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He stayed inside [Naglfar] with Gwak Bok, his student, as he observed what was going on outside. Although Taotie himself had quite a high Divine Class, he specialized in blacksmithing, not combat, so he had to stay out of the battle. Unfortunately, he ended up meeting people he never expected to see here, making him grunt.

The Zodiacs were the kings of <Horoscope>, which was known to rule over <Heaven>. Staying under <Deus Ex Machina>’s radar, these monsters traveled from Worldline to Worldline and devoured everything in their path to grow bigger. Just one or two of them could drive a <Society> into <Extinction>, yet all twelve had just appeared before them to kill Chang-Sun.

‘Tiamat said that although it was suspicious, <Horoscope> wasn’t showing any significant movements. The <Management Bureau> said the same thing,’ Taotie recalled.

He doubted that Tiamat’s surveillance system had a security breach. The Tiamat that he knew could never be taken lightly because she was more detailed and persistent than anyone else. As a matter of fact, her obsession with details could be called madness, but it was that drive that let her reign as an absolute being of this Worldline for eternity. There had to be some other reason.

“Did they cross the Imaginary Plane?” Taotie wondered. “I’ve only ever heard about it.”

The Imaginary Plane was the hidden opposite side of the infinite Worldlines. Like a reflection in a mirror or a shadow, this antimatter realm flowed in the opposite direction from Worldlines.

<Stars> of <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology> usually lay low inside it to avoid getting detected by <Deus Ex Machina>, the mediator in the law of causality, and would only occasionally sneak out to Worldlines to operate. It was no different from how sharks usually stayed hidden under the surface of the water until their prey landed on the surface and they could snatch them whole.

Crossing Worldlines cost a lot of Causality even for <Stars>, so they rarely made the trip, but the fact that they managed to stay under Tiamat’s radar meant that they used the Imaginary Plane, their hideout, to travel. Since it existed outside Worldlines, even Tiamat couldn’t keep an eye on it.

‘If the other <Stars> of <Horoscope> held their positions while the Zodiacs made their move… then everything would make sense. Still, did they really just use up an astronomical amount of Causality just to kill Twilight? Why in the world would they do that?’

That was the part that Taotie had the most trouble wrapping his head around. ‘Divine Twilight’ was certainly under the brightest spotlight in <Heaven> right now. After all, after going through a Divine Trial, the man managed to come back and drive <Purple Star Astrology> to the verge of <Extinction>. Hence, even a recluse like Taotie couldn’t help paying attention to him.

Even so, if Taotie was asked whether or not ‘Divine Twilight’ was important enough for all the Zodiacs to hunt him down… he couldn’t be sure. The Zodiacs were so influential that every single one of them was comparable to the Nine Heavens or an entire <Society>.

‘On another note… he acted as if he knew this would happen.’

While [Naglfar] was being constructed, Chang-Sun made a request to Taotie.

“Can I make my wish now?” Chang-Sun asked.

“Hmph! That took you long enough. Yeah, sure. Let’s hear it. How spectacular is it that you had to make me wait until now?”

“I want you to join the Military Weaponry Division of <Muspelheim>..”

“… What?” Taotie said blankly.

“<Muspelheim> and I will be facing many other wars after this. We can increase the size of our army for that, but our weapons will remain crude.”

“Are you asking me to call you boss?”

“Not exactly.” Chang-Sun shook his head.

“What do you mean, then? I”m sorry, but do you know how many <Societies> want me to join them? I have never—!”

“Don’t you want to meet Ou Yezi’s descendant?”

“… Still!”

Taotie loathed being affiliated with a group. That was why he immediately turned down Chang-Sun’s offer, which he found ludicrous. He took pride in being able to freely pound metals instead of for an organization. Taotie was curious about this descendant of Ou Yezi, who was said to be almost as skilled as their ancestor, but his curiosity wasn’t deep enough to give up his only pride. Surprisingly, instead of trying to persuade him any further, Chang-Sun just pulled out a long spear from his Inventory and handed it to him.

“What is this?” Taotie frowned.

“I named it [Twilight Spear]. Ou Yezi’s descendant made it.”

Taotie’s eyes widened, his hands faintly trembling upon realizing that he could finally check out the skills of Ou Yezi’s descendant. Taotie had been in a slump lately for reasons he couldn’t fathom, preventing him from even grabbing his hammer. Hence, he decided to look for Ou Yezi’s descendant. Ou Yezi was called his only rival, so Taotie believed that he would be able to find a way to overcome his sickeningly annoying slump once he met the descendant.

Grabbing the spear was an eye-opener for Taotie. A chill ran down his spine, and he felt as if someone struck the back of his head with a hammer. That… was how remarkable the [Twilight Spear] was. He wasn’t even sure if he could forge a weapon like this if he picked up his hammer again.

“The creator of the [Twilight Spear] will technically be in charge of the Military Weaponry Division,” Chang-Sun explained.

“… What do you need me for, then?”

“You can just stay as a consultant, but I want you to have a lot of conversations with him. He easily gets lonely and struggles with the fact that he doesn’t have anyone to chat about his work no matter how badly he wants to.”

Taotie bit his lower lip. He felt as if Chang-Sun was talking about him.

“Wouldn’t it be a great catalyst for two great blacksmiths?” Chang-Sun smiled.

“… And you want us to fill the weaponry of <Muspelheim> as well.”

“To win wars, we’re going to need a lot of things.”

War. Chang-Sun definitely said that he would make all <Stars> of <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology> plummet from the sky, but he needed the power to accomplish that. That was what moved Taotie.

Badump!

