Chapter 496: Star Fragments (6)
Chang-Sun quietly swallowed down his saliva, because all hell had broken loose in the ‘Changgong Library’ after <Deus Ex Machina> gave that look.
However, <Dull Darkness> frowned, almost as if he was scolding <Deus Ex Machina> for daring to glare at him. <Dull Darkness> asked, “Do you have a death wish or something?”
[<Deus Ex Machina> grumbles that it is because his twin brother is talking too much!]
When <Deus Ex Machina> looked to one side with his golden machine eyes, Chang-Sun was shocked as he thought,‘...Machina tucked his tail between his legs?’
It was Chang-Sun’s first time to see <Deus Ex Machina> responding like that when the situation had nothing to do with Cha Ye-Eun.
“Come down here if you have something to say to me.” <Dull Darkness> gestured at <Deus Ex Machina> with his chin.
[<Deus Ex Machina> says he cannot because someone forcibly handed him the ‘Changgong Library’.]
“Oh, yeah. I forgot that you were stuck there.”
[<Deus Ex Machina> looks at his twin brother quietly.]
“Anyway, his <Punishment> is pretty much over, so why don’t you explain everything to him now?” <Dull Darkness> asked.
[<Deus Ex Machina> asks with a serious expression why he should do that, when his twin brother is talking about the one who took away their baby sister from them.]
“...You have a point.” <Dull Darkness> turned to look at Chang-Sun.
Gulp!
Chang-Sun swallowed down his saliva again, thinking there were too many obstacles in his love life.
“But not many guys would love and devote themselves to Ye-Eun as much as he has. Keep her by your side if you’re planning to keep Ye-Eun single her whole life. Of course, you’ll have to brace yourself, since she’ll pour out all her resentment on you.” <Dull Darkness> chuckled. “I feel as if Father and Mother would say something before she did, though.”
[<Deus Ex Machina> says that it is low for his twin brother to tattle like that.]
“You should have been born five minutes sooner if you don’t like it.”
[<Deus Ex Machina> grumbles that this is low and cheap.]
[<Deus Ex Machina> purses his lips.]
<Deus Ex Machina> no doubt wanted to avoid being hated by Ye-Eun, so Chang-Sun ended up chuckling. He had been feeling very distant from <Deus Ex Machina> and <Dull Darkness>, but they were growing on him.
‘...Regardless, I still don’t get what they’re thinking.’ Chang-Sun did not forget the world-sized gap between the twins and himself.
“Get up now.” <Dull Darkness> got off Chang-Sun.
Chang-Sun stood up despite his wobbling legs, covered in sweat.
Flick!
As <Dull Darkness> flicked his finger, Chang-Sun could feel his fatigue vanishing. His sweat-soaked clothes turned clean again, and his mind cleared up. The <Star Fragment> power, which had been ready to go wild as soon as the restriction devices were removed, also slowly calmed down.
“Clench your teeth and don’t make a sound.” <Dull Darkness> reached out to Chang-Sun.
Chang-Sun did as he was told, knowing that <Dull Darkness> was not trying to harm him, even though he did not know exactly what <Dull Darkness> intended to do.
Thump, thump, thump!
By not making a sound, <Dull Darkness> was telling Chang-Sun to endure the pain. He struck Chang-Sun everywhere with his index finger. Swaying like a kite on a windy day, Chang-Sun endured the pain even though it almost made him lose consciousness.
At the same time, a change started within Chang-Sun every time <Dull Darkness> struck his acupoints, filling him with bliss. The concentrated power of the <Star Fragment> dispersed and spread within him, like a boulder scattering into sand after being pulverized by a hammer.
Kieeeeeeh!
A gale raged around Chang-Sun, filled with ghostly wails.
[<Dull Darkness> is disintegrating your <Star> elements, converting them into different properties!]
[Warning! The leftover identities within you are in pain! Your movement is restricted, and you are unable to escape from external influence!]
[Warning! You are not in your normal condition!]
...
As Star Signs, the Lee Chang-Suns had swallowed many Worldlines where countless people lived, and Ubbo-Sathla had devoured those Lee Chang-Suns. All these ghostly wails were their screams.
‘There are... so many of them.’ Chang-Sun realized that he had acted too recklessly by eating the <Star Fragment>. At the time, he had been fixated on the thought of keeping his promise with Ubbo-Sathla and having to meet <Dull Darkness>, so he had eaten it on an impulse.
‘It would have taken a long time to take care of them without him.’
Perhaps even decades would not have cut it. It could have taken centuries or even longer. Subduing and absorbing all those identities and power was not easy. <Dull Darkness> was making the process shorter by pulverizing the concentration of power and identities in the <Star Fragment>, so Chang-Sun could absorb them into his soul.
[Your <Darkness> is active, absorbing the power of the <Stars>!]
[The amount of your <Darkness> has increased drastically due to the influx of power.]
[The amount of your <Darkness> has far exceeded your Spiritual Body’s capacity.]
[Warning! Your Divine Class has been destabilized!]
...
[Your Divine Class has withstood the change, compressing your <Darkness> to fully embrace it.]
[Your <Darkness> is changing!]
...
Chang-Sun tried very hard to stop quivering. The amount of his <Darkness> had suddenly multiplied uncontrollably and absorbed the entire <Star Fragment>, living up to its name. At some point, the wails had also stopped being audible.
