Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 257: Star, the Old Secret (1)

[The Celestial ‘Taurus’ bursts into laughter!]

Chang-Sun looked up at the sky and read a message from someone he was familiar with. Using Urash, his apostle, Bel-Marduk said that Chang-Sun could be the ‘Divine Twilight,’ but he wasn’t making guesses. Bel-Marduk was certain of it. After all, among the Zodiacs, he knew Chang-Sun best.

Although Chang-Sun was also aware of what Bel-Marduk was thinking, he didn’t try to hide his identity. He would have had to lay low back if he had been weak, but since it had been proven that no one from the <Saha World> could defeat him, he no longer had any reason to hide it. That was why he had completed [Dust Devil]—no, [Storm Era].

Of course, he didn’t say aloud that he was the ‘Divine Twilight.’ There were still advantages to hiding his identity. Confused, the <Heaven> Celestials mentioned names like Odin and Balor. The chaos would slow them down.

Still, Bel-Marduk and the other Celestials who knew the ‘Divine Twilight’ very well had likely noticed on some level. However, Bel-Marduk had no way of interfering in the affairs of the <Saha World> due to the law of causality. All he could do was use his apostle, but his apostle had just been killed.

[The Celestial ‘Taurus’ smirks.]

[You have received a private message.]

[Message: I don’t know how you were able to rise again.]

[You have received a private message.]

[Message: You’ll soon have to retrace the path you used to come here.]

Chang-Sun chuckled quietly, seemingly urging Bel-Marduk to do it if he could.

[The Celestial ‘Taurus’ bursts into laughter, exiting the channel!]

Hahahaha.

For some reason, Chang-Sun felt as if he could hear Bel-Marduk’s laughter, which was loud enough to shake the arena.

[You have completed the Quest!]

[Selecting rewards.]

…

[Retrieving the battle stage.]

* * *

Thump!

Thump….!

One after another, the Players collapsed on the ground, no longer able to stand up straight.

“Mo-monster…”

“… I think calling him a monster is an understatement.”

“He’s a great monster, then?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me… Have you gone crazy or something?”

“I feel like I actually will if I don’t keep babbling.”

“... I must have been out of my mind when I thought I could defeat him.”

The magic barrier around the battle stage disappeared, revealing Chang-Sun and an odd sight. His divine and demonic swords had been thrust into the ground, and he was holding a slayer sword in each hand. His hair was ash-gray, and his eyes were navy blue. Black lightning sparks also flew up in the air around him, causing the Players to hold their breath. The sparks seemed about to clash with them.

The Players blamed their stupidity. They could not help but feel embarrassed for talking about hegemony and the future when this monster was right in front of them. If Chang-Sun had been a little more cruel, he would have killed them already, putting an end to all the European Players.

Instead, although some were critically wounded, none of them actually died. Considering that alone evidenced that Chang-Sun had gone extremely easy on them, the Players couldn’t help feeling more tense.

‘That means even if all the European Players attack him all at once, it would still be impossible to defeat the Tyrant.’

‘A Player who’s as strong as all the Players in a continent? No, he’s way more powerful than that. How is anyone supposed to defeat him?’

‘He isn’t human.’

‘We’re just children before him…’

Those who were sufficiently better than others were seen as objects of envy and jealousy. However, those so great that others couldn’t even imagine catching up to them were praised in awe and made the people feel only one emotion—worship. Such individuals were no longer seen as belonging to the same species. From the public’s perspective, they had gone far beyond the limitations of humans.

[You have gained 11 Faiths.]

[You have gained 15 Faiths.]

…

[The rank of your Order ‘Crna Ruka’ has been readjusted. C+ → B-]

[The Celestial ‘World-Supporting Pillar’ frowns as he watches his Faith quickly decrease.]

[The Celestial 'Shepherd at the Bottom of a Hill’ feels displeased to see his followers’ Faith wavering.]

…

The change in how the people viewed Chang-Sun naturally greatly affected his Faith and weakened the Faith of the influential Celestials on Earth like Saxnot and Veles. To fix this, their apostles Ben Eddy and Sergei Zolotov would have to step in and pacify their Clan members, but they could not pull themselves together either and were losing faith in themselves.

Meanwhile, the Players were becoming more bewildered.

Rumble, rumble!

In the distance, Chang-Sun’s subordinate and Jacque Valentine could be seen fighting. However, Jacque was losing. As the two mages’ magic attacks crashed into each other…

Smash!

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

… Simon Magus pierced through Jacque’s heart with a knife-hand strike.

* * *

『Ah…』

“… It hurts,” Jacque mumbled.

The halo around Jacque the Manticore diminished little by little, revealing Jacque in his human form. He had a slight frown on his lips. He was usually as emotionless as a statue, but it seemed that the pain of his own heart getting destroyed was too much even for him. Unable to maintain his Manticore form, he spoke in his human voice now.

