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Chapter 139: Star, The Stigma (4)
Chapter 139: Star, The Stigma (4)
Chapter 139: Star, The Stigma (4)
‘When the ‘Geminus’ first showed interest in me, Mephistopheles was the first one to react fiercely against him.’ Chang-Sun remembered.
That was why Mephistopheles had kidnapped him and Minerva had to come forward to save Chang-Sun. Mephistopheles was known for lacking interest in worldly matters, but Chang-Sun knew that Mephistopheles was deeply interested in him, even though he was not sure why that was the case. He was also aware that Mephistopheles had reacted against the ‘Geminus’ because of what the ‘Geminus’ had done in the past.
For that reason, Chang-Sun planned to involve Mephistopheles to stop the ‘Geminus’ from coveting him. If he wore the divine relic that held the divinity of the ‘Gemini,’ he thought Mephistopheles would react somehow, just like when he had killed Lamashtu.
As it turned out, his hypothesis proved true.
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ is quite baffled by the unexpected appearance of a certain being.]
[The Celestial ‘Abyss-Chasing Great Devil’ quietly observes a certain Celestial.]
Even though the ‘Geminus’ was powerful enough to disconnect the Channelings of other Celestials like Pabilsag and Jörmungandr, it seemed he couldn’t do much against Mephistopheles, considering he was hesitant to do anything further. Just as Chang-Sun had expected, Mephistopheles was a being whom even the Zodiacs couldn’t take lightly.
‘What’s his plan?’ Chang-Sun wondered.
He just wanted the ‘Geminus’ to back down, but he knew the ‘Geminus’ wouldn’t just quietly do that. After all, no one was as prideful as the Zodiacs.
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ notices a little late what is happening to his other half and declares he’s joining the fight.]
[The completed constellation’s brilliant light shines on the world.]
Sure enough, rays of light appeared amid the darkness that Mephistopheles had created. As if someone had decorated the dark universe with countless stars, the starlight spread everywhere.
[The darkness and the starlight are fiercely clashing!]
Although Chang-Sun wasn’t sure what was happening in Heaven, the two stars collided brutally enough to make his skin sting.
[The temporarily disconnected message system has been restored!]
[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ looks extremely angry as she reveals her fangs and points her arrow at a certain Celestial!]
[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ shouts that she will never forgive the Celestial for humiliating her and that she’s telling her mother about this!]
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ frowns. ]
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ soothes his other frowning half, saying he needs to be careful.]
When Pabilsag acted extremely hostile toward the ‘Gemini,’ they finally backed down a bit. Although she behaved like a pushover around Chang-Sun, she couldn’t be taken lightly since she had a greater family background than her divine Class.
Pabilsag was the child of Tiamat, whose grand divine name was ‘Primordial Evil Dragon.’ Considering Tiamat was preparing for war against the ‘Taurus,’ who was practically the Zodiacs’ leader, Pabilsag was technically the enemy of the ‘Gemini.’ Nevertheless, it was difficult for them to directly take Pabilsag on since they would suffer losses in doing so.
[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ is annoyed by what the Celestial is doing and raises his scales in warning!]
[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ furiously asks if the entire <Horoscope> members are willing to pay for the disrespect the Celestials ‘Gemini’ showed to the other Celestials!]
Jörmungandr and Minerva, highly renowned figures in their respective <Societies>, also came forward and manifested their deep animosity toward the ‘Gemini.’
[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ bares his fangs!]
Even Heoju came forward. At that moment, new stars simultaneously appeared too.
[The monster and evil deities of the <Purple Star Astrology> focus their attention on one side after hearing their colleague’s calling.]
[The Celestial ‘Tai Wei Yuan’ narrows his eyes.]
[The Constellation ‘Azure Dragon’ is on standby.]
[The Constellation ‘Vermilion Bird ’ is reacting.]
…
Many stars started to twinkle east of the darkness, which the ‘Gemini’ couldn’t brighten up with their divine light. In the darkness that looked like the Milky Way now, multiple shapes of constellations had shown up. One looked like a dragon, and another looked like a bird. All the constellations looked formidable in their own right, seemingly capable of showing up in this place and trampling everything in their way.
