Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 309: Star, the Last Cryptical Book (1)

With metal chains wrapped around him like a cocoon, Sangwon rose in the air as the sound of pulleys rotating echoed. Seeing him dangling from the end of the chains made Chang-Sun wonder if he was the same person who was fighting menacingly just now.

“Im… poss… ible…!” No longer able to maintain his real form, Sangwon was now back in his initial form of a boy, but this time, he was covered in blood and wounds. It was a gruesome sight, but Chang-Sun and Thanatos didn’t care about it all—no, Chang-Sun couldn’t afford to care about it.

‘I’m… dizzy.’

The world around him spun. His once-boiling divine power and stamina had been depleted.

[The Authority ‘Despising Weakness’ has been deactivated!]

[Applying temporary penalties.]

[Your HP has decreased by 64%.]

[Your Mana has decreased by 64%.]

…

[You have fallen into the ‘Brink of Death’ state.]

[Warning! You are heavily fatigued. You are highly advised to locate a secure area and take a rest.]

Chang-Sun felt as if he was going to lose consciousness any minute, but he desperately tried to pull himself together. He still hadn’t heard from Jin Prezia and Sinmara, who were sent to take out Munseong.

Although Chang-Sun wanted to see Sangwon’s demise for himself, he no longer had any remaining strength left to keep himself standing. He couldn’t even stop his legs from wobbling. Fortunately, before he fell, someone held him by the arm and helped him stand up.

“You—!” Chang-Sun’s eyes slightly widened.

“Isn’t it a little rude to call me ‘you’ like a thug on the streets? I’m still a king, you know.” Thanatos put his arm around Chang-Sun’s shoulders.

Thanatos sounded quite delighted, which was only natural. After all, Chang-Sun had done a far more remarkable job than he initially expected. The Emperor’s Seat and Sangwon… The <Underworld> now had two of the <Purple Star Astrology>’s leaders under their custody, so how could he not be happy?

Thanatos also got the chance to show <Heaven> the dignity of the <Underworld>, so he couldn’t have wished for a better result than this. In fact, he was willing to kiss Chang-Sun on the cheek if he wanted, but that would just appall him and make him call Thanatos crazy. After exchanging glances, the two simultaneously turned to look at Sangwon.

With a solemn look, Thanatos roared, “Sangwon the defendant! You have disrupted not only the order of the <Underworld> and <Heaven> but also attempted to bring chaos to the universe. Do you accept your charges?”

“Ke, kekekeke.”

Despite the serious question, Sangwon just grotesquely laughed.

“Charges? Crimes?” Sangwon tilted his head. Although he looked fatigued, his eyes were still blazing up with fury and condemnation. “Justice has always been defined by the victor, and the loser has always been treated like a criminal. King of the Underworld, do you think you’re an exception from this principle of survival of the fittest? Do you really think you will forever be the ruler of the <Underworld>?”

Thanatos just quietly listened.

“Then I suggest you drop the thought. I guarantee you that your throne will soon be demolished.” Sangwon was basically cursing Thanatos that he would end up just like Sangwon. “The world is quickly changing. <Supreme Light> and <Dull Darkness> are trying to maintain this world… but it will soon fall.”

Chang-Sun had a feeling that Sangwon’s curse was some sort of a prophecy, not a threat. The <Purple Star Astrology> and <Underworld> seemed to have an ongoing conflict that Chang-Sun wasn’t aware of.

“You could be right.” Thanatos sounded as if he didn’t pay any heed to Sangwon’s curse. “But I’ll be the one to agonize and overcome that matter. You’ll soon be stuck in Bottomless Void, so it’s really none of your business.”

Looking up in the sky, Thanatos yelled, “I, Thanatos, King of the Underworld, have reached a verdict for the defendant Sangwon!”

Swish, swish―!

The pulleys rotated counterclockwise once again, tightening the metal chains around Sangwon.

“Arghhhh!” Sangwon screamed, feeling his soul getting crushed. Nevertheless, the metal chains just kept tightening around the criminal.

“Seal the Celestial,” Thanatos said.

Swish―!

[A verdict has been made.]

[Opening up Abysm!]

The <Nihil> hole behind Sangwon expanded and took the shape of a door that looked just like the gate that Chang-Sun saw in the <Underworld> before meeting Thanatos in his palace. Drawn on the surface of the door was the holy icon of various bizarre-looking monsters that tangled up as they sank into Abysm.

Thuud!

Creak―!

When the giant gate opened, the Abysm slowly revealed itself. It still looked ominous, but it was different from the time Heoju had been sealed.

‘It’s Bloodless Hell.’ Chang-Sun recognized the place.

There was more to the Purgatory Plane than the Purgatory King Hells and Eight Hot and Eight Cold Narakas. Unknown to the public, it also had numerous hells. One of them was Bloodless Hell, where criminals who committed unfathomably sinister crimes were confined.

[Bloodless Hell]

Criminals sentenced to Bloodless Hell would shrivel up until they disappeared. Afterward, they would regenerate, swell up like balloons, and explode. The criminals locked up in this hell are no longer part of samsara, but they will still feel the pain of their souls getting destroyed and restored for eternity.

· Minimum sentence: 9 Maha-Kalpas.

Whenever a universe’s life was discussed in the <Underworld>, it was divided into four stages. Vivarta-Kalpa was the duration of a universe being born, Sithit-Kalpa was the period of the universe sustaining itself, Samvarta-Kalpa was the time of the universe’s destruction, and Samvatsara-Kalpa was the state where nothing existed because everything had been destroyed.

