Chapter 363: Star, Nammu (4)
Even before the heat waves and clouds of dust dissipated around the Evil Dragon Castle, Tiamat walked out of the place in her petite form. She was carrying Ushumgalu and her other children, who were covered in soot and burn marks.
“It’s a total disaster,” Tiamat muttered.
All the Celestials fell silent after seeing Tiamat. Of course, Chang-Sun’s explosion was outstanding, but Tiamat had casually walked out from the explosion site as if it were nothing, instilling fear in them all.
‘She isn’t even using her [Dragon Fear], but her aura…!’
‘She’s indeed one of the Nine Heavens.’
‘She’s the Faraway Heaven for a reason.’
On the other hand, they were also curious. Although Ushumgalu had started the fight, Chang-Sun had beaten up four of Tiamat’s Eleven Demonic Creatures, so the Celestials thought that Tiamat would not sit by. Everyone in this place knew how much Tiamat valued her honor and reputation.
However, Chang-Sun did not show a trace of anxiety even after Tiamat arrived right in front of him. In fact, he smiled calmly.
Tiamat shook her head in disbelief, then tossed her four children to the ground in front of Chang-Sun. She grumbled, “Regardless of everything, they’re the children of a woman who adores you, so you could have gone easy on them.”
“If I let people walk away without making them see reality, they usually believe that they only failed due to some tiny mistakes,” Chang-Sun replied.
“Hmph, you aren’t wrong,” Tiamat remarked.
“And I thought nothing serious would happen since you were here,” Chang-Sun continued.
Finding his response amusing, Tiamat chuckled. She asked, “What if I hadn’t been powerful enough to take care of it?”
“I controlled it so you could,” Chang-Sun replied.
The Celestials were taken aback after hearing Chang-Sun’s remark.
‘W-What in the world is he talking about…?’
‘The explosion was crazy, but he intentionally made it weaker to meet Tiamat’s level? Unbelievable!’
‘Is he acting tough? He must be… But Tiamat’s response is…’
If Chang-Sun meant what he said, that was already enough of a surprise, but the problem was that Tiamat nodded without saying anything else.
“I really can’t win a victory when I talk to you,” Tiamat remarked. Looking at her still-unconscious children, she shook her head. “Fools. If they were going to do something like this, they should have done it right and evaluated their opponent’s level properly.”
Tiamat actually knew that her children had challenged Chang-Sun, but she had implicitly condoned it. Although she was aware that they were no match for Chang-Sun, she had hoped that her children would reveal some unexpected aces up their sleeves. That way, she would have given serious thought to choosing one of those children as her heir.
However, Ushumgalu, Lahmu, and the others had thrown away their last opportunity, completely losing any chance of becoming Tiamat’s heir. They would probably pound the ground and lament after they regained consciousness.
“In any case, let’s go inside since we have a lot to talk about,” Tiamat said, flicking her finger.
Tap!
The space around the Evil Dragon Castle distorted, and the castle was restored to its original state as if nothing had happened. Chang-Sun naturally followed Tiamat inside, and Pabilsag and Jörmungandr also headed to the Evil Dragon Castle. Soon after, Minerva and Mars followed.
However, the other delegates were busy exchanging glances, unable to move immediately. Although the divine ground had been restored, they were worried that traces of the explosion could still remain, and the [Dragon Fear] that Tiamat had left behind was also so strong that it was overwhelming. Nevertheless, they could not just sit on their hands. The next move of the <Anti-Star> Alliance was to be discussed in the meeting, so they could not excuse themselves from it. In the end, they had to force themselves to slowly head to the castle.
* * *
About ten delegates sat around the round table at the center of the room. Meanwhile, Tiamat stood alone in the innermost region of the conference room, overseeing the emergency meeting.
“<Cadiz>[1] and the <Danaan>[2] are absent? They must have run for their lives after they heard the <Underworld> turned upside down, or else they were having second thoughts even before any of this happened,” Tiamat said with a quiet chuckle, making all the delegates smile bitterly.
‘Idiots.’
