Chapter 377: Star, Open War (2)

“The reason I obtained the sword? Like I told you, I did it to get inspiration,” Taotie scoffed, crossing his arms.

Locating the [Omni-Weapon Chest] and Ou Yezi’s fine swords with Avalokitesvara’s help, Chang-Sun found out that the [Juque Sword] was in Taotie’s possession, which really surprised him. When he regained his composure, he finally understood why. After all, Taotie was often mentioned as Ou Yezi’s rival.

When Chang-Sun got acquainted with Taotie, he learned the reason behind Taotie’s choice to acquire Ou Yezi’s divine sword, specifically the[Juque Sword], in detail.

―Ahh, you’re my new owner.

―You smell very similar to me.

―Unlike my previous masters, I think you would understand me well.

The attributes of the [Juque Sword], Ou Yezi’s most famous fine sword, were holiness and purity. When it came to swords, it was the [Juque Sword], and the ocean sparkled beautifully with the luminous gem inside it.[1] Everyone who called themselves a master swordsman wanted to fight against it—no, it was so great that they wished to at least see it with their own eyes even if just from a distance.

Using his Trait [King of All Weapons], Chang-Sun saw the memories of the [Juque Sword]. Most of them were related to Taotie.

According to its memories, Taotie picked up his hammer as soon as he got his hand on Ou Yezi’s finest masterpiece. Gwak Bok and many other blacksmiths in the Roar Palace tried their hardest to stop him but failed because he half out of his mind at the time due to his long slump. In the end, he released all his lunacy, imbuing them into the [Juque Sword].

Clang, clang, clang!

The [Juque Sword] writhed as hard as it could to escape from Taotie’s grip, but he forcibly held it down with a tong and slammed his hammer on it several times. He then tossed it in the fire, dipped it in his furnace, distorted it, and restored it.

―More.

―More. More!

―Show me more of what you have…

―Show me what you realized before your death. Show me what lies beyond that wall!

Clang!

On rainy days…

Claang!

On snowy days…

Claaang…!

On sunny days…

Taotie pounded on the [Juque Sword] every day for years. Eventually, he began to find Ou Yezi’s traces and understand the weapon to the point that Chang-Sun felt as if he could see Ou Yezi from Taotie.

The attributes of the [Juque Sword] changed around that time. Its holiness attribute remained, but the purity was replaced by Taotie’s madness, the attribute that all the weapons that he had forged in his prime had in common.

The [Juque Sword] was now both Ou Yezi’s fine sword and Taotie’s work—their joint work.

Pzzzzz―!

In response to Chang-Sun’s admiration, the seal of Taotie on the surface of the [Juque Sword] fiercely released steam.

Woosh, woosh, woosh…!

As Chang-Sun sprang forth, thick smoke chaotically blended with the divine power and demonic energy inside the [Juque Sword], baring their ferocious fangs.

“You…!” Antares was redirecting most of the shockwaves from the explosions to the Imaginary Plane and balancing himself, albeit barely, to reach the final stage of his descent when Chang-Sun closed in on him.

Antares’ biggest regret was failing to kill Chang-Sun in Arcadia with his own hands, so he had been grinding his teeth in determination to kill Chang-Sun this time!

“I missed you, Antares.” Chang-Sun coldly smirked as he swung the [Juque Sword].

It wasn’t a coincidence that Antares was still in Chang-Sun’s vicinity even though the other were catapulted far away. After all, Chang-Sun elaborately made sure this would happen.

Antares revoked Chang-Sun’s Divine Class using [Gaia’s Curse] in the past, and he also harmed Xerxes and Crom Cruach, making him an enemy that Chang-Sun could never leave in peace. However, he couldn't kill Antares yet. He had to get Xerxes and Crom’s whereabouts from him first. Even if that wasn’t the case, Chang-Sun would still need him alive to cure Cha Ye-Eun’s illness.

[The Authority ‘Execution Sword’ has been acti—!]

Chang-Sun opened up his mind palace, concluding that it would be better to seal Antares and leave the interrogation to Thanatos. The Anomaly around him spread its tentacles and surrounded Antares, whose eyes widened upon realizing what Chang-Sun was planning. After blocking his escape route with the Anomaly, Chang-Sun would attack him using the [Juque Sword] and trap him with the [Execution Sword], where he would be helpless.

