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Chapter 263: Star, Hoshikjang (4)

[The Skill ‘Fiery Lightning Bolt’ has been activated!]

The girl was none other than Ithaca’s daughter and Armand’s sibling. She had made one mistake, which was to think that Chang-Sun, the challenger, would immediately be consumed by the darkness after entering her land.

Gulhons were absolute beings as strong as demigods within their land. Due to that characteristic, numerous Changgwis had needed to give up on conquering the Changgwi Cave in the end, because they were unable to defeat the Gulhons in their own territory.

Of course, some of the Changgwis from the lower floors were quite powerful and capable, and had undoubtedly tried long-range attacks from outside the Gulhons’ territories. However, the Gulhons’ lands were too vast, so unless the attackers knew exactly where the Gulhons were, those attacks were futile.

The girl had to have also used that advantage in the past. If she hid in the darkness, none of her enemies would know where she was. Even if her enemies located her somehow, it would be difficult to launch a destructive attack when she was very far away.

Nevertheless, it was different for Chang-Sun, as he was capable of both accurately locating his target and launching long-range attacks. The red sky flashed, and a black lightning bolt that was darker than the darkness over ‘Maze Mountain’ struck the ground, followed by a ground-shaking thunderclap.

Flash―!

Rumble…!

Chang-Sun’s [Fiery Lightning Bolt] pierced through the darkness. When it struck, a shockwave shredded what remained of the dark cloud, and the heat of the lightning bolt created an intense storm.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh―!

A fire tsunami spread everywhere. It silently melted the trees, burned the forest, and incinerated the Changgwis.

[The fifth chapter ‘Abrupt? Procell?’ has been applied, creating an Atra Fulmen storm!]

Flash! Flash!

Boom, boom, boom―!

Rumble―!

The storm that had swept away hundreds of apostles at once arrived at ‘Maze Mountain’. After the appearance of such a catastrophe, the darkness that had spread all over the girl’s land was long gone. Her territory had already become Chang-Sun’s.

Paah―!

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

Spreading his Jigwi wings wide, Chang-Sun quickly sprang toward the lightning storm.

Kiyaaahhhh―!

The ghostly wails created by the colliding winds died out, allowing Chang-Sun to see Dria, the girl Gulhon, suffering in the storm. The delicious lollipop she had been sucking delightedly was shattered, leaving only the stick in her hand. Her previously clean clothes were dirty with soot. Her smile was gone, replaced with a spiteful expression.

“I was wondering who it was… It was you, Armand!” Dria cried, pointing at Armand.

『Long time no see, sister.』

Armand, who had arrived before Chang-Sun, remained unfazed by Dria’s hostility.

“...Have you sold your soul to a human? How pathetic!” Dria remarked, her face wrinkling as she looked at Chang-Sun, who was flying in her direction.

Even though she had fallen, she had once been a lofty Celestial from <Heaven>. Thus, she could not help but be furious about the fact that her sibling, who had the same <Starlight> as her, was bound to a mere human.

『I have.』

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…!” Dria exclaimed. in disbelief.

『If I can save all our sisters, I’ll do more than sell my soul.』

Armand replied decisively.

“…What?” Dria asked blankly.

『Dria, I”m here, so can’t you tell? Let’s get out of this horrible eternal prison.』

“…!”

『I know it’s too sudden and you’re confused right now, but I can tell you one thing for sure. Take my hand, and you can be saved.』

Armand’s gaze became deep as she held out her adorable hand to Dria and continued.

『That human is our life-saving rope, so take my ha…!』

However, Armand could not finish speaking.

“Nonsense!” Dria snapped.

Crack!

Revealing her canines, Dria smiled cruelly as she clenched her fist, fragments of the lollipop stick falling to the ground. She continued, “Getting out of this place? Sure, that sounds nice, but what difference does it make?”

『…What?』

“We’re just the discarded leftovers of beings who have fallen again and again, so even if we go out there, Celestials will just mock us and mortals will enslave us, just like you were by him!” Dria continued, pointing in Chang-Sun’s direction.