「What are you doing?!」 Simon shouted, his face crumpling up despite being the winner.

“Haha, you wanted to kill me so badly, but why aren’t you happier now that you have finally succeeded?” Jacque chuckled quietly.

「Stop your bullshit! This isn’t what I wanted—!」Simon screamed, his face contorting.

However, Jacque just calmly continued, “You wanted to see me in despair as I realize that I’m about to lose… Something along that line.”

When he noticed Simon flinch, Jacque’s smirk deepened. “Sadly, I don’t think I can do that for you, teacher.”

「…!」

Simon’s lip trembled under his iron mask. He had forgotten the word long ago, and he did not expect to hear it now.

「... I’m not your teacher!」 Simon yelled, gritting his teeth. His eyes blazed up in fury, thinking Jacque was mocking him.

Before Gates opened up on Earth, there first came an era when magic and wonders were treated as superstition. While Europe had been in unprecedented peace thanks to the great empire named Rome back then, not much had changed for the peasants.

That was when Simon and Peter the Apostle rose. Born from the same hometown, they studied in the same class and were both fascinated by magic and wonders. They eventually became certain that magic was the only way to break the damned system of the world, but Simon and Peter had differences in opinion about what method to use.

Simon studied magic in depth in an attempt to overthrow everything and create a new world. However, Peter disagreed with Simon’s method because he believed it would cause bigger chaos among the peasants and make their lives worse. Hence, Peter instead went to the son of a god who had received a prophecy from his father. Peter became his disciple, walking down the path of light and earning the title of apostle. In contrast, Simon had chosen the path of darkness and became a demon king.

Apostle and demon king. Light and darkness. Those two concepts could never coexist. Although Simon and Peter shared the same goal of saving the poor, they studied different areas. They eventually ended up in a conflict, in which Peter the Apostle tried to eliminate Simon before he became even more corrupted. Simon survived in the end, albeit barely, and managed to flee.

“I… I’ll have my revenge one day no matter what, Peter!” Simon shouted.

Simon the Demon King hid in the darkness where Peter the Apostle could never find him. After a long time, Simon heard the news about Vercingetorix, the great king of Gauls, where modern-day France was now located. After Caesar of Rome defeated Vercingetorix, he was regarded as a rebel and died alone at the execution site.

“You… You can exact my revenge! If I can prove I’m greater than him through you, then I can have my revenge against Peter!”

Vercingetorix—no, Jacque Valentine was talented. His family was traditionally proficient in all sorts of unorthodox magic, and he was the greatest mage in his family. Hence, he was bound to catch Simon’s attention.

Just like Simon, Jacque would loathe the entire world more than anyone else, so despite his ruined body and albeit with difficulty, Simon managed to rescue Jacque. Simon then taught him everything he knew. Jacque quickly mastered Simon’s teachings and lived up to his expectations. However, when he became ‘complete’... he shattered Simon’s heart.

“...Why?” Simon asked.

“The only thing I wanted was your knowledge,” Jacque replied.

Jacque left, leaving Simon in despair. After his friend, Simon was also betrayed by his student, shattering his trust for the second time. What made him even more miserable was that Jacque immediately became Peter’s student afterward.

“H-how could you two do this to me?!” Simon screamed in misery.

Simon made a decision: No matter how long it took, he would resurrect, rise once more, and make Jacque and Peter experience the same frustration and misery that he did. Fortunately, he managed to transfer his soul to an iron mask without losing his high mastery of gnosis. Changing his identity countless times, he lived for two thousand years for this moment.

Two thousand years ago, Jacque was the one who successfully destroyed Simon. Now that the tables had turned, however, Simon didn’t feel as if he won because he had a strong feeling that Jacque didn’t give his all in the battle.

[The Celestial ‘Malignity-Drinking Saturn’ grins as he asks his contracting party if he is satisfied now.]

Jacque was now Satan’s contracting party, not his apostle. Noticing how his status changed so quickly, Jacque smiled bitterly. He couldn’t help but think that his Guardian never ceased to be consistent.

[The Celestial ‘Malignity-Drinking Saturn’ says that since the long contract has come to an end, he will now take your soul as promised. ]

[The Celestial ‘Malignity-Drinking Saturn’ reaches out his hand.]

Jacque saw a hallucination of Satan reaching out to him through a spatial gap with his hand, which was tinged with darkness.

‘I can finally rest now. My life has been all too boring,’ Jacque thought.

However, he would at least finish his last mission before he rested.

“Since I don’t have much time left, I’ll make one thing clear, teacher,” Jacque said.

Simon’s eyes widened. He could clearly see Jacque’s soul, emitting holy light, exiting his body and getting sucked into Satan’s hand.

