Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: The Night That Falls in the Day (6)
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[Ah, ugh.]
*Tremble.*
The owl, crushed by an irresistible force, was pinned wretchedly to the floor.
[H-How can you wield such power within the constraints of the Laws…?]
Noctua looked up at the silver-haired goddess, his face filled with terror.
Despite being a Constellation himself, he couldn't even twitch a wing.
Like an ant crushed under a finger, all he could do was lie flat on the floor, his body trembling violently.
The gap between them was so vast that even the word 'overwhelming' felt like an understatement.
[This… is the Constellation of Vega.]
One of the three stars said to shine most brilliantly in the night sky.
He was realizing, in the most gut-wrenching way, just how wondrous the power of a Constellation called Polaris truly was.
[I believe I told you not to run that mouth of yours.]
Vega turned her ice-cold gaze upon Noctua.
*Ssk.*
Her bare white foot, peeking out from under her dress, tapped the floor lightly.
[Kuaaaargh!!!]
As if answering her call, a giant's arm burst through the floor.
The arm, dozens of meters long and made of blue lightning, roughly seized Noctua's body.
[Begone.]
Her voice was devoid of emotion, carrying neither burning rage nor chilling killing intent.
It was like a judge reading a sentence to a condemned criminal.
She commanded coldly.
-CRUNCH! CRACK!
[Urk! Gack! Kyaaaargh!]
The giant's arm of blue lightning forcibly tore off the owl's wings.
[W-What are you staring at! H-Hurry and help me!!]
He clacked his beak wretchedly, crying out to his Apostles, but soon the giant's hand seized his beak, twisted it, and ripped it off, leaving him unable to even beg for help.
-CRRRACK!
Finally, the giant's arm tore off Noctua's head.
Noctua's presence vanished completely, and the blessing he had bestowed disappeared without a trace.
[Hoo.]
Vega let out a low breath and wiped the cold sweat from her brow.
Since Noctua had not manifested in his true form, she couldn't completely annihilate his existence, but with his consciousness torn to shreds like this, his main body must have suffered immense damage.
‘He won't be able to bestow blessings on his Apostles anymore.’
But unsummoning Noctua didn't solve everything.
Just because the Constellation was gone didn't mean the power of the Awakeners who had received its Stigma would disappear.
To protect Oh-jin, she needed to defeat the King of Owls, Cheon Do-yoon, as well.
‘There isn't much time.’
Vega bit her lip, her expression anxious.
Even now, the constraints of the Laws were intensifying, shrinking the Sanctuary she had deployed.
If the Sanctuary completely vanished and the constraints of the Laws overcame her, not even she knew what price she would have to pay.
‘…Perhaps.’
Just as Noctua had said.
In the worst-case scenario, her very existence could be ‘annihilated.’
[…]
Vega looked down at the fallen Oh-jin with sorrowful eyes, then slowly shook her head.
‘Even if I am to be annihilated, I will finish what I must do before I disappear.’
Her chillingly cold gaze turned to Cheon Do-yoon.
“Ah, ahh.”
As if he couldn't believe the reality unfolding before him, Cheon Do-yoon stood with his mouth agape, feeling Noctua's blessing fade away.
“W-What in the world is this…”
This was the power of a Constellation called Polaris.
Crushed by a majestic presence so immense he couldn't even lift a finger, he trembled uncontrollably.
[Wicked one.]
Vega's bare white feet swept across the floor.
Approaching Cheon Do-yoon, she slowly raised her hand.
[Receive your punish—]
The moment she was about to bring her raised hand down.
-CRACKLE!
A blue spark erupted from her body.
[Ugh!]
Vega's expression contorted.
The constraints of the Laws, which had been pressing on her Sanctuary, suddenly began to intensify.
[B-But there should have been more time…!]
She didn't know the exact reason.
The constraints of the Laws pressing on her Sanctuary grew rapidly stronger.
[Ah, ugh.]
*Crackle! Crac-crackle!!*
Blue sparks erupted ceaselessly.
Vega's face twisted in pain as she writhed.
“Ve… ga.”
Oh-jin, lying bloodied on the floor, reached out a hand toward the struggling Vega.
But before his hand could reach her, Vega's body began to fade.
[N-No…!]
Vega cried out like a wail, looking down at her own slowly disappearing body.
[I-I still have things I must do…! Ugh! S-Stop! I said stop!!!]
She tried to muster her strength to resist the Laws' constraints, but as if mocking her pleas, the constraints only grew stronger, trying to send her back to the Sanctum.
[Agh! My… child.]
Vega's body swayed unsteadily.
More than half of her body had vanished, yet she tried to reach for the fallen Cheon Do-yoon, her voice growing faint.
[I'm… sor… ry.]
With those last words.
Vega's body completely disappeared.
“Gasp! Hah! Hah!”
Cheon Do-yoon, who had been pinned to the floor by Vega's presence, gasped for breath as he pushed himself up.
After confirming that the goddess's presence was completely gone, he clutched his stomach and burst into laughter.
“O-Of course! No matter how great a Polaris Constellation she is, she cannot defy the providence of the universe!!”
He twisted his wrinkled lips into a triumphant laugh.
“Ho ho ho!! Well now, the Constellation protecting you is gone!”
He walked over to the fallen Oh-jin and kicked him violently.
*Thwack!*
Oh-jin's body rolled wretchedly across the floor, leaving a long streak of blood in its wake.
“Hoo. Let's end this now.”
The recent event must have been quite a shock, as Cheon Do-yoon wiped the cold sweat from his brow with a slightly hurried expression.
Noctua's blessing was gone, but the magic contained in the Dragon's Heart and the power of the Owl Constellation's Stigma he had received from Noctua remained intact.
