Chapter 142: Star, The Stigma (7)

Mephistopheles was looking for someone? Chang-Sun’s eyes widened upon hearing about it for the first time. He suddenly remembered what Mephistopheles had said when he first met him.

“Who. Are. You. So. You. Abyss…”?

Mephistopheles’ voice held so much information that Chang-Sun couldn’t remember exactly what the deity had said, but he did vaguely remember that question. Mephistopheles’ divine name also had the word ‘abyss.’ Was everything connected?

“You resemble that person in many ways: you are very familiar with death and can control fire proficiently, and you’re so dark it’s as if you are made from darkness itself. Above all, you are a natural-born fighter,” Minerva said.

“…?” Chang-Sun couldn’t understand what Minerva meant. She seemed to be describing him while telling him about the person whom Mephistopheles was looking for, so he momentarily thought Mephistopheles was searching for the ‘Divine Twilight.’ However, that didn’t seem to be the case. The ‘Divine Twilight’ had never interacted with Mephistopheles, after all. If the ‘Divine Twilight’ had unwittingly caught Mephistopheles’ attention, then Minerva would have said so.

‘Considering how she describes the person, she seems to know who they are, but I’ve never interacted with the Celestials back then.’?

Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes.

The planet Arcadia, which had been Chang-Sun’s primary residence, was far from . The only ones greedy enough to exert their evil influences there were the and Celestials.

“He has been looking for that person for so long…” Minerva trailed off.

Chang-Sun felt as if she also missed the person for some reason.

“... Moreover, you resemble the the most. That’s why Mephistopheles can’t stop himself from paying attention to you and also likely why he tested you during the Tutorial Dungeon you were in.”

When Chang-Sun heard the word ‘abyss,” his gaze sharpened.

‘The abyss I know is the fragment of the universe that existed before the Big Bang, and it’s located in the deepest part of the , so how can it resemble me?’

Chang-Sun got more questions than answers, but he couldn’t directly ask Minerva about them. and matters weren’t normally mentioned around a mortal, so if Chang-Sun acted as if he knew secrets related to the universe’s creation, he could incur Minerva’s suspicion. Hence, he could ask only one question. “Who are you talking about?”

“■■■,” Minerva replied.

“...?” Chang-Sun tilted his head in confusion.

“Just as I expected, the system is stopping me.” Minerva narrowed her eyes, then shrugged. “Regardless, that person does exist.”

Chang-Sun was shocked. The system rarely intervened directly and distorted anyone’s perception. Taking that into consideration, it meant that this information required reaching a certain level in the law of causality or access authority.

‘The person is likely so supreme that the law of causality has to make the system interfere… Who is it? If I knew things would turn out this way, I would have studied various matters back when I was still the ‘Divine Twilight.’’?

Chang-Sun bitterly thought.

Chang-Sun didn’t pay much attention back then because he thought they were useless information, and he didn’t expect it to become a problem.

‘I can’t do anything about it now. I should get a rough idea about this if I ask the King of the Underworld once I have restored the Channeling with the Underworld.’?

Chang-Sun shook his head to clear his mind.

H got most of the characteristics that had caught Mephistopheles’ attention while he was in the Underworld, so Thanatos would likely be able to give him more accurate information.

“That sounds complicated,” Chang-Sun said.

“You do not have to pay any attention to it. You should just focus on walking down your path, just as you have always done,” Minerva warmly pacified him. “After all, there’s one thing I’m certain about regarding this matter.”

“What is it?” Chang-Sun asked.

“You are fundamentally different from that person.” Minerva gently smiled. As soon as Chang-Sun heard that, he felt a chill run down his spine that made him urgently look around him.

“What’s wrong?” Minerva looked at Chang-Sun, unable to comprehend his current behavior.

Chang-Sun wanted to ask her if she felt someone ‘watching’ them, but he couldn’t. They were in Minerva’s divine ground, a place where she was the absolute being. Saying that someone had fooled her eyes and was secretly watching them would be an insult to her since it implied she was an idiot who couldn’t even rule her land properly.

