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Chapter 424: Star, the Parallel Universe (9)

Pzzzz!

Rumble―!

A pool of radiant golden light spread out from the Heavenly Dragon Emperor, but he looked very small compared to Bel-Marduk, who sprang out in his real body with his mouth open. Like a shark that instantly snatched its prey after leisurely swimming under the surface, Bel-Marduk looked ready to rip the emperor to shreds.

Rooooar!

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor thrust forth his golden shadow spear, gritting his teeth harder.

Flash!

At that moment, the spear shone brilliantly.

Thump...!

The spear extended to an enormous length and kept Bel-Marduk’s gigantic mouth open.

Creaaak!

Bel-Marduk exerted all his strength, trying to close his mouth and destroy the cumbersome shadow spear that had wedged itself between his jaws. The spear bent and shook precariously as if it could shatter at any second.

[The Celestial ‘Emperor of the Heavenly Dragon’ has infused all of his divine power into his spear!]

Zinnnnnng!

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor pushed the spear harder in the opposite direction. Veins bulged from his limbs as he tried to slow down Bel-Marduk for at least a second.

『Ha! You made a pathetic decision in the end!』

However, Bel-Marduk sneered at the Heavenly Dragon Emperor for failing to use the opportunity he had provided. In exchange for working together with him, Bel-Marduk had offered the emperor two things: The first one was to undo Xerxes’ and Crom Cruach’s curse, and the second was...

『Idiot. You gave up on the chance to become the real one.』

...helping the Heavenly Dragon Emperor become Lee Chang-Sun, the ‘Twilight’. The emperor had been very skeptical about his self-worth. Any other person would wish to be a monarch who had absolute power like the emperor, but he could never confide in anyone and thus loathed his position for it.

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor’s self-loathing had grown even deeper after meeting Crom and Xerxes. Although he feigned nonchalance, he had begun to wonder what it would be like to lead a different kind of life. That had been when he met ‘Divine Twilight’, who was technically his other self; that meant he was a life that the emperor could have led. It would not be odd if the emperor lived the life of ‘Divine Twilight’ on his behalf...

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor’s inner demon continued to whisper at him to kill ‘Divine Twilight’ and take his place. Crom and Xerxes would have no way of knowing it even if the emperor followed his desire. Perhaps they would doubt him, but he was technically the same person as ‘Divine Twilight’. Nevertheless, the emperor suppressed his inner demon with great difficulty, thinking to himself that he would be no different from an animal if he just acted on his impulses.

However... However... Bel-Marduk had exploited those very whispers to offer his help. Bel-Marduk was a leader of <Horoscope>, so the emperor would be able to fool Crom and Xerxes without ever being caught with his help. Bel-Marduk had also asserted that he could manipulate the law of causality in a blink and become the emperor’s support so Crom and Xerxes would never be put in danger again.

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor would be lying to say he was not tempted by Bel-Marduk’s offer, as it was not only a chance to change his entire regret-filled life, but also to have the good friends he had been desperately wishing for. However, the emperor had turned down the offer, even after thinking it through until the very last moment.

“You may be right,” the Heavenly Dragon Emperor answered with his teeth still clenched.

Whooosh―!

An immense Spiritual Pressure bore down on the Heavenly Dragon Emperor. Although the emperor’s Divine Class was also exceptional, it was nothing compared to Bel-Marduk’s, like a firefly before the sun. It was a miracle that the emperor had not been crushed yet.

“But...” the Heavenly Dragon Emperor continued, widening his eyes as he withstood the Spiritual Pressure storm with difficulty; his golden eyes shone more radiantly than ever. “What would be the use of affection and status if I obtained them by deceiving my friends?!”

His eyes looked just like they had when he sat on the throne for the first time, determined to be a good ruler.

“I’ve wasted my whole life, but those two people gave meaning to my life for the first time. I don’t want to deceive them, so...”

Whooosh!

[The Divine Class of the Celestial ‘Emperor of the Heavenly Dragon’ is collapsing little by little.]

