Chapter 419: Star, the Parallel Universe (4)

At the Star Palace, the central divine ground of ...

“It’s a fucking mess,” a man said as he tousled his large mane of hair, looking up at the dark sky.

The man was wearing a white mask that contrasted the sky and covered his entire face. However, his gaze was so intense that it was easy to deduce what he was feeling; it was fury. His murderous energy raged like a storm, making the air in the Star Palace tremble.

[The alliance of the Celestials ‘Aquarius’ and ‘Gemini’ is in an intense war against the Celestial ‘Sagittarius ’!]

...

[The Alliance’s large-scale attack is causing the barrier of the Divine Ground ‘Star Palace’ to break down quickly!]

[The Celestial ‘Cancer’ is asking for reinforcements from the frontline!]

[The Celestial ‘Virgo’ has sent a distress call, saying that the barrier is going to shatter soon!]

[The Celestial ‘Pisces’ bursts into a rage, wondering when their internal conflict will end!]

...

[Arcadia of the has been taken over by the Celestials 'Divine Twilight' and 'Unknown Ancient Celestial'!]

[A Faith for the Celestial 'Divine Twilight' is being created in Arcadia.]

[Reclaim Arcadia as quickly as possible.]

[The longer the occupying Celestials remain in control of Arcadia, the more the Society will lose control over Arcadia.]

...

It did not take long for the white-masked man to realize that he and had been driven into a corner. The man asked, “What is Bel-Marduk doing?”

A subordinate who was standing next to the man bowed as if he was too ashamed to meet the man’s gaze; he answered, “He showed no interest in coming out of the Nil Domain.”

The white-masked man gnashed his teeth and said, “Of course. The moment he’s been waiting for is finally about to come, so he wouldn’t want to come out. What about Sadalmelik and Chiron, though? Are they going to continue to fight each other?”

“They both said they’d never stand down before the other surrendered first...”

“Tell them I’ll snap both of those fuckers’ necks if they don’t finish it quickly!”

“...Yes, sir!” The subordinate unwittingly flinched.

It was understandable, as even though the white-masked man was usually quiet, he always got things done when he put his mind to it. Nemea[1] the ‘Leo’, who led alongside 'Taurus' Bel-Marduk, was already furious. Everything going on was affecting the badly, but every one of the members was busy seeking personal gain instead of taking a united front and fighting against their enemies. That was why the durability of the Star Palace’s barrier was quickly decreasing.

[The barrier’s current durability: 67%.]

Nemea had to do something about it, but he genuinely could not think of a solution, giving him a headache. Chang-Sun was the cause of the whole disaster, so Nemea gritted his teeth, thinking,

‘Twilight, Twilight...!’

If he could do as he pleased, he would go to Arcadia right away... but his hands were tied right now. What if the Alliance took over the Star Palace while he was away?

‘Never.’

Nemea had gone through numerous tribulations to make Worldline #802 the forward base of in their conquest of the Great Universe. He could not throw away all his efforts now.

‘...This place should be protected no matter what, even if makes some compromises.’

Nemea’s gaze turned sharp as he thought that. Just then, however, the moment he had been waiting for finally arrived.

“...They’re coming.”

Flash!

A long Milky Way appeared in the midst of the pitch-black sky and slowly spread outward to the sides, beautifully dyeing the sky...!

[The Milky Way is sparkling radiantly.]

It looked like a tightly shut gate opening up little by little.

[The Heaven Gate has opened!]

[The Societies and have entered Worldline #802!]

...

[The Three Seraphim have descended!]

[The Seven Deadly Sin Monarchs have descended!]

Rumble! Rumble! Rummmmble!

Loud thunder echoed several times as the Milky Way fully bloomed. At the same time, bright flashes large and small painted the sky in various places. That was the moment when angels and demons, the Absolute Good and Evil enforcers of balance, joined the war.

* * *

[You have entered the lair of the old Celestial ‘Thousand-Year Slumbering Dragon’!]

The first thing Chang-Sun, Kali, and Baek Gyeo-Ul noticed was the distortion in their physical senses, which was so severe as to be nauseating.

“Hnnngh...!” Kali groaned.

Kali had gone through many forms of intense training for a long time, and thus only groaned once before regaining her composure. However, Gyeo-Ul frowned; it was not easy for him to overcome the situation, as it was his first time having such an experience.

“What... in the world is this...?” Gyeo-Ul murmured in dismay.