Antares quickly drew up his divine power, but the grave internal injury he sustained from the explosions of Chang-Sun’s and supreme sacred light made it difficult to utilize his divine power like usual. To make things worse, he unleashed his divine power so fast that his internal injury aggravated.

Paah, paah, paah―!

However, before Chang-Sun could strike Antares’ chin with the end of the [Juque Sword], dozens of blue rays rained down on them, each one powerful enough to destroy a plane. The shooter evidently wanted to hit both Chang-Sun and Antares, which meant they weren’t trying to save Antares either but kill him if necessary.

Chang-Sun quickly changed the course of his attack and swung the [Juque Sword] upward. The supreme sacred light infused into the sword left a long afterimage of a crescent moon.

Boom, boom, boom!

All the rays were shot down, their fragments scattering everywhere. With his left hand, Chang-Sun drew a Teleportation Rune in the air since another attack like that could try to hit them again any moment.

[Attempting teleportation!]

[The activation of the Authority ‘Execution Sword’ has been canceled.]

Paah!

Chang-Sun reappeared quite a distance away from Antares. He looked up in the sky, finding ‘Sagittarius’ aiming his arrow at Chang-Sun from afar as his long hair fluttered. He had the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse.

“Chiron! I’m right here!” Antares, who was covered in black dust, gritted his teeth. His glare at ‘Sagittarius’ was filled with fury.

“Hmph, why are you being a prick to me? I saved you.” Chiron the ‘Sagittarius’ didn’t really care whether or not Antares got furious. He even snorted right in Antares’ face, clearly disappointed that Antares hadn’t died.

‘What a mess.’ Watching them, Chang-Sun was dumbstruck. grew stronger through Celestial Cannibalism, so they had to worry about getting backstabbed even by people whom they could call colleagues.

‘Chiron is the owner of [Avatar’s Descent]. This fight will be even harder if he joins in,’ Chang-Sun thought.

As an archer, distance didn’t matter much to Chiron. Even if Chang-Sun tried to close the distance and engage him in close quarters, he was so fast that he could just run away. If he activated [Avatar’s Descent] as well, the Authority that controlled space, things would only get worse.

Antares’ main weapon was poison, and Chiron could support him from a distance, which was the worst combination for Chang-Sun. He had to quickly sort out his thoughts and reach a decision, but he was forced to get away from his current location first.

[You have activated the ‘Teleportation Rune’!]

Having a premotion about something coming from behind him, Chang-Sun used teleportation. At the same time, a huge punch was narrowly thrown where Chang-Sun had been, creating a gale.

『Twi… light…! I will stop at nothing to crush you to death today!』

The one who threw the punch was Castor the ‘Geminus.’ His form was so big that it made Chang-Sun and the other avatars of the look like very small dots. However, having been caught in Chang-Sun’s series of explosions during his descent, Castor was in a gruesome state.

The explosions had blown away his entire left arm, destroyed half of his face, and left holes and scorched marks all over him. Even his Divine Class seemed to be in a precarious state. Clouds of smoke came out of his remaining eye as he glared at Chang-Sun, a testament to his desire to rip him to shreds using any means necessary.

Roaaaaaaar―!

Letting out a loud roar, Castor raised his right hand and swung it at Chang-Sun. The frictional heat from his tremendous Spiritual Pressure faintly distorted the space and created smoke. Although it just seemed as if he was swatting a fly, he was so huge that his attack should not be underestimated. However, before he could hit his target…

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ has descended!]

Paah―!

… Golden light spread like an owl’s wings near Castor’s head. In the center of it, Minerva appeared, wearing golden armor. She thrust her spear.

『I believe I should be your opponent. Or have you forgotten already? Well, if you can’t even recognize who you should be going up against, then your remaining eye no longer serves any purpose. It shouldn’t matter even if I take it, yes?』

Minerva shouted using her divine voice, pouring out a long ray of light through her spear. The [Divine Punishment of Promachos] struck Castor’s left eye.

Roaaaaar!

