Return of the Shattered Constellation - Chapter 190

Chapter 190

『Thanatos!』

Looking at Thanatos’ eye, Xue Yong trembled in fear. Although only one of Thanatos’ eyes was currently visible, Xue Yong could still sense Thanatos’ divine class, which was incomparably higher than his. It intimidated him greatly and made him feel insignificant.

Among the numerous Celestials, Xue Yong was one of the few <Stars> that could shine on their own and brightened the great <Nox>, but, in the end, he wasn’t enough to come face to face with <Empyrean Star>, making him feel ashamed.

『You call my name so casually, as if I am your friend. Does my title of ‘King of the <Underworld>’ mean nothing to you?』

『…!』

『Well, I can tell why you have no problem calling me by my name. If you truly feared me, then you would not have dared try that kind of stunt in my realm.』

Thanatos quietly chuckled, but his laughter did nothing to calm Xue Yong down; if anything, it made him feel even more terrified. He felt as if he had goosebumps all over his thick shell. Xue Yong tried to say something to get himself out of this situation.

『<Heaven> and the <Underworld> have signed a mutual non-aggression treaty! Treating me like a criminal is a violation of the trea—!』

『If you were going to mention the treaty, you should not have coveted my realm in the first place. Did you think I would not know that you are all trying to find R’lyeh by gathering Faith on Earth?』

Thanatos was fed up and annoyed with Xue Yong’s attitude. In contrast, Xue Yong had turned as pale as a child whose parents had caught them reading an adult magazine. He kept looking around him as he noticeably trembled.

『H-how did you find….!』

『I hope you realize that I have not been remaining silent because I was stupid.』

Chang-Sun noticed the faint fury of Thanatos, so he looked back and forth between Thanatos and Xue Yong, who had no idea what to do right now.

『Anyhow, just like I wanted, I got one of the small fries, so things will now proceed more swiftly.』

Thud!

It sounded like Thanatos had slammed the armrest of his throne.

『I, King of the Underworld, has reached a verdict for the defendant Xue Yong.』

Rumble…!

With the absolute power of Wordwielding, which was forcefully applied by the <Empyrean Star>, several laws of nature started to come into effect again, and the metal chains around Xue Yong tightened further. Thanatos was trying to make Xue Yong’s verdict into a law of nature. Once Thanatos had completed this process, no Celestial would be able to escape, no matter how great they were.

『No! Please! Please have mercy…!』Xue Yong hurriedly yelled.

『Seal the defendant.』

Thanatos passed his judgment without hesitation.

『Noooo!!!!!』

Clank!

Creak―!

Completely ignoring Xue Yong’s desperate screams, the pulley started to turn again, making dozens of chains forcefully drag him into the very small spatial gap. Chang-Sun wasn’t sure if Xue Yong would fit into the narrow gap, since he was gigantic, but his size didn’t seem to make any difference whatsoever. Xue Yong was sucked into the gap, his shell and flesh getting destroyed and squashed in the process.

Whirl!

『I can’t go like this…!』

Xue Yong dug into the ground using his remaining arm.

“You’re acting pathetic. You’re going to be sealed no matter what you do, so just go already.” Chang-Sun crushed Xue Yong’s hand with his foot, not wanting to waste more time.

『Arggghhh!』

With his scream echoing, Xue Yong was completely dragged into the spatial gap. Chang-Sun was all too familiar with what was beyond it—an abyss, the bottomless hole of darkness, and the prison for the Celestials who had committed crimes. Those who ended up there were called <Fallen Stars>.

Zing, zinng!

When the spatial gap closed up, a one-meter-long sword pierced through where the gap had been, howling. From tip to hilt the entire demonic sword was pitch black. It was the [Execution Sword], which was traditionally handed down only to the rulers of the <Underworld>.

『I’ll decide the details of his sentence in the later trials… How do you feel about claiming your first revenge, special-rank reaper?』

Thanatos’ eye, which had stared at him with the gaze of a strict judge moments before, now had the sparkle of a mischievous boy who wanted to have fun. Chang-Sun was doing a better job than Thanatos expected. Even though he had given Chang-Sun the [Execution Sword], Thanatos had believed that it would take five more years for Chang-Sun to start the sealing process. However, he had done it in less than a year.

Furthermore, Chang-Sun was becoming more powerful faster than they had originally planned in the <Underworld>, and yet, the power he gained wasn’t unstable. In fact, his power was so stable that even Thanatos was surprised.

