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‘Antares took Xerxes and maybe even Crom’s soul too.’

It was just an assumption, but Chang-Sun believed he was right.

‘Besides, Antares uses [Gaia’s Curse].’

After achieving his goals on Earth, Chang-Sun was already planning to capture Antares because his poison was essential in undoing the curse that was tormenting Cha Ye-Eun.

“F-Father…?” Baek Gyeo-Ul stammered. He looked quite bewildered, perhaps because it was the last thing he expected to hear. Although he had heard stories about his father from Chang-Sun, Gyeo-Ul didn’t think Chang-Sun could just suddenly find where his father was.

「Did you discover something?」

Kali’s cheeks became rosy, seemingly delighted to hear that Chang-Sun had located their missing comrade.

Chang-Sun nodded. “Yeah. He seems to be with Crom.”

「They’re together? Why would they be together…?」

Instead of answering, Chang-Sun looked up at the sky. When Kali looked in the same direction, her face darkened.

[The Celestial ‘Antares’ looks down at the <Saha World>!]

Some time ago, that message began frequently popping up before Chang-Sun, but he only thought it was due to their deep bad blood. However, it seemed he was wrong.

‘He’s waiting for me.’ Chang-Sun pretended to cut his neck with his thumb in Antares’ direction, gesturing at him to stay put because he would soon be on his way to kill him.

[The Celestial ‘Antares’ smiles coldly and says that you are always welcome to visit him.]

Chang-Sun returned the cold smile. It seemed his visit to Arcadia, the birthplace of ‘Divine Twilight,’ was drawing near.

* * *

Chang-Sun put his plans for Antares on the back burner for now. Although he would soon head to Arcadia, he still had to prioritize accomplishing his goal on Earth.

『The Archive has been destroyed…』

『Attempting to repairthe Archive. Failed. Attempting to repair the Archive again. Failed. Unable to locate the data. The control system has collapsed.』

『Unable to make a judgment. Unable to execute commands.』

『The situation has been evaluated to be an emergency. Forming a temporary control system. Searching the manual for protocols for the situation.』

『Searching. Searching. Searching. Searching. Searching…』

Creeaak, creaaak.

Like unoiled machinery, the five Dragon Monarchs began to talk incomprehensibly and behave abnormally. The Archive, which was controlling them, crumbled down after Chang-Sun infiltrated it, causing them to lose their egos.

[00:03:49]

[00:03:50]

[00:03:49]

Pzzz, pzzz, pzzz…!

The countdown malfunctioned, making it constantly go up and down. The grimoires that the Dragon Monarchs had in hand shone precariously, seemingly about to crumble down any minute as well.

[An error has occurred!]

[An error has occurred! Cause unknown!]

[The Magic ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage’ has stopped shrinking!]

Thanks to the error, the birdcage stopped closing in on them. With the Dragon Monarchs malfunctioning, Chang-Sun thought now was the time. He reached his hand out to the birdcage’s ceiling. Simon Magus had already done most of the heavy lifting, so he didn’t have much to worry about. Still…

Throb!

‘… Keough! I guess I did overwork myself.’ Chang-Sun frowned. His head throbbed.

His omnipotence, which he used to fight Richardus, understand Keter, and absorb Crom Cruach’s Archive, was about to deactivate. Unfortunately, using it for too long strained his Divine Class.

―He’s persisting.

―Hahahaha! Even so, he still only has a small amount of gnosis.

―Keep that up, please. Who knows? We might even get our chance.

Chang-Sun’s past reincarnations slowly desynchronized as they looked for an opportunity to invade his consciousness again.

‘I’m going to…’ Chang-Sun opened up his [Gnostic Eye] again. ‘... do it anyway!’

[Your ‘Gnostic Eye’ has been activated! Analyzing the target!]

[The target is composed of abnormally high Magic. A lot of time is required to analyze it!]

[Searching for the necessary data from the database!]

[Successfully found the necessary data in ‘Keter: Ancient Dragons’ Knowledge,’ the data you absorbed.]

[Reanalyzing the target!]

In the world Chang-Sun saw through his [Gnostic Eye], he realized that each of the birdcage’s metal bars was densely made up of very small letters. Following his omnipotence, he infused the letters with his energy.

[Hacking the Magic ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage’!]

[The firewall is resisting.]

[The firewall has collapsed.]

[Successfully hacked the Magic ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage’!]

The grimoires desperately put up defenses, but Chang-Sun quelled them and infiltrated their system with ease. He would locate the grimoires’ real bodies, which would probably be at the end of the connection, by going upstream of the magic spell. Having already understood Keter, he didn’t find it all that difficult to accomplish.

[You have successfully taken control of the network. ]

[You have deactivated the Code of the Magic ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage’ and now have authority over it.]

[Congratulations! You have become the new owner of ‘The Dragon Monarchs’ Six Grimoires.’]

[Enter a command.]

Oooooooong!

The five—no, the six grimoires, including the one carried by the Dragon Monarch who wasn’t in the area, stiffened. Their color also faded away, making them look as if they would turn into dust if someone so much as touched them.

Currently, Chang-Sun was a wizard as great as Ancient Dragons.

“Disassemble.”

Following his [Wordwielding], the ties around the letters that composed the birdcage were undone. The letters dropped to the floor.

[The Magic ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage’ has been deactivated!]