[The Myths of the Celestial ‘Emperor of the Heavenly Dragon’ are blazing!]

[The Faith of the Celestial ‘Emperor of the Heavenly Dragon’ is blazing!]

...

[The <Starlight> of the Celestial ‘Emperor of Heavenly Dragon’ is blazin!]

[An Energy Surge has started, allowing the Celestial ‘Emperor of the Heavenly Dragon’ to display an Absolute Celestial’s dignity for 4 minutes.]

“...Why don’t you go down with me, false Star Sign,” the Heavenly Dragon Emperor said.

Paaah―!

The Heavenly Dragon Emperor’s light pool turned into a <Starlight> pool, devouring Bel-Marduk just like sunlight; this was an Energy Surge. In return for sacrificing everything that made up his Divine Essence, the emperor had gained the power to fight equally against Bel-Marduk. Right before the <Starlight> pool shrouded him completely, the Heavenly Dragon Emperor smiled.

* * *

“W-What is that!”

“A god has descended!”

“What in the world is going on...?!”

“That’s where the Imperial Palace is! What’s happening there?!”

Most people in Helath were able to witness Bel-Marduk’s descent. A god’s descent was already shocking in and of itself, but this was the descent of ‘Taurus’, the supreme god and leader of <Horoscope> whom the Star Order served. His descent was bound to have a significant impact...!

[The Divine Class of the Celestial ‘Taurus’ is shaking Helath and Arcadia!]

[The law of causality is heavily affected!]

The problem was that his descent should not have been permitted. It was only made possible because all the prisoners in the dungeon, the officials who led Arcadia, and the high-ranking priests were sacrificed to forcibly account for the law of casualty. Thus, the repercussions were naturally severe. The storm of Bel-Marduk’s Divine Class struck not only Helath and the nearby planets, but also the entire region of space around him.

[A disaster is taking place!]

Helath shook violently, unable to withstand Bel-Marduk’s Divine Class. Powerful earthquakes spread out all across the area, knocking down buildings; lava erupted from fissures in the earth, unleashing clouds of sulfur gas that blanketed all of Helath.

“Dear Lord!”

“Ahhh! It’s the end of the world...”

“It’s our extinction!”

“Our corruption has caused our god to personally descend and punish us!”

Some planets that had been circling around the sun failed to withstand the Divine Class storm and were knocked out of their orbit, launched all the way outside their star system. Those planets’ atmospheres were completely destroyed, leading to the deaths of all their inhabitants. The sun, which was connected to Bel-Marduk himself, became hotter than ever as it grew bigger, melting down a couple of nearby planets.

Thuuuuud!

An enormous Celestial in the form of a bull emerged from the destroyed Helath and the Heavenly Dragon Emperor’s golden cloud, revealing himself beyond the planet as he roared fiercely. As there was no air in space, a normal roar would be inaudible; however, this roar used souls as a medium, allowing everyone in Arcadia to hear it.

[<Extinction> has arrived!]

The reactions of those who heard the roar were mainly divided into two categories. Some prostrated on the ground and begged for their god’s mercy, trembling. Others, however...

“He’s one hell of a nutjob to do something like this,” Chang-Sun said as he gnashed his teeth, looking at Bel-Marduk.

...they cursed. Chang-Sun was floating in space, where he could observe the entirety of Helath, which had been shining like Earth until mere moments before. However, the planet was now dark, and only erupting volcanoes were visible across its surface. As sulfurous fumes spread through the air, red lava traveled along cracks on the ground. The green land had long since been scorched black.

Most of the inhabitants of Helath had to have been massacred before they could do anything. Even though Arcadia had ruled their star system and been at the zenith of magic, their entire civilization was nothing in front of a Supreme Celestial’s roar.

If the Heavenly Dragon Emperor had not bought time for them, Chang-Sun and the others would undoubtedly have been caught up in the catastrophe too. Even Chang-Sun would have been gravely injured, as he had made the mistake of not expecting Bel-Marduk to sacrifice everyone in the Imperial Palace in order to descend.