As the world before him was distorted, Gyeo-Ul could barely see straight. There was a foul smell numbing his mind and causing a splitting headache. The only thing he could do was breathe, but he felt as if he had swallowed a ball of fire. The stinging pain on his skin made him want to scream.

His every physical sense was being distorted. If it were because he took in too much external information, he could have meditated to regain his composure, but he was helpless right now, as his senses themselves were being distorted.

“Gyeo-Ul! Close your eyes and focus on inhaling and exhaling. Don’t try to understand the situation! Let everything slide away and immerse yourself in what you’re feeling right now!” Kali yelled hurriedly as she grabbed Gyeo-Ul’s shoulder, worrying that his consciousness would fragment at this rate.

Kali’s hand resting on his shoulder brought Gyeo-Ul back to his senses, and he reflexively entered a lotus position. The same thing had actually happened often during their training in Durga’s divine ground. Whenever Gyeo-Ul faced a seemingly insurmountable tribulation, Kali had always grabbed his shoulder and helped him regain his composure.

Inhaling, exhaling, inhaling, exhaling... After he repeated that process several times, the distortion that had been tormenting Gyeo-Ul vanished.

“Open your eyes now,” Kali told Gyeo-Ul.

Gyeo-Ul was worried that he would see various hallucinations again, but he slowly opened his eyes just as Kali told him to. The sight that unfolded in front of him made him inadvertently exclaim. “Ah...!”

It was impossible to say that the place they found themselves in was beautiful, even to be polite, and yet it was magnificent. Lava flowed through crevices in black rock, amid plumes of sulfur gas.Constant volcanic activity created aftershocks, and thousands of Dragons flew through the scarlet sky.

Each Dragon had a distinct appearance and color. Some of them were extremely small for Dragons, barely a meter tall. In contrast, there were enormous Dragons that were seemingly a hundred meters tall. The sight was undoubtedly awe-inspiring.

“There are more of them now,” Chang-Sun said with a chuckle as he watched the Dragons.

He had visited the place several times before to wake Crom Cruach, so he was very familiar with her lair. The Dragons were the family and friends from Crom’s childhood, whom she could no longer meet. The nostalgic memories she held had eventually become her friends and guardians of her lair.

“It means Crom’s condition is worse,” Kali remarked grimly before asking, “But how are you planning to find Crom here? I feel as if we’re going to be struck with a flaming lightning bolt if we move right now.”

The Dragons were observing Chang-Sun and the others with sharp and belligerent gazes, ready to attack them if necessary. The guardians of a Dragon’s lair would attack trespassers without asking any questions, believing that it was the only way to protect their master.

With those very Guardians before them, Chang-Sun and the others had to go look for Crom. The problem was that they had a long way to go to reach the lair’s center, where Crom was asleep, and had to pass through several layers of her [Dream Realm]...

Fighting the guardians who were openly showing their hostility was not a good choice, because they were as strong as actual Dragons; they were also Crom’s avatars in her subconscious realm, which meant any injuries they sustained could badly affect Crom. Kali was pointing out that a very serious problem could occur if Crom sustained any more injuries, when she did not even have a physical body at the moment.

Chang-Sun showed Kali his necklace in response.

Cling!

“That is...?” Kali asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“I think this will take care of any problems,” Chang-Sun said.

“Well, I guess so,” Kali said with a nod.

What Chang-Sun pulled out was [Peter’s Key], the all-powerful key that could unlock anything. He thrust the key into the air with his right hand.

Click―!

Fortunately, the key slid into place with a pleasant click; Chang-Sun turned it promptly.

Thump!

Creaaak―!

A door appeared in front of Chang-Sun and the others, accompanied by the sound of a lock opening.

* * *

[You have passed ‘Dragons’ Past’, the lair’s first room!]

[You have passed ‘Dragons’ Reading Day’, the lair’s second room!]

...

‘There are too many freaking rooms.’

Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes as he continued to open a series of doors with the others.

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor, whom Chang-Sun had dragged along with them, had just been ungagged, but he remained silent with pursed lips. The reason why Chang-Sun had brought the emperor was that he had used both Crom’s and Xerxes’s techniques, and tried very hard not to let Chang-Sun get to the two, so Chang-Sun thought there could be something going on that he was unaware of.

On the other hand, Chang-Sun had many other questions for the Heavenly Dragon Emperor. The fact that the emperor was a version of him from a parallel universe continued to bother him. Another Chang-Sun, who had been born in and grew up in a similar environment, actually existed in a different world, so would his past be the same as Chang-Sun’s own?

