Chapter 343: Star, Den of the Evil Dragon (7)

Chapter 343: Star, Den of the Evil Dragon (7)

Now that Chang-Sun thought about it, Crom Cruach was also quite unique like Kali but in a different way.

Crom let out a long yawn.

“After all that time you spent sleeping, you still want to sleep more?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. When it comes to sleeping, there is no such thing as enough. Besides, they say beauty is a sleepyhead[1], you know.”

“That’s an unnecessarily eloquent excuse for your laziness.” Chang-Sun scoffed.

“I’m not making excuses. Do you know what I dreamed about yesterday?”

“No, what was it?”

“I dreamed about eating a wild red boar barbecue from Agonia! I can’t wake up while I’m having such a delicacy, can I?”

“... Okay... Did you eat a lot?”

Crom didn’t normally talk much, but not because she was a quiet person. She simply had always been busy dozing off. She even got her Divine Name, ‘Thousand-Year Slumbering Dragon,’ from it.

Whenever she was awake, she was as talkative as a naughty, sociable big sister. It was all thanks to her that Chang-Sun, Kali, Richardus, and Xerxes could stick together despite their differences.

“Twilight, do you have any dreams?” Crom asked.

“I’m busy as hell. Why are you asking me this now?”

“You grumble an awful lot for someone who’s going to answer me anyway. Wait, what do people call someone like you? Tsu... tsundere? Well, I think it was something close to that...”

“Cut your nonsense.” Chang-Sun frowned.

“Haha, anyway, do you have a dream?”

“Not really.”

“Why?” Crom tilted her head.

“Do I need one? I just live with the flow, but if I have to choose one...”

“What would it be?”

“To burn all the <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology> bastards,” Chang-Sun firmly answered.

“Phew, you don’t have to be so scary. I already know you’re a fiend.”

“What about you?”

“Me?” Crom pointed at herself.

“You always sleep, so wouldn’t you have a lot of dreams?”

“Oh, you’re quite sharp. This big sister does have many dreams. Do you want to hear about them? Do you? It would take quite a long time.”

“... I’ll take a rain check on that.”

Anyone who knew Crom well enough would know what she dreamed about—the completion of the great magic spell known as the Sky of Pneuma[2]. When she was still just a kid, her entire clan except for her was eradicated. The tragedy caused her to hibernate for a thousand years, allowing her to use her hibernation spell to replenish her depleted energy. She then used her Trait [Dream Walker] to study the great magic spell in her self-made Dream Space.

Since she woke up from her hibernation, she still often went to sleep to accomplish her goal. The Sky of Pneuma was an ancient magic spell that allowed one to manipulate the timeline of a Worldline. Diligent research wasn’t enough to restore it.

Fortunately, Crom was from the Ancient Dragon clan, which was also known as the ancestor of magic. Her lineage allowed her to close in on restoring the Sky of Pneuma spell, but just as she reached the end of her research, Chang-Sun and her other comrades lefther.

* * *

Chang-Sun had heard about one of Crom’s many dreams before.

“There is one thing that this big sister wants to do. Do you know what it is?” Crom asked.Updated chapters at novelhall.com

“If you’re just going to talk about your past again, just wash your feet and go to sleep.”

“Seriously, you and your mouth. This isn’t about that.”

“Then?” Chang-Sun shrugged.

“I want to find a remote place with a nice view, build a cabin there, and have a barbecue party with you all. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

Perhaps because their reality back then was far from peace, her dream was quite simple. What did Chang-Sun reply back then?

“That is... funny.”

Oh, yeah. He remembered now.

“We already do that often, so why bother going through all that trouble?”

“Ah, you’re right. Hahahahaha!”

When Chang-Sun first saw the Dragon Monarch, he immediately felt as if he knew the monster because they looked like Crom’s real form. However, Chang-Sun doubted the possibility.

Even though Richardus betrayed Chang-Sun and the others, the time they spent together was genuine. They all knew that Crom spent her whole life looking after her troublesome younger siblings and missing her clan members. Hence, Chang-Sun believed that he wouldn’t dishonor and torment their big sister.

But... Richardus trampled over the last hope that Chang-Sun had for him.

“One thing led to another, and there are many of them now.” Richardus shrugged. Contradicting his enigmatic smile, Chang-Sun’s eyes gradually turned colder and colder. “Our big sister was really huge. Sorting out her pieces proved too difficult, so I had to divide her to several pieces.”

“... I can ruin Earth all I want.” Richardus smirked. “As you already know, when the birdcage reaches the last threshold, the pressure inside the birdcage goes out of control, causing the space around it to collapse and turn into a black hole that devours everything around it.”

That was the scariest part about ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage.’ Once the gravity inside the birdcage passed the critical point, it would go out of control, and not even a Celestial would be able to do anything about it. The space-devouring blackhole would disintegrate even every bit of divine power that Celestials were made of.

