Return of the Shattered Constellation - Chapter 159

Chapter 159

「What do you think? They’re quite useful, aren’t they?」

Jin Prezia pompously bragged, still riding on his Ghost Devil Horse. His armor was shining in gray silver when he appeared, but it was now smeared with blood due to the many people he had killed. The triumphant Ghost Devil Horse also now looked down on the ground because of Cadmus, who was grandiloquently craning its neck as it sat on Chang-Sun’s shoulder.

After a silent nod, Chang-Sun scanned the ghost army. Although he had seen them last night in the Changgwi Cave, Jin and his other subordinates had basically become invincible now that they had begun to master the Gulgak hemomancy.

‘They’re like the Gildals of the White Tiger Clan,’ Chang-Sun thought.

It was safe to say that Jin, their leader, was as good as a Bihyeong[1]. Chang-Sun couldn’t help chuckling because it looked as if Jin wanted to be praised by him. Although Chang-Sun was looking up at Jin because he was riding the Ghost Devil Horse, Jin seemed to be the one looking up at Chang-Sun for some reason.

「What? You aren’t seriously going to say it’s only natural for us to be able to do at least this much, are you?」Jin asked.

Chang-Sun shrugged. “Well, you’ve spent all that time fighting in the Changgwi Cave, so yeah. Improve a little more.”

「Hey! That’s not fair—!」

Jin got cut off when Chang-Sun lightly waved his hand to unsummon Jin, returning him and his other subordinates to the Changgwi Cave.

『Argh! Is it that difficult for you to praise someone?!』

However, Jin just continued to grumble through their Soul Link. Paying him no attention, Chang-Sun approached Kunegunda, who had fallen to the ground.

“Kill…me…! Please…!” she muttered.

Kunegunda’s every limb had already been crushed, so all she could do was tremble in place. Fear had gotten a hold of her after she had gotten exposed to the Inferno Sights up until now. On top of that, the [Blood Toxin] paralyzed her every nerve, so she couldn’t even think properly anymore, meaning Chang-Sun didn’t have to bother taking her out.

[The Celestial ‘Big Sick Bug’ looks at you with discontentment.]

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ warns the Celestial ‘Big Sick Bug’ to get lost since his subordinate is incomparably stronger than the Celestial’s.]

[The Celestial ‘Bick Sick Bug’ ignores the warning of the Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ and just looks at you with bizarre curiosity.]

‘He took the bait,’ Chang-Sun thought, noticing Xue Yong showed great interest in him.

The <Purple Star Astrology> thought of their priests and clerics only as tools to get wealth and glory, and just like any Celestials of this <Society>, Xue Yong didn’t really care about Kunegunda, one of his high-ranking priests, even though she was dying. Instead, he was showing great interest in Chang-Sun due to that amazing battle.

‘I don’t have a Guardian, but I do have a strong, secret army, so he probably thinks I alone am enough to significantly increase his influence.’ Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes.

It seemed Xue Yong also had a rough idea about what was happening in regard to the [Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan]. He would be hitting the jackpot if he could have at least one of the cryptical books, giving him more reason to be interested in Chang-Sun.

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ growls, saying that if the Celestial ‘Big Sick Bug’ continues to invade his territory, he will consider it as a declaration of war.]

[The Celestial ‘Big Sick Bug’ asks how can a Player without a Guardian be the subordinate of the Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger.’]

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ bristles and puts his tail up!]

[The Celestial ‘Big Sick Bug’ scowls at the Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger.’]

[The violent staredown between the two Celestials is disrupting the Channeling connection!]

…

[The several <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials are watching the staredown between the two Celestials with deep interest!]

[The Twenty-Eight Mansion have declared that they will stay neutral.]

[The Three Enclosures have declared that they do not care.]

…

‘’It would be beneficial for me if Xue Yong continues to keep Heoju in check,” Chang-Sun thought.

Heoju didn’t hesitate to reveal how much he wanted to have him, so if Chang-Sun kept instigating Heoju, he could potentially extort several items and even drive a small wedge among the <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials. Hence, Chang-Sun planned to maximize this opportunity.

‘I’ll make a Celestial plummet to the ground.’ Chang-Sun crookedly smiled as he saw his plan progressing smoothly.

Slash!

He fiercely swung the [Yuchang Sword]. Kunegunda’s head powerlessly dropped to the ground and rolled sideways.

[The Authority ‘Soul Exploitation’ has been activated, successfully acquiring the ashes of the Player using the fire in the Purgatory Brazier.]

[5% of your stamina has been regained.]