Castor writhed when his eye was shattered, spreading the clouds of dust everywhere.

“You’re annoying!” Chiron changed his target from Antares to Minerva.

Minerva activated the [Divine Punishment of Promachos] again in an attempt to chop off Castor’s head. However, before Chiron could let his arrow loose to stop her, a man showed up beside him and grabbed its arrowhead.

“Hey, that isn’t cool. I’m the only one who can bully my sister.”

Crack!

The man tightened his grip, shattering the arrow with ease.

Smiling coldly, Mars reached out to Chiron with his left hand. “So you should play with me, not her. I’ve been wanting to see how great you Zodiacs were, you know?”

“How dare you!”

Rumble!

Mars and Chiron clashed.

* * *

“Qi Gong…!”

Qi Gong nodded in response to his siblings’ call. The were still on [Naglfar], so they were quite far away from the battlefield.

“He’s fighting hard. As his siblings, we can’t just stay put,” Qi Gong quietly said.

“Then—!”

“But our agreement was to help Twilight defeat . It doesn’t include dealing with .”

“…!”

“…!”

His siblings’ eyes widened. Did Qi Gong not want to join the fight? Feeling a boiling desire to fight as they watched Chang-Sun and the others’ battles, they couldn’t help feeling bewildered. Besides, they already hated even when they were still in , so their heads were filled with the thought of beating them up.

Qi Gong quietly laughed as he observed his siblings. How could they be this naive? Maybe that was the reason why their father took them under his wings. Solemnly, Qi Gong said, “But we can’t just turn away from our brother when he’s in a crisis, can we? So let’s have a vote.” ”

The siblings’ eyes sparkled. The Emperor’s Seat called for a vote every time his children had disagreements.

“The ones who agree on joining the fight, stand on the left. If you wish otherwise, stand on the right,” Qi Gong instructed.

The siblings quietly looked at each other for a moment, then began to move one by one. Qi Gong’s left side was soon packed with people while the right side was empty. The had just unanimously agreed to join the war.

“Good. As voted, we will follow Twilight as his siblings.” Qi Gong pulled out a dagger from his left sleeve and held it in a reverse grip.

The others also pulled out their daggers and held them against their left chests to do their ritual of vow. As siblings, it was their rightful duty to follow the vote’s outcome even if it wasn’t the result they wanted. Hence, they were now swearing on their souls not to violate it. They pushed their daggers into their chests, engraving letters on them. Their dripping blood gradually turned the letters into purple, resembling twilight.

[The ‘Pledge Runes’ have been engraved on the members!]

[The Society has declared their allegiance to the Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ as his siblings. With their vow attached to their souls, it can never be rescinded.]

[The Divinity of the Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ has been granted to his siblings.]

[The protection of the Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ has been granted to his siblings.]

[The blessings of the Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ have been granted to his siblings.]

…

[The Society is changing!]

Through their [Pledge Runes], Qi Gong and the other siblings felt Chang-Sun’s power emerging from deep within their souls. The mysterious power that was chaotically mixed with and supreme sacred light changed Qi Gong and the others’ divine powers, overlaying them with new .

Paah…!

The pool of sacred purple light above their heads became as bright as a thick sunset, tinging their halos with red.

While watching them, Qi Gong couldn’t help but think that all this time, they called themselves instead of a more specific name because they strongly believed that they were still a part of and would soon bring back the Emperor’s Seat to return his throne to him.

However, they had chosen to go down a separate path from when they started following Chang-Sun. Hence, they no longer had to pursue their belief. They needed a new identity.

‘What name would be good?’ Qi Gong wondered. Remembering whose reincarnation Chang-Sun was, he immediately came up with an idea.

‘That should be perfect.’ he smiled.

Paaah!

The pool of sunset light around them intensified.

[Everyone, hail!]

[Valhalla, the hall of warriors from the great old legend, has been recreated.]

1. The raw is 검호거궐 주칭야광(劒號巨闕珠稱夜光). It is about praising two treasures. One is the Juque Sword, and the other is the luminous gem. There are various versions of stories about the luminous gem, but the most famous one is about a king of the Sui Dynasty acquiring it after saving a snake in crisis. ☜