『Dria…!』

“But it’s different here. There’s a bunch of delicious prey, and I can do anything I want here. I’m a god in here, but you’re asking me to leave with you? Ridiculous!” Dria sneered.

Armand’s lips trembled as she realized she should have expected such a response. Dria’s answer took her by surprise, leaving her in grave shock. It was a mistake on her part to think that all her sisters were innocent and would want to escape the cryptical books.

In truth, Dria was right. Even if they escaped to the outside world, there was no guarantee that Armand and her sisters would regain their Divine Class. That was what it meant for a Celestial to fall. Falling from the sky happened quite easily, but it was very difficult to return to the sky. Thus, those who fell usually failed to escape from the depths of despair.

Perhaps it was indeed better to stay in a place where one could become a god-king. Dria was already content with her current life.

“And besides, if you were going to say such things, you should have visited me politely before you tainted my land!” Dria added.

『That’s…!』

Armand tried to reach Dria somehow.

Chang-Sun flew past Armand and said, “Persuading her won’t work, so we’ll bring her in by force.”

He was already drawing the [Yuchang Sword] and [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth]. The swords enveloped in milky-white sacred light and pitch-black darkness respectively were each covered with runes—a Reinforcement Rune, Explosion Rune, and a Sharpening Rune.

“Human, do you really think you can defeat me?” Dria asked aggressively, looking at Chang-Sun. Summoning a storm of Eon Wind, she revealed her divine power.

“Why not?” Chang-Sun replied.

Rumbleeee―!

A bolt of Atra Fulmen lightning flashed.

“Emma!” Dria shouted.

The Atra Fulmen lightning bolt appeared right in front of Dria, but her sneer remained—no, it seemed as if she wanted Chang-Sun to use the technique.

Paah!

[The Subordinate of the Celestial ‘Not-So-Adorable Puppeteer’ has shown up!]

[The Subordinate has received buffs.]

A spatial rift appeared behind Chang-Sun, and Emma jumped out from it, swinging a saw-toothed sword downward. The sword’s name was Sword Breaker, and it had a single-edged, serrated blade; it could tear out chunks of an opponent’s flesh almost as soon as it touched them. On top of that, Eon Wind circulated around the blade, allowing it to shred anything it struck.

Emma’s talent lay in her Stealth Skill. Before meeting Dria, Emma had originally been a very famous assassin in Arcadia. However, the problem was that Chang-Sun was also very skilled in the Concealment and Stealth Skills.

Swoosh―!

Chang-Sun was already gone by the time Emma finished swinging her sword, resulting in Emma\'s Eon Wind sweeping away everything in the vacated space to no avail.

“…!” Emma’s eyes widened.

At that moment, Chang-Sun appeared behind Emma and ominously called out, “Where are you looking?”

Emma tried to look backward, but she was too late.

[The sixth chapter of ‘Prelati’s Spellbook’ is opening!]

[A part of the sixth chapter ‘Fulgurator’ has been applied!]

Rumbleee―!

Sacred light burst out of the [Yuchang Sword], the runes carved onto the sword shining more brilliantly than ever.

Booooom!

Emma tried to stop Chang-Sun, but a tremendous explosion catapulted her away in the opposite direction, coughing blood. Fragments of her shattered blade flewthrough the air.

“No…! Emma…!” Dria screamed.

Nevertheless, the fight was not yet over. The ground Chang-Sun was standing on suddenly shook, and several toys, including teddy bears, jumped out and attacked him. Among them, there was the toy soldier that Sebastian had been transformed into. Every one of the toys was Dria’s dear friend—no, her family.

However, despite carrying Dria’s Authority and being as strong as Yiols, they were still not enough to pierce through Chang-Sun’s lightning armor.

Boom, boom, boom!

“No…!” Dria murmured.

Boooom, booom, booom!

“No! Stop, you idiots!” Dria screamed.

However, her toys continued to attack Chang-Sun and were blown away. They had been scorched by his Atra Fulmen strikes, leaving them in terrible shape. Still, they seemed not to care, trying to stop Chang-Sun from approaching Dria by any means necessary.

