Chapter 420: Star, the Parallel Universe (5)

Sean li Arcadia had once been the most emotional, passionate, and tearful person in the world. ...When had he started to lose his emotions? It was probably after he had ascended to the throne.

“Your Majesty! The fact that the Vice Prime Minister was exploiting powerless artisans for his own benefit has been made known! It’s time to make a decision!”

“He’s framing me because he’s jealous of how I’ve been by your side for a long time! Please punish him, Your Majesty!”

“No, Your Majesty! I’ve been your teacher all this time, so you should trust me!”

“How dare you! Who do you think you’re speaking to?!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty...!”

“Please trust me, Your Majesty!”

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor had believed that he and his comrades would be together on his journey for the rest of his life. They were his friends who had gone through good and bad times together, so they were supposed to be the subjects who would aid him in becoming a good emperor.

Yes, that was what the Heavenly Dragon Emperor had believed. He could have died at any moment, but he had managed to survive several life-or-death battles against his siblings with great difficulty. That was why he had decided that he would never repeat the horrors of history, and would become a sagacious ruler.

However, his dream had shattered the moment he ascended to the throne. He and the others had once shared drinks together and protected each other as they fought against their enemies, but they were pointing swords at each other today.

What was it about power that blinded people? Was it simply so sweet that it could make people forget all about their nostalgia and previous resolutions? Or was it because of their faith? Each of them served a different Star Sign, so were they fighting to spread their beliefs?

‘Fine. I have no idea what kind of power, faith, or hope you desire, but if you love it so much, I’ll take everything and let no one else have it.’

Slash!

“Your Majesty...?”

The day the Heavenly Dragon Emperor made up his mind, a large-scale purge took place in the Imperial Palace. The subjects who had contributed the most to the emperor taking the throne were executed under charges of treason. Many of the Great Families were destroyed; one of them was the Prezia Family, which had been receiving public support for a long time. At least tens of thousands of people—no, perhaps even hundreds of thousands—were slaughtered, so no one dared to speak.

The Star Order? They had all been as pompous as if they were the Star Signs they served, but they were unable to speak one word in front of the Heavenly Dragon Emperor. Everyone in the empire had been forced to lay low and walk on eggshells around the emperor. That was how the emperor had become an absolute ruler that no one could challenge.

* * *

After that, the Heavenly Dragon Emperor secluded himself in the Imperial Palace and never revealed himself to the public again.

“...I’m out of liquor.”

Then, the Heavenly Dragon Emperor had drowned himself in alcohol. Even he did not know how long it had been since he had begun his seclusion. Some truly passionate subjects occasionally visited him and begged him to return to the imperial court, but the emperor continued to ignore them for a long time. He did not even know what was going on in the outside world now, so what would happen if someone with a complaint tried to take over the Imperial Palace?

‘It’ll be good in a way, as I can use it as an opportunity to have a picnic outside. I’ll be able to lessen my boredom a little.’

With that thought, the Heavenly Dragon Emperor yelled, “Liquor! Bring me more liquor! I’m out of liquor.”

However, it was quiet, perhaps because no one was outside.

“Is everyone off duty today? How cumbersome.”

It was quite disrespectful for no one to answer an emperor’s call, but the Heavenly Dragon Emperor only grumbled and did not really mind. He stood up to get more liquor. If he headed to the underground storage, he would be able to find quite a lot of fine liquor, so he planned to use this opportunity to have a taste of the Eos wine that his servants had been persistently refusing to give him. Perhaps it would look ridiculous for the emperor to enter the liquor storage, which only the servants frequently visited... but so what? The fact that the emperor was dead drunk was already ridiculous. But just then...

Drip!

The sound of liquor filling an empty glass filled the air, and the Heavenly Dragon Emperor quickly looked in that direction. He was sure that no one had been on his opposite side, but a woman was sitting there now. Although her exact physique was unclear because she was wearing a robe, she was small and bespectacled, with chin-length hair.