Maha-Kalpa was the collective term for these four Kalpa stages. Nine Maha-Kalpas meant that a universe had to be born and destroyed nine times. Even the most outstanding Celestials lived and died in the universe they were born in, which meant It was practically a life sentence. Only the Emperors—who had surpassed even the limitations of Worldlines—like <Supreme Light>, <Dull Darkness>, and <Deus Ex Machina>, could probably endure such a sentence.

Although Sangwon was audacious, he couldn’t help feeling scared after realizing how long he would have to suffer. He was pretending to be as nonchalant as possible, but Chang-Sun didn’t miss how he turned pale and faintly trembled, which showed how taken aback he was.

Kieeeeeh―!

Woosh, woosh, woosh…!

Ghost wails and inauspicious wind emanated from the <Nihil> hole. As Sangwon was swallowed into the Abysm, he bit his lower lip and glared at Chang-Sun with eyes full of spite. “Twilight!”

Chang-Sun didn’t bother to answer. Sangwon was about to face his demise, so any of his screamings, no matter what he said, had to be nothing but a frantic last-ditch effort.

“You think you won this fight, don’t you?” Sangwon said abruptly.

Chang-Sun frowned, wondering what Sangwon was trying to say.

Sangwon smirked. “But keep in mind that this battle isn’t over.”

“Do you think Richardus or ‘Zi Wei Yuan’ is going to come and save you?”

“Ha! No way. Those damn bastards would be happy to get everything I have, so the last thing they would do is rescue me.”

Sangwon didn’t trust his own comrades at all. This was why the <Purple Star Astrology> had limits despite their superior numbers.

“Then?” Chang-Sun raised one of his eyebrows.

“I’m talking about the last cryptical book.”

“What…?”

At that moment, Heoju’s last remarks flashed across Chang-Sun’s mind.

“Ithaca! Ithaca’s last <Starlight>! Do you know what it is?!”

“Shiiittt!!! It’s your—! It’s about your lover, Ithaca! So why would you still…!”

At the time, Chang-Sun didn’t worry about it because he thought Jin and Sinmara would be able to take care of it no matter what Heoju and Munseong had done.

‘Why haven’t they reported to me yet?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

Now that Sangwon was warning him about the same thing as well, Chang-Sun couldn’t help but get a bad feeling about this. The Soul Links to his subordinates were still intact, but the other ends of these links weren’t responding. A long time had passed since they started chasing Munseong, so Chang-Sun shouldn’t take this lightly.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” Sangwon said with a grin.

At that moment, the sense of disharmony sent a shiver down Chang-Sun’s spine.

“Ithaca is…”

Sangwon’s unusually red lips caught Chang-Sun’s attention.

“... alive.”

“What?!” Chang-Sun yelled with wide-opened eyes.

Ithaca was alive? How in the world was that possible? Chang-Sun himself closed Ithaca’s eyes in Arcadia before he got his Divine Name of ‘Divine Twilight.’ Besides, he saw through Peter’s legacy that her soul had been taken by an Outer Celestial named Hsan. That was why one of his next plans was to locate the mysterious Outer Celestial.

But Ithaca was alive? What in the world Sangwon was talking about? Chang-Sun would have believed that this was Sangwon’s last ditch effort to confuse him, but his premonition was basically screaming at him that Sangwon was telling him the truth. Chang-Sun trusted his instincts more than anything, so he really couldn’t disregard Sangwon’s remark.

“She’s right here! On this Earth! Think about what I’m talking about. Haha. Hahaha!” Sangwon burst into crooked laughter.

Chang-Sun wanted to ask what Sangwon meant, but he the Abysm had already devoured him. As his manic laughter echoed…

Boom…!

… the door to the Bloodless Hell completely closed.

[The Divine Trial has been completed.]

[Trial result: Seal.]

…

[You have successfully completed the mission that the Celestial ‘King of the Underworld’ has given you, a special-rank reaper. Your karma is increasing.]

[As a reward, you have regained a part of your revoked Divine Class.]

Clink―!

Swoosh, woosh, swish!

The shackle around Chang-Sun’s neck loosened. At the same time, another storm of his Divine Class raged. He was finally about to be free, but he didn’t have time to celebrate. Sangwon said that Ithaca was alive on this Earth, which was something Chang-Sun couldn’t ignore even if his instincts were wrong.

“Thanatos! Open up the door to the Bloodless Hell right now!” Chang-Sun turned to look at Thanatos with menacing eyes.

Thanatos had mixed feelings. Just as he was thinking that he finally solved one problem, he was suddenly handed a bomb.

“That’s—!” Thanatos bit his lower lip. He couldn’t open up the door right now. Although he was the king who oversaw all hells in the Purgatory Plane, opening up the door used quite a huge amount of his divine power. On top of that, they were in the <Saha World>, not the <Underworld>. In this place, there was a limit to how many times he could open up the gate/ Without a criminal present, he would be going past his authority as the King of the Underworld.

Hence, Thanatos planned to locate Sangwon and interrogate him about Ithaca as soon as he returned to the <Underworld> instead. However, although he wanted to tell Chang-Sun about his plan and to calm down, not get emotional, and regain his composure, Thanatos had a feeling that nothing he had to say would work on Chang-Sun right now.

As Thanatos still tried to calm him down in some way, Chang-Sun received a telepathic message from Jin, who had been silent all this time.

『Shit! Why did things work out like this?! Master! Ithaca! Ithaca is your girlfriend, right? I think I found Ithaca, but—!』