Chapter 359: Star, the Planet Celestial (9)
“Wh-what are you saying?” Cha Ye-Eun asked, noticeably bewildered by Chang-Sun’s proposal.
The ring sparkling in front of her looked ordinary. In fact, the ring was so crude that it seemed to have been forged in a hurry. However, she could see efforts were put into the ring to make it look as good as possible.
Choi Bu-Yong forged the ring as Chang-Sun requested. No, to be precise, he made the ring himself after asking Bu-Yong how. When he brought it up, Bu-Yong asked in shock if he could really lead a married life, considering his temper. However, Bu-Yong eventually realized how sincere he was and readily helped him.
“I’m saying that I don’t want us to be apart anymore.” Chang-Sun could feel his mouth drying up for some reason.
For the past several days, he played this moment in his mind several times to make it right, but he still couldn’t help feeling nervous now that he actually executed it. Perhaps fighting his enemies would be easier. Nevertheless, Chang-Sun wanted to speak from his heart. From their time in Arcadia to now, he never got to do it. Hence, he decided to do it now.
[Twilight’s Wedding Ring]
The Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ put an abundant amount of divine power and Divinity into this ring. Its wearer will receive the blessings of the Celestial ‘Divine Twilight.’
· Type: Relic.
· Effect: Faith Enhancement. Barrier Protection.
“As you can see, I’m wearing the same ring. As long as we are wearing this pair, we can always communicate via thoughts, so you won’t get bored while I’m away.” Chang-Sun smiled, showing Ye-Eun the ring on his left ring finger. “I also put a little bit of my Faith in it so you can use your mana for as long as you’re on Earth. It’ll let you continue your training.”
“Sun…!” Ye-Eun covered her mouth.
Although she hadn’t shown it, she had actually been feeling dejected lately—much like how a person would be gravely shocked if an accident had paralyzed them.
Ye-Eun spent her whole life studying magic, so the fact that she might not be able to use magic anymore horrified her. Although she had faith that Chang-Sun would somehow solve the problem, she still couldn’t get rid of her anxiety.
However… Chang-Sun was now giving her a ring that allowed her to use her mana again, which naturally deeply touched her. She didn’t have any reason to leave Earth anyway, so she quickly turned her head to the side and wiped the tears off her face, feeling embarrassed to show Chang-Sun this side of her.
Pouting, she glanced at Chang-Sun as she asked, “Are you really the Sun I know?”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“Of all the words I can use to describe you, romantic is the last word I would have chosen, but you’ve suddenly become very thoughtful and romantic. It’s weird,” Ye-Eun said.
Bu-Yong’s remark from before flashed across Chang-Sun’s mind.
“You’re… asking her to marry you. You’re not planning on just handing her a ring and being done with it, are you?” Bu-Yong asked.
When Chang-Sun explained his plan to propose, Bu-Yong pounded his chest in frustration.
“Your wife-to-be is a saint. A saint.” Bu-Yong enunciated his every word.
‘… I’ll have to keep the kind of naggings I had to endure for the rest of my life a secret.’
Chang-Sun decided to be shameless. “I have always been bad at expressing myself, but this is how much I love you.”
“Pssh, you and your mouth.” Ye-Eun’s cheeks were slightly rosy, contrasting her complexion.
“Anyway, please say yes.”
Feeling unusually shy, Ye-Eun looked down and weakly nodded. In response, Chang-Sun pulled out the ring from the box and put it on her left ring finger.
Click!
Chang-Sun heard an unexpected clicking sound.
[‘Twilight’s Wedding Rings’ are resonating!]
[The souls of the ‘Twilight’s Wedding Rings’ wearers have been linked! They will continue to be connected while the Divinity of the Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ is active.]
Chang-Sun smiled faintly. Through the ring, he could feel Ye-Eun’s genuine happiness.
“Are you sure about this?” Ye-Eun asked.
When Chang-Sun looked up, he saw Ye-Eun bullying innocent pebbles on the road, her face all red.
“Sure with what?” Chang-Sun cocked his head.
“My parents and brothers are awfully protective of me. Are you sure you can persuade them?”
<Deus Ex Machina>’s furious face suddenly came across Chang-Sun’s mind.
Ding!
[<Deus Ex Machina> scowls at youl!]
Chang-Sun broke out in a cold sweat.
* * *
Summit of Jirisan Mountain. D―Day, 1:00 am.
