Chapter 366: Celestial Of The Black Stars (2)

“T-That’s not possible!” Vega shook her head in shock. “How could a Black Star Celestial possibly manifest on Earth?!”

Unlike Vega or Regulus, who manifested in a smaller size, Enceladus took on its true form. Of course, Vega could also briefly manifest in her true form on Earth, but that was only because she was a North Star Celestial.

For Celestials who had been exiled from the Sanctum, manifesting in their true form should’ve been impossible even in the Demonic District, let alone Earth.

“Judging from that appearance, I don’t think that’s the case anymore.” Kwon Oh-Jin bit his lips as he watched the Celestial of Seahorse in the video.

Even without facing them in real life, the oppressive force radiating out could be felt vividly through the recording. Only a true transcendent being could release such energy.

“Then, you gathered us here because a Black Star Celestial appeared in Japan?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s because the Kuroushi organization sent us an official request for help. They specifically asked for you, Oh-Jin. However, it seems difficult to handle alone, so we reached out to Woo-Hyuk and Ha-Eun as well.”

As Han Jun-Man said, Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t face something like this alone.

“We also tried contacting the other Seven Stars like Mr. Allen and Miss Rebecca... but unfortunately, all of them are currently occupied elsewhere.”

Is he saying that’s why he called these two instead? This is probably the limit of what the Association can assemble with its resources.

Even though the Association’s influence in Korea had grown thanks to Kwon Oh-Jin’s feats, that influence didn’t extend beyond Korea. With so many conflicting interests across different nations and factions, gathering the Seven Stars together wasn’t feasible.

And scraping together weaklings would’ve been meaningless anyway.

A Black Star Celestial wasn’t just a standard beast incident. At the very least, high-ranking Awakeners had to be deployed.

“Still! To push such a burden onto my child alone?! This is unforgivably irresponsible of you!” Vega’s eyes flashed as she glared at Han Jun-Man.

Han Jun-Man flinched despite his large frame. “O-Of course, we don’t intend to dump this solely on Oh-Jin! According to our contract, the Association can’t issue him any orders or commands anyway.” Under Vega’s glare, he rushed to add more. “We just wanted to inform you that Japan has requested aid along with this footage!”

In the end, Kwon Oh-Jin had to decide.

He deeply sighed and nodded. “

Haa

. I understand. I’ll go to Japan.”

A Black Star Celestial had manifested on Earth. He couldn’t just sit by and do nothing when they already had a shortage of manpower.

“B-But, my child! This is far too dangerous!”

“I know.”

Celestials were transcendent beings fundamentally different from humans. On top of that, the Black Star Celestials had even received the Heavenly Demon’s power. They were on an entirely different level compared to every enemy he had faced so far.

“We need to act before it does.”

Kwon Oh-Jin wasn’t doing this out of some heroic resolve to minimize innocent casualties.

Black Star Celestials wouldn’t suddenly cross over into Earth without a reason. They weren’t the ones who had initiated the move.

The Heavenly Demon is starting to make his move.

Closing his eyes, Kwon Oh-Jin thought of himself in the past timeline. Why hadn’t he come himself instead of sending a Black Star Celestial? The Heavenly Demon was definitely behind this manifestation.

“S-Still...” Vega trailed off. She wanted to argue further, but soon sighed and dropped her head. “Alright...” Nodding reluctantly, Vega turned to Han Jun-Man. “Can you play the footage again?”

“

Ah

, yes. Of course!” Han Jun-Man jumped and grabbed the projector’s remote.

The video began playing again. Watching it a second time revealed no new details. Just the barren shore, a black rift tearing open, grotesque horse-headed beasts pouring out, and the Celestial of Seahorse stepping out.

—

Hmm?

Crackle!

The footage ended with Enceladus turning its head toward the camera.

Kwon Oh-Jin, staring intently at the footage, turned to Han Jun-Man. “When was this recorded?”

“Three days ago, around two in the afternoon. A Kuroushi member had gone to investigate unusual mana waves and filmed it.”

“And that member...?”

“He was killed on-site.”

Right after Enceladus turned its head, the screen had distorted with static. It seemed to have discovered the cameraman.

“Was there anything else in the past three days?”

“No. There’s no evidence of the Celestial leaving the shoreline, but their exact location still hasn’t been determined.”

The number of horse-headed demonic beasts in the video alone amounted to thousands, yet no trace of them could be found.

This will be a pain.

It would be one thing if they had rampaged recklessly according to their instincts. Monsters that moved in an organized manner were far trickier.

“Wait a minute. Rewind the video,” Vega said.

“

Ah

, yes.” Han Jun-Man rewound the footage.

Vega narrowed her eyes at the screen. “Again.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Stop.”

“H-Here?”

The frame froze right after Enceladus emerged from the black rift. As his hooves pressed against the sandy beach, the surrounding seawater churned violently.

