Royal Road
Chapter 435: Star, Taurus (10)
Chapter 435: Star, Taurus (10)
‘Even if I have to go out of my way a little...!’ Clenching his teeth, Chang-Sun repeatedly drew out <Darkness> and supreme sacred light from his [Stigma].
The Divine Class that he could detect from the Outer Celestial was on a completely different level from what he had faced so far. He would have to use everything he had.
Pzzzzz―!
Thick, sunset-colored fog fanned out from Chang-Sun.
[The middle volume of ‘Prelati’s Spellbook’ has been opened!]
Rustle!
Chang-Sun could hear pages turning inside his head.
[The fourth chapter, ‘Orígo Speciéi,’ has been applied, starting Anathema!]
Orígo Speciéi returned its user to the original state, which was before a soul was bound by the laws of nature, while Anathema put one beyond the laws of nature. Unlocking them meant Chang-Sun had successfully reached the last chapter to becoming an Outer Celestial.
Woosh, woosh, woosh!
Sunset-colored light cast down on Chang-Sun. Half of him was human, but the fog bizarrely mutated his other half, making him look as if he was sunset itself. Even the Cataclysm Celestial had blended into it.
All of the energy sweeping through the place was a part of him, but...
[Your understanding of the chapter is not deep enough!]
[The level of your Anathema is very low due to your insufficient mana!]
Chang-Sun bit his lower lip. The level of omnipotence he could use was weaker than he expected. ‘I guess I still have a long way to go.’
Chang-Sun had to be able to freely use complete omnipotence and omniscience to call himself a true Outer Celestial. Only then could he fight the Outer Celestial before him on equal grounds. Nevertheless, he was still at least capable of challenging most Eros Celestials.
Rummmmble―!
Chang-Sun sprang toward the Outer Celestial, his [Gungnir], which he heavily infused with his divine power, unleashing endless lightning sparks.
Pzzzz, pzzzz, pzzzz―!
Chang-Sun tackled the tentacle flying toward him head-on.
Boooooom!
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Woosh, swoosh, swish―!
A powerful explosion struck the Star Palace, the flames scattering from it creating even more explosions. Storms of heat clawed the area several times. Chang-Sun put everything he had into that attack, but...
‘... Impossible.’
Chang-Sun couldn’t help but be shocked. The opaque clouds of dust disappeared, revealing an unscathed tentacle. It didn’t even have a single trace of scorch marks, let alone scratches. It attacked him again as the eye at its tip furrowed in annoyance.
Smaaaaack!
Boooom―!
As if swatting a fly, the Outer Celestial struck Chang-Sun and sent him plunging him straight from the sky to the ground.
“Keough!” he groaned in pain.
Swoosh!
The tentacle beelined toward Chang-Sun like an arrow in an attempt to eat him. Pushing himself through the crushing pain, Chang-Sun thrust [Gungnir], deciding to deflect it since it was already too late to dodge.
However, it moved at speeds quicker than he expected.
Chang-Sun gritted his teeth. ‘I’m too late!’
The tentacle’s tip had already opened up again, this time revealing the mouth it would use to devour Chang-Sun.
Suddenly appearing in front of Chang-Sun, Odin swiftly waved his hand. Runes jumped out from thin air and formed a large magic circle that quickly turned into dozens of layers of barriers. Still unable to completely nullify the impact, Odin and Chang-Sun were sent flying quite a distance away.
“Be careful. That is not someone you can assess with your existing knowledge,” Odin advised as he looked at Chang-Sun with his blazing [Gnostic Eye]. “That is an Outer Celestial among Outer Celestials. I have no idea how she managed to summon that kind of being, but our situation surely couldn’t get any worse!”
An Outer Celestial among Outer Celestials. That expression made Chang-Sun realize that even Odin found their current opponent troublesome.
‘How in the world did such a being get here?’
The higher an Outer Celestial’s Divine Class was, the less interested they were in Eros’ domain. Considering it would take quite an amount of sacrificial offerings to pique their interest, Chang-Sun couldn’t even begin to fathom what offer Sadalmelik had made.