‘Out of all the times they could have been absent, they chose now? Everyone knows that Tiamat chases her targets to the ends of the universe to get payback, no matter how small her grudges are.’
It was obvious which target the <Anti-Star> Alliance would point their sword at next after winning in the war against the <Stars>.
Meanwhile, Chang-Sun chose to stay silent and waited for Tiamat to get to the main point, because on the other end of the door that was behind Tiamat… he sensed a familiar presence.
“Before we discuss coming up with countermeasures, allow me to introduce someone. Come in,” Tiamat said. She clapped lightly and the door opened wide, and a man with a grim expression slowly entered.
‘I knew it…’ Chang-Sun thought, his gaze turning sharp after seeing the man.
The man was not in good shape, as if he had just been in some kind of battle, and he looked noticeably fatigued. It was Yool, the top-rank reaper of the <Underworld> who had guided Chang-Sun to Thanatos in the past.
When he met Chang-Sun’s gaze, Yool bowed slightly, signaling Chang-Sun to talk later in private. Chang-Sun also nodded in acknowledgment. Although his expression was faint, Yool finally smiled and bowed at the rest of the crowd.
“Why don’t you introduce yourself first, since many people here are meeting you for the first time?” Tiamat suggested.
Yool said, “It’s an honor to meet so many representatives of the <Anti-Star> Alliance. I am Yool, the top-rank reaper of the <Underworld>.”
Both <Heaven> and the <Saha World> had lost contact with the <Underworld>, so the eyes of all the Celestials in the meeting room shone.
“I already explained why I came to <Nammu> urgently as the emissary of the <Underworld> to Lady Tiamat, but most of you weren’t present at the time. So I would like to explain again,” Yool said, then took a deep breath. The last thing he wanted to do was to explain the humiliation his <Society> had gone through and ask for help a second time, but he had no choice. He continued, “Our outside Channelings to places such as <Heaven> and the <Management Bureau> were severed, and an unidentifiable group of people attacked the <Underworld>.”
“An unidentifiable group? Then does that mean neither <Purple Star Astrology> or <Horoscope> are behind the attack?” Cernunnos asked after raising his hand.
Yool firmly nodded, saying, “Yes.”
“Hmm? But there are no other groups who would go after the <Underworld>,” Cernunnos mused.
“I assume that many of you know this… the <Underworld> has been gathering a great deal of information about many <Societies> in <Heaven> as the overseer of the universe’s order,” Yool said.
At that moment, the expressions of Cernunnos and the other Celestials darkened, because Yool had basically confirmed their suspicions that the <Underworld> had been spying on all the <Societies> of <Heaven>.
“Among those <Societies>, we’re confident that we know <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology> better than anyone else… but we assure you that we have never seen any <Society> such as this,” Yool said bitterly.
“Hmm…! Maybe it’s a similar group as the <Troop>.”
“It seems that a very troubling terrorist organization has been formed.”
The universe was very vast, so Celestials had no way of knowing immediately if a new organization appeared on the outskirts. Thus, most of the Celestials in the room reached a conclusion that space pirates of some sort were behind the recent attacks in the <Underworld>. However, they were soon stupefied as they listened to Yool’s explanation.
“The group was led by Grand Heaven. They raided the Bloodless Hell and used Celestial Cannibalism on all the prisoners…. Then they escaped after rescuing ‘New Tian Shi Yuan’. Although the King of the Underworld went after them, he was gravely injured, and three of the Ten Purgatory Kings have died.”
“…!”
“…!”
“…!”
“Sun Wukong is the main culprit behind this attack…?!”
Sun Wukong, the Victorious Fighting Buddha and Monkey King, was never absent from discussions about who the strongest in the universe was. Every one of the Ten Purgatory Kings was as powerful as a Ruling Celestial, so the news that three of them had been killed and Thanatos had received a grave injury was as shocking as if someone had hit the Celestials in the backs of their heads. In other words, the mysterious group behind this attack was not only capable of fighting the <Underworld>, but also as dangerous as <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology>. The fact that Celestial Cannibalism had been used was also appalling.
