Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 312: Star, the Last Cryptical Book (4)

“For fuck’s sake…!” Lie Si tightly gritted his teeth. Everything was falling to pieces.

A rain of laser beams poured down from the sky, and a mysterious, unidentified army showed up and dragged down the <Troop> Ninth Corps, heavily damaging them. Although they could now catch their breaths since the mysterious army suddenly retreated, their initial plan of hindering the <Purple Star Astrology> had completely gone awry. Lie Si was sure that the <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials was close to entering R’lyeh by now.

‘We shouldn’t waste any more time!’ Lie Si was anxious. He had gotten his hands on the [Brilliant Azure Light], but he still had to acquire the remaining components of the [Tricolored Brilliant Light] and take R’lyeh away from the <Purple Star Astrology>.

“I know you’re all tired, but we’re on the clock. Let’s get moving,” Lie Si commanded.

Boooom―!

LIe Si and the Ninth Corps soldiers who could still move smashed into the gate of R’lyeh.

“Arrghhh!”

“Wh-what is it this ti—!”

“Save—Urgh!”

And the place was also already ruined by all sorts of quantum weapons. The Ninth Corps crushed the White Tiger Clan and Jaynix Company before they could even catch their breath. Their members were mostly mortals who hadn’t even achieved <Exuviation> yet, so they didn’t really have any means to fight off the Ninth Corps soldiers. The Council of Elders were their only capable combatants since Heoju’s blessings and Ithaca’s <Starlight> were boosting their capabilities. However, even they weren’t strong enough to drive out the Ninth Corps, which was full of spite right now.

“Spare no one,” Lie Si said.

The entrance to R’lyeh turned into a site of a one-sided massacre.

Woosh, woosh, woosh―!

Rumble…!

While everything was being reduced to ruins, Lie Si focused not on the battle in front of him but on the center of the black cell mass that was boiling so hard that it seemed about to explode.

Grrrrr―!

Oooo―! Ooooo―!

Inauspicious and creepy sounds echoed from the mine shaft.

‘R’lyeh is activating!’ Lie Si thought, instinctively realizing that the asleep R’lyeh was waking up little by little for some reason. However, just before he could put his subordinates in charge and head to the mine shaft himself, he suddenly came to a halt.

‘That’s…?’

Paah!

The empty sky split and a man enveloped with amber wings flew out of the spatial gap, stirring up a storm that exuded intense heat.

At that moment, Lie Si’s expression crumpled up. He could never forget who that man was. What infuriated Lie Si even more was the Class storm that the man released. There was no way Lie Si wouldn’t recognize the sharp, ominous Divinity it contained!

“Twilight―!” Lie Si shouted.

[The Celestial ‘Silk and Jewelry-Wrapped General’ reveals his wrath!]

[A storm of his Divine Class rages!]

Rumble!

Lie Si’s roar echoed throughout the area. The black cell mass that was indiscriminately expanding undulated hard in response. Up until now, Chang-Sun had been unable to surpass the Class of a mortal, so Lie Si had no idea how he had managed to quickly develop his Class to almost reach the level of Celestials. Another thing that confused him was how Chang-Sun returned to the world after being put through the Divine Trial. However, none of that mattered to him right now. With his suspicion about Chang-Sun being ‘Divine Twilight’ proven right, Lie Si couldn’t just leave him be.

Upon hearing Lie Si’s shout, all the Ninth Corps soldiers who held grudges against ‘Divine Twilight’ raised their heads. While Gliding above them, Chang-Sun met Lie Si’s eyes.

[The ‘■vine Twilight’ quickly disappears!]

Chang-Sun ignored the Ninth Corps and flew straight into the mine shaft. His current priority was Ithaca, not Lie Si.

“You dare… ignore me?” Lie Si gritted his teeth, infuriated by the fact that Chang-Sun disregarded him.

Lie Si was the ninth son of the Emperor’s Seat and the proud divine general of the <Troop>! Mortals with unknown origins had no right to ignore him!

“I’ll kill you!” Lie Si could hear the sound of his last straw snapping as he darted toward the mine shaft.

“Sir Lie Si!”

“Corps commander!”

The Ninth Corps tried to stop him, but Lie Si had already entered R’lyeh in pursuit of Chang-Sun.

* * *

Far away from the battlefield, someone watched everything unfold.

