Chapter 424: Star, the Parallel Universe (9)

Chapter 424: Star, the Parallel Universe (9)

I need to buy time here by any means necessary! the Heavenly Dragon Emperor thought, gritting his teeth as he flew at Bel-Marduk. His bloodshot eyes were filled with the resolve to stop Bel-Marduk so Chang-Sun and the others could get out.

[The Celestial Emperor of the Heavenly Dragon has released his full Divine Class!]

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-Marduks 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 Cruachs 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 Emperors 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 Emperors 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 emperors 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-Marduks 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 emperors Divine Class was also exceptional, it was nothing compared to Bel-Marduks, 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.

Ive wasted my whole life, but those two people gave meaning to my life for the first time. I dont want to deceive them, so

Whooosh!

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

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 catastrophes 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-Marduks 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 <LInfernal> 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! Theyve 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. Ill 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 Arins domain, so she had to protect the planet no matter what. In addition, she would be little help in Chang-Suns fight against Bel-Marduk. Thus, she left so as not to get in Chang-Suns 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 hes 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 Ithacas <First Stars 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.

Ill 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.