Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 230: Star, the Star Auction (5)

“Do you not have masks that look more normal?” Minerva held back her anger, but her eyes remained filled with menace as she glared at Mercury.

Mercury just laughed. “Of course…”

“You do, don’t you?” Minerva finished Mercury’s sentence.

“Of course, I don’t. Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Swaying his index finger from side to side, Mercury clicked his tongue. “Does my lovely sister not know me? I obviously didn’t bring such masks. How can I miss an opportunity like this?”

Minerva’s hand, which was holding onto the mask, shook. She was having a sudden yet strong impulse to throw the mask at Mercury’s shameless face right now. However, she displayed superhuman patience and refrained from doing so instead. After all, if she broke this mask, she would have to stay here and leave Chang-Sun alone with Mars and Mercury.

Mars’ first choice of dealing with problems was wreaking havoc, and Mercury’s mischievousness was unpredictable. If Minerva let them loose in a place like this, the best scenario she could hope for was getting to avoid a life-and-death situation. Chang-Sun’s plan could also go awry, something Minerva could never let happen.

Nevertheless, she wasn’t sure she really had to wear this embarrassing mask, but Mars, who had been glaring at his clown mask without saying anything, suddenly put the mask on. Just looking at the bulky clown would instill fear in anyone.

“Did I put it on correctly?” Mars asked.

“Oh, it looks great on you!” Mercury shouted.

“Cut it out. Let’s go.”

In contrast to his grumbling tone, Mars’ chest was puffed up. Noticing his confidence, Minerva narrowed her eyes. “You seriously don’t think it looks good on you, do you?”

“…”

“What? Are you for real?” Minerva tilted her head.

“If everyone has put on their mask, then let’s go. We can’t stay here for too long,” Mars said as he looked away.

“Hey! Do you really think so?!” Minerva shouted.

Mars never answered her question.

* * *

“Moodoo… What will happen to us?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect us.”

“… I won’t worry.”

Moodoo, a Gray Elf and Kali’s 32nd Branch, kept trying to calm down Supada, the 374th Branch. Moodoo thought of Supada as her biological sibling. Although Moodoo looked calm, she was also quite tense. After all, she had a lot riding on her shoulders. Depending on her next decision, Supada and the other twenty-four Branches’ fates would be decided as well.

‘I can’t let the Branches scatter anymore!’ Moodoo thought, determined.

When Kali’s temple fell, Moodoo and the other priests who followed her formed a resistance. The goddess fired them and told them not to bind themselves to her, but… Moodoo had been serving Kali ever since she was born.

The resistance army’s operations weren’t really successful, however. A priest’s power originated from their Celestial. Their priest title was revoked when Kali died, leaving them without any abilities or power. The only silver lining they had was that their opponents couldn’t easily capture them because of the combat techniques that they had learned from Kali.

Nevertheless, the only thing they could do in their current state was rob a few temples of low-ranking <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials, let alone attack the Zodiacs. Over time, the encirclement around them tightened, making even robberies difficult and causing them to lose contact with many of their colleagues.

When the Emperor’s Seat of the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight mansions stepped in, the resistance army’s chance of winning fell to zero. Failing to escape from the Emperor’s Seat, everyone got captured and put in this cell. All their manas had been sealed, and they had been abandoned here, becoming mere auction items of the <Star Auction>.

Moodoo initially resisted and was prepared to fight, but she eventually stopped. The auction house managers had warned that they would separate the Branches if Moodoo created more problems.

Moodoo firmly believed that they shouldn’t be separated any further than they already had. While working as a resistance army soldier, Moodoo knew deep down that they were at a disadvantage because they numbered too few.

If they had successfully restored their World Tree and completed a dense Shindansu, they wouldn’t have had to worry about their number… Moodoo’s biggest regret was that she couldn’t establish a proper means of communication with their other siblings because they were busy running away from the encirclement of the <Horoscope> and <Purple Astrology> Celestials.

‘Where will we be sold off to?’ Moodoo wondered.

She knew her and her siblings’ values very well. They were filled with talent, so many Celestials would want them. Priest candidates that had already been ‘completed’ were also very rare, which meant they would be sold off at a very high price. However, the Branches would be separated during the auction unless someone bought all twenty-five of them at once.

‘I have to find a way to get out of this somehow!’ Moodoo thought.

However, these emotionless auction-house managers never gave the Branches a chance.

At that moment…

“You better stay quiet in the auction house if you want to get what you want,” the Emperor’s Seat said.

… Moodoo remembered what the Emperor’s Seat said in secret before he handed them over to the <Star Auction> staff. At the time, Moodoo just snorted because she couldn’t trust him, but she was so desperate that she wanted to believe him now.

