Return of the Shattered Constellation - Chapter 247

Chapter 247

‘They have to be crazy!’ Joachim Wolff stopped himself from cursing out aloud.

Did they know what they were talking about right now?

“This is tyranny,” Joachim gritted his teeth.

Sergei Zolotov was the one holding a hanger sword against Joachim’s neck, but Ben Eddy, who was just leisurely sitting and watching Joachim, looked more dangerous.

“Tyranny… Yes, you might be right, but we’re living in a world where someone can bite your head off if you lay yourself open to attack for even just a second. If becoming a tyrant is the only way to survive in this world, then I’ll gladly become one.” Ben smiled. “Besides, the Immortal Overlord has already set up a sparring—no, a combat event between the Tyrant and the apostles. We’re simply participating in that inevitable event, so we have a justifiable cause.”

Every European high ranker knew about the quest Celestials’ Curiosity, which pitted the Tyrant against the apostles and had Jacque Valentine as the mediator. Although the quest had been postponed due to the [World Net] of the <Purple Star Astrology>, it was still technically ongoing. Ben, Sergei, and the other Clan leaders planned to participate in that sparring match.

‘If he dies during the battle by an accident, no one will be able to hold us accountable,’ Ben thought.

The White Tiger Clan was rising so high that they seemed so close to reaching the sun. However, if the other Clan leaders could kill the Tyrant, they would be able to keep them in check. Ben would never miss this chance.

‘Lee Chang-Sun, although you were lucky enough to escape the [World Net], you won’t have it as easy this time.’

No matter how talented or strong Chang-Sun was, he wouldn’t be able to defeat everyone in this building.

‘I’ll deliver the final blow once he’s exhausted.’

Delivering the final blow would transfer all of Chang-Sun’s fame to Mage Overlord Ben Eddy, making him more famous than the Tyrant and putting him in a position to represent the entirety of Europe. Perhaps Ben could even be considered as strong as or more powerful than the Immortal Overlord.

“The decision is yours to make, Blue Wolf Overlord. Will you choose the Tyrant or the greater good? The Illuminati represents Germany and symbolizes Europe, so if you take your Clan’s future into consideration, then I say everything has already been decided.”

Remaining silent, Joachim slightly lowered his head.

Ben smiled crookedly. ‘Joachim Wolff is known to be inflexible, but as a Clan leader, he has no other choice.’

As the Head of the Illuminati, Joachim had no choice but to abandon his personal reasons.

‘Still, this also means he’s a man of inferior caliber. He is not fit to be a ‘king’ worthy enough to become my competition.’

Ben was a little disappointed to see Joachim yield too easily. He wanted him to resist on some level so he could subdue him by force and show the gap between their levels.

‘It’s a shame. I was planning on beating the Blue Wolf Overlord to start weakening the Illuminati. Well, I’ll still be able to do that soon enough.’

Clans led by someone so pathetic had to be eliminated in this age of unbridled competition. Ben’s final goal was to take over the Illuminati little by little and subjugate it under the Hellfire Club—no, put it under the control of the community that they would soon create.

[The Celestial ‘World-Supporting Pillar’ laughs contentedly together with his ambitious apostle!]

Even Saxnot, Ben’s Guardian, chuckled at the sight.

“Well, who decided that?” Joachim slowly raised his head.

Despite Ben’s belief that they had scared Joachim, the usually calm gentleman’s eyes had turned cold.

“Do you know what the Tyrant would say at a time like this?” Joachim asked.

Sergei, who was still holding a sword against Joachim’s neck, flinched. ‘His strength—!’

The aura Joachim exuded was stronger than Sergei had expected. He felt as if Joachim had bared his sharp fangs to bite off his neck. Noticing something was up, Ben’s expression also darkened.

“Bullshit.” Joachim smirked.

[The Skill ‘Divine Creature Instinct’ has been enhanced with the blessing of the Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’!]

Woosh!

Joachim’s mana spread out to the entire room in a flash. Like an owl opening its wings, a pool of golden light rippled through the area.

“Keugh!” Sergei grunted in shock as a strong whirlwind blew him away before he could even swing his hanger sword. He had been looking down upon Joachim all this time, so he did not expect him to hold such power.

Every person in the room reacted the same way. Subdued by Joachim’s aura, no one could even bring themselves to move. It was as if Joachim was telling everyone who the ruler of this place was.

In response, all they could do was tremble.

‘Th-this is…!’

‘The Illuminati’s power…!’

‘I underestimated him too much!’