“How do I feel? You’re asking an obvious question.” Brushing his hair backward, Chang-Sun coldly smiled. “Very good. I feel like I have finally started.”

『That’s the spirit.』

Thanatos burst into a pleased laughter, thinking he had definitely chosen the right man to be his partner.

『Talking like this any further won’t do us any good, so I’ll contact you later.』

Rumble!

Thanatos closed his eye, and the intense aura that had been weighing down on the whole world disappeared as if it had never existed.

[The Authority ‘Execution Sword’ has been deactivated!]

[The Divine Trial has been completed.]

[The courtroom has closed.]

[Trial result: Seal.]

…

[You have successfully completed your first mission as the special-rank reaper, which was given by the Celestial ‘King of the Underworld.’ Your karma is increasing.]

[As a reward, you have regained a part of your revoked Divine Class.]

Clank, clank―!

At that moment Chang-Sun felt some of the restraining devices that had been choking his soul get removed.

“Now that we have formed a contract, it’ll be unfair in some ways to force you to seal the Celestials without any rewards just so you can get your revenge. Besides, it will demotivate you.” Thanatos said.

“Do you have an idea?” Chang-Sun asked.

“Of course, what do you think about…” Thanatos trailed off.

“About?”

“About me returning little pieces of your lost divine class or revoked divine essence whenever you successfully complete your mission? How does that sound?” Thanatos grinned.

“… That’s possible? I thought they had all disappeared already.” Chang-Sun raised one of his eyebrows.

“Why wouldn’t it be? In the end, the Divine Steel shackles are restraining you and your powers.”

Even though he had originally thought it was impossible, Chang-Sun had now found out that he could regain his power as the ‘Divine Twilight’!

[Searching for Authorities to be restored!]

[Searching for the most suited Authorities based on the achievements you have made so far.]

The ‘Divine Twilight’ had ruled over battlefields with five Authorities, which all originated from his unique Trait [King of Weapons]. Numerous Celestials called them the Inverted Pentagram or the Death-Calling Fiend’s Five Weapons.

[Storm Era] was the Authority Chang-Sun inherited from Ithaca, who used to be his Guardian and lover, and [Despising Weakness] was the technique he learned and developed into an Authority. Chang-Sun also had [Landslide], which he often used to ensure his victory, and [False Belief], which he created by actively utilizing runes. He used it to protect himself from his enemies’ barrage of attacks and magic spells. Lastly…

‘With [Blood Law], I could use magic through my enemies’ blood,’ Chang-Sun recalled.

[The Authority ‘Blood Law’ has been restored!]

[Due to your low Class, the full restoration of the Authority has failed. Many of the Effects have been downgraded, creating subskills.]

[Congratulations! You have acquired the Subskill ‘Bloodthirst.’]

[Congratulations! You have acquired the Subskill ‘Bloodshed.’]

[Bloodthirst]

A subskill of ‘Blood Law,’ the signature Authority of the ‘Divine Twilight.’ By leaving a mark on one’s target, the skill user can make the target bleed. The blood that the target sheds will be owned by the skill user and can be used as a medium for curses.

· Skill level: 1

· Type: Skill. Subauthority.

· Effect: Target Selection. Forced Bleeding. Cast Curse.

[Bloodshed]

A subskill of ‘Blood Law,’ the signature Authority of the ‘Divine Twilight.’ The skill user can cast curses on anyone in contact with the malevolence-filled blood that this subskill spreads.

· Skill level: 1

· Type: Skill. Subauthority.

· Effect: Inflict Malignity. Activate Curse.

‘It’s a bit disappointing that I couldn’t get the complete version of [Blood Law], but these are still good.’ Chang-Sun nodded.

[Bloodthirst] and [Bloodshed] were basically two of the three components that made up [Blood Law].

‘The last component was blood.’ Chang-Sun recalled.

While going through the <Myth War>, Chang-Sun always regretted being unable to properly use the rune magic that he had learned from Gramps. Because he only fought with one weapon on the frontlines, he didn’t get the opportunity to utilize rune magic despite its usefulness.

That was why Chang-Sun decided to use blood. Since blood and corpses were the most common on battlefields, he thought of using blood with rune magic, ending up creating these two skills.

‘My blood is the most efficient while using rune magic, but I’ll just be depleting my stamina if I use every bit of it during battles,’ Chang-Sun thought.