“The auction will be starting soon, so get moving, everyone!” One of the managers approached the mobile cell Moodoo and the other Branches were held, looking a little tense.

A couple of <L’Infernal> demons were following the manager.

“Moodoo!”

“It’s alright.” Moodoo calmed Supada, who began to shiver again.

“Hmm…! So they’re the priests of the ‘Goddess of Massacre and Destruction,’ huh?”

The two demons moved closer to the cell. Both demons had black hair and eyes, pale skin, and red lips, so others would probably think of them as twins. The taller demon stroked his chin and observed Moodoo and the other Branches.

“Won’t our ill-tempered demon king be satisfied with them? What do you think?” the taller demon asked after he turned back.

The smaller demon nodded without saying anything else.

Looking as if he quickly lost interest, the taller demon clasped his hands behind his back and said, “Keep an eye on them. We’ll probably take them soon, manager. If the merchandise is damaged… kek! You already know what will happen, don’t you?”

“Would the Demon King of the East…?” the manager cautiously asked.

“Psst! It won’t do you any good to mention that name.” The taller demon put his fingers against his lip.

“I-I’m sorry. My mistake!” the manager frantically shouted.

The manager couldn’t have acted crueler when he was dealing with Moodoo and the other Branches, but he looked really pale right now.

“See you later.” The taller demon tapped the manager’s shoulder a couple of times to cheer him up before leaving.

The Demon King of the East? Judging from how the manager grew really tense, those demons probably had a very powerful master. The question of who it could be befuddled Moodoo’s mind. As she sighed, she ended up having eye contact with the smaller demon, who had been staring at her and the other Branches without saying anything. At that moment…

『Once you go up to the stage, you’ll receive a signal. Run to the emergency exit to your northwest with your group. Remember that the exit is to your northwest.』

‘…!’

Moodoo received a telepathic message that she couldn’t disregard. Although she wanted to ask what the smaller demon meant by signal…

“What are you still doing over there? Let’s go!” the taller demon urged. The smaller demon walked away.

Due to the smaller demon’s expressionless face, Moodoo couldn’t tell what was on his mind. Hence, she just repeated northwest and emergency exit in her mind instead.

* * *

The <Star Grave> had so many attractions that it turned into the Celestials’ vacation spot. It even had a Ferris wheel rotating nonstop in the center, a long rollercoaster, and a merry-go-round.

Dolls were displayed as prizes in the shooting range in one section, and street stalls that sold cotton candies stood in the other section. The Celestials wearing masks and casual clothes walked the streets. The scenery looked freer than what Chang-Sun had seen inside the carriage. It was actually noisier too.

Kyoo! Kyoo, kyoo!

Cadmus seemed to be loving this place, seeing as how its eyes were sparkling like a child who came to an amusement park for the first time.

「Wh-what is that? Oh… Ohhhh! I have only heard about those magic engines! Hey, Master! Can you please let me take a closer look…!」

Simon Magus was half out of his mind because of the magic machines installed all over the vacation spot. However, something else caught Chang-Sun’s attention.

‘... There are quite a lot of angels and demons around,’ Chang-Sun thought.

<Maleakhe> the Absolute Good faction and <L’Infernal> the Absolute Evil faction. The <Societies> of angels and demons were known to be working together to keep this place a neutral zone. Even right now, angels and demons were patrolling all over the area.

Although some angels and demons with two sets of wings could occasionally be seen, most of the angels and demons guarding this place were low-rank and had only one set of wings. It was difficult to come across these kinds of beings even in the <Myth War>. Chang-Sun watched them with interest, seemingly having his fair share of angels and demons here all at once.

“Mercury was right about powerful Celestials coming to this place for the auction.” Mars suddenly chuckled.

Wondering why Mars was reacting like this, Chang-Sun looked at him, who was smiling menacingly under his clown mask. Mars asked, “Can you see that guy all the way over there?”

Chang-Sun turned his head toward where Mars gestured with his eyes, finding a large group of angels getting scolded by an angel with two sets of wings.

“That angel is Paphiel, Uriel[1]’s right-hand man. If he’s here, that means Uriel is here to keep an eye on everyone and prevent possible commotions.”

Uriel was one of the Four Angels of the <Maleakhe>, known to hold the sword of truth in one hand and the fire that burned sinners’ souls in the other. Among the <Maleakhe> angels, Uriel was the most belligerent hardliner, so anyone who had clashed with him had been met with harsh fates. He rarely made public appearances because he was the gatekeeper of the Garden of Eden, the sacred ground of the <Maleakhe>, but he was on the move now.