―It’s definitely bitter. I have no idea why humans like it so much.

The woman had a sip from the Heavenly Dragon Emperor’s glass and frowned, not finding the wine to her taste in the slightest.

The emperor asked with a frown, “Who are you?”

No matter how drunk he was, he was a Celestial who had finished his . Still, the woman had managed to sit in the storage undetected. It was natural to assume that she was a force to be reckoned with. Besides, she had refilled the empty glass, which meant she was an exceptional wizard who could restore an object out of thin air.

Who was this woman? An assassin? No, she was too talkative for an assassin when she could have just aimed for his neck. Then who was she? A thief? A servant? Or a lady-in-waiting? There was no way a person who could speak so casually to a supreme emperor was merely a human. Was she a Star Sign from above?

“I’m asking you a question. Who are...?!” The Heavenly Dragon Emperor asked.

―I dropped by after getting the scent of my boy from close by, but I found something very interesting.

The woman stared at the Heavenly Dragon Emperor as if his question did not matter. ...Her reaction was so unfamiliar that the emperor froze. Anyone who stared at the emperor’s face was usually executed for blasphemy, which had been his oft-used justification during his purge. However, he could not speak to accuse her of blasphemy, being immersed in her every word and gesture.

―Hmm? I’m asking you a question. What is your name?

“...Sean li Arcadia,” the Heavenly Dragon Emperor answered finally.

―Sean? Li? Is that so? Your name is also similar to his. I guess this is one of the secrets that Worldlines with similar starting points have. This is noteworthy.

The woman scribbled something on a notebook, which she had pulled out from who knew where.

“So identify yourse...!”

―Judging from your surname of Arcadia, you seem to be a member of the Imperial Family... No, are you the emperor? Your Divine Class is certainly high.

“If you know my identity, then you should...!”

―Hahahaha! Xerx and Kali will be laughing so hard if they found out about this. ‘I’m a slave soldier, but I’m an emperor in this world?!’ It would make a great third-grade novel.

“...You should at least tell me how you got in here if you don’t want to...!”

―The look on his face would be very funny. This is it. I’m going to use it as the main story in the next dream, so I’ll start with him standing like a doofus...

Hearing the woman talk on and on made the Heavenly Dragon Emperor feel as if he was sobering up. No, he had actually sobered up long ago. Nevertheless, the emperor did not want to angrily yell at her, thinking that she would eventually look at him after she finished talking, so he just sat down on the floor.

‘I want water.’ The Heavenly Dragon Emperor was thirsty for some reason.

* * *

―My name is Crom Cruach, so remember it, brother.

After a long time, the woman returned to reality.

“Crom? Cruach?” The Heavenly Dragon Emperor repeated, tilting his head.

―Oh, you must have heard about me, haven’t you? I knew that my great wisdom was known even in this worl...

“It’s my first time hearing about you.”

―...What did you say, you rascal?

“But I heard that two heretical gods had been sealed in the Imperial Palace’s dungeon in the previous emperor’s generation.”

An act called the ‘Celestial Hunt’, or in other words, deicide, was a long-standing tradition in Arcadia. People believed that it was the rightful duty of an Arcadian citizen to eliminate gods who were not part of or opposed the .

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor realized a little later that Crom was a victim of the Celestial Hunt. Despite how he used all his senses, the Divine Class he could detect from her was quite faint, but it seemed to have been enormous in the past. Regardless, she now looked so unstable that maintaining her existence alone seemed to be very difficult, and it seemed as if her Divine Class would be snuffed out like a candle if the emperor made one move.

―Hmph, anyone who isn’t on their good side is a heretical god. It’s ridiculous.

Crom did not seem to be worrying about it one bit, even though she knew that the Heavenly Dragon Emperor was the emperor of Arcadia. Was she counting on something else?

“I agree. They do everything as they please,” the Heavenly Dragon Emperor said with a nod.

