Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 266: Star, the U.S. (1)

When the plane passed over the Atlantic Ocean, Woo Yeong-Geun saw a glimpse of the U.S. through his window. At the same time, he heard someone call for him.

“Uncle.”

Yeong-Geun cautiously turned his head. “… Yup?”

“Stop trembling like a puppy in the rain.”

Yeong-Geun stayed silent.

“I know what you’re worried about, but you’re wrong.”

Throughout their flight, Woo Hye-Bin had been sullen. From her perspective, she couldn’t help thinking that Yeong-Geun was here because he didn’t trust her. The way he acted in front of her colleagues deeply hurt her pride.

To top it all off, Yeong-Geun visited mainly because he had doubts about Chang-Sun. Hence, Hye-Bin didn’t even look at Yeong-Geun, which made him fidgety. It was terrifying whenever his niece acted icy cold.

[The Celestial ‘Nameless GIant’ shakes her head in disbelief and says that it would be an understatement to call you a mere fool for your niece at this point.]

Ueopwang clicked her tongue, seemingly finding Yeong-Geun a lost cause to her too.

“You tested everyone, so you should be well aware of that,” Hye-Bin said calmly. Yeong-Geun nodded, awkwardly scratching his cheek.

Hye-Bin and the other Team L members tested negative in the demonic being screening test.

“I probably still look young and childish in your eyes, so you likely think I followed Mister Chang-Sun without thinking it through. But I’m not a child anymore. I believe that I’m at least capable enough to judge whether what I’m doing is right or wrong,” Hye-Bin articulated, looking straight into Yeong-Geun’s eyes.

Yeong-Geun bit his lower lip. Unlike her young appearance, her calm eyes were the same as the eyes of the individual that Yeong-Geun had seen in the past.

“Yeong-Geun.”

“Yes, Father,” Yeong-Geun replied.

“I know you resent me, but you’ll understand why I did this someday.”

Yeong-Geun’s father singlehandedly brought the Ohsung Group the success it currently enjoyed, so people praised and criticized him at the same time. The circumstances made him force Yeong-Geun to break up with the first woman to make him want to get married and settle down.

Hye-Bin’s eyes looked just like her grandfather’s when Yeong-Geun poured out his resentment to her grandfather.

“I hope you can believe in me now,” Hye-Bin continued.

People regarded Yeong-Geun’s father as a ‘giant’ for bringing the Ohsung Group to its current level of success. Since the Ohsung Group itself was also a ‘giant,’ the Celestial ‘Nameless Giant’ came to them, resulting in the foundation of the current Sword of Ohsung Clan.

‘Adult…’ Yeong-Geun had to admit it now. ‘She’s an adult now.’

Yeong-Geun remembered a passage he liked so much in the novel 《Demian》, which was written by Hermann Hesse, that he ended up memorizing it.

Der Vogel kämpft sich aus dem Ei.

The bird fought its way out of the egg, which was its world.

Das Ei ist die Welt. Wer geboren werden will, muß eine Welt zerstören.

To be born, one had to first destroy a world.

Emil Sinclair, the protagonist of 《Demian》, spent his youth wandering in despair, but he found spiritual enlightenment when he met his ideal partner. Why did Yeong-Geun keep seeing the image of Emil Sinclair overlapping Hye-Bin?

The Jamsil Gate incident had been an awfully traumatic experience for Hye-Bin, but the experience dissipated like an eggshell. Now, only the new Hye-Bin, who was ready to soar into the sky, remained. That made Yeong-Geun happy and proud, but it also saddened him because he could no longer hold her in his arms.

‘My Hye-Bin is already… Sob! She was so tiny! Sob! Sob!’ Yeong-Geun furtively turned his head to hide the fact that he was moved to tears.

Messages immediately popped up.

[The Celestial ‘Nameless Giant’ tells you to stop weeping and asks if you are already going through menopause.]

[The Celestial ‘Nameless Giant’ pulls her hair out in frustration, telling you to please stop it because you are embarrassing her.]

…

[The Celestial ‘Nameless Giant’ seriously ponders whether or not she should look for a new apostle candidate.]

* * *

At Terminal 5 of O'Hare International Airport in Chicago…

Click!

Cha Ye-Eun bit on a cigarette and lit it up with her Zippo.

“Phew…!” Ye-Eun deeply exhaled, letting out a thick cloud of smoke.

Jin Seok-Tae looked at her, amazed by how large her lung capacity was. How long did she inhale to exhale such a big cloud of smoke?

At that moment, Shin Geum-Gyu, who was beside Seok-Tae, looked at Ye-Eun and tilted his head in confusion. “Hmmm…?”