Chang-Sun felt cold sweat running down his back.

‘Who is it?’?

Chang-Sun wondered as he considered the possibility of Mephistopheles still watching him in secret.

‘No, it’s not him. His gaze and the current one are accompanied by totally different emotions.’

Mephistopheles looked at Chang-Sun with curiosity and interest, while the current gaze watched him and Minerva with hostility. Minerva could have a dangerous enemy spying on them, so Chang-Sun quickly tried to figure out the situation.

Woosh!

At that moment, the space beside Chang-Sun and Minerva suddenly split, and her butler urgently jumped out. Unlike when he first guided Chang-Sun into ‘Owl Nest,’ the butler’s face was pale, and he was sweating profusely. “Goddess!”

Thinking something likely happened, Minerva’s face hardened. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“E-enemies have shown up outside!” The butler explained.

“What? Who in the world invaded this place?” Minerva hurriedly inquired.

‘Owl Nest’ was the land ruled by the great deity of and was technically one of Heaven’s restricted areas, so no one would ever try to set foot here, not even by accident.

Minerva stormed out of the armory as soon as she heard her butler’s report.

“It’s the ‘Geminus’...! Castor of the ‘Gemini’ has invaded our land!”

“…!” Chang-Sun’s eyes widened.

* * *

Following Minerva, Chang-Sun hurriedly ran up to the rampart.

“Castor has shown up?” Minerva gritted her teeth.

“H-he’s over there!” Her subordinates pointed at the sky.

Minerva turned to where they were pointing, her expression instantly hardening. “No way…!”

The western sky, which had been as clear as an ocean, now had dark clouds rolling in—no, they were more like the ‘night’ itself rather than dark clouds.

[‘Eros’ has set, and ‘Nyx’ is slowly waking up and covering the sky.]

[The stars hidden in the sky have finished making preparations to shine!]

‘Stars’ showed up one by one amid the night, some of them bright and some relatively dim. As they twinkled in the sky, rays of golden light began to link them up.

[A star sign has appeared!]

The stars took the shape of ‘Gemini’—two people on good terms standing next to each other—but they appeared to be sneering while looking down on those on the ground. Among the many stars that made up the star sign, one star shone especially bright—the alpha star, Castor. A ray of light slowly descended to the ground from it.

Woosh!

All the other stars simultaneously shot rays of light as well.

[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ is trying to descend to the Divine Ground ‘Owl Nest’!]

[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ has begun to invade the Divine Ground ‘Owl Nest.’]

[The defensive measures of the Divine Ground ‘Owl Nest’ have been activated.]

…

[Two different divine powers have collided!]

[The divine ground battle has broken out!]

…

The divine ground’s invisible barrier activated and blocked the rays of light, preventing the stars from invading the divine ground.

“How dare they!” Minerva gritted her teeth and glared at the star sign of ‘Gemini’ in the sky. She knew Castor had shown up without any declarations of war because he was angry for failing to take Chang-Sun by force. He couldn’t bring himself to face Mephistopheles directly, so he decided to take out his anger on her, whom he felt less burdensome to deal with.

Perhaps Castor had found out that Chang-Sun visited this place and was trying to take him by force now. If so, then Minerva had to ask herself one question. Who had leaked the information? Either way, Castor was insulting Minerva, the great Celestial of , so she was bound to be angry. In fact, she was so angry that her eyes had become bloodshot.

Woosh!

The angrier she became, the brighter the golden halo around her shone. The halo took to the skies as if it had wings, then covered the entire castle, drawing many brilliant magic circles in the air. The halo above Minerva’s head grew larger, its sacred light—no, its golden divine light intensifying as it illuminated the divine ground. Taking the form of an owl, the divine creature that symbolized Minerva, it spread its wings, pounded on itself, and opened its eyes.

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ has spread her wings!]

[The ‘Polias Barrier’ envelops the divine ground.]

