Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 315: Star, the Last Cryptical Book (7)

Claaaaang!

Munseong swung his sword from above, but his attack was parried away. The unexpected turn of events didn’t baffle or make him nervous, however. He swung his sword horizontally.

Clang, clang, clang!

Chang-Sun and Munseong exchanged dozens attacks in a flash.

Swoooosh―!

After taking Cha Ye-Eun in his arms, Chang-Sun flapped his Jigwi’s wings and retreated quite the distance.

[The Title ‘Jigwi Light Incarnation’ is active!]

[Jigwi Light Incarnation]

The final evolutionary form of a Jigwi. With wings over a thousand kilometers long, a this form is often mistaken as a cloud spreading over the sky. They also resemble a Peng, a bird that can fly over four thousand kilometers without stopping.

“Only after flying over thirty-five thousand kilometers for six months a Jigwi in their final form takes a rest.”

· Type: Title.

· Effect: Triple Samadhi Fire. Descent Disaster. Amber Lightning. Sky-Shaking Light.

Chang-Sun acquired the title after absorbing [Brilliant Jade Light]. Befitting the ‘Light Incarnation’ part of it, Chang-Sun emitted a radiant pool of light, and the amber lightning energy around him blazed up more fiercely than ever. The <Darkness> spreading from the now-open door couldn’t touch the areas Chang-Sun’s light reached.

“Heoju was supposed to be dealing with you.” Munseong frowned, realizing who just joined the fray.

Sangwon was also at the battlefield, so it didn’t make sense for Chang-sun to be here.

“I don’t know what happened because my Channeling has been terminated, but if I were to guess, he probably got eaten,” Munseong said, quickly grasping the situation.

Heoju recently found out that Chang-Sun was ‘Divine Twilight,’ the very person he had been pursuing. Unfortunately, an imitation could never beat the original, which was how Munseong realized that Heoju failed to overcome his limits and was defeated.

“That idiot didn’t even get to R’lyeh. He fell flat right at the entrance,” Munseong sneered, showing no pity, respect, or affection for his old Guardian. In fact, he thought this was for the better. Now that Heoju had fallen from power, all his shares of R’lyeh became Munseong’s, and he could now also claim that his Guardian’s Authorities were his.

“I still have to retrieve that Quirinale descendant first,” Munseong murmured.

The door wasn’t fully opened yet. <Darkness> was now leaking out from the gap, but it still wasn’t wide enough. To accomplish his goal, Munseong had to get Ye-Eun back from Chang-Sun.

[The Player ‘Munseong’ has activated the Skill ‘Windstalking Tiger,’ manifesting the Skill ‘Lightness’!]

However, before Munseong could spring toward Chang-Sun…

[The Skill activation has been canceled by force!]

Clang, clang, clang!

Two weapons abruptly flew in Munseong’s direction. One was a greatsword thrown horizontally as it emitted cold air, and the other was a giant axe aiming for Munseong’s head.

「Where do you think you’re going, motherfucker?!」

「You have no idea what kind of hardships we went through because of you!」

They belonged to the two Undeads wearing a bizarre lion and lizard mask respectively.

“Hup!” Munseong had to retreat backward again.

Under normal circumstances, he would have crushed them and moved on, but he faintly detected Divine Classes from the two, preventing him from recklessly retaliating. Underestimating them would be dangerous.

Whirl, clang!

Munseong stopped running and spun like a top, repeatedly swinging his sword to deflect the greatsword and axe.

[Your Subordinate ‘Jin Prezia’ has activated the Skill ‘Frozen Realm’!]

「Why don’t you stop this too, then!」 Jin closed in on Munseong and fiercely swung his [Frost King’s Greatsword], summoning a cold storm of frost that raged like a tsunami.

Swoosh, swish, swoosh―!

[Your Subordinate ‘Sinmara’ has activated the Skill ‘Giant Bombing’!]

「I hope this attack kills you!」 Sinmara charged toward Munseong, and Jin covered her, pulling out the other axe hung on her belt.

Boooom―!

Rumble…!

Jin and Sinmara were furious at Munseong. When they entered the mirror maze, they were swept away not only by Munseong and Ye-Eun’s <Myths> but by theirs as well. It made them utterly confused. Their <Myths> also triggered the traumas they were hiding deep inside their hearts, incapacitating them.

‘Jin saw his memory of when he was still with his family, and I watched <Muspelheim> meet <Extinction> again.’

If they hadn’t run into Chang-Sun, they would still have been lost in their trauma. That seemed to be this mirror maze’s secret trap. They were forced to reflect on themselves by displaying the <Myths> of whoever entered the maze, and failure to overcome one’s traumas would have eventually led them to self-destruct, evidencing that they weren’t worthy enough to enter R’lyeh.

