Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 332: Star, Heavenly Spirits (2)

[The Player ‘Carl Malone’ has activated the Authority ‘Thousand Hands’ to embrace the plane!]

It was as if another sun had risen in the cloudless stratosphere, and a wave of golden light came rushing in.

“W-What is that?”

“...Avalokitesvara?”

When the passengers looked out their windows, they were shocked to see Avalokitesvara’s huge form manifesting and putting her hands together. There was something mesmerizing about her quietly closing her eyes; it was no coincidence that the passengers thought of the phrase ‘great compassion’, the most common phrase associated with Avalokitesvara.

“Namo Amitabha, Namo Amitabha[1] …!”

“...Avalokitesvara[2]…”

“My dear Guardian, please do not be angered as I pray to her for a moment.”

The Buddhists present pulled out their prayer beads to recite their prayers, and the followers of other Guardians also prayed to Avalokitesvara as they asked for their Guardians’ forgiveness at the same time.

The reaction of the demonic beings who had been waiting for Gennagyij Hleb’s order to hijack the plane was no different. They became captivated and forgot about what they had originally planned to do; Avalokitesvara’s sacred light had the power to cleanse evil from all sentient beings.

At that moment…

Paaah!

…Avalokitesvara opened her eyes, her sacred light radiating more brilliantly. She reached out toward the plane.

“Huh? Uhhh…?”

“That’s dangerous…!”

In some way, it looked as if Avalokitesvara was trying to inflict harm on the plane, and those present were taken aback. Fortunately, however, their concerns did not come to pass. Avalokitesvara’s hands passed through the plane and left traces, which soon materialized as a thousand hands that spread across the sky. As she took the plane into her arms, the whole vehicle ‘paused’.

[The area has been chosen as the domain of the Celestial ‘Teacher of All Sentient Beings’ by force!]

[All unauthorized connections to the outside have been terminated by force.]

[All unauthorized Skill activations have been terminated by force.]

[All unauthorized blessings have been nullified by force.]

…

[The area has been stabilized!]

A wondrous miracle occurred, leaving those present shocked.

Paah…!

Meanwhile, Carl was deep in zazen[3] to sustain Avalokitesvara’s miracle with his spiritual power. A wave of golden light spread out from him, serving as the signal.

“…Go now.”

Upon hearing Cha Ye-Eun’s command, the Council agents, who had been monitoring the demonic beings under the guise of ordinary passengers, immediately took action.

Smash! Smack!

“Keough!”

“What in the world… Urgh!”

The demonic beings were subdued before they could fight back. They had unexpectedly become captivated by Avalokitesvara’s miracle, and all their Skill activations had been nullified as the plane became Avalokitesvara’s domain, resulting in their catastrophic defeat.

Thud…!

One of the demonic beings ended up slamming his head into the ground. He looked up in disbelief, and saw Ye-Eun cynically looking down at them with her arms crossed.

“All the passengers are agents…?”

There were no civilians on the plane. From the passengers to the flight attendants, they were all staring coldly at the demonic beings.

“You people are all wanted all over the world. Did you really think the reason you could get on this plane was that you people were just so great?” Ye-Eun remarked, scoffing quietly.

The Council had been hunting down most of these demonic beings, who normally remained in hiding, for a very long time. Now, they were all arrested in one operation. It was a great achievement for a Council executive, but Ye-Eun looked irritated rather than happy.

‘Seriously, he always does dangerous things like this,’ Ye-Eun thought.

Chang-Sun was actually the one who had proposed the operation.

“I’m going to remove the influence of <Purple Star Astrology> entirely from this Earth,” Chang-Sun said.

“Huh? How? You may have taken the White Tiger Clan, but <Purple Star Astrology> is deeply rooted in Earth,” Ye-Eun replied.

“Yes, so they should be rooted out now,” Chang-Sun said.

“You already have a plan, don’t you?” Ye-Eun asked.

“I was thinking about me becoming bait,” Chang-Sun replied.

“...Bait?” Ye-Eun repeated in surprise.

Chang-Sun’s plan was very simple. <Purple Star Astrology> was hell-bent on capturing him by any means necessary, so they would soon try to build a far larger [World Net] than before, indicated by Richardus’ descent.

‘That’s why he suggested using this to our advantage,’ Ye-Eun thought, biting her lower lip.

If Chang-Sun showed up in a place where he was vulnerable to attack, he would be able to lure <Purple Star Astrology> out like moths to a flame. Of course, any being capable of thinking would be able to consider the possibility of Chang-Sun creating a trap for them.

The problem was that most members of <Purple Star Astrology> were demonic and monster Celestials who acted based on instinct rather than reason. Wu Yong was their strategist, but he had been sealed in ‘Doomsday City’, leaving no one in <Purple Star Astrology> capable of strategic thinking.

