Return of the Shattered Constellation - Chapter 156

Chapter 156

[You are sharing one of the abilities of your Subordinate ‘Cadmus’ through the ‘Inauspicious Heart’!]

[Dragons are very wise creatures, so they can understand all living and nonliving beings.]

[You can now understand and speak all the existing languages.]

Cadmus made it possible for Chang-Sun to understand the conversation between Henri and his friends. He could have ignored it and let it pass by, but he would never forgive anyone who would dare hurt his team members’ honor and pride. That was why Chang-Sun unsparingly used [Tiger Kill] and intimidated Henri and his friends, filling the banquet room with suffocating silence.

Gulp!

The sound of someone nervously swallowing their saliva loudly echoed throughout the room. Henri and the rookie Players weren’t the only ones Chang-Sun had surprised. Most of the French Players in this room were also shocked.

‘Lee Chang-Sun is capable of this much?’

‘The rumors about the Tyrant are true… No, they actually undervalue his ability.’

‘I can see now how he cleared three Dungeons.’

People were sweating hard, some of them looking at the staredown with sparkling eyes and some gritting their teeth upon realizing Chang-Sun was more skilled than they had thought. The question of how in the world they should report this fact to their superiors filled a few of the people’s heads as well. On the other hand, most of the French Players had dropped their jaws.

‘Those idiots…!’

‘What have they done?!’

It likely wouldn’t have been a problem during the Age of Exploration, the time when imperialism still prevailed, but racist remarks were taboos in Western countries now. If someone officially raised an issue about this staredown, the French government wouldn’t be able to interfere or cover it up since the Council was an international organization under the UN.

Although the French media sugarcoated them as heroes, the French Clans had already been having trouble dealing with the rookie Players because they were arrogant and selfish. No matter how hard they tried to change them, they remained uncontrollable just because they had already gained fame and wealth at such young ages. The Clans had somehow been able to sort things out before… but not this time. A full-blown accident had taken place.

‘We have to do something about this!’

‘If this incident leaks out to the public, my country’s name will be in the gutter!’

‘Shit! Why did this have to happen while those Germans are here…!’

Bewildered and wondering what to do, the French Clan executives quickly exchanged glances. Their biggest problem was that Joachim and the people from the Illuminati’s French headquarters were at this welcoming party, so this could turn into a serious international political issue. The executives had to sort this out.

‘Do the Koreans… know what’s going on?’

‘What are they thinking?’

People furtively looked at the Korean Players, finding them just quietly looking at Chang-Sun and the French rookie Players. Hyeon-Ryong just watched the staredown with interest despite being able to speak French since he had no intention to interfere. Hence, the French Clan executives couldn’t figure out what the Koreans Players were thinking. Did they not understand French or were they just watching how the situation was developing?

However, Nicolas Fouquet of the Revenant knew Hyeon-Ryong spoke French. Hence, the Koreans could learn about the conversation anytime regardless. Thinking he should resolve this situation before Hyeon-Ryong intervened, Nicolas wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and approached Chang-Sun, speaking in French to sort things out before the Korean Players found out.

“It looked like Mr. Lee Chang-Sun misunderstood—!” Nicolas said.

“I’m asking Mr. Bloque and his friends, so why aren’t you the one answering me, Mr. Bloque?” Chang-Sun interrupted, immediately stopping Nicolas from interfering. The Inferno Sights in his eyes grew bigger, showing Chang-Sun wasn’t going to let it pass if Nicolas uttered nonsense. The Sights shocked Nicolas so hard the people watching couldn’t even begin to fathom it.

“That’s…!” Henri forced himself to speak, but his voice trembled, making him hate himself. Hence, he instead tried to escape from this indescribable unpleasantness somehow.

[You have fallen prey to fear!]

[You cannot escape the fear.]

[You cannot escape the fear.]

…

Henri was so intimidated it was as if someone invisible was watching him from behind, yet it also somehow felt as if he was stranded on an island.

[You have entered the ‘Panic’ state.]

[All Skill activations have been canceled.]

[All Authority activations have been canceled.]

It was Henri’s first time feeling like this since he became a Player. Although he wanted to say something, he couldn’t even look Chang-Sun in the eyes or breath properly because it felt like invisible hands were squeezing his lungs. It was as if the world around him was turning. He forcefully pulled himself together to get out of this situation, but his voice still noticeably trembled as he replied, “You’ve… misunderstood.”

Badump, badump, badump!

Even saying a short sentence to Chang-Sun made Henri’s heart race. It was so loud that he could vividly hear his blood circulating inside his veins and feel his hand sweating while he was still in a handshake with Chang-Sun.

“I misunderstood?” Chang-Sun threw the question very nonchalantly, so no one could tell how Chang-Sun felt right now.

“Th-th-that’s right.” Henri nodded with difficulty.

“Is that so?” Chang-Sun silently looked at Henri for a while, then slowly let go of his hand. “I’m glad I was wrong.”

The [Tiger Kill] filling the banquet room disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place, and the Inferno Sights in his eyes also disappeared at some point. Although the Team L members weren’t sure what exactly was going on, they heaved a sigh of relief with the French Players.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

However, Henri was still having trouble calming down his racing heart.

