Chapter 237: Star, Mimisbrunnr (2)

Chapter 237: Star, Mimisbrunnr (2)

Ding!?

Ding!

A message suddenly popped up before all the Celestials in the area. The first to become appalled were Uriel and Marbas.

“What in the world...!”

“Wh-why are the barriers disappearing and the sealing spells getting undone?!”

As the ones in charge of protecting the <Star Grave>, Uriel and Marbas were naturally fully aware that the <Star Grave> was being maintained by the magic barriers and sealing spells that Metatron and Baal, who had both gone missing, had cast. Worrying about those barriers and spells malfunctioning, Uriel and Marbas had been regularly repairing and inspecting the place. However, instead of malfunctioning or getting destroyed, the barriers and spells got unlocked instead.

However, it was too late to do anything about it now that the bank of the Spiritual Lake collapsed, resulting in a tsunami raging toward the underground space and cave. Overloaded, the energy site of the <Star Grave> created a strong earthquake. Cracks spread on the ground, and sprays of water shot up like geysers.

Woosh, woosh, woosh...!

The tsunami swept away everything in its path, including the debris and all the Celestials who were busy fighting.

『Arrghh!』

『What the...!』

『Shit! What is going on?!』

The Celestials tried to stop the tsunami using all sorts of Authorities, but they were helpless against it. After all, it was made out of <Asgard>’s spiritual energy, which had agglomerated until it reached a breaking point and turned into water. It could serve as an elixir if one could take their time absorbing it. Otherwise, it was nothing but a lethal poison. Even Agares was helplessly swept away by the tsunami.

Chang-Sun lost consciousness. Although he was the one who started the tsunami, its impact was just far too strong even for him. Moreover, the spiritual water applied pressure so immense that it felt as if he would get crushed to death—no, he was already physically breaking down.

Crack, crack, crack―!

like a marionette whose strings had come loose, his limbs bizarrely contorted, his muscles were shredded to pieces, and every bone in his body shattered. Chang-Sun bled profusely, but the soul water washed it away. His lightning energy, which had been maintaining his body, had already been depleted. Only his [Ferocious Heart] remained unscathed.

Badump, badump, badump―!

His heart raced harder than ever.

Kiyooo―!

Looking at Chang-Sun, Cadmus’ eyes turned sharp.

[Your Subordinate ‘Cadmus’ is sharing your ‘Ferocious Heart’ with great care!]

[Creating more <Darkness>.]

[Your consciousness is sinking into <Darkness>.]

...

[You have successfully found the old grave of <Asgard>, the fallen Society.]

[You have absorbed a part of the hidden <Starlight> within the grave.]

...

[Your second class ‘Einheri’ and the absorbed <Starlight> are a very great match.]

[Reinforcing your characteristic as an Einheri.]

[Reinforcing your characteristic as an Einheri.]

...

[Achievement unlocked!]

“Discovery of the divine ground of <Asgard>.”

Reward: Activation of Einheri Hidden Piece.

[Your subconsciousness has been stimulated, revealing a hidden secret about Einheri, your second class!]

* * *

[The hidden secret will be played in your mind palace in the form of a preview!]

Caw! Caw!

Chang-Sun wanted to sleep some more, but the noises of a crow kept waking him up...

Caw! Caw! Caw!

The crow cawed even louder against his wishes, seemingly yelling at Chang-Sun to wake up.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

As the crow’s ominous caws continued, Chang-Sun heard another voice.

『Child.』

An old man was waking Chang-Sun up.

『Wake up, child.』

However, Chang-Sun really couldn’t open his eyes. He felt sluggish, and his head ached so hard.

『Hmm! You can probably hear my voice... Did you sustain too much shock? You should be more than capable of enduring this...』

The man’s raspy voice was clear and loud enough for Chang-Sun to hear. With enough distance, he would probably sound like a ghost.

『Come on, open your eyes. The things you worked for, the people who honor you even after their death, the people who follow you, the people who want to help you... Everything and everyone would be in vain if you fall into eternal sleep here.』

Hearing the old man’s remark, Chang-Sun... forced his eyes to open.

『You’re up.』

Chang-Sun heard a part of the Divine Steel shackles around his soul dropping, giving him a boost in energy. The strong spiritual pressure now helped his destroyed body quickly recover—no, he had now molted out of his old skin and was now creating a new skin for his sturdier, perfect body. Having soaked his muscles, bones, and cells in the spiritual water, he gained an incomparably greater physical upgrade than before. Even his racing [Ferocious Heart] had become larger.