…

Watching Kunegunda’s soul melting down in the Purgatory Brazier’s fire, Chang-Sun’s eyes shone coldly. ‘The Crna Ruka wanted to do two things: assassinate me and kidnap Mireille Aliano, whom they think is the child of the prophecy that they have to capture according to Xue Yong’s prophecy.’

Interestingly enough, there were two parties that requested his assassination, not just one. Gang Woo-Chan was the first to make the request, but he was just Department Shim Geon-Ho or Director Kim Yeon-Seung’s minion. Hence, he could easily find the link between Geon-Ho and Director Kim once he had grilled Woo-Chan. That aside, the identity of the other group surprised Chang-Sun.

‘The Illuminati tried to mess with me, huh?’ Chang-Sun smiled crookedly.

Chang-Sun had already refused Joachim Wolff’s offer, so there was only one reason why the Illuminati wanted to assassinate him.

‘There is a faction inside the Illuminati that isn’t on good terms with Joachim. Were they the ones who ordered the hit?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

Perhaps they took action out of worry that Chang-Sun would take over the Illuminati, but he would still have zero intention to lead them even if they showered him with gold… Nevertheless, he couldn’t just sit on his hands now that they had tried to mess with him.

‘People usually want to do it more if someone tells them to not do it.’ Chang-Sun shrugged.

No matter how rationally Chang-Sun usually moved, he was fundamentally a fiend who resisted harder the more anyone tried to contain him. Wondering how he should deal with the Illuminati, Chang-Sun’s eyes turned cold.

* * *

[The Skill ‘Windstalking Tiger’ has been activated, manifesting the Skill ‘Lightness’!]

Swoosh―!

Considering his Soul Link with his subordinate that was tailing Mireille was getting weaker, It seemed Kunegunda and her assassins managed to stall him for quite some time. Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes

‘They’ve gotten pretty far.’ Chang-Sun clicked his tongue.

The assassins that kidnapped Mireille had run off to an isolated area that had a big, impressive palm tree. It was pretty far from the Safe Zone.

[You have found the Comfort Zone ‘Oasis’!]

The oasis seemed to be their rendezvous point. The terrain of the ‘Wuthering Stone Desert’ wasn’t entirely rough. Even though they were very rare, the Dungeon had oases where the Players could rest if they missed the train or got left behind.

‘For now…’ Chang-Sun manifested a different skill using [Windstalking Tiger] to approach the assassins more carefully.

[The manifested Skill ‘Lightness’ has changed into the Skill ‘Concealment’!]

The air current around Chang-Sun changed, and he disappeared into the thin air. Although he could just barge in, he had to rescue Mireille. He had to be as quiet as possible to avoid them using her as a hostage. Luckily, the assassins that had gathered up around the oasis didn’t sense Chang-Sun until he had approached them close enough.

There were nine assassins in total, all wearing black clothes. The man who seemed to be their leader was talking to his subordinate that had kidnapped and was carrying the unconscious Mireille on his back.

“How is the target?” the leader asked.

“I drugged her, so she’s asleep and luckily uninjured,” the subordinate reported.

“Did anyone follow you?” the leader narrowed his eyes.

“The Revenant Clan’s Henri Bloque and Nicolas Fouquet persistently chased us, but we successfully threw them off.”

“Are you sure?” the leader crossed his arms.

“Yes, sir.” the subordinate confidently nodded.

“Is that so?” Cansio’s eyes, their leader, turned cold when his subordinate answered confidently. “Who is that behind you, then?”

“What…?!” His subordinate’s eyes widened as he urgently turned.

Woosh!

[A firestorm rages!]

From out of nowhere, an enormous Eon Fire ignited and, like wildfire, spread throughout the oasis.

“Argggh!”

“Urgggh! S-save me!”

The fire was so hot and intense that the pond that made up the oasis instantly evaporated and the palm tree caught on fire, eventually ending up collapsing sideways.

Thud…!

The assassins naturally couldn’t survive the fire. Meanwhile, crossing through it, Chang-Sun held out his hand and tried to snatch Mireille Aliano, but Cansio was quicker. He pulled out his rapier and aimed for Chang-Sun’s wrist.

At that moment, Chang-Sun wondered if he should retreat or take the risk and try to take Mireille anyway. Quickly making a decision, he pulled his hand out.

Swoosh!

Cansio narrowly missed Chang-Sun’s right arm and ended up stabbing the air, creating a sharp gust of wind. Chang-Sun could see Cansio’s black Aura quietly dissipating.

‘It wouldn’t have ended well if I took the risk,’ Chang-Sun thought.

Considering only an expert swordsman that had [Sword Mastery] could create Aura Blade, an assassin that could use Aura was absurd. It seemed he was incomparably stronger than Kunegunda, whom Chang-Sun recently went up against.

