sun asked.

“It… looks like it’s carved out of a Dragon’s fang.”

“This is [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth]. Taotie the Devil Blacksmith himself created this using a tooth of the ‘Primordial Evil Dragon,’” Chang-Sun explained.

“What?” Mars’ eyes widened.

An item made from any Dragon’s byproducts was already invaluable. If it was truly created with none other than Tiamat’s tooth… then putting a price on the sword was impossible. To top it all off, the sword was forged by Taotie the Devil Blacksmith.

At that moment, Mars finally noticed Taotie’s seal on the surface of [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth].

“Someone who wished to make me her apostle ‘gave’ me this as a present. Meanwhile, she gave me this one.” Chang-Sun gestured at Minerva as he pulled out the [Zhan Lu Sword], rendering Mars speechless. “But you… just want to lend me that sword?”

Chang-Sun was essentially telling Mars to make his offer sweeter if Mars wanted to coax him… Mars was a Celestial—no, a Great <Olympus> Celestial. Had there been any mortal who dared say that to someone as powerful as him? Mars wasn’t sure how to respond to Chang-Sun, who was openly asking him to up the price.

“Hahahaha!” Mercury burst into laughter.

Minerva, who was quietly watching everything, could be certain. ‘He’ll be robbed more than I expected.’

It seemed a bigger sugar deity than Pabilsag was about to be born.