A deity’s divine power and rank were the laws of nature in a divine ground, which meant ‘Owl Nest’ had become Minerva herself.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

[The Celestials ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ and ‘Geminus’ has engaged in a territorial dispute.]

The current battle would determine whose divine power was stronger, Castor or Minerva. The 'Geminus' was a supreme Celestial and a symbol of the The ‘Geminus’ was the supreme Celestial and symbol of the , which practically ruled Heaven right now. Living up to his title, Castor cornered Minerva with his great divine power, even though he was the invader.

Paah!

Paah!

The more rays of light shot down on the barrier, the more noticeably the barrier shook. It was as if it was going to shatter at any moment. The butler had fought in many wars alongside Minerva, so he knew the barrier would soon reach a limit, which was why he hurriedly mobilized her subordinates.

“Everyone, get to your positions! Once the barrier breaks, Castor’s subordinates will flood in! Prepare for the incoming attacks! Bellerophon and Ajax! Please support the goddess!”

“Serena!” Minerva shouted.

Serena, who was about to reinforce the barrier, urgently answered, “Yes, boss!”

“Can you open a teleportation portal that leads out of here?” Minerva asked.

“Th-that’s… The has cut off our connection to the outside world, so it’ll take time to set the right coordinates!” Serena nervously answered.

“They came thoroughly prepared, huh?” Minerva gritted her teeth.

The fight between transcended beings was like a natural disaster to mortals—it was something they couldn’t resist. That was why she was going to send Chang-Sun back to the Saha World. Unfortunately, Castor had prevented her from requesting assistance from other deities or sending Chang-Sun away.

That evidenced that Castor’s goal was Chang-Sun after all.

‘If only the Ruling Celestial was here, they couldn’t have done anything…!’?

Minerva angrily thought.

Looking at the alpha star of the ‘Gemini,’ Minerva shouted using her divine voice.

『Castor!』

Thud!

As if a giant fist had smacked the star sign as hard as possible, the dozens of light rays fiercely shook. At that moment, one of the stars that made up the Gemini star sign in the sky opened its eyes wide. It looked as if a giant had put two holes in a huge curtain and watched Minerva and the others through the holes.

『Minerva, you look pretty pathetic for a goddess of war.』

Castor, the alpha star of the ‘Gemini,’ smirked. Minerva gave him a death glare.

『Despite being just a dog who ran from the Pale Star with your tail between your legs, you still have the nerve to attack me, huh?』

『I do not know what you are talking about. I am going after the Pale Star after you since we are the only ones who can shine brilliantly under the great ‘Nyx’! So…』

Castor’s bizarre laugh echoed throughout the whole divine ground.

『Die, legacy of the old generation.』

Castor’s eyes started to shine. He was trying to incarnate.

[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ is trying to descend!]

[The descent has been canceled.]

[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ is trying to descend!]

[The descent has been canceled.]

…

[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ has successfully incarnated a part of himself!]

…

[The ‘Divine Iron Punishment’ has descended!]

Although Minerva had stopped Castor from incarnating completely, he still managed to form an opaque body. He swung what seemed to be his right arm downward.

Boom!

Rumble, rumble!

As if breaking glass, he broke the barrier with a single strike. The minuscule fragments scattered everywhere. The castle shook so fiercely that it looked as if it would crumble down any minute. Just then, other rays of light broke through the clouds of dust and poured down on the ground.

At the end of each ray was a ‘Divo Napata’ soldier, a member of Castor’s army. In retaliation, ‘Atrytone’ members flew to the outer yard of the castle and intercepted the ‘Divo Napata’ soldiers.

Rumble―!

Boom, boom, boom!

In the vast sky, the Celestials’ countless soldiers fought each other amid the chaos. While the sight was as majestic as a sacred symbol, the sky also served as an arena for fierce competition. Although Chang-Sun was the root cause of this ‘sacred symbol,’ he distanced himself from the fight and quickly took a look around the surrounding. His senses were sharper than ever right now.

[The Skill ‘Beast Senses’ has been activated, quickly scanning the area!]

