Return of the Shattered Constellation - Chapter 534: Star, the Beast (5)

Chang-Sun didn’t care or feel the need to care about Richardus’ final thoughts. After all, he had seen the man’s shallow depth. Instead of paying it any heed, Chang-Sun retrieved all the <Star Fragments> that Richardus had left behind.

Paaah―!

[You have absorbed the <Star Fragments> of the Celestial ‘New Tian Shi Yuan’!]

[Failing to overpower your Divine Class, which has reached the level of Celestial Kings, the leftover memories and energy within the <Star Fragments> have disappeared deep into your <Myths>.]

…

[You have successfully accumulated a great amount of <Star Fragments>.]

[You have successfully located heart pieces of the Celestial ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ in the buried <Myths>.]

[Attempting to retrieve and turn the destroyed <Myths> into a new heart.]

[Completing the heart requires a significant amount of time.]

Although the Emperor’s Seat had received an artificial heart transplant, Chang-Sun wanted to restore the original one to avoid the possible side effects. Fortunately, upon digging through Richardus’ <Myths>, he discovered that restoring it to a certain extent was possible. Hence, he gave it a try.

Chang-Sun’s eyes shone as light particles floated above his palms. ‘It’s working.’

The new heart would naturally be a lot weaker than the original since many of the Emperor’s Seat’s <Myths> had been used, but it would at least increase the artificial heart’s stability. That alone would be enough to satisfy Chang-Sun.

After storing the recovering heart in the [King’s Treasury], Chang-Sun looked at the melee between the many Star Signs and Grand Heaven League members. The battlefield, which was centered around Tiamat the Beast, had become so chaotic that the combatants could no longer tell foes and allies apart. Moreover, the Star Signs seemed wary of their fellow Star Signs.

『You crazy bastard, how dare you try to take my <Star Fragment>? Do you have a death wish?』

『Ha! We’re all going to die anyway, so might as well just take as many fragments as I can and get out of here!』

『Are you people seri—!』

Some of the Star Signs had started attacking their own kind to take their <Star Fragments> before escaping from the Imaginary Plane. Although the world was protecting them from <Deus Ex Machina>’s watchful eyes, it was being irreversibly ruined. Hence, despite the risks, they decided to evacuate to the Great Universe.

The Star Signs didn’t have any reason to protect the Imaginary Plane in the first place. The system of rules that had been keeping them under control was now gone, so they could no longer maintain order.

Looking at the wormholes that the Star Signs had created to escape, Chang-Sun muttered, “No one’s leaving this place.”

[You have equipped the ‘White Magpie Bow’!]

Right after taking the [White Magpie Bow] out of the [King’s Treasury], Chang-Sun pulled the bowstring, bending it so far back that it seemingly threatened to snap. At the same time, rays of light flowed out from his fingertips and turned into the four slayer swords and Ou Yezi’s Fine Swords, which he intended to use as arrows.

If Richardus were still alive to see what was going on, he would have been shocked to his core. After all, Chang-Sun was using three of the Authorities that could be called his Signatures. With the strength of [Mountain-Crushing Supremacy], he loaded the power of [Sea Change] to the arrowheads. He also infused his blood into the arrows using [Blood Sword] to increase the damage they could deal.

After getting Richardus’ Authorities from his <Myths>, Chang-Sun interpreted them in his style and made them his own. Now, he exhibited the traits of the Martial Celestial that Richardus had always dreamed of becoming.

“Go.”

Swish―!

The light rays instantly flew across the air, piercing through anyone in their way. They caused a lot more destruction than the time Chang-Sun used his [King of All Weapons] to control his swords.

『What the f—! Aaargh!』

『Urghhh! My arm! My aaarrrm! Keough!』

『Aaaarghh!』

『Where in the world—aaagh!』

『Th-they keep following—urgh!』

The arrows destroyed the fleeing Star Signs’ heads before they could even step foot into their wormholes. Upon noticing the incoming projectiles, the Star Signs tried their hardest to dodge, but their efforts all ended in vain. With the help of [Wait]’s meticulous calculations, Chang-Sun continued to distort space so the arrows would hit the Star Signs’ vital spots.

Stab, stab, stab―!

[A Star Sign is plummeting!]

[A Star Sign is plummeting!]

…

『Shit! I have to get out of here!』

『Who is it?! Who in the world is behind this?!』

Realizing that fleeing would only get them killed, the Star Signs started to panic. With Tiamat in the center of the Imaginary Plane’s center and an unknown assailant outside, they were left with few options to choose from.

『It’s over there!』

『T-Twilight?! Why is he here?!』

『Are you behind all this, ‘Divine Twilight’?!』

『Wait, is he from a different Worldline…?』

『No! It’s him from Worldline #801!』

Finally identifying their assailants, the Star Signs burst into anger. Chang-Sun #801 was very notorious among them. Ever back in his mortal days, he had already been warring against Celestials and Star Signs. He was also responsible for numerous Star Signs plummeting. Hence, even those who hadn’t met him in person were well aware of his notoriety.

“You people are catching on too slow.” Chang-Sun’s crooked smile deepened as he pulled the bowstring again. “Well, it wouldn’t have changed anything even if you found out sooner.”

Paah, paah, paah―!

Swoooosh!