Grrrrr―!

Munseong forced Sinmara to recall a memory that she had been trying to avoid. Determined to crush him with her feet, Sinmara clashed with Munseong again.

Booom!

While Jin and Sinmara were buying time, Chang-Sun stroked Ye-Eun’s cheek. She remained unconscious in his arms.

“Ithaca… I'm sorry,” Chang-Sun whispered into her ear.

Ithaca had always been around him. It was just that he failed to recognize her. Despite being the reason she was in this crisis, he came too late for her. Repeating on Earth the same regret that he made in Arcadia weighed down on his heart.

―Ithaca…

―Ithaca!

―I’m sorry, Ithaca.

[The old Celestial’s Myth is playing!]

Playing the <Myths> of ‘Divine Twilight,’ the mirrors displayed Chang-Sun shedding tears as he tightly held on to the injured Ithaca. Just like Ithaca in the reflections, Cha Ye-Eun the human also looked pale, but that wasn’t what wrenched Chang-Sun’s heart the most.

Pzz, pzzz―!

Cha Ye-Eun’s fingers were shaking, unable to maintain her form. Chang-Sun also noticed particles falling off from her lower body, making him immediately realize what was happening.

[The Authority ‘Mamushi Eye’ has been activated, analyzing the illness that is weakening the Player ‘Cha Ye-Eun’!]

[Analyzing…]

[Analyzing…]

…

[Failed!]

[Attempting to analyze again!]

…

[Failed!]

[The information about the illness is highly restricted.]

…

‘Please. Please be something else.’ Chang-Sun desperately wished he was wrong about what was tormenting Ye-Eun, Ithaca.

[You have activated ‘Gnostic Eye’ for additional analysis!]

[A part of your gnosis has been applied. Attempting to analyze again.]

…

[Analysis complete!]

[The illness has been determined to be ‘Gaia’s Curse.’]

[Gaia’s Curse corrosion progress: 98.2%]

‘It did cross my mind, but… why did it have to be [Gaia’s Curse]? Shit!’

Chang-Sun’s hope was crushed. [Gnostic Eye], which he had been refraining from using up until this moment since it could strengthen Odin’s personality, brought him the worst possible news.

Chang-Sun gritted his teeth. If there was anyone who knew about [Gaia’s Curse] the best, it would be him. The biggest reason ‘Divine Twilight’ lost in the <Myth War> and plummeted was that he was poisoned by [Gaia’s Curse].

[Printing the information about ‘Gaia’s Curse’!]

[Gaia’s Curse]

This poison and curse was created to kill the depraved children of the old Mother Terra Celestial, an Ancient Celestial, when they defied her. The Myth of a Celestial infected with this curse will slowly disintegrate, eventually killing the Celestial.

· Type: Curse.

· Effect: Soul Infection. Myth Disintegration.

Antares the ‘Scorpio’ used all sorts of lethal poison, but even he was reluctant to utilize [Gaia’s Curse] due to its toxicity, which only made Chang-Sun even more confused about why Ye-Eun was infected with it. Was Antares behind this? Was there another reason? One thing he knew for sure right now was that he would lose Ithaca right before his eyes again if he failed to stop the curse from aggravating.

Chang-Sun couldn’t let that happen. He finally reunited with his lover after all these years, so how could he let her go again? They hadn’t even celebrated their reunion yet. He felt a little impatient, but he held it down as hard as possible and tried to find a way to stop the curse. If he couldn’t cure it, he had to at least find a way to alleviate its effects.

[Searching for a solution by going through your accumulated gnosis using ‘Gnosis Eye’!]

“Simon, do you know anything about it?” Chang-Sun asked.

「I started searching a moment ago, but it’s proving difficult! I can’t believe we’re up against [Gaia’s Curse] here! Fuck!」

Simon Magus had all kinds of knowledge, but it seemed even he couldn’t come up with anything.

「Ah! What about feeding her your blood?」

“My blood?” Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes.

「Yes! One of the Effects of [Blood Toxin] is creating antibodies… 」

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Chang-Sun slit his palm and fed Ye-Eun his blood.

[The Skill ‘Blood Toxin’ has been activated, attempting to stop ‘Gaia’s Curse’ from progressing!]

Chang-Sun’s blood did not only have antibodies he had created with [Blood Toxin] but also [Thousand Toxin Immunity], so it could prove to be effective. Just as expected…

[The antibodies of the Skill ‘Blood Toxin’ is resisting ‘Gaia’s Curse’!]

…

[Failed.]

[A part of the antibodies has successfully resisted ‘Gaia’s Curse.’]

