Side Story Chapter 43 - The Third Zone (3)

Clink. The liquor was poured to the brim in a glass cup. The ice clinked together.

“You.”

“Yes, Father.”

“…Did you find another girl?”

Yeon-woo stared at Kronos for a moment.

“…”

“…”

A heavy silence filled the room.

“…Wait, so that wasn’t a joke, Father?” Yeon-woo made a dumbfounded face seeing Kronos’ solemn gaze.

However, Kronos was still serious. He said, “Son, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but loyalty is part of love. How could you toss away a girl who’s waited for you for so long….!”

“Father.”

“Yes, son.”

“If you’re going to say nonsense, you can go to Timbuktu and do it.”

Kronos scratched his cheek awkwardly. “…So you didn’t find someone else?”

“I don’t want Edora pulling my hair out. Also, I don’t need any other woman.”

“Then how…?”

“Where else would I use my ability to turn back the wheel?’

“Oh…? Right.”

“Mother. Father’s thinking in such an old-fashioned way now that he’s retired.”

“Indeed. He keeps on forgetting things these days. You should be understanding, Yeon-woo. I think his hair is starting to become thinner too…”

Kronos burst up at Rhea’s sigh. “What?! My hair’s fine!”

“Should I look for a good hair growth cream?”

“I can do that myself!”

“They say angry outbursts mean you’re subconsciously thinking it’s true…”

“I’m not!”

Yeon-woo and Rhea continued to tease Kronos for a while after that. Kronos had a sullen face, and Rhea smiled as she looked at him like he was adorable. Looking at his parents, the faint trace of a smile appeared on Yeon-woo’s face. This was the kind of relationship he wanted.

Yeon-woo began to speak of the reason why he decided to get married, and Kronos stayed sour, but he brightened upon hearing of the girl he had taken a liking to. Rhea chimed in occasionally with “really” and “oh, my,” curious about the daughter-in-law she hadn’t met yet. She had only heard about Edora from Kronos, so she was most curious.

“So I think we’ll have to have a meeting between the parents.”

“Oh my! Honey, we’re going to have a meeting between parents. So exciting.”

Rhea giggled like a young girl. They’d had many children, but they had never attended their children’s weddings. Kronos had become absorbed by Demonisms before that could happen, and he was chased away from the throne by Zeus. And after he was resurrected, he had Yeon-woo and Jeong-woo, but Jeong-woo had already met Ananta, so they had no opportunity. They didn’t have any in-laws with Ananta either.

Yeon-woo’s marriage was very new to both Rhea and Kronos. It was something that was natural for others. Kronos smiled wryly at the fact that they hadn’t been able to enjoy such pleasures. He was apologetic toward Rhea, seeing her so happy.

“Then, the in-laws… It’ll just be the Psychic Medium?” Kronos trailed off at “in-laws” because of how awkward it fell off his tongue.

“No. Seseung-nim will come too.”

“Hm…?” Kronos didn’t understand when he heard “Seseung.” He soon widened his eyes. “But that man is…!”

“He’s alive.”

“What?” Kronos knew that the Martial King had awakened as an emperor, then was scattered because of Gaia’s Curse… Then, Kronos came to a realization. “You did something.”

Yeon-woo looked up, and Kronos and Rhea followed his gaze. They were looking at the second-floor banister, where Min Chae-young was. Yeon-woo said, “I saw the ghost girl a moment ago, and the energy I felt from her was familiar.”

“Familiar?”

Yeon-woo nodded at Kronos’ question. “That child has something called the ‘star fragment,’ doesn’t she?”

“…!”

“…!”

Kronos and Rhea widened their eyes.

“So she does.” Kronos collected his bearings first. “So this is related to the Martial King… I mean our in-law?”

Yeon-woo nodded. “The star fragments are pieces of Seseung-nim’s soul that he left behind after he ascended.”

Kronos and Rhea finally understood why creatures outside of their domain of perception were able to exist. In Kronos’ memory, the Martial King was a monster. He was a monster of monsters who’d destroyed Asgard alone and become an emperor solely with his will. If there was no such thing as a system in the Tower, Allforone would never have been able to handle him. The same went for the other beings of the heavenly world.