Their leaders could control these Celestials on some level, but ‘Zi Wei Yuan’ was in seclusion, and Richardus actually wanted to bring the feud between him and Chang-Sun to an end. <Purple Star Astrology> was no different from a train with broken brakes; that was why Ye-Eun and the others were able to arrest an entire plane full of demonic beings. Since most demonic beings had the <Stars> of <Purple Star Astrology> as their Guardians, the Council’s operation was bound to be a success.

Nevertheless, Ye-Eun was furious at the fact that Chang-Sun had voluntarily walked into danger; at the same time, she could not stop him, as she was well aware of the reason behind Chang-Sun’s animosity against <Purple Star Astrology> and <Horoscope>.

‘…Phew! I really want a cigarette.’

Ye-Eun would be able to loosen up a little more if she could use her mana, but she was unable to, contributing to her stress and annoyance. Additionally, she could hardly smoke ten kilometers above the ground. As such, she just kicked a demonic being’s head in annoyance, not liking his attitude.

Smack!

“Seo-Seonbae!” Jin Seok-Tae shouted in surprise, observing the demonic being’s condition to see if Ye-Eun’s kick had left sufficiently noticeable damage to be viewed as police brutality.

Regardless, Ye-Eun felt a little refreshed. She looked in the direction of the plane’s first-class section, where an intense battle had to be taking place, and let out a long sigh.

『…Don’t worry. He’ll be fine. He’d probably return alive even if you drop him in the center of hell.』

Dria spoke as she approached Ye-Eun and awkwardly patted her shoulder out of worry.

Ye-Eun chuckled and replied, “I guess so.”

『I-It’s obvious!』

“Yeah, he’ll return soon,” Ye-Eun said. She smiled gently, seemingly being able to relax at last as she stroked Dria’s small head.

Dria did not push Ye-Eun’s hand away.

* * *

[The defendants stand before the court.]

[Defendant 1]

Divine Name: Jade-Sculpted Qilin.

Faction: Purple Star Astrology.

Real name: Lu Junyi, the Strength Star

[Defendant 2]

Divine Name: Double-Headed Serpent.

Faction: Purple Star Astrology.

Real name: Xie Zhen, the Savage Star.

[Defendant 3]

Divine Name: Red-Haired Spirit.

Faction: Purple Star Astrology.

Real name: Liu Tang, the Deviance Star.

[Defendant 4]

Divine Name: Nine-Patterned Dragon.

Faction: Purple Star Astrology.

Real name: Shi Jin, the Minute Star.

[Defendant 5]

Divine Name: Lightning-Striking Flame.

Faction: Purple Star Astrology.

Real name: Qin Ming, the Fierce Star.

[Aside from the following defendants, a total of 41 additional criminals have been assessed to be defendants.]

[All the following defendants are affiliated with the Society <Purple Star Astrology>, charged with the crimes of breaking the <Treaty> and creating chaos on Earth.]

[The Divine Trial has begun!]

A battlefield opened up. The air was filled with a burning smell, and numerous weapons were pierced into the ground like tombstones across a scorched plain. Bewildered, Gennagyij and the four demonic beings arrived on the battlefield, where a red flag on a bent flagpole fluttered.

“This is…?”

“What in the world…!”

The five demonic beings were noticeably shaken up after ending up somewhere very different from the plane they had been on moments before. As they had only been used as demonic Celestials’ pawns in the past, the concept of divine ground was very foreign to them.

That was why they found the messages popping up in front of them incomprehensible. Why had a courtroom suddenly been mentioned? Why were their Guardians referred to as defendants? Among the demonic beings, some of them even found out their Guardians’ real names for the first time.

“Haven’t I told you already?” a voice called out.

The five demonic beings reflexively looked in the direction of the voice that came from behind them. There, they saw Chang-Sun walking slowly toward them from the distance. However, his clothes were very different from when they had seen him on the plane.

The breeze blowing across the desolate plain made Chang-Sun’s pitch-black coat flutter and left his hair in disarray. He was holding his signature [Twilight Spear] in his right hand, the spearhead dragging across the ground. Whenever he took a step, it left a trail on the ground; the silver spearhead shone radiantly, revealing its desire to go wild.

[Releasing your Divine Class!]

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…!

The storm of Chang-Sun’s Divine Class slowly changed the direction of the dusty wind, creating a tornado. A ripple spread outward as Chang-Sun took a step, slowly filling the demonic beings with fear.

“You people were just their disposable pawns,” Chang-Sun continued.

