Return of the Shattered Constellation

[An unknown being has blessed the area, blocking all communication to the outside!]

[The Celestial ‘Canis Major’ circles around the area curiously, wondering about the sudden change in it.]

[The Celestial ‘Canis Minor’ says that the scent is familiar for some reason, sniffing.]

…

[The Celestial ‘Ursus Major’ looks at you and bursts into anger!]

…

[The Celestial ‘Aquarius’ observes you, watching what is going to happen.]

[The Celestial ‘Gemini’ answers the call of the Celestial ‘Aquarius’.]

…

‘Sadalmelik took the bait. Wait, it’s the Celestial ‘Gemini’, not the Celestials ‘Gemini’?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

Ardrin Tigernmas was disrupting the connection in the area; thus, Alioth, Sirius, the Zodiacs, and the other Celestials were rendered unable to watch the conversation between her and Chang-Sun. Many of the Star Signs were anxious, but Sadalmelik’s response made Chang-Sun certain that she was the one behind Alioth, making Chang-Sun chuckle.

However, there was one thing that was bothering Chang-Sun. Castor and Pollux had always appeared as the Celestial ‘Geminus’ or the Celestials ‘Gemini’ in the system messages; however, the Divine Name on the message just now had referred to the Celestial ‘Gemini’, as if both Celestials had merged.

‘How could that be? Is it…?’

Chang-Sun had been trying to drive a wedge between the two Celestials, so he speculated that his efforts had come to fruition. If he had deduced the situation correctly, that fact would be very useful to him.

‘It’s getting interesting. Judging from the system messages, he seems to be working with Sadalmelik,’ Chang-Sun thought, deciding to make some adjustments to his plan.

Arin broke her long silence and asked, “…So you mean that Sister and Xerxes are trapped in the palace’s dungeon, yes?”

Chang-Sun nodded, saying, “They’re technically sealed.”

“Whatever! Are you seriously expecting me to believe that?” Arin replied with a distrustful look. An old colleague, whom she had believed to have been dragged off by the Star Signs and killed, had come back to life but was speaking nonsense…

“You’ve seen that Kali is working with me, so why do you still not believe me?” Chang-Sun asked.

“That is…!” Arin tried to refute him but bit her lower lip in the end. After a moment, she continued, “It might be a trap to lure us out.”

“I had the information confirmed by Antares, so it’s definitely not a decoy,” Chang-Sun said.

“What? Confirmed by Antares…? Wait…!” Arin exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise.

Chang-Sun nodded pompously, saying, “That’s right.”

“I can’t believe that Antares betrayed <Horoscope>!” Arin exclaimed.

“I captured Antares… What are you talking about?” Chang-Sun asked with a frown, doubting what he had heard just now.

『Haha. I think you guessed wrong this time, Twilight.』

Kali’s giggle echoed next to Chang-Sun’s ear.

However, Arin was shocked for her own reason, asking, “What? You captured Antares? Impossible!”

“Why is it impossible?” Chang-Sun asked.

“You used to be a wuss against Antares,” Arin replied.

“…Would it kill you to put it nicely?” Chang-Sun retorted, glaring at Arin.

Not caring about his reaction, Arin scoffed, saying, “But it’s true.”

“…The most annoying part is that I can’t deny what you said,” Chang-Sun said, gnashing his teeth because he had nothing to nitpick about in what Arin said.

Indeed, Chang-Sun had been forced to retreat in the end whenever he went against the Zodiacs because of Antares’ amazing proficiency in using Divine Toxins. Chang-Sun preferred to fight in close proximity and focused on offense, neglecting defense, so Antares had been his natural enemy. That was why Chang-Sun had tried to build immunity and resistance to poison as soon as he had returned to Earth. Despite his hard efforts, he had not reached the level of [Impervious Body]; considering that fact, Antares’ poison was very dangerous even for a Celestial.

“Anyway, Antares is stuck in the Bottomless Void of the <Underworld> and is also being interrogated about [Gaia’s Curse], which he isn’t spilling anything about right now, but…” Chang-Sun trailed off.

“He’ll talk soon,” Arin said.

Chang-Sun nodded and remarked, “They have no sense of loyalty.”

“Their priority is their own survival. Well, that answered my question about why the Zodiacs have been staying quiet nowadays, but I never imagined that would be the reason,” Arin said, suddenly looking intrigued. “There’s an alliance that’s trying to conquer Worldline #802, and <Horoscope> is fending them off. And <Maleakhe> and <L'Infernal> have joined in on the fight… It’s quite the ruckus. You’re trying to cause chaos in the midst of the enemy camp, aren’t you?”

