Chapter 298
Chapter 298
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 298
Chapter Title: Heavenly Mountain Range (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Oh my, oh my, oh my!”
Spica, opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish at a loss for words, could only repeat, “Oh my.”
“I, I never would have guessed! He’s quite the sly one!”
Spica shivered as if having a seizure.
When she’d watched him fight the proxy battle against Deneb, she’d been thrilled, thinking, *What kind of complete lunatic is this?*
But her impression had changed somewhat when she met him later, after he was chosen as one of the Seven Stars to be granted the name ‘Army-Shattering Star.’
There was a certain heroic spirit about him.
And after learning that Oh-jin was the Star of Revolution, even his unhinged actions during the proxy battle seemed like heroic deeds born from some firm resolve and conviction.
After all that, the image of Oh-jin that had formed in her mind was that of a monk on a penitent journey, his heart filled with lofty convictions, detached from worldly affairs.
But to have not one, but two lovers.
He wasn't out of touch with the secular, he was *fully* in touch with it. A fallen monk, if she’d ever seen one.
[Sly? What do you know of him to spew such words?]
Vega’s tone grew harsh, a sharp killing intent flowing from her.
A dark night when all were asleep.
The image of Oh-jin, swinging his spear alone in the darkness, pushing his body to the point of self-harm, flashed through her mind.
Oh-jin, who carved away at his own flesh to continue his training, all to protect those precious to him.
How could anyone dare to speak so crudely of such a boy, calling him sly?
“Ah… sorry, sorry. Calm down, unni. It was my fault.”
*This unni has it bad. Real bad.*
Spica swallowed the words that were about to escape and smiled awkwardly.
[…As long as you understand.]
“Anyway. Let’s get the situation straight first. What do you want to do about those girls?”
[Those girls?]
“You know, the two lovers. To win his love, you’ll have to do something about them first, right?”
[…….]
Do something about them?
Did she mean to forcibly separate Ha-eun and Isabella from Oh-jin?
[I will do no such thing.]
She had watched what Oh-jin had done to protect those precious to him.
Even as he threw up his insides and writhed in agony.
She had seen him stagger back to his feet.
“Hmm. Then you’ll have to make his heart naturally turn to you.”
[There is no need for that.]
Vega smiled faintly and shook her head.
A bitter emotion colored her golden eyes.
[Did I not tell you? I have no desire to be with him.]
“Oh, come on. It’s perfectly possible for a Constellation and a human to be together…”
[That is not the reason.]
Vega slowly shook her head.
“Not the reason? Then what is?”
She knew that Constellations and humans could be together.
Though their responsibilities and powers differed.
On a fundamental level, Constellations and humans were both creations born from the Titans.
Just as Oh-jin had accepted Isabella, perhaps if she tried, she too could be with him.
She might even find herself intoxicated by the happy emotion called love, held in his arms.
But.
She could not do that.
She must not.
[I do not wish to burden him any further.]
Had she not seen it with her own two eyes?
How cruelly he pushed himself. How much he sacrificed to move forward.
How could she possibly place an even heavier burden on such a boy?
[I hold that child more precious than anything.]
That is why.
Because of that.
Therefore.
[I want him to be happy.]
Even if someone else stood by his side instead of her.
She wanted him to be happy.
“…Unni.”
The dense emotion was so thick it was suffocating, and Spica firmly shut her mouth.
There was so much she wanted to argue.
She wanted to demand what would become of Vega’s own feelings, to insist that he could be even happier with her by his side.
But.
Seeing the resolute emotion etched in those golden eyes, she was certain.
Nothing she said now would change Vega’s mind.
[If only there was something I could do for him….]
Vega’s head drooped with a gloomy expression.
Watching her, Spica’s eyes sparkled.
“What do you mean there’s nothing you can do?”
[Hmm? But you know as well as I that there is no way to grant an Awakened the power of a Stigma.]
“Come on, that’s not the only thing you can do for him, is it?”
[Oh? Then what is there?]
To her, Vega was also a precious being.
Spica was the only one whom Vega, who barely spoke to other Constellations, allowed to use the familiar title of ‘unni.’
That is why.
She didn't want Vega to let her feelings fester, buried deep in her heart.
*‘If I don’t help this frustrating unni, who will?’*
A direct approach was impossible.
Vega would surely refuse, eyes wide with denial.
That left only one method.
To create a tiny ‘excuse’ for that frustratingly rigid way of thinking.
“Cheering filled with your heart! Comfort! Encouragement! You can do things like that!”
[…Is that what you meant?]
Vega pouted her lips in disappointment.
She had been secretly hopeful, but to think the best idea she could come up with was cheering, comfort, and encouragement.
Of course, that wasn't to say those things weren't important, but they weren't of any practical help, were they?
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, unni! If you do as I say, you can draw out an Awakened’s power two, even three times over with just cheering and comfort!”
[Is there truly such a method?]
“Of course, of course! And it’s especially effective on male Awakened!”