Those two constellations belonged to the Four Symbols of the Twenty-Eight Mansions—Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise, which symbolized the four cardinal directions of the <Purple Star Astrology>. ‘Tai Wei Yuan’, one of the Three Enclosures[1], stood before the symbols!
Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t have shown up like this even if Heoju called them, but they were on high alert because the ‘Gemini’ had appeared in the Saha World. Everyone knew about the conflict between the <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology> members about who would rule Heaven. That was why the <Purple Star Astrology> members who had shown up here were willing to take out at least one of the enemy executives if they were given a chance.
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ is showing a crumpled expression!]
The ‘Gemini’ wasn’t certain if they could win against Mephistopheles alone, so when the <Purple Star Astrology> members also intervened, the ‘Gemini’ gritted their teeth in frustration. They didn’t expect so many Celestials would show up to protect one human.
[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ warns the Celestial ‘Gemini’ that if they do not leave immediately, he will consider it as their decision to fight until only one of them remains.]
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ has become angry!]
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ advises his angry half to retreat, telling him now is not the time.]
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ angrily turns in the opposite direction.]
In the end, the ‘Gemini’ were forced to back down, not wanting to create a conflict for such a ridiculous reason.
‘Are they done?’ Chang-Sun quietly heaved a sigh of relief, but he felt a bit disappointed.
If the ‘Gemini’ and <Purple Star Astrology> members were to create a conflict, no matter how little, the other <Horoscope> members would have shown up, aggravating the situation further. Since things were settled without either side suffering damages, Chang-Sun couldn’t help but feel very disappointed.
At that moment…
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ stops and shows his hostility to you, the human who humiliated him!]
‘…Hup!’ Chang-Sun subconsciously took a step backward, feeling a shiver run down his spine.
Swoosh!
However, he was already too late. The ‘Geminus’ ripped the sky apart and immediately grabbed Chang-Sun’s left shoulder with one of his hands. Although the touch only lasted for a very short moment, the amount of divine power that flooded into his body was still immense.
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ has touched you!]
[His divine power is spreading inside you, giving you a fever.]
[The divine fever is spreading!]
Woosh!
When the ‘Geminus’ touched Chang-Sun, blisters formed over his skin, and a vivid and deep burnt mark was left on his left shoulder. Chang-Sun could no longer speak as well.
‘Shit…!’
He had also utilized divine power, but it was impossible for him to control a Zodiac’s power in his current state. Unable to withstand the immense power, the divine fever slowly broke his body down as he burned up. [Ten Toxin Immunity] and [Single Eon Fire] couldn’t help him now.
[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ growls, angrily asking what the Celestial ‘Geminus’ has done!]
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ coldly replies that he gave a suiting bonus reward for the mortal who has his Divinity.]
Seemingly done with his business, the ‘Geminus’ retrieved his divine light, which had been lighting up part of the darkness, little by little. Chang-Sun fell to the ground trembling and sweating profusely.
[The Celestial ‘Geminus’ says you will earn a great power if you successfully absorb the bonus reward given by his other half, but the divine fever will melt down your soul if you fail. He then leaves.]
When the ‘Gemini’ left, the <Purple Star Astrology> constellations no longer had a reason to stick around.
[The Celestial ‘Tai Wei Yuan’ says he will remember your name for showing him an interesting sight for the first time in a long time. He then disappears.]
[The Constellation ‘Azure Dragon’ has lowered its tail.]
[The Constellation ‘Vermilion Bird’ has folded its wings.]
…
Chang-Sun was the only one left inside the dark Pale Divine Ground, which had been noisy due to the face-off of many Celestials. The divine fever had already overwhelmed him, reddening his skin and causing several visible puffs of steam to rise from his body.
[The Celestial ‘Abyss-Chasing Great Devil’ is looking down at you in his divine ground, which has become quiet.]
With his pair of sapphire-blue inferno eyes, Mephistopheles looked for something from Chang-Sun, just as he had before.
[The Celestial ‘Abyss-Chasing Great Devil’ has bestowed upon you, who is having a hard time, a bonus reward!]
At that moment, something gigantic cut through the darkness and stopped before the Inferno Sights. It then touched Chang-Sun’s head. It was so incomparably bigger than Chang-Sun and so white that he couldn’t even begin to fathom what it was.