―Hmmm...

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

―I wasn’t expecting your reaction. I thought the emperor of Arcadia would be more devout toward those Star Signs.

Crossing his arms, the Heavenly Dragon Emperor scoffed. “The Imperial Family is just a fancy puppet that the Star Signs are using, because they’re too lazy to interfere in every affair in Arcadia.”

Crom was a little surprised, because none of the emperors she had met had ever given her such a response.

“If they don’t like the way I think, the Star Signs could try to get a new emperor, but of course, I’m not planning to go down easy,” the Heavenly Dragon Emperor said with a shrug.

Perhaps it was because it was ‘Sean’.

Crom chuckled.

“Why are you laughing?”

―Ah, I’m sorry if I offended you. You just reminded me of my friend.

“Friend?”

―Yeah, I have a friend who’s similar to you. He always acts as he pleases, and is stubborn and bad-tempered. He always starts trouble, and he doesn’t listen to other people and causes them headaches.

“...Can you call that a friend?” the Heavenly Dragon Emperor asked, narrowing his eyes.

―No, no. I take it back. He’s more like a younger brother who’s a nuisance.

“...I resemble him?”

―Do you not?

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor was speechless, because even he himself found it impossible to say that his temper was good. Crom laughed sheepishly.

―But I do want to see him again.

“You can’t?”

―Look at me. Do you think I can in my current condition?

“I can bring him here if you need him,” the Heavenly Dragon Emperor offered.

―Forget it.

“There’s nothing I can’t do with my power as the emperor.”

―I’m sorry, but there are a lot of things that you can’t do.

“Just tell me where he...”

―Then can you bring him from the ?

“...”

―I knew it. See? You can’t.

“...He’s dead?”

―He’s dead, but also not dead, if my precognitive dream isn’t wrong.

“...?”

―There’s just something like that. A boy like you doesn’t have to know.

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor had no idea what Crom was saying; however, he could tell that even though she was here right now, she was living in the past.

‘...Past, huh?’ the Heavenly Dragon Emperor thought.

That was why he could not help but contemplate the time he had wasted. If the person he took after was someone very dear to Crom, then what about him? Would someone else hold him dear even after his death?

There was o way in hell. The Heavenly Dragon Emperor came up with that answer to his question very easily. He had buried everyone who shared nostalgic feelings with him personally, so he was now only a being that others worshiped like a god. He could no longer be considered a fellow human by anyone.

That thought suddenly made the Heavenly Dragon Emperor wonder whether that was the reason why he had the hole in his heart. He had been lost in lethargy, and intoxicated himself with liquor to escape; but perhaps it was a different kind of thirst that plagued him.

‘I want to meet him,’ the Heavenly Dragon Emperor thought.

How could a person who resembled him be someone’s dear memory? The Heavenly Dragon Emperor wanted to ask that person about how he could perhaps find a way to fill the hole in his heart and relieve his thirst a little.

―I feel a little refreshed to have met someone who resembles him.

“Is that so?”

―Yeah, speaking of which...

“...?”

―There’s one more person who’s in a similar mess as me. Is it okay if he joins us?

Why not? The Heavenly Dragon Emperor nodded nonchalantly.

* * *

After that day, the Heavenly Dragon Emperor had met Crom every day. Of course, they did not do much and just chatted with each other. The emperor sipped his liquor, and Crom sat on the other side from him, reminiscing. That was all.

The one difference was that the Heavenly Dragon Emperor had gained a new drinking buddy named Xerxes. He was an interesting guy in many ways. He was very shy and was particularly unsociable one day, but he became incredibly valiant and challenged the emperor to a drinking bet the next day. He was sometimes peculiar like Crom, or serious like an academic. It was as if he took turns wearing several different masks.

From what the Heavenly Dragon Emperor had heard from Crom, it was because Xerxes had several personalities, but he piqued the emperor for an entirely different reason.