Chang-Sun was well aware of how his soul was extraordinary, and that he was living his 666th life after going through samsara 665 times. Most of his past lives were also extraordinary, just like ‘Divine Twilight’, but most of his deaths had not been peaceful.

That was when a new question arose. If the Heavenly Dragon Emperor’s past was similar to Chang-Sun’s, had the emperor’s past reincarnations gone through similar destinies? Chang-Sun knew who could answer that question.

‘Odin. you know something about this, don’t you?

’ Chang-Sun asked.

―Well...

Chang-Sun sensed a low echo in his subconscious realm, and did not miss the laughter in that echo. Once again, he asked,

‘Would his past reincarnations be similar too?’

―You want to know if there’s another Odin too, yes?

‘That’s right.’

―Then I can answer you right away. I don’t know.

Odin replied firmly.

‘What?’

Chang-Sun asked with a frown.

―Not much is known about the experiences one’s soul goes through. oversees the secrets of the soul, so the gnosis pertaining to that subject is so far away that it’s among the hardest to obtain... Even I could only research and speculate. I actually wanted to find that gnosis more than anyone else. Speaking of which, are you willing to let me give it a try with the guy you’re holding onto? I can get all the answers you want out of him, you know.

Chang-Sun could hear Odin smacking his lips, and sensed his desire to dissect the Heavenly Dragon Emperor and find out everything about the emperor. As someone who sought after gnosis, the opportunity to study a person with the same kind of soul as himself would be invaluable, so Odin was genuinely ready to grant any wish of Chang-Sun’s.

‘Not yet.’

Chang-Sun turned Odin’s offer down, although he was tempted for a moment. After all, he had not yet found out how the Heavenly Dragon Emperor was connected to Crom and Xerxes.

―Judging from your answer, I assume you’re willing to give it a try. Good. Think about it. Having your other self’s soul may be the element you need to become more complete.

For some reason, Chang-Sun could tell what Odin meant by complete. Only one kind of being could reach such a perfect condition that no improvement or progress was needed—an Emperor. Odin was talking about the supreme level that extremely few had achieved across the Great Universe’s eternal history.

‘He’s throwing out a lot of bait,’

Chang-Sun thought, scoffing at Odin’s enigmatic remark.

Chang-Sun knew very well that Odin had been trying for a long time to become an Emperor, so he wished to tempt Chang-Sun into accumulating more gnosis... Unfortunately, Chang-Sun would not fall for Odin’s tricks easily, because his wishes were a little different. However, one thing was clear. The Heavenly Dragon Emperor had the same kind of soul, or at least a very similar one, so researching him would allow Chang-Sun to discover more about himself.

‘Maybe... I can find out some secrets about Hsan and what Bel-Marduk is hiding.’

While Chang-Sun was slowly getting lost in his thoughts...

[You have arrived at the ‘Slumber Room’, the lair’s final room!]

Chang-Sun finally arrived at the final area of Crom’s [Dream Realm], which was a vast empty lot that resembled a Dragon’s nest from legends. Crom was coiled up in the center of an empty room. However, she was bound by a shadow that was seemingly encroaching on her. The wicked shadow was violently exuding energy.

“Twilight,” Kali said bitterly.

“Yeah, it looks like he’s been Overflooded,” Chang-Sun replied with a nod.

‘Overflood’... Xerxes had numerous shadows, and thus also had many personalities. Some of them were very true to their instincts, and Bardiya, who had once tormented Gyeo-Ul, was one of them. However, the personality that had taken control of Xerxes looked more violent than Bardiya. The main personality had likely broken down and caused the subordinate personalities to go wild, forcing Crom to use her own soul as bait to stop those personalities.

“That is... Fa... ther,” Gyeo-Ul murmured as he looked at the shadow vines, slowly choking up.

“Seriously, why is it always all or nothing with you?” Chang-Sun grumbled at his big sister, who never hesitated to sacrifice for her younger siblings.

He slowly approached her and Xerxes to separate the two first, but...

“...ed.”

Tap!

Chang-Sun came to a halt after he heard the Heavenly Dragon Emperor’s voice coming from behind. He would normally have ignored it, but he could not possibly do so for what the emperor was saying.

“You turned your backs on them... You betrayed them, so how in the world are you going to save them?!” The Heavenly Dragon Emperor screamed.

The word ‘betrayal’ stabbed into Chang-Sun’s heart like a dagger.

1. This is actually a region in Greece. ?