The Martial King was an outlier who was so powerful even the former god of kings didn’t know what his limits were. The pieces left behind when such a being became an emperor…

‘Merely possessing a piece could make you into a monster.’ Kronos had only met three stars, but each of them was as powerful as a beast. It made sense since they were beings who swallowed all the legends in a world line after erasing it, but it made even better sense after hearing it was pieces of the Martial King that allowed such evolution to occur.

“Then…what happens to that child?” Kronos looked at Yeon-woo anxiously. There were only two paths a being with a star fragment could take. They could either be eaten by another star who crossed over from another world line, or they could completely digest the fragment and become a true star.

If Yeon-woo declared he’d forcefully retrieve the fragment from Min Chae-young, there was no way to stop him, even if it meant Min Chae-young would get hurt in the process. Kronos and Rhea would probably attempt to stop him, since they now thought of her as a daughter despite only having known her for a short while…

Yeon-woo made a disbelieving face after reading Kronos’ expression. “…Father, I’m not that reckless.”

“Sure.”

“What exactly do you think of me?”

“Emperor Temper?”

“Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that the temper’s genetic?”

“Apologize now.”

“What are you talking about…?!”

“How dare you speak to your mother that way when she’s sacrificed everything for you both?”

Yeon-woo looked at Kronos with an appalled face, as if he was questioning Kronos’ conscience, and Rhea shook her head at her preposterous husband.

“Don’t worry. It’s not that difficult to retrieve the fragments. I’ve already collected a few on the way here.”

“What about the stars?”

“I met them.”

“How pitiful for them.”

“But a few are definitely not to be disregarded. There are some that have even left the universe and the world lines.”

“Outside? Are you talking about the otherworld? I’m talking about Night here.”

“No. It’s a bit different… Mm, it’s kind of hard to explain.” A thought occurred to Yeon-woo mid-sentence, and he suddenly turned his head. “It’ll be easier for you to hear for yourself.”

“…?”

“…?”

Kronos and Rhea were about to ask him what that meant when Yeon-woo suddenly dashed forward.

Flash!

* * *

‘…Dim-witted Darkness! I had my doubts, but why is he…?!”

There was a thing called the Unreal World. Just as there were two sides to a coin, there was another side to the existing reality. It originated from the eggshell Pangu had come from. It was a world that wanted to become real but could never attain that dream.

Stars had the ability to enter and exit this Unreal World. This world was also the third zone the Heavenly Demon had mentioned.

Tigris was currently hiding in the Unreal World, looking at what was reflected through the mirror. This was how they weren’t able to be caught by beings like Kronos and Rhea until now. He was carefully observing Kronos and Rhea through the Unreal World to somehow kidnap Min Chae-young to this place as soon as the opportunity arose… But then, he’d seen something unexpected—the ego of the Dim-witted Darkness, the Black King!

Along with the Heavenly Demon, also known as the Sacred Light, the Black King was considered to be someone who was a top priority to avoid. A few of Tigris’ companions had been erased after accidentally coming into contact with the Black King.

It seemed the Heavenly Demon still hadn’t caught onto their presence because he was cooped up in the Changgong Library, but the Black King was currently retrieving star fragments, so they needed to take special care.

Tigris attempted to leave right away. A part of him wanted to stay and observe Yeon-woo a while longer, but he didn’t want to be a cat that died from curiosity. ‘Thankfully, I haven’t heard anything about the Black King being able to touch the Unreal World yet…!’

Fortunately, the Black King himself was the universe and the world. That meant it was impossible for him to interfere in the Unreal World.

However, Tigris wasn’t able to continue his thoughts any longer. The space in front of him suddenly divided, and a strong force suddenly began to pull his body. Crash! Before he could resist, Tigris was sucked forward like his collars were tightly being held by someone.

“Kegh!” When Tigris came to, he paled. Yeon-woo was looking down at him from right in front of him. The moment Tigris saw those pitch-black eyes, he trembled in fear, unable to utter anything. Like a mouse in front of a snake, all his instincts were telling him not to clash with the being in front of him.

“If I can’t interfere in your world, all I have to do is force you over here. Isn’t that right?” Tigris’ mind went blank after seeing Yeon-woo’s cold smile. Yeon-woo’s smirk only deepened. “You know why I brought you here, right? You can start talking now.”

Nod. Tigris nodded frantically in case Yeon-woo suddenly decided to kill him. To live, he needed to ask “how high” if he was ordered to jump.