“And over there,” Mars said.

Chang-Sun turned his head in the other direction, finding demons standing with bizarre smiles and glaring eyes. One of them had his chin up and his arms crossed. He looked intimidating for some reason.

“He’s Barbason, one of Marbas[2]’ commanders,” Mars explained.

Marbas was the fifth strongest devil within <L’Infernal> and was also the chairman of the general assembly within their <Society>. He was probably watching the Celestials from somewhere nearby. Uriel and Marbas’ presence showed just how high-profiled the upcoming auction was.

“If I could do as I please, I would have tried fighting every single one of them.” Mars smacked his lips in disappointment.

Minerva slightly frowned. “Don’t try anything stupid. I’m going to ditch you the moment you catch other people’s attention.”

“Hmph! You don’t have to tell me what to do, so don’t worry!” Mars snorted, but Minerva still seemed suspicious of Mars.

It was only natural to act that way, though, since they wouldn’t want to attract anyone’s attention here. The energy of the <Star Grave> could badly affect Chang-Sun, who still had a low Class, and too many Celestials who were interested in getting him.

One wrong encounter with that kind of Celestial could result in Chang-Sun and the others getting kicked out of this place for causing a commotion, so Minerva had to do whatever it took to stop that from happening. Chang-Sun’s goal was to leave as quickly as possible after buying the items he needed in this <Star Auction>.

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ whines at her mother that she wants to go to the <Star Grave>.]

[The Celestial ‘Primordial Evil Dragon’ tells her daughter that she can go with her own money.]

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ comes clean and says that she has used up all her allowance this month.]

[The Celestial ‘Primordial Evil Dragon’ starts lecturing her daughter for being too wasteful of money.]

Fortunately, Chang-Sun’s group managed to leave the amusement park section and enter the resort section, which where the auction house was located.

“Don’t forget to stay close to us,” Mercury warned Chang-Sun.

Chang-Sun nodded, understanding how dangerous this would be since more Celestials would be inside the auction house. In fact, Chang-Sun would have had trouble getting to the entrance if these three Celestials hadn’t protected and led him.

“Tickets please.”

Entering the auction house was very tricky. The gatekeeper verified people’s tickets and locked their inventories. All kinds of commotions were prohibited inside the auction house, and if one did create a disturbance, the host committee members would hold the people responsible and severely reprimand them.

‘… There are a lot of them,’ Chang-Sun thought.

As soon as Chang-Sun stepped into the auction house, a giant hall that could hold thousands of people at once came into view. He also felt the heavy auras that the Celestials exuded due to their high divine class, making him click his tongue.

「They’re all monsters.」

Kyoo. Kyoo, kyoo.

Cadmus nodded in agreement with Simon’s remark. At least three hundred Celestials were inside the hall, but rather than majestic, the sight was rather scary.

“Our seat is over there.” Mercury led Chang-Sun and the others to the third floor, which was also the highest floor.

Their seats were in one of the private rooms that the entire third floor was filled with. Although they were far away from the stage, they still had a view of the stage and all the other seats, which could only mean they had VVIP seats.

“… These seats look expensive. How did you get these? I have a feeling that the amount of Causality I gave you was far from enough,” Minerva asked.

“I naturally pulled some strings. We don’t want to attract attention, do we? It’s better to watch and leave the auction quietly,” Mercury answered.

Minerva nodded in agreement. The best part about these VVIP seats was that one could participate in the auction by pressing the button inside the room instead of raising their hand or a sign, letting the person stay perfectly anonymous.

“We’re here.” Mercury found their room and was about to enter, but someone suddenly stopped them.

“Hey, hold on.”

Chang-Sun and the others turned their heads and saw a slender person with beautiful black hair that reached his ankles. He was so skinny that it was difficult to tell if the person was a man or woman at one glance, but his voice was sharp, powerful, and loud.

His every footstep and word he used was arrogant. The man didn’t even hide his divine class, making the air around them hold quite the mixture of immense pressure and madness that usually drove people insane.

Chang-Sun was certain that the man was a great demon king within <L'Infernal> or a very powerful demonic deity. However, in contrast to the man’s appearance, he was wearing an adorable puppy mask, which was in harmony and discordant with the man at the same time.

Minerva, Mercury, and Mars had to have noticed who the man was because Chang-Sun could notice their faces darkening behind their masks. Although Chang-Sun wasn’t sure if the man didn’t know or care about how they reacted, the man approached Chang-Sun and arrogantly asked, “Where did you get your necklace from?”

The man’s red eyes gleamed coldly.

1. One of the Christian archangels ☜

2. One of the demons that appear in The Lesser Key of Solomon. ☜