‘He looks like me,’ the Heavenly Dragon Emperor thought.

Xerxes looked like a replica of the Heavenly Dragon Emperor. Of course, Xerxes was far too wild in contrast to the emperor, who was always decently dressed in imperial garb. Still, their appearances were too similar.

When the emperor asked him about it, however, Xerxes shook his head.

―No, I’m just volunteering to be my friend’s shadow.

“Your friend?”

―Yes, my friend.

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor could tell that Xerxes’s friend was the person whom Crom had told the emperor about. That person and the emperor not only had similar personalities and ways of talking, but also looked similar. The emperor could not help but wonder about that friend even more, and sincerely wished to meet that person if he had the chance.

* * *

Right now, the Heavenly Dragon Emperor had finally gotten to meet the friend whom Crom and Xerxes had told him about. He could not believe that their friend was another version of him from a parallel universe, a concept that a certain magic scholar had told him about some time in the past. On top of that, the emperor had never imagined that he would be the famous ‘Divine Twilight’.

However, the Heavenly Dragon Emperor was well aware of what had happened between Xerxes, Crom, and ‘Divine Twilight’. After becoming friends with Crom and Xerxes, the emperor had investigated what they went through in secret.

The death of ‘Divine Twilight’, the conflict against afterward, plummeting and being sealed in the Imperial Palace’s dungeon... The Heavenly Dragon Emperor had initially believed that Crom and Xerxes had simply lost their friend during those incidents; and yet, after discovering the full story, he had only one word with which to describe ‘Divine Twilight’—’traitor’.

Crom and Xerxes still considered ‘Divine Twilight’ to be their friend... but the Heavenly Dragon Emperor could not understand them. If ‘Divine Twilight’ had not made such choices at the time, the two would not have had to go through such hardships. And yet, ‘Divine Twilight’ had the guts to show up after all this time. In the end, all their misfortunes had happened because of Lee Chang-Sun, the ‘Divine Twilight’!

However... even after the Heavenly Dragon Emperor criticized him, Chang-Sun just nodded instead of getting angry, saying, “I know.”

Chang-Sun’s answer seemed too dry for a person who truly acknowledged his fault.

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor’s eyebrows twitched as he replied, “You know what?”

“I know what I’ve done wrong.”

“If you know, then how can you even think about coming...?!”

“That’s why I want to apologize to them.”

“...!” The Heavenly Dragon Emperor froze up.

“But I have to meet them to apologize, although I’m not sure if those two will accept my apology... If they resent me, I’m going to embrace it.” Chang-Sun extended his hand forward with a darkened expression.

Chang-Sun looked at Crom and the shadow around her with his wide-open [Gnostic Eye].

“Untie.”

Clink!

Chang-Sun’s [Wordwielding] caused their bindings to disengage.

“Come back.”

Creeeak―!

The shadow chains were untied one after another.

Whooosh!

The untied shadow threads quickly flew into Chang-Sun’s shadow. Xerxes was a Celestial who had once lived in Chang-Sun’s shadow, so it was a very natural instinct to return to the place where he originally stayed.

On the other hand, Crom had lost her body and only existed as a soul, so she needed a physical body. Chang-Sun already had experience with resurrecting Kali, so he could revive Crom as his subordinate.

[The old Celestial ‘Wandering Shadow’ is seeping into your shadow!]

[The old Celestial ‘Thousand-Year Slumbering Dragon’ is transforming into a Changgwi!]

...

[The old Celestials’ Myths have been found in your memory.]

[Faiths have been created, awakening the old Celestials’ Divinities.]

...

[The two Celestials are resurrecting!]

The eyes of Kali and Baek Gyeo-Ul slowly filled up with delight. In contrast, the Heavenly Dragon Emperor sank to the floor with a vacant expression.

“Those two... There is no way that those two kind-hearted people would resent you,” the Heavenly Dragon Emperor mumbled, his head drooping.