If it managed to reach that point, Earth would likely disappear without a trace—no, most of the solar systems and galaxies of this Worldline would be destroyed, which meant Chang-Sun and Richardus would be killed as well.

“You wouldn’t want that to happen, would you? So let me give you an offer,” Richardus said. He, too, burned his ship for one goal.

“Twilight—no. Join me, Lee Chang-Sun.”

Chang-Sun didn’t answer.

Without paying his silence any heed, Richardus held out his hand. “To be honest, I find my seat too much of a burden. I was forced to take it because I could not withstand Father’s misconduct, but... this is all too complicated for me. However, I think it’ll be okay if I’m with you.”

Richardus looked serious. “Stay by my side. I’ll give you anything you want, including my seat. Together, we can do anything. Weren’t we a powerful duo? <Purple Star Astrology> is full of psychos right now, but we can turn it into an entirely new <Society>. This will also guarantee you’ll finally accomplish your desperate desire to bring down <Horoscope>—!”

Richardus disappeared for a moment, then suddenly stumbled backward. Chang-Sun had swung his spear at him.

“I was wondering what kind of bullshit you were going to come up with, so I decided to hear you out, but that just made me feel so disgusted that I couldn’t let you keep talking for another second.” Chang-Sun roared, thrusting [Twilight Spear] repeatedly.

Woosh, woosh, woosh―!

Whenever Chang-Sun’s spearhead shone, white and black lightning sparks simultaneously shot out.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...!

“It’s disappointing. I thought you would be able to understand the pressure I’m under—!” Richardus muttered.

“You dare ask me to join you after showing me how you violated our old friend’s corpse? Even a sociopath is better than that.”

“Those Dragon Monarchs are just temporary measures. Once we’ve completed analyzing the archive, we’re going to revive her.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Chang-Sun cussed.

The ghost wail echoing around Chang-Sun became more ominous.

Kiyaaaaah!

[The Divine Ground ‘Twilight-Setting Battlefield’ has opened!]

[The Dragontongue magic spell’s Effect supersedes the Divine Ground ‘Twilight-Setting Battlefield’, limiting the Divine Ground’s area of effect within the birdcage.]

The world turned purple, but some part of it was painted red as if blood splattered all over it. Several weapons then appeared one after another, all embedded into the ground.

“it certainly seems like we’ve gone too far to have a rational conversation, but I genuinely wish you to be on my side, so I’ll talk to you after I subdue you instead,” Richardus rolled up his wide-ranged sleeves as his expression darkened.

He lifted his foot up in the air and stomped on the ground.

Booom!

[The Celestial ‘New Tian Shi Yuan’ has activated the Authority ‘Sea Change’!]

His [Sea Change] was on a whole other level than the one Chang-Sun demonstrated before. It did not only change the ground they were standing on but even shattered the entire space inside the birdcage, changing the whole structure.

The shockwave made Chang-Sun lose his balance for a moment. He installed his [Omni-Weapon Chest] in accordance with the route that he planned to take to drive Richardus into a corner, but Richardus almost instantly broke through his plan and even destroyed the storm that Chang-Sun unleashed earlier.

[The Celestial ‘New Tian Shi Yuan’ has activated the Authority ‘Mountain-Crushing Supremacy’, converting all his supremacy into physical strength!]

Richardus used the momentum he gained to charge like an enormous cannonball. In his hand was the [Blood Sword], the trademark of ‘Iron-Blooded Lion,’ his previous Divine Name. In terms of strength, Richardus was one of the best even in all of <Heaven>.

Chang-Sun’s situation looked dangerous. However, just as Richardus closed in on him, a shiver ran down his spine and made him turn in the opposite direction, but no one was there.

‘... What?’ Richardus wondered if he made a mistake, but he soon realized where he was detecting the presence from. ‘Shadow!’

Someone who seemed to be wearing shadow armor came out from where Richardus’ shadow had been.

Claaaang!

Richardus turned his [Blood Sword] inward and narrowly managed to deflect Gyeo-Ul’s Black Dragon Fang. The difference in their strength prevented Richardus from being pushed back. However, he still felt as if someone poured a bucket of cold water on him. In appearance and Traits alone, Gyeo-Ul resembled one of their old comrades.

“Xerxes? How are you here?” Richardus asked in disbelief.

Gyro-Ul didn’t answer. Instead, someone with sharp energy dropped down from the sky.

「Let me answer that question for you.」

Boooom!

Richardus held up his left hand to block the surprise attack. Since he was using [Mountain-Crushing Supremacy], anyone who clashed against him should’ve had to deal with severe aftereffects, yet the person retreated backward and landed on a nearby boulder seemingly unscathed.

Tap!

Realizing who the other intruder was, Richardus froze up. “... Even Kali is here. How in the world? You should all be...”

「Dead? Yes, but we came back like Twilight did.」

Elegantly holding her hands together, Kali coldly roared.

「We’re here to guide you to the <Underworld>, traitor.」

1. It’s a Korean saying. ☜

2. It’s actually an ancient Greek word for breathing. ☜