Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 294: Star, the Source (3)

Gold Overlord Crimson Bromwell was the owner of the Jaynix Company, the world’s biggest Clan and military-industrial company. His title made it seem as if he had enough money to have a tower of gold bars, and many people actually believed it because Crimson always ranked first or second in the world’s billionaire list made by 《Forbes》 every year.

However, the truth was that he earned the title of Gold Overlord because he was a black alchemist, a class one could obtain only after mastering all sorts of supernatural abilities and unorthodox studies to create the ultimate phantasm. That was also why Crimson’s obsession with materials was incomparably stronger than others.

Right now, the best material to ever exist was right in front of him.

“Hehehe.” Crimson quietly laughed as he touched one of the black stones in a cart that came from the mining field. “Hehehehehe.”

He couldn’t stop laughing no matter how hard he tried to hold it in. He was so happy that he felt full even though he hadn’t eaten yet today[1].

[Black Gold]

An ore created from the aggregation of the <Abyss>’ ‘dream’ fragments. Each ore holds a part of the Shattered Law.

· Type: Ingredients.

· Effect: Unknown.

The description wasn’t much help in determining how to use [Black Gold], but someone like Crimson would never miss the part that stated that it contained a part of Shattered Law.

Shattered Law was pieces of the old planes that tragically met <Extinction>. The cycle of life within those planes had stopped due to a lack of inhabitants, leaving the planes irreversibly desolated. As their pieces aimlessly floated in <Nihil>, some occasionally leaked out through the <Abyss> like abandoned corpses or cogwheels dropped from a broken machine. The term used for the cogwheels that functioned as an enormous machine called planes was Divine Rank.

‘<Transcended> beings like Celestials all develop planes based on the concepts they mastered.’ Worried about scratching it, Crimson carefully traced the surface of the [Black Gold] with his finger. ‘Upon death, they leave behind residues known as [Black Gold].’

‘If I can extract the energy of the deceased Celestials from the stones and manufacture…’ Becoming so elated that he felt light-headed, Crimson moaned. He could already smell his rosy future. ‘I’ll be able to become a god.’

[The Celestial ‘Scheming-Proficient Strategist’ smirks the same way his apostle does.]

‘Scheming-Proficient Strategist,’ also known as Knowledgeable Star[2] and the wisest <Star> in <Purple Star Astrology>, was Crimson’s Guardian. The focus he was putting on this excavation was a clear indication of how much potential this business harbored.

For over two decades, <Exuivation> and <Transcendence> had stopped Crimson from becoming stronger. However, following the lead of ‘Scheming-Proficient Strategist,’ he now planned to get past those two stages, achieve his greatest dream of becoming a <Star> in the high sky, and proudly join the <Purple Star Astrology>.

“Hehehehe.” Crimson couldn’t help laughing like a villain.

The person beside him, the only one he acknowledged as a friend during the excavation, dumbfoundedly chuckled.

“You’re that happy?” the friend asked.

“Cough, cough! Cough! Is it that obvious?”

“It’s hard not to notice.”

“Hehehehe, you’re right. Don’t you know, Hyeon-Ryong?” Crimson asked.

Jaegal Hyeon-Ryong, Crimson’s friend and the Council of Elders’ vice-head, fixed his glasses and tilted his head in confusion. “Know what?”

“Hehehe. I love money, you know.”

“Everyone knows that.”

“No, no. It’s very different.” Crimson shook his head.

“How?”

“Have you ever watched 《Mickey Mouse》?”

“A little when I was young,” Hyeon-Ryong answered.

“There is a character there named Scrooge McDuck.”

Hyeon-Ryong felt the desire to ask Crimson, ‘What the hell are you talking about, you nerd?’[3] rising, but he suddenly remembered an old duck character who liked swimming in piles of gold coins.

“He’s the dramatized version of Scrooge in 《Christmas Carol》, Charles Dickens’ novel, so his personality has been exaggerated on some level. Anyway, that old duck is the world’s richest being. He even piled his gold bars up like a tower.” Crimson’s eyes gleamed with madness. “People say that the gold tower is just a pile of money, but from my perspective, it symbolizes the duck’s desire to reach the sky.”

“So he wants honor now that he has experienced living in splendor?”

“The wish to become the sky itself! The desire to become a Celestial! Why would the churches built in the medieval age have spires? Why do you think the Gothic style existed? They’re humanity’s collective desire to reach a higher place. They don’t have the means to do that, though. However, I…” Crimson tightened his grip on the [Black Gold]. “... I have it right here.”

After staring at Crimson for a moment, Hyeon-Ryong nodded. He understood what Crimson meant. “Sword Sky Tiger does call this place the Source, the center of all the universes… This is where the being the universes originated from is asleep. He also called this place the [World’s Navel].”

The Source, the starting point of the <Abyss>, [World’s Navel], R’lyeh, Omphalos… this place had numerous names, but it was actually a cradle for the body of <Dull Darkness>, who was in deep slumber and ‘dreaming’ of infinite universes—no, a being of nil that existed way before the creation of universes.

“At one point, <Dull Darkness> lost his personality. He fell into a deep slumber as a result, having a myriad of dreams. The one who works as a steersman for these dreams to settle down is <Deus Ex Machina>, his twin brother,” Hyeon-Ryong explained. He was one of the few mortals who had deep knowledge about the secrets of universes.

