Chapter 144: Star, Abroad (1)

「…You really don’t hesitate to pull off ridiculous stunts, huh?」

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Jin Prezia looked at Chang-Sun, who had returned to the Changgwi Cave, with a dumbstruck expression. Although everything Chang-Sun had done until now was extraordinary, Jin had never seen a situation as absurd as the one he had just witnessed. Jin didn’t know what exactly happened in ‘Owl Nest,’ but he could partially watch it with the Elfin’s help. Hence, he had a rough idea of what went down there and could summarize it in one sentence.

—He screwed the ‘Gemini’ over!

That alone was an achievement that deserved a thumbs-up. The messages were popping up above Chang-Sun’s head non-stop even right now!

[The Celestial ‘Geminus-α’ roars with anger!]

[The Celestial ‘Geminus-β’ is so angry for being humiliated by a mortal that he randomly destroys everything nearby just to take out his anger!]

[The Celestial ‘Geminus-α’ says he won’t hold back his rage against the mortal that committed this treachery!]

[The Celestial ‘Geminus-β’ is angry because a mortal has taken the sword he was going to make his relic, but he swallows his anger!]

…

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ is going to punish the ones who tainted her divine ground!]

[A war has broken out between the Celestials ‘Gemini’ and ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’!]

[Heaven is now in tumult.]

[The Celestial Society ‘’ has issued a precaution.]

[The Celestial Society ‘’ is paying attention to the current incident.]

[The Celestial Societies ‘’ and ‘’ have entered a state of tension!]

…

“It’s too noisy,” Chang-Sun said, having read the messages.

… His extremely simple reaction made Jin shake his head in disbelief. All hell had broken loose just to get Chang-Sun, but he—the cause of this hell—didn’t seem to care at all.

「Do you not feel threatened? You’ve basically turned the Zodiacs into your enemies.」Jin asked, sounding a bit worried.

However, Chang-Sun just snorted. “I highly doubt they’ll consider me as their enemy. Rather, I bet they’ll be interested.”

「What?」

Jin’s eyes widened, wondering what Chang-Sun was talking about, but his jaw soon dropped when he read the next messages that popped up.

[Many Celestials have begun investigating the recent incident.]

[The Celestial ‘Cetus’ has acknowledged your existence.]

[The Celestial ‘Bootes’ has acknowledged your existence.]

[The Celestial ‘Vulpecula’...]

…

[The Celestial ‘Pisces’ has shown interest in you!]

[The Celestial ‘Taurus’ laughs very hard upon hearing what you have done!]

…

[A total of 26 Celestials have taken an interest in you.]

[News about you has spread rapidly throughout Heaven and to !]

[Your Fame has entered the ‘Famous’ state.]

[Accumulated 5,500,000 Karma as a reward.]

[As an additional reward…]

…

[The members are getting headaches just thinking of ways to deal with all the requests about you!]

…

[A total of 241 Celestials have expressed their desires to become your Guardian.]

[A total of 19 Celestials have offered you the chance to become their apostle.]

[Achievement unlocked!]

“The Mortal Who Fooled Celestials.”

Reward: Complete Body Recovery. Self-Healing Ability Enhancement. Additional Choices Based on Second Class. Additional Merit: +1,500,000 Karma.

「…」

Jin’s jaw just dropped, unable to say anything. However, although the number of Celestials that wanted to become Chang-Sun’s Guardian surprised him as well, the fact that a total of 19 Celestials had offered Chang-Sun the chance to become their apostle shocked Jin the most. Considering most Celestials already had their own apostles, that number was totally ridiculous. It was an indication of how many more Celestials began to pay attention to Chang-Sun through the current incident.

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ becomes vigilant upon noticing how many more Celestials have begun to watch you!]

[The Celestial ‘Primordial Evil Dragon’ has become curious after she heard the odd rumor. ]

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ flinches and becomes antsy, trying not to catch a certain Celestial’s attention.]

…

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ nonchalantly says this is just the beginning.]

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ strongly warns the other Celestials who are asking about you not to show interest!]

However, Chang-Sun didn’t seem to care about it much. It was as if he had already expected how the Celestials would react. His behavior made Jin tense up, feeling a sense of disharmony for some reason.

‘…Who in the world is my master?’

Jin already knew the person he served as his master was incomparably braver and was of a greater caliber than ordinary people, but that still couldn’t logically explain the recent incident. Considering he was having a hard time accepting what had happened, there had to be something he wasn’t aware of.