Sitting on a boulder, Chang-Sun stared at the sky. The full moon today, shining beautifully amid the night sky, was bigger than ever. For quite some time, the moon was worshiped as a guardian that oversaw Earth’s secrets and mysteries.
Its lunar halo today was at its largest in the past hundreds of years. It made Earth’s mana stream shake profusely, seemingly about to flood the world with it. That was why today was Chang-Sun’s D-Day.
‘Heoju planned today to be his ascension day,’ Chang-Sun recalled.
If Heoju and Sangwon managed to seize R’lyeh, they would have spent months slowly synchronizing with it until this day came, which would be when they would attempt their mutation. By merging with R’lyeh, they would have taken the place of <Dull Darkness> and changed the world as they liked.
Heoju wanted to ascend today because this was when the fluctuations of Earth’s mana stream were at their strongest. Hence, they believed they would have no problem receiving nourishment for their plan to ascend beyond <Heaven> and reach the Emperors’ realm, surpassing the restrictions of Worldlines.
‘They’re all stuck in a gutter now, though.’
Having figured out every nook and cranny of Heoju and Sangwon’s plan, Chang-Sun thought it would be a waste to just completely disregard it. That was why he chose today to execute his own plan.
‘Earth and Arcadia’s Worldlines are technically different.’
They were respectively labeled Worldline #801 and Worldline #802 in <Deus Ex Machina>’s labeling system. The two Worldlines didn’t have any big differences, but despite how similar they were, they were still parallel universes.
The two distinct Worldlines had different Celestials overseeing them, though the Celestials weren’t really affected by it. Some of them even traveled between the two Wordlines so easily that it was as if they were one and the same. In truth, that was due to Worldline #802’s peculiarity.
“You want to know how the Celestials you remember from Worldline #802 can observe and freely act in Worldline #801 as if they were the same?” Thanatos summarized Chang-Sun’s question.
“Yes.”
“That’s related to how your Deathlist, which is under the jurisdiction of Worldline #801, ended up in Worldline #802.”
“How is it related?” Chang-Sun asked.
“You wouldn’t know about this, but Worldline #802 is already facing <Extinction>.”
“…!”
After hundreds of years, Chang-Sun finally discovered the shocking truth about how he ended up in Arcadia, which wasn’t the world he originally belonged in. <Extinction>. Chang-Sun operated in Arcadia for a long time, but he never even knew about it.
“I never found any signs of <Extinction>, though,” Chang-Sun muttered in disbelief.
“That’s only natural. Only a handful of people are aware of this. Me, the Nine Heavens, and some <Stars>. The rest won’t even find it odd if they detect signs of abnormality. Many actually don’t know Worldline #802 is another Worldline.”
“… Is this <Extinction> involved with <Horoscope> or <Purple Star Astrology>?”
“You really are a fast learner. That makes me happy. I feel like I chose a fine partner.” Thanatos grinned.
“Skip the unnecessary talks.”
“Your only flaw is that you don’t know how to relax.” Thanatos jokingly clicked his tongue.
Thanatos’ explanation was very simple.
“Have you ever given a serious thought about who <Stars> are?” Thanatos asked.
“Not really.”
“Have you ever found them weird? A Celestial is a Celestial, and a demon is a demon. Why did these weird people named <Stars> show up out of nowhere and cause chaos in Worldlines? They aren’t technically different from Celestials, so why are <Stars> distinguished from Celestials?”
“… You have a point.” Chang-Sun nodded
“A <Star> is a parasite.”
“A parasite?”
“Yes. <Stars> can’t shine on their own. They have to constantly fuel themselves to shine. Since they can’t survive alone, they require hosts—the Worldlines—to sustain their lives.”
Thanatos didn’t hide his disgust toward <Stars>.
“Worldline #802 is nothing but a shell now because those parasites have eaten everything else up.”
According to Thanatos, <Stars> were predators. Some just felt hungry, some wished to get stronger, some wished to survive… For all kinds of reasons, they exercised Celestial Cannibalism, eventually eating the Worldline they were in at the end. There was no better way to get stronger, so they never stopped preying.
Eventually, the <Stars> got addicted to the rapture they experienced after eating fellow Celestials. HWhen they found out that there were similar people out there in the world, they formed a pack… And that was how <Horoscope> was founded.