It looked… too odd. Why was Jacque’s soul emitting holy light? When Jacque left the Absolute Good faction and joined the Absolute Evil Faction, his soul was corrupted, but Simon couldn’t see any trace of corruption on Jacque’s soul right now. It was as if he never got corrupted in the first place. The light coming out of Jacque was that of a saint—one only a holy martyr could have.

“My old teacher never betrayed you,” Jacque continued.

「…What?」

“Everything that is happening right now is in accordance with his great plan. Until the end, Peter thought of you as his friend and knew that you were the only one who could go down the path of saving this world. That is why he sent me to you.”

「…!」

‘I’m happy I finally got to do my part in my old teacher’s plan. I can rest now.’

Jacque wished to say those words out loud, but Satan’s hand was now covering his entire soul. The great demon king’s darkness completely blinded him.

「Wai—!」

[The Celestial ‘Malignity-Drinking Saturn’ has gained a ‘Saint’s Soul’ in exchange for the contract that they made a long time ago!]

Paah…!

Every particle of light that made up Jacque dissipated in the air. Although Simon wanted to say wait, Jacque had already vanished, leaving not even a trace.

Just as Simon so desperately wanted, he finally got his revenge. However, it only left his mind completely jumbled up. What did Jacque mean by contract or saint? What was Peter’s great plan? The fact that Jacque was smiling as he met his end bugged Simon too. He raised his head, wanting to ask Satan about everything, but Satan was already gone.

[The Celestial ‘Malignity-Drinking Saturn’ exits the channel quite contented!]

Chang-Sun quietly approached Simon.

「Master…!」

Simon looked up at Chang-Sun with mixed emotions. He had given all that big talk about wanting to have his revenge, but he was now left with only unanswered questions.

Instead of saying anything, Chang-Sun bent over and picked up something, making Simon realize that a tightly locked wooden box with a big keyhole was left where Jacque had died.

「That’s…?」

“I don’t know what is happening right now, but doesn’t this key look like it’s for this box?” Chang-Sun pulled out his golden key and waved it.

Simon’s eyes widened upon seeing [Peter’s Key], the relic that Peter the Apostle had used before he died. Simon had been really shocked the first time he had seen it in Chang-Sun’s possession. That aside, just like what Chang-Sun said, the shape of the key matched the keyhole.

Jacque definitely said that everything was going according to Peter’s plan. What if Simon was really connected to saving this world and Peter had left his key for this moment?

Simon couldn’t say all of this was bullshit even if he wanted to. Peter the Apostle had been a great prophet that many Celestials had come to listen to his prophecies. Hence, he could have definitely seen what was going to happen in the current generation.

「Please open it. I want to know what’s going on.」Due to how nervous he was, his tone was more polite than usual.

“Sure.” Chang-Sun nodded, having a strong feeling that he himself, not just Simon, was strongly involved in this. However, just as he was about to insert the golden key into the wooden box’s keyhole...

Wooosh…!

A faint puff of wind blew from the wooden box. It was very weak, but Chang-Sun was very familiar with it.

「Master… This is…」

Having noticed it as well, Armand showed up with her eyes wide open.

‘Why is Ithaca’s wind here…?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

Chang-Sun’s thoughts jumbled up.

From what Chang-Sun knew, Ithaca and Peter the Apostle had no connection, yet he unexpectedly found a trace of his old lover through the box. Not wanting to wait any longer, Chang-Sun inserted the golden key.

Click―!

The golden key matched the keyhole perfectly. When Chang-Sun rotated it, the wooden box immediately opened.

[You have found the Hidden Piece(Peter’s Plan)!]

At that moment, a pool of light came out of the wooden box and swallowed Chang-Sun and Simon.

Woosh!

By the time Chang-Sun opened his eyes again, he found himself in a world made of white light. When he lowered his head, he realized he was standing on a breezy green field. With him was a gentle-looking middle-aged man with a cane. The man was looking down at the vast ocean below the ridge.

The middle-aged man looked completely normal, but he was exuding the light of a saint in the color of [Peter’s Key]. Considering his light was incomparably brighter than Jacque’s, Chang-Sun immediately realized who he was.

‘Peter.’

The owner of this golden key and the great saint of the Absolute Good faction. For some reason, Agares was obsessed with him. Had Peter been trying to deliver a message to Chang-Sun all this time?

Chang-Sun was about to approach Peter the Apostle but abruptly stopped when he saw a woman quietly approach and stand beside the man. She had hair as blue as the ocean and ears with slightly pointed tips. She also had a snow-white complexion and somehow looked both stubborn and elegantly beautiful.

‘Ithaca, why are you here…?’ Chang-Sun wondered in disbelief.

His old lover was right in front of him.

[Playing saved data!]

Namu's Thoughts

Namu: …Don’t do this to meeeeee. Too much tragedy in one chapterrrrrr.