Hyeon-Ryong adjusted his glasses as he continued, “However, despite how exceptional <Deus Ex Machina> is, there are too many dreams for him to properly make functional. That is why most dreams finish before they can settle down. That is <Extinction>.”

With his eyes on the [Black Gold], Hyeon-Ryong chuckled. “That’s also why Celestials are always scared. No matter how great they are or how much they show off… everything can end if <Dull Darkness> so much as tosses and turns in his sleep. The Celestials won’t even realize that their universe disappeared.”

Celestials always said that they achieved <Transcendence>, but Hyeon-Ryong and his Guardian sneered at them. Transcend? What in the world did those Celestials surpass?

“That’s why Celestials wish to recover the body of <Dull Darkness>, which doesn’t have an ego right now. Since universes are dreams, we’ll find the body if we can locate the center of the universe. Unfortunately, we still haven’t succeeded.”

The [Black Golds] sparkled as if to say Hyeon-Ryong was right.

“But Sword Sky Tiger found this place,” Hyeon-Ryong said.

No, maybe the sparkle just now was a scream from a plane that met <Extinction>.

“Sword Sky Tiger wishes to get close to the Source and have the body of <Dull Darkness> all to himself.” Hyeon-Ryong turned back to look at Crimson as his lips curved into a creepy and bizarre smile. “Then we’ll be able to have the paradise we’ve been desperately hoping for.”

Crimson nodded in agreement, but then tilted his head in confusion.

“Weren’t we all already aware of those facts? Why do you sound like you’re talking to someon—!

However, Crimson couldn’t finish asking.

Ooooooooooo―!

A strange howl suddenly echoed throughout the sky, making Crimson look up.

Hyeon-Ryong’s laughter grew louder. “It seems they’re about to open the door.”

Acquiring [Black Gold] wasn’t the only reason the White Tiger Clan and Jaynix Company set up the mining field in this place. The ‘door,’ the Source within the Source… they already had the key to it, so they just had to find the entrance that would lead them to the body of <Dull Darkness>.

[The ‘Sixth Cryptical Book of Hsan’ answers R’lyeh’s calling!]

Hyeon-Ryong, Crimson, and all the demonic beings from the White Tiger Clan and Jaynix Company simultaneously stopped and turned their heads toward Munseong, who was standing with dozens of elders from the Council of Elders.

* * *

Paah…!

With emotionless eyes, Munseong looked at a scroll floating in the air, trapped in a transparent sphere. Energies with various colors appeared on the surface of the sphere and repeatedly collided, destroying each other.

「Arrggghh!!!」

The longer the collision and destruction, the more letters were revealed and fell to toward ground from the wide-opened scroll. They were destroyed the moment they came in contact with the sphere, turning the scroll into a blank white paper. On top of the scroll, the image of a woman tied with iron chains repeatedly appeared and disappeared. The scream coming out from the scroll belonged to her—to Chanaz, who was trapped in the [Sixth Cryptical Book of Hsan].

[The Celestial ‘Old Space Ruler’ writhes!]

「Do you… Do you think you’ll get away with this…?!」 Chanaz gritted her teeth. Her eyes were bloodshot.

She glared at Munseong and his Guardian, who had to be watching everything through him.

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ coldly bursts into laughter!]

Chanaz became even more furious when her threat was met with a cold sneer. They had spent a long time gathering the cryptical books, which was where she and her sisters were trapped. They exploited her power and showered her with pain, and now, they were going to remove her from existence.

She wanted to fight back, but she couldn’t do anything from within the cryptical book except throw empty threats.

“Of course, I do.” Unlike Heoju, Munseong was as emotionless as always. “There will always be a path wherever I go.”

Munseong opened his palm upward.

Paah!

A leaf-colored sphere—the [Brilliant Jade Light]—floated on top of his palm. They had gotten their hands on it long ago.

「You bastards had to—!」

“The power of Quirinale, which you possess, allows one to control everything related to space. I was planning to do this after collecting all the cryptical books, but…” Munseong paused for a moment and looked up at the empty sky. He seemed to be nonchalantly watching something.

At that moment, Munseong met Chang-Sun’s eyes.

It was so faint that nobody would have noticed it unless they observed him closely, but for the first time, Munseong smiled in contentment.

“... I’ll be able to gather all of them even if I don’t try hard, so it doesn’t really matter.” Munseong shrugged.

Chanaz kept gritting her teeth, knowing what Munseong was up to. The [Brilliant Jade Light] possessed almost an infinite amount of energy. With it, Munseong would ‘rip’ her to open the door.

The problem was that Munseong likely needed the other cryptical books to open the door to R’lyeh, yet he sounded as if he would soon get them all.

“Sword Sky Tiger! We haven’t found the [Seventh Cryptical Book of Hsan]!” Crimson frantically yelled, quickly stepping when Munseong seemed about to waste the one chance they had to open the door.

Munseong shook his head to reassure Crimson. “Don’t worry. It’ll come soon.”

“Soon…? You know where the seventh one is?” Crimson asked.

Munseong’s smile deepened.

* * *

Meanwhile…

“Prepare to enter, everyone.”

…Ye-Eun was about to take action.

1. It’s a Korean idiomatic expression about how one’s heart is so full that it feels like their stomach is full as well. ☜

2. Another character from the novel Water Margin ☜

3. The raw is 그게 뭔데 씹덕아. It’s a Korean meme and slang used when one is talking about an area of interest that no one knows anything about. Few Koreans know Scrooge McDuck's surname... ☜