‘Chiron and Castor would be far from enough...’
The Zodiacs were certainly extraordinary beings, but Chang-Sun doubted even they were enough to intrigue the Outer Celestial.
Eat. Everyone.
Meanwhile, the Outer Celestial continued their feast.
[The Celestial ‘West Angel of the Prophecy’ has become a sacrificial offering!]
[The Celestial ‘ Medicine-Granting Air’ has become a sacrificial offering!]
...
Gabriel and Raphael, two of the three Seraphim, had been helplessly killed.
[The Celestial ‘Wealth-Wanting Deception’ screams while the Outer Celestial is eating him!]
[The Celestial ‘Chaos-Ocean-Stirring Mercury’ cries upon becoming a sacrificial offering!]
...
One after another, Mammon, Slyt, and the other Seven Deadly Sin Monarchs died as well.
[The Celestial ‘Sky-Resemble’ ignites his Myths to fight the unknown being!]
[The Celestial ‘Sky-Resemble’ has activated the Signature ‘Quis Ut Deus’[1]!]
[The Celestial ‘Sky-Resemble’ furiously swings his divine sword!]
...
Michael couldn’t stand it anymore. Despite [Gaia’s Curse] killing him from within, he tried to stop the Outer Celestial at the cost of his life. He was a narrow-minded person, but he was still the best warrior of <Maleakhe>, and he led the other seraphim on Metatron’s behalf. To maintain the Great Universe’s balance, he would have to send his people back to their original Worldline, but...
[The Celestial ‘Sky-Resemble’ has failed to activate his Signature!]
[The Celestial ‘Sky-Resemble’ has died!]
... the tentacle pierced through Michael before he could do anything.
Staaaab!
“This is... the <Extinction>... Gabriel talked about...!”
In his last moments, Michael finally understood Gabriel’s prophecy. It wasn’t actually about Chang-Sun. There were many Chang-Suns, and ‘Divine Twilight’ was just one of them. Bel-Marduk was another.
Their <Extinction> started the moment <Maleakhe> contacted Bel-Marduk to hinder the <Anti-Star> Alliance. They didn’t expect that summoning an Outer Celestial was Sadalmelik’s last resort against Bel-Marduk. However, it was too late to regret his actions now. Michael soon drooped lifelessly, his dove-like white feathers falling to the ground.
[The Society <Maleakhe> has fallen!]
[Worldline #801’s Absolute Good balance weight has completely crumbled down, weakening the law of causality’s wefts.]
[The system range has shrunk down!]
“Ah, shit! What are you all doing?! Stop that thing!” Satan shouted.
[The Celestial ‘Malignity-Drinking Satrun’ has created a barrier out of his subordinates to flee!]
Trying to escape in any way he could, Satan, the leader of <L’Infernal>, forced his subordinates to block the Outer Celestial’s tentacle. With his Divine Class disintegrating, he didn’t want to overwork himself. Even if it wasn’t, he would’ve still made the same decision. After all, he valued his life the most in this world.
Staaaab―!
It didn’t matter, however. The Outer Celestial easily broke through the barrier and pierced Satan in the back.
“Fuck—!”
More tentacles flew toward Satan and tore his relatively uninjured body to pieces before he could scream again.
[The Society <L’Infernal> has fallen!]
The horrors were just beginning.
[The Society <Horoscope> has fallen!]
All the remaining Star Signs were wiped away.
[The Society <Niflheim> has fallen!]
[The Society <Memphis> has fallen!]
...
[The <Anti-Star> Alliance has fallen!]
The <Anti-Star> Alliance desperately tried to fight back, but even they were killed one after another. Seeing all of them as neither ally nor enemy, the Outer Celestial annihilated everyone on the battlefield, even Tiamat.
『My dear...』Tiamat said with difficulty, still in her gigantic form. Over a dozen tentacles had gruesomely coiled around her.
『R...u...n...』
Tiamat looked at Chang-Sun through the gap between the tentacles.
Staaaab―!
Struck with another attack, her eyes blanked out.
