Chapter 521: Star, Determination (1)

‘Who in the world is that?’

Chang-Sun wondered.

As far as he knew, there were fewer than five Emperors—, , , and .

Of course, there could be Emperors who weren’t known to the public or Chang-Sun hadn’t met yet. Among those whom he knew, Chang-Sun hadn’t met and yet, but...

‘It’s not them.’

was the embodiment of light and the owner of , so Chang-Sun would undoubtedly recognize him. No, even if he couldn’t, he was sure that would not be in such a grotesque state with all sorts of ghosts clinging to him.

The ghosts around the mysterious Emperor were grimacing in pain and terror, clearly showing that most Celestials wouldn’t be able to maintain their existence if they did so much as stand in front of it.

It was also highly unlikely that it was . Chang-Sun knew that had a very quiet and peaceful personality, which was quite unexpected since his name had the word “beast.” From what Chang-Sun had heard, had recently built a world of his own and rarely showed up in public.

In the end, Chang-Sun failed to identify the Emperor before him. No, he wasn’t sure if the being could even be called an Emperor. Although it could be aptly described as an Emperor based on the level of its Divine Class, he couldn’t help but feel that it was too different from the Emperors that he knew.

Grrrrrr―!

Regardless, this being was unleashing deep enmity against Chang-Sun. Hence, it didn’t take long for him to realize that the enmity was similar to how he had terminated the link between the Mother Terra Celestial and the ‘outside.’

The being reached out to get him.

‘I should stop it!’

However, Chang-Sun was losing consciousness due to the explosion, so he had no strength left to resist. He wondered if he had no other choice but to be captured. However, at that moment, a voice came from the opposite direction.

『My successor told me that he was watching you, so I had high hopes for you. However, you’re high maintenance too. Seriously, of all the people in the universe, they had to pick the one who was just like them...』

Hearing the voice cleared up Chang-Sun’s mind and seemingly erased his fatigue. At the same time, his fervently reacted.

At that moment, he realized that the voice belonged to the being whom he had been desperately wishing to meet.

‘!’

Due to his lack of strength, he couldn’t turn his head toward him right now. Fortunately, he could at least feel something warm, which he presumed to be the hand of .

『Go back. It’s not time for you to come here yet.』

Paah!

A pool of light enveloped Chang-Sun as he completely lost consciousness.

『You’re the one who put me through all this trouble, though. Don’t whine if I bully you a little for that.』

***

When Chang-Sun woke up, he found Thanatos looking at him with a faint smile. “Do you know the best way to locate you?” Thanatos asked.

Chang-Sun gasped in shock, wondering why Thanatos was beside him when he should be in .

“I’m here to investigate the most recent disaster.”

“... Did something happen again?” Chang-Sun asked, realizing that he was in the , not .

It looked like had sent Chang-Sun to the , but... judging from Thanatos’ mischievous expression, Chang-Sun must not have arrived in peace.

“Of course, something happened. River Styx’s ferry slip has been destroyed because you suddenly fell on top of it, so the dead can’t cross the river anymore. Many of the dead at the site also got injured, and half of the ferries were also damaged... My reapers are in chaos trying to take care of the aftermath.”

Chang-Sun pursed his lips as he felt a shiver run down his spine. Nothing could be more problematic than a malfunctioning link between the and .

“Don’t worry about it too much. This mostly just means that the people in the will have to wait longer than what is said on their Deathlists. The same goes for the people who are about to be reincarnated.”

Noticing annoyance in Thanatos’ voice, Chang-Sun realized that this was likely ’s prank.

『You’re the one who put me through all this trouble, though. Don’t whine if I bully you a little for that.』

‘... Is this why even and were reluctant to tell me about ?’

Chang-Sun wondered.

He could understand the nasty temper of , but he didn’t expect that would pull such a prank. Regardless, he was the cause of all chaos, so he had to lay low before Thanatos’ glare.

***

“So what you’re telling me is... the Mother Terra Celestial’s remains became an egg and is now waiting for a chance to resurrect. And the egg is connected to the 'outside,' which isn’t the Outer Universe?”

“That is right.” Chang-Sun nodded after finishing explaining everything he had gone through to Thanatos.

“Is there a chance that this 'outside' is a different Worldline? Although the full extent of Worldlines is beyond all our imagination, it’s more than possible for a Worldline to look very bizarre....”

Shaking his head, Chang-Sun answered firmly, “No, it wasn’t something that can be defined as Eros or Nyx.”

Remembering what Thanatos had told him before, he then came to a halt.

“His Demiurge Project is to maintain the order of the Great and Outer Universe, but these people are... pursuing something opposite.”

“You know what place it is and why was there, don’t you?”

Thanatos bitterly smiled. “You can say that, but I don’t know all the details. never explained it to me. However, I can tell you that something big enough to even put Emperors on edge is going on.”

“Something big enough to even put Emperors on edge...?” Chang-Sun wasn’t sure if it was even possible, but...

‘... Never say never, I guess.’

When he had first met an Emperor, he had once wondered if it was possible to reach such a level.