[The casters of the Magic ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage’ have been penalized]

『Arggh!』

『Krrrrr…』

Crrracck, crack!

The Dragon Monarchs twisted and turned in various angles. Their scales swelled up like balloons, and their eyes popped up. Unable to withstand the pain, they fell to their knees.

The rebound from forcefully canceling the great magic made their mana flow in reverse. Considering the drastic decrease in their HPs, they would probably die on their own even if Chang-Sun didn’t do anything. Their Dragon Fear, which they were using to keep the draconic army under control, was naturally affected as well.

『Master! The monsters are going nuts!』Jin Prezia telepathically informed Chang-Sun.

Chang-Sun looked through Jin’s eyes, finding the Dragon-type monsters, which were now free from the brainwashing, about to scatter.

Using the remaining control he had, Chang-Sun decided to order the monsters to self-destruct. If they hurt themselves or attacked the others after perceiving each other as enemies, he could put a stop to this monster wave before it could cause even more damage.

Kiyooooooo!

Before he could, however, Cadmus glided down and used all kinds of body language to explain something to him.

Chang-Sun quietly watched Cadmus for a moment before narrowing his eyes. “You want me to give you control over those monsters?”

Wishing to play boss, Cadmus fervently nodded. Dumbfounded, Chang-Sun chuckled.

* * *

『Your sentence is nine Maha-Kalpas. I’ll send you to where Sangwon, your colleague. You should demonstrate the saying, ‘misery loves company,’ with your buddy.』

After Thanatos gave Richardus his sentence, the door on the ceiling closed.

Thud…!

‘So this is how it feels, huh,’ Richardus thought.

Tightly bound with the Divine Steel shackles, he quietly chuckled in the darkness. He had only heard about the Bloodless Hell before. Now that he was imprisoned in it, he finally realized why it was very notorious in <Heaven>.

‘They have to spend eternity here, unable to move one bit. Keeping their sanity here is naturally impossible.’

A Maha-Kalpa referred to the duration of a universe being born and crumbling down. Enduring nine of it in this place was impossible unless one was an Emperor. That left the prisoners trapped in this place with only two choices. They could either let go of their sanity or…

‘... Kill yourself.’

Neither option was easy. Celestials would have a hard time going insane, and even if they committed suicide, their souls would still be stuck in this hell forever, unable to join samsara. Still, despite the dreary situation he was in, Richardus wasn’t fazed.

‘I don\'t know if I even had emotions to begin with,’ he thought as he smiled bitterly.

When he became ‘Tian Shi Yuan,’ he began to feel something in the corner of his heart wearing down. Now, even the speck of emotions he used to have was all gone. He had faced his past, admitted that he idolized and envied Chang-Sun, and found out that Chang-Sun was no longer the person he wanted to take after.

‘He used to be so desperate and greedy. Not anymore, though.’

Richardus could’ve died any time while he was with his family. His life in the <Purple Star Astrology> was like a bloody rainforest. After all, the <Society> was packed with monsters and demonic Celestials. Until he became the son of the Emperor’s Seat, survival became Richardus’ priority—no, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that his entire life was about competing to survive.

That was how he ended up with spite and the ambition to reach the peak and take everything. Eventually, those emotions became the drive to bring down his father and take the position of ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ instead.

Richardus’ idolization of Chang-Sun was lubricant for his drive. Chang-Sun dominated battlefields with his desperation and dogged fighting spirit during the <Myth War>, leaving a lasting impression on Richardus. That was everything he hoped to be.

However, Chang-Sun wasn’t worth Richardus’ attention anymore. From his perspective, he had lost his edge. His sky-ripping sharpness and earth-shattering fighting spirit were gone now, having gained something else in return.

Either way, Richardus believed that Chang-Sun was no longer the ‘Divine Twilight’ that he once knew. It put a stop to his idolization of him. This seemed to be why Eunuch Star recommended Richardus to meet him in person.

‘I don’t have any lingering feelings now.’ Richardus let go of his last lingering feeling about his old friend.

Chang-Sun and Richardus were strangers now. Even if Chang-Sun had a grand design or something, Richardus wouldn’t care about it anymore.

‘I have to reach a higher place.’

Some time ago, the Eunuch Star told Richardus to ascend the throne. Recalling it, Richardus turned his hands, which were bound behind his back.

Crraacccck.

The Divine Steel Shackles were so sturdy that Richardus’ muscles distorted and the bones in his wrists were crushed. Unable to utilize his divine power, he had to rely on his physical strength alone. It had to have been horribly painful, but he didn’t even bat an eye.

Almost destroying his left hand, the skin around his left wrist opened wide open. As if he was searching for something, he pushed the fingers of his right hand deep inside the gaping wound and rummaged through. After some time, he pulled out something slim and long—a shining golden key.

Richardus didn’t know what it was exactly. The Eunuch Star just told him that it was a dispensable imitation of the relic that belonged to a divine being whom nearly no one remembered anymore. However, Richardus knew how remarkable it was because he had already tested it out.

‘Monkey King gave me this…’

Many strong individuals in <Heaven> feared Sun Wukong, the Monkey King and Victorious Fighting Buddha. Repeating his name, Richardus pushed the golden key into his shackle.

‘... and told me he’ll be waiting outside when I get out of here.’

Click!

As if responding to Richardus, the key fit the shackles perfectly.