“After naming themselves as Star Signs, the <Horoscope> parasites settled down in the Imaginary Plane to avoid <Deus Ex Machina>’s radar. They then gained more influence by eating weak Worldlines. <Purple Star Astrology> copied what <Horoscope> did,” Thanatos said.
“I didn’t know about that.”
“That’s understandable. Everyone is reluctant to talk about <Stars>, after all. Anyway, Dungeons are basically leftovers from the Worldlines that they ate. Those parasites are just vermin that have to be exterminated.”
Everyone in Dungeons was ultimately a victim of <Stars>.
“Anyhow, Worldline #802 has been ruined so badly that it has almost no Celestials now. The wall between the two Worldlines is also crumbling down, which is how the Celestials in Worldline #801 can get there,” Thanatos added.
“Are we supposed to just leave it be, then? If the Worldline wall has been weakened, that means that the Celestials in Arcadia can also get to Earth, doesn’t it?”
“Do you think those greedy <Heaven> bastards would care about that?”
“… You’re right.”
He had already experienced it several times in the <Myth War>. Sentient beings idolized <Heaven> Celestials, not knowing those Celestials were filled with selfishness and greed. Most of them would probably pay more attention to acquiring more land in the empty Worldline #802 than the fact that their Worldline was in danger.
“That’s why although many Celestials have left Arcadia, it’s still the land of <Stars>. If you ever go back there, you better make every possible preparation before you do.”
By every possible preparation, Thanatos meant Chang-Sun becoming a Planet Celestial and restoring <Muspelheim>.
‘<Stars> brought <Extinction> to <Muspelheim> and <Jotunheim>.’
Now that the wall between Worldlines #801 and #802 was very weak, Chang-Sun thought about leaping over it. However, such a feat still required a lot of Causality.
Although many <Societies> possessed an enormous amount of Causality, Chang-Sun had just started to raise his own. Hence, he naturally didn’t have as much yet. To make up for it, he chose his D-Day to be on the same date as Heoju’s original ascension day.
‘It was a tight schedule, but I somehow managed.’
He smiled bitterly after recalling that he spent the past two days meeting Ye-Eun’s parents. It was his first time meeting them, but they were remarkable in many ways.
Feeling the mana stream become stingingly abundant, he prepared to activate his power of omnipotence.
「Everything is ready, master.」
At that moment, Simon Magus showed up beside Chang-Sun and bowed. It seemed he had finished setting up the portal.
“All we need now is to input the coordinates, yes?” Chang-Sun asked.
「That is right, but… I don’t think they’re here yet.」
Chang-Sun nodded. He and the others couldn’t just bulldoze their way over to Worldline #802. They needed Arcadia’s exact coordinates. However, the <Underworld>, which was supposed to provide them with the coordinates, hadn’t sent anyone yet.
“Did something happen?” Chang-Sun wondered. Thanatos wasn’t the type to be late without a good reason.
[The Celestial ‘Primordial Evil Dragon’ looks at her casanova husband candidate!]
When Tiamat suddenly sent him a message, Chang-Sun looked up. “… Didn’t I tell you that I’m already taken?”
[The Celestial ‘Primordial Evil Dragon’ chuckles quietly and says that one can still score even if a goalkeeper is around.]
Chang-Sun quietly heaved a sigh. Tiamat spoke about Chang-Sun being a husband candidate so mischievously that it was hard for him to tell whether or not she was serious. Contrasting her playful message, her gaze was very sharp. Chang-Sun suddenly realized that the Channeling to Tiamat was very rigid.
“Did something happen?”
[The Celestial ‘Primordial Evil Dragon’ has convened an emergency United Army meeting.]
[Will you attend the meeting?]
Chang-Sun’s eyes widened as anxiety washed over him. ‘No way.’
Beep, beep.
At that moment, the smartphone in his pocket abruptly rang. It was Carl Malone.
“… Yes, Mr. Council president,” Chang-Sun answered.
『We have found where Sun Wukong and the others are, but…』
Chang-Sun’s face darkened. The <Underworld> was suddenly out of contact, Tiamat had just convened an emergency meeting, and Carl called him out of nowhere. All these events simultaneously happening couldn’t be a coincidence.
“Are they in the <Underworld> by any chance?” Chang-Sun warily asked.
『H-how did you know?』
Chang-Sun finally realized the cause behind his anxiety, remembering Richardus telling him, ‘See you again.’
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