“Is something wrong?” Seok-Tae asked.

“Umm… Is Agent Cha feeling unwell?” Geum-Gyu said.

“Pardon?” Seok-Tae couldn’t comprehend what Geum-Gyu meant.

‘The’ Iron Witch feeling unwell? The Ye-Eun that Seok-Tae knew was the type of person who would go to the otherworld to complain and fix things as soon as she found something that didn’t sit well with her.

“Her cigarette’s magic spell—!” Geum-Gyu stopped himself and waved his hand from side to side. “N-no, I must have been mistaken.”

Feeling uneasy for some reason, Seok-Tae tried to prod Geum-Gyu, but he stopped when he noticed Ye-Eun putting out her cigarette and returning to the group.

“Where are you headed next?” Ye-Eun asked Chang-Sun.

Standing still, Chang-Sun slowly opened his eyes. His mana, which was being used to settle the rune sentence in him, subsided. Since the rune sentence was bestowed with his <Darkness>, the process was proceeding seamlessly.

[Two sentences are currently engraved in the Authority ‘False Belief.’]

┌God be with us.

└When Her Majesty swung her sword, a lightning bolt swept across the battlefield.

[Your soul is synchronizing with the sentences.]

[17 hours 36 minutes and 59 seconds remaining.]

Chang-Sun was very curious about how he would change once the synchronization process finished.

「Using runes like this…. Ha. Haha… Ha…」 Simon Magus chuckled dumbfoundedly.

He was assisting Chang-Sun with the engraving process, but he didn’t think Chang-Sun could pull it off this great. Although Chang-Sun certainly had great knowledge in translating the poem into runes, the ability itself to come up with such an idea seemed greater to Simon. It made him feel as if all his prejudice against rune magic had been shattered.

「You would have made a fine wizard… Wait, your origin is Odin, so that technically makes you a Celestial of magic too. Wowsa,」 Simon uncharacteristically babbled out of great shock.

On the other hand, Simon was half-certain that once they had finished the rune-engraving process and the translation process of [Bestla’s Poem] to upgrade [False Belief], he would witness his dream come true: Bestla’s return.

Although Simon wasn’t sure if Chang-Sun knew about that, considering Chang-Sun only focused on checking the sentences’ status.

“I’m going to go meet the Sword Sky Tiger—no, Sword Overlord first,” Chang-Sun answered Ye-Eun.

Chang-Sun had actually been pondering about his destination too. His initial goal in Chicago was to clear ‘Doomsday City.’

‘Red, green, and blue… I definitely need to have the [Tricolored Brilliant Light],’ Chang-Sun thought.

The three primary colors that made up light were a must-have in upgrading Chang-Sun’s <Dusk Lightning> since they could help him exceed the limit of his lightning-attribute power and acquire the light attribute.

“I don’t know about the other parts, but if you’re really going to become the ‘light’... hehe! Get ‘colors’ first.” The Sixth Elder giggled.

“Colors?”

“Yeah, I’m talking about Panca Skandha[1] ’s rupa[2], not actual colors. They’re the colors that make up the material world,” the Sixth Elder explained.

Panca Skandha was the Buddhist term for the five factors that distinguished the spiritual and material worlds. Among those five factors, rupa was the material world’s component.

“<Supreme Light>… The light of a being that even Celestials look up to doesn’t just mean that it’s bright. Knowledge, civilization, laws of nature, material, phenomena… It represents everything that makes up this universe, which would have been empty otherwise. This is where the act of creation starts,” the Sixth Elder explained.

“So that is why I need rupa, the foundation of materials.”

“Hehehehe, that’s it! However, there are many different kinds of colors. You can’t pick up all of them, can you? Hence, get their sources instead.”

“You must mean the three primary colors,” Chang-Sun assumed.

“That is correct. With those three colors, you can create all kinds of other colors.”

“Is there a way to get them?”

“Yes, there is! But… Hehehehe, there is a teeeeeeeny tinnnnny issue.” The Sixth Elder elongated his words.

“Issue?”

“The moment you pick them up, you’ll die immediately. Like I did.” The Sixth Elder pretended to choke himself.

Determined not to make the same mistake, the Sixth Elder had created several countermeasures in the abyss. He taught Chang-Sun those countermeasures and formulated a plan to get the three primary colors. [Tricolored Brilliant Light] was the result of that plan and endeavor. However, he needed something in ‘Doomsday City’ to get it.

‘Unfortunately, that isn’t my only task in the U.S.,’ Chang-Sun thought.