Chang-Sun had been using his blood to use rune magic, and these subskills were the advanced versions of that method. Using the blood of his enemies, he could create runes, curse his opponents, and bless his allies. Nothing could be more efficient than these subskills.

Moreover, inflicting people with [Bloodthirst] allowed him to gradually draw out [Bloodshed], inflicting splash damage to those near his target. In other words, [Blood Law] was a form of rune magic that Chang-Sun had created himself.

Chang-Sun would naturally be very careful in using these skills because everything that had happened here was veiled, temporarily keeping the <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials from learning that Xue Yong had been sealed. They could later suspect that he had something to do with Xue Yong getting sealed, but they would never be completely certain that Chang-Sun, a mortal, had hunted a <Star>; as far as their knowledge went, that was simply not possible.

‘They would much rather think that the <Star> who has been defeated by a mortal is a fool. Hmmm, will I be able to increase my value more then?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

That aside, Chang-Sun decided to only use his new skills as supplementary tools to rune magic. He wouldn’t use the main effect of [Blood Law], either, since it would remind the Celestials of the ‘Divine Twilight.’

‘Now, then…’ Chang-Sun narrowed his eyes.

[As another reward, you can extract one of the Authorities of the Celestial ‘Big Sick Bug’ ]

[What will you choose?]

[Authority List]

1. Locust Swarm

2. Human Face

3. Ghost Star

…

Chang-Sun’s eyes gleamed. The [Execution Sword] Thanatos had given him didn’t just seal Celestials. It could also be used to extract power from those he had sealed. Since Chang-Sun was trying to get to a higher level than the ‘Divine Twilight’ had ever reached, the Authority’s characteristic intrigued him. It was the same as taking away part of the <Myth> that the <Star> had made to become a <Star>!

While forming the plan to seal Xue Yong, Chang-Sun had already decided on which Authority he would take. With sparkling eyes, he chose the one in the middle of the list.

‘I’m glad it’s on the list.’

6. Demon Face

[Demon Face] allowed its user to turn one’s personality into a persona in the form of a mask. Xue Yong and Czestochowa just used it to enhance their stat points, but from Chang-Sun’s perspective, it was actually a very inefficient way to use it.

‘No matter how many faces I make, I can only use one of them at a time, but if I can give the faces to my subordinates…’

He already had over twenty subordinates, and the more of the Changgwi Cave Chang-Sun conquered, the bigger his army would become. Furthermore, just like what he had done with the Elfin Root and Sinmara, he could also recruit exceptional warriors to join his army, creating an army as remarkable as Odin’s legendary Valhalla. If Chang-Sun could create faces and give one to each and every one of them…

‘All of my soldiers will have the Trait of the ‘Divine Twilight,’’ Chang-Sun thought.

Just imagining it made him tremble in excitement.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t Odin have other divine names like ‘Mighty Father of Warriors’ and ‘Monarch of Living Corpses’? Chang-Sun recalled.

There was also a rumor that Odin could summon storms and shoot lightning bolts…so, in some ways, Odin and Chang-Sun had a lot in common. After all, Chang-Sun had just learned <Dusk Lightning> and was also proficient in rune magic.

[You have chosen the Authority ‘Demon Face’!]

[You have revoked and successfully extracted an Authority from the Celestial ‘Big Sick Bug.’]

…

[Acquired the Authority ‘Demon Face’!]

[Demon Face]

Extorted from the Celestial ‘Big Sick Bug,’ this Authority can turn the dormant personalities and Talents in one’s subconscious into a mask. Wearing the mask will enhance the Talent it’s imbued with, temporarily increasing the related stat points. However, it could result in the other stat points temporarily decreasing.

· Skill level: 1

· Type: Authority.

· Effect: Mask Creation. Enhance Talent. Ability Enhancement.

‘Xue Yong, I’ll put your authority to good use.’ Chang-Sun coldly smiled.

Not only had he regained one of his powers from his prime, but he had also obtained one of Xue Yong’s Authorities. In addition, just as he had desired, he had obtained the Giant king’s throne and <Dusk Lightning>, which gave him the means to become incomparably stronger far more quickly than before. While he was joyfully reading the description window of [Demon Face], more messages popped up.

[You have completed the resolution of your <Fable>.]

…

[You have completed your second class acquisition quest!]

[Selecting your second class based on your <Fable> and first class.]

[Selecting.]

…

‘Finally!’ Chang-Sun’s eyes shone.