“… Things have taken an interesting turn.”

Amid the faintly undulating space, Jaegal Hyeon-Ryong sat quietly. His lips curved into a smirk, showing just how much fun he was having.

[The Celestial ‘Ill-Tempered Buddha with Golden Eyes’ tilts his head and asks you what is so funny.]

“Everything’s a mess right now. Heoju appears to have been killed, and the <Purple Star Astrology> lost quite a number of their Constellations. Due to the <Underworld’s> large-scale counterattack, the <Troop> also got involved. This mess will definitely keep getting worse.”

[The Celestial ‘Ill-Tempered Buddha with Golden Eyes’ clicks his tongue and says that his apostle is truly ill-tempered.]

“Hmm, to hear that from you…” Hyeon-Ryong raised one of his eyebrows.

[The Celestial ‘Ill-Tempered Buddha with Golden Eyes’ asks you if there is a problem.]

“… No.” Hyeon-Ryong shook his head with a bitter smile on his face.

Although Hyeon-Ryong did everything he wanted in life, he still tiptoed around his guardian, Sun Wukong the Monkey King. The Victorious Fighting Buddha had a past so brilliant that many <Heaven> Celestials gnashed their teeth whenever they thought about him. However, meeting Sun Wukong always rendered them speechless and made them lower their heads.

As one of the many <Supreme Light’s Faces>, Sun Wukong also had a high enough rank to prevent anyone from overpowering him by pulling ranks. Nevertheless, he joined hands with <Purple Star Astrology> through Hyeon-Ryong, his apostle, and made him go to R’lyeh to execute his plan.

Unfortunately, the secret agreement between Sun Wukong and the <Purple Star Astrology> basically fizzled out when Heoju fell and the <Purple Star Astrology> found itself in a crisis. The <Purple Star Astrology> would want Sun Wukong’s help… but they failed to prove their value, so why should he help them?

Hyeon-Ryong was on the same page. He wasn’t loyal to the White Tiger Clan in the first place, so although it was a little sad to see the Council of Elders falling after spending all that time with them, he didn’t really give much heed to the current turn of events.

“Anyhow…” Hyeon-Ryong slowly stood up. “The dice have been cast, and R’lyeh seems to be open. We should get going as well.”

[The Celestial ‘Ill-Tempered Buddha with Golden Eyes’ nods while picking his nose with his little finger.]

‘He really doesn’t care about his reputation at all,’ Hyeon-Ryong thought as he leaped toward the mine shaft that Chang-Sun and Lie Si entered.

Ooooong, oooong―!

The [Ruyi Jingu Bang] in his hand faintly reverberated as if it was resonating with something. At the same time, the entrance to R’lyeh vibrated as well.

* * *

[You have entered an unknown place!]

The moment Chang-Sun entered R’lyeh, he felt sluggish again.

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ complains about what is wrong with—]

[The Channeling of the Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ has been terminated.]

…

[All your Channelings have been disrupted by an unknown source.]

[Attempting to reconnect your Channelings.]

[Failed.]

…

He probably felt that way because all his Channelings to <Heaven> were terminated, which only ever happened whenever he was using [Execution Sword].

‘No, that isn’t the only reason.’

[You need 22% additional accomplishment points to regain your complete Divine Essence.]

[Your Myth is being written!]

[You are currently transcending!]

‘… I’m weaker now compared to when I used [Execution Sword].’

[Execution Sword] temporarily unlocked Chang-Sun’s Divine Steel shackles, granting him access to his power during his prime. Accepting his reward for sealing Sangwon would have removed the shackle on his neck, completing his <Transcendence> and permanently giving him all his powers back.

However, he chose to give up the rewards instead, creating a gap between the amount of power that ‘Divine Twilight’ was supposed to have and the amount of power he currently had.

‘The gap was so big that I couldn’t really feel it when I was still mortal… but it’s more cumbersome now.’ Chang-Sun smiled bitterly as he analyzed his condition in preparation for possible battles. As he expected, he wasn’t in perfect condition.

‘To make things worse, I probably can’t use [Execution Sword]...’

[Execution Sword] could only be activated when punishing the criminals who violated the <Treaty> between <Heaven> and the <Underworld>. Munseong’s Faction was still the <Saha World>, so the precondition wasn’t met.