Chang-Sun withdrew [Gungnir] and started to run, just like Tiamat told him to. Since fighting the Outer Celestial was suicide, he decided to escape from its reach to not waste the time Tiamat had bought for her.
* * *
Chang-Sun didn’t really have a choice, however. The Outer Celestial kept tracking him down no matter where he went.
[The Arcadian civilization has fallen!]
After Arcadia, Arin was next.
[The Celestial ‘Unknown Ancient Celestial,’ the protector of the Arcadian civilization, has died!]
[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ has died!]
[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ has died!]
[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ has died!]
The Celestials tried to protect Chang-Sun until the very end, but they couldn’t escape death.
‘What...’
Chang-Sun just kept running.
‘What in the world is that...?’
Chang-Sun ran as far as he could while trying to figure out the Outer Celestial’s identity. The Outer Celestial hadn’t revealed their true form yet, but they still had no trouble eating the Nine Heavens. For him to come up with a countermeasure, he would have to at least identify them first.
[You have failed to contact the Celestial ‘Abyss-Chasing Great Devil’ due to the unstable Channeling!]
......
[The Channeling to the Celestial ‘Abyss-Chasing Great Devil’ has been terminated.]
Unfortunately, Chang-Sun couldn’t even talk to Mephistopheles, who had warned him of the Outer Celestial and told him to run earlier. The Outer Celestial likely had something to do with this.
Odin was no different. He looked as if he knew something about their current opponent but disappeared at some point. Did he die or run away? He didn’t even know if Odin was alive or dead, let alone where he was. Chang-Sun was at a loss.
[The Celestial ‘Goddess of Massacre and Destruction’ says it has been fun as her head droops!]
[The Celestial ‘Thousand-Year Slumbering Dragon’ smiles bitterly and says that it seems she has to sleep for an eternity now even though she has just woken up from a long slumber!]
[The Celestial ‘Wandering Shadow’ smiles as he scatters into particles. He says that he is happy that he got to meet you one last time!]
Chang-Sun’s friends, the very people he fought so hard to bring back, disappeared once more. He desperately tried to find a solution, but...
[Your Subordinate ‘Jin Prezia’ smiles bitterly and tells you to stop crying because this is not your fault!]
[Your Subordinate ‘Sinmara’ is disappointed, thinking she could have done better if she could just see even just a bit of the future!]
... Chang-Sun had nowhere else to run now that he had lost all his subordinates.
[You have reached the end of Worldline #801’s galaxy.]
[Will you attempt a Worldline Leap?]
‘I can get back to Worldline #801 if I make this leap, but...’ Chang-Sun looked at the tentacle slithering toward him as he hesitated.
If he made the leap, the Outer Celestial could reach Worldline #801 too, which was where Cha Ye-Eun and his family were in.
Chang-Sun steeled his resolve as he tightened his grip on [Gungnir].
Paaah―!
He charged toward the tentacle.
* * *
That was the last thing he remembered.
* * *
[You have successfully logged onto a new Server!]
[Server: Arcadia.]
...
Ding!
Ding!
Chang-Sun opened his eyes as an alarm echoed in his already aching head.
[Recording your log-in history!]
...
[The possession has been completed!]
[Printing detailed information about your possessee.]
...
『W-who are you! Why are you inside me?! My body! Give me back my body!』
Chang-Sun frowned as he heard screams in his mind.
This whole situation seemed very familiar.
“L-Lord Inquisitor?”
“Why are you suddenly...”
The stunned executioners stared at Chang-Sun. Meanwhile, the convicts’ eyes widened as they stuck their necks out under the guillotines.
‘Why are they here...?’ Chang-Sun wondered.
These people died when Eos fell. How were they still here?
Chang-Sun quickly looked to the side.
[You have found your follower ‘Hiyan’!]
Among the crowd, Chang-Sun found the young follower who helped make his descent to Arcadia a success. At that moment, for a reason he still couldn’t figure out, he realized that he had been sent back to the time he returned to Arcadia.
1. The raw was ?? ??(Quis Ut Deus). The raw’s literal translation is Divine Punishment (Quis Ut Deus), but the actual meaning is Michael in Hebrew. ?