The problem was that Chang-Sun could not even think about controlling his <Darkness> because of its sheer amount. He considered releasing it outward, but since the amount of <Darkness> had increased a lot more than he could release, he could not even try it.
『Follow my lead.』
Only after he heard the Spiritual Voice of <Dull Darkness> could Chang-Sun bring himself to try controlling his <Darkness>. In a corner of his soul, Chang-Sun could feel the clear presence of <Dull Darkness> directing the flow of power. How <Dull Darkness> was leading it had to be the proper way to use <Darkness>; this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Chang-Sun to directly learn from an Emperor.
[Utilizing your <Darkness> little by little.]
[You have gained control over 15% of your <Darkness>.]
...
[You have gained control over 31% of your <Darkness>.]
...
[You have dominated your <Darkness>, learning the more fundamental Attribute <Abyss>.]
[You have gained control over 11% of your new <Darkness>.]
...
[You have dominated your new <Darkness>, acquiring the Subattributes <Nihil> and <Chaos>.]
...
Pzzzz!
Chang-Sun, who had been enveloped in darkness, slowly walked out from it; his destabilized Spiritual Body finally looked like himself again.
[Congratulations! You have successfully acquired the Divine Class of an Outer Celestial!]
[Your existence has been imprinted in the <Nihil> of Nyx!]
...
[Beings of Nyx have perceived your existence!]
[The Eight Gods of Disorder welcome their new brother!]
...
[The Outer Celestial ‘Resident of the Border’ watches you.]
...
* * *
“You’re good.” <Dull Darkness> took his hand off Chang-Sun.
Although it was hard to tell because of his white mask, <Dull Darkness> was actually quite surprised by Chang-Sun. After remaining on the border of Nyx and Eros, Chang-Sun had entered Nyx completely and become a new Outer Celestial.
Judging from the thick scent of Mephistopheles on him, Chang-Sun had to have acquired deep insights on his own after Mephistopheles’ short lesson on the proper use of <Darkness>. Regardless, Chang-Sun had probably known it on some level instinctively even before Mephistopheles' help, which meant he was gifted in controlling power.
‘His Divine Name is ‘Divine Twilight’ and he has the experience of dying once... Is that why it’s possible?’ <Dull Darkness> wondered.
He had met many Lee Chang-Suns in the past, but Chang-Sun #801 was different. No one had gone through a change like him.
‘That isn’t it. He’s blending the <Myths> he created by going through the Rollback loop over one hundred times into his <Darkness>.’ <Dull Darkness> read the system message log in front of Chang-Sun.
[Inscribing all the <Myths> left by the leftover identities in the book.]
...
[You have completed the second chapter of the last volume of ‘Prelati’s Spellbook’!]
[The second chapter ‘Phósph?ros’ has been applied, stabilizing your Divine Class!]
...
‘Phósph?ros... I guess there is no better word than that.’
As Chang-Sun lit up his supreme sacred light amid the <Darkness>, the name of the star that shone the brightest in the dark sky at dawn was perfect for him.
From the perspective of <Dull Darkness>, Chang-Sun was actually going through <Transcendence>, the phenomenon that a mortal went through to become a Celestial. Almost no one went through <Transcendence> twice.
‘Perhaps it’s closer to <Molting>,’ <Dull Darkness> thought.
Just as a serpent gained sturdier scales after each molting, Chang-Sun was going through a similar change, which was also the reason why the <Serpent> was his representation in holy icons. However, Chang-Sun’s <Transcendence> was not over yet.
Craaaack―!
[Your soul is going through a change to balance out your new <Darkness>.]
[Your Trait as a <Supreme Light’s Face> has been applied, evolving your <Supreme Sacred Light>!]
Even if he had <Darkness>, Chang-Sun was still a <Supreme Light’s Face>. Swallowing the <Star Fragment> had caused the amount of his <Darkness> to increase drastically, so it was necessary to balance his <Supreme Sacred Light> too.
That was another reason why <Dull Darkness> had not distributed the power equally among Chang-Sun’s two Divinities. Had <Dull Darkness> done that, it would have been a lot easier for Chang-Sun to gain control over his power, but that would be it; he would remain limited to being Lee Chang-Sun. <Dull Darkness> wanted Chang-Sun to accomplish more than just breaking free from his <Mark>.
Paah!
[You have acquired an Attribute pertaining to the <Laws of Nature>.]
...
[You have acquired the Divine Class of a Celestial King!
[Your existence has been engraved into the laws of Eros!]
...
[Beings of Eros have perceived your existence!]
[The dormant Elder Celestials are curious after perceiving your existence.]
...
An Outer Celestial and Celestial King. Nyx and Eros. Chang-Sun now embodied the intersection of two qualities that were extremely incompatible. Thus, <Dull Darkness> realized that now was the time to tell Chang-Sun the truth.
“You came to me because you wanted to know about your <Mark>, didn’t you?” <Dull Darkness> said, watching Chang-Sun getting his two Divinities under control through meditation. He knew Chang-Sun would still be able to hear him.
[<Deus Ex Machina> is silent.]
“First of all, you’re wrong to think that Machina gave you the <Punishment> and I tried to save you,” <Dull Darkness> quietly continued. “I’m actually the one who caused you more suffering.”
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