However, Chang-Sun paid Jin no attention, almost as if he didn’t know what Jin was thinking. Instead, he asked the Elfin Root for the [Zhan Lu Sword]. “Where is it?”

「Here.」

The Elfin handed the [Zhan Lu Sword] with trembling hands. Although it stayed expressionless, its face had also reddened a bit. The ‘Gemini’ had put the Elfin down to its knees once, and Chang-Sun gave it the chance to screw the ‘Gemini’ over big time. As a result, it felt grateful to Chang-Sun and became hopeful that it would really be able to resurrect its goddess if it followed his lead. That was why the Elfin had already sworn several times in its mind that it was going to absolutely and unconditionally follow him.

“It’s certainly a nice sword.” Chang-Sun smiled a little because the [Zhan Lu Sword] felt really comfortable in his hand, almost as if it belonged to him from the start.

Ziiinng!

At that moment, the [Zhan Lu Sword] fiercely trembled and released its Sword Cry.

[Zhan Lu Sword]

One of the Nine Fine Swords that were forged by Ou Yezi, the First Divine Blacksmith. According to rumors, whoever owns this legendary sword is worthy of becoming a king. It gives its owner a very powerful ability related to ‘domination,’ but they would have to fulfill tricky conditions to truly become its owner.

· Type: Longsword. Relic.

· Damage: Unmeasurable.

· Effect: Dignity Creation. Domination Enhancement. (Other Effects unknown.)

*Requirements have not been met. Most Effects are locked.

[Partially completed the Hidden Quest (Ou Yezi’s Secret)!]

[Partially unlocked the hidden abilities of the ‘Yuchang Sword.’]

[Partially fulfilled the requirements of the ‘Zhan Lu Sword.’]

…

[In total, you currently own 2 Fine Swords.]

―Yuchang Sword: Fire and Blood.

―Zhan Lu Sword: Unidentifiable.

‘As I expected, it seems I really can’t properly use the [Zhan Lu Sword] right now. That’s a bit disappointing.’

Chang-Sun looked at the [Zhan Lu Sword], which was still howling in his hand, with mixed emotions.

It shouted to Chang-Sun to hold it when Pollux wielded it, but it stayed silent now as if it was observing its new owner. Chang-Sun initially thought the [Zhan Lu Sword] was arrogant, but he now realized it was actually very careful. In contrast, the [Yuchang Sword] started behaving differently than usual since Chang-Sun had obtained the [Zhan Lu Sword]. As soon as the message about how a part of the sword’s hidden abilities had been unlocked popped up, a new stroke was added to the [Yuchang Sword]’s crest that was on the back of his right hand.

[The new Effect ‘Bloodstorm’ has been created!]

‘[Bloodstorm], huh?’?

Chang-Sun thought.

In the past, he could only absorb the enemies’ blood and create fire, but this technique enabled him to make the fire bigger using the blood he absorbed, ultimately increasing the [Yuchang Sword]’s damage output. Since possessing the [Zhan Lu Sword] alone improved his ability significantly, he couldn’t help but wonder about what he’d be able to do once he had completed the . Chang-Sun was already quite curious about what other capabilities he would gain once he could finally use Double Sword Resonance with two divine swords.

Ooong!

Just then, [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth], which he had hung in his back pocket, fiercely shook as if it was reminding Chang-Sun that it was here. Chang-Sun unwittingly chuckled. It looked like [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] became relatively lonely when Chang-Sun got hold of two of Ou Yezi’s divine swords. Chang-Sun patted [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] to reassure it, then grabbed the [Zhan Lu Sword] with his right hand.

‘I’ll have to show this sword what I’m capable of so it would accept me as its owner,’?

Chang-Sun thought.

?

As if it read Chang-Sun’s thought, the [Zhan Lu Sword] faintly trembled.

* * *

[3 hours 11 minutes and 29 seconds remaining.]

[Current Location: the First Sector of the Fifth Floor.]

While Chang-Sun was in ‘Owl Nest’ having dinner with Minerva, Jin and the Elfin had successfully conquered the entire fourth floor. When Chang-Sun’s group entered the fifth floor, they found themselves standing on top of a high canyon. They also saw a totally different view down the cliff: a large gourd-bottle-shaped valley, a wide plain without any steep hills serving as its body.