‘Something is odd.’?

Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes.

The ‘Gemini’ that Chang-Sun knew would never start a war recklessly like this, especially not one they couldn’t win. That was why they tended to avoid wars that could cause massive damage. Moreover, this war between Castor and Minerva couldn’t be handled like any other retaliation, considering it could lead to a full-scale war between and . Since the ‘Geminus’ still decided to wage a war despite all of those factors, it could only mean one thing.

‘He’s sure he can win, no matter what,’?

Chang-Sun thought, but there was one thing that bugged him the most.

‘I can’t see Pollux.’

The star sign of ‘Gemini’ was the shape of a twin standing side by side for a reason. Although they thought and acted separately during normal days, they moved as one when they were doing something important. That was how they earned the divine name, ‘Gemini.’ Hence, Pollux, the younger twin, had to be here somewhere, but locating him proved difficult.

『Come, my children!』

Minerva wasn’t aware of it, however, since the thought of dealing with Castor first filled her head. She reached out her hands in the air, opening up a portal that spat out numerous pieces of defense equipment, which then flew and landed on Minerva.

Click, click.

With clicking sounds, Minerva fully armed herself—she wielded the Aegis, the shield that symbolized her, in her left hand and the Trident, the trophy she had gotten after beating Neptune, in her right. She spread the wings she had made with her halo and prepared to take off.

―Take me.

Suddenly hearing the [Zhan Lu Sword]’s voice, Chang-Sun saw Batu running toward Minerva with the [Zhan Lu Sword] in his hand. In other people’s eyes, Batu could look like he was just going to take care of Castor’s subordinate, which was flying toward Minerva, but Chang-Sun noticed the murderous intent in his eyes.

Shortly after, he went behind Minerva to attack her with the sharp-edged [Zhan Lu Sword]. Minerva belatedly realized something was going on and turned back, but Batu had already thrust his weapon to unleash a ‘Crushing Blow’ technique toward her upper body.

“Boss!”

“Goddess! Get out of there!”

Serena and the other subordinates hurriedly called Minerva.

“Die!” Batu screamed, about to pierce Minerva’s throat with the [Zhan Lu Sword].

[The State ‘Strict Tiger’ has been activated, enhancing your ability to think!]

The world around Chang-Sun slowed down as he pondered,

?‘It’s impossible to catch up with him or completely block the blow with my current ability, so all I can do right now is offset the attack. I’ll have to get the force from somewhere else to deflect his Crushing Blow, though.’

Batu tried to harm Minerva, the great Celestial. It would be impossible for Chang-Sun to stop him since he hadn’t even become a ranker yet. Fortunately, he had found a way.

‘I have the stigma!’?

Chang-Sun thought.

It hadn’t shown any reaction until now, but it shone brightly and released the two dormant energies inside him when he infused a significant amount of his mana into the scar on his chest. Chang-Sun poured out the divinity of the ‘Gemini’ and Mephistopheles through the [Yuchang Sword], which was in his right hand.

Pzz, pzzzz―!

The divinity sparked around the sword.

‘And I’ll use this…’

Ziingg―!

The [Yuchang Sword] howled.

‘... to deliver a Crushing Blow…’?

Chang-Sun held the [Yuchang Sword] with both hands and twisted his torso as much as possible, planning to use a technique derived from the one he had shown to Minerva’s subordinates. He formed his Aura around the sword and created an Aura Blade, the most advanced technique only people known as swordmasters could use.

‘... and deflect it!’

Swoosh―!

[The Skill ‘Black Mountain King’s First Claw’ has been activated, raging over the enemy!]

Clang!

A new Crushing Blow technique that carried his Aura cut through the air, passed before Minerva, and violently smashed the Crushing Blow that was delivered using the [Zhan Lu Sword].

1. The deity of day is actually Hemera, and Eros is the deity of love. But Eros is the deity of day in the novel.

2. It’s an ancient temple of Athena in Acropolis

3. Divo Napata is actually another name for Ashvin in Rigveda, which is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns