Chapter 243
Chapter 243
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 243
Chapter Title: Baptism of Stars (5)
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A beautiful spring where starlight flowed instead of water.
Oh-jin turned and stepped out of the spring.
Completely naked, he quickly got dressed and looked back at the Spring of the Milky Way where he had just been submerged.
‘Even after absorbing so much, it doesn't even look like anything's changed.’
Despite having absorbed the Stigma's mana from the spring water with both his body and soul (though the soul part wasn't his doing), the Spring of the Milky Way sparkled with the same radiant light as when he first saw it.
Just how much mana was contained within that spring?
Even for Oh-jin, who wielded the unconventional power of the Black Heaven, the amount of mana in the Spring of the Milky Way was difficult to fathom.
‘If the Black Heaven ever fully blossoms...’
Could I absorb the Spring of the Milky Way until it runs dry?
‘…Though if I did that, everyone would find out I possess the Black Heaven in an instant.’
Oh-jin shook his head with a bitter smile.
Perhaps because he had never failed to absorb anything with the Black Heaven before, he felt a strange sense of competitiveness welling up.
As he pushed aside the useless thoughts and ran a hand through his wet hair.
[Now… it is time.]
Polaris, who had been gazing at Oh-jin, slowly raised her head to look at the sky.
Polaris's body gradually faded, starting to dissolve into the Spring of the Milky Way and disappear.
[May your path ahead be filled with only radiant starlight.]
With her gentle voice echoing faintly as a final farewell, Polaris's body vanished completely.
“……”
“……”
The gazes of the Constellations focused on Oh-jin.
Having seen that Oh-jin was the Star of Revolution and had even been granted the title of the Warbreaker Star, the Constellations exchanged uncertain glances, unsure of what to say.
[You all look confused.]
It was Vega's calm voice that broke the awkward silence.
Vega looked around at the Constellations and continued.
[For now, I would like you to keep what happened here a secret.]
“…Didn't you say something about revealing his identity?”
Deneb pouted, crossing his arms.
[There is nothing to be gained from it being known.]
“Well… I guess that's true.”
Even if the fact that he was the Star of Revolution became public, it would only attract the Black Star Organization's unwanted attention and offer no benefits.
“Well, since the baptism is over, I'm leaving.”
Deneb spun around and trudged toward the rift leading outside.
The fact that Oh-jin was the Star of Revolution must have been quite a shock; a storm of complex thoughts could be felt from the boy's retreating back.
“Hey, hey. Can I ask you something?”
Spica trotted over and poked Oh-jin's shoulder.
Oh-jin, who was drying his hair that had been soaked in the spring, nodded.
“Do you know what happens to me and my children in the future?”
[That is enough.]
“Ah, why! I'm curious!”
As Vega frowned and pulled her back by the shoulder, Spica kicked her legs and shouted.
“A-ahem.”
“It is… certainly intriguing.”
Regulus, Aldebaran, and Aris, who hadn't left yet, also looked at Oh-jin with curious, shining eyes.
It seemed even Constellations were curious about their own futures.
There was only one thing Oh-jin could tell the bright-eyed Constellations.
“You are all devoured by the Heavenly Demon.”
Although Oh-jin didn't know if they were actually devoured or not.
If the first timeline had unfolded according to Polaris's prophecy, it wasn't hard to imagine their future.
“Ah… I-I see.”
“Hmm. The children, perhaps, but for this great me to be devoured by some mere darkness?”
Hearing Oh-jin's answer, the Constellations frowned with displeased expressions.
Their reaction to being told they'd all be devoured by the Heavenly Demon was quite lukewarm, but on second thought, if someone told Oh-jin, ‘You're going to die in the future,’ he would probably react similarly.
“This time will be different.”
Oh-jin looked at the Constellations and continued.
“I will make it different.”
“Oh my.”
Aris approached Oh-jin with a deep smile.
“I thought you were a cute puppy, but you're a dependable wolf?”
Aris drew close and gently hugged Oh-jin's arm.
*Squish.*
A soft sensation traveled up his arm.
For a moment, an image of two mountain peaks made of fluffy wool rising from a vast field flashed through his mind.
[Ahem!]
Prying Aris off Oh-jin's arm, Vega stepped between them.
[Aren't you getting tired?]
“I'm not particularly tired…”
[The Baptism of Stars is an ordeal that is both physically and mentally taxing.]
Vega dragged Oh-jin by the arm toward the rift.
Oh-jin gave a wry smile and let himself be led outside.
After pulling Oh-jin along at a brisk pace for a while, Vega checked to see if any other Constellations were following before looking at him with a dead serious expression.
[Spica is one thing, but you must never get involved with the Constellation of Aries.]
“Well, I wasn't planning on getting involved anyway… but why?”
Are there some nasty rumors going around?
‘Don't tell me… she's secretly colluding with the Black Star Constellations behind the scenes?’
It wasn't impossible.
No matter how transcendent Constellations were, emotionally, they weren't all that different from humans.
They conflicted, ostracized, reconciled, and loved.
The Sanctuary, a gathering place for hundreds of transcendent beings, was no different from a microcosm of human society.
In that case.
It wouldn't be strange at all if there was a 'traitor' among them.
As he looked at Vega with anxious eyes, she exclaimed in an urgent voice.
[Th-they're big!]
What's big?
[Anyway! From now on, you are forbidden from speaking with the Constellation of Aries!]
Vega placed her hands on her hips and made a stern face.
“I will obey your command, Lady Vega.”
Oh-jin let out a small laugh and turned away.
“Well, I'll be going now.”
[Take care on your way back.]
After a brief farewell with Vega, he stepped out of the Sanctuary.