“That’s right,” Chang-Sun replied.

“But you’d naturally have limits on your own, so you must be in desperate need of my help, right?” Arin asked with a sharp gaze.

Her goal was the liberation of Arcadia, so she knew how important this opportunity was. Since she could play an important role in such an opportunity, she was calculating what kinds of benefits she would be able to get out of this conquest.

‘Here she goes again,’ Chang-Sun thought; he knew very well why Arin was so desperate to free Arcadia.

Worldline #802 was one where all the Celestials had died, which meant that the concepts and rules of nature that they had been in charge of stopped functioning. How could a machine in which the gears had stopped functioning work properly? The death of the Worldline was inevitable. Although it looked fine now, because those gears had not completely stopped rotating, many more of them would eventually stop and break down, so Worldline #802 was already on the verge of <Extinction>.

Arin—Ardrin Tigernmas—was the only surviving Celestial in the entire Worldline. In fact, she was one of the Ancient Celestials who had begun to exist at the birth of Worldline #802. The fall of the Worldline had caused her to lose many of her Authorities, reducing her to a mere High Elf. Regardless, she was still determined to protect the Worldline, so she had continued to fight a difficult war in Arcadia.

Once she could take over the place, it would be a chance to revitalize the dying Worldline #802. Thus, she was thinking about how to ask for her share by making contributions to the imminent war between the <Anti-Star> Alliance and <Horoscope>. Chang-Sun had a rough idea of what she was going to ask for.

‘She’s going to ask for Arcadia, or for us to leave the place as a neutral zone.’

Of course, Chang-Sun could not tolerate that.

‘Arcadia should be mine no matter what.’

Chang-Sun could not share it with the <Anti-Star> Alliance or Tiamat. Arcadia had to be his domain and his alone, because that was the only way to make a bridgehead to get to the Imaginary Plane.contemporary romance

“Arin,” Chang-Sun began.

“What?” Arin replied.

“I’m telling you in advance that the condition of liberating Arcadia is unacceptable. These are the only two terms you can have: Rescuing Crom, and getting the right for the Revolutionary[2] Army to operate freely.”

“What the hell?” Arin exclaimed, baring her canines. “You’re going to ask for all the possible help I can give you, but you’re going to leave me out when we split trophies? Do you think I’ll agree to that?”

“Yeah,” Chang-Sun said bluntly.

“Don’t bullshit me! Then I’m out of here!” Arin snapped as she slammed the table in anger, springing to her feet.

Thud!

However, as Arin turned and walked to the door, Kali suddenly appeared in front of her and stood in her way, smiling bitterly.

“Kali,” Arin began.

“I’m sorry, Arin, but I have no other choice,” Kali replied.

Arin scowled at Chang-Sun, asking, “What is the meaning of this?”

With his arms crossed, Chang-Sun said coldly, “I feel as if I’m the one who is supposed to say that. I risked revealing all my cards, but you’re planning to act on your own? You’re not going anywhere until we finish talking.”

Stasha, who had been silently listening to the conversation, reached for the weapon in her inner pocket, thinking that the situation was getting serious.

Schwing!

A black spear suddenly appeared against Stasha’s neck, and that was the moment she noticed Baek Gyeo-Ul’s presence behind her. He warned her, “Put your hand down.”

‘When in the world…?!’ Stasha thought, swallowing her saliva.

Gyeo-Ul was not the only one, as people with powerful presences were appearing up everywhere in the building.

[A part of the ‘Changgwi Cave’ has been revealed!]

Pzzzzz―!

At the same time, the thick scent of death filled the building, and the fear of death overpowered Stasha for the first time. Not even Arin could help Stasha right now, because the Metal Mask was dominating this entire building.

“Cut it out if you’re joking,” Arin said as she held her head high despite the immense pressure, but…

“Do I look like I’m joking?” Chang-Sun retorted.

[The Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ has revealed a part of his Divine Class!]

The moment Chang-Sun revealed the Divine Class of his true form, which existed beyond his current body, Arin could no longer keep up her strong front. She turned pale, and her legs wobbled as if she was about to collapse onto the floor at that moment.

Arin was undoubtedly looking at Chang-Sun, but she was also seeing numerous other beings. ‘Divine Twilight’ was standing behind Chang-Sun, alongside a Giant shrouded in bizarre light that was neither white nor black… It was almost like a sunset. Beside them, Giants who were enveloped in fire seemed to be itching to emerge, and frozen Undead observed her with greedy eyes. Aside from them… Countless soldiers stood by, awaiting Chang-Sun’s command.