「The conquest won’t be easy from here on out.」

Chang-Sun’s eyes widened upon hearing Jin’s unexpected remark. Jin was prideful and always acted pompously, and he wasn’t the type to be on high alert like this. Hence, Chang-Sun couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”

「The land of ‘Gulgaks’ starts here on the fifth floor.」Jin explained/

Chang-Sun nodded. While passing through the third and fourth floors, he had run into some Gulgaks. “Gulgaks, huh?”

[Gulgak]

A high-ranking Changgwi that had evolved from a Hongsal after eating humans. It can act freely and use hemomancy. Its goal is to become powerful enough to lead its own ‘Bloodline.’

Remembering the information Chang-Sun had about Gulgaks, he nodded in agreement. The Changgwis that Chang-Sun had met until now were hand-to-hand combatants. Unlike them, Gulgaks could use ‘hemomancy,’ so he should not take them lightly.

Hemomancy was a type of supernatural ability. Hemomancers used the information that was engraved inside their blood factors to attack efficiently and with little mana. That was why talent mattered to hemomancers.

‘If this place is crawling with Gulgaks, then they would have developed their?hemomancy?skills to be more efficient, so I can understand why Jin thinks the conquest will be hard,’?

Chang-Sun thought.

The Gulgaks that occasionally appeared on the third and fourth floors were far stronger than Hongsals and Sas, so they acted like kings. However, it was impossible to behave the same way on the fifth floor, the land of Gulgaks. The difficulty level of this floor would probably be significantly higher than the Changgwi Cave floors Chang-Sun had experienced so far.

「There’s another reason why the fifth-floor Changgwis are dangerous,」Jin said with a serious expression.

Chang-Sun asked, “What is it?”

「Bloodlines that have been formed based on the different kinds of hemomancy comprise the fifth-floor ecosystem.」

Chang-Sun tilted his head. “Bloodlines?”

「Gulgaks live with their own Bloodline. Each Bloodline has special characteristics, lives in different areas, and has different goals and habits, so I can’t say for sure that one fighting technique will be effective on all Gulgaks.」

Perhaps it was because he could sense hostility in Jin’s voice, but Chang-Sun unwittingly chuckled.

「… Why are you smiling?」

“It seems you also tried to become a Gulgak, considering you know so much about them,” Chang-Sun answered.

Jin crossed his arms and snorted.「I had to fight them someday. I raised an army for a reason.」

Unable to understand Jin, Chang-Sun just nodded. However, he knew a secret that Jin hadn’t told him—Jin failed to become a Gulgak in the end. Although he could have won against one Gulgak and had an army of thousands as the Hongsal King, it seemed he was still skeptical about entering the fifth floor back then. Taking that into consideration, this floor had to practically be a fierce arena.

However, Jin became understandably excited when Chang-Sun’s group was about to enter the fifth floor. Back when he was still the Hongsal King, he had trouble conquering even the third and fourth floors, but he thought he could actually conquer the fifth floor now. Even though his current army was much smaller than before, its combat power had to be three or four times higher.

“Do you know anything about the fifth floor’s layout or power struggles?” Chang-Sun asked.

Jin calmly shook his head.

「I used to know a bit about it, but it can’t help us now. Everything would have already changed a lot since then. Intense battles take place here every day.」

“Is that so? Maybe I should grab and interrogate one of them, then.” Chang-Sun looked down the cliff to find a good Gulgak to interrogate. His eyes soon sparkled. “It looks like they’re the ones.”

He could see a cloud of dust rising up and quickly becoming bigger from the neck of the gourd-bottle valley. Soon, he could hear loud hoofbeats. At the head of the dust cloud were over 300 cavalrymen in metal armor. Fully armed, they rode their horses across the plain.

As they did, their helmets’ long decoration feathers waved in the air like wings and unleashed rough, loud ripping sounds through the air, making the cavalrymen more intimidating. They looked like they were going to trample over everything in their way.

Woosh!

[The ‘Winged Hussar’ has appeared!]

「They’re the Sheim Bloodline’s soldiers.」

“Are they famous?”

「Yes. They’re cavalrymen renowned for their formidable ability.」

“Is that so?” Chang-Sun replied.

If Jin knew them, then they likely held high ranks on the fifth floor. Regardless, Chang-Sun smiled, knowing full well he could get useful information from over 300 Gulgaks.

The time had come to test the [Zhan Lu Sword]’s efficiency and observe Jin and the Elfin Root’s abilities.