The familiar scenery of the ashen streets unfolded before him.
“I heard the Lightning Wolf is receiving his baptism today?”
“What kind of name do you think he'll get…?”
“Something like the Heavenly Wolf Star?”
“That's not part of the Big Dipper, you idiot.”
Rumors that Oh-jin would be receiving the Baptism of Stars today must have spread, as spectators and reporters had gathered like clouds around the Sanctuary.
‘Black Curtain.’
Oh-jin used the Black Curtain to conceal his presence and slipped through the crowd packed in front of the Sanctuary.
For the sake of image-making as a 'Hero', it would have been better to give a brief interview, but he had something more important to do right now.
*Thwip!*
Using his wire shooter to get home quickly, Oh-jin opened the front door.
The living room was empty, indicating that Ha-eun was out somewhere.
“Hoo.”
Oh-jin sat cross-legged in the center of the living room, took a deep breath, and gently closed his eyes.
‘She said the succession was delayed because of mana control.’
In that case, if I calm all the surging mana, the succession should begin as scheduled.
Oh-jin steadied his breathing and looked inward.
*Gush, gush, gush.*
He could feel the Stigma's mana rampaging through his mana circuits like a flooding river.
Oh-jin guided the excess mana into the Black Heaven, calming the mana within him.
About two hours passed like that.
*-Tring!*
[Due to the increase in the blooming stage, a portion of Awakener Lee Shin-hyeok's memories will be succeeded.]
Along with the message he had been waiting for, his vision distorted.
***
“Hah, hah!”
The scene showed Lee Shin-hyeok, struggling to catch his breath.
*Rumble!*
Rocks rained down amidst a violent tremor.
‘This place is.’
It was a place familiar to Oh-jin.
‘The Place Where the Dragon Sleeps.’
The dungeon hidden in Baekdu Mountain.
The place Cheon Do-yoon had sought in order to take the 'Dragon's Heart'.
“D-damn it!”
Inside the collapsing cave.
Lee Shin-hyeok cursed anxiously in front of a fork in the path.
“Shin-hyeok! There's no time! We have to go save the Guild Leader!”
The voice of Valhalla Guild's vice-leader, Kim Seon-yeong, urging him on, echoed through the cave.
“B-but if we do that… Nunna!”
“It's already too late for Ha-eun! The Satellite Cult's Executors are in the cavern!”
“That's…”
Lee Shin-hyeok's eyes wavered.
“We have to get to the outer passage, now! The Guild Leader is holding off both the Owl and Seahorse factions by himself!”
Kim Seon-yeong, who usually led the Valhalla Guild with cool-headed judgment and orders, shouted hysterically as if throwing a tantrum.
“But… b-but.”
Lee Shin-hyeok looked toward the path leading to the cavern with trembling eyes.
If he ran to where Ha-eun was right now.
Maybe, just maybe.
One chance in a thousand, one in ten thousand.
Couldn't he save her?
Couldn't he protect her?
“Shin-hyeok!”
An urgent voice.
Lee Shin-hyeok stood frozen before the fork, unable to move his trembling legs.
*Slap!*
A stinging pain shot through his cheek as his head snapped to the side.
“What in the world are you hesitating for!”
Kim Seon-yeong glared at him with fiery eyes.
“He's your brother! Your only family!”
She grabbed Lee Shin-hyeok by the collar and screamed as if in despair.
“Do you know how much… how much Woo-hyeok has sacrificed to protect you! Are you going to betray him now?!”
“……”
“It's because of Ha-eun, isn't it?”
A look of contempt appeared in Kim Seon-yeong's eyes.
“Do you know? No matter how desperately you struggle for the rest of your life, Ha-eun will never fall for you.”
*Stab.*
Sharp blades made of words gouged out Lee Shin-hyeok's heart.
He bit his lip, unable to offer any rebuttal.
Kim Seon-yeong was right.
He had pursued Ha-eun dozens of times, but she had never once looked back at him.
Even when he borrowed money from Lee Woo-hyeok to buy her the Dragon's Eye and gave it to her as a gift.
Even when he threw himself in harm's way to save her during a fight with the Satellite Cult.
Even when he mustered the courage to confess his feelings to her.
Always.
Always.
Always.
Her eyes were always fixed solely on her missing younger brother.
‘Why… why isn't it me?’
*Grit.*
Lee Shin-hyeok clenched his fists violently and ground his teeth.
Her brother, whose name he didn't even know, crossed his mind.
‘That bastard… abandoned his sister and joined the Satellite Cult!’
Ha-eun's brother had left her side to become a believer of the Satellite Cult.
In exchange for healing his crippled body, he became their dog and attacked a Guardian Star.
Of course, even as a believer of the Satellite Cult, he was just a low-ranking grunt with no position, but it was an undeniable fact that he had joined a terrorist organization that threatened the world.
Wasn't the very reason she was in danger now because she had broken formation and gone to the cavern alone to find her brother?
‘I.’
He saw the path split in two.
The left path led to Ha-eun.
The right path led to Lee Woo-hyeok.
‘I…!’
Lee Shin-hyeok squeezed his eyes shut.
And took a step toward the right path.
“I'm sorry.”
Lee Shin-hyeok ran through the collapsing cave.
The memory of when he first met her surfaced.
Her auburn hair, scattering as if on fire.
The image of Ha-eun, having lost both her eyes and unable to even use her Stigma, hunting monsters.
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.”
He had vowed to protect her.
He had resolved to stay by her side.
“I'm sorry… Nunna.”
Lee Shin-hyeok ran toward Lee Woo-hyeok, leaving Ha-eun behind, alone in the cavern.
Repeating a futile apology only he could hear.