“This is...” Fixing her gaze on the image, Vega’s eyes sharpened. “There’s no Sacred Ground.”

“What do you mean?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“The churning seawater, you see? That isn’t from the influence of the Sacred Ground. It’s merely reacting to Enceladus’s mana.”

Kwon Oh-Jin cocked his head, not understanding. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

Song Ha-Eun, Lee Woo-Hyuk, and Han Jun-Man frowned as well, equally puzzled.

The only one who understood, aside from Vega, was Regulus.

“

Hmm

. I see. That makes sense. When a Celestial manifests fully in their true form, a Sacred Ground naturally forms around them, unless they deliberately suppress it,” Regulus explained.

A Sacred Ground was a domain where Celestials could freely exert their authority. It was sort of like a person’s natural aura. Of course, to use that authority properly, they had to create a Sacred Ground like Vega once demonstrated.

Vega was pointing out that the natural, passive Sacred Ground that always enveloped a Celestial was absent.

“If there’s no Sacred Ground, that means...”

“It means that Black Star Celestial hasn’t manifested in their full, true form.”

Although the degree varied, the Black Star Celestials were also not completely free from the restrictions of the Law.

“What you’re saying is, I can beat up a Celestial to near death?” Song Ha-Eun asked, clenching her fist.

Vega bitterly smiled and nodded. “Even without a Sacred Ground, they’re still tremendously strong, but... they won’t be able to use the full extent of their strength.”

It’s not entirely hopeless.

“Well... either way, we’ll only know for sure if we go there ourselves.” Kwon Oh-Jin briefly sighed and stood up.

They had no time to waste now that a Black Star Celestial had manifested.

No gate connects to a Sanctum in Japan, so going there directly will be difficult.

He was about to ask Han Jun-Man to book him a flight.

Lee Woo-Hyuk raised his hand and suggested, “Rather than getting on a commercial plane, it’ll be faster to use the Valhalla Guild’s private jet.”

“You’re coming too, Mr. Woo-Hyuk?”

Unlike Kwon Oh-Jin, Lee Woo-Hyuk was a guild master. Kwon Oh-Jin hadn’t expected him to willingly take part in something with only risks and no rewards.

“As much as I’m the Valhalla guild master, I’m first and foremost an Awakener who inherited the power of a Celestial.”

When the first rift opened and monsters engulfed the world, Awakeners were the chosen heroes who took up arms to protect humanity. Nowadays, most Awakeners acted for personal gain, so the truth of their original role had been half-forgotten. However, at their core, Awakeners were heroes meant to fight for humanity’s survival.

“But I won’t be able to use all of Valhalla’s forces.”

Meaning, he couldn’t drag his entire guild into a death trap just because he wanted to participate.

So, not all siblings share the same nature, huh.

He was very different from the Lee Shin-Hyuk that Kwon Oh-Jin had seen through memory inheritance.

“Then, I’ll inform the Kuroushi organization that you’ll be arriving soon!” Han Jun-Man said.

“Please do.”

“If you need any equipment or supplies, the Association will provide them!”

Equipment, huh. I don’t have anything in particular, but...

Kim Si-Hoo’s custom gear was tempting. However, even if he asked now, it would take far too long to finish. Prefabricated items wouldn’t be of much use anyway.

“Do you need anything, Ha-Eun?”

“

Huh?

Me?” Song Ha-Eun crossed her arms and pondered. After a while, her eyes lit up, and she snapped her fingers. “D-Duty-free cigarettes?”

Kwon Oh-Jin got up, grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, and dragged her off.

“I’ll go home to change first. We’ll see you all later,” Kwon Oh-Jin said to the group.

“What—hey! What’s wrong with duty-free cigarettes?!”

“Shut up.”

Dragging Song Ha-Eun along, Kwon Oh-Jin headed home.

***

They had arrived at Kansai International Airport on Valhalla’s private jet. It had been a while since Kwon Oh-Jin last came to Osaka when he fought against the Seahorse executor, Kurosaki Sosuke.

“Oh-Jin, that must be them.”

“Yeah... I can tell.”

Outside the airport, two long rows of intimidating men in black suits lined up. Spread across the ground between them wasn’t a red carpet, but a massive sheet of paper covered in scribbled Chinese characters. At a glance, words like “loyalty” and “honor” seemed to be written across it.

Oh god, please no.

Kwon Oh-Jin flinched, stopping in his tracks at the sight that was giving him second-hand embarrassment.

“

Ah!

H-He’s here!” one of the Kuroushi members shouted excitedly upon spotting Kwon Oh-Jin.

Just then, hundreds of Yakuza bowed deeply toward Kwon Oh-Jin, shouting in booming unison, “We greet our

Oyabun

!”

Bystanders around the airport instantly zeroed in on him.

Kwon Oh-Jin looked at the Kuroushi members with a dumbfounded expression. “I’m your guys

Oyabun

? Since when?”