Chapter 379: Star, Open War (4)

Chapter 379: Star, Open War (4)

“A way to get better? Hmph! What do you want? A magic fairy to grant your wish? Let me tell you something. You’ll stop progressing the moment you start relying on luck.”

Baek Gyeo-Ul recalled what Durga, his teacher, told him some time ago. In their first encounter, Durga disapproved of him and Kali even though she was the one who invited them. It seemed she invited them because she had a lot to talk about with them, not to bring them under her umbrella.

Kali and Durga had a conversation while Gyeo-Ul wasn’t present, which was when he started respecting Durga as his teacher. Although he only found out about it a little later, she was an absolute being who had less than nine equals.

Nevertheless, she never showed off her power. In fact, she lived like an ordinary woman, growing her vegetable patches in a remote forest of the outskirts region instead of building her own divine ground. Still, her every word left everlasting imprints in Gyeo-Ul’s heart.

“Keep walking forward. There will come a time when you’ll wonder about the path you chose. When you look back, you’ll realize that you’ve come quite far and even climbed a high mountain. That’s what life is.”

Watching Kali, who just had a new turning point in her life, Gyeo-Ul thought that this could be what Durga meant in the past.

‘Chang-Sun hyung-nim and Kali noo-nim... are walking down their own paths. What about my path?’ Gyeo-Ul contemplated for a moment and then came to a conclusion. ‘Follow them and find Father.’

Maybe it was to bring back his family, which he barely remembered anymore.

『Nonsense. What can you do with such a feeble mindset?!』

At that moment, Bardiya snapped in Gyeo-Ul’s mind, but Gye-Ul remained unaffected.

‘Don’t worry. You’re also my family.’

『What?』Bardiya asked, sounding dumbstruck. After a moment, he let out a long sigh. 『You’re just like your father.』

Bardiya always found Xerxes’ good nature frustrating, so Gyeo-Ul taking after Xerxes made him lament.

『It’s not too bad, though. Keke!』

Gyeo-Ul could feel how much Bardiya missed Xerxes from his voice. Although Bardiya always grumbled about Xerxes, he missed Xerxes more than anyone.

“Then let’s keep walking.” Gyeo-Ul held out his left hand, tightening his grip on Black Dragon Fang.

Shadow amassed above his palm, turning into a crow mask, which was Bardiya’s incarnation that Chang-Sun gifted to Gyeo-Ul.

Click!

When Gyeo-Ul put the mask on, he felt power surge in him. However, he felt the indescribable warmth emerging from deep within his heart more clearly. His armor was made from the shadow that Chang-Sun gave him, his skills and techniques were from Kali, and the personality that was left by his father was with him. Unlike his lonely childhood, Gyeo-Ul was now covered with three people’s gifts and adored more than anyone.

‘With those three... I guess I’m invincible.’

Gyeo-Ul couldn’t help chuckling when the cheesy thought crossed his mind.

Paah―!

Gyeo-Ul sprang forth, his eyes turning sharper than ever under the mask.

* * *

Neither <Muspelheim> nor the Zodiacs had claimed the tide of the battle yet, but overall, <Muspelheim> was slowly losing ground due to their insufficient combat capabilities. They couldn’t even have survived this long if not for the <Troop>—no, the <Valhalla> siblings, who started assisting the <Muspelheim> Celestials as soon as they joined the battle. The only other reason they were managing to hold out was that despite their relatively low Divine Classes, the <Muspelheim> Celestials specialized in combat.

The Zodiacs were bound to eventually gain the upper hand. More aware of that than anyone else, Chang-Sun had to find a solution. The problem was...

[The Celestial ‘Scorpio’ has activated the Authority ‘Venom’!]

... these Zodiacs would never let him go.

Swoooosh―!

Antares raised his long scorpion tail to pierce Chang-Sun. After deflecting the poisonous tail to the side using the [Juque Sword], Chang-Sun immediately had to turn to the opposite direction to dodge another opponent’s attack.

『I’m sorry, but he’s a valuable asset that I can’t give to other people yet.』

Unfortunately, Bel-Marduk interfered.

A big spatial gap opened up, and Bel-Marduk’s hand came out of it and grabbed Chang-Sun’s nape. Bel-Marduk’s and Chang-Sun’s tornadoes ferociously clashed with each other, resulting in a bizarre, thunderous sound. While Chang-Sun’s tornado was an abnormal phenomenon that created ghost wails and lightning, Bel-Marduk’s was a natural catastrophe that created raging rainstorms.

Creeeeeeak!

Bel-Marduk held out his arm amid the shredding tornadoes. Although Bel-Marduk didn’t look any different since their last encounter, Chang-Sun deduced that he should never assume that Bel-Marduk was on the same level as the other Zodiacs.

‘The problem is that ‘Leo’ and ‘Aquarius’ are behind him,’ Chang-Sun thought in discontentment.

‘Leo’ was known to be comparable to Bel-Marduk, and ‘Aquarius’ could grant people unparalleled recovery and blessings. If they joined the battle as well, Chang-Sun and <Muspelheim> woud lose all chances of winning. Although those two Zodiacs were still just spectating, there was no knowing when they would join in. Chang-Sun had to finish this before then.

[Activating the ‘Teleportation Rune’!]

Paaah!

Hence, Chang-Sun teleported him and Bel-Marduk to where [Naglfar] was.

『What are you trying to do...?』

“Did the thought ever cross your mind?”

『...?』

“That I don’t have to keep fighting this losing battle against you guys?” Chang-Sun asked.

『...!』

Bel-Marduk was surprised. When they ambushed Chang-Sun to eliminate him, they believed that he would have no choice but to fight them once they showed up. After all, almost everyone in <Heaven> knew about the grudge that ‘Divine Twilight’ had against the Zodiacs.

The Chang-Sun that Bel-Marduk knew never shied away from combat and was hard-headed enough to fight even in disadvantageous battles until the end. What if he stopped acting stubbornly? Could they still capture him if he decided to run away? If they somehow caught up to him, could they subdue him if he resorted to other methods?

“Explode.” Chang-Sun smiled coldly, activating [Wordwielding].

Woosh.

A gust of hot wind blew. At the same time...

[You have commanded ‘Naglfar: Ship of the Deceased’ to self-destruct!]

[‘Naglfar: Ship of the Deceased’ is detonating.]

Rumble―!

[Naglfar] exploded. Although Chang-Sun had absorbed most of the Anomaly, quite a lot of it was left within the ship. Hence, the damage it could cause by self-destructing should never be taken lightly, especially if one was standing in the center of its explosion.

『Twilight!!!!!!!』Bel-Marduk furiously yelled at Chang-Sun as he focused on redirecting his tornado to block the explosion of [Naglfar]. Chang-Sun’s <Darkness> and supreme sacred light created more explosions, keeping Bel-Marduk’s hands full containing the explosions.

Meanwhile, Chang-Sun summoned the warriors of <Valhalla> and <Muspelheim> back to the Changgwi Cave and used a Teleportation Rune to return Antares. When Chang-Sun grabbed Antares by the nape, who was already pale due to [Gaia’s Curse], he noticed that his limbs were melting down.

“Neat,” Chang-Sun said as he looked around the battlefield, which had turned into an absolute disaster. He then drew Teleportation Runes in the air to get out of the area and escape the heat storm blowing from [Naglfar].

[The ‘Teleportation Rune’ has been activated!]

[The ‘Teleportation Rune’ has been activated!]

[The ‘Teleportation Rune’ has been activated!]

...