“Why… Why are you guys doing this…?! Why…!” Dria cried, tears welling up in her eyes.

More and more dolls appeared, and toys both small and large swarmed toward Chang-Sun. At that moment, however, Chang-Sun started running toward Dria.

Swooosh―!

In response to Chang-Sun’s sudden movements, more toys appeared to resist his advance even more fiercely.

“I got this, so why are you guys meddling in my fight?!” Dria shrieked resentfully while bawling, but in truth, she knew why her dolls and toys were acting like that.

Although Dria was a Gulhon, her subordinates held most of her power. Her [Doll Play] was mostly focused on controlling her subordinates, so she was no expert in close combat. That was why she had seized the ‘night’ and used it to stop other Changgwis from approaching her land.

However, as the ‘night’ was useless against Chang-Sun and he was overwhelming her toys, there was no way she could counterattack. She was unable to even run away.

[The Skill ‘Fiery Lightning Bolt’ has been activated, raging!]

[Creating an enormous prison.]

Rumbleee―!

Atra Fulmen lightning bolts fell from the sky and surrounded Dria; if she tried to flee, she would only be electrified. Meanwhile, Chang-Sun was quickly approaching her head-on while guarded by his lightning armor. Dria was practically a bird in a cage.

Boooom!

At that moment, the munchkin cat doll that Dria had received from Emma for her 2,100th birthday was shredded. The sight of the cotton inside the cat doll burning away made Dria feel dizzy.

Boom, boom, boom―!

Dria also had a triple transformation robot that always played alone, so it was difficult to play with. However, that very robot’s arm was blown away just then.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Every morning, Dria and the Barbie doll had pondered what to wear that day, and they were the perfect partners while playing house. That Barbie doll’s neck snapped then and there.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…!

Sebastian, Dria’s butler who was in the form of a toy soldier, had been at her side for over three hundred years, but he was pulverized instantly. Half of his head helplessly rolled in Dria’s direction.

Tap.

―My lady.

―Run.

Sebastian pleaded with her, forcing his broken jaw to move.

Dria could not say anything. The difference in power between her and Chang-Sun was beyond her wildest expectations.

Tap!

As Chang-Sun stood in front of her, Dria bit her lower lip and glared at him, determined not to cower in front of him. Her eyes were bloodshot, but she held back her tears as much as she could.

However, Chang-Sun sneered and remarked, “I guess you wanted to make a family or something, huh”

Chang-Sun’s Atra Fulmen armor only flared up more intensely using Dria’s toys as firewood. Dria began to strongly suspect that she herself would join them any minute. In fact, Chang-Sun could easily rip her to shreds with his lightning energy. However, he had not, making Dria wonder whether Chang-Sun was trying to mock her.

“You say you don’t need your mother or your sisters, but you play house with these fakes?” Chang-Sun remarked, tilting his head.

Dria became certain that Chang-Sun was trying to humiliate her, so she gritted her teeth. Even if she was going to die, she wanted to scream before she did. She cried, “So what?! What’s wrong with that?!” She felt strangely choked up with emotion as she continued, “No one was here! When I got trapped in this damned place, nothing was here! That’s why I created my own family! I hate being alone…! Mom wasn’t here! My sisters weren’t either! So what was I supposed to do?!”

Something that had been buried deep in her heart finally emerged. As her pent-up anger spilled out, she continued, “What in the world was I supposed to do then…?” Just then, however…

…Chang-Sun held Dria tightly in his arms and said, “I’ll become your family, so stop. It’ll be okay.”

“…!” Dria wanted to yell ‘What are you doing?!’, but she could not say anything.

Up until a moment before, Chang-Sun’s lightning energy had been so menacing that she had felt as if she would be torn to shreds. However, it was warm now, and she could smell a familiar scent in his arms for some reason. It belonged to a certain person she could no longer meet, but still remembered. Although Dria had always missed that person, she had never been able to say it out loud. She had gone on and on about how much she hated that person, and yet she was unable to forget how warm their gaze and touch were. Chang-Sun smelled just like that person.

It was the smell of Ithaca, Dria’s mother, whom she missed.