Of course, Chang-Sun was well aware of how the <Horoscope> Star Signs did not really value human lives, but Arcadia was the resource base of the <Society> and also their forward base to advance from the Imaginary Plane to the Great Universe. Building such a place required a great deal of time and resources, so Chang-Sun had naturally believed that the <Society> would not give it up so easily.

However, Bel-Marduk had done that without hesitation just to capture Chang-Sun, shattering half of the enormous civilization named Arcadia with his descent alone. Helath and over twenty nearby planets were now uninhabitable. Planets on the outskirts of the star system were narrowly outside the catastrophe’s range, but they could not remain free from the aftermath, as the majority of their civilization had been destroyed.

It was impossible to even dream about rebuilding Arcadian civilization. Bel-Marduk’s descent alone had created such strong destruction; that was how powerful a Supreme Celestial of <Horoscope> was. However, Bel-Marduk would be forced to deal with severe consequences for that destruction. Was he just not taking that into account? Just as expected...

[The Celestial ‘Leo’ roars and asks the Celestial ‘Taurus’ what in the world he has done!]

[The Celestial ‘Aries’ hiccups in shock!]

[The Celestial ‘Cancer’ widens his eyes after witnessing the devastated Arcadia!]

...

[The Celestial ‘Sagittarius’ stops fighting in surprise even amid internal strife, looking at the Celestial ‘Taurus’!]

[The Celestials ‘Aquarius’ and ‘Gemini’ gasp, having entered a state of emergency due to having lost their sources of Faith!]

...

[All the Star Signs in the Society <Horoscope> fiercely protest in response to the actions of the Celestial ‘Taurus’!]

Ding!

Ding!

.

.

『Be...』

[The Three Seraphim of the Society <Maleakhe> are confused and at a loss about how to respond to such a sudden disaster!]

[The Demon Kings of the Society <L’Infernal> say that the Celestial ‘Taurus’ is wild like a devil, giggling!]

...

『...quiet!』

Bel-Marduk let out a furious roar at the messages surrounding him. The Celestials’ Channelings shook, causing their message screens to be fragmented and blocking their Channelings.

『How dare they! They’ve been bumming around and failing to do their jobs right!』

Rumble―!

Every time Bel-Marduk yelled in fury, a storm of his Divine Class raged, continuing to impact the distant planets that had been relatively intact.

“Arin,” Chang-Sun said as he turned to look at her.

“Thanks. I’ll head back first.” Ardrin Tigernmas, who had managed to escape Helath with Chang-Sun, said with a nod; she then teleported away.

The Prezias and their vassals, whom Arin had rescued, had been standing around blankly; however, they were teleported to Eos with her. Eos was Arin’s domain, so she had to protect the planet no matter what. In addition, she would be little help in Chang-Sun’s fight against Bel-Marduk. Thus, she left so as not to get in Chang-Sun’s way.

Chang-Sun quietly narrowed his eyes, having no idea why someone who should have been fighting against Tiamat was here. Even if it was to protect Arcadia, Bel-Marduk had caused far more destruction than could be justified in the name of protection.

‘That means he’s here because of me...’ Chang-Sun thought. He had trouble wrapping his head around the situation.

Indeed, Bel-Marduk had been unusually obsessed with Chang-Sun for a long time. At first, Chang-Sun had thought that it was because of Ithaca’s <First Star’s Fragment>, but too many things did not add up for that to be the cause. After all this time, Bel-Marduk had caused Chang-Sun to hold enmity against <Horoscope> and start a large-scale war in the end. Perhaps the fact that Bel-Marduk had gone out of his way to descend was rooted in his obsession.

“I’ll be able to find out the details after capturing and torturing him,” Chang-Sun muttered.

As he thought that...

[The Authority ‘Execution Sword’ has been activated!]

...Chang-Sun opened up his mind palace. It was finally the time to put an end to this sickeningly long feud between him and Bel-Marduk.