Thanatos continued, “All I know is that it’s related to how Eros and Nyx were first created and became distinguished.”

Chang-Sun nodded. He could just assume that Emperors had jobs to do—much like he did. If there was something he could help with, would call him.

“What about the Mother Terra Celestial’s remains? Obtaining it was your goal. Did you not get it?” Thanatos asked.

Chang-Sun chuckled and shook his head. “Of course not.”

When he opened his hand, an eggshell piece as big as a person floated up.

Thanatos’ eyes slightly widened.

Chang-Sun shrugged. “I picked it up during the explosion. She was all tied up, which made it easy to take it.”

The sphere exuded the Mother Terra Celestial’s deep malice and, ever so faintly, . After observing it for a moment, Thanatos couldn’t help looking at Chang-Sun in amazement again.

Amid the explosion created by severing the link between the Mother Terra Celestial’s egg and the 'outside', Chang-Sun had picked up a piece. Since the egg was enormous, even a mere piece of it was quite huge.

Thanatos shook his head. “It must have been quite a ruckus, but you still managed to take one. That’s incredible, Twilight.”

When he lightly waved his hand, a translucent barrier was cast over the shell piece to prevent [Gaia's Curse] from spreading.

He then gestured at Chang-Sun. “Let’s go save your father, then,”

***

Afterward, Chang-Sun and the Byeonseong King began the research on the Mother Terra Celestia’s eggshell.

“Hey, Twilight. Twilight!” Byeonseong called with sparkling eyes.

“What?”

“Can I study your eye when we have time?”

Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes. “What bullshit are you trying to start this time?”

“Your eye is so cool and useful! I want to have it too!”

Like the mad scientist that Byeonseong was, he showed a nearly insane level of interest in Chang-Sun’s [Foretelling Eye]. Whenever Chang-Sun looked at a phenomenon with the [Foretelling Eye], it provided him with information about its cause and any other relevant knowledge. Moreover, it helped him predict some of their experiments’ outcomes. Those reasons were probably why Byeonseong became interested in it.

Chang-Sun had no intention to listen to Byeonseong, though.

“Give me your eye! Give me your eye!” Byeonseong whined.

“Shut up before I crush you.”

“Crush me? Will you give your eye after crushing me?

Hmm

?

Hmm

?”

“No, I won’t,” Chang-Sun curtly answered.

“What would it take to give me your eye, then?! Give it to me already so I can start doing some research!”

“If you keep this shit up, I’ll take the eggshell too.”

Byeonseong tilted his head. “Huh?”

“You call this [Gaia's Blessing], yes? I’m going to take it so you won’t be able to continue your research anymore. Would you rather I do that?”

“... N-no, o-of course not.

Hahaha

. I was j-joking. You know I was joking, right?”

“I get it, so shut up and focus on the research.”

“Yup! I’ll do just that, so please don’t ever say that you’ll take this!”

[Gaia's Blessing] was the name Byeonseong had given to the eggshell’s property. According to Byeonseong’s explanation, [Gaia's Curse] was about negating an inflicted person’s existence, but [Gaia’s Blessing] established an existence.

‘She’s disintegrating her own and assembling them again to heighten her Divine Class? Is that even possible? How is she getting the necessary amount of energy from the ‘outside’?’

Chang-Sun thought.

Now that they had discovered that she was trying to resurrect, the Mother Terra Celestial’s plan could be anticipated. It still turned out to be beyond Chang-Sun’s imagination, though, so even though he understood Byeonseong’s explanation, it still surprised him. He even wondered if other Celestials could reassemble their too.

Chang-Sun shook his head.

‘No, it won’t work.’

A Celestial’s were their constituents, and it was piled up like a Jenga tower. Rashly meddling with some of the pieces could cause the tower of to collapse. Even if it was possible to rebuild the tower, the Celestial could wake up as an entirely different being. Perhaps the Mother Terra Celestial’s Divine Rank of resurrection was enabling the impossible of reassembling .

Chang-Sun and the had acquired a deep understanding of the Mother Terra Celestial’s divinity with the [Gaia's Blessing] specimen. Based on their understanding, they succeeded in building an artificial heart.

***

“... Will it really revive Father?” Qi Gong nervously asked.

Qi Gong and the siblings looked at the red sphere in Chang-Sun’s hand.

“Thanks to you guys, we managed to get a detailed analysis of Father’s . We then used the Mother Terra Celestial’s regenerative power to restore the missing part,” Chang-Sun explained. “Of course, we have to transplant it first to see if it’s complete. Contrary to our expectations, Father’s body may reject it, and it may fail to fit his original . There is no guarantee that it’ll succeed.”

“Still... that is the best we got, yes?”

Chang-Sun nodded quietly.

“That is enough. What matters is that we have something to work with.” Qi Gong took a step backward and bowed at Chang-Sun. “I entrust Father to you. Please... save him.”

After watching his other siblings bow to him as well, Chang-Sun turned to the Emperor’s Seat, who was deeply asleep on his bed.

With determined eyes, he said, “I would have still saved him even if you didn’t ask me to. He’s my father too.”