Seeing her nod with such a confident expression, it seemed she really had a solid plan.
[What is this method?]
Vega’s eyes shone with interest as she asked.
*Hook, line, and sinker.*
Spica grinned inwardly and sashayed over to Vega.
“Unni. You said you went to the beastkin kingdom recently, right?”
A sly smile spread across the lips of the Goddess of Chastity and Love.
* * *
“Ugh… this is killing me.”
“Hohoho. Are you finished already?”
A groan of exhaustion, like an office worker heading to work on a Friday morning after a Thursday night of drinking, escaped his lips.
Feeling the fatigue pressing down on his entire body, Oh-jin released the ‘Lie’ he had cast upon himself.
The jeering image of Calir-khe in front of him vanished.
*‘I can use it now without having to create an illusion.’*
Before, using the self-hypnotizing ‘Lie’ required various preparations, like creating an enemy’s form with an illusion and mimicking their voice with the Capricorn Stigma.
But with practice, it seemed he had grown accustomed to it, now able to create a near-perfect virtual enemy with simple imagination alone.
*‘Thanks to that, I can focus more on the fight itself.’*
By pouring the mental energy he would have used on illusions and sound manipulation entirely into combat, he was able to engage in battles that were closer to the real thing.
Well, it also meant he sustained more injuries during training.
“…I shouldn't have eaten dinner.”
Oh-jin clicked his tongue as he looked down at the pool of vomit on the ground.
His record against the imagined Calir-khe was five fights, five losses.
It was a time that made him keenly realize just how significant Vega’s blessing had been.
*‘Well, to be honest, I couldn't overwhelm her even with the blessing.’*
He had managed to push her to some extent, but he couldn't say he had overwhelmed her.
In the first place, if he had been in a position of overwhelming her, Calir-khe wouldn’t have had the leisure to be so distracted by Horus.
“Still a long way to go.”
Oh-jin let out a light sigh and pushed himself up.
He had been so focused on training that quite some time had passed.
*‘I should get back before Nunna finds me.’*
If she found out he was training alone in the middle of the night, she would surely nag him endlessly.
Oh-jin turned his weary body and headed back to where they had pitched their tents.
*‘Are they asleep?’*
He listened closely at Ha-eun and Isabella’s tents and could hear the faint sound of breathing from within.
Oh-jin entered his own tent, stripped off his sweat-soaked clothes, and piled them in a corner.
After removing the pendant Vega had given him, Oh-jin grabbed a change of clothes and went back outside.
The stream was much smaller than the one next to the Silver Mane Tribe's village, with the water only reaching his knees, but it was more than enough to wash himself.
“Ugh… now that’s better.”
As he submerged himself in the knee-deep stream, his Hydrophilia skill activated, healing his body.
The image training utilizing ‘Lie’ was certainly effective, but because it was *too* effective, the strain on his body was immense.
Just today, if it weren’t for the potions he had personally made on Earth and the power of the Aquarius Stigma, he wouldn't have been able to fight Calir-khe five times.
“…Still, I have to do it.”
No matter how excruciatingly painful it was.
If he didn't push himself this far, there was no other way to navigate the deep darkness that lay ahead of him.
He didn't know the specifics of the Cheonma’s power.
But he knew it wasn't something he could face at his current level.
“Hoo.”
Having thoroughly washed himself and recovered his stamina, Oh-jin changed into the clothes he had prepared.
“Agh… I’m dead tired.”
The Hydrophilia skill only healed external wounds.
It couldn’t resolve the internal damage from excessive mana usage or physical fatigue.
“Let’s see… if I sleep now, I can still get about three hours.”
It was a woefully inadequate amount of time to recover from his fatigue, but what could he do?
He couldn’t afford to mess up their schedule for heading to the Heavenly Mountain Range just to rest his body.
*‘But since I have Poppy, I can probably sleep a bit while we’re on the move.’*
As he was thinking this and approaching his tent.
“…Huh?”
He sensed a presence inside the tent.
*‘What the?’*
Oh-jin gripped Dantalion, which he had kept with him even while washing, and carefully opened the tent.
He was fully prepared to react instantly to whatever jumped out, but what met his eyes was…
[W-w-w-welcome back?]
It was Vega, dressed in what was commonly known as a ‘bunny girl’ outfit.
High heels, black stockings, and a tight-fitting leotard.
It was an outfit that boldly exposed her snow-white shoulders, one that even on Earth was difficult to encounter in reality outside of special places like Halloween parties or cosplay shops.
To think he would see a bunny girl outfit here in the Demon Realm, of all places.
[I-I am your bu-bunny!]
The goddess, wearing a bunny-ear headband, hopped up and down.
She was in her original form, not her small homunculus, so with each movement, something jiggled significantly.
Oh-jin rubbed his eyes and walked toward his sleeping bag.
“I must’ve really overdone it today.”
He never thought he’d be so tired he’d start seeing things.