He had already parted ways with Heoju, so there was no way Heoju would let him clear ‘Doomsday City’ in peace. However, Chang-Sun also thought that it was time to put an end to this feud.

‘Now that I know the [Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan] is Ithaca’s legacy, I refuse to let Heoju hold onto them any longer.’

Moreover, he also heard the news about Kali’s priests working as resistance fighters in the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. With so many tasks to take care of, he had to set his priorities straight, but that was easier said than done.

‘I can get my hands on [Tricolored Brilliant Light] after finishing Heoju. While dealing with Heoju, I can contact Kali’s priests… so…’ Chang-Sun’s eyes turned sharp. ‘I’ll go after Heoju first.’

Nothing was more important than his lover’s legacy.

“... The Sword Overlord, huh? You’ve always known that Munseong is a demonic being, haven’t you?” Ye-Eun glared at Chang-Sun, no longer talking formally.

The others also noticed the change, making Seok-Tae and the Team L members noticeably tense up. Yeong-Geun was the only one who observed with sharp eyes, trying to figure out what to do as a third party.

“Yet you’ve left him alone all this time… If so, then you must have needed the power as well,” Ye-Eun assumed.

“Is there something wrong with that?” Chang-Sun tilted his head.

Chang-Sun technically joined the White Tiger Clan to hunt Heoju, but Ye-Eun wasn’t wrong either since he did actually try to use Munseong.

“All of it is wrong! Very much so! Do you even know what a demonic being is? They have abandoned their humanity and—!”

“I don’t care,” Chang-Sun interrupted. “What matters to me is whether or not something can benefit me. I joined the White Tiger Clan because I found the Clan useful. Now that they no longer have any use for me, I’m going to devour them. That should suffice as an explanation.”

“… So it was a lucky timing. You could have become a demonic being if you found becoming one necessary.” Ye-Eun chuckled dryly, then smirked. “Fine. Thank you very much for making things clear. Judging from what you said about devouring the White Tiger Clan or something, it seems you won’t ally with them.”

No longer finding any reason to continue the conversation, Ye-Eun turned in the opposite direction in annoyance and shouted, “Seok-Tae!”

“Y-yes! Seonbae—!”

“Let’s go. We’re heading to the Council’s Chicago branch.” Ye-Eun gestured at Seok-Tea.

Seok-Tae quickly bowed at Chang-Sun and the Team L members, then followed Ye-Eun.

~

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ says that he is not the type of person who would do that!]

[The Celestial ‘War-Loving Fighting Deity’ is not sure if he should remain in this channel or his apostle’s channel..]

[The Celestial ‘Sky and Earth’s Connecting Wing’ smiles bitterly.]

…

‘He’s a good person?’ Ye-Eun scrolled down the Numen’s messages. Contrary to her irritated tone, her eyes had turned cold. ‘No way.’

The Council was an outdated organization that wasn’t really much of a help to Ye-Eun, but she chose to remain with them anyway. She despised demonic beings more than anything in the world, and the Council was the only organization that actively fought against demonic beings.

Hence, Ye-Eun hated Chang-Sun’s remark about him remaining in the White Tiger Clan even though he knew that the Clan was a group of demonic beings. Even if Chang-Sun didn’t directly commit a crime with the White Tiger Clan, abetting was still a crime.

‘I don’t care how the Tyrant plans to hunt the White Tiger Clan. I’ll hunt them in my own way,’ Ye-Eun decided.

At that moment, the pain in her shoulder spread to her entire body through her spine. It had only been ten minutes since she smoked her cigarette—no, tranquilizer, but the pain was already back. The duration of her relapse was getting shorter.

‘This will be my last job in this life.’ Ye-Eun lit up her Zippo in annoyance.

Click!

* * *

With bitterness in his eyes, Yeong-Geun looked back and forth between Ye-Eun and Chang-Sun.

Meanwhile, Chang-Sun greeted those who came to the airport to welcome his group. ‘Smilodon’ Seo Jeong-Gwon, a robust man with hair akin to a lion's mane, stood in Chang-Sun’s way with his Raid Team Two members.

“Long time no see, Chang-Sun.” Jeong-Gwon laughed gently.

However, his eyes were so menacing it was as if he would snap Chang-Sun’s neck as soon as Chang-Sun refused to obey his command.

“Come with me. We’ve got somewhere to be,” Jeong-Gwon said.

1. The concept can actually be interpreted in two ways. One version is that they’re the five components of a human, and another version is that they’re the five components of the world. ☜

2. Rupa and color sound the same in Korean. Although the hanja for rupa does mean color, rupa is more known to be about physical form and material image. ☜