[An immunity has been built, slowing down the corrosion progress of ‘Gaia’s Curse’.]

Ye-Eun’s cheeks slightly turned rosy, indicating that it was working.

‘This is just a temporary fix, though.’ Chang-Sun shook his head.

He couldn’t feel relieved yet. Once activated, [Gaia’s Curse] didn’t subside easily. The antibodies of [Blood Toxin] wouldn’t last long. He needed a fundamental solution to deactivate [Gaia’s Curse].

‘Wait… How has she been locking her Divine Class?’

[Gaia’s Curse] became more lethal the higher one’s Divine Class. That seemed to be why Ye-Eun tightly sealed her Divine Class. Unfortunately, that also prevented Chang-Sun from detecting Ithaca in her.

‘Lock, lock…’

When the question came to his mind, one of his eyes ached. [Gnostic Eye] was leading him somewhere.

[Your ‘Gnostic Eye’ is offering you a solution!]

Following the line of blue light, his eyes dawned upon [Peter’s Key], which he had hung around his neck like a necklace. Chang-Sun grabbed it. ‘Can this unlock it?’

He wasn’t certain. It just crossed his mind that he could use [Peter’s Key] on Ye-Eun the same way he used it to unlock the [Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan]. Before long, Chang-Sun pulled out the golden key and seamlessly inserted it into Ye-Eun’s forearm. It didn’t seem to hurt her at all.

Click!

With the feeling of the key fitting the lock perfectly, Ye-Eun’s body stopped breaking down.

‘This is it.’ Chang-Sun immediately rotated the key.

Creak―!

As the key turned, the particles momentarily wavered and slowly found their way back to her. Once completely locked, she returned to her original self.

Paah…!

[The Divine Class of the Player ‘Cha Ye-Eun’ has been completely sealed!]

[The progress of ‘Gaia’s Curse’ has paused, submerging back into herself.]

“Phew…!” Chang-Sun finally let out a sigh of relief.

Ye-Eun’s cheeks were rosy again. She seemed out of the woods now.

“Simon,” Chang-Sun said.

「I await your command.」

A [Golem Core] floated in the air and absorbed the blood in the area. Simon then took form.

“Please take care of Ithaca,” Chang-Sun requested.

「So she’s the missus, huh? Don’t worry. I’ll guard her with my life.」

Chuckling at Simon’s joke, Chang-Sun carefully handed Ye-Eun over to Simon and stood up using [Twilight Spear] as support. Turning his head, he saw Jin and Sinmara engaging in a fierce battle against Munseong. Despite his two subordinates’ determination, Munseong still had the upper hand. Meanwhile, <Darkness> was still pouring out through the gap in the door, dyeing the world black.

Chang-Sun pointed [Peter’s Key] at his neck this time. Considering he hadn’t recovered half of his HP and even less of his mana yet, he knew he couldn’t defeat Munseong in this state.

Taking a different approach, Chang-Sun chose to squeeze every ounce of his dormant power and scrape up the bottom of his soul.

Yes, the bottom of his soul. Chang-Sun planned to drag up his subconscious realm, which he couldn’t and shouldn’t peek at.

Click!

He inserted the golden key into his neck, revealing the last shackle around it. Upon rotating the key ninety degrees clockwise, the shackle unlocked and dropped to the ground.

Click―!

Thud…!

The Divine Steel shackle created a very loud noise. The moment Chang-Sun was freed from all his shackles, his divine power surged and circulated within him. Joy, ecstasy, elation… An indescribably complicated mix of emotions overwhelmed him.

[All restrictions have been lifted!]

[Releasing your Divine Class!]

[Restoring your Divinity!]

[Restituting your Divine Rank!]

[Recovering your Myth!]

…

[Reclaiming your Divine Essence!]

Woosh, woosh, woosh…!

Chang-Sun’s Divine Class storm, now incomparably stronger than the one he created when he temporarily restored his Divine Class using [Execution Sword], raged over the area.

‘Divine Twilight’ was finally about to make a proper descent on this land.

[With the full recovery of your Divine Class, you have acquired the right to regain all the remaining letters of your revoked Divine Name.]

[You have acquired the last two letters.]

[‘D,’ ‘I.’]

Having restored the rest of his Divine Name, Chang-Sun completed his awakening and <Transcendence>.

[The Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ has resurrected!]

Chang-Sun wasn’t done yet. He rotated the golden key ninety degrees clockwise again, allowing a thick voice to echo from deep within his soul.

『Yes, that’s it. You seem to finally grasp what to do in times of crisis, child.』

The voice belonged to Odin.

[The old Myth ‘Cane-Holding Father of Warriors’ has opened his eyes!]

After eternity, Odin descended on this land.