Since Jacque, Ben, and Sergei were present, people complacently believed that Joachim would be forced to yield. However, Joachim, who was already considered the strongest Duke-Class Player, had just become even more powerful. He was by no means weak enough for other people to belittle.

[The Player ‘Joachim Wolff’ is dominating the area!]

[The Guardians of the Players in the area feel somber.]

[The Celestial ‘World-Supporting Pillar’ gives the Celestial ‘Twillight-Piercing Owl’ a death glare.]

“If you believe you can intimidate me and make me grant every last one of your requests just because I am a newly appointed apostle, then you’re gravely mistaken.” Joachim looked at the crowd with his [Blue Divine Wolf Eyes] wide open.

He had so much arrogance in his eyes that those around him couldn’t help but think that had to be how the famous Tyrant Lee Chang-Sun would look. In fact, after pondering how to react to the situation, Joachim had decided to imitate Chang-Sun. The others looked at Jacque, hoping he would step forward, but he just nonchalantly watched the situation as he always did.

Screech!

After a while, Ben slowly stood up and released his mana as well, thinking he shouldn’t let Joachim run wild any further. If Ben let Joachim take the initiative, this whole community-founding agenda could fizzle out.

Woosh, woosh, woosh…!

The collision between the manas from the two ‘kings’ faintly shook the building.

Boom!

However, before a fight could break out, a thunderous explosion echoed outside, resulting in an aftershock so powerful it almost tore down the building. The commotion made Joachim and Ben look outside the window. Even Jacque, who had been showing not an ounce of care in his seat, uncrossed his arms and turned his head toward the window.

“What’s… happening?”

Rumble!

The annex palace, which was where the entourages of the countries and Clans’ delegates were, was crumbling down, creating clouds of dust.

“…Hup!”

“Wait, he’s…?” Ben inhaled sharply as he realized who was walking out of the clouds of dust. He looked as if he just met a demon he should never meet.

‘I’m… trembling?’ Ben held his breath upon noticing his hands faintly trembling.

Chang-Sun was sharply looking straight in their direction.

* * *

Thirty minutes ago, in the hall of the Illuminati annex palace…

“Ahh… I don’t know how long I should stay here.” Shin Eun-Seo, who was nearly lying down on the sofa, let out a long sigh.

Ever since Chang-Sun and Baek Gyeo-Ul left because of the [World Net], Team L’s three remaining members had been in agony. The only person they could rely on right now was Joachim, but ever since he did the ‘Frankfurt Miracle,’ they were rarely able to meet him. They essentially became fifth wheels.

Aside from being unable to speak German and coming from a different nationality, the Team L members were also currently on a business trip, which meant they couldn’t even go sightseeing. Practically locked up in the Illuminati annex palace, they couldn’t help but feel suffocated.

‘Well, I can bear being stuck inside this place if not for those guys…!’ Eun-Seo turned her head and glared at the Europeans who were busy talking among themselves and acting as if they couldn’t see her and the other Team L members. It was worse than the time they went to France.

Although they were here for the Four Overlord Conference, they also blatantly and childishly ignored Team L. Some of them didn’t even hesitate to scoff whenever they met a Team L member’s eyes. If it hadn’t been for Chang-Sun’s instruction to meet him in the Illuminati headquarters, Team L would have already turned this place upside down and headed to the airport.

“Stop rolling around and stay still. If you’re bored, read a book,” Geum-Gyu said after he stopped reading his book just to look at Eun-Seo as if she was pathetic.

Eun-Seo frowned. “People die when they do stuff they don’t usually do!”

“… I wonder why you still believe that old superstition, but fine. Do what you want.”

“Arrgghh… It’s so boring.”

“Watch and learn from Hye-Bin. I’m begging you.” Geum-Gyu narrowed his eyes.

Unable to say anything else, Eun-So pouted. Even by her standards, Woo Hye-Bin was very calm.

‘Yeah, an adult should behave like Hye-Bin, not me,’ Eun-Seo thought.

During this business trip, Hye-Bin grew the most in terms of mentality. Issues occasionally came up while Chang-Sun was away, but Hye-Bin took care of them very calmly, making the others feel as if they were with Chang-Sun’s female version.

It was no different now. Hye-Bin’s eyes remained sharp as she cautiously wiped the blade of [Lightning Deity’s Dagger] with her handkerchief. It seemed she was focusing on exchanging her mana with the sword, which was one of the training methods that Chang-Sun had taught the Team L members. By exchanging mana with an item, one could detect the magic formulas that made up the item’s Effects and learn its mechanism.