‘I might have to try my best here,’ Chang-Sun thought, pulling out the [Yuchang Sword].

As the sword’s divine energy spread like a storm, Chang-Sun conjured the navy blue Aura Blade, which was mixed with <Darkness> and was much more vivid and sharper than Cansio’s. Cansio’s eyes lost focus when he noticed it, but he was determined not to lose. He poised himself and fiercely swung his sword. Unlike Kunegunda, he was great at controlling his emotions.

Clang, clang, clang!

In a flash, Chang-Sun and Cansio exchanged a dozen attacks.

Paah―!

Holding [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] in a reverse grip, Chang-Sun fiercely swung the dagger with his left hand and closed in on Cansio. Being an unusually skilled swordsman for an assassin didn’t really matter that much. He was still no match for Chang-Sun.

Slash―!

Splash!

Cansio’s left arm flew away, splattering a fountain of blood in the air. Despite losing a limb, Cansio just gritted his teeth and held out his right hand toward Chang-Sun, seemingly eager to keep going. Aiming for Chang-Sun’s face, Cansio fired the three daggers installed inside his sleeve.

Swish, swoosh, swish!

Chang-Sun easily dodged all the daggers with a slight tilt of his head. Since he used to have the [King of All Weapons] trait, it would take a fighting deity or warring deity to beat him in close-quarters combat.

[The State ‘Cruel Tiger’ has been activated, activating the Additional Skill ‘Cruel TIger’s Venomous Fang’!]

Planning to put an end to this fight, Chang-Sun swung the [Yuchang Sword] diagonally toward Cansio’s throat.

Swoosh!

With the sword right before Cansio’s neck, he no longer had any means to dodge or block it. Chang-Sun was about to finish Cansio for good with his Aura Blade, but the latter suddenly disappeared. Although he didn’t use the Concealment Skill or swiftly dodged the attack, Cansio completely disappeared as if he used Blink or outright teleported.

[An invisible enemy has targeted you!]

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ is warning you of incoming danger!]

[The Celestial ‘Big Sick Bug’ is looking forward to seeing your reaction!]

“…!” Chang-Sun swiftly turned sideways as soon as he read the message that popped before him. Swinging the [Yuchang Sword] at where Cansio used to be, flames dropped and exploded along with the sword’s divine energy, creating a firestorm.

Boom―!

The ‘invisible enemy’ that had targeted Chang-Sun extracted Cansio from this fight and leaped backward, greatly distancing themself from Chang-Sun.

Boom, boom―!

Woosh, woosh, woosh!

The firestorm chaotically raged and turned the ruins of the oasis upside down, spreading the heated air outward.

Woosh, tap!

Amid the heated air, the ‘invisible enemy’ appeared from the sky. She somersaulted and landed on the charred palm tree.

[The Authority ‘Monster Excursion’ has been activated, strongly warning you to get out of this place.]

[Warning! You are now on the verge of death!]

[Warning! Death is approaching!]

[Warning!]

…

Although Chang-Sun was using the Inferno Sights at its maximum output, he still felt a shiver run down his spine when he saw the enemy. As if she was squeezing his heart, he felt suffocated.

‘She’s dangerous.’ Chang-Sun instinctively felt how dangerous the enemy was.

It would be very difficult to defeat the enemy before him with his current abilities. Considering he currently felt the same way as he did when he couldn’t win against Sword Sky Tiger Munseong, his current enemy had to have reached the highest level a human could reach. The world called such people Overlords.

“Huh, you avoided [Single Red Dot].” The enemy smiled, looking at Chang-Sun. “Hmm, you probably know who I am by now. When I heard you killed Hong Gi-Nam, I thought you were just an ordinary rookie, but that’s certainly not the case. Considering you killed Kunegunda and almost killed Cansio… You must have been hiding your skills, huh?”

As the woman chuckled pleasantly, Chang-Sun noticed she wasn’t wearing a mask, unlike the other assassins. It was as if it didn’t matter if others found out who she was.

“Or…” Although her smile was gentle, her eyes were shining like that of a predator’s. “… you swiftly became so much stronger after you killed Hong Gi-Nam. Whatever the case is, you’re truly remarkable.”

The original owner of the skill [Single Red Dot], leader of the Crna Ruka—Czestochowa the Killer Overlord had appeared.

1. Bihyeong is the leader of all ghosts in Korean mythology because he was conceived when the deceased Shilla king made love to Bihyeong’s mother. The king wanted her as his concubine when he was still alive, but Bihyeong’s mother refused because she had a husband at the time. Hence, the Shilla king visited Bihyeong’s mother after her husband passed away. ☜