‘I lured Lie Si to circumvent the prerequisite… but I’m not sure if it’ll work.’

Lie Si, whom Chang-Sun lured out on purpose, was a <Star> from <Heaven>, but he had left the <Purple Star Astrology>. Hence, Chang-Sun wasn’t entirely certain that Lie Si would be considered a criminal who violated the <Treaty> in the system. If not, activating [Execution Sword] would be impossible. No, maybe Chang-Sun shouldn’t think about using [Execution Sword] in the first place and formulate a plan to go up against his enemies based on his current level of power.

Unfortunately, that also posed a problem. His recovery through [Elixir] was proceeding slower than expected, preventing him from fighting with his full power. What if an unknown variable came into play while he was in such a state?

‘What if…’ Chang-Sun grabbed his necklace.

[Peter’s Key]. He hoped that this golden key, which had unlocked every seal he ever encountered, would work this time as well.

[You have entered the ‘Mirror Maze of Myths’!]

“…!”

While formulating a plan, Chang-Sun reached a new place. Hundreds, thousands… countless Chang-Suns were looking at him through numerous mirrors. However, what surprised him was that Munseong’s <Myths> were displayed on more mirrors than the ones showing his.

Chang-Sun went in a little deeper into the maze, finding a <Myth> related to Ithaca…

[The old Celestial’s Myth is playing. ]

―Just remember that you’re Cadmus from now on. Starting tomorrow, you have to take care of that child. Ithaca may seem more prideful than anyone, but she’s actually kind…

―Cut it out! If you’re that worried about her, then keep taking care of her!

―… That’s why you have to take care of that child…

Right before Gramps, Ithaca’s apostle, passed away, he held Chang-Sun’s hands tightly and told him to take good care of Ithaca. Chang-Sun screamed that he didn’t want to and that Gramps should keep fighting since he had zero intention of becoming Ithaca’s next apostle.

All alone in Arcadia, Chang-Sun wandered endlessly until Gramps took him in and became his new family. Not wanting to lose him, Chang-Sun threw a tantrum.

Drip.

Meanwhile, Ithaca watched them from a distance as tears rolled down her cheeks.

―I hate you. You’re the reason Cadmus died.

Ithaca hated—no, she loathed and despised Chang-Sun, the reason she lost her apostle, so much that she yelled at him to get lost.

―I love you.

However, it didn’t take long for all those emotions to turn into love. They were each other’s only safe havens in this life spent being endlessly chased.

―Is this the Otherworld…?

Unable to defy her destiny, Ithaca eventually passed away. As she closed her eyes, she prayed to one of the Ancient Rulers, also known as Great Ancients and Outer Celestials, to save her lover in exchange for her soul. Her soul possessed the <First Star’s Fragment>, so she assumed that it wouldn’t be a bad deal. Fortunately, she was right.

Having gone to the afterlife, Ithaca realized that her soul was sent to a completely unknown location. As they had agreed upon, she seemed to have been summoned to the residence of a mysterious Outer Celestial named Hsan. She had to wander for quite some time because she couldn’t detect the presence of whoever summoned her.

Refreshing breezes blew, and all sorts of flowers danced along with them. This paradise made her realize that she didn’t have any reason to fear the Outer Celestial. After all, it was so perfect that she even had a hard time believing that this was an Outer Celestial’s residence.

Everything just made her more confused.

Tap!

Hearing a footstep from behind, Ithaca turned to face it.

―You’re…?

Ithaca’s eyes widened upon finally meeting the Outer Celestial. Was he really Hsan…? Not expecting to meet this person here, she ended up blankly staring at him for a bit.

―Hmm? Do you not know me? That is strange. I was certain you would recognize me.

Thinking Ithaca didn’t recognize him, Hsan stroked his chin in perplexity. It was as if he believed Ithaca would be glad to meet him. Meanwhile, Hsan’s response only bewildered Ithaca further. After all, as far as she knew, the Celestial shouldn’t be here.

―Well, it’s best we introduce ourselves.

A small amount of light shone down on the shadow cast on the Celestial’s face, revealing a faint smile.

―Nice to meet you. I’m Hsan.

Ithaca covered her mouth with both hands to stop herself from screaming.

[The old Celestial’s Myth is playing!]

Chang-Sun had to stop himself from gasping. “…!”

The Outer Celestial named Hsan looked just like him.