‘He said learning the entirety of my weapon’s magic formula structure and mechanism will allow me to use it to its full potential in times of crisis.’ Hye-Bin repeated everything Chang-Sun had said in her mind.

“You have too many relics.”

“Although you can use your items without any problems right now, the higher your level and the more you learn, the more you’ll find yourself relying on them. Eventually, you’ll reach the point where your items will be the ones controlling you instead of the other way around.”

The [Lightning Deity’s Dagger], [Storm Deity’s Dagger], [Mana Deity’s Armor], and [Monster Deity’s Shoes] were precariously balanced right now, allowing them to help Hye-Bin improve. However, just as Chang-Sun warned, Hye-Bin had recently been feeling as if the artifacts were using her instead of her using them.

“What should I do, then?” Hye-Bin asked.

“You gave to talk to them.”

“Talk…?” Hye-Bin blankly repeated.

“A weapon isn’t just a tool to slash and cut. It contains the history of its previous owners’ resolve and energies. When the weapon is in your hand, it becomes a talisman that protects and brings you victories.”

“… I’m not sure what you mean.” Hye-Bin shook her head.

“The point is how much you know about your weapons,” Chang-Sun summarized.

Chang-Sun also mentioned that mana exchange was part of the preparation process that would enable her to start having conversations with weapons. To make a friend, one should first build a rapport. The same applied to weapons. Before Hye-Bin could become closer with her weapons, she first had to understand their magic formula structures through mana exchange.

Since then, whenever Hye-Bin had time, she would grab the [Lightning Deity’s Dagger], infuse her mana into it little by little, and poke around its magic formulas. Its structure was so complicated that just thinking about whether she could memorize it used to be enough to mentally exhaust her.

However, after several mana exchanges with her weapon, she eventually got the hang of its magic formula. When she did, she began circulating her mana to imitate the part of the magic formulas that caught her eye the most.

‘Integrate, integrate, integrate, compress… Breaking point, property change… One in positive charge, and another in minus charge,’ Hye-Bin thought.

Pzzz―!

Hye-Bin’s concentration deepened as a blue sphere and a red sphere hovered above her palm. The strong gravity between the two spheres, which had different electrical charges, constantly dragged the charges from one sphere to the other sphere. If Hye-Bin lost her focus, she would fail to maintain the two.

‘Enhance… the gravity!’

Pzz!

Tiny sparks flew up in the air the moment she infused more of her mana into the mana current between the two spheres.

Pzz, pzzz, pzzz!

However, those yellow lightning sparks soon increased in size and number.

‘I got it!’

Ding!

[You have acquired the lightning attribute!]

[Your understanding of the ‘Lightning Deity’s Dagger’ has deepened, unlocking a part of its Effects.]

[The Skill ‘Sword Mastery’ has been acquired.]

[The Trait ‘Weapon-Handling Skill Comprehender’ has been acquired.]

[The relic owner stares at you quietly.]

Hye-Bin was delighted. Even though mana with lightning attribute was known to be the hardest to control, she managed to learn how to use it. Perhaps because of her achievement, Indra, the original owner of the [Lightning Deity’s Dagger] showed interest in her. A message from a Celestial like Indra could never be taken lightly, but it didn’t really impress her. She was far too happy because of some other reason right now.

‘My mana has finally become more similar to Mister’s!’

Chang-Sun had always been Hye-Bin’s role model, so she hoped to walk down the same path as him. Since Chang-Sun mainly used lightning energy, she tried her best to acquire lightning mana attribute first before the other mana attributes. [Sword Mastery] and [Weapon-Handling Skill Comprehender] were also abilities that Chang-Sun had recommended to her as must-haves.

‘I can ask Mister Chang-Sun to teach me the rest when he gets back!’ Hye-Bin smiled faintly.

“What is with that kid? Why does she have a relic? It’s like putting lipstick on a pig.” Casually throwing insults around in English, a black man swaggered toward Hye-Bin and looked at the [Lightning Deity’s Dagger] with sparkling eyes.

Detecting the hostility in the man’s tone, Hye-bin stopped smiling.

“The Tyrant calls a child his team member? Well, I don’t have to meet him to see his—Keugh!”

Smack!

Before the man could finish speaking, Hye-Bin kicked his chest, sending him rolling on the ground.

Crash―!

With cold eyes, Hye-Bin stood up from her seat. “Cut your nonsense. Just come at me if you want to fight me.”

Hye-Bin was certain that if Chang-Sun was here right now, this was how he would have reacted.

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ clenches her fists and cheers you on, saying that you remind her of someone!]