The fight between the battered Oh-jin, sprawled on the floor, and Cheon Do-yoon was as good as decided.
“Ah, ugh.”
Oh-jin, trembling and soaked in blood, gritted his teeth and pressed his hands against the floor.
-Thud!
He tried to push himself up.
But his arms gave way, and he fell face-first onto the floor.
“Hah, hah, hah!”
His ragged breaths were mixed with the smell of blood.
He writhed like an insect, crawling on the floor.
“Ho ho ho! What a pathetic sight!”
Cheon Do-yoon looked down at the fallen Oh-jin and sneered.
“You should have known your place before you acted up.”
He slowly walked towards the squirming Oh-jin, showering him with mockery.
Black feathers formed into a sharp spear in his hand.
“Now—pay the price for your insolence.”
As he smiled brightly and was about to thrust the spear down.
-CLANK, CLANK, CLANK!!!!
The loud clang of metal rang in his ears.
“…on't, touch him.”
“Hmm?”
“I said don't… lay a hand on Oh-jin, you bastard!!!”
Ha-eun struggled violently, shouting fiercely.
At that moment.
-FWOOOOSH!!!!
A small crystal of flame created in mid-air shot towards Cheon Do-yoon.
“Hup!”
It was only the size of a coin.
But sensing the immense power condensed within it, Cheon Do-yoon's eyes widened, and he hurriedly stomped his foot.
-KABOOOOOM!!
The spot where he had been standing was annihilated without a trace.
Staring at the ground that had vanished without even leaving dust behind, Cheon Do-yoon's jaw dropped.
“H-How can she create a Dragon Orb with just the eye, without the heart…”
The Dragon's Eye was merely a control device for handling the vast magic contained within the Dragon's Heart.
It was impossible to create a Dragon Orb with the Dragon's Eye alone.
“Hah, hah!”
Ha-eun gasped for breath as she pushed herself up.
*Clang!*
The chains binding her body rattled harshly.
“Hmph!!”
*CRACK!!!*
She created a Dragon Orb and touched it to the chains, and the links that seemed unbreakable shattered wretchedly.
“T-This…!”
Cheon Do-yoon's expression was colored with bewilderment.
Ha-eun ignored Cheon Do-yoon, who was staring at her with bewildered eyes, and approached the fallen Oh-jin.
‘Oh-jin.’
The young man, lying on the floor soaked in blood.
Precious.
Her treasure, which she wouldn't trade for anything.
“…”
Until now, she had always been the one protected.
Hiding behind his back, she had only ever hoped for him to block the raging storms.
But.
‘This time… I'll protect you.’
Ha-eun clenched her fists and stood in front of Oh-jin, as if to shield him.
“Nu, na… hurry, run…”
“Shut up, you punk. You ignored me when I told you to run earlier.”
Ha-eun bent down and gently ruffled the fallen Oh-jin's hair.
“Ho ho ho! What a touching scene!”
Cheon Do-yoon approached her with a bizarre laugh.
He had been momentarily flustered by the unexpected Dragon Orb, but that didn't change the current situation.
The gap between Ha-eun and Cheon Do-yoon was not something that could be closed by a single Dragon Orb.
“But, it is a futile gesture.”
He declared coldly, raising his arm.
Hundreds, thousands of black feathers spread out behind his back like a curtain.
“A futile gesture, you say?”
Ha-eun looked at Cheon Do-yoon and grinned.
She raised her right arm, creating a Dragon Orb on her palm.
And then.
She brought the Dragon Orb to her left eye.
“Is it still futile now?”
“W-What do you think you're doing!!!”
Cheon Do-yoon shouted, his face horrified.
The Dragon Orb was a powerful force that annihilated everything it touched.
The moment it touched her eye, the Dragon's Eye would be destroyed without a trace.
“Look at you, getting all flustered. What? Scared now?”
“You wretched girl…!”
“Wrong gender, you jerk.”
Ha-eun shrugged and brought the Dragon Orb even closer to her eye.
“Earlier—you said you'd back off if I gave you my eye, right?”
“…What?”
“Nuna…?”
The gazes of Cheon Do-yoon and Oh-jin turned to her.
Ha-eun's lips curled into a grin as she nodded.
“Fine. If you want it that badly, I'll give it to you.”
“Ho ho ho! Do you truly mean to give me the Dragon's Eye?”
“Yeah.”
She glanced back at Oh-jin and continued.
“On one condition. You let Oh-jin escape from here safely.”
“Hmm.”
“Don't, talk, nonsense!”
Cheon Do-yoon narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.
The Dragon's Eye and the Wolf of Vega.
It wasn't difficult to choose which of the two his desire was directed toward.
“Very well. I accept your proposal.”
“Accept, my ass…!”
Oh-jin ground his teeth and tried to get up, but he lost his balance again and collapsed to the floor.
“…Oh-jin.”
Ha-eun looked down at Oh-jin writhing on the floor and gave a faint smile.
“Don't talk, that crap…!”
“Is that any way to talk to your nuna, you punk?”
She bent over and gently stroked Oh-jin's hair.
If she lost her eye, she would once again be trapped in that endless darkness.
She might never be able to see his face again.
“It's okay.”
Just as closing one's eyes doesn't make the world disappear.
As long as she could be with him, even if she couldn't see.
“What do you mean, it's okay…!!”
“Oh-jin.”
Ha-eun gently kissed Oh-jin's forehead.
The words she had hidden in her heart for so long, the words she could never bring herself to say.
She whispered them to him.
“I like you. Not like a little brother, but as a man.”
“…What?”
Oh-jin looked up at her, dumbfounded.
“So if I go blind again, you have to take responsibility for me, okay? Got it?”
Ha-eun grinned and turned to face Cheon Do-yoon.