What was a weapon’s purpose? Why did they exist? It was to fight. Weapons only served their purpose on battlefields, but now that turbulent times had come to an end, no huge battles took place to ‘protect’ peace, order, and balance anymore. No more myths and legends that announced the rise of a new hero or portrayed a Celestial’s emotions were created. Relics that used to overturn the sky and slay the ocean now all lay dormant in the treasuries of <Societies>, unable to see the light of the world.

Even if Taotie spent years of all-nighters trying to forge brilliant weapons, they would just eventually end up in high-class Celestials’ collection before they could even be used at least a few times. They were now just decorations and art, not weapons, and Taotie hated it. He wanted his creations to cause sensations in the world and for many people to watch them in awe. Seeing them radiantly sparkling but without purpose was the last thing he wanted.

Taotie’s slump started when he realized that his weapons, his children, weren’t used for anything anymore and that he was just creating good-looking trash. Why should he bother putting in effort? He could just ask Bok to build the weapons and finish creating them by branding his seals.

Badump! Badump!

As if Chang-Sun could see through Taotie’s emotions, he suddenly gave him the heart-racing offer of using his weapons to create sensations in the world. Numerous beings in the world would watch, praise, lament, revere, and fear his weapons.

Badump, badump, badump!

‘I… still have those desires left in me, huh.’ Taotie clenched his fists.

He decided not to turn away from his true desires. Getting to wage war made his heart pound, and the promise of getting to work with Ou Yezi delighted him. Yes, that was enough.

“Okay, I’ll do you that favor.” Taotie glanced at twelve <Stars> shining brilliantly, then slowly turned to Chang-Sun. “Come back alive. We can talk about the details later.”

Bok, who had been watching Taotie from the side, smiled. ‘If he can change Teacher’s heart… then he should be able to handle the sword very well. Please win this battle.’

* * *

Paaah…!

Numerous pools of light—no, numerous <Stars> looked at Chang-Sun.

『Long time no see, Twilight. Ah, wait. We did meet in the Nil Domain so maybe I should just say glad to see you again.』

Bel-Marduk’s avatar, which appeared in front of the Star Sign of ‘Taurus,’ waved at Chang-Sun. Instead of answering bacl, Chang-Sun just raised his hand in the direction of <Stars>.

Rustle!

[The middle volume of ‘Prelati’s Spellbook’ has opened!]

With Chang-Sun in the center, the contrasting <Darkness> and supreme sacred light showed up and undulated.

[The second chapter ‘Forámen Septéni’ has been applied, speeding up the Anomalization!]

The seven streams of <Darkness> amassed and took the form of a Giant. At the same time, supreme sacred light gathered into a sphere above Chang-Sun’s right hand.

“Explode,” Chang-Sun commanded.

The merge—no, the reaction between <Darkness> and supreme sacred light activated. It was almost his trademark technique now. Together with <Darkness>, the sphere above Chang-Sun’s hand disappeared and reappeared.

『Hahahaha! I knew you would use that. Isn’t it cheating to use that from the start?』

Bel-Marduk sprang forth and punched the sphere.

“I think you shouldn’t call it cheating yet,” Chang-Sun sneered.

『What?』

“Explode over and over again.”

The moment Chang-Sun activated [Wordwielding], more spheres appeared around Bel-Marduk, making him flinch. His eyes widened, surprised that Chang-Sun could create multiple spheres this quickly.

The combination of <Darkness> and supreme sacred light was so destructive that even Bel-Marduk couldn’t underestimate it, and that wasn’t the only problem. The same kind of spheres showed up around the other <Stars>, fiercely and menacingly spinning.

“True cheating is attacking in the middle of transformation or fusion.” Chang-Sun smiled crookedly. Bel-Marduk couldn’t understand what he meant at all.

Booom, boom, boom―!

The spheres instantly grew hundreds of times bigger and simultaneously exploded. The explosions overlapped, creating even more explosions and amplifying their damage severalfold.

Far stronger than the ones Chang-Sun used to blow up half of the Incendiary Burial Whale, the explosions wiped out their entire vicinity. Huge flames and numerous shockwaves spread throughout the universe. If anyone saw the explosions from afar, they would think of them as a colossal supernova.

Bel-Marduk and the other <Stars> wes catapulted away, unable to contain the explosions. The avatars of those who barely managed to descend or were about to finish their descent were simultaneously blown away by the aftermath.

‘So killing even just one of them is impossible, huh?’ Chang-Sun clicked his tongue. He used runes to teleport [Naglfar] away from the center of the explosions as he continued to observe the Zodiacs using his [Gnostic Eye].

Although the Zodiacs were bewildered and cursing, they were somewhat calmly deflecting the aftermath of the explosions. That was probably thanks to the experience they accumulated while devouring Worldlines.

‘Well, they would still be surprised.’ Chang-Sun pulled out a sword from [King’s Treasury].

The sword was different from the ones he usually used, and judging from its narrow and long blade, it seemed to specialize in piercing. The crests of the [Yuchang Sword] and [Zhan Lu Sword] faintly trembled, an indication that the sword was one of them—Ou Yezi’s divine swords.

Oooong, ooooong―!

However, unlike Ou Yezi’s other divine swords, the sword also had Taotie’s seal. Taotie acquired and improved the [Juque Sword], Ou Yezi’s fourth divine sword, in his own way to overcome his slump. Hence, the divine and demonic sword could also be called their joint work.

This sword, which Chang-Sun received from Taotie earlier, would be enough to threaten those <Stars>.

‘I’ll use this opportunity to assassinate at least one of them.’ Chang-Sun sprang forth.

Paaah!

His first target—Antares the ‘Scorpio’—wasn’t that far from him.