Chang-Sun’s expression was especially grim, because all three parts of Yool’s story made his heart sink: The raid on the Bloodless Hell, Richardus’ escape, and… Celestial Cannibalism.
‘Then what happened to the Emperor’s Seat…?’ Chang-Sun wondered.
The crowd fell into silence, as the current situation could not be taken lightly. It was hard to even make a single comment.
“Thus, the <Underworld> has decided to close our borders for the time being to recover from the damage. The <Underworld> is aware that we’re in the middle of taking down <Purple Star Astrology>...so the <Underworld> would like to express our sincerest apology for withdrawing from the <Anti-Star> Alliance at a time like this,” Yool said with a bow.
“…”
“…”
“…”
However, no one could bring themselves to say that it was okay even as a formality; that was just how problematic the withdrawal of the <Underworld> was for the <Anti-Star> Alliance. Wondering whether it would be a good idea to withdraw as well, the Celestials busily studied each other’s reactions. Their solidarity was already unstable, so it looked as if the bonds between the alliance were straining.
At that moment, Tiamat swept her gaze across the crowd and slowly said, “So, this is why I would like to make a proposal.”
The others turned to look at her, as they instinctively knew that the fate of the <Anti-Star> Alliance depended on Tiamat’s response.
Tiamat the Faraway Heaven was also known as one of the strongest people in the universe, just like Sun Wukong. No, considering her influence on <Heaven>, she was superior, because she was known to have existed since the beginning of the universe.
“From what I’ve heard from Reaper Yool, Richardus abandoned his position as ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ after being rescued by this mysterious group. In other words… <Purple Star Astrology> has only one leader now.”
The Celestials realized what she meant, and their eyes gleamed coldly. However, no one’s eyes shone more radiantly than Chang-Sun’s…!
After seeing the Celestials’ responses, Tiamat’s mouth curled up into a half-smirk, revealing a single canine. Despite her young appearance, that tooth looked especially cruel. Tiamat continued, “We’ve also discovered that several groups affiliated with <Purple Star Astrology> have been quickly leaving the <Society> as if they were waiting for Richardus’ resignation. That’s why <Nammu> is going to launch a full-scale attack on <Purple Star Astrology>, but we’re going to end up with a pie that is too big to finish on our own. So I want someone to share this pie… How does that sound? Is anyone in?”
Jörmungandr was the first one to raise his hand, saying, “Just as always, <Niflheim> will continue to be the most loyal friend of <Nammu>.”
“I always appreciate the friendship of <Niflheim>,” Tiamat said, nodding with a gentle smile.
That was the start of it.
“I hope that you’ll count <Olympus> in too.”
“I, Cernnunos, will participate too.”
“We, <Memphis>…!”
“We’re also in.”
“We also…!”
With the withdrawal of the <Underworld>, the <Anti-Star> Alliance had almost fallen apart, but they united once again after Tiamat’s decision. Chang-Sun had previously expected that even though he was the one who had established it in the first place, the <Anti-Star> Alliance would not last long, but it turned out to be more stable than he had expected.
Chang-Sun could not help but marvel at Tiamat’s ability to create such a result. Perhaps Tiamat sensed that he was looking at her with respect, as she winked at Chang-Sun while smiling in contentment.
『I’ll become a problem if you fall head over heels for me, so be careful. I don’t find men who are too clingy attractive. Hahahaha!』
After listening to Tiamat’s telepathic message, Chang-Sun chuckled quietly. He had to admit that if he had met Tiamat first, perhaps he would have fallen for her, not Cha Ye-Eun. That was how grateful he was to Tiamat for the opportunity she had created.
‘Finally…!’ Chang-Sun thought, clenching his fists under the table.
It was finally time to punish <Purple Star Astrology>.
1. This is actually the name of a city in Spain, but the city is frequently mentioned in Greek mythology. ☜
2. This is one of the names used by the poet Homer to refer to the Achaeans, or in other words, the Greeks. ☜
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