However, Chang-Sun thought it resembled human finger bones for some reason. The burn mark, which started from his left shoulder, had already covered nearly his entire upper body when it was miraculously healed. At that moment, Chang-Sun could no longer feel the divine fever eating away at him. Moreover, aside from the divine power of the ‘Gemini,’ another kind of divine power was quickly circulating inside him.
The two totally different types of divine power mixed and slowly harmonized with each other. If one could be described as the sun, the other was the moon. Although they were similar to the divine and demonic energy that Chang-Sun used through Double Sword Resonance, it was a little different. The words <Light> and <Darkness>, which he had seen in the message, seemed to be a better description.
Paah!
The two harmonized divine powers settled deep inside Chang-Sun’s body—no, they settled somewhere far deeper than that: in his subconsciousness, where his soul was. Chang-Sun realized he couldn’t use the immense amount of divine power he had acquired, but it would be a great help to him once he reached a certain Class. In other words, he had coincidentally received an opportunity.
[A stigma has been engraved on you!]
Only a burn scar was left on his upper body—no, it was different from an ordinary burn scar. Perhaps because of the divine power, it looked as if someone had engraved an incomprehensible sentence on his body, like a tattoo.
It.is.good.to.observe.you.
Afterward, Mephistopheles just left an incomprehensible message and left.
Woosh.
[The Pale Divine Ground has closed!]
Chang-Sun had been returned to the Changgwi Cave. He panted hard.
“Huff…! Huff…!”
?Are you okay, Master??
Jin Prezia hurriedly helped Chang-Sun up. Even though Jin wasn’t sure what had exactly happened, he noticed Chang-Sun had gone through something with beings like the Zodiacs.
[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ lowers her bow, grumbling and muttering that she has no idea why everyone is desiring her treasure.]
[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ advises you to take a rest.]
[The onlooking deities snort and disappear, saying it’s boring now.]
[The stars, who have seen the legendary great evil, giggle and say that it was still interesting to watch.]
…
Clang!
The [Goddess Crown], which had been on Chang-Sun’s head, dropped to the ground. His hair, clothes, even the crown… Everything was soaked in his sweat. The only reason why Chang-Sun could stay sane and composed during that fierce face-off among Celestials was the [Goddess Crown].
[Goddess Crown (Replica, upgraded)]
The Celestial ‘Goddess of Massacre and Destruction’ gave this replica of her crown to her ‘branch’ long ago. Wearing it grants the ability to hear the thoughts of trees and wild grass and allows its wearer to spiritually cultivate themselves and develop their Class. The Divinity of the Celestial ‘Gemini’ has been imbued into it, amplifying the power of its abilities. The crown can be upgraded an undetermined number of times.
· Type: Divine relic.
· Effect: Communication to all creations. Spiritual Cultivation. Class upgrade.
‘If Mephistopheles and the ‘Gemini’ have a staredown, most mortals near them will probably die… Or they will be gravely injured, at the very least,’ Chang-Sun thought.
Celestials of their level could easily crush most planets just by releasing their energies. After all, they were <Cosmo Entities>, beings who couldn’t be understood with the common sense of Saha World.
Chang-Sun hadn’t healed completely from the injuries he had sustained in ‘Blue Jewel Island’ yet, so he could’ve ended up in big trouble without the [Goddess Crown], which was technically an information-processing device. When the Elfin Root turned into the Parasitic Divine Tree and sucked all the energies from the Dungeon, it managed to process an enormous amount of energies because of the crown. Well aware of that, Chang-Sun took a gamble.
[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ is looking at you with a worried expression.]
‘I had to gamble, but I got something quite good out of it.’ Chang-Sun faintly smiled.
He had obtained a stigma, which was a divinity fragment he required to spiritually cultivate himself. The <Stigma> he had obtained would certainly prove to be a big help to his goal of becoming stronger.
‘However, to use it, I need something first!’ Chang-Sun began to formulate a plan.
[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ wonders if there is anything she can do for you, who always runs into trials and tribulations.]
‘Hmm?’ Chang-Sun tilted his head in confusion upon seeing an invitation he hadn’t expected at all.
[The Celestial ‘Twilight- Piercing Owl’ has invited you to dinner!]
[Will you accept the invitation?]
1. Three ancient Chinese constellations. Tai Wei Yuan means “Supreme Palace Enclosure.” ?