* * *

The welcoming party was ruined, so it didn’t take long for it to come to an end. After Henri blankly came outside and breathed in the cold wind, he finally pulled himself together.

‘How dare… that yellow monkey humiliate me like this?’ Henri clenched his fists.

After everything had been sorted out, Henri vividly felt the humiliation that hadn’t coursed through him until now. The desire to kill Chang-Sun filled his head.

“Woah! Chang-Sun is savage. He looked like he killed at least several people. Is he a demonic being or something?”

“Are you okay, Henri?”

“You were really great. We couldn’t even stand straight.”

“Right, right.”

His friends followed and exaggeratedly consoled him, but he didn’t miss how they were grinning.

‘You all couldn’t do anything either…! Just wait and see. I’ll come after you bastards after I teach Lee Chang-Sun a lesson,’ Henri angrily thought.

Fortunately, they were going to enter the Dungeon the day after tomorrow. Although Henri wasn’t sure how Chang-Sun had intimidated him, Chang-Sun wouldn’t be able to use his tricks anymore once they had entered. That was when Henri would have his revenge. Clenching his teeth in anger, Henri heard someone calling him from behind.

“Henri.” Mireille Aliano, Henri’s closest colleague and fiancee, came up to him.

“What?” Henri curtly replied.

“Be care… No, nothing.” Mireille was going to warn Henri to be careful but stopped when she saw his eyes burning with madness. No matter what she said right now, Henri would just think she was being sarcastic.

‘He should be careful…!’

Mireille couldn’t help feeling nervous. After all, her dear summon had been whispering all sorts of warnings to her since a moment ago.

『Please r-run! Get away, get away, get away… It’s not too late…!』

‘Who is he? What’s making you react this way?’ Mireille asked.

『Didn’t you see his eyes? Didn’t you? He’s the same as me yet different. He can burn me up and absorb me. He’ll kill you, me….!』

Her dear summon and Guardian, ‘Wind-Hating Daughter,’ wasn’t good at speaking in human languages, so their conversations usually weren’t smooth. Nevertheless, she always acted arrogant, much like anyone who held divinity would… However, she started acting like this the moment she saw the blue fires in Chang-Sun’s eyes. It was as if they triggered her deep trauma. Mireille tried to console her Guardian somehow, but she couldn’t pull herself together.

Mireille’s right hand faintly trembled, so she grabbed it with her left hand to stop the shaking. However, she wasn’t the one trembling right now. It was her summon who held divinity, and it was out of fear of a mere mortal.

‘Lee Chang-Sun, Lee Chang-Sun…’ Mireille repeated.

Since she had signed a contract with her summon, Mireille could also feel the fear of the ‘Wind-Hating Daughter,’ which made her tense up. She wanted to run away from Chang-Sun, just as her summon advised, but she couldn’t because of the contract she signed with her Clan. Hence, she thought she should just avoid Chang-Sun once they had entered the Dungeon now that things had turned out this way.

On the other hand, Henri, who was walking, stopped when he saw Nicolas, who was leaning against a wall with crossed arms as he looked at Henri. Nicolas was Henri’s teacher in the Revenant Clan— the Clan that had given Henri, an orphan, a chance, becoming his home and cage.

“That wasn’t like you.” Nicolas narrowed his eyes.

“… I wasn’t feeling good.” Henri looked at the ground.

“If so, good.” Nicolas nodded.

Tap, tap!

Nicolas uncrossed his arms and tapped Henri’s right shoulder a couple of times to cheer him up, but Henri just felt his heart becoming heavy for some reason.

“Don’t forget that we made who you are now. If you waste our efforts, we will have no choice but to take the spotlight away from you,” Nicholas said before he left.

Henri clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug into his flesh.

* * *

[You have entered the Dungeon ‘Wuthering Stone Desert.’]

[Commencing the Dungeon Quest!]

[Quest Theme: Escape.]

[A train that travels across the ‘Wuthering Stone Desert’ stops by the station every few days. Protect it from the many obstacles it will encounter, including monsters, and escape the stone desert.]

[The train is divided into four sectors. The further to the front you go, the more survival tools and Hidden Pieces you will find. Use them wisely.]

[To complete the quest, every participant has been granted access to their <Inventory>, <Status Window>, and <Skill Window>.]

“Phew…! Fuck, I’m here again.”

“Yeah, I can’t believe I have to go through this shit again. Why did I decide to come here again anyway? Nothing good will come out of this.”

The Players loudly complained as soon as they entered the Dungeon. Some even frowned deeply without hesitation. Since the ‘Wuthering Stone Desert’ had been France’s problem for quite some time now, many Clans tried to clear it, but all of their attempts failed due to the Dungeon’s unique environment.

That was why most of the Players in the Dungeon right now had already experienced the same kind of failure and were complaining because of it. If the White Tiger Clan didn’t announce that they wanted to clear the ‘Wuthering Stone Desert’ and the French government didn’t decide to send in French Players so they wouldn’t be embarrassed by foreigners, they wouldn’t have had to go through this trouble.