As he approached them, Gennagyij and the other demonic beings just trembled, unable to do or say anything. In contrast to how confident they had been on the plane, they cowered and kept their eyes on the ground, fearful that they would lose their heads if they met Chang-Sun’s gaze.

‘I d-did something crazy…!’

‘I didn’t know what he was capable of…!’

‘I would never have come here if I knew it would turn out like this!’

The demonic beings belatedly felt down to their bones that they had messed with a real god, but their regret was meaningless, as there was no turning back now.

Tap!

Chang-Sun came to a halt. The demonic beings furtively looked up, only to find that Chang-Sun was looking somewhere else. To be exact, he was looking above their heads, where five hideous-looking demonic Celestials were standing.

‘When did they…?’ Gennagyij thought as his lip trembled.

The five gigantic and bizarre-looking demonic Celestials had to be the great Guardians they had been serving for such a long time, but… their presence could not be detected.

‘N-No, it’s not that their presence can’t be detected. I can’t feel their presence because they’re being overshadowed by the Tyrant’s Divine Class…! Unbelievable…!’ Gennagyij turned pale as he realized the truth.

Who would have thought that a human could become comparable to demonic Celestials?

“I know you people are crazy, but you voluntarily shoved your heads into guillotines. Did you really want to kill yourselves that badly?” Chang-Sun asked, sneering at the five demonic Celestials.

Although Chang-Sun had set up a trap for them, he had not expected to capture five of them at once. <Purple Star Astrology> had to have used a significant amount of their Causality for Richardus’ descent. As the demonic Celestials lacked enough Causality to use for themselves, they had made their apostles approach Chang-Sun to make him activate the [Execution Sword]. In that case, the demonic Celestials would be able to go up against ‘Divine Twilight’ without using any Causality.

Chang-Sun was dumbstruck by their whole endeavor. No matter how much they wanted to meet him, which criminal would voluntarily walk into a courtroom without turning themselves in first? However, it seemed as if the demonic Celestials did not see it that way.

『Kyaaaah! Stop your nonsense, Twilight. We’re the ones who set the trap, not you…! We’re going to kill you and take your [Execution Sword] to open up the gate to the <Underworld>. Once the King of the Underworld finds swords against his neck, he’ll come to his senses!』

Lu Junyi shouted. He was a demonic Celestial who had a dragon’s head, a deer’s body, a horse’s hooves, and a goat’s horn. He shook his head violently, and his eyes shone ferociously. Among the Heavenly Fiend demonic Celestials, he was ranked the second, and he was the leader of the demonic Celestial group.

Chang-Sun remarked with a smirk, “So it’s the [Execution Sword] that you guys are after, huh?”

『You won’t be able to stay relaxed anymore!』

Boom!

Lu Junyi sprang forward quickly. Gennagyij and the other demonic beings were right in front of him, and they cried out in alarm. Nevertheless, that was none of Lu Junyi’s concern; thus, the five demonic beings were not even able to leave behind corpses, as they were smashed into a pulp.

“Tsk.” Chang-Sun quietly clicked his tongue, piercing his [Twilight Spear] into the ground.

Thud…!

Paah―!

A quiet ripple spread out from where the [Twilight Spear] was, and…

Swoosh―!

The robe on Chang-Sun’s coat loosened and wrapped itself around the [Twilight Spear]. The cloth had already separated into six strands, which fluttered boldly in a gust of wind, turning the [Twilight Spear] into the [Twilight Flag].

[The ‘Liuhunfan Flag’ flaps in the wind!]

The highest cloth strand had already turned purple, emblazoned with a golden symbol; it resembled a crossed sword and spear in front of a shield. The symbol belonged to Chang-Sun’s <Order>, which had flourished for a very short period of time during the <Myth War>.

By writing his targets’ names on each strand of the [Liuhunfan Flag], Chang-Sun could absorb their souls into a flag, making it more like a hit list. Five strands of the flag were left, and five demonic Celestials were here right now. The numbers lined up.

“The flag has been raised, so… let the war begin,” Chang-Sun said.

* * *

In ancient times, a flag bearer raising their flag symbolized a declaration of war against their enemies, signifying the beginning of conflict. In other words, Chang-Sun was conducting a ceremony to announce that ‘Divine Twilight’ was starting a war once again after his previous defeat.

A new <Myth War> was about to break out.

1. This means ‘I pay my respects to Amitābha the Buddha’. ☜

2. The more commonly known version of this prayer is simply ‘Namo Amitāyuṣe Buddhāya’, but the more common version in Korea is ‘Namo Amitāyuṣe Buddhāya and Avalokitesvara’, which means ‘I pay my respects to both Amitābha the Buddha and Avalokitesvara’. The reason is unknown. ☜

3. A kind of meditation. ☜