Chang-Sun wasn’t wrong. Even though the Star Signs had found him, the one-sided massacre still seemed as if it would go on forever. The Star Signs couldn’t even think about fighting him. Whenever someone tried to approach him, the arrows flew toward them to defend him.

To make matters worse, Chang-Sun was skillfully pushing the Star Signs closer to Tiamat, making it even more difficult for them to escape death. Since the arrows could fly toward them at any moment, they couldn’t even focus on attacking Tiamat.

The Grand Heaven League’s situation wasn’t any different.

『Aaarghh!』

『I-I didn’t join the league just to suffer a meaningless death!』

『S-save me—!』

In the face of death, The Grand Heaven League members, who had been recovering and resurrecting using their Replicates, began to panic. It didn’t take long for the terror to spread within the entire league.

[The Celestial ‘Tsunami Bringer’ shakes his head as he watches the ongoing disaster.]

[The Celestial ‘Antlered Animal King’ also shakes his head while saying that they seem to have forgotten that they shouldn’t mess with the Celestial ‘Divine Twilight.’]

[The Celestial ‘Plague Monarch’ stares at two people.]

[The Celestial ‘Tsunami Bringer’ turns his head to the side.]

[The Celestial ‘Antlered Animal King’ avoids someone’s eyes.]

…

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ asks the Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ when they will be sent in.]

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ looks at the Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ with pleading eyes.]

The special unit had come to this place prepared to die. They had steeled their resolve. Hence, they couldn’t help but be surprised by how their mission was turning out. Pabilsag still kept asking to rescue Tiamat, but…

[The Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ orders the special unit to stand down because it is not the right time yet!]

‘The link between Tiamat and the Mother Terra Celestial is too strong. Severing it by force right now will only damage Tiamat’s Spirituality. We have to wait for the Mother Terra Celestial’s greed to grow deep enough that she would no longer need Tiamat…!’

Chang-Sun’s [Foretelling Eye] blazed up more brilliantly than ever. ‘They’re coming.’

Booooom!

Sun Wukong the Grand Heaven burst out from the mouth of Tiamat, who was almost unrecognizable with the Divine Tree vines entangled around her. Exuding seemingly sacred golden light, he scanned the area from top to bottom to find Chang-Sun.

“Twiliiight!” Sun Wukong screamed, furious that Chang-Sun was tearing down the organization that he had put so much effort into creating.

As the Grand Heaven, he represented the center of <Heaven> #801 and had been the strongest of the Nine Heavens for a long time. However, one thing always frustrated him.

―I’m strong. I can think, decide, and act for myself. I exist right now, so why can’t I become the only version of myself?

Oneness had been tormenting Sun Wukong for a long time. He existed, but so did the other Sun Wukongs of other Worldlines. They looked, thought, and made decisions like him as if they had been copy-pasted. Hence, he couldn’t say with confidence that he had oneness.

Above all, Sun Wukong #801 would never be able to surpass the level of the original Sun Wukong. It didn’t matter if he was a <Supreme Light’s Face> or the strongest in Worldline #801. He would always be one of his original version’s countless imitations.

With all those factors in mind, Sun Wukong #801 had come to a decision.

―I’ll take my revenge on those who made the universe like this. I’ll show them the depth of my despair by ruining many Worldlines with those who share a similar tragedy.

Fortunately, Sun Wukong #801 had accumulated a lot of Causality and, by studying Star Signs, learned how to travel from Worldline to Worldline. Using one of the genesis egg’s many eggshell pieces in the Outer Universe, Sun Wukong created his own world and then imprinted its existence in the universe like the Imaginary Plane.

In doing so, Sun Wukong gained the ability to operate through numerous Terminals. Since his Terminals’ Data were automatically uploaded to the source copy, he could continue to exist even if they died. Thus, Sun Wukong’s Cloud Server, also known as the Cloud Dimension, was born.

While the source copies stayed inside the Cloud Dimension, their Replicates actively fulfilled their duties outside of it. The more Replicates they had, the fiercer the fight Sun Wukong and his people could put up against the Great Universe and the higher the value of the source copies.

The group of terrorists named <Grand Heaven League> was founded on that idea.

However, ‘Divine Twilight’ had pulverized the league’s foundation. Their Cloud Server had been infected with [Gaia’s Curse], and Sun Wukong couldn’t even confirm if the server was still intact. He couldn’t build an antivirus right now either since he was stranded in this place.

Above all, having been eaten by Tiamat, Sun Wukong was now also infected with [Gaia’s Curse]. At this rate, if he didn’t do anything, he would find himself in an extremely dangerous situation soon.

Seeing Chang-Sun’s smile from afar, something inside Sun Wukong’s head snapped. Driven to kill Chang-Sun, he was about to launch an attack when his target suddenly mouthed something.

—Behind you.

“… What?”

Feeling a shiver run down his spine, Sun Wukong quickly turned back, finding vines soaring up from Tiamat’s blown head. They then chaotically entangled with one another, turning into a monster that flew at him.

At the same time, the Divine Tree’s other vines and roots continued hunting the other Celestials and Star Signs, sucking in all their energy to nourish itself—no, absorbing all the energy in the Imaginary Plane. There was only one being in the universe who created new life by taking vital force.

‘The Mother Terra Celestial…!’

Sun Wukong clenched his teeth. The cursed being was now going after him.

Paaah!