‘Even if the Tyrant is stronger than we expected…’

‘It’s impossible to cross the stone desert completely.’

The one hundred and twenty Players who had been sent by the three major French Clans—the Revenant, Orlando, and Youth Fountain—kept an eye on Chang-Sun, who just stretched without paying attention to them.

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ looks forward to seeing your performance because regions with rough environments tend to have new games to hunt.]

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ narrows his eyes, feeling as if this place is familiar for some reason.]

‘It’s really hot. It’s the complete opposite of the last Dungeon I was in,’ Chang-Sun thought.

The ‘Wuthering Stone Desert’ was completely different from the cold ‘Yeti Hill.’ Its endlessly vast plain’s environment was so horrible that it was hard to even find a drop of water, and it had hungry monsters roaming all over it. The sunlight was scorchingly hot during the day, and its nights were bone-chillingly cold.

Crossing the stone desert on foot was impossible, so people had to get on a train to escape it, just like in the Dungeon Quest description. Moreover, aside from the items on the train, it was very difficult to find food and water, so those who missed or fell off of it were as good as dead. Since this Dungeon’s difficulty level was ridiculous, and it didn’t even have valuable resources, the French government neglected the ‘Wuthering Stone Desert’ for a long time.

‘That’s not what makes this Dungeon valuable,’ Chang-Sun thought.

He was the only one who knew the true value of this Dungeon.

“Have you heard of Surtr?” Thanatos asked.

“Surtr…? Are you talking about the king of Muspelheim?” Chang-Sun stroked his chin.

“Yes, the Fire Giant King Surtr.” Thanatos nodded.

“Isn’t he dead?” Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes.

“He did die an eon ago.” Thanatos shrugged.

“But?” Chang-Sun asked.

“The plane that Surtur ruled and met with the <Extinction> is on Earth.” Thanatos smiled.

Chang-Sun was greatly surprised when he first heard about it from Thanatos. Surtr the Fire Giant King was a Celestial who was just as great as Minerva, and he ruled over the fire plane. He was known for having made countless universes collapse.

However, he was found dead one day. No one knew the cause of his death, so others just thought he had met his giant karma. Due to his death, Musphelheim, his territory, was met with <Extinction>. The ‘Wuthering Stone Desert’ was Musphelheim’s vestige.

“You said you’re going to make your Eon Fire as big as possible to acquire Blood Lightning, didn’t you? Then find the divine sword that Surtr used before he died. It will be a big help to you.” Thanatos advised.

Surtr had always carried a divine sword named Laevateinn, which had a legend about how only a Fire Giant King could own it.

“The secret to getting to ‘Rhaegaren,’ where the sword is stored, is in that train,” Thanatos explained.

Chang-Sun planned to obtain Laevateinn. If he could use the sword with the Jigwi’s Eon Fire, he would be able to make the fire as big as it could be.

‘The Hidden Pieces to open Rhaegaren are hidden all over the train. I should prioritize finding all of them,’ Chang-Sun thought, looking at Henri and the other French volunteer Players.

Mirelle looked unusually worried.

‘Of course, I have to find the exact location of the [Fifth Cryptical Book of Hsan] before I do that.’ Chang-Sun decided.

While everyone focused on completing the Dungeon Quest, Mireille would break away from the Players at some point. Chang-Sun would seize that opportunity.

『I haven’t found anything odd yet,』the subordinate whom Chang-Sun had instructed to tail Mireille reported.

Chang-Sun silently nodded. ‘Alright, keep watching her.’

『Yes, sir!』the subordinate answered.

At the same time, Nicolas, who had volunteered to lead the Players, instructed, “Then let’s move.”

The Players headed to the nearby train station, which was the eonly building in this desolate stone desert. When they did, they saw a long, rusty railroad laid before the station. It was the Dungeon’s Safe Zone. The Dungeon Quest would start once they got on the train that arrived at regular intervals.

“Argh! The weather is horrible. I liked ‘Yeti Hill’ better… Are you okay, oppa?” Shin Eun-Seo said, looking noticeably tired due to the iron armor she wore. Unfortunately, she needed it as the team’s tank. Shin Geum-Gyu made his Magical Core levitate and created cold winds, but it was still hot for Eun-Seo. Even Woo Hye-Bin had taken off her leather armor and was fanning herself with her hand. Meanwhile, Baek Gyeo-Ul, who was soaked with sweat, looked at Chang-Sun in amazement.

Chang-Sun nodded at Gyo-Ul to reassure him, then tried to instruct the team members to put on their defense gear even though it was difficult to do so. Due to the characteristic of ‘Wuthering Stone Desert’, monsters could attack them anytime. However, Chang-Sun couldn’t even finish what he was saying. The moment several French volunteer Players entered the station, Chang-Sun felt a shiver run down his spine.

[The Authority ‘Monster Excursion’ has been activated, warning you of incoming danger!]

“Look out! Put on your gear—!” Chang-Sun shouted.

Boom!

Rumble, rumble―!

An explosion big enough to brighten up the whole station took place.