[The ‘Valhalla’ soldiers reveal their strong desire to fight!]

Would Arcadia survive if they all emerged from Chang-Sun’s shadow… no, his soul? Arin thought that the chance of that would be zero, because the soldiers were all peerless. Chang-Sun—no, ‘Divine Twilight’—was not the same person she once knew.

“You… The <First Star’s Fragment>…!” Arin exclaimed.

“I absorbed it all. Do I still look like I’m joking, Ardrin Tigernmas?” Chang-Sun repeated.

Arin could not say anything else. If Chang-Sun was speaking the truth, he was now a Star Sign that could illuminate the night sky just like the Eighty-Eight Star Signs—no, the Zodiacs of <Horoscope>.

“I could drive <Horoscope> out of Arcadia on my own, and the same goes for rescuing Crom and Xerxes. It would take longer, but I’d make those things happen no matter what. I visited you regardless because you were the only one who gave me and Ithaca shelter when we were on the run. I’m trying to repay the favor right now,” Chang-Sun said.

Arin bit her lip as a navy blue flame blazed in one of Chang-Sun’s eyes.

Whoosh!

“But if you refuse my goodwill and continue to be calculating, then I’ll do the same. What’s it going to be?” Chang-Sun asked.

Arin had to decide whether or not she was going to join Chang-Sun on the spot, but choosing the latter was an intolerable option. Chang-Sun was ready to eliminate her and the entire Revolutionary Army. Chang-Sun was a founding member, so Arin was unsure how he could do such a thing…

‘He means it,’ Arin thought. She knew Chang-Sun very well, so she was well aware of how he never gave a second thought to the decisions he made.

‘If I run…!’ she wondered. Perhaps she could hide until the war between the <Anti-Star> Alliance and <Horoscope> came to an end, just as she had been doing, but…

“Ah, on a side note…” Chang-Sun trailed off.

What was Chang-Sun trying to say now? Arin swallowed down her saliva and nervously looked at him.

Instead of continuing to act serious, Chang-Sun smiled subtly and said, “You’d better not think about running away. I’d be able to track you down for sure, but besides that, a lot of guests are waiting for you outside.”

“…What?” Arin exclaimed as she quickly looked outside the window, feeling a premonition.

Just then, she could sense several beings with strong Divine Classes descending around the Revolutionary Army’s branch.

Rumble!

[The Celestial ‘Lacerta’ has incarnated using his apostle!]

[The Celestial ‘Hydrus’ has descended through his apostle!]

[The Celestial ‘Testudo[1]’ wishes to manifest with his apostle!]

…

It was broad daylight, but lightning bolts brighter than sunlight struck all across the city. The storms of Divine Class that started all over Clio City were enough to subdue the entire place! Mayhem spread across Clio City as dozens of Star Signs simultaneously descended.

“H-How…?!” Arin exclaimed. She had made sure to move covertly!

Arin looked at Chang-Sun, silently demanding an answer, but Chang-Sun’s smile deepened. He said, “You should have braced yourself for a situation like this when you came to meet me. I was busy ruffling Sadalmelik's feathers, so I think it’s only natural for them to freak out and take action if they stopped being able to sense my Channeling for this long.”

Arin finally remembered that Chang-Sun was currently the focus of attention for <Horoscope>. Thus, if he were to have a meeting with the Revolutionary army for a long time, <Horoscope> was bound to get anxious. What would happen if they realized that the Revolutionary Army’s leader was also here? They would no doubt cause interference immediately.

‘He tricked me!’ Arin thought, realizing that Chang-Sun had orchestrated the whole thing.

“Now, stop dragging your feet and choose. What are you going to do?” Chang-Sun asked, tilting his head.

Chang-Sun was forcing Arin and the Revolutionary Army to join him. What would happen if Arin refused his proposal? Of course, he would leave immediately without any lingering feelings. <Horoscope> had Arin and the Revolutionary Army backed into a corner, so the <Society> would eventually tear them down. They were standing on the edge of a cliff.

“You’re… really a son of a bitch,” Arin said as she glared at Chang-Sun, gnashing her teeth.

However, Chang-Sun knew that it was a yes, so he smiled leisurely and replied, “You didn’t know that? You sound as if it’s your first time figuring that out.”

1. This is a former constellation that is no longer recognized as an official constellation. ☜

2. It was previously the Freedom Revolutionary Army, but it has been changed. ☜

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