Badump, badump, badump―

[You have successfully <Molted> for the third time!]

[The Title ‘Jigwi Giant Incarnation’ has been upgraded to the Title ‘Jigwi Spirit Incarnation’!]

...

[You have completely adjusted to spiritual water.]

[You can now move freely in spiritual water.]

...

[You have acquired ‘Li's Fragment.’]

‘[Li’s Fragment]? What is this?’ Chang-Sun briefly wondered but decided to think about it later.

Right now, he had to come up with a way to escape these rapids. Luckily, Chang-Sun ‘knew’ what he had to do. Chang-Sun infused his mana into the Elfin Root, who was in his arms. Mixing his mana with <Darkness>, he subdued the demonic poison that had been killing the Elfin and replenished its stamina by diluting spiritual water and supplying the Elfin with it. Those were enough as temporary treatments.

Afterward, Chang-Sun synchronized with the Elfin. Since his mana currently had a connection established between them, he thought he could use a part of his subordinate’s ability through their Soul Link.

[Attempting to synchronize with your Subordinate ‘Elfin Root’!]

[Connecting your minds.]

[Your mental barriers have temporarily been disengaged.]

[Synchronizing your minds.]

...

[Warning! Your personalities might merge as well if your Synchronization rate is too high, resulting in a loss of individuality. Do you still wish to proceed?]

Chang-Sun just ignored the warning message and continued, his [Gnostic Eye] gradually shining more radiantly. Through it, he could see the Elfin’s mana flow, allowing him to learn what he should do.

[You have chosen to proceed.]

...

[You have acquired a new type of Divinity. ]

[Attribute: Living Tree.]

[The attribute has been stored in your ‘Stigma.’]

...

[You have successfully synchronized with your Subordinate ‘Elfin Root.’]

[You can now use all your Subordinate’s abilities and Authorities.]

‘<Living Tree>... Did I get Kali’s Divinity?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

This was probably possible because the Elfin used to be Kali’s priest. Chang-Sun thought this was for the better. With Kali’s Divinity, rescuing her other priests would become a lot easier.

[The Skill ‘Vine Whip’ has been activated!]

Chang-Sun used one of the Elfin’s Skills, causing its right arm to turn into dozens of vines. It spread and grabbed all the Gray Elves helplessly getting swept away by the rapids. Moodoo was difficult to reach since she was quite far away from everyone, but she stretched out her own vines as well and grabbed the Elfin’s.

‘Give me a direction, Armand!’?Chang-Sun shouted in his head.

Woosh!

『You...?』Armand’s eyes widened a bit in surprise when she appeared. She seemed to have something to say about Chang-Sun’s [Gnostic Eye] and his faded hair color.

‘Let’s talk later. Find a way out of here first. Go!’?Chang-Sun urged.

『Alright.』

Armand turned into a gust of wind and disappeared into the water, which also helped Chang-Sun breathe underwater. Not long after, she returned.

『I found an escape route.』

‘Where?’

『This way.』

Chang-Sun immediately followed Armand and detected the current that would lead them outside. Fortunately, the <Maleakhe> angels and <L’Infernal> demons couldn’t afford to pay much heed to Chang-Sun and the others.

The rapids naturally made it difficult for him to get to where he wanted to go, but the gnosis at least helped him move relatively more freely. Moreover, Chang-Sun now felt very comfortable in ‘Mimisbrunnr’ unlike the other Celestials, and he also had Armand, who was providing him with great assistance.

Moving with haste, Chang-Sun managed to rescue the wandering Minerva, Mars, and Mercury before he reached his destination. Sensing that he was nearly out of this situation, he started feeling relieved. However...

Kiyoo! Kiyoooo!

[Surprised, your Subordinate ‘Cadmus’ warns you of incoming danger!]

Cadmus, who was on his right shoulder, looked uncharacteristically pale. Noticing something others hadn’t, it frantically yelled at him. Chang-Sun soon realized that what he had thought was a path leading outside the building was actually a wide-opened mouth.

The mouth revealed an abyss-like throat, a tongue as red as an active volcano, and sharp fangs as big as a mountain. The being it belonged to—an unfathomably huge Dragon—was drinking a lot of lake water to swallow Chang-Sun and the others.

Although the Dragon was dangerous enough to scare even Cadmus, Chang-Sun smiled.

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ waves her hand, telling you to come this way!]

[The Celestial ‘Primordial Evil Dragon’ grumbles that her daughter causes her so much trouble.]

Gulp